One Last Mission

6/25/13                                                            War                                                            Month 1, Day 3

Dream Entry: It started out just like all those times I dreamed about Sunshine's death, except it was Scootaloo getting struck by lightning and falling. But the Equestria she fell to was on fire, and all the cities I could see were destroyed. Rather than falling near Cloudsdale, she fell to a giant pit in the middle of a burning Ponyville. I thought that the pit was full of spikes at first, but they tuned out to be giant, sharpened unicorn horns.

It's not hard to tell what this dream means. I'm really worried about Scootaloo, and everypony else as well. We've got to end this war soon.

Evening Entry: It 's a good thing we went to bed when we did, because the sun hadn't even risen when we were woken up by a bugle. I barely woke up enough to write down my dream before pulling my blanket over my head. I heard the others getting up, but I refused to budge. I was going to stay in bed for as long as possible.

Unfortunately, "as long as possible" turned out to be about 5 seconds. A huge flash lit the room that I could see even through my blanket and eyelids. "Good morning, ladies," sang a voice that I've quickly started hating. "And how are we this beautiful day?"

"A lot worse now that you've shown up," I heard AJ say. "Now get out of here before I buck you out myself!"

"Oh me, oh my," said Stopper, and I could almost hear his smirk. "Looks like someone's not a morning pony."

"Pht, yeah right," I said, throwing off my blanket to glare at him. "I bet AJ was up before that bugler was rubbing the sleep out of her eyes."

He turned and grinned at me. "Spectrum! You're alive! But then, why is Apple Crisp over here so touchy today? Come to think of it, why are you glaring at me?"

"Because we hate you," AJ and I deadpanned. I got up and stretched and AJ continued. "Besides, nopony likes it when somepony comes into their room without permission, and I've yet to meet the pony who likes gettin' blinded first thing in the mornin'."

"Not to mention that you've failed to get our names right even once," said Rarity, still rubbing her eyes.

"And that you thought we were a waste of your time until you discovered what was in it for you," said Twilight.

Stoper's jaw dropped and he put a hoof over his heart, faking like he was hurt. "Why, I had no idea you all felt so strongly," he lied. "Ladies, I am wounded to the core. Your words have struck me to the very soul! At least there is one among you who has not condemned me." He tuned to Fluttershy. "Butterscotch, my lovely, surely you see the good in me!"

"Um, not really," she admitted. "I mean, you haven't shown us much, but what you have shown us isn't very, well, good."

I laughed and AJ smirked. "Well, ain't that somethin'," she said. "Even Fluttershy don't like you. Got to say, that takes some talent."

"Hmf," Stopper huffed. "Well, I suppose I can take that as a compliment."

"It wasn't one," said AJ. "Now get out of here before I make good on my promise."

"No can do," said Stopper. "The Generals have assigned me to be your foal-sitter, so you're stuck with me. I'm here to escort you to breakfast, so chop-chop! Let's get a move on. I'm hungry."

"Pinkie Pie still isn't up yet," Twilight pointed out, "and I'm not going to let you fly her around like you did yesterday."

Stopper chuckled. "No offence, but I doubt there's anything an academic bookworm can do against a soldier, spy, and the greatest thespian of all time."

Twilight smirked and lit her horn. "You'd be surprised what an academic can do." Stopper barely having time to brace himself, Twilight shot a beam of magic from her horn, which wrapped around his. He shouted in surprise and started jerking his head around to try to break the connection while Twilight smiled calmly and closed her eyes. Stopper slowly stopped struggling and his eyes glazed over as Twilight said, "Let's see. Spells. Spells. Ah!" She opened her eyes. "Copying now." Beads of light began to travel from Stopper's horn to Twilight's, traveling along the cord of magic. Finally, the cord disappeared and Show shook his head vigorously. "Wow," said Twilight, impressed. "I wasn't aware there were this many different combat spells. I'll have to try some of these some time."

"Wait," I said, confused. "What just happened."

"A gross invasion of privacy," Stopper growled, glaring daggers at Twilight. "She connected our minds and decided to do a little snooping around in mine!"

"Ha, that's rich coming from you," sneered Twilight. (I didn't even know that Twilight could sneer. She must really hate him. "You had a perfect copy of my mind and body yesterday. I'd say that this almost makes us square."

"Except I don't remember anything from your mind-" growled Stopper.

"And I only took spells from yous," interrupted Twilight. "Meanwhile, I doubt your spell clears your memory of what it feels like to have my body. So like I said, we're almost square, but I'll let the rest of it slide."

They glared at each other for a minute before Stopper turned, spit, and walked off. "Just hurry up and get out here," he said as he left. "I want to get breakfast sometime this week."

As soon as the door closed, Applejack turned to Twilight and raised an eyebrow. "So, a mind readin' spell, huh?"

Twlilght rolled her eyes and walked over to wake up try to wake up Pinkie. "Oh, stop it, Applejack. You know I'd never use that spell for anything bad."

"Hey," I said, "if it gets rid of Drama King for a bit, then I'm not complaining. Didn't think you'd know a spell like that, though."

"Princess Luna taught it to me," said Twilight as she began to nudge Pinkie. "It allowed me to study ancient Equestrian history directly from her memories."

"But why would Princess Luna know such a spell in the first place?" asked Rarity.

"She's the Goddess of the night, including dreams," Twilight explained. "The mind sort of falls under her domain. She created it when she and Princess Celestia were young to see if any of the stallions that tried to court Princess Celestia were after anything more than her flank." She paused as she realized what she'd just said and turned to us, blushing a little. "Her words, not mine," she said quickly. She went back to shaking Pinkie. "Actually, it turns out that very few of them cared about her looks and were after her because of her royal standing. That's why OH FOR LUNA'S SAKE! WAKE UP!"

Pinkie just yawned and rolled over, still fast asleep.

"Heh heh. Allow me," I said. I walked over and whispered right in Pinkie's ear, "So, you like his flank, huh?"

I jumped back and Pinkie leaped into the air, looking around in panic. She finally noticed me laughing my flank off and glared down at me before dropping back onto her bed. "Don't do that, Dashie!" she said, annoyed.

"Sorry, Pinks," I said, "but we had to get you up, and Twilight shaking you like a bottle of ketchup wasn't working."

"Wait, she was?" asked Pinkie. "And I slept through it? Well, guess that's what happens when you get KO'ed by a dictionary. Or was it an encyclopedia. It felt like a reference book."

"Wait," said Applejack, raising an eyebrow, "who's been hittin' you with books?"

"Hmm," said Pinkie. "Not sure." She shrugged and smiled. "But they must have been super duper strong to have knocked me out like that!"

"Oh my goodness," said Fluttershy, flying over. "Are you OK? Does it hurt?"

"I'm all right now," Pinkie said. "It's totally weird, though. I had this strange dream that we'd been gone from Equestria for 10 years. 10 WHOLE YEARS! And the Princesses were gone and Equestria was at war and Discord was mind-controlling the unicorns and we had to go on a super dangerous adventure into parts unknown to track down the Elements of harmony and save the day! Whew, some dream, huh?"

I don't think I've ever been in a room that tense. Even Pinkie seemed to realize that something was wrong. "Come on girls," she said, chuckling nervously. "I was just kidding. I mean, there's no way, right?"

We all looked at Twilight. She's usually good about being our unofficial leader, but I think she wished right then that she wasn't. She opened her mouth to speak, but ended up just shaking her head and turning towards the door. "It's better if you just see it," she said sadly.

We walked outside and Pinkie got her first look at the new Ponyville. She didn't like what she saw. Her mane and tail turned darkeer and began to deflate, until they hung down perfectly straight. Tears welled up in her eyes. We all hugged her tight between us as we quickly explained the situation. We told her about her family, and she seemed a lot happier when she heard that most of them were safe and sound. We saw Stopper talking to somepony up ahead and began to walk over, Pinkie's mane and tail inflating as she walked. By the time we reached Stopper, her mane and tail were as poofy as ever, though she still seemed down.

The earth pony that Stopper was talking with was white and brown, with a brown mane and tail. "...So get word to them as soon as possible," said Stopper. "They need to know that I've been discovered ASAP. Utopia will no doubt double security now that they've seen how far I was able to get. I'll be very surprised if we don't loose a few ponies. Tell everypony to expect full background checks, as well as tests of loyalty."

The earth pony nodded. "You can count on me, Show," he said before sighing. "But I've got to tell you, it won't be easy now with my best spy out of the field."

Stopper hung his head, and I saw the first look of genuine sorrow I'd seen from him. "I'm sorry," he said. "It was a stupid risk. I knew that there would be better chances, but he was just so close! And now I've just made it harder for everypony else. Tch. Some spy."

The earth pony put a hoof on Stopper's shoulder and Stopper looked up at him. "You saw a chance to kill their bloody general and get the Element of Magic back, and you darn near succeeded, too. Only a coward or a bloomin' idiot wouldn't have taken that chance."

Show smiled. "You know, you're one of the only ponies that I actually respect."

"And it drives General Doo up a wall," said the earth pony.

They shared a laugh, and Stopper noticed us walking over. "Ah, ladies!" he called. "Allow me to introduce you all to Pipsqueak, Spymaster of Equestria."

Pip's eyes lit up. "So it's true!" he said. You are back! Ladies," he sank into a low bow, "welcome back to Equestria, and to Ponyville. We've been looking forward to your return for many years."

My jaw dropped. This was Pipsqueak? This was the little squirt from Trottingham who had been at the center of that Nightmare Night two twelve years ago?

"My goodness, Pip!" said Rarity, apparently in shock as well. "What a charming young stallion you've grown to be." She smiled and batted her eyelashes. "Handsome, too."

Pip stood up again, blushing. "You're too kind, Lady Rarity," he said. Oh, Spike is in for some competition.

"You really are," said Stopper. "After all, we all know who the most charming and handsome stallion in Equestria is."

I groaned and put my hoof over my eyes. "Please tell me he's not talking about himself," I said.

"He's the most insubordinate, obnoxious, self-centered git in Equestrisa," said Pip. "Who else would he be talking about?"

"Love you too, Pip," muttered Stopper.

"What?" asked Twilight. "No sarcastic come-back?"

Stopper shook his head. "Pip is the only superior officer that I respect."

"Except for gryphon officers," said Pip. "He respects them out of fear."

Stopper glared at him. "Do you have to bring that up?" he asked, annoyed. "You'd be afraid of them too if you were a unicorn."

"Why would unicorns fear gryphons?" asked Twilight. "I mean, I'm sure that they're great warriors, but why unicorns specifically?"

"Their armor has anti-magic," I explained. "It's not magic-proof, but to a regular unicorn it might as well be. Even you would have a hard time affecting it.." Everypony was staring at me and I raised an eyebrow. "What? I was roommates with Gilda at Junior Speedsters for 3 months. You think I didn't learn anything about gryphons?"

"Anti-magic?" asked Rarity, looking a little green. "What do you mean?"

"As much as I'd love to take the hour to explain the intricacies of gryphonese anti-magic," said Stopper, "I would hate to waste an hour to explain the intricacies of gryphonese anti-magic. Now let's go. I'm hungry." He turned and began to walk off.

Pip chuckled. "There might only be one pony who would agree with me," he said, "but is't good to have him back." He bowed to us once more. "Ladies, I must be off. It is truly great to have you back." With that, he stood and walked off, leaving us to follow Stopper.

I'd thought that the mess hall would be near the center of Ponyville, but Stopper started leading us to the 20 foot high wall that surrounds the town. "Um, where are we going?" I asked.

"Breakfast," Stopper replied. He led us right up to the wall and we saw a huge, and I mean Canterlot Castle huge, doors. They were shut tight and had huge bars zigzagging across them. Show led us over to a much smaller door a stone's throw away, which was guarded by a single gryphon. He led us through and down the road.

Rarity looked back and raised an eyebrow. "Well that's curious," she said. "Doesn't two doors make it harder to defend?"

"Not significantly," said Stopper. "Think of it this way Rarity. If Utopia launches a full frontal assault, we still only have that section to cover. Plus, it's too much of a hassle to open the big doors whenever a pony or 7 want to get through. Meanwhile, we need the big doors to move squadrons, battalions, and even armies in and out quickly."

All of us were stunned. "Well I'll be," said AJ. "He actually answered a question straight out for once. I didn't think he had it in him."

Stopper shrugged. "Don't get used to it, Jack," he said. "I'm a lot less care-free outside of the wall. Trust me, once we get to the mess hall, I'll be right back to my fun-loving self."

"So what self are you now?" Pinkie asked.

It was meant to be a joke. He didn't take it like that. He turned his head and gave us a look that I'd never seen before. His face was set and hard, a no-nonsense expression that wouldn't tolerate anything that could distract him. His eyes, even as they looked at us, took in everything around and behind us. They held a fire that blazed with anger, but there was something else there too. He was sad. He was so overwhelmingly sad. It wasn't a sadness I've seen before, but it went just as deep as what I saw in the mirror every day for 7 years, when I dared to look. It was the face of a soldier.

"My true self."

He looked ahead again as he kept walking. I looked around at the girls. Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie were confused. Applejack was shocked. My eyes met Fluttershy's, and I could see that she was holding back tears. She'd seen it too.

We walked on, lost in thought, until a soft voice broke us out of our stupors. "no..." I looked over at AJ and saw tears already streaming down her face. I looked ahead and my jaw dropped.

It was Sweet Apple Acres, emphasis on "was." The barn has been added onto so much that it can't even be called the same building anymore. The house is gone too, torn to the ground. The acres themselves have gone from freely growing apple trees to row upon ridged row of fruit trees of all kinds. In fact, there were very few apple trees left, and I doubt that all of them used to be where they are now.

"It's gone," AJ whispered, not even trying to wipe away her tears. "It's all gone."

"I'm sorry, Jack," said Stopper, and he really did look it. "Bloom couldn't manage it by herself, and we needed the land. As soon as the war is over, it belongs to you two again, but for now-"

AJ ran off before Stopper could finish. We all ran after her, Stopper yelling for her to come back. AJ didn't stop, and I didn't try to make her. I had a pretty good idea where she was going.

Sure enough, after about 5 minutes of weaving through the trees, we came to a large clearing. AJ stood in the center, eyes closed, tears still streaming down her face. Surrounding her on every side, almost filling the clearing, were headstones. Twilight began to call out to AJ, but I held up a wing to silence her. AJ needed this. She needed to be alone right now. Even Stopper seemed to take the hint.

We waited for about 10 minutes, until AJ opened her eyes and smiled over at us. She started walking over as she wiped her tears away. "Still here," she whispered to herself, so quietly we barely heard her. "They're all still here."

"Of course," said Stopper, slightly offended. "You thought we would disturb their graves for a little extra orchard land?"

AJ shook her head. "That ain't it," she said. "I was afraid that..." She didn't finish. She didn't have to. Those who knew the situation understood, and those who didn't didn't need to right then. "Never mind," she said, wiping away the last of her tears. She started leading us back to the barn mess hall. "Let's go get some breakfast."

As we approached the mess hall, two things stood out as very strange. First, there were no guards at the open barn doors. OK, that's two things right there, but it basically means a lack of security. Second, the noise coming from inside sounded happy. Excited. We walked in to see ponies and gryphons eating, talking, laughing, and having a good time.

"Wow," said Twilight as we got in a long line for breakfast. "They're all pretty care-free for how little security this place has."

"Are you kidding?" asked Stopper, grinning from ear to ear. "This is the safest place in Equestria, unless you're a Utopian. You know that dragon in the Everfree?" We all nodded. "Well, back when we were turning this place into an orchard for the Equestrian Military, we began expanding into the Everfree. Old green scale-but didn't like that much, and he let us know. Quite rudely, in fact. Almost torched half the orchard! Finally, we came to an agreement. We don't encroach on his land, he protects our orchards and mess hall. Best deal we ever made! Utopia learned really quickly not to go after our food supplies."

We all stared at him for a moment. "OK," AJ finally said, "what the hay is wrong with you? First you're rude, then you're serious, an' now you don't have a care in the world?"

"AJ," said Stopper, "can I call you AJ?"

"No."

"AJ, I told you, I'm a different pony outside. In fact, I'm a different pony inside the wall. Really, I'm a different pony anywhere I go. Out in the open, I'm me. In the base, I'm egotistical me. In here I'm fun me. In my bunker i'm lazy me. In bed, I'm-"

"WE GET IT!" we chorused. I don't think any of us wanted to think about that.

Stopper shrugged. "Anyway, comes with the whole actor/spy outfit. That's why everypony loves me here, but hates me on the base."

"With a couple of exceptions." We jumped and turned around to see Sunsh Scootaloo standing right behind us. Seriously, give her Sunshine's cutie mark, and Scoots is the spitting image of her. I'm just glad that AJ and Rarity were between the two of us to give me some time to recover.

"Oh dear, please don't sneak up on ponies like that," said Rarity. "You nearly scared me out of my wits."

Scootaloo grinned. "But that's what makes it fun," she said. "Besides, if I don't practice now, I'll get caught once I finally get back out into the field."

I smirked. "I thought you said you were going to relax a little," I said.

"Actually," we all jumped again and turned to see that Apple Bloom had cut in front of Stopper, "I find sneakin' around to be very relaxin'. You slow your heart, measure your breathin', it's like meditatin' while you walk."

"Ah yes," said Stopper. "You mentioned that you enjoy meditation." He lit his horn and grinned evilly at her. How do you feel about levitation?"

"Alright! Alright!" said Apple Bloom, stepping out and going around to stand in line with Scootaloo. "Dang, some ponies are just mean when you cut in line."

"When'd you take up meditatin'?" asked AJ. "Ain't that just a lot of mumbo-jumbo?"

"Zecora taught me," said Apple Bloom defensively. "It was almost seven years ago, after..." she looked away from her sister, "after the war started." AJ winced and Apple Bloom took a deep breath before continuing. "The whole point is to calm yourself down an' clear your mind. A lot of ponies have taken it up." Her voice dropped to a murmur. "It helps a lot of us get to sleep at night."

"I never liked it," I said. "You're not even dealing with your problems, you're just running from them. You've got to face them head-on!"

Apple Bloom sighed. "Yeah," she said, "that's what Scoots said, but not everypony's as strong as you two. There ain't no easy way to move on from... from that."

I wasn't about to let that go. I'd been with Sunshine in her last moments, like I'm sure that Apple Bloom was with Big Mac. I'd sat there and watched the light leave her eyes. After dealing with that for years, I know what works and what only makes it worse. "And there's no way at all to move on if you can't even say what happened," I said. "If you keep pushing it back, it'll just get worse and worse until you snap."

"It's worked for the last 7 years," said Apple Bloom, still not looking up.

"Funny," I said. "It did for me too. You want to know what happened at year 8?" Apple Bloom winced and shot a quick glance at AJ. Scoots must have told her. "Don't let that happen to you," I continued. "Confront it. Attack it. Face it head on before it destroys you."

We were silent for a minute, before i realized that Rarity was still standing in the middle of all of this, and the others were probably listening in as well. I fidgeted uncomfortably and looked over at Stopper. "So," I called, "what's for breakfast?"

"Gruel, generally," he said, "but who knows? News of your return seems to be spreading, so maybe they'll have something special."

"Why do you say that?" asked Twilight.

Stopper chuckled and gestured around the hall. Sure enough, there were tons of gryphons and ponies pointing, staring, and whispering. "Most of them thought you were dead," he said. "Thought you'd sacrificed yourselves to destroy Discord. Imagine their disappointment when they discovered that he was still alive. Then imagine their amazement when you show up out of the blue years later."

"We told everypony we saw," said Apple Bloom, "but a lot of 'em didn't believe us. A lot of 'em thought y'all weren't comin' back." She smirked. "Twist owes me five bits."

"Can you blame them?" asked Scootaloo. "10 years is a long time. To tell you the truth, I gave up hope after 5."

"WHAT?" Apple Bloom was shocked. "But, but you were always so inspirin'! So determined! You're the one who kept me an' Sweetie Bell from loosin' hope!"

"That's what I love about her," said Stopper. "She's a brilliant actress even without a cutie mark."

"Yeah yeah," said Scootaloo, smirking. "Say that when you're sober and maybe I'll consider you." She looked back at Apple Bloom. "I refused to be the one to crush your hopes of seeing your sisters again. That's something I never would have let happen."

"So you lied to 'em instead?" asked AJ accusingly.

Scootaloo glared at her. "Would you prefer it if i'd told them you were never coming back?" she snapped. AJ held her stare before finally looking down, unsure.

As for me, I'm impressed. She kept that charade up for 5 years to help her friends. If that's not loyalty, then I don't know what is.

We didn't talk much more while we were in line. Turns out Stopper wasn't kidding about the gruel. He wasn't kidding about there not being many civilians, either. The ponies working the food line were all fillies and colts, none of them older than 6! It's sad to think that war is all that they've ever known. We're going to change that!

After we got our food, we went over to an empty table and Stopper immediately disappeared into the crowd. "Hph," snorted Rarity as we started eating. "So much for escorting us."

"Ah, give him a break," said Scootaloo. "He hasn't seen these guys in 6 years. He'll never let you know in here, but he's really missed them."

"Hey, if it gets him out of our manes for a while, I ain't complainin'," said AJ. "Don't geet why you keep stickin' up for him, though."

Scootaloo shrugged. "What can I say?" she asked. "You can't help who you fall in love with."

I think Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Fluttershy were eating for a good 5 minutes before they realized that the rest of us were staring slack-jawed at Scootaloo. "What?"

I was the first to speak. "You? With him?!? But he's so, so..."

"Old!" cried Rarity.

"Weird," said Twilight.

"Annoyin'," said AJ.

"Yeah!" I finished. "What they said! How could you - how could anypony - be in love with him?"

"Y'all've got to remember," said Apple Bloom, "we've known him for a lot longer than y'all have. We've worked with him for years."

"I'm just surprised that Fluttershy's jaw didn't drop with the rest of yours," said Scootaloo, looking curiously at Fluttershy.

"Oh, well, I could pretty much tell," said Fluttershy. Scootaloo's jaw dropped. "I mean," said Fluttershy quickly, "I wasn't sure, but I had a pretty good idea."

"Oh horse-apples," mumbled Scootaloo, starting to sweat. "I thought I was hiding it really well. If he finds out how I feel..."

"Oh, don't worry," assured Fluttershy. "He doesn't know. At least, I don't think he does. I just sort of have a knack for these things."

"Whew," Scootaloo sighed. "Thank Luna. I don't think I could bear the teasing if he found out."

"Wait a minute," said Twilight after we'd been eating for a while. "I thought he was in Utopia for the last 6 years, but you said that you've worked with him a lot. How does that work?"

Apple Bloom and Scoolaloo looked at each other and nodded. Looking back at us, they chorused, "We get captured a lot."

"And I have to save their sorry flanks every time." We turned to see Stopper strutting over. No, I'm not exaggerating. He was literally strutting over to the table. "Sorry I ran off," he said, sitting down, "but I had some important business to take care of."

"Apple Bloom smirked. "Plottin' with the gryphons on how to steal General Doo's eye-patch is important business?"

Stopper shrugged. "Eh, more important than anything else I had to do."

"Glad to know we're important," I mumbled.

"Dashie," he said, "can I call you Dashie?"

"No!"

Everypony looked surprised at Pinkie who was staring intently at Stopper.

"OOOOOOOK," he said. "Anyway Dash, I figured you all were safe enough here. After all," he gestured at Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, "you've got the best hoof-to-hoof combat experts in Equestria right here!"

"Liar," they chorused, along with AJ.

"Ouch," said Stopper. "Triple whammy. I'm just getting slammed today, aren't I?"

"And rightfully so," said Rarity. "After all, except for our brief time outside, you've yet to so much as get our names right."

Stopper gaped at Rarity, all shocked and upset, I'm sure. "Oh, come on. Really, Rares? I'm not that bad, am I" Rarity raised an eyebrow and Stopper shrugged. "Point taken."

The rest of breakfast went pretty smoothly. Nopony else joined our table or came over to talk to us. We left after we'd all finished and walked back to HQ. Stopper gave us the grand tour, which I didn't pay attention to at all. Hey, everypony! Want to see how much your home has been invaded, torn down, and replaced? Sign me up! Yeah, no.

We were headed back to the mess hall for lunch when we heard somepony call out from behind us. "Show Stopper!" We turned to see two earth ponies in full armor running towards up. One was tan, with a sea blue mane and tail. he other was yellow, with an orange mane and tail. "Show Stopper!" the second one called again. "Don't go in yet! I want to talk to you while you're still sober!"

Stopper chuckled and we waited for them to reach us. "Captain Shores," he greeted. "Captain Top. How was your mission?"

"Acceptable," said Carrot Top. "We weren't able to take the New Yoke before General Trixie showed up, but we weren't really expecting to. We managed to take down a large part of their forces, and significantly crippled the city's defenses. Also intercepted a large force that was heading for Appleooza. Took them out, and took some prisoners."

"Good," said Stopper. "Sounds like Colonel Braeburn will last out until reinforcements arrive. So, what did you want with me?"

Sandy Shores shifted nervously. "Well, it's not really you that we're here for," he said, "but we heard that you were escorting..." He trailed off and looked over at Pinkie.

Carrot Top cleared her throat and turned to Rarity. "Rarity, it has been my honor to bear the Element of Generosity in your stead these last 7 years, but it is time that it was returned to you." She reached into her saddlebags and pulled out the Element of Generosity. "Sandy Shores is likewise here to return the Element of Laughter," she continued as Sandy Shores pulled the Element of laughter from his saddlebags. They stepped forward and put them around Rarity and Pinkie's necks. Rarity and Pinkie just stared down at their Elements for a few moments before looking back up, tears in their eyes.

"Thank you," whispered Pinkie to a very stunned looking Sandy Shores. He simply nodded and he and Carrot Top walked back to Ponyville.

All of us were quiet during lunch, surprised at Pinkie and Rarity's reactions. I'd had no idea that this would hit them so hard and, apparently, neither had they. Even Stopper was quiet as he thought this over.

Of course, his silence was broken as soon as we were back in Ponyville. "Well," he said cheerfully, "that was interesting. Shall we go get supplies then?"

These personality changes have got to be more than just an actor/spy thing. They've got to be a coping mechanism or something.

Stopper led us to the warehouses to get our supplies. Once again, it was staffed almost entirely by fillies and colts. They hardly said a word, except to point us in the direction of the supplies that Stopper requested. By the time we left there, we were each carrying heavy saddlebags of provisions and gear. We dropped them back at our barracks and headed back to the Mess Hall for dinner.

The Mess hall was a little different this time around. For one thing, it was packed! There was barely enough room to move around, though there were fortunately still a few empty tables. There was also a tall podium standing at the back of the hall.

"What's goin' on?" asked AJ. "Why're there so many ponies here?"

"Dinner," replied Stopper. He then surprised all of us by actually explaining. "Breakfast and lunch are fairly loose, schedule wise, but dinner is from 1800 hours to 1930 exactly. It's also when the daily report on the war is given. Be glad that today is General Doo's turn and not General Cheerilee's."

Soon after we got to a table, Ditzy got up and flew over to the platform. The whole hall instantly went quiet as all eyes turned to her. "Three items for the report tonight," she said. "First, I regret to inform you all that Private Lyra Heartstrings has been captured."

There was a collective groan from the hall and one pony shouted, "Again?"

Ditzy nodded. "Yes, Private Bon Bon. Again. No doubt she'll break out in a few months time and be back with us soon. Second, Captains Sandy Shores and Carrot Top have returned with their forces from the siege of New Yoke. As expected, they were not able to retake the city, but they have crippled their forces, defenses, and morale. Taking the city should be a matter of weeks now. Also, on their way back, they were able to intercept a large force that was heading for Appleoosa, led by Captain Vinyl Scratch. The force was defeated, and Vinyl, among others, was captured. They are with the restorers as we speak."

A great cheer went up from the crowd and Ditzy waited a few moments before raising a hoof for silence. "Finally," she said, "we have some very special guests with us tonight." Many eyes turned to us quickly before looking back at Ditzy. "It is my pleasure to announce," she continued, "that the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony have finally returned! The Elements of Laughter and Generosity have been returned to them, and they embark on their mission to reclaim the lost Elements tomorrow. Let us take hope from the knowledge that this war is nearly over at last!"

She hopped off the platform and glided back to her seat. All over the hall, the usual laughter and talking had become whispers. Lots of ponies were shooting glances at us, but a lot more were staring outright. AJ, Rarity and I just ignored them. Fluttershy hid behind her bangs and refused to look up from her food. Twilight put on a sophisticated air and talked with Stopper about anti-magic. Pinkie was the only one who looked around, smiling all the while and waving to a number of ponies and gryphons.

After dinner, Stopper escorted us back to our barracks. We were about to start writing in our journals when a swirl of purple mist flowed into the room from an open window and condensed into a scroll right in front of Twilight. She opened it with her magic and read through it quickly before setting it down and beginning to write in her journal. "Spike said hi," she said.

No way, I thought. There's no way you don't feel sad about that. "Twilight, I know you're trying to be strong, but pretending loosing 10 years with Spike doesn't hurt won't make it go away."

Twilight looked up at me and raised an eyebrow. "I'm not pretending anything, Rainbow," she said. "From my point of view, I saw him a couple of days ago."

"Twilight dear," said Rarity hesitantly, "don't you think that that's a little... harsh? It may not seem like such a long time to us, but to him it's been 10 years."

Twilight nodded. "Which is a long time for a pony," she agreed. "For a dragon? Not so much. He was worried, sure, but he never thought that we were gone for good. 10 years wasn't really enough time for him to miss me."

"Oh yeah?" I challenged, still not buying it. "Then why don't you show us that letter?"

Twilight rolled her eyes and levitated the letter over to me. I had to read the thing three times before I was convinced that I was reading it right.

Dear Twilight,

Heard that all of you are back. I knew you weren't gone for good! I was still worried, though. Sorry I can't come and see you myself, but work's crazy! I was appointed the Head of Communications soon after the war started, and since then they've kept me busier than you had me during our old days in Canterlot. I can't get off tomorrow to see all of you off, but I'll definitely work overtime on the dragonfire stock so I can see you all when you get back.

Say hi to the others for me!

Your number one assistant,

Spike, Head of Communications

My jaw was slack as I looked up from the letter. "No way," I said. "There's no way Spike wrote this!"

"It's his handwriting, Rainbow," said Twilight, not even looking up. "Trust me, I've seen his handwriting for years. I'd recognize a fake instantly."

"But... but..." I finally just threw up my hooves and groaned. "Dragons are weird."

As if to prove my point, several more swirls of purple smoke blew in and condensed in front of Rarity into several, much larger scrolls. She raised an eyebrow and picked up the first, unrolling it and reading it. Her cheeks flushed redder than Big Mac and she snapped the scroll shut. We shared a laugh as she shoved the love letters under her bed.

I'm the last to write tonight, and they just played TAPS. I'd better get to sleep. Big day tomorrow.

Good night.

Rainbow Dash.

P.S. Pinks has been really quiet all day, not up to her usual antics at all. I caught her staring off into space a lot. I don't think she's taking it well, but I can't tell what she's thinking. I hope she goes back to normal soon.