Twilight, Soldier of War

Two days until return

Before Twilight stood the door to the meeting room were dozens of the top military leaders planed the next stage in the war. She stood there because she and her team had been summoned for reasons unknown to her, but she didn’t need to be a genius to know that Skylar and Teagan were only there because they wanted her. She took a few deep breaths as she readied herself to open the door. No matter how much time past she still found it hard to shake off her nerves when meeting an authority figure. Gripping the golden handle, she opened the door and stepped in.

Few took notice of Twilight, as most were busy watching a series of screens on the far wall. Some of the screens showed camera footage of the ongoing battle, while others were a satellite map of the city. In the center of the room was a long oval table with two men talking in whispers. The first man she had seen only from photos, General Bartley, who, with the exception of the Emperor himself, was to most powerful man in the city. Twilight did not envy the responsibility that lay upon his shoulders. The other man was none other than Rolland Carafe. Both heads looked up as Twilight stepped to the table.

Twilight snapped a salute, but was just as quickly given the at ease order, as General explained, “Lance Corporal, I am far too busy to worry about formalities, so what say we just skip them, shall we?”

Twilight answered as her body remained stiff, “Yes sir!”

Like a switch being flipped, at the sound of the Generals voice everyone turned from the monitor and gathered around the table. With the exception of Rolland and Twilight, there were only eight people gathered around, each with enough chevrons to tell Twilight she was the lowest ranked person. The feeling of being out of place was a growing one. General Bartley looked to each person as he spoke, “I know all of you are busy, so I will endeavor to keep this short and concise. Approximately six hours ago the enemy balrog, hereby referred to as Arrowhead, was confirmed to have moved into the now occupied section of the waterfront. At last report, it was making its way towards the Inner City gate, under heavy guard. We are delaying them as best we can, but the issues that stand before us is the unknown weapon the commonwealth used to breach the outer wall. Doctor Rolland, care to enlighten everyone with exactly what we are dealing with,”

“Of course, what I can tell you is that the commonwealth are using a theoretical energy source to power the weapon, an energy source that is supposed to be just that: theoretical. The Commonwealth have some very talented people,”

“Quite,” one man said as he broke in. “And as fascinating as learning about the science behind the Arrowhead is, our best move would be to order an armored assault,”

“And risk losing them to the Arrowhead’s main cannon!” said another man. “We send in a small group under cover of dark and put it out of action,”

“They would never make it within thirty yards!”

More ideas were thrown out, some were rather timid while others were the equivalent of ordering troops to fix bayonets and charge. Regardless of who had the better idea, it was ultimately the General’s call, and when he finally raised a hand to silence everyone he spoke, “We have a plan, one that Doctor Rolland has been working on,” with a wave of his hand he allowed Rolland to continued from where he left off.

“I’m not sure how many of you are aware of my research, but for the last few years I’ve been working on the development of a teleportation system,” by the look on everyone’s face Twilight could see they were all thinking the same thing. Last she heard the teleporter was just entering test trials with animals, and the results were mixed if one was being generous. “We’ve had to make some short cuts, due to the war, but I believe it is now safe enough to use,”

“This is great, we can just send a bomb over and—“

“NO!” Rolland’s cry silenced the man. “That is the last thing we must do. I don’t know how the commonwealth stabilized that energy source, but I can tell you if you don’t deal with it properly the resulting explosion will take most of the city with it,”

The room feel into a silence as the words sunk in. The General didn’t seemed phased, but likely already knew about this, and was the one to break the silence, “It is for this reason we will be sending over a small team to both disable the Arrowhead and eliminate the enemy leader. However, things are never that simple. As Rolland has informed me, there is a mass limit on how many things can be teleported per day. If you are interested in the specific science behind it I’m sure the Doctor will be happy to explain it later, but the important part is that, calculating in the gear we can only send over five individuals,” General Bartley gestured to Twilight. “Due to Lance Corporal Sparkle’s unique ability, we have chosen her and the other three members of her team for the mission, assuming you are up to the task soldier?”

“Sir, yes sir. However, Private Nadia died three days ago,” said Twilight, her face perfectly hiding the emotions behind it.

“That’s unfortunate, I’ll assign a four once we are done here, but for the fifth member we need someone who can disable that energy source. Rolland, how long will it take for you to teach someone what they need that know?”

“That won’t be necessary, I’m going myself,” for the first time since the meeting began, the General looked genuinely surprised to hear something.

“Come again?”

“General, we have one chance to get this right— one. So you will have to forgive me if I don’t wish to relive on the memory of some random grunt,”

“You are not an engineer, Rolland,” the General pointed out. But was quickly countered by an officer.

“We don’t need him to build an engine, just hit the off switch, so to say. I’m in agreement with Doctor Rolland, we can’t risk something going wrong here. If he’s volunteering, I say let him,”

General Bartley looked at everyone present, waiting for someone to offer a counter argument, but as none came he could only sigh. “Very well, Rolland, you get your wish. How long until the teleporter is ready to use?”

“I’ll need a few hours to get everything ready,”

“Very well, Lance Corporal, gather your team, the gear you will need and wait on standby in the teleporter warehouse,” Twilight gave a salute, and with a quick about-faced ,left the room.

Twilight walked quickly down the hallway. She had a vague idea were Teagan and Skyler were they had come together when they were ordered to the Inner City. At the time all they had known was that they were being requested for a meeting, but now that Twilight knew the specifics she didn’t know what to think. She would of course go, she had not spent years fighting only to back down at a dangerous mission. But this wasn’t just any dangerous mission. The fact was that there was a good possibility that no one was going to make it back. Twilight stopped in the hallway as she looked down the path before her. When had she become so willing to die for a land that wasn’t her own. It was a strange crisis of faith that plagued her, at an even stranger time. She took a deep breath and placed one foot in front of the other. Her path was set and overthinking it would change nothing.

Twilight found Teagan sitting alone in the building cafeteria, pushing a plate of unrecognizable food around with a fork. Teagan kept toying with his food even as he spoke up, “I don’t know if she ever told you, but I first met Nadia in this city,” Teagan said. Twilight could feel the weight on his shoulders, and without saying a word took a seat across from him. “It was in a bar, on the ass end of the city. I had just gotten dropped from the berserker program and was rather down about it, so I go into this bar and there Nadia was bartending. I had barely taken a seat when she set down the biggest pint in front of me. She said she had brothers who served and knew the look of rejection well. We talked. I told her what happened, said I was considering dropping out and returning home. She called me a wuss. That I should just join the regulars and not be moping that I didn’t get the spot I wanted. She even offered to join with me, but I just chalked it up to the friendly bartender act. A few days go by and I still hadn’t made up my mind about dropping out or not, but on a whim I dropped by the bar once more. The moment Nadia saw me she hopped the bar and raced over to show me her enlistment certificate, dated the day after she saw me. When I asked why she would join, she barely even knew me, I’ll never forget what she said: ‘fuck it, I was tired of bartending anyway,’” Teagan let his fork drop and pushed his plate away.

With the hint of a smile Twilight answered, “That sounds like her,” Though Twilight would love nothing more than to reflect on the memories of her friend, they didn’t have much time to get ready. “We have new orders,”

Without a word, Teagan nodded and raised from his seat.

They walked in silence out of the building, to the warehouse housing the teleporter. Set almost into the back of the building, the teleporters twin arches rose up over the hexagon platform that made up its core. At the tip of the arches a large disk hovered above. All of this manpower and technology for the simple act of teleporting, and Twilight wasn’t even sure if it would work or not. It made her realized just how convenient magic was in comparison. Rolland was at a control panel on the platform, making final preparations. Skyler stood close by, letting his eyes dance over the machine.

“Quite a sight,” said Twilight as she and Teagan took a place at his side.

“Do you think it works,” asked Skyler.

“Well, we are going to find out first hand,” when Skyler gave her his full attention she elaborated. “New orders, we will be teleporting inside the enemy balrog,” before she could go on much farther Rolland’s head popped up over the control panel.

“Twilight, before you start with your briefing, could you give me a hand here?” Twilight was a bit surprised by the request, she didn’t have much experience with the teleporter’s system herself.

“Go on,” said Skyler. “You can brief us after, and we’ll gather what gear we need. If we are sneaking onto a balrog we’ll need close quarters weapons,” with a back hand wave the two of them wondered off.

Twilight stepped onto the platform and looked over the dozens of buttons on the control panel, as if attached to the side there was a metallic sphere built into the panel itself. She ran her hand over its smooth surface and felt a tingle of energy up her arm. “What is this for?”

“For you,” Rolland answered. “I haven’t really had time to show you yet, but it’s how you will get home,” Twilight looked at the orb closer. “For years I’ve been trying to figure out how to send you home, but it was like a creature with no eyes trying to understand color. There was a link I was missing, something that was so obvious that I couldn’t see it: you,”

“I don’t understand?”

“Your magic itself is the key. The magic is from your dimension, so by pouring it into the control orb the teleporter will lock onto the origin point,”

“This… is incredible!” Twilight smiled and placed a hand on Rolland’s shoulder.

“There is one more thing. I lied to the general. There is enough power to teleport six individuals, five for the mission, and one for you to go home now if you wish,”

Twilight tightened her hand on his shoulder. “Rolland,” she said, a single word with a thousand meanings.

Rolland lower his head, a sigh escaping his lips. “I knew that would be your answer, but I had to try. Now I still have some work to do here unless the only thing we want to teleport to the Arrowhead are burnt bodies,”

Twilight left him and stepped down from the platform. She headed for the armory, where she knew Skyler and Teagan had gone, but before she could exit the warehouse a woman ran up to her, panting. Her skin was a deep tan, far more than you would get sunbathing, and her dark hair dangled behind her in a ponytail. There was a strange since of familiarity that Twilight couldn’t place. “I’m glad I cought up to you, Twilight Sparkle, or is it just Twilight? I’ve never been very good with Islander names. Anyway, I’m Privet Catherine Rose, I was just assigned to this mission,” at odd look she was getting from Twilight, she added, “You don’t remember me do you?”

“Sorry can’t say I do,”

“I’m not surprised, I wasn’t exactly the most memorable thing at the time, but you… who wouldn’t remember you. It was a few years back, I was serving as a balrog engineer at the time, and had the pleasure of accompanying you and your team to a disabled balrog… in the middle of a battlefield… while trying not to get blown up,”

Twilight gave the woman a smile. “Yes, I remember. But why are you a soldier now?”

“Well, if I’m still going to get shot at while onboard the biggest tanks in the world, then I want the option of shooting back, so I transferred,”

“Have you been briefed?”

“Don’t worry, Twilight, I know what I’m getting myself into,” Twilight nodded and with a motion led Catherine away.

It was several hours later that Twilight, Skyler, Teagan, and now Catherine gathered before the teleporter. Twilight had gone over the mission with everyone in detail and they had prepared accordingly. Instead of the standard plasma rifle, each of them wielded a SMG with an attached silencer. While the outside of the Arrowhead was guarded heavily armored solders, they didn’t expect to run into the same level of resistance. Rolland stood before everyone, as he worked to secure the helmet of his bulky turtle armor. “I hate this armor. I look ridiculous,”

“We’ll have the next version designed for looks rather than stopping bullets. Until then you’re stuck with it,” said Skyler.

“Everything is ready over here, Doctor,” a man in a white coat said, from behind the control panel.

“Then let us get this over with,” answered Rolland. At his lead everyone followed him onto the platform and stood in a line at the center.

“Beginning charging sequence,”

The air hummed with energy. Twilight could feel the path of the energy flowing up the arches and into the disk above them. It gathered there, waiting for the switch that would release it down upon them. “Focus on your breathing,” ordered Rolland. Twilight took in a breath and slowly let it out.

“Ninety percent charged, teleporting in 10…9…8…7,” Twilight drew in air and tried to unbind the knot in her stomach. “3…2…1,”

The world was blanket in a blue light, and for a moment Twilight was overcome by the sensation of falling. She thought to grab something but there was nothing around her to grab, nor did she have arms to use. There was only the nothingness. She remembered the feeling of teleporting back home, but it was nothing like this. There the out of body feeling lasted mere moments, barely long enough for her mind to register it, but this. It was like an emptiness without end. Until with a thrust she was back into the world once more.

Twilight collapsed to her knees. The others, though shaky, held their weapons high as they searched their surroundings. They stood next to stacks of metal crates in a large storage area. A few wolverines were lined a against one wall, their wheels locked into place. Apart from them, there was no one in sight. “How are you doing, Twilight,” asked Skyler, not letting his guard down.

“I’m ok. That wasn’t what I was expecting,” Twilight rose to her feet and took up her weapon.

“Good, from this point on keep all communication to an absolute minimum. No matter what happens we complete this mission,” no words were said in acknowledgement, no words were needed.

Skyler took lead and together they moved like a coiled snake through the storage area, towards the staircase to the upper floors. Skrler placed himself next to the door. He pointed to the closed door then to Teagan. Teagan nodded and stepped forward to open it, while Twilight and Catherine aimed center mass at the door. Rolland for his part was smart enough to stay out of the way, in case the worst were to happen. Teagan pulled the door open with the grown of a unoiled hinge, to the pale face man in a brown jump suit. The look of surprise on his face had barely left his eyes by the time he felt the impact of a burst fire from Catherine’s SMG. He slumped forward and slid down the stairs.

Skyler and Teagan moved as one and quickly grab ahold of the body to hide it away. They placed him behind some boxes were he wouldn’t be discovered immediately. The group moved up the stairs one at a times, Rolland kept to the middle while Teagan brought up the rear. Through barren halls they moved quietly, keeping one pace, their feet barely hit the ground before they moved to the next. It wasn’t until they came to the first cross roads that the group stopped. “Here,” Rolland said. “This way leads to the engine room,”

Skyler gave a nod. “Teagan and Catherine will be escorting you, me and Twilight will carry out the second objection and look for the commanding officer,”

Teagan gave his simple nod. “Be careful you two,”

“Be careful yourselves,”

Catherine placed a hand on Teagan shoulder as she said, “Don’t worry, I’ll look after the big guy,” They lingered a moment, more than they should have, less then they wanted. But the two groups departed, each one having their own mission to complete.

Teagan led his team deeper into the depth of the Arrowhead. They moved cautiously as the hallway opened up into a wide corridor. Sounds of voices came from behind closed doors. A few doors were to the controls for the Arrowhead’s side mounted guns, while others were just filled with technician sitting behind computer screens working. None of the rooms were their target, their destination laid further still. They took a stairway farther down. The rattling of the steps was like an alarm in the quiet surrounding. Catherine watched the surrounding rooms as the other two took the path first, it was only when Rolland had cleared the last step that she descended herself.

They approached the sliding doors to engineering, and quickly made ready to move through. Teagan stood next to one door with Catherine by the other. At a nod from Teagan, Catherine moved to the control panel, and the door slid open with the touch of a button. Teagan moved in first with Catherine shadowing him.

Engineering was a mix of floor to ceiling computer banks, stubby control stations with worn out chairs, and the massive rotary motors that drowned out the noise of their entrance. The room was filled with eight unarmed and unarmored engineers in brown jumpsuits. Teagan looked to Catherine and she nodded in understanding. They had to be quick and not let them get off a warning.

They sprinted into the open room, their guns moving with their line of sight. The first man to spot them was silenced with the tack-tack of Teagan’s weapon. Screams and cries of, “the enemy is here!” and “Call for help,” but with each tack-tack the cries were hushed.

One man tried to escape deeper into engineering, through a door at the far end. Teagan let the man swipe his keycard and open the door before he sent two rounds down range and put the man down.

Catherine searched the room with the eyes of a fox. She found one engineer huddled under a computer desk. “Please don’t kill me!,” the man cried at Catherine’s unfeeling eyes staring down on him. “I’m just an engineer—“ He was shown neither pity nor mercy as Catherine fired her weapon. No quarter was show nor did they expect it to be shown.

“I count seven dead,” said Catherine.

“I saw eight earlier, stay alert,”

“They moved closer together as their eyes scanned the room, but it was Rolland her spotted him with a call of “There,” he pointed to one of the motors, where the last engineer was ducking low behind.

As three pairs of eyes locked onto the man he bolted from cover, his eyes locked onto the control station directly in his path. “Put him down!” ordered Teagan. Shots hit the man’s side but he did not slow. A round to the shoulder twisted his body but he persevered. He leaped through the air, with an out stretched hand, as another founds found there mark. His body landed on the control station, unmoving, yet no one needed to check to know they had failed when an alarm blared through the intercom.

“Engineering, what’s going on?” a voice asked from the same station that man now laid upon.

“Shit!” No longer bothering with subtlety, Teagan took lead as he yelled, “Double time!”

They passed through the far door, deeper into engineering. The room was only a fraction of the size of the former, and seem designed solely for the sphere that was held suspended by floor and ceiling rods. The sphere was filled with a red swirling mist. The reactor was ringed with a metal cage that held it together.

“Is this it?” Asked Catherine.

“Yes, yes it is,” Rolland” eyes were as wide as a child in a toy store. “The things we could learn from this,”

“Stay focused, doctor, can you do this?” Asked Teagan.

“Do I have a choice?”

“No,”

“I didn’t think so,” Rolland took off his duffel bag and began unpacking the tools he would need, and the explosives for when the job was done.

Teagan scooped up the keycard from a fallen engineer as they exited the room, sealing the door behind them. “How long do you think we have until they come pouring through that door?” Catherine asked as she popped in a new magazine.

“If we’re lucky, five minutes,”

“Here’s what I’m thinking, you hold here and I’ll draw as many of them away as I can,”

Teagan shock his head. “No, we have a better chance if we stick together,”

“Not with the numbers they will be throwing at us,” Catherine unzipped a waist pouch and took out a disk with a beveled center. An anti-personnel mine. While ones that small wouldn’t be enough to kill someone under normal circumstances, the mere threat of them alone would slow any advance. “Come on big guy, everyone knew this would be a one way trip,”

There was no time to argue and so they didn’t. Catherine gripped her gun tightly and ran from the room. With a heavy sigh of someone consigned to their fate, Teagan closed the engineering door and sealed them from his side.

***

When the alarm sounded Twilight knew that things had not gone to plan, but as she and Skyler stood over the bleeding mess of a rat worker, their eyes met and Twilight saw the same desire to return to the others, yet they both knew that the mission came first. “I’m telling you he’s on the bridge, I saw the Field Marshal not ten minutes ago,”

“And how do we know you’re not just leading us into a trap,” asked Skyler, leaning menacingly over the beaten man.

The man spit out a bloody tooth on the floor. “Cause you idiots are going after the Field Marshal, you’ll be dead before you get within a hundred feet of him,”

Twilight wasn’t thrilled that the only reason he was telling them anything was the vain hope that they would be walking to their own death. However, it did lend credence to his words, and with the alarm blaring they didn’t have time to search everywhere. With a nod from Skyler, Twilight sent the man into unconscious with the butt of her weapon.

With the lightest of touchs, Skylar cracked open the door and stole a look out into the hall. “We’re clear for the moment,”

“How far from the bridge do you think we are?”

“It should be on the floor above us, so about thirty feet, I’d say,”

“If we are doing this it has to be fast. If we get bogged down in a firefight it’s over,”

Smiling, as he followed her train of thought, Skyler nodded, “One speed,”

Skyler flung the door to their small room open and the two rushed out. They followed the corridor with Skyler leading the way. Twilight counted down distance as her feet banged against the grate floor. Technicians and workers jumped out of their path as the two raced past, not bothering to waste the ammo on them. Rounding the stairs they took them two at a time, never slowing in their breathing.

As they exited the stairway they were met by two passing soldiers in full gear. With an action that barely required thought, Twilight snapped out a grenade as her helmet dimmed for the coming flair. At the flash of light the Rats gave shouts of surprise and fired off their weapons blindly. Twilight ducked and weaved forward, grabbing onto the arm of the closest Rat and flipping him over her shoulder. In the same fluid motion she brought her SMG to bear and emptied the clip into his helmet. She quickly turned for the next Rat only to see Skyler pulling his knife free from his throat.

“We’re not far,” said Skyler. He tossed his spent weapon to the side and gripped one of the plasma rifle from the ground, gesturing for Twilight to do the same. They quickly traveled down the hall for the last five feet and turned the corner to the large double doors of the bridge, only to come face to face with a very large juggernaut wielding an equally large weapon. They were barely in the Juggernaut’s sight for more than a moment before his multi-barrel weapon began to spin.

“Back!”

They threw themselves against the corner wall, as a hail of bullets chased them away. “Ok, ideas?” Twilight asked. Even with the plasma weapons they had picked up, the two of them alone would be hard pressed to get their a juggernaut’s shield in those claustrophobic passages.

“I’ve got one,” Skyler reached into his pouch and pulled out a single chaos grenade. “Always have a backup plan, right,”

“Come out, little pigs!” Cried the Juggernaut. The sound of heavy footsteps marked his slow advance.

Twilight looked around the hallway, an idea flashing across her mind. “If I distract him, can you roll it close to him?”

“I’ll shove it up his ass,” Skylar quipped. “On your mark,”

With a shield wrapping herself, Twilight slid around the corner, bringing the wrath of the minigun with her as the Juggernaut swerved to follow his target. Round after round bounced off of her shield, but Twilight held firm to give Skyler the opening he needed. She smiled as she saw the grenade rolling towards its target, yet to make it’s leap into the air, and mere moments before the Juggernaut saw it and stopped his firing. That was the opening Twilight was waiting for.

Twilight shot out her arms and entrapped the Juggernaut together with the grenade. As the chaos grenade unleashed its payload, Twilight felt her strength pushed to its limit, but the sound of the Juggernaut crying out gave her the strength she needed. When the shield dropped and the grenade was spent, the Juggernaut fell to the side, it’s body riddled with holes.

Skylar helped Twilight back to her feet and together they walked to the door of the bridge, where their target awaited.

***

The explosions had ended five minutes ago, the gunfire two minutes ago. Now Teagan waited. He piled as many tables as he could in front of the engineering doors, but he knew that would buy him moments at best. Though going back the way they came was no longer passable he had found another way out. If they cut off the power to the motor they would be able to exit through there and escape underneath the Arrowhead, but until Rolland’s work was done and the explosive set, he would hold.

“Rolland, how much longer,” Teagan asked over the radio. At the sound of cracklings from the door, Teagan’s eyes were drawn to the red spark, slowly cutting its way down the door center.

“I need another five minutes,”

Teagan took and a breath and slowly let it out. “Understood,” he said simply. If he remembered correctly, it was Nadia who bought the drinks last time. He would have to buy the drinks this time around.

Five minutes, he could do that.

***

As the doors moved apart, Twilight and Skyler stepped onto the bridge. Neat rolls of control stations sat empty in the desolate room. A lone man stood at the far end of the room, staring out the window at the night sky over a burning city, his hand’s resting in the small of his back. “What the hell is this?” Twilight asked as she stepped forward, one hand waving around the room.

“It is exactly as you see,” said the Field Marshal. “I reasoned if you had the skill and fire power to dispatch my guard, than the pitiful resistance of the bridge personnel would be of little trouble,” Twilight stepped forward once more, but as the Field Marshal turned to stare at her helmet and she stopped. “Oh, is that not what you meant, Twilight Sparkle? Yes, I know who you are, and I know what your little friends in engineering are up to. For all of our sakes, let’s hope you didn’t just send some fool down there,”

“Don’t worry, he’s going to disarm that weapon,” said Skyler.

“I suppose given the fact that we are still alive lends some credence to your words, although I have to wonder for how long. But yes, the question at hand, why do I stand before you alone?” Though they could kill Field Marshal there and be done with it, the strangeness of the situation made them hesitate, if only for the question that hung in the air. “Let me ask you this: What do you fight for?”

“Is this a joke?” asked Skyler. “We fight because you bastards would rather use weapons then talk out your problems. We fight—“

At the raised hand of the Field Marshal Skylar stopped. “Save your whining for one who cares. That is not what I asked. I believe you savages fight for much the same reasons that we do: For your country, and it’s people, for your ideals, and so on. Of course that is why we fought … until we received this message,” He stepped back to the window and to the control station that stood below it.

At the flick of a button a prerecorded message began to play. “Attention soldiers of the 38th Commonwealth Combined Army. The Ryssdal government has fallen, it’s people have taken back our country. As acting civilian representative, I am ordering all offensive operation against the Osana Empire to end at once, so we may begin peace negotiations. Return home, brothers, the war is over,”

Twilight felt a slow heat rising up her chest. Her teeth gritted together as she all but spat out the question, “How old is that message?”

“I received it the day before I ordered the attack on Eastelf,”

Twilight didn’t even hear the sound of her weapon firing, the pulsing in her ears was too loud. A single round impacted the Field Marshal’s chest. He staggered back into the wall and rested his back against it as he slid down. “Why! Why did all of these people have to die?”

“What a young and ignorant child you are,” the Field Marshal wheezed, his breath becoming more difficult with each word. “We fought so long and hard, yet in the end we are betrayed by those we would protect. With only my brothers in arms to trust, what was I supposed to do?”

“You do what you were trained to do,” spoke Skyler. In a train of thought that Twilight didn’t understand, nor did she ever want to. The Field Marshal nodded at his words.

“Rückzug, 81146, gamma,”

“What?” Twilight asked in confusion,

“It’s the activation code for the automated retreat signal. Only I and my most trusted officers know it,”

Twilight exchanged a glance with Skyler as he stepped over to the forward station and entered in the command. There was little to lose from trying the code, even if it was a lie. Moments after activation an automated voice sounded through the Arrowhead, “General retreat has been declared. All forces are to fall back at once,” the message repeated.

Once more Twilight had to ask the man why, and with blood stained teeth he answered, “There is nothing for me left in Ryssdal, but my men still have a place there. Allow me one last question before I go to meet my gods,” Twilight nodded. “What are you, if not a rejection of the gods, a daemon to ruin all that is right in this world?”

“I’m a fucking pony,” before the confusion could even register on his face, Twilight fired her weapon and the Field Marshal slumped to the side.

“Twilight come take a look at this,” Twilight stepped to Skyler’s side. He was watching a black and white video footage, the feed was skipping from one room to the next every few seconds. After a few keystrokes the footage held on the engineering level. It took Twilight a moment to understand what she was seeing, due to the high angle of the camera, but when she did she had no words.

Teagan laid on the ground, unmoving. The dozens of soldiers didn’t even acknowledge his body as they moved deeper into engineering. Skyler switched the camera to follow them. The view changed to a smaller room where they stared at the above angle of Rollands head. His voice was weak, yet the camera still picked it up. “I did it. Just in time,” the door opened and the Rats poured in, their guns aimed for Rolland, but he didn’t move. When the lead Rat looked at the packed explosives that covered the now disabled reactor he turned on his heels and yelled to those behind him, “BACK! NOW!”

The first Rat had barely crossed the threshold before the explosive detonated and the camera went offline. Twilight felt the explosion as the vibration rattled the Arrowhead and the power was cut. The bridge was bath in darkness and the two of them basked in it. Finally the silence that dragged on for minutes was broken by Skyler, “They completed their mission,”

“Let’s get out of here,”

Dawn of the seventh day broke in the sky, and painted the city in a tapestry of reds and yellows. The Rats were in retreat, and it seemed as though the Arrowhead was being abandoned. There would likely still be holdouts for some time that the Osanen would need to root out. But the battle was over.

The war was over.

***

Twilight removed her hand from the window, it’s image swirled back into a cityscape, as she stepped away to look at Luna. “After that we made our way back to HQ. Skyler went to help push the remaining Rats out of the city, but I decided that it was a good time for me to return home, so I traveled here through the teleporter. Now you know everything,”

Luna continued to stare out the window, a sad look on her face. “Twilight, do you not trust me?”

“Of course I do, why would you ask that?”

Luna held her head high and stared down at Twilight. “Then why, pray tell, are you lying to me?”