Twilight, Soldier of War

On the first light of a new morning, Celestia stepped into the Ponyville General Hospital. She was not there to cheer up sick foals, or the innumerable other official task that she normally attended to when arriving at a hospital. No, she was there to see her former student, fellow princess, Twilight Sparkle.

It was at her word that Twilight was given her own floor. Guards had been place both at the floor entrance and at Twilight’s door, to keep nosy ponies from prying where they don’t belong. As she stepped through the reception area she was approached by a white earth pony with a red mane. Nurse Red Heart, the head nurse and the one currently over seeing Twilight’s care.

Red Heart gave a tired bow of somepony who had worked too many shifts. “Good morning, your Majesty, you’re here to see Twilight Sparkle, I presume?”

“That I am, please lead the way,” Celestia gave a smile that she hid all of her nerves behind. Red Heart walked quickly, leading the way to the private floor. “What is her condition?”

“She has been asleep since she was brought in. She has a few bruised ribs, but, considering how far she fell, it’s a miracle that was the only injury she suffered,” they exited the stairway onto the floor. The guards at both ends of the hall stood at attention upon spotting Celestia. “The doctor is still hesitant about giving her any medication. We know too little about her biology or the drugs in her system,”

“I have somepony looking into the drugs for me. With any luck they will have answers—“

A scream cut her off. Twilight was a wake.

Red Heart galloped ahead with Celestia right behind her. Twilight was struggling against two earth ponies at her sides. She reached out with her arms trying to claw at them.

“Hold her down!” one attendant said.

They grabbed ahold of her arms and forced them to her side. She howled like a banshee. One leather strap broke loose and a leg came free, but Red Heart was quick to grasp on and hold it down. “The velcro isn’t strong enough, where are the cuffs?” Red Heart called over the screaming.

“On the other side of the room,”

A golden mist wrapped around Twilight’s body and held her firmly, yet gently, to the bed. “I have her,” said Celestia. “Restrain her now,” with their hooves free it took them only moments to get Twilight properly restrained. “Twilight, can you understand me?” Twilight’s eyes darted around the room, more akin to a feral animal trapped in a cage then the person she knew.

Red Heart waited with a syringe in hoof for her signal. With a deep sigh Celestia nodded to the nurse, and with just a plunge of the syringe Twilight’s cries died down and she drifted off to sleep. Celestia brush the tangled mess of knots and split ends, which would fail even the strongest of brushes, away from her face. Twilight had always taken care to make herself presentable to other ponies, yet most ponies wouldn’t realize that with how plain she kept her looks.

“Princess,” Red Heart said. “Somepony will be staying on this floor to monitor her, for now I need to complete my rounds,”

Celestia gave a gentle smile. A hospital couldn’t come to a stop just for a single patient. “Of course, please keep me informed,”

Celestia stood in the hall for a long moment, the door to Twilight’s room shut behind her. She had her own duties to attaint to, she knew, but a part of her wanted to forget about them and stay by Twilight’s side, no matter how long it took. It was a nice idea but she couldn’t do it. Luna would have to take over too many of her duties in her absence, and try as she might; she was still too blunt for the art of diplomacy.

A gruff old, yet familiar, voice broke her away from her thoughts. “Is this a bad time Princess?”

Celestia greeted Hearing Colors with a shake of her head. “No, it’s fine. Thank you for coming on such short notice,” Hearing Colors had visible bags under his glassy eyes. “What did you learn from the sample I sent you?”

He took a quick look around the hall, taking note of the guard’s up raised ears. “We should speak in private, Princess,” Celestia nodded and led the way to one of the empty adjacent rooms. Hearing Colors pulled a folder from his saddle bags and flipped through it. “I’ve learned as much about this drug as I could with what little there was to work with. I wish I could do more test, but alas we have exhausted our supply. I don’t suppose there was any more?”

“No, there was very little to collect as it was,”

“I see, I feared as much. No matter, I’ve learned what we need. To start, the drug works much in the same vein as the physical enhancement spells the army uses,” Celestia nodded as she followed along. She was familiar enough with those spells; they could increase everything about a pony from their strength and agility to memory and reflex, though only in small margins. “But of cause that is a vast oversimplification. The way this drug targets specific parts of the body is more akin to a scalpel, where our spell takes a more sledgehammer approach. However, because it is so tailor fit to the human body it is poisonous to anything else,”

“Poisonous! Archmage, tell me, what would have happened if Twilight had taken your offer and returned to her pony self?”

The Archmage was quiet for a long moment, his dead eyes giving nothing away. “There is not a doubt in my mind that Twilight Sparkle would have died then and there. If I knew what I do now, I wouldn’t let her near that spell with even a drop of that stuff still in her system. Forgive me, but I take full responsibility for this. We have nothing like humans on record, so, like an impatient foal, I decided to use Twilight’s data as a baseline. I’ve gone back and check the blood test and the drug was in her system even then. My handling of this has been nothing but amateurish,”

Celestia placed a hoof on his shoulder. “No, Archmage, you did the best you could with what you had. No one will blame you for that. For now we need to turn our focus on helping Twilight recover. Have you learned anything in that regard?”

Hearing Colors nodded yet somehow looked more downtrodden. “Yes, Princess I have. The drugs addictive characteristics are the same as any street drugs you could find. From what I understand, the standard method for recovery would be to slowly wing her off the drug, however that isn’t an option. We are left with the only alternative—“

“Complete withdrawal,”

“Yes, exactly. Right now her body is going through withdraws and it will only get worse as time passes,”

Celestia’s mask gave nothing away, her voice not even a hint of worry. “How bad could this get?”

“I will be blunt with you, Princess, there is a very real chance that Twilight may die. The doctors can help ease some of the pain with medication, but ultimately only time will tell if she recovers. If she survives the next seventy two hours than she may have a chance,”

Celestia felt a numbness in her chest that she hadn’t felt for nearly three years. She remembered the joy when Twilight returned, but now she may lose her again. Her alicorn magic be damned for all the good it did her. “Thank you, Hearing Colors, that… that will be all,” The Archmage gave a bow and left Celestia alone with her thoughts.

***

Twilight drifted through a sea of nothingness; blurry images and washed out voices appeared all around her, but she had no understanding of them. A dull yet constant pain thrummed through her body, and time was even more of a haze than anything else. Hours or days she couldn’t tell how long had passed, because all she could focus on was the pain that thrummed in time with her heart.

She wanted to reach out and rip this pain from her body but her arms wouldn’t move. She could only drift—lost.

In the darkness of the sea, a window opened, and Twilight could see Celestia looking down on her. “Stay strong. I know you will pull through this,” Celestia’s voice was muddled, barely recognizable.

‘What?’ Twilight tried to speak, but her voice never left her mind. ‘Stay strong for what? Where are you?’ the window closed and Twilight returned to drifting.

Why did she bother returning? Twilight’s mind asked of her. She had only made a nuisance of herself, a burden; perhaps it would have been better if she had just stayed in the human world. Everyone finished their grieving and was moving on with their lives, but she had to return and dig it all back up, all the pain and hardships, and for what. Was destroying the lives of everyone around her all she was good for?

‘I don’t know,’ was all Twilight could say.

Other windows began to open up—six of them—each one showed one of her friends. Rainbow talked about her flying routine for an upcoming show she had. Applejack spoke about the farm and of the troubles they’ve had, but said that they were going to get by just like they always did. Pinkie Pie spent her time tying balloons everywhere. Rarity brought a blanket she had made for Twilight, and set it on the edge of a railing. Fluttershy said nothing, just silently sat in a chair and watched.

Her friends were trying to be supportive for her, each in their own way. But would they still be so supportive if they knew what kind of person Twilight really was? Would Davis?

Why was she thinking of Davis now? He wasn’t even there at the end. Nor was Commander Cotreau

‘Commander Cotreau’ the moment Twilight remembered that name a new pain emerged in her chest. ‘That’s right, he was so close to the end and didn’t even know it,’

***

Nine years, seven months after arrival

It was meant to be the decisive move in the war. After years of skirmishes on the border, raids, and failed invasions on both sides Osana was going on an all-out offensive to end the war once and for all. Twilight stared up at the sky as plasma mortars hammered into the shielding around the forward base camp. It was going to end the war, but no one said it was going to end it for their side.

With an army of one hundred twenty thousand strong, the Osanan forces pushed into the occupied territory and quickly forced the enemy to rout. That should have been the first clue that something was wrong. The Commonwealth held onto the occupied zone as fiercely as those that held The Line. The army marched into the border region of the Commonwealth with little resistance.

That regen was at one time the largest producer of food for the otherwise mountainous nation, but after La Sierra was destroyed Osana retaliated by bombing that regen into barren waste. For the Osana Empire the aim of the war had always been to starve the Commonwealth out, rather than clash with their army, if possible. But as the war neared its twelfth year the people were growing sick of it, and all hails for negotiation with the Ryssdal leaders had as of yet been unanswered, so a new plan was needed.

It was on the fifth day that everything seemed to go wrong. The army was thirty miles from the border when they came to the first major city. The general ordered it taken. Twilight’s squad remained with the rear guard, but it didn’t matter much as there were few in the way of defenders within the city. The general was going to use the city as a command center while they pushed deeper into the nation. And that’s when the ambush was struck. Two rat armies had circled around the Osanan army in the days it took to both get to and take the city, while another army attacked them head on. From reports Twilight learned that, while the three army were roughly equal in man power to their own, they were heavily centered around their artillery. The bombardment started almost as soon as the trap was sprung.

It took them too long to get all of the shield generators online and hundreds died. Hundreds more were saved when Twilight filled in the holes of the growing web of shields. But that was two days ago. The shield generators were running hot, and no one knew when they were going to give out. Morale was in the dirt. The infantry and berserker legion were doing their best to keep the city from being overrun, but this was a numbers game and they had more of it: more bullets, more artillery, and more men.

Twilight was blocking a hole with her own shield while an engineer tried to get the down generator back online. The mortar shots where sporadic but the occasional few found its mark and impacted on her shield, causing her to wince at the force. “How much longer?” she asked the engineer.

The engineer wiped the sweat from his brow. “This thing is melted to high hell. I’m not sure I can fix it,”

“Damnit, then let’s get everyone out of this section of the city. Move fast, I can’t hold this forever,”

“Understood,” the engineer called out to the people all around them to fall back. Entrenched positions had to be abandoned, tanks needed to be move, and a lot of supplies relocated. It was time consuming work, more so for Twilight who tracked the time by each successful hit on her shield.

When the all clear was given Twilight released her shield and made a run for it. Plasma mortars had been sporadic and fired without a clear aim, but a hole in the shield grid was like a glowing beacon to them. Twilight wrapped herself in a shield as she ran just as several mortar shots passed through the hole and blanketed the area in blue fire. The fire lashed out at her like an arm trying to pull her back; her shield flickered but held.

She jumped over rubble and into the next section of the city. She took a seat on the ground and hid herself behind the rubble to catch her breath, but as another soldier approached her she knew she wouldn’t be getting much of that. The soldier took a knee in front of her and shared in the cover. “Lance Corporal Sparkle, is your com broken?”

“My com?” Twilight asked. She tested her radio but got only static. “It seems to be offline. What’s going on?”

“You’ve been ordered to the command center. General Jeroen wishes to speak with you,”

“Never a boring day,” Twilight muttered.

The command center was located at the former city hall. Twilight rode a passing transport part of the way and ran the rest. When she passed through the blown out double doors of city hall, she was directed to the mayor’s office. The first thing Twilight noticed when she entered the rather spacious room was the rest of her squad mates sitting in chairs in the corner. They were supposed to be fighting along the perimeter, and the only reason Twilight wasn’t with them was that her powers were of more useful maintaining the shield grid. General Jeroen stood next to a table with a map of the ongoing battle. He was as leather face as she remembered him in her one meeting with him years ago. Standing next to him was Cotreau. He was speaking with someone who looked like a communication officer, but turned his attention to Twilight when she entered the room.

“Good of you to finally join us,” said General Jeroen. “Here I thought you were trying to win the war on your own,”

Twilight gave a quick salute as she answered, “Just doing my part, sir,”

“Yes, I saw the explosion from here. It seems we lost another generator then,”

“If we only had a way to vent off the excess heat, but these generators were never designed to run endlessly like this,”

General Jeroen rubbed his forehead, his fingers tracing his receding hairline. “Unfortunately, that’s the least of our problems,” he looked to Commander Cotreau and gave a nod.

“Twilight, we just received word that The Line has fallen,” spoke Cotreau.

Twilight’s eyes snapped open from shock. Fallen. She couldn’t believe that. She had spent the last four years on The Line, and had fought with them to fend off overwhelming attacks. To think they would have fallen when Osana was making their counter attack of all times. Twilight looked back at her squad mates who stared at the ground with deadpan looks.

“How did this happen?” she asked.

“We’re still not sure on that. Best we can tell is that we overextended ourselves, or the rats have been preparing this for some time now, likely both if you ask me. Right now none of that matters. Our orders are to send you back to the capital, Skyler, Nadia, and Teagan will be escorting you there,”

“Commander!” Twilight shouted, caring little for protocol at the moment. “What the hell is this? Why the hell am I getting this special treatment bullshit?! And escort, are you serious?”

Cotreau’s hand hit the table. “You know very well why, Lance Corporal. This is not up for negotiation. A helicopter is standing by to take you and the rest of you back. The rest of us still have a battle to win here,”

“With all due respect, I can’t obey that order. With my skills I should be helping to win this battle, and not be off hiding in the capital,”

Cotreau and the General shared a look, as if they were expecting such a reaction. “Is that your final decision, Twilight?” Twilight was quick to confirm. Cotreau looked over Twilight shoulder and nodded. A moment later Twilight felt a sharp stinging in her neck.

Reaching out with a hand, Twilight felt the short shaft of a dart. She pulled it out just as her eyes began to fight her to stay open. “Comm… ander…” was all Twilight could say before she collapsed.

Skyler and Teagan both took one of Twilight’s arms around their necks and lifted her sleeping form up. “Sorry, Twilight,” said Cotreau. “But H.Q. says we can’t risk you being captured by the enemy, and I can’t bring myself to kill you. Take care of her you three.”

“We will,” said Skyler. “Fight well, Commander”

Cotreau gave a smirk. “Oh don’t you worry about that. We’ll show these rats how a real fight looks,”

Nadia took her place next to the two men, and together they saluted. “It’s been an honor to work with you, Commander,”

Cotreau returned the salute. “You three are dismissed,”

Dragging Twilight with them, the three of them left for the helicopter.

General Jeroen addressed Cotreau when they had left. “You know, now that Twilight is gone the shield grid will start popping like bubbles,”

Cotreau gave a chuckle. “Who needs shields anyway; they were making the men soft,”

“Well no more sitting on are asses then. How long do you think we can keep these armies busy here?”

Cotreau rubbed his chin in thought. “A week, maybe two if we’re lucky,”

“If we want to last that long we can’t do it while trying to turtle up here,” said the General. On the map below him was a picture of the city and the positions of each attacking army. He touched the army to the right of the city and called out, “Contact the Berserker Legion, and tell them I want those guns!”

It was a week before news of the battle reached the capital. General Jeroen and his forces managed to break through the line set by the Commonwealth’s 3th army and take control of their artillery guns, inflicting severe casualties on the enemies’ 1th army. However, as of receiving the news no one from the 2nd Osanan army is known to have survived.

***

‘I wasn’t allowed to die there,’ Twilight remembered. ‘Never me, never the special one,’ there always seemed to be someone to decide her destiny for her. If it was not Celestia, it was Osana choosing how she would fight.

Shapes and colors were slowly becoming a part of the world Twilight found herself in, but still too blurry for her to make out much. Two more windows opened and two more ponies stood over her, her parents.

Her father took his time and read a newspaper. She could remember when she was younger how she would sit at her father’s side and listen to him read the morning paper. It was always one of her fondest memories of him. When he was done he kissed her on the forehead.

Her mother held a book up for her to see, it read: The Lost little Star. “This is the first book I wrote after you disappeared. I wrote it for you, Sweetie, so I thought it was time you hear it,” she took a seat in an adjacent chair and began to read. Twilight couldn’t follow the story, but the melody of the words helped to keep her mind off the pain in her body. Like a beautiful song, Twilight followed the melody until her mind drifted into darkness.

Did she sleep? She wasn’t sure. Time was still so hazy to keep track of. The only thing she knew for sure, in this ocean of blurry shapes and strange noises, was the pain. It screamed in her veins and stole her breath, but she could do little but bear it.

Another window opened, and this time it was Spike. He sat in the chair and fiddled with his claws. He looked to Twilight a few times but kept his eyes on his hand while he talked, “We never got to finish that talk we had the other week, did we? Do you remember? You asked why I never moved on after everypony thought you were dead. I’ve wanted to finish that talk for a while, but I never knew how to bring it up again. The truth is that… I was one of the first to think you had died. I was there when all that came out of the mirror was your burnt crown. I held the crown in my hands… I-I felt the heat from it. How could I think you were alive after that, but it wasn’t long until other ponies began to hope you were alive.

“I was… ashamed at myself. I was one of the closes people to you, but I was the first to give you up for dead. I changed my way of thinking after that and preserved your room just how you left it. But deep down I still thought you were dead. When you returned for real, when I saw you stumbling through the castle and I realized it was you, and how wrong I had been, I was overcome by my shame. All I could do was stand there and cry like a hatchling. I was the last to say you were still alive, but the first to give you up for dead,” tears marked the drakes face, but he was quick to wipe them away. “I’m sorry, Twilight. I’m sorry I gave up on you,”

‘Oh Spike,’ darkness bled into Twilight’s world. She could feel herself losing consciousness. “My foolish little assistant,’ and Twilight succumbed to the darkness once more.

***

Luna entered Twilight’s private room. It was nearing midnight but there was still a nurse in the room monitoring Twilight. By the white coat and red mane held in a bun, Luna could only assume this was Red Heart she had been informed about. “How is she doing?” Luna asked.

Red Heart made a few more notes on a clipboard more before turning to address the princess. Luna didn’t mind, she was more than willing to wait a moment longer so a pony could see that their job was done correctly. “After four days, she seems to be through the worst of it. But she still hasn’t regained consciousness,”

Luna nodded. “If you are finish with your work, leave me with her. I wish to speak to her in private,”

“Of course, Princess,” with clipboard in hoof, Red Heart left the room.

Luna locked the door behind her before stepping over to Twilight’s bed. Looking down on the sleeping human she spoke with a solemn expression, “Now let us see what you are hiding in your dreams,”