The Last Pack

5 Years Later…

It’s been five years since her death, and five years since her return. The days seemed to slip away as war overtook this world. From the Desolate Badlands in the south, to the Crystal Empire in the Frozen North, From the Gryphon Kingdom to the Naga Empire. The peace and prosperity that was brought upon by the Tyrant Queens rule of lies, had come to an end, and war and loss overtook the world.

A great many battles have been fought, many soldiers dying at the hoof, claw, talon, or hand of another. These five years of war alone, have started to show its toll on the land. After the Battle of Galloping Gorge in the spring of 1472 A.F. the war turned into a neverending stalemate between the Equestrian Legion and The Pack.

        The Gryphon Kingdom and Naga Empire intervened a year into the war, to help their Equestrian brethren, forming the Equestrian Legion. The Dragons however, took to The Pack, tiring of the Queen trying to take their land from them, they saw her as a threat that plagued the land. The Minotaurs however, chose to stay neutral and keep to themselves, save the ones who were in The Pack from the start.

        Both sides fought with equal strength, cunning, and ferocity. Not one side could gain a foothold on the road to Victory. As the years went on, a safe haven was established, a place where all races and affiliations. It was established to give all warriors and civilians a safe place to stay if they were not on the battlefield, risking their lives for what they believed in. The safe haven was first established in ponyville, eventually growing in size and encompassing 200 sq. Miles of land.

        This safe haven came to be known as Utopia to The Pack, and the Garden of Eden to the Equestrian Legion. The other empires simply knew it as paradise, a place to get away from the conflict and bloodshed, nothing more, and nothing less.

        The Crystal Empire belonged to The Pack, taking it shortly after the return of Princess Luna, establishing a headquarter for The Pack. Canterlot was the headquarters to the Equestrian Legion, housing Queen Celestia herself and Commander Bolt who made his return from the human world during the battle of The Tartarus Chasm. The Pack inevitably lost the fight, but not without causing grave damage to the Equestrian Legion. The casualties were five to one, yet The Pack was outmatched as the Commander brung back his entire army from the human world. Eventually the numbers dwindled but the endless storm of troops from the Legion took its toll on The Pack, forcing them to pull back, allowing the Equestrian Legion to take the chasm, which was thought to be a crucial turning point in the war.

        The less they knew about why they really retreated, the better. Not two days later had word reached around the world that all troops that were stationed there still, all committed suicide by launching themselves over the chasm's edge, inevitably falling into the first layer of Tartarus. Limbo.

        The number of creatures that died that day numbered at 854,913. It was a tragic loss that even shook The Pack, not one pony, naga, dragon, gryphon, nor minotaur mourned that day. It caused a month of silence between both sides as they mourned for the fallen. That day should be remembered forever by all, as everypony had lost something of theirs, whether it be a brother, sister, mother, father, daughter, or son, or a life long friend who they had sworn their lives to protect.

        Not long after the month had passed, did another battle break out. The battle at Fort Brathio, the first stronghold of The Pack. They barely held their own, and were met with many casualties, but in the end it was worth it. Fort Brathio stood the onslaught of the Legion, proving that The Pack was not leaving anytime soon, nor would they so easily give up for they had one thing to hold onto that the Legion did not.

        The Legion fought for honor, and for glory over The Pack. The Pack however fought for the future of all, their dreams, their love, their lives. Everypony in The Pack had lost something dear to them, driving them to join the war against the Tyrant Queen and her allies. They had a weapon greater than any spear, and sword, a defense greater than any shield, or any piece of armor.

They

Had

HOPE

        “Get Down!” I yelled at the top of my lungs as another blast hit the ground in front of the trench, covering me and my squad in mud and grass. I lifted my head up. “Sergeant Vasquez! You’re with me! Corporal Rose, Corporal LightningTwist, and Corporal Cloudkicker, you’re with Sergeant Dash! Sergeant Yano you have Corporal Flask, and Corporal Devin! Meet up at point Alpha Echo Charlie!” I barked the orders at my squadmates.

        “Sir Yes Sir!” They yelled back to me, giving me a salute as they did so.

        “Move! Move! Move!” I yelled, hearing the whistling of another blast of magic flying towards us. I started to gallop down the trench making my way to the north end of the field, ducking as bolts of magic flew overhead. As we came out of the trench we quickly jumped behind the closest trees as a magic grenade landed 4 meters away, blowing up and sending bolts of magic flying all over. I stood on my hind legs hiding behind the tree catching my breath.

        I looked over to see Vasquez catching his breath as well. I nodded to my former peer and looked out towards the battlefield where I saw the enemy advancing. Crap, we need to get behind them but we can’t charge them head on… it would be suicide… as I thought this I looked around to find some cloud cover above us. I smirked and looked down to Vasquez and pointed a hoof up to the clouds to have a confused look shot to me. I rolled my eyes and made a little spark with my horn, reminding him that we had magic, he mouthed “ohhhhh I get it now.” then nodded. I cast a spell on me and then proceeded to teleport to the clouds above, only to be find the war going on between pegasi, and dragons from both sides, luckily they didn’t notice us.

        I looked to my left to find Vasquez finishing his teleportation spell just as I heard a large explosion from below us. I parted the clouds enough to look through, only to find the area we had recently been hiding, blown to smithereens. I gave a small sigh of relief. “Sergeant Vasquez, how are you holding up?” I asked the jasmine green unicorn. He lifted his head up to look at me with a muddy face from the trenches I assumed.

        “I’m doing okay sir, but right now isn’t the time for small talk. We need to make it to the checkpoint before nightfall, or we’ll be sitting ducks without Azriel.” He retorted harshly. I nodded and looked down to the clouds, closing my eyes, casting a sight spell, then opening them again. I could see through the clouds and saw the members of our squad around the battlefield below. Sergeant Dash’s fireteam sustaining heavy fire, but nonetheless they would make it through, Dash was a tough one, always training never stopping. She’s worked hard since she joined 4 years ago, and has continued to astound us by her feats even if we think she can’t anymore.

        I looked about 70 meters to the east of them to find that the last of Sergeant Yanos fireteam killed by an explosion. I tilted my head slightly in acknowledgement of their efforts. “Sergeant Yanos fireteam is down Sergeant Dash, be advised that the hostiles will be targeting you more now. Make your way to Checkpoint Alpha Charlie Delta instead, we will meet you there soon. Stay safe.” I said aloud sending my voice to her mind. I could see her nod in acknowledgment, not wanting to give away her cover. She quickly motioned her squad to come in closer to tell them the change of plans.

        “Sergeant Vasquez! We’re moving to Checkpoint Alpha Charlie Delta now, Sergeant Yanos fireteam has been K.I.A.” I said as I looked up to him. He nodded and we both slowly made our way towards the checkpoint. Making sure to stay in the cover of the clouds as to not attract any attention to us.

        An hour into our trip in the cloud cover the clouds started growing dark as the sun slowly sunk over the horizon, allowing me and Vasquez to travel in the open without worry as both sides had ceased for the night. It didn’t take us much longer to reach the checkpoint where Sergeant Dash, Corporal Rose, Corporal LightningTwist, and Corporal Cloudkicker were all waiting for us. I smiled and breathed a sigh of relief as we descended from the clouds on a platform I conjured up, concealing ourselves in a invisibility spell to make sure we were unseen.

        The four ponies were talking quietly amongst themselves in a semi-circle allowing me and Vasquez to enter the middle of the circle without any of them knowing until we dropped the spell. They all jumped back and readied themselves into a fighting position, quickly realizing it was me and Vasquez, they stood at attention.

        I kept a hardened look on Sergeant Dash, “At ease soldiers, glad to see you all made it here safely.” I said flatly. They all relaxed slightly. “Let us have a moment of silence for Sergeant Yano, Corporal Flask, and Corporal Devin, all of whom were good soldiers who gave their lives in the name of a brighter future.” I said this lowering my head and closing my eyes, holding my helmet to my chest. We stood there for 2 minutes before breaking the silence.

        “It’s been a long day everypony, but we have to keep moving. We can lay down and rest for about 3 hours maximum, but after that we need to get moving again. We will sleep in shifts so that we have a pony on duty at all times to warn us if there are any enemies about and we need to get out of here. The first shift will be Sergeant Dash, and Sergeant Vasquez, then Corporal LightningTwist, and Corporal Rose, then last shift will be Me, and Corporal Cloudkicker.” I said pointing to each of them and the pony they were paired with.

        “A maximum of 2 hours of sleep per pony and 1 hour of guard duty. Any questions?” I asked holding my hard gaze on them. Corporal Cloudkicker stepped forward saluting as he did so. I nodded to him, allowing him to speak.

        “Sir, with all do respect, but why do you get to sleep through the first two shifts, you’ve done the least amount of work out of all of us, so shoul-” I punched him in the jaw, sending him tumbling into a tree.

        “Done the least amount of work Corporal? Might I remind you, I saved your flank not 7 hours ago from being speared by those naga by using a portion of my life force channeled into an explosion of magical energy that eliminated any enemies within a 50 meter radius of us, allowing us time to escape. Or when I saved Sergeant Dash’s life when she broke her wing 9 hours ago by charging into the oncoming group of Unicorns who were using celestian swords who have left many cuts along the length of my body, leaving her unharmed from their attack and then proceeding to return to them and killing 6 of them before they retreated. If that is the least amount of work Corporal, then I must be a schoolyard filly playing on the swingset. Need I go on with my examples Corporal, or do you want to just listen to orders?” I said hovering over the pegasi my eyes piercing a hole through his skull.

        “N-n-n-no sir.” she whispered, flattening her ears to her head. I stepped back and offered a hoof to help her up which she gladly took. Hoisting her up, I looked back to see them shaking their heads at Cloudkicker.

        “Now, let’s get some shuteye everypony. Wake me and Cloudkicker up in two hours when your shifts are done.” I said walking to a nearby bush and laying inside of it. They all replied with a nod as I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

        Twilight was pacing the room impatiently that night, thinking of all that had happened in the recent month. Her brother was stationed on the front line of the Equestrian Legion, which made her worry about him as she knows who and what lies on the front line. She thought of the pony she met five years ago, the one who she knows well now due to her friend who stays with her to watch over her. Lost Solstice, now more commonly known once again as the Lupine Demon as the legend got around the world in the first year when the first sighting occurred of him on the front line when he was but a corporal.

        She feared that he would mistakenly kill her brother, even though he had no control over where he was stationed. She couldn’t shake the fear of losing another family member from her mind, she was lucky to even have him be alive after all this time. Her mother was in Canterlot working as a nurse for the barracks, her father, well he died five years ago by something. Celestia said it was a manticore, but she hardly believes the story as Celestia is a known liar by her after the discoveries five years ago. Twilight could hardly trust her that she let Jazmine live if she promised to look over her, she thought she was just biding her time until she could kill her, just as if she were a conspirator against her.

        Twilights pacing caused Jazmine to awaken from her sleep and stand at the top of the stairs looking down on the lavender unicorn. Twilight quickly noticed her, giving her a sad look, Jazmine proceeded to make her way down to Twilight and give her a hug.

        “Twilight, your brother will be fine, I’m sure that Lionel won’t hurt him if he recognizes him.” she says quietly. Hoping to calm her down. Twilight returns the hug.

        “I hope he will, but how can we be sure? I know I sent him a letter about him, but what if-” She was cut off by Jazmine hugging her tighter and releasing. She gave a small smile.

        “I’ll go make us some tea since it seems like you won’t be relaxing anytime soon.” Jazmine said, poking Twilight in the chest with the tip of her hoof. Twilight lets herself a small giggle as Jazmine moves into the kitchen and puts a teapot full of water on the stove with a tea bag in it. Jazmine exited the kitchen carrying with her a cup of water for her and Jazmine. “Drink this while we wait for the tea to finish.” she said handing Twilight a cup.

        “Thanks Jazmine.” Twilight says, taking the cup of water in her field of magic, bringing the cup to her lips and taking a sip. She sets the glass down on the nearby table and takes a seat on the sofa behind her. Jazmine quickly joins her.

        “Jazmine” Twilight started, “do…do you ever think…that Lionel might not forgive you after this is all over?” She asked, causing Jazmine to nearly choke on her water. She started to cough violently before responding.

        She sighs heavily before looking back up to her, “Honestly, I don’t know what to think. For an entire five years, I have been dead to him, and anypony in The Pack. I’m alive only to those here in Utopia, and even then nopony has told him about a Jazmine.” She stated taking another sip of her water before hearing the teapot go off. She quickly hopped off the couch and went into the kitchen.

        She returned shortly with the teapot and two cups on a tray. Setting it down on the table she poured herself and Twilight a cup of tea, putting two sugar cubes in Twilights and leaving hers normal. Twilight took hers in a field of magic and held it close to her. Jazmine gets back on the couch and takes a sip of tea before continuing.

        “To tell you the truth Twilight, I wouldn’t be surprised if he were with another pony now. I also wouldn’t blame him, if I found out he was dead, I would move on, just as I want him to move on.” She said coldly, lowering her head, hiding her face with her sky blue mane. She looked back up to Twilight resisting the urge to cry.

        Twilight smiles at her, “Jazmine, I’m sure he would forgive you, seeing as it was a way for you to keep on living in the safety of a pony he trusts.” she finished, taking another sip from her cup before refilling it. Silence falls between the two before Jazmine speaks again.

        “But that’s what I’m afraid of…” she says turning away from Twilight before continuing, “...You’ve been contacting him through letter, so if he finds out that I was with you the whole time, I don’t know how he will react. The last time I was gone for a week without a trace at my parents house, he went berserk on them for lying to him that they had no idea where I was.” She finished off her tea as she finished speaking. Twilight closed her eyes, no doubt thinking about what she said.

        “You’re probably right, but as long as you’re alive, he should be a lot happier that you are alive and not dead.” she said. Jazmine let a small giggle as she realized how the topic had changed.

        “It’s funny how the topic changed from me comforting you, to you comforting me.” she looked up to the ceiling, leaning back into the sofa. Twilight finished off the last of her tea before speaking.

        “Well, it doesn’t matter, as long as both of us are distracted from the thought. Tomorrow I’m going to Rarity’s Shop if you want to come, or do you and fluttershy have plans again?” Twilight probed, hoping that Jazmine would be able to hang out with her. Jazmine shook her head.

        “I’d love to go, but as you said, I have plans with fluttershy. We’re going to the spa, you and Rarity are welcome to join us, we aren’t going until around 2 in the afternoon tomorrow.” Jazmine replied, offering her to join them.

        “If we can make it, we should be done around noon, so it won’t conflict.” Twilight said yawning. “I think that tea did the trick, I’m gonna go get some sleep before tomorrow.” she said getting down from the sofa and walking towards the stairs.

        Jazmine yawned, “Night Twilight, I hope you sleep well and I’ll see you in the morning.” she said getting off the couch and taking the teapot and tray back into the kitchen along with the cups. She set the tray next to the sink for Spike to clean in the morning.

        She started making her way towards the stairs before she stopped, hearing a voice, but she couldn’t find where it came from. This time the voice made itself louder catching her attention.

Jazmine are you there? the voice sounded like Celestias. What did she need?

        “Celestia? Is that you?” she asked into the empty room.

That it is. It seems my spell has worked. She said into Jazmine’s mind. Jazmine started walking up the stairs not questioning how the Queen did it. Aren’t you going to ask what spell? Celestia asked into her mind.

        “Nope, not a unicorn, don’t need to know magic. I’m good being oblivious to magic as I don’t want to understand it.” she said flatly, walking towards her room. She could hear Celestia sigh.

Well, you’re no fun. Anyways, how is Twilight doing with the news of her brother? Celestia asked.

        “If you really want to know, she just went to sleep after pacing a hole into the floor of the house. She was worried, but I helped her relax enough to get to sleep.” Jazmine said, lifting the covers of her bed up so she could climb into it. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to sleep as well. Goodnight Celestia.” she said yawning and closing her eyes.

Goodnight Mrs. Grumpypants… Celestia said, leaving Jazmine to her own thoughts and sleep.

        “Milor! Where are you?!” Kale yelled down the hallway, growing agitated by the ponies antics. She took his favorite robe and ran off with it before he could catch her. “Milor! If you don’t give me back my robe right now, I will burn you at the stake for eternity!” He yelled again. He heard the clicking of a door as it released its lock. “Gotcha!” He exclaimed silently. He made his way over to the slightly open door.

        The door flew open, smacking Kale in the face, causing him to stumble backwards. The door slammed shut before being opened again to reveal Milor on the floor laughing, while holding Kales robe above her in a field of magic. Kale got up and quickly snatched the robe out of her magic. “Hey! It was just a joke, don’t be such a sourpuss Kale! Gotta lighten up sometime.” She said between her laughs. Kale giggled slightly, finding it funny in a sense.

        “Suppose you’re right Milor, but it doesn’t mean you should take my robe. If it were anypony else, I would have to punish you if they were to report it, you know it’s against Order rules to take others robes, let alone be seen without one on.” He scolded her as she continued laughing. It took her a while to regain her composure.

        “Okay, okay, okay. I won’t take your Robe again.” She said holding one hoof to her heart and another in the air. “But I can’t promise about anything else.” She muttered under her breath.

        “What was that Milor?” Kale said putting his robe on and putting the hood over his face to hide everything but his eyes.

        “Nothing! Anyways, what are we doing today? Are we going to the Hall of the Discordant, or the Hall of Harmony?” She asked Kale before slumping onto a wall and sliding down onto her flank. Kale put his hoof to his chin, thinking of where they were going.

        “Well, we don’t actually have to do anything today, both halls are covered by the council the next couple of days, so we’re free to do as we please.” He said walking over to the wall and sitting down next to Milor.

        A silence falls between the two as they think of what they should do. The silence lasted for about ten minutes before one of them finally broke the silence.

        “How about we go to Paradise and spend the next couple of days there?” Milor asked, putting her hooves together with pleading puppy dog eyes. Kale looked at her and decided that it wouldn’t do any harm, seeing as they had the next couple of days to do as they wanted. They were interrupted by Gresh walking by.

        “Hey you two, what ya up to?” He asked, raising an eyebrow to the two unicorns that were sitting on the wall.

        “Well, seeing as we have the next couple of days to do what we want, we were going to go down to Utopia and spend our days off there just relaxing. Want to join us Gresh?” Kale asked, gaining a squee from Milor. She used the same look on Gresh who quickly covered her from his vision with his mane.

        “Yeah, I’ll just come with you while you pack. We’ll see you in a bit Milor.” Gresh said holding out his hoof for a hoofbump with her. She hoof bumped his hoof and then ran down the hall towards her room.

        “Meet at the Main Hall Milor!” Kale yelled to her, hoping that she would hear him. He then turned to walk to his room in the far end of the castle.

One hour and thirteen minutes later…

        “Sir, Wake up! It’s you and Corporal Cloudkickers turn for guard duty.” a voice said, shaking me lightly. I groaned a little before opening my eyes to find the pony who awoke me to be Corporal LightningTwist. I smiled at this as LightningTwist was always nice when he did something, never once had he rudely awoken somepony, ever cursed, and has even captured his share of Equestrian Legion soldiers instead of killing them. Such a kind hearted pony, despite what he has seen.

        “Thank you Corporal, please get some much deserved rest. May you sleep well.” I said stretching my legs, doing a small jog in place to get my blood flowing. I walked over to where Corporal Rose was and nodded towards her, telling her that she could awaken Corporal Cloudkicker now.

        She quickly made her way over to the sleeping pegasi, giving him a light shake. Cloudkicker knocked the hoof away returning to his sleep, Rose shook him again this time speaking aloud. “Cloudkicker, it’s time for your guard duty, please wake up.” She said making sure he heard her. A grumble of words came from him, inaudible and not understandable by any of us. “What Cloudkicker?” She asked the pegasi.

        “Leave me the buck alone! Wake me up when my duty is over.” He said aloud. Causing Corporal Rose to step back and look at me with tired eyes. I felt the rage boil inside of me, this was his last straw, Corporal Rose did nothing but cover for him since he was a recruit, but now she couldn’t defend him after what had occurred only two hours earlier. I made my way over to the pegasi.

        “Either you get up now Corporal Cloudkicker, or I kick your flank.” I growled through my teeth. Corporal Rose stood in front of the pegasi.

        “Sir, please leave hi-” I cut her off by using my magic to move her to the side. I was done talking with this inconsiderate piece of trash.

        “You asked for it.” I said aloud. I took both his wings in my field of magic and laid them out flat, I proceeded to rip a large branch off a tree and slam it down into his wings, causing him to awake with a scream, waking the other ponies in our squad up. “You have been nothing but careless, ungrateful, dishonorable, disloyal, disrespectful, and most of all, you have been using Corporal Roses kindness to protect you. No more.” I growled again this time picking him up by his broken wings and making him face towards me.

        He spat in my face, “You think I care you-” I cut him off with a hoof to his jaw, causing a resounding crack to resonate throughout the forest. I then proceeded to drop him then turn around and buck him in the face as hard as I could. I sent him flying into a tree where he blacked out. All I could think about was the disrespect he showed everypony, I couldn’t take it anymore and knew I would face repercussions when we arrived back at HeadQuarters, but I didn’t care, he deserved exactly what he got.

        I turned to face the horrified Sergeant Dash. “Sergeant Dash, I know it has only been an hour worth of sleep, but I request that you accompany in place of Corporal Cloudkicker as he will be out for a while. You do not have to comply, but I ask you this so we can be fully protected.” I said flatly to her. She opened her mouth but quickly shut it and nodded.

        We made our way to our positions for guard duty before she spoke. “Sir, permission to speak freely?” She asked, turning to me. I nodded my head, keeping my eyes on the sky and path in front of us. “What you did to Corporal Cloudkicker, won’t you get in trouble back at headquarters?” She asked putting a look of concern on her face. I sighed and looked towards her.

        “Yes, I will get in trouble, but not as much as him. In the 2 years he has been in The Pack, he has done nothing but use Corporal Rose and others to get his way. He has been disrespectful to his higher ups, to me, and to Commander Luna. His punishment from me, wasn’t severe and the punishment that will await him for his indiscretions towards us will be nothing less than dishonorable discharge as we have sat by to see if he would better, sadly that did not happen. Although you, Vasquez, Rose, and LightningTwist will all be commended for your actions on this mission and you will be placed in a permanent squad with me, and on occasion Commander Luna. That is, if you want?” I said keeping my voice low enough so only she could hear me. I was met with silence, but when I turned to her to see why she was quiet, her mouth was agape to the news.

        “I’m going to take that as a yes.” I said smirking a little as she continued to look at me astonished. “Sergeant Dash, could you return your attention to the sky please? Looking at me like that is scaring me.” I said jokingly, she shook her head and gave me a big smile before looking towards the sky.

        Luckily the time went by fast and we didn’t see any enemy. I returned to the campsite and started waking everypony, when I went to wake Cloudkicker, I found he was still knocked out cold. I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight, the arrogant pony finally shut up by a swift buck. I picked him up in a field of magic and put him on my back before turning to find that everypony was ready to move.

        “Alright everypony, listen up. We have at least an hour’s flight ahead of us to the Crystal Empire, that’s if we don’t stop for a break and we don’t get stopped by anypony. Remember to guard Sergeant Dash with your life if need be, she has the crystal that we need. Please make sure you go to the bathroom, so to speak, before you get on the platform so we can ensure there are no breaks needed.” I finished jokingly. About five minutes later we all boarded my platform and I hoisted us up above the clouds, high up into the sky so that the forest below looked like a pure dark blue green of trees, not able to see through any of the treetops.

        We flew through the air speaking quietly every now and then to pass the time. Occasionally they would ask me a question about my life and who I lived with before I joined the pack, what my motives were, what my drive was, and even about my family. Each one I answered with the same flat tone, keeping my concentration on my speed and altitude before we started getting the first snowfall as we entered the Frozen North where the Crystal Empire is located.

        Corporal Rose cast a shield spell around us to keep the snow from freezing us to death. Sergeant Vasquez used his magic to regulate the temperature to keep us warm. I let the warmth seep into me before I heard a stirring from the pegasi on my back. As soon as he moved I let him fall off my back quickly, he groaned in pain as he landed on his broken wings. The others fell silent.

        “Nice for you to join us Cloudkicker. I hope you’ve learned your lesson.” I said aloud with a tone of anger in my voice. He quickly made his way to his hooves.

        “Yeah well screw you “Vice-Commander” Solstice.” He retorted angrily. I wrapped a magic field around him and made a chain around him then proceeded to hang him from the bottom of our platform, earning a laugh from the squad. “HEY! PUT ME DOWN!” He shouted, flailing in the chains.

        “Cloudkicker, I guess you haven’t learned.” I said, turning towards him, looking down at him. “You speak to all of us constantly like you’re the best, like you’re the most important pony around. In reality, you’re less than that. More so without you, we would be better off.” I said pointing a hoof at him, causing him to turn his head away from me, saying something under his breath. “Excuse me Cloudkicker? What was that?” I said putting a hoof behind my ear and putting it on the platform.

        “YOU DON’T DESERVE YOUR RANK!” He yelled, making sure he was heard by us all. I sighed and cast a sound spell around us in tandem with my platform spell. I motioned him to continue to hear his case. “You’ve been here five years, and yet you went from being a Sergeant, straight to being the Vice-Commander! I mean, how fair is that?! The others had to work their flanks off to get to where they are today, but you, you got to jump the ranks all the way to Luna’s side! What did you “appease” her “desires”?” He finished. I closed my eyes letting the anger flow into my magic causing my mane to flow with the red starfield and my eyes to alter to their infused form along with my markings to appear.

        “You want to know why I have my rank Corporal? Do you want to know who I REALLY am? Because I will tell you if you so desire.” I said glaring at him, he nodded angrily. “The reason for my rank Corporal, isn’t because I “appeased” any of her “desires”. I worked these five years harder than anypony in the corps and my skills were honed to the point the generals have to fight me together to be on the same level as me. I have completed over 758 missions for The Pack, every mission I have been offered, I have accepted, every offer to me to help the needy, the poor, the lost, the innocent, I have taken. I risked my life more times than Luna herself has in this war.”

        “You should have known exactly who I was if you truly were a part of The Pack, but evidently you read not history, nor do you read mythology of this world. Yet there is one thing you should know about me you ungrateful pegasi, I’m not a pony and I never have been.” As I said this I brought him up to my level turning my eyes from their bright yellow magic infused eyes, to glowing blood red eyes. “I’ve seen more war than anypony in this land has in the past 100 years. I was a human from the United States of America on the planet Earth. I was a United States Marine, my rank was Captain, my wife Major Lynn more commonly known here as my dead wife Jazmine. I practiced every form of combat, from stealth tactics to guerrilla warfare, from Coreeda to Kung Fu, from hand to hand through explosives.”

        “My drive and determination is unmatched, while yours is just personal gain, my drive is for the betterment of this world as I don’t want it to fall into a cycle of death, pain, loss, and sadness as my world has. You act as if you are the best pony out there, that no matter what you do, you are a good pony. My name is Lost Solstice, reincarnation of Lost Solstice from the 100 year war back before Luna was imprisoned on the moon, killer of Starswirl the bearded and champion of The Pack. I’m no where near a saint, I’m not nice and I will kill you if you disrespect me again, because by now you are going to be dishonorably discharged when we arrive in the Crystal Empire and will be forced out of Equestria. Do I make myself PERFECTLY clear?” I growled angrily, making a large discharge of magic explode behind me as I stamped my hoof into the ground.

        Cloudkicker fell silent and white along with the others, seeing this side of me. He quickly regained himself before retorting. “You don’t have the guts!” He yelled angrily. I felt my magic wrap around his neck and snap it like a twig, his body fell limp in my magic before I let his body drop onto the platform. The others mortified by the scene that had just unfolded in front of them.

        “Rest in Peace Corporal Cloudkicker, may you find peace in death.” I said before taking his dog-tags and insignia off of his body. I gave them to Corporal Rose who was still stunned by the death. I returned my attention to flying before I was interrupted by Sergeant Vasquez and Dash walking next to me.

        “Sir…do…do you feel…bad about this?” Vasquez started. I looked over to find him giving me a remorseful look. I turned towards Dash to see she was waiting for an answer as well. I sighed slightly.

        “To be honest with both of you, I don’t.” I said flatly, keeping an expressionless face. Hoping that I wouldn’t have anymore questions to answer. I was quickly shown wrong.

        “Sir, I know he was a bad pony, but you shou-” I cut off Sergeant Dash.

        “Sergeant Dash, I know how I SHOULD feel, but I don’t. Not because I’m cold blooded, not because I don’t care, but because it was the necessary course of action.” I said flatly. Looking at the horizon before Vasquez started again.

        “Are you sure it was necessary Lionel? I mean, we had members in our squad like that on Earth, but you never killed them.” He stated this time speaking not as a soldier, but as a friend. I realized this before I spoke, so I chose my words carefully.

        “Can I say it was truly necessary, that is not my call, but what I will say Vasquez, is that he wasn’t a threat to just a squad like it would be in the human world, but to everypony around him. No doubt once he was discharged he would find himself in the Equestrian Legion for revenge. If it were the human world, I would have waved his disrespect off and punished him accordingly. On earth he was a threat to the country, but here he was a threat to the entire world. If I had to do it again Vasquez, I wouldn’t think twice. Call it unjust, call it evil, call it morbid, but my actions cannot be changed.” I said flatly as the Crystal Empire appeared on the horizon, the spire piercing the night sky.

        Sergeant Dash sighed. “You may be right, but we are in this together.” She said putting a hoof on my shoulder. “I think if I were in your position sir, I would have done the same thing.” she stated with a smile. I looked to the others to see what they thought, and they were all with Dash. They all were going to accept the consequences, even though it was me who killed him.

        Ten minutes we flew in silence before we finally reached the Crystal Empire. We landed on a platform of the spire that was used for Captains and Above, we were quickly greeted by the General Dusk and Commander Luna. They raised an eyebrow as I landed, seeing that I was using my infused form instead of my normal one. They quickly received their answer as I stepped sideways to reveal the corpse of Cloudkicker.

        “Lost Solstice, what happened?” General Dusk asked, not moving his eyes from the body as he moved closer to it. The members of my squad quickly joined me, standing in line a few feet away from the body. I stepped forwards.

        “General Dusk, Corporal Cloudkicker was KIA, along with Sergeant Yano, Corporal Flask, and Corporal Devin. But his death was recent.” I said flatly as the others nodded, verifying the story.

        “That is a shame that they died, their deaths and sacrifice will be remembered. As to Corporal Cloudkicker, is he the reason you are in this state Lost?” He proceeded to ask. I closed my eyes and nodded slowly. “What did he do to deserve his demise by your hoof Lost?” The general asked, encasing the corpse in a field of magic before turning it into ash with a simple vaporization spell.

        As the body turned into ash I lowered my head in respect to the pegasi. As I lifted it up I found Dusk to be staring at me waiting for an answer. “General Dusk, I will not lie. He has endangered everypony in my platoon I left with, a multitude of times during this mission. The first thing that happened was he charged headlong into an encounter with a platoon of Legion soldiers when he was told to stay put and wait for them to pass. Resulting in the loss of 7 Pack members. Reducing our numbers from 38 to 31. When we split up at Checkpoint Echo we split into 3 squads of 10 members each with an extra member tacked onto my squad, the squad he was with all died except for him because he thought he could take on the squad waiting for them inside the building by himself. He escaped the slaughter by running with his tail between his legs. The other squad only lost one member, a Staff Sergeant Lin if I am correct. Leaving us with 20 members in the platoon. His actions continued to endanger and get others killed until there was only eight ponies left. Sergeant Yano and his squad when we split up to meet at Checkpoint Alpha Echo Charlie, they were killed without relent, Cloudkicker played no part in their demise, they were just unfortunate. Throughout the mission he continued to disobey orders, disrespect higher ranking soldiers, use others to save himself, at one point he had actually used one of the pegasi as a meat shield to save himself.”

        “Before we left our area an hour ago where we were resting, he was knocked out by me for disobeying orders and yelling at Corporal Rose when she tried waking him for guard duty. He said and I quote, “Leave me the buck alone! Wake me up when my duty is over.”, aloud to each and every one of us. After this I had knocked him out after he spat in my face when I lifted him up by his wings. When he awoke on the trip here I said, “Nice of you to join us Cloudkicker, I hope you’ve learned your lesson.” and he retorted by saying, “Yeah well screw you “Vice-Commander” Solstice” and I proceeded to wrap him in a magic field and attach a magic chain to it and hang him from the bottom of the platform. Keeping him nice and cozy until he yelled, “YOU DON’T DESERVE YOUR RANK!””

        I quickly recalled the last of the events before finally stopping with a sigh, “And there you have it sir. I do take full responsibility and will take any punishment you deem fit for me. It may have been the wrong course of action to take, but if I allowed him to continue he would either be discharged and join the Legion or be discharged and cause harm to others. Neither of which I wanted for everypony, he has done more than his fair share of damage to us and nopony else should have to deal with it.” I finished flatly keeping my eyes concentrated on General Dusk who was now standing in front of us with Luna.

        General Dusk nodded in understanding and motioned for Luna to follow him to an area across the platform of the spire. I looked over to the ponies in my group who all looked nervous and scared as we waited for our punishment to be decided upon. The two occasionally looked back at us still contemplating what they should do before they finally came to an agreement. They made their way back over to us keeping stern faces.

        “Vice Commander Lost Solstice, Sergeant Rainbow Dash, Sergeant Luis Vasquez, Corporal Maroon Rose, and Corporal LightningTwist. You are the only survivors from todays mission, so we will congratulate you on this, but it was not without cost nor was it without loss. 33 ponies in total were lost today, a great many of them the result of one soldiers arrogance, which was handled in a less than preferred way, but necessary.” They said in tandem. I was quickly taken aback at what they said and looked to my squadmates in confusion who were just as confused as I.

        “Ummm, so you’re not go-” I was cut off by Luna holding up a hoof.

        “You will be with punishment. You are hereby suspended for a week for the death of Corporal Cloudkicker. All five of you are equally responsible for the death, but seeing as it was a necessary course of action, it is not as severe. Consider this a warning as to what will happen next time if something like this occurs. If there is another pony that endangers everypony as such, bring them before the council and allow them to deal with them as they deem fit. Do not bring matters into your own hooves. Do we make ourselves very clear?” They finished up saluting us.

        “Ma'am yes Ma’am!” We all exclaimed, giving a salute back to the both of them before they allowed us to leave to our quarters to get our items. The others of my squad went down the entryway of the spire as I stayed behind with General Dusk and Luna. I turned towards Luna and made my way over to her giving her a hug.

        “It’s nice to see you again Luna.” I said as she hugged me back. As I released her from my hug I turned towards Dusk who simply glared at me telling me if I hugged him he would kill me. “Oh come on Dusk, it’s just a small hug.” I said joking with him.

        “No, that was a hug that lovers share, not one that friends share.” He said backing away from me as I approached him. “If you hug me Solstice I will throw you off the spire!” He yelled, making me laugh as I continued to approach him before Luna tackled me to the ground, pinning me.

        “Oh come on Luna! That’s no fair!” I exclaimed, trying to free myself from underneath her.

        “It’s fair alright Lionel, you could’ve died on this mission and I haven’t seen you in a week. All is fair in love and war isn’t it?” She said nuzzling the back of my head. Causing me to sigh in irritation. She got off my back and helped me to my hooves before nuzzling me again. I nuzzled her back before turning my attention towards Dusk who was fake gagging causing me to laugh.

        “You’re right, all is fair in love and war Luna, but all is fair in Jokes and Pranks as well.” As I said this I heated some of the snow on the balcony, turning it into water and covering Dusk in it. Causing him to shoot an angry glare towards me and Luna. I couldn’t help but laugh, he looked like a mare when he was wet, which just made it all the more hilarious. I felt a rock hit the top of my head.

        I looked over to see that Dusk was holding several more in his hooves. “You better duck and cover you little crap!” He said as he started throwing them towards me ferociously. I conjured a shield, laughing the whole time he did this, Luna interrupted our fun by striking us both with a small bolt of lightning, causing us both to yelp, more out of the sound than the pain. We looked over to see her laughing in mid air.

        “Oh so you want to play huh?” I said looking over to Dusk and nodding at him. He nodded back to me. “No restrictions! All or nothing, whoever falls first has to buy the other two drinks at the Drunken Stallion in Utopia tomorrow night, deal?” I said aloud pointing to the both of them, they proceeded to nod. Right as I was about to get in the air myself Dash and Vasquez came outside, looking at us in confusion. “Hey yall two want to join?” I asked readying myself.

        “Join in on what?” They asked in unison, causing me to laugh as they stared at each other with confused faces.

        “We’re going to have a little prank fight, first one to fall has to buy the drinks at the Drunken Stallion in Utopia tomorrow night. How’s that sound to yall?” I said readying a few ropes in mid-air from my magic. They both smiled and nodded at each other before joining me on my platform. I raised an eyebrow to them.

        Luna took the first shot, creating a bolas and tossing it towards me where I jumped it only to be knocked over by a giant plush magical hammer from Dusk, sending me flying off the edge of my platform. I quickly recovered by creating small platforms underneath each of my hooves and flying up towards Dusk and shooting a magic pillow at him making him fly upwards but quickly recovering and throwing the pillow at Dash who was concentrating on Vasquez. She narrowly dodged it as it whizzed by her head only to be knocked off by a fly swatter by Luna, sending her tumbling down towards me. I grabbed one of the nearby clouds in a field of magic and putting it under her. She got back to her hooves quickly, proceeding to send a rope flying towards Luna, wrapping around her body, making her wings hug to her body. She started dropping like a rock.

        She quickly conjured up a platform, landing with a solid thud, but not hurting her much. Vasquez then proceeded to dive off his platform in a giant ball of magic, straight for General Dusk who didn’t notice the ball until it was too late. Dusks platform shattered from the shear force of the sphere hitting him and it, from what I could tell, the force knocked him out, deciding him as the loser I dispelled my ropes and carried me and Dash up to the spires platform we had previously landed on. Luna and Vasquez quickly joined us, Vasquez carrying Dusk in a field of magic up to us, luckily the blow wasn’t strong enough to keep Dusk out for more than five minutes.

        We all walked over to the unicorn offering a hoof to him to help get him off the ground. He took Dashes hoof and she proceeded to pull him up off his flank. “Looks like you’re buying the drinks General.” She said with a smirk. The General quickly sighed back.

        “I guess I am, didn’t think such a spell would knock me out so easily. Guess I’m just not as strong as I used to be, good work Vasquez, you took me by surprise, no doubt.” The general said facing towards Vasquez and holding out a hoof to his opponent to shake. Vasquez quickly shook his hoof.

        “Thanks sir, but this was just a little practice fight with no real weapons or anything, just some quirky fun spells. I guarantee if this was a real fight, you would have took me out in no time.” Vasquez said praising the unicorn. Giving a small smile as he did so. I walked over to Luna and stood next to her before she laid her head on my shoulder.

        “That was fun, but I gotta get back to work, but before I do, I need to talk to you Lost.” She said, her voice soft and kind. I put my hoof around her hugging her.

        “What do you need to talk to me about?” I asked as the others looked at the scene unfolding before them.

        “I mean in private.” she said shooting a glance to the general. He obviously knew exactly what she was going to talk to me about from the look he gave her. He quickly ushered Dash and Vasquez into the spire and down the stairs before telling us we were out of hearing distance of the two. He quickly said his goodbyes and proceeded down the spire as well.

        “Luna, what’s wrong?” I asked with a tone of worry heavy in my voice, looking down at her. She walked towards the ledge keeping her head high but I could see that she was sad.

        “It’s been 9 months Lost, but this war doesn’t seem like it’s going to end before he’s due.” she said. I quickly realized what this was about, so I quickly joined her near the ledge looking over the Crystal Empire and the Frozen North. She turned towards me with a saddened look in her eyes.

        I nuzzled her, “Luna, Don’t worry. If it comes to it, we will defend him with our lives, or more so me since well, you know.” I said trying to comfort her. It was to little avail as she pulled me closer.

        “Lost, but what if something does happen? Shouldn’t we have a backup plan if the war doesn’t end?” She asked, almost pleading. I sighed and thought about it for a moment. She was right, what if the war didn’t end after we obtained the elements and found the new bearers in time. There was a big chance that she was right that the war could go on, so we should have a plan for if the war didn’t end. I turned my attention towards the moon, thinking of what we could do when it struck me.

        “Luna, I know what we could do if the war doesn’t end by the time he arrives.” I said staring at the moon. Luna looked up to me as I looked down towards her. “Twilight Sparkle.” I said hoping she would put it together. She motioned me to continue. “As you know, I’ve been keeping in contact with her over the past five years, before my ex-wife died. She’s said that if we need anything of her, we need simply to ask, and well, frankly, if the war doesn’t end in time, we may have to call her up on that favor if we want him to live a safe life.” I said. She looked at me for a second before looking towards the moon, no doubt contemplating the idea.

        “Do you think we could do that Lost?” She asked, keeping her gaze on the moon. I looked over to her to see a tear fall from her eye. I looked up to the moon as well, suddenly feeling saddened as well. I knew it was a hard choice, but it was one that would be necessary if we wanted him to grow up safely, away from a war.

        “I wish there were another option for us Luna, but you know it’s our only one if the war doesn’t come to an end. We may already have the crystals for the Element of Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty, Kindness, and Honesty, but we need to find the Element of Magic if we have any chance of ending this war soon. Even then, we will have to find the bearers of the Elements and convince them to help us, which will be no easy task. I love both of you dearly, and I don’t want to see him grow up in harms way, constantly in danger of being hurt, just as I don’t like you being in constant danger. For 3 years, I have looked after and taken care of you as much as I could as both your Vice Commander and husband. So if this is what it takes for him at least, to grow up safe, then it is a necessary course of action.” I said feeling a wave of sadness rush through me causing me to tear up at the thought. Luna quickly fell onto me weeping. I could do nothing more than try to calm her as I had done in the past when she felt the weight of the world bear down on her.

        During the first couple of years, I distanced myself from everypony, everypony except for two. Luna and Twilight, both of whom, treated me as if I were a long lost friend who had come back. Luna was there for me when my dreams made me shake to the bone, Luna helped me through the death of Jazmine, Luna helped me overcome my pain and eventually move on knowing I could never get her back. We then started seeing each other more and more out of the meetings and battles as friends at first when I was just simply known as the Vice Commander.

        It was two months after her return that I was appointed the Vice Commander not only for my heroics on the battlefield, but because I sacrificed myself countless times for everypony to get away if we needed to retreat, nearly dying each time in the process. Yet somehow, fate dictated that I would not die that day or any other day. I had trained with the best in the country as much as I could, learning quickly and always honing my skills. For over a year when Jazmine died, all I did was fight, train, work, and suffer, thinking that I would get her back somehow. Clinging onto that small glimmer of hope that she was still somehow alive, even though it wasn’t true.

        I was cold and ruthless, everypony saw me as a monster, saw me as a cruel being as I killed the Equestrian Legion without relent. I was effective on the battlefield, able to take out platoons without even thinking of the repercussions and thinking of those who had lost a mother, father, brother, sister, grandfather, grandmother, husband, wife, or friend. I took no prisoners on the battlefield, I only took lives as they took the only thing I had left away from me. I had lost who I was because I had lost her. I didn’t want to feel that kind of loss again, so I protected The Pack with my life, hoping that I would join her one day in deaths embrace by dying on the battlefield.

        In those two years of mourning, not once had I felt the sweet relief of death, no matter what happened. I cried and wept over her, and showed no mercy because of her. I was made Vice Commander for what I did, even though it was cold hearted, I was always counted on to get the job done, one way or another.

        After being with Luna for a couple of months, I finally realized that it would be what Jazmine would have wanted, for me to move on, not for her death to hold me back. After a year with Luna, I became my old self again, in a sense. I wasn’t as cold or mean anymore and ponies started taking a liking to the better side of me, the side that showed compassion and care to those around him. I stopped thinking of returning to my world as I would have no life there, especially after 3 years of being M.I.A..

        I thought of all those who I have met, all of those that I have befriended, and all of those that I now know as my family, or at least family esque friends. Me and Luna soon got engaged and planned our wedding around Christmas time. Our wedding took place on December 13th, 1473 A.F.. We went on leave together at the same time for 1474 whenever it was possible so we could spend time together in peace and quiet. We stayed here in the Crystal Empire of course, but we tried to get out for vacations to Utopia whenever we could.

        Eight months ago on March 22nd, 1474 we found out that we had a foal on the way. She had been pregnant for a month before we found out. When we did, we were both happy, and we were concerned for who we were. So far, we have been able to conceal her pregnancy with an illusion spell, and the generals have been helping in keeping her off the battlefield until the foal is born. Our worries were put to rest as we started finding the Elements of Harmony in mysterious places across Equestria. Thinking we could use them to our advantage, we did our fair share of research on them and found that each one has a certain bearer, much to our annoyance. We planned to find them all in a month or two and find the bearers in under a month, but our plan did not work too well as each one appeared in an order, and not all at once.

        This showed that finding the Elements Bearers were going to be even harder to find than the elements themselves. Now, it’s been nine months and we only just found the Element of Honesty. They are all still inactive, no surprise as the Element of Magic is needed to activate them. It’s also likely that this war could continue until the Elements are fully assembled and they pick a side in the war, either they choose us, or they choose the Equestrian Legion, or they choose nopony and stay out of the war. Me and Luna now know, that the plan won’t be able to be put to use before the foal comes. So now we have to make the decision of either sending him to Twilight when he is born, or allow him to grow up in constant danger.

        The choice was obvious, to both of us. We had to send him to Twilight, there were no questions about it. I was brought back to reality by Luna pushing herself into my arm trying to get my attention.

        “It may be necessary Lost, but can we at least go see him when we’re on leave?” She asked in a saddened tone. I wrapped my neck around hers holding her even closer.

        “I wish we could, but if anypony knows that we have any connection to him, he could be in danger.” I said letting the tears fall down my face. I sat there holding Luna in my arms as she started to cry, knowing she would never get to see her foal grow up, but neither would I. I held her close to me, holding her tight as she cried in my arms.

The Next Day…

       When I woke up, I realized that I was in our bed with Luna in my arms still. How did we get here? I thought to myself before sitting up in the bed, rubbing my eyes with my hooves and yawning. Luckily this didn’t wake her up. I swung my legs out of bed and made my way towards the bathroom where I proceeded to turn on the shower to its hottest setting and put some toothpaste onto a toothbrush and brushed my teeth. I entered the shower, a wave of relief came over me as the hot water drenched my coat. It was nice to finally have a shower after the occurrences of the days prior, but I was greeted with the images of all those who had died when I closed my eyes.

        I thought of what I had done, and what I did in the end to keep the rest of us safe. Then I remembered what had happened after our fun little duel, where Dusk had lost and owes us drinks now. I laughed at the thought of the general losing to a Sergeant, even if it was a fun battle. My mood quickly declined as I thought of what me and Luna had discussed the night prior as well. I shook the thought from my head quickly as I didn’t need to depress myself as it was for him, not for us.

        I turned off the shower and opened the curtain, using a spell to dry my coat and mane fast. I then walked over to the mirror to find that I had quite a few cuts along my body and face, no doubt they were from the mission. I looked to each one and examined it as if it were some unexplainable phenomenon. Just as every cut I gained before, I remembered the face of the pony or creature or item that had given it to me. I returned my attention to me as a whole, looking at my mane as it was flat instead of its normal spiked appearance.

        I picked up a brush in my magic, and started moving it slowly through my mane. Then I used my magic to spike it into it’s normal appearance, making the roots of each spike appear to be a bright yellow, slowly fading into a orange then a bright red at the tip. Turning my head side to side and levitating a mirror behind me I decided that it was alright and walked out of the bathroom. Luna was still sleeping which brought a smile to my face, no doubt she would wake up after breakfast was starting to be cooked.

        I made my way to the kitchen and started opening cupboards and cabinets, grabbing oats, flour, sugar, eggs, and lastly for me, bacon. I knew how it felt to be an animal by now, no doubt, but it didn’t keep me from enjoying meat, and for it I get many strange looks from others. As I started mixing the ingredients for pancakes, I put the bacon in a skillet along with the eggs, cooking them sunny side up for Luna, just as she liked them. I heard a yawn come from the bedroom. I smiled as I saw her come around the corner and smile at me.

        “Morning Luna, did you sleep well?” I asked to the indigo mare as she walked next to me and laid her head on my back before answering she let out a long drawn out yawn.

        “I did, how about you Lost?” She asked lifting her head off my back as I levitated two eggs and a pancake over to a plate and gave it to her with a fork. She took it in her field of magic and set it down on the counter before poking me. “Hey can I have some bacon too?” she asked, causing me to raise an eyebrow to her. “Hey, can’t blame me if I want to have it once in a while, especially since I live with you.” she said sleepily before I levitated two strips of bacon onto her plate.

        “True, but bacon is awesome, you can’t deny that!” I said standing on my back hooves and flailing my front hooves in the air. Gaining a laugh from Luna. I finished off the cooking by moving two pancakes, four scrambled eggs, and 6 strips of bacon onto two plates for me. Smiling as I smelt the food, taking a strip of bacon I popped it into my mouth, savoring the taste.

        Me and Luna sat at the table eating, me recalling some childhood memories as I ate, with her listening intently. No matter how much I told her about my life, she was always interested, especially my memories of the human world. Not as much by the war tales, but the ones of the days of peace I had with Jazmine, and my other family members.

        I finished off the last bite of my food with a loud belch. “That was gooooooood!” I exclaimed laying a hoof on my belly as I relaxed back into the chair. Luna proceeded to take my plates and other utensils before I stopped her. “I cooked, and I’ll clean okay? Just go and take a shower, we leave for Utopia in two hours, make sure you pack for a week alright?” I said taking the dishes out of her magic. She smiled and headed towards the bathroom.

        It didn’t take long for the dishes to be cleaned, and as soon as I was done Luna was out and packing a bag for our trip. I knew that she didn’t suspend us just because of what happened yesterday, but it was because we had just obtained the Element of Harmony and she wanted us to relax and have fun, but it was also because she was going on leave for a week this week. I didn’t oppose to it, but I felt as if we should have been punished a lot harsher, but I was glad that Dash, Vasquez, Rose, and LightningTwist only got a slap on the hoof.

        An hour and a half later we were all packed and waiting on the Captains platform, waiting for Dash and Vasquez to arrive so we could leave. I saw that Dusk wasn’t wearing his normal uniform and that Luna wasn’t either, but she was disguising herself as a unicorn to keep from being bombarded in Utopia. I was happy to see that she kept her disguise simple, hiding her wings, making her hair normal, and changing her cutie mark to a simplistic star. Keeping her coat color and eyes normal.

        As soon as Dash and Vasquez joined us I conjured a platform and proceeded to make a sphere around us as we soared through the sky towards the Utopian border. We all talked and joked around on the flight over, Dusk talking about his life as a foal before his family died, Dash talking about her friends Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and surprisingly Twilight Sparkle as well. When she started to mention her both me and Luna asked her if she had been getting letters from her as well, she simply shook her head but said she would look into it when we saw her. Vasquez and Rose kept to themselves, have small talk about the weather and the scenery, no doubt Vasquez had feeling for the pony and well, just as I have, gave up on the thought of returning home as this world was better than the one we could return to. He accepted his fate wholeheartedly. LightningTwist was silent most of the time, no doubt because he wasn’t very talkative.

        In about an hour of flight, we finally arrived at the border of Utopia before dismounting the platform and making our way to the nearby train stop. We waited for less than ten minutes before a train arrived to take us to the heart of Utopia, what used to be known as Ponyville. We boarded the train and made our way to the heart of Utopia as fast as the train would take us, luckily, nopony suspected that we were of The Pack, just simple ponies that were on a vacation.

        Twenty minutes later we had arrived at our destination and were greeted by two ponies, Fluttershy and Applejack as Dash said. Two of whom were good friends of her, I made my way over to them and tipped my head in greeting, along with Luna.

        “Hello AppleJack, and Fluttershy. It is nice to finally meet the both of you after hearing so much about you two from Sergeant Dash.” I said holding a hoof out to the both of them. Applejack shook my hoof while Fluttershy backed away. So I simply smiled at the yellow pegasi, in hopes of calming her.

        “Nice ta know Dash remembers us, even on the front line.” Applejack said giving a small smirk to Dash who gave a fake laugh. “You know who ah am, so ah must ask, who’er you?” Applejack asked happily.

        “I am Lionel, and this is my wife Midnight.” I said, partially lying, hoping she wouldn’t recognize my real name since many Utopian ponies kept their noses out of the war. Luna tipped her head in greetings again.

        “I am Midnight Star, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Luna said, her tone friendly and soothing. Applejack shook her hoof and proceeded over to Rainbow Dash. We both turned our attention to the yellow pegasi who was hiding her face behind her mane.

        “Fluttershy was it?” Luna asked, causing the mare to silently nod. Luna walked over to her, only to have Fluttershy shy away from her. “It’s okay, I won’t hurt you Fluttershy.” Luna said calming the yellow pegasi. She showed her face finally, allowing a small smile to crawl onto my face seeing that she was able to smile. I made my way over to the two, as Luna finished her introduction. Upon seeing me standing next to Luna she quickly averted her gaze to the ground.

        “It’s okay Fluttershy, I won’t hurt you either, I’m Li-” I was cut off abruptly by her facing towards me with a glare.

        “I know who you are Lionel, and if you hurt Dashie so help me.” She said causing a shiver to go down my spine. Luna looked at me with her , “What in the heck did you do?”, face. I simply shrugged at her before turning my attention back to the pegasi.

        “Okay, I guess. I don’t know why you would think I would hurt her, but I won’t delve into it. I’m sure you care for Dash just as much, if not more, as me. I promise, she won’t be harmed by me or any other ponies in her squad okay?” I stated before holding out a hoof to make it a promise. She returned to her normal attitude and shook my hoof, giving me a small smile, yet it still made me quiver. She then made her way over to Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

        “What was that about Lost?” Luna asked me.

        “I have absolutely no idea, but I suppose we should make our way over to Twilights, I think she may be surprised to see us in person after a year. Let’s just hope she doesn’t have a heart attack when we do get there.” I said with a small laugh. Luna grabbed my hoof and picked up her bags in her magic and we started making our way towards Twilights home, which was the Library here in Ponyville. Her arrangements were made by Celestia herself, mostly because Twilight loved books, and because she wanted her to be able to do something she liked when she was there.

        We quickly made our way to a hotel to get a room and put our stuff away before heading out once again. We made our way down the street towards the library, encountering few ponies and other creatures along the way, each of whom, seemed to be happy without end. It was a nice change from the gloom that lingered in the Crystal Empire.

        As we reached the treehouse we saw that it was closed for the day, no doubt because it was evening by the time we got here. I knocked on the door three times. “The libraries closed for the night! Please come back tomorrow!” A familiar voice called out from the home. I knocked on the door once more. “Didn’t you hear me?! The library is closed!” The voice said louder this time. I knocked one more time before a young dragon opened the door. “I SAID THE LIBRARY IS CLOSED!” He yelled. As he opened his eyes, he was greeted by me and Luna smiling down at him. “Well, um, this is awkward…” he said his face becoming red as me and Luna laughed.

        “Hello there Spike, how have you been this past year?” I asked to the young drake who was now only a foot shorter than me and Luna. He looked worried at our sudden appearance. “You okay Spike?” I asked leaning in closer to him and putting a hoof on his forehead only to have him bat it away in irritation. “That’s better.” I said giving a small smile.

        “Let me go get Twilight, wait right here.” He said slamming the door. You could hear him running up the stairs yelling, “TWILIGHT!”. After that it was silence as we waited for Twilight to answer the door. We heard as she, Spike, and some other pony walked down the steps of the home. When she opened the door we were greeted with a smile, but oddly she was out of breath.

        “Hey there Twilight, How are you?” I asked hugging the lavender mare before Luna joined us. I pulled away from the hug so she could answer.

        “I’ve been really good, but you shouldn’t just POP by like this without warning, it’s really unnerving.” She replied quickly, poking me with her hoof. I snickered and turned my attention towards the other mare. She was a light blue pegasi with a white mane and tail, her cutie mark was a quill, no doubt that she was working in the library with Twilight.

        “Hello there, I’m Lionel.” I said holding out a hoof to the pegasi whose eyes grew wide. She quickly regained herself and shook my hoof.

        “I’m...uhhhhh…Twilights Cousin, SkyQuill.” She said quietly, almost low enough for me not to hear it. I smiled at the pegasi and then turned towards Spike and hugged the young dragon.

        “Still no wings yet Spike?” I asked the young dragon who folded his arms.

        “No.” He said sighing in irritation. I gave a small laugh as Twilight motioned us to come inside.

        “You really know how to keep this place decorative.” I said sarcastically to Twilight.

        “Oh hardy har har Lionel. Like I haven’t heard that one before.” Twilight said rolling her eyes. Luna laughed. Twilight made her way to the kitchen. “Hey Luna, Lionel! How do you want your tea!?” She yelled through the closed door.

        “Three cubes of sugar Twilight!” Luna yelled back to her. She then dropped her disguise and stretched her wings, her cutie mark appearing and her mane turning back into the flowing starfield that it normally was. I let my magic flow into my mane and eyes giving me my infused appearance. SkyQuill just gawked at us before picking her jaw off the floor.

        “I’ll have mine with no sugar Twilight, thanks!” I yelled before turning my attention to SkyQuill who now sat on the couch staring at the both of us. “SkyQuill, I don’t think you’ll tell anyone about us will ya?” I asked the pegasi. She simply shook her head, telling us she wouldn’t. “That’s good, can’t have everypony in Utopia knowing the leaders of The Pack are here.” I said with a small smirk, sitting next to SkyQuill on the couch and Luna in the chair across the coffee table. SkyQuill shifted uncomfortably.

        Luna stared at the pegasi before finally speaking. “SkyQuill, I never knew Twilight had a cousin?” She asked. SkyQuill gave her a sheepish smile.

        “Oh, she does, quite a few at that. I’m just staying with her as my parents are in the war. Do you two know them?” She asked. We quickly questioned who they were and their affiliation. “They’re part of The Pack. Their names are InkWell and SnowCloud.” she stated. I felt a drop in my heart as I recognized the names, both of whom were in our platoon for the mission for the Element of Honesty. I looked towards the ground.

        “I’m so sorry SkyQuill, if I knew…” I said trying to keep a hold of myself as I tried to deliver the news to her. “...your parents…they…they died yesterday.” I said closing my eyes, tears welling up behind them as I remembered both of them being stabbed by spears. I looked up to see SkyQuill, she had her hooves over her mouth and her eyes were wide with terror. I hugged her, holding her close so she could cry. Twilight entered the room with a tray of tea. She slowly sat the platter down onto the table.

        “What happened?” Twilight asked to Luna with Concerned eyes. Luna whispered to Twilight what news had just come forth. She quickly joined the hug, followed by Luna as SkyQuill wept. No doubt, the loss of her parents had come to a major shock to her, I felt bad for Twilight as well, her aunt and uncle died as well.

        I pulled away from the hug, letting SkyQuill wipe the tears off her face with her hooves before taking a teacup in her hooves and sipping it. “SkyQuill, for what it’s worth, your parents were amazing ponies, they shouldn’t have died as they did. If it makes you feel any better, the pony that had caused their demise, was killed.” I said looking into my cup of tea. When I looked up I found SkyQuill staring at me.

        “I’ve missed you so much Lionel.” She said quietly, but I heard it.

        “What was that SkyQuill?” I asked, hoping to get an answer from her. She realized what she said and nervously shook her head. “Okay then, Twilight, I know that our appearance was sudden but, we have something we need to talk to you about.” I said my face growing serious. She put her cup down and turned her attention to me.

        “What do you need to talk to me about?” She said raising an eyebrow to me then looking at Luna, who was shifting uncomfortably. I motioned for her to sit next to me on the couch. She quickly moved over and held my hoof.

        “Well, it’s really important, that it only stays between us, Me, You, Luna, Spike, and SkyQuill. You can’t even tell your closest friends, okay?” I asked my tone hardening. Twilight nodded and I looked over to Spike then SkyQuill who all nodded.

        “As you know Twilight, Me and Luna, We’ve been married for 3 years now-” I was cut off by a gasp from both Twilight and SkyQuill. I looked to Spike who was looking around the room, avoiding my gaze. “Spike? Do you have something you need to tell us?” I said angrily. I could see Twilight glaring at the young dragon as well. He tried to run out the door but I teleported in front of him before he could escape.

        “Ummm I had a good reason!” He said holding his arms up thinking I was going to hit him. I felt like hitting him, but I sighed and shook my head motioning for him to say his reason. “Well, I was going to tell her eventually, but I felt it wasn’t the right time.” He said sheepishly. I glared at him.

        “The right BUCKING time Spike?!?! It’s been 3 BUCKING YEARS! That isn’t waiting for the right time! That’s keeping a secret!” I yelled. Luna quickly cast a sound spell, realizing how loud I was getting. Twilight quickly joined me in front of the dragon.

        “Spike! How could you?!” She yelled causing him to look towards the ground. He mumbled so we couldn’t hear him. “What did you say?!” She yelled for him to speak up.

        “Because I… I… I don’t know…” He said looking up to us with teary eyes. “I felt, if it got to you, it might…hurt you.” He said hugging Twilight. Who pushed him away.

        “Why would it hurt me? I would of felt happy for them, but now after three years, I’m figuring out Spike! This is horrible!” She yelled shaking the dragon furiously. I stepped in between the two, separating them.

        “Twilight, Spike! STOP!” I yelled. They quickly fell silent, but I couldn’t help but hear SkyQuill crying. “See what you did!” I exclaimed to the two. “For Fausts Sake, Twilight I know you’re mad, I understand the anger, I really do. Spike, I can also understand why you would have thought it would hurt her. Yet I’m sure she would have understood, my wifes been dead for five years, she wouldn’t of wanted me to mourn her forever, she would have wanted me to move on and Twilight no doubt, would have thought the same.” I said scolding him. He kept his gaze on the floor, scraping his claw on the ground in a circular motion. I then proceeded to hug Spike.

        “I’m sorry Twilight, Luna, and Lionel.” He said hugging me. I hugged him tighter I felt Twilight glaring holes into my back, I waved it off as I released him from the hug.

        “We’re going to have a serious talk when they leave mister.” Twilight said glaring at Spike. I laughed and joined Luna back on the couch and looked at SkyQuill who was still in evident shock. I hugged her hoping to draw her back, she shook her head and pushed me away.

        “Alright well, since that’s out of the way, we have some even more shocking news, so you may want to get some more tea.” I said pouring some tea into my cup from the teapot. Twilight, then Luna, then SkyQuill, then Spike proceeded to do the same. I put my hoof into Luna’s and gave her a small smile before turning towards Twilight.

        “Twilight, Luna’s pregnant.” I said causing Twilight, SkyQuill, and Spike to simultaneously spit out their tea.

        “WHAT?!?!” They all yelled in unison.