The battle continued to rage. A few attempts were made by the Griffons to attack the train from above, but they were quickly dispatched by the train's AA guns.

Also by this point, the gunship had returned to the train, and was being refueled, and rearmed.

Jim could see that the time was getting close for the ground assault to begin. "Hey Don, the gunship is back, and being refueled, and rearmed. Also the city's weapons, and really defense in general, are really starting to hit the rocks. It may be getting close to time to begin the ground assault."

"Roger that Jim. We're all ready to go when that happens, and I'm keeping a close eye on it, so I'll tell you when!"

"Copy that Don. I'll send the gunship out to make at least 2 more passes, before I blast open the walls and gates for you!"

"Yeah, you do that Jim. We'll be waiting right here when you do!"

Don then ended the call, and looked around him. All of us who would be going down were on a wooded hill maybe 80 yards from the city. Just like with Zandia, we would come in 3 waves. However, unlike Zandia, our 3 waves would all have the same goal, get to the Imperial Palace, and show Zakia what was what! Don, Shining, and I would all be leading a wave, and this time, we would also be taking our beloved "tractor-tanks" with us as well. The bulldozers had had their front blades sharpened, and were all armed with machine guns, light artillery, and had heavy armor. The tractors were also armed with front scoops that had metal spikes on them, as well as machine guns. The loaders had a combination of what the tractors and bulldozers had.

"And if we're REALLY lucky, maybe we could get at least some of the "tractor-tanks" into the Palace! Just think about what kind of a panic that that would cause!"

Don smirked. "Yeah, no kidding Leopard! CAT was the best construction company of all time, and they made their vehicles to LAST!"

"Just as John Deere made the best tractors, and ALCO made the best steam locomotives!"

"EXACTLY!"

I was with one of the bulldozers. I was sitting next to the driver so that I could leap out and fight if I had to, and Aurora was also with me as well. Don had a loader, and Shining had a tractor. Our waves had more of each kind of vehicle, and some were even armed with flamethrowers! All of us were waiting for the signal from Jim.

Moments later, the gunship went up into the skies again. We watched it fly overhead, and head back into Zebrica.

"Man, there's nothing like the sounds of an Avenging-Cannon firing! They're really cutting down the odds for us!"

Shining didn't say anything, as he was just trying to take in all of the awesomeness of our weapons.

On Hughes's end, the gunship continued to wreak havoc. It was then that he saw the Imperial Palace. "Hey Jim?"

"Yes Lt. Hughes?"

"We have the Imperial Palace in the sights of our guns. Can we make a few runs at it, over?"

"Um, you'll have to talk to Don about that. Just ask him."

"Ok." Hughes then switched frequencies. "Major Don, are you there?"

"I'm here Lt. Hughes, what is it?"

"Well Sir, we currently have the Imperial Palace right in our gun sights. Jim said to ask you for permission to make a few runs at it, over."

Don thought about that for a moment. Finally, he said, "Yes, but use the machine guns only! No rockets, or Avenging-Cannons! We can't risk hurting any of the hostages!"

"Roger that Don!" He then turned to the pilot. "Pilot, get us over the Imperial Palace! The Major said that we had his permission to make a few passes at it!"

"Roger that Lieutenant!"

The pilot then turned the gunship, and they prepared their machine guns for an attack. Just as they neared the palace though, they suddenly came under fire from the palace defenders! Rounds began to hit the gunship!

"BLAST!!! Well, they wanna play rough do they?! Well alrighty then, LET'S PLAY ROUGH!!!" He turned to the gunners on the starboard side. "If it has stripes, and is shooting at you, LET THEM HAVE IT!!!!"

The gunners opened fire. "APPALOOSA PAYBACK MOTHERF@#KERS!!!!" They screamed.

The fire was horrific. Even without the Avenging-Cannons, those machine guns still wreaked havoc. The pilot flew in circles so that they could hit the palace from all angles. Hundreds of rounds were fired, windows shattered, holes were torn into the walls, and many Zebras were slaughtered. Some ammo crates were even shot up so badly that the exploded, killing or severely wounding all of those who were nearby!

Eventually, Hughes and Co. were ordered off by Don. "Ok Hughes, thank you! You've really softened up the target for us! Now you guys can provide air support when we need it."

"Are you about to send in the ground troops Sir?"

"Just as soon as Jim gives us some holes to get in through!"

"Ok, roger that Sir, and good luck!"

"HOW CAN THEY CAUSE THAT KIND OF DEVASTATION, AND NOT EVEN FLINCH?!?!?!" Rarity was STILL beyond horrified.

"Because it's war Rarity," Fluttershy told her while facing away from the feeds. "They do what they have to do. Plus, for them, it's not war, it's just sport. They just kill for fun!" She seemed to be close to tears.

Celestia hugged her. "Shh, don't cry Fluttershy. And for the Humans, it IS war for them. They DO NOT kill for fun, but only because they HAVE TO! Their mission is still incredibly dangerous, and they have to kill so many enemy troops if they want to succeed, as the enemy outnumbers them hundreds of times to 1."

Luna looked up at the screen. "Oh, it looks like they're about to send in the ground forces! This should prove to be really interesting!"

They all then turned their attention to the screens that showed Don and I's POVs, and waited for something to happen.

"You're all clear Major! We've shot up the palace pretty good, so now you're clear to move in your troops!"

"Ok, roger that Lt. Hughes!" He then switched frequencies. "You there Jim?"

"I'm here Don, what is it?"

"The time has come, bust us some openings!"

Jim smirked a bit. "Roger that, sending you some railgun rounds!"

We all then watched the city walls. Sure enough, from over the tops of the trees came a series of 12 railgun shells. They impacted the city walls in several places, and managed to tear holes in them big enough to cause large sections of the walls to come crashing down.

"Woo! You're all clear Don, now get in there!"

"Roger that Jim!" He then turned to the rest of us. "Ok people, let's get these engines started up, and move out!"

The drivers started up all of the engines. With loud roars, the mighty diesel engines of those old construction machines roared to life.

"GO, GO, GO, GO!!!!!"

With more loud roars, and some smoke from the exhaust pipes, the large machines began to move forwards once again. Out in front was my bulldozer, followed by Shining's tractor, which also pulled a trailer with troops in it, and Don's loader came in from the rear. In between all of us were the rest of the bulldozers, loaders, and tractors, with the tractors all pulling trailers with troops in them.

The drivers pushed the vehicles to their limits, and in record time managed to reach the city walls. This time though, we had to contend with small arms fire. Many shots were fired at us, and they did hit the vehicles, but due to their incredibly durable construction, plus armor upgrades, the bullets either bounced off, or were safely absorbed. Our guns on the vehicles fired right back at the Zebras with some effectiveness, knocking many of them down off the walls. Moments later, my wave reached the walls first, and began to attempt to get into the city. Luckily, all of our vehicles had crawler tracks, except for some the tractors, which had wheels.

Slowly, and with as much precision as possible, our bulldozers crawled up the pile of wall debris, and rolled down the other side, clearing a path for the tractors. These were followed moments later by the loaders, who also helped with clearing a path. Once we were all ready, the tractors then came in, and the troops within, both Human and Pony, unloaded from the trailers.

"Ok guys, this is what we've been practicing up for! We get to the palace, destroy anything in our path, and save those hostages! That is our NUMBER 1 PRIORITY!"

"Roger that Sir!"

We then began to fan out, just as the enemy began racing towards us.

"Well", I muttered, "The time is now, 8:03am, and I can STILL see that this is going to be a VERY long day!"

From up above us, the gunship was watching our every move.

"Do you have eyes on them Lt. Hughes?"

"Affirmative Jim! They're right below me! They've successfully made it inside of the city, and are beginning to fan out! However, enemy troops are attacking them, but they seem to be able to repel the threat. I'll be ready to help them if they can't!"

"Roger that Hughes, just keep an eye on them!"

"Yes Sir!"

Back in Canterlot, everypony eagerly watched as the ground operations began. Everypony was also surprised that we were using our construction machines as weapons.

"Wow, those are the same machines that they used to help rebuild Ponyville and Las Pegasus! Now they're using them to attack the enemy!"

Celestia nodded. "Indeed, Dear Sister. However, those machines seem to be used mostly for clearing a fast path to the Imperial Palace. However, they are armed, so I'm pretty sure that they could also defend themselves if they absolutely had to."

"Well, they certainly do seem to be holding their own, but can they get to the hostages in time?"

All of them continued to watch the screens in silence, hoping, praying that we could reach the hostages in time.

Meanwhile, with the battle beginning to rage around them, Twilight, Applejack, and Dan became more and more concerned. A few times, shells, rockets, and bullets seemed to hit the palace, and whenever they did, the lights flickered, the building shook, and dust and debris began to fall down. Zakia sat on his throne next to them, and although he tried to ignore them for the time being, he did periodically tell them to shut up.

"WILL YOU SHUT UP ALREADY?!?!?! I'M TRYING TO SAVE MY CITY HERE!!!"

"Either unchain us, or give us some protection from the falling debris! We're literally sitting ducks right here!"

"Exactly! The palace falls, you die!" Nevertheless though, they were at least given helmets to wear, which did protect them from bits of falling ceiling.

They continued to watch and wait. They knew that we were closing in on their location fast, but they also knew that if we did manage to breach the palace, most likely that they would be killed before we could reach them.

Dan began to use a fallen nail to try and pick the locks on his chain. "Come on", He growled, "Come on!" The nail was in the lock, but he couldn't seem to find the right sweet spot. After another nail fell, he then tried to use both of them to try and tear out the lock's innards. Luckily, due to the panic of the battle raging just outside, Dan's actions went unnoticed. Eventually, just as he was about to give up hope, there came a sudden *click!*. He looked at his chain. Sure enough, he'd managed to unlock the lock on it!

"Well", he thought to himself, "That's something at least! Now if anything REALLY hits the fan, then I'd be able to do something about it!"

He continued to sit next to Twilight and Applejack, continuing to pray that we would hurry up.

On the Zebra end of things, Faul was doing everything he could, but he had very little experience with leading troops. After the massive gunship attacks on the city that cost thousands their lives, he was really starting to crack under the stress. He was a noncom with very little experience; he was not made to be a general. Suddenly though, things went from bad to worse.

"SIR, THE ENEMY HAS BREACHED THE WALLS!!!!"

"WHAT?!?!?!" Faul made it up to the top of one of the towers on the wall. Sure enough, the walls were indeed breached. "Oh F@#K, WE NEED TO GET THOSE SHORED UP RIGHT NOW!!!!"

Before they could though, a lookout spotted something else. "SIR, LOOK, THE ENEMY IS COMING!!!! THEY'RE COMING OUT OF THE WOODS ON THESE GIANT YELLOW AND GREEN CHARIOTS THAT ARE MOVING ON THEIR OWN!!!!"

"WHAT?!?!?!?!" Faul then looked with his binoculars. Sure enough, a row of yellow and green chariots was indeed racing for the city. Most of them had large tracks instead of wheels, and they had either a large blade in the front, or a scooping shovel. All of them said "CAT", or "John Deere" on them.

He then radioed Zakia. "Sir, the enemy is breaching the walls! They've got these large metal, yellow and green machines that say 'CAT', and John Deere' on them! These machines look to be military in origin, and they're pushing rubble out of the way with EASE!!!"

Zakia turned to the hostages. "Hey! The Humans are using big, yellow and green machines that say 'CAT' and 'John Deere' on them. What are those?"

Dan looked at him. "They're construction machines. Bulldozers, loaders, and tractors. All of them built by either Caterpillar, aka 'CAT', or 'John Deere'."

"And how do you destroy them?"

Dan didn't say anything. Zakia then pointed a gun at Twilight and Applejack. "Tell me, or they get it!"

Dan shrugged. "I dunno. Plus, they've been given military upgrades. I wasn't assigned to their operation, so I don't know how they work. Most likely though, you're not going to be able to destroy them with your weapons. Beyond this though, I really can't help you, as I don't know how they work myself."

Zakia did put the gun down, (at least for the time being) and groaned. "This is why we needed to capture more Human prisoners, so that somebody WOULD F@#KING KNOW HOW ALL OF THIS SHIT WORKS!!!!!! One little private isn't enough!!!!!"

"Um, well Sir, there were 2 other soldiers, but you gave one to Danin, and you killed the other."

Zakia then shot that guard dead. "AND NOW I REALLY WISH THAT I DIDN'T DO THAT!!!!" He then grabbed his radio again. "From what I was just told, they're large construction machines. The yellow ones were built by a company called 'CAT', and the green ones came from somebody named 'John Deere'. They were given military upgrades, and the hostage wouldn't say how to take them down, as he honestly does not know."

"Well, we'll see what we can do, but these are some pretty tough machines! They've already resisted small-arms fire, and artillery shells can only put large dents in them. We'll keep trying though."

"Just......I don't think I need to say what happens if you fail me General! JUST GET THE F@#KING JOB DONE!!!!" Zakia then terminated the call.

Meanwhile down below, our construction vehicles were really proving their worth. The bulldozers kept plowing through debris, as well as enemy barricades, the loaders were also busy removing debris, as well as knocking down power lines, and collapsing balconies, and even buildings that had enemy troops inside of them!

All around us the enemies continued to fire at us. The hail of bullets hitting our machines was deafening. I could also begin to see the dents forming on the front and sides, and even the bullet-proof glass on the bulldozer's cab.

Finally, I had to call for help. "Hughes, Hughes, do you read me?"

"Yeah, loud and clear Sir!"

"Hughes, we need help over here badly! Our machines can't take this much of a beating for too much longer! We need air support!"

"Copy that, what's your location?"

"Um, Southwestern Quadrant, near a 'Firebomb Street'. A very ironic name!"

Hughes laughed. "Yeah, and here we come, hold on!"

"All vehicles stop! The gunship is coming!" I yelled through my radio.

All of the vehicles came to a stop. Sure enough, moments later, the gunship came into view. Its Avenging-Cannons quickly made short work of those who were trying to shoot us up, and they even launched a few rockets at targets up ahead of us. Once again, the enemy didn't stand a chance.

"Thanks Hughes! We owe ya one!"

"No problem Captain Leopard! Keeping you guys safe is what I do!" He then flew ahead to clear us a bit of a path.

We all kept moving. The tractors had all unloaded their ground troops, and were now covering them, as were the bulldozers and loaders. Sporadic enemy fire still came from all around. I took a turn driving the bulldozer, while the original driver, 2nd Fireman Alex Barkley, (Yes, as in, "Alex, coltfriend to Applejack") took a turn with the bulldozer's guns.

I tried to keep the bulldozer on course, but it was difficult to see through the thick bulletproof windshield, as well as the roll-cage protecting it, not to mention all of the cracks and dents in the glass. Aurora was also sitting on my lap as well, so there was her to see past too! The bulldozer's blade was also down, so I hit a total of 35 street lights, 23 mailboxes, smashed into at least 11 buildings, (5 of which later collapsed!) pushed past 45 bushes and 33 hedges, knocked over 31 trees and 25 utility poles, drove over 13 carts, and wrecked a large number of military vehicles as well. I also ran over at least 73 Zebras, and killed an unknown number of them.

"Gosh" I muttered, taking a brief moment to look back at all of the mass destruction that I was causing, "I'VE done all of that! Just think about what the other machines could be doing!"

"I'm trying not to think about that. My mind is fully focused on getting Applejack back!"

I nodded. "Fair enough. I'm also trying to think about Rainbow Dash, but at the same time, I am driving a bulldozer, so.....HEY, EITHER MOVE THAT BARRICADE, OR I'M JUST GONNA SMASH THROUGH IT!!!" I suddenly screamed at some Zebras up ahead. They only shot at me instead. "Ok, I warned you! PREPARE TO HURT!!!!" I then pulled a lever that lowered a series of digging claws on the back of the bulldozer, and with a powerful roar, and a puff of black exhaust, I plowed through the barricade. Some Zebras who got knocked over ended up either getting crushed under the crawler tracks, or even ripped up by the lowered plows in the back.

"YEAH, That's the way to do it Master!"

"Eh, thanks Aurora."

I then kept moving the bulldozer forwards, just as Don toppled another building close by.

"Gosh, how many buildings IS that?!"

"Um, that's number 11, I think. Don's really on a roll!"

Alex laughed a bit. "Yeah, I guess that he is, isn't he?"

A short while later, just as my watch indicated that it was 9:11am, we finally reached our destination; Zakia's palace.

"Whoa, that place is HUGE!!!!" Aurora was very surprised.

And indeed it was. Similar to the fortress in Zandia, the main part of the palace seemed to resemble a ziggurat back on Earth. It was also painted white, and had red tile roofs, with a number of porticoes, beautiful gardens, and even a large fountain out front. The entire palace was surrounded by a huge black metal fence, with large metal gates.

"Wow, this place is really beautiful! Or at least, it WAS beautiful. Now it's scarred by battle."

I thought about that. "Hmm, I wonder if I could convince Don NOT to nuke this place, but instead to re-purpose it. Imagine if WE ruled Zebrica. Then we, and the Equestrians, could have this place as a military base, or even a resort town!"

Alex agreed. "Yeah, I kinda like that idea! Maybe instead of 'Zebrica', we could call it, 'Cheyenne', or something like that."

"Yeah, I'll have to talk to Don about this. It really could work, at least in the long run. We clear out the city, then begin to rebuild it. We then nuke the rest of the Zebra Empire, and leave this city in place. We defeat the Zebras, get our marefriends back, and we STILL have their capital city as a trophy! Everybody wins!"

Alex once again agreed, and we decided to press forwards to the gates.

Back in Canterlot, all eyes were glued to the screens. "So, they might not destroy Zebrica after all huh? Re-purpose it, and have it for their use and ours? That's actually a pretty interesting idea!" Celestia was intrigued by my conversation with Alex.

"Yeah, now if they can just get through the gates, and into the palace before anything bad happens. THAT'S THE KEY!!!"

Celestia turned to Luna. "Yes, that is why they do need to hurry, Dear Sister. They're almost there though, so maybe they'll make it!"

"SIR, THE ENEMY IS AT THE GATES!!!!"

Zakia grabbed his radio. "Faul, Faul! Can you hear me?"

"I'm here Overlord Zakia, what is it?"

"THE ENEMY IS AT THE PALACE GATES!!!! I NEED YOU HERE NOW!!!!"

"Copy that! I'm rounding up whatever forces I can muster, and I'll be right there! Just hold on!"

Zakia then grabbed his communicator again. He then tried to call Danin one last time. To his surprise, somebody did answer.

Zakia saw the figure of Danin, and he seemed to be laughing at him. "So here we are now Zakia. The mighty 'Overlord of the Zebra Empire’, about to fall to the Humans! How pathetic you look!" Others near Danin seemed to be laughing as well.

"Please King Danin, we had a deal! I need your soldiers here NOW!!!!"

"Just as General Rodin's soldiers needed YOUR soldiers for Baltimare!"

Now Zakia was angry. "We had a DEAL! I gave you those slaves, now YOU are supposed to help me!"

Danin turned to him. "It's over Zakia. Your kingdom falls. The Caribou Empire, as well as those allied with her in the new Caribou Alliance, will reign supreme! You had your chance, and you blew it with that petty battle in Appaloosa! I will enjoy watching you DIE!!!!" Danin then ended the call.

Zakia tried to contact him again, but this time the calls had once again been blocked. He then decided to try something else. With Candeth's help, he was about to reach out to the Battleship Express to see what the terms for surrender would be, but then he stopped.

"No, I know what they will do to me if I surrender! I will fight them to the death!" He then turned to his guards. "BOLT THE DOORS TO THE THRONE ROOM!!!! WE WILL MAKE OUR LAST STAND HERE!!!!"

Zakia's guards in the room, maybe 20 in total, did as their Overlord asked. They then began to construct barricades to hide behind. Suddenly though the power began to go out.

"Hey, what's wrong Candeth?"

"I don't know Sir! My switchboard seems to be failing!"

"What?!?! FAILING?!?!?!"

"Yes Sir. Remember, this one is makeshift to help run the palace. This is all that I can do from the throne room now that you've sealed up the doors."

Zakia slumped back onto his throne. He was angry, upset, panicked, and really starting to lose his mind, all at the same time.

At his feet, Applejack, Twilight, and Dan began to prepare for the end. They knew that their time was growing short, so they began to hug each other.

"So this is how we die", Twilight whispered. "He goes nuts, and kills us before our coltfriends can reach us!"

Dan narrowed his eyes. "Not while I'm still here!" He then motioned to something in his lap. To the shock of the other two, they saw that it was a Zebra pistol!

"What?! How did you get that?!" Twilight asked him hoarsely.

"I got it from the guard who chained me to the throne. He apparently still doesn't notice that it's missing. Now if anything happens, at least I'll be able to say that I died killing Zakia!"

The other two nodded, and they all continued to wait, as well as hold each other's hands.

Meanwhile, outside the palace, we had run into a bit of a snag. I'd rammed the gates with my bulldozer again and again, but I could only severely bend them. I couldn't seem to smash through them!

"What's the holdup up there Leopard?!"

"I can't get through the gates Don! I've managed the smash them in, but I can't get them open!"

Don groaned. "Ugh! Hold on, I'm coming!" I then saw his loader pull up alongside us. "Here, let me do it!"

He then used the loader's shovel to hit the gates from above. Just like me though, he could only bend them, not break them.

"Damn! What the hell are these things made out of?!"

I shrugged. "Most likely metal, but it's most likely enchanted by Zebra Magic!"

"Well, we don't have time for this hocus-pocus bullshit! We'll blow these f@#kers if we have to, but WE ARE GETTING IN THERE!!!"

Our teams then covered a group of explosives experts who were able to get up to the gates, and plant explosive C4 onto them.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!!" One of them yelled.

Moments later, he pulled the trigger on the detonator, and the gates were blown clean off of their hinges!

"BOOM, WE'RE IN!!!!"

I then led the way once again, now onto the palace grounds. We all rolled our huge vehicles onto the grounds, and into the circle drive that led up to the stairs leading to the palace's front doors.

"Wow", Don muttered. “Now that's a shit-load of stairs!" He then began to exit the loader. "There's no way that we're getting up.....wait a minute. Where's he going?!?!?!"

To Don's shock and horror, I used my bulldozer to plow over part of the basin of the front yard fountain, and then I was actually trying to climb the palace's front stairs with the bulldozer!

"LEOPARD!!!! WHAT IN SWEET CELESTIA'S NAME ARE YOU DOING?!?!?!"

"Getting up these stairs in style! Plus, once we reach the top, SOMEBODY'S going to have to get the front doors open, as I don't think that knocking will work!"

Don and the others, plus Celestia and Co., continued to watch my climb up the stairs. I was taking it nice and slow, and since the stairs weren't too steep, it looked like I was actually going to make it to the top! A few of the other machines decided to do what I was doing, and began to follow me up the stairs. Don even got back into his loader, and used it to climb the stairs as well. In total, 3 bulldozers, and 2 loaders climbed the stairs. One bulldozer did have to abort due to engine trouble, but the rest of the vehicles stayed on the ground to help mop up any resistance. Some soldiers stayed on the exterior of the palace, while other soldiers followed the machines up the stairs.

Once we had made it to the top, there was still the challenge of getting through the front doors. The Zebras had seemingly barricaded them, and were shooting through holes.

I grabbed my radio. "Hey Don, we're taking some fire up here. Should I try to push through the front doors?"

"YES!!! Time is of the ABSOLUTE ESSENCE RIGHT NOW!!! We CANNOT afford to waste even a SINGLE SECOND!!!!"

"Roger that, I'm pushing through!"

I then backed up the bulldozer as far as I could, before moving it forwards again, and slamming the front blade into the doors. The doors buckled a bit, but they didn't give fully. I backed up and tried again. Same thing, however this time, the wood was really starting to look distressed.

Meanwhile, inside, the Zebra defenders were waiting.

"Eh, don't worry people!" A sergeant tried to reassure his squad. "There ain't no way that they can get through those doors!"

The doors suddenly came crashing down, and my bulldozer plowed through what remained of them.

"AAAAHHH!!!!" The Zebras shouted before getting either run over, shot, or pinned to the wall and crushed.

"Ok Don, we're in!"

"Good, good! Just hold on, we're right behind you!"

"Yeah, and I'm going to need some help up here. Where's the rest of my wave?"

"We're right behind you Sir!"

I looked behind the bulldozer's cab. "Oh! Well, then. Let's go!" Then, to everyone's shock, I put the bulldozer into forward gear again, and actually began to drive it down the hall to the right!

"Ok, now I'm FULLY convinced that Leopard has lost his mind!"

The rest of the group stared in shock at my little stunt as well, but they nevertheless began to follow my bulldozer as I drove it around INSIDE of the palace!

"SIR, ONE OF THE CONSTRUCTION MACHINES HAS GOTTEN INSIDE THE PALACE!!!!!"

Now Zakia was getting really worried. "What?! It's inside of the palace grounds?!"

"NO, I MEAN THAT IT'S INSIDE OF THE PALACE, GOING DOWN A HALLWAY ON LEVEL 1!!!!!"

"WHAT?!?!?!"

Applejack turned to Dan. "Wait, they've gotten one of those construction machines in here?!"

Dan shrugged. "Apparently! Most likely that was Leopard's doing though, the Major's more of a conventional officer."

"Yeah, but they're down on Level 1. How many levels is it until they're up here?"

Dan shrugged. "Honestly, I have no idea Twilight. If I had to guess though, even though this room's windows are way high up, I can still see more palace above us, so we're up on Level 5 maybe?"

"No, you're on Level 3!" Came a voice from behind them. They all 3 turned to look, and sure enough, over them stood Zakia. He was holding the gun again, and he looked like he could snap at any moment. Dan was still holding the gun in his lap, still hidden, praying that he wasn't going to have to use it.

Zakia then pointed to the locked and bolted doors with his gun. "If that door is EVER opened, I have 4 rounds in here; 3 for each of your heads, and 1 for mine!"

Applejack and Twilight both hugged Dan. Dan didn't move. "I get the feeling that those doors WON'T be opened any time soon."

"Oh, and why's that?"

Dan sighed. "Because, if I know my superiors, they'll most likely either blow the doors with explosives, or take out the walls next to it. Those doors are going to be remaining closed. Oh, and one other thing."

"What's that?"

Dan looked up at him. "If what I was told about the very first Battle of WW6 that the Battleship Express was involved in post-Second Cold War, (which was the Battle of St. Louis) is correct, you won't be killed anytime soon."

"Oh, and why is that?"

"Because, towards the back of the train is a storage car. It's said that in that car they housed General Jasmine House, once the second most powerful Futa General in the entire Futa Empire, second only to General Stacy herself. She was captured in the battle."

"So? What's that got to do with me?"

Dan looked rather sick. "Because, while she was a prisoner in that car, she became a favorite among some of the crew.....as a sex-toy! They would all have sex with her for hours on end, or so I was told. I never heard what happened to her though. I think that eventually (possibly around the time of the Battle of Dallas maybe?), she was sent to some prison camp, where she later died. Once again, I don't know if any of this is true, it was just what I was told."

"Um, does this story have a point? I'm still pretty confused as to what this has to do with me."

"Yes, I fear that this same fate may await you. A lot of the guys on the train are probably pretty sexually frustrated right now. Your little shenanigan in Appaloosa probably made them move Heaven and Earth to get here. They've most likely not gotten any sexual stimulation since they've arrived here. Heck, they'd probably mount any living thing if they were horny enough, even if it wasn't female! And you're the source of all of that frustration, so what makes you think that you won't be renamed 'Jasmine' while spending some time in that car?"

Zakia felt like he was going to throw up. When he looked at Dan, he didn't see any signs of him laughing at all, which meant that everything he said was the truth, at least as far as he was aware.

"Is.......is that story really true Dan?" Twilight asked him.

Dan shrugged. "Well, like I keep saying Twilight, I don't know. I wasn't with Battalion 4009 for very long before Vegas. You'd have to ask somebody who was there at the Battle of St. Louis, which would be a lot of the guys on the train actually."

Nobody in the room really talked too much after that; all of them were either disgusted like Zakia, scared like Twilight and Applejack, ready to fight like Zakia's guards, too busy working like Candeth, or like Dan, just waiting for something to happen.

Meanwhile, down below, the 2 waves that had made it inside of the palace were on the loose, wreaking havoc wherever they went. In addition to my bulldozer, 2 of the loaders made it inside as well, and continued to cause mayhem. They knocked through walls, pulled down ceilings, ran over Zebras, crushed Zebras to death with their front loaders or blades, and knocked a lot of things down.

"Remember!" Don warned, "We CANNOT bring the whole palace crashing down! Stop breaking through walls! You could cause something to collapse!"

"Roger that Don!"

Now that we were inside of the palace, we had to figure out where the throne room was. Fortunately, someone noticed a map on the wall.

"Um, Major! According to this map, the throne room is up on Level 3! I'd say that that would be our best bet for locating that bastard Zakia!"

"Excellent, and the dungeons?"

"Um, Basement Level! Also down there are the furnace and boiler rooms."

"Ok, this means that we'll have to fan out! Some of us will head down to the dungeons, and some more of us will head up to Level 3, where the throne room is. The rest of you, fan out and see what you can find!"

"Yes Sir!"

Meanwhile, I decided to pay the throne room a visit. After cruising around on Level 1 for a bit, my wave and I decided to head up to Level 2. After knocking aside a few railings, I was able to once again get the bulldozer up the stairs.

As we were going up, Aurora checked the gas gauge. "Um, Master, this shows that we have maybe a half a tank of gas left!"

I nodded. "That's good Aurora. We still have plenty of gas." I also checked my watch. "9:35am. We're still ok on time, now let's clear Level 2!"

Once I'd gotten the bulldozer to the top of the stairs, I plowed through the door leading to the stairwell, and then turned right. "Huh, I guess that they don't have one continuous stairwell, but instead just one stairwell per level. No matter, we're up on Level 2, so let's get to clearing!"

"Yes Sir!"

While we were doing that, Don and his group were down in the dungeons. It was down there that they discovered the missing female medical staff from the train.

"Oh, thank Celestia that you guys are here! We were DYING in there!"

With their tools, Don's group were able to get the doors open, and free the medical staff.

"Well, you're safe now! You will have to stay with us until the battle is over, which shouldn't be too much longer now."

They then checked the rest of the dungeons, but to their dismay, the other hostages weren't there.

"BLAST!!! They must be up in the throne room!"

After damaging the boilers and furnaces to cause a power failure, they all exited the dungeons, and once they were back on the main level, the medical staff were escorted out of the palace, and down to one of the trailers of a tractor, which then took them out of the city, and to the safety of the Battleship Express.

"There," Don muttered, "That's most of the hostages safe. Now we just have to find the two privates, as well as Twilight, and the other Element Bearers!"

Don then knew, that the most likely place for them, was in the throne room. "And that's most likely where Leopard and his guys are right now."

He and his wave then began to make their way up there to back us up.

Back up on Level 2, we were coming under rather heavy fire. Alex and I continued to use the machine guns on the bulldozer's front and sides until they ran out of ammunition.

"Well, that's that I suppose. I guess that we do this the fun way now!"

With that, the two of us and Aurora then left the bulldozer's cab, and began to use our own weapons against the remaining Zebras. There was so much slaughter done by the bulldozer's machine guns that our odds of winning were greatly improved. Eventually, Don and his wave reached us, and they brought more ammunition for the machine guns on the bulldozer. We were able to make quick work out of all of the remaining Zebras on Level 2, and we then made the final trek up to Level 3. I was once again driving the bulldozer, and Don had managed to get his loader up there as well. After another series of major firefights, we all found ourselves outside of the doors to the throne room. I got my bulldozer close to the doors, but then I stopped, got out, and instead walked up to the doors. To no one's surprise, they were locked.

"Oh great, now what do we do?"

I then banged on the doors. "HEY! OPEN UP IN THERE!!!!"

"No!" Came a voice from somewhere inside of the room, "And if you come in here, the hostages die!"

Don looked to the others. "Hey, anybody got a drill? We need to verify this story!"

Somebody then got the drill that Don requested from his toolbox, attached the largest drill-bit that he had to it, and then handed it to me. Slowly and carefully, I put the drill up against the door, and began to work it. Maybe a minute or so later, I felt the drill bit break through, and after retracting the drill, we had maybe a 2in. wide hole. Then, not wanting to get stabbed, I then took out a small mirror, and used it to peer through the hole.

"See anything?"

"Yeah. I can see a number of guards hiding behind barricades. Unfortunately, I can't really see what's behind them."

Don then stepped up to the door. "Zakia, all we want are the hostages! Give them to us, and we MIGHT consider sparing your lives!"

"NO!!!" Came the reply. "And don't think that I didn't see you drilling your little peep hole! You come in here, and they die!"

Don shrugged. "Fine then, have it your way. We can wait; we've got all of the time in the world. You on the other hand, are running out of time fast. Your empire is finished, your capital city is in ruins, and now we have you right where we want you. Like I said, we can wait for you to come out, as we have all of the time in the world." Then, true to his word, Don actually went back to his loader, and sat down inside of the cab.

He then grabbed his radio. "Hey, General Shining, are you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here Major, what is it?"

"Well, the good news is, we've managed to locate the hostages. They're being held in the throne room."

"Oh, and the bad news?"

Don frowned. "The bad news is that Zakia has threatened them with death if we get inside. We're currently building up for a siege, but we need to end it now. I have a plan, but are you free to help us with it?"

"Sure. We just killed some Zebra commander named Faul and his crew after they tried to retake the palace grounds. What's the plan?"

"Well, in a few more minutes, the power in the palace is going to go out due to damage caused to the boilers and furnaces in the basement. When that happens, I'm going to need you to lob some smoke grenades into the upper windows of the palaces East Side. I'm sending you the coordinates now. Once the room is filled with smoke, we're going to storm in, and rescue the hostages. Whatever happens after that, just happens. Hopefully they're behind cover, and we can get to them before they get hurt!"

Shining nodded gravely. "Yeah, you're plan does sound VERY risky, but yes, we can help you with it. I've received the coordinates that you've sent me, and we're looking up at the windows right now. We have the smoke grenades ready, so just give us the signal, and we'll launch them!"

"Copy that, I'll give you the signal as soon as the power goes out."

"Roger that."

Sure enough, a few minutes later, the lights flickered, and then went out.

"Hey, what happened to the lights?!"

Candeth shrugged. "I-I don't know Sir! My switchboard is still on, but I don't know what's wrong!"

"Shining NOW!!! Launch the smoke!!!"

"Roger!" He and a few other Unicorns then lobbed their smoke grenades through the windows. When they hit the floor, they all exploded, filling the room with extremely thick smoke.

Dan knew instantly what to do. "Come on!" He whispered urgently, grabbing Twilight and Applejack. "We have to get to cover now! They're about to bust in here!!!"

They didn't have to be told twice. As quick as cats, they all ducked behind the throne on the back side, peering out just enough to watch what was about to happen.

"Leopard, NOW!!!! RAM THE DOORS!!!! GET THEM OPEN!!!!"

"YEAH!!!!" I then quickly put my bulldozer into reverse, and after revving the engine a bit, I shot it forwards, and slammed into the doors.

They held the first time, and Don was out of patience. He ordered explosives to be planted on the doors, which were then detonated, and after running the bulldozer into them a second time, the doors collapsed inwards.

What happened next was an incredible firefight. The bulldozer rolled in, and after shooting at the barricades a bit, managed to crush them, and then I stopped it, and joined the fray with Aurora. Candeth was accidentally shot and killed while trying to escape, but with all of us firing, the rest of the guards were quickly eliminated. Then, with those who were able to use Magic doing so, the smoke in the room was cleared.

"Hey, are there any hostages in here?!" Don yelled. "We’re looking for hostages!"

"Back here Sir!"

From behind the throne at the far end of the room, I saw a lone Human figure stand up. He was in pretty bad shape, but I could still tell who he was.

"D-D-DAN?!?! And who else is back there with you?"

Then Applejack and Twilight stood up as well. At that exact moment, all Hell broke loose. Don and Alex charged forwards, as did I and Aurora. Little did I suspect just how disappointed I was going to be though.

"TWILIGHT!!!" Don screamed.

"APPLEJACK!!!" Alex screamed as well.

"DON!!!"

"ALEX!!!"

Once Alex and Don reached their marefriends, with help from Dan, they unchained them.

"Oh Celestia, I'm so glad that you guys are safe!"

"So am I Don", Twilight said as she hugged him, "So am I!"

Alex was also hugging Applejack, and all 4 of them were crying.

It was then that I noticed that someone in the room was missing. "Hey, where's Zakia?"

"I’M RIGHT BEHIND YOU!!!!" A voice behind me screamed.

I then immediately hit the floor, and rolled to the side before jumping back up again. When I did, I saw Zakia with a sword. He looked ready to fight, but I was having none of it. With 2 shots from by gun, I double kneecapped him, just like Candeth. As he lay on the ground writhing in pain, I stepped on his chest.

"Hello motherf@#ker! Bet you never thought that you'd see ME again, did ya?! Now then, give me one good reason why I shouldn't blow your gosh-damn head off right now!"

Zakia didn't say anything, as he was still crying out in pain from being kneecapped. It was then that I got a sick, twisted idea. "Hey, somebody bring me some binding restraints! Let's take this motherf@#ker back to the train, and give him the 'Jasmine Treatment'!"

Zakia knew what that meant. "NNNOOOOO!!!!! NOT THAT!!!! ANYTHING BUT THAT!!!!"

However, we were simply too strong for him. In a flash, he was all tied up, and ready to be dragged away to the back of the train so that those of us who wanted to could have 'fun' with him before he went to face trial. It was also around this time that I noticed something else.

"Hey, wait a minute. These aren't all of the hostages! Where's Pinkie and Cole? And most importantly, where's Dash?!"

Twilight, Applejack and Dan all looked at each other, and then at the ground. Finally, Twilight said, "T-th-they're not here anymore Leopard. They're gone."

I dropped my gun. "W-what?! T-they're.....dead?" I was almost at the point of breaking down crying.

Dan then took up the story. "No, they're......not dead, Captain Leopard, at least......not that we know of."

"Well then.....where are they?"

"A few days ago, most likely while you were on your way here, Zakia tried one last time to reconcile with King Danin. Danin said that he would only help him if he got to pick 3 of his slaves, 1 Human, and 2 mares. Long story short, I think that you can guess who got to stay here, and who was taken away."

That did it, I was on my knees. "NNNNOOOOO!!!!!!!!!" I screamed, before completely breaking down crying.

Author's Note

Well, and that concludes the Battle of Zebrica. So now Zakia is captured, Zebrica has fallen, and now the rest of the Zebra Empire, has mere hours left to live now. Also, now half of the hostages, are safe. Unfortunately, Pinkie, Cole, and Dash, are still in harms way. They are still being held captive by Danin and the Caribous. So, what's going to happen now? What will Zakia's ultimate fate be? Will he be executed, or will he be given the same fate that General Jasmine was when she was captured? And what will the Caribou do? Will they now chose to surrender, or will they continue to fight the war? Also, how will we explain to the remaining family that their daughters are still in harms way? And what could possibly happen next? Well, as always, keep reading, and I'll tell you!

As always, comments, feedback, questions, as well as spreading the word about this story, are always appreciated, and I'll see you all in Chapter 15!

ScarFox out for now!