World War E(questria)by Wolke EisensturmChaptersPrologue: How This World Came to Be...Chapter 1: So Sayeth The PrincessChapter 2: Stocking Up and Reading OrdersPrologue: How This World Came to Be...Peace. A word one may not hear very often nowadays. But back then... back in in the golden times... it was so peaceful. One could go outside and see the blue sky, clear as the ocean. Now the sky is red with smoke and blood. Back then one could go outside without armor, could got to the market safely, could do anything safely. Back then... it was paradise. Twenty-one years ago, the world was pure, or pure enough. The ground was green with grass, the sky blue with clarity, the water free of toxins. The Alicorn princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadence helped keep their kingdoms in check, and therefore helped one another keep the world at peace. Crime was nearly eradicated, famine as well. Sickness did not run rampant throughout the lands as it does now. It was a much better place that the world we live in now. Equestria was, back then, a unified place. Almost every living intelligent creature could mingle with one another. Towns and cities flourished. Farms prospered. Families were able to join others. It was a great time. And then... It happened. The gates of Tartarus grew weaker and weaker over time. Cerberus had already escaped once and left his post unattended, so it was only a matter of time before he would make his move. The evil self-proclaimed Lord Tirek broke through the hellish gates. He was weak, but already a plan of dastardly chaos swirled in his mind. Slowly he build his power by stealing the life force of any pony nearby. Soon, he paired up with the Spirit of Chaos, the draconequus Discord, and together they siphoned nearly all of Equestria. Tirek grew stronger, and stronger still, and soon betrayed the draconequus and stole Discord's power as well. All looked bleak as he went after the Alicorn princesses. But, even with all the power he had stolen, Tirek fell in battle to the newest Alicorn, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Using the combined magic of the other Alicorns, she managed to awaken the lost and forgotten power of the Tree of Harmony's treasure, a powerful magic that Tirek could not withstand. He was re-imprisoned in Tartarus, guarded by Cerberus once more. Tirek's near-successful attempt to take over Equestria sent all of the world into unrest. Most thought other "half-breeds" may rise to follow Tirek's actions. It did not help the argument with the fact that one of the Alicorns in now dead thanks to the hand of a demented minotaur. With such a powerful being gone from the world, the level of power shifted, and now Equestria is in a state of war. The "purebreds", the ponies, zebras, dragons, and all other single species beings gathered in the northern half of Equestria, while the minotaurs, centaurs, and even the griffons fled to the southern half. A world divided in half. The many differences stand between the factions, but one thing stays the same between the two; The plants now grow crimson with the blood spilt upon the ground. Canterlot and everything south has become half-breed territory. The remaining Alicorns returned to their new castles in the remaining purebred cities. Steel and iron has replaced wood for construction purposes due to war. Safety has barely been increased. Magic has nearly been abandoned as a means of war. We has reverted back to older methods, such as cannons, catapults, and guns. Every species has a specific type of gun made for them. We ponies and dragons have large triggers for our hooves and large claws to fit against. The half-breeds have smaller triggers since most of them come equipped with fingers. All the ammo in the world can't help though. No matter how long this war goes on for, no matter what side wins, we will still have lost. We have lost too much, including our great leader. Her sister tries her best to lead, but it is not the same. Our ruler has become ruthless over her sibling's death. The sky is dark and red, the ground barren, the water filthy. The world is in a state of peril, and still we fight. It is too much. We must find an end to this war so that we may rebuild. We must find peace. We must, but we can't. We can only fight. Fight to live, and live to fight. Fight... Fight... Chapter 1: So Sayeth The PrincessVanhoover; A large city in the northwest of Equestria made larger by this war's influence. The buildings rebuilt in metal, the roads repaved in cobblestone, and the population, rising and falling with the attempts to retake Canterlot. Princess Luna calls this place her home, safe inside her spire of steel. The castle resembles a thin mountain with jagged perches. It serves as a monument to Princess Celestia, who gave her life to protect her sister in a raid by the minotaurs. With no magic to raise the sun, Princesses Luna, Cadence, and Twilight Sparkle cast a powerful spell over all of Equestria to give a low light to the sky forever. The moon may still rise, but no living thing has seen the sun in over seventeen years. We have basically lived in perpetual twilight since. Princess Celestia, a great and powerful asset, was torn from the world just after the war reached it's fourth year. The war has just entered its twenty-first. Twenty-one years of nothing but fighting. The royal guard has diminished, and now Princess Luna relies on volunteers to help in the war. But as of late, not many are willing to lay down their lives, and those that do are usually ill and wish to die in response to their princess' cause. Regularly, she has what remains of her military send out recruitment offers. Which brings me to where I am now. I stand out front of the Steel Spire, Princess Luna's castle. The ground's cold is seeping through my boots, but I don't let it bother me. I take my time with the door, which is guarded by two silver-clad unicorns. Their coats are a dusty gray with white manes and cool brown eyes. I lean forward and look at myself in the reflective steel door. My coat is the same color as burnt sawdust, a pale dark brown. My charcoal mane and tail flow out of the back of my armor, a special suit that won't completely protect me from bullets, but it will keep my insides on the inside. I lick my teeth, gaze into my reflection's orange eyes, and wait for the guards to speak. "...Can we help you?" the one on the right asks. I nod. "Yes. My name is Mirage. Blazing Mirage. I have received a recruitment order, again." The guards look at each other. "Finally bothered to show up then," the one of the left says. He has a few inches on me so I have to look up at him. I'm four foot one. "Fine," he says. "Relinquish your weapons and you may pass." He means my guns and blades. I have a wide-grip model EX P2K Pistol strapped to my waist, two knifes, and a semi-automatic scoped rifle. I look over my back to my rifle. The slick back body of my gun sits lightly on my back, attached by a carbon fiber strap. The scope gleams as I look back at the guard. "No." His gaze hardens. "Relinquish your weapons, or no entry." A lot of the time I go unnoticed, but when I show myself, not a lot of ponies give ma any respect. As a simple earth pony, I have no fancy magic or a pair of wings to help me in battle, not to mention I'm a bit skinny, so I just have the butt and barrel of my guns. So I raise and eyebrow to his requests and put on a little speech. "Are you asking me to give up the only things that may protect me from defending myself in a hazardous situation?" Not much of a speech, but it has its effects "Yes," he replies. The other guard reaches over and smacks him on the back of his head, causing his silver helmet to scoot over his eyes. "Ignore him. If you wanted to shoot our Princess, you would need an army." He steps back and opens his side of the door. "Just don't touch anything." I nod and walk inside. Almost immediately the door closes and I'm launched into a world of darkness. I wait a moment and torches begin to light themselves. An eerie green fire that casts a sickly green hue on everything. I begin walking down the long hall. The whole castle is made of metal, so it is always cold in here. The green and blue carpets on the floor don't help. The hall begins to branch off into other walkways. Each entrance is guarded by a royal guard. The royal guard only protect the city they are stationed in, so they gather around the castle. I walk at least a hundred meters before a guard points me down her hallway. Everypony must know why I'm here. This guard has the same color scheme as the rest of them, except that her eyes are a bright blue. She leads me down the hall and into a large circular room with at eleven other entrances. I follow her into the fifth one. The décor suddenly changes from green and blue to an earthy orange. The torches, too, are orange, giving normal light so bright that I have to squint. The guard walks down the hall and I follow her, turning when she does. The guard silently leads me around the castle, every once in a while having to return and pull me along when I stop to admire the inner workings of the castle. "Please try to stay on task," she says. "We are here." We make one last turn to the right and she steps aside. I look ahead. A large silver door sits heavily in front of me. The left side of the parting door has a moon engraved on it, the other a sun, however a large scar covers the sun, basically gouging a large portion of it out of the frame. "It's a warning," says the guard. I look at her. "It a warning that no matter what, you should not speak about her in Princess Luna's presence. She does not like to reopen old wounds, and Celestia is a wound that nearly killed her." I look back at the door and take a breath. Slowly, I step forward and push the door open and step inside. The door slips closed behinds me and I look around. It's a large barren room. The only thing in here is a green rug that leads up to a stair-covered incline where a large throne sits. The throne is empty. I take my time, step after step in an orderly and timely fashion. The torches on the wall are dim, so the room is slightly dark. I reach the bottom of the stairs and look around. Still, nopony is here. I turn and sit on the stairs and unsling my rifle. Reaching into the right-side pocket of my black body armor, I pull out a black cloth. Casually, but alert, I begin to clean my rifle. Looking around, this place isn't so bad. It's roomy, dim, a little cold, but still nicer than my place. But then again, this is a castle for royalty, and I'm just a... well, I don't know what I am classified as. But yeah, much better that my little shack. I live on the edge of town in a small toolshed. It has one door, one bed, no windows, and a well nearby. If I moved my bed out, I may be able to call it roomy. But it's four feet by six, and its only six feet tall. The bed takes up half the floor space, which is just dirt. I came to this city for a quiet life in fear, simple wishes and all that. I was only three years old when the half-breeds attacked my home of Dodge City, an unruly little dust-coved city out near the Badlands, I fled to the Foal Mountains. Not bad enough I was born into a world of war, but then my family was killed. All of them. So after staying in the mountains for nearly a year, I went on a lengthy and dangerous journey to Vanhoover. The pistol I hold was stolen from a bandit who tried to kill me on my way here. He was the first pony I had ever killed, and it changed me. I had to survive, so I looted his supply and moved on. I must have only had two clips or ammo with me for that seven month hike. So I learned to become a raider, attacking when needed. It turned me into a decent shot. I can hit a can from five hundred feet with my rifle, and I can nail a target from about twenty meters with my pistol. The knifes haven't been used yet, at least not to kill. Only to maim myself.. The only action I see is the occasional raid. I think I've been here twelve years now. I'm eighteen in two months. I examine my weapon and put the cloth back in my pocket. The black exterior gleams in the dim light, clean once more. I stare at it for a while longer before getting into position and looking through the scope. I aim towards the right of the room and wait. Seconds tick by. "Well, you seem to have made yourself at home." I lower my scope when the princess enters into my sight. I have to look up as she begins to show herself. She must be at least six feet tall. Princess Luna looks weathered, her fur and feathers are dingy and dark, her eyes bloodshot. Her space-like mane barely flows, and most of the stars that float within it are gone. She is clad in black armor from the neck down. However, aside from this look, she smiles. "I am happy that you are here." "I received your recruitment order," I replay as I shoulder my rifle. "Let me take a look at you," Princess Luna says calmly. As she walks closer the torches begin to brighten somewhat. She circles me, moving her eyes up and down my body, my weapons, my suit basically. "Hm, you may be wondering why I sent the recruitment order, yes?" "You need more firepower in your infantry," I say. "It's common knowledge that we have not gained any advances in the war." The princess stops circling me, stopping behind me. I turn as she speaks. "I need you." "Why?" I ask. "Why not," she counters. "I'm not just another soldier," I say sharply. "I know." The princess turns around and walks up the steps to her throne. She takes her seat and beckons me closer. I come. She's somewhere around six feet tall, so I really have to crane my neck back to look at her. "You are not just some soldier. You do not have that type of look to you." "There's a look?" I ask. Luna nods. "Yes, and you do not have it. You look much more dangerous than that." "I'm not a hired gun." I say, already knowing her next move. "I know, I know," she says softly. "And too bad. I could pay so much for your services." I smirk. "Yeah, for what? Money has such little use anymore. I don't want money." The princess stares at me, long and hard. "...You should watch your tone, young one." "My tone is not the problem," I bark. "Maybe I made a mistake coming here. I thought you may have had some little hope to give me! but no, apparently not." My hope that I had wished for her to give... anything at all. That we were winning, that we had won, that we had done something. I regain my composure the best I can. "I am sorry. Is this all you called me here for?" Luna holds my gaze. "All that energy... and no desire." "Desire?" I ask, my composure breaking again. "Desire!? What do you think I want? It's not money, it's not food, it's not a warm place to stay! You know what I want?" I turn my back on her and begin walking to the door. "I want this war to be over!" "What if I told you I may know how to do that?" Princess Luna's words stop my feet and eradicate my anger. I turn to her again. "What?" Now she takes her turn to smirk. "I may know of a way to end this war with the half-breeds." She leans in, but I'm to far from her for it to have much effect. "And to do that, I need a skillful hoof. Like you." I walk back to the edge of the stairs. "You've never seen my skills." "I don't need to. Since you entered my throne room, I've been scouring your memories." I take a breath and try not to get angry that I had let someone into my mind and not even known it. Luna leans back in her throne. "Yes, you've come a long way, haven't you? Stolen many things without being noticed, survived really." She gets out of her throne and walks back to me. Luna begins to circle me again, like a snake getting ready to strike. "You've seen so many horrors. You've fought for your life. You've taken so many lives as well. How many? Do you know? "...Seventy-three." She laughs. "Yes, you have an interesting way of remembering." She's right. For every life I take, I mark myself with my knife. My left foreleg has seventy-three little scars brandishing it, each about an inch long. My fur grows back a lighter shade of brown instead of leaving a normal scar, but I don't cut too deep... Luna's tail flicks my nose as she circles me. "What is your name. Speak it, so that I may properly know." I breathe in, breathe out. "...My name... is Blazing Mirage." "Mirage," Luna says slowly. "Interesting. Fitting for a pony that can blend in and sneak around so easily. Blazing Mirage, I have a request for you. If you so choose to accept it, the outcome of this war may look generous. If you refuse, then we may be lost amidst the battle forever." She comes around and stands directly in front of me. I look into her eyes. "...What kind of request?" Chapter 2: Stocking Up and Reading OrdersPrincess Luna volunteered to personally escort me to the supply depot, so I thought it would be a good idea to indulge her. She kept her rambling softly until she wanted me to hear it. "...Should it come necessary for you to abort, that is fine. You can return here and we will discuss on our next move." Long story short, Princess Luna has requested of me that I go north into the Galloping Gorge reconnaissance base. It's a few dozen miles away and the trains have no coal to power them, so it'll be a long walk. She wants me to retrieve the crew stationed there. Apparently they made some breakthrough in a new strategy to take back Canterlot, but the last carrier pigeon died before it could fly back out to the base. "I won't fail," I say stubbornly. "It's just about ninety miles to walk here to there. If I keep walking with small rests, I'll be back in two, maybe three weeks." "Oh, I have little doubt in your abilities," the princess says calmly. She takes a left and I follow. "I just need to make sure you have enough supplies for when you bring back the crew." "How much supplies will I be carrying?" I ask. Princess Luna looks upward at the ceiling. "Well, there's you, so supplies for five. There are only three crew members, but you'll need something to eat and drink on your way up as well. A little extra just in case." "That sounds like a heavy load." "Nonsense," Luna says loudly. "It'll be mostly water. I'll give you some dehydrated veggie disks. They taste terrible, but they grow with water for a snack." We make another turn and stop at an unusual site; a wooden door. In a castle made of nothing but metal, a wooden door seems kind of out of place. Luna opens the door and duck through. I follow. The room is small, a storage room really. There are green disks the size of hockey pucks wrapped in plastic on the shelves to the right, and the shelves to the left hold empty canteens. At the back of the room is another door, one made of steel. Looking around, there must be enough rations to feed the city. And yet most of the citizens here scrounge for the little hay that grows in the corners of the streets. "You have all this food here and you let the city starve?" I ask the princess as she gathers a few canteens. She turns her head halfway and, with one eye, looks at me hard enough to chill my spine. "Would you rather have full bellies or a work force that may protect this city from attacks?" She goes back to her gathering. "Besides, starvation hasn't reached Vanhoover yet. The wild plants that grow here are edible." "This war has turned you into an overlord," I say quietly. A canteen drops, the lid falling off. Luna swivels and is on me before I could draw my pistol. She basically pushes me up against the door. No, actually, she does. Luna presses one foreleg up under my neck and pins me against the door. "Listen here you little whelp. This war has taken more from me than anything else has. I would rather have been sent back to the moon than let this war start. Because of all this violence, I lost my sister. I have become something better than a ruler, I have become something that may help this cause to end all this fighting. You could help too." My pistol slips away from its holster and I see it floating next to my head from the corner of my eye. "But then again," Luna continues, "you could just be another lost cause." The look in the princess' eyes say it all. So I gather my senses and speak. "If you shoot me, you'll have to go looking for another to go run this little errand." Princess Luna keeps her hard look for a while longer, then smiles. "You're right. Besides, only you could do this job." She slips my gun back into its holster and resumes packing my supplies. "Only you. No other living soul in this city has what training you possess." "If you could read my mind," I say curtly, "you should know that I don't have any training." Luna slips out of sight, but I still hear her picking things up. "You possess training that can only be found in a state of extreme survival. You've been running for so long, and finally you find this little slice of Heaven, Valhalla, or whatever you want to call it. You loose, you regain, you train, you live." The princess returns to my field of vision. "Now, you are to reach the base and retrieve the reconnaissance crew, that is it. This supply I have prepared should last long enough for you to reach the base and come back with the party. The railways should lead you straight to right to the base." "I know, I know," I say. "We already discussed this." Luna smiles at me as she throws me a green backpack full of canteens and food. The canteens are full, but I don't see a water source in here. The princess pats me on the back. "There enough in there for the trip. There's also a compass in there in case you need it. Do you need ammo?" She seems so different than the Alicorn that just threatened to shoot me a minute ago." I shrug on the backpack. "I always keep two extra clips for my pistol on me at all times." She raises an eyebrow. "You'll need more than that. What caliber is your rifle?" "Seven millimeter," I answer. "And your pistol?" she inquires. "Point forty," I say. She nods and walk out of the room, I follow her into the hall again. "Fine, fine," Luna mutters. "I'll have one of my guards deliver some ammo before you leave. I'll find you a room to stay in tonight." I walk ahead of her. "If it's not too much trouble, I was hoping to leave today." "Are you so sure?" Luna asks. "Should you not stay and rest before embarking on this mission?" "The sooner this is over, the sooner I can resume my life," I answer. Luna's expression stays the same for the longest time. Then, something very disturbing happens; she smiles. "As you wish. Guard!" The mare that guided me into the castle pops around the corner and salutes. "Bring three clips of seven millimeter rifle ammo and six clips of point forty caliber pistol ammo to the front gate. My young friend here will be needing it soon." "Yes, your highness." She rushes out of sight. I look at the princess. "What do you mean that I'll be needing it?" "Just a precaution," she says. "Just a precaution." After a few minutes of awkwardly silent walking through the metal corridors, the princess and I reach the front doors. The same guards stand nearby, one with a tan sack. He tosses it at me, though its a bit short and falls on the ground near my feet. I open it up, seeing all the ammo, then close the sack up and stuff it into my backpack. I take another look behind me to say something to Luna, but she's already gone. "So," I say to the guards, "can either one of you point me to Galloping Gorge?" The one on the right relies, "Head to the center of town, then keep walking south to the train station. Keep to the tracks going east." "Eventually," the other guard finishes, "there will be a fork in the rails. Keep following the ones that head north." "After that, just keep following and you'll hit the base in a few miles." I nod and walk away, slightly annoyed by their back-and-forth directions. Thinking to myself, I recall all the event that had just happened. My whole existence here I've gone unnoticed and then the next thing I know I'm off to do a job set upon me by royalty. Nice, real nice. The sky begins to lighten as morning comes around, becoming more of a dirty orangish color rather than the night's dark red. Without true sunlight, a lot of the plants that grew on this planet no longer exist. They died out within weeks, and only the hardiest of plants could survive the princesses' light spell's artificial illumination. Of course, looking around the city as I walk to the train station, it's clear to see that some experiments have been happening with the local fauna. The grasses that grow around here are thick like cardboard, and have a tinge of pink to them. And it contains a bit more nutrient that normal grass, so we can live off of eating what grows in our lawns. That also explains my frail figure. Back when Equestria wasn't a desolate war-ridden place of misery, the average stallion would be somewhere around four feet tall and weigh about one hundred pounds. Now, the average weight is eighty, and I'm around seventy or something. I'm "one thin sumbitch", as some have called me. So, with the world in perpetual darkness lit with artificial light and hardy weeds to eat, everything kind of got... worst. But, it made awkward pauses seem less awkward. Especially since most of the time when a pause goes by, you're either alone or the other guy has a bullet in his throat. The locals seem to notice something different. They are actually coming out of their little homes and standing in their yards as I walk by. I look around and see colts, mares, and foals come out to watch me. I'm pretty sure they all know I've been hired by the princess, as the guards let every living soul in the vicinity know when a new recruit has been, well, recruited. They do this so there are no surprises of who's kid got shot and won't be home by dinner. As I pass them, I notice various looks in their eyes; sorrow, some form of pity, but some eyes sparkle with hope. They must really need the information this crew I'm going after has. All the more reason I can't afford to fail. I shift the wait of my backpack, readjust my guns, and continue forth towards the train station. As much as I think about it, the event of today don't really make sense. I received another on of Princess Luna's recruitment letters, to which, for who know's reason, I decide to respond, and then within the hour I've somehow agreed to travel out of the safety of Vanhoover to the info base in Galloping Gorge. I'm supposed to be hard-headed, stubborn, annoyingly so! Princess Luna must know more about me than she lets on. I don't believe she obtained all of her knowledge of me from a simple mind reading. I'm nearing the station, I can see it now. Weeds grow over every edge of the ceiling of the rain shelter. The cement pillars or crumbling and part of the tracks have warped and broken off of their ground support. Rust covers all forms of metal here, showing the neglect of the decades. This place is nothing but a guiding path and a memory of how we once lived. I get out the compass that Luna gave me and check the direction. I'm to head east until a fork in the rails, then head north. I turn to the left and the needle of the compass passes over the E. I nod and descend to the tracks, being careful of the sharp breaks nearby. With a deep breath and shuffle of my backpack, I start my mission and begin walking down the unused tracks of the Vanhoover train station.
Prologue: How This World Came to Be...Peace. A word one may not hear very often nowadays. But back then... back in in the golden times... it was so peaceful. One could go outside and see the blue sky, clear as the ocean. Now the sky is red with smoke and blood. Back then one could go outside without armor, could got to the market safely, could do anything safely. Back then... it was paradise. Twenty-one years ago, the world was pure, or pure enough. The ground was green with grass, the sky blue with clarity, the water free of toxins. The Alicorn princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadence helped keep their kingdoms in check, and therefore helped one another keep the world at peace. Crime was nearly eradicated, famine as well. Sickness did not run rampant throughout the lands as it does now. It was a much better place that the world we live in now. Equestria was, back then, a unified place. Almost every living intelligent creature could mingle with one another. Towns and cities flourished. Farms prospered. Families were able to join others. It was a great time. And then... It happened. The gates of Tartarus grew weaker and weaker over time. Cerberus had already escaped once and left his post unattended, so it was only a matter of time before he would make his move. The evil self-proclaimed Lord Tirek broke through the hellish gates. He was weak, but already a plan of dastardly chaos swirled in his mind. Slowly he build his power by stealing the life force of any pony nearby. Soon, he paired up with the Spirit of Chaos, the draconequus Discord, and together they siphoned nearly all of Equestria. Tirek grew stronger, and stronger still, and soon betrayed the draconequus and stole Discord's power as well. All looked bleak as he went after the Alicorn princesses. But, even with all the power he had stolen, Tirek fell in battle to the newest Alicorn, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Using the combined magic of the other Alicorns, she managed to awaken the lost and forgotten power of the Tree of Harmony's treasure, a powerful magic that Tirek could not withstand. He was re-imprisoned in Tartarus, guarded by Cerberus once more. Tirek's near-successful attempt to take over Equestria sent all of the world into unrest. Most thought other "half-breeds" may rise to follow Tirek's actions. It did not help the argument with the fact that one of the Alicorns in now dead thanks to the hand of a demented minotaur. With such a powerful being gone from the world, the level of power shifted, and now Equestria is in a state of war. The "purebreds", the ponies, zebras, dragons, and all other single species beings gathered in the northern half of Equestria, while the minotaurs, centaurs, and even the griffons fled to the southern half. A world divided in half. The many differences stand between the factions, but one thing stays the same between the two; The plants now grow crimson with the blood spilt upon the ground. Canterlot and everything south has become half-breed territory. The remaining Alicorns returned to their new castles in the remaining purebred cities. Steel and iron has replaced wood for construction purposes due to war. Safety has barely been increased. Magic has nearly been abandoned as a means of war. We has reverted back to older methods, such as cannons, catapults, and guns. Every species has a specific type of gun made for them. We ponies and dragons have large triggers for our hooves and large claws to fit against. The half-breeds have smaller triggers since most of them come equipped with fingers. All the ammo in the world can't help though. No matter how long this war goes on for, no matter what side wins, we will still have lost. We have lost too much, including our great leader. Her sister tries her best to lead, but it is not the same. Our ruler has become ruthless over her sibling's death. The sky is dark and red, the ground barren, the water filthy. The world is in a state of peril, and still we fight. It is too much. We must find an end to this war so that we may rebuild. We must find peace. We must, but we can't. We can only fight. Fight to live, and live to fight. Fight... Fight...
Chapter 1: So Sayeth The PrincessVanhoover; A large city in the northwest of Equestria made larger by this war's influence. The buildings rebuilt in metal, the roads repaved in cobblestone, and the population, rising and falling with the attempts to retake Canterlot. Princess Luna calls this place her home, safe inside her spire of steel. The castle resembles a thin mountain with jagged perches. It serves as a monument to Princess Celestia, who gave her life to protect her sister in a raid by the minotaurs. With no magic to raise the sun, Princesses Luna, Cadence, and Twilight Sparkle cast a powerful spell over all of Equestria to give a low light to the sky forever. The moon may still rise, but no living thing has seen the sun in over seventeen years. We have basically lived in perpetual twilight since. Princess Celestia, a great and powerful asset, was torn from the world just after the war reached it's fourth year. The war has just entered its twenty-first. Twenty-one years of nothing but fighting. The royal guard has diminished, and now Princess Luna relies on volunteers to help in the war. But as of late, not many are willing to lay down their lives, and those that do are usually ill and wish to die in response to their princess' cause. Regularly, she has what remains of her military send out recruitment offers. Which brings me to where I am now. I stand out front of the Steel Spire, Princess Luna's castle. The ground's cold is seeping through my boots, but I don't let it bother me. I take my time with the door, which is guarded by two silver-clad unicorns. Their coats are a dusty gray with white manes and cool brown eyes. I lean forward and look at myself in the reflective steel door. My coat is the same color as burnt sawdust, a pale dark brown. My charcoal mane and tail flow out of the back of my armor, a special suit that won't completely protect me from bullets, but it will keep my insides on the inside. I lick my teeth, gaze into my reflection's orange eyes, and wait for the guards to speak. "...Can we help you?" the one on the right asks. I nod. "Yes. My name is Mirage. Blazing Mirage. I have received a recruitment order, again." The guards look at each other. "Finally bothered to show up then," the one of the left says. He has a few inches on me so I have to look up at him. I'm four foot one. "Fine," he says. "Relinquish your weapons and you may pass." He means my guns and blades. I have a wide-grip model EX P2K Pistol strapped to my waist, two knifes, and a semi-automatic scoped rifle. I look over my back to my rifle. The slick back body of my gun sits lightly on my back, attached by a carbon fiber strap. The scope gleams as I look back at the guard. "No." His gaze hardens. "Relinquish your weapons, or no entry." A lot of the time I go unnoticed, but when I show myself, not a lot of ponies give ma any respect. As a simple earth pony, I have no fancy magic or a pair of wings to help me in battle, not to mention I'm a bit skinny, so I just have the butt and barrel of my guns. So I raise and eyebrow to his requests and put on a little speech. "Are you asking me to give up the only things that may protect me from defending myself in a hazardous situation?" Not much of a speech, but it has its effects "Yes," he replies. The other guard reaches over and smacks him on the back of his head, causing his silver helmet to scoot over his eyes. "Ignore him. If you wanted to shoot our Princess, you would need an army." He steps back and opens his side of the door. "Just don't touch anything." I nod and walk inside. Almost immediately the door closes and I'm launched into a world of darkness. I wait a moment and torches begin to light themselves. An eerie green fire that casts a sickly green hue on everything. I begin walking down the long hall. The whole castle is made of metal, so it is always cold in here. The green and blue carpets on the floor don't help. The hall begins to branch off into other walkways. Each entrance is guarded by a royal guard. The royal guard only protect the city they are stationed in, so they gather around the castle. I walk at least a hundred meters before a guard points me down her hallway. Everypony must know why I'm here. This guard has the same color scheme as the rest of them, except that her eyes are a bright blue. She leads me down the hall and into a large circular room with at eleven other entrances. I follow her into the fifth one. The décor suddenly changes from green and blue to an earthy orange. The torches, too, are orange, giving normal light so bright that I have to squint. The guard walks down the hall and I follow her, turning when she does. The guard silently leads me around the castle, every once in a while having to return and pull me along when I stop to admire the inner workings of the castle. "Please try to stay on task," she says. "We are here." We make one last turn to the right and she steps aside. I look ahead. A large silver door sits heavily in front of me. The left side of the parting door has a moon engraved on it, the other a sun, however a large scar covers the sun, basically gouging a large portion of it out of the frame. "It's a warning," says the guard. I look at her. "It a warning that no matter what, you should not speak about her in Princess Luna's presence. She does not like to reopen old wounds, and Celestia is a wound that nearly killed her." I look back at the door and take a breath. Slowly, I step forward and push the door open and step inside. The door slips closed behinds me and I look around. It's a large barren room. The only thing in here is a green rug that leads up to a stair-covered incline where a large throne sits. The throne is empty. I take my time, step after step in an orderly and timely fashion. The torches on the wall are dim, so the room is slightly dark. I reach the bottom of the stairs and look around. Still, nopony is here. I turn and sit on the stairs and unsling my rifle. Reaching into the right-side pocket of my black body armor, I pull out a black cloth. Casually, but alert, I begin to clean my rifle. Looking around, this place isn't so bad. It's roomy, dim, a little cold, but still nicer than my place. But then again, this is a castle for royalty, and I'm just a... well, I don't know what I am classified as. But yeah, much better that my little shack. I live on the edge of town in a small toolshed. It has one door, one bed, no windows, and a well nearby. If I moved my bed out, I may be able to call it roomy. But it's four feet by six, and its only six feet tall. The bed takes up half the floor space, which is just dirt. I came to this city for a quiet life in fear, simple wishes and all that. I was only three years old when the half-breeds attacked my home of Dodge City, an unruly little dust-coved city out near the Badlands, I fled to the Foal Mountains. Not bad enough I was born into a world of war, but then my family was killed. All of them. So after staying in the mountains for nearly a year, I went on a lengthy and dangerous journey to Vanhoover. The pistol I hold was stolen from a bandit who tried to kill me on my way here. He was the first pony I had ever killed, and it changed me. I had to survive, so I looted his supply and moved on. I must have only had two clips or ammo with me for that seven month hike. So I learned to become a raider, attacking when needed. It turned me into a decent shot. I can hit a can from five hundred feet with my rifle, and I can nail a target from about twenty meters with my pistol. The knifes haven't been used yet, at least not to kill. Only to maim myself.. The only action I see is the occasional raid. I think I've been here twelve years now. I'm eighteen in two months. I examine my weapon and put the cloth back in my pocket. The black exterior gleams in the dim light, clean once more. I stare at it for a while longer before getting into position and looking through the scope. I aim towards the right of the room and wait. Seconds tick by. "Well, you seem to have made yourself at home." I lower my scope when the princess enters into my sight. I have to look up as she begins to show herself. She must be at least six feet tall. Princess Luna looks weathered, her fur and feathers are dingy and dark, her eyes bloodshot. Her space-like mane barely flows, and most of the stars that float within it are gone. She is clad in black armor from the neck down. However, aside from this look, she smiles. "I am happy that you are here." "I received your recruitment order," I replay as I shoulder my rifle. "Let me take a look at you," Princess Luna says calmly. As she walks closer the torches begin to brighten somewhat. She circles me, moving her eyes up and down my body, my weapons, my suit basically. "Hm, you may be wondering why I sent the recruitment order, yes?" "You need more firepower in your infantry," I say. "It's common knowledge that we have not gained any advances in the war." The princess stops circling me, stopping behind me. I turn as she speaks. "I need you." "Why?" I ask. "Why not," she counters. "I'm not just another soldier," I say sharply. "I know." The princess turns around and walks up the steps to her throne. She takes her seat and beckons me closer. I come. She's somewhere around six feet tall, so I really have to crane my neck back to look at her. "You are not just some soldier. You do not have that type of look to you." "There's a look?" I ask. Luna nods. "Yes, and you do not have it. You look much more dangerous than that." "I'm not a hired gun." I say, already knowing her next move. "I know, I know," she says softly. "And too bad. I could pay so much for your services." I smirk. "Yeah, for what? Money has such little use anymore. I don't want money." The princess stares at me, long and hard. "...You should watch your tone, young one." "My tone is not the problem," I bark. "Maybe I made a mistake coming here. I thought you may have had some little hope to give me! but no, apparently not." My hope that I had wished for her to give... anything at all. That we were winning, that we had won, that we had done something. I regain my composure the best I can. "I am sorry. Is this all you called me here for?" Luna holds my gaze. "All that energy... and no desire." "Desire?" I ask, my composure breaking again. "Desire!? What do you think I want? It's not money, it's not food, it's not a warm place to stay! You know what I want?" I turn my back on her and begin walking to the door. "I want this war to be over!" "What if I told you I may know how to do that?" Princess Luna's words stop my feet and eradicate my anger. I turn to her again. "What?" Now she takes her turn to smirk. "I may know of a way to end this war with the half-breeds." She leans in, but I'm to far from her for it to have much effect. "And to do that, I need a skillful hoof. Like you." I walk back to the edge of the stairs. "You've never seen my skills." "I don't need to. Since you entered my throne room, I've been scouring your memories." I take a breath and try not to get angry that I had let someone into my mind and not even known it. Luna leans back in her throne. "Yes, you've come a long way, haven't you? Stolen many things without being noticed, survived really." She gets out of her throne and walks back to me. Luna begins to circle me again, like a snake getting ready to strike. "You've seen so many horrors. You've fought for your life. You've taken so many lives as well. How many? Do you know? "...Seventy-three." She laughs. "Yes, you have an interesting way of remembering." She's right. For every life I take, I mark myself with my knife. My left foreleg has seventy-three little scars brandishing it, each about an inch long. My fur grows back a lighter shade of brown instead of leaving a normal scar, but I don't cut too deep... Luna's tail flicks my nose as she circles me. "What is your name. Speak it, so that I may properly know." I breathe in, breathe out. "...My name... is Blazing Mirage." "Mirage," Luna says slowly. "Interesting. Fitting for a pony that can blend in and sneak around so easily. Blazing Mirage, I have a request for you. If you so choose to accept it, the outcome of this war may look generous. If you refuse, then we may be lost amidst the battle forever." She comes around and stands directly in front of me. I look into her eyes. "...What kind of request?"
Chapter 2: Stocking Up and Reading OrdersPrincess Luna volunteered to personally escort me to the supply depot, so I thought it would be a good idea to indulge her. She kept her rambling softly until she wanted me to hear it. "...Should it come necessary for you to abort, that is fine. You can return here and we will discuss on our next move." Long story short, Princess Luna has requested of me that I go north into the Galloping Gorge reconnaissance base. It's a few dozen miles away and the trains have no coal to power them, so it'll be a long walk. She wants me to retrieve the crew stationed there. Apparently they made some breakthrough in a new strategy to take back Canterlot, but the last carrier pigeon died before it could fly back out to the base. "I won't fail," I say stubbornly. "It's just about ninety miles to walk here to there. If I keep walking with small rests, I'll be back in two, maybe three weeks." "Oh, I have little doubt in your abilities," the princess says calmly. She takes a left and I follow. "I just need to make sure you have enough supplies for when you bring back the crew." "How much supplies will I be carrying?" I ask. Princess Luna looks upward at the ceiling. "Well, there's you, so supplies for five. There are only three crew members, but you'll need something to eat and drink on your way up as well. A little extra just in case." "That sounds like a heavy load." "Nonsense," Luna says loudly. "It'll be mostly water. I'll give you some dehydrated veggie disks. They taste terrible, but they grow with water for a snack." We make another turn and stop at an unusual site; a wooden door. In a castle made of nothing but metal, a wooden door seems kind of out of place. Luna opens the door and duck through. I follow. The room is small, a storage room really. There are green disks the size of hockey pucks wrapped in plastic on the shelves to the right, and the shelves to the left hold empty canteens. At the back of the room is another door, one made of steel. Looking around, there must be enough rations to feed the city. And yet most of the citizens here scrounge for the little hay that grows in the corners of the streets. "You have all this food here and you let the city starve?" I ask the princess as she gathers a few canteens. She turns her head halfway and, with one eye, looks at me hard enough to chill my spine. "Would you rather have full bellies or a work force that may protect this city from attacks?" She goes back to her gathering. "Besides, starvation hasn't reached Vanhoover yet. The wild plants that grow here are edible." "This war has turned you into an overlord," I say quietly. A canteen drops, the lid falling off. Luna swivels and is on me before I could draw my pistol. She basically pushes me up against the door. No, actually, she does. Luna presses one foreleg up under my neck and pins me against the door. "Listen here you little whelp. This war has taken more from me than anything else has. I would rather have been sent back to the moon than let this war start. Because of all this violence, I lost my sister. I have become something better than a ruler, I have become something that may help this cause to end all this fighting. You could help too." My pistol slips away from its holster and I see it floating next to my head from the corner of my eye. "But then again," Luna continues, "you could just be another lost cause." The look in the princess' eyes say it all. So I gather my senses and speak. "If you shoot me, you'll have to go looking for another to go run this little errand." Princess Luna keeps her hard look for a while longer, then smiles. "You're right. Besides, only you could do this job." She slips my gun back into its holster and resumes packing my supplies. "Only you. No other living soul in this city has what training you possess." "If you could read my mind," I say curtly, "you should know that I don't have any training." Luna slips out of sight, but I still hear her picking things up. "You possess training that can only be found in a state of extreme survival. You've been running for so long, and finally you find this little slice of Heaven, Valhalla, or whatever you want to call it. You loose, you regain, you train, you live." The princess returns to my field of vision. "Now, you are to reach the base and retrieve the reconnaissance crew, that is it. This supply I have prepared should last long enough for you to reach the base and come back with the party. The railways should lead you straight to right to the base." "I know, I know," I say. "We already discussed this." Luna smiles at me as she throws me a green backpack full of canteens and food. The canteens are full, but I don't see a water source in here. The princess pats me on the back. "There enough in there for the trip. There's also a compass in there in case you need it. Do you need ammo?" She seems so different than the Alicorn that just threatened to shoot me a minute ago." I shrug on the backpack. "I always keep two extra clips for my pistol on me at all times." She raises an eyebrow. "You'll need more than that. What caliber is your rifle?" "Seven millimeter," I answer. "And your pistol?" she inquires. "Point forty," I say. She nods and walk out of the room, I follow her into the hall again. "Fine, fine," Luna mutters. "I'll have one of my guards deliver some ammo before you leave. I'll find you a room to stay in tonight." I walk ahead of her. "If it's not too much trouble, I was hoping to leave today." "Are you so sure?" Luna asks. "Should you not stay and rest before embarking on this mission?" "The sooner this is over, the sooner I can resume my life," I answer. Luna's expression stays the same for the longest time. Then, something very disturbing happens; she smiles. "As you wish. Guard!" The mare that guided me into the castle pops around the corner and salutes. "Bring three clips of seven millimeter rifle ammo and six clips of point forty caliber pistol ammo to the front gate. My young friend here will be needing it soon." "Yes, your highness." She rushes out of sight. I look at the princess. "What do you mean that I'll be needing it?" "Just a precaution," she says. "Just a precaution." After a few minutes of awkwardly silent walking through the metal corridors, the princess and I reach the front doors. The same guards stand nearby, one with a tan sack. He tosses it at me, though its a bit short and falls on the ground near my feet. I open it up, seeing all the ammo, then close the sack up and stuff it into my backpack. I take another look behind me to say something to Luna, but she's already gone. "So," I say to the guards, "can either one of you point me to Galloping Gorge?" The one on the right relies, "Head to the center of town, then keep walking south to the train station. Keep to the tracks going east." "Eventually," the other guard finishes, "there will be a fork in the rails. Keep following the ones that head north." "After that, just keep following and you'll hit the base in a few miles." I nod and walk away, slightly annoyed by their back-and-forth directions. Thinking to myself, I recall all the event that had just happened. My whole existence here I've gone unnoticed and then the next thing I know I'm off to do a job set upon me by royalty. Nice, real nice. The sky begins to lighten as morning comes around, becoming more of a dirty orangish color rather than the night's dark red. Without true sunlight, a lot of the plants that grew on this planet no longer exist. They died out within weeks, and only the hardiest of plants could survive the princesses' light spell's artificial illumination. Of course, looking around the city as I walk to the train station, it's clear to see that some experiments have been happening with the local fauna. The grasses that grow around here are thick like cardboard, and have a tinge of pink to them. And it contains a bit more nutrient that normal grass, so we can live off of eating what grows in our lawns. That also explains my frail figure. Back when Equestria wasn't a desolate war-ridden place of misery, the average stallion would be somewhere around four feet tall and weigh about one hundred pounds. Now, the average weight is eighty, and I'm around seventy or something. I'm "one thin sumbitch", as some have called me. So, with the world in perpetual darkness lit with artificial light and hardy weeds to eat, everything kind of got... worst. But, it made awkward pauses seem less awkward. Especially since most of the time when a pause goes by, you're either alone or the other guy has a bullet in his throat. The locals seem to notice something different. They are actually coming out of their little homes and standing in their yards as I walk by. I look around and see colts, mares, and foals come out to watch me. I'm pretty sure they all know I've been hired by the princess, as the guards let every living soul in the vicinity know when a new recruit has been, well, recruited. They do this so there are no surprises of who's kid got shot and won't be home by dinner. As I pass them, I notice various looks in their eyes; sorrow, some form of pity, but some eyes sparkle with hope. They must really need the information this crew I'm going after has. All the more reason I can't afford to fail. I shift the wait of my backpack, readjust my guns, and continue forth towards the train station. As much as I think about it, the event of today don't really make sense. I received another on of Princess Luna's recruitment letters, to which, for who know's reason, I decide to respond, and then within the hour I've somehow agreed to travel out of the safety of Vanhoover to the info base in Galloping Gorge. I'm supposed to be hard-headed, stubborn, annoyingly so! Princess Luna must know more about me than she lets on. I don't believe she obtained all of her knowledge of me from a simple mind reading. I'm nearing the station, I can see it now. Weeds grow over every edge of the ceiling of the rain shelter. The cement pillars or crumbling and part of the tracks have warped and broken off of their ground support. Rust covers all forms of metal here, showing the neglect of the decades. This place is nothing but a guiding path and a memory of how we once lived. I get out the compass that Luna gave me and check the direction. I'm to head east until a fork in the rails, then head north. I turn to the left and the needle of the compass passes over the E. I nod and descend to the tracks, being careful of the sharp breaks nearby. With a deep breath and shuffle of my backpack, I start my mission and begin walking down the unused tracks of the Vanhoover train station.
