In the aftermath of our little "nuclear test", we all knew that the time had come once again to send a report to Celestia. After setting up the video call, we waited for a response.

Sure enough, we got one. "Ah, Major. So good to hear from you again. I expect that you have a new report for me?"

Don nodded. "Yes, Princess, we do. I am pleased to report that not only is Zandia no more, but Captain Leopard has also killed General Tarrath."

Celestia was surprised. "Wait. General Tarrath, THE General Tarrath?! Zakia's right-hand man?!"

"Yes, the very one! He just so happened to be in town when we showed up, so we paid him a little 'courtesy call'!"

"And what did you do with his body?"

I took up the story. "Well Princess Celestia, it's currently being preserved by taxidermists, so that we can have it around to scare Zakia and the Caribou with later. After the war is over, I plan on putting him on display in a glass case."

Celestia nodded. "Yes, I would have to say that those are.....very interesting ideas Captain. I don't know what to say to that, other than, I hope that they work. Also, maybe you don't know, but earlier today, a minor earthquake was reported by geologists in Baltimare. According to their reports, the earthquake originated from the northern section of the Zebra Empire. Did you feel any earthquake activity?"

We all had to think about that. Finally, Don said, "Well, to tell you the truth Princess, that earthquake may have been caused by us. As I’m sure that you’re aware, after we took Zandia, we decided to drop one of our nuclear weapons into the city. Our nuclear shells are the most powerful weapons that we have, and as far as we’re aware, have a yield of 5 megatons apiece. We dropped one shell onto the city both to see what would happen, as well as to record the effects, and see if whether or not we could ever use nuclear weapons again if we had to."

"And, what did you find?"

"Well, it is still a bit too early to tell, but up until you told us about that minor earthquake, the only ill effects seemed to be fallout radiation, which will linger on for some time, rendering the area uninhabitable. Other than this though, it does appear to have been a very successful test. Thank you for allowing us to conduct it, and thank you for your scientists working so hard to make sure that we could launch a nuclear shell."

Celestia sat back in thought. From us, as well as from Twilight, she, as well as Luna and Cadence, had been told of the vast might of a nuclear weapon. Now, for the first time in Equus's history, one such device had been detonated. According to the reports, it had completely flattened Zandia, as well as the surrounding area, rendering them uninhabitable for at least a number of years.

Finally, she said, "I....honestly have no words. I mean, I heard about what you said that your 'nuclear weapons' were capable of, but until now, I've never known just HOW powerful that they really were. I see now that once Twilight and her friends, as well as the other hostages are safe, then those weapons at least theoretically COULD be used again to completely eradicate the Zebras, and hopefully serve as a deterrent to the Caribou as well. Well done boys! What's next on your agenda?"

Don looked at the digital maps. "Well, from what I can see here Princess, we need to close the gap between us and Zakia extremely rapidly. There's 3 days worth of travel, as well as numerous towns, villages, as well as a few cities along the way that need to be taken out. Zakia has no clue where we are, so we plan to use that to the fullest extent."

Celestia nodded. "Ok Major, just do what you think is best. All of Equestria is behind you, and watching your every move. You're doing in less than a week what we could never have even DREAMED of doing in all of the 3 years that we've been fighting! Just bring Twilight and her friends home safely, and then we can focus on bringing down the Zebras once and for all, before then focusing on the Caribous."

Don nodded. "As you wish it, Princess, it shall be done." Don then ended the call.

When Celestia finished her call, she sighed, and then retired to her quarters. After taking a moment to collect herself, she decided to take a bath. After one was prepared for her in the royal baths, she removed her robes, and stepped into it. As she sat there, letting the steam rise around her, Celestia thought about the war as a whole.

"Hmm, the war has definitely been going well for us ever since the Humans arrived to help us. Maybe once they have defeated the Zebras and Caribou, then maybe, just maybe, we'll finally have peace."

"Hello Sister, mind if I join you?"

Celestia was startled a bit. When she looked up, she saw that it was only her sister Luna. "Oh, Luna, you startled me! But yes, you can join me."

Luna then removed her robes, and stepped into the bath as well. "So sister, have the humans reported in recently?"

Celestia nodded. "Oh yes, they have. According to Major Don, they are less than 3 days journey from Zebrica. They have also successfully wiped out Zandia, and Captain Leopard killed General Tarrath!"

Luna was shocked. "All of that in such a short span of time?! How is that even possible?"

Celestia sighed. "They do it, because Humans seem to only be bred for war. It's all they know how to do."

"Which is why we have to help them!" Luna interrupted. "We have to save them from themselves!" She gave Celestia an extremely worried look. "I've seen into their dreams sister, all they dream about is darkness, and the wars that they have lived through! I've tried to dig way back through their sub-consciousnesses, and although I was able to find traces of who they were, the wars have wrecked them almost beyond repair! They want a better future for themselves, as well as those around them, but they just don't seem to know how to achieve that."

Celestia buried her face into her hands. "So, so much death and suffering!" She muttered. "So many wars, and they've weathered them like it was nothing! But yet, there is hope for them still. They've shown that they do still feel other emotions, and some of them have even fallen in love with some of our subjects."

Luna frowned. "Yes, but in case you've forgotten, after they lost their lovers, they went psychotic, we went psychotic, and now Zebras are dying because of it."

"But the Zebras made their choices themselves Luna. They chose to treat Twilight and her friends, as well as those two human soldiers the way that they do, and now they're reaping what they've sown. Hopefully, the Caribou will take this as a warning, and surrender to us."

"Yes, but what if they refuse to do so?"

Celestia looked down at the bubbles in the bath. "Then may the Heavens have mercy on them, for the Humans will show them none. The Zebras are already getting repaid in kind for what they have done, and the Caribou may follow them if they do not change their ways."

Luna knew that what Celestia had said was the truth. She was still wary of the Humans and their extremely violent ways, but she was also glad to have them as allies.

Meanwhile, over 1,000 miles away from Canterlot, Dash, Pinkie, and Cole were dragged to a room in Danin's palace, and tossed inside. Their restraints were then removed, and then the door was shut and locked behind them.

"Well", Cole muttered, "This is a fine mess. Now how are we......" He then turned around, and saw the rest of the room that they were in. "Oh.....my....."

The entire room was about the size of a school gymnasium. The floor was made of white tile, and there were marble pillars placed at intervals as well high windows providing light, as well as a breeze. But what really had Cole was the fact that they were not alone in that room. All around the interior, were a number of females with collars, and not much else on. Most of the females were Caribou cows, but there were also a few Zebras, and even a mare or two.

"What.....is this place?" Dash wondered.

"I have no idea", Cole answered. "It looks like a harem chamber."

And indeed, it was. Between the columns, each of the females had their own bed, (which greatly resembled a dog bed), as well as food and water dishes, (on the floor, just like dog dishes), and a number of 'toys', as well.

Cole nearly gagged when he looked closer at the 'toys'. All of them were for sexual use. They were covered in juices, and some of the slaves were even sharing them! In fact, when Cole looked closer at the floor, he saw that it was stained with dried sex juices!

"Oh god! This place is DISGUSTING!!!! Don't they ever clean up in here?! This place is an STD's cesspool!"

"Yeah, like a hotbed for all kinds of germs! This place is GROSS!"

Pinkie didn't say anything, but she wholeheartedly agreed with Dash and Cole. Before they could react further though, the door behind them opened again, and several Caribou came into the room.

"All of you, on your knees, now!" One of them growled.

"Make me Bitch!"

"Yeah!"

Pinkie didn't say anything, but instead seemed to faint. Cole and Dash were grabbed, and had black collars attached to their necks. Pinkie was given a red collar.

"Why are we here?" Cole asked. "What are you going to do to us?"

One of the Caribou smirked at him. "Well, remember that Zebra from earlier?"

Cole didn't like where that was going. "Um, yeah?"

Two Caribou then grabbed him, and held him down. "Well, hold still!" He made the move to work his Magic on Cole. What happened next, no one truly knows to this day. Reports do conflict, but from what information could be gathered, when the Caribou launched his spell at Cole, it backfired!

"SHIT, LOOK OUT!!!!"

The spell hit Cole, bounced off of him, and then wildly ricocheted off of the walls before finally slamming into the floor! The force of the impact knocked everypony off of their feet.

"What.....happened?" The Caribou where truly and utterly perplexed. Never before had any creature been able to resist their Magic like that. They tried again, but the same thing happened; the Magic spell hit Cole, and then bounced off of him to become a deadly projectile.

"So.....what should we do with this Human?"

The leader of the Caribou group, a mage, just shrugged. "For once in my life, I honestly have no idea. I'd say that we just leave him alone for the time being, and see what happens."

They then began to leave the room. Just before they did though, the mage turned back one last time. "Oh, and your 'quarters' are at the far end of the room. And I'd be careful about falling asleep around here, cuz when the lights go out, some of the more dominant females like to 'have their way' with some of the weaker ones!" He then shut the door, and locked it again, before running away laughing.

Dash and Pinkie looked worried.

"Don't worry Girls. Like I said before, they want to hurt you, they've got to get through ME first!"

Cole then led the way to the far side of the room. The smell of sex was everywhere. Some of the slaves were sleeping, others were eating, 'playing' with themselves, 'playing' with others, and some were even tossing the 'toys' around for seemingly no apparent reason.

A few of them looked up at the trio as they passed. "Hey, new friends!" They then made the move to grab at them, but fortunately for the trio, most of the slaves were secured by leashes attached to the wall. The ones that weren't seemed more interested in touching themselves than trying to touch them. Cole noticed that these had purple collars.

"I wonder what these collars even mean."

From what he could tell, "Black" meant unbroken, "Red" meant willing, and “Purple" seemed to mean either sex-crazed, or batshit crazy. Most of the slaves in the room had red collars, while only a few were black or purple. The black collars just stared at them, while the reds were the ones trying to touch them.

One cow did eventually manage to grab Cole by his leg. "EEEH! Off, get off!!!!"

"Please don't go." The cow said softly. "I won't hurt you. I just wanna snuggle!"

Cole saw that she had a purple collar, meaning that she was most likely batshit crazy.

"GET OFF OF ME!!!" Cole did eventually manage to pry her hands off of his leg, but at the same time, he lost his balance, and went flying backwards. "AAAHHH!!!! OOOFFF!!!!" He landed on something furry.

"Hey, get off of me you clumsy freak!"

Cole saw that he had accidentally fallen onto another cow, only this one had a black collar. She was lying on her side, facing him. "Oh, I'm so sorry Miss, I was just trying to get away from her!" He pointed to the cow across the room, who, after losing him, went back to frantically playing with herself.

"Oh, that's Maddy. She's completely batshit crazy! I'm Missy by the way, if you even care."

"Oh, um, mice to meet you Missy, I'm Cole."

Missy then looked down, and to her absolute shock, she saw that Cole was a male. "Wait, YOU'RE A MALE?!?!?!"

"Um, yeah. I'm also being held hostage by the Caribou. I'm a private assigned to Battalion 4009, attached to the Battleship Express......"

"The deadliest weapon ever to ride the rails!" Missy finished for him. "So it IS real! I knew it!"

Cole sat down again. "Yeah, it's real alright! From the Battle of Ponyville, to Las Pegasus, to my last battle, Appaloosa, it's been putting the Zebra and Caribou to flight."

Missy sighed. "Wow, and I'm sorry for yelling at you. You seem like a nice guy, not like those other bastards at all."

Cole nodded, and then shivered a bit.

"Oh wow, you don't really have any fur do you? You must be cold. Wanna snuggle with me? I'll keep you warm if you want."

Cole looked concerned. "But....I'm naked!"

Missy moved her hand downwards, indicating her own bare body. "Yeah? Well newsflash, aside from our collars, all of us are just wearing the fur that we were born with! What was your point again?" She then indicated her soft, furry chest. "Come on, I know you wanna!"

Cole then looked back at Dash and Pinkie. "But what about them though? I made a promise to protect them."

Missy looked at them. "Sure, I don't mind the company."

Dash and Pinkie then sat against the wall, while Cole then crawled in close to Missy, who began to cuddle with him. "Mmm, how does that feel?"

"Mmm, so soft and warm."

Missy smirked a bit. "Yeah, we Caribou cows are all like this. We're all furry, curvy, and a little bit chubby. Nature made us like this; natural-born mothers." Cole snuggled close to her somewhat large, furry tits, and soft belly. "Oh, and you can suckle from me if you want." She whispered to him. "I don't mind."

Cole shook his head, but he did stay snuggled close to his new BFF, (who he later learned was almost 7 years older than he was! Cole was 19, she was 26).

Dash and Pinkie looked first at Cole and Missy, and then at each other. "Aww", Pinkie whispered, "I think that they're in love!"

Dash shook her head. "It figures", She muttered. "We're in the middle of one of the two greatest slave empires in all of Equus, and he somehow finds true love. That's NUTS!!!!"

Pinkie giggled a bit. "Yeah, it's kinda crazy! I sure wish that Dan was here though. Too bad he wasn't picked." (Dash knew that Pinkie had had her eyes on Dan ever since the train ride from Las Pegasus).

"Yeah, so let's just hope that Stud gets here soon to save us all before Cole has his heart broken, and quite possibly his neck if he fights any more Caribou!"

Also at around this time, back in the Zebra Empire, we were having the times of out lives, as the enemy didn't know where we were at any given time. They could only guess, which enabled us to use some of our favorite psychological warfare tactics on them.

We would leave the train, and stalk them by night, howling, growling, and even coming out to shed some blood, before retreating back into the forest that surrounded that part of the empire. The Zebras never knew what hit them. They would shoot at shadows, thinking them to be us, and sometimes even accidentally shoot their own comrades! Our favorite tactics though were the sabotaging hit and runs. Some of us had absolutely perfected the art of guerrilla warfare during WW4-WW5. We would slip out of the shadows, kill some Zebras, set something on fire, or blow something up, and then retreat back the way that we came.

Eventually, after maybe 2 days of this, Don called some of us together for a meeting.

"Ok guys, we've played the little leagues again for a bit, but now it's time to step back up to the majors!" He looked over at me. "Leopard, I know that you're loving your new Human-Bat-Pony form, but could you PLEASE put a shirt on?"

I looked down at myself. I knew what Don meant. For the past couple of days, ever since my medical procedure, I really hadn't worn a shirt at all. I wore my helmet, and Kitsune mask, as well as my armor, but other than that, I'd always gone shirtless. (I'd also noticed some black fur on my arms and torso, but they only existed in patches, and had seemingly stopped growing).

"Yeah, sure Don. Sorry." I then pulled my shirt and tunic back on.

"Thank you. Now then, as I was saying, for a few days now we've harassed the Zebras; now we really need to make fast tracks to Zebrica. We're maybe 2 days away from there now, and we've left 3 more towns, and 9 villages and settlements in total ruins since Zandia. We're coming up on a city called Mardia. Mardia is extremely important for our mission."

"Why's that Don?"

"Because that city only has a population of 30,000, as well as a small garrison. The city's sole purpose is to function as a power plant, water works, public works, and utility company for Zebrica, as that city was so large and full of military shit that they actually need another CITY to provide them with power, water, gas, sewage, and other utility services!"

"So, if we take out Mardia, then Zebrica might be a little short on utilities?"

"Precisely Leopard! However, to get to Mardia, we have to cross paths with Randeth, a key railway hub, and two other surrounding farm villages. Tonight, we hit the villages, as well as Randeth. Then at dawn, if we still have the strength for it, we burn Mardia to the ground! If that happens, then we will only be 30 miles away from Zebrica!"

We all agreed to that, and after coming up with a plan, we waited for nightfall.

"There it is Aurora, Randeth. Home to one of 3 still existing major Zebra rail hubs."

"Oh, and where are the other 2 rail hubs?"

"Eh, one is in Zebrica, and the other is further south. Zandia was a rail hub as well, but we destroyed that one."

Aurora nodded. Randeth had a population of almost 1 million; mostly rail workers, and freight movers. As always, there was a garrison. This is why Aurora was with me. After the last "little mistake" that Aurora made, Don wanted me to take her to a hill overlooking the city, and have her target the garrison with another of her nuclear missiles to knock it out. Then we planned on flattening the town with artillery fire before moving in to clean up any remaining survivors.

"Ok Aurora, are you ready?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready."

"Ok, just target, and fire when ready."

Aurora then spent a few more moments getting a targeting lock. "Ok, got it, firing now!" Aurora then fired her missile. For a brief moment, we both saw it in flight, before it slammed into the garrison, engulfing it in a 1 kiloton explosion!

"Wowzers Bzowzers! That garrison is GONE!!! You can open fire now Don!"

"Roger that Leopard, firing now!"

Radneth proved to be almost a total pushover. With the garrison gone, and no other soldiers available to protect them, Randeth was quickly taken care of. We blasted all of the rail lines leading in and out of the city, before targeting the railyard facilities. There were 4 trains in the city, (which were all quickly blown up and rendered useless), as well as multiple supply warehouses, and repair facilities. Once most of the city's defenders had been neutralized, now the REAL fun could begin!

"Ok Boys, now we need to fan out and burn this motherf@#ker down!"

"Roger that!"

From one end of Randeth to the other, groups of soldiers roamed the streets. Armed with flamethrowers, incendiary chemicals, and even just plain old Molotov cocktails, we all set the city on fire. We also dealt with any and all Zebras that we came across. By the time that all was said and done, the Zebra Empire was down to just 2 major rail hubs.

Don checked his watch. "Wow, all of that work, and it's only 2:30am! We've still got PLENTY of time to take care of Mardia! Load em up boys! We've got another city and two villages to destroy!"

"Sir, yes Sir!"

We all then piled back onto the train for the trip to Mardia.

However, once we were back on the rails again, there was trouble.

"Um, Don, our radar is showing that we've got another train up on the tracks ahead of us!"

"What?! Which direction is it going?"

The technician looked. "Uh oh, it's coming straight for us! And at a fair rate of speed too!"

Don was slightly worried. Any train coming straight at us was something to be concerned about. "Any ideas on how big the train is?"

"Well, according to the radar, as well as scans, it appears that the train has maybe 8 cars. No readout yet on what kind of cargo, but if I had to guess, then I would say that it was a train full of soldiers trying to come and rescue Randeth."

"What's their current speed?"

"Eh, they seem to be holding a steady 35-40mph."

"And how far out are they?"

"According to the radar, they're about a mile out, and closing the gap fast."

Don thought about that. "Hey Joe?"

"Yes Sir?"

"What's our current speed?"

"We're doing maybe 40mph Sir."

"Well, we may need to go a little bit faster. About a mile ahead of us is another train! It's coming at us head on, going about 35-40mph. We need to get it off of the tracks!"

Joe nodded. "Yes Sir. Increasing speed now. Estimated time until impact, approx. less than a minute."

"Ok, roger that. Just send us the alert when it gets into visual range."

"Roger that Major."

From the other side, the train that was coming straight at us was indeed carrying soldiers, however, they were unaware that Randeth was no more. They were merely being transferred to the garrison there, so as to protect the rail hub. However, from up ahead of them, they suddenly became aware of a loud chugging sound.

"Hey, what's that?"

"I don't know, it almost sounded like another train!"

"But that can't be! We're the only ones out here on the line tonight!"

Suddenly, from around a bend ahead of them, the Zebra engineer suddenly watched in horror as a glowing red light appeared! (Just prior to the battle of Zandia, we'd placed a red reflector over the Big Boy's front headlights, so as to make its appearance that much more intimidating).

"OH GODS, IT'S ANOTHER TRAIN!!!!" The engineer then blew his whistle frantically to warn the oncoming train. As a reply, instead of an ordinary whistle, the other train responded with an ungodly, Banshee scream! "OH GODS, IT'S THE BLACK LEVIATHAN!!!! IT'S COMING RIGHT AT US!"

The engineer then shut off steam, and slammed on the brakes. "BRACE FOR IMPACT!!!!" He screamed.

Unfortunately, they were not able to stop in time to back away from the Battleship Express.

"BRACE FOR IMPACT!!!!" Don yelled back to the rest of us. We all did so, and moments later, this happened.

(2:38-2:50)

It had been a long time since we'd rammed another train head on. All of us were REALLY hoping that 4009 was still capable of running through another train. Fortunately, she didn't disappoint. Thanks to the razor-sharp plow-catcher with attached metal spikes, our impact with the train smashed the engine into scrap metal, and blew right through the rest of the train! Debris went flying everywhere.

"BAM!!!! Direct hit! Multiple fatalities!"

Our sharpshooters did have to pick off a few Zebras who survived, but overall, our ramming of that train proved once and for all that not only DIDN'T the Zebras understand armor at all, but also that their trains were stolen from Equestria, and were not the best maintained. Our ramming of their train was like an ax going through wood. No real damage to us, but the other train would have to be scavenged later for scrap!

"There, now that takes care of that! Now then, DELCI?"

"Yes Boss?"

Don looked at a map. "What would be the best course of action to take for heading to Mardia?"

"Calculating.......I'd say that we should get between it and Zebrica before taking it out. That way we would also be able to deal with any enemy reinforcements."

Don nodded. "Good thinking DELCI. We'll do that!"

We then got ready with our plan of attack.

For those who were assigned to staff the multiple facilities of utility-city Mardia, nighttime was a time for fear. All too common were the stories spun about the horrors of Zandia, and the surrounding area.

"Those Human freaks came out from the night, did their terrible deeds, and then retreated back into the night!"

"They are born of the shadows! Offspring of an unholy union between their species and wolves!"

"They live only to kill and slaughter! Their anger, hatred, and blood-lust knows no bounds!"

"With only a train, and 200 men, they conquered a city of 3 million, and towns of almost half that in just 2 days!"

In fact, we had them so scared, that they were jumping up at every little sound. Most of the city's population were there to run the utility works, and had no real fighting experience. Most of them were Zebra convicts who had committed some crime or another. Others were disgraced Zebra military personnel serving time for their crimes against the Zebra Empire. All of them were dangerous, but not all of them were trained military.

The city was also extremely poorly defended, and much like Bandia before it, was a liability lawsuit just waiting to happen. The entire city was composed of 4 power stations, 6 waterworks, 5 sewage treatment plants, and numerous public works departments. Outside of the city were two farming villages. The area's whole reason for existing was to service Zebrica, as the city was one vast military complex, and didn't have room for all of the facilities needed to keep it running.

"A severe oversight on their part." Don muttered. "Rule number 1 of defense, ALWAYS have facilities that are self-sufficient! If not, then that leaves you vulnerable, as your enemies can attack the facilities that give you your supplies. What will you do then?"

I shrugged. "I dunno, keel over and die for stealing my marefriend?"

Don smirked. "Exactly! And my marefriend, as well as Alex's, and Pinkie, Cole, and the other hostages as well. We knock out Mardia, as well as those two farming villages, then Zebrica may be already in a world of danger, and we haven't even laid a finger on the place yet!"

"What's the plan for the attack?" Shining asked.

Don checked his watch. The time read 3:39am. "We need to get the attack going by about 4, so that we'll have plenty of time before the sun rises."

As Don was laying out the plan, I took a brief moment to think about something. As time wore on, we seemed to be needing less and less sleep. We could pull over-nighters very easily. I figured that it had something to do with my "Bat-pony treatment" that I had been given, which once it had been fully replicated, had been given to a number of others who crewed the train, and Battalion 4009 soldiers who also had a number of health issues due to the human-wolf genetics. All of them were now healthy as could be, and more plans were laid out to continue to replicate the process after the war ended. Currently though, it was only reserved for those who had health altercations that had been causing them difficulties in doing their jobs.

In the end, it was agreed that while Don and the Battleship Express took on Mardia, Shining and I would each lead a group into the farming villages to kill, and set all crops on fire, as well as taking care of any livestock. We would then link up, and storm the city, destroying whatever was left. Then, when the city was gone, we would all get back on the train, maybe give Celestia a report, and then get ready for our biggest assault yet, on Zebrica!

"Are both of you boys ready?"

"I'm ready. Are you ready Shining?"

"Copy that Leopard, I'm ready!"

"Yeah, we're ready Don. Just waiting for your signal!"

Don nodded. "Ok, here we go. We'll give it a bit of a barrage for a few minutes, and then, in the lull, take the villages!"

"Roger that." I then looked over at Shining and his group. Over the course of the past couple of battles, Shining and I had begun a friendship of sorts. We'd hang out a bit when we got the chance, (usually in the Secondary Crew common room with Alex, Todd, Fred, and Andy), and we were able to see eye to eye on many things. We were both soldiers, both of about the same age, dealing with a war that neither of us wanted.

"You ready Shining?" I asked him.

"As ready as we'll ever be Leopard. By the way, is 'Leopard' your real name, or just a nickname?"

"No, it's just a nickname. My real name is......unknown actually. I can't remember my first, or middle name anymore; only my last name, 'Campbell'."

Shining was confused. "Huh? How can you forget your own name?"

I sighed. "Well, it's because of what happened at........."

*KABOOM!!!!*

Then the battle began.

From where we were, even though it was dark, with my almost perfect night-vision, I was able to see the battle. For the enemy, it was positively devastating. The power and water facilities were not armored at all, and when the shells, rockets, and missiles began to hit, they quickly began to fall apart. Sparks were flying everywhere, water pipes burst, and that's when Don realized something.

"Leopard, General Shining!"

"What is it Don?"

"When you're done with the villages, DO NOT proceed into the city until we've made it safe!"

I was concerned. "Why, what's wrong?"

"The city is being flooded with water from the burst pipes of the waterworks. There are also numerous downed power lines, and even live transformers fully exposed to the water! The entire city is filling with electrified water!"

"Yeah, copy that, we don't want to be barbecued! We'll wait!"

"Don't worry though, it shouldn't be too much longer now. All of the power plants are on fire, so it's only a matter of hitting them in the right spots to knock them out. But in the meantime, charge! Take out the villages!"

"Roger that!" I turned to my group, just as Shining turned to his. "You heard the man, let's go!"

"I'll take the village on the left, you guys take the one on the right!"

"Roger that Shining!"

Our groups then split up.

For the most part, our jobs were actually fairly easy. Most of the townsfolk were either asleep, or too mesmerized by the incredible light show going on in Mardia to notice us until it was too late.

Our groups then split into two sub-groups. One group was tasked with killing everyone, while the other was collateral damage. Armed with their flamethrowers, they took out houses, fields, barns, and anything else that they could find that was combustible, even the Zebras themselves in some cases!

Then, while both of the villages began to burn, the rest of us crisscrossed through, killing any and all Zebras that we could find. I let my new feral side run wild. Armed with just my fire-ax, and my Glock, I led the way to havoc.

"Eyah! Take this, and this, and SOME OF THESE!!!" I was like a machine on high-speed. Blood flew everywhere, some of it even splattering on me. "Ugh! I hate getting blood in my eyes, it burns!" I wiped my eyes, and continued the fight.

Less than 10 minutes later, we were done. "We're all done over here Shining, everyone'd dead, and the whole village is burning! How are you guys doing?"

"Well, we're just wrapping everything up over here as well."

"Ok, I'll radio Don." I grabbed my radio. "Don, are you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here Leopard, What's going on over there?"

"Well, long story short, the villages are burning, all crops have been destroyed, whatever livestock that we could find was set aside for later, and all Zebras are dead. We're ready to storm the city, that is, if you have it ready for us!"

"Affirmative Leopard! It's all ready for you, however, I don't know how much you'll find in there. That electrified water seems to have fried most of the Zebras. However, the city has been rendered powerless, waterless, the sewage lines have backed up, and that means that if utilities are down here, then Zebrica should be having some serious problems as well!"

I nodded. "Ok Don, we'll get in there, and see what we can find. Be ready to hit any targets if we find anything!"

"Roger that Leopard."

We all then gathered ourselves together, and stormed the city. However, like Don said, it was largely empty. All we could find were bodies of Zebras that had been shocked to death, burned in the fires, or even drowned in some cases. Here and there, we did find a few other Zebras who had escaped Death, at least for a while. We killed all but 7, and then lined those 7 up against the nearest wall that we could find.

I then addressed them. "Ok people, listen up! You all know who I am, right?"

"You're....Commander Fox-Face!"

"Correct! Now then, how close are we to Zebrica?"

"F@#K you!!!"

"Kiss my ass!"

I smirked. "Oh how lovely, we have a couple of comedians!" I then popped two rounds into their heads. "Ok, now does anyone want to give me the correct answer?"

"I'd say MAYBE 30 miles. It's that way!" He pointed to the south.

"Ok, and how big is the city?"

"None of your damn business!"

Another round, another dead Zebra. "Anyone else wanna mouth off?" I looked around. "Anyone?"

"You f@#kin' Humans are all the same! Just slaves to those Diarch whores! You're just their little pets!"

"Yeah, I bet that you just LOVE to lick their pussies when they let you, don't ya?"

"Ok." I then killed the one who made the sex joke, and double kneecapped the one who said that we were slaves to the Princesses. I then turned to my group. "Bind these 3. And bandage the middle one so that he doesn't bleed out!"

"Wait, what are you going to do to us?!"

"I'm going to do to you what Don did to the Zebra ambassador; I'm gonna send you back to Zakia! I want him to KNOW that we're getting close to him!"

"NOOO!!!!" One of the Zebras impaled himself on an exposed metal rod, while another charged us, and got shot full of holes.

I then turned to the last Zebra, the one I'd kneecapped earlier. "Well then, looks like you're the only one left. And since you're disarmed, AND can't run, I'd say that you don't have a choice but to help us!"

After the Zebra was all bandaged up, we tied him up securely, and into his back with my Bowie knife, I carved the words, "YOU'RE NEXT ZAKIA!!!!"

"AAAWEHH!!!!" The Zebra screamed in pain.

"Don't worry, the wounds are only superficial. They should stop bleeding by themselves here before too long." I then turned to Shining. "Hey Shining?"

"Yeah Leopard?"

"Can you teleport this Zebra to Zakia in Zebrica? The time has come to begin our final trek to his city!"

Shining smirked a bit. "Like you even have to ask Leopard!"

After concentrating for a bit, Shining was able to use his magic, to teleport the Zebra, (who we learned was a power plant technician) all the way over to Zebrica.

"So now what?" Shining asked.

I sighed. "Now, we get back to the train, rendezvous with Iron Glory for supplies, and then, after making one last report to Celestia, we get to Zebrica, take back what RIGHTFULLY belongs to us, and then, we wipe out their capital, before pursuing any Zebras who remain."

Shining nodded gravely, then we all went back to the train, dreading the battle that lay ahead of us.

Author's Note

Well, that was a lot packed into one chapter, wasn't it? Now, Pinkie, Dash, and Cole have arrived in their new 'home', and Cole seems to have found a new 'friend' in Missy. He also learned that Humans may be immune to body-altering magic as well. Did Cole just get lucky, or are all humans this way? Also, now that we've taken Tardeth, and Mardia, how will the final fight for Zebrica go? Well, I can say right now that it will be one of our biggest battles ever. Bigger than even Las Pegasus! How will that go? Well, stay tuned for Part 2!

Also, I bet that you thought that I was going to reveal my real name, didn'tcha? Well, too bad, now is not yet the time for that. In time, I will reveal what it is, but that time has not yet come

Also, one final question before I head over to Part 2. After the fall of the Zebra Empire, what will the Caribou do? Will they surrender, or will they chose to fight?

Well, like I always say, Comments, feedback, questions, are always appreciated, so tell me what you think, and stay tuned for Part 2!

ScarFox out for now!