From One Civil War to Another (Old Version)

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Chapter 1

The Fog of War

Chapter 1

Only a day ago, the port at Alexandria, Virginia, was filled with men and supplies, as soldiers made their way up wooden planks and boarded any available vessel that would sail them out of the port and to sea. Under the watchful eyes of the navy, these ships made their way out of the Potomac, creating a vast fleet that dwarfed anything that has ever been seen in this coast before.

But that was a day ago, for now; there were barely any signs of the mass fleet.

Aside for a couple of supply ships and the occasional navy ship, the port seemed emptier than it was before. The loud ruckus of an army gave way to the silent and calm mornings that usually befell the city, as the few remnants of the army began to make their leave.

One such remnant were the men who were now boarding the last ship that would take them out and join the fleet that had left them behind.

Left behind due to a technical malfunction on the engines of their steamer ship, the men of the 15th Minnesota and their supporting units were now behind schedule, as they were stuck at port while the rest of the army sailed away. Told to wait for a day, the soldiers who were supposed to be on their way had to spend another night in the city, while they wait for their ship to be repaired.

Not that many of the men were complaining, as most of them preferred to have their feet on the ground, than on top of a rocking deck.

Raised deep inland, the men of the 15th were not the ones who would like to be rocked around a wooden ship, as they were tossed around

by the waves.

So when they saw the cloudy skies forming out to sea, most of them shook their heads and became apprehensive about boarding the ship when the time came. Some of them would prefer charging a brigade of rebels than to get on board the ship, but whether they wanted to go or not, they had to, because orders were orders.

So the blue cladded men made their way up the gangway and onto the wooden deck, as they pilled themselves on the steamer ship docked before them. Carrying their rifles in their hands and packs slung all over them, these men were ready for war. But before they go fight this war, they first had to get there.

Overseeing the boarding operation was the commander of the 15th, Colonel Thomas O’Malley, a West Point graduate and the commander of this veteran unit.

Tall yet thin, O’Malley was a native Irishman, one of many who had migrated to the United States, hoping to start a new life here. Having been lucky to have been a son of a rich merchant, he had made a name for himself in the family by enrolling at West Point and passing, earning a commission as a lieutenant in the regular army.

But when the civil war broke out, he was surprised and shock to learn that he suddenly rose through the ranks, ending up as a Colonel, to fill the army’s need for competent officers.

Having been part of the regiment since it was created many months ago, O’Malley had first had doubts on what he saw. Ragged, unruly and seemingly deaf to orders, the men of the 15th looked like a bunch of civilians given guns, which was what they actually were.

Shaking his head and getting straight to work, he began to transform the men using the best way he knew, continuous drilling.

Teaching them proper military orders and discipline, he indoctrinated everything he knew by repeating it over and over again. He thought them how to march properly, how to load a rifle, how to form a line of battle. He did this by constantly telling them to repeat it and by doing it with them, personally leading the drills.

All the hard work he had done seemed to have worked in the end, as they soon became as good as any regular army regiment. They had proven this when they fought their first battle, where most of them kept their cool. Despite having a few deserters, O’Malley knew that there were always men like that in any fighting unit. The important thing was the fact that they held and held until ordered to fall back.

Now, they were off to fight again, to execute the grandiose plan of the commanding general. That is, if they get there.

Seeing the clouds in the distance, O’Malley feared that the voyage might be canceled due to bad weather. Despite the reassurance of the ship’s captain, Captain Adrian, that the ships steam engines could get them to their destination before the storm reaches them, O’Malley still had his doubts.

“Looks like we’re going to have some bad weather a head of us.” He muttered, as he and two other officers beside him stood on the port by the end of the gangway.

“Bad weather indeed…” Lt. Palmer, commander of the small four gun battery that was attached to them, said. “…hopefully my guns would stay in place. Don’t want those restraints breaking and rock the ship even more.”

“Yeah, we really don’t want that happening.” Capt. Fredrick of the Sharpshooter Company remarked, with a sick look on his face. Raised in a farm and having lived far away from the sea, Fredrick was one of the men who really didn’t like the idea of sailing on ships.

“Well…” O’Malley said. “…if Captain Adrian is right, then we’ll only experience some light waves. If he says he can avoid the brewing storm, then the only thing we can do is take his word for it.”

“For me and the sake of the other, I hope he is right…” Fredrick said, sighing.

O’Malley nodded in agreement, before turning his head towards the top deck of the ship, were he heard someone call him.

“Colonel, sir!” Lt. Col. Williams, his second in command, called out from the ship. “All the men have been boarded and accounted for, sir!”

O’Malley nodded his reply, which Williams seemed to have seen, as the man gave a short nod in acknowledgement.

“Well, gentlemen, shall we board?” He asked.

Sighing, Fredrick shook his head. Looking out to sea, he could see that dark clouds gather as the sound of a storm brewing could be heard in the distance. He may not have been an expert at predicting the weather, but something inside him said that things weren’t going to end well for them. “We might as well get this over with.

With that, the three men walked up the gangway and onto the ship, ready to start their voyage.

The bow of the ship pushed its way through the big waves, as its steam powered engine tried to fight the elements before it. Strong winds blew upon the ship, toying with it as it tossed it about, while at the same time scaring some of them men inside with its fearsome howl.

Slamming against the wooden hull, the waves rocked the ships any way it wanted to, bringing it to different directions as the ship seemed to stay in one place. The bad weather seemed to have materialized all around them, as the distant storm suddenly appeared all around the ship.

Despite the best efforts of Captain Adrian to steer the ship away, the stormy clouds just seemed to follow them in equal to great speed. It was as if the clouds had an engine of their own.

Now, the soldiers inside the ship were left to face the full force of the bad weather, as they and their equipment were tossed around inside the wooden hull. The sound of creaking wood and the droplets of water made life inside an even more unpleasant experience, as many of the men got sick from all the sudden movement.

Trying his best to stay in one place, Color Sergeant John Gregory held tightly to the casing of the regimental colors, making sure that it never leaves his sight or his hand’s grip.

Protected inside it’s casing, the regimental colors were well protected from the elements, like the water dripping from any corner. All Gregory had to do was make sure he didn’t lose it, as the rocking and swaying of the ship made any man drop anything that wasn’t tied down.

The sound of groaning sea sick men mixed with the loud churning sound of the ship’s engine working, creating a sound that was eerie and frightening.

Trying his best to stay in one corner, Gregory grab hold to a metal pole with one hand, while the other kept a tight grip on the color’s casing.

Observing the scene around him, it felt that the ship was now spinning, as if it got caught in a whirlpool. Gregory gulped at the prospect; a he felt a shiver ran through his spine, caused by both fear and cold.

The sound of waves tossing around and wind blowing was still heard, as the spinning motion of the ship became more evident with each passing second. Nausea took hold of many of the soldiers, as they let lose the contents of their stomachs on the wooden floor.

Equipment and men alike were tossed around, as many desperately grabbed hold at anything that was nailed down.

During that moment, Gregory was sure that they were caught in a whirlpool, for there was no other force that could spin a ship to such an extent. The thought of the ship and all the men aboard being sucked underwater scared him, but he kept the firm grip on both the metal pole and the casing.

When he volunteered for service, he expected to die in the worse ways, either by a cannon ball or by bleeding to death. But he had never imagined dying this way, due to a storm and out at sea. Desperately praying and wishing for this to end, the sounds of terror and anger rumbled upon outside him.

Reaching it crescendo, the storm sent all of its force upon them; as a sudden and powerful jolt soon befell the entire ship, tossing anyone who didn’t have a firm hold across the ship. The distinctive sound of wooden cracking could be heard below them, as the loud screeching winds grew softer and softer. Soon, after a couple of seconds, it stopped.

Like a great storm that once shrouded the earth, the terrible weather upon them soon stopped.

“Now, I’m no sailor, but I’m pretty sure that ships aren’t supposed to be this deep in land.” Capt. Fredrick remarked, as he and all the other high ranking officers inside the ship stood on top of the deck and looked around to see the endless miles of land that was surrounding them.

“I think I can agree with that, Fredrick.” Lt. Palmer said, as he stood beside the man, scanning the new surrounding in front of them.

All around them, surrounding the ship and the two, was a vast forest of trees, with its green shrubbery all over the place. Normally, there would have been nothing wrong with surrounding like this. But seeing that they were supposed to be at sea and surrounded by water, having trees all around them would raise questions to any man who experienced the same situation.

Standing nearby in great shock and confusion was Captain Adrian, who was leaning upon the railing and staring at the distance. Only moments ago, he and his crew were fighting the elements, trying to keep the ship afloat. The great fog the soon surrounded them didn’t help and when the ship started spinning, Captain Adrian thought that all was lost. But instead of finding a watery tomb, he instead found himself in the middle of nowhere and on land, of all the places he could fall on. So now, baffled and lost for words, the only thing the Captain could do was stair and wait.

Looking out to the side and observing his surrounding, O’Malley moved away from the rest of the officers as he went to the edge of the deck.

From what he saw, he could tell that the ship somehow landed on top of this forest, as broken and crushed trees lay underneath the ship’s hall. On how they managed to get flung there, he didn’t know.

Confused and as frightened as anyone else aboard, O’Malley wanted to figure out where they managed to end up here and how. But he knew that the answer to those questions didn’t lie on them standing there and pondering.

“Someone get a rope ladder over here.” He called. “I want to figure out where we are and I think we might be able to find some landmarks if

we go down.”

Soon enough, he and some of his officers went down. Lt. Palmer volunteered to keep an eye on Captain Adrian as the man still looked a little shaky after the entire ordeal. Escorted by a squad of soldiers, those who weren’t too sick to stand, they moved around to see what was surrounding the fallen ship.

But they soon figured out that mapping the area from a top the ship was a better tactic, as the forest floor was engulfed in a thick fog. With fog as thick as the one present, anything in front of them was nothing but a shady silhouette.

“All I know is that we’re in a forest, which forest, I don’t know.” Fredrick remarked, giving up his survey of the nearby area, as the fog made the task impossible.

“But how did we get here?” O’Malley questioned.

Fredrick shrugged. “Maybe the storm managed to lift us up and-“

His sentence was cut off by the sound of a nearby twig snapping, as the squad escorting them instantly reacted by presenting arms and pointing them towards the general direction of the sound.

Trying their best to see what it was, both O’Malley and Fredrick could only see the faint silhouettes of horse like figures that seemed to be standing nearby. O’Malley wondered if they managed to run into some cavalry, as his thought was justified by the sound of hooves approaching.

Weather these silhouettes were friendly or not, they didn’t know, as the soldiers kept their rifles cocked and ready to fire.

Soon enough a figure appeared out of the fog, something that added more surprise and confusion to all of them.

Small for a horse, this strange creature bore orange fur as well as having a long pastel colored mane. With a hat on top and saddle bags on its bag, the creature approached them with seemingly angry eyes. O’Malley had never seen such anger in an animal as he felt the creature staring at them like a fighter against its enemy.

There was such emotion on its face that it brought a chill down his spine, for he never faced such a threat that looked like it was ready to kill him in the most brutal of manners.

As the orange creature approached, the silhouettes hiding behind the fog soon came up, revealing sharp swords that were gripped between their teeth.

But it wasn’t the weapons that brought the biggest shock to them, as what happened next brought great surprise that almost made their brains come out of their heads.

In a distinctive southern accent, the orange creature that seemed to lead them opened it mouth and spoke:

“Who are ye, what are ye, and why are ye here?”

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“Are you sure this would work, Doc?” Applejack asked, as she stared at the weird contraption in front of her.

Hidden behind the closed door of her barn, the weird looking machine was a large and bulky device, with brass pipes and crystal objects that she thought were there for display purposes only. Standing three ponies high and as wide as three wagons, the device took a lot of space and attracted the attention of anypony who went inside.

“Of course I’m sure!” Time Turner said confidently, as he slammed his hoof on the ground. “When was the last time I failed in one of my experiments?”

Giving him a deadpanned look, Applejack stared at the stallion as her eyes met his. “Do you really want to know?”

“Actually, never mind…” He said, shaking it off and turning his attention back towards the large device in the center of the barn.

“So…uhh…how is this contraption of yours going to help us, exactly?” Applejack, eyeing him and the device, as Time Turner began circling it, making sure that everything was in ready.

Applejack was never a fan of big inventions that were said to be great leaps of science, especially once that were made by Time Turner. There was just an inner sense and feeling within her that kept on shouting ‘disaster’ every time she got near a device like this.

So as she stood by in front of this one, being dwarfed by its immense size, she felt highly uncomfortable.

“Well it’s quite simple actually…” Time Turner said as he moved next to her. “…for this device over here takes the energy stored in the special crystal I’ve put and uses it to create something that we all know as a portal.”

“A portal, huh…” Applejack questioned. “…a portal to where, exactly?”

A broad grin formed on Time Turner’s face, as he looked at Applejack with exceptional glee. “A portal to anywhere we want!” He exclaimed. “With proper calibration, this device can create a portal that could lead to any destination in Equestria.”

“Sounds like that thing of yours could be really helpful.

Giving the contraption another stern look, she studied it before giving a shake of her head. She then turned her gaze towards Time Turner, who seemed to be confident, yet at the same time, nervous on the success of device.

This scenario wasn’t new to the two of them, as both Applejack and Time Turner have been through this before. Giving his inventions to her, he would always demonstrate them to her, hoping that it would be helpful for their cause. But no matter hope promising they all looked, they always ended up as a flop and failure.

Despite this, Applejack was always willing to accept his demonstrations, hoping that one of his devises would work and prove useful.

Fighting a war against the tyrant who has now taken over Equestria, Applejack and her group would need every help they can get. Nightmare

Moon, self-proclaimed Queen of the Equestrian lands, was now in control of the kingdom and was enforcing her rule by combining her power and employing her elite Lunar Guard. Many feared both, especially her bat ponies, who seemed to scare everypony to the bone, so most decided to submit without complain, for they could do nothing more.

But despite her almost complete control, there were always ponies who resisted.

With only six hour days, many of the ponies under her rule were displeased due to its aftereffects, like the smaller harvests farmer receive because of lack of sunlight. These ponies, who think Nightmare Moon is abusing her power by forcing them to love her nights, decided to go underground and resist her rule by disrupting her government. They conducted raids and attacks, angering the Queen and gathering more ponies for the cause.

But despite the amount of ponies, the powerful forces of the Queen were still hard to fight and the only hope they had was a united rebellion, which was still far off, or a secret weapon, weapons that could prove very useful and promising.

Like the one right in front of them, for if it worked, it could be a useful tool for their organization.

Now knowing that it could create a portal to anywhere in Equestria, Applejack could just imagine the possibilities for this contraption. With its help, her forces could go through it and be on top of the enemy, surprising them and catching them off guard. Instead of sneaking in the darkness, where the enemy has as much advantage as they do in the daylight, they could just teleport in their base and conduct raids efficiently.

Not only that, but it could also help her get out of Ponyville, without the fear of being trailed by Nightmare Moon’s agents.

Ever since the little escapade with Princess Celestia prized student, Twilight Sparkle, in attempting recovering the Elements of Harmony, Applejack and the other ponies who helped Twilight had been on the watch list of the Queen. With eyes watching them every time they left Ponyville, it was better to just stay in the town that leave. At least their faith was better than Twilight’s, who had been imprisoned somewhere in the high towers of Canterlot.

But with eyes watching her every movement out of the town, everything she did was always viewed with suspicion by the Lunar Guard’s intelligence agency, who kept an eye in the shadows, watching suspicious ponies. Which made things difficult for her, as fulfilling her duties as the local leader of the underground movement meant that she needed to interact with other groups. But how can she interact with them when every movement she did was watched by eyes in the dark? So if Time Turner’s contraption worked, then Applejack could find lots of valuable uses for it.

“Well….I guess there’s nothing we can do now but see if this things work.” Applejack said. Turning her head, she looked out towards the barn doors, which was slightly opened, so that Big Mac could look outside and check if anypony was approaching.

The local Lunar Guard patrol was always a troublesome group, but after observing them for a couple of days, she knew that they wouldn’t be marching around this area till an hour from now. But it didn’t hurt anypony to be safe and sure, so she kept her brother on guard, keeping an eye on the road and making sure that those bat ponies don’t go snooping around their property.

After getting an all clear from Big Mac, Applejack nodded to her brother before turning back towards Time Turner.

“Alright, Doc, let’s see what your contraption can do.”

Grinning, Time Turner nodded before moving up to press some buttons on the contraption’s control panel. Applejack didn’t know what he was doing, but she didn’t care. As long as the contraption work, then she was happy.

Pulling a lever and engaging the contraption, a bright light emitted from the crystals, as a loud humming sound echoed from the contraption. Soon it was replaced by a loud churning sound, as a bright circular light seemed to appear on top of the strange contraption.

“It’s working…” Time Turner muttered before raising his voice. “…It’s working!”

Suddenly, the bright circular light changed form, turning into a long bean of light that flew upwards and towards the ceiling. The beam, more solid than just actual light, broke through the ceiling, ripping a large hole through the wooden roof, as the beam of light rose to the skies.

Backing away to avoid the bits of wooded that fell, Applejack looked up to see the beam of light create a portal in the sky.

The contraption Time Turner made may have been successful in creating a portal, but it sure was very stealthy about it, as she was sure that the portal and beam of light could be seen way out from Canterlot, attracting the attention of anypony who saw it.

But before Applejack could worry about the Lunar Guard barging in and capturing them all, a large object caught her eye, as it slipped out of the portal and flung itself out, like a pebble on a sling shot. Streaking through the sky like a bird, the object flew above them thanks to the momentum it received, as it headed towards the Everfree forest. She wasn’t sure what it was, but from the large silhouette she saw, she knew that the thing was huge, probably the size of three barns.

“What in tarnation was that?”

Applejack wasn’t sure what that object was, as it went by too fast to comprehend, but whatever it was, it was huge.

Removing her attention from the weird flying object and back towards the beam, she glanced towards Time Turner and gave him an urgent look.

“Turn that thing off!” She shouted, knowing that by now, the Lunar Guard would surely have noticed them.

Without waiting for a reply, Applejack quickly trotted towards her brother, who had now abandoned his position by the door and moved up towards them. She could see the panic on his face and knew that she couldn’t blame him for that, for anypony who witnessed what they saw would surely have shook to the bone.

But despite the fear and shock they both shared, Applejack knew that action must be taken quickly, if not, then things could become worse than they already are.

“Gather the others and tell them to get ready and be armed with anything they have.” She told him, knowing that it would be necessary if the Luar Guard was coming. I was already afternoon, near the time when Nightmare Moon lowered the sun. With the skies slowly fading and a bright beam streaking up towards the sky, she was a hundred percent sure that a Lunar Guard unit would soon be sent to investigate it. And when they do, the three of them would be caught in the center of it all. “We need to get out of here as quickly as possible.”

“But where would we go?”

Applejack paused for a moment before thinking it through. There weren’t many places that they could go, knowing that many ponies would rat them out from fear of punishment. Despite knowing many of the ponies in town for most of her life, a single pony could give away their location, for fear of persecution. The threats and abuse some of the Lunar Guards conduct were notorious to everypony in town and Applejack was sure that there was no safe house for them to take refuge, not here in Ponyville. But there was one place, a place that was a danger, but could provide refuge for them against their enemy.

“We’re going to the Everfree forest.”

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The Everfree forest wasn’t the safest of places to be in, but Applejack knew that it was the place where the Lunar Guards were least likely to go. With thick foliage and fog to shroud them and difficult paths to follow, the Lunar Guard would surely have a difficult time chasing them down. Even though Nightmare Moon could easily pass through such terrain, it didn’t mean that her bat ponies could.

Taking careful steps and trying to see through the fog that was beginning to envelop them, Applejack tried to suppress a chill that run down her spine. Before this, she had only been to the Everfree once, and the memories she gained from that first experience weren’t pleasant once.

She had tried her best forgetting them, keeping it shut in a deep corner in her mind, but once in a while they just wanted to come out, in flashes that reminded her of the moment when everything changed, the moment when she had failed to save Equestria.

Although she knew that it was Nightmare Moon that changed everything in Equestria, but a small part of her kept on nagging her mind that it could have all been prevented if it wasn’t for her. That small part of her kept on bombarding her with ideas that it was her fault, her decision that caused this all. And in a way, it all seemed to be true.

It was she who told the others to leave Twilight alone in the room, so that she could concentrate; it was her left Twilight alone in that room, vulnerable to any attack. If they were in that room, then they could have protected her and the Elements from Nightmare Moon and stop the crazed alicorn from taking over Equestria.

But no, they weren’t there to help. Instead, they left the room, thinking that Twilight needed space, and it was Applejack who told them to do so. Applejack thought that she needed time alone to figure out how the Elements worked, so she led them all out.

Now she was left to pay for her mistake, as she remembered Twilight’s scream, as she and the Elelments were teleported away by Nightmare Moon to an unknown location. Despite their best attempts at locating her, searching every corner of the castle, she and the rest of the girls couldn’t find Twilight.

The next time she saw Twilight was during Nightmare Moon’s coronation, where everypony was required to attend. During that time, she caught a glimpse of Twilight, who placed inside a small cage and labeled a traitor against the crown.

At one point, she remembered Twilight looking out and staring back at her, sadness in her eyes. Applejack felt guilty remembering the look in her eyes, as shame filled her body. Despite only knowing Twilight for a short time, the small adventure they had seemed to form a bond between the small party, as if they managed to become close friends in that short amount of time. So when she saw Twilight encaged and helpless, something inside her wanted to save Twilight from the prison she was in. But she could do nothing but just look away, for she too was in trouble.

Luckily for her and the others, they left off easy. But that didn’t mean that she wasn’t after what happened. Being constantly watched was nothing compared to eternal imprisonment in a cage, but it was the shame she carried that hurt her most.

She had failed Twilight and she had failed Equestria.

Applejack always wondered what could have happened if they stayed in the room to protect her or if they were fast enough to save her. But those thoughts were often washed away, as she knew that she couldn’t change such things. Events of the past were fixed and couldn’t be changed.

“Applejack…” The sound of somepony calling her name pushed her away from her deep thoughts, as she turned her head to find that Rarity was now trotting beside her. Looking at the white unicorn, she could see a worried look plastered on her face and she began to wonder what could have caused it. “…we might have a little problem.”

“A problem, what do you mean?”

“Well, its Rainbow Dash…she’s…she’s still back there in Ponyville.” Rarity said.

“Back at Ponyville?” Applejack said before pausing. “What is she doing there? Didn’t I tell everypony to pack up and head out?”

She then paused again before stopping and turning her head around to look at the small group of ponies with her. There were only over a dozen ponies with them, a small group but a reliable one. Each member had an important role and use for the group and having to have one left behind could lead to a disaster for all of them.

“Yes, I know…” Rarity said, nodding her head. “Big Mac told me to help gather as many ponies in the group and lead them towards you. But when I saw Rainbow Dash, she just didn’t listen. I tried to convince her that she should come with us, but when she heard the part about the Lunar Guard coming, she got all determined and all, declaring that she would stay behind and hold them off, while we make our get away.”

“Hold them off…” Applejack said, thinking about the viability of it. “…but, she does know that it isn’t necessary, right? We had more than enough time to make our get away and with such a small group, sneaking out of town would be easy. Staying behind and making a ‘last stand’ would be pointless and just attract unnecessary attention.”

“I know, I know, but you know how she is, acting all heroic and such, as she tries to portray the romantic style of war. I think it’s her way of saying; I want to redeem myself from my past mistake.”

Applejack nodded her head, knowing that she wasn’t the only one who blamed herself for the capture of Twilight and the loss of the Elements. Like her, Rainbow Dash wanted to do her best to return thing to what they were, even if it meant risking everything she had.

But right now, no matter how selfless and heroic the act Rainbow Dash was doing, Applejack knew that it was a foolhardy and reckless decision that wasn’t necessary.

“She thinks that staying behind and holding them off would aid our escape…” Applejack said, shaking her head once more. “…but in reality, she just doing more harm than help.”

“Rarity, take over while I’m gone…” Applejack mumbled as she began to move away, heading towards the direction of the town.

“Where are you going?” Rarity called.

“To fetch that foolish mare!” Applejack said, before disappearing into the fog.

Rainbow Dash hid within the apple trees of Sweet Apple Acres, looking through the leaves to see the figures of bat ponies landing near the red barn. With their bat like wings, grey fur, and dark armor, the small force of bat ponies looked like a menacing force. But no force was menacing of fearsome enough to deter her, as she knew exactly what she needed to do.

Smirking as her plan formulated in her head, she kept her eyes fixed on the bat ponies, as she mapped out the path she would take.

Wanting to distract them and attract their attention, Rainbow Dash planned to zip by them and lead them away, taking them on a wild chase to nowhere. Although she knew that bat ponies were fast fliers, she was confident that nopony, half bat or not, could outfly her, for she was the fastest flyer in Equestria.

She knew her abilities and she knew it well. With an advantage in flying, she knew that she could out maneuver them and make them lose her trail, leaving them with nothing but exhaustion and wasted time.

Although she knew that this plan could still be risky, because of the possibility of having more bat ponies than she could see, she believed that what she was doing was a necessary risk. For she was doing it for the other, for the others who needed to get away. She was going to give them time, time to get as far away as possible, lowering the possibility of capture. The possibility of having somepony she knew behind bars, because she didn’t do anything to stop it.

Ever since the incident in which Twilight got captured, Rainbow Dash made a pledge not to let anypony she knew be left helpless when faced against an enemy.

Remembering that awful time, she felt a pint of shame and failure hit her, as she knew that she could have done more. She should have been faster, fast enough to pick up Twilight and rescue her and the Elements.

But instead, she was slow and failed to do any of those.

So know, she was determined to prove to the world that she was not going to fail her friend by not giving all she’s got.

Returning her gaze back towards the bat ponies, she watched as the small group began to disperse to cover more area. One group went to the humble wooden, the other went towards the chicken coop, while another went inside the barn to see what they could find in there.

Rainbow Dash gave a small murmur of thanks when she saw nopony heading towards her, as she knew an early sighting could complicate her plans.

Keeping an eye on their positions, she planned to circle around all of them; making sure they notice her, before leading them away for the chase of their lives. If all went according to her plan, then she would be able to lose them after the chase and hopefully sneak her way and find were the other were.

Flexing her wings and setting her mind, Rainbow Dash got ready to fly off and buzz them all, when suddenly, from behind, the soft sound of hooves approaching made her turn her head to see who was approaching her.

Although she was able to hear the hooves, the sound of each step was careful and nearly quiet, as if a pony was sneaking by. Turning her head to face it, Rainbow Dash saw a familiar looking orange earth pony, who was shifting behind trees, concealing herself as she made her way up towards her.

From the tired expression on her face and the weary movement, Rainbow Dash knew that the pony must have gone a long way to get to her, for nopony would be this tired from sneaking alone.

“Rainbow Dash, what in the name of Celestia has your feather brain conceived off now?” Applejack grumbled, annoyance clear in her voice.

“Applejack…” Rainbow Dash said, looking down at the earth pony. “…what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with the other in the Everfree forest?”

“What I’m doing here is picking you up and getting your flank in the Everfree with us. Like, what were you thinking? You know that staying behind and holding of the Lunar Guard is a pointless exercise.”

“I know…” Rainbow Dash said, waving her off. “…that’s why I planned of distracting them, not fighting them. Now if you excuse me, I got a mission to accomplish.”

Opening her wings, she looked out at the path in front of her and prepared to fly. But just before she could push herself up and towards the sky, she felt the quick pain of somepony pulling her down, as Applejack bit her, preventing her from flying and almost making her slip.

“Hey!” She muttered. “Let me go! How do you expect me to fly when you’re keeping me down?”

“T..hat’s b..ecause I d…on’t plan on l…etting you f…ly.” Applejack muttered, with Rainbow Dash’s tail in her mouth.

“Well you have to let me go.” Rainbow Dash said, trying to tug back her tail. “Because unless you want to fly with me, you’d have to let go.” She was already getting annoyed by this encounter and she wished to do nothing right now but fly.

“N…no!” Applejack replied, with a sound that seemed more like a growl.

“I said…” Rainbow Dash said, raising her voice. “…let g-“

Before she could finish her sentence, a loud call came from the other side of the farm, from the large barn. Bringing her eyes towards it, Rainbow Dash saw one of the bat ponies, who was glaring towards their direction.

“Hey, you, what are you doing over there!”

Immidiately, Rainbow Dash looked down towards Applejack, who was looking up at her. Their eyes locked for a moment as they both knew that they were caught.

“Run?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Run.” Applejack said, letting go of her tail and galloping away.

Rainbow Dash followed suit, flying close behind her.

Lt. Dawn of the Lunar Guard entered the barn and looked at the large object that they found inside. Quite smaller compared to most bat ponies, Dawn had to look up and marvel at gigantic machine in front of her. Made out of brass, different metals, and a large assortment of other materials, the large machine took up most of the space in the barn, as it stood out from all the other objects inside.

Looking up towards the roof, she saw the gigantic hole, which was probably caused by this strange machine.

“Well, at least we can report that it wasn’t some kind of powerful unicorn that caused this.” She murmured to herself, knowing that the Queen would probably be worrying about a new contender who wanted her throne.

When she first saw the beam of light breaking in the sky, she first thought that it was some kind of project the Queen was working on. But when she realized that it was coming from Ponyville and not from Canterlot, she began to bring more attention to it.

Curious, she kept her attention to it, watching the beam as it created an interesting spectacle for her to watch. The beams of light were quite intriguing and fir a moment, she just found herself watching and wondering

So she was actually happy when her platoon was chosen to investigate the strange the disturbance, as it would quench her curiosity on what caused the strange light show.

Moving closer and examining it closely, she could see the scratch and bents all over the machine, as it looked banged up from some kind off encounter with a blunt object. She guessed that the pony who made it tried their best to destroy the machine, hoping that whoever found it wouldn’t find an operating version of it. But from the bad job done at destroying the machine, it would only be a matter of time before the Lunar Guard would be employing it for their own uses.

Turning her attention away from the machine and onto the other guards with her, she watched as the members of her unit moved swiftly, inspecting every corner and space for any sign of the ponies who made this.

If there was anything hiding or anypony hiding here, she was sure her bat ponies would find them.

Moving away from the machine and trotting towards the barn door, she looked out to view the large apple farm. Despite having some withered apple trees, the apple farm still looked productive as ever. This place was one of the lucky ones, as Dawn remembered being posted in town where their farms that have crops and trees that have all but died down.

Being a fan of any fruit that was sweet, it brought a tear to her eye when she saw so many promising fruit trees die. But such is the life in this new world.

At least they didn’t have to be stuck back in Shady Hollows, which used to be the only place bat ponies could roam. Before the return of the Queen, bat ponies were usually discriminated by other ponies, due to their mysterious nature and different looks. Trapped at their homes at Shady Hollows, they usually roamed the dark forest there, longing for company that wouldn’t accept them.

But now, with the Queen of the Night in power, they were free to roam wherever they want. Some f the grateful ponies, who were happy to see her return, joined the ranks of her new army, the army of the shadows.

Dawn too was happy to see that bat ponies were now free to explore around them, instead of being isolated from the world, but there was always one problem that nagged at her. And it was the fact that ponies were still scared of them.

Ruled by the Queen or not, there was no doubt in her mind that the pony population was still scared of bat ponies. Right now, they just tried to hide their fear, not wanting any reprisal from the bat ponies. But deep inside, she could sense the scared souls within.

She had joined the Lunar Guard to serve and protect the ponies of the land, in hopes of keeping things safe and protected. She was told the Nightmare Moon has finally returned to bring equality for all the races and rid Equestria from evil. So far, she had already seen the return of some equality, as bat ponies were free to roam once more. In hopes of helping fulfill the second, Dawn went up and gained a commission in her nation to help serve and protect its citizens. But if all the ponies were scared of them, then how could she protect them?

Sighing, she shook her head and returned her attention back to the mission. There was plenty of time o wonder about all of those things, but right now, she was on duty.

Looking out towards the apple trees, she began scanning the large farm once more, when a small blur of orange caught her eye.

With sharper eyesight compared to the other pony races, she was able to focus her gaze towards the blur to get a clearer view of what it was. There, she found an earth pony, who was seemingly hanging onto something and giving an angry gaze towards something she could not see.

Curious as to why a pony was there, she cleared her throat and bellowed in the loudest voice she can do.

“Hey, you, what are you doing over there!”