Brave New World

Dawn Heart:

The name’s Dawn Heart. I was once a member of the Royal Guard in Canterlot, but have recently been transferred to the front lines. I am a Sergeant in the Solar Empire’s army, and leader of my four pony squad. Everypony’s combat armor looks the same, a gold colored metal helmet and chest-piece. The only way to tell rank is by the small patches of color on the front of the armor.

This war is being fought against an army of rebels lead by our leader Celestia’s sibling Luna. They seek to destroy the government we have created and all that goes along with it. Thus far, the war efforts have done nothing to help either side.

Our main base of operations is in Canterlot, but our main base camp in the field is in Garden Gait. The location is just close enough to Canterlot that we can send troops to and from the base camp in case of emergency. The enemy hasn’t made any moves recently, and that only makes me worry.

It was night, the time that the enemy forces prospered. I wandered out of my tent, and decided to go for a walk. “Sergeant Dawn.” Called a familiar voice. I turned my head and saw my squad’s sniper, Talndis. “Mind if I walk with you, sir?” he asked.

“Not at all.” I reply as I start to walk to the borders of our camp.

“If you don’t mind my asking, sir, what do you think of the war? I mean, about the whole thing that is.”

“I feel we need this war. They threw down the gauntlet 10 years ago when the so called ‘New Lunar Republic’ started getting aggressive. This was a challenge that we shall not deny them. They want to fight for power? Let them try to take it from us. It is said that history is told by the victors, and we’ve already started writing the books. It’s just a matter of time before they see that and surrender. What do you think about all this?”

“Well, I think that the war needs to end already.” He laughed a bit, “However, I do feel it is necessary. The Lunars issued the challenge, and us Solars will keep on fighting as long as they do. What both sides aren’t seeing is that the longer this goes on, the worse off we all are.” I stopped walking, pondering his insight.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

“Nothing. Just thinking about what you said.” I replied. “How do you think the war will end? Who will be the victor?”

“Permission to speak honestly sir?”

“Always.”

“I think the NLR has a good shot at this.” He paused, awaiting my reaction. I simply stared back at him, waiting for him to continue. “They’ve got the son of a military genius as one of their sergeants. The guy’s got to have his old man’s bag of tricks plus some. Seems like a valuable advantage if you ask me. I’m not saying I hope they win though. I feel just the opposite actually. Just as a hypothetical question, what if they win after all? What would change? What would you do?”

“Well,” I started, “I would probably do like ole Midnight Flare and go into sanctuary somewhere where the new government can’t get to me. Maybe somewhere up near the Tarpan Mountains. You know? Just the other side of the Painted Pinto Desert. As for what would change, we would have to completely recreate the government. Sure they would use some of the same laws and regulations, but there’s a lot they would change. For instance, as a small change, Canterlot may no longer be the same as it is now.”

“What would change?” Talndis asked “It’s always been the alicorn’s home. Neither one would want to destroy it.”

“All I’m saying is that things will be much different than they used to be. Not to imply that they aren’t already.” At this point we were almost a mile outside of camp. We were walking faster than I had thought. “Perhaps we should turn around. We’re a bit farther out than we should be.”

“Of course sir. But if I may ask, why did you sign up for the Solar Empire’s army? Don’t say something like ‘Because the NLR challenged us and you felt threatened’.”

“You want to know one of the reasons I signed up?” I pulled an old wrinkled photo out of my chest pocket. “This is one of my reasons. My brother. This picture was taken when we were just foals. I can’t remember much about him, but we were the best of friends. For reasons I won’t mention, we were split up, and I haven’t seen him since. He’s one reason I fight. I fight to keep him and ponies like him safe. I just hope he isn’t caught up in this war. And if he is, I hope he’s on the right side.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Talndis said sounding sincere. “At least you have a good reason. I was drafted. I used to live in Fillydelphia with my family. As soon as I hit 18, I was shipped to Canterlot for training. I had the honor of joining the sniper trainees one day, and found that the far away, less confrontational combat was what I’m good at. It always pains me to kill, let alone kill, another pony no matter who they fight for. If I have to, I will, other than that, I look for other ways out.” He stopped walking, and I looked up to see that we were just inside the camp.

“Well Talndis, I must retire for the night”.I said. “This has been an enlightening conversation. I trust it won’t end up in your journals?”

“No it won’t. Good night sir.”