Fighting for a Free Equestria!
‘FIGHTING FOR A FREE EQUESTRIA!’
That was the slogan written on the poster... The poster of the NLR, The New Lunar Republic... That poster had survived countless years of fighting... The same however, could not be said for the friendship between all of Pony kind. That had been destroyed through a few simple words... A few simple actions... And, from the way things carried on, all of Pony kind was going to be lost in the coming years of war...
How it Began.
Princess Luna had been back for two years, but Celestia had given her none of her old responsibilities back. Mistrust had been growing between the Alicorn Sisters. Luna had been getting sick of her sister’s ‘High and Mighty’ attitude. Rumours were spreading like wild fire, Ponies everywhere were whispering ‘war’.
Luna had began to suspect her sister was creating weapons to fight her. Celestia thought the same about Luna. War always begins with two powers mistrusting each other.
I ran up the hill... Or, what was left of the ‘hill’. You couldn’t exactly call it a hill anymore. All the ground around had died... From what was once a green oasis of happy animals, was now a dying graveyard for all those unlucky enough to die on the old grounds. This war... It hadn’t just destroyed the land... It had destroyed everything. The friendship, the happiness, everything good in life had been destroyed in this war. And guess what? This war wasn’t going to end any time soon either... Me? I’m just some normal Pegasus dragged into this war... My Pony Tag read ‘Private Cloudy Pops’. I didn’t even know why the gave us these tags... It wasn’t likely that when we died someone was going to come along and bury us. The world was a mass graveyard... And nothing was changing that... No pony could bring back the dead... Equestria... Equestria wasn’t coming back from this...
My name is Northern Haste. I am one of the finest soldiers the New Lunar Republic has. I support princess Luna with my wings and my heart. I have killed ponies in cold blood. I have lost my friends because of the war. I have fought my friends because of the war. But I carry on, because I believe in what the NLR stands for.
I looked at what I had written. It was all true. I missed peace, but I was fed up with Celestia’s tyranny. Chaos was everywhere now, I thought back to when the elements of Harmony had beaten Discord. He had won, Equestria was no longer a Harmonious place. I looked at my Pony Tags. ‘Corporal N. Haste. Twenty-first Recon Of the New Lunar Republic.’
I looked at my 50. Caliber Sniper Rifle. It had become a necessity, I couldn’t go anywhere without it. It was a part of me now. I had even inscribed my name into it. Haste. I didn’t feel like the same pony anymore...
As I ran up the hill, knowing that I had ponies behind me was a confidence boost. But I was still running into a horde of Magic and bullets, being fired from the NLR’s camp near the main road to Manehattan. My emotions... They were all churned up. A mix of fear, excitement, hell, I didn’t even know why I felt excitement, I was running into what was going to be most likely my death, and I felt excited? Sometimes, I didn’t understand me... I felt the ground slipping under my hooves as I began the descent down the other side of the hill, as an assortment of magic and bullets hit the ground around me, and the Ponies following me. Once the sliding had stopped, I began running. I would’ve been flying, but flying towards an enemy camp was a deathtrap, it made you much more open than just plain running. I flapped my wings a bit, so I could run faster while not flying, but even then, I couldn’t keep up to some of the Earth Ponies. I looked up, only to see some sort of... Magic spell flying towards me. I flung to the side, in attempt to dodge it. I felt my legs leave the ground as my attempt at dodging the spell worked, but left me sliding across the ground. The ground here was hard and rocky, which meant my skin earned a few cuts and bruises. I began to stand up, and looked back at the camp... Only to see another spell flying towards me, I flung to the side again, but this time, I felt the heat of magic spell rip up my leg, as I tumbled across the ground...
I flew out of my tent and took position, my rifle ready. I could see a group of Empire soldiers running. It was every snipers dream. I brought the scope to my eye and lined up a shot, aiming at a pony near the fronts legs. He would fall and the others would trip, then it would be easy to pick them off. I fired, sending the stallion down. As the others fell over him, I gave each of them a kill shot from my rifle, either to the heart or the head.. Luna herself had commended me on my abilities, and they were rightly known to both sides of the war. The Solar Empire had learned to fear the glint of a snipers’ scope because of my skill. Any pony that entered my kill zone was going to be dragged back to their camp face down. But, I’d been ordered to bring at least one of them alive, so I radioed in.
“Contacts neutralized, Five plus KIAs, One wounded as requested.”
Well done Corporal. We’ll send somepony to get our new friend...
I shuddered at the... satisfaction I heard in my commanders voice, war was not something to revel in, I have to admit though, I enjoyed the adrenaline rush I received whenever an enemy sniper found my position. I crept down and trotted back to camp, ready to be congratulated for killing those ponies...
All hope was gone for Pony kind...
Friendship Long Forgotten
The burning feeling... It had gone. My hind leg still felt weak, so I wasn’t going to start walking anytime soon. I rolled over, the ground scratching against me, and threw my front hoof forward. I tried flapping my wings, but I was just met with a sharp pain. I began crawling, throwing my front hoof forward, then throwing my next hoof forward, by stomach being torn at by the ground. I carried on like this for a while, until I found myself in some sort of puddle. The puddle was filled with muddy water, that brown colour which you associate with all those... Well... Horrid things. I lay there for a while, in this puddle, and twisted my head to the side. I saw no pony, no NLR or SE. Where had everypony gone? I had to assume that the attack had been a success and that the SE had broke through the NLR’s defenses. But that didn’t seem likely. This mission was a suicide run. No way we could have broken through. And the only other option meant that the NLR had killed all of the Solar Empire’s forces here... Not including me, because I wasn’t dead. Yet. Time dragged itself on slowly, and I once again found myself crawling across the broken land that was once fruitful. I was crawling towards the NLR camp. It was an even more suicidal option than the attack itself. But it was the only option I had left, because there was no way I was getting back over that hill in this condition.
I wandered through the camp, I knew exactly what was going to happen to the pony I shot in the leg. He was going to be interrogated, beaten, and either kept as a prisoner of war, or he would be executed. I watched the squad of five ponies leaving to retrieve him. I did what I had to, nothing more, nothing less. That was what I told myself every time I killed another pony. I missed the old Equestria, even if it was run by the tyrant Celestia. I missed the peace of... well not being at war. The birdsong in the mornings had been replaced with gunfire and bombs. The fresh air was now thick with smoke and the stench of death. Most of all, I missed my friends. A lot of them had stayed loyal to Celestia. Most were probably dead, and I’d seen a fair few of them through my scope. Under any other circumstance, I’d have laughed at their face as an Empire soldier died from one of my rounds. The pure shock on their faces would’ve been hilarious. As a sniper however, this war was affecting me on a more personal level. I saw ponies die, watched as the light of their existence was extinguished. Twenty-First Recon was only for the best snipers in the NLR, and every shot I fired, hit it’s target. Every pony that felt the bite of my bullet died, because of me, no matter how indirect.
Exactly One Week Before the NLR marched on Trottingham.
I laid there, on a cloud... It was a soft, fluffy cloud, one you could run you hoof through without getting cut or... Well anything. I sat there, on the cloud for what seemed like hours. My pink mane, which I had hated for so long. It had always made me stand out... It was always just so... Pink. My pink mane dangled in front of my eyes, and I blew it out of my eyes a few times, I just couldn’t be bothered to move it out the way with one of my hooves. I looked around lazily, seeing Pegasus working... Clearing the clouds for the sunniest day this week. That meant sooner or later I’d have to move, but I was going to enjoy my time on the soft paradise while it lasted. I closed my eyes, and let the darkness of sleep takeover.
I kicked yet another cloud, clearing the sky for the Summer Sun Celebration was boring, but the pay was good. I just hoped my friend Cloudy Pops was doing his half. He had a tendency to... sleep instead of work. I’d find out soon enough though, I was almost done with my half. Ponyville was envied by most other towns and cities, they had held the event two years previously. But that had been a bit of a disaster with Nightmare Moon. Personally, I didn’t see what the fuss was about, it was only what happened every other day, Celestia raised the sun. I removed one final cloud before flying over to the east side of the town, looking for Cloudy.
I woke up, slowly seeing that the sky looked clearer than before. I rolled over, standing up, and at that point I realised I still had my bit to do. It could wait for a while I guessed... But then, if I didn’t do it... That meant work at the weather factory. The weather factory... You could get burnt... Frozen... Or worse. I shook my head and flapped my wings, before flying off and started to clear the clouds. It wasn’t the hardest job in the world, but it was a waste of all the soft clouds that one could enjoy sleeping on, but I guessed the big boss Pegasus had other ideas. I continued clearing the sky, I was slower than the others, but hey, I still got the job done. Most of the time anyway.
When I tracked Cloudy Pops down, he was actually working. To be honest, I was slightly surprised. He rarely did anything, and when he did, he did the bare minimum. I flew up behind my friend.
“What’s up Popsicle?”
I jumped slightly, at hearing the sound of Haste’s voice.
“My name isn’t Popsicle, Haste.” I mumbled.
I grinned at his reaction.
“Whatever... Popsicle... Glad to see you’re almost done, I was getting bored.”
“You’re done already?!”
“Buck yeah I’m done, you realise the faster you do the job the more time you get off, right?”
“That’s why breaks were invented. I just have slightly longer breaks than everpony else...”
I laughed at my friend’s statement, before my face fell serious.
“Did you hear about the Cakes?”
“What happened to the Cakes?”
“Well, Pinkie Pie disappeared yesterday, and Celestia thinks that The Cakes helped her dissapear, or atleast, thats what I've heard. Celestia’s guards arrested them both this morning. They think she has something to do with the rebels.”
“Pinkie Pie and rebels? That doesn’t sound right.”
“You said that when Rainbow Dash left... If you ask me, everypony is taking sides. I mean, Twilight went back to Canterlot with Rarity and Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie have supposedly joined the New Lunar Republic and Fluttershy moved into the Everfree forest. There’s gonna be a war dude.”
“War shmore. It’s not like it’s gonna be big. Just a few little fights here and there, nothing big’s gonna happen.”
“I wish you were right, it looks like Celestia disagrees though. You remember when Big Macintosh tried to stop the guards last week, and how nopony’s seen him since?”
“He’s probably just... Uhh... Gone to the hospital.”
“People are saying he’s been accused of being a rebel, if it's true, they’re gonna execute him Cloudy.”
“Execute? Come on, Princess Celestia’s not gonna let that happen. She’s not that kind of ruler.”
“I would’ve agreed with you a week ago but... I’m not sure anymore... She’s been getting more and more ruthless when it comes to rebels. Rumours are spreading Cloudy. Ponies are saying that Princess Luna left, and when she did...”
I noticed something as he talked... He never said Princess Celestia. He only said Celestia... But he said Princess Luna... It was a... Not very evidence supported idea hovering in my mind but... It couldn’t be. He wouldn’t be considering becoming... A rebel. He wouldn’t. Haste just wasn’t that type of Pony.
“Well... Uhh, I better get back to work! Don’t worry about this ‘War’ Haste, nothings gonna happen! And stop listening to everything ponies say! You know how some ponies like making rumours up! So... I’ll see you later, okay?”
I didn’t wait for a response, and I found myself flying off, trying to shake the idea of Haste becoming a rebel from my head...
