[EaW] Harmony's War

Chapters

Prologue: A Quiet Night
Chapter 2: Here Comes the Field Marshall
Chapter 3: Homebound
Chapter 4: The Vanhoover Bastion
Chapter 1: Life Goes on

Prologue: A Quiet Night

“Dear diary,

Today was the day we’ve all been fearing. The Changelings have declared war. Conflict is coming to Equestria. I’m scared, but the ministry of defence (up until a year ago, I didn’t even know we had a ministry of defence) made fortifications all along the border, so we are prepared. Princess Celestia was on the radio tonight, in a surreal speech. I had to cover little Rasp’s ears so she couldn’t hear the words Celestia spoke and it felt more like shouting compared to her normal way of speaking. The Princess was furious, I think I’ve never heard her angry before and she was using terms I thought were reserved for warlike creatures like griffons. Promising not to give up another inch of our country and to burn ‘the bugs’. Her words filled me with a mix of disgust and fear. This war is for real and even the Princess was letting it get to her. I pray the Changelings never make it over the border and that they give up and go home.

My husband did not want to speak about it after work. He had to stay late at the city hall. As you know, Vanhoover is close to the Changeling Lands and the council probably had to make all sorts of preparations. The pegasi that I saw fly over today are strong, but I don’t think they can stop the flying war machines that the Changelings made and with which they destroyed Olenia. After work I’ll try and see if I can fit some beds in the basement, just in case. I’ll tell Rasp it is something like an underground sleepover.

Yours Sincerely,

Diamond Harmony”

Closing the small red book and putting down her pen, Diamond sighed as she looked down at the two items. She had bought the diary on a whim when tensions started to rise along the border. It was important to record these events from as many perspectives as possible, so that others might learn from them. Writing like this was new to the Vanhoover jewelleress, who had a hard time sharing her inner thoughts with anyone, let alone consigning them to paper.

“Let’s hope this will be the only entry I’ll need to write.” She murmured to herself, putting the book and her pen away in her desk drawer.

Instead of going to bed, Diamond found herself staring through the window into the night and found herself strangely comforted by the silence and darkness. When the alternative was war, a solemn night didn’t seem that bad anymore. She let a hoof go through her mane, taking a few minutes to just stare into the empty city square outside her window before pulling herself away. It was time to hit the hay next to her husband, tomorrow would be a busy day for everypony.

Author's Note

I hope you enjoyed reading the prologue of this story, the first one I've published on this site and probably the first real story I've started to write.
This story is written for the Equestria At War write off! Of course some liberties have been taken, but I did my best to stay as true to their Alternate Universe as possible.

The first real chapter should be up at the same time as this one, so I do hope you continue reading.

Chapter 2: Here Comes the Field Marshall

After the mayor’s visit, it was time for Diamond to pick up Rasp at school. She said goodbye to her boss and hit the streets again. The sun was now up to a pleasant strength and it seemed like they would have almost clear skies, with just a few friendly white clouds floating up high. It was only a short while to the school Diamond’s daughter went to. Like always, the school yard was filling up with parents waiting to get their colts and fillies from school. Diamond spent the time chatting with some of them, until the school bell rang and the children charged outside, a colourful wave of happiness, ready to enjoy their freedom.

Rasp raced straight for her mother, slowing down too late and bumping into her, making the both of them fall over on the stone tiles of the yard. Diamond was supposed to be mad, but she couldn’t help but laugh from her daughter’s eternal enthusiasm. As Diamond slowly got up again, Rasp was already prancing excitedly.

“Mom, mom! Do we get to go see the princess, please? Pretty please? We’ll go right?’’ Rasp launched a waterfall of questions and pleas, intent on overwhelming her mother.

Diamond wasn’t intending to give up so easily, even though she was planning to go anyway. She tried to imitate the mayor when she looked serious, “I don’t think Luna would want to see fillies that haven’t finished their homework first.’’

Rasp stopped prancing, now standing perfectly still, her eyes piercing Diamond’s soul as the filly started to pout. “But, but I’ll never get it done in time. I swear I’ll do it afterwards!”

Diamond had to contain her laughter now, time to see what else she could get. “And?”

Rasp bit her lip, and Diamond could almost hear the gears in her head turning. “I’ll do the dishes tonight, promise!”

“Deal.”

Diamond burst out into laughter and Rasp realised she had been played. “Not fair!” Her cheeks were expanding and she stamped her hoof on the ground in protest. Diamond shook her head and laid her hoof on the filly’s shoulder.

“Don’t be too eager to take your mother’s bait, we’ll do it together tonight.’’

Rasp’s cheeks returned to a normal size again as she exhaled. “Okay, but it was still mean.’’

Diamond rubbed through her daughter’s hair. “Of course it was dear. Now let’s go and see the princess and I’ll tell you about what mom made for her.’’

It was already getting packed at Alicorn Square, the main square of Vanhoover. The grand city hall stood proudly on a raised platform at the head of the square. The Equestrian flag was flying staunchly over the rooftop, the familiar cyan not quite fitting in perfectly with the clear skies behind it. The square itself had a large mosaic in the middle depicting the reunification of princess Luna and princess Celestia, although the art was hardly visible now that so many ponies were standing on it.

Diamond and Rasp overheard from the crowd that Luna had indeed arrived and would soon appear on the balcony to address the citizens of Vanhoover. Rasp was staring at the city hall’s balcony, intent to not miss a moment of what was about to happen. Her body was swaying lightly, it could almost not contain her excitement. All of it seemed surprisingly normal. With what was happening not that far to the north, Diamond expected things to be different, but now that she thought about it, she failed to come up with what exactly she did expect. No one knew what a war was like and how they were supposed to act. Everypony was expecting the princess to magically make this problem disappear without it impacting their lives. The sick feelings in Diamond’s gut and the evil thoughts returned to her and told her. It wouldn’t be so easy this time, would it? Shaking her head and closing her eyes for a brief second, the pony tried to fight the images in her head with pleasant thoughts. Would the princess wear the necklace with the sapphire gem? Maybe Librus even got a chance to speak with her? A loud cheering made Diamond open her eyes again as she saw the princess entering the balcony…

Princess Luna yawned as she entered the Vanhoover city hall from the back entrance. She had decided to fly ahead of the rest of her staff and guards so she could be here in time to speak to the ponies. Luna could already hear that a lot of ponies were gathered on the other side of the building, but before she could speak to them, Luna had to go through the formalities first. She could feel a bit of her nerves playing up and smiled to herself about it. The alicorn didn’t often do public appearances, especially not alone.

Luna laughed it off as she made her way across the grand marble staircase to the mayor’s office, oblivious to the many pairs of eyes of the civil servants that were glued to her. What kind of filly am I? Not afraid to lead troops into battle, but afraid of my own subjects? Luna knew that wasn’t fair to herself. These ponies were looking for answers and frankly, she didn’t have any. From what she heard, the situation at the front was deteriorating rapidly, with many of the best soldiers now tired and running out of supplies, while the changelings kept rotating in fresh troops to pound at the front line. Now Vanhoover, this major city close to the front, would do great as a staging ground, to get supplies in and coordinate their forces. If…

“Your highness?’’ The voice of an older mare interrupted her train of thought. Luna had walked into the office without thinking. What was the mayor’s name again? She got briefed on this.

“Mayor Mareadoo, thank you for having Us.’’ Luna grinned at her mistake, You got the name Luna, now just remember to not use the majestic plural against the ponies. That was a thousand years ago, not in the present.

“It must have been a long way to travel from Canterlot,” the mayor seemed disinterested in the normal formalities, “but could you enlighten us on how you will end the war, princess?”
There it was, the question Luna had been fearing. The look of the half dozen ponies in the room burned into her as she started to improvise an answer together. “It is imperative that we hold the changelings at the border. I’m confident that our troops will be able hold out until my dear sister manages to muster us up reinforcements.” The mention of Celestia seemed to relax the ponies, naturally clearing some of the tension in the air.

Celestia, her sister, wasn’t herself. The build up to the war, convening the urgent war committee, it stressed her out. Maybe she had relied too much on the Elements of Harmony instead of the normal methods to solve any conflict. Had it made the elder alicorn fragile? Luna intended to go back to Canterlot as soon as the fronts stabilised and surprise Celestia with a big cake to cheer her up. That would help. Her musings on Celestia left her silent for a few seconds, but no one uttered as much as a whisper in her sight. It seemed the ponies of Vanhoover weren’t as used to royalty as the ones in Canterlot.

Luna decided to continue to lay out her ideas, “So your job here is twofold: Vanhoover must support the troops at the frontline with supplies and munitions, while also preparing shelter and supplies for reinforcements from the rest of Equestria.”

One of the other ponies, a purple stallion with a bronze balance as his cutie mark spoke up. “City hall will be made available to you and any of your staff, your Highness, I have already cleared several offices for them to work in. Furthermore, you can speak to the citizens from the balcony, the ponies have been expecting you. ”

Luna nodded, at least someone had some foresight. Many of the places she passed on her way to Vanhoover didn’t even seem to acknowledge there was a war on. “Most prudent, thank you.” Intending to now do as the pony suggested, she turned around, but the mayor scraped her throat and got something from under desk. Luna eyed it curiously. It was a small black box, which she slid towards Luna over the neatly organised oaken table.

“A gift from the people of Vanhoover,” the mayor announced. She ceremoniously bowed her head for a second.

“Oh?’’ Luna’s eyes lighted up as she opened the box and saw the necklace. “Thank you very much, I wasn’t expecting such a gift.” She spoke the truth, with all the things on her mind, she didn’t think about the usual gifts given by cities that received her or Celestia. Taking up the the necklace and putting it on, she smiled at the mayor. “Many thanks.” Even though it had been a long time since she came down from the moon, Luna still had to get used to all the affection given to her, speaking of which. “I really should get out there before the people break into city hall,” she said, giving everyone present a bright smile. The mayor agreed and they went up to the highest floor, where the mayor opened the door for the princess, letting Luna outside onto the sun soaked balcony.

Luna was greeted by a square full of cheering ponies, which summoned a bright smile on her face. Everypony came out to see her! She took a moment to wave to the masses down at the square, soaking in the affection, which made her tiredness from the long trip melt away. Then she held her hoof up in the air and took a deep breath.

“Citizens of Vanhoover,” the cheers in the crowd soon died down to quiet murmurs, nopony wanting to miss the princess’s speech. “Thank you all for the warm welcome today.” She hesitated for a split second, realising that she couldn’t give the ponies what they wished for. “Unfortunately, we meet in troubled times. The changelings, misguided by their queen and a thirst for revenge, have decided to declare war on Equestria.” Luna’s head perked up for a moment, she could swear she heard a deep humming in the distance, just for a moment.

Probably nothing.

“It is not looking like they intend to give up before they have taken all of Equestria and destroyed the Harmony we all worked so hard to create.” That seemed to create some worried whispers amongst the ponies, which Luna was glad for. Even though she wanted them to feel safe, they all needed to put in their best efforts to make this go the best way possible. The humming was getting louder and more constant. Was it some factory machine? Even after all this time, she still had a lot of technology to catch up on. “My sister and I need all of you to work hard in the factories and if you can, volunteer for the armed forces. I will stay with you to coordinate our defence while Celestia-’’

There were small specks in the distance, moving towards the city from the north. As Luna stared towards the oncoming aircraft in silence, some of the ponies were also turning around. Then a single scream: “Bombers!”

The masses in the square started to get moving, with soldiers trying to get to the anti-aircraft guns. One look at the chaos on the square was all Luna needed. They were never getting out before the aircrafts got to the square. With an angry roar that echoed off the other buildings on Alicorn square, Luna flew up, spurred on by the panicked screams of her subjects. Not now Chrysalis. As she raced to intercept the bombers, Luna could feel her blood boiling in her veins. These things would dare take everything she loved away, but she would not let that happen. She could count a dozen planes coming towards Vanhoover and some of them were lowering their altitude to meet her.

“They dare.” Luna grinned as the contraptions made their way towards her, a familiar desire to cause pain spreading through her. The planes, three changeling fighters, were probably the escorts to the significantly larger bomber planes, who kept their distance.

As the wing mounted machine guns began spitting their lethal payload towards the alicorn, the rest of the world seemed to fade away, Luna’s mind set on the three enemies flying towards her. Effortlessly, she conjured up a dark magic barrier to stop the bullets before they could even reach her. The changelings got closer and Luna let loose her own attack, sending a stream of dark energy bolts towards the plane closest to her.

The magic tore through the fighter’s left wing and before the plane started to lose altitude, Luna could clearly see the changeling pilot. His eyes and frantic movement in the cockpit betrayed his fear. And then he was gone, his plane spiralling towards the ground. The other aircrafts prepared for another attack run, putting some distance between him and the princess. Luna could feel part of her savouring the changeling’s mortal fear. But the joy of her victory was short-lived as the two remaining fighters attacker her anew.

“Fools!” Luna screamed, her rage persisting. She turned her form into mist, the bullets passing harmlessly through her transparent body. Then Luna blasted another enemy as they got closer and this time her bolt went straight through the cockpit, taking out the pilot and leaving the plane without guidance. Before she could destroy the last plane, it had already broken off, speeding past Luna and trying to gain distance. “You should never have come here!” The princess shouted, now seeing only the one remaining fighter. Luna turned on her axis and pursued the plane, shooting bolts at it, which the changeling pilot deftly avoided with sudden turns and changes in heading. This bug refused to die! Then the pilot pushed the plane’s nose up, intent to get behind Luna by looping over her. She knew the pilot made a fatal mistake and the prospect of killing another changeling made her excited in a way she did not want to admit to herself.

Luna was way lighter and more nimble in the air than even the light single engine fighter, so she could turn around before the pilot completed his maneuver. Then she used the second advantage she had over the plane. As the plane was coming down from the looping, Luna simply lined up her shot as she could tilt her head to shoot upwards, something the fixed guns of the fighter could not. The plane could not fire back while descending and the pilot could not pull up the plane fast enough to dodge the jolts of dark energy. A hit on the engine changed the plane from a sophisticated piece of engineering into a fiery comet in an instant, destroying Luna’s final opponent.

Her rage had no time to die down, however, as she looked upon Vanhoover. The bombers reached the city! The streams of anti-aircraft fire lighted up the sky, but the monsters still opened their bomb bay doors. Luna flew towards the city as fast as possible, but it felt like an insurmountable distance. She heard each explosion clearly and every one of them felt like a thousand heartbreaks. Her rage ebbed away and was replaced by tears filling her eyes, the sound of the impacts symbolising innocent lives lost forever. Her thoughts turned to herself: Field Marshall Luna will protect her ponies, those changelings had no chance! It was her hubris and then her blind rage that led to this. It was she who was responsible for this, she and no one else. When the changeling planes returned from their bombing run, Luna felt completely drained. She barely had the will left to keep her wings flapping. The machines got closer, but she failed to attack the bombers, her anger was already spent on useless attacks. Instead, she flew back to city hall still sobbing, letting the bombers escape.

Chapter 3: Homebound

...BOOOM...

The shockwave of the explosion on the square, just in front of city hall, shattered the windows of the mayor’s office, shards of glass flying around the room. Screams and panic surrounded Librus Harmony, the deep purple stallion who ran much of Vanhoover’s administration.

“Get to the basement! Quick, run for shelter!” His normally calm voice rose the volume of that of a ship captain and the ponies inside the office followed his command. Librus blocked out the sounds of more bombs and the screams outside as he helped everyone leave the office, adrenaline kicking in to make him act primarily on instinct. Some of his co-workers were paralysed from shock and he had to slap the mayor back to reality. Something the stallion would have laughed about if the situation wasn't so dire.

When the room was finally empty, Librus prepared to run away himself, but his ears perked up when he heard the ringing of a phone over the bombs outside. It was the mayor’s. Turning around, he speeded towards it and picked up the red horn from its holder, almost shouting through the line.

“Mayor’s office, is this important?’’

The voice on the other end was that of a mare, she spoke quickly, panic dripping from her voice. “This is Major Amber Night, 2nd division. We’ve trying to reach Marshall Luna, is she there?”

Librus looked around the once tidy room, now sprinkled with glass, as if the princess would magically appear. “Negative major, but I will get your message through to her.’’ Librus got a pen and paper from the desk, being careful as to not cut himself on the glass. He could hear shouting and faint gunfire from the other side of the phone, although he could barely distinguish it from the noise outside.

“Alright, I’m ready,’’ Librus prepared to diligently note a summary of the Major’s frantic words:

“Changelings have overrun Acornage.
In full retreat, most of the border is line is lost.
General Whiplash wounded.
Casualties in the thousands.
Need reinforcements.’’

The stallion looked at the words he scribbled down, his pupils expanding as he read the unreal report. Taking a deep breath, he responded. “I will make sure the news reaches the field marshall, good luck out there major.’’

“Thank you, we will need it,’’ were her final words before she hung up on Librus, leaving him and the scrap of paper alone in the room.

A mixture of fear and curiosity made his legs move towards the shattered windows. Diamond and Rasp were there. Librus had to know.

“No…” Was all he could stammer as his eyes scanned the once proud central plaza of Vanhoover. Craters had deformed it into a moonscape. Bodies were thrown around laying on the stones like ragdolls carelessly tossed aside. Several dead soldiers surrounded the wrecked remains of one of the anti-aircraft guns. One of them was still moving in a pool of his own blood. Black clouds of smoke were spiralling up from buildings further away, the fires no doubt caused by the bomb raid. Librus gasped for air, his stomach turning from the horrible sights below him. He had to focus and look up to the sky to not throw up on the spot. They’re not there, they have escaped. They’re alive.

While he was looking up, Librus saw someone flying towards city hall. After his eyes brought the moving dark spot into focus, he recognised it as Princess Luna herself. What is she doing out there? Nevermind, at least she seems unharmed. Librus waved his hoof at the royal to try and grab her attention. She had to know about the developments at the front as soon as possible, the army was counting on her. Luckily she did notice him and started to descent towards Librus, landing on the office floor, the once stately windows no longer an obstacle.

Something was off, the Princess still had tears on her face and she was shaking, although the alicorn tried to compose herself when she saw Librus was looking at her. What happened? Seeing what happened to her, the Princess that had stood so confidently with him less than an hour ago, made Librus swallow uncomfortably. Something has to be done. She can’t win alone. “Princess Luna? Did you get hurt, your highness?’’

Luna took a deep breath, still regaining her composure, she then nodded softly. “I am fine, thank you, mister?’’

“Harmony, Librus Harmony, Princess. I was with you when I arrived?” Librus felt like the mare before him wasn’t telling the truth, but was he to push that to the alicorn that controlled the moon.

Luna nodded and her eyes showed a hint of recognition. “Why are you not hiding?” She asked, genuine concern in her voice.

The stallion held out the piece of paper towards Luna. “The phone rang, your highness, you have to read this.’’

Something he said made the Princess chuckle, which caused Librus to shuffle around on his hooves awkwardly. But Luna did take the note from him, reading it. The words seemed to hit her like the blow of a sledgehammer. “So soon…’’ She uttered, shaking her head softly as her eyes looked back to Librus. “Is this true?”

“I got it from Major Night herself.’’ Librus answered dutifully, “Your staff should be here soon with the equipment for your headquarters, Princess. Maybe you should think of a response to the changeling advance?”

“What response?’’ Luna said, almost growled, back at Librus. “We have almost no soldiers, our industry is producing toasters instead of guns and none of you know how to fight!’’ The Princess instantly regretted her outburst and looked down at her hoofs. “Forgive me, it’s been a tiresome day.’’

Librus didn’t know what to answer to that, he knew that the situation wasn’t rosy. That the changelings had experience from fighting Olenia and that they had prepared for this war. That Equestria had refused to raise the defence budget in line with those threats, with Celestia hoping to find a peaceful solution until the last minute. But this breakthrough meant that Vanhoover, home, was in danger. “We can still win, we have to, there is simply no other choice, your highness.’’ Librus tried to sound confident, but truthfully, he was as doubtful as the Princess.

“Perhaps… Now please let’s go to these offices you had prepared for me, I will need time to think.’’

Librus escorted Luna to the empty offices he had prepared for her, before checking up on his coworkers. After accounting for everyone, the mayor decided to let everyone who had a family go, so they could check up on them. So Librus left as well, crossing the rubble on the square and through the streets of Vanhoover, where some of the houses had turned to piles of rubble. The war had reached the city, but it had only gotten its first taste. Walking through the city was a surreal experience and even though only some of the buildings had changed, the whole atmosphere had changed and Librus found himself quickening his step, wanting to get home.

Diamond Harmony had taken her daughter to safety through the panicked masses, in what felt like a nightmare. Death was raining from above and the soldiers who tried to protect them seemed as panicked as the civilians were. Amidst the terrible screams of pain, the ear shattering sounds of explosions and the constant anti-aircraft fire, Diamond had to focus on getting Rasp to safety. Away, back to her house. While the sounds slowly died down, the both of them didn’t stop until they were in the basement, Diamond hugging Rasp protectively as her heart slowly calmed down from fearing for their very lives. She could feel her daughter’s body hanging against her, shuddering. Her sobbing gave diamond heartache, but she felt extreme relief that both of them made it out.

They must have been in the basement quite a while when the mare finally felt safe enough to let go of Rasp, who had stopped crying now. The two hadn’t said a word to each other and Diamond had no idea how to explain what just happened, she had no idea what happened herself. She just got Rasp to follow her up. Diamond made some tea, silent as she tried to come up with what to say. The sound of a key turning made the mare’s head perk up. The front door opening made her freeze completely, only to melt seconds later when she saw the familiar face of her husband.

“Dad!” Rasp shouted happily as she galloped towards Librus, embracing him with renewed power. The stallion only managed to give an awkward smile, patting the filly on the flank. Diamond decided to join the hug, herself overjoyed that the other third of her family was also safe.

Soon the three were sitting at the kitchen table, each with a mug of hot tea, still shaken from the day’s events. “You got to home?” Diamond asked to break the silence, a bit unsure of what to say.

“Yes, the mayor let everyone who had to look after someone go, because of, you know.’’ Librus replied, hesitant to mention what happened.

“Mom? Dad? Why did the changeling people attack us, we weren’t fighting.’’ Rasp asked while tilting her head slightly. It was a very childish thing to worry about. Luckily for Diamond, Librus took it on himself to explain.

“Well dear, the changelings probably think that if they hurt enough ponies, Celestia and Luna will give up.’’ He put his hoof on the table to touch Rasp’s.

“But the princesses never give up right, not when Discord attacked and not even when evil King Sombra tried to conquer everyone?” Rasp seemed genuinely confused by the notion that the changelings could win.

“Of course not dear, a real princess never gives up.’’ Diamond told her daughter. She thought about that sentence, which she had never doubted before. The Princesses had defeated such terrible monsters, even when the rest of the world was sure they’d lose. Was it different this time? Maybe it was? The changelings weren’t all monsters, were they? Perhaps that was the difference. Celestia and Luna could defeat one big evil, but an entire people, wasn’t that out of the league of any single person?

Librus seemed to have less doubts on what to do. “Listen carefully, both of you. The changelings will be coming, they broke through the border and Rasp isn’t staying around for when they get here.’’

The filly frowned. “But I want to stay… besides, I have school.’’ She said, a smug smile covering her face as she challenged her father.

“You’re going to your aunt in Tall Tales, I’m sure a lot of families will be sending their children away too, so it will be fun there.’’ Librus now managed to actually smile, trying to reassure little Rasp.

“Okay, okay, in a few days, alright?” Rasp had given up some ground, intend to buy time.

Librus nodded, which made Diamond sigh of relief. Maybe it was selfish, but she really didn’t want Rasp to go. With the war raging full force and the changelings actually getting closer, having her sweetheart around would make it all so much more bearable. But of course Librus was right, today proved that.

“Of course, I don’t think your mother would let you escape that soon.’’ Diamond found it incredible how Librus managed to talk like that, after what happened. The exchange between him and Rasp seemed almost normal. She took a sip of her tea, watching the two talk, the subject quickly changing to Rasp’s school day. Soon enough the two of them seemed to have forgotten all about the war. Or were they just pretending? Either way, Diamond played along.

Chapter 4: The Vanhoover Bastion

”Dear diary,

It has now been over a week since the changelings attacked. A lot has happened since then, but I finally caught a break to write it up. Soldiers have been trickling in from the frontlines for days now and the changelings are nearing the city. The military has decided to fight for Vanhoover and the city is being turned into a fortress. Volunteers are using rubble from destroyed houses to barricade the main roads and setting up barbed wire. The barricades also had wooden and concrete contraptions. Librus explained to me that these were to stop changeling armour. He has, like a lot of others, volunteered for the army after the first bombing. Although in the case of Librus, that mostly meant shooting practice after work, since he can’t leave his job.

I see him less and less. Sometimes he sleeps at city hall. I know I have to be there for him, but it is hard to go on mostly alone. Today, I also put Rasp on the train to Tall Tales. I already miss her, but sending her to her aunt was the best option. They are trying to evacuate as many children as possible, but the railways are in high demand to ship in supplies and troops. The harbour is full of damaged ships from changeling naval bombers, it barely has space for freighters to offload.

Princess Celestia speaks a lot on the radio about the cruelty of the changelings and how all of Equestria needs to stand against them. On the hoof it brings me hope that the rest of the world will stop this madness, on the other hoof her words seem so different from the past. I fear that the world I once knew might not return.

Yours faithfully,

Diamond Harmony.’’

Princess Luna looked around her headquarters, a converted office room in Vanhoover’s city hall. Radios, typewriters and other machines were organised throughout. A big map of Equestria hung on the wall opposite the door, with a frontline continuously updated by her staff. In the middle of the office a detailed map of Vanhoover itself was rolled out on some tables. Big red arrows indicated likely routes of advance into the city and blue was used to indicate strong points to halt them. Luna sighed while looking over the map. Celestia had insisted that they’d stay and fight to the last pony, but she was rerouting supplies to other areas. Her sister deemed Vanhoover a lost cause, a way to stall Chrysalis’s armies.

She gestured Librus to come over from his desk. The earth pony had been an important assistant ever since she came. More and more of Luna’s already undermanned staff were re-deployed to other fronts and the Vanhooverian took a load of the work on himself.

“Princess?” He asked, moving up next to her. Luna noticed the bags under the stallion’s eyes. He was working too hard.
“Situation report Librus, how are our supplies?’’

Librus shook his head. “Not good enough by a long shot. We have rifles and ammunition now, but we lack heavy weapons. Artillery, anti aircraft guns, mortars, machine guns,’’ he summed up. “And ponypower of course.’’

Luna nodded, “I see.’’ It is worse than I hoped, but we have some surprises of our own. “What about the special package from the east?’’ She smiled mischievously. Luna had to pull a lot of strings to get
it done without Celestia catching wind of it, but she expected help any day now.

“Yes, the volunteers from Stalliongrad will be here today.’’ Librus sighed, walking towards the map of Equestria, showing the northeastern provinces striped to signify disputed territory. “Are you sure they can be trusted, your highness?” The pony had expressed his concerns about letting the communists in multiple times, but Luna was convinced she needed them.

“Their chairman promised the ponies he sent were veterans and that they were under strict orders to behave themselves.’’ Luna levitated some red plastic pony figures onto the Vanhoover map. “We can also increase our firepower by disassembling naval guns, I have been told.’’ Some wooden ship figures, surrounded by a dark purple glow, levitated from the harbour area to Alicorn Square on the map.

Librus nodded. “Now what would you do as the changeling commander?’’ Luna put a hoof under her chin, staring at the map and the figurines that were hastily painted black to represent the changelings. Cut off supplies as much as possible. Tire the city out and use bombs and artillery. But that would be a lengthy process. “Surround the city…’’ Luna started, moving some of the black forces in a circle around the urban area. “Then deploy artillery to shell the city along with bombers if I have them.’’

The pony nodded approvingly and seemed to smile, he was enjoying the thought exercise and frankly, Luna was too. “But you need to hurry, since Equestria will get stronger by the day.”

“What if I just attacked relentlessly with conscripts to keep the pressure up, while my best divisions just pushed south, not bothering with the siege?” Luna shuddered a bit from such a ruthless suggestion.

“Now you’re thinking like a changeling.” Librus replied. “We shouldn’t rely on the enemy to value the lives of their soldiers.’’ He sighed and then gave the alicorn a serious expression. “Or those of our civilians.’’

Luna closed her eyes, but the memories of that first air raid didn’t go away. They won’t stop. They won’t stop until they’ve destroyed us all. “We have no choice Librus, you know that.’’

The stallion’s response sounded cold and calculated. “I know, but how many ponies would prefer surrender to all the destruction that will happen? If I were the changelings, I would win by demoralising the opponent.’’

Luna shuddered. He’s right. “Let’s not surrender then.” She answered simply. It was the only answer she could think of, since surrender was not an option. Luna wouldn’t let anypony live under that maniac Chrysalis and her tyrannical oppression.

Librus’s reaction didn’t make the alicorn feel better. “Easy to say.’’ The stallion looked over the map again. “We have prepared, but I wonder how it plays out…’’

~~~~~~~~
Three days later, sundown
~~~~~~~~

Corporal Valiant of the 2nd division, nicknamed ‘Equestria’, peered through his binoculars. On the horizon the Changelings had dug in. Artillery emplacements, field encampments, the lot. The unicorn held down the looking glasses and instead focused on the soldiers next to him. They were in one of the buildings on the edge of the city, part of the most forward defences, so that others could respond. Judging by the belongings they found when they moved in, it used to be someone’s house. Poor souls. Let’s make sure they at least have somewhere to come back to.

He had four stallions with him, two on the machine gun, one riflepony on the radio and a field medic. Together the squad had fought from the border all the way to Vanhoover. It had been defeat after defeat. One day they had no ammunition, the other day there flanks were rolled up. Always outnumbered, out supplied or outmaneuvered. I’m tired of running. Valiant smirked, feeling on his back to check if his rifle was still there, which it was.

“Corporal?” Private Nimble Sprint, on the radio, spoke up. “I got a transmission, the other outposts are reporting movement, they’re asking us to confirm.”

So much for a break.

Valiant nodded and grabbed his binoculars. By Celestia. The Changelings were mounting a full scale offensive! He tried to count the amount of trucks that were heading towards the city, but there were too many. “Tell command they’re here Sprint. And grab your rifle. It’s time.’’ His soldiers didn’t need an inspiring speech, they had enough of those. Their people were at their back and the enemy was in front of them. That was all that mattered.

The corporal looked towards the changeling artillery. They were starting their bombardment. “Alright, ready the machine gun, let’s give these changelings a warm welcome to Vanhoover!” The gunner looked back and nodded grimly, putting the automatic weapon’s safety off. Artillery shells started to explode around the city, but by now Valiant’s squad barely flinched at the sound.

The changelings were getting closer and the corporal could now distinguish the individual figures on the back of the open truck heading straight towards them. Just a few more moments… An explosion blocked his vision. A mortar shell had hit the truck and its engine was on fire. The bugs were getting out quickly, and started to run and fly towards the city and the cover there.

They were in for quite a surprise. “Ready weapons!” His squad prepared to fire, Valiant himself kneeled down in front of one of the windows and readied his rifle. “Steady.” The bugs were almost in range. These didn’t seem like the ones they fought earlier, disorganised and almost suicidal. They must know we’re here, why are they charging like this. No time to think. Valiant had one of them down his sights “FIRE!”

Three rifles fired their shots, while the machine gun opened its barrage of death. The changeling Valiant aimed for went down and he loaded another round into the clip, aiming at another one. The machine gun was making short work of these.

No sudden moves now, scumbag.

He pulled the trigger and moments later, another target was down.

Valiant reloaded again, but all of them were already dead. He peered over his sights. Although their part seemed safe for the immediate future, the sound of gunfire betrayed that the fighting had reached the city. “At ease gentecolts. It looks like the rest of them didn’t want to face us down.’’ His machine gunner seemed to come down from sort of adrenaline rush and was still in the zone. The loader was looking at a medaillon of his family. Sprint went back to the radio to check in with command and he saw Amble Lance, the medic, look at the changeling bodies scattered not even closer than 50 metres from their location.

“They were meatshields Corporal.” Amble’s voice revealed a sense of pity for the bugs.

“So it seems. Poor bugs. Let’s prepare for the real deal then.” Valiant gave a confident smile to each member of his squad.

The battle of Vanhoover had begun and they were right in the middle of it.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading the first part of my story!

This will be the part submitted for the Equestria at War write off, but more will certainly be coming!

I hope you enjoyed so far!

Chapter 1: Life Goes on

Diamond slept soundly that night and breakfast was almost normal, except for the big headline in the Vanhoover Tribune that Librus Harmony, her husband, was reading: “WAR WITH THE CHANGELINGS”. Librus would take Rasp, their daughter, to school today and Diamond would pick her up in the afternoon. That was the way they had done it since she went to school. Instead of a cheery morning of the two parents poking fun at each other, there was an awkward silence that was only broken when someone had to pass something for breakfast, both parents afraid to talk about the one topic on their minds. Rasp could sense something was off, but didn’t know exactly what was going on, keeping silent as well.

When everypony was done eating, Diamond turned to her daughter, it was already getting late and she needed to prepare. “Go pack your bag dear, or your father will be late for work.” She said in the soft, but guiding parental tone she always used for her child. This was just the cue Rasp needed to escape the weird atmosphere that had taken hold of the kitchen. She sprinted upstairs to her room, leaving the deep purple stallion and the cyan mare alone.

“Don’t worry Diamond,’’ Librus put down the newspaper and but a hoof around his wife’s neck, his dark blue eyes peering into her eyes with serene confidence. “It will be over before you know it.” He grabbed the newspaper again with his free hoof, holding it up next to his face. “They say Princess Luna is coming up to Vanhoover. She’ll know how to sort this out.” His eyes wandered to the staircase and Diamond found herself looking the same way. “I’ll tell Rasp that everything that’s happening outside is just for her arrival, I’m sure she would love it if you went to see the Princess with her after school.”

Diamond gave a soft smile. As always, her stallion had it all figured out. His calm was infectious and the pony could feel some of the worry in her heart melted away like snow in the springtime sun. “Do you think we are ready?” She asked, not quite giving up her insecurities from last night.

Much to her relief Librus turned his gaze back to her and gave a soft nod. “We are prepared, Princess Celestia has been ruling for thousands of years. There hasn’t been a crisis harmony hasn’t seen us through in the end. As long as we stay true to ourselves this will be over before summer begins.”

Diamond chuckled, her shoulders shuddering as she moved a hoof to her mouth to cover it up. This made her husband give her his characteristic frown, before his mask broke and he smiled as well. It was clear to Diamond why he was so high up in the ranks of Vanhoover’s administration, he was steady under pressure and could radiate that confidence around. Librus let go of the mare, before checking through some of his work, leaving Diamond in thought. I should not worry today, Diamond promised herself, thinking it better to enjoy the Princess’s arrival.

She was just about to ask her husband if he knew when she was expected to arrive, when the sound of hoofsteps on the stairs of her house pulled her away from her thoughts about royalty and Librus stood up, smiling at his daughter, who was carrying her full school bag. “Ah it’s time for us to depart love, have a good day and don’t tire out old Silverline too much.” The civil servant gave Diamond a quick kiss on the cheek before hugging their daughter.

Rasp waved at her mother, her eyes beaming with excitement for another day. “See you later mom, love you!’’

Diamond waved back, her smile now widening as the warmth of family made her forget the rest of the world for one heavenly moment. Looking on from the window, she watched the two until they were out of sight.

Diamond did the dishes and then packed her lunch and went to work herself. By the time she entered the streets the day had already started and a nice spring sun had overpowered the clouds, warming the ponies outside. The streets of Vanhoover were busy as always, but there were other sights than the usual. Ponies with helmets on were passing sandbags and putting spotlights and what looked like anti-air guns into position in squares. The grim machines were an ugly contrast to the cobblestone streets and brightly coloured buildings of the city. The soldiers seemed to not mind their task and were making jokes while working, almost as if they were preparing for a festival instead of a bombardment. Diamond shook her head at them, feeling a bit of her worries about Equestria coming back while she continued on her daily commute through the wide boulevards that were the city’s main arteries.

Were these silly stallions the ponies that would defeat the fearsome Changelings? Then she remembered her promise and decided to think about other things instead. After a ten minute walk through the winding streets of the city, Diamond reached the jewelry, a cozy shop where she had worked since she got her cutie mark. Although the shop was small, it imported and cut its own stones and handmade its own jewelry. Diamond always prided herself in the shop since it made both pretty jewelry anyone could afford and exquisite items with priceless gems for the richest people. While most of the city had industrialised since Diamond was a child, the jeweler stayed the same, only using a few of the modern tools in the workshop. It was a relaxing job and almost a second home to her. It would probably still be there in a hundred years. What if they blow it up. The mare closed her eyes and shuddered at her own thought, flashes of her imagination attacking her. Being good at visualising things in her head surely helped Diamond in her job, but now the image of a burned out workplace had nested itself in her head. Opening the door and taking in the familiar moldy smell, however, felt more reassuring than the soldiers outside or Celestia’s speech and the evil thoughts left the front of her mind as quickly as they came.

As the mare entered the shop, a little bell announced her arrival, which made an older stallion with a grey moustache and round glasses come from the workshop in the back.

“Good morning misses Harmony,’’ he said in a slightly cracked voice of a stallion approaching old age.

“Good morning mister Silverline,” Diamond responded with renewed cheer, “Everything alright today?”

Gustav Silverline, the owner of the jewelry pursed his lips and nodded, more eagerly than usual. “It’s quite alright dear, some new gems arrived from the south of Equestria and I’m sure you can make something lovely out of them, also,’’ He paused for a moment, and Diamond could see in his eyes, which were beaming pride and his confident smirk, that the stallion had a pleasant surprise. “The mayor will come along today to buy something, and I think it will be a gift for the princess!”

Diamond could feel her jaw drop at this sentence and all sorts of feelings flooded out from her heart. She held up her hoof and took a deep breath. And another one. Princess Luna was coming! And she would get a jewel from their shop? For a moment she stared into Gustav’s eyes, fully expecting him to start laughing at her for falling for the joke.

After a few seconds, when she saw that the jeweller’s face didn’t change and he wasn’t joking, she exclaimed “Gustav, that’s amazing, so excited, so excited!” Despite her best efforts, Diamond could not stop her heart from pounding uncontrollably in her chest, she felt like a filly who just got a gift.

The old stallion smiled and put a hoof in his neck. “Yes, yes, that would be a literal crown upon my work.” Diamond laughed with the jeweller at his flimsy joke, and before long the both of them went to work, the excited feelings ebbing away from the familiar act of work.

The day went by like a breeze as Diamond was enjoying cutting and polishing the new stones that came in from the Equestrian jungles. She noticed that there were significantly less customers today, which was understandable, most ponies would have something else on their mind than buying jewelry. It was almost half past two in the afternoon when Diamond, still sitting in the workshop, could hear the little welcoming bell again.

“Good afternoon mayor Mareadoo!” Gustav greeted the new customer, which made Diamond’s head perk up from her worktable. She’s here. After wiping off the sweat that had piled up on her forehead during the day, she headed to the shopfront. Diamond could feel her doubts returning to the foreground. What if she didn’t find anything she liked. What if Princess Luna wouldn’t like the gift?

“Yes, so I’m looking for something for our special guest. It has to be something that matches her… nocturnal appearance.” The mayor was about the same age as Silverline, but where the years had a mellowing effect on the stallion, they had made the mayor seem sterner. When the dark-gray unicorn saw Diamond, she gave her a short nod. “Good afternoon.”

Diamond responded in kind; “Good afternoon mayor.” Miraculously, Diamond managed to keep a straight face.

Luckily, the unicorn turned her attention back to Gustav, who had already laid out some jewels on the counter. Most of them were made by Diamond herself. The unicorn took them one by one, inspecting each of them rigorously as Gustav told stories about the pieces. Diamond stood in the corner, rubbing her hooves together and clenching her teeth. She was usually confident of her work, but the way the mayor, whose face didn’t reveal any clue of what was going inside of her head, looked at the jewelry, almost made her shake on her hooves. After reviewing all the pieces mister Silverline had stalled out, she took a second pass, skipping some pieces that had not made cut. She then repeated that process for a third round, after which only two necklaces remained: The first one a silver necklace, with a ruby laid in at the center pendant, while the second one was perhaps a bit less extravagant. A black leather strap set with a deep green sapphire stone.

After taking yet another look the mayor looked at Gustav, nodding gently and biting on her lip. “I cannot decide between these two.”

Gustav’s hoof scraped his moustache. “What are you pondering exactly?” He asked the mayor, who pointed at the ruby.

“I like this one, but I am afraid it doesn’t fit the princess very well.’’ She took the second one in her hoof, “On the other hand, I am afraid this one might give a simple impression, perhaps it is not fitting of royalty.”

Diamond stepped forward, her pride now pushing out her fear. That sapphire gemstone was one of her best cuts. It would perfectly suit a princess. “Excuse me mayor,’’ she blurted out before she could stop herself. The two other ponies jerked their heads towards Diamond and Mareadoo blinked a few times and Diamond gasped at them, still surprised by her own initiative. “In, uhm in, my humble opinion, I believe the sapphire gemstone would fit perfectly! The strap might be simple, but that is intended to focus the attention on the centerpiece. Just for your consideration.’’ Diamond took a deep breath to regain some air after all that.

The unicorn, meanwhile, thought on it for a few moments, looking to and fro from the two jewels and Diamond, before giving an approving nod. “Very well then, I will listen to the expert. Vanhoover would love to purchase the sapphire necklace.” Diamond cheered internally; she swayed the mayor!

Gustav packed the necklace in a little black box when the mayor gave him the bits and just like that the jewellers said goodbye to the mayor and the precious gift was off to city hall, destined for the princess’s neck.

Author's Note

Dear reader, thank you for reading the first real chapter of the story!