Rainbow and Rarity were looking at their friend with deeply concerned expressions on their faces, but none of them actually saying anything due to the same hard look their friend turned princess had on her face.
Ever since she returned from the everfree, without Zecora, they noticed instantly, she had a heavy aura around her that dared anypony to break it, but also warned everypony of the consequences they'd have if they did so.
Instead of that, they all simply stood alert at her side on top of the Wall, on the lookout for what Twilight had described in only three words.
"They are coming."
Foals and most mares had been taken to the center of the town, inside Twilight's tree home and her neightbors' homes to protect them, while some of the brave mares and stallions stood on top of the walls with whatever weapons they had: shovels, pickaxes, pitchforks, somepony who had found Pinkie's cannon and pretty much every heavy object they could find to drop on top of the invaders' heads if they dared to get too close.
Again, it wasn't exactly the best when it came to war, and Twilight knew it. She had studied with her brother the armor and weapons a guard would be taught to fight with. Swords, spears, battle axes, bows and arrows, etcetera. All of those were good weapons… and the most she was counting with was Big Mac with a heavy hammer she had only seen him use to repair the fence of their home.
That, and she had a heavy suspicion they'd be heavily outnumbered, if the numbers of troops she had seen in Canterlot were correct. She didn't know how many they'd bring, but it seemed Caribou were wise enough to trust not only in their brute strength, but also on numeric advantage. She remembered how several of them lunged at her and her friends, even if a single one of them could easily best them in physical strength.
She had made sure to tell the rest of Ponyville how things would probably be. Dozens of battle plans were made, and it showed by the ponies on top of the wall having whatever they could think of. Stones, hot oil, coal, whatever they could find that could hurt when thrown or dropped onto somepony, it was something they'd use.
"… So… where are they?" Rainbow's voice finally broke the tension, making several ponies turn to her with a questioning look on their faces. The rainbow maned pegasus was almost laying on top of the upper section of the wall while her eyes, having a bored expression on them, lazily scanned the forest surrounding one of Ponyville's sides.
At least on that, Twilight had been precise and deducted they'd attack from the forest, seeing as it would be a best chance to get them by ambush, rather than facing them head on by rushing through the open fields of the other side of the town.
"Rainbow, I've told you i simply know they are coming. But i don't know exactly when... So, be prepared. They could be here either any minute now, or they could arrive at sunset, at night, or even tomorrow, or the day after."
Even if she seemed calmed and collected, the same words she was saying brought a deep anxiety into the young alicorn's mind. Every moment they waited was a moment she was left to remember all those horrible things she had seen so far, with the most recent ones, those she had seen of her friends and the princesses, being the ones she had the most in her mind.
Though there was a change. And she was afraid of that change. The more her mind brought those thoughts to her mind, the most she saw herself reflected on them. To say she was already getting used to the "nightmares", as she had begun calling them, was an understatement. Awake or asleep, it was pretty much everything she was seeing in her mind every passing moment, either the image of the princesses being raped in every imaginable way, or the image of her own, twisted self suffering that same raping... and liking it.
She had tried to busy herself with the preparations, finding those useless, seeing as the nightmares would return shortly. She had tried to go back to some meaningless studies she had before the invasion, but her mind always drifted back to those memories. She was even afraid of going to sleep because she knew she'd be having those same dreams.
But in that moment? It had become pretty much normal to her at that point. She found herself not caring at all if she had or not those dreams or memories. If anything, she had started to take them in as a reminder of what she was fighting for. To not end like that, to prevent anypony else from having such destiny, and to save those ponies who had fallen into those depraved practices.
She had seen so many ponies suffering the abuse over and over back in Canterlot. And she couldn't bear it in her mind to see her neighbors, her dear Ponyville, the same way Canterlot had fallen. It was enough seeing it almost destroyed by a Parasprite rampage, but seeing it as a mock of what it once was, corrupted endlessly and continuusly by the Caribou and their twisted ways? No.
"Well... seeing as it might take some time... how about we take turns at watching? After all, it's necessary a single pony to sound the alarm in case something were to happen." Rarity rose her voice once more, making the ponies turn to her and leaving aside Rainbow for a moment. "I mean, it would be a waste of energy to have us all here in the Wall, tired and without some rest, instead of having some of us well rested in case something really bad started to happen, am i wrong?"
Several of the ponies on the wall nodded at that, already several of them taking their "weapons" with them and walking towards the ramps and stairs to go down.
"... Stay in your place."
Almost every single pony stood still when the princess' voice sounded with a single order. Already some of them having concerned or even afraid expression on them when they turned to her. Their princess looked determined to stay awake and alert, and she definitely didn't want to stay alone, which could be noticed even from afar on her face.
"Hey, don't worry Twi. I'll stay with you to see if any of those fuckers dare to peek their ugly horns out of the forest!" Rainbow immediately chimed in, jamming a few punches against the air to "convince" the princess, though mostly to make the rest of the ponies a silent sign to leave and get some rest.
Several of the guards from Canterlot decided to stay, too, though each of them deciding to find a better and strategic point to watch. Soon, a single pony could be seen on every part of the wall, watching over the small town with a serious expression on their faces, ready to give their lives away if needed.
Meanwhile, Twilight and Rainbow were left alone for a little time, finally. Twilight realized only then, without counting the failed festival, the little time she had dedicated to her flying friend.
"... So... how have you been?"
She almost facepalmed hard at the first thought coming out of her mouth, even if it brought a chuckle out of her winged friend.
"Heh, well... considering we are about to fight an invasive enemy that almost got me the last time we faced them, not to mention the fact they conquered Canterlot in less than a day... I'd say pretty swell."
Smooth, Twilight thought. If anything, Rainbow's snarky answers seemed exactly what she needed at the moment, making her let out a short chuckle and a small smile to grace her face for a few moments.
"I know… not the best way to check on things. I'm sorry for that excuse of concern."
"Hey, no problem, Twi. If anything, you can always count on me to lift your mood a little… Well, while Pinkie isn't around, of course."
Of course, the memories of Pinkie being captured, as well as the memories of her torture resurfaced once more when her pink friend was mentioned. The small that adorned her face for mere moments vanished once more, turning again into the stone faced alicorn she was moments before. That did not go unnoticed by her rainbow maned friend, who started to float in front of her with a look as hard as her own.
"Hey! Don't go all sour on me, Twi! We'll get them and save our friends! I mean, you have me for that, don't cha!?"
Again, all that optimist was welcomed, making her close her eyes for a moment to let her friend's words drown out everything else that was happening, reliving the moments all of them had been living so far.
Discord, Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, Sombra… the bad moments they brought with them… yet the happy memories all came back once more, too.
"-So, let's make sure to kick them right where Celestia's sun doesn't shine and make them turn around with their tails in the same place we kick them, and then- AUUGHH!"
Just as she opened her eyes, she was received with the image of Rainbow falling directly to the ground behind her, watching painfully slow as her friend's face slowly turning from shock to panic as she fell, releasing a shriek of terror as she fell. Rainbow's quick reflexes acted in the last moment, curling up on herself to try and diminish the damage of the landing, yet falling as loudly as she could, and twice as graceful as anyone falling.
Several of the ponies who were retreating had turned in shock at the sound, several of them turning around and running towards the downed pegasus to see if she was alright. Dazed, with a good concussion on her head and quite probably with a good bruising on the place she had hit the floor with.
Already, several ponies were asking what happened, wondering what could make the famous Rainbow Dash to fall from her element. The answer left all of the ponies looking in a shocked silence.
Tied around her wing and her midsection was a group of bolas, thrown from someplacenopony had noticed.
Few seconds passed before one of the guards on the wall suddenly released a choked gasp of surprise, lifting both hands to his neck to try and release himself from the set of bolas, similar to the ones tied on rainbow's wing, tied tightly around his neck, causing the poor guard to fall down from the wall while some ponies ran towards him to help.
And another one. And another one!
Twilight's reflexes made her cast a bubble around her just in time for not one set but several to fly at her and bounce harmlessly off her bubble, making her realize one thing.
"… They're here…"
As soon as she turned to the forest, she noticed several lights had begun to turn on, evidence of torches being formed to help the enemy see in the dark they were into. And much to Twilight dismay as she realized it, some of the lights turning on were being aligned towards them.
Seeing what was happening, one of the guards quickly brought up a "shield" to cover himself before yelling. "Cover yourselves! They are trying to torch the wall!"
Before the guard could finish his shouting, several loud hits sounded among the wall, followed by the red, bright light of the fire beggining to burn down the arrows before it began to spread towards the wall.
Several ponies began to run towards the wall with bowls and cubes of water, trying to put out the fire before they were met with a set of bolas stunning them for several moments before they could try and get themselves free.
For Twilight, things were beggining to happen too fast. The enemy was still out of sight and the wall was already beginning to fail! That wasn't at all what she had predicted!
Meanwhile the bolas were still being thrown at her every few moments, bouncing off harmlessly on her shield while the princess could merely look around in shock at what was happening.
Another volley of lit arrows hit the wall, spreading even more the fire on it while the caribou began to prepare their next strike. And only until then did they begin to show up.
Rows of caribou wielding large and crude bows with lit arrows began to advance, leaving the closest section of the wall alone, seeing as it was already beggining to fall down under its own weight and the fire, and had begun to spread the fire to other sides of the wall.
Behind them were more enemies, this time having a mix of ponies and caribou, who were swinging their sets of bolas, ready to fire some at the stunned princess, and some at the other ponies who had started to climb up.
A larger caribou appeared next, along with a group of more enemy troops, but composed only of caribou. Twilight recognized that structure: it was the leader of the army assaulting them, and those at his side were his personal guard. What rank would he be?
"Princess!" A random shout brought her attention back, making her turn to a guard who was carrying a bowl of water, which ended soaking their side of the wall and managing to slow down a bit the work the fire was doing on the wall. "The wall will not hold for long! We have to do something else!"
All around the sections of the wall burning, ponies had started to run back and forth with buckets of water, splashing the wall as much as they could to slow down the fire. For the moment, it seemed to work… At least until Twilight began to hear loud roaring coming from the forest.
Slowly, Twilight began to turn her head towards the roaring, noticing instantly the calm and serene, if not mocking expression the leader had on its ugly face, and making the realization that whatever had produced that sound was unfortunately on the Caribou's side.
From the forest, with loud stomping and a trace of smoke in the air, a creature began to crawl out. Something the likes Twilight had never seen before, something resembling both, a boar and a bull, with two, ram like horns at its head's sides, and small legs seemingly barely able to hold the creature's weight. A chill ran down her spine when she saw the creature open its mouth, but not producing a roar at all. Instead, something much more frightening happened: it began to spew out fire.
And worse of all, it wasn't alone! Several others of those creatures had begun to follow forth, crawling out of the forest and beggining its march towards the city.
Seemingly satisfied with the way the ponies were behaving, the rest of the troops began to make its way towards the city, marching right behind the wall the creatures formed before them. And none of the ponies were able to see them except for Twilight.
That was something she hadn't foreseen! She wasn't expecting the caribou to have such a good plan to counter hers! It was all done for! They were done for! They'd breach into the city, and take them all as slaves, to fuck them incessantly until they were mindbroken, a mere shell of their former selves! And-
"You cannot fail, Twilight Sparkle."
The memory of princess Luna talking to her in her dreams came back, and she could also feel something within her heart warming her up. Almost as if a veil had been lifted from her eyes, and a weight had been lifted from her heart, Twilight suddenly recovered.
If one were to look closer at her, some kind of shine would be noticed in her cutie mark, and one similar could be seen on Rainbow's, too.
The caribou were walking confidently towards the city, convinced the fight was already won. The leader couldn't help but smile dreamily at the kind of rewards the King himself would give to him when he brought back to Canterlot the lost princess, along with the rest of the so called "elements of harmony". Maybe he'd let him have a go with them and the princesses? Oh well, a male could dream.
All they'd need to do was to crush down a single part of the wall, and they'd simply stroll inside and-
*Ping!*
The caribou let out a yell of pain when something solid suddenly hit him in the head, thanking their superior gods by whoever had suggested him to wear a helmet.
"Who did that!? Was it one of you, fools back there!?" Almost instantly, he turned to the mixed force of ponies and caribou behind, some of them turning to look at him with a questioning look. "Some of you, morons, threw something at my head! So you better tell me who it was before i- gack!"
Almost as one, all of the soldiers turned to look at where the stone had come from, finding something none of them believed would happen that day. The vision of a determined alicorn, preparing her magic for a powerful attack, made some of them flinch back and even take a step back.
Their leader watched with a frown at his men as they took a step back, making him growl lowly before pointing at her.
"She's just a lowly female! What are you waiting for!? She's not better than any of you! She's just standing there, prepared to be raped!" The leader started to scream, trying to keep his troops motivated.
Slowly, some of them started to advance, followed closely by those who were doubtful at first, but following the crowd after some moments.
Satisfied for the moment, the leader even took it to himself to get on top of one of their warbeasts, lifting a hammer and pointing it at the city, followed by a warcry from his men. He was even smiling mockingly at the princess while their eyes met, silently telling her she was about to lose.
For the moment, everything remained calmed, with only the sounds of the troops marching on, getting closer with every moment that passed whole the princess continued to deflect the projectiles sent towards her with her own shield.
It didn't matter at the end. They'd capture her one way or another.
Once at the wall, the leader stopped for a moment, watching around on top of the wall in case any of those ponies wanted to get bold and tried to attack them. But as moments passed, no ponies dared to peek their heads out if only to watch the invading army.
Another triumph for the caribou, it seemed. The caribou confidently rose its hammer towards the princess, finally noticing the strange and quick movements she was making with a hand. What was she doing?
However, once the female noticed they were looking at her, stopped making the movement with her hand, opting to instead glare at the leader with fire burning behind her eyes. Of course, that glare was met with the smug smirk of the caribou, who only then turned to his army.
"Once we destroy this wall, you go in and stun every being inside. The males shall join us, and the females will submit, wether they want it or not! Riches await to us when we are done with this town and the remaining princess!"
Another warcry followed shortly after, to ehich the caribou pulled on the reigns of its warbeast, making it take some steps back before it opened its mouth to spew fire at the wooden wall. Not happy with it, he slapped the beast with a cry, making the beast run awkwardly forward with the intent of pushing down the wall.
The cracking sound was heard all around the city, and the smoke and debris sent forward clouded the enemy troops' vision for a few moments. The leader was a bit dizzy due to some wooden plank hitting him in his head before, right when he bursted through the wall, and even his hearing seemed to have a soft buzz to it.
Once his vision and hearing returned, he could clearly hear and see his troops cheering behind him, making him smirk before he lifted his hammer.
"Now… go and capture them! For the male superiority! For king-!"
The last thing the leader saw on that day was a huge, red pony running at him, and moments later, his vision was cut short by a crude hammer held by the pony crashing directly onto his face, leaving a deep indent on his helmet on the side he was hit, and most probably, another indent where his head hit the ground when he fell.
Moments of tense silence filled the air as the caribou and ponies alike looked the limp body of their leader fall from its beast, laying cold on the ground before the large, red stallion took its place on top of the beast.
"… Eeenope."
"For Equestria!"