Princess Luna’s brigade made swift progress towards the location the beacon indicated Twilight was currently at. So far, they had encountered only minimal resistance from Griffin forces, and what resistance they did come across, they blew right through without slowing. There was something to be said for using a large enough force that completely and totally overwhelmed the opposition.

She allowed herself to start feeling a sense of relief. She was just minutes away from reaching her fellow princess and the ponies who valiantly struggled to get her home safe against impossible odds. It was even possible that there would be no enemies near the hunted platoon, and even as prepared she was to slaughter every single Griffin for miles around to protect the one who has grown as close to her as her own sister, not having to fight a battle meant that less of her ponies had to die today.

“Princess Luna, First Battalion reports that they are currently on route, and have met minimal resistance. They anticipate arriving at the train within twenty minutes. Second Battalion reports minimal resistance, and should arrive at the beacon’s location at approximately the same time as we do,” reported the dull gray unarmored Pegasus flying next to her. The Pegasus was not a part of any Equestrian military unit, but was instead a Changeling assigned to her to help coordinate the operation. Though most of the ponies in the Royal an Equestrian Guards held a heavy mistrust towards these new allies, if the princesses trusted them, then they would as well. Communicating through what they referred to as the hivemind, one Changeling could instantly receive a message to pass along to the commanding officer of the unit that it was attached to. Reports from the strikes earlier in the morning have shown this to be very useful, and helped secure swift and decisive victories at each captured Griffin base.

“Thank you, Swifteye. Please inform them to continue on as planned,” Luna instructed.

She was checking the beacon compass that they had paired to the beacon sent to Major Spearhead, to get an idea of how close they were. The faster the flashing arrow blinked, the closer they were. A cold numbness washed over her like an illness when the arrow suddenly went dark. There could only be one reason for that. The arrow would go dark only if the beacon itself was destroyed, and the only way that could happen…

“FASTER, MY PONIES! WE MUST GET THERE NOW!” she bellowed as panic gripped her heart. So damn close, and now they were about to lose her!

As one, the formation of Pegasi and Pegasus pulled chariots surged forward, everypony preparing for the fight they knew was to come. As they surged ahead, Swifteye telepathically passed along the order for maximum speed to Second Battalion, that they too would hopefully get there in time.

Eight ponies of Equestria’s Royal Guard stood before the advance of the Griffin battalion. Five hundred seasoned fighters bore down upon them, all armed with bows and daggers. This was on top of their razor sharp talons and beaks, which could tear through flesh just as easily as a blade or broadhead. The Griffins knew it was over for the Equestrian platoon they had been searching for, and they walked down the side of the hill into the valley, confident and prideful. There was no rush to them. Only an assured pace as they held their formations as they crested the hill and advanced into the valley proper. Upon reaching the bottom of the hill, the battalion spread out. They formation formed up three companies across, with smaller divisions for the individual platoons within each company. With a signal from their Colonel, they marched forward once again.

The mares and stallions under Dusty’s command were the finest warriors he had ever known. Following the lead of the First Sergeant, everypony clicked their hoof blades open and grabbed a spear. The Unicorns held theirs in their magic, the Pegasi had theirs tucked into a wing, and the Earth Ponies tucked it into their armor with the points forward towards the enemy. If they were to dine in Tartarus this evening, then they would show up to the table as the family they were, and they would show up covered in the blood of their enemies.

Under a minute now, and then the Griffins would be right on top of them. But Royal Guard do not stand still and wait to be slaughtered like cattle the Griffins mistakenly thought of them as. The Royal Guard would fight to the last. From Corporal Dancing Dead came forth their battle cry. “FOR EQUESTRIA!!!” And they charged forward to meet their fate as lions, and not sheep.

Lieutenant Soarin lay on his back as Sergeant Sunny Hearts fought to save his life. While the combat gear he wore protected his internal organs from the worst of the damage that would have occurred when the grenade had exploded, he still had his left wing blown off, as well as all the ribs on that side having been broken by the concussive force that had gotten past the body armor. She had torn open the armor to allow her better access to treat his wounds, which she had done, and now, it allowed her to do chest compressions on the fallen stallion.

The Wonderbolt was neither breathing or had a pulse, and if they were unable to get his heart started again, and do so soon, then they would lose him. Sunny had seen enough death. More than anything else right now, she wanted this pony to live.

Spitfire sat next to her best friend and former husband screaming out her rage and sorrow, her tears and desperate sobs a faint shadow of the empty loss and grief that filled her heart. Cradling his head in her hooves, she begged him not to leave her, that she wanted him back in her life. “Don’t you dare leave me, Soarin!” she cried.

Sunny kept pushing down on his chest, praying to Faust that she could get him back. The chest compressions were not as effective as they would normally be, with one whole side of his ribcage busted and broken. Not only did she need to get his heart pumping again, but she also needed to make certain oxygen got to the blood stream. Somepony needed to breathe for him. “Spitfire!” she yelled, trying to get the mare’s attention. When the sobbing mare did not respond to her, she called out again. “Spitfire! I need you to listen to me!” Once the mare finally turned her head towards the busy medic, Sunny instructed her, “I need you to breathe for Soarin. I can pump the blood, but he needs oxygen as well. Can you do that for me?” Sunny requested from her.

As a Wonderbolt, Spitfire was trained in emergency field first aid, as well as cardiopulmonary resuscitation, commonly known as CPR. When signaled by Sunny to do so, Spitfire clamped Soarin’s mouth shut between her hooves, and breathed out into his nose, delivering the oxygen he so desperately needed into his lungs. After every eight chest compressions, Spitfire would breathe into Soarin’s nose. Though his heart had yet to restart, and he was not breathing on his own, if they could just keep his brain alive, there was a chance that they might save him.

A few yards away, Healing Touch was tending to Spike. Having stabilized the princess and bandaged her amputated leg, Touch needed to stabilize the gravely wounded young drake who moments ago had just saved his life, as well as the life of the princess. But that saving the two of them had come at a great cost for the young dragon.

The arm was now a stump, ending at the elbow. The grenade had exploded just as it was leaving Spike’s hand, and now, there was just a gory mess with a few bone fragments sticking out just below his left elbow. Spike might have only lost his left claw had his arm not been broken, but even a Dragon’s body can be broken, especially if already wounded. There was more than that, though. The left side of Spike’s face had been heavily peppered by the high speed fragments from the small bomb, to the point where it was hard to recognize him from that side. Worst off, his eye had been shredded leaving a bloody mess inside the orbital socket. The condition of his face would matter little if Touch was not able to stop the bleeding from the ruined arm. Unfortunately, the Unicorn was not familiar with Dragon physiology, and did not know the important pressure point locations to control bleeding in a situation such as this.

Things for the young hero did not look promising.

Corporal Touch was distracted from his patient by the sudden battle cry from Dancing Dead. Looking up, he saw that they were charging ahead, and when he followed the direction the squad was running, what he saw left him feeling cold inside. Princess Luna had not gotten to them in time. They were going to die right here next to this river miles away from home.

Healing Touch shook the dark thoughts from his head. If he was to die, he was bound and determined that his last actions would be to be attempting to save another life.

When the lone squad of Royal Guard charged the Griffin Battalion, the Griffins as a whole reciprocated the gesture, and surged ahead as well. It was a rushing tidal wave of death that was now coming down upon the ponies at speed, and it would be only a dozen or so seconds before they would completely swallow the brave Equestrians.

The Griffin front ranks suddenly found themselves peppered from above as a flight of chariots flew over them, coming in from their left flank, the ponies inside dropping small loads of small bombs upon their heads. While the bombs may have been no bigger than a Griffin grenade, when dropped in large quantities, they would be devastating against a larger formation of enemy troops.

A second flight flew over, and more bombs were dropped, the safety pins pulled from them as they fell. Exploding on impact with the ground or the light armor of a Griffin soldier, they caused the Griffin advance to immediately stall. They were further slowed by a sudden mass of arrows that flew in from in front of them, both broadheads and grenade arrows. So focused they had been on their prey, when the first bombs dropped on them, they completely failed to notice another, even larger force that was coming in from in front of them as well as their left side.

It was a whole Equestrian regiment which the Griffin battalion now faced. With the odds suddenly reversed, the Griffin attackers broke off, turning to retreat. Their escape would not be allowed though as a final flight of Equestrian chariots with their bombs flew over, and dropped more devastation directly in their path towards safety. As the bombs landed, The Equestrian Guard battalion landed, cutting off any retreat. Behind them, between them and the ponies they had been hunting, landed the the 2nd Regiment of the Royal Guards.

Now surrounded, the Griffin battalion lost any sense of discipline as a military unit and panicked. Many tried to escape, following the instinct to fly away from the certainty of death, but arrows and Unicorn attack spells cut many down, and Pegasi engaged those who the archers and Unicorns on the ground missed. Those who stayed on the ground were quickly swamped by ground forces that greatly outnumbered them. No quarter was to be given, and the battle lasted only a few minutes as the enraged ponies wiped out their enemy, leaving the field strewn with bodies and soaked in blood.

As her brigade engaged the Griffin forces, Princess Luna landed just outside the copse of trees where she had spotted Twilight from the air. Several ambulance chariots landed along with her, and medical teams rushed out to tend to the injured. The first team got to the stricken princess, and after a quick assessment, started prepping her to be immediately flown out, only moving aside long enough for Princess Luna to lower her horn to the inhibitor ring on Twilight’s horn. Applying the proper unlocking spell, the explosive charge in the ring was disabled, and she then telekinetically removed the set screws and lifted it from Twilight’s horn. Twilight Sparkle was their number one priority, and a whole platoon of Pegasi would be flying escort to ensure that she got to Fort Rockwall safely.

With that out of the way, knowing that the medical team with Twilight had that situation in hoof, Princess Luna turned to check on Spike. She was shocked to see the wounds that the brave drake had received, and quickly stepped back to allow Spike’s personal doctor, Sekhmet, to tend to him. Very few doctors in Equestria knew much about Dragon physiology, but she was from Saddle Arabia, and had a passion for dragons and dragon health. If there was any being who could save him, it was the mare who had treated him ever since he had been hatched.

Luna looked over to where Soarin lay. A third team had took over for the platoon’s medical Sergeant who had been busy trying to save him. They had a respirator mask on his face now, and had now had him on a stretcher, with a pony now continuing the chest compressions. He would fly out at the same time as Twilight, Luna decided, as well as Spike. These three were in critical condition, and Luna was determined that they all shall live and recover.

Calling a Lieutenant over, she told her, “Get a team over to Major Spearhead, and assess their wounds. I wish for them to be ready soon to be flown back to Fort Rockwall. They have done their duty, and they need to rest and heal. And medivac the wounded from the brigade to Rockwell as well.”

“As you command, Your Highness,” was her reply, before rushing off to do as instructed.

As the medical teams took care of the wounded, she gathered together the body retrieval teams. It would be their job to make certain that all of the fallen ponies from Major Spearhead’s command were found and returned home. The bodies of those killed during the train attack, as well as the ponies who were originally supposed to fly the team and the bodies from the train home, were already being prepared for transport according to Swifteye’s report to her.

Sadly, in the months to come, there would be many more ponies who shall be brought home to rest. But that was the nature of war, and if Equestria had to go to war, it would be important that they made it as quick and decisive a war as possible. That would help keep losses to a minimum hopefully, preventing a long, drawn out war that would become rather unpopular. Already, word had been leaked of the Griffin’s aggressions against Equestria and her ally, the Crystal Empire, and ponies were starting to demand that there be action. It was expected that Celestia’s announcement would be well received when she told the nation of Equestria’s response to the violent acts committed against them.

Such musings only distracted her from the task at hoof. When the teams had gathered, she gave them their instructions. Nopony was to be left behind. Every single one was to be found, and returned to Equestria with full honors.

“Excuse me, Your Highness, may I have a word with you?” Major Spearhead respectfully asked. When she nodded her assent, Dusty continued, “I wish to request that First Sergeant Silverwing and I would be allowed to go with the retrieval teams looking for my lost platoon members, Princess. As their commanding officer, they were my responsibility, Your Highness I feel I should be there recovering them,” he said to her with due respect.

“What of your surviving troops, Major? I imagine that you would prefer to be with them,” Luna mentioned to the Major. But she also understand why the officer would have need to look after those who had fallen while under his command. Major Spearhead was of a rare breed. He cared so much for his troops, that he would place his own comforts aside to ensure that things were done right for his Guards. This pony understood what honor was about, and what it meant to lead, and not just command.

“Your Highness, I have already asked Corporal Dead to make certain that the troops get situated and cared for once they have made it back. He’ll make an excellent First Sergeant for some young Lieutenant or Captain someday, and I trust him to make certain everything is taken care of,” he said.

The princess could only nod in agreement. The Major had the right to make this request, as it was his troops who had paid the ultimate price in the field today. “Just make sure that Staff Sergeant Dead takes time to take care of himself, Major. As you said, he will make a fine leader of troops someday, and a good leader has to take care of himself if he is to be able to take care of others.”

“Thank you, Your Highness,” Dusty said, bowing out of the respect that royalty of her caliber was due. “And I shall pass your words, and his promotion, along to him.”

The nighttime sky should not be under his hooves, as well as above his head. And never had he seen it with such stunning and brilliant clarity. The stars and nebulae looked so crisp, it was almost as if they were right before his very eyes. It felt to him as if he was floating at the very center of the universe. Eventually, he felt himself settle, and soon he could feel something unknown under his hooves. It felt sort of like walking on a cloud, to be honest. It was not unpleasant at all. In fact, Soarin had never felt more relaxed and calm in his life. Soon, it began to appear that he was walking along a path, but one made from stars.

As he walked, he could just make out what could only be described as music, but of a nature never before heard by pony ears. It was the most beautiful sounding music that he had ever heard, way beyond anything that he could imagine. There was an ethereal sound to it all, including what he thought must be voices singing. It seemed to be in a language that nopony spoke, but in his soul, he was able to understand it as if it were his own tongue speaking it. It called to him, beckoning him home. It promised a forever of peaceful tranquility, surrounded by everypony that he loved and considered his family and friends. It promised him things that there was no way he could conceive of them, and yet, he knew inside his soul, that the promises were true.

He wanted it. He wanted to be home. He wanted this eternity of happiness that was being promised to him. He walked further on, drawn in by the song.

Something twinged in the back of his head, a memory.

He was seven in the memory, sitting in church with his parents, along with his newborn brother, whom his mother had cradled in her forelegs. The preacher was speaking, and he was talking about a journey of a prophet that Soarin could not remember the name of. In this journey, the prophet was traversing his way into the afterlife, and he was walking alongside the Goddess, Faust.

“Wait, did I die? Is this the afterlife?” he asked himself in a whispered tone. He felt that he should be panicking right now, but for some reason, there was no such feeling. He thought for a moment, and memories came back to him. He remembered the grenades falling all around him and exploding. He remembered jumping up to fly Princess Twilight away from the fight. He remembered a grenade had landed right in front of him, and he was turning to protect the princess who was on his back. He remembered the jarring blast that seemed to knock his senses out of him. And he remembered landing on something, then a crushing blast that launched him into the air.

And then he was here.

He should be in immense pain, from what he had gone through and the injuries received, but there was no pain. Not from the injuries he had received in the fight, nor from the various strains and scrapes from earlier. Nor was he feeling in any way tired, which he should have been feeling. Heck, he should have been exhausted enough to sleep for a month, but instead, he found himself feeling refreshed. Rejuvenated even.

“To answer your first question, Soarin, yes, you’re dead right now.”

Soarin towards the sound of the voice. It was a voice that he had become somewhat familiar with, having heard it a few times before in the past. The voice carried a shy intelligence to it, as well as a subtle confidence. But hearing that voice meant that they had failed, that HE had failed to protect the one pony he had been charged to protect. For the first time, he felt a twinge of regret. “Princess? If you’re here, that means that you died as well? And what of the Dusty and Silver? Spike? Spitfire…”

“They all live, as do I.”

The stallion felt relief wash over him knowing that Spitfire had survived. She would grieve, yes, but she would also be able to find happiness someday, something which he had failed at when living. After the relief came the question, “If you’re alive how…” he asked.

“I should explain,” Twilight said to him. “Walk with me, please.”

They walked down the path of stars at a gentle stroll. As they walked, Soarin could make out scenes which began to appear around him. The scenes that he saw he recognized immediately, for he had lived each and every one. It is said that when a pony nearly dies, they sometimes will see their life flash before their eyes. This is what Soarin saw. His own life, played out scene by scene.

“To answer the second question, this is not the afterlife. This is the place in between life and what comes after. All who die pass through here, just as you are right now. At the end of this walk, you find Elysium,” she explained. “Welcome to the Crossroads, Lieutenant.

“As to how I am here, and yet still alive, the Crossroads is also where Ascension into becoming an Alicorn happens. Do you know what is required for a pony to become an Alicorn?” she asked him. When he only shook his head, she continued with her lesson. “For a pony to be able to undergo Ascension, they have to have a sufficiently powerful wellspring. You know how wellspring ranking goes; it measures the magic within a pony. The more magic within, the higher the rank. The highest ranked ponies are ranked Alpha Plus. They are extremely rare. I was one, and I know three others personally: Rainbow Dash, Big MacIntosh Apple, and a mare named Starlight Glimmer. At any one time, there may be only ten alive who rank that high.

“Also, it does not matter whether it is a Unicorn, Pegasus or an Earth Pony. Any of the three tribes can ascend. But to get there has other requirements. The pony has to die, and not just dying is enough. The body has to be completely destroyed in the process. Also, at the time of the body’s destruction, the pony’s wellspring must receive a huge boost in thaumatic energy. That is what happened to me when I completed Starswirl’s last spell. It triggered the Elements of Harmony, and they killed me. Afterwards, if the pony does not pass through the Crossroads into Elysium, then they return to Equis as an Alicorn.” Twilight looked over to the Lieutenant walking next to her. “So, any questions?” she asks.

“Yeah, if you’re alive, how are you here, Your Highness?”

Twilight gave Soarin a sheepish grin. “Oops… kind of forgot that detail. Alicorns are the only ponies who have the ability to enter the Crossroads and navigate it by their own free will. As a matter of fact, it was Celestia who met me here when I ascended, as she was there for Princess Cadenza when she ascended. When a pony undergoing Alicorn Ascension enters the Crossroads, every Alicorn feels it, and traditionally, one of us will enter to help the pony along the way.”

Soarin simply nodded in understanding. The princess was here to serve as his guide. But he was only a low Alpha on the wellspring scale, and also, as far as he could remember, he had not been completely obliterated, nor had he been hit with an incredibly huge burst of magic. He was definitely not going to become royalty through reappearing with a horn. That left just one possibility in his mind. “You’re here to guide me into Elysium, Princess?”

“Actually, that’s not the case here,” she replied. Twilight paused as she thought about how to best explain why she was here in the Crossroads with the Pegasus stallion. She could not take forever, though, because time was of the essence, and the longer it took, the closer it came to being too late. She went with what she new, and did her best to explain. “Normally, when a pony dies, they cross through here completely on their own, without any help. Usually, once here, you’re destined to spend eternity inside Elysium. There is no path, in that case, but instead, it is a floor of stars that goes on forever. And after the scenes of your life play out, the light appears in front of you to call you in.

In certain rare cases, a pony can choose to return to the living instead of going into Elysium. To do so, you just walk off the path. To do that, you have to consciously decide that you wish to return, and walk away. Right now, Soarin, you have that chance. Right now, the medics are fighting to save your life. They are doing chest compressions and breathing for you, to keep your body alive in the hopes that you might live and return to them.” Twilight turned to stand before him, placing a hoof to his chest. “You have a choice to make, Soarin. Keep going forward, and when the light appears, walk into it, and you will be in a world where there is no pain or sorrow. It will be a world where the only thing you will know is the love you have for those you have always loved, your friends and family, and you will know their love for you.

“Or,” she continued, “You can return to your body and live. You can return to your family and friends who want you in their lives. You can return to the mare that is right now crying out your name, begging that you return to her. You can return to live your life out, dealing with the pain and hardships that come with life, but there are also so many blessings that you would miss otherwise.” Twilight had said her piece. Technically, she should not have said as much as she had. Alicorns were not supposed to interfere with this decision, but there was a part of her that felt the rules be damned. All she could do now is hope that Soarin would choose as she hoped he would.

That is why she came here. After she had lost consciousness, she had slipped out of her mortal shell into her astral form, and saw them trying to save the Wonderbolt Lieutenant’s life. Though the odds were against him being able to return, she had hoped that he may have that choice.

Soarin did not know what he should do. The siren song around them still whispered in his ear, and he longed to follow the song to where it was calling him so very badly. But hearing about Spitfire crying over him tore him up inside. He loved her, and he questioned that he would truly be happy for eternity without her at his side. He did not feel right leaving her, knowing that she loved him so desperately, as Princess Twilight described.

The scenes from his life faded away, and now appearing before him was the light. The brighter than the sun light that did not hurt his eyes, but was instead soothing to them. The light that when he looked into it, he could sense that his mom and dad were there, waiting for him to step on in to join them. And others waited for him beyond the light as well. And he so very much wanted to be with them. He needed to be with them, for the light and the song was promising him eternal happiness and joy, if all he did was step into the light.

Just a couple steps. No more pain. No more fighting. No more war. No more death. He would be with mom and dad again. And Grampy Cirrus and Aunty Tailwind. Even Fleetfoot was waiting for him, along with High Winds, Wave Chill, and Misty Fly. They would all be together again, forever happy and joyful. All it took was a step…

“Spitfire,” he whispered. Could he just leave her behind? Was his love for her nothing but a lie? But the siren call of the heavenly eternity beckoned him like the world’s most addictive drug. He thirsted for it in every part of his being. He could not look away from the light, as he could hear it call to him, call his name. He could not stop himself as he took that step.

Twilight smiled as Soarin stepped off the path, away from the light.

Author's Note

Note on the CPR; Kinda hard to get a proper seal with a pony's mouth doin mouth-to-mouth the way us hairless apes do it. Just thought I would mention that lol