[Story/Chapter Tester]

The war's everywhere. For those out in that storm, they're soaked in it. The wet work. Dirty work. And those at home? Well, they're just away from the rain, inside the safety of their homes. But that doesn't mean they don't hear the rain. The war's everywhere. The war's in the paper on the front porch or on the orders posted outside the tent.

For the Princesses, the war's right in their faces. Celestia deals with keeping Equestria running. Luna gladly took up all of the foreign affairs after Celestia dropped it when war broke out. Didn't think it was worth continuing the fight against the weather for her sunny day. Luna's pretty deep in it. Wades in the flood. She runs the show.

And for Twilight Sparkle and her friends? It's in front of them too. Being the 'Princess of the Common Pony' tends to do that. Constant reports from the battle front. Constant letters and concerns from the home front. It can be hard to speak for the common pony sitting in a palace watching it all happen. Yet they're up to their muzzles in it.

... Until they really put themselves muzzles deep in it. Dropped their titles. Dropped the power of authority. Picked up their old mantles; just one of the common folk. Picked up the power of rifles.

Leaves of paper with direct intelligence reports were pretty close, even for halfway across the world, but leaves of trees with bullet holes is as close as anyone would get. The war's a storm raging outside of their home Equestria, and they just stepped out into it.