When War is Close by

Chapters

Ch 1: A Pleasant Surprise (Arc 1)
Ch 2: Home Comings (Arc 1)
Ch 3: A Cold Winter Morning (Arc 1)
Ch 4: Red, Black and Sliver (Arc 1)
Ch 5: Home Sweet Home (Arc 1)
Ch 7: Gold in Silver (Arc 2)
Ch 8: Dance Of Shadows (Arc 2)
Ch 9: The Chase (Arc 2)
Ch 10: The Hiding Spot (Arc 2)
Ch 6: To Be In The Knowing (Arc 2)

Ch 1: A Pleasant Surprise (Arc 1)

When War is Close by
Chapter 1
A pleasant surprise

As Twilight trotted down the street on her way back to the library, she looked up to gaze at the walls that surrounded Ponyville.
It had been 6 months since the construction of the walls had begun and now it looked like it would be finished in a week or two.

She walked passed a portion of worker ponies, standing around a table for a short after the lunch briefing, wondering if having this wall was really such a good idea.

“Okay, anyone got questions? ” A dry but loud and clear older voice said from within the group worker ponies. “No?... Good, now get to work”.

The voice belonged to the stallion in charge of the builders and wall workers, named Bouldermane. She needed to talk to him later, to get estimates on how much time was left until the wall was actually finished.

But now wasn't really the time. Maybe she should just wait for the commander to come along for his weekly inspection and then get the information fresh from Bouldermane himself.

After all, today was the one day of the week the commander, her commander, had chosen as the day of every week, where he would return from the front line camp to inspect Ponyvilles condition.
Of all days he had chosen Thursday.
She had to prepare some notes, so she could keep some track of what had happened since last time and update him properly...

She sighed heavily and kept trotting on homeward to the tree library.
It's not that she minded the commander, he was always easy to work with, but she just couldn't put her hoof on him as a pony, especially since every pony else seems to be kind of freaked out by his presence...

The tree that contained the library had now come into sight. Sitting on her rump, outside the library near Twilights post box was a gray Pegasus, the mail mare of Ponyville, with her eyes fixed on a rubix cube, that the Pegasus had been trying to solve, for weeks now, but without success... Yet.

“Hello Twilight” the gray mail mare greeted her with a smile, looking at her as her eyes now un-synchronized, pointing oddly in two opposing directions.

“Good afternoon Ditzy” she replied with a small nod “Do you have any mail for me today?”

“Oh, yea, that's right, I think I do” she nodded, as she stuck her head into a saddle bag, dedicated to keeping mail and lying on the ground next to her, looking for letters.

“Who turned off the light?” Questioned gray mail mare, as she lifted her head again. A few scrolls fell out of the saddle bag, which was now stuck on her head.

Twilight grabbed the saddle bag with her magic and pulled the bag off the mail mare's head.
“Oops... My bad” the gray mare said with a sad frown, as the bag's papery content, was spilled around her.

As Twilight helped the gray mare pick up the scattered mail, she grabbed the scrolls marked with the army emblem and her initials, which indicated it was her mail.
She stacked the scrolls neatly, on the doorstep of the library.

“Don't forget your cube” she said, as she magically picked up the rubix cube from the ground and levitated it into the, once again full of letters, saddle bag.

“Oh.. Yea” the gray mare giggled with a wide smile “Don't forget your promise about that muffin”

“I won’t, after all it was my idea” Twilight promised as she, for a second, flipped over the memory of the day where she had made that deal with the gray mare.

That if she could solve the rubrics cube she would receive a muffin for free, instead of searching the library for stray free muffins on a daily basis...

Twilight needed to figure out who had given Ditzy the idea that there would be free muffins in her library and scold them, but she hasn't had much time and when she seemed to have the time, it always seems to slip her mind.

“Just don't spend too much of your free time on it” she continued “There is more to life than muffins”, looking at the gray mail mare, “Which reminds me... Aren't you running a bit late with the mail delivery. It's past noon”.

“Oh yea” gasped the gray mail mare “I better go, bye bye Twilight” she said as she took flight.

Twilight entered the library and went up the stairs to her study while going over the scrolls that she had just received. They contained reports from the front line of battle, at camp Lefthoof.

She would need to calculate the amount of food and supplies that had to be sent to the camp, as well as figuring out who of the soldiers had be sent to the field and who finally got to come back to Ponyville, to rest out the tension of the daily frontline battles...

Rest... She sighed again. As a not so fond memory had surfaced. The memory of the one time the commander had seemed angry at her, when she had insisted that it was his time to come back to Ponyville and rest.

He had simply overruled her with a hardened, strong tone in his voice and his higher rank, telling her that it wouldn't be necessary and seemingly the commander had been right.

But why doesn’t the tension and terror strike him, the commander, as it had the other soldiers. The soldiers that had returned alive anyway.

Did he hide behind the soldiers he was in command of, using them as a shield? It was a possibility... Yet for some reason, this idea felt unlikely...

Sometimes he had been late for the weekly inspections. Those few times it could clearly be seen that he had roughly rubbed blood stains off his armor with a towel before they had met, to make it look presentable.

She shook her head a few times, it wasn't time to wonder about the commander. She really needed to get all this done before he would show up, demanding that she gave him the weekly inspection tour.

Now that she was at it, she might as well write the military report for the past week for the princess and then take care of Ponyvilles internal resource handling for the coming week.

“It's a tough job being a vice commander” she thought to herself “but some pony will have to do it and right now that's me”.

Twilight entered the her study and made her way through the messy room full of unrolled scrolls in stacks and book piles, to get to her desk at the other end near the window. She gasped and sorted yesterdays work with her magic.

Dividing finished work from that which was still in progress, she signed a few scrolls, rolled them up, re-addressed them and flung them into a pile of other scrolls, that she would have to deliver at the post office later today. A few others got a green check mark and were then placed on top of a un-rolled scrolls stack of matching category and subject.

She took a quick glance around the room, the study room had become quite a mess these passed six months, even if she was doing her best to keep it as organized as possible.
She just didn't seem to have the time on her hooves to actually file and archive everything she received.

She let out a heavy sigh, if just Spike was here then everything would be kept in order... But he isn't.

Three years ago Scootaloo had gotten this silly filly idea into her head that seeing the world would help her gain her Cutie Mark.

While Applebloom and Sweetie Belle had found the idea too dangerous, Spike found the 'seeing the world' part, sounding rather intriguing.

Spike had begged her to let him travel with Scootaloo, Twilight had of course objected and even tried to convince Scootaloo that it was a bad idea but to no avail.

One faithful night Spike snug out right under her mussel, leaving a note behind telling her goodbye and that he would write soon.
She had been furious and mad at first, yelled loudly and requested her friends to help her track him down.

For a month they had been looking for him but with no success and so they had stopped looking. That's when she collapsed into sadness, worry and depression.

In the end she had received Spikes first letter, telling her about Stalliongrad, Hoofington, about the Palace Square of St. Petershoof and the broken bridge in Stableside.

Telling her about how they had made it to Fillydelphia, crossed the Everfree forest and mountains to get to see the neon lights of Manehattan.
Many photos had been included, showing Spike and Scootaloo, during their adventures.

Even if this letter didn't say much about where they would go next.
Having read this first letter made her feel clam and even happy, Spike isn't a baby dragon any more, even if he wasn't quite a teen dragon yet.

It felt good to know that he was already able to take care of himself.

By now she had forgiven both Scootaloo and Spike but even so she was still going to scold both of them when they got home, if they even returned...

The last of Spikes letters had been delivered by Rainbow Dash when she had come home with a gold medal and a few of silver from the aerial Olympics, that had been held this year in Gryphus, the capital of the Griffin Kingdom, to the north of Equestia.

That was a month before the war began, and the Griffin Kingdom had been invaded by the ancient half dragons.

She had never seen a half dragon, only read books about these ponies who have scales instead of fur and, according to legend, could morph into full size dragons at will... Something she found hard to believe.

Scales maybe, but morph to full sized dragons at will. No, just no.

They inhabited the lands north of the Griffen Kingdom and never seemed to care much about what happened outside of their own borders.

Twilight sighed worryingly, wondering how her life long dragon friend was doing.
She shook her head and stuck her mussel back into her work, shoving away her worries, to the back of her mind.

As time passed by Twilight continued to work. The soldier personal circulation protocol and provisions of food, weapon and whatever else the front line would need for next week, had been calculated by now, even if she would probably end up having to re-calculated them both some time later on, calculated by now, even if she would probably end up having to re-calculated them both some time later on, to balance out against the wounded soldiers coming back from the field and things that were simply lost in the heat of battle.

She had just been in the kitchen to make tea and had just got back to the study, starting up on writing the towns condition report to the princess, when suddenly someone knocked softly on the balcony door, not too far away from here desk.

As she looked outside she could see a butter yellow and light pink maned pony wearing a white nurse uniform, who had been blown out of shape, gasping to catch her breath.

“Fluttershy?!” Twilight said as she opened the balcony door “are you okay? Is something amiss at the hospital?... Is it an enemy attack?!” She asked worried.

“It's! ...” Her butter yellow friend started out, trying to string together a sentence through her gasping for air.

“Plague? Infestation?” She questioned Fluttershy, with a voice that spelled terror, “Worlds end!?”

“It's! ...” Fluttershy tried again, now half giggling, again gasping for air, with a smile on her face from hearing Twilights wild ideas run loose.

“ It's Spike” the butter yellow pony was finally able to say.

“He is... Back?” Twilight replied, almost speechless. Of all the good things she had hoped to come true. This one was the one thing she had considered the least likely especially since there was so much left of the world to be seen, so why come back now?

“Yes, but the guards at the south gate won’t let him pass” Flyttershy had finally gotten a hold of herself. Now fixing her wind blown white uniform.

Twilight had started to storm around the study room, grabbing a few scrolls, ink and a quill.

“You better hurry...” Fluttershy muttered “if... If you don't mind too much” Twilight knew that Fluttershy didn't mean to put pressure on her but she was right “don't worry about it, we'll get there in time” she replied with a smile.

Many of the guards in town hardly knew what an enemy soldier looked like and most of those who knew were sent back to their homes or hospitalized.

She could only hope that one of those that had the knowledge, and weren't taken off duty, were on guard duty at the south gate or Spike might be mistaken for a half dragon soldier.

While preparing a checklist of things she and the commander would have to inspect together, she stopped in front of a pony sized manikin which was stashed aside behind a stack of papers and books.

The manikin wore a royal mage armor set given to Twilight when she, as requested by the one who was now her commander, entered the army.

Even if Rarity had said that she looked 'smashing' in it, when she had worn it to see if the size fit her, she didn't like this leather, cloth and steel plated mash up, herself.

But none the less she would have to wear it or at least the steel circlet or leather mantle, that was part of the set, to show her rank and status when she was on duty or that was how the commander had put it... As something important to do.

But what parts should she wear for today? “The circlet? The mantle?... Oh I don't have time to worry about this now!” She said out loud as she stamped one hoof into the wooden floor, startling her butter yellow friend who flinched by Twilights sudden break out.

“W-why don't you wear both” Fluttershy suggested “I mean you don't often do so”.

Twilight giggled and blushed slightly at her own embarrassment “yea... It might be a good idea”.

Twilight finished the check list but she had one last thing to do before leaving.

She flung the scrolls, ink and the quill, as well as the checklist and her purse, in an empty unmarked drawer amongst the archive drawers in her study, closed it then stood still to collect herself and focus before she aimed her, now glowing horn, at the drawer and cast a spell that went off with a small 'click'.

“What was that spell, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, as Twilight magically grabbed both the circlet and mantle from the manikin.

“An old one” she responded as she forced the circlet down around her head, with the Equestrian army symbol in front, just below her horn, covering her forehead, “It's called the 'Rift pocket' spell... But is better known as 'the summoners tool pocket' “.

She swung the mantle over her back, fastened the lock and closed it as she continued to speak, “Most unicorns use it as the last name kind of explains but it can be used for a lot more than just being an open pocket you can pull things out of or place things in from afar by using simple summon spells.”

She looked around the study one last time, to check that everything was in place, then she opened the door to the study and passed through it.
“Anyway, enough school stuff for now. Let's go!” she said as she proceeded downstairs and out of the front door with her butter yellow friend, flying not too far behind her.

Twilight galloped down the street and turned right when she passed sugar cube corner, and it's now a year old outdoor café arrangements. The south gate, which otherwise had been hidden by the closer buildings, could now easily be seen.

The gateways solid steel and iron doors, that normally stood wide open, had been shut tight... This couldn't be good.
She upped her pace, galloping down the street towards the south gate.

Ch 2: Home Comings (Arc 1)

When War is Close by
Chapter 2
Home Comings

“But I am telling you, I’m Twilights friend!” the purple dragon said, trying to keep the frustrated tone in his voice as calm as he could muster, “Why won’t you call her?”

When he and Scootaloo had approached the gate with their backpacks, a small group of earth pony soldiers had stormed out and the gate behind them had been shut tight.
The soldiers had formed a line in front of the gate.

Behind the line of soldiers stood a slightly bigger chestnut brown earth pony soldier who had demanded, over and over again, that he and Scootaloo should leave.

Spike could tell by the in carving in his armour that he was a higher rank of lieutenant... apparently he was in command of this group.

Even if Spike had out grown most ponies in height, by a pony head, he was sure that this lieutenant would match him evenly in strength... Spike had no intention of fighting of course.

“Listen half breed!” the rugged chestnut brown lieutenant said in a raised voice,
“knowing Miss. Sparkles name isn't going to help you.”

“Oh for heavens sake!” the purple maned, orange pegasus next to Spike bellowed “He's not a half breed!”

“Nonsense! The Dragons don't bother with us because they think we are small fry”
the lieutenant replied, his voice still raised and confident, “now both of you leave or we'll make you leave.”

The line of guards had now attached lances to their armour. Unlike unicorns who had magic to support almost any kind of weapon or Pegasi who had wings to support smaller types of arms and ranged type of weaponry, earth ponies were forced to use their mouth or attach the weapon of choice to their armour. However earth ponies' solid body strength made them able to carry more or use bigger weapons and heavier armour without losing too much combat efficiency.

“But... but this is my home” he tried again one last time to persuade the lieutenant...

Home... through out his long journey he had been to many places, seen many things and been through dangers but he had always felt that he could return to Ponyville if he needed it, always felt that he could return home to Twilight.

But now that he was so close to home, it seemed like it was even further away than ever before...

“Please, let me speak with Twilight!” he yelped out almost in desperation.

“You have tried my patience for too long, Half breed!” the lieutenant bellowed as he tighten the helmet strap and took stance, “Ready men? Charge!” and the line of soldiers leapt forwards at attack speed.

There wasn't much time. Spike moved fast, took a step to his left and turned around. To provide cover, like he had done many times before, for his orange Pegasus friend.

“Not this again” she muttered in dissatisfaction, looking up into Spikes eyes with a small smile.

Spike returned the smile. He had become quite found of her over the past three years.

Her face bore a scar, that passed down over her right eye from her forehead to her cheek, from an accident that had happened in Manehatten almost at the beginning of their journey but the changes, hadn't ended there.

About two years back the same right eye had been infected with grains of redstone dust. The infection had become life threatening and almost killed her but luckily they had found a doctor that could clear the infection and save her.

Yet, remnants of the redstone dusts colour had merged with her iris and had turned the shade of her right eye from a purple into a rose red.

She had grown and her wings had become a lot bigger. She had just learned to fly a few months ago.

Take-offs were still difficult for her to perform and right now it would be even more difficult with the saddlebags she were carrying.

Spike knew that a single steel spear couldn't hurt him much, the scales on his back had become thicker and harder then steel over the past years and his size would help him against the impact, but still he wasn't too confident about how much pressure and how powerful hits they could withstand.

He closed his eyes and readied his body for the lances impact, when a sudden familiar sound like a small delicate glass bell dropping onto a marble stone floor only to shatter, made him look over his shoulder.

Behind him was a purple unicorn, wearing a circlet around her head and a brow leather mantle over her back.

Twilight had used her transportation spell and had landed right behind Spike. With a small feminine moan of concentration she conjured a light purple glass like polygon that stood as a wall in front of her just in time to block the soldiers advance towards them. They yelled in surprise as they crashed against the sudden wall.

“Lieutenant Hot Head!” Twilight bellowed at the top of her lungs, as she dismissed the conjured polygon into thin air, “What is the meaning of this!?”

“M-miss Sparkle” the lieutenant looked nervous and seemed desperate to come up with a good explanation, “I... um, I was just doing my jo--”

“Doing your job?!” Twilight interrupted him as she passed the group of tumbled soldiers who had crashed with her magic shield.

“I'll tell you what your job is!”, now standing in front of the lieutenant who had backed up against the steel doors of the gate behind him, “Your job is to keep an eye out for suspicious looking ponies and non regulars of Ponyville. Pick them out to inspect and search their pockets, saddlebags and whatever else they may be carrying or hauling for anything!”

She paused and stared directly into the lieutenants grey eyes with a cold and hard gaze as she continued.
“To seize elements and objects that could provide a potential danger towards Ponyville and its citizens!”

The lieutenant chuckled nervously, looking back at Twilight “Y-yeah”.

For a short moment it seemed to Spike like the lieutenant, who were physically bigger than Twilight, had shrunk in size.

“Other than that” she continued, “You very well know that you are only allowed to take others into custody or hold them back against their will if it's necessary.”

She withdrew herself a bit giving the lieutenant more space, “And you also know the rest of the rules of engagement with guests and tourists in Ponyville!”

“Yes”, the lieutenant paused and looked away with a small expression of shame on his face, “Yes that I do, miss Sparkles, that I do” he looked up again.

“Well then” Twilight said in a forgiving tone, “Something like this better not happen again, now back to your post” she ordered.

“Yes commander, I guarantee it shall not happen again, commander”, he saluted her and then signalled the guard on top of the gate to re-open the doors then he rounded up his soldiers and stopped in front of Spike and the orange pegasus who had been watching from afar.

“I apologize for this inconvenience”, he said as he made bowed in front of them, “It is entirely my fault, I hope you can forgive my rudeness. Welcome to Ponyville”.

Without waiting for an answer he turned around, signalled his men and they all returned to their posts at the gate.

Spike stood still, looking at his life long purple friend for a few moments as she sat down on her rump, watching the guards return to their posts at the now open gate.

He started to approached her. She didn't seem to have changed much... well, except for her new get up.

“Twilight...”
In the three years that had passed he had missed her so much and now he was finally here. Finally home again and everything would become as it had been in the old days... well almost as in the old days.

She turned her head and looked up at him with a small smile.
“welcome home.” She said as she stood up and hugged both of them at once, “It's so good to have both of you back home safely again”.

Scootaloo instantly tried to wiggle herself free of the hug but Spike put an arm around her and prevented her escape.

“It's good to be home” he beamed as the orange pegasus gave up on trying to wiggle free.
“Ugh... give me a break!” she complained.

“Oh but you are so adorable when you get hugged” Spike teased. The orange pegasus gave him a short mad look but said nothing in return.

Fluttershy landed close by. She had been waiting, hovering her self over the gate until it had been opened again.
“Hi Spike, hi Scootaloo. Welcome home” she greeted them with a smile and joined the hug.

After a few minutes they broke up the hug and went into town.
On their way to the town plaza, other ponies who recognize Spike waved at him and welcomed him home. As they walked they had decided to go to sugar cube corner, Pinkie Pie would no doubt be there.

When the Cakes opened the newer outdoor arrangements they had requested Pinkie to take up a job as waitress for them and she had happily accepted, on the one condition that she could throw parties for her friends when she wanted to.
The Cakes didn't seem to have any problems with that, as long as it was at her own expenses.

Fluttershy had said that she would get Applejack and had then flown off towards the market district where Applejack would be to sell apples.

The talk about things that had happened in the passed tree years had been going for a while...

“But it must have hurt when you got that scar?” Twilight asked the orange pegasus who was walking right next to her.

“Honestly...” the orange pegasus shrug her head “I don't remember much, I went out cold almost right before it happen...” She looked up at Spike who was walking in front of them, with his much larger backpack, talking to Cheerilee, who had spotted them across the street.
“But I do know that I woke up in a hospital bed with my face covered in bandages and him right next to me” she smiled a small sad smile.

“So the army have been kind enough to drag you into messy warfare”, she now looked at Twilight with worried eyes “Will the enemy come here? Have you been in any battles yet?”

Twilight sighed heavily and looked back at the orange pegasus, “I can't know for sure... none of us can know if the enemy will ever get a chance to strike at Ponyville or if the war will just pass without anything happening to this place...”

“All I can do is hope that my commander will keep the enemy at bay at the front line so we won't have to fight...”

She pause and looked down.
“And no... I haven't been in any battles yet and I hope I won't have to take part in any.”

Twilight looked up again and gave her confident smile, “But don't worry... even if the enemy gets here, we are prepared. I'm prepared.

Even if I may not like them, we have the walls, the soldiers under my command and I have practised my magic and learned new spells for combat and defence so nothing should go wrong in case of an attack.”

Her small speech had turned the orange pegasus' worried expression into a smile.

Twilight bumped her head into Spikes side. He had stopped walking. “Spike?” she looked up at him and saw that he was looking at Cheerilee.

The older elementary school teachers face looked a bit panicky, looking around her self.

“The... the c-c-commander? Is he here? Right now?” she asked with her voice lowered to a small whisper.

Twilight sighed and looked up at the sky with a bothered expression.

“Calm down Cheerilee, there is still a few hours till his normal scheduled arrival” she said as she confirmed the suns position.

“Sorry it's just tha--” the School teacher began but was cut short by the purple mare.

“You are just letting your self scare by silly rumours that no one can support, that's what...” the purple mare rolled her eyes, “Honestly I think you are overreacting, you hardly even know him”

“Maybe...” the teacher said with a serous and worried frown.
“Maybe, you are right... but there is something that's just not quite right about him, something that is not natural...”

The teacher looked away then looked back at the purple mare with an unsure look.
“I think I said too much... I better go...” she hugged Spike and Twilight goodbye, “And you better show up at school one of these days so you can catch up on your studies and take your elementary school exam” the teacher said as she gently ruffled the mane on the orange pegasus' head with a hoof and then trotted down a side street.

“That was... weird” the purple dragon said in a confused tone, looking after Cheerilee as she disappear down the street.

“Yeah...” the orange pegasus added and looked at Twilight again, giving her a questioning look.
“I have never seen Cheerilee like that... did something happen between this commander guy and Cheerilee? Or is he just that frightening?”

“Well, I think I'd have to with 'he is just that frightening'” Twilight said in a sarcastic manner and started to trot forward across the town plaza they had just arrived at.

“Well... Cheerilees reaction is about the same as about almost anypony else in town.”
Twilights tone had now turned serious.

“But honestly I don't see what is so frightening about him.
Yes it's true, what Cheerilee said, there is indeed something not quite natural about him...”
She said as the dragon and pegasus followed her as the they moved towards Sugar Cube Corner which was just across the plaza.
“But his a good pony... I can tell... even if I don't know him as well as I know everypony else.
Even if I can't quite put my hoof on what it is about him that's not na--”

“SPIKE! Your back!” a happy pink pony with messy hairdo yelled, cutting off Twilights line of speech as she galloped past the purple mare and jumped into the dragons arms.

“Pinkie?” he muttered in surprise.

Seeing the pink earth pony wearing something that looked like a waitress uniform whose hat, pockets and other free places looked like they were stuffed with candy and other sugary goods.

“And Scootaloo is here too!” the pink party pony gasped “You know what this calls for?”

“Lemme guess, sugarcube” said an orange earth pony who had appeared next to the purple dragon. Her trusty Stetson set a top her head, “is it ah party?”

“Ohhh... AJ, how did you know?” the pink party pony said as she jumped out of the dragons arms with a light back flip, landing next to the farm pony.

“Well, ah guess ya can say that mah Apple sense was tickling” the orange pony replied to her pink friend.

Fluttershy who had just landed next to the earth ponies giggled at the small joke.

“Okie-dokie-loki” Pinkie beamed. “Now let me show you to your table”.
She took off doing a line of cartwheels towards a big table in the middle of Sugar Cube Corners outdoor arrangements.

The farm pony next to Spike extended a hoof, “Welcome home partner” she said, wearing a smile on her face.

“Thanks AJ” he said as he grabbed her hoof and shook it firmly.

“Ya welcome” she smiled and turned to follow Pinkie and the others, who had gathered around the bigger table which was set amidst almost everypony else who were drinking tea, on a date or stuffing themselves with treats.

The table Pinkie was now standing on had a sign on it which spelled out 'Reserved'.
“But Pinkie we haven't reserved the big table” Twilight said with a sceptic look.

“It's okay, my Pinkie sense told me you would need a table to stay at so I Reserved it for you”.
She took the reserved sign and elegantly jumped off the table bouncing off towards Sugar Cube Corners building.

“I’ll be back with tea, cake and muffins in a few minutes” she beamed.

They had all setted down around the table. Spike and Scootaloo had put down their backpacks and the chatter had started flowing wildly as Pinkie had returned with a tray holding cake, tea and cookies that she shared all around the table.

Scootaloo had showed everpony her cutiemake, a winged tire engulfed in flames and telling about what her special talent was, only to make the others chuckle a bit and say “About time you noticed what your talent was”, making the orange pegasus blush slightly in embarrassment.

As well as noticing of two smaller wings that had popped into sight when Spike had dropped his backpack.
As he once again re-assured everypony that his wings still weren't big enough yet to carry him through the air, he noticed an extra cup set up at the table.

“Pinkie...” the dragon turned at the party pony who had been stuffing herself with muffins, “Who is the extra tee cup for?”.

She blinked at the dragon for a few minutes in wonder as she gulped down another mouthful muffin, “Wait... aren't we seven ponies here?”
They all gave her questioning looks.

Twilight even added “There are only six of us here including you.”

“Hmmm...” she seemed wondering about it “I'm sure that my Pinkie sense told me this morning that I would have five great friends celebrate the homecoming of two good friends...
Maybe he is late?” Her baby blue eyes looked around at her friends only to receive silence and more questioning looks in return.

“Now hold on a darn minute here...” Applejack had broken the silence “It's a he?”

“Yea, my Pinkie sense told me it would be a he” she beamed as she grabbed another muffin from the table.

“Who is it then?” Scootaloo blurted out.

The pink party pony giggled “I don't know Silly! But he's a friend”.
Twilights gears had started to turn this information around. It could be Cranky, he moved into Ponyville and would be living with Matilda until the war would be over.

But he wouldn't normal show up uninvited, it had happened once or twice but never really without Matilda.

She took a sip of her tea as Fluttershy timidly asked Pinkie.
“Did you make any new friends lately?”

“Yea, I made a ton of friends lately” the pink party pony beamed.

Well of course Pinkie had made a lot of new friends. She made friends with almost everypony and seeing how the soldiers were rotated between the battlefield, Ponyville and Canterlot, a lot of new ponies came to Ponyville on military duty.

“Are there any of those new friends of yours who come here regularly?” Spike asked.

“Hmmm...” Pinkie sat there for a moment with a hoof under her muzzle. It was almost as if she had completely sunk into an inner archive of friends.

After a few minutes came a response from the party pony.
“Well, there are a few but there is one in particular...” Her otherwise happy frown turned downwards as she looked around at her friends.

“He has been here almost every Thursday since half a year ago... he seems to be a soldier”

Twilight shook her head at this information. Most soldiers were only here on duty for about a month at most before they would go back home to Canterlot.
There were exceptions but only one pony who had been in service for half a year. She just had to ask.
“Pinkie, are you really sure that he is a soldier?”

“Well, he always wears his armour when he is here.
He isn't very talkative but he seems like a nice guy. He even agreed to be my friend.
But no matter what I try it seems like he never smiles...”

As she let go of this information, she lowered her head.

“He just sit at his table drinks some tea... and looks at the sky for a few minutes.
Then he makes a few notes... and leaves towards the train station.”

“Well, what's the guys name?” Scootaloo bundled out in curiosity.

The pink party pony shook her head.
“Well, he only introduced him self as Lucas, he never added any last name”.
“Hmmm... ah soldier by the name Lucas” said the farm pony who sat next to Pinkie.
“Ah get the feelin' it's somepony ah already know fer some reason.”

“Well, actually you do...” Twilight paused as everypony suddenly looked at her, “the commanders first name in Lucas”.

“Um, Twi” the orange farm pony gave her a sceptical look.
“Ya sure bout that? Ah mean, the commander doesn't seem like the type that wanna hang with Pinkie or any of us fer that matter”.

“Well, he is the only pony I know who has that name”.
She took another sip of her tea.
“But if it really is the commander who is supposed to be our seventh member then I don't see why not”.

There was a short moment of silence, as if everypony had plunged into deep thoughts. Except for Pinkie who was still stuffing herself with muffins.

Spike was the one to break the silence.
“So Twilight, how did you become part of the army anyway?”

“Well...” Twilight began, she almost clearly remembered that morning. It was really cold outside and the sun had barely risen above the horizon.
Winter wrap up day was scheduled to happen in about a months time from then.

She had just gotten back to the bedroom after a small trip to the little fillys-room and passed by the kitchen to grab a hot pot of tea and some breakfast.
Only to bring it with her so that she could enjoy it in her still warm bed, with a book on advanced magic she had just started on.

She was just about to tuck her self in again when someone suddenly knocked on the library’s front door calling out her name.

Ch 3: A Cold Winter Morning (Arc 1)

When War is Close by
Chapter 3
A Cold Winter Morning

“Miss Sparkle!”, an abrupt stallion voice could slightly be heard from downstairs, through the sound of knocking on the front door.

Twilight sighed and let herself slide off the bed, that she had been about to tuck herself back into, landing on her hooves and trotting downstairs into the library at a fast pace.
She wanted to get this over with as fast as she could so she could return to the warmth in the bed sheets.

“Miss Sparkle!”, the abrupt stallion voice shouted again while the voices owner was still knocking on her door.

What would anyone want on this cold early morning anyway?
The library wasn’t supposed to be open until about 2 hours from now and besides nopony else who came seeking the library’s wisdom would normally be showing up at the library until after lunch.
Other than that she hadn't made any appointments for this early in the morning.

As she opened the front door, grumbling over who it could be, it surprised her to see a pegasus wearing the royal guard armour standing just outside her door. She only got more surprised by what he said.

“Good morning, Miss Sparkle I presume?” The guard nodded at her not waiting for an answer.

“Princess Celestia has requested that every citizen of Ponyville meet up in front of town hall so she can speak to everypony about the current events of the war between our ally the Griffin Kingdom to the north of here and the neutral half-dragon kingdom Thaczil even further north.

If you have questions please relay them to the Princess herself or a lieutenant of the royal guard.
If you'll have me excused I have more citizens to inform”.

Having relayed this information to her, he took off leaving her almost stunned for a few moments.

She shook her head and gathered her thoughts then she galloped back into the library and into the bathroom to brush her untidy morning mane and her teeth, thinking heavily.

War... What could this mean? There had been peace in Equestria for longer than a millennium and suddenly now there was war?
Do we even know how to defend a country anymore? Would her own brother take part?
What about herself and her friends?

Even if Rainbow Dash had moved back to Cloudsdale two and a half year ago, when she joined the Wonderbolts, and Rarity moved to Canterlot a half year later, to boost her business, it still worried her and what about Spike and Scootaloo?

The two of them had planned to stay in the in the Griffin Kingdom for a bit longer to see things or that's what the letter said, that Rainbow Dash had delivered to her at her home coming from the aerial Olympics in the Griffin Kingdom a month ago.

She grabbed a scarf, quill and ink and jumped out of the front door, tucking the scarf around her neck.
As she set off in light gallop towards the town square and the round building with flags standing tall in the middle of it.

The town square was already filled with worried and talking ponies when Twilight arrived and more ponies were drifting in by the minute.

She could see her mentor, the Sun Princess, standing on the veranda of town hall, talking to one of her guards as she was leaning over the gathering crowed.

As if it had been her cue the princess took a step forward when she made eye contact with the purple mare and started to speak.

“Citizens of Ponyville”, her regal tone was loud and somewhat worried yet determined and strong.

“Grave times are nearing. War is upon us.

The half-dragon army from the kingdom of Thaczil stands at our door step.
They during a single attack last night, in one quick sweep, conquered the throne and more than half of the Griffin kingdom including the capital Gryphus, granting them safe passage to enter Equestria.

Our enemy is ruthless and brutal. They are on march towards Ponyville even as I speak to you now. And aim to take Equestria by force.”

The Sun Princess paused for a few seconds. Worried whispering had broken out amongst the gathered crowd.

All Twilight could do was stand there and look. What could they do? What could be done? She had read books on Equestrian war history but never on actual combat and warfare.

What could we hope to do against such a strong army? An army that in a single night had conquered most of a country.
What would become of Ponyville? What would become her, her beloved friends and family?

It was as if all these worried thoughts had become a bubble inside her brain, blocking her from taking any actions, making her just stand there slightly shaking. Looking at her mentor, worry-filled eyes.

With hard step forwards The Sun Princess silenced the crowd in front of her as she started to speak again with a stronger and more determined voice.

“But do not worry my children. To defend ourselves and defeat our enemy, I have rearranged most of the royal guard to become part of the Equestrian army!

Hence forth, until peace returns two of the royal guard captains will be high commanders of the Equestrian grounds.

I'm placing a large delegation of the Equestrian army as well as one high commander Lucas Blackmane to take control of Ponyville and its forces.

To defend and protect, as well as halting the enemy's advance deeper into Equestia and hopefully repel them back where they came from.”

The crowd had broken out into racket of worried chatter and questions from right to left.
It had started out as whispers when Twilights mentor had been mentioned the name of the new 'leader' in Ponyville.

“Who is that commander actually?”, a younger pegasus had asked at some point. No one seemed to be able to give him a full answer.
But everypony seemed to have heard something about him. The whispers increased in volume every time someone let go of a rumour...

“Rumour has it that he murdered his own parents and set his home on fire in the dead of night to cover it up” An elderly brown earth pony croaked.

“Yea, I heard that too”, a mare who worked at the spa followed up “Some even say his coat used to be white but it got so heavily stained with the blood of his parents that he won't even be able to wash it off!”

Her stallion-friend nodded and even added, “Rumour is that he also gained his cutie mark the very same night.”

“I heard that during the Discord incident, Captain Blackmane went on a rampage and killed several innocent ponies” said a white stallion with a top hat.

“The horror, the horror!”, the flower sisters echoed not too far away.

Twilight was engulfed by the crowd. The loud chatter swallowed most of her thoughts and blocked her ears.
She looked up towards her mentor, who was still standing tall on the veranda of town hall.
The one guard, who the princess had been talking with before her speech, had stepped up next to her again.

The carvings on his steel white armour or for that matter his armours style which seemed cover his body to the fullest except for his red muzzle and eyes. A cut short black tail and finally, his horn which stuck out through the helmet plate below the helmets black décor.

It didn't look like anything Twilight had seen before and for a stallion, even for a unicorn, he wasn't that tall or buff looking ether.

This well decorated, steel covered guard spoke a few words to the Sun Princess that Twilight couldn't hear through the crowd of noise. As a response the Sun Princess took a few steps back and gave him a nodding 'yes'.

The guard took a few steps forward as he slipped his helmet off, fully revealing his face and a slightly messy mane whose colour seemed almost obsidian black.

“Citizens of Ponyville!”, the red unicorns voice cut through the crowds wild chatter like a hot butter knife through butter yet it was velvet soft and deep toned, silencing the crowd, fixing everyponys gaze upon him.

“We have tasks ahead of us that must be completed on time. As Princess Celestia have commanded me I'll be taking care of leading and defending this town from here on in until the war is over.”
He trotted off the veranda slowly into the uneasy, yet silent crowd, which split in two in front of him.

“There isn't much time, I know this is sudden but we need to remove some buildings and reconstruct others to compact the living space of Ponyville for the building of walls to better defend ourselves.”

The red unicorn guard halted his advance amidst the crowd that kept at least a meters distance yet encircled him.

Twilight stood not too far away from him.
She noticed the air around him felt strange to her, almost bizarre, as if the the air was vibrating, yet there was no strong magical force nor anything that felt like a static electric charge or discharge anywhere.

“To do that”, he continued in same soft but now almost commanding tone.

“We firstly need to clean up winter. The soldiers of the Equestrian army shall be helping you so winter wrap up should done lickety split.”

The crowed was so silent that the clicking and squeaking of the metal joints in the neck section of the red unicorns armour could be heard a mile away as he looked around at everypony.

“After we are done with winter wrap up, I need most of you, or at least those you who live at the outer part of town, to go pack the necessities for staying at a temporary camp for at least a months time.
Most of you should be able to move back into your reconstructed and moved homes within a mouth or so...
If you have any questions just about anyone from the royal army should be able to answer them.

Now, Miss Twilight Sparkle.”

The purple mare shook her head in surprise of the red unicorns mention of her name. She could feel the crowd around her eyeing her and giving her sidewards questioning nervous looks as if they felt sorry for her.

“I need to have a word with you, the rest of you are dismissed! Off to your duties!” he finished, as he turned around and trotted back to the veranda of the town hall.
Other ponies starting to take off around him to perform winter wrap up.

Twilight had sat down wondering as all of the others had gone off to wrap up winter. What did the commander want from her and why?
Hopefully she didn't have to take part in battles or for that matter command and lead a battle.

But now she stood in front of the small group of guards that had stayed behind to escort the princess and the red unicorn commander, who had taken it upon himself to conduct the winter clean up. Finalising some notes of places that needed to be cleaned up first for the winter clean up team leaders.

“Good morning, my most fateful student” beamed a familiar voice somewhere behind her.
Twilight turned her head to look for the familiar voice's owner and looked directly into a pair of void black opals surrounded by magenta irises.

“P-Princess!” Twilight shuttered as she drew back in surprise.

Her regal mentor had somehow managed to sneak up so close behind her without making a sound. Her mentors face had been so close that Twilight had felt a slight wind of breath on her muzzle.

“It's a bit chilly”, The princess giggled, “But a nice weather we are having this morning, isn't it?”

Twilight couldn't help but smile at her mentor. “Good morning. Yes, it is indeed a bit chilly”.
Then she paused and changed her tone to a more serious one. Looking at her mentor with worrying eyes, “This war... it's really serious?... isn't it?”
“I'm afraid so...”, the princess nodded, “But luck might be on our side. The enemy is only attacking us on feet.

For some reason their flying troops seem to be nowhere near Equestria and they don't have the element of surprise like they had in the Griffin Kingdom.

So we just might be able to push them back off the border.”

“Well, I suppose that's good”, Twilight said as she lifted an eyebrow, “But why would the Half-dragon king of Thaczil start a war now? First against Griffins and now us?”

The purple mare put a hoof under her chin as she started to ponder over her own question and added in self-wondering.
“The history books claim that the half-dragons have always kept distance to others, denied anyone entry to their country and stayed out of any kind of conflict.”

Her mentor nodded. “Well, there was once a time where they would even trade with us. But that is so long ago now that history itself has forgotten...”
With those words the princess turned her head away and up, looking at the blue morning sky as she let out a sigh.

“Princess, are you... okay?” It wasn't the first time she had seen her mentor being sad but it always had an impact on Twilight.

“Don't worry, I'll be fine” the Alicorn looked down at her student with a smile.
“Now, my most faithful student, if you'll have me excused.”

The princess turned and started to trot away, her guards making haste and following her.

“I have to talk with Mayor mare to resolve the formalities revolving mayorship and law enforcement and you should go see what the commander wants from you, my most faithful student.”

“Yes princess”, Twilight replyed and looked over at the armour plated red unicorn who was trying to give a scroll to a frightened pony wearing an earth team vest.
She looked back after her mentor to see her one last time but she was already out of sight.

Not too far away from Twilight stood the commander. She now noticed a rim or belt of a kind over his left flank. Embedded as a part of the belt, from almost the top of his flank and down, were four different kinds of sword sheaths, each containing their own kind of lightweight sword.

Of them she recognized a standard Equestian army unicorn sabre with it's large guard covering one side of the hilt to protect the mouth, in non levitation use.

Next was a classic steel Windlass, commonly used by mercenary and sellswords in current times. Its widespread guard only good to block incoming blades and axes that would run along the blade.

After that hung a blade in a black sheath that she identified as something from across the eastern border. It had a really small guard but should be sharp enough to, as told in 'legends', cut anything and everything.

Last was a blade of a kind Twilight had never seen before. Unlike the others it had no real sheath, only a small strap around the guardless hilt. Done together with a small button to hold it in place on the belt.

This sword was shorter than the others. Its blade thick and flat with a very small and less sharp edge.
The flat mirror bright surface of the blade was inscribed with magic circles and runes.

Twilight recognized the runes as mana stabilization runes normally used to stabilise the flow of mana in larger magic circles to make them easier to control for the single caster.

But it would made no sense, a magic circle only composed of mana stabilization runes would only make a large grid where mana could flow out of the casters body and into the circles. It would dissolve and be a wasted effort on nothing afterwards. There would be no spell to cast from such blade at all.

'What kind of magic could could be produced with such a blade?' Twilight wondered and to make her wonder even more...

The commander had finished a note. Holding it in his left hoof, pointing it at Rose. One of the flower sisters who had a raspberry coloured mane.

“I'd like you to take this note to your clean up team. Pronto.” She could hear him say calmly.

Twilight found this odd... why would a unicorn, a magical sentinel being, use his hooves to carry objects?

Didn't he know how to levitate things or didn't he posses magic at all?

She knew there were a few such unicorns in the world but she had never met one. Was the commander, the commander in control of Ponyville, her home, such a unicorn?
Twilight tilted her head a bit at this thought.

“Come on, take it already. We don't have all day”, he said, his soft deep toned voice was friendly and less commanding than it had been at the gathering just a few minutes ago.

Yet the mare with the raspberry mane could only shutter out a “Y-y-yes sir” and stand there, as if paralysed, wearing a nervous forced grin on her face.

“Ah, you must be miss Sparkle”, the red commander greeted her as she approached them, still poking the scroll at the frightened mare.

“Yes I am but for what would you need me exactly?” she questioned.

“Well...” said the red stallion, the neck bindings on his exceptional steel armour giving off small squeaks and creaks as he turned his head to look at her with his grey irises that carried a hint of green.

His stare gave Twilight an odd, uncomfortable feeling deep in her belly as his eyes made direct contact with her own for almost a second.

“I think it should be almost obvious, Miss Sparkle”, his voice was calm and soft.
“Your abilities to organise and your knowledge of Ponyvilles citizens and surroundings made you the best choice for the position of my second in command.”

He turned his attention to the frightened mare again and once more hinted her to take the note off his hooves. His patience seemed to wear thin with her as he continued to speak to Twilight.

“That and the fact that the princess herself recommended that I get your help, at least for today’s tasks.”

Hearing this made her raise an ear and blush a bit. “Actually I don't want to be part of the army but if the princess recommended me I guess I can't really say no.”

The commander nodded at her understandingly.
“Very well, you don't have to join but it would be nice if you could help me, at least for today, as my note taker and advisor so things can get started and set right the first time.”

Twilight shook her head. The Princess had recommended her and what could go wrong? He didn't seem like a bad pony and this was for Ponyville... no, for all of Equestria.
She could endure a little uncomfortable belly feelings for a day if it would help Equestria.

“Okay, I shall do my best but just for today”, she nodded agreeing, feeling slightly happy that she had avoided joining the army.

“Good, I'll get one of my men to fetch a check board and a pen with running ink for you.”

“Now”, he slightly raised his voice at the frightened mare in front of him, “If you would take the damn scroll already so we can get on with things. We don't have all day and we are very busy.”

Rose took a few steps back at the small outburst from the armoured red stallion.
To Twilight it looked like as if the raspberry maned mare was shaking in fear, not daring to lift a hoof and take the scroll.

“Please Rose.” Twilight pleaded, levitating the scroll out of the commanders hoof and onto the raspberry maned mares head, “The commander is in a hurry.”

“B-but, he--” Rose began but Twilight cut her off.

“No buts”, she got close to the raspberry maned mare and continued in a lower voice.

“I heard the rumours and saw how you and the others acted and I don't feel comfortable around him myself ether but...”

Rose looked into her eyes, giving her a sceptical yet nervous look as she carried on her small speech.
“It's not going to help. The Princess herself appointed him as the commander and that aside he doesn’t seem to be that bad of a pony.”

“O-okay, i-if you say so, I'll try.” The raspberry maned mare stuttered and then trotted off back to her clean up team with the scroll.

“Finally” the commander sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. “We better get going, the workers from the company, commissioned to build the walls, should be here soon and we need to discuss the building progress of where and how.”
The commander put his helmet on again as he turned around and started to trot off towards the train station.

“Right behind you, sir”, she replied and so she followed him down the road, flanked by two guards as an escort.

Meeting up with the ponies from the building company, discussing and finalizing the building plan. That would transform small Ponyville into a relative compact fortress or to be more exact,
to transform Ponyville into a well-defended, stone-walled town.
A transformation that would start that very same day and continue gradually for the next half year until it would be complete.

After talking with the builder ponies, the commander insisted on going to Fluttershys cottage. Twilight didn't question why but she had a feeling it was to secure the element bearer in some manner and she had been quite right.

The commander had gently introduced himself and made his 'request'. That Fluttershy should move into Ponyville so that, in case of an attack, she would be safe from harm.

But without success. Fluttershy had heard the rumours, maybe even seen him before, and upon hearing his name, the shy and already frightened, butter coloured mare had grabbed a few pillows and barricaded herself behind them while hiding under her couch.

After getting the commander to leave. Twilight had joined her frightened friend under the couch and managed to convince her to tell her animal friends to take refuge in the south and then move into the library, to live together with her in Ponyville.

After convincing Fluttershy, Twilight and the commander went down to Sweet Apple Acres where the commander struck an odd deal with Applejack to provide the army with food provisions for the next 3 years in the form of, well... apples, in exchange for a large monthly sum of bits, securing the future of the farm for an even longer time.

They were also forced to have six guards stationed to patrol and secure the area until the war would be over.
As a final contrition the commander requested that Granny Smith should be moved from her home at the farm to Ponyville retirement village.

At first the old mare hadn't liked the idea but the large sum of bits that the commander had with him to pay them 'up front' and Twilights continued reassuring that this unpleasant vibe giving, red Stallion in steel plates really was the new grand commander of the Equestrian army, appointed by the princess herself, finally reeled in the old green mares trust.

So she allowed Applejack to seal the deal with the traditional spit on hoof that the commander gladly accepted by taking off his left hoof armour, spitting on his own hoof and pushing it against Applejacks spit wet hoof.

The check-list were at an end and the sun was about to reach it's top point in the clear winter sky indicating it was almost noon and soon to be lunch time.

She had followed the commander back to Ponyville where everypony else were in the middle of the traditional winter wrap up lunch break at temporary tables in the middle of the snow cleared town square.

He took a vacant seat among the soldier ponies, inviting her to join him, as he slipped off his helmet and reached out for the served meal.

“Miss Sparkle, I do remember you declining my offer and I don't mean to impose”, he began while chewing on the edge of a daffodil sandwich.

“But no one knows Ponyville and it's citizens any better than you and...”
Twilight could feel where this was going already but she sat still, chewing on some food of her own, not interrupting him.

“Truth be told”, he continued, his eyes were now resting on hers while seemingly enjoying his food, giving off the uncomfortable vibe again that she had felt several times during the last few hours.

”My intention is to take to the front lines my self and command it head on in the heat while my second in command would stay here to take care of everything in Ponyville.”

He paused, rubbing his chin while looking away, as if he was thinking about how to formulate himself, then his eyes returned.
“And I believe that having you as my second-in-command would yield the best result since you simply care more than some randomly promoted Canterlot General.”

Twilight let out a sigh and looked away. “But can I handle it? I mean, I don't have any combat experience or experience in commanding battles at all”.

“I know and as long as I can keep the enemy at bay then you won’t have to join combat at all.”
He halted to take another bite of his sandwich leaving space for Twilight to think.

The Princess had entrusted her home, Ponyville, to this Stallion and if the princess had enough faith in him to hand him the task of keeping Twilight and Ponyville safe, by preventing the enemy from advancing further into Equestria, then it must mean something.
Let alone, that with the vice commander status, she might be able to do something to keep her friends safe.

“But regardless of whether or not you take up the post as my vice commander, I still can't guarantee that Ponyville won’t be attacked. That aside--”

The commander had started to ramble again, trying to convince her, but she didn't need convincing any more.

“Sir!”, she almost shouted as she stood up as a responds to the sudden out break the commander jumped onto his hooves in surprise.

She made eye contact, looking him straight in the eyes and for once she wasn't met by the uncomfortable belly feeling. “I have made up my mind. I'll be your vice commander.”

“Oh I'm so sad to--”, the still baffled commander began then shook his head and gave her a confused look.
“Wait... what? You?”

“Yes, you heard me”, she exclaimed making a serious frown.

“Well, I just didn't expect you to change your mind.”
The commanders eyes were fixed on her. He was still wearing the same confused expression.

“War is dirty business and, even if I know your brother is my superior, I figured somepony like you wouldn't ever want to take part in any of such things if it could be avoided...”

“Well, it seems like there won’t be much avoiding it for me”, she shook her head casually, “But if it can help Equestria then I'm willing to do my part... but I am mostly doing this for my friends.” She ended with a heavy sigh.

The commander gave a short smile and nodded, “Of course. Well, then...”
He put on his helmet and raised his voice.

“All rise and salute!”

The noisy lunch eating crowd around them quickly fell to silence. The commander had managed to drawn in the attention of everypony as his command had made the Equestrian soldiers rise up and salute her.

“Miss Twilight Sparkle”, the loudness in his voice carried itself over the crowd with elegance and a sort of solemnity.

“I hereby bestow upon you the title, rank and status of Vice Commander of the Equestian army under my command!”

The commander had taken out a small medallion with the Equestrian symbol and engraving of rank status on and gestured her to bow her head.

He hung the medallion around her neck as she followed his command obediently.

“This medallion will work as a temporary clarification of your current rank.”
His voice was now quiet and lowered to the point of normal speech.

“Your real clarification, written army promotion and certificates will arrive sometime next week along with somepony who will set you up with a set of armour.”

“Yes sir.” She nodded in response.

At that the commander took a step back and raised his voice again, this time to give out orders.
“Now, Vice Commander Sparkle, I command you to manage and defend Ponyville.”

Her attempt to salute, ended with a clumsy result as she responded: “Yes sir, I shall do my best, sir!”

“Good”, he nodded, “I'll be counting on you then. I have already sent a large portion of soldiers north to stop the enemy's advance and set up camp.”

He turned around and signed for some of the soldiers around them to ready themselves to leave for the battlefield.

“I will head there myself and join the camp to take command of the field.
I shall take most of the soldiers who are here with me as well to increase our strength in the field.
I shall return every Thursday for a few hours to receive a full report of everything relevant that have happened here in Ponyville.”

“Yes sir”, she replied again maintaining her clumsy salute for the, now leaving, commander who shortly saluted goodbye and then set out in gallop, leading the most of the soldiers out of town.

Ch 4: Red, Black and Sliver (Arc 1)

When War is Close by

Chapter 4
Red, Sliver and Black

Twilight looked down into her tea cup, that had been emptied and refilled a few times, since she had started sharing her first experience. Of this one, of the two commanders of the Equestrian army.

She recalled the memory and numbness she had felt that day looking after the leaving soldiers. Their hooves shaking the ground making sound like a rumbling thunder that rolled off into the distance.

The talk she had with the princess, her mentor, afterwards, brought about the things to come and things to be done as well as a heavy book of combat spells and a list of pages she had to study.

Her mentor hadn't been angry, she seemed to be kind of happy. That she herself, Twilight, had decided to take care of Ponyville. Yet her mentor also seemed worried and concerned about what the future would bring...

“Well, the commander doesn’t sound like a too bad of a pony”. The just a bit taller than ponies dragon broke the silence.

“Well, ah' guess I can't argue with that”, the orange farm pony followed up.

“Yea!”, the pink party pony exclaimed as she popped out from under the table and sat on her rump next to Applejack, Pinkies blue eyes shining with admiration.
“He and Twilight even managed to convince Granny Smith to move into Ponyville retirement village!”

“Yeah... she ain't all happy 'bout that. But ah' reckon it's all for the better...”
The orange farm pony nodded and adjusted her Stetson before continuing.

“But really, ah'm truly grateful. Not having to worry much about Granny, in case the war hits...”
Now the orange farm pony put on a serious frown.
“Yet, fer some reason, ah don't feel all that secure around him”.

“Well, everypony seems to feel like that”, Twilight nodded understandingly. “Well, everypony except Pinkie pie...”, she giggled.

“What? He is such a nice pony to talk to!”, the pink party pony beamed. But quickly her smile turned into a concerned frown.
“But he is so quiet and it's so hard to get him to smile... I mean, he does smile sometimes but it's only for a really, really short time”.

The others shrugged at this information. It wasn't really something they had noticed.

“W-wait...”, came a small and nervous outbreak from a certain butter coloured pegasus who had laid aside her nurse uniform on the table. “Y-you 'talk' with the... with the...”
The shaking pegasus was struggling to press the last word past her lips.

“Yes, of course I do! We're friends”, said the pink party pony with a newly brightened smile on her face as she scooped up a cupcake with rose red frosting and ate it one bite.

“But h-haven't y-you heard the rumours?!”, the still shaking butter coloured pegasus exclaimed as she tried to hide her frightened expression behind hair, “That pony is dangerous!”

“Oh, come on!”, it suddenly burst out of Scootaloo stopping Pinkie from responding.

The relatively young orange pegasus, who up until now had just been sitting there quietly and listening sat down her tea cup, before she continued.

“These rumours sound really ridiculous to me. Nopony with a sane mind would ever dream of murdering ones own parents! Not to speak of the one saying that his coat should have changed colour.”

Her words were met with agreed nodding and silence but Twilight broke the silence.

“Actually I investigated most of those rumours”, she began.

Her friends turned their faces to look at her with questioning faces. She hadn't actually told anyone about her little investigation of her own superior, until now.

“Well? Spill the beans already”, said the orange pegasus impatiently. Her heterochromian eyes shining with curiosity.

Twilight stayed silent for a short moment before she began to talk.

“There are a few facts that in a way support the possibility of him having committed the murder on his parents. If it even was murder.”

Twilight stood up to reach out for the pot of tea to fill her cup again. “The mansion that belonged to his family burned down on same date as the day of the so called murder.

The fire alerted the neighbors and the fire brigade was called. According to eye witnesses, he was found a short distance outside the mansion. Unconscious, yet otherwise unharmed, but covered in blood.”

Twilight filled Spikes tea cup for him and received a thankful nod as she sat down, the dragon took the tea pot from her and served everyone another round of tea, as Twilight spoke.

“Along with him was found a sword from older pony history that apparently had been passed down in his family through the generations.

Later on he was tried for the murder of his own parents...”

She paused to gather herself for a moment and sip some tea.

“Was he ever, ya know... sentenced?” her orange farm pony friend asked quietly.

“Apparently not.” She replied as she slowly shook her head. “ Princess Celestia stepped in and had the case closed and all charges dismissed.
But I couldn't get any other information about the case. It's been sealed from more than just the normal public eyes...”

“Did you investigate the ruins of the burned down mansion? ” the heterochromian pegasi poked in next to her. “There has to be something, some kind of clue at that place!”

Twilight shook her head again in response. “No, I wanted to have a look at it myself.
But the commander had a new mansion build in exactly same spot and the fire brigades report didn't say much more than the fact that the fire might have emerged from the fireplace in one of the bigger living rooms.
It also stated that, due to how the mansion was build, determining where the fire actually started was impossible.”

Her friends shrugged at this almost dead end information.

“Then how about that obscure rumour about his fur's colour chance?” the pink party pony exclaimed across the table stretching out her neck towards Twilight, looking sceptical,
“I mean he must be dyeing his coat or something!”

“Well no”, Twilight once again shook her head. “In fact this rumour appears to be somewhat true. No one knows how he did it and it's never been seen before.”

The party pony let herself fall back onto her back giggling. “I thought I finally had a leg up on our mystery pony friend!”, she said before rolling in under the table still giggling.

“So he used to have a white coat?” said her purple scaled friend sceptically as he lifted his cup to take a slurping sip of tea, letting Pinkies Pie be Pinkie Pie.

“Yes, I even talked with the headmaster of the Canterlot magic school he was attending at that time and he confirmed that commander Blackmanes fur did indeed change colour at the date of the murder.”

“Well”, the farm pony nodded and then smiled, ”It's true that he is mighty suspicious but gold bits don't lie much...
Thanks to him we have a whole lotta work to do at the farm and we get a big bag of gold bits from the army every month for as long as we can supply em' apples.”

“I suppose that deal is really good for you and your family”, the heterochromian pegasus began, “But is there really no catch at all?”

“Eyup” the orange farm pony replied with a bright smile. “Well, ah' guess you can say that the 'catch' is that ah' hardly have any apples fer anypony else ta' have”, as she shrugged.

The truth behind the farm ponies words made Twilight feel a bit guilty. She was after all part of the reason that the deal between the army and her friend had gone through.
She managed to hide her guilt well enough for her friends not to notice.

“He sure sounds...” The purple dragon paused trying to find the words, “Interesting, this commander. Even if you say he seems like a nice guy, all those rumours and facts sound kinda scary.” He chuckled nervously.

“Oh...”, a deep velvet soft voice suddenly spoke up in a melancholic tone right behind the purple dragon.
“I’m so sad to hear that my tainted reputation have preceded me once again...”

Twilight was about to inhale her tea in surprise instead of drinking it, forcing her to cough violently a few times. She had completely forgotten that today she had to meet up with the commander and formulate her report of the week to him.

Fluttershy had jumped in surprise and was now hiding behind Applejack shaking like a leaf.

Spike stood up and turned around to look at the smaller stallion who met the dragons studying eyes with an almost timeless gaze.

The commanders armour had over the past half year only seen harder and harder battles. The helmet, that the commander had taken off before showing up, was the only thing that seemed to be relatively unharmed.

Holes and broken off pieces the battle worn armour had been fixed by replacing them or repaired with scraps of metal, seemingly found on the field, and strapped on with a glue-like substance, making his armour look like an odd mix of white steel, golden pegasus armour and an occasional single large leg piece of back steel whose origin Twilight only could guess would have belonged to a half dragons armour at some point.

Ponies at the other tables around them had fallen silent at the commanders entry at the part of the main square that belonged to sugar cube comer but Twilight and her friends hadn't noticed before now.

She could feel the usual odd stomach feeling settle in and could clearly see it spelled in the faces of the ponies tabled up around them as well as her friends. She had mostly gotten used to it herself but only because she was the one who spend the most time with the commander.

For how long had the commander been standing there and how much of their conversation did he listen to?

“So... you must be Spike”, the commander said calmly, directing a armoured hoof at the purple dragon in front of him giving him sign to shake it. “Nice to meet you, I'm Lucas Blackmane, commander of Ponyville.”

The taller dragon hesitated for a second. Twilight felt like the taller dragon was somehow smaller than the commander but as the purple dragon closed his claws around the the commanders hoof and shook it, this illusion faded away faster than thin fog on a warm spring morning.

“Um... like wise”, the stunned purple dragon managed to say before letting go of the armoured hoof. “I'm... Twilights former assistant”.

“Yeah, so I have been told.” The commander hummed, “That aside, welcome home. I hope the changes I have applied haven't made it too unfamiliar.”

Spike opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by a loud excited yelp from a pink party pony who had jumped onto the table and leapt into the air only to land heavily on the commanders back making him groan at the sudden crash that had taken him by surprise but he regained his composure in a flash.

“Lucas! You are finally here!”, she exclaimed with shining bright smile hugging him closely around the shoulders and neck.
This gesture made the commanders, otherwise serious stiff, frown wobble shortly into an uncanny small smile that faded away fast back into his usual stiff frown.

Twilight shook her head and looked across the table at the orange farm pony and the heterochromian pegasus who looked just as surprised as she herself felt.
Fluttershy still hiding behind Applejack not daring to move from the spot yet still shaking like a leaf.

“We are having your favourite tea! Do you want some?”, the party pony questioned the stallion below her.

“Oh...”, the armoured unicorn started to trot forwards seemingly unhindered by the weight of an extra pony on his back. “I might as well, now that it's here.”

The pink earth pony jump off the red stallions back and on to the table, flipped the last tea cup and filled it with the still hot tea that she had brought them not too long ago.

Today’s tea was a weird honey sweetened tea of a mix that Twilight had never had before but it was a surprisingly soothing tea.

The pink party pony served it with a chocolate muffin from the basket of goods set amidst the table, as the commander dropped his weapon belt and sat down with a slight armoured clunk, right between Spike and Twilight.

The pink earth pony jumped of the table. “Well, it's about time I get back to work. See you guys later”, she beamed before she bounced off to take care of newly arrived guests.

The commander took a rather long sip of his tea and exhaled with a heavy sigh holding his cup between two hooves. His stiff his expression changed to a more relaxed one.

Somehow Pinkies actions had pushed away not just the weird tension but seemingly also most of that odd feeling that always seem to settled in, in everypony when the commander was near.

“Sir...”, Twilight began as the red stallion next to her sat down his tea cup,
“I'm sorry that I didn't meet you at the usual place... it's just that--”.

The red commander interrupted her with a lifted hoof and an understanding nod.
“It's quite all right, Miss Sparkle. It happens to everypony now and then.” He reached out and took a hold of the muffin in front of him to take a rather large bite of it.

“So AJ”, he managed to say before gulping down the last of his muffin, “How is it going at the farm?”

The farm pony put on a joking smirk adjusting her Stetson. “Oh shucks commander, you worryin' 'bout me now?”

The commander pulled up a dry short laughter that seemed almost imitated but still somehow real.

“Well, I did choose to take care of the battlefront myself but that doesn’t mean I can't come back and meddle in the job I handed to my vice commander”, he replied.
Placing his hooves on the table and rising into a proud stand in an attempted joking manner that somehow managed another smile that seemed bit less uncanny.

“Then, how do you feel, commander?”. It suddenly came from the heterochromian pegasi who sat across the table.

The commanders uncanny smile faded into a frown again as he sat down with a heavy metallic thump. It was then Twilight noticed the only slightly darker red bags under the commanders eyes.

“Sir?”, she questioned the commander who had now placed a thoughtful hoof on his chin looking down into the table. “Is everything all right?”

The commander didn't respond at first but after what seemed like about a minutes time he sighed and looked up.
The grim look on his face told Twilight that todays number of victims returning from camp Left Hoof would be one of the bigger ones.

“Well... if you all really want to know”, he paused, maybe listening for an objection to continuing but no one said anything so he continued, his voice dry and some what melancholic.

“We had a rough night. A night some of my men will never forget. A night some of my soldiers didn't make it through...” The red unicorn had once again picked up his cup of tea with his hooves emptying it with one large gulp.

The purple dragon shook his head and said, “That's... terrible”.
Twilight felt that she couldn't agree more but she didn't utter a word.

However the commander let out another heavy sigh. “It is indeed but none the less it's my duty to watch over those stained fields to keep the rest of Equestria safe.” The commander sat down his empty tea cup and turned to Twilight.
As he raised up to a stand from his sitting position and put on his steel white helmet, showing intention of leaving.
“But speaking of duty, it's about time that Miss Sparkle and I go on to do what is our duty towards this town.”

Ch 5: Home Sweet Home (Arc 1)

When War is Close by

Chapter 5
Home Sweet Home

Spike looked over the crowed which had returned to normal, trying to catch a final glimpse of the purple mare but she was out of sight.

He had asked her before she had left for her duties if it would be okay that he and Scootaloo stayed as guests at her home in the library, at least for a few days until they could make some bits to pay off a rental room.

At that the purple unicorn had giggled and with a kind of proud smile told him that the guest room still wasn't occupied since half a year ago when Fluttershy had moved into the library, the two mares had decided to move an extra bed into Twilights bedroom where the pegasus would sleep, to help her get used to living in town.

But even if the butter coloured mare had gotten used to the town around her by now she had never moved into the guest room as firstly intended, and Twilight didn't mind things as they were so she had left it as is.

The purple mare saw no problem in having her old friend and the orange pegasus living with her and Fluttershy for as long as they wanted to stay, free of charge of course, but at the one condition: to help keep the library clean and orderly.

Then she had said her goodbyes and told Spike and the orange pegasus to just go ahead and let themselves in at the library and then she had left the table alongside with the commander.

“So, Applejack”, the younger orange pegasus peered. “Where is Applebloom and Sweetie Belle?”.

“Well, they should both be in Canterlot right now since Sweetie Belles cutie mark of ah bell and ah microphone suggested that she could become ah famous singer. So she have been trying to start ah singing career using some weird talent show called Pony-Factor or somethin'”, the farm pony rolled her eyes and shrugged.

“I have heard about Pony-Factor too” came a timid response from the butter coloured pegasus who had returned to her seat when the two unicorns had left.
“I hear that admission is really strict... and time consuming too”.

“Eeyup”, the farm pony nodded, “Applebloom told me that anypony can sign up for this admission but only ah select few get past this admission thing, only to be put to some kinda trial or test, or whatever. They have to pass it, before gettin' to be part of the actual talent show”.

“Ugh, that sounds harsh...”, said the orange peagsus with a stern look, “But what about Applebloom? Why is she in Canterlot?”

“Well, Sweetie Belle is mighty nervous right now. She is part of the 'select few'” the farm pony continued, “So she asked Applebloom to come be her mental support or somethin' like that.
Since tonight is the big night where it will be announced who of the 'select few', pass the test...”

The Heterochromian pegasus had turned around to her saddlebags.
“Um, Scoots, what ya planin'?”, the farm pony asked as the orange pegasus pulled out her scooter that had been sticking out of one of the compartments.

“Well, Sweetie Belle needs all the backup she can get and since Applebloom is there too, I might as well go there myself too.”
After having checked that the scooter was good to go, she sat it down and got on it. “Where do you think I can find them?”

“They will probably stay at Rarity's 'new carousel boutique' until the announcement party starts”. The butter yellow friend answered across the table, “It's in the fashion district of Canterlot.”

“Okay got it!”, she got ready to take off but she halted herself only to turn her face, carrying a questioning expression. “Just one last thing before I go... where is Rainbow Dash?”

“Well”, Fluttershy began, “Two years ago she finally managed to get into the Wonderbolts main team. But to be able to keep up with the main teams schedule. She had to move to Cloudsdale.”

“Yea, we all agreed it would be fer the best if she did so”, added the orange farm pony.

Scootaloo nodded understandingly. “I see, when was last time you saw her?”

“Ah think it was half ah year ago... right after the Air Olympics. Ah'm not sure.”, replied the farm pony, “But we all get to see her again soon since she and the Wwonderbolts will be performin' ah 'motivational' show of some sort fer the soldiers here in Ponyville, Wednesday next week.”

“Roger!”, Scootaloo said as she leaned on her almost too small and old scooter. “I'll be sure to, at least, be back by then so I get to meet Equestias most awesome pony again”.

Then she flapped her wings and zoomed out of sight in no time, towards Canterlot.

Applejack let out a heavy sigh and frowned as she took off her Stetson, studying it as if she was thinking.

“What's the matter AJ?”, Spike asked turning to get a better look at the farm pony even if he'd rather want to ask about Rarity.

“Well ah, guess you can say ah'm a bit confused about Rainbow.” The orange pony replied, flipping over her Stetson to look at its inside. “She's been acting mighty strange towards me fer the past few times we have met.”

“Strange? Like how?”, the dragon asked.

“Well, she seems to be kinda, you know, happy to see me yet somehow trying avoid talkin' much to me”, the farm pony answered. But as the dragon only shrugged at her with a questioning look she put her hat back on her head and continued.
“Ah mean... she's always happy to see her friends but she's been kinda givin' me looks now and then.”

“But none of us have noticed anything like that”, Fluttershy added with a small worried frown.

“Ah know. Ah know”, the farm pony repeated, “But ah also know that the one time where ah showed up at one of her shows, as the only one, she just stood there starrin' at me fer like a hole five minutes or so until ah asked her if somethin' was the matter.”

“And what did she tell you?”, the butter coloured pegasus asked.

“She wouldn't say but she didn't dare make eye contact with me fer the rest of the day”, the farm pony frowned, “Well, at least we'll all be seein' each other next Wednesday at the motivational show. Maybe ah can get something out of her at that point.”

“Wait”, the dragon awoke from his thoughts of Dash's odd behaviour. “When you say 'all', does that include Rarity?”

“Well, yes”, nodded the butter coloured pegasus. “It's the first time in a half year that the six of us have the chance to spend actual time together and Rarity said she wouldn't miss it for the world”.

“I see”, the dragon nodded understandingly during his 3 years travelling period there had been a lot of times where he had wished himself back home, to safety.

After a few more sips of tea and small talk about then and now, the orange farm pony had gotten onto her hooves and bid him and Fluttershy farewell.
“Well it's gettin' a bit late and it's about time tar pack up fer today. So ah best be goin'. I'll see ya guys around, come visit me at mah apple stand tomorrow or somethin'”, she said and started to head for the market place just across the town square from Sugar Cube Corner.

“See you AJ”, the dragon and Fluttershy had replied in unison to the farm pony who had stopped to turn and wave goodbye before continuing across the town square.

Now he and Fluttershy were headed back to the library under the sky which had begun its transition from blue to dark in the east, as Celestias sun painted the west with its red and orange color palatte.

The purple dragon sighed. “It's good to be home”, as the Library door swung open only to close again behind them.

Ch 7: Gold in Silver (Arc 2)

When War is Close by

Chapter 7
Gold in Sliver

Twilight was happy to be out in the open of the park again leaving the small cramped office belonging to Doctor Stable and the smell of hospital behind. She was heading across the park lawn towards a large oak tree which had roots in far end of the park, not too far from the taller, outer wall.

While she had been in the small office the park guests had increased in numbers. It seemed as if most of the whole town had decided that today was a good day visit the park.
Young fillies were playing and dancing around their parents who were relaxing in the shade of one of few trees the park had to offer or a parasol they had brought from home.

Past a small group of fillies playing in the warm summer sun she spotted a snow white stallion sitting in the oaks shade his back against the tree trunk... He seemed relaxed almost sleeping with his eyes closed. His oddly short cut, golden mane helped Twilight confirm it. This was Gold Plate.

As she passed the playing fillies she noticed a nurse sitting in the grass not too far away from Gold Plate and remembered what Redheart said to her just before they parted ways.

Even if Gold Plate was one of the most stable PTSD patients he was still like the others under constant observation. Redheart had also pointed out that anything related to the army could have a negative impact and had pointed at Twilights circlet with it's symbol.

She slipped off the circlet and made it evaporate into thin air. As she approached the white stallion the nurse who had noticed her from a mile away didn't move but nodded approvingly when Twilight made eye contact with her. She returned the nod.

Twilight sad down next to Gold Plate and leaned against the tree as a lazy, warm summer wind passed by. She realized that she was actually in doubt about how to start a conversation with Gold Plate... Had he even noticed her sitting down next to him?

But as she was about to panic trying to figure out how to break this increasingly awkward silence Gold Plate himself broke the silence with a steadfast tone.
“To what do I owe the honour, Vice-commander?”

Twilight turned her head and looked at him. He had opened an eye looking at her with a lazy gaze from his sky blue eye. “I think you can almost guess why. Your help is needed.”

The white stallion looked down over his body with an unsure frown. Twilight noticed his stomach was covered in white bandages that blended in almost perfectly with his coat making it hard to see at a distance. His left back leg was heavily wrapped as the hoof had seemingly been ripped off at the ankle.

The white earth pony looked back up at her, meeting her eyes again with a distressed expression, hyperventilating. “Do you-”, the steadfast tone had vanished and been replaced by uncertainty, “-really think someone like me can be of any help a-at all...” His voice trailed off with a little shutter at the end as he gestured toward his recovering body.

“You don't have to but I'm sure you'll be able to help.” Twilight nodded with an understanding frown. “You see, the soldiers here in Ponyville have no knowledge of what we are up against.”

Twilight summoned an empty scroll, ink pouch and a quill as she continued. “All you need to do is to sit here and tell me everything you know about these half-dragons,” she assured him.

This seemed like a relieve to Gold Plate as he responded dryly. “Understanding your enemy is the first step toward victory. I'll tell you what I know...” His voice carrying a much calmer tone.

His hyperventilating had come to a halt for now yet Twilight could tell by just looking at him that he wasn't comfortable with the subject at all.

“As I said,” she began putting a soft press on the assuring tone in her voice. “You don't have to do this if you don't wan--”
“I have to do this,” he cut her off. “This is the only way that someone like me might have a small chance to get back at those half-dragons for what they have done...”

Talking with Gold Plate went a lot better than Twilight had expected and after what must had been about an hours time Twilight had a good, clear description of what the average half-dragon looked like.

She dared not ask what he meant with 'what they have done', but it wasn't important right now.
“So just to summarize before I leave," she said as she unfolded the three scrolls that now contained notes from their about an hour long conversation.

Gold Plate didn't respond so Twilight started to read aloud from the information gathered on the scrolls.

Commonly half-dragons were bigger and stronger anypony, and with their ability to walk up right if they desired they could always tower over anypony.

Some could breathe fire imbued with magical properties while others were nimble and could shapeshift to gain wings or hide in plain sight but most of them were without such features.

But they all had scales and claws with spikes for hair, either in the same manner as Spike or with a porcupine mess.

Twilight finished summarizing the scrolls content to Gold Plate expecting some kind of response from him but Gold Plate still didn't say anything so she looked up from scroll.

His breathing seemed stressed and his teeth were grit in a tight frown. His gaze directed towards the far end of the park.

This worried Twilight. 'For how long had been like this?', she thought to herself. She had been too obsessed with her scrolls to notice when it started.

“Gold is everything alri--” A loud shriek from a small group of fillies made Gold Plate jolt as if someone had surprise poked him in an open wound.

“Gold Plate!” Twilight exclaimed in an attempt to gain his attention but he didn't respond. His breathing becoming more and more intense as his gaze shifted from the distant other side of the park to the five fillies who were playing a game of trust not too far from the big oak tree.

The nurse who was watching over Gold Plate had approached them trying to calm him as well but was unsuccessfully knocked over as he raced forward toward the fillies with a war cry.
“You will not take Round Shield from me!”, he bellowed taking stumbling steps with his now reddening bandaged leg as he dashed forward.

Twilight was about to panic. The fillies were in danger, what could she do? “Stop him!”, the tumbled nurse called to her snapping Twilight out of it and lashed onto the rampant white stallion with her magic in attempt to halt his advance but Gold Plates physical might was too great and Twilight could only manage to slow him to a trot at first.

She could feel the white stallion struggle against her magic. She could easily have overpowered him but she remembered what was written on his patient profile in the section about his body's damaged condition and the fact that physical manipulation of or levitating living beings was something that required weeks and weeks of careful training with a ton of eggs, soon to be crushed by your imperfect magical balance, to master made her fear that even if she had mastered both she would damage his healing bones and tissue or even worse crush him to death due to wild struggling against her magic.

The rampant stallions left leg was already leaving a trail of red behind him but it seemed like he couldn't care less in his attempt to reach the fear paralysed fillies.

Twilight could feel her concentration beginning to slip as the mentally taxing mana output management constantly changed. In a panic attempt to lower her needed effort to halt Gold Plates advance Twilight began to levitate him off the ground.

“Let go!”, he yelled bucking out and fighting harder against her magic. “Please let go!” Gold Plate almost begged. “Round Shield is going to die, I have to help him!”

That was too much for Twilight and she fell into sitting position as the magical backlash from her broken levitation spell hit her with a headache and ringing in the ears followed by a dizzying blur of stars filling her vision forcing her to look down to avoid losing balance.

But she quickly looked up again worrying about the fillies only to look back down again as her stomach didn't quite agree with the spinning surroundings but at least she could rest easy now as she had caught a glimpse of a giant white pegasus with the tiniest wings and a black dumbbell as cutiemark drop from the sky and halt Gold Plate instantly with his massive forelegs.

Ch 8: Dance Of Shadows (Arc 2)

I find myself surrounded by tall, sharp shadows. I can't see my friends anywhere... Did I miss the call for retreat?

The shadows all grin and look at me like I am dinner. Suddenly they begin to close in. One behind me faster than the others. I jump forwards to avoid a swipe from it's claws only to be tumbled around and land on my belly.

Everything is spinning and blurry. Stumbling onto my hooves as fast as I can, I dash forward only to fall and the off putting feeling that one of my back hooves was now shorter than the three others made me shake my head.

The tallest of the shadows, now right in front of me, levelled it's head so it could look down at me yet still look me straight in the eye as the others set the field around us on fire.

It spoke to me but it's words were unclear and hard to make out yet what of it I could make out was gibberish to me. A different language entirely... But it didn't matter much. Soon I'd be food and all this horror would be over.

But as it opened it's mouth to place my head inside it was suddenly ripped away as a chestnut brown shape of a pony made contact with the shadow's lower half.

The tall shadow recovered quickly and called on it's friends before attacking the chestnut brown pony but it never got that far. Seemingly out of nowhere a silver armoured blur joined the brown pony and together they made short progress of the tall shadow.

The other shadows were quickly returning and the two ponies were making haste towards me and while the spinning had settled a little everything was still blurry yet I could tell that the two ponies were having a heated argument. The one in the armour seemingly angry and displeased, he had no helmet over his red muzzle and darker than black hair.

I knew they were her for me. My strength had run out a long time ago yet they were here for me, a dead weight who couldn't move any more.

The two ponies reached me but for a moment they are off guard and suddenly the chestnut brown one is only half in size.

There is no time. The chestnut brown one speaks his last words as his assailant lies next to him.
I can tell the armoured one is upset and doesn’t want to leave him behind yet he turns to me. I can tell he is crying... I can almost feel how it burns him.

His teeth takes a hold of my mane pulling me and somehow I clash with his armoured back then he makes a run for it and suddenly I fall.

I sit up breathless, heaping for air. I'm sweaty and hot like I have been working out for hours. I can't see a thing... but a nurse shows up with a candle. She gives me a hug while I drink cold water that she took out for me telling her about my recurring nightmare.

She lets go of me and I flop back into bed. “Feeling all better?”, she asks with a cute smile.

“Yer, thanks nurse Shy.”

She giggles. “You don't have to call me nurse, you know.” She has told me that countless times... to use her full name yet it doesn’t feel right to me, like I'd be intruding on somepony's private ground without permission.

She is at the door way now. “Good night, Gold Plate. I really hope you will be sleeping better now”, she quietly cheered at me.

“Good night--”, I hesitate... I want to say it. I want to say Fluttershy. “-- nurse Shy.” Damn, I really envy her special somepony... unless... unless she doesn’t have one.

Ch 9: The Chase (Arc 2)

Spike was worried not only because another urgent letter from the commander just had arrived but because Twilight hadn't been at the west gate to meet him as they had agreed. He had waited. 10 minutes had passed then 20 and he had gotten impatient so he had asked the guards stationed at the gate if any of them had see Twilight but none of them had.

He decided to pick up the list of arrivals and departures for the west gate and head for the hospital to look of Twilight there. He didn't find her at the hospital but when he was about to leave he bumped into Lyra.

With the light green unicorn being the of talkish sort they began to chat for a little while. But when Spike asked if she had seen Twilight anywhere she had looked back at him with a worried frown and told him about what she had seen from across the park and that a rather tired and burdened looking Twilight that hadn't responded to her call out had left the park not too long ago. And so Spike had hurried on back to the west gate only to not find her there.

He was now on his way across the town plaza back to the library to see if she had returned home but when he was about to make a left turn into one of the side streets leaving the plaza the purple silhouette of somepony sitting at a table with her head hanging over a cup, grabbed his attention and made the purple dragon stop to look at the tables outside Sugar Cube Corner.

There weren’t too many guests as the lunch rush had passed not too long ago but there Twilight was... Seemingly breathing the fumes of whatever was in the cup her head hanging low. He hurried over to her side.

“Twilight? Are you alright-- ”, he began as his strong dragon nose picked up the particular smell of Twilights drink. “-- is that coffee?”. He ended rather shocked he only remembered Twilight resorting to coffee during extreme exhaustion.

“I'll be fine, Spike”, she replied with a mushy tone not looking up from her coffee cup. “You don't sound fine”, he said with a worried frown as he had placed the scrolls he were carrying on the table and sat down next to her. “What happened at the hospital?”

And so Twilight told him everything that had happened. About how she had met Gold Plate and what knowledge and opinions he had shared with her. About how Gold Plate had lashed out and she had tried to stop him without success. About how Bulk Biceps had saved the fillies and held Gold Plate in place while a doctor had given the rampant stallion a strong sedative that had calmed him to an almost blissful state to put him on a stretcher and have him carried away into the hospital for a full bandage change.

While Twilight spoke and sometimes sipped of the dark bitter coffee that made her grimace in disapproval and dislike every time Spike rubbed Twilights back and neck listening closely to her only saying something when Twilight asked or when he felt it appropriate to give an encouraging response.

When she had finished Twilight looked over her shoulder up at the purple dragon who was still kindly rubbing her back with a lightened up expression. “I see you got the copy of west gates departure and arrivals list for me as well... thanks Spike.”

“Oh, it was nothing.” He beamed back at her with a wide, white smile. “It is, after all, what I, your number one assistant, am here for!” They both laughed at his remark.

When the short laughed had settled Twilight downed the last of her coffee making another disapproving grimace then she and Spike began to go over the departure and arrivals lists looking for irregularities and names of strangers they didn't know.

Two hours of solid work passed parring departure names with arrival names and the other way around crossing out ponies they were sure couldn't have any relations with the half dragon army. The massive scrolls had been reduced to a small list of mere four ponies.

After Twilight had put her circlet back on she and Spike ventured out to find the first one on the list, Fancy Pants, who had visited Ponyville twice in the past weeks time already which was rather often considering that he is of the upper class and Ponyville being seen as a small backwater town by the upper class made it rather suspicious. He happened to be in town today as well.

They met him on the street by luck and managed to confront him in a friendly manner finding out that he was actually visiting a friend, a Captain that was newly ascended into the rank of General, currently stationed under Twilight, without revealing their suspicions about him.

A quick but polite visit to the General that Fancy Pants mentioned confirmed, without the General questioning why it had to be confirmed, that he and Fancy Pants actually were friends, scheduled to meet for dinner and after noon tea, later today and so Spike and Twilight left for the next name on the list.

Hairy Steve lived in a rather large house squeezed in between other buildings with it's entrance in a small back ally. Twilight and Spike was rather surprised meeting this oversized and hairy individual as he had flung the double doors to his home open greeting them with a healthy laugh and invited them in for a spot of afternoon tea.

Having talked with Steve and discovering that he was a business man - ehh - pony who, together with his companion and friend, a small clever fella called Nelson, who also happened to be on Twilights list, had been doing business with Canterlot Royalty for over a decade and that it was Celestia herself that had recommended Ponyville as a place for them to live. They made their way back towards the town square.

“I'm certain that Steve is some sort of dog”, Spike began, “and that Nelson is a cat!” Twilight cut him off with annoyance bending her voice.

“And for the eighth time, yes I agree that both Steve and Nelson look strange for ponies--”, as they walked she summoned their list to check off both Nelson and Steve as visited, “--but you saw that scroll Celestia had given them. Royal acknowledgement and 'friendship' can't get more official than that.”

The purple dragon let out a heavy sigh finally giving up on the matter of Steve’s and Nelson's odd appearances and turned to look at his friend walking next to him who was studying the last name on the scroll.

“Hmmm... I am certain that I have never seen this name before.” She said thoughtfully. “But for some reason I just get the feeling that it's someone we have met before.” She turned the scroll floating it over to him so he could read the last name. “What do you make of it?”

“Miss... Lulamoon?" He paused with a thoughtful expression. “Doesn’t ring a bell to me”, he finally said with a shrug.

“Yes exactly yet I have this weird déjà vu kind of feeling”, she said as they reached the town square. “And the description on the arrival and departures list. It isn't much to go on either”, she looked towards Sugar Cube Corner.

“So what are we looking for?” The dragon asked as they walked towards the café with it's gingerbread-like appearance.

“A mare wearing a rare ebony black travelling cloak with dark red lining. She is also wearing a silver brooch featuring the letters 'BM'”.

It didn't take long for Spike to spot the black cloak and it's bearer with the cloaks hood pulled up around her head sitting at one of the café tables farthest from the café and in the shade of the building.
Spike pointed Twilight in the direction of the cloaked mare and they approached her from the side. Twilight noticed a quite peculiar staff with a flat half moon shaped head lying across the table in front of the cloaked mare.

“Excuse me, Miss... Lulamoon?”, Twilight began. The cloaked mare jump in surprise almost dropping a cup from her magical grip that she had been sipping from with her sky blue muzzle.

“Y-yes?” the mare stuttered turning her head revealing only a few tresses of a pale blue mane but keeping the rest of her face hidden with the shade from the hood.

“I hope you wouldn't mind if we had a little talk?”, Twilight continued as she and her dragon companion sat down at the table the cloaked mare was at.

“Ehh.. I the great an--”, the cloaked mare began nervously but biting off her own sentence. “--I mean... I'd rather not talk... r-right now.” The mare looked left and right as if to secure a way out, her face still hidden.

Twilight lifted an eyebrow. There was something about the way the first part of the cloaked mares sentence was formed that made the stranger in front of her feel even more familiar.

“Have we... met before?” She asked the cloaked mare whose face snapped to looking at her. Twilight still couldn't see her face but she was sure that the strangers expression was that of shock.

“N-no, I'm sure we have never-met-before-now.” The cloaked mare stutters out with a feverish tone getting up and slowly backing away from the table.

Seeing Miss Lulamoon slowly backing out Twilight switched subject. “That's an interesting artefact you have with you”, pointing with a hoof at the staff lying across the table.

“Y-yes, it is...” The mare paused only to sweep up the staff with the half moon shaped head in her magic and letting it slip in place on binding on her cloaks back made for that purpose as she backed further away. “Um, if you'll excuse me, I have an important meeting I can't miss”, she said before turning tail and running away across the town square.

As soon as the cloaked stranger had turned around Twilight jumped on to her hooves. “After her!”, she commanded and Spike followed as quickly as he could.

Twilight thundered across the town square and into a less crowed alleyway in pursuit of the black cloaked stranger. At the end of the alleyway she spotted the black cloak and it's red lining make a turn left and she followed quickly only to spot the cloak again making another turn at the next comer but Twilight didn't give in and continued her almost restless pursuit believing that the cloaked mare was if not the spy then somepony who might have ties to the one who was.

For each comer Twilgiht made she got closer and closer to the cloaked stranger until she could finally fully see her, while the cloak still covered her face and back, more of the long, flowing pale blue mane had popped out from it's hiding under the black hood.

As she made another turn to the left following the cloaked stranger she noticed the street name written on a sign on the house wall, Starswirl's Long Stretch Street, and Twilight knew that this might be her last chance if she were to ever catch the stranger she was pursuing.

During Ponyvilles reconstruction phase the designers had worked hard to make the small town as maintainable, easy to navigate and still having fairly large roads and regular intersections so that it wouldn't feel too cramped traversing the town while still having attractive living spaces for the regular population and the extra soldiers.

But a small flaw in the design caused by the extra space the East gate barracks needed to be a proper barracks and the need to fit everyone into this new smaller town had resulted in “Starswirl's Long Stretch Street”, a long street that connected the main street from one of the towns four corners with no house exits or intersections meaning that if you travelled in one direction you'd have to travel it's full length to get anywhere else.

Twilight smiled, almost maniacally with glee, she was so close now. She upped her pace even more as she began to charge up for a spell. One of the few spells she had decided to learn from the book of combat spells the princess had given her.

Her magic formed a small but thick purple glass pentagon floating next to her and with a small flick of her horn the pentagon twisted into a square. 'Now for some size', she thought to herself as she diverted more attention towards the spell and the square began to grow in size.

Clonk.
Twilight felt stone scratch and tuck against her left hoof pulling her head first into a fall as her rump and back hooves swung up into the air only to add more weight to her fall.

Thump.

Even if she had fallen flat on her face she quickly jolted to half a stand while trying the catch her breath only to give up with a disappointed sigh and sat instead as she saw the black cloaked Miss Lulamoon make a left turn at the far away end of the street and into a passing crowd on the main street.

Ch 10: The Hiding Spot (Arc 2)

Looking down the rest of Starswirl's Long Stretch Street from it's mid point toward the end where Miss Lulamoon had disappeared Twilight suddenly felt something hot and gooey run down towards her lip from under her nose, bruised by her fall during the pursuit.

“Ouch”, she flinched in pain as she tried to wipe it away and a small streak of blood appeared on the foreleg she had used to wipe with.

With a small sigh she summoned a handkerchief and began to gently pad her nose, using a cold spell on the folded handkerchiefs inner layers to help stop the bleeding, as a huffing and heaving Spike finally caught up with her.

“She got...” The dragon paused to inhale. “She got away?” He finally managed to catch his breath.

“Yes”, she replied with a moody tone studying the red on her handkerchief for a brief moment only to continue padding her nose while looking down the street and note that her conjured glass-like square had landed with a corner stuck in the ground about a meter away.

“Are you okay?” Spike asked noticing the reddened handkerchief.

“I'll be fine. It's just a small scratch”, she waved him off. “But there is definitely something fishy going on about Miss Lulamoon... What do you think Spike?” She turned her head as he didn't respond. “Spike?”

The purple dragon was gazing upon a poster on the wall. “Spike!”, she exclaimed snapping him out of it. “What have I told you about focus!”

“I know...” He sighed as he took his eyes off the poster. “Sorry... Hey, do you think we can go to Ponyville cinema later?” His face lid up as he exclaimed: “This movie looks awesome!”

“Movie in Ponyville?” Twilight gave him a confuzzled look and Spike pointed at the dark poster on the wall which embodied a big headline saying 'Attack on Dragon' and a stallion with green eyes and a brown mane in a weird looking get-up being stared down by a big silhouette with dragon form. At the bottom was a text: 'See it in Ponyville cinema now'.

This puzzled Twilight even more... Ponyville didn't have a cinema and there wasn't supposed to be build one any time soon. She knew this for a fact since it was her decision that it was an expense that could be spared and the small city could live without it until later and no privateers had opted to open one at their own expense due to the war.

Following this train of thought it suddenly struck Twilight who dropped the reddened handkerchief as she fired the quickest spell she could think of at the poster which seemed to just twirl of the wall away from her beam with a loud hiss and glaring green dragon eyes directed at her landing on the ground with a meaty flop.

The slowly morphing half dragon began to crawl forwards down Long Stretch Street away from the main street. Twilight quickly dashed forwards and jumped onto it's back doing her best to hold it down as the posters colours on the shapeshifters back were replaced with dark brown dragon scales.

“Help me Spike!”, she managed to exclaim before fishing the purple glass square out of the ground with levitation smashing it's flat side into the half dragons face as it had attempted to pierce her with a needle sharp-like tooth that had appeared on it's still not fully reconstructed upper jaw.

The half dragon didn't seem like wanting to meet Twilights un-dented glass square head on a second time and had put it's focus into crawling and trying to shake the purple unicorn off it's back instead of trying to fend her off.

“Guards!” Twilight yelled with a magically magnified voice that would have made Luna more than proud as she had realized that she and Spike might not be able to capture the half-dragon as it struggled more than ever before.

Spike who hadn't managed to come to his friends aid yet stumbled forwards and fell flat on his stomach in surprise dazed by Twilights magnified call having to watch as the half-dragon seized the moment that his purple friend needed to focus on her call for help to throw her off it's back and jump onto it's four now fully formed dragon feet stumbling forwards away from the guards now thundering down Long Stretch Street towards them from the main street.

Twilight who had landed uncomfortably on her side quickly turned her head looking for the escaping half-dragon and saw it rapidly sprout bare wing appendages that grew out of it's back a few meters away from her. She altered the shape of the purple glass square which she still carried with levitation to form a sharp arrow-like triangle.

Desperately flexing it's still morphing appendages the shapeshifter jumped into the air succeeding it's attempt to fly only to plummet with a yelp of pain as Twilights arrow-shaped polygon had been sent flying striking the half-dragon with enough force to penetrate it's scales around the left wing axillary jamming the left wing's main joint.

The half-dragon landed clumsily on it's feet but didn't give itself a second rest to worry about it's injured wing before dashing forwards at a surprising speed that left the slower, armoured guards in the dust, at this rate they would never catch up.

But as the dark brown half-dragon was getting close to escape beyond Long Stretch Street where finding a hiding spot would be easy the very same black cloaked mare that Twilight had been chasing not too long ago stepped out of the street corner's shadow rising on her hind legs as the half dragon raced towards her.

“Watch in awe!”, the sky blue mare bellowed as the red lined cloak's black hood dropped onto her back revealing her face and it's self-confident expression. "Fore I am the great and powerful Trixie!"

Trixie lifted her half-moon staff with levitation, gave it a good solid swing conjuring and catapulting forward something that looked like a square steel wardrobe with it's doors wide open literally scooping up the fleeing half-dragon and closing it's steel doors with a spin as heavy chains wrapped tightly around it and sealed it self with a slight click from a big heavy-looking lock.

Ch 6: To Be In The Knowing (Arc 2)

When War is Close by

Chapter 6
To Be In The Knowing

Twilight was sitting at a table just outside Sugar Cube Corner. The sun was high in the Sunday noon sky. Twilight had just enjoyed lunch with her number one assistant who was sitting across the table from her, piled into a part of the workload that she had split between them.

The purple dragon had really surprised her three days ago when she had returned home from her weekly report tour around town with the commander and found her study almost empty.

He had completely restored her study room to it's former state that evening. By resolving the massive stacks of paper and piles of books with filing and archiving all the army letters and relocating all the books to their proper locations on the shelves of the library's public main floor.

He had been working proudly for her since then by taking notes, calculating and running the occasional errands, almost like he was trying to fill in for the long 3 years period where he hadn't been able to assist her.

“So?”, Spike suddenly broke the working silence looking up from his pile. “Do you think... um, you know?” The dragon paused but as Twilight only returned a confuzzled look he continued with a sigh.

“Rarity will be here next Wednesday for the Wonderbolts show and I heard that her and Fluttershy are going to meet up at Rarity's shop in Canterlot before going to the show... and um... do you, um think...”, he paused again looking around himself seemingly trying to brush off his obvious nervousness regarding the subject.

“Well, I don't mind you visiting Rarity”, she nodded in response having already guessed what the purple dragon was on about.
“Most ponies are taking a day off Wednesday anyway since it's not often anypony get to see the Wonderbolts in action for free. But it's not my call to make since it's an arrangement between Fluttershy and Rarity... You should talk it over with Fluttershy later but I'm sure she'll let you come along.”

Spike nodded with a thankful smile, “Thanks Twi!”,
and returned to his pile of work but it wasn't long before he broke the silence again.

“Do you... think Rarity remembers who I am?”, he asked with a stain of concern on his tone.

“Oh, I'm sure she remembers you quite well”, Twilight replied confidently as she rolled her eyes. “I'm more concerned about whether or not the commander understood your instructions on how to send letters to us using fire. It's been three days and we haven't received single one yet.”

“I'm pretty sure he got it right. All he has to do is ignite the rune stone with magic and then cast it into a fire along with the letter he wishes to send and then I should receive it in a matter of minutes”, Spike nodded. “Which reminds me...” He began with a more serious tone. “Why didn't you send me any letters during the past three years?”

“Well...” The, now guilty looking, unicorn answered. “I don't have a rune stone... so even if I wanted--”.
“But Celestia has one!”
Twilight firmly planted a hoof on her face below her horn. “Oh... right. I'm sorry Spike for some reason that fact just slipped my mind.”

The dragon smiled kindly at the mare who sat across the table. “It's okay Twilight, I forgi--”. Spike stopped mid sentence with an expression of surprise as if someone had seemingly just stuffed his mouth full of cotton.
He bent over and stretched out his clawed hand and with a gentle cough of green fire a small blood stained and half burnt note appeared in the dragons grip.

Spike looked at the rather small note for a few seconds. “It's... for you”, he managed to say dryly as he handed the ruffled and stained note to Twilight.

With utmost disgust Twilight took hold of the note with her magic and brought it close enough for her to read the small and hastily made scribbles.

'Field inlet shows signs of spy in Ponyville
-Lucas'
Followed by a unique Equestrian army stamp indicating that it was indeed send by the commander.

“Oh no... this can't be good”, Twilight muttered.
“What's wrong?”, the dragon asked but before he could say another word a hushing Twilight grabbed his claw, pulling him down and in close.

“There might be a spy on the loose.” Her voice had dropped to a whisper so that no one but him and Twilight could hear it. “We have to hurry and root him out before Wednesday or there might be trouble. I want you to go to the north, east and south gate and get copies of their lists of the past weeks arrivals and departures.”

“Got it”, the purple dragon replied with a nod.
“Once you have the copies”, Twilight continued as the dragon stood up, “you can head for the west gate. I'll meet you there after I have made a quick swing by the hospital.”

“The hospital?” Twilight received a sceptical look from the dragon who had begun to turn his mess of a work pile into orderly stacks. “You didn't tell me you had an appointment.”

“Well I don't”, Twilight stood up and began to dismiss the orderly piles one by one with her magic. “But we need to know more about what a half dragon looks like and I think the best place to find out is by asking one who have actually seen one.”

“Oh right... that makes loads of sense”, he chuckled a bit at himself and continued to help Twilight by stacking the rest of the paper neatly in front of her.

After all the scrolls and paper, quills and ink had been safely stored, Twilight put on the army marked circlet and the two friends parted ways.

After a few minutes Twilight turned a corner and the Hospital located in the south-western part of town came into sight. The hospital hadn't changed too much over the past years.

There had been added an extra wing to the hospital building to accommodate more patients and when the wall had been built around Ponyville the top doctors of the hospital had requested to isolate the hospital grounds from the rest of the town.

As the doctors had stressed the matter that giving patients access to a relaxing outside area would improve most patients recovery speed and the fact that the town in itself wasn't as 'relaxing' as it had been in the past.

As the town's space was already becoming cramped due to the new wall around it, a decision was made to found a public park around the hospital.
At first the doctors had been sceptical about the idea but in the end agreed to the solution and a smaller wall was built, isolating the new park and the hospital from the rest of the town.

Twilight trotted through the silver gate that was the entrance to the park and proceeded towards the large, white building in the middle of the small park.

The park always had a few extra visitors aside from the patients that were currently staying at the hospital. The park had become a neat little haven for those who desired to stay on the inside of the protective wall yet still wanted to go on a picnic.

Having returned greetings of the few passers-by that knew her personally, Twilight finally passed through the big doors to enter the hospitals entrance hall.

The white entrance hall was almost deserted aside from a few ponies waiting for a quick examination and a brown pegasus with a bandaged wing. Behind the counter and half closed glass enclosure sat Nurse Redheart reading a magazine that she put away when she noticed Twilight approach her.

“Miss Sparkle”, the nurse said with a smile as she left the glass enclosure and noticed the circlet on Twilights head. “--Or should I say Vice Commander Sparkle?”

“No, it's quite all right, Redheart”. Twilight nodded back. “Even if I'm a Vice Commander now most ponies address me as they always have and that's how I prefer it.”

“Okay, miss Sparkle”. The white nurse smiled back as she fetched a large protocol marked appointments from under the counter and placed it in front of her.

“Do you have an appointment with one of the doctors?” But before she had a chance to open the protocol Twilight had drawn close to the desk and lowered her voice to almost a whisper.

“I don't have an appointment but it's important that I speak with Doctor Stable right away.” The nurse lifted a questioning eyebrow at the purple unicorn.
“It's army business and it's quite urgent”, Twilight answered with a serious frown.

The nurse nodded understandingly in response. “I'll call Doctor Stable to his office then.” She slipped off her chair and left the counter.
“It's down the hall main then first time to the left. You should wait for him just outside his door,” the nurse said as she passed Twilight and went through a staff only door.

Twilight had waited five minutes at most when Doctor Stable showed up and they sat down to talk in the messy office with his name on the door. She didn't blame him for the mess, her study would still be a mess too if it wasn't for her number one assistant.

After a few minutes the doctor leaned back in his chair thoughtfully putting his hooves together in front of his mouth having just heard the situation from Twilight and her request.

“Hmmm,” the older Doctor hummed. “The fact that you haven't made contact to one of my patients on your own I assume you understand the condition my patients from the army are in?” The doctor lifted a brow and looked at Twilight over his hooves.

The purple mare returned the serious gaze. “Not quite but I have seen several of them just before arriving here at your doors.” Twilight replied as she tried to swallow a small lump that had formed in her throat.

Her mind flooded with memories she had tried to forget, of tired and dirty soldiers, those who were able were trotting. Others had to be carried past her down the street towards the hospital. Their facial expressions dull and lost as if the end was near.

“What happened to them on the battlefield?” Twilight managed to push out through her dry neck and mouth.

“Well, it's quite obvious what actually happened, these kinds of things are expected.” The doctor let out a heavy sigh.
“When we lose our friends and loved ones under normal conditions we get to say a nice, quiet goodbye or something of that sort.” Twilight swallow another dry lump as the doctor continued. She had a feeling she knew where this conversation was going and she didn't like it.

“But in something as brutal and unpredictable as war our friends and loved ones often get brutally and suddenly ripped away, so suddenly that it tends to affect the subjects mental state in a traumatizing manner.” The doctor shifted his position to a more upright one before he continued, looking at Twilight over his desk.

“While the ones subjected to these traumas may looks physically well and mentally stable at first we have learned that a lot of them suffer from hallucinations.” the Doctor levitated his glasses off his face and began to clean them with a piece of cloth as he carried on. “Triggered by both sounds and visuals that even in the slightest can relate to the one of the traumatizing events...”

Twilight bit her lower lip, she felt a drop of sweat roll down the back of her neck, as a not too fond memory of having had a similar experience years back when she was about to be tardy sending her weekly friendship report, slipped past her conscious.

She managed to regain her composure before the doctor put his glasses back in place. He didn't seem to have noticed her nervous twitch as he carried on. “Or the subject suffer from nightmares that keep them from having a regular sleeping pattern... Both conditions force the patient to relive the scarring memories to some extent.”

Twilight nodded understandingly and cleared her dry throat. “But that doesn't change the fact that I need to speak with one of them.” She continued in a bit more insisting tone. “We need a better understanding of our enemy, ASAP.”

“I agree,” Doctor Stable said as he slid off his chair and turned to a filing cabinet behind him only to fetch a folder from one of the middle drawers. “Yet I must say these patients are quite a handful. We don't have any medical records or books on similar conditions.”

The orange doctor opened the folder and began to examine it's contents. “The impact such traumas have on subjects have shown to be so sever that the Royal Institute of Medical Science have decided to label these specific conditions with the name: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD for short.”

Twilight nodded again when the Royal Institute decides to give a mental condition it's own name and not keep it simply labelled as 'mental instability' it usually meant that this condition was something that couldn't easily be dealt with or cured. “Who would you suggest I approach and how do I approach the patient?”

“Well, seeing as we mostly deal with those who suffer from hallucinations.” The Doctor began as he placed a patient profile sheet from the folder in front of Twilight. “Gold Plate here is the most stable related patient we have. He should be in the park right now. Nurse Redheart can point him out for you...” The doctor glanced at her over his glasses.
“Be straight forward with him and if he declines to talk about the subject you back off quietly.”

Twilight, who was studying the profile sheet, looked up and met his glance with an understanding frown. “Of course.”