When War is Close by

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.