Chapters Chapter 1: The Battle of Manehattan
In wartime we identify ourselves with the nation, and its interests are the interests of our primal selves.
-George Herbert Mead
It has been three days since the invasion of Manehattan. Thousands of ponies fight on the front lines and they aren't even making a dent in the Griffin's Forces. Princess Celestia is working on a way to get Princess Twilight and the rest of the Elements of Harmony and bring them home from their peace conference. Major Saberwing was in charge of the Royal Army under Princess Celestia and was the leader of the Manehattan Campaign. He was the pony that was in charge in the forward attack. That is until a Griffin Brute came in and took the Major's head clean off. Afterward, Captain Thunder Rocker took command and all went to shit. Once he took control of the forces, he made very poor decisions that cost the lives of many ponies that depleted the vastness of our fighting force. It took all of the remaining ponies in the area to make a small garrison that aided in the evacuation, around 150 ponies were left in our 10,000 defending army. To the rest of us it was a lost cause. That's when we convinced him to evacuate the city.
"Hurry before the griffins attack again, mares and foals first, we need to evacuate the city!" said Corporal Velvet Skies
"Captain, we finished evacuating the south side and we are currently clearing the center of the city," said Private Sunset Apple
"Good work private keep up with the evacuation procedures," said Captain Rocker.
"Sir, an incoming transmission from HQ," I said as I barely missed a grenade explosion.
"Staff Sergeant, finish up here and keep these ponies safe," he said as he turned for the radio pony.
"Yes, sir."
As much as I hate the bastard, he's the only one who can lead us right now. The next in command is me and I am not qualified to lead this many ponies out of the city. In the squadron I lead now there's Corporal Velvet Skies, she was a baker before and I heard she made the best pastries in this city. She was a Unicorn mare and had a red velvet coat, a white frosting colored mane, with sky blue eyes. Must be hard to see it go down in flames. Then there's Sergeant Chrome Wing, he was a Pegasus with a silver coat, a black mane, with orange eyes. He enlisted from Cloudsdale into the Royal Army just a year before the war even started. He'd kill you rather than look at you. And finally there's Private Sunset Apple from Fillydelphia, the youngest pony of all of us. She had a yellow coat, a purplish-gray mane, dark purple eyes. She was a sales ponies daughter but was drafted into this mess and apparently she just got her cutie mark. Hopefully no pony has to tell her parents she's not coming home. Of course there's me, I'm Staff Sergeant Steel Charmer from Canterlot. Commanding Officer of the 307th Infantry, or what's left of it, after Captain Rocker took command. I have raspberry red coat, a chocolate brown mane, chocolate brown eyes. I was a drafted into this mess and all that's keeping me alive is my special somepony, Lightning Charger. Just as I started to think of her, Corporal Skies woke me of my day dream.
"Staff Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, we need your help quickly!"
"W-what is it Corporal, what's the matter?"
"It's Captain Rocker, he's-he's," she stuttered.
"Oh, Celestia please don't tell me." I said.
She said nothing, her inability to look me in the face only confirmed my suspicions. We both ran over to the Captain to see that a mortar shell blew up the radio pony and half of the Captain. Bits of the two ponies were everywhere, covering the poor young private that was in an alley next to this atrocity. The poor Corporal couldn't take the sight of it and relieved herself of this upsetting vision. As a pair of medics came by to pickup the remains, the Captain was breathing, still holding on. I went to him to get whatever he had to say off his chest and hopefully make him at peace.
"Steel...I..." he said in his dying breath.
"Hey, hey, how's it going sir," I said as calmly as possible for I've never seen a pony this mangled before. "Take it easy soldier."
"Here's the rendezvous point for these ponies to get to safety. Make sure you get them out of here." as he handed me the bloody coordinates with his final breath.
Well shit. That means all 7,836 civilians are under my protection, and all 150...scratch that, all 148 soldiers now take orders from me and we can't stay here for much longer or the griffins will surly catch up soon. So I had to make the hardest decision ever. This was not going to please them at all, but it had to be done in order to keep as many of them alive as possible. So I took my position on top of some rubble and started my speech.
"Excuse me everypony, I have something that I need to say," I said as all eyes turned to me. The lot of them went silent with the occasional filly or colt crying. The sounds of war still heard over the building tops making it hard to hear for some.
I clear my throat before I speak, getting any last jitters out of me. "Ponies, as you already know Captain Thunder Rocker...is no longer with us. But before he died he gave me specific orders to get as many of you out of the city as possible...and to some of you, what I'm about to say will anger you, but it is in our best interests to leave now, and head to the rendezvous point that has been selected by our commanding officers --" The crowd instantly shows their disapproval of the plan by shouting and yelling. "Look, I understand that there's still ponies inside the city, but we have to leave now this maybe our only chance to leave now and survive the journey with out any ambushes. Truthfully I see this plan as a way to give the ones that we did rescued today a chance, a chance to fight against these damned monsters. If we stay here, we risk the option of being killed in the streets of this city."
"The Staff Sergeant is right, I'm from this city and even though it may seem hard to believe but we have to go it's what will keep the foals --"Corporal Skies was interrupted by an elite sniper and it seemed as if he was out of breath.
"The enemy is two kilometers out and they have something that will wipe us out if we don't move now sir." he said while painting.
With this bit of news the ponies start to run out of the city limits. I point at Private Apple to take a group of twenty ponies and escort the civilians out of town, and take them to safety. I told her that we would meet her at the mountain base. The rest of us knew what we got ourselves into and we dug ourselves in and waited for the right moment to strike.
Finally we saw them, the feathered bastards were in an armored vehicle of some sort but we weren't going to give up so easily, after all, we had the element of surprise on our side. As they past, some of the ponies put on explosives and waited for the right time to pull the trigger. Then suddenly, the armored vehicle blew up and we popped out and opened fire on them. The timing could've never been more perfect. There were ones flying and some that survived the explosion of the armored vehicle. After what felt like an eternity in Tartarus was actually about fifteen minutes in reality. They all dropped in pools of their own blood.
"Ok, search them and see if they have anything useful for us."
We all searched for anything useful radios, supplies, ammunition, even drinking water for the civilians. Two stallions went to the Armored thing we destroyed and one of them called me over. It appeared to be a survivor, by the looks of it he was a Staff Sergeant like me. I looked at him for a while and he did the same, I really contemplated if I should kill him or keep him alive. The griffin was in a bad condition he lost a wing and broke one of his front legs.
"What should we do with him sir?" asked the first stallion
"Should I kill him, it would be all to easy," said the second stallion as he cocked his weapon. "One shot to the head and he ain't gonna bother no pony no more."
"Please don't kill me, I have a family," he said as he looked at us in fear.
"Oh, ok, you have a family. Well that changes everything doesn't it," said the second stallion in a clam voice as he grabbed the griffin's face. "You see that filly she had a family, HAD A FAMILY! Then you fuck heads came in and ended her happiness. I'm not sure if you are aware of the situation here but--" He was interrupted by the first stallion. clearly angered with the Pegasus.
"Rain Dasher, are you fucking serious right now. Did you really have to say all of that," said the first stallion.
"Look, Silver Blade, its the only way for us to get even with these fucks. You would do the same," said Rain Dasher.
"No I wouldn't. Do even know if you remember what we're fighting for?" said Silver Blade.
Great that's all I need, for these two to start fighting. but this is neither time nor the place for this. I sent Corporal Velvet to take the rest of the troops to protect the civilians with Private Apple about three minutes ago. Now I guess I have to intervene and stop this before it gets to far. Oh how I hate being in command.
"Stop it, the both of you! Your beginning to sound like little colts! Now since we still have some time left we can go for the rendezvous point if you done bickering." I said with a snarled expression on my face.
The two soldiers stand at attention and wait for further command.
"Now we are going to take this griffin and--" I was interrupted by the griffin
"My name is Palaemon." said the badly injured griffin
"What was that?"
"My name is Palaemon." the griffin repeated. "Staff Sergeant Palaemon."
"Ok then, we're going to take Staff Sergeant Palaemon here, to the rendezvous point with us where we can interrogate him to see if he knows anything. And you two, since you are so fond of our little guess, are going to watch him all the way there. Understood."
The two gave a confirming salute but one Pegasus in particular seemed annoyed with the orders."
"Is there a problem with what I told you soldier?"
"Just one thing, what if he leads them to us?"
I sighed then answered the question, "If you see that he does you have my permission to break his other leg...permanently." The griffin looked surprised at my words so I knew that my point got across.
"Ok, blindfold him and make sure he can't see."
I watch as my orders were carried out. Rain Dasher put the blindfold on and Silver Blade tied his talons and hind legs together. Then they proceed to put him in a cart and wheel him out of here. As we walk out of the city, I look back to see not a city a war zone and what was the once regal city of Manehattan is now a pile of brick, mortar, dead ponies and now the fallen property of Equestria. We lost.
Author's Note
2 Kilometers = 1.24 Miles
In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.
-Winston Churchill
This isn't how it was supposed to go. My sister is now to distraught for Twilight and the others. She can't lead the war effort properly in this state so she left it up to me and this is harder than it looks. I alone control the entire Equestrian Military, Princess Cadence is in the Crystal Empire taking in any refugee that comes from the war ridden city of Manehattan. It was the first attack that my sister made to rebel the invaders. Shining Armor has made it clear that the fighting will go on for a few years if we don't do something now. No pony is ready for this not even Celestia, but it must be said for it will keep the ponies in the rest of the cities safe and secure. But I do hate to lie especially in front of the loyal citizens of Equestria. I guess it is to make sure no panicking ensues. I take to the podium and prepare the speech.
"Good ponies of Equestria and any pony that has made it to the safe zones away from Manehattan, I have word from the front lines and it is not pleasant. As of this morning the eastern town of Manehattan was lost to us. It is now under Griffin Control. Of the 10,000 soldiers that were sent to the city only 148 of them got out, and the rest of them were killed in action or went missing. Also out of the 8.4 million ponies that live in the city as of right now only 8,565 have escaped the evil forces of the Griffin Kingdom."
The ponies were not very happy about losing a major city in the first battle of the war but things happen that aren't planned. They just yelled and argued for a few minutes until Shining Armor cut into the fray. He stood in front of me and the way he stood showed that he was mad. The crowd died down and were now in an utter silence, I'm sure they were scared of him since his promotion to a general.
"Now if that is enough of the complaining, I think that this is the end of the press conference." he said
"Thank you Shining Armor. Yes that is all for now, until we get more information we can't really say more on the war." I said as they filed out of the room.
"I'm sorry Princess Luna for this event."
"Do not fret Shining Armor it had to be done, even if it was hard for many to accept it. We may have lost this battle but the war rages on. And for now we must think of another plan to attack to--" I was interrupted again, not surprising, but this time it was a pony from the war room.
She was a small pony, not really much to look at, but she looked like she was worried about something. As soon as I looked away from her to think of something, I saw it she had some paper work from the night of the invasion and it had been highlighted in many places. They looked as if they were highlighting the same word over and over again and was last transmitted for inside of the city of Manehattan, she was clenching the papers really tight. She started to shake in her hooves, sweating and shivering all over.
"What seems to be the problem Miss?" asked Shinning Armor.
"Nothing really, it's just that these papers show some sort of word repeated over in different places in the transmission and I want to see what it is that has caught Corporal Iron's attention. So I was wondering if I can take this to the the computer and check what the words mean."
"Why yes of course, but please hurry we have to plan the next defensive if we want to evacuate the next city." I said.
With her acceptance she trotted away. We walked into the massive War Room that had ponies every where trying to find the Griffon Army massing in the city of Manehattan. I watch as the ponies try to make sense of the recently lost city and locate a scout in the area. He was a secret asset to the attack and no pony knows of his whereabouts. All of the ponies in this room have worked so hard to keep the ones out in the field alive. Looking over these ponies triangulating his last recorded location makes me wonder why I have to do this, look over the war effort. Celestia can easily take care of this but she went and had an accident where she was labeled unfit to rule and now I, little Luna, has to take control. I can also see that many of the subjects resent me as their ruler, and I do know that Celestia and I both might be in trouble. While thinking of all that has transpired in the past five days, Cadence comes in and lightens up the room.
"Luna are you alright, you don't look to well. I think you might need to take a rest from this whole ordeal." Cadence asked as she checked up on us.
"Cadence how are the refugees? Are they alright?" asked Shinning Armor.
"Yes I have Captain Shard overlooking the arrival of the refugees coming from Manehattan as we speak." stated Cadence.
"Princesses, Shinning Armor, we've finally received word from our spy inside the city, shall I put her communication through?" asked a pony from across the room.
"Why yes of course put her through." said Cadence.
I was hesitant to answer because the city is now under the control of the Griffin Army. I wasn't sure that she would make it in and report on the situation of the ponies that were left behind. To honest this all seem to easy for a spy to go in and not be detected right after the battle was fought. I have a bad feeling about this, it seemed to quick to send in a report on the status of the city. And like most of my gut feelings I was right about this report being too soon. Just as the transmission started we saw a horrific sight. The spy was being mauled by two huge Griffin soldiers while another one that looked like the captain of the squad.
"So this is the little pony who thought they could get away with espionage. Well if I am captain of the 301st infantry regiment then you were sent by either Celestia or Luna but you will never see the light of day where you are going. Take here away. Oh and I do hope you saw that Equestria."
The transmission cuts out there and I can see that many of the ponies in the room became very furious at that mysterious Captain and I could see that tensions were rising. That's were I cut in.
"Please, this bastard will get what's coming to him. In the mean time we must morn over the loss of the spy at a later date, but right now we need to send in troops to defend Fillydelphia, it is the nearest city to Manehattan. Who knows if they are already mobilizing to attack the city." I said with an assertive voice.
Even though what that asshole did to our spy was unnecessary, we need to protect the remaining cities on the East Coast in order to have a fighting chance in this war.
Author's Note
Sorry for this chapter being so late just moved and now we're moving again but I will finish another chapter for this one and The Fastest Race in the Universe soon.
Chapter 3: The Invasion of Fillydelphia
The services in wartime are fit only for desperadoes, but in peace are only fit for fools.
-Benjamin Disraeli
Damn it feels good to be back in allied territory. No need to be constantly worried of imminent attacks or gunfire from enemies just to relax with the rest of the troops and have no care in the world. But there's still the matter of finding a new Captain since our last one was blown to pieces. Many of the ponies here are thinking that I should be the Captain of this squadron, truth is that I have little training leading a platoon. I was a simple business pony that was just outside Dodge City. There is no way I'm capable of doing this on my own. Leading and giving orders under pressure, it's just not me.
"Excuse me, Steel Charmer- I mean Captain." said a voice.
It was Velvet Skies, good to see she made it out. To be honest a lot of our platoon got separated, at least the two of us will be able to get things straightened away. It's still weird for her to call me Captain, but you know formalities.
"Yes Velve- I mean Corporal."
"We have reached the outer city limits of Fillydelphia, sir." said Velvet.
"Good, now we can get some rest and restock on fresh supplies. How many are left in the 307th?" I asked.
"Well from what I could gather we are in tatters. Many are from different platoons, and our original squad, to put it lightly, we are the only ones accounted for." stated Velvet.
"You mean just you and me that's it? What about Chrome Wing or Sunset Apple?" I questioned.
"They went MIA during the retreat sir." she said.
"That is a travesty. What platoons are with us now Corpo- Fuck formalities! How many with us Velvet!?" I yelled
"Well some are from the 118th, a few are from the 282nd, and the rest is from the 343rd."
I ponder this for a while but there was no time for this we need to get in the city to evacuate the citizens to the Crystal Empire for safety. This was the plan last I heard. By the looks of things here in Fillydelphia we were not wanted here. But as we get into the city a scout from the city runs up to me, oh great all we need now is more bad news.
"Are you the one they call Steel Charmer?" he asked
I give him a look that he instantly knew and handed me a letter that was addressed to me and had my fiancee Lightning Charger's hoofwriting. I was all to eager to read it I gave command to Velvet while I was away.
*****
After Steel Charmer gave me command of the refugees and troops I lead them to the train and have them board so they can be safe in the Crystal Empire. Once all the refugees from Manehattan were safely away from the front lines I went around looking for Steel Charmer. He has to figure out how we should fortify Fillydelphia. It might be a little hard with all if the glares of everypony is giving us as we patrol the city. Some of them are throwing things at us yelling for us to go away. Sometimes I feel we are hated of both sides of the battlefield, out there and at home. As I turn a corner I see Steel Charmer slumped over as if he'd died. I have no idea what could've made like this.
"Hey how's it going Captain?" I asked.
At first he didn't answer or even bother to notice that I was even around. Why would he be acting like this. I really hope nothing bad happened.
"Steel Charmer is everything alright?" I asked more sincerely.
"My fiancé left me because she fears the worst, that I may never return to her safely so she just up and left me." he said it like the world just ended.
"I'm so sorry for you, but this mustn't effect your leadership skills out here. We are in a war and if you get all emotional then not only will you never see your fiancé again but you will never see any of us after the war." I said with enough assertiveness that it didn't feel bossy.
"Thanks Velvet I need that, still I need a little time to myself." he said with a sob toward the end.
He got up and went to the forward command post. I hope I wasn't to hard on him after all he did just lose his wife to be. I continue my rounds and everything seems fine. The civilians are being loaded on trains, boats and even airships which have been modified as warships. I make my way down to train depot to see that all the civilians are clear of the city. I ask the Private if they made it out safely. He said yes and that the one that just left was the last one. I go ahead and radio in that the last train has left. As I radio in I see something strange near the docks as if one of the soldiers are trying to hide something. So I start to follow her. As she continues down the way to the alarm system I pull out my gun and aim at her.
"Stop right there, what are you doing to the alarm system!" I yelled.
"Nothing you need to worry yourself about Corporal Velvet Skies." Said the solider.
"Don't make me shot you cause I will." I said a little nervous
"I bet you don't even know who I am." she said as she turned around.
"No I don't I never go-"
"You will never meet anypony ever again after I disable the air raid siren."
"Why are you doing this to your own kind?"
"I'm a Changeling you fool!"
The Changeling then disabled the alarm just as I shot it in the back of the head. I quickly ran towards the alarm system to turn it back on but it was already to late the Invasion of Fillydelphia has begun.
*****
"Tell the snipers to get into position, and protect the civilians until they are out of here. Send a squad of Pegasi to defend each of the transports."
"But that would mean that they would have air superiority."
"Yes, but our first priority is to get these ponies to safety and we still have ships and airships at their ports."
"But sir."
"That is an order Velvet, it must be done!"
"Yes sir."
As soon as I finished my orders Corporal Velvet Skies ran off to the front lines to fend off the Changeling Swarm. I wish I could join them but I have to interrogate Palaemon. As I enter the room he seems generally scared over the noise of war just outside this building. It looks like he really doesn't look like he knows what's going on at all.
"What do you know about the changelings?" I asked.
"I know that their a common enemy between us and once they are involved you can't trust anyone." He told me.
"Well, what if I told you that they were here right now." I said.
"WHAT!?" he screamed.
"So this means something to you?" I asked.
"I told Sedulous that this was a terrible idea to involve those damned creatures." He told me.
"Wait they are with the Griffin Empire?" I asked.
"I have to assume so, because at first we thought that you Equestrians would out number us so we, I mean they devised a plan to work along side Changelings and confuse your military but as far as I know the idea was scraped." He told me.
"So your telling me that they are attacking with the Griffins right now?" I asked.
"Sadly yes and they are probably disguised as some of your troops right now." He told me.
I didn't even look back as I ran out the door and saw thousands of changelings fill the skies.
