War Attempt (Read at your own risk)

>"Heeey." says a voice you don't recognize, "Yoohoo, ape thingy wake up." you groan, you're entire body is still in pain from what had occurred the day before. This stallion isn't helping.
>A sudden jolt brings you to full attention, "Oh god what the hell?" you start to scan your surroundings. From what you're able to take in, your startled state has startled the stallion sitting across from you.
>Pain erupts from your chest when you move, causing you to yelp in agony. You cringe before shutting your eyes tightly. "Oh, okay you're awake. That's good; Luna wanted me to fill you in on the details."
>You open your eyes again and take another look; the stallion sitting a few feet away in front of you is clad in Luna's Night Guard Armor.
>You take a look to your left to find you're sitting on a single, long stretch of bench. The bench this stallion is sitting on extends just as far to the left as yours does. Night Guard ponies line the seat.
>You notice a large metallic wall at the end of the bench, then you look above and behind to see that you, along with other stallions, are currently housed inside a large metal cart.
>Reminds you of the train carts you used to ride in back on earth, though those had a bit more of a homely appeal that this cart lacked. There weren't even any windows. The only thing giving you any sort of illumination is large amount of enchanted lanterns hanging on the ceiling.
>Another jolt nearly knocks you out of your seat, when your ass hits bench again you feel your chest erupt in pain yet again. You'd hold your arms against it but you still lack those.
>That's when you realize your wounds have been wrapped up and that whatever bleeding you were dealing with before has stopped.
>"Yeah, I did the best I could given the circumstances. You'll live but you won't make a full recovery." says the stallion that woke you. You turn your attention to him. "So, what happened?" you ask as you try your best to ignore the agonizing feeling in your...everything.
>The unicorn stallion answers, "Well, after Luna saved your hide from Discord and Celestia, Celestia declared Luna a traitor to Equestria. Every one of us knows that's a lie, we've seen what Celestia has become."
>You sit back and let the stallion continue, "So, we've remained loyal to our princess and now we're on our way to the old Equestrian Capital. The first Canterlot." says the stallion as he looks over your chest wound.
>"Interesting," you say, "So what happens now?" The stallion leans back and sighs before responding, "Now, we fight. We're at war now Anonymous, Luna expects us to fight out way back to Canterlot and save her sister."
>"Wait, we were in Canterlot, wouldn't it have just been easier to stop Celestia then and there?" you ask as you look over the amount of soldiers in the cart with you. Five dozen unicorns and peagsus alike share the cart with you.
>"No Anonymous, Luna would have been alone, fighting against not only her sister, but Discord and an entire regiment of guards. She would have been killed." says the stallion as he shakes his head.
>Well there went that possibility, "Good point...anyway, where are we and what is this thing we're in?" you ask as you start looking within the interior of this mobile box again.
>"We are currently flying over the plains between Stalliongrad and Dappleshores; and this, this thing we're flyin in is called a crane I think," says the stallion as he crosses his fore hooves in front of himself.
>You cut him a deadpan half lidded stare, that’s the name these p0nies gave this thing? “Couldn’t think of anything more creative than that huh?” you ask, he retorts, “It was either crane or big metal box, what’s the deal with a name anyway?” Whatever you probably couldn’t think of anything better anyway
>Wait he just said you're flying, "Dude, uh...," you start to say before realizing you have no idea what his name is, "Ginger Snaps," says the stallion, "Yeah Ginger...is there a way to look outside?" you ask as you turn to look at him.
>Without skipping a beat Ginger Snaps taps a forehoof on the side of the wall he's propped against, immediately a small section of the wall lifts up to give you a look at what's going on outside.
>You stand and lean over in order to look outside, your face is met with a blast of cold night air. You look around to find that the moon hanging overhead, illuminating the other 'cranes' as they fly next to yours.
>Another jolt shakes the one you're flying in, causing you to nearly topple over. Without your arms you can't grip on to anything. Luckily Snaps is there before you fall all over yourself. "Whoa careful there buddy." says Snaps as he sets you back on your feet.
>You thank him before sticking your head back out of the window, the cold night air helps to shake whatever lethargy remained. You get a back look at the outer portions of each crane.
>Like the one you're flying in, they are all long rectangular metal boxes, but one thing that stood out for each of them is that they're being pulled on all sides by what appear to be flaming p0nies.
>Seriously, blue flamed p0nies are currently pulling each crane around you. The ones pulling the crane in the distance act as small beacons of blue light along the darkened skies above.
>Your eyes widen when you see just how many flying boxes are flying around you, you lose count after twenty. If each box carries at least fifty p0nies that you're looking at one-thousand easy.
>Just how many soldiers does Luna have under her command? Ginger Snaps whistles in wonderment before chuckling, "You think that's crazy you should see the turtles on the ground. Big old boxes just like these, but they got little flamin p0nies pullin those too. They got it easy. No turbulence to throw ya off your hooves." says Snaps as he looks out in to the night sky with you.
>"What the hell are those thing pulling us along?" you ask as you point out to the blue flamed p0nies with a stump of an arm. "Oh those, yeah these babies are enchanted p0nies, we got a mare up front who gives commands to these p0nies here and they adjust their flight paths as necessary." says Snaps as he leans back in.
>You take notice as a few individual chariots go flying by, each of the eight chariots that fly by are being pulled by actual p0nies, "Who're they?" you ask as you stick you head back inside the interior of your crane.
>”Oh them, yeah they’re Luna’s Officers. They’re gonna be acting in her stead. You’ll probably be under one of em. No idea which one, but you better get used to the idea of taking orders from somep0ny,” says Ginger Snaps as he motions for you to take a seat.
>As you take your seat you ask, “Wait, why me? What can I do?” you ask as you try motion to your own lack of limbs. Ginger Snaps merely shrugs, “Dunno, Luna said something about having a way to make ya useful, after all she did stick her neck out for you.”
>You sigh before leaning back in your seat that much was true. If it weren’t for Luna you’d have died out there in that courtyard, so you’re going to have to pay her back somehow.
>But as far as combat goes, you haven’t fought jack shit since coming to Equestria, before that you had a little bit of fighting experience under your belt.  About a year at some guy’s gym who taught some sort of martial arts whose name escapes you.
>You could grab, you were damn good with your elbows and knees, and you could throw people around like rag dolls and you could put people in to submissions. A good seventy five percent of what you could do involved having arms. Look at what you didn’t have?
>”If I can’t fight what can I do?” you ask as you look to Ginger Snaps, he shrugs again, “Dude, I have no idea but she still expects you to fight. Might want to talk to her when we land.”
>”Speaking of which, where is Luna?” you ask, you watch as Snaps reaches in to a nearby saddlebag. He produces a map from inside.
>This time you’ve looked over an Equestrian Map, the various landmarks seem familiar as far as mountain ranges, deserts, plains, forests, etc goes, but as far as the names of various cities go you were lost.
>Canterbury, Germaneigh, Trampselvania, you’ve never heard of these places before. Your eyes scan two solitary blue dots as they move across the map, you guess this thing is enchanted too.
>One seemed to be in the middle of Stalliongrad and Dappleshores, you assume that’s your dot. The second dot is further east. It appears to be heading towards a location named, “New Lunar Republic.”
>”So I’m guessing-“you ask before you’re cut off, “That the New Lunar Republic is where we’re going? Yes. As I said before that’s where Canterlot used to be before being moved…I think the move happened what…two thousand years ago give or take?” asks Snaps as he rubs a hoof under his chin in thought.
>”Yeah, an abandoned Castle and City on the side of a small mountain range. Abandoned while Luna was becoming Nightmare Moon, Celestia thought a change of scenery would do well for her sister. That was a complete bust.” Says Snaps as he rolls up the map and puts it back in to his saddlebag.
>”You know, for a young soldier you seem very well informed,” You say as you marvel at how knowledgeable your new friend seemed to be, “Well yeah, every Colonel in the Equestrian military has to have at least some basic knowledge of past events,” says Snaps as he shoots you a grin.
>Your eyes seem to shoot out of their skull when Snaps mentions his rank, “Whoa you’re a Colonel and I’ve been just talking to ya like you my drinking buddy. Shit my bad,” you say before grinning sheepishly.
>”Oh no it’s fine I’m one of those officers without a stick up his ass, unless ya piss me off. And Anon I can see where you’re comin from. After all no one at my rank have these dashingly good looks.” Says Snaps as he strikes a pose.
>You’d face palm if you had the hands to do so, it’s like you’re listening to Dash if she had a dick. At least he’s a unicorn and not a Pegasus…then you’d have to ask if the two were related.
>“Man everyp0ny thinks I’m going to be the youngest stallion to ever hit Brigadier General in Equestrian History! Them mares will be all over this.” Says Snaps as he shoots you a sly grin.
>You sigh, you just wish the pain hadn’t subsided in your chest; you could have used that as an excuse to just go to sleep and ignore Snaps, but no your body just had to get used to the sensation. Fucking torso.
>As you sit there and listen to him ramble on about his accomplishments you can’t help but wonder just what the hell Luna has in store for you, if she’s got a way for you to help out then by all means have her help you to help her.


>A few hours pass, you’ve spent it speaking with Colonel Snaps and boy can this unicorn speak. He’s spent the majority of your ride talking about his past accomplishments.
>From a few skirmishes with Diamond Dogs, to the Alliance between Equestria and the Zebra Nation, to killing off a nest of dragons with himself and a small squad of unicorns.
>You believe that last one to be a load of garbage, but you decide not to voice your suspicions lest he go off on a tangent describing how he killed dragons. When he finally stops blathering on you speak.
>”So, this abandoned capitol, tell me a little bit about it. How large is it, what about its condition?” you ask out of curiosity,” Snaps’ answer is quick,
>“Well Anonymous, the size is on par with Canterlot if not larger. As far as history goes back when Equestria was first founded p0nies stayed at the capital rather than break off in to smaller settlements. Back then p0nies were at war with each other, there were small nations out there that wanted to grab as much land as possible. Equestria was one of those nations, and a lot of others saw fit to attack it constantly. So…the princesses decided to build the city within the castle walls in order to hopefully stave the flow of attackers. It worked and eventually Equestria came out on top,” explains Snaps.
>”Okay noted, now what about its condition?” you ask again, “Oh the place hasn’t been touched in over a thousand years, Tartarus is probably cleaner than that capitol,” says Snips with a chuckle.
>Well isn’t that just great, the damn capitol is probably falling apart with old age and neglect. As you think more on the subject a voice calls out. You turn your head towards the ‘front’ of the crane.

>”Listen up fillies we’ll be landing in Old Canterlot within the hour!” says the voice.
>”Whoa what the hell was that?” you ask as you look towards the ceiling, as you do you see a blue stream of magic travel from your end of the crane, to the back end. As it passes over the other stallions’ ears perk up.
>”That’s our intercom buddy, drivers only way to communicate with us back here.” Says Snips as he puts on his helmet.
>Unlike the others this one covers his entire face; it even has an extension in order to keep his horn protected. When he lowers the metal flap that keeps his eyes exposed he speaks.
>”Listen Anonymous, when we land ya need to find Luna, we’re gonna set up a perimeter around the capitol while you’re doing that,” says Snip, his voice muffled from his helmet.
>With a new air of anticipation you and the others wait, sure enough when the hour passes you feel your crane start to descend. Your stomach seems to jump and you can feel a wave of nausea starting to rise.
>Snaps takes notice of this, he puts a hoof on your shoulder. He shakes you a little bit before saying, “Hey man you need to pull your shit together, if you can’t handle a decent you’ll get your ass stomped by every soldier in Celestia’s Army.”
>You nod, his words do little to help your stomach, but you fight through the queasy feeling nonetheless. When you finally touch ground you sigh with relief. When you do Snaps makes his way to the end of the crane.
>”Listen up; we’ve got a job to do! Stop fondling your wings and jerking yer horns, move out!” and with that the back end of the crane lifts up revealing the night that lay before them.


>Snaps is the first out, followed by the rest of the crane’s passengers. The stampeding of hooves rattles the entire box, causing you to remain seated. When the last dozen finally make their way out you’re to your feet.
>When you take that last step out of the crane and on to the cool grass outside you take a deep breath of relief, that’s followed by a sharp pain in your torso.
>The sooner you find Luna the sooner you can end this torment of pain and misery. At least the agony has subsided somewhat. As you make your way around the other cranes you spot Luna speaking to a few guards.
>They salute her before galloping away…and that’s when you see it. Old Canterlot looms in the distance. From here you can make out the darkened concrete stones that make up the outer wall of the capitol.
>You can barely make out the main castle itself, but the four spires on top of the castle that eclipse the moon are the ones that catch your attention.
>You spot lights inside two of the four spires; somep0ny’s made this place their home. Regardless…the capitol is huge…it’s as Snips said this place rivals the size of the Canterlot you’ve grown accustomed to seeing.
>There were times you and Celestia would take small strolls around her castle, when looking out of a balcony you got a full view of just how large Canterlot was…it was a completely different atmosphere here. Where one should feel safe instead there is paranoia, suspicion even.
>Luna takes notice of you, “Anonymous, come here for a moment. There is much to discuss.” says the night princess as she motions you over with a hoof. With your attention finally taken away from Old Canterlot you see Luna is accompanied by Rainbow Dash and the rest of the mane 5.


>With a smile you jog over to the group, ignoring the pain in your chest as you do so. Rainbow’s smile widens when she sees you getting closer, she makes a move to fly over to you but Luna stops her.
>Yeah if Dash were to tackle you now, you’d probably need medical attention. You actually need medical attention now, but it’ll have to wait. When you get to the group of mares Pinkie assaults you with words.
>”Oh my gosh Anon it’s you you’re okay! I’m so happy to see you! Listen Luna has a present for you and Rarity has one too but I’m not supposed to tell you about the surprises and I just did but I’m just too happy to care!” says Pinkie, she says it so quickly you have no idea what she’s talking about.
>”What?” you ask as you look down at Pinkie; a look of confusion plastered on your features. Applejack groans, “Anon ya’ll got a coupla presents.” Says Applejack as she gives Pinkie a deadpan glare.
>”Okay THAT I can understand,” you say as you turn your gaze over to Applejack, Pinkie giggles out of embarrassment, “Sorry about that, just little excited.” Says Pinkie as she hops around you.
>”So, what kinda present am I getting? I hope it isn’t gloves,” you say with a chuckle. Rarity gives you a nervous grin before sliding a package behind herself.
>“Oh heavens no darling who would be so insensitive as to give you gloves? Hehehehe,” Rarity has a huge smile on her face and she’s looking everywhere but at you. Luna breaks up the reunion with her input.
>”Anonymous, this can wait. Right now there is a matter we must discuss,” says Luna, judging by her demeanor you cut the reunion short, “Alright Princess, what do you have for me?” you ask as you turn to face Luna.

>”Any moment now a member of my guard will approach us and inform us of the bandits that have taken residence in our capitol. I want you to go in to the capitol with a few unicorns and eliminate the threat that lays within.” says Luna as she motions towards the spires at the top of the castle.
>Okay, you’ve heard her correctly. She wants you to deal with bandits, but there’s a few problems preventing you from doing that.
>For one you have no arms, secondly you’re a human without any sort of weaponry, and thirdly even if you did have arms your body is no condition to fight, “Yeah, Luna…sorry but I’m afraid I can’t do that,” you say as you give Luna a sheepish grin before wiggling your stump of an arm.
>Luna gives you a knowing smile, “That’s fine Anonymous, this is where your first gift comes in,” says Luna, and with that her horn begins to glow.
>Without any sort of warning she hits you in the center of your chest with a spell. This launches you off of your feet and back about ten feet.
>When you hit the ground you notice no pain erupts from any part of your body upon impact, in fact you feel better than you did before being knocked on your ass. An odd tingling sensation can be felt at the joints of your shoulders.
>Then you turn to your stump of an arm to find it rotting away at an advanced rate, revealing something with a blue glow from underneath.
>Then the wrappings keeping your wounds close are burned away in a blue fire. You look down at yourself to find that your chest wound has closed.

> A section of blue light seems to be covering the wound…when the light fades you’re amazed to find skin where the gaping hole used to be, you reach out to touch it, only to freak out when you realize you have arms again.
>You gasp before looking over your new limbs, and then you glance over your chest again. Luna seems to have some knowledge of how to heal humans. Using your new arms you get to your feet.
>The patchy appearance of your skin lets you know that while Luna has some knowledge, she can’t fully heal you. You grimace at the mix and matched black patches that line your pale arms and chest.
>You quickly get over that, you can’t complain you’ve just been made useful again. You give your new limbs a quick test, everything seems to react normally and you feel your fingers as they dig in to your palms.
>At least she got the nerve attachment correct…but whether or not these arms have a blood flow is beyond your understanding.
>You’d assume so considering you can actually feel them, a familiar weight has finally returned to your body. You marvel over your new limbs, you do a few quick jabs to further test your limbs. You swing a hell of a lot faster with these than you did with your old arms.
>You relax your posture before turning back to your friends; you give them a smile and a thumb up before walking back to them. They look at your thumb in confusion; guess they don’t know the gesture.
>”Luna, I’m…you have no idea how happy you’ve made me thank you,” you say as you flash Luna a grin, she doesn’t return the gesture. “Anonymous, if you wish to show your appreciation please take care of the infestation.” states Luna as she motions towards Old Canterlot.


>You owe her a lot already, how can you refuse her request after being made whole? “I’ll be more than happy to Luna, but if it’s just me and a few unicorns what’s to stop the bandits from beating us with superior numbers?” you ask.
>”That’s where you’ll come in Anonymous,” says Luna as she gives you a grin, “There is more to my gift than what you can see. I’ve given you a portion of my magic as well; turns out your body can absorb magic like a sponge absorbs water.” Luna says as she looks over your body.
>Wait, your body absorbs magic…and you can use whatever you absorb? “Luna, how did you come to find out this little tidbit about me?” you ask, you’ve got a sneaking suspicion as to how she learned this.
>”Twilight sent a letter to Celestia when she tested the effects of magic on you…you were asleep when she did this, she wrote that she discovered your spongy…ness when she raised your body temperature,” states Luna.
>Well that was pretty nonchalant, you cringe. Twilight did things to you while she slept…what else could she have done?
>Your thoughts are driven away when Luna continues, “But you cannot absorb all magic. The caster must use a spell that isn’t classified as a destructive or debilitating spell in order for you to absorb it. If someone tries to burn you, you will be burned, if someone freezes you in place you will be frozen. Be wary Anonymous,” at least Luna had the decency to warn you about this fact.
>”So how did you find out about this? Let me guess,-“you’re interrupted by Luna, “Twilight put you in to a deep sleep with a spell, and then she broke your arm with magic,” yup Twilight is a messed up individual.


>The mares around you cringe, “My goodness I had no idea Twilight was such a…a hooligan!” says Rarity, obviously disgusted by this knowledge, Rainbow and the others share her view.
>”Well, what’s done is done. If I can wield magic things just got a whole lot easier,” you say as you look between your friends.
>“Indeed it has Anonymous, the magic I have given you can be used on command, and in turn your body has been augmented; you can even regenerate; if something breaks the magic within will take care of it.” Explains Luna, as she begins to pace back and forth.
>”How do I use it?” you ask, “All you have to do is think it and it will happen,” says Luna as she looks to you.
>You look at your hands and concentrate on a simple spell, and soon enough you see the familiar blue corona of light that indicates a spell being cast. Suddenly blue flames crackle to life in your palms, illuminating the area around you. The girls ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ at the site while Luna sits there with a smile.
>You then look towards the sky; with a simple flick of the arms you launch your fire spell in to the sky.
When they get about 100 yards in the sky they explode in a shower of flames and sparks. A nice offensive spell or signals flare if there’s trouble, not bad.
>Then you do a practice run around a nearby Crane. You’ve ran around two laps around the huge air transport within a minute, something that would have taken you a good ten minutes only took one, nice.

>When you jog back up to your group you try jumping next, you leap over your group. Oh fuck too high; you’re now flailing about in the air. You end up landing face first in the dirt. Your nose is…bent awkwardly and bleeding now. After a few seconds a sickening snap your nose is put back in place and whatever pain was there is gone now.
>You wipe the blood from your face and turn to look at the mares around you. Pinkie’s giggling as is Rainbow, Rarity face hooves. The others seem dumbfounded at your little stunts. You’ve still got a lot to get used to, but a few spells and an augmented body will do well enough for now.
>”Anonymous, with that little display I believe you need a shower, head to my Crane. You can’t miss it…they made it four times larger the others.” Luna says as she points towards her transport with a raised hoof.
>You turn to see…yeah that’s a huge transport how you missed it is beyond you. That thing dwarfs the Crane you rode in on. “Oh, wow.” You say, astounded by the sheer size of the crane, how many flame p0nies does that thing need to stay in the air you wonder.
>Speaking of which where did those fire p0nies go? Almost as if on cue two flame p0nies emerged from within the metal housing. They emerge from the metal wall as if it were water. They now stand guard at the entrance to Luna’s transport. Well that answers that.
>”It’ll be at the very back,” says Luna, with a quick thank you and a good bye to your friends you make your way over to Luna’s transport. Once you reach the entrance the flame p0nies move out of the way for you to enter.


>When you enter…you see that the interior is just like back in Canterlot, stark white walls, beautifully crafted furniture, the works. Except instead of red banners with Celestia’s cutie mark you instead see blue and black banners with Luna’s cutie mark.
>You must say it’s a bit easier on the eyes; Celestia’s choice in colors always seemed to give you a headache. After mulling about a bit, taking in the site around you, you head towards the back.
>When you step in to the bathroom you can see that the bath alone takes up half of the room. That thing could fit a dozen p0nies easily…they spared no expense for Luna’s comfort.
>You strip out of your old pants and step right on in to the shower, after a few minutes of cleaning with this herbal shampoo you found you hear a knock on the door, “Hello Anonymous? I’ve left your present by the door, now hurry up Luna’s waiting.” Rarity says from the other side of the door.
>And with that you rinse, when you dry off with a towel you believe to be made of clouds and happy thoughts you make your way to the door. Upon opening you see a box blocking your view of the interior.
>Hmm, it’s your size. You grab the package and bring it in to the bathroom with you; upon opening you find a set of clothes. A blue undershirt, blue pants, black socks, black knee high boots, black gloves, and a blue double breasted coat.
>You inspect the clothes; it’s almost as if you’re looking at a Union Soldier’s uniform from the civil war era back on earth. You spot Luna’s cutie mark, stitched in to the left breast of your double breasted coat.
>Well, it’s official, you’ve got the uniform…guess you’ve been drafted in to Luna’s Army. As you put on your uniform you look in the full body mirror located in the bathroom.


>The double breasted coat seems a little long, bout halfway down your thighs, but you can’t complain. Everything else seems in order aside from the slight baggage going on where the boots and pants leg meet.
>Again can’t complain, the air’s pretty cold out there, last time you checked its a few weeks before winter makes its debut. This will keep you warm on these cold autumn nights. With a quick wiggling of your fingers inside the gloves you make your way back out in to the interior of the Crane.
>You’re surprised to find Luna waiting for you, along with six p0nies clad in armor, “Anonymous, I’m afraid I will have to skip the ceremony for you due to time, but it is my pleasure to welcome you in to the Equestrian Military under the title of Sergeant Major.”
>Luna gives you a warm smile, well damn not even five minutes and you’re already Sergeant Major. You’re gonna have to do a lot of repaying for this Princess; starting with clearing out Old Canterlot.
>”So, who’re the soldiers?” you ask as you look upon the p0nies standing with Luna, “Oh them, they’re a part of your unit. The other six are outside waiting on you,” says Luna as she steps behind the p0nies.
>The six with Luna stand in a line in front of her, the one at the very left speaks, “Corporal Feather Flyer ready for duty sir!” at the end of his sound off he, along with the others stand at attention.
>Well, damn looks like you have to rush right in to this aren’t you? No time to prepare, no time to ask anything.


>The other p0nies announce their names and rank, aside from Feather Flyer here none of them are above Private. “At ease?” you say as a question rather than a command.
>The soldier’s postures relax all the same, “Join up with the rest of your unit and wait at the entrance to Old Canterlot; I’ll join you in a few minutes. Dismissed.” And with that, the soldiers march in a single file line out of the crane.
>Hey, maybe this won’t be so hard after all, doesn’t seem like they have a problem taking orders from an ape, “Well, seems like you’re getting used to the idea pretty quickly. I’m glad.” Says Luna as she looks over your uniform, “You look…respectable.”
>”Well, it’s all because of you. Thanks.” You say, “So, what are my ‘official’ orders Ma’am?” you ask as you stand at attention for Luna.
>“As I said, you are to infiltrate Old Canterlot and wipe out any threat to our cause.” Says Luna, “It shall be done.” You respond, “Good to hear, you are dismissed,” with a quick bow you silently make your way out of the oversized transport.
>Once outside you realize you have no idea where the hell the entrance to Old Canterlot is. You curse before walking towards the wall surrounding the front of Old Canterlot. Dear Celestia this wall is huge, you look up to see that this will has to be at least five times your size.
>No way in hell are you leaping over that, you look to the left, then to the right. When looking to the right you see a pair of torches lit and then you spot a small group of armor clad p0nies. Well you guess that’s the way in.


>”Well, there’s no element of surprise. Shouldn’t have expected it anyway, the landing wasn’t exactly silent.” You say as you look towards your unit, “Oh well, just take each building one at a time, from what I saw I’d have to say that these bandits are…large dogs,” you say as you look at another illuminated window.
>Large hulking dogs, that pretty much sums it up, now what…oh how could you be so stupid. Diamond Dogs… what are Diamond Dogs doing all the way out here? Don’t they have mines around P0nyville, why would they be out here?
>”Okay colts you heard the Sergeant get your sorry flanks in there and get your shit done!” and with that Feather Flyer leads his group in, you follow in close behind, the five who stuck with you follow behind you.
>You watch as Feather Flyer leads his group in. You wait for about a minute, soon you watch as the silhouettes of your p0nies engage whatever lies in wait. It takes a few minutes but Feather Flyer’s unit comes out victorious.
>A Diamond Dog corpse comes falling out of the window, a spear jammed in its neck. These p0nies know how to take out an animal. You can’t start slouching now Feather Flyer’s unit is making its way to building number two.
>Your unit sticks to the shadows being cast by the buildings around you so as to not raise suspicion; no one knows if any of these other dilapidated buildings house more Diamond Dogs. A few of the p0nies in your group start to complain about how long it’s taking to reach your destination after a few minutes in.
>”Shut it, we’ll get there when we get there,” and with that they promptly shut their mouths, the rest of the way is spent in silence. Along the walk you spy a few familiar buildings, there’s an old blacksmith’s forge, an abandoned stable, a few houses for the populace, etc.


>It seemed like the closer you got to the castle, the worse the buildings became, and soon you’re passing by buildings that have nothing else other than their foundations. After a good hour of sneaking you’ve finally made it to the castle’s main entrance.
>Upon inspection you realize that the castle has in fact, remained untouched by time. The entire structure seems brand new.
>Not a single crack upon any portion of it can be seen. And unlike the castle in Canterlot this castle has a more gothic feel to it. The two spires in front and the two spires in back have the pointed tips that confirm this suspicion.
>Alright, time to…you hear something snoring near you. You turn to the right to see a diamond dog asleep under an archway. You put a finger to your lips; the others understand your gesture.
>As you quietly approach the sleeping diamond dog a few pangs of guilt cross your conscience, but after what you’ve been through you feel that you’ve already hit the point of no return.
>You reach out and lightly grab the diamond dog by the sides of its head; your intention is to snap his neck while he sleeps.
>You grip him by the sides of his floppy face, this wakes him up. “Who’re-“before he can finish you brings his head forward and slam it in to the back of the arch he’s under, knocking him out.
>Not everything needs to die in this war, and you’re going to try to keep it that way. After effectively silencing the guard dog you open the front door and sneak your way inside. Your p0nies follow in after you.

>Celestia…really, really needs to learn how to incorporate something new in to her designs, you swear she’s set up this castle to look just like the one back in Canterlot…or it’s the other way around. Oh well, if it isn’t broken why bother fixing it? But seriously you didn’t need to see all this white, at least there’s only a few torches burning.
>You and your p0nies stick to the shadows, after twenty minutes of traveling down various hallways you finally reach a spiral staircase. Your first targets are at the top…you sigh before taking the first step.
>As you travel up this spire you can’t help but think about how this encounter may go, depending on the leader’s reactions you might just be in for a fight. After all, they believed this place to be abandoned.
>They were right, it was, but the landlord’s come back to take back what’s theirs. If the diamond dogs refuse to go you’ll beat them until they’re running with their tails in between their legs.
>During your climb you have a p0ny stand guard at each spot that lead further in to the castle itself, rather than leading up. After leaving p0ny number five at the fifth floor you realize you’re all alone.
>You hope that you’ll only run in to the leader up here, last thing you need to do is fight more than one diamond dog if it comes to that. Even though you’re virtually super-human you don’t know how strong a diamond dog is, you’ve never fought one before.
>What you do know is that their arms are like tree trunks, one good swing and you’re down for the count, at least until you heal whatever damage they inflict upon you. You sigh with relief when you finally make it past the seventh floor, just a little bit more to go.


>>3057183
>After another ten minutes or so you finally reach the top of the spire, on this floor the only thing you find is a single solitary door at the end of a short hallway, a single light provides illumination from under the door.
>There are no guards posted in front…odd. You make your way to the door, then you put your ear against it in order to hopefully eavesdrop, you hear a gruff voice call from the other side.
>”Enter ape, I can smell your p0ny stench from here,” you freeze, well shit looks like you’ve been found out. You hesitate for a moment, when you hear the diamond dog on the other side snarl you yank on the handle.
>This pulls the door right off its hinges…great job Anonymous you’ve just caused property damage in a seemingly perfect castle, good job. You sigh before tossing the door down the hallway. Inside are seven diamond dogs sitting at a long wooden table; each look upon you with malice.
>At the head of the table sits a diamond dog that towers over the others, he’s the meanest looking of the bunch, “I see you do not know your own strength smelly ape,” says the diamond dog at the head of the table.
>The other diamond dogs laugh at his insult; yeah you’ve bitten off a bit more than you can chew. Unlike the guard posted at the entrance these dogs are wearing their armor. Not only are they wearing armor, each of them are carrying a spear.
>Well, you’ve had worse odds stacked against you. None of them are a god determined to cause as much chaos as possible.


>”I’m sure you can guess why I’m here…” you hesitate on that last bit, “My name is Fido, ape and yes I know why you’re here,” says Fido as he leans back in his seat, “I watched you land those big sky boxes.” Says Fido as he points to the window looking out in to the city and open fields surrounding the castle.
>Yeah you figured that much, “So, if you know about that then you know that there are thousands of soldiers just waiting outside the castle gates,” you say as you step inside the meeting room.
>”Sit,” says Fido as he points to a chair in a nearby corner, you shrug, “Fine,” you say as you bring the chair from said corner over to the opposite end of the table.
>When you take a seat you lean in, “Listen I want this to go as peacefully as possible. If you and your dogs leave now I can guarantee you safe passage out of here,” you say as you put your hands together. Fido doesn’t seem too pleased at the prospect of leaving, he signifies this by snarling.
>”I spent my entire life digging in dirt for gems, our old leader went insane at the prospect of digging, all he wanted to do day in and day out was dig for those damned gems!” Fido slams his massive paws in to the table, he continues.
>”So I take whatever dogs follow me and I bring them here, we find plenty of gems in treasury! We live like kings out here; we no longer have to fight for survival. We trade with traveling p0nies and gryphons in between Canterbury and Derbyshire, and you want me to have my dogs simply pack up and leave?!” asks Fido as he bares his jagged, yellow teeth at you.
>You tread thin ice Anonymous and you aren’t the best diplomat to walk this planet…perhaps telling Feather Flyer to simply pacify rather than kill would have been a better option…

>This isn’t turning out well for you. The diamond dogs sitting around Fido bare their teeth as well. You try to find your voice and you end up not making a sound when you move your mouth.
>”What is it human? Are you afraid?” asks a diamond dog as he leans in, showing you his sharp canines, “W..w…wait a minute,” you manage to say, “I’ve got another suggestion,” you continue.
>”Oh this will be good,” says Fido as he smiles, he digs the nails of his left paw in to the wooden table his dogs and you are sitting at.
>Think of something quick Anonymous, “Well…what if you didn’t have to leave?” you ask as you look to the diamond dogs with a hopeful expression. You wait for one of them to respond.
>”Go on,” says Fido as he narrows his eyes, he seems to be looking upon you as if you were to be their next meal. “What if we shared this castle, we leave you to your own devices and you leave us to ours.”
>Fido leans back in his seat, for once he doesn’t appear to be aggressive in nature, “No deal. Return to your master and let her know we decline that offer,” says Fido as he waves you away.
>You shake your head, “I’m afraid I’m not going back without this castle under our control, sharing this space is the best offer,” you say, you hope that the thought of an army bearing down upon them would help change Fido’s mind.
>You can put on a brave face, but Fido’s lack of a response is starting to play on your nerves. You gulp as you wait for Fido to say something.
>To your surprise, Fido laughs, as do his companions, “If that’s the case then you aren’t going back at all human,” says Fido as he brings his huge paws under the table. Well there goes diplomacy.

>He grunts before flipping the table up and towards you. You only have the time to stand and instinctively raise your hands in order to stop the table top from ramming in to you.
>To your surprise the table stops when your hands come in to contact with it. You have no time to marvel at your apparent increase in strength.
>Fido’s fist smashes through the table, turning it into splinters. Fido’s fist keeps coming and it connects with your upper body. You flying back and out in to the hallway; the wall in the hall stops you.
>Upon contact the air leaves your lungs, you hit the floor stomach first. You hear the shuffling of paws as the Diamond Dogs make their way towards you; lucky for you Fido’s attack didn’t incapacitate you.
>You’re to your feet right when the first diamond dog makes his way out in to the hallway; his swing is wide, clumsy, and much too slow.
>You duck under the diamond dog’s strike; you lunge and retaliate with a right arm punch. You smile as your fist hits in the dead center of the target’s breastplate.
>Your fist, upon contact, makes a loud clang ring out when it. Your strike knocks the diamond dog off his feet and back in to the meeting room.
>He didn’t fly far considering his comrade’s placed their paws upon his back, stopping his short flight. You make a break for the stairs at this point, that hallway was too narrow for any sort of close quarters combat.
>You can hear Fido and his comrades as they race down the stairs after you, you shout out from your position for your p0nies to make their way back outside.
>You hope they hear you, as you pass the fifth floor and see that no one’s there relief washes over you. Maybe the sentry at the fifth floor heard you and warned the others of the impending storm of dogs.

>You pick up the pace when you hear Fido snarl, they’re right on your tail. You can practically hear their ragged breaths as you make your way out of the spire’s spiral staircase.
>You hear their claws tear in to the carpet as they grow ever closer to you. You burst through the front doors of the castle and into the night air to find a site that makes your blood run cold.
>You stop when you make it a few feet out of the doors, you p0nies have been captured. They look like they’ve been through hell. They’re covered in cuts and their faces have started bruising.
>Some of them have only pieces of armor remaining on their bodies. Two dozen diamond dogs stand outside with their spears trained on your troops. “Shit,” you say when you realize just how bad your situation is.
>One of the p0nies tries to speak up but the spear at his throat inches ever closer, silencing him. He looks upon you with fear filled eyes. Your stomach knots when you hear Fido laughing.
>He makes his way outside; followed by the other six he had with him. He shoves you towards his new prisoners, “Well what do we have here dogs?” asks Fido as he looks over you and your p0nies.
>One of the diamond dogs speaks up, “I found em after they took out Gizmo. I raised an alarm and we took them down. Damn unicorns gave us a bit of a fight but we got em good.”
>Fido chuckles, “Good, good, how many they get?” asks Fido as he looks over the fearful eyes of the p0nies. “Only two of us Fido, two others were wounded,” says another diamond dog as he tightens his grip on his spear.

>Fido nods, “Kill four p0nies and send them on their way,” says Fido as he snaps his fingers, before you could voice otherwise you watch as four p0nies under your command are speared in the neck.
>The ones selected twitch from the shock of being stabbed before dropping. Your jaw drops in shock when you see that your little plan costs you the lives of four good p0nies…
>Ignoring the dog’s jeering around you, you make your way over to one of the four p0nies that still seem to be moving; it’s Feather Flyer. When you see him start to convulse you break off in to a run.
>You drop to your knees and look over him before holding your hand out over the wound in his neck, you have no idea how your regeneration works but perhaps you could save Feather from his fate.
>You have to have some sort of healing magic at your disposal; you concentrate as best as you can given the situation. You think of the hole in Feather’s neck closing, the muscle repairing it, the blood leaving his lungs, and whatever else you could think of that could possibly be damaged.
>Soon a blue light appears in the palm of your glove, the wound in his neck starts to glow with the same light. You have completely forgotten just what you and your remaining p0nies are surrounded by.
>Wait…if you could do this for Feather Flyer why is it so hard for Luna to properly heal you? You’ve only just discovered you could cast healing magic and here you are closing a wound.
>Fido’s voice brings you back to reality, “Heal him and we kill another in his place,” you visibly flinch, Fido knows all too well what you’re doing, it’s obvious.
>Against your better judgment you make no motion to move away from Feather Flyer that is until one of Feather’s fore hooves reaches out and pushes your hand away.
>Whatever you did managed to make him stop convulsing long enough to give you a final request; he looks in to your eyes before shaking his head. He wishes for you to leave him to his fate, and you grit your teeth.
>Damn Fido for making you have to do this, “I’m sorry,” is all you can manage to say before you take your hand away from Feather Flyer’s wound. Feather coughs once before he starts to shake.
>Soon Feather Flyers body goes limp and the light leaves his eyes, “A smart decision, now walk,” says Fido as he points towards the exit. The diamond dogs surrounding your p0nies have moved away from them.
>They present you with the opportunity to leave, you speak up, quietly, “You heard him, move out,” you say, not taking your eyes away from Feather’s body.
>Your troops cast you a worried glance before slowly trotting towards the front gates. When your p0nies are a good distance away, and when you’ve made no motion to stand and leave Feather or your other fallen comrades a diamond dog prods your back with the back end of his spear.
>”You heard Fido, get movin,” says the diamond dog as he prods you with his spear again. You growl before standing, your back to the diamond dogs. You bring your left hand in front of yourself.
>From the angle you’re standing the diamond dogs can’t see the soft glow your hand is still giving, soon the light becomes a small flame. You think of the spell you’d chalked up to a signal flare. Feather and the others will be avenged…

>”I think he’s just stupid, prod him with the tip. Perhaps drawing blood will get him moving,” says Fido as he turns and makes his way to the front door to the castle. The diamond dog that was prodding you turns his spear so his point is facing the center of your back.
>He pulls his spear back before thrusting, before he could finish his thrust you have already turned around and fired your flare spell.
>A ball of blue fire the size of your open hand connects with the diamond dog’s head. The small flame erupts, covering the diamond dog’s exposed facial fur.
>Soon he’s rolling around on his back whimpering, hopelessly trying to paw at the flames that’s slowly burning away his fur and skin.
>When Fido hears the spell make contact he turns around to see what you’ve done. Fido makes his way over to the unfortunate dog. He starts trying to help his friend paw away the blue flames.
>When the fire finally dies down no one could recognize him. The burns left little flesh intact. The diamond dog is left a whimpering wreck. Without his eyes and without his nose you just made him worthless.
>Fido gently places his comrade on to his back, “I’m sorry old friend,” says Fido before snapping the unfortunate dog’s neck. Fido sighs before looking to his dogs; they just stand there in shock at the events that have just transpired.
>Fido looks over them, “Don’t just stand there, kill him!” shouts Fido as he points to you. Three of the closest diamond dogs waste no time in following Fido’s order.
>Two rush you from behind while the third charges head on spears at the ready. You take a quick glance behind you to see that the dogs approaching from behind were closer than the one in front.

>You drop to your stomach when the dogs behind you thrust for your back; their spears go right over you. You look up from your position and you’re to your feet in the blink of an eye.
>With your back still turned to the two you grab a shaft in each hand and with a quick yank snap the spear heads from their weapons. You toss the spear heads towards the third dog in front. They collide with his breast plate causing him to stumble.
>Before you could capitalize on the one in front the two in back have dropped their useless weapons for hand to hand combat.
>When you hear one of them grunt you turn your head to the right to see a fist the size of your chest strike the right side of your jaw.
>The blow causes your head to twist to the left and it causes you to stagger forward. Thanks to that strike you’re able to see the second dog’s fist coming right for you.
>You make a split second decision that you hope works in your favor. Your raise your left hand and you manage to catch the diamond dog’s fist. When Luna said your strength was augmented she wasn’t lying.
>You aren’t the only one who’s shocked, the dog whose fist you caught is staring at you in disbelief. His fist was easily twice the size of yours, yet you managed to stop it. The other two stop and stare as well.
>You take this time to rub the spot on your jaw where you were hit to find the pain had already started to dull, unfortunately you could feel your jaw start to swell a little; sore to the touch.
>It’s not exactly quick healing but at least the magic inside your body will take care of it. Just got to think of the usual state your jaw is in.
>You get a good handful of the fur on the diamond dog’s paw you were holding and pull. Both you and your target are shocked when you effortlessly pull him forward. The dog loses his balance and falls forward.
>You bring back your right hand back and bring it forward with an uppercut. You hear the satisfying crack of bone from your fist slamming in to your target’s chin.
>The force of your blow knocks the diamond dog backwards and on to his back. He doesn’t move from his position on the ground, he’s out cold.
>When you turn towards your second target you find he’s still in shock from you knocking his comrade on to his ass.
>Perfect, you bring your left hand back and ready a fire spell, when its ready you sling it as if you were throwing a ball. The spell connects with the dog’s breastplate; the impact knocks him back a few feet.
>With his armor now burning in a brilliant blue flame he’s been taken out of the battle. The third comes to his senses and brings up his fists, he moves over to you and jabs.
>Even though his strike was meant for speed, it’s much too slow. You weave around his jab, and then he jabs again.
>When you weave around his second strike he doesn’t stop. Neither do you, none of his strikes manage to hit you. You can see him getting angry at being unable to hit you.
>That’s when he brings his arm back to hit you with everything he’s got. Unfortunately for him you’re faster than he is.
>Right when he brings his fist back you lunge forward, you bring your right arm back and swing as hard as you can in his solar plexus. You hear the air leave his lungs; he clutches his stomach before dropping to his knees.

>Two more dogs join the fight, you turn to face them as they charge, their spears at the ready. The two of them thrust in rapid succession causing you to leap back.
>Before your feet touch ground you feel the shaft of a spear smack across your back horizontally. You hear the diamond dog behind you grunt as he pushes you forward via the shaft of his spear, then downward slamming you in to the ground.
>He uses his spear to keep you pinned; you look up to see the other dogs have surrounded you, each of them pointing a spear at your face. Well, there went that little attempt at revenge.
>Wow, you’re supposed to be some sort of super human, yet the best thing you could do was incapacitate three diamond dogs, hell you weren’t even capable of killing them.
>You curse under your breath as Fido makes his way over to you, he’s got this cocky smile on his face that does nothing more than rub in the fact that you’ve failed.
>”Nice try ape, but one can only do so much,” says Fido as he kneels down to get a better look at you. His smile leaves his face when he sees the rage billowing from your gaze.
>”Hmm, you know what? I’m feeling rather generous tonight. Dog’s let him up, I’m gonna offer him a little deal,” says Fido as he motions for his dogs to move back from you.
>You stand and wipe away the dirt from your uniform, then you ball your hands in to fists and ready yourself for another go.
>If they’re stupid enough to let you stand then you’re not going to give them the satisfaction of stopping you again.
>Fido backs away from you, “Wait, if you start this up then you’re just going to end up on your belly again. Listen to what I have to say. You want to avenge your p0nies and make us leave correct?” asks Fido as he stands before you. You nod.
>”Then I will give you that chance, I shall adhere to the Equestrian Code of Single P0ny Combat,” Fido explains, you relax more out of confusion than anything else.
>”Wait huh?” you ask, Fido chuckles, “You’re a part of the Equestrian Army yet you don’t know the code of honor you follow? That’s pathetic even I know about it,” says Fido as he shakes his head in shame.
>Fueled by your anger from your sudden embarrassment you bring forth your magic, Fido and his dogs watch the blue flames as they dance around the gaps of your fingers. Fido’s words surprise you when he says:
>”Let me put this in to terms you can understand; you and I are going to fight one on one. Winner claims the castle for their own,” says Fido as he cracks his knuckles, “Well…this is unexpected.” You say absentmindedly.
>”How so?” asks Fido, “You’ve got greater numbers, you’ve already beaten me back once, why challenge me to a duel when there’s a higher chance you’ll lose? I’ll accept your challenge but I gotta say this isn’t very smart of you.” you say, not understanding Fido’s logic.
>Fido laughs heartily, when he’s finally able to speak he says, “Oh that’s the thing I won’t lose. I just wanna beat you myself,” says Fido as he slams his paws in to the ground. You visibly flinch when the ground below your feet vibrates from his massive paws.

>With that Fido about faces and makes his way back in to the castle, “Since you have unicorn magic I’m going to even the odds,” as Fido opens the door to the castle he calls out,
>“I will need some assistance getting in to my armor,” says Fido and with that two diamond dogs follow him in to the castle.
>So, Fido intends on wearing armor in order to fight you, that’s fine you’re sure that you could tear in to whatever Fido covers himself in. You dispel the magic in your hands and wait for Fido to make his return.
>You wait for a good ten minutes before the two diamond dogs that followed Fido make their way back outside, “Okay there’s the two of you but where’s Fido?” you ask as you try to look within the castle’s interior.
>You hear the sound of metal upon stone as Fido lumbers out of the front door; his hulking form is now covered from head to paw in thick, black plate mail.
>In his left paw he carries a shield nearly the size of his body, while in his right paw he’s got an ebony spear.
>The only visible ‘fur’ you can see is what you see in the open visor of Fido’s helmet. That stops when Fido pulls down the visor over his eyes.
>”Let the duel begin,” Fido wastes no time; he lumbers towards you with his shield in front of himself. You launch two fire spells his way, both connect with his shield.
>Unfortunately your magic lacks the power necessary to knock him off balance and Fido keeps on coming as if nothing happened. “Shit,” you s say as your forced to roll out of the way of a spear thrust.
>When you’re to your feet you’re forced to move to the right in order to avoid another thrust, then you prone in order to avoid the horizontal swing that comes after.

>You scramble to your feet barely dodging Fido’s spear tip as it lodges itself in to the ground right where your back was a few seconds ago. Fido tries to pull his spear from the ground but he’s unable to.
>You capitalize on that, you unleash a fire ball on Fido’s exposed side, this causes him to stumble which makes him let go of his weapon.
>As you’re charging up another spell Fido lunges for you and he swings with his shielded paw. You stop your spell and raise your arms in front of yourself to block, only to be launched a good five yards back.
>You heard the bones in your fore arms snap upon contact, you let out a yelp of pain as your back hits the cold stone ground. Why did Luna give you bones in your fake arms you don’t need those!
>Though almost as soon as the pain erupted, you hear the cracking of your bones popping back in to place and the pain subsiding.
>As your bones heal you can feel your fatigue starting to set in, healing your structure at a quick rate really takes a bit out of you. You’re barely back on two feet before you see Fido coming for you again.
>In the time it took for you to stand Fido got his spear dislodged from the ground, he thrusts, you move to the right to dodge and Fido tags you with his shield. Again you’re sent flying back.
>Your body bounces a few times before skidding to a stop, upon impact you feel the air leave your lungs.
> Damn it Anon you’re supposed to be better than this, it sucks Fido is too big for you to use any sort of combat skill you actually know how to use. You get right back up and here comes Fido yet again.

>This time he slams in to you shield first, lucky for you, you managed to grab hold of the sides of his shield and you put as much weight in to your legs as possible in order to stop Fido’s charge, but instead of stopping him in his tracks you only slowed him down, he’s still moving along.
>Your feet leave a trail of dust as he pushes you back, you try digging your feet further in to the cobblestone but Fido’s forward motion is too powerful. He wasn’t lying when he said he was stronger than his comrades.
>As you’re forced along Fido taunts you, “What’s wrong can’t you fight me like the others or am I too much for you? I thought you had to claim this castle no matter what!”
>You grit your teeth in anger before jumping, using the top of Fido’s shield you vault over the diamond dog leader and land behind him.
>While Fido’s back is turned you bring your elbow back before slamming it in to the center of Fido’s back. You grimace when you do more damage to yourself than to Fido’s armor.
>You leap back, keeping yourself within arm’s length of Fido’s back, “Huh?” you ask, bewildered at the fact that Fido didn’t turn to face you. You hear Fido chuckle; yeah you’ll give him something to laugh about.
>You bring your fist back and swing with all the force you can muster in your body, you hit the exact same spot you did with your elbow.
>You curse before pulling back your injured hand, you hope nothing’s broken. You’re still not at full strength from the bones your body had to repair. That’s when it dons on you…
>You can’t grab him, you can’t pin him, and you can’t effectively counter him, all because of his size and that thick armor he’s wearing. That’s when Fido turns to face you, “Yeah you’re bucked,” says Fido.

>Fido slams the shaft of his spear along his shield as if to taunt you. You move back from Fido in an attempt to get as much distance as possible.
> You hear his muffled snarls before he smashes the bottom of his shield in to the ground, sending sparks up around his feet.
>He runs towards you with his shield in front of him. As it slides upon the ground you see the shower of sparks his shield emits as Fido barrels towards you.
>You have barely enough time to roll to his left and out of the way of the impending blow. You take a quick look around before taking off deeper in to the city. “Come back here coward!” shouts Fido as he chases after you.
>For a large dog wearing even larger armor he’s pretty fast, the fact that he’s able to keep right on your heels isn’t filling you with much confidence.
>When you hear the sounds of his heavy armored paws as they crack the stone beneath them you yelp. Fido’s right behind you, as he gets ready to swing you spot a crumbling house with a seemingly sturdy roof upon it.
>You close in on your destination, if you can jump on to that roof perhaps you can get Fido up there with you, his heavy form might cause the roof to collapse.
>If you can’t beat your opponents through superior fighting skill, you try to outsmart them. You turn to see Fido in mid thrust with his spear, you move to the right to avoid it.
>That’s when you leap in the direction of the house you’ve spotted. You hear the roof groan from underneath your feet upon landing, lucky for you the roof didn’t cave in on you.
>You breathe a sigh of relief before looking down at Fido, you can’t see his expression from behind his helmet but you know he’s furious. You’ve just leaped out of his reach…or so you thought.

>”Can’t get me from up here can ya?” you say before your extend your middle finger in his general direction, perhaps that little immature gesture will be enough to get him to climb up after you. Judging by how Fido doesn’t seem that angry he’s got no idea what the hell that gesture means.
>Sure enough you see Fido look to an adjacent building; you see Fido put his spear on his back. You hear a loud click as something locks Fido’s spear in place. Fido barrels through the front door of this adjacent building.
>Soon enough Fido opens a door leading to the roof of the building he ran in to. Yeah the building you chose is a good story smaller than the one Fido chose. You watch as Fido grabs hold of his spear.
>Then Fido leaps from the roof of his building, over to yours, you smirk as you step as far back as you can from Fido’s point of landing while still staying on the roof.
>Sure enough Fido’s hulking form lands on top of your roof and it can’t take the increase in weight.
>The area around Fido sinks in before giving way to his heavy form, you hear him yelp as he falls in to the building below.
>Lucky for you only that section of the roof gave way, you make your way over to the hole Fido fell in and leap after him. Through the ages of gathered dust and rubble you can see his stunned form. He’s lying upon his back.
>Then you see his spear lying a few feet away, you make a mad dash towards him. With strength you didn’t even know you had you manage to tear Fido’s helmet off of his head.
>After that you grab his spear and point the bladed end at his now exposed throat. Then you play the waiting game, soon enough Fido shakes his head in hopes of getting his bearings.

>His eyes widen and he freezes when he sees you standing over him, with his own spear pointing down at him. You give him a cocky grin, “Looks like I win,” you say as you let out a small chuckle.
>Fido’s expression turns sour, “You cheated,” he managed to say before letting out a growl. Your smile widens.
>“No I didn’t, you were just too damn stupid to realize how big of a mistake that was. You’re big, you’re strong, hell you’re even fast, but you can’t forget about how heavy you are. That roof couldn’t hold us both; I knew it and you should have too. Guess you were too angry to think.” You explain as you bring the tip of Fido’s spear closer to his neck.
>He flinches, eyeing you and the spear trained at his collar. “DOGS!” Fido shouts, soon enough you turn your gaze to the left to see six diamond dogs come bursting through the wall.
>How the rest of the building didn’t come crumbling down on all of you is a miracle, the diamond dogs look from you to their leader. You hear them growl before they train their spears upon you.
>You turn from the dogs to Fido, “Dogs, we are leaving,” says Fido as he looks over to them. As much as you’d like to get revenge for what Fido has done to your p0nies you choose to respect the agreement the two of you made.
>You step off of Fido and allow him to get to his feet, “I will remember this human,” he doesn’t even cast you a second glance as he picks up his helmet. Fido and his dogs make their way out of the crumbling building and out in to the streets.
>You make your way out after them, only to find Fido and the rest of his group are fleeing from the castle in the direction of the nearby mountains…then you see they left their wounded.
>There must be a western gate as well. As you watch what you believe to be the last of them run away you make your way back to the castle. That’s when you realize you’re still holding Fido’s weapon.
>Well what do you know, new weapon. Meh you don’t know how the hell to use it but perhaps you can learn on the fly. At least you’re no longer unarmed.
>When you make your way to the castle entrance you see Luna towards the southern end of the castle, her ever flowing ethereal mane gives her away. As do the numerous amounts of soldiers following after her.
>When she makes it to you she looks around to see the four unlucky p0nies, “This is rather unfortunate,” says Luna as she frowns at you.
>You sigh before looking down at Feather and the others, “They were overran while I was talking with their leader, when I came outside I saw this. There wasn’t anything I could do.” You reply.
>”Well, that’s not true, I gave you the ability to heal p0nies,” says Luna as her expression turns angry. “I’m well aware, and if I did that they’d just kill another p0ny. This sucks, I didn’t want this to happen, but I didn’t want to risk losing any more soldiers,” you say as you look to Luna.
>Luna shakes her head in disappointment, “Anonymous, I gave you more than enough. You should have been able to wipe the floor with these dogs,” now you’re the one starting to get mad.
>”Hey, I can’t help it if I don’t know what all I’m capable of, this is new to me,” you say as you remove one of your gloves.
>“And this, I don’t even know what’s all under this skin you gave me. I do know there’s bone here,” and with that you put your glove back over your mismatched hand.
>Luna remains silent for a bit before addressing her soldiers, “Captain Gadget, take the fallen and bury them outside the castle walls. I will join you within the hour to give them a proper eulogy.”
>You watch as a larger than average sized unicorn makes his way through the crowd of soldiers. The first and only thing you notice is that unlike the others he’s wearing a white pack on his back. Then you see a Red Cross on his breastplate.
>Medic p0ny is the only words that come to mind, “You heard our Princess, get em on the stretchers,” says Gadget as he calls back in to the group of soldiers.
>You watch as a dozen unicorns make their way over to him with stretchers being carried by magic. As Gadget and the rest of his team put your fallen p0nies on the stretchers provided.
>As the bodies are carried out Luna steps around you, she motions for you to follow her as she makes her way in to the castle. When you step through the threshold Luna uses her magic to slam the doors shut.
>You jump a little, the sudden noise scaring you. “Scaring you was not my intention, I apologize,” says Luna as she turns to you. “So, how are Dash and the others,” you ask as you make your way over to a nearby seat.
>Fortunately Old Canterlot must have had taller guests in the past; the chair is just the right size for you. ”Despite the events occurring around them they are taking it quite well. I’m not surprised, they are the element bearers after all,” says Luna as she begins lighting whatever torches aren’t already lit with her magic.
>You nod before reclining in your seat, “Even if they wield the Elements of Harmony they’re like everyone else. Probably trying to look strong for the others. Gotta keep up appearances for the troops after all,” you say as you cross your arms.>Luna sighs as she lights the final torch in your little area, “Indeed…I just hope they won’t have to get involved…but it’s not as if I have a say in that matter,” says Luna as she takes a seat on a bench across from you.
>When Luna makes herself comfortable upon the bench you glance over her for a few moments. Her star clustered mane seems to have lost its luster. Whatever stars remained started to blink out of existence. To become a part of the dark blue void that made up the rest of her mane.
>Her cyan eyes, once teeming with life seem to have grayed, the bags that began to form under them only added to her bedraggled appearance. How you managed to overlook her horrendous appearance is beyond you.
>Luna takes notice of you looking over her, “I’ve seen better days,” says Luna, it’s followed by a hollowed laugh. “Luna...did you get any sleep on the way here?” you ask out of concern.
>She shakes her head much to your dismay, “Too busy, my p0nies and I have been formulating a plan of attack and I’ve been rationing out supplies, troops, stations, finding a base of operations…not much time to sleep,” says Luna as she shrugs.
>”Having to act as a figurehead and the general of our army is not an easy task,” says Luna as she lets out a small yawn, “Wait…I thought you would have appointed somep0ny to that position,” you say as you lean in.
>Luna shakes her head, “I do not trust anyp0ny else to formulate a proper strategy other than myself,” says Luna, “And why is that?” you ask. Luna sighs before shaking her head, “If I were to give you a proper answer we would be here all night,” nice excuse there princess.

>You groan out of frustration, this pony doesn’t seem to want to give herself a break. Next thing you know she’s going to start snapping at everyone. “So, where are Dash and the others?” you ask
>Luna answers, “They, along with my officers, are on their way here. When they arrive there will be much to discuss. Since you managed to accomplish your mission we can begin the next phase of our plan,” says Luna as she lays her head down upon the bench.
>You decide against asking her what the next part of her plan could be, she needs at least a few minutes reprieve.
>So could you, even though your magic has taken care of whatever ails you, the overuse of it appears to have taken its toll, “Hey Luna…I’m feeling a little…,” your vision blurs.
>Luna looks to you as your head begins to droop, “Oh, I forgot to mention…using magic for an extended period of time will exhaust you,” her explanation falls upon deaf ears. You’ve already passed out.