my choice in not giveing ruby the message until the mission was complete, the day before the mission to kill the general, and information that would change everything we knew about the first war

DATE- CLASSIFIED
TIME- IRRELEVANT

I made it back to the cafe after the meeting with Grey Hoof, and told Kill Shot about the meeting. "HMMM, SEEMS TO ME LIKE HE MAY HAVE A DIFFERENT AGENDA FOR ALL OF US. ITS NOT THAT I DONT TRUST HIM, BUT COME ON YOU HAVE TO AGREE THAT HE SHOWS UP ONLY WHEN HE WANTS SOMETHING DONE, YES I DO UNDERSTAND THAT WE ARE NOW MERCENARIES, AND THAT MERCS HAVE NO REAL BOSS, BUT COME ON ARE YOU REALY GOING TO SEND RUBY, ONE OF YOUR MOST TRUSTED AND LOYAL MARES ON THIS MISSION ALONE. I HOPE NOT, AND I HOPE YOU DONT SEND ANY PONY ANYWHERE BEFORE THIS MISSION IS COMPLETE, YOU KNOW HOW SHE IS AND HOW SHE FEELS ABOUT THE RAIDERS. IF YOU GIVE HER THAT NOTE TODAY YOU WONT SEE HER UNTILL SHE HAS EITHER KILLED EVERY RAIDER SHE COMES ACROSS, OR DIES IN THE PROCESS OF DOING SO. BESIDES WE HAVE ONLY A FEW REAL HOURS TO GET EVERYTHING TOGEATHER BEFORE WE ARE TO LEAVE FOR CANTERLOT, AND WE NEED EVERY PONY FOCUSED ON THIS SO NOTHING GOES WRONG." He had an absolute point, I did know Ruby, and the way she felt about the raiders, and that she indeed would die trying to kill them all. I put the note in my saddle bag, and told myself that after the mission I would give her the message.

We were scheduled to board the train at 1700 today, and pull into Canterlot at about 1900. From there we were going to sleep until 0500. Once we were all awake we had a day to make sure everything would work for what we had planned. On the train we all pooled any Intel any of us had, and made a rough plan up. The ponies in the armor would make their way to the castle and start gathering any and all Intel on the parade route. My sniper would go with them in an n.l.r uniform disguised as a sniper assigned to protect the castle and the general, he would then be directed to the perfect spot to take his shot. The rest of the ponies in n.l.r uniforms would make their ways throughout the city looking for any and all ponies willing to make the scene we needed to stop the parade in its tracks. Twilight would gain entry to the castle and try to look for any information on just what had happened in the first war, and just who this Scar was. If anything were to go wrong the armored ponies were to disable the i.t.a.s friendly unit indicators, and to just take out any and all ponies around them hopefully killing the general in the process. This would only be put into place if anything went really wrong, and we had no other choice.

Like clockwork we pulled into Canterlot at exactly 1900, and quickly set to work on finding a place to rest until 0500. We found a place that was willing to keep us for the night, and I told the ponies in the armor that they would be standing guard through the night up until 0300, at which time I would take the last shift and wake every pony up. The ponies agreed, and saw no problem in having to pull guard shifts seeing as we were now in n.l.r run territory, and if we were found out we would all be executed on sight along with the home owners.

The night went slow for some, and fast for others, but as for me it was just another night. I spent it talking to the homeowners, and found out that they were in fact resistance ponies, and that the house was a safe house for any pony wanting to get out of Canterlot. I thanked them for the help and that if they ever needed anything to just let me know. 0300 rolled around soon enough, and I relieved the last guard so he could get a couple of hours of sleep. No matter the circumstances, or what happened to be going on at the time, I would always make sure my ponies got as much rest as they would need for anything they ever had to encounter, and tonight was no different, me hell I could have stayed awake for a year with as much crap as I had in my head. Between the first war not making any since to me whatsoever, the fact that the e.l.f had some members who were still active, who the fuck Scar was, and just what was going to happen to any and all of us. I put on my n.l.r uniform, and put an ak-47 in my saddle holster, the same weapon any of the uniformed n.l.r ponies I had seen were using. I figured that if I was going to look the part I may as well have the same weapon as them for the time being.

0500 rolled around actually pretty slow to be honest, I mean considering I had so much on my mind I thought it was going to come quick, but by the time I looked at my clock thinking it was in fact 0500 it was actually only 0345. I wanted to get this day started, and to get out of Canterlot as fast as I could, and with every pony I had with me alive. In no time at all 0500 came, and I set to work waking every pony up, and getting coffee started along with the home owners, we ate fast and in no time were ready to face the day. Twilight went on her way to the castle along with the castle unit, Kill Shot and his element went on their way, and the armored ponies went their way this was the make it or break it day, if anything seemed out of place, or didn’t seem right we would scrap the entire mission. I had already told Grey Hoof this, and he agreed saying that it wouldn’t be worth getting any of my ponies killed for no reason.

Twilight along with the ponies she was with all made it to the castle, and were let in with no questions asked. My sniper was directed to the place he would be located and was allowed to set it up anyway he felt right. Twilight went to the Canterlot archives, and set to work gathering any and all information on what I needed to know. Kill Shot along with several other ponies went into the city to look for any pony willing to help us put on a scene in front of the parade to stop it, and had a lot of recruits in a short time, and set to work on finding out the perfect place for it all to take place. I went to talk to Grey Hoof who was at a day spa and being given a hooficure, and talked to him about how to go about setting up this next mission. "I’LL TALK TO HER FOR YOU OK, JUST TELL HER THAT YOU HAVE SOMEPONY FOR HER TO MEET. YOU KNOW AS WELL AS I DO THAT SHE IS MORE THAN READY FOR A MISSION ALL HER OWN, AND SHE HAS A SIZEABLE SQUAD TO PROTECT HER, SHE WILL BE FINE TRUST ME. BESIDES IT’S NOT LIKE A BAND OF MARES WOULD ALLOW A COLT ANYWHERE NEAR THEM AFTER ALL THEY HAVE BEEN THROUGH, THINK ABOUT IT." "DAMN IT TO HELL, HE’S RIGHT, OH WELL I KNOW SHE IS ITCHING TO SEE SOME ACTION ALL HER OWN, AND IT WOULDNT BE RIGHT NOT TELLING HER ABOUT THIS, SEEING AS SHE HAS HAD TO DEAL WITH THE RAIDERS ON HER OWN, AND WITH NO HELP. OK I’LL SHOW HER THE LETTER AFTER THE MISSION IS COMPLETED; RIGHT NOW I NEED HER FULL ATTENTION." Grey Hoof knew what I was thinking, and simply nodded his head and agreed.

The meeting was now over, and I left Grey Hoof to his pampering, and went to the safe house to wait for my ponies to return from their respective assignments. It was about 1400 when Twilight arrived with her saddle bags full of paperwork, and was followed by every pony else she was with. The sniper had been asked to stay behind and set his position up for his detail. "DAMN THATS GOING TO BE ALOT OF READING, WELL TIME TO START ON IT" I said to every pony. Twilight told me that she had already gone through it, and knew basically what it all was. "You may want to sit for this dear; it’s a lot to take in. Ok first off Gilda knew everything, she, not Luna sent Trixie to her death in Ponyville she knew you too well, and used that to her advantage. She knew that you didn’t want to let Trixie live due to all the death and destruction that the e.l.f were responsible for causing throughout the land. She knew that you wouldn’t have listened to her even if she were to talk to her about being betrayed by Luna that you would want nothing to do with it, and kill her on sight. Yes Luna did know of this, but as far as any records show she wasn’t anywhere near Ponyville at the time, granted these documents could all be doctored to make it look as though Luna was a saint who had nothing to do whatsoever with Trixies death. If that is the case then it means that the e.l.f would have a reason to hate the griffons, and vice versa for the griffons. Sounds as though some pony had a hoof in all of this, and would stand from either us winning, or the e.l.f either way some pony stood to gain a lot from all of this, to be honest that a long list of suspects.

Luna stood to gain a new position in the castle as the new ruler of Equestria in the event of her sister’s death, or capture. All of Ponyville stood to gain the honor of being the new capital of Equestria, and having the power structure shift to the mayor who would in fact be the next in line of power if the 2 sisters were killed, or captured. Gilda who already had a reason to hate all of us stood to gain the very town she despised, and do Celestia knows what with it. Scar stood to gain nothing from what I have read so far, yes the eqng killed his family, but after that he went underground. He was really never heard from at all except for an appearance at Canterlot castle to figure out why the pony he had given a note to see him never did. After learning that he had been killed Scar left Canterlot in a hurry and hasn’t been seen since then. All in all we really have a bunch of suspects, but no real leads as to what any pony stood to gain from any of this happening. Heck I even looked into Stable Tech to find any evidence of secret projects anywhere. That is the only red tape I encountered in all my searching, I could gain access to some information that was declassified, but it only said that Stable Tech was in Ponyville a few days before the main attack, we all know this they were doing work at Sweet Apple Acres remember? There wasn’t any further Intel on Stable Tech other than that, and I know that you have a team dedicated to such computer and security issues, so give this all to them to see what if anything they can do with it. I have a feeling that if we find out just what Stable Tech is up to we will crack all of this wide open."

It was now 1700, and every pony that was there for the meeting we had just had was ordered to forget anything they had just heard for security reasons. It was not even 5 minutes until every pony else showed up, I motioned to Kill Shot that we had to talk, and Twilight joined us in another room. "HMMM THATS INTERESTING, I DON’T KNOW TOO MUCH ABOUT STABLE TECH TO BE HONEST, AND IT SOUNDS TO ME THAT THAT HAVE THE MOST TO GAIN FROM THESE WARS, THINK ABOUT IT BOMB SHELTERS, WHO NEEDS A BOMB SHELTER IN PEACE TIME? NO PONY THAT’S WHO, WELL I HOPE THAT OUR COUNTER INTEL TEAM CAN MAKE MORE SINCE OF THIS THAN WE CAN." "DON’T TELL ANYPONY ELSE ABOUT THIS OK, I DONT WANT IT GETTING OUT THAT INFORMATION FROM THE CASTLE WAS BEING LEAKED." "YOU HAVE MY WORD MAJOR, NOT A WORD TO ANY PONY." At that our meeting was over, and we went back into the room where every pony else was. "Well the parade route is going to be guarded really heavy, until they get to this bridge. I and my unit will have the scene start in front of the bridge so that the advanced guard is caught in the open. I know you like to take prisoners, but if it comes to it we’ll just use the rubber rounds we have to put them down for you ok. Next the general will be forced to see what is happening ahead of his precession, and order his personal guard to check it out at which point the crowd will converge on them blocking their way. In the confusion our sniper who has checked in with his position will take them out using armor piercing rounds, and then take the kill shot. If anything goes wrong, remember you ponies in armor. You are the last hope for the mission, and are ordered to disable the friendly unit locator in your i.t.a.s, and take out the general along with any ponies near you." Every pony knew their place, and I ordered lights out, we had a busy day ahead of us, and I wanted every pony to have plenty of sleep for it. The house owners stood guard at the door as we all slept.