That Others May Liveby SaxPon3ChaptersPrologue - A Brief History of World War I AvolPrologue - The Calm...Prologue - ...Before the StormPrologue - A Brief History of World War I AvolIn the year 2054, the first world war on the planet Avol broke out. It began when radicals from the Changeling Nation assassinated a noble of the Griffon Kingdom’s court. Immediately, war was declared. The Griffon King Lion Heart accused Queen Chrysalis of attempting to destablize his country. The Changeling Queen denied the accusation, claiming that these changelings acted of their own accord. She sent ambassadors to try and find a diplomatic solution...only to have their heads sent back on a silver platter with a note: “We will fight. Our noble was the first casualty of this war; let these ambassadors be the second.” Outraged, the Queen turned to her allies, the Zebra Nation and the Equestrian Empire, for aid in fighting this war against the griffons. Pulled in by the sworn alliance they shared, the zebras and the ponies of Equestria gathered their forces and sent them off to fight. Knowing they were outnumbered three to one, the Griffon Kingdom sent messengers to the Dragon Badlands, asking the powerful Dragon King for aid in this fight. Civil war broke out over the decision, in which the two sides—the Loyalists and the Renegades—fought to a standstill. Eventually an agreement was decreed by the Dragon King to allow each side decide what to do. This led to the dragons splitting into two factions: the Loyalists, who swore neutrality, and the Renegades, who thirsted for bloodshed. Thus, the battlefield was set. On one side, there was the Talons, consisting of the Griffon Kingdom and the Dragons. On the other, there were the Allied Forces, made of the combined military might of the Equestrian Empire, the Changeling Hives, and the Zebra Nation. War was fought for almost two decades. It was eighteen years of bloody, horrible conflict. The Allied Forces were pushed hard, losing many of their battles; the combined forces of the dragons and the griffons were too powerful. Soon, a large army of Talon soldiers had surrounded the Equestrian capital of Canterlot, and began laying seige. Other forces kept the zebras and changelings from aiding their pony allies. Hope seemed lost. Until, on the thirteenth hour of the thirteenth day of the Siege of Canterlot, reinforcements arrived in the form of an unexpected ally: the remaining dragons. In the last year of the war, a new king ascended to the throne of the Dragon King, and made the decision to aid their equine neighbors. With this new ally, the Allies pushed back the Talon Army and fought them into submission. Finally, on the 24th of February, 2072, the fighting ceased as an armistice was called. The date is now celebrated as Armistice Day by the Equestrians, the Changelings, and the Zebras. The year is now 2092, twenty years after the end of the First Avol World War. Since then, many things have changed. The zebras grow restless and angry, as they did not receive the rewards promised for their service in the war. The griffons have a new king, one who promises to bring glory back to the Griffon Kingdom. Equestria’s military has diminished since Armistice Day, and only the Changelings remain alert. Political pressure is rising. It is only a matter of time. Prologue - The Calm...War. War never changes. Funny. I used think that was just a line out of my favorite video game, Fallout: Equestria, but I guess it has some truth to it. I remember where I was when it had all started. I was just a young colt then, a freshman at the local university. I was geeky, sure. I was socially awkward, sure. But there was one thing I had that nopony else did. I was the master of videogaming. Any game you can think of. Pac Mare? Made it through all the levels. Portal? Piece of cake. Colt of Duty? I ate noob-tubers for breakfast. Legend of Zelda? I was the bucking Tri-Force. The thing was...nopony really cared about all of that. All they saw was me—the local videogame freak. I admit, there was some definite truth in what they said. I did absolutely love video games. However, I was far from a video game freak. Believe me...I knew video game freaks. You did not want to meet them. Still, to them, that was what I was: a freak. Which is why I chuckle, even today in my old age, when I see the ones that I had served with in battle. You know why? It’s because those same ponies were the ones who had teased and bullied me all those years. Now, they respect me more than ever. They had changed. But, then again...everything changed when they attacked. My name is Airman First Class Button Mash, Equestrian Air Force, retired. This is the story of my service in the Second Avol World War. 2092, Ponyville Universty, Ponyville, Equestria The Equestria Empire, the nation I live in, is one of several countries that make up the planet of Avol. The others are the Griffon Kingdom, the Zebra Nation, the Dragon Badlands, and the Changeling Hives. Why do I bring this up, exactly? Well, apparently, I was going to use this in my future job as a video game designer. At least, that’s what my professor said. I was in History class, which to me seemed like a pointless class. Most of the time, by buddy Pipsqueak and I spend the time battling each other in Pokemon on our JoyBoys. In fact, I had just beaten Pipsqueak's Pikachu when our professor spoke up again. “And so, these are the five kingdoms that make up the world.” Professor Strong Hooves said, his hard voice echoing in the lecture hall. “Of course, the one we live in is Equestria. Now, you need to know these things. Anypony who even wants to go into business will need to know at least a little bit about the culture of our neighbors, lest they want to start another world war.” He scowled. “If there is one, I definitely am staying away from it.” We all rolled our eyes. Old Strong Hooves was a bitter old war veteran. He brought up the subject of the last war almost daily. I cleared my throat. “Sir, with all due respect, how will this help me in the real world?” Strong Hooves scowled. “The real world? You think there’s such a thing in your naive existence?” “Well, as far as I’m concerned, yes.” I said, shrugging. “What else is there for me?” Pipsqueak snickered. “I don’t know, welfare? Maybe a mare or two a week…” He yelped when I punched him in his side. “Yeesh, no need to get feisty, mate.” “All jokes aside,” Strong Hooves said, glaring at me and Pip. “You all need to know these things because there’s a storm brewing.” I rolled my eyes. “Sir, I think we’ve heard enough about the last war and the lasting effects.” “You mean you haven’t heard?” I looked around at my class, trying to see if anypony else knew what the geezer was talking about. All I saw were blank stares. Professor Strong Hooves shook his head. “Sweet Celestia, no wonder why you ponies are so stupid.” He reached over and flipped a switch, turning the lights off. The old pegasus then walked over to his computer, pressed a few buttons, and soon, a video was playing through the powerpoint projector. It was a griffon army, marching down the streets of their capital, Las Aguilas. They were in dark camouflage, with rifles shouldered in parade formation. The look that each of the soldiers gave were blank, hard stares. They showed no emotion as they marched down the street, with the residents cheering and throwing confetti as their military passed them. Despite my easy going nature and slapstick humor...I couldn’t help but shudder at the sight of them. “So what’s the big deal?” Yawning in spite of myself. “It’s just some old war footage.” Nervous coughs were met at my comment. I once again looked around. Nopony was agreeing with me. In fact, they all looked dead terrified. Even Pipsqueak was scared. Frowning, I turned back at the screen and started looking closer at these griffons. Images from my textbook of the First Avol World War griffon soldier popped into my head. I compared them to what I saw on the screen, expecting a mirror image. However, as I stared longer, I soon began to realize differences. Instead of dark blue of the past, these griffons in the video had on a dark digital grey pattern. The patch on the shoulder of their uniform matched nothing from the past either: it was a golden shield with two wings coming out from the side, and a lightning bolt and a sword at the center. Their headwear was different as well; instead of a simple beret like before, they had on modern kevlar helmets. That’s when it hit me. Strong Hooves spoke up before I could. “Don’t you see it now, kid? This isn’t old footage. This is recent. Just a few weeks ago...if you go by the video upload date.” He scowled again. “Of course, if you’d been paying attention to the news, you’d know that these damn bird brains were breaking the treaty months before that and were amassing an army.” That shiver from before grew into a deep chill. I looked at him, trying not to sound scared. “Well, isn’t somepony doing something about this? Like, aren’t our ambassadors doing anything?” Again, the old professor scowled. “Diplomacy. You know what that term really means, Button?” I only stared at him. “It means the calm before the storm.” Strong Hooves said, before receding into deep thought. He waved his hoof. “Class dismissed. Get out of here.” With that, he walked into his office at the rear of the classroom. “Enjoy your spring break.” On that somber note, he closed the door, and we left. As Pipsqueak and I walked silently down the halls of Ponyville University, all I could here was chatter of a possible war coming up. No matter where I went, it seemed to be the subject of the conversation. I guess it always was; I just never payed attention to it. Now that I had the knowledge, it was like somepony had taken off some earplugs or something, because war talk flooded my ears. “My older brother signed up with the Air Force already. It’s crazy.” “No way, man. There’s no war coming up. He shouldn’t have done that.” “I don’t know. My pops says it’s gonna happen.” “Your pops also told you that he banged the princesses when he was in the service. Was that true?” The two of us turned around the corner, not wanting to know the answer. “Oh my gosh, did you hear?” “What?” “Dinky moved to the country side with her family. She said her mother and father didn’t want her to be involved in any kind of draft.” “Draft? Doesn’t that only apply to guys?” “Not anymore. Haven’t you been to history classes? After the first world war, it became mandatory for both guys and girls. The only difference is that girls can pay their way out.” “Weird. Their family’s pretty rich. Why’d they move?” “I have no idea. Her dad Time Turner is a weird guy. She said he kept rambling on about how he didn’t want her to die like his people did...whatever that means.” “Maybe he’s a changeling?” Again, I turned a corner, hoping to escape any talk of the possibility of war. Alas, I had no such luck, as I ran into my best friends—Inkwell, Cobalt, and Starshine.. “Heya, Button.” Starshine said, smiling at me. “What’s going on?” I shrugged. “Nothing much. Old Strong Hooves let us out early after some old war talk of his.” “Yup, same old same old…” Pipsqueak mumbled, obviously thinking of the news footage. Cobalt laughed. “That old geezer. It’s like that’s all he ever talks about.” “Kind of fitting, really.” Inkwell said, looking worried. “Especially with how things are going to the South. The zebras are apparently also preparing for war. Except this time, they’re not on our side. My sister just said a lot of her friends got deported from Zebraca.” I rolled my eyes. “Oh, come on, Inkwell. Not you too!” “Button it’s serious!” He shouted, his worry showing on his face. “What if war does break out? You’ll have to go to war! You could get killed!” The thought hadn’t occurred to me until that point. Getting killed...it just seemed like another thing in a video game to me. Except, if war does break out here and I do get killed...there won’t be an option saying “press ‘x’ to respawn.” It’ll be game over. For life. Still, I didn’t believe it would happen. “Oh, come on, man. After the whooping that we gave the griffons in the last war, they’d be insane to attack us.” Starshine suddenly looked worried as well. “Still, it does kinda worries me, Button. I mean, I do have family that live pretty close to the southern border…” “And what, the zebras are just going to storm across and kill everypony?” Cobalt retorted. “I doubt it.” Thank Celestia, I thought. At least somepony here is sane. “Look, the princesses and the Elements of Harmony have made it clear to the Griffon King that if he chooses to invade Equestria, his army will be met with unrelenting force.” I stated. “I’m sure it’ll be the same with the zebras. Like I said...they’d be insane to attack us.” Starshine hesitated, then spoke. “Still, I want to make sure we do something if it does happen.” “What, like volunteer?” “You know what she means, Button.” Inkwell replied, worry still plastered on his face. “We all know that if they invade, it’ll be the start of another world war. There’ll be a draft.” Another chill ran down my spine. No way. There’s no way that would happen. “I don’t think—” I started. Starshine interrupted me. “It doesn’t matter what you think, Button! What matters is if there is one, we all do it together.” “What?!” Pipsqueak shouted. Cobalt gaped at her. “What are you, crazy? It’s only mandatory for those who can’t pay the price to get out! We all know that we can.” “Wrong. Not all of us can.” Inkwell said. He pointed at me and Pip. “Their families don't have enough money to pay them out. They’ll have to go.” The realization hit me at that point. If we went to war...I’d go to war. The thought of me, holding a real rifle, not a digital one, storming into battle, eyes wide as bullets flew past me...it was terrifying. I looked over at Pip, and I knew he was thinking of the same thing. Despite our tough talk online when the enemies were virtual, we were deathly afraid of fighting real enemies. Shit, man. I didn’t want to go to war. I just wanted to play some video games, hang out with some friends, maybe even go on a date with a mare someday. Now, all of that might be put on an indefinite hold because of a war. Still, I shook my head. There’s no way it could happen. “Come on guys...let’s stop the gloomy talk, okay? Let’s head over to the Starbucks for a round on me.” Inkwell started to speak up, but Pip gave her a glare. He could tell that this was making me uncomfortable. I was grateful for his support. In the future, I’d come to depend on it. Celestia sat on her throne, reviewing over the latest reports of from the East. Queen Chrysalis’ scouts were reporting griffon activity at the edge of the Changeling borders, and were requesting Equestrian aid to help secure the border. In the back of her mind, Princess Celestia cursed. Damn the Griffon King. Had he forgotten the terms of the armistice? “Something on your mind, sister?” The monarch jumped as her sister seemingly materialized next to her. She sighed. “Aye, Luna. Some rather...disturbing reports have arrived.” “Reports from Cryssy, I see.” Princess Luna said, glancing at the envelope. “Is something going on in the Changeling Hives?” “Unfortunately, yes.” Celestia sighed again, rubbing a hoof on her temple. “As you know, according to intelligence gathered by our E.I.A. agents, the Griffons appear to be amassing another army.” Luna’s face darkened. “Yes, I know. That bastard King Grey Hawk is a warmonger. How he ascended to the throne after the armistice, I will never know.” “I’ll tell you how. The sanctions placed on the Griffon Kingdom decimated their economy, leaving the griffons desperate and thirsting for revenge." Celestia grumbled. “The Changelings wouldn’t haven’t any other way. The rest of us were tired of fighting, so we let it go.” The Princess stared at the reports. “Now I fear we are paying the price for our ignorance.” “Then let us amass our forces once more.” Celestia sighed. “It’s not that simple, my sister. The other nations do not know this, but our military’s strength is at an all time low. Many of the stallions who went to war the last time never came back, and those who did are not fit to fight another war.” “What do we have in reserve, then?” Luna asked, beginning to sound desperate. “Currently, we have a total combined military force of just 50,000.” Celestia muttered. “Majority of those troops are trained enough, but training alone doesn’t win battles. According to our spies, the Griffons have allied themselves with the Zebra Nation, giving them an army almost four times the size of ours.” Luna paused, then spoke with a chill in her voice. “Wait, the zebras? Were they not on our side in the last war?” “Aye, but after the war was over they felt that they didn’t get the compensation nor recognition for their service.” The elder sister looked out the window. “Again, a product of our ignorance. Now, we face a war on two fronts, should the Changeling’s lines break.” Luna stared at her sister, wondering if there was desperation or simply exasperation in her thoughts. Knowing that she had to come up with something, Luna spoke. “Perhaps…” “Yes?” Celestia turned, grasping for any idea. “Do you have a suggestion, Luna?” “We could always ask King Malagos.” Celestia’s face hardened. “No. We cannot go to him.” “But Tia, he helped us last time!” “Aye, that he did, but he will not again!” Celestia shouted, silencing her sister. “Do you not realize the sheer power that the dragons hold themselves? Now imagine an entire nation of them fighting on one side of the war. “The result would be complete annihilation of the opposition. Genocide. Extinction. King Malagos knows this, and as their King, he only chose to fight last time to bring stability to a world in chaos.” The monarch laid her hooves on her head once more. “Now, such a decision could cause a second civil war in his kingdom. He will not risk such horrible bloodshed again.” “Then we are truly alone.” “Yes,” Celestia said, obviously stressed. “And our one ally asks for support that we cannot give.” “Yes.” Celestia said, frowning now. “Luna, what are you--” “And it is possible that we are on the brink of a second world war.” “Yes Luna, that is true!” Celestia shouted, irritated by her sister’s vagueness. “What are you suggesting?” Luna sighed, and looked at her elder sister, graveness in her voice. “The obvious decision.” I yawned as Pip chugged down his fifth espresso, obviously trying to hide his worries behind walls of caffeine. Inkwell stared at him incredulously, using the spectacle as a distraction while Cobalt laughed to avoid awkwardness. Starshine sipped nervously from her cappucino, trying not to bring up more war talk. Once more, I yawned. This was how I dealt with problems: I just act like I don’t care. But behind my facade, I couldn’t help but worry. The thought of war was scary to me. Maybe it was the thought of boot camp, or having to fight, but I just downright terrified. I guess that was why I just denied the obvious truth, the terrible truth that sneered right in front of me in that video. War was coming. It was just a matter of time. But for now, I just yawned, and acted like I hadn’t a care in the world. All that mattered to me was that I had all of my friends here, in front of me, and we were enjoying a nice coffee break. “Only the dead have seen the end of the war.” -George Santayana Prologue - ...Before the Storm0630 hours, Changeling Hives Outskirts Staff Sergeant Silvers sipped from his coffee as he scanned the the wasteland in front of him with calculating eyes. Their shining blue pierced through the darkness, allowing him to see anything, find anything...and all he saw was a whole lot of nothing. He sighed. Damn bird brains. If it weren’t for them, he wouldn’t have to be here. He wouldn’t have to kill, he wouldn’t have to be stuck on fucking border patrol. This sucked. And if most changelings thought the day shift sucked, they should try the night shift. Night watch sucked, period. It was even worse for him as senior enlisted man on duty; he had to stay up pretty much all night while sentries reported to him in increments of fifteen minutes. In short, he was dead tired and bored out of his mind all because his kind was sure that the griffons would attack at any minute. Sure, they were gathering troops. Sure, they were moving a little close to the border. The Griffon Kingdom had already released their official statement: they were having some wild animal troubles, and so they had to gather some troops to eradicate the pests. While he was content with that answer, Silvers couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy. He had received the report himself, and the griffon envoy said “pests” with an intense venom. Just what was he talking about? The wild animals...or Silvers himself? “Staff Sergeant Silvers.” Silvers snapped out of his thought to see PFC Brightly standing at attention in front of him. The senior changeling stood up, and Brightly saluted him. Silvers saluted back, then dropped his salute and said, “Report.” Brightly dropped his salute. “PFC Brightly reports FOB Spear Horn all clear, Staff Sergeant.” The staff sergeant wrote a note on his log, then went back to attention. “At ease.” “Oh thank the Maker.” The private said, grumbling. “I was sure my legs were going to snap off.” Silvers smirked. “Getting tired, huh, Brightly?” “That ain’t the half of it, Staff Sergeant.” Brightly said, sighing as he stretched his legs. “My eyelids feel like they’re going to fall off.” He smiled at him. “Welcome to the Corps, private. We hope you enjoy your stay. Anyways, nothing to report?” “Yes, Staff Sergeant.” Brightly yawned. “Other than more dust flying in the wind, there’s nothing to report.” Silvers smiled. “Good. I guess that means it’ll be another quiet night, huh?” “You bet Sta--” A sudden noise caught Silvers’ attention. He cocked his ear, hearing a slight whistling noise. Suddenly, there was a thundering boom, a sickening crack and splatter, spraying Silvers’ face with a thick liquid, forcing him to close his eyes. When he opened them he couldn’t see Brightly in front of him. All he could see was a sickening blue liquid everywhere...blood. Silvers brought a hoof up to his face and wiped a bit off his face to see even more of it on his hoof. Looking down, he had found where Brightly had gone. His body was laying on the floor twitching...and without a head. Another whistle brought Silvers to his senses, causing him to duck to the floor as a high caliber bullet flew just over his head. “SNIPER!” Silvers yelled to all the other watch towers. Coughing as he crawled along, Silvers pulled himself through the pool of neon blue blood and over to the alarm switch. As he hoisted himself up to sound the alarm, he looked out into the distance and saw a sight that chilled him to the bone. The wasteland was no longer full of nothingness. In its place was a swarm, a huge mass of feathers, beaks and rifles. It was a griffon strike force, hundreds if not thousands of them. Some flew in the air, firing at their guards stationed at the border wall. Others were on the ground, setting up mortar teams to bombard the base. Silvers lunged and pulled the alarm to sound off to every changeling that their were enemies at the gate. Just as the bells started ringing, a black mass came to stand over the prone changeling. Silvers looked up to see a smirking griffon, pointing a rifle right at his head. Silvers stared right back at him, cold and unnerved. Silvers snarled. “You fools. You attacked a military installment. Now, all of the lands will know you are here.” The griffon laughed, then put the end of his gun next the changeling’s head. “Good.” BANG! Blue blood spurted everywhere as Staff Sergeant Silvers slipped to the floor, joining PFC Brightly as the first casualties of what was to be a blood filled war. You see, after the first attack on the Changeling’s outpost, word reached Equestria quickly. The Princesses knew that the griffons would soon attack Equestria’s borders soon, and they were quick to mobilize what military forces they had. A third was sent to Equestria’s northern front, where the Griffon Kingdom bordered our empire. Others were sent to the East to aide the changelings. The last were went south to ensure the safety of the citizens living near Zebraca. However, they knew that that wasn’t enough. A total of fifty thousand troops split into three would not win a war. That was when the royal decree was sent out: any stallion between the ages of eighteen to thirty-five was required to joined the Equestrian armed forces. I was asleep when the royal couriers came into town. They woke everypony up from their beds, and saying that it was of the utmost importance that all of the citizens gather in the town square. I groaned as the our dorm door was pounded on by some ungodly pony at an ungodly hour. “Sweet Celestia man, isn’t it a little late to be getting high on something?!” “This is a Royal Courier of the Canterlot Court!” A voice barked through the door. “All citizens are to report to the town square immediately to hear a royal decree from the Elements Council and the Princesses!” “Yeah?!” Pipsqueak shouted back, rubbing his eyes. “And what if we don’t want to go?!” The voice paused. Then, it coughed and spoke again. “Then we will have to break open the door and drag you there. Believe me, it is better you come willingly.” He then moved on to the next door and began pounding and hollering away. Pipsqueak and I gawked at each other, not sure if the pony outside was joking. Deciding not to call his bluff, we scrambled out of bed, quickly washed our faces and dashed out the door. Once we were outside, we could see everypony else also getting up, rubbing the sleepiness out of their eyes. I looked over to our next door neighbor, questioningly. She just gave me this look that said, “The hay if I know, man.”, and started walking towards the exit. I looked back at Pipsqueak, who shrugged. I guess we didn’t have a choice. We followed everypony else to the the town square, where a sizable crowd had already gathered. At the center on a makeshift podium stood the courier from earlier, now flanked by two Royal Guard ponies in camo drab. Both were armed with standard issue hoof blades on their forhooves. I took one look at their stony faces and knew that the news was going to be bad. The courier cleared his throat and pulled out a letter with the royal seal. “I am Olive Branch, and I am here to read you grave news from the princesses and the Elements Council.” He then held out the letter. “‘Dear citizens of the Equestrian Empire, the past twenty years have been peaceful for our great nation and her allies. Unfortunately, that has come to an end. The Griffon Kingdom has attacked the Changeling Hives, and Queen Chrysalis has already begun mobilizing forces to defend her country. This does not bode will for us, dear Equestrians, for further down south, the Zebras have threatened our borders in support of the Griffon Kingdom’s war. Thus I now call you to do your patriotic duty and rise to defend this nation from any and all attackers. "We, the Elements Council and Princesses Celestia and Luna, hereby declare war on the Griffon Kingdom and the Zebra Nation for breaking the armistice of 2072. We thus call upon any male colt from the ages of eighteen to thirty-five to draft into the armed services of the Equestrian Empire, and any female from the ages of eighteen to thirty to do the same. Take pride in yourselves as Equestrians, dear subjects, and do your sworn duty to your country. Semper Coniunctus!’” The courier put the letter down, and was met by utter silence. Then-- “They can’t do this to us!” “I don’t want to go to war! I have a family!” “We have enough soldiers to fight already! Why do we have to go?!” I simply stood there, shell shocked. I would be going to war. I would have to have a battle saddle strapped to me with rifles on either side, a helmet to protect by skull from enemy attacks. I’d have the same HUD as my characters from Colt of Duty, and I’d have to fight the same enemies. This time though, the enemies were real. I’d have to kill. They’d have to kill. Everypony around me would have to-- BANG! Silence fell as the gunshot rang through the night. The guardspony who had fired it held a pistol pointed skyward in his left hoof, his face still as blank as before. As the silence continued, he returned the gun to its holster and nodded at Olive Branch to continue. Olive nodded shakily and and continued. “W-well as I was saying...the Princesses call you now to do your duty to the Crown and the Council. Our current military strength is not enough to fight another World War, and you are needed to win this war. The branch of service you will be in will be decided for you, as will your job. “Return to your homes tonights and say goodbye to any loved ones. Tomorrow, you will head to your regional recruiting station for a physical to determine if you are fit for the service. You will have three days to report in. Any later, and you will be persecuted as a deserter.” The courier finished, and stepped off the podium, and the two guards followed him to a chariot. The townsponies watched the trio as the got in and rode off. Nopony could speak. Nopony could. Slowly, the townsponies turned their heads back around and trotted slowly to their homes. I stood there, unsure of what to do. I looked around, and noticed that several others still stood still. They were my friends, Cobalt, Pip, Inkwell, and Starshine. We all looked at each other, and we all seemed to reach an unspoken agreement: none of us would go through this alone. We were in this together, until the end. Until the end...but to what end? The next day came like a big storm: quick, dark, and horrifying. My friends and I walked into the recruiting station in the afternoon and came to a halt where the recruiters had set up shop. Already a large amount of ponies were there. I recognized a few. Off to left was Rumble getting in line at the Army booth. To my right was Twist signing up with the Navy. Cobalt cleared his throat, jarring me from my inspection. “Hey, so where are we going? The Army?” “Sweet Celestia, no!” Starshine cried out. “The Army doesn’t ever treat their guys right. I say we go Navy.” “And get stuck on a boat for the rest of my life?” Inkwell muttered, already looking green. “I’m feeling seasick already.” I snapped. “Would you all shut up? It’s not like we get a choice.” They however didn’t seem to hear me. Pipsqueak just stood there quietly next to me while the three argued. After a while, he noticed me shaking and spoke up softly. “Hey, Button?” “Y-yeah?” I said, unable to control my body. He put a hoof on my shoulder. “Everything will be okay, man. Don’t worry.” “I sure as hell hope so…” I muttered. I looked back at my arguing friends. It just doesn’t seem like we’ll be getting anywhere at this rate… Suddenly, the fluorescent light was blocked from my vision. I looked up to see a camo-clad individual, helmet on his head and battle sattle locked and loaded. My eyes widened and my pupils shrunk. He looked down at me, his face stony and expressionless. The pegasus stallion cleared his throat, obviously trying to get my bickering friends’ attention. “Ahem.” “No way! Army food tastes like crap!” “Ahem.” “What, and Navy food’s any better?” “AHEM!” All of them stopped at once and turned towards the soldier. He glared at them, and spoke in a surprisingly soft voice. “Recruits, get out of the way; you are blocking the path.” He looked at each of us in turn, giving us a hard look. Each of us in turn shivered a little as his cold grey eyes passed over us. “Be sure not to do this again, lest I make sure you get the most miserable job in the service. Understood?” We all snapped up. “Y-yes sir!” The soldier nodded grimly, told us to move along to the recruiters’ tables, and walked away. “Shit…” Pip cursed as we followed him. “Not even to basic yet and here we are about to get our arses reamed.” I said nothing. I couldn’t say anything. We walked further into the office quietly, eyes always shifting left and right for ponies we recognized. The air was thick with the sound of cries and acts of mock bravado. There were plenty of colts bragging about how they were going to “ice so many bird brains” and teach them a lesson. Behind me, Inkwell snorted. “They can’t honestly want to go to war?” “Ink, nopony does.” Starshine said, the same exasperation in her voice. “They’re just afraid.” “They don’t sound afraid.” Cobalt muttered. Pip sighed. “Look guys, you do realize that’s their way of dealing with fear? Face it with some stupid brave face. Let’s just ignore it and move on.” The rest of the walk was silent. Soon, we came upon the examination rooms. Standing guard were two Army nurses, one stallion one mare. The mare spoke up. “Colts to the left, mares to the right. You will allow yourselves to be examined thoroughly. No harm will come to you.” Seeing our worried faces, she gave us a small smile. “No worries. Upon completion of your physical, you may wait for your companions outside the rooms.” She pointed to a small area with chairs set up. We simply nodded and went in. I go in first, and for the first time since this morning, I was alone in a foreign area. The doctor in front of me asks me to do several exercises. He pokes and prods at me, treating me more like a test subject than an actual pony. He scribbles notes on a clipboard every few seconds, making me nervous. Will I make it? Will they deny me? Part of me wishes for first while the other wants the second. I make it, and I’ll have to fight, I’ll have to kill. I don’t make it, I might lose some friends who will. Either way, I might lose friends. That terrifies me. I don’t want anypony I care about to die. I don’t want anypony to die. Why was this happening? “Hello? You with me?” I jumped and turn towards the doctor. “Uh, sir?” He sighed. “I said you’re cleared for service. Head to the waiting room.” I almost feel relieved to walk out of there. As I walk out, I see that Starshine is already waiting there for me. I sit down next to her, and immediately sink into the chair. I groan, and reposition myself. “You know, for all of its funding, you’d think the military would be able to afford better chairs.” Starshine stayed quiet. Immediately, I turn to look at her in the face. “Hey, Star. What’s up?” She shivers. “I...I’m scared Button.” “They clear you, too?” Star nodded. I looked down at the floor, unsure of what to say. I mean, i couldn’t exactly tell her I was afraid either. So, I put a hoof on her shoulder. “Hey look, I got cleared too. At least we’ll be in this together, right?” Star sniffles. “I just don’t want to die, Button. I want to live, go on dates, get married, have foals...not fight in some stupid war.” A voice to our left spoke up. “Hey mate, it ain’t all sunshine and daisies, but like Button said, we’re in in this together, aren’t we?” Star and I looked over to see Pip smiling goofily at us. I grinned at him, thankful for his ever-cheerful presence. Immediately, Star seemed to grin a bit. “Y-yeah.” She sniffled, wiping away her tears. “Where are the other two?” “We’re right here, Starshine.” Cobalt said, smiling at her. Inkwell looked as sick as Star, but Cobalt put on a brave face. “And like our resident video game nerd said: we’re in this together.” For a bit, everything seemed normal. We were just a group of friends, together and smiling. Then, the Army nurse walks over to us. “Alright, you’ve all been cleared for duty.” She took a look at her clipboard, and smiled at us. “Looks like you five are lucky; you’re all headed for the same branch.” “Which one?” I asked, holding my breath. She levitated a set of five envelopes. “You’re being drafted into the Equestrian Air Force. Inside these envelopes is the information you’ll need to know when and where to report in.” The nurse smiled at us once more and then dismissed us. For a moment, we were all shocked, then we each started to chuckle. Soon, our chuckles turned into complete laughter. For us, it didn’t matter anymore that we were going to war. For the moment, and it seemed that for the future, we were together. And Celestia knew that we needed to be.
Prologue - A Brief History of World War I AvolIn the year 2054, the first world war on the planet Avol broke out. It began when radicals from the Changeling Nation assassinated a noble of the Griffon Kingdom’s court. Immediately, war was declared. The Griffon King Lion Heart accused Queen Chrysalis of attempting to destablize his country. The Changeling Queen denied the accusation, claiming that these changelings acted of their own accord. She sent ambassadors to try and find a diplomatic solution...only to have their heads sent back on a silver platter with a note: “We will fight. Our noble was the first casualty of this war; let these ambassadors be the second.” Outraged, the Queen turned to her allies, the Zebra Nation and the Equestrian Empire, for aid in fighting this war against the griffons. Pulled in by the sworn alliance they shared, the zebras and the ponies of Equestria gathered their forces and sent them off to fight. Knowing they were outnumbered three to one, the Griffon Kingdom sent messengers to the Dragon Badlands, asking the powerful Dragon King for aid in this fight. Civil war broke out over the decision, in which the two sides—the Loyalists and the Renegades—fought to a standstill. Eventually an agreement was decreed by the Dragon King to allow each side decide what to do. This led to the dragons splitting into two factions: the Loyalists, who swore neutrality, and the Renegades, who thirsted for bloodshed. Thus, the battlefield was set. On one side, there was the Talons, consisting of the Griffon Kingdom and the Dragons. On the other, there were the Allied Forces, made of the combined military might of the Equestrian Empire, the Changeling Hives, and the Zebra Nation. War was fought for almost two decades. It was eighteen years of bloody, horrible conflict. The Allied Forces were pushed hard, losing many of their battles; the combined forces of the dragons and the griffons were too powerful. Soon, a large army of Talon soldiers had surrounded the Equestrian capital of Canterlot, and began laying seige. Other forces kept the zebras and changelings from aiding their pony allies. Hope seemed lost. Until, on the thirteenth hour of the thirteenth day of the Siege of Canterlot, reinforcements arrived in the form of an unexpected ally: the remaining dragons. In the last year of the war, a new king ascended to the throne of the Dragon King, and made the decision to aid their equine neighbors. With this new ally, the Allies pushed back the Talon Army and fought them into submission. Finally, on the 24th of February, 2072, the fighting ceased as an armistice was called. The date is now celebrated as Armistice Day by the Equestrians, the Changelings, and the Zebras. The year is now 2092, twenty years after the end of the First Avol World War. Since then, many things have changed. The zebras grow restless and angry, as they did not receive the rewards promised for their service in the war. The griffons have a new king, one who promises to bring glory back to the Griffon Kingdom. Equestria’s military has diminished since Armistice Day, and only the Changelings remain alert. Political pressure is rising. It is only a matter of time.
Prologue - The Calm...War. War never changes. Funny. I used think that was just a line out of my favorite video game, Fallout: Equestria, but I guess it has some truth to it. I remember where I was when it had all started. I was just a young colt then, a freshman at the local university. I was geeky, sure. I was socially awkward, sure. But there was one thing I had that nopony else did. I was the master of videogaming. Any game you can think of. Pac Mare? Made it through all the levels. Portal? Piece of cake. Colt of Duty? I ate noob-tubers for breakfast. Legend of Zelda? I was the bucking Tri-Force. The thing was...nopony really cared about all of that. All they saw was me—the local videogame freak. I admit, there was some definite truth in what they said. I did absolutely love video games. However, I was far from a video game freak. Believe me...I knew video game freaks. You did not want to meet them. Still, to them, that was what I was: a freak. Which is why I chuckle, even today in my old age, when I see the ones that I had served with in battle. You know why? It’s because those same ponies were the ones who had teased and bullied me all those years. Now, they respect me more than ever. They had changed. But, then again...everything changed when they attacked. My name is Airman First Class Button Mash, Equestrian Air Force, retired. This is the story of my service in the Second Avol World War. 2092, Ponyville Universty, Ponyville, Equestria The Equestria Empire, the nation I live in, is one of several countries that make up the planet of Avol. The others are the Griffon Kingdom, the Zebra Nation, the Dragon Badlands, and the Changeling Hives. Why do I bring this up, exactly? Well, apparently, I was going to use this in my future job as a video game designer. At least, that’s what my professor said. I was in History class, which to me seemed like a pointless class. Most of the time, by buddy Pipsqueak and I spend the time battling each other in Pokemon on our JoyBoys. In fact, I had just beaten Pipsqueak's Pikachu when our professor spoke up again. “And so, these are the five kingdoms that make up the world.” Professor Strong Hooves said, his hard voice echoing in the lecture hall. “Of course, the one we live in is Equestria. Now, you need to know these things. Anypony who even wants to go into business will need to know at least a little bit about the culture of our neighbors, lest they want to start another world war.” He scowled. “If there is one, I definitely am staying away from it.” We all rolled our eyes. Old Strong Hooves was a bitter old war veteran. He brought up the subject of the last war almost daily. I cleared my throat. “Sir, with all due respect, how will this help me in the real world?” Strong Hooves scowled. “The real world? You think there’s such a thing in your naive existence?” “Well, as far as I’m concerned, yes.” I said, shrugging. “What else is there for me?” Pipsqueak snickered. “I don’t know, welfare? Maybe a mare or two a week…” He yelped when I punched him in his side. “Yeesh, no need to get feisty, mate.” “All jokes aside,” Strong Hooves said, glaring at me and Pip. “You all need to know these things because there’s a storm brewing.” I rolled my eyes. “Sir, I think we’ve heard enough about the last war and the lasting effects.” “You mean you haven’t heard?” I looked around at my class, trying to see if anypony else knew what the geezer was talking about. All I saw were blank stares. Professor Strong Hooves shook his head. “Sweet Celestia, no wonder why you ponies are so stupid.” He reached over and flipped a switch, turning the lights off. The old pegasus then walked over to his computer, pressed a few buttons, and soon, a video was playing through the powerpoint projector. It was a griffon army, marching down the streets of their capital, Las Aguilas. They were in dark camouflage, with rifles shouldered in parade formation. The look that each of the soldiers gave were blank, hard stares. They showed no emotion as they marched down the street, with the residents cheering and throwing confetti as their military passed them. Despite my easy going nature and slapstick humor...I couldn’t help but shudder at the sight of them. “So what’s the big deal?” Yawning in spite of myself. “It’s just some old war footage.” Nervous coughs were met at my comment. I once again looked around. Nopony was agreeing with me. In fact, they all looked dead terrified. Even Pipsqueak was scared. Frowning, I turned back at the screen and started looking closer at these griffons. Images from my textbook of the First Avol World War griffon soldier popped into my head. I compared them to what I saw on the screen, expecting a mirror image. However, as I stared longer, I soon began to realize differences. Instead of dark blue of the past, these griffons in the video had on a dark digital grey pattern. The patch on the shoulder of their uniform matched nothing from the past either: it was a golden shield with two wings coming out from the side, and a lightning bolt and a sword at the center. Their headwear was different as well; instead of a simple beret like before, they had on modern kevlar helmets. That’s when it hit me. Strong Hooves spoke up before I could. “Don’t you see it now, kid? This isn’t old footage. This is recent. Just a few weeks ago...if you go by the video upload date.” He scowled again. “Of course, if you’d been paying attention to the news, you’d know that these damn bird brains were breaking the treaty months before that and were amassing an army.” That shiver from before grew into a deep chill. I looked at him, trying not to sound scared. “Well, isn’t somepony doing something about this? Like, aren’t our ambassadors doing anything?” Again, the old professor scowled. “Diplomacy. You know what that term really means, Button?” I only stared at him. “It means the calm before the storm.” Strong Hooves said, before receding into deep thought. He waved his hoof. “Class dismissed. Get out of here.” With that, he walked into his office at the rear of the classroom. “Enjoy your spring break.” On that somber note, he closed the door, and we left. As Pipsqueak and I walked silently down the halls of Ponyville University, all I could here was chatter of a possible war coming up. No matter where I went, it seemed to be the subject of the conversation. I guess it always was; I just never payed attention to it. Now that I had the knowledge, it was like somepony had taken off some earplugs or something, because war talk flooded my ears. “My older brother signed up with the Air Force already. It’s crazy.” “No way, man. There’s no war coming up. He shouldn’t have done that.” “I don’t know. My pops says it’s gonna happen.” “Your pops also told you that he banged the princesses when he was in the service. Was that true?” The two of us turned around the corner, not wanting to know the answer. “Oh my gosh, did you hear?” “What?” “Dinky moved to the country side with her family. She said her mother and father didn’t want her to be involved in any kind of draft.” “Draft? Doesn’t that only apply to guys?” “Not anymore. Haven’t you been to history classes? After the first world war, it became mandatory for both guys and girls. The only difference is that girls can pay their way out.” “Weird. Their family’s pretty rich. Why’d they move?” “I have no idea. Her dad Time Turner is a weird guy. She said he kept rambling on about how he didn’t want her to die like his people did...whatever that means.” “Maybe he’s a changeling?” Again, I turned a corner, hoping to escape any talk of the possibility of war. Alas, I had no such luck, as I ran into my best friends—Inkwell, Cobalt, and Starshine.. “Heya, Button.” Starshine said, smiling at me. “What’s going on?” I shrugged. “Nothing much. Old Strong Hooves let us out early after some old war talk of his.” “Yup, same old same old…” Pipsqueak mumbled, obviously thinking of the news footage. Cobalt laughed. “That old geezer. It’s like that’s all he ever talks about.” “Kind of fitting, really.” Inkwell said, looking worried. “Especially with how things are going to the South. The zebras are apparently also preparing for war. Except this time, they’re not on our side. My sister just said a lot of her friends got deported from Zebraca.” I rolled my eyes. “Oh, come on, Inkwell. Not you too!” “Button it’s serious!” He shouted, his worry showing on his face. “What if war does break out? You’ll have to go to war! You could get killed!” The thought hadn’t occurred to me until that point. Getting killed...it just seemed like another thing in a video game to me. Except, if war does break out here and I do get killed...there won’t be an option saying “press ‘x’ to respawn.” It’ll be game over. For life. Still, I didn’t believe it would happen. “Oh, come on, man. After the whooping that we gave the griffons in the last war, they’d be insane to attack us.” Starshine suddenly looked worried as well. “Still, it does kinda worries me, Button. I mean, I do have family that live pretty close to the southern border…” “And what, the zebras are just going to storm across and kill everypony?” Cobalt retorted. “I doubt it.” Thank Celestia, I thought. At least somepony here is sane. “Look, the princesses and the Elements of Harmony have made it clear to the Griffon King that if he chooses to invade Equestria, his army will be met with unrelenting force.” I stated. “I’m sure it’ll be the same with the zebras. Like I said...they’d be insane to attack us.” Starshine hesitated, then spoke. “Still, I want to make sure we do something if it does happen.” “What, like volunteer?” “You know what she means, Button.” Inkwell replied, worry still plastered on his face. “We all know that if they invade, it’ll be the start of another world war. There’ll be a draft.” Another chill ran down my spine. No way. There’s no way that would happen. “I don’t think—” I started. Starshine interrupted me. “It doesn’t matter what you think, Button! What matters is if there is one, we all do it together.” “What?!” Pipsqueak shouted. Cobalt gaped at her. “What are you, crazy? It’s only mandatory for those who can’t pay the price to get out! We all know that we can.” “Wrong. Not all of us can.” Inkwell said. He pointed at me and Pip. “Their families don't have enough money to pay them out. They’ll have to go.” The realization hit me at that point. If we went to war...I’d go to war. The thought of me, holding a real rifle, not a digital one, storming into battle, eyes wide as bullets flew past me...it was terrifying. I looked over at Pip, and I knew he was thinking of the same thing. Despite our tough talk online when the enemies were virtual, we were deathly afraid of fighting real enemies. Shit, man. I didn’t want to go to war. I just wanted to play some video games, hang out with some friends, maybe even go on a date with a mare someday. Now, all of that might be put on an indefinite hold because of a war. Still, I shook my head. There’s no way it could happen. “Come on guys...let’s stop the gloomy talk, okay? Let’s head over to the Starbucks for a round on me.” Inkwell started to speak up, but Pip gave her a glare. He could tell that this was making me uncomfortable. I was grateful for his support. In the future, I’d come to depend on it. Celestia sat on her throne, reviewing over the latest reports of from the East. Queen Chrysalis’ scouts were reporting griffon activity at the edge of the Changeling borders, and were requesting Equestrian aid to help secure the border. In the back of her mind, Princess Celestia cursed. Damn the Griffon King. Had he forgotten the terms of the armistice? “Something on your mind, sister?” The monarch jumped as her sister seemingly materialized next to her. She sighed. “Aye, Luna. Some rather...disturbing reports have arrived.” “Reports from Cryssy, I see.” Princess Luna said, glancing at the envelope. “Is something going on in the Changeling Hives?” “Unfortunately, yes.” Celestia sighed again, rubbing a hoof on her temple. “As you know, according to intelligence gathered by our E.I.A. agents, the Griffons appear to be amassing another army.” Luna’s face darkened. “Yes, I know. That bastard King Grey Hawk is a warmonger. How he ascended to the throne after the armistice, I will never know.” “I’ll tell you how. The sanctions placed on the Griffon Kingdom decimated their economy, leaving the griffons desperate and thirsting for revenge." Celestia grumbled. “The Changelings wouldn’t haven’t any other way. The rest of us were tired of fighting, so we let it go.” The Princess stared at the reports. “Now I fear we are paying the price for our ignorance.” “Then let us amass our forces once more.” Celestia sighed. “It’s not that simple, my sister. The other nations do not know this, but our military’s strength is at an all time low. Many of the stallions who went to war the last time never came back, and those who did are not fit to fight another war.” “What do we have in reserve, then?” Luna asked, beginning to sound desperate. “Currently, we have a total combined military force of just 50,000.” Celestia muttered. “Majority of those troops are trained enough, but training alone doesn’t win battles. According to our spies, the Griffons have allied themselves with the Zebra Nation, giving them an army almost four times the size of ours.” Luna paused, then spoke with a chill in her voice. “Wait, the zebras? Were they not on our side in the last war?” “Aye, but after the war was over they felt that they didn’t get the compensation nor recognition for their service.” The elder sister looked out the window. “Again, a product of our ignorance. Now, we face a war on two fronts, should the Changeling’s lines break.” Luna stared at her sister, wondering if there was desperation or simply exasperation in her thoughts. Knowing that she had to come up with something, Luna spoke. “Perhaps…” “Yes?” Celestia turned, grasping for any idea. “Do you have a suggestion, Luna?” “We could always ask King Malagos.” Celestia’s face hardened. “No. We cannot go to him.” “But Tia, he helped us last time!” “Aye, that he did, but he will not again!” Celestia shouted, silencing her sister. “Do you not realize the sheer power that the dragons hold themselves? Now imagine an entire nation of them fighting on one side of the war. “The result would be complete annihilation of the opposition. Genocide. Extinction. King Malagos knows this, and as their King, he only chose to fight last time to bring stability to a world in chaos.” The monarch laid her hooves on her head once more. “Now, such a decision could cause a second civil war in his kingdom. He will not risk such horrible bloodshed again.” “Then we are truly alone.” “Yes,” Celestia said, obviously stressed. “And our one ally asks for support that we cannot give.” “Yes.” Celestia said, frowning now. “Luna, what are you--” “And it is possible that we are on the brink of a second world war.” “Yes Luna, that is true!” Celestia shouted, irritated by her sister’s vagueness. “What are you suggesting?” Luna sighed, and looked at her elder sister, graveness in her voice. “The obvious decision.” I yawned as Pip chugged down his fifth espresso, obviously trying to hide his worries behind walls of caffeine. Inkwell stared at him incredulously, using the spectacle as a distraction while Cobalt laughed to avoid awkwardness. Starshine sipped nervously from her cappucino, trying not to bring up more war talk. Once more, I yawned. This was how I dealt with problems: I just act like I don’t care. But behind my facade, I couldn’t help but worry. The thought of war was scary to me. Maybe it was the thought of boot camp, or having to fight, but I just downright terrified. I guess that was why I just denied the obvious truth, the terrible truth that sneered right in front of me in that video. War was coming. It was just a matter of time. But for now, I just yawned, and acted like I hadn’t a care in the world. All that mattered to me was that I had all of my friends here, in front of me, and we were enjoying a nice coffee break. “Only the dead have seen the end of the war.” -George Santayana
Prologue - ...Before the Storm0630 hours, Changeling Hives Outskirts Staff Sergeant Silvers sipped from his coffee as he scanned the the wasteland in front of him with calculating eyes. Their shining blue pierced through the darkness, allowing him to see anything, find anything...and all he saw was a whole lot of nothing. He sighed. Damn bird brains. If it weren’t for them, he wouldn’t have to be here. He wouldn’t have to kill, he wouldn’t have to be stuck on fucking border patrol. This sucked. And if most changelings thought the day shift sucked, they should try the night shift. Night watch sucked, period. It was even worse for him as senior enlisted man on duty; he had to stay up pretty much all night while sentries reported to him in increments of fifteen minutes. In short, he was dead tired and bored out of his mind all because his kind was sure that the griffons would attack at any minute. Sure, they were gathering troops. Sure, they were moving a little close to the border. The Griffon Kingdom had already released their official statement: they were having some wild animal troubles, and so they had to gather some troops to eradicate the pests. While he was content with that answer, Silvers couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy. He had received the report himself, and the griffon envoy said “pests” with an intense venom. Just what was he talking about? The wild animals...or Silvers himself? “Staff Sergeant Silvers.” Silvers snapped out of his thought to see PFC Brightly standing at attention in front of him. The senior changeling stood up, and Brightly saluted him. Silvers saluted back, then dropped his salute and said, “Report.” Brightly dropped his salute. “PFC Brightly reports FOB Spear Horn all clear, Staff Sergeant.” The staff sergeant wrote a note on his log, then went back to attention. “At ease.” “Oh thank the Maker.” The private said, grumbling. “I was sure my legs were going to snap off.” Silvers smirked. “Getting tired, huh, Brightly?” “That ain’t the half of it, Staff Sergeant.” Brightly said, sighing as he stretched his legs. “My eyelids feel like they’re going to fall off.” He smiled at him. “Welcome to the Corps, private. We hope you enjoy your stay. Anyways, nothing to report?” “Yes, Staff Sergeant.” Brightly yawned. “Other than more dust flying in the wind, there’s nothing to report.” Silvers smiled. “Good. I guess that means it’ll be another quiet night, huh?” “You bet Sta--” A sudden noise caught Silvers’ attention. He cocked his ear, hearing a slight whistling noise. Suddenly, there was a thundering boom, a sickening crack and splatter, spraying Silvers’ face with a thick liquid, forcing him to close his eyes. When he opened them he couldn’t see Brightly in front of him. All he could see was a sickening blue liquid everywhere...blood. Silvers brought a hoof up to his face and wiped a bit off his face to see even more of it on his hoof. Looking down, he had found where Brightly had gone. His body was laying on the floor twitching...and without a head. Another whistle brought Silvers to his senses, causing him to duck to the floor as a high caliber bullet flew just over his head. “SNIPER!” Silvers yelled to all the other watch towers. Coughing as he crawled along, Silvers pulled himself through the pool of neon blue blood and over to the alarm switch. As he hoisted himself up to sound the alarm, he looked out into the distance and saw a sight that chilled him to the bone. The wasteland was no longer full of nothingness. In its place was a swarm, a huge mass of feathers, beaks and rifles. It was a griffon strike force, hundreds if not thousands of them. Some flew in the air, firing at their guards stationed at the border wall. Others were on the ground, setting up mortar teams to bombard the base. Silvers lunged and pulled the alarm to sound off to every changeling that their were enemies at the gate. Just as the bells started ringing, a black mass came to stand over the prone changeling. Silvers looked up to see a smirking griffon, pointing a rifle right at his head. Silvers stared right back at him, cold and unnerved. Silvers snarled. “You fools. You attacked a military installment. Now, all of the lands will know you are here.” The griffon laughed, then put the end of his gun next the changeling’s head. “Good.” BANG! Blue blood spurted everywhere as Staff Sergeant Silvers slipped to the floor, joining PFC Brightly as the first casualties of what was to be a blood filled war. You see, after the first attack on the Changeling’s outpost, word reached Equestria quickly. The Princesses knew that the griffons would soon attack Equestria’s borders soon, and they were quick to mobilize what military forces they had. A third was sent to Equestria’s northern front, where the Griffon Kingdom bordered our empire. Others were sent to the East to aide the changelings. The last were went south to ensure the safety of the citizens living near Zebraca. However, they knew that that wasn’t enough. A total of fifty thousand troops split into three would not win a war. That was when the royal decree was sent out: any stallion between the ages of eighteen to thirty-five was required to joined the Equestrian armed forces. I was asleep when the royal couriers came into town. They woke everypony up from their beds, and saying that it was of the utmost importance that all of the citizens gather in the town square. I groaned as the our dorm door was pounded on by some ungodly pony at an ungodly hour. “Sweet Celestia man, isn’t it a little late to be getting high on something?!” “This is a Royal Courier of the Canterlot Court!” A voice barked through the door. “All citizens are to report to the town square immediately to hear a royal decree from the Elements Council and the Princesses!” “Yeah?!” Pipsqueak shouted back, rubbing his eyes. “And what if we don’t want to go?!” The voice paused. Then, it coughed and spoke again. “Then we will have to break open the door and drag you there. Believe me, it is better you come willingly.” He then moved on to the next door and began pounding and hollering away. Pipsqueak and I gawked at each other, not sure if the pony outside was joking. Deciding not to call his bluff, we scrambled out of bed, quickly washed our faces and dashed out the door. Once we were outside, we could see everypony else also getting up, rubbing the sleepiness out of their eyes. I looked over to our next door neighbor, questioningly. She just gave me this look that said, “The hay if I know, man.”, and started walking towards the exit. I looked back at Pipsqueak, who shrugged. I guess we didn’t have a choice. We followed everypony else to the the town square, where a sizable crowd had already gathered. At the center on a makeshift podium stood the courier from earlier, now flanked by two Royal Guard ponies in camo drab. Both were armed with standard issue hoof blades on their forhooves. I took one look at their stony faces and knew that the news was going to be bad. The courier cleared his throat and pulled out a letter with the royal seal. “I am Olive Branch, and I am here to read you grave news from the princesses and the Elements Council.” He then held out the letter. “‘Dear citizens of the Equestrian Empire, the past twenty years have been peaceful for our great nation and her allies. Unfortunately, that has come to an end. The Griffon Kingdom has attacked the Changeling Hives, and Queen Chrysalis has already begun mobilizing forces to defend her country. This does not bode will for us, dear Equestrians, for further down south, the Zebras have threatened our borders in support of the Griffon Kingdom’s war. Thus I now call you to do your patriotic duty and rise to defend this nation from any and all attackers. "We, the Elements Council and Princesses Celestia and Luna, hereby declare war on the Griffon Kingdom and the Zebra Nation for breaking the armistice of 2072. We thus call upon any male colt from the ages of eighteen to thirty-five to draft into the armed services of the Equestrian Empire, and any female from the ages of eighteen to thirty to do the same. Take pride in yourselves as Equestrians, dear subjects, and do your sworn duty to your country. Semper Coniunctus!’” The courier put the letter down, and was met by utter silence. Then-- “They can’t do this to us!” “I don’t want to go to war! I have a family!” “We have enough soldiers to fight already! Why do we have to go?!” I simply stood there, shell shocked. I would be going to war. I would have to have a battle saddle strapped to me with rifles on either side, a helmet to protect by skull from enemy attacks. I’d have the same HUD as my characters from Colt of Duty, and I’d have to fight the same enemies. This time though, the enemies were real. I’d have to kill. They’d have to kill. Everypony around me would have to-- BANG! Silence fell as the gunshot rang through the night. The guardspony who had fired it held a pistol pointed skyward in his left hoof, his face still as blank as before. As the silence continued, he returned the gun to its holster and nodded at Olive Branch to continue. Olive nodded shakily and and continued. “W-well as I was saying...the Princesses call you now to do your duty to the Crown and the Council. Our current military strength is not enough to fight another World War, and you are needed to win this war. The branch of service you will be in will be decided for you, as will your job. “Return to your homes tonights and say goodbye to any loved ones. Tomorrow, you will head to your regional recruiting station for a physical to determine if you are fit for the service. You will have three days to report in. Any later, and you will be persecuted as a deserter.” The courier finished, and stepped off the podium, and the two guards followed him to a chariot. The townsponies watched the trio as the got in and rode off. Nopony could speak. Nopony could. Slowly, the townsponies turned their heads back around and trotted slowly to their homes. I stood there, unsure of what to do. I looked around, and noticed that several others still stood still. They were my friends, Cobalt, Pip, Inkwell, and Starshine. We all looked at each other, and we all seemed to reach an unspoken agreement: none of us would go through this alone. We were in this together, until the end. Until the end...but to what end? The next day came like a big storm: quick, dark, and horrifying. My friends and I walked into the recruiting station in the afternoon and came to a halt where the recruiters had set up shop. Already a large amount of ponies were there. I recognized a few. Off to left was Rumble getting in line at the Army booth. To my right was Twist signing up with the Navy. Cobalt cleared his throat, jarring me from my inspection. “Hey, so where are we going? The Army?” “Sweet Celestia, no!” Starshine cried out. “The Army doesn’t ever treat their guys right. I say we go Navy.” “And get stuck on a boat for the rest of my life?” Inkwell muttered, already looking green. “I’m feeling seasick already.” I snapped. “Would you all shut up? It’s not like we get a choice.” They however didn’t seem to hear me. Pipsqueak just stood there quietly next to me while the three argued. After a while, he noticed me shaking and spoke up softly. “Hey, Button?” “Y-yeah?” I said, unable to control my body. He put a hoof on my shoulder. “Everything will be okay, man. Don’t worry.” “I sure as hell hope so…” I muttered. I looked back at my arguing friends. It just doesn’t seem like we’ll be getting anywhere at this rate… Suddenly, the fluorescent light was blocked from my vision. I looked up to see a camo-clad individual, helmet on his head and battle sattle locked and loaded. My eyes widened and my pupils shrunk. He looked down at me, his face stony and expressionless. The pegasus stallion cleared his throat, obviously trying to get my bickering friends’ attention. “Ahem.” “No way! Army food tastes like crap!” “Ahem.” “What, and Navy food’s any better?” “AHEM!” All of them stopped at once and turned towards the soldier. He glared at them, and spoke in a surprisingly soft voice. “Recruits, get out of the way; you are blocking the path.” He looked at each of us in turn, giving us a hard look. Each of us in turn shivered a little as his cold grey eyes passed over us. “Be sure not to do this again, lest I make sure you get the most miserable job in the service. Understood?” We all snapped up. “Y-yes sir!” The soldier nodded grimly, told us to move along to the recruiters’ tables, and walked away. “Shit…” Pip cursed as we followed him. “Not even to basic yet and here we are about to get our arses reamed.” I said nothing. I couldn’t say anything. We walked further into the office quietly, eyes always shifting left and right for ponies we recognized. The air was thick with the sound of cries and acts of mock bravado. There were plenty of colts bragging about how they were going to “ice so many bird brains” and teach them a lesson. Behind me, Inkwell snorted. “They can’t honestly want to go to war?” “Ink, nopony does.” Starshine said, the same exasperation in her voice. “They’re just afraid.” “They don’t sound afraid.” Cobalt muttered. Pip sighed. “Look guys, you do realize that’s their way of dealing with fear? Face it with some stupid brave face. Let’s just ignore it and move on.” The rest of the walk was silent. Soon, we came upon the examination rooms. Standing guard were two Army nurses, one stallion one mare. The mare spoke up. “Colts to the left, mares to the right. You will allow yourselves to be examined thoroughly. No harm will come to you.” Seeing our worried faces, she gave us a small smile. “No worries. Upon completion of your physical, you may wait for your companions outside the rooms.” She pointed to a small area with chairs set up. We simply nodded and went in. I go in first, and for the first time since this morning, I was alone in a foreign area. The doctor in front of me asks me to do several exercises. He pokes and prods at me, treating me more like a test subject than an actual pony. He scribbles notes on a clipboard every few seconds, making me nervous. Will I make it? Will they deny me? Part of me wishes for first while the other wants the second. I make it, and I’ll have to fight, I’ll have to kill. I don’t make it, I might lose some friends who will. Either way, I might lose friends. That terrifies me. I don’t want anypony I care about to die. I don’t want anypony to die. Why was this happening? “Hello? You with me?” I jumped and turn towards the doctor. “Uh, sir?” He sighed. “I said you’re cleared for service. Head to the waiting room.” I almost feel relieved to walk out of there. As I walk out, I see that Starshine is already waiting there for me. I sit down next to her, and immediately sink into the chair. I groan, and reposition myself. “You know, for all of its funding, you’d think the military would be able to afford better chairs.” Starshine stayed quiet. Immediately, I turn to look at her in the face. “Hey, Star. What’s up?” She shivers. “I...I’m scared Button.” “They clear you, too?” Star nodded. I looked down at the floor, unsure of what to say. I mean, i couldn’t exactly tell her I was afraid either. So, I put a hoof on her shoulder. “Hey look, I got cleared too. At least we’ll be in this together, right?” Star sniffles. “I just don’t want to die, Button. I want to live, go on dates, get married, have foals...not fight in some stupid war.” A voice to our left spoke up. “Hey mate, it ain’t all sunshine and daisies, but like Button said, we’re in in this together, aren’t we?” Star and I looked over to see Pip smiling goofily at us. I grinned at him, thankful for his ever-cheerful presence. Immediately, Star seemed to grin a bit. “Y-yeah.” She sniffled, wiping away her tears. “Where are the other two?” “We’re right here, Starshine.” Cobalt said, smiling at her. Inkwell looked as sick as Star, but Cobalt put on a brave face. “And like our resident video game nerd said: we’re in this together.” For a bit, everything seemed normal. We were just a group of friends, together and smiling. Then, the Army nurse walks over to us. “Alright, you’ve all been cleared for duty.” She took a look at her clipboard, and smiled at us. “Looks like you five are lucky; you’re all headed for the same branch.” “Which one?” I asked, holding my breath. She levitated a set of five envelopes. “You’re being drafted into the Equestrian Air Force. Inside these envelopes is the information you’ll need to know when and where to report in.” The nurse smiled at us once more and then dismissed us. For a moment, we were all shocked, then we each started to chuckle. Soon, our chuckles turned into complete laughter. For us, it didn’t matter anymore that we were going to war. For the moment, and it seemed that for the future, we were together. And Celestia knew that we needed to be.
