Broken Hearts And Broken Minds

I woke up in the middle of the night on top of Grayscale with red eyes. I was covered in the dried blood of both him and the blood of his killer. The streets around us were cleared of everything but a few blood splashes in the sand, and some wood pieces. I stepped off of him and noticed a small pouch attached to the back of his armor. I opened it and found a small folded sheet of paper inside. Written on the back was: "do not open until the war is over." I retracted my sabre and slipped the paper down into my breastplate where it would be safe. I looked up and around to see that there was one of Celestia's Royal Guards looking over at me with an expression of extreme sympathy and sadness.

"That was a good kill." He said in one of the strangest comforting attempts of my life. "You took that bastard's leg right off." What was stranger than the attempt was the fact that I actually found it comforting.

"Thank you." I said to him. He nodded at me as I walked back towards my tent. I didn't look back.

I got back to the tent and cleaned the blood off of everything with my rag. Then I dropped my armor to the floor of the tent and collapsed onto my sleeping bag. After a moment of silence, Wanderlust got up from her bedroll and joined me in mine. She set herself down against me and began to stroke the top of my wing. She began to sing quietly.

"Do you remember

back in November?

When you asked me to be

your special somepony?

Do you remember

late last December?

Back on Hearthswarming eve?

You said you loved me.

You said you needed me.

You said we'd never be apart.

That's what I believed.

But you left me forever.

You left me with a broken heart..."

Her song seemed to be followed up by an unearthly silence as she continued stroking my wing.

"That was beautiful." I told her. "What song is that?"

"It's called Broken Hearts And Broken Minds." She answered. "...Wing Nut?" She asked me.

"Yes?" I responded calmly.

"I'm sorry." She said to me. I felt her soft hooves stroke my wing gently and I relaxed completely. Right before I was about to respond, I heard the church bells in Appleloosa begin to ring violently. She stood up reluctantly and pushed my armor towards me, while simultaneously reaching over for her own. The entire campsite seemed to be coming to life around us. There were soldiers diving out of their tents and yelling. I lifted up and assembled my armor as fast as I could, Wanderlust did the same. I exited the tent swiftly, this time with my saddlebag on over my armor. I decided that from now on, I would carry Aerodrome's photo with me any time I could. What I saw was appalling.

Changeling soldiers were dropping from the cloudy, pitch black sky and landing on top of ponies. Most of them were getting impaled, but some of them were crushing, biting, or impaling Equestrians with spears of their own. And they just kept coming. Ponies were getting killed left and right for several seconds before a fall back trumpet call brayed over the chaos. Everypony simultaneously began running North towards the Everfree forest after the civilian Appleloosians that had already fled.

We flew straight North for half an hour before the Changelings stopped pursuing us. We were almost at the edge of the Everfree Forest, and far out of the desert. The ponies that couldn't fly or that didn't have wings arrived at the forest's edge a few minutes after us. The Changelings had stopped following them as well. Our army was now a third of the size it was. I thought about the fact that no one would be back in the town to clean up the dead or to give them a proper burial. Except the Changelings. They would take over the town and use our fallen as disguises.

My thoughts were interrupted by a General's bodyguard making an announcement. He used magic to amplify his voice.

"General Total War has been killed by the Changelings!" He bellowed. Everyone in Equestria's Army yelled back angrily:

"Long live Total War!" He passed a scroll to another guard to be sent to Princess Celestia, before continuing his speech.

"I am sending a scroll to Princess Celestia requesting that she personally join us on the front lines. In the meantime, we will hold the Everfree Forest and block the enemy from advancing any farther. Go! Build shelters! Now!" He ended.

Wanderlust and I gathered the Skirmishers, went a bit deeper into the forest, and we built ourselves a small set of close-together shelters. They consisted mostly of leaf beds, dug out or knocked over trees, and twigs and sticks supporting leaf roofs. I lied down with Wanderlust on a clean patch of grass under a tree and crashed. I couldn't stay awake any more.

I woke up at 1324 the next day. Everypony else was already awake and trotting around. Some of them were crying. Wanderlust was talking to Purple Quartz a few meters away from me. I stood up on the grass and walked over to them.

"Hi Wanderlust." I said quietly.

"Good afternoon, Wing Nut." She answered.

"Good afternoon sir." Quartz joined in.

"We were just discussing Quartz joining the Skirmishers." Wanderlust told me.

"I'm happy to serve you, sir." He added. I stared at them tiredly and silently before returning to the grass patch and sitting with my back against the tree. Quartz looked at Wanderlust confusedly and painfully for a moment.

"His friend was killed by the rogue cannoneers." She told him quietly.

"He was more than my friend." I responded. "He saved my flank on numerous occasions. Whether it be in training, exercises, or in combat. He was an exceptional flyer and friend. And I may have appeared to let go of him, but I never really did, and never will let go of him. He'll be in my heart and mind forever.

"I'm sorry." Purple Quartz responded.

"I am too." I replied. "...Welcome to the Skirmishers."

Later that day, I realized that there was nothing to do in this forest. There were no restaurants, no taverns, and no stores to look through. Over time though, we created a routine based on hunting, conserving energy, and conserving supplies. Everything in the forest was quiet. A month went by without any combat or orders. It was the break we needed, and it was good that we had it when we did, because Celestia decided that she would come. And she didn't just come. She came with plans.