The Price of Love

The midnight hour was upon everypony in the Throne Room when Princess Celestia briefed her sister and the three military commanders present. “A half hour ago, the Griffin ambassador delivered a message to me stating that they had captured Princess Twilight Sparkle, and that we were not to interfere with their plans, along with an implied threat that they would bring harm to Twilight if we were to take any action.

“I will not sit idly by and let them act with such impunity. We WILL get Twilight Sparkle back home to us, and we WILL make certain to instruct the Griffin Empire as to what the consequences are for attacking Equestria in this manner,” Celestia said with an outwardly cool and calm demeanor.

Celestia’s Chief-of-Staff, Rolled Scroll, was the next pony to speak. As her highest ranked advisor, he was privy to all manners of information, and had full authority to act on his own initiative as he deemed necessary. He had not been idle after issuing the alert, and had been gathering as much pertinent information that was available. “I have instructed the heads of the Equestrian intelligence services and the head of the Equestrian Bureau of Investigations to gather any and all information they have on the area between Princess Twilight’s point of entry into Griffica, and Griffinhelm. They are gathering information on the terrain, population centers, and any and all military units known, or suspected to be in the area. Also, I have here a complete dossier on Major Bloodclaw for your review. If I may, Your Highness?” he respectfully asked. After receiving a nod of affirmation, he gave her a folder containing all known facts about Bloodclaw, as well as notes on various assessments done on him by the intelligence community. He also gave Luna and the other three copies of the folder so that they too may know just whom it was that they were dealing with.

Spitfire knew about Major Bloodclaw, whereas her position as Commanding Officer of an elite special operations unit required her to know just who was the worst of the worst that she may have to face. The complete file on the Griffin repainted the picture of him in a whole new, and especially graphic, way. Just the list of atrocities that he was responsible for was enough to chill her blood, and when she read more of the details, her blood only got colder. He was the most brutal officer in the Griffin Army, and though there were unit commanders placed above him, he in reality only answered to Emperor Ironbeak himself. He was well known for getting the job done, usually in the most brutal way imaginable, and he revelled in doing so.

“He’s a fuckin butcher!” General Ironsides exclaimed, only to formally apologize to the princesses, having momentarily forgotten proper decorum.

“While my choice of wording would have been different, your assessment of the Griffin is one hundred percent accurate in my opinion,” Luna told him.

“This report tells me that we had better move quickly in getting Princess Twilight back,” Star Caster stated. As Captain of the Royal Guard, there stood a good chance that it would be her troops going in on the rescue mission. But they would need more information in order to do this. “Scroll, do you have a map of the area?” When Rolled Scroll produced the map, unrolling it and placing it before them, she then asked if the ambassador had given a time for the attack. When she had that knowledge, she started crunching numbers in her head. “OK, with the information given, and knowing the route the train was taking, that should place the location of the attack right about here,” she said as she used her magic to mark the spot with a grease pencil. “There is a sizable base about fifty miles away as well, from the looks of it,” she added, circling the base’s location on the map. The pencil fell from her telekinetic grasp as she continued, “We’ll need as much detailed info as possible. Scroll, how long before the detailed reports are ready?”

“It will be at least a day before the reports are all compiled, Captain.”

“That’s too long. How long to just get the information on the area immediately around the attack zone, and known units in the area? That and the route into Griffica?” asked Spitfire.

“It would take nearly as long, Captain Spitfire. The intelligence officers would have to sort through the information to separate what is needed and what is not. I could put pressure on them to expedite their data mining, but that would probably only cut it down to twelve hours or so,” the Chief-of-Staff stated.

It was Princess Luna who offered a quicker solution to their dilemma. “There is another way to get more information. Being the Princess of the Night, one of my skills is known as astral projection. I can use that to send my soul travelling to the site and scout the area. I may also even be able to ascertain the location of Princess Twilight,” Luna informed them. She stepped away from the group to lay down next to the throne as she prepared herself. “Please do not disturb me while I am doing this. Any disturbance of my physical body would most likely cause my astral self to return to my body before I am finished.” With that said, Luna closed her eyes and disconnected her mind from her body.

The astral form was considerably different from the physical form ponies generally wore when they did important things, such as breathing, eating, and generally not being dead. For one, most ponies were unable see somepony who was in an astral form. The few times when they were seen, it was either the pony had a natural affinity for seeing ethereal beings, they were performing or part of a spell that would temporarily grant that ability, or lastly, the astral traveler had made a great deal of effort to be visible.

The astral body has often been described as being like a ghost. This was a surprisingly accurate description, because that was pretty much what the astral form was, and also that the only time most ponies ever traveled the astral plane was when they were on the way to Elysium. In other words, the way a pony normally traveled the astral realm was through death.

Luna was one of the rare ponies that was able to freely enter and transverse this realm. Unlike most that could, she was even able to visit the Crossroads, which was the place between life and death. Normally, when a pony reached that place there was no turning back, where it would normally only accessible after the soul has been fully separated from the body. There had been a few cases where a pony had a near death experience, been to the Crossroads, and then returned to the physical world, but they were rare indeed, to the point where many did not believe it to be possible.

There were only four ponies alive who had the ability to travel to the Crossroads and back freely, having done so at least once in their lives. All four of them visited there when they underwent ascension. In the case of Princesses Twilight and Cadance, Celestia was able to help them find their way back. Princesses Luna and Celestia only had each other to help one another. That they made it back to the land of the living at all was a miracle in itself, and a testament to their determination to be there for the ponies they swore and oath to to take care of.

Luna was at the site where the train had been attacked. She could easily see how the tracks directly under the very front of the engine had been blown skyward, and how that had launched the wrecked engine off the tracks. The path of wreckage was such that blind foal to follow it, and she was upon the wrecked train in a short moment. As she moved around, she checked to see if there were any survivors, reaching out with her mind hoping to feel a pony’s life force, but there were none that she found. There was one body that she did not find, and that gave her a glimmer of hope. Nowhere among the wreckage, or in the small clearing beside the wreck did she find the body of young Spike. This gave her hope that he might still live.

Having no luck at the site of the attack, Luna decided next to go investigate the route to the Griffin military base. It seemed the logical place that they would take Twilight, if they intended to keep her alive. As she prepared to move on, she saw a ghostly form in front of her. She could make out the light blue body, and a white mane and tail, and this saddened Luna, causing her to realize that she had just talked to this pony the other day, and that she once had such a bright future ahead of her. Her thoughts on whom it was were confirmed when the ghost before her pointed down, and Luna recognized the pony as Fleetfoot. The deep, open gash in her throat and look of terror on her still face was testament to how gruesome and violent a death she had suffered.

Luna looking back up to Fleetfoot’s ghostly form, to see that she was pointing her ethereal hoof to the west, and not north towards the base. She faded and reappeared a little ways off in the direction she had been pointing, where she beckoned for Luna to follow. They traveled together, side by side. Then suddenly, they were over a small, hidden camp. Within the camp were about a platoon’s worth of Griffin soldiers.

The princess looked around, but saw no sign of Twilight or the Griffin Major who had captured her. Looking to Fleetfoot once more, she suddenly knew that this is where Major Bloodclaw was bringing Twilight to. This made sense to Luna, having read in the file on the Major that he preferred to operate out of small base camps like this. Also, keeping Twilight in a small, hidden camp would make a rescue attempt all the more difficult. You have to be able to find a camp to rescue a pony from the camp. And Bloodclaw would probably move the camp regularly. At least once, maybe twice a week.

Once more, Princess Luna looked to the ghost of Fleetfoot, this time, to give her thanks. She saw that Fleetfoot was staring off towards Canterlot and Ponyville, where her husband and daughters lived. A great sadness seemed to be on Fleetfoot’s face as an ethereal light seemed to form behind the ghost, infinitely distant, and yet, so close at the same time. It was the portal to the Crossroads, and Fleetfoot knew that she was to leave those she held most dear behind.

“Fleetfoot, it’s time. Do not worry. I will make certain to look after Fire Streak and your daughters. You have my promise on that.” she gently informed the ghostly mare.

Fleetfoot looked to Luna a final time, silently mouthing a ‘thank you’, before she faded into the light.

“Safe journey, brave Fleetfoot. Go with Faust, and sit at Her table in peace.”

Princess Luna rose to a discussion concerning events from the Crystal Empire. As the Lunar Princess walked over, her sister informed her that while she was traveling, notification that the Griffins had closed the entire border with Equestria had come in. Another message had also arrived, this one direct from the Crystal Empire. It seems that Emperor Ironbeak did have plans to annex the Crystal Empire. Multiple Griffin battalions had crossed the border between the two nations, and had taken several bases. They had done this at one of the closest points to the Crystal City, apparently in hopes of being able to quickly capture the city and overthrow Princess Cadance and her husband, Prince Consort Shining Armor. The Griffin Navy had also swiftly formed a naval blockade around the Crystal Empire’s chief port, to prevent any aid from other nations from being able to assist the newly reformed nation in resisting the Griffin invasion.

“Now we know what Ironbeak’s endgame is, what do we do about it. I know you have no such plans to sit back and let that tyrant have his way, dear sister,” said Luna. After what she had seen, the Lunar Princess would happily see the Griffin Empire fall and drown in their own blood. Such massacres were an abomination to everything Equestria stood for, and Princess Luna was VERY protective of those ponies she was co-ruler over. But wiping out a nation for revenge would be just as bad as what Ironbeak was doing, and would doom Equestria to be as bad as Griffica in the end.

“We shall formulate a plan for that very soon, Luna, but our first priority shall be getting Twilight back. By doing that, we’ll be removing their ace-in-the-hole, and that will also hearten our ponies, giving them strength through the knowledge that we will not let them abduct our ponies with impunity,” Celestia replied to her sister. Turning to her, Celestia asked further, “Tell us, what were you able to discover on your journey?

“I found the location of the attack, and it was nearly exactly where you figured, Captain Star Caster. Very good deductive work, by-the-way. Unfortunately, I was unable to find any signs of Twilight or young Spike, but all others were accounted for. I am sorry to report that I found no survivors. Some I could plainly see had died when the train was derailed, but ten of the twenty-four who had been aboard the train had been executed brutally.”

Hearing this made Spitfire feel sick to her stomach. She had known Fleetfoot ever since she had joined the Wonderbolts, and she had been a trusted and valued friend. It had been Fleetfoot’s recommendation that Spitfire be given command of the Wonderbolts, as well as for Soarin to be appointed the executive officer position. Fleetfoot had also been the Mare-of-Honor at her and Soarin’s wedding. And now she was gone, cruelly stolen from their lives by a heartless bastard with a thirst for blood and pain. “How did she die, Princess?” Spitfire dreaded hearing how one of her closest friends had met her final fate, but she felt she needed to know. “Was she one of the ones executed?”

Luna did not want to answer. A cold pit formed in her stomach at the thought of telling the young Pegasus the truth, knowing how painful it would be for her to hear the words. But Spitfire deserved to know the truth. “Yes, she was. I’m sorry, Captain” the princess told her, tears of pain matching the pain in her voice flowed as she said the words. “I understand that she was a personal friend, as well as comrade-in-arms?”

Spitfire could only nod to Luna as she fought to reign in her emotions. She wanted to lash out. She wanted to break down and cry. She wanted to fly away and never return. But what she wanted most of all was to avenge her fallen friend and former Wonderbolt.

Princess Celestia watched the Wonderbolt Captain with a feeling of concern. She empathized with the young mare, having lost those she considered friends in the past due to violent ends, and it never became any easier. “Will you be okay, Spitfire? Would you require time to yourself for a moment?” she asked softly.

Spitfire just softly shook her head before turning to Celestia. “I’ll be fine, Your Highness. My time to grieve will come, but for now, I need to help with the rescue plans.” She then turned her gaze to Princess Luna, asking, “Princess, was you able to discover anything else which would help us rescue Princess Twilight?”

“Yes, I was able to find a hidden base camp about fifteen miles to the west of the attack location. It fits what Bloodclaw prefers to base his operations from, and it is small enough to quickly be taken down, allowing them to move to a location every few days if needed. Keeping Twilight in places that move around and are difficult to locate would be of strong tactical importance for the Griffins. If we were to move quickly, we could possibly have a small unit at the base camp within a couple of days, possibly even one day, if we’re swift enough.” Luna moved over to the map. Taking a grease pencil in her magic, she marked the location of the hidden camp on the map. “This is where the base camp is currently located. Given that they had just captured her earlier in the evening, and it appeared that she had not arrived at the camp yet, I would guess that we’ll have approximately three days before they move to a new location.”

“That makes sense to me, Your Highness,” General Ironsides spoke up, adding. “It takes a certain amount of time to set up or take down a camp, and then there is the moving of the camp. Moving more often than every three days would be too much of a strain to keep up, while staying in one position places them at greater risk of being discovered.” The General studied the map further. “I would recommend that it be a platoon sized unit to go in. It would be a small enough size that the unit will be able to get in and out quickly enough, but large enough to deal with the camp with minimal losses. I would also recommend this be either a Royal Guard or a Wonderbolt operation. More likely, a Guard operation. They seem better suited to combat in this terrain and for fighting in a woodland area.”

This made perfect sense to Spitfire, though making it a Royal Guard operation instead of the Wonderbolts made so that she would not be going in on the mission. As much as this was to her dissatisfaction, Equestria’s interests did come first. “I concur with the General. As much as I would wish for the Wonderbolts to go in, with what we’ll most likely end up facing if things go south, the Royal Guard would be best suited to deal with the situation. It’s just a matter of different branches having different styles, and in a wooded area, a Wonderbolt unit would be at a potentially fatal disadvantage,” she explained.

“Actually, I’m thinking that having a small contingent of Wonderbolts on the team could prove to be a strong advantage. I’m thinking a fireteam for scouting and recon purposes. Plus, there may be times when we might need lightning fast members for dealing with airborne Griffins,” Star Caster countered. “Two full squads of Royal Guard, with a third mixed squad of Royal Guard and Wonderbolts. And I think I know which Royal Guard unit I will choose from. Also, I think an illusion specialist should be included in the team. And it just happens that one of Equestria’s very best illusionists was just assigned to my staff.” Calling an aide over to her, Captain Caster sent her to bring Lieutenant Spearhead to the Throne Room.

Before the aide is able to leave, Captain Spitfire also requested that she retrieve Lieutenant Soarin as well. They had a lot of planning to do, and only a short amount of time to get the planning complete.

The sun had just come up over the horizon when Spike exited the trees and cautiously made his way to the train wreckage. He had ended up passing out during the night after the Griffins seemed to have left. He chided himself for his failure to stay awake, knowing that had the Griffins had come through again, they could have possibly found him, and that would have been the end of poor little Spike.

He had a lot on his mind at the moment. He was hungry, very thirsty, and in a great deal of pain due to his broken arm. As far as he knew, he was now alone in what he could only assume was a hostile land. He also had no clue what happened to Twilight. That ate a hole deep into his soul, leaving him feeling that he had failed her when she had needed him the most. Lastly, he needed to somehow get a message to Princess Celestia. She would get them all home safe.

He found the first body when he was exploring the car where the Royal Guard squad that had been assigned as their security team had been in. It was a Guard that Spiked recognized. Staff Sergeant Hot Shot had apparently died of a broken neck, if the angle of his head was any indication. He quickly discovered more bodies inside the car. from what he could tell, they had all been killed during the crash. There had been thirteen ponies in the squad, but several were missing from his count. Spike decided he should look further and get as accurate of a count for when he was able to message the princess.

The next car was where the train’s crew would be, with the exception of the two engineers. He found only four of the six he had been expecting. Beyond this car would have been the train’s engine. Exiting the car, Spike found the engine on its side several yards away. It took him several minutes, but he was finally able to get into the engine’s cramped control room. The two engineers were clearly dead, having been tossed around a small room filled with protruding levers and steel structural beams. Seeing that there was nothing that he could do for them, Spike left them and headed back towards the dining car, but paused when he saw more bodies in the clearing next to the wrecked train.

Steeling himself for whatever he should find, Spike approached the first body. The armor told him that the pony had been a Corporal. His hooves had been shackled together to prevent escape, and it looked like he had suffered numerous injuries during the crash. Spike was unable to tell if the stallion had been a Unicorn or an Earth Pony though, because the remains of the stallion’s head resembled a pile of dog food mixed with strawberry jam instead of that of a pony.

When Spike was finished retching his body’s supply of bile onto the ground, he got back up on his feet and made his way to the next corpse. This mare Spike recognized almost immediately. It was Fleetfoot. She too had been shackled, and it looked like she might have suffered an injury to one of her wings. But the way her head was bent back combined with the look of horrific pain frozen on her face made the cause of her death apparent. Her throat had been slashed deeply, leaving a gaping wound surrounded by a pool of blood. Had there been anything left in his system for his body to send up, he would have been vomiting once more, but he could only gag and dry heave as he moved away from her body.

Spike forced himself to at least check the remaining bodies, in case one of them happened to be Twilight. When he found no signs of her body anywhere, Spike felt a moment of panic. The Griffins must have taken her! He forced the panic aside, knowing that he needed to get a message to Princess Celestia. Spike heading back to the executive car in search of paper and a pen. When he found what he needed, he began to write his message.

Train was attacked by Griffins.
Unable to find Twilight. Believe the Griffins took her.
All others are dead.

It was a much shorter message than he would normally send, but in his state of shock, he was not able to compose anything longer. Rolling up the scroll, he gave it a small burst of flames, incinerating it to send it on its way where it would magically reappear in front of the Princess.

With that taken care of, Spike had other things he needed to do. The dining car might still have food and water, and both of those he needed, especially something to drink. There would also be a first aid kit and hopefully, it would include aspirin, as well as a sling. It was not much, but he would take what he could get.

Once inside, Spike found his way to the car’s refrigerator. It had been knocked open and the contents had been spilled and scattered around, he found numerous unopened packages of food. Most of what he found was snack foods, but he couldn’t afford to be picky about what he ate at the moment. He also discovered an unbroken bottle of soda, which he drank down.

With food and drink in his system, he went in search of the first aid kit. It took a bit of searching, but he eventually found it. Fortunately for him, it had been opened, apparently after the crash, but nothing had been removed or lost. Grabbing a bottle of aspirin first, Spike was able to rip the cap off with his teeth, and he downed the whole bottle. While that would have been a deadly dosage for a pony, his dragon metabolism worked differently, allowing him to ingest substances that would normally be fatal poison without harm. Also, if his body took in an excess of medicine, it would store the excess, and use it as his body needed it. While it took about three times as much medication to work as it would take an average adult pony, he had taken enough that it should last a few days. It would take a little time for the aspirin to kick in, but when it did, there would at least be some relief to the pain.

Also in the kit was a couple of slings. One of them was sized for an adult pony, but the other was made to fit a foal. This would do nicely, whereas Spike was physically the size of a foal. It took some effort, but he was able to get the broken limb into the sling, and the sling’s strap around his neck.

Weariness set in as Spike sat amongst the wreckage strewn about the train car. He felt lost and powerless to do anything about it. As Twilight’s number one assistant, he felt that the responsibility was his to protect her. He should have been there for her. He should have saved her from those barbaric Griffins! He should have… Spike broke down, sobbing silently. All of this was just too much for him to handle. He was only twenty years old. His life had been way too sheltered, and it had left him ill prepared for something like this.

Although it was something he had been waiting for, the familiar burning sensation of an arriving message from the princess took him by surprise. The surprise was due to how strong of a burn he was feeling. The reason for the burn’s strength was apparent when he belched out the message. There was not only a scroll, but what looked to be a rolled up map as well. Picking the message up, he undid the waxed Royal seal and read the scroll first.

Sir Spike,

My sister and I are so very grateful to know that you still live.

We already know of the attack, and that everypony except for you and Twilight have been killed. You was correct in whom it was that attacked the train, and also that the Griffins did take Twilight.

Help is being sent. We will get you and Twilight home safe.

Two items have been sent along with this scroll.

The first is a map of the area. On it, you will find the location of where you are at clearly marked. To the left side of the map, you will see a small base camp marked. This is where we believe they have taken her. The map should allow you to find your way there.

We need you to get to that location and wait. Along with the map, the other item is a locator beacon. It is paired to a compass the rescue team will have with them. Using that, the team will easily find you, and be able to rescue you and Twilight.

It will require that you can travel as swiftly as possible, Spike, but we need for you to be there within the next twenty-four hours. I know that this is asking a lot from you, but I ask this for Twilight’s sake.

Thank you, again, Sir Spike. Our prayers are with you.

H. R. H. Princess Celestia

Spike picked up the map next and unrolled it to see what the trek looked like. He saw that it was close by, only fifteen miles away. This should be easy enough to do. He could walk the fifteen miles in under ten hours, even at an easy pace. Yes, the route was wooded, but it couldn’t be much worse than the Whitetail Woods back at home. Next, Spike inspected the locator beacon that the princess had sent to him. It was a small wooden rod, about four inches in length and maybe a half an inch in thickness. Attached to each end were a pair of rubies. It was simple in appearance, but Spike knew that the beacon had been crafted carefully to hold a location spell that could be picked up from quite a distance away.

Before he set out on his cross country trek, Spike found a backpack inside the dining car. It had probably belonged to one of the stewards, where it was filled with personal supplies of a non-military nature. He emptied it out to make room for food. He also found numerous intact bottles of water, which he included in the packing. It was not much, but he felt it would be enough to get him to his location. Grabbing one more item before leaving the train, Spike taped a dagger he had found next to the dead Sergeant to the strap of the backpack. At least now, he would have that to back up his claws, teeth and Dragon fire. He may be young still, but if cornered, he would prove to be a dangerous foe to have.

After doing a final check, Spike set off in search of the camp.

They had been at it until past dawn hashing out the details, but the rescue operation was set up. Everypony going was now in their final preparations before forming up to board the train to the border.

It would be a full strength mixed platoon going into Griffica to pull the kidnapped princess out of the frying pan. Two full squads of combat veteran Royal Guards would be accompanied by a squad with a fireteam comprised of veteran Wonderbolts, a pair of medics, two supply guards to help maintain their gear, and to help with camp organization, three demolition ponies from an Engineer's Company, and lastly, an illusions specialist from Captain Star Caster’s personal staff. Captain Spitfire would be in charge of the third squad. Lastly, there was First Sergeant Silverwing as the Platoon Sergeant, and Major (formerly a Lieutenant) Dusty Spearhead as the Platoon Commander. The only one in the platoon who was not a combat vet was the illusionist, Lance Corporal Trixie Lunamoon. She was new to the Royal Guard, but she showed great promise, having placed first in her platoon in Boot Camp, as well as first in her advanced infantry training, along with her speciality training. Overall, it was a solid team that had been thrown together, and Spitfire felt confident that the mission would be successful.

She had most of her gear ready to go. She was making a final check of her gear before meeting up with Soarin, Wave Chill, Misty Fly and High Winds. They were the Wonderbolts that would make up the first fireteam for third squad. She had not wanted to have Soarin on this mission, whereas he was the one she wanted to take over the reins of leadership once she retired. If something were to happen to him… she quickly pushed that thought aside, not liking where it was leading. Besides, Soarin was one of the most decorated officers in the military for a reason. He was experienced in combat, and would bust his flank to ensure the mission was a success. The Wonderbolts needed him, but more importantly, Princess Twilight needed him right now.

And Spitfire needed him, even if she hated to admit it.

Placing one of her sabatons on her left hoof, she used it to pick up her bow. The bow was a collapsible compound bow, whose opening and closing was triggered by the same magic a pony would use to pick up an object. On the opposite sabaton would be a hook designed to draw and release the bowstring, launching the arrow. This gave an archer a more effective use in combat, allowing for quicker and more accurate shots. The collapsible design of the bow made for a much more compact carrying package as well, allowing for more gear, or more ammo, as needed. The arrows came with either narrow broadheads designed to be able to penetrate light armor, or different tips could be added to the shaft, from bow launched grenades, to smoke and gas grenades, depending on the need. With a flick of her wrist, Spitfire opened her bow, and then closed it with another flick. Satisfied that it was working to perfection, she placed it back down.

“I wish you would reconsider going on this operation, Spits,” Soarin said as he entered her office. When she glared at him, he replied, “The door was open.”

“That’s not what the glare was for. You know full well that I am needed on this mission. The only reason you’re on this mission, Soarin, is because the very best we have is required, given the high stakes.” Spitfire started placing all her gear in her travel pack. “Is that the only reason you stopped in, was to try to convince me to stay back? If it was, you can turn your flank right around and head back out the way you came in,” she told him, curtly.

“Oh, come on, Spits! Why does it have to be you?”

“Because it’s MY responsibility, Soarin! I am the leader of the Wonderbolts, and it is MY responsibility to ensure that this highly important mission is carried through! When it comes time that it becomes your responsibility, I can only pray that you’ll understand that,” she said as she continued to stow her gear. “Besides, I owe it to Fleetfoot. We all do.”

“I guess that there’s no stopping you. The great Spitfire, bound and determined to go out in one final blaze of glory.” turning around, he headed back out the door. “I’m gonna go check on the others, Spits. See you at the train station.”

The ponies arrived in squads. Their gear had already been packed onboard chariots which were being loaded onto the train. Other chariots would be used for transporting bodies back to Equestria. The troops themselves wore their combat armor. It was way less flashy than the ceremonial armor they normally wore, and much more suited for combat. Armor that realistically would have only offered a minimal amount of protection had been replaced with armor that would actually cover their vitals, while offering free range of movement. Even the helmets offered better functionality, covering the face and jaw better, while lacking the crest which the ceremonial armor had. Lastly, the helmets for the unicorns had horn guards which would protect that vital weak point.

Major Spearhead stood talking with Princess Luna as she went over final details with him. He had been given the promotion as a formality, due to the fact that the unit’s third squad was lead by a Captain. It would not go well having the platoon commander outranked by a squad leader.

“The best route to reach the attack site has been plotted out, Major,” Luna told him. It should give you an arrival time around one or two in the morning. That should give you time to get to Spike around dawn. He’ll be able to message us when you have Twilight safe in your custody.”

“We’ll get her home safe, Your Highness. This is what we’ve trained to do; to protect Equestria and her ponies.”

“Thank you, Major. Good hunting,” she said as she returned Dusty’s salute. Though as royalty, she was not required to do so, she chose to do so out of respect for those who served Equestria. She and her sister loved each and every one of their ponies, and Princess Luna took pride in those who took up the mantle of Equestria’s protectors.

Dusty turned on his hooves sharply, and moved to stand before his platoon. The first Sergeant bellowed out, “PLATOON! AH-TEN-HUH!” and every pony in the formation snapped to crisp attention. Turning around, he saluted the Major, and reported the platoon to be all present and ready for orders.

Dusty felt the pride swell deep in his chest. These mares and stallions before him willingly chose to serve, and would follow him through Tartarus and back on his command. They were the cream of Equestria’s crop, and it was an honor for him to be able to stand with them and serve with them. “Guards and Wonderbolts, you all know the drill. Let’s get this show on the road. OOH-RAH!” When the platoon answered back with an enthusiastic “OOH-RAH!” of their own, he ordered them to load up onto the train.

The Griffins may have called the first shots in this war, but Dusty and his troops would make certain that they would not be the last.