A single tower in the middle of Ponyville, serves as our lookout. Several small landing pads littered the sides so scouts can land easily. It was only as wide as a single room and a winding staircase leads up the inside to the very top. Four stories in the air was all I needed to see the army of Og Nag slowly approaching the town. They walk slower than normal, not timidly or cautiously, but almost trying to provoke us.

The wall they slowly travel towards, is lined with archers. Our best shots were behind them about thirty feet in towers. If Zaran opened up on that wall, I didn't need our more veteran sharpshooters being taken out first. They could also provide cover in the event we have a breach and lend aid should another wall go down. Also, if my more novice archers suddenly panicked, they could be given instructions with ease. It was also a comfort to them knowing more experienced fighters were directly over their shoulder so to speak.

Below me, roughly a thousand Lancercore shake in place. Two thirds of them were actual fighters, with reloading stations in the back. Their numbers had plummeted since we hit Zaran's tanks and now they know what they're up against. No matter how many times we tried to explain that normal compact won't be such a disaster, they could get the rows of jagged teeth out of their minds. The palace had become increasingly louder at night, as the former members of Lancercore dreamed about the horrors they saw. Taraska had experienced these things throughout our entire lives and looks of contempt from the ponies, were now replaced with expressions of sympathy and respect. They were finally starting to get just who we were.

As I look to the west on the massive tide of Og Nag, Lucretia keeps her eyes to the south while leaning against a beam that supports our little roof. Emeris pants heavily while watching to the north. They weren't splitting up this time and were certainly coming for our most fortified position. The west wall still had impaled Og Nag that forced attackers into narrow chokepoints.

They continue their march towards Ponyville, still no signs of anything being off. The walls we made from wood and metal, were at least twenty feet high. It would cost them thousands of soldiers to even pile up that high. Certain soldiers were assigned to pike duty, which meant using an extremely long pike to push over mounds of Og Nag away from the wall. Zaran had to have known this, so what was he planning? There weren't any abnormals in the group, no ladders, no explosives, nothing.

Spitfire lands on a perch behind me and pants. She takes a deep breath as I turn around. "General Raiden, we can't figure out what their plan is. There's no shaven trees this time. Are they just going to have their Garges bang on it or something?!"

Emeris turns around and faces her. "Those walls will bend with every hit from a Garge. It would take them a while to get through, assuming our archers didn't nail them first. We have no idea what Zaran is planning and we haven't been able to think of a weakness he can exploit yet. Even if they did have trees or ladders, those walls of dead Og Nag we made, are going to make that annoying. There's only sixteen spots they all have to squeeze through and our archers will be on it before they can do anything significant. They'll eventually clog the hole and make a mound of dead bodies for other Og Nag to climb over, but then they'd just be hoping over the wall to their death. It would take them at least four or five thousand to pile up outside the walls so they could even climb over. Then they'll have to eat Taraskan steel and lancercore."

Lucretia squints her eyes and shakes her head. "He can't just brute force it, so what is he doing?! He's not stupid, we can't just write this off as some military blunder out of pure desperation. He has to have something planned, but what?!" She kicks the beam she was just leaning against and groans with irritation. I lean against the railing and sigh.

"So logically, if he didn't bring anything with him, then that means there's something already here for him to use, right? So, what is it? He has...nothing but walls to work with. Walls of Og Nag and our walls of half wood half metal. Is there something I'm not seeing? Is there an object out there we don't know about?! What is it?!" It was beginning to drive us all mad. Even members of the Wonderbolts were starting to suggest maybe he was just trying his luck.

There was no way I was going to write Zaran off that easily. The Og Nag had the same typical armor, same weapons, same completely random formations. The Garges were in front, mixed in with plenty of smaller Og Nag. Were the Garges going to climb up? Could Zaran coordinate them to lift themselves over the wall? That would be almost impossible with our archers. Even if a few Garge's made it over the wall, they'd be flanked constantly. I made sure if it by spacing out our archers just right.

Our base goes quiet as the Og Nag stop several yards before the walls of bodies. Lucretia is suddenly at my side staring at me with wide eyes. "You don't think Zaran found a way of resurrecting those dead Og Nag, do you?!"

I shake my head calmly and turn to her. "No, even if he did, he'd have to pull them off the spikes anyways. It would be slow and inefficient. I mean even if he could, he's more than welcome to. It will just give us time to pick off more of his-" A loud slam against our forward wall startles me. We all look at each other as there's suddenly so much pounding against metal, that it almost sounds like war drums.

Soren lands in front of us with a confused look. "Sir, the Garges are just grabbing the smaller Og Nag and hurling them against the wall. They're dying on impact though. That's all they're doing is just throwing their soldiers at us."

I stroke my chin and look out across the land in the other three directions. "I want all of your fliers doing recon double time. It might be a distraction. Soarin I want you to focus your efforts on the thrown Og Nag though. Look for every detail you can find. Report back here every few minutes, even if all you have is the same report as last time."

Emeris snorts and faces us. "I mean he can't get through the walls like that...right? That's not going to work, right?"

Lucretia gives a large, uncomfortable shrug. We all knew it wasn't going to work, but Zaran doesn't just do things for no reason. There had to be a purpose, but what was it? The pounding continues and several members of Lancercore start shuffling in place. Was he trying to startle the bulk of our forces? It wasn't a bad fear tactic, but he'd still have to get in here for moral to matter. No one was about to run while surrounded in a fortified base. Even Canterlot wasn't a good option, with the princesses on strict orders to refrain from magic use unless they have no alternatives.

The Wonderbolts are still racing through the skies, looking for any kind of secondary attack. I knew they probably wouldn't find anything. Zaran knew we had fliers and would utilize them heavily, so a surprise attack would be almost guaranteed to be spotted. Even if there was one, I had a few scouts stationed all over who would call out at the first sign of trouble. There was a good chance that whatever he was doing, I was looking at it unfolding right before my eyes. We stand here, almost going insane from ignorance.

Lucretia's foot drums the floor mercilessly. She turns to Soarin. "Okay so tell me about where the Og Nag are being thrown at perhaps?"

Soarin shrugs. "At the wall? Just over and over?"

Lucretia shakes her head and holds up her hands. "No no no, like...where at the wall? A specific spot, all over, is there any kind of pattern?"

Soarin taps his chin with a hoof. "It honestly just seems like it's all over the wall. I think every spot on it has been hit so far and they just keep going."

Lucretia stares at him with a mix of being baffled and angry. "There has to be something Soarin! Think hard! Did you see anything at all?! Some detail you missed?!"

Emeris puts a hand on her shoulder. "Easy Lucy, he's done the best he can. Yelling at him isn't going to give you the answers you want."

Lucretia closes her eyes and leans her head back with a long sigh. "Alright I'm sorry Soarin, I just wanna know what the hell Zaran is doing."

Soarin shrugs casually and glances at me. "Do you want me to keep reconing that area sir or move on to something else?" I give him a nod and he takes off while trying to restrain a look of annoyance on his face.

Emeris' face has a look of worry when he turns to me. "Okay well let's go over this then. What happens long-term if Zaran keeps this up? It's not good for moral, it's a decent distraction, I mean I guess it could be a moderate form of artillery. What else is going to happen?"

Lucretia's eyes bulge. "They're going to pile up! That's what he's doing! He's going to pile up Og Nag then use their bodies as a ramp!" She shrieks it so loud, most of Lancercore looks up at our tower. Emeris and I exchange expressions of complete shock. It made sense why we didn't think of this until now. My soldiers weren't expendable to us, so we don't think in those terms. Zaran knows full-well about using expendable forces. He truly doesn't care about his Og Nag and why would he?

Lucretia looks between Emeris and I in panic. "What are we going to do?! We can't have our hook teams down there, it's too dangerous!"

I look over Lancercore who starts to panic again. "Have some of Lancercore's reloading teams clear them out. It's all we can do. Are the Garge's within arrow range?"

Emeris looks out over their army. "No, not even close. I mean we can hit them with arrows, but it looks like they got extra armor on top. It would just be a waste honestly. Even if we killed the thrown Og Nag, it doesn't matter, he just needs their corpses. Can we signal the princesses?"

Lucretia let's out her excruciating groan. "That's exactly what Zaran wants though. Even if Luna started hauling away bodies, it will only last until she gets tired. I mean she could clear out like what, two or three hundred before she gets tired? That's how it worked last time when we first got here. Zaran doesn't even have all of his Og Nag out there yet! He'd just send in reinforcements once she's tired."

I lean over and motion to a tactical lieutenant for her team to start clearing away bodies. Spitfire lands on a perch with a concerned look in her eye. "Lancercore is starting to lose it sir! I've seen several lancers try to make a run for it!"

Emeris sighs and rubs his face. "Have Lancercore move up closer to the wall. Some walking might do them a bit of good. Have them escort the reloading teams who are gonna clear the wall." Spitfire nods then flies down to Lancercore. After a quick talk, Lancercore starts moving forward with their reloading team in the middle, surrounded by Lancers. Lucretia taps her fingers on the ledge nervously. "This is gonna get so bad, I just know it." She stands up straight and runs down the steps of the tower. Emeris and I follow behind, but don't bother distracting her when her brain is on fire.

She marches up to a few ponies in the back, who are readying the lances to be loaded. They whirl around and salute her, with eyes wide and legs shaking. Lucretia puts her hands on her hips, then shifts her weight to her left leg. "Okay I need some more info on magic when it comes to lifting stuff. Can you like...intercept things?"

The ponies look at each other before answering. "Well it varies from pony to pony. Typically, the harder something is thrown, the harder it is to stop it."

Her friend nods and chimes in." It's exactly like catching stuff with your body. Magic is like...reaching out with your mind for something. Everypony has a different degree of accuracy."

Lucretia nods while tapping her hands on her hips. "Okay so...how good do you think you'd all be at catching those Og Nag?"

The ponies look down uncomfortably. "I mean...I don't think one of us could stop it. If we all got together and targeted the same thing, but...I mean we can't coordinate like that!"

Lucretia claws the sides of her helmet and half shrieks and groans. We follow her as she runs to the front, where the reloading team starts tossing bodies away. She runs inside one of the archer towers, so she can see. They do a decent job of tossing bodies, but they keep having to run back and forth across the wall's walkway to different spots. They start bumping into each other and shouting erupts from the group.

Lucretia shoves the archer aside and calls out to the group angrily. "You morons! Half of you go to one side of the wall, the other half on the other side! If you're not doing anything, then find something to do!" The reloading team does a decent job of splitting up evenly without anyone assigning sections. Lucretia slowly nods her head approvingly but keeps her lower lip bit.

Bodies get flung rapidly and for the time being, it doesn't have to be pretty. They litter the ground in front of the wall in a random mess. The ponies go for speed, not accuracy. Our heads dart up when we hear horrified screams. Lifeless Og Nag begin to hammer the reloading team. They're not terribly accurate, but when one hits, the entire team has to brace itself with a shield. The moment they defend themselves, three more Og Nag get tossed onto the pile.

Their little group keeps having team members suddenly stop bracing the shield at the worse times. Those who do keep protecting the group, strain that much more to keep the magical barrier up. Right as another small wave of Og Nag are about to collide with the shield, four of their members look away to move a few bodies. The Og Nag hit, and the entire group is sent sailing off the wall and to the ground.

Lucretia pounds her fists onto the railing of the tower over and over. "Ugh! They need to coordinate more! We don't have time for this!" She whirls around and searches for two of our soldiers on the ground. "You two! Get up front and help everyone! Make sure they know when to toss on a shield, and when to toss bodies!" The two soldiers salute, then book it up the wall to our remaining reloading team. A few of our other soldiers run to the group that just got tossed off and help everypony up.

I watch them closely, wanting to know how bad it is. My units look over the reloading team, examining each pony for injuries. One looks up at me and gives a slow shake of his head. The team was combat ineffective, we were down an entire reloading team. My soldiers begin helping the ponies get back up, so they can limp to the rear of the base for medical assistance.

With only one team still active, Zaran hammers on them relentlessly. Body after body slams into their shield so much, that they can't spare anyone to clear bodies. They close their eyes and grit their teeth. The shield flickers under the strain and the dead Og Nag collide against the shield, just to fall on this side of the wall as well.

A unicorn comes bolting past our tower, on her way to the reloading team. She has purple fur with blue eyes. Her ocean blue mane hangs down to one side, just stopping at her right knee. It whips back behind her as she gallops. On her forehead, is a silver circlet with a green gem in it. She leaps into the air and a large green bubble appears under her. She rides it to the top of the wall and stands in the middle of the group. Her horn flares black and the shield doubles in size and stops flickering. It becomes opaquer and you can barely see what's on the other side.

Emeris bumps my shoulder. "That's the mare that was guarding the dimensional prison, right?" I nod and watch her curiously. None of us had seen her outside her guard position and now it was time to see what she could really do. Og Nag slam against her shield, but it doesn't budge an inch. She stands there calmly and mutters something to the ponies. They start flinging bodies away as her shield easily takes all the blows.

I clasp my fingers behind my head. "Alright, well we're holding out for now, but we need to start gaining soon. Anyone have ideas for how to start evening the odds? Also, this isn't going to work forever. Eventually, they'll exhaust their magic and we'll be back to square one-"

We all stop and watch as a Garge flies through the air. It roars angrily and readies a massive ax for when it lands. The mare who had saved our defensive, now looks up at the Garge in horror. She tenses up and closes her eyes as her horn flares fiercely.

Lucretia starts screaming over the railing. "All of you! Pull your magic together and help-" Too late. The Garge lets out a fierce howl and slams his ax into her shield. She screams, and a fierce wind erupts to her sides. Her shield flickers a few times and she begins sliding back. The other ponies look at her in complete shock. Lucretia starts hammering the railing again. "Don't just stand there! Help her!" Before the ponies snap out of it, the Garge brings the ax over his head and slams it into her shield. It shatters, and she's cut in half. Her circlet, now in two pieces, falls off her head and tumbles down behind her to the ground. Part of her body, casually slides of the wall and to the ground, leaving a reds streak in its path.

Lucretia covers her mouth with her hands then bolts down the tower. Emeris and I follow her, having no idea how she's going to react. She runs towards the wall and stares at the Garge with a mix of terror and rage. She balls her hands and holds them next to her head as she yells.

"All you had to do was listen to me! All of you! You can't get so scared like this! It just-" She bows her head, still holding her fists next to it. The ground starts to rumble, and it seems like Zaran might have one more trick up his sleeve. When Lucretia looks back up, her irises are glowing gold and all traces of fear are gone. "None of you know what you're doing! Not a single one of you and now our trump card is gone! I'm done being nice!" She stomps her foot and I'm forced backwards by an invisible force and some odd sense of guilt and determination. I felt terrible for not listening to her instructions and we could have saved that mare if we had just focused.

Lucretia lowers her fists to her sides and continues to scream. "You will listen to me and we are going to slaughter every single one of these little freaks!" She tilts her head back and closes her eyes. As she lets out a ferocious roar, the ground shakes violently and we're all forced down to one knee. I can see and feel everyone. It was as if my senses had evolved past mere sight. I just knew where everyone was and what they were doing as if I had given the orders myself.

As I look back at her, Lucretia's hair has formed golden spikes that shoot down her back. Random crackles of yellow electricity erupt all over her body. The Garge takes one look at her, jumps off the wall and starts charging her. He readies his ax and right before he goes to swing, his eyes glow yellow and he stops. He drops his ax and starts howling while holding his head. His eyes continue to change from red to gold. After falling to his knees, he lets out one more pitiful howl before his head explodes into a thousand gory pieces. Chunks of his face, thunk against the sides of our towers and we're left in complete disbelief.

A strange sense of certainty floods my mind, as Lancercore marches to the wall in formation. Not one face looked nervous. Every head was held high and proud. Each stomp is powerful and without hesitation as if their marching was its own war drum. We had to hold the wall. We'd let them pour over and during the rough transition from jumping down, we'd slaughter them. Our archers bolt past me, all with completely blank expressions. Everyone here had iris' that glowed faintly of gold, even Lancercore. There was no doubt on who was going to do their job. We were all here, ready to win.

The tide washes over, as the Og Nag that were once beyond our arrows, have been charging towards the wall this entire time. They pour over the wall, jumping down and landing on all fours. Two roughly my size, get up, look at me, then pull out their weapons before plunging them into their own faces. I see a hint of that strange gold in their eyes right until they do it. Roughly half of the Og Nag who make it over, take their own lives without flinching.

A nice sized freak pulls out his weapon and runs at me. I turn my sword, so it faces upwards behind my arm, resting flat against my tricep. He goes to swing at me, but I rotate my body into him, deflecting his attack with my sword still behind my arm, then ramming my other elbow spike into his face. An ally of his tries to impale me, but I see him coming too. I whip my sword around and parry his attack, so he sails past me. I toss my sword back to my right hand and the moment I grip it, I bring it down behind me without looking. The Og Nag pauses with my cold steel in the back of his skull. I continue to face forward, but give a rear kick with my leg, sending him flying off my weapon.

With everyone acting in complete unison, did we still have a chance against fifteen thousand Og Nag?