The bells of apocalypse tolled above Ponyville.

A veritable horde of dragons darkened the sky over the small city, pounding at the barrier with single-minded determination. They used their heads and claws to impart tremendous physical force to the shimmering violet bubble. Thousands of drakelings, the non-sapient offspring of dragons, swarmed on the ground, awaiting the impending collapse and the feast to follow.

Streams of tracers lanced into the sky, tearing into flesh and scale as the dragons pressed on through the hail of bullets. Nearly a dozen of the great, misshapen dragons were dead, but dozens more continued to pound at Twilight's spell.

The streets were deserted save for the occasional guard patrol and militia unit. A steady stream of trucks circulated between the militia armory and the anti-air emplacements scattered around the city. A group of mortar teams and a small detachment of Shatterer mobile artillery units tried to thin the swarm of drakelings lurking beyond the dome's reach.

The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder and dragonfire. Dusk was fast approaching, and there seemed to be no end to the fighting. Much of the city had gone dark, plagued by rolling blackouts as the shield drew increasingly more power from the power plants. The contribution she and the unicorns in the city provided was barely enough to offset the drain.

The princess sighed, nudged open the door and headed for the dining room, which served as a makeshift war room for the duration. Twilight fought the rising bile and panic back into its cage. Her subjects needed her to be strong.

"Your Highness." Commander Vigilant Watch bowed. He then returned his attention to the large screen mounted above the fireplace.

Twilight looked at the screen, taking a moment to decipher the military iconography and shorthand displayed.

The West Coast was embroiled in a brutal aerial battle-cum-rebellion, tying up any reinforcements from Canterlot while the East mustered forces to aid in their defense. That would take several hours at best. However, a battalion of tanks and armored cavalry was already on the way from New Yoke while Royal Militia from Fillydelphia and Baltimare were marching under heavy resistance. Times of arrival were twelve hours, six hours, and five hours respectively.

Appleloosa and Dodge had been bypassed entirely as the dragons headed straight for Ponyville. Twilight ran it through her mind and came to a conclusion. Ponyville was strategically important. The two towns were not. It made sense. Crossword and Twilight’s residence were in Ponyville, and the city was large enough to serve as a forward base for a push to Canterlot.

"What can we do, Captain?" she said.

"I really can't say, Highness. We don't have the forces to repel the dragons and the drakelings, and reinforcements are several hours away. We could be looking at a ghost town by nightfall. The Elements could help tip the balance in our favor, but...you know."

Twilight drew in a breath. "Have all the civilians moved to the bomb shelters and prepare for a fight."

"Highness?"

"The barrier won't hold any longer, and we all know it." She glanced at a smaller screen, which displayed the situation around Ponyville.

"Gather the Elements in Basement Level E-2. I'll meet them there."

Shining Armor ducked under a fusillade of lead, levitating his commandeered light machine gun above his cover to suppress the enemy, firing short bursts as the troops he'd mustered advanced. A rebel F.4E crashed into the tarmac outside the hanger, exploding into an oily fireball that engulfed one side of the enemy position. Bits of debris skipped off Shining's barrier, trailing smoke. The distraction proved to be the final blow to the enemy position, and the survivors were detained.

The inbuilt display on his visor marked a squad of Aviator troopers as they descended from the Prince of Steel to reinforce their perimeter. A sudden burst of gunfire from the observation tower accompanied by an FiM-10 Stinger missile scattered their formation and sent one of them tumbling into the roof of the hangar, where he landed with a wet smack.

One of the Aviators twisted in mid-air, shooting a smoke grenade into the tower as he did a series of evasive maneuvers before landing behind a parked truck. Red smoke billowed out of the broken window for a few seconds before close air support took care of the problem. Two of the aerial infantry troopers retrieved their critically injured teammate and began administering what aid they could before a medic took over. Shining’s mind wandered.

It was supposed to be just a routine inspection: nothing more, nothing less. Just another day. So why the buck did it have to be a rebellion? What crime had he committed to warrant this kind of punishment? They were ponies, for Faust's sake! He even knew the names of some of the rebels--some of the ponies he'd watched die.

These were not happy times.

Something felt wrong about this--something fundamentally wrong. The rebels, all of them, seemed to have no remorse gunning down their friends and colleagues--no "it pains me to do this, but I must" motivations in the ponies he questioned and absolutely no love for the Princesses. It was as if a switch had been thrown.

"Why did he do this?" A nearby pegasus shuddered as her teammates comforted her. "We were just talking about video games and stuff, then he spaced out. When he--he snapped out of it, he tried to kill me! And--and I had to kill him!" Tears rolled down her eyes as she moaned pitifully, "What did I do?"

Shining's ears perked up. He walked over and said gently, "Can you repeat that, Private?"

The mare swallowed, trying to curl into a ball, but she recounted the experience to the best of her ability, breaking down again halfway into the into the recollection. Her teammates shot him dirty looks as she did, and Shining took the opportunity to explain himself.

"You didn't do anything wrong," he said, "I know this won't bring your friend back, but we'll get to the bottom of this. I promise."

The pegasus nodded and gave him a weak salute.

"Take some rest while you can, Private." he said quietly, almost to himself. "We're not quite out of this yet."

A charcoal mare stepped out of her hotel suite with apprehension twisting in her gut. The Royal Canterlot Orchestra had been scheduled to play at Salt Lick City, but recent events prevented them from leaving for the duration of the rebel-imposed lockdown. Free lodgings, unlimited food, and free reign of most parts of the city had been extended as apologies by the mayor, an ardent admirer of classical music, to the members of the Orchestra.

And while Octavia was loath to look a gift horse in the mouth, increased exposure made the discovery of her true intent to visit Salt Lick City all the more likely. She was a celebrity after all. Nevertheless, she took it in stride. The bellcolt came with her cello, the mid-range one she used for practice and outdoor performances, and left after she gave him a tip.

A white mare with a messy, electric-blue mop for a mane joined her a few seconds later, the insufferably loud cacophony of her creation called 'dubstep' somehow audible over the background noise despite her headphones.

"'Sup, Tavi?"

"Good afternoon, Vinyl. I take it your besieging of the kitchen has gone well?"

"Eeyup." The unicorn DJ licked a spot of mushroom sauce from her lips. "Gosh, that's the best food I've ever tasted."

"You said the same thing of the dishes at Prince Armor's wedding." Octavia gave her a mischievous smile. "I take it you are going to tour the red light district next."

"Only after you do your thing at Liberty Park. It's been a long time since I heard your classical crap." Vinyl grinned.

"I needn't mention that I can hear your noise over the traffic." Octavia smiled as she hailed a taxi.

The conference room at the center of Fort Equinox was packed with the finest military minds Equestria had to offer. Analysts, strategists, tacticians, generals, and the like sat around the massive table, delivering their presentations and answering questions regarding recent events.

Princess Luna now knew, for example, that the rebels were using stolen military equipment and had many defectors among their ranks, something which troubled her very deeply. Another development was that two of the recruiters had also starred in Applejack's friendship report as the main villains.

"General," she said, "are these photographs of the Flimflam Brothers recent?"

"If you mean a couple of months old, yes. But we do have a recent photograph of the younger. He had apparently turned himself in to two of our operatives in Salt Lick City."

"Can we see it?"

General Winterheart nodded to her aide and the image projected on one of the screens changed to that of a bruised apple-colored pony.

"Are these injuries recent?"

The pegasus general caught her drift and shook her head. "No. He was found with these injuries, as well as multiple stab wounds in the chest. His brother had stabbed him and left him for dead, so he tells us," she said with visible disgust, as shocked gasps from some of the staff present filled the air.

Luna felt that fratricide was a concept that belonged in stories and torts courses.

"In any case, we are working on extracting data from him using less... traumatizing means, and he has proven to be very cooperative."

An analyst in the back raised a hoof. "How are you so sure that he isn't wasting our time?"

General Winterheart gave him a look. "Trust, but verify. We are going through his statements with a fine toothed comb to separate the facts from fallacy."

They quickly moved on to other topics like the equipment and strategies to be employed in the campaign and updates on the military buildup. Luna was quite pleased to know that the Black Widow program was proceeding at full steam, and was set to deliver its first service aircraft within two weeks of the completion of Crossword's facilities in Ponyville, which was due today.

It was then that a messenger relayed the news.

Ponyville was under attack.

Robotic arms clicked and whirred as they assembled her combat armor around her body-suited form.

Twilight’s legs were now encased in armor. Rarity's eyes widened as she said, "Twilight! Surely you're not thinking of going into combat, are you? Please think about it!"

Truth was, Twilight had already thought about it. She'd already shot down the reservations of her captain, who was now snorting and shaking his head as he pawed at the ground. She'd already set her mind. If other ponies were going to risk their lives for her subjects, she would as well. The idea of sitting while others sacrificed was uncomfortable to her at the very least. The arms moved on to her flank and barrel.

"Rares," Applejack said, "you know Twilight's not the kind to sit by and do nothin'."

"But Twilight's important to the realm!" Rarity countered. "If we lose her, we’ll lose the Elements. We’ll lose a princess. We'll even lose a friend!"

"But at least she'll be doin' what's right!" Applejack spat.

"Enough," Twilight said, locking eyes with her friends. "This isn't any different from the other times we've been called upon. Nightmare Moon, Discord, the dragon, the ursa, Chrysalis, Sombra, and all the rest. We risk our lives every mission; what's so different about this?"

"The blood…," Rarity trailed off, staring into empty space.

Twilight remembered the changeling invasion, hay, every other time some threat came along. The foal's show on television really downplayed the gravity of the events. She still felt the hemolymph on her hooves after she'd stomped one of them on the head. Twilight's chestpiece locked in over the exoskeleton with a resounding clank, snapping Rarity out of her trance.

"The point is, girls," Twilight said, "it's our job."

Fluttershy had a pensive look, and as Twilight's neck plates locked into place, the yellow mare spoke up.

"Twilight's right," she said, setting her jaw as she stepped onto the dais marked 'Kindness.' "I'm not going to be scared when they need us to be brave."

"Good ta have you with us, sugarcube." Applejack said. "Ya in or what, Rares?"

Tears welled up in Rarity's eyes as she stripped off her clothes and jewelry. "Let it be known that I'm proud to have you as my friends, and I always will." She stepped onto the dais marked 'Generosity.' Twilight's helmet sealed with a hiss as Rarity nodded.

The arms worked quickly, dressing them in carbon fiber/kevlar undersuits with smart-fluid padding designed to prevent chafing and provide a final layer of protection. Next came on the exoskeletons (with enhanced versions for Applejack and Twilight) and inbuilt computer systems, as well as the batteries, miniature Etheric reactors, spell amplifiers (for Rarity and Twilight), maneuvering thrusters (for Fluttershy and Twilight), and first aid systems.

The confines of the helmet were quite claustrophobic, at least until the suit powered up. The forward display flickered on, giving the illusion that the faceplate was transparent, as the life support systems clicked into full gear. Filtered air filled her nose. Lines of diagnostic text scrolled across the lower right corner.

[LIFE SUPPORT: ONLINE]
[REACTOR: ONLINE]

The reactor powered up with a rising whine. Twilight felt a brief spell of static electricity on her skin and energy seemed to flow into her horn. The arms finished suiting the others up and retracted.

[EMERGENCY POWER: STANDBY 100% CAPACITY]
[SENSORS: ONLINE]

Twilight looked around, the sensors and fire control systems placing tags on the augmented reality display.

[WEAPONS: ONLINE]

The wingblades and magic amplifiers hummed with energy.

[SLEIPNIR/HARMONY1.MAGIC: ONLINE]

"I must say," Rarity said, "we do look rather intimidating in this getup."

"Seconded!" Applejack exclaimed. "Twi, you look like somethin' outta Dashie's video games!"

Twilight spread her wings, the artificial flight surfaces extending over her primary feathers to assist her in flight. She tested the rotational limits to the exoskeleton assisting her wings and found them satisfactory. The leading edge blades flared as energy coursed down their length. She'd seen similar technology on some types of combat knife.

The armor itself was dull charcoal with identifying stripes on the fetlock and faceplate. It was constructed mainly with radar-defeating angles in mind, giving it a crystalline appearance.

Twilight lifted the faceplate and nodded to her friends as they moved around. She flapped her wings, expecting difficulty in flying, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the armor had a lightening charm.

A Royal decree from long ago held that the Princesses and the Elements must be capable of holding their own in a fight and that the Elements be given special equipment to help them in their missions, especially in times of war. The Princesses as well had to be fitted with special battle armor to assist them in battle. That decree had never been repealed, and with the aftermath of the changeling invasion, the battle armor was modernized and the Elements placed in combat training.

"Rainbow Dash would love this, I bet." Twilight smiled to herself. "I wonder where she is?"

Vigilant Watch was the eye of the storm. Noise and ponies whirled around him as he stood in the middle of Ponyville's militia command center, surveying the large map displayed on the smart table in front of him.

"Okay. Our engineers are working on putting up barricades to funnel the drakelings into killzones here, here and here," his second-in-command said while he outlined several main thoroughfares in red and tapped the Open Market, Sunflower Garden, and Starswirl Park. "We have twelve machine gun nests and at least four armored vehicles in each zone, as well as various traps along the way to thin out the swarm.

"We have troops ready to move in in case the barricades are breached.... Thank Celestia we got those Sturzstrom IFVs in time. Uh, we've also got a pair of Glacier heavy tanks and twenty Stalwarts so if we run into anything heavy, I think we can cope."

Vigilant nodded. "What about air defense?"

"We've got squads with PONPADS scattered all over the city, NOBLE missile launchers and Sleet Triple-A at critical points, and a section of Pegazeus PZSU mobile guns from Stalliongrad at Horseshoe and Starswirl Parks." The officer paused. "We need air support badly, Sir. Those dragons can take hits from a Noble and still keep fighting."

"I know, son. But we've got to make do with what we have. Status on the artillery?"

"Shatterers are running low on ammo. It'll take them at least an hour to restock, four-five mikes if we stop now. Mortars are all set up to begin firing once the Princess lowers the dome."

"Have the mortars on standby, then." Vigilant rubbed his forehead as the officer relayed the order. "Now we just have to wait."

The doors slid open and the command center fell silent. He looked at the armored figures walking into the chamber and bowed. Vigilant fought the urge to sigh and remind her why this was a bad idea, but she was dead set on running into combat with her friends. Elements of Harmony or not, this was still a war zone.

"Have all the civilians been relocated?" Twilight said, her voice distorted by her full-enclosure helmet.

"We're still working on it. Estimate two hundred more civilians." He sighed, "Highness, I understand why you want to do this. Hay, I even respect you all the more for that, but...please...leave the fighting to us."

"Hey now,” Applejack spoke up, "we can handle ourselves better'n most folk, if Ah say so myself."

Vigilant really hated to do this. "Miss Applejack, listen. Can you look me in the eye and tell me that you can take a life at will? That you can see ponies you know get chewed up like some dog's toy? Can any of you tell me that? We're keeping you away from the frontlines so you can sleep easily at night, not because we doubt your capabilities!"

Applejack's faceplate hinged open, revealing narrowed eyes and a set jaw. "Yes. Ya think those missions Celestia gives us are just a walk in the park? Just twenty darn minutes, clap yer hooves, fire the Friendship Beam, and we're done? We saw ponies die, Captain. Hay, Fluttershy here even had to put one of 'em to rest because we weren't gonna make it out alive if we didn't!"

"That still doesn't make you ready to face this, ma'am. War is--"

Something in Applejack’s mind broke. "Don't you dare lecture me on ‘grisly!’ You didn't see changelin’ bits plastered all over the walls of Canterlot like some bug on your windshield! You didn't see entire families reduced to lifeless husks! And you didn't sit idly by when you knew you could have made a difference!" She snorted, stamping her hoof hard enough to crack the concrete. "With all due respect, Captain, you and your stallions haven't gone through the Tartarus we have, so don't you dare speak to me about sleeping soundly at night!"

Vigilant took a step back. Being faced by an angry mare clad in half a ton of power armor did that to a pony, hardened soldier or not. Even then, he fought back his rising anger and impatience, unwilling to push them even further. He looked at the eyes of the four mares and saw determination--even in the pretty white one, even in the cute yellow one. The Princess laid a calming hoof on the farmpony, who relaxed and whispered an apology. She was right. They had faced down treats that could literally drive a pony insane, defeated deities, helped decimate an army, gone insane themselves quite a few times too, and came back alive.

"Look at your soldiers, Captain," the yellow one said softly. "They're just scared teenagers barely out of high school--or even college. Please let us go out there and do what we've always done: give hope."

"We'll compromise, Captain," Princess Twilight spoke up. "It's your call when to pull us out."

Vigilant nodded, regaining his composure. "Very well, Your Highness. Report to grid Kilo-Niner: that's our weakest spot. We need heavy firepower there. Faust, Celestia, and Luna guide you on your way."

"You too, Captain."

"I just don't get it," Magic said, holding up a 20mm round from the Swiftwind. "They're all solid!"

He'd used his magic to cut the round in half, expecting to find a high explosive charge and a trigger mechanism for said charge in the shell. Instead, he found solid steel. He'd dissected several more rounds with little to show for it. The mystery behind their explosive escape was still just that, a mystery. Pinkie's words did little to soothe him as well.

"Oh! The author wanted some light-hearted action before he moved on to the really grimdark stuff. Would you like a cupcake?" She pulled said pastry out of her mane in an intact condition, frosting and all. "I really, really like cupcakes! But muffins and pies are good too! And speaking of pi, every work of literature ever written is encoded in the number pi! Even this one! We just need to find the right cypher!"

Midnight held up the folder containing Pinkie Pie's data sheet. Now he knew why the notes cautioned them in big black all-caps to not ask her any questions...EVER. Frankly, he needed an aspirin. In any case, the sun had already gone down. It was time to move out.

He grabbed his pack, readied his weapon, and took the lead. The Swiftwind had run out of gas halfway to the EZ, which the group soon found was already crawling with hostiles. They had to make a detour around a griffon-held forward base that had once belonged to Saddle-Arabia. The burned out Stalwart husks and half-eaten corpses only confirmed that. In any case, they were halfway to the secondary extraction point, a small town near the city of Bagdad.

Minutes later, the strike teams and Pinkie met up with Oracle One and Two. Somehow, the pink mare had conjured new ghillie suits for the snipers to wear as they scouted ahead. Suddenly, Stormbearer held up a hoof, using her rifle's scope to take a closer look. Midnight dashed forward, hooves throwing up small puffs of sand, and lay down beside the sniper mare. It had been an hour since they last made camp and fifteen minutes since they encountered something.

"What do you see?"

"Small patrol. Three Golfs, four Mikes. I can take them."

"Let them pass unless they get too close."

"Aight." The sniper gently racked the charging lever.

Midnight gave the rest of the squad the signs for 'find cover' and buried himself in the sand. They waited a few tense minutes before the patrol came into view. Everypony held their breaths.

"Well, lookie here," a gravel-voiced griffon said with a sneer, "a pretty pink plushie party pony."

Midnight's heart skipped a beat, and he prepared to open fire.

"Sarge!" a younger griffon whined, looking like he was on the verge of tears as he clawed at the stuffed toy.

"Leave the plushie alone, Whitewing," a griffon with the ornate uniform spoke. "It's all he has left. It's all we have left…."

The eponymous Whitewing handed back the battered toy with a sneer and turned away. One of the minotaurs tripped over something. Silence reigned as Magic emerged from the sand. He and the minotaur stared at each other, surprised looks on their faces.

"Shit! Shit! Open fire!" Midnight yelled, firing a burst of rounds at the surprised minotaur.

Chaos reigned.

Adamant rose from the sand, Bertha spitting out hot lead at four hundred rounds a minute. The fallen minotaur didn't even have time to scream as the heavy rounds jerked his body around like a marionette. Midnight punched a pair of bullets into the leader's chest, sending him sprawling to the sand. Bullets snapped past Midnight’s ear, one of them managing to take off the very tip. He hissed in pain and fired a short burst, perforating a minotaur.

Suddenly, he was on his back. A heavy weight pinned him down. Whitewing was poised to claw his throat out.

He didn't. Blood spattered on Midnight's chest and muzzle as Oracle Two’s sniper round ripped apart the griffon's innards. Midnight got to his hooves and spun around, coming face to face with the young griffon at three o'clock.

The griffon clutched at his toy, big tears falling from his eyes, as he whimpered pitifully. He was shaking. The uniform and armor he wore were at least two sizes too big. Midnight hesitated, staring into the griffon's silver eyes. There was a wet patch on the sand underneath him, between his hind legs. He was just a fledgling, not older than eighteen.

"Go," Midnight mouthed, taking his hoof off the trigger.

The griffon dashed off and clumsily flapped into the air. There was a blur of movement on top of a sand dune, and the young griffon spiraled into the ground as a tracer passed through his chest. Midnight swore and galloped towards the griffon, only to find that Oracle One had beaten him there. The pegasus raised a pistol and shot the wheezing griffon once through the head.

"Storm! What the hay was that for?" Midnight yelled, coming up beside her.

"It was necessary," Stormbearer spat, a disgusted look on her face.

"Whaddaya mean ’necessary?’"

"He would have reported to his superiors, who would then send out forces after us. We would have been discovered, captured, and perhaps executed. Mission failed. Elements of Harmony unusable.” Storm sighed. “I didn’t like doing this either, but the risk is too high."

It was always the mission. Midnight wanted to punch her because she was right. Midnight blinked hot tears out of his eyes as Storm took the toy out of the griffon’s claws, regarding it and the name tag for a moment before gently inserting it in a pocket on her own bags. Storm then turned the griffon face-up, closed his eyes, and placed a coin over each.

Then, Storm took an incendiary grenade, interlaced the griffon’s claws over his heart, and placed the explosive underneath. She pulled the pin and stood back.

She had been whispering a poem in Griffish the entire time.

The grenade did its work. Flames engulfed the young griffon's body as the two soldiers joined their squad a few dunes away and moved on.

"His name was Orion," Storm whispered just loud enough for Midnight to hear.

Pinkie Pie bounded towards them. "Where's the griffon boy?" she asked, seemingly without a clue in the world.

Midnight spoke. "He's--"

"In a happy place," Storm finished. "His name was Orion, and...he--he wanted you to have this." She passed the plushie to Pinkie.

Midnight looked at the column of smoke. For a moment he thought he saw a griffon spread his wings and soar into the clouds.

The sight was gone just as quickly.

Author's Note

PONPADS: PONy Portable Air Defense System
Sturzstrom: Heavy AFV/IFV from Germaneigh.

Note on Traditional Griffon Burial Practices:
Tradition dictates that griffon bodies are cremated with coins over their eyes. If the cause of death was an aggressive act, then the killer must give something from their victim to the closest friend or family member and light the pyre.

I cried.