The Great War

Chapters

1 - The War to end all Wars
2 - Thunder and Lightning
3 - The Last Order of a Princess
4 - The Attack

1 - The War to end all Wars

Name: Edward Blankflank
Rank: Private
Date: 1st June 980 AD (After Discord)
Location: Vanhoover Frontline, about 15 kilometers away from the city centre

My name is Private Edward Blankflank of the 17th Royal Infantry Brigade. At this very moment my comrades and me are enjoying one of the very few little breaks that the war grants. Some of us cower in fear, awaiting the next attack or artillery barrage, others use the time to eat, a few of us are carving their names into their weapons. Me? I use times like these to write down how this war is truly fought, trying to prevent young colts from signing up for something they believe to be the greatest ride of their life...at least that's what the government tells them.

For now though, I'll start right at the very beginning. How the War started and how it changed Warfare and an entire Nation forever.

When the Crystal Empire returned, everypony in Equestria knew this would mean the return of King Sombra. With King Sombra, a War would soon imminent as soon as Sombra could muster enough of an army to fight.

We were right.

The Crystal Ponies, mind-controlled by King Sombra, marched towards Equestrian lands. Our Pegasi scouts saw their attack early enough for us to position our own forces near the Crystal Mountains.

What followed was the first of many, bloody battles.

Our forces' best soldiers and tacticians participated in that battle. And eventhough our soldiers fought bravely and heroicly...the battle was lost. Routed, the rest of the strike force fell back towards the next village to regroup. Celestia, who had fought in the battle herself, returned to Canterlot. Some say she didn't want to risk her own death, a certain killing blow for the unity of our people in times like these, others say she was simply afraid of fighting herself.

Whatever may be true, she returned to Canterlot, her last orders for the remainders of the army were to stand strong and defend as long as possible until reinforcements arrived.

There were no reinforcements.

Those brave souls fought for their country and people until the very end...they made the ultimate sacrifice.

A few days later, our armies managed to halt Sombra's army for the moment. It was then that Celestia's general staff suggested funding military research and the army. Celestia, not left with much of a choice, agreed. And with that fateful decision...Equestria as a whole went down a much different, darker, bloodier path.

Military engineers soon brought the first assortment of prototype weapons to the battlefields. Those first firearms were efficient and deadly, yet our soldiers weren't trained in using them efficiently. And so, the enemy eventually captured some of them in battle. Rumours say that this is why the Crystal Empire too started investing in new weapon technology. If it is true, we don't know.

It took about a month until the face of war had changed completely. The old, traditional way of fighting, hoof to hoof, was no more. By now, both sides had completely commited to the new style of warfare. Trench Warfare.

The previously green and beautiful plains near Vanhoover were no more. Everything in range of the enemies' artillery was now wasteland. Even land far beyond the actualy frontline was destroyed and in ruins as Artillery easily missed it's targets during the first few volleys.

However, the Equestrian Government and Military had not thought about the immense new need for mannpower and equipment that this style of warfare required. Some say that Celestia herself was already powerless, the military would always 'convince' her of their plans and ideas. That being said, it was settled that Equestria's economy would be completely renewed. New, efficient steam engines powered the now rapidly growing Industry. An industry that consumed almost as much land as the war itself did.

Yet this isn't where the military's chain of actions stopped. They created a special department for War Propaganda, trying to inspire the population of either fighting for their country or supporting their forces by working allday long in an armament factory. At first it was just a few posters and leaflets, even those things managed to rally ponies to the common cause of the nation: Victory. But the massive industrialization and funding of military inventions and equipment brought forth a completely new tool for them to manipulate the population with: The Radio. Radio's, although meant mainly for military use, were affordable for many families. I myself didn't have a family...not anymore at least, but me and my friends managed to pile up enough money to buy one for ourselves. We simply had to try out this new, big thing people were talking about. Upon hearing the constant war cries, the talk of honor, valor and bravery and the need to defend our homes, it didn't take long for us to fall for their dirty lies.
I don't know what exactly it was that made us so excited and confident about a war like this, how we could be so blind...perhaps it was because of our need for 'adventure' or 'change'...maybe. But then again, all we knew of the war, was what we were told by the government. All we knew were lies. Lies of bravery and heroism.

And we fell for it.

Me and my three friends all went out to the recruitment office to sign up for what would be a ride to hell. We reacted with enthusiasm as the officer in the office told us we had been approved. We ran outside of the recruitment office and cheered, unknowing of what was soon to come.

We were fools, but so was everyone else in town.

I still remember how me and my friends were greeted by cheering crowds as we entered the train station early in the morning. A woman ran up to us and gave one of my friends a bouquet of flowers, kissing his cheek as she did so. When we entered the train, we saw just how many others had signed up for this bloody mess. The whole train waggon was packed with fresh recruits, all 8 waggons. Looking back, I wish I would have just run away from all of this. My innocent, unknowing past self, how it celebrated that very moment. How I, no, we...how we were told lies, all of us. Everypony in that train was there only because they were lied to. Shown fake pictures of the war, told fake stories and facts about the war. It was all a lie. If only the war itself was as big of a lie as the propaganda.

As the train left the station, we waved at the cheering crowd from out of the windows of the waggon. Later on, many people had gone quiet. Many slept or simply rested, others talked, others sang patriotic or war songs. I myself looked outside of the window, imagining how proud my mum would be if she saw me now. Her only child, her little colt, on the way to the frontlines, fighting it out with the big tyrant's army. I'm sure my Dad would have been at arms for a long time by now, I knew him well enough to know that he was the kind of stallion to look for trouble and adventure.

But this would not be an adventure.

The train soon suddenly stopped out of nowhere, knocking many in the waggon out of their deep dreams. We looked around in confusion and unsafety for a moment as nobody knew what was going on. It didn't take long though until our Major entered the wagon. We all quickly saluted, as was normal when meeting a higher ranked soldier. The Major quickly left after he told us that we had reached our destination and that we are to leave train immediatly to make room for the new passengers. Noone knew who he meant with 'new passengers', especially since we were on our way to a warzone, not to a normal train station. We all seemed to just brush it off though as we, all in line and after one another, left the train.

What appeared gave us a good taste of what was soon to come.

The train had stopped at a rather large Field Headquarters. There were big artillery pieces stationed in the distance, I couldn't make out anything specific though. All I, and the others, noticed of them was a constant 'boom...boom, boom...boom, boom...' in the background. To our right, soldiers were carrying ammunition crates through the Headquarters. They soon disappeared behind a tent and then soon reappeared as they came back, picking up yet another crate and repeating the process. Across the entire Headquarters, Equestrian flags and banners could be seen. It was the very first thing I noticed while leaving the train, but as I stood outside for a couple of moments, my eyes were focused on something way more terrifying than all those things combined. The Field Hospital.

The Field Hospital was a big, half open tent to our left. Fittingly, it was the only white tent to be seen, and it also had a red cross on it, clearly showing that it was the field hospital. The open side of the tent was, unfortunatly, turned towards us. We were able to see all the poor souls that were unfortunate enough to find themselves there. There were stallions with only one eye, ones with only two hooves, even one that had lost all four of his hooves. There were about 17 wounded and injured stallions in there, but I didn't bother to count them. What really drew my attention was a stallion being carried over to the hospital by two nurses. He was lifted up onto a medical bed. He had bandages around his left front hoof. His face clearly showed the pain he was going through, his expression was shaped by a stinging pain in his injured hoof. As the nurses who brought him to his medical bed left, a doctor arrived. He said something to the stallion, unaudible for me and my comrades as we were too far away from them.
As the doctor stopped talking, he grabbed a bone saw from a nearby table. As the doctor looked at it, the man began crying and yelling. This time it was audible for even us, he yelled "No! No! Please no! Somepony! Help! No! Help! Please!" His cries for help were filled with both pain and fear. But it was to no avail, as his call for help were cutoff. They instead turned into cries of agony as the doctor started his procedure.

I couldn't watch the bloody spectacle that unfolded in front of my very eyes and turned away, my eyes closed, only hearing the painful cries of the stallion. With each second passing, his cries hurt me too. My heart skipped a couple of beats during the entire thing.

Then it stopped. He went silent. I opened my eyes and looked at my comrades next to me. By now every single one of us was watching what happened. Some of their faces were filled with fear, others with disgust. I looked over to the hospital as I saw what had happened.

He was no more. His injured hoof now laid in a bucket next to the bed he laid on. Both the bed and bucket were now spattered with blood, a trail of blood dripped out of the remainders of his left forehoof, down onto the grass. His body was lifeless, no muscle moved whatsoever. The doctor laid down the bone saw and checked the stallion's pulse for a moment. Of course, it was no surprise that he was disapointed when he detected no pulse whatsoever. He looked at the stallion as he took a few steps back and then turned back completely, walking off. For a brief moment, the dead body laid there, completely alone. Then the same two nurses from before reappeared. Once again, the lifted up the now dead stallion and carried him off. Where they brought him, I couldn't see. But I had a good feeling that I didn't want to know anyways.

With that, the spectacle was over. Me and my comrades looked at eachother, we all shared the same amount of dread and disugst. "We're all gonna end like him" Said one of my friends as he leaned over to me in shock, "We're all gonna kick the bucket out here. We're going to die!" My friend started to panic as me and my friends tried calming him as much as we could, even though we were at least just as concerned and afraid of what was to come as him.

"Attention!" Yelled the Major from before, stretching the 'e' as he did so. Quickly, we all formed a row, standing at attention after we did so. "Welcome to the Vanhoover front, gentlecolts. I am Major Cheapshot. I will be showing you your lovely new home." His speech already made me hate him. After what we had seen, I'm sure all of us shared the same hate in him as I did.

The Major lead us forward, along a cornfield. We started by walking on a road, as the cornfield ended though, so did the road. The green planes and yellow cornfield disappeared. All that was left of them was ashes. The land itself turned into a black wasteland, filled with craters, debris, barbed wire and...trenches. Alot of them, and they would be our new 'home' as he wanted to call it. And so our journey continued, now entering the trenches for our first time. At that time, we couldn't foresee that there was no going back from there on out. Once you enter the trenches, you don't go back. You either die in them, or die for leaving them. May that be by charging the enemy trenches or by deserting and being shot by your own officers.

It didn't take long until we arrived at the very frontline. We could still hear artillery, knowing it was ours that was still shelling the enemy positions. I looked up to the clouds to see how the shells left the black clouds and fell down, striking the enemy. As I looked down, I saw many soldiers who had already been stationed in our trench. They all looked at us as we walked past them. We were the fresh recruits, new blood. More bodies to throw at the enemy.

We arrived at a little dug in the trench as the major stoped and said "You three, these are your quarters." He pointed at me, one of my friends and somepony else I didn't know. We all walked forwards, into the little room. It really wasn't big. All that was in there was 3 tiny, green carpets to sleep on and an oil lamp on the ceiling. We came back out and saluted as we all replied "Yes, Sir!" followed by the Major and the rest of our troop marching off further down the trench, with them two of my good friends.

And so me, one of my friends and a complete stranger stood there. In a trench, in front of a little dugout that would serve as our own living space and bedroom. We looked at eachother, lost in thought, as I decided to say what we all were thinking.

"Fuck."

2 - Thunder and Lightning

Name: Edward Blankflank
Rank: Private
Date: 6th June 980 AD
Location: Vanhoover Frontline, about 15 kilometers away from the city centre

I've known that this war is hell for quite some time now, but the worst thing is...that it simply doesn't stop. The War, with all it's attrocities, horror, blood, death and destruction, simply won't find an end. If anything...it simply keeps getting worse...

The War carries on, the gunfire never ceases, the destruction never stops, the bodycount ever rising...but an end? An end to all this? An end to 'The War to end all Wars'?

No. There is no end. The end is burried under all the brave and innocent ponies that were tricked into giving their precious life for a war that was meant to achieve so much...yet achieves nothing.

It began early in the morning. Most of us were asleep when it all started. The only ones awake were the night patrols, tasked with watching out for enemy movement and possible attacks.

It turns out they were needed sooner than expected.

A sudden wave of screams and shouts could be heard, waking up my friend, the stranger in our 'bedroom' and me. The screams were a mixture of screams of horror and fear and orders. I managed to hear out things like "Take cover everypony! Take cover!" and "Incoming! Run!"

Me and my roommates were quick to get up on our hooves, forgetting to put on our helmets that laid in our little bedroom. As we ran outside, we saw the trench was filled with stallions hectically running about. Some seeked cover in small dugouts, others covered in corners, some went completely mad as they looked at the sky with fire in their eyes, yelling "You want me? Then come and get me!"

We knew what he was talking about as we were temporarily blinded by a ray of light. We looked up, seeing the dark, almost gray, thick cloud cover. Multiple rays of sunlight managed to break through as big projectiles penetrated the clouds and shot straight down towards the ground. For a moment, a tiny little moment, a truly breathtaking sight could be seen, as the light managed to defeat the dark. Any kind of thoughts like that were quickly pulverized though, as high pitched whistles, followed by explosions interrupted.

An enemy Artillery barrage.

As the first shells impacted with the ground, me and my roommates immediatly crawled back into our little dugout. Me and my friend grabbed our helmets as we crawled back in. Our other roommate though, didn't. I still don't know if he had forgotten about it or if he simply decided it wasn't of any protection against gigantic artillery shells anyway.

After about a minute, a small time of peace returned. I poked my head out of the entrance to our dugout and saw that almost everypony was unharmed. Some even celebrated that they survived. But I knew that wouldn't be the end. There'd be more. Much more. Barrages like that would always be used to further adjust the firing angle. They were sheer practice shots.

And now...they had their firing angle.

Once again, There were rays of light shining down towards us from the sky. The enemy Artillery shells punched through the once again closed up cloud cover once again, but this time...their shots weren't for practice, they were serious, aimed to kill.

As the first whistles from the incoming shells could be heard, one of our comrades shouted "Coveeeer!" My friend reacted immediatly as he ran back into our dugout. Me and my other roommate simply stood outside though. I don't know why we did it, at least I don't know why I myself did it. I know any sane pony would immediatly seek cover like my friend but...something kept me from doing so. Something made me look up as the air was full of whistles from the rapidly descending artillery shells. I saw how they headed straight towards us, no intention on moving or seeking cover.

Then the world froze for a brief moment.

I looked around, I could see the artillery coming in, see the explosions, for Celestia's sake, I even saw stallions getting hit, horrifying sights of poor stallions dying or ,even worse, surviving the impact with horrible, painful injuries. But even then...It was all silent. It was...peaceful. It was all so strange, like I never had anything to do with all of this. It was like...I was not actually there. Like I was merely spectating. Like it was some kind of movie and I sat in the first row.

Then I came back to my senses.

My eyes opened as I heard explosions, screaming and destruction all around me. My vision was blurry and my head hurt. I slowly turned my head to my left, only to see the fiery blurs of a fire. Then I turned my head to the right and saw...something. Something right in front of my eyes. It was a dark-greenish blur right in front of me. My instinct told me to see what it was, so I tried stretching a hoof out towards it. However, my attempt to do so was denied, as I found myself unable to move my right hoof. I simply didn't have the strength to do so. I kept trying and trying, but then I was interrupted by a loud noise.

Boom.

That's all it needs to end the life of a pony. It doesn't need some kind of spell, some kind of plan or anything complicated like that. All you need...is that. If a boom goes of next to you, the chances of survival are as slim as they can get.

And I survived.

As the explosions stopped, I Once again opened my eyes, my vision was now clearer than before. As soon as I opened my eyes though...I wanted to immediatly close them again. What the world showed to me that day...I will never forget....

I saw...ponies. A lot of them. Most of them were known to me, I had seen them before and they were...gone. Dead. Forever.
My breakfast threatened to show itself again as I inspected their corpses. The trench was filled with them. Some of them were missing limbs, others had several cuts all over their body, the shrapnels of the artillery had simply shot through their bodies as if they were butter. The 'fortunate' ones were seemingly unharmed, although I knew their true wounds were on the inside, not the outside. They must have died of inner bleedings, slowly extinguishing their spark of life, leaving them to struggle on the ground as they reach out for help.
Some of the corpses were also burried under all the dirt that had been catapulted into the trenches by the explosions. I was unsure whether they had died by the actual explosions or if they were simply buried alive under the dirt.

As I turned to the left, as I did previously, I now saw the remainders of our forward command post. It had been a simple wooden structure, used to contact HQ or to plan out attacks, although we always joked about how this entire war felt like it was planed by donkeys.

Now, it was nothing but ashes. Small parts of it were still standing, most of it though was destroyed. Either immediatly destroyed by artillery or burnt down from such afterwards. In the ruins, I saw a dead stallion. His head and left hoof was poking out of the rubble, it almost looked as if he were screaming for help. But I knew...it was too late for that now.

Then I turned to my right, and as if It couldn't have gotten worse, the war once again proved me wrong. It was at that moment that I realized I was actually on the ground, lying in the rubble like all the other soldiers I've seen so far but...I was alive. I had survived.

Why I realized I was lying down?

Because my roommate, the very stallion that stood next to me on the outside before all of this went off, laid next to me, on my right...dead.
His dead, cold, empty eyes stared at me as his head was turned towards me. They actually stared past me, but for me, they looked right towards me, into my very soul. Tears flushed over my face as I refused to believe what I saw. I mumbled 'No, no, no' to myself repeatedly as I scrambled over towards him. I now kneeled next to him, on his left, and looked over him. I inspected his body, looking for any wounds. I couldn't find any, so, in my state of denial, I decided to rip off his uniform to properly look at him.

I regret doing so. A gigantic wound on his belly revealed itself beneath his clothes. Although he was lying on his back, blood was pouring out of the wound so much and quick, that soon a big, red puddle formed next to him.

"Why..." I thought to myself as I threw away his now useless clothes, "Why him?" I then, still on my knees, turned back around to all the dead corpses in the trenches. "Why!? Why them!? Why them and not me!? Why would you let ME survive!? Why? WHY!?" I yelled into the air. I don't know who I was really yelling at, maybe Celestia, maybe the enemy, or maybe myself. I simply felt like yelling because...

"This...doesn't make sense..." I then, for the first time during all of this, decided to stand up. As I stood, I once again looked over all of the horrifying sights that offered themselves to me in the trenches. "Why would everyone die...but not me? Why do I have to endure this hell and not them? Why do they get to die in unison and I..." I stottered mid-sentence, looking for the fitting words, "...I live on in loneliness."

Suddenly, interrupting my thoughts, I heard a known voice to my right. It called for help and came from beneath the rubble, the same rubble I and my roommate found ourselves on.

As I walked up closer to it, I managed to identify who it was that was screaming for help: My friend. He was alive!
Filled with hope and determination, I replied: "I'm here! Don't worry! I'll get you free!" and started clearing out the rubble, picking up pieces of both wood and stone, and also shoveling hills of dirt away with my bare hooves.

Then, I saw a face. I had broken through the thick layer of rubble and had finally found the only survivor of this mess besides me: My friend Slingshot. "Edward! Thank goodness you're here! I thought I was gonna die in here!" He gave out as I removed the last remainders of rubble. As I did, I noticed he wasn't simply burried under rubble, he was trapped inside our previous dugout, our bedroom so to say. The explosions must have blocked the entrance with all this rubble and dirt, trapping him on the inside. Surely, he would have died a painful death if I hadn't heard him. He would slowly breath in the air in the room until...there would be none left to breath.

"It's alright, Sling, you're fine. Come on." I reached out my hoof towards him, helping him out of the still partially blocked entrance to the room. Then, he too was frozen in place as he saw the full extent of the war. He saw what I had seen before, and now he went through exactly the same.
I saw him running towards our dead roommate. It's funny. We never counted him as one of our 'friends' but we still seemed to care so much about him to cry. War may be fought because of disagreement and hostility, but it also forges together to some degree. In the face of death, anyone can be your best friend, as long as his goal isn't to crack your skull open.

I slowly walked up to him. When I stood next to him, he collapsed to the ground, kneeling next to our dead comrade. I heard him sobbing quietly. He went over the beaks of the stallion once and then looked at his wound.

"Why...Why did this all have to happen?" He asked aloud. I was unsure whether he was talking to himself or not, but I decided to reply either way.

"I dunno...I don't think we'll ever find that out for sure." I replied, laying my left hoof on his right shoulder.

He turned his head towards me, still kneeling next to the stallion, answering with: "This is horrific...h-how...why? Why didn't they tell us that this is what the war really looks like? They told us it was all glorious and heroic but...this...this is nothing like that, it-" I decided to interrupt as I had already thought of the same things myself.

"I know. They've lied to us. We're simple cannon fodder, nothing more, nothing less."

My friend now wiped away his tears. "B-but why? Why would they lie to us? We are on their side after all!"

If it wasn't so serious, I maybe would have considered laughing at the innocence of my friend. "We're no use as long as we are at home. They deliberatly want us to sign up for this by believing in their lies, because that way we'll be 'useful' for them."

"S-so..." My friend started, standing up before continuing, "What now?"

I took in the question and once again looked around, the corpses in the trenches and all the fires around us almost seemed normal by now. I took a deep breath and sighed as I gave him my honest answer:

"I don't know."

3 - The Last Order of a Princess

Name: Edward Blankflank
Rank: Private
Date: 8th June 980 AD
Location: Vanhoover Frontline

I sometimes wonder if I'm the only one who cares about the War. Who cares about it's attrocities, it's tragedies, all the destruction and death it brings along. I have been in this Trench for about 7 days now, and already I wish this would just all end. No, I don't wish it to end, I wish it to never have been a thing in the first place. Why would you ever wage war? What does war really lead to? What does it do to you and your fellow ponies? Do you really think war is honorable? Brave? Filled with glory? Well, I'll tell you what war brings:

Horror and madness.

Many of the soldiers that had arrived with me have died already. Died in a trench out of which there is no escape. After what has only been 7 days. You think you could just sign up for war and return as the bravest hero this world has ever seen? Well, you thought wrong, very wrong. The only brave souls in this mess are those who have given their very life. But they are brave just as much as they are stupid. They died for the cause, for their people and nation, yes. But if they actually reconsidered signing up, if they thought about the choice they made when signing their recruitment papers...they would have yelled "This is suicide!" and would have ran off in fear.

You think we are heroes for fighting? For serving our country? You think I'm a hero? That I'm brave?

You couldn't be more wrong.

A hero would stand up, climb out of this damned trench, dodge enemy fire and capture the enemy trench all by himself.

Maybe now you realize why there's no heroes in war. Heroes are as brave and glorious as they are suicidal. And for me, there is nothing glorious in throwing your body at the enemy in an attempt to push the frontline 30 meters closer to King Sombra.

"He's a tyrant!" They say, "He's a ruthless dictator! He must be stoped!" They say. I ask you, if Sombra is truly evil because he is a dictator...

Then isn't Equestria evil itself?

"Please, sister. I don't know what to do anymore..." Celestia moaned as she stood on the balcony of her Bedroom, looking up into the blue nightsky. The moon glimmered as it hung in the sky above Equestria. It was a beautiful sight for a normal pony, but it was the time Celestia used to talk with her long gone sister. She had been imprisoned in the moon for oh so many years now, yet Celestia had regretted sending her away ever since.

"I have failed...I have failed you...I have failed my subjects...I have failed everyone..." Tears began flowing down Celestia's cheeks as she sat down at the railing of the balcony and looked down at the City of Canterlot. She saw only a few ponies, mostly because it was late night at the time. Celestia had long realized that Luna's accusations were correct. She really did steal her all the fame. She really did forget about her and her lovely night. She let her freeze in the big, cold shadow which she casted down onto her, until someday...she had enough.

"I've always claimed to yield Harmony, to bring and defend it. Yet...I can't even seem to hold that promise." She whispered, now again looking up into the moon with the shape of a mare on it. For many this shape was as interesting as it was beautiful, for Celestia...it was a reminder. A reminder of her past errors, her biggest mistake. The imprisonment of her very own sister.

"Dear sister..." Celestia exhaled in sorrow, she closed her eyes as she brought the truth out. "Harmonyis no more...Peace...is no more...the world as we know it, how we together have shaped it...is coming to an end." Celestia was sobbing as she spoke to the moon. She had realized her decrease in power for a long time now. Her general staff had now long robbed her off any prime political power. The military, especially the high ranked military ponies, had not seen action for a very long time. They were starving for their 'honor and glory' which they said rightfully belongs to the military. Something Celestia and her policies of Harmony and peace couldn't provide them with.

The logical conclusion for them: Remove her from power and restore the glory of the military.

And, until now, they had been very much successful in doing so. Celestia's talks of peace had long been treated as 'betrayal of the motherland' and 'incompetence' in the face of direct conflict. Anonym forces roamed around Equestria, increasing the support for the military and the war, and all the while decreasing Celestia's aura of influence on her subjects.

"I am sorry, sister. For everything. I have failed everyone, including you, the ponies of Equestria and myself. I wish you would be here...with me, by my side. Together, we could live through everything, we could defend against this brutal, new age and once again start an age of peace and prosperity. Yet...It is my own fault why that is not possible...I am the very pony that was foolish enough to imprison her sister." Celestia's sobbing cut off her speech as she took a deep breath once again and exhaled before resuming. "I have always claimed to be the defender of Harmony and Peace...yet I have doomed it by fighting and sending away my own sister, and now...I myself am doomed to go down with it..."

Celestia didn't hear the sound of somepony entering her bedroom. One of the big double doors squeaked quietly as a brown-coated stallion entered. As he opened the door, he could already see the Princess out on the balcony. He saw her laying on the railing with her head, her head moved up and down every few seconds due to her sobbing. The stallion inspected her and looked around as he stood in the doorframe, after that he did not hesitate long to enter. His steps were muffled as he walked on the big carpet in the middle of the room. It was a carpet which showed a beautiful sunrise. In fact, most objects in the room resembled a sun in some sorts.

Celestia's ears flinched as they heard a quiet noise in the room behind them. Celestia's sobbing stoped at once as she whiped away her tears and turned around towards her room. To her surprise, it wasn't as much of an intruder as it was a friend.

"Good evening, Princess." Said the brown-coated stallion, bowing slightly.

Celestia moved closer to him, yet still remained outside, on the balcony while he remained on the inside, in her bedroom. He too walked a few steps forward, fully revealing his body as he stepped outside of the shadows of the room, into the light of the moon which, from his point of view, hung just above Celestia.

"Oh, it's you. A relief to see you again." Celestia replied, her voice still impacted by her previous emotional state.

The pony in front of her went through his dark brown hair for a moment, wanting to look good for his Princess. Although she did not hold much of any political power at this point, he was still loyal to her and she was more than glad that he was.

"On the contrary, Princess. I came as soon as I could after I heard you wanted a personal meeting with me. I must say, I am quite surprised though."

Celestia raised an eyebrow at him, replying: "Are you doctor? Are you really?" Doctor Whooves opened his mouth to answer but Celestia was faster. "We both know why I called you, don't we? It's no longer a secret that...things are changing. Changing for the worse. My own military is working against me, trying to overthrow me, doctor!" Her voice became loud, a voice she had not used in a long time now. She was, in the contrary to before, not simply sorry for her failure, but also furious of the betrayal of her own subjects.

"Of course, It is widespread, even in Ponyville. I hear ponies talk about it everywhere, even on the train as I got here."

Celestia sighed and turned her head around towards the moon once again. At first Doctor whooves followed her gaze, staring at the moon, yet he soon interrupted, asking: "So, if I may ask, what exactly do you plan on doing against this? And...why do you require me for it?"

Celestia looked off of the moon, thinking for a brief moment, before facing the doctor again. "I want you to travel back in time to stop me from imprisoning my sister." Celestia replied in a monotone voice.

The Doctor was shocked at this revelation. He had no idea that this was what he was needed for. He thought he may be needed to do some kind of royal duty together with the Princess, or, more plausible, a simple task to convince people of the evil deeds of the military. But this?
No, he had no clue. Not only that, but he was also shocked to see her wanting to go that way, against her own actions, her own past self. His time machine was merely a prototype, not yet ready and safe for use, but even then the doctor knew: Preventing the defeat of Nightmare Moon would change history. Alot.

"I...I'm sorry? Did you just ask for me to...stop you?" Was all the doctor asked. His question was met with a simple, aggreeing nod.

"But...I don't understand? I have studied time travel for such a long time and...preventing you from stopping Nightmare Moon...it would cause tremendous changes in history! It would mean she defeats you!" The doctor sounded more brought up than he meant to, he is usually known for being a gentleman, keeping his temper at all times. But this...this was simply too much for him to respect such self-made rules.

Celestia lowered her head and sighed in sorrow before turning around again. She walked up to the railing once again, staring at the Moon and it's star-filled nightsky. It was truly beautiful. So beautiful in fact, that Celestia was almost jealous of the calm, relaxing beauty of the night.

"I know, doctor. That is why I want you to do it." Celestia replied, now in a quiet, almost whisper-like voice.

The doctor followed her, now stepping outside of the room, onto the balcony. As he stood a few meters behind her, he asked: "But...why? You have brought Equestria Harmony, Peace and Friendship. You have defeated Nightmare Moon to protect said Harmony and Peace so that-"

"Enough!" Celestia shouted in anger, turning back around towards him. Doctor Whooves was as surprised at this sudden outrage as Celestia herself was. She did not mean to shout at him, especially not like this, but him counting up all those things, all those things she knew she had failed at in the end...even sending her very own sister away for those things, only to fail at them...she couldn't hold back.

"...Please. I don't appreciate talking about that topic. Especially not at times like these." Celestia said, now in a more quiet voice.

Doctor Whooves was shocked to see the Princess like this. He had never seen the Princess like this, normally the Princess keeps up a very polite and friendly attitude, just how it is expected from a Princess. But...this was new. This was different. Before him no longer stood a proud Princess, but an already defeated ruler.

"I understand...but I still have to ask...why would you want to change the course of history? Especially in that way? Nightmare Moon would bring eternal night over Equestria! Forever!"

The Princess would have loved to cut out the name 'Nightmare Moon' everytime people say it, yet she unfortunatly, out of all the magic she posessed, this was not an ability of hers.

"I know, Doctor..." She muttered, her voice threatened to be silenced by sobbing once again. "As you can see, my past decisions have only lead to something I have never thought of being a possibility. I have failed. Completely." The Doctor wanted to interrupt her, saying she was, in fact, not a failure, but he was silenced as Celestia continued. "I have always wanted Harmony. Peace. Friendship...don't you see what that has lead to? At this very moment my subjects are dying in war, my very own military is plotting a coup against me and...my sister is still locked inside the moon. If anything, I am sorry she has to watch all of this, having to see me fail so much after what I did to her."

Celestia, tears once again streaming down her cheeks, moved towards the doctor until she was right in front of him. She doctor moved back a little as Celestia lowered her head to his normal level. "So I ask, no, I beg you: Stop me. Stop this. Save the future of Equestria...for I can not..."

Doctor thought deeply about the choice he had to make. Aggreing and using the time machine now and then trying to stop Celestia's past self? The princess of the sun? Truly, it was suicidal and hopeless. If a malfunction of the time machine didn't kill him, then Celestia would for sure.

But for some reason, for the first time in his life, his emotions outweighted his rationality. It may have been suicidal, but if Celestia was right and if the military continued their plans, he was going to die anyways. It seemed to be a better choice to die on a heroic mission to save Equestria, rather than dying in a dirty, bloodfilled trench on the battlefield.

"I will do it. Although it is very dangerous, and I probably will not survive...I will do it." Doctor Whooves replied, a bit of pride in his voice.

Celestia noded and leveled her head up once again. "Very well. I thank you for your help, It will certainly not be forgotten. Now, I believe it is better you leave now, we don't want any of my enemies to find you here." Celestia suggested.

Doctor Whooves noded in aggreement, replying: "As you wish, Princess. I wish you a good night and best of luck for whatever may happen in the future."

Celestia was certain luck would not be needed, one way or another she was doomed to fail. She was either gonna be overthrown by her own miliary or her sister would rule forever in eternal night.

"I don't think luck will help in times like these..." She replied, sighing as she turned to the moon once more with a sorry look. "Good luck, Doctor. And...sorry. Sorry you are needed to do this."

Doctor was unsure whether he was to reply or not, but decided to simply leave silently without replying. He walked off through the room, his hooves creating clopping noises as he walked through the room. The noises were only once again muffled by the big carpet in the middle of the room. Celestia knew exactly where he was, even though she was not watching him anymore. As he arrived at the door, he once again turned around, speaking in a quiet voice which was almost inaudible to Celestia, saying: "You've done your best. I'm sure your sister wouldn't blame you for that."
Then, he walked out, closing the door behind him.

All that remained was the Princess. She walked up to a wall and sat down, resting her head on the wall. She simply sat on the balcony for what seemed like hours, yet the moon didn't move. It was unmoved, seemingly returning Celestia's gaze. As Celestia felt her sister's presence near her, she managed to smile a little bit, her face still wet from tears, whispering towards the moon:

"I've tried, sister. I've tried."

Author's Note

Adding Doctor Whooves to the story was not originally intended, but I do say that he did his part quite well so far.
Not sure if I should add a Doctor Whooves tag to the story or not though :applejackunsure:

4 - The Attack

Name: Edward Blankflank
Rank: Corporal
Date: 15th June 980 AD
Location: Vanhoover Headquarters

The horrors of this war only grow in numbers as time passes. Every new minute the war comes up with a completely new, yet unthought of way to kill. Gigantic, destructive machines of war, intended to break through enemy lines, appeared on the battlefields a few months ago. Until a few days ago, the Vancouver front had yet to face such beasts of war.

That was until our trench was, from one moment to the other, transformed into a pool of blood and mud. At that time I was busy playing cards in a little shelter me and a group of others had build out of spare planks of wood. The same group of ponies had challenged me to that fateful card game. I'm not great at playing cards, not even close, but when you're stuck in a muddy trench, doomed to die, you start distracting yourself from that exact fact, though for me it was more about killing time. It was long past the point to which my mind could have ever been distracted from the war and the horrific images that had burnt themselves into my mind.

I agreed to playing, something they seemed to celebrate more than I had expected. Perhaps I had made the impression of being lame, maybe even antisocial during my time in arms with them. I did spend most of my time by myself, thinking over the war, myself and many other things, really. I to this point still do not know whether or not my comrades see me as antisocial or even insane to a certain degree, but I have more important matters to care and think about. Much more important...

The enemy attack came without warning, screams and explosions signaled that the enemy attack was underway. Me and my comrades in the shelter looked up as the little as a little oil lamp at the ceiling of the shelter shook around from the explosions' vibrations. We jumped up from the ground, seeing as how we couldn't find chairs to sit on prior to starting our game, grabbed our guns and rushed outside. I was the last one to leave the shelter and could hear friendly machine gun fire as I made my way out. The day light blinded me at first, although the light was darkened by multiple pitch black smoke clouds rising up into the sky. I could only assume their source were shelters and command posts, simple, fragile wooden shelters like ours. Two of my comrades rushed off, splitting off from our group. At that point our group consisted only out of 4 confused, helpless stallions, me included. We turned to our left as a loud rumbling could be heard. I rushed to the nearest trench ladder, barely poking my head out, to see just what was charging towards us.

It was a thing I had never seen before, I had only heard some rumors and stories about things like it. I had tried to imagine the 'gigantic war machines' though I could never fully make myself an imagine of them. My imagination simply was not ready for what war engineers had unleashed upon us. The beast rolled towards me, fully covered in steel with 2 big tracks on its sides, as well as 2 big turrets. I saw how the left turret gave of a shot, creating a loud bang noise. The bang was then followed by an explosion and a couple of distant cries and yells, though they seemed to be dying down with every passing second. My body froze at the sight of the behemoth that rolled towards me, never had I dared to imagine such a creation of war to be possible. Though it seemed that, once again, the war did not follow any kind of rules. The War had simply abolished any kind of rules or restrictions and made its own ones, changing the face of war and nations forever in the course of a single day.

That day was one of them, a day that would change the face of war forever.

My senses returned as I heard loud screams, hundreds if not thousands of them. For once though, they were not screams of wounded comrades of mine, they were enemy screams. My eyes widened as I saw an entire line of enemy infantry charging past the tank, towards our trench. It was then that my instincts took over.

I jumped down from the trench ladder I was standing on, landing in front of the group of scared, helpless stallions. One of them asked me in a scared voice what I had seen and what was heading towards us, though I decided to not tell him. I pushed him aside, rushing past him and the rest of the group who looked at eachother in confusion. I looked back for one last time, seeing them staying where they were, not following me. I now regret not telling them to follow me, I had been in a rush and must have forgotten or not cared about telling them. I continued my short-lived run through the trench, rushing past soldiers that were either firing at the enemy with whatever they could find, slain soldiers or soldiers what cowered on the floor, praying to Celestia that they would survive what was to come. I mostly ignored anyone I passed by, keeping my head down as I did so.

I eventually spotted a mounted Machine Gun position in the distance, sprinting even faster than before after spotting it. I knew that the machine gun would be of much use in this situation, no matter if I survived or not.

Out of breath, I arrived at the machine gun, only now seeing the previous gunner laying on top of the gun, shot dead. I put my right hoof on his back and turned him around so that I could see his face. Looking at his face, I saw a bullet wound right between his eyes. The wound itself was not bleeding anymore, the wound must have been older than I had expected, though his Uniform still had red stains on it. I looked at his eyes afterwards, realizing how his eyes remained open, even after his death, leaving him in an empty stare. He must have died in a matter of seconds, if not less.

A sudden explosion to my right, accompanied by another array of screams, interrupted my inspection of the dead soldier. I grabbed one of the soldier's hooves and threw his corpse to the ground, realizing I would need to defend what was left of our positions if anyone was to survive the attack. I grabbed the gun with my right hoof, pulling myself towards it and grabbing it with my left hoof as well, now having the gun in both of my hooves, ready to fire. Before I was nowhere near properly trained or equipped in order to use a machine gun, though you really didn't need any kind of training for it. It was a gun, like the one I had, it killed, just like mine did. Only difference was that the machine gun killed better and quicker, something I am, for once in this war, thankful for.

I saw a bigger group of infantry to my right flank and positioned my crosshair accordingly. One of them was crouching, leaning over a seemingly wounded enemy soldier. 3 other soldiers were standing in front of them, shooting at my fellow comrades. My mind protested but my instincts did not care as my hooves inched on the trigger.

Loud bangs that made my ears ring escaped from out the machine gun as I pushed the trigger. The short lever on the right of the gun moved up and down with every shot, making it hard for me to concentrate on firing. It took no more than about 6 seconds when I stopped firing, the barrel of the gun smoked from the heat of the barrel. I leaned my head to the right, trying to spot the previous group of enemies. I narrowed my eyes, still trying to spot them, though I gave up soon after. I had eradicated them for sure, though there was more to be done. Much more.

looking to my left again I saw a line of infantry charging right towards my position. From out the distance I could make out an officer leading their charge, waving around a pistol in his right hoof. I once again prepared my machine gun, turning it towards the officer as he was the most distinguishable. I quickly looked to my left as 2 friendly soldiers ran up to me, aiming their guns at the enemy as they peeked out their head over the top of the trench. As one of them gave of his first shot I myself unleashed hell upon our foes once more.

This second time my ears had already gotten used to the loud gun sounds, though it was still very, very loud. I almost find it funny now how the killing itself did not bother me at all but instead the loud gun sounds did.

Once again, the crystal ponies did not last long and they were shot down shortly after me and my comrades commenced firing. My head shot to the left as one of the soldiers next to me cheered abruptly at our victory. I breathed carefully, looking out into no man's land, scanning the area for any further hostiles. It seemed that at that very moment the attack had been haulted, at our position at least.

"I don't think you should be cheering just yet." I said to the cheering soldier who promptly stopped cheering at my comment.

The air was charged, the two soldiers looked at eachother, the previously cheering soldier raising an eyebrow. I turned back to the machine gun, holding it with one hoof, looking for enemies. It did seem that the attack had been halted, if not repulsed, though that impression did not last long.

A sudden explosion to our right, the direction I had originally come from, attracted the attention of us. It didn't take much thinking until I realized what had caused the explosion.

"The tank...The Tank! The bloody tank!" I yelled out loud. I jumped off of the machine gun, grabbing my rifle and running off to where I had come from, the wooden shelter where I had left my group of comrades.

And so, I began my journey back to where I had come from, running past the same corpses I had run past before. Though, the second time they smelled worse. Much worse. Whether or not the two soldiers knew where I was going, I don't know, but I didn't have any intention on getting them killed either. I myself was sure I would not survive a direct confrontation with the giant that was the tank. Hell, I didn't even know how to destroy it. Though I was sure if I had doubts about surviving then the two of them would not be of any help.

Halfway I slowed down, I had to catch my breath seeing as how I had run all this time. At first I slowed down to a trot, then I leaned myself on a wall, breathing heavily. I looked down in exhaustion, feeling how my hooves had almost become numb from the constant running. I looked around myself as I caught my breath and discovered a dead regular who laid on his back. I pushed myself off the wall and walked over to him, only to discover the fatal wound that had cost him his life. A big bloodstain was visible on his uniform, it was where his lungs were. I kneeled down to the corpse. It was then that I discovered he was holding a small picture in his left hoof. I carefully reached for the picture, gently taking it from his dead grasp. I looked at him once more, how he simply laid there, seemingly in peace, before looking at his picture.

The picture showed a small group of ponies, a stallion, a mare and a young foal which the older ones carried together. I immediately realized that the picture showed him and his family. His beloved family. His wife, who he had promised to return home safely, and his young daughter, who he had told daddy would be there for here whenever she needed him.

I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. I put the picture back on the stallion's chest, where it belonged, and moved both of his forehooves so that they held it close. With a sense of regret and fear, I decided to move on, leaving the dead body behind.

It was about half a minute afterwards that I started covering my nose with my left hoof. I looked around as I slowed down to a trot once more, though this time it was not because of exhaustion but because I knew I was close to my destination. The incredibly disgusting smell originated from the numerous corpses laying in the trench. Some, if not most of them, were burnt, though even the ones that were not began smelling as they began to rot. The burnt bodies' skin had turned black from the fire. As I progressed I encountered more and more corpses that were still burning, or their uniforms at least. I was shocked, true, though I knew I had to focus if I was to survive to see another day. Whatever had killed these soldiers could surely kill me just as easily. No, I was no hero, only a soldier who has had luck up until that point. The bad thing about luck is that it's unreliable.

I heard a loud bang shortly before a fiery explosion threw me to the ground. I was unable to make out what had happened at that moment. My head rang from the loud explosion and I felt like I had been run over by a truck. Being the stubborn idiot that I am, I tried pulling myself back up. I could only yell in agony though as I could sense an immsense, stinging pain in my left foreleg. Unable to get off the ground, I leaned over to inspect my left foreleg. I was unable to discover any kind of wound as first, though I knew something was wrong as the pain only seemed to grow stronger. I knew my uniform was covering whatever hid beneath it. I looked for my rifle and saw it laying to my right, luckily still in reach. I pulled it over to me and took off the bayonet. With the bayonet in my right hoof, I managed to cut off the sleeve that was covering my left forehoof. What I saw was exactly what I hoped not to discover.

Blood was pouring out of a big flesh wound in my left hoof. It was the exact position the stinging pain came from, to no surprise to me. In shock, I tried moving my left hoof to the side and, although it hurt lots to do so, managed to do so for just a few seconds. In those few seconds I saw that there was a similar wound on the other side of my hoof. I knew all too well what that meant.

Shrapnel. I've heard of wounds like mine before from comrades of mine. From what I've been told many of these wounds are lethal and usually end in a quick, yet painful death. The shrapnel of the explosion must have shot right through my hoof.

I felt weaker with every passing second as the pain in my hoof grew. In a last effort to possibly save my life I took the bit of cloth that I had cut off from my uniform and tried covering my wounds with it. My eyes became heavy as I tried covering my wounds. I bit my tongue as the pain reached its maximum when I covered them with the cloth, pressing it against the open wound. With my last bit of strength I managed to knot the piece of cloth around my hoof. With the last strength I had used, my eyes closed and I passed out.