(A3) - Chapter 2: Contradiction

No Glory Won

Act 3 Chapter 2: Contradiction

“Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.”

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“Yes, the Commandos,” Bon Bon said aloud, while flipping through various pages and images inside of a folder - my ‘File’, I assumed. She then eyed me intensely, her head hanging low. “You were promoted to Corporal first class immediately after the battle of Vanhoover, and after your discovery of the WMDs. You were sent to Dodge City for 6 weeks for advanced combat and survival training before you were sent to an airfield just south of Los Pegasus afterward. Is this correct?”

“It says so in my file, doesn’t it?” I probed.

“Not everything is true as is written.” She rebutted. “And not everything is written as is true. I need to hear it from yourself to confirm whether or not this is false.”

I gazed at the spread out pages all along the tabletop. I couldn’t begin to guess what these papers were for, or what they actually were. Reports, maybe? Something else entirely? I had no way of knowing, besides getting a good look at them. I doubted Bon Bon would permit me to, either.

“I don’t remember where the airfield was, but the rest is true. I didn’t know at the time where specifically I was at, given that I have never been there before. And nopony there made any effort to inform me about where I was. Not that it really mattered. What mattered was going through the training procedure.” I answered.

“I don’t need a summary of what happened in Dodge City. I need information regarding the WMDs. Can we get back on track to that?” Bon Bon requested irritatedly. “Start from right after your training. You were given your very first raiding mission after those 6 weeks, correct?”

I gritted my teeth in frustration. All of this seemed tedious and unnecessarily slow for me. The only thing I could think of right now was to answer her questions as quickly as you can, and try to get this day over with. I wanted to see Night Light again. “Yes.” I answered.

“Where was it, and when did it happen? What happened over there?”

Gazing downward at the table again, all of the scattered papers and folders were spread out. Among some of those papers were small black-and-white images of various locations. Upon leaning forward slightly to get a closer look, I recognized some of those images. One image showed the infamous clock tower of Hjortland, the former Capital of Olenia. It had the Changeling flag draped over the giant analog-clock that dominated the top of the tower. At the sight of that, memories start flooding back to me.

“Hjortland. It was… I can’t remember exactly when. I think it was early June 1014.” I reluctantly answered.

“Why Hjortland? What was your objective over there?”

“Me and my squad were specially assigned for this mission to locate the missing bomb. Or, at the very least, find any information regarding it. The main objective of that air raid was to knock out several key coastal artillery placements along the coastline, to secure an opportunity for Equestrian High-Command to find a suitable opening for an invasion. I remember vividly later on that no such invasion would come. It was all just an act to get me and my squad close.”

Bon Bon was standing for the majority of my visit here in this room. But at that last sentence, she sat down atop the chair on her haunches. Gently, she opened one of the several files scattered about on the table.

“Your squad. Describe them.” she asked out of the blue. I was slightly taken aback from this question.

“Um... well, I’ve already told you their names-”

“I didn’t ask for their names. Describe their personalities, their beliefs, their attitudes - who were they really?”

I was dumbfounded for a few short seconds, and rightly so. Never once did she pay any mind to my squad until now. She’s only asked for their names, but that was all. Now she wants details.

There were more memories flooding my mind, and not all of them were pleasant.

“Any day now.” Bon Bon hastily ordered, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Um, Syringe - she was... She was the closest to me out of all of them. Maybe not at first, but we grew more fond of each other's company as we continued to travel and fight together. Out of all of them, Syringe was the closest thing to a friend that I had.” Somehow, talking about Syringe made me sad and I didn’t know why. She survived the war, but I never saw her again afterward.“She only told me her abusive story of her parents, and nothing more. I don’t know much of her past.

“Rain Drop was a lot harder to cozy up to, but he eventually relented and opened up. We weren’t necessarily friends, but we acknowledge each other’s grievances and hardships respectfully. We also made a pretty good team when it was just the two of us.

“Pumpkin Patch - I didn’t get to know him well enough before he died. I knew he was a farmpony in the past, but that was all.

“Brass, uh... was a textbook example of a leader if I ever saw one. She was firm but fair. Strict when the time called for it, lenient when we were lounging. I only vaguely remember talking about her past. She was a steel mill worker before the war.

“Morning Dew was timid and quiet, and not really one to open up that much either. I never got the chance to talk to her before she died as well.

“Storm Cloud worked as a Royal Guard for quite sometime before the war started. I was told he retired by the time the Changelings invaded Olenia, only to be brought back into service later by the draft. I don’t know much about him, other than that.

“And lastly, Dominoes was a weird one. I never knew anything about her before she got shot in the head. I knew she was good at infiltration and in stealth, but that was all. And that's all of them.”

Bon Bon gazed at the unicorn scribe to her right, who was busy writing down all of the details. The scribe took notice of Bon Bon staring at her, and gave an acknowledging nod. Bon Bon then took one of the files from the table and slid it closer to her with a hoof. Peering into it, she scanned the contents inside. “So you’re positive only your squad knew about this bomb?

“Besides the Changelings, yes. No other pony or creature of any kind knew of the bomb. Nopony except a select few of ponies have heard about it. I think it was about...” I stopped for a moment, counting the numbers in my head. “Including the Officers that were in the Vault at the time, about 12 or so ponies knew about it.”

“Well then it wasn’t a secret anymore by then.” Bon Bon muttered. “How long would it last until more ponies inevitably knew about it? How many would know by then? Twenty? Fifty? A hundred? If hundreds have heard about it, then it’ll turn into thousands. Then tens of thousands. What happens after that if the Changelings figured out that we already knew their dirty secret?”

“If the Changelings were really wanting to keep the Bomb a secret, why would they want to place a highly confidential and super deadly weapon in an area where it could be discovered so easily?” I rebutted, in frustration for being bombarded with these questions.

“That, I’m not sure. Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe they really didn’t think you were going to find it. Maybe they did know you were coming to Vanhoover. Maybe they were just woefully unprepared. But the fact of the matter is that we don’t know for sure.”

She’s Watching You… The words of that propaganda poster in Vanhoover echoed in my mind repeatedly. The possibility of them not knowing our arrival seemed more and more unlikely the more I thought about it. But then that begs the question as to why only one of them was moved and not all of them?

What’s even more uncanny is that we never did find the last bomb. We navigated all around the face of the globe looking for that stupid thing and never once did we lay our eyes on it. It cost the lives of several of my friends to keep looking for it, yet we never found it. It’s still out there today, still undiscovered. And even though the war ended less than a year ago, it was never captured or used on anything. It simply just vanished.

And that disturbed me greatly... Goosebumps plagued my limbs.

“From what I can gather, however,” Bon Bon continued, interrupting my thoughts. “Is that the Changelings seemed determined to lock their jaws on whatever secrets they had. They were willing to send thousands to die if it meant not finding that bomb. And because it was never discovered, the search of that Bomb is now a higher priority than anything else.” Bon Bon took a moment to catch her breath. “So: only your squad at the time knew of the Atom Bomb-”

“Atom Bomb? I thought it was a Nuclear Bomb?”

“Same thing. Think of it like a carriage and a cart: same thing, different name. Doesn’t really matter what they call it - Your squad was sent to Hjortland for a special raid in regarding the bomb, correct?”

“Yes.”

“And while the whole Division was there, only your squad knew of the real assignment you were tasked with, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Describe what-”

“Hold on.” I interrupted. “I don’t want to relive every single fucking battle that happened in this war, you know. And I certainly don’t want to relive every small, scarring detail about it either! It’s bad enough I fought this war in the first place, and it’s even worse enough that I have to go through with this shit while separated from Night Light! But now you want me to remember every traumatizing memory, every painful loss, and every pyrrhic victory I witnessed - just because Celestia said so!?”

Bon Bon was about to reply, but I didn’t let her. “I don’t think me telling you how my friends and comrades died is really necessary in this regard, as far as collecting information goes! Why should I go through all the trouble of revisiting hell for some Mare I don’t know!? Because the Princess that couldn’t prevent this, in the beginning, is looking to prevent it now?!” No words were replied. Bon Bon kept his frown for an eerily long time.

At the sight of that… I laughed softly for what felt like a second. “You really are that sheepish, aren’t you?”

Bon Bon immediately leaped forward with a hoof raising, as I failed to react quickly enough in time to block her strike. She hit me square in the Jaw. Hard!

I tumbled out of my chair and laid sprawled out on the floor still conscious. I was hearing birds, which felt absurdly alarming to me.

There was a sound of a door opening and muffled voices. Soon, more hoofsteps followed. I then felt an uncomfortable pull of my front hooves being dragged upward. My vision was swimming and I could only catch occasional glances at what was happening, my jaw painfully sore. I found myself being forcefully sat into the metal chair haunches first and had my front hooves being forces behind my back through the hole beneath the headrest. The hooves were bound uncomfortably behind my back now.

“You really think I’m only doing this because Sunbutt told me to?” Bon Bon sharply retorted, grabbing my attention as I noticed 2 more Ponies entering the room; the two agents that grabbed me and Night Light in the first place. I gritted my teeth. “You think I actually enjoy doing this? I fucking hate it! I hate it just as much as you, and just as much as the next pony. But we are talking about a nuclear bomb, Sunshine. A NUCLEAR BOMB!” She yelled with such a volume that her voice reverberated across the walls of this blank room at least once. “A bomb that can wipe out an entire city and leave the area within an 8-kilometer radius uninhabitable for years. A bomb that can kill up to 100,000 ponies within a single blast, and that’s not counting the fallout that occurs afterward. A bomb with terrifying potential and even more terrifying repercussions!

“Why else would Celestia order me to probe you? Why else would you be here, right now? I’m trying to prevent a potential apocalypse, Sunshine - do you even realize what’ll happen if a bomb like that were to detonate in the Crystal Empire? Or in Stalliongrad? Or - Luna forbid - in Equestria itself? What do you think will happen then?

I didn’t respond.

“I’ll tell you what’ll happen: they will retaliate. If the Alicorn Princesses do not wish to, the ponies who suffered most certainly will. If one bomb goes off, another one goes off either by us or by them, and another, and another, and another. We’ve just come out victorious from a slaughter-fest, and the public was willing to fight only because we were defending our homeland. If a bomb went off in Equestria I can almost GUARANTEE you, Sunshine, that they will want retaliation.

“And by that point, all that can be said will be: ‘what‘s another dropped bomb?’ It’ll spell out Armageddon for all of us. Do you seriously think that your happiness is more important than the safety and happiness of at least 35 million other ponies!?”

The unicorn scribe didn’t bother trying to record that part of the conversation. He was taken aback by the outbursts from both me and Bon Bon. The latter of which noticed that the scribe had ceased scribbling and gave him a cold glare, which prompted him to continue recording whatever he could remember from that conversation.

“I don’t like to do what I do, but I do it anyway because someone has to be qualified enough to do it. And that someone is me. I don’t have time for sentimentalities or ethics or morals. I only care about the task at hoof, and the lives for Tens of Millions of ponies - should that bomb fall into the wrong hooves!”

“The Changelings are Demilitarized, though!” I finally responded, by leaning forward aggressively in my binds. “Chrysalis is dead, the Changeling Hegemony is in shambles, and the hives are under a new leadership while constantly being spied on by us! Even if Thorax was crazy enough to change sides in an instant like that, I seriously doubt that they would be responsible for it - especially considering the consequences that it could bring for what they have already done!”

Bon Bon didn’t immediately reply. She instead shortly flipped through the pages of another file that scattered along with the table. The Unicorn Scribe took this moment of silence to finish recording the conversation that had just occurred.

“You were there at Karthin.” Bon Bon muttered, after remaining speechless for so long. “And in Rottingham. And in the city of Sunset. And countless other places. You weren’t just limited to the Equestrian Front. You were elsewhere.”

Now it was my turn to remain silent. Of all the things she could’ve found in that damned file… Shit!

“You should know more than anypony, Sunshine, who else could be responsible for gingerly holding on to that bomb. It most definitely could be Wingbardy or any member of the Karthinian Pact. Or maybe it could be the old Griffonian Empire-”

“More countries that are also dead and gone because of the war! Just like the Changelings!”

“Countries aren’t responsible for disaster! It's the collective minds and hooves or claws guiding those countries that lead it astray.”

“All the more reason to-”

Bon Bon had enough of what I was saying apparently, as she violently slammed her hooves on the face of the table. “We don’t have fucking TIME for this, Sunshine!!” she yelled, silencing both me and the Unicorn beside her. “The more we argue about this, the more time we are wasting trying to find this thing! We can’t focus on such foalish things, Sunshine! Just-” she took a moment to raise a hoof over herself, then exhaled loudly as she lowered the hoof in an effort to calm down. The Unicorn was just about to resume recording what she had just said until Bon Bon stopped him. “No, the last 3 minutes are strictly off the record!” she ordered.

“Yes Ma’am.” the scribe replied, as he ripped off a piece of paper from his notebook. Bon Bon then stared down for a long while. The faint buzzing of the light bulb above me was all I could hear. Everything was eerily quiet.

“Alright, here. I’ll make this easier for you.” Bon Bon finally spoke, her tone significantly softer compared to before. I was immediately distrustful toward her.“Operation: Lavender. A full-fledged offensive by Equestria. Or an attempt of one, anyway.” I gave her a curious look. “When you were still in the Ruby Mountains, by the fall of 1013, the Changelings crossed the Shire River. By that time, the Changelings have adapted to our sturdy fortifications along the roaring river and have made pontoon bridges to help their vehicles cross during the Spring. They had also invented a new type of armored tank to help combat our armored vehicles - the Tiger tank. I’m sure you already know by now what that is.

“They made about 500 or so kilometers of progress on the other side of the river before the cold northern winter set in. They also pushed further into the Crystal Empire as well, stopping just 50 kilometers to the west of Ponytown. When winter in Equestria set in, all progress was stopped. Los Pegasus was still badly damaged and under disrepair from the various air raids, it suffering meaning we had to move our aircraft production elsewhere. That was initiated in early 1013. By late winter that same year, sometime in November, we had fully relocated our aircraft industry.

“When our air industry was restored, we put it to good use. We‘ve managed to stall the Changeling offensive just west of Marechester. They were still trying to push toward Canterlot, but the northern front was dormant. In response, our aircraft were tasked to defend the Equestrian Heart at all costs. And it barely worked.

“By spring of 1014, we commenced Operation: Lavender. We pushed them back all the way back to the Shire River, stopping just short of the town of Shire itself. The lines were still again. But we still didn’t use the aircraft as effectively as we should’ve during the offensive. There was something else preventing that from happening. So we instead resulted in digging in once more.” Bon Bon finally concluded, sorting through the different sheets littered along the tabletop.

“Like what? What was stopping you?”

“Something big. Something that your lover, Night Light, just happens to know plentifully about.”

“What? What was it?”

“How should I know? I'm not interrogating her.” Bon Bon answered. I groaned in frustration.

“Your tendency to dodge my questions is starting to annoy me.” I muttered.

“Your tendency of being uncooperative is already annoying me.” Bon Bon rebutted.

A reminiscent feeling of dread filled my soul at those words. I don’t know why, but I couldn’t help but feel as if some impending event was just over the horizon. I couldn’t place my hoof on what… maybe it was just my vivid imagination. Maybe it was just paranoia. Suffering 7 years of war can leave a soul scarred and maimed forever. I might be overthinking about it.

For a very brief moment, the room was dead silent, save for the sound of a pencil scribbling on paper. The scribe was working hard and fast, not once stopping for a break as he recorded the conversation that me and Bon Bon were having.

“Anyways, what I was trying to say; because we had no aircraft, we used the next best thing: Pegasi. We commenced airborne operations with your divisions all across the Equus Continent ever since then. And that’s where you come in. Operation: Cloud was what Vanhoover was. Operation: Colt was what Hjortland was. And so on and so forth.

“Now; here is where it gets uncanny for you, Sunshine.” Bon Bon spoke almost mockingly. “Every. Single. Airborne. Operation - that just so happens to be related to the Nuclear Bombs - happens with you and your rag-tag group of ‘friends’. You need to explain every single one of them.”

I stared at all of the scattered papers in front of me once more.

“How come I don’t remember any of this - the Operation: Lavender thing? I was still in the Ruby Mountains when it all happened. The enemy made no such attack on the mountaintop back then.”

“They did not, you’re correct. The Mountains were left untouched because the Changelings could not muster enough Ponypower and material supply for a campaign in the mountains - supply areas were too low and we happened to be superior to them in that region. But the area around Mead Lake, Los Pegasus, and Twisted Tail Valley were under attack. They were hindered just short of the Pegasus River.”

“It doesn’t answer my question still, something you seem to do a lot.” I replied harshly.

Bon Bon contemplated for a moment, possibly choosing her next words cautiously. “Equestrian High Command has always struggled to turn pacifistic ponies into seasoned veterans, who were willing to charge into battle and to fight - or die - for their cause without hesitation. We would do whatever is necessary to ensure that this war was a war we must win. That being said, they couldn’t afford to have their troops questioning the officers’ authority, or competence. So they had to implement…” she tapped a hoof on her chin for a moment, her expression morphed into contemplation.

“Think of it as an information quarantine.” she amended. “If ponies heard about the losses we were experiencing, or if they heard that Canterlot was theoretically about to be besieged, then it would’ve hindered their morale substantially. They had to keep their soldiers in line and combat-ready at all times. If it meant lying to them in order to control them, then so be it.”

I didn’t respond to that. The thought of living in a world where all of this was, not only possible but also a reality, saddened me greatly. I now felt even more guilty and terrible that I had lived through such a dark period of time.

“Now, back to the task at hoof.” Bon Bon broke the silence. “You were deployed to Hjortland as a part of a commando detachment for a special raid. Only your squad was tasked to finding any hint of information regarding Changeling Nuclear Weaponry. What happened over there?”

My mind began to wander and trail back to the past once more. I remember it being temperate and crowded...

Undisclosed Airbase, June 9th, 1014. 06:46 CST.

My eyesight followed a lone plane that was soaring way above us, flying North. I didn’t have the knowledge to interpret what kind of plane it was. All I could tell was that it was fairly large, with twin-engines instead of a single. It was kind of hard to see it at the dawn of the morning. Celestia hadn’t raised the sun properly yet, but the radiant light was breaking above the horizon, dimly illuminating the sky in a pinkish-yellow haze.

I averted my gaze back toward the grassy ground, finding myself in a single file line that was leading towards another twin-engine aircraft that happened to be parked along a runway. In front and behind that plane were more planes just like it, and each of them had a line that stretched away from it. There were about a hundred or so planes of the same type, each of them with a line of its own. The Aircraft was placed in a parallel formation from one another - side to side - all of them facing one direction.

The sounds of engines sputtering to life, ponies chatting with one another as they waited to embark on the aircraft, and officers barking names at others for roll call. It was chaotic, but it was good chaos. It felt familiar and somewhat more comforting than being on the frontline. Not as chaotic as going through Commando Training, however.

Commando Training was - without a doubt - the worst experience I’ve ever had with other ponies. Basic Training was bad enough, having officers yell at you constantly while overexerting yourself through physical exercises. It’s even worse when the training is more difficult, the officers louder and cruder, and when they were taking potshots at the ground next to you whenever you were delaying or doing something wrong.

And if you screwed up big time, you were punished severely for it. It can vary based on the punishable offense. Didn’t perform an obstacle course correctly? Starved for a day. Talked back to an officer? Spent a day in The Hole - no sunlight, no food, no water, and a hard dirt floor to cozy up with for 24 hours.

I’ve experienced The Hole first hoof when I accidentally spilled an irate officer’s cigarette pack. It was raining violently that day, and I had dropped all of the contents onto the muddy water when colliding into him by accident in training, ruining them entirely. He personally struck me in the face with a hoof before sending me to the hole. At least I didn’t have to deal with him anymore.

Still, as much as I hated every living second of it, I understood the reasoning behind their harshness. Even if I am a little biased against one particular officer, they were only teaching me how to survive in the worst environments imaginable. To adapt to winning a war is to adapt to the environment around you. We also were taught advanced rifle handling (as advanced as one can handle a firearm with hooves, instead of fingers or talons.)

They taught us many things, so many I cannot list them all. Syringe was given extensive Combat Surgeon Training, Storm Cloud had extensive training on the various weak point of armor that Tanks had, and Pumpkin was even more skilled with her rifle. Syringe could stitch up any major wound that would normally be fatal on the battlefield if left unattended. She would be a lifesaver now, though she already was to me.

“This is a really long and slow line.” Rain Drop muttered in front of me, as the row of ponies leading towards the aircraft we were embarking was trudging along.

“I prefer a few extra minutes of peace instead of sitting in a plane, cramped, possibly waiting to die.” Syringe replied behind me.

“Pussies.” Rain Drop whispered. Syringe didn’t seem to hear. I kept my mouth shut to avoid the altercation.

About 5 minutes had passed before we were finally boarding our plane. It was just like how Syringe had mentioned it; Cramped. The passenger area was a long and narrow walkway between two long rows of poorly made cushioned seats, with tether ropes connecting ponies to the roof of the plane should they happen to fall off. However, those contraptions were for non-pegasi ponies, as we could just hover in place with our wings should we fall out of the aircraft.

The possibility of us dying, however, was moderate - and not just because we were about to fight Changelings behind enemy lines either. These were newer state-of-the-art Transport planes with an extended range that had just arrived out of commissions. I think they were called “C-47”, or something of the sort. But the ponies always talked about how unreliable these aircraft were, and how they were prone to mechanical failure in mid-flight. The chances of failure, while we were flying, were apparent. Though I couldn’t say it was a high probability, it definitely could happen to anypony. But the only way we could reach Hjortland was with these aircraft, so we had no choice but to fly in them. we would also have to rely on flying toward Vanhoover by ourselves if we wished to escape from Hjortland.

I followed Rain Drop towards a spot of seats that had enough space for me, Syringe, and Rain Drop to sit close by. I scanned the whole cabin of seats to find Dominoes, Brass, Pumpkin Patch, and Morning Dew. Of course, they were coming with us. We had a different objective among these other ponies. For one, only us few knew of the Nuclear Weaponry that’s running amok somewhere in the world. The basic objective for everypony participating in this raid was to destroy the Radar Station that was planted in Hjortland. Apparently, High Command wanted to establish some sort of Naval Supremacy along the coastline, in the hopes of conjuring a Naval Invasion in the former country of Olenia. Or so I’ve heard.

“It smells… pungent. I can almost taste the ammonia.” Syringe muttered again.

“Somepony’s scared pissless, then.” Rain replied.

“Ugh. I just hope this ride won’t take long.”

“Me too.” I spoke up. “If somepony wetted themselves, I don’t want to remain in that same area as them for too long.” As I continued scanning, I eventually found the rest of our squad, who were all sitting beside one another while having an idle conversation. They didn’t notice us, but I could see them. They were somewhat in the middle, while I was towards the nose.

“We’re taking off in 2!” a pony yelled across the cabin from the front of the craft to announce us. He stepped back inside the doors leading towards the cockpit.

I looked over to my left and saw Rain Drop staring into space. He seemed completely torn from reality as if he was daydreaming. A curious, lingering part of me had always wanted to ask him a question ever since Vanhoover. Now seemed to be my chance. I tapped his whither, which snapped him out of his trance.

“Can I ask you something?” I spoke. He sighed as he closed his eyes for a brief moment, then opened them again to gaze toward me.

“Sure, why not?” he spoke sarcastically optimistic.

“Um…” I hesitated. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but…” I pondered on how I should ask this. It was a very personal question, for sure. And we were surrounded by other ponies that could tune in on us. But that didn’t really matter, as there were idle conversations all around us, dulling the volume of my voice. I doubt that all of them would hear us. Still, I was unsure how to approach this conundrum.

“But what?” Rain prompted me to speak. I took a breath.

“How did your friend perish, i-if you don’t mind me asking that is.” I stuttered.

He didn’t respond. Not at first, anyway. He stared at me with the same expression he had before, unchanging. Slowly, he looked forward again and gave out a big breath. “Whew; when you pick one you pick the big one, huh?”

“Uh… sorry, I was just… it’s just, well…” I stuttered again, trying to find my words. Rain Drop patiently waited for me this time. I took another breath. “When we were in Vanhoover, you mentioned something briefly about a dead friend… because of your blind obedience. What did you mean by that?”

“What do you think.” he spoke evenly. It didn’t sound like a question.

“Uh… did… did you leave him behind, or… something?” I asked pathetically.

Rain scoffed at that question. “No, that’s not what happened.” he spoke just as evenly as before. It sounded eerie, comparing casual-Rain Drop to serious-Rain Drop. “I just… made a mistake, that’s all.”

“But-”

“Look, Sunshine, let me tell you something.” he began, interrupting what I was gonna say. “If we were best pals, or if I’m on death’s bed and I knew I was done for, or if I’m piss drunk trying to drown my sorrows - maybe then I’ll tell you. But right now, I’m just trying to get this day over with. And I certainly don’t want to talk about my woes right now. So please leave me alone.” he concluded disgruntledly as he leaned back against the wall of the aircraft, closing his eyes.

“I’m sorry. I was just curious. I wasn’t intending to offend you or anything.” I meekly apologized.

“Offend me?” He gave out a long chuckle, which sounded hollow and dead. Like it was fake laughter, and not real laughter. “There isn’t a thing in the world that can offend me, Sunshine. And I know you were only trying to sate your curious appetite, I get it.” he paused. “You ever heard the saying: through hell and high water?”

I nodded.

“Well if there was a moral to my story, I guess that would be it.”

Skies over Hjortland, June 9th, 1014. 13:11 CST

I was sitting in a small space along a long and narrow bench that was hugging the interior walls of the aircraft. The Twin-Engine plane I was riding was carrying the same squad I had known well since Vanhoover, along with some fresh and unfamiliar faces as well. We were all sitting across from one another, either looking at each other or looking outside through one of the windows to gaze at the sky around us. The aircraft shook violently on numerous occasions as a result of turbulence that was plaguing our craft.

We’d been flying together, cramped in this little compartment for about 6 hours or so. All of us were wearing the same new uniform, which was distinctly different than the uniforms that every ‘regular’ soldier was wearing. The standard-issue uniform came in two variants - with and without hind-leg clothing. Either way, they were both the same: They had a polymer-cotton fabric, with magic woven seams to prevent extensive damage. Each uniform was enchanted to resist any of the natural elements, such as rain, snow, ice, mud, sand, sleet, clay, and so on.

The Commandos had different uniforms, compared to the standard rifle grunt. They were tailored and camouflaged in the same pattern as the standard issue ones, except they had an especially higher resistance to the elements. They also were made with a softer, more silky uniform for added comfort. In addition, they were also fire retardant. But that shouldn’t encourage anyone to waltz into a house in flames and expect to come out unscathed. Only the uniforms were fireproof, but the ponies inside of them were not.

There was also an insignia embroidered onto the left whither of each uniform, which was the emblem of the Commandos. The insignia had a silver-white shield, with a long broadsword pointing its blade downward behind the shield. Painted on the shield was the Sun and the Moon, orbiting around each other in a constant cycle of movement (If insignias could move, the Sun and Moon would be moving clockwise circularly, in tandem with one another). There was the motto of the Commandos stitched under the shield, and it read:

“For Harmony, We Fight.”

Below that insignia, there was a band of colored tape that was locked in place around the foreleg of everypony’s uniform. Everypony had a tape, but some were of different colors. I looked around the cabin and found tapes with the colors blue, yellow, silver, pink, magenta, and red.

My eyes wandered and stared through the window behind me, as I saw giant monoliths of white clouds drifting aimlessly through the blue haze of the sky. We were about one kilometer up high in the air or so, just barely below the cloud cover. Off to the side of our craft were other aircraft just like ours. There were about 60 or more of these planes in the sky with us, flying toward the same objective. We’ve been escorted by friendly planes for the first hour or so of the journey from the airfield. No interceptor came after us the whole way through. After the escorts left us, we’d been on our own for hours across an open Ocean. The sight was beautiful to look at when we weren’t busy fearing for our lives, but it got boring and mundane after the second hour.

Flying toward Hjortland was our goal. Brass Screws was given orders by her superiors back in airbase before we took off, and has told us that she will relay those orders when we were over our target destination. I knew somewhere in my mind that the real objective that my squad had was especially related to the Bombs that we found under the Vault. When they were carefully extracted out of Vanhoover, we were told to find the last one at all costs.

It was like we were being sent on a wild goose chase, one that could yield us absolutely nothing and could very well end our lives. Like finding a needle in a barn full of hay. But we had no choice. It was either this or face prosecution and worse. We may as well be writing our epitaphs.

The door leading to the Cockpit slid open, revealing the co-pilot. “We’re 5 minutes out of the target area. Ready up!” he announced. Each of us proceeded to gather our bearing and our wits, steeling our resolve for the task ahead. The door slid open again, revealing the only officer in this plane - which was Brass Screws.

“Alright, listen up! You’re all briefed on who to follow, and where to land, but listen closely! Should you happen to be separated, your squad leaders will pop a colored flare to reveal their location. You will have a window of 3 minutes to get there before the flare goes out. Depending on the color of tape you have will depend on what color of flare you should be looking for.” I gazed down at my foreleg, and sure enough, I found a magenta-colored tape that was encircling my arm.

“I will now brief you on the task ahead. We are raiding the city of Hjortland, for we have acquired intelligence that the enemy is Harboring a radar station in the vicinity. We are moving in to eliminate the station, and to fly back towards the airfield in Vanhoover for exfil. After that, we’re on our own.”

Ponies shifted in their seats, yet none of them said a word. Each of them looked calm and collected, despite the very real possibility that they would die. “I know this is a tall order, but High Command wouldn’t have issued this order if they lacked faith in us. They expect no less from the Commandos, and we’re going to prove it to them that we are capable of these kinds of missions!” Brass concluded encouragingly. Nopony didn’t react and instead were silent, waiting for real orders.

“Right, well, we’re approaching the area in a few minutes. Pegasi - You all know where to land, who to meet up with, and you all know the passcode - correct?”

A bunch of heads started nodding, each of them mute.

“Excellent. Now, Non-Pegasi: you know where to rendezvous on the off chance we get separated, correct?” More heads nodding. “Outstanding! Ready up, we’re jumping in 3!”

Just as Brass finished her sentence, a thunderous boom shattered the aircraft. It groaned in exertion and shook for a moment, before calming down. Then another boom. And another. And another.

I gazed out through one of the windows and found hundreds of tiny black clouds of smoke littering the sky all around us, erupting and dissipating at such a rapid rate. Flak guns were firing at us now, trying to score some kind of hit. The plane that was carrying all of us was shaking violently at the amount of flak there was but was otherwise unscathed. I kept jittering in my seat at all of the tiny explosions.

“Everypony hang on to something!” Brass called out while standing on her hind legs, grabbing a hold of the handle to the cabin door with her hooves. (Don’t ask me how, because I don’t even know.)

The lights on the ceiling changed color. The bulb was flashing red all around inside the belly of the plane, signaling that it's time to prepare for exfil. Earth Ponies and Unicorns sat up individually first, attaching the tether ropes to themselves as they trotted slowly towards the front of the plane. The co-pilot revealed himself again, and was now standing beside the cargo door along the starboard side.

“Officers jump first, then Non-pegasi! When the first wave is done jumping, the Pegasi can go!” The co-pilot yelled over the sound of flak and engines rumbling. I gazed at the window again, peeking just in time to see a flak cloud obliterate a piece of hull from a neighboring Transport plan. Charred metal along with a gaping hole in the port side caused the craft to dangerously list in one direction. It peered off so violently that it crashed nose first into another plane. The two aircraft were now twisted, deformed, and burning as they both descended down rapidly. The fact that nopony managed to get out of either of them sent my heart dropping to my stomach. Fear wracked my being. And unlike the last time in Vanhoover, Princess Luna wasn’t here to encourage us. All of that special training for those ponies - all for naught.

“One minute!” the co-pilot yelled. More non-pegasi ponies began lining up along cabin door, eagerly waiting for the go-ahead. “Pegasi: when the first group drops, focus on getting out of the plane, and not getting in order! We have a small window of time, so make it count!” Ponies all around us were patting our pockets, saying prayers, loading and cocking our weapons, and steeling our resolve for the upcoming conflict. I noticed that Syringe and Rain Drop remained stoic and silent, while the line of ponies blocked my view of the others. More flak clouds dotting the sky, some of them too close for comfort.

“Thirty seconds!”

I patted my vest pockets along my chest, feeling the solid cover of the two books I've recovered from Vanhoover Library. They were sealed shut in my vest, but I was doubtful that I would have them by the end of today. They could be ruined one way or another after today. In fact, I was unsure why I brought them with me from Vanhoover in the first place. At the time I felt like I needed to know more about… well, anything really. The bookworm inside of me yearned to find any kind of knowledge that is either interesting or beneficial. But I don’t think these books will survive the next hour, let alone the next day.

The light along the ceiling changed color again, this time tinting the interior with a lime green color. The co-pilot started to motion his hoof out toward the door as he opened it.

“GO GO GO!” he yelled while waving his hoof towards the door. Ponies began to jump out one by one. Gazing out the window again, I saw large pieces of parachutes trailing from various ponies as they ejected themselves out of the aircraft. Flak clouds continue to dot around us, some of them barely missing the falling ponies. There were at least hundreds of chutes in the sky.

Turning my head back towards the interior, the line of ponies was shrinking rapidly. The co-pilot then prompted the rest of us to start lining up, as we Pegasi began to file up in line. I stood on my hooves, my legs wobbling from fear and from the shaking aircraft. The first Pegasi that jumped was Brass, and she wasted no time jumping out of the plane. As the line shrunk, so did my optimism. I couldn’t help but feel an intense sensation of dread tightening its vices around my heart.

The pony in front of Rain jumped. Then Rain jumped. Then I jumped.

As I jumped, the amount of sensory information invading my brain was overwhelming: The bright sunlight pouring upon my face, feeling both warm and oppressive; sounds of aircraft and flak explosions surrounding me; the smell of dried gunpowder as a byproduct of flak clouds; the sight of a desolate city, occupied only by its oppressors; the brisk sensation of wind beating against my coat, skin and eyes - Everything around me was precise, yet muffled as I was wracked with fear, adrenaline coursing my veins.

It took effort gliding my way down towards the city, as I had to dodge and weave my way around a few falling parachutes and even a flaming wreck of a transport plane that was descending downward. The Paratroopers were easy targets for the Changelings, like shooting fish in a barrel. They were falling down to slow, and their chutes were too wide for them to be inconspicuous. Some of the Flak Guns seemed to be deliberately targeting their chutes, causing them to fall and land with fatal haste.

My sense of sound was somewhat hindered during the flight, as everything sounded like I was underwater. But as I glided closer towards the ground while following Rain Drop, I felt more and more aware of my senses. The moment my hooves touched the cracked and weathered concrete, my hearing had returned to me in full. I instinctively looked up toward the sky, seeing at least a hundred planes behind the first wave that had just released its passengers.

A hundred more chutes dotted the air, some of them falling abnormally faster than others. I watched with a nauseous feeling in my stomach as I saw a pony fall to his death in the water, while he was struggling to escape his chute out of desperation. He splashed into the water at terminal velocity, and did not resurface. His chute was sinking with him.

I gazed up at the sky above the planes. The clouds reaching towards the southern sea were partly discombobulated, revealing patches of vibrant blue. The sky towards the city, however, was more cloudy and darker - giving Hjortland the immediate impression of a non-pleasant atmosphere.

“Hey, Sunshine, let's go!” Rain quickly tapped on my side. “We gotta regroup with the others before those Changelings realize what’s happening.”

“Right, right.” I said with haste, turning my attention back towards some of the buildings that littered the seawall street. Olenian Architecture was much more gothic compared to Equestrian. Most of the buildings had a sense of decor and theme attached to it that screamed “medieval”. The walls were standing upon a cobblestone foundation, which looked expertly masoned. The walls themselves looked something like plywood and lumber mixed into one material. The roofs were sloped and tiled just like equestrian’s roofs were, but the chimneys and columns of stone had a gothic lightning rod attached to each building, giving it an “old fashioned” feel to it.

Rain Drop was trotting towards a small group of ponies who were assessing their equipment upon landing. All of them were Pegasi, but I only recognized one of them - Morning Dew. She had her signature radio pack on her. “Dew, have you seen Brass land yet?” Rain yelled as we trotted closer.

“Negative. I lost track of her in the chaos.” she answered while gazing upward towards the cluster of planes and flak clouds. Gunfire suddenly sounded from the streets, heading further inland to the city. None of it seemed directed toward us. “She’ll launch her flare and we’ll rendezvous there. I wouldn’t worry just yet.”

“Fuck, I hate airborne ops.” a random pegasus complained to himself as he struggled to load his weapon. I noticed his tape was colored yellow. “Always something going wrong.”

A sound then emitted from the pack on Morning’s Radio Pack. it was a buzz of static, quickly followed by a frantic voice and the sound of gunfire spontaneously going off. “Cloudsdale, Advance further Southwest! Fight your way towards Main Avenue, and establish a forward operating station!” The order was awfully tall. Morning didn’t bother to reply to it.

“Hey Sunshine, can you fly up to the roof and find our flare?” Rain requested as he pointed to his magenta-colored tape that encircled his foreleg.

“Yeah.” I simply answered, whilst unfurling my wings for flight. A few seconds later, I was gazing across the skyline of Hjortland… and it would’ve been a beautiful sight, if we hadn’t been busy fighting a war. Tracers were flying up into the sky as they attempted to strike the transports buzzing overhead. I could hear warfare envelope the soundscape around me once more. Not as much screaming this time around, thankfully.

“See anything?” Rain yelled from below.

“No, I got nothing. Keep an eye out and don’t get flanked.” I yelled back to Rain. He nodded and started barking orders at the ponies below me. I raised my weapon and set it upon the ridge of the roof as I scanned the skyline for anything that might give anything away. So far, there was nothing but a desolate skyline. I then saw why it looked so barren. Many of the buildings were still in ruins...

Some of the roofs had gaping holes in them. Some buildings were not even standing at all, and instead just reduced to piles of rubble. And some of them were left untouched but were stained with ash and grime from the devastation around them. It almost looked apocalyptic.

Fshhhh!

Out of thin air, a vibrant purple-tinted flare was shot up from the sky about 200 meters away from the sea, leading further into the city. It gently floated upward in the air as it descended downward, slow as molasses.

I quickly pulled out my compass and opened its cap to find the bearing of the flare. It was just to our Northwest, bearing 334.

“Hey, I see it!” I yelled down to Rain, but he didn’t respond. He was busy assessing the situation with more ponies that were just now arriving toward the ground. One of the paratroopers was struggling to escape his chute. I assumed Rain didn’t hear me.

I carefully scooted down the roof closer towards him. “HEEEY!” I yelled down again, louder.

“WHAT?!” Rain finally said back, sounding disgruntled.

“I see the flare! It’s…” I checked my compass again to quickly double-check. “It’s Northwest, bearing 334, about… I’d say 200 meters out.”

“Alright, good! Everypony with Purple Tape on their arms, on me! We’re leaving.” Rain called out to the group, and only a few ponies followed. Rain then took off and flew towards me to see the flare for himself. When he reached the ridge, he was muttering some numbers to himself. I assumed he was calculating distance and bearing. Morning Dew then arrived near us, followed by Dominoes as she had just landed.

“Okay, we make a beeline straight towards that flare and just fly ‘till we get there. Don’t stop for a second, alright?” Rain asked all of us. We each nodded, aware of what was to come should we be spotted. “Okay, wait here. We’ll leave on my mark.”

Rain then took off vertically and scanned the area beyond the buildings we were at. He flew left and right, not taking any fire from anywhere. He then flew back towards us, panting.

“Okay, it looks clear… Go!” Rain bellowed, and we all took off.

It only took us a minute or so to reach where the flare was at. When we arrived, we frantically scanned the ground below us to find Brass and the others. I scanned several streets below me. Some of them straight and narrow with roads peeling off its sides, other forming ana intersection with a cross shape.

As I searched one of these intersections, I then saw a crimson figure waving her hooves at us like a mad pony, desperately trying to grab our attention. She was standing atop the roof of a ruined grocer. It was located in the northwestern-most corner of the intersection. Its distinctive look was the lights that hung over the crossroads.

“I see her! There!” I called out and pointed a hoof towards the roof. Rain, Morning, and Dominoes all gazed in the direction I was pointing.

“Could be Changeling.” Rain said. I gazed at him suspectively at first, just to see him perform the Passcode gesture, the standard cross of the hooves. Soon, I repeated the same gestures. Morning and Dominoes followed suit shortly after.

The red figure stopped waving her hooves for a moment. At that moment, my heart felt like it stopped for a split second. But, thankfully, the figure responded with a cross of the hooves herself.

“Yep, that’s her.“ Rain then announced for all of us, making me feel more at ease. We wasted no time meeting up with her shortly after, as we all landed on the roof of her building.

“Took you long enough!” Brass berated as soon as we landed.

“Came as fast as we could.” Rain said. “Saw you flare, then followed.”

“At least you’re in one piece.” Brass said, as she counted us. “Only 4. Okay, so we’re missing two then.”

“You have one? Who’s with you?” I inquired Brass.

“Pumpkin Patch. He’s guarding North Street right now. That means we’re missing…” Brass took a moment to remember the names. “Storm cloud and Syringe.”

“What are our orders now, sarge?” Morning Dew asked.

Brass didn’t immediately answer. She took a moment to ponder the situation that was given to her. It took about a full minute before she finally answered. “We can’t stay here, that’s for sure. Changelings definitely noticed that flare from anywhere, and it’s only a matter of time before a squad, or a whole brigade of them show up.”

“Are you suggesting we just leave them?” I asked. How could she suggest that?! “Why would we want to leave Syringe and Storm behind? And where can we go!?”

“Shut it!” Brass snapped at me fiercely but in a soft volume. “Do you want the whole fucking city to know we’re here!?”

I gazed around at all of the monolithic and vacant apartments and storefronts that display themselves in sublime quiet before me. Not a sound or sight was noticed.

“Morning, lower your transmission volume.” He order, to which she immediately obeyed while reaching toward a knob on her pack. “We need to find a safer location and fire another flare. Then we can find the rest of our squad, Sunshine.” Brass spoke my name slowly, to emphasize something. But I didn’t know what.

I then heard the sound of flapping wings from above, which momentarily startled me. I then saw as Pumpkin Patch landed on the roof between me and Brass.

“6 Contacts, all infantry, about 100 meters out from North Street. They didn’t see me.” he spoke quickly to Brass.

She facehoofed and groaned. “Great. Just what I needed.”

“Where do you need us?” Rain then asked.

“We’ll occupy a single rooftop, and shoot down at them all at once. I don’t want to waste more ammo than we can. Now, on me!” She ordered, as she spread her wings to take off. We all followed suit while she guided us to the roof of an apartment just to the south of the Grocer. There, Brass took position behind a sloped crevice behind the ridge of a rooftop. We all took position beside her.

“I want every rifle aimed at North Street.” Brass ordered quietly whilst pointing a hoof, as we all complied. At that point, we all waited. I held my breath.

For 10 seconds, nothing. 20 seconds, nothing. 30 seconds, still nothing…

At 40 seconds, I exhaled slowly and held my breath again. 10 seconds. 20 seconds…

Finally, I saw shadowy figures of equines trotting across the street. They were all tinted black, no multi-colored coats insight. Definitely looks like Changelings. I gazed at Brass through the corner of my eye, and saw her peeking at the changelings with binoculars.

“Fire.” Brass spoke, plain and simple. And not even one second later, rifles started popping. Mine did as well. I saw 2 of the 6 figures go down within the first salvo of shots. By the second salvo, the group separated as they attempted to take cover in the corner store between North Street and West street. By the third salvo, 3 more of them were gone. The last one had taken cover inside the store after making a run for it. And just like that, it was over. I exhaled loudly, after what felt like mere seconds. Bodies were littering the streets where they just were. One of them was crawling, and we could hear his screams from here. It sounded like agony.

Pumpkin Patch took another shot, as the Changeling jerked one last time before going still. All that remained was the sight of corpses and the smell of gunpowder.

“Ceasefire.” Brass spoke again, still and soft. I found it chilling how she remained so calm in all of that noise. “Reload.”

Each of us complied, as we each took a stripper clip out from our vest pockets, and proceeded to load our weapons. The beauty and simplicity of this weapon and the clips, however, is the loading mechanisms embedded into the chamber, made specifically for the magnetic horseshoes. You would plant the clip into a slot as you load it into the chamber - like when you lock a door. Then you slide it down until you can’t slide anymore, and simply pull the clip out to stuff it back into your pocket.

I’d kiss the pony whomever made reloading so simple for us hooved creatures. And at the same time, kick them in the abdomen for whoever did the same thing for Changelings.

“Only one left. And he’s in a place where we can’t shoot him.” Brass muttered, still as a mouse.

“Orders?” Rain asked quietly.

“We move. He’s a dead bug either way, we can’t waste more time on just one-”

Blam!

A single gunshot went off from within the grocer, but no bullets were hurled towards us. Not even a crack. Just a still, lonely shot. I was confused as to what else the changeling could shoot at besides himself.

Then I had the chilling realization that it might’ve been directed toward himself.

“Did… did he just… off himself?” I asked aloud.

“No idea. Maybe.” Brass responded.

“Why would they? That seems… pointless.” Rain butted in.

“Cut the chatter.” Brass ordered. She then took her binoculars out and scanned the building. “I don’t know what he did, but we’re not staying here to find out. We need to move, now.”

“Where?” I asked.

“Some place closer to where we can find information. I’m thinking-”

Morning Dew’s pack suddenly buzzed to life. A voice sounding guttural and loud officer breaks the silence with a somewhat quiet transmission. The sound of gunfire wasn’t as intrusive. “Mayday Mayday, this is Pheonix Company! Panzer group sighting on 76th Avenue, heading Eastbound! Reckon’ the Bugger ‘ll be at the next intersection in about 45.” the transmission announced. Morning reflexively lowered transmission volume by just a tad.

Another voice spoke in the transmission soon after, this one sounding cool and laid back as distant and this time sporadic gunfire instead filled the feedback. “Solid Copy Phoenix, uh, any interpretation on a final destination?” the new voiced asked blatantly.

“Negative. Got no chance to peek the fucker, has us pinned-” sounds of explosions soon followed suit, interrupting the officer. "Fuck, stay down! Don't let them see you!"

“Roger. Uh, All Companies be advised - Large Armoured force spotted on the way from 76th Avenue heading Eastbound. Any AT available, haul your flank over there if you can!” the calm voice transmitted for all.

“Eastbound? Isn’t that where we are at?” Rain asked aloud.

“No Squad from our division landed in the Eastern Sector. But the other Divisions landed in all parts of the city. The whole Garrison is awake now.” Brass muttered idly, while staring up at the sky.

“Where do we go?” I asked aloud.

Brass took a moment to consider her plans carefully, given the information from the transmission. “Unless we find some sort of Forward Headquarters established by the bugs, we’ll place our bits on the Royal Palace. Place like that gotta has some info!” She spoke again, sounding determined. “If there’s any place we can find valuable foreign information regarding Nuclear Weapons, it’s there. that place is locked down tighter than a thief’s purse, though.”

"What about Syringe and Storm?"

"We'll stop somewhere along the-"

Pumpkin then immediately hurled himself over the ridge of the roof and took flight by opening his wings.

“PUMPKIN! What are you... Shit!” Brass cursed as she helplessly watched him go off on his own. He landed at the wall beside the entrance, and took a peek inside. No response happened. He then retreated back a moment and stayed for a moment or two.

At a distance, it was hard to tell what he was doing, but in that lull he spontaneously jumped forward from his cover and rounded the corner, proceeding to breech inside. He soon disappeared inside.

“What do we do?” I asked while facing Brass, out of a desperate curiosity more from dread than anything.

“We hold and wait. The bastard is on his own. If he dies, we move.” Brass responded coldly. Yet in the distracting conversation, I heard not a single gunshot. I peeked over the ridge of the roof, and gazed down at the corner of the street. Still, nothing happened.

Then a pony wearing full clothing, looking just like Pumpkin Patch, sprinted out to the middle of the street. He crossed his hooves erratically, whilst hovering in the air. Afterward he thrust his hooves upward twice in a row, in a manner that was obviously staged.

Brass gave a breath, though is sounded exasperated. “I can’t believe it. It’s clear?!” Brass inquired aloud, staring at the building dumbfounded.

“He gave the signal. He did an all-clear Gesture. Unless he’s an intensely informed Changeling Infiltrator, he has to be legit” Dominoes spoke first, broad and by the book.

“I guess so.” Brass then replied. “We’ll fire another flare and wait for the others to arrive. But you’re all gonna be guarding streets until they get here, or until we leave, because I do not want another Altercation! You see Changelings, you shoot. If you fire more than one shot, than it's assumed a hot contact. Understand?”

“Yes, Ma’am.” we each responded.

“I’m gonna have words with that ballsy, fucking Pegasus!”

_ _ _

Not too long afterward, I found myself occupying another rooftop leading towards the street where the Changelings arrived from. I was alone. My task was simple enough, just keeping an eye out for intruders. I’ve been waiting here for 2 minutes now, as I just now heard the flare gun launch its projectile once more into the sky from the intersection behind me. The magenta color was dull and almost nonexistent in broad daylight, but still noticeable. The light was bright enough to be noticed by anyone from far out, Changeling or Pony.

Keeping my weapon at the ready, I aimed down toward the end of the street. It led to another crossroad intersection filled with more streetlights and walkways that morphed into the sidewalks. No figures were seen, though. I took advantage of the temporary lull and readjusted my posture while sitting on my haunches on the roof ledge. It looked… awkward, but it was the best position I had to uphold any form of sightline all along the street.

Pumpkin was occupying the western street, while Rain Drop had southern street and Dominoes took the eastern street. Brass and Morning Dew stayed inside the Grocer as Brass fired the flare. Each of us was ordered to shoot any Changeling on sight, or to escort Storm and Syringe back to the intersection grocer should we happen to discover them.

Aiming my rifle along the street to the north, I then noticed a single equine shaped silhouette turn the corner and head south, originating from the Eastern turn at the end of my road. I quickly took aim and waited for him to come closer, almost certain that it was a single Changeling. But I began to wonder why a single Changeling would be foolish enough to wander down the street by himself.

As the shape approached me closer, it seemed… off. The sunlight was breaking through the clouds and shining down upon my face in its bright glory, forcing me to squint my eyes in an effort to combat the brightness around me. Doing so made the equine shaped creature appear dark in nature, which could be easily identified as a Changeling.

I was just about to pull the trigger on the shape when I noticed that the shape was way too girthy and wide for a regular pony or changeling. Squinting my eyes again, I saw the darkness that shrouded them dissipate. It wasn’t just a single Changeling, it was two ponies hugging each other side-to-side, as they walked down the road.

The definitive detail that made me recognize them was their coats. One was silver, the other was charcoal. Syringe and Storm Cloud’s silhouettes were seen limping towards me slowly. And that wasn’t an exaggeration either, one of them was literally limping. Syringe looked as if she was supporting him with her weight to keep balance, as they both trotted slowly down the street.

At that moment, I released my weapon to sag along my side from the holster and gently hovered my way above the road toward them. I swung my hooves erratically, trying to grab their attention in anyway. Syringe paused her movement, gently lowering Storm Cloud to the ground. Then she crossed her hooves. I did the same. Syringe then gave an acknowledging gesture as an answer to my signal, and I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding.

I made a straight beeline towards Syringe and Storm carefully landing as I decelerated closer towards them. From up close, I could see much more clearly what was happening. Syringe was indeed carrying a bit of Storm’s weight with her wings, but not by a lot. There was a wooden beam thoroughly attached along a grotesquely bruised leg.

“What the hell happened?” I asked both of them. Syringe replied first.

“He fell.” was all she said.

“Is he injured?” Brass asked Syringe as she trudged along inside the Grocer with Storm carried by her and Morning Dew as they got closer.

“Broken Hindleg. I improvised and made a makeshift Splint, but he can’t walk on it at all.” Syringe replied hastily, as she gently laid Storm down along the interior wall on his haunches. He winced in pain as she did so.

“His wings okay? Couldn’t he have just hovered?”

“Yes, he can still fly. But with that dead weight on his leg, it won’t mend as effectively compared to setting it down and letting it heal naturally. Plus, he’ll be more exhausted at a quicker rate due to the idle pain he’s currently suffering. Making him slower, and not as agile.” Syringe quickly listed, in a matter-of-fact tone that reverberates the interior of the small market building.

“I-I’ll manage just, ah, fine in the air, Syringe.” Storm muttered. "Jus' hurts, 's all. Don't worry.

“I’m a medic, that’s my job. And no, you can’t fly.” Syringe answered seriously.

“You can’t help him anymore? Did you give him morphine?” Morning asked.

“I did, yes. I would’ve given him a rejuvenation potion, but that only heals external injuries, which he does not have. Just broken bones. If I had a proper splint and a good place to hide, I can watch over him until he fully heals. But that’s not an option.”

“Can’t you set his bones back together, like how you did it with my… you know, my wings?” I asked meekly. Syringe gave me a blank stare.

“Wings are of a different bone structure than legs. And for someone as physically fit as him, it’ll be extra difficult to set it back in the right place without causing further damage. Not to mention that it’ll be excruciatingly painful.”

“Heh, ‘physically fit’. I feel, Urngh, f-fancied already.” Storm Cloud struggled to talk, but he did so with a half-assed joke. Syringe responded with a light kick from her hind leg to his right wither, which forced a groan from Storm.

“Indeed, it's not an option. And neither is helping him.” Brass then butted in. “We have to keep moving. Our goal is the Royal Palace, just to our north, and I aim to get there ASAP while we still caught the enemy off guard.”

“Why there?” Syringe asked.

“It’s our best bet for finding any information regarding Nuclear Weaponry. We’re searching there first. If we find nothing, and the raid turns out to be successful for other squads, we continue towards the Royal Palace just Southwest of here where the others will advance to next.”

“Sounds, Hnf,reasonable.” Storm muttered between groans.

“How did his leg break anyway?” Morning asked aloud. Syringe gave a single chuckle.

“He forgot to open his wings on a drop he thought was ‘just fine’.” She answered sarcastically while gazing at her eyes at Storm’s splint.

“First time for everything, huh?” he replied. “Just lucky we didn’t run into any trouble on the way here.”

“Okay, enough idle chatter. Sunshine, I want you to go gather the others. You know where they are, find them and have them regroup here on NWC. Got it?”

“Got it.” I responded diligently.

“Be careful.” Brass then added on, as I slowly trotted out the door. I then stretched my wings thoroughly, then took off. The last thing I heard was Brass’ voice faintly commanding the rest of us as I took off. “Morning, you’re going on the roof...”

The first street I flew was West Street, straight to my right from the Grocer. From there, I could see a monolithic paved path of asphalt, cluttered with piles of litter, papers, automobiles, and sometimes even furniture. Upon closer inspection of some of the building I had found here, some of them were bombed and shelled. But they looked old and decayed, as if that had been there the whole time. It had slowly occurred to me that the buildings were damaged maybe since during the olenian war, and were never repaired.

Although the Changeling Military never even made it to Hjortland during their invasion, several news articles at the time suggested they did numerous bombing raids over the Olenian countryside. They may have directed some of those raids towards Hjortland. Some of that damage had nailed home, never to be fixed again since the annexation. It saddened and confused me how such a complex level neglect on Infrastructure and Civilization could be done from such a simple aspect of spite and hatred. The Olenians certainly didn’t deserve it, despite whatever their flaws were.

I proceeded down the street of slightly decayed, ruined apartments and storefronts. The road itself was a tile paved concrete, with some of the “tiles” becoming detached and a part of the litter that cluttered the ground. The street looked barren of all walks of life, its buildings echoing an eerie silence that had set the mood of this whole city.

Amidst the ruins, I continued to dart my eyes around me to find Pumpkin. He should be guarding Western Street right now, and he could be anywhere. I searched for about a minute or so, flying quickly from building to building - peeking in the windows (and sometimes gaping holes) to find him. No such luck. I contemplated on yelling his name, but came to the realization that it may bring the Changelings down on top of us. I continued to search.

This went on for about 2 minutes, before I finally found an apartment complex off to the side of the street, with an alleyway facing towards the north off to the right of the front entrance. The only way I could’ve assumed this building to be an apartment building was due to the sign etched in ponish that was detached from the wall above the entrance, and it read “Cozy Coat Inn.” The top 3 levels, just short of the roof, were completely obliterated beyond recognition, as a bomb must’ve landed on the roof. Inside the gaping hole on the fourth-level was a pony with a coat of bright orange. He was easy to spot, making him more conspicuous to the Changelings then the rest of us.

I flew in closer and landed atop a ruined piece of floor that stretched over the street, amidst the giant hole just behind Pumpkin. The interior of the building was equally just as damaged as the exterior, to the point where I couldn’t recognize what the original intentions of this building were. There was an overturned sofa that laid upside down further in the room. Maybe an apartment or something?

The second I felt my hooves touch the floor, Pumpkin swayed his body in one lightning fast motion. He was now laying on his side and aiming his weapon toward me. His face was even and his voice even more so. “Passcode?” was all he muttered.

“Nudum Colorum.” I responded quickly, which prompted Pumpkin to lower his weapon at me.

“What is it?” he then asked, turning back to face the street ahead of him.

“Syringe and Storm found us. We’re tasked to rendezvous on NWC and prepare to move out.”

“NWC? Northwest Corner?” he repeated.

“Yeah, the corner store we holed up in earlier. We’re meeting there. Just get there when you can. I have to find the others.”

“Wilco.” He answered, his tone flat and eerie. A shiver crossed up my spine as I observed how ‘by-the-book’ he was. He acted professional and just, and never once had he hinted his Moral Compass. He was as neutral as one can possibly be. Nevertheless, I took off and left him to find the others. When I gazed back, he was still aiming down the street. I imagine not for much longer.

I flew back towards the intersection from West Street, and then changed my course to South Street. Rain Drop was next in line to find. This street looked neater on the road itself, as the automobiles were actually parked along the side of the road, instead of being bombed and abandoned in the middle of the way like West Street. The buildings themselves looked in optimal condition making it a lot more difficult to figure out where to start looking for him.

There were nothing but apartments filling the side of the streets, with the corners of the Intersections and sometimes the front entrance of the apartments like a couple of those here in South Street being the only exceptions. I saw one in particular had a different layout than the rest. The front windows were painted with a decal of a salad and a name. The name read: “Sokka’ Salads”.

Slowing my flying to a dull hover, I carefully scanned each individual door, window, and any other apparent entrances to find Rain Drop. I was hoping to be quick and decisive in my search to prevent less time lollygagging before any more Changelings could show up. Rain seemed to be exceptional at hiding, maybe too much so for his own good.

“Rain.” I dared to mutter just beyond a whisper, loud enough to hear my voice reverberate across the empty street. No response. The silence of the street morphed with the sound of idle gunfire in the background was all that filled the soundscape. “Rain!” I harshly added again, a bit louder this time. Still no response. I was starting to get a bit worried as to what might’ve happened. Was he captured? … no, that can’t be it. He would die first than be captured, shockingly enough. Then again, it’s not difficult to see the reasoning why - given the horrific scenes we’ve seen from Changeling occupation.

“Psst!” subtly, and quietly, a noise was heard to my right. Being 10 meters up in the air, all I saw was the wall of Sokka Salads and some leftover debris. Rain was nowhere in sight. “Down here!” the voice whispered, diverting my attention to below me.

And again, I saw nothing. Save for overturned vehicles and more litter.

I was understandably confused and somewhat startled. A voice was talking to me, and I can’t even spot where its coming from. My heart began to pump a little quicker. Suddenly, the ground literally shape shifted right before my very eyes. Or at least, that’s what I immediately assumed as I saw Rain emerge from the shifting piece of ground and casually toss it aside, like a piece of trash. The object he dropped then shifted again, its colors and appearance becoming distorted and garbled in a manner that can only be described as ‘magical’. Then the color faded into simple midnight black, as the object appeared to be a cloth of some kind.

More bewildered and confused than before, I landed deftly on my hooves beside Rain to gaze at the object on the ground. “Pretty cool, right? It’s a Chameleon Cloak. I can’t believe that I found one of these things intact!” Rain showed off, seemingly elated.

Chameleon Cloaks. I’ve heard of these before, both during training and amongst small talk with the other troops. A special piece of clothing worn by Infiltrators to hide themselves from detection spells and from air reconnaissance. From what I heard, it aids the wearer in remaining anonymous by obscuring the identity of the wearer and allows them to blend in with the environment by using a special kind of magic. Maybe not enough to fool pony on the ground right next to them, but enough to fool them at a distance.

If I’m being honest, I was skeptical of these things even existing in the first place. The whole concept sounded ludicrous to me. But lo and behold, there was one of them right in front of me. And in remarkably good condition too, despite it being abandoned.

“Where did you find this?” I asked Rain while gingerly picking up the cloak in my hooves. It felt leathery on the outer layer, and silky on the inner layer. The fabric seemed to be woven together almost seamlessly, giving it a very thin appearance.

“Inside the restaurant.” Rain answered, pointing a hoof at Sokka Salads. “It was sitting on the floor, just collecting dust. The odds of me finding one that was intact and working are second to none!” He seemed enthusiastic of his discovery.

“What are you doing here, anyway?” Rain then asked me. I tossed the cloak aside for a moment and turned towards the North. The intersection was in view, its light posts standing upright while inactive. “We found the rest. We’re meeting on Northwest Corner. We’re all regrouping there.”

“Ah.” Rain simply said. “Well, I’m bringing this with me!” gleefully, he trotted to the cloak and took hold of it with his mouth. “Brath i’ gonna nee’ thith, I thinkh.” he said with a mouthful of cloth as he began to trot away from me, unfurling his wings. I eyed the cloak with a small hint of superstition.

“You sure it’s a good idea to bring Changeling Tech with us?” I asked hesitantly. He stopped what he was doing abruptly and stared at me, like I was a map-pony. He then spat the cloak on the ground and plainly spoke.

“Yes, Sunshine, it is a good idea.” Rain said with a condescending tone. “If what I’ve heard of this thing is true, then we can definitely use it for a better purpose. Maybe if we bring a working prototype back to Equestria, we can create prototypes of our own!”

He had a valid point. Most of Changeling Technology seems devoted to fueling or improving their war machine. However I only saw it as a means to prolong the conflict, and not a means to an end. Should we happen to reverse-engineer it, things may escalate. Of course, bringing it back into Equestria would be easier said than done, making me more skeptical of the item.

Still, I couldn’t argue with his logic.

Rain Drop was staring back at the cloak on the ground. “Actually, on second thought,” Rain began as he began to lay the cloak out the hood of the cloak on its side. Afterward, he proceeded to flatten the rest of the cloak along the sidewalk. He never ceased doing so until the cloak was completely overlapping itself on both sides. Then, at an excruciatingly slow pace, he began to roll the cloak from the bottom to the hood, turning it into a roll of cloth.

“I think I would rather keep this between you and me, if you don’t mind. I may need it more later on, and you know Brass will confiscate this if she finds out.” Rain was speaking as he was doing all of this. The request he has bestowed upon me was, again, logical enough. Though I do not see how Brass would want to confiscate such a valuable item, given its purposes. It seemed biased against Brass, as if her authority wasn’t lenient enough for Rain or something.

Actually, come to think of it, the relationship between Brass and Rain has been somewhat negative for the majority of their company. They would either acknowledge each other neutrally, or be at each others’ necks in an argument. And the memories from Vanhoover regarding that Hive Spire only fortify that realization.

“Why are you standing still like that?” Rain then asked, interrupting my train of thought. “Don’t you have a job to do?” He was just now finished rolling up the chameleon cloak, as he safely stowed it in one of his Vest Pockets.

“Oh, uh- right.” I stuttered lamely. “And uh, I’ll keep the cloak a secret for you, sure.” An Idea crossed my mind. “But…”

Rain raised an eyebrow. “But what?” he asked impatiently.

“You have to follow one condition.”

Rain didn’t seem to react to that. He simply stared at me with the blankest expressions I’ve ever seen. “Are you serious?” He then asked, his tone utterly unimpressed.

“I’m not asking much. I just want to know what happened between you and your friend.” Rain grimaced, but I didn’t stop. “From what I can tell, you seem to be holding a grudge against Brass for something that happened to your friend. I want to know what that is.” He didn’t flinch nor react. He simply gazed right into my eyes for the longest time.

Then he turned away for a brief moment. He seemed to be collecting his thoughts. I gazed at his features, but he remained stoic. Not a single hint of emotion was shown on his face. Finally, he stared back at me and answered. “Why do you wanna know? You wanna smother me with pity or empathy? You wanna fix my ‘grudge’ with Brass?”

“No, I-”

“Or maybe, because you’re the inquisitive type,” Rain took several steps forward, his voice dropping low. “That you have this urge, this itch that can be scratched only by finding answers to sate your appetite of curiosity, because that’s just who you are? Because you’re just that stubborn?” He sounded threatening.

“I-”

“Sunshine, let me tell you something.” Rain took one more step, until he was just mere inches from my face. My ears drooped as I instinctively recoiled away from him slowly.

“I don’t give a single fuck about anypony but myself. If you want something from me, you have to earn it.”

He stood still as a statue, his pupils fixated directly into mine. A familiar feeling of fear took hold of me. For a few tense seconds, neither of us moved. He just continued to stare at me, as if he was taking a peek inside my soul. Finally, he turned around and proceeded to walk away.

“Go ahead and tell Brass if you want. I don’t care.” he spoke while facing away from me. Unfurling his wings, Rain then proceeded to fly back toward the intersection, leaving me behind. I didn’t follow.

I couldn’t shake the premonition that I may have made a mistake.

After that tiny verbal altercation, I flew over the buildings and made a beeline toward East Street, where Dominoes should be. Her street was relatively the same as the past two streets I’ve been on. The buildings, however, were completely flattened in some sections near the sidewalk, differentiating this road to be the most decimated one. There was no distinct pattern in the devastation, either. Just random pockets of destruction. Some of them dating as far back as from the Olenian Invasion.

I noticed that the distant and idle gunfire I’ve been hearing nonstop seemed to have increased in intensity. What used to be a collection of sporadic pops turned into an all out automatic firefight between the two sides. There must’ve been a major skirmish with an artillery gun that was occurring at this moment. I wondered if any of the other officers actually noticed our disappearance from their battle.

Dominoes was the easiest to spot out of all the others. I found her prone on the ground belly first, hugging a pile of debris that littered the center of a sidewalk as she aimed down her end of the street. Beside her to her right was another storefront, but it was damaged beyond repair. The front windows were shattered, and the front door was completely detached from the frame. I hovered down gently behind her, the sound of my hooves landing caught her attention. Peeking over her left side, she found me standing behind her.

“They here?” Dominoes asked. I nodded. “Where are they?”

“They’re in the Grocer, Northwest Corner. We’re all meeting there.” I responded quickly. She gave a single nod, and turned back to aim at the street.

“I’ll fly in about one minute. Making sure nopony’s flanking us.” Dominoes said. “Tell Brass I’ll be there in a jiffy.”

“Okay.” I simply answered, as I turned my back away from Dominoes. That was the last one. I unfurled my wings and-

“Hey, wait wait wait! Look!” Dominoes hastily called out, his volume just above a whisper. I quickly turned and looked at Dominoes, who was still aiming down the street. I looked ahead, and saw what she saw.

Changelings. There was another street that was paved horizontally in front of us, about 40 Meters out. They were walking past us, but not toward us.

“Get down, what are you doing?” Dominoes yanked the sleeve of my uniform with her teeth. I heard the slight rasp of fabric being ripped. “You want them to see us?!”

I laid belly first atop the pile of debris she was on. It poked my underbelly uncomfortably. None of the Changelings seemed to have noticed our presence as they continued down their street towards the distant firefight that was still kicking off.

“Don’t try to fly away yet. They’ll surely spot you.” Dominoes uttered softly, as she patiently aimed her rifle down. One Changeling soldier, in particular, was traveling along with their group but momentarily broke off from it and traveled down our street - only for a moment. My heart seemed to have stopped for a split second when I saw him change direction.

Then he did something… odd. And I only say “Odd”, because I didn’t actually expect changelings to do this. But the Changeling picked a remote area along the left sidewalk, turned around, shimmied with his clothing around his hind legs… and squatted. He was (thankfully) behind an automobile that had managed to crash into a wall along the sidewalk. The Changeling remained in that position for a few tense moments, darting his head around as he did so. I couldn’t help but stare.

“Is he… taking a shit?” Dominoes asked, sounding just as dumbfounded as I was.

“I think he’s taking a piss, actually,” I answered, in a feeble attempt to shed some light.

“Do they actually need to do that? They don’t… eat anything, I think.” Dominoes asked again, turning her head to face me. I only shrugged in response.

The Changeling finally shifted his position, and shimmied his clothes once again, and proceeded to quickly trot his way back into the formation of other Changelings. More were still coming while he was ‘handling his business’. There was at least a hundred of them. But not a single one of them headed in our direction.

“I think they’re almost done.” Dominoes muttered, still aiming down her street. I cocked back the bolt to check my ammo, which as secured inside the chamber. 5 shots. I slid the bolt forward then down again, and aimed toward the convoy of bugs. Amidst the idle noise of battle in the distance, I picked up a new sound I heard. A rumble. A deep one. And it was inching closer and closer, from dead ahead.

My first thought was an armored vehicle, but it sounded heavier than that. Flashbacks of the Tiger ambush from Vanhoover replayed in my mind. Fear began to take hold of me, but I kept myself from mentally wavering just yet. I still aimed ahead, taking a couple of deep breaths while doing so. The sound grew louder and louder. Barely noticeable over the gunfire, but I could hear it. Actually, I could feel it, just like in Vanhoover. It shook the core of my being.

The source of the noise was finally trudging into view from the intersection ahead, as a tank was treading down the street ahead of us. It was not, in fact, a Tiger Tank - which did little to ease my nerves. The chassis was not like a rectangular box and more like irregularly shaped blocks intermingled together, welded shut and boltened tight. The turret was also boxy, and the barrel was short and stumpy. I new It was definitely an older model of a Panzer IV, but it didn’t change the fact that it was still a tank capable of killing us.

I heard Dominoes suck in a breath quickly as she saw the Panzer trudge into view. The Changeling Infantry seemed to hug the thing as it traveled along the road. Then the Panzer stopped, and so did several Changelings around it. They all turned their heads to look at the tank, as the hatch atop the turret pried open. It revealed another Changeling, clad in an officer’s uniform.

He was gesturing the Changelings that were staring at him, then pointed a hoof straight at me and Dominoes' direction. My heart stopped again for a brief moment. But no shots were fired. The soldiers around the tank then nodded their heads and turned back toward our direction. At that moment, they began trotting down the street toward us slowly, as the commander retreated back into his hatch.

And to my despair, Panzer changed course… directly toward us.

I heard shuffling beside me, and saw Dominoes retreating behind her pile of rubble to hide. I crawled back toward her swiftly, trying to break line of sight between me and the tank.

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck!” Dominoes said, clutching her temples. “We’re not meant to take on a force like that. Why are they coming toward us?”

“Dunno. Any ideas?” I asked, shimmying beside her. My heart began to gradually increase its tempo.

Dominoes took a moment to survey her surroundings. “We can’t fly back, and we can’t run back down the street. They’ll see us.” she scanned some of the buildings that were near us, and turned to look at the ruined storefront beside us. The rubble pile extended all the way to the front entrance, which was already open. “Okay, crawl. We’ll go out through the back way, and warn the others.” Dominoes said.

We soon found ourselves crawling away from certain death with nothing but a few rocks dividing that possibility. It broke line of sight, which was a godsend. As the Panzer drove ever closer to us, I noticed a few small pebbles repeatedly bounce up and down, like how they would in a suspense novel. The sight of those pebbles gave me a good idea just how heavy and powerful that tank really was. A sense of dreaded encompassed me. As I followed Dominoes inside the storefront, the interior wall his us from danger down the street.

Dominoes got up an all fours, and proceeded to gallop toward the back side of the store. She leapt over a countertop and attempted to open a door behind it. For a moment, she struggled. After numerous attempts to pry it open with her hooves, we came to the horrifying realization that it was locked.

We were trapped.

My skin began to tingle and shake uncontrollably (although that may be because of the Panzer vibrating the ground beneath me) and my breathing became erratic. “Oh for fucks sake!” Dominoes whispered to herself. She darted her head back toward the street. We could both hear changeling voices call out from the street in their native tongue, along with the deep rumble of the tank. The inescapable dread that took hold of me now morphed into something else. It was pure, unadulterated terror.

My mind was drawing a blank as to what to do. There was no staircase to retreat to (or if there was, it might’ve been behind the counter door) and the only place to hide in was behind the counter. I turned to face Dominoes, desperately hoping she had a plan. She seemed scared, yet also lost in thought.

“Do you have a frag?” Dominoes then asked. “I got a crazy idea.”

Patting down my vest, I indeed still had two No. 69 frags left in my vest. “Uh-huh!” I answered.

“Toss one, on the other side of the street.”

“What-”

“No time, just do it!” Dominoes interrupted. I didn’t know exactly what she was planning, but it wasn’t like I had any better ideas at that moment. I hastily pulled one of my grenades out, twisted the cap, pressed the trigger, and made my way to the storefront window to chuck it down the street. It landed on the far sidewalk, creating an explosion. At the exact moment the explosion went off, I heard a loud crashing sound behind me. I turned to find Dominoes bucking the door off of its hinges. “Let's go, before they realize where that came from!” Dominoes said. I followed closely behind, hearing Changelings shouting in their language.

Sure enough, the doorway revealed a storage room that had another door which led outside. And, luckily, that door wasn’t locked. We opened it, finding a derelict alleyway as we unfurled our wings for flight. Once we were outside of the alley, we diverted course back to Brass and the rest as fast as we could.

It didn’t take even a full minute before we were back in the intersection where the Grocer was. Dominoes landed first, I followed shortly after. We both galloped as fast as we could toward the Grocer from the south. As we reached the entrance, of the Grocer, we were greeted with the sight of Rain Drop, Pumpkin Patch, and the rest of the squad who was here before. Syringe was kneeling beside the door, tending to Storm Cloud. The only pony I didn’t see inside was Morning Dew, who I assumed was still on the roof.

Brass was the first to acknowledge us. She was approaching us quickly. “Tell me what the hell was with the deal with that explosion?!” she said bitterly as she stood inches from our faces.

Both of us couldn’t even get an answer out before we heard another pair of hoofsteps approach is frantically. I twisted my head to find Morning gallop past us. She quickly approached Brass, pointing a hoof to the east. “Large infantry group, about 20 of them at least! And they got a Panzer with them! They’re on East Street.” Morning said.

“Panzer? Why would they bring a fucking Panzer this way when the fighting’s literally on the other side of the fucking city?!” Storm objected.

“Maybe it was because something happened bring it here. Like, say, an explosion?” Brass sneered toward me and Dominoes. Behind Brass, I saw Rain Drop set up his MG looking to the eastern street.

“We were trapped in a storefront with a locked back door.” Dominoes started. “We couldn’t leave through the front, and bucking it was gonna reveal us anyway, so Sunshine diverted their attention away from us while I bucked the door. The blast concealed our position-”

“But it didn’t conceal our position!” Brass yelled back, not allowing Dominoes to finish. She didn’t reply. “Now, because a grenade went off in this side of the city, they’re gonna be on full alert in all sectors. That makes out job a lot more difficult.”

Brass’s harsh words somehow deeply angered me. “Would you rather we just die, is that it?!” I retorted toward her. Brass only Grimaced in response.

“We did the right thing, Sargeant. We only acted in our best interests.” Dominoes followed through after my response, reassuring my point.

“Can we wrap this up? I see the bugs coming toward us!” Rain then announced from the window. “I got a clear shot, but unfortunately so does that tank. They didn’t see me yet, though.”

“What do we do with Storm’s leg?” Morning inquired Brass. I turned to look, seeing Syringe and him laying low near the front entrance. Syringe seemed to be assessing his injuries… or something of the sort.

Syringe heard Morning’s question, and answered first, “He could hover and fly the rest of the way, but it’ll strain his leg. I don’t see a better alternative, though.”

“Dose him in morphine, and he’ll be alright.” Brass then butted in, while reaching into his vest pockets. “Alright, time’s up everypony. We’re moving out! Get your gear and let's go! The next stop is the Royal Palace. We don’t have much time, so listen carefully.” She then pulls out a scroll of paper, and unrolls it on the hardwood floor. I could hear the faint pop of gunfire, and the mighty treads of the panzer inch closer toward us.

“Do you really have to do that now?!” Rain said with urgency. “That tank’s less than 50 meters away!”

“It’ll be quick!” Brass snapped back whilst leveling out the map, not even taking the time to gaze at Rain as she answered. The map showed the city limits of the Old Town District, which was where I assumed we landed in. It was located to the Eastern-most quadrant of the city. The layout of the streets and roads were different compared to Vanhoover. The streets had more curvy turns and detours, whereas Vanhoover’s was more parallel and straight.

As Brass finished rolling out the map on the floor, a marker or some kind of pen was pulled out of her chest pocket with her teeth. She momentarily set it atop of the map. “Okay, I took the time to review this beforehoof. So listen carefully.” Retrieving the Pen in her clenched teeth, she began to make crude scribbles on the map. She circled a particularly random Intersection. “We’re right here. Our best bet to find any sort of relative information is here.”

The next location she circled was a medium sized rectangle that was located to the far northwest.

“Right now, the Allies are busy working the south end and taking out those coastal guns. We’ll find a few more up to our Northwest, but they’re not important-”

“Not important? I thought we were planning an Invasion?” I asked aloud, interrupting her.

“Not important to us.” she corrected. “We’re on info-hunting duty Sunshine, not gun-killing duty.”

I was somewhat dumbfounded about all of this. Why extend this much effort and pony power for info gathering? I mean, yes- it is a Nuclear Bomb we’re talking about here, but this seems a bit excessive. The Changelings are responding with Tanks even, to make matters worse for us.

“As I was saying, we’re going to fly our way to the Royal Palace and find an entrance that isn’t well guarded. If we can’t find one, we’ll make one using diversionary tactics. Once we’re inside, we spread out into teams of two and search the building up and down, clearing our way through quietly if we can.”

“That’s gonna be a circus to pull off, you know.” Pumpkin commented dryly.

“It’s a tall order, yes, but it’s our duty. We must because nopony else will.” Brass said.

“Hate to interrupt,” Rain then called out from the window, somewhat low in volume. “but those bugs are gonna see us very soon if we don’t get a move on!”

“Alright, let’s go then!” Brass announced, while hastily rolling up her map. Everypony began moving away from Rain.

“Uh.” Rain spoke with alarm, backing away from the window with a frantic pace. “That tank is aiming right at us.”

“Did they spot us?” Brass asked.

“I didn’t see any signals or recognition.” Rain replied quickly. “It feels wrong though.”

The whole squad was backed away from the wall closest to the Changelings. We all were somewhat huddled near each of us.

“Let’s fucking go, before they-”

Ka-POOOOOOM!

Brass never finished her sentence as a Panzer shell slammed into the side of the building, creating a mighty explosion. No shrapnel managed to hit me. The force of the blast knocked my balance off, as it did to the rest of us. There was now a gaping hole in the building, sunlight pouring through the smog and dust. An intense ringing filled my ears.

“Move, get the fuck out!” Brass yelled while standing herself up, as we all ran in the other direction. Gunfire then immediately to pop behind us, bullets whizzing just mere millimeters from our heads. I instinctively ducked down and laid both my hooves over my helmet for a brief moment, watching as my squadmates struggled to trot out of the building while under fire. I saw Syringe Dragging Storm Cloud with her teeth biting his uniform collar, while he fired back through the gaping Panzer hole.

I stood up frantically, only to be stopped by a sharp pain in my left hindleg. I looked down below my abdomen and saw a bloody hole in the sleeve of my pant leg. I didn’t even feel the bullet hit me. Feeling the thickness of the blood seeping my coat, it was both sobering and petrifying being able to see me bleed before my eyes.

“We can’t fly!” Syringe called out amidst the chaos. It wasn’t hard to see why; the steady stream of gunfire seemed to have increased tenfold, bullets occupying the air above our heads. We all were forced to keep low to the ground.

I quickly looked around in a panic, letting pure instinct asses my decisions. I looked for a way out, a place to shelter ourselves and hide. The buildings proved hopeless, they would fire that Panzer and obliterate us inside. The gunfire prevented any sort of Lateral Movement.

I then noticed a shape embedded in the street beside me. A circle plate. I crawled slowly toward it, keeping my head down below the hail of bullets. Rain was doing his best to provide counter fire from his MG, keeping whoever was shooting at us at bay. I reached the circle in the ground, and read the inscription.

“Sewage”

Another mighty explosion occurred within the building we were just in, shaking the ground beneath me. Pure, unfiltered fear took control of me. In desperation, I planted a hoof over the metal of the circle, silently praying for the lid to be magnetable. These horseshoes were magically infused, so theoretically they should connect to any metal. To my great ecstasy, the grate locked on instantly. I pulled with all my might, and the grate revealed a hole barely wide enough for a Pony.

“HEY!” I yelled out toward my squad. Between my yelling, and the sound of gunfire, none of them responded. “HEY!” I practically screeched the word. A few heads turned to face me, some of them busy returning fire.

“I FOUND A WAY OUT! THROUGH HERE!” I yelled loudly again. They then saw me climb through the hole bottom first, slowly due to my shot up leg. The hole was not restricted by a small tunnel, and a ladder to climb. Grabbing the sides of the ladder frame with my hooves, I carefully slid down and used my wings to decelerate my fall. When I found my way out of the tunnel, I knew I was in the real sewers. Smelling the Stool infested waters was more than enough proof for me.

I was floating with my wings above the walkway beside the canal of sewage water, when I heard voices above me through. Soon after, one pony quickly fled through the tunnel. It was Dominoes as the first one to go through. Then Syringe, followed by Syringe. Then Pumpkin, then Brass, then Rain as he was the only one providing covering fire for the others - or at least, that's what I assumed.

When Rain fled through the sewage, he quickly grabbed a hold of the grate lid and sealed the tunnel shut over us. Being the only source of sunlight, the chasm around us immediately dimmed.

“Fucking hell… Is everyone alright?” Brass called out through the Darkness.

No responses. Only paced breathing and groans were heard in the abyss around me.

“Everypony, flashlights.” Brass then ordered. I was flapping my wings in a slow and steady pace, preventing directional movement and staying in one position. After some fumbling around in my pack I eventually found the Torch that was fastened in the chest of my uniform. The pain in my leg only grew more intense. Flicking the switch on, bright artificial light surrounded my vision. I could see everypony else sitting on their haunches. Syringe was tending to Storm as he sat against the wall and aimed in one direction to cover us.

“Live check, who’s still with us?” Brass said, scanning each of us in the light. I counted alongside him silently, finding nopony out of place and lost. Everypony raised their hoof, to which Brass counted. We were all here, in one piece at least. “Okay. Uh… Where the hell are we?”

Brass looked around the chasm we were in. It was a big enough for all of us to fit in one walkway that was on each side of the canal of sewage water. The tunnel split into two directions, each of them following the layout of the street we were just at above. But beyond that, I couldn’t see much. It was pitch black in both directions, no source of artificial light elsewhere.

The deep rumble of the Panzer could still be heard from above us, as well as muffled voices. The gunfire had ceased at least. But the fear of them finding this hole and pursuing us seemed apt in this situation. Instinctively, my gun never aimed away from the sewer entrance.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Brass reaching into her vest pockets. Pulling out in her hoof was a compass. Putting the compass in her mouth, she proceeded to pull the magnetic horseshoe off of her hoof, to prevent any interference with the compass.

“Okay okay… Palace is Northwest, so… we go this way.” Brass pointed in the direction that was closer toward the lid above us, mainly at the tunnel behind that. “It goes north, then diverted to either East or West. We’re going west, and we keep going from there.”

“We’re still on the mission?” Rain asked inauspiciously. “I’d say we get the fuck out of here!”

“And say what to High Command, huh? That we just left without taking a peek?”

“We almost got blown to pieces from a fucking tank! Am I the only one thinking reasonably here!?” Rain protested, looking around to eyeball each of us. I slowly hovered down and landed on my good leg, sitting on my haunches soon after. I winced upon landing. The pain sucked.

“Syringe,” I called out meekly, my voice unable to overpower both Brass’s and Rain’s. Thankfully, she managed to hear it and immediately noticed the bloody hole in my leg. Storm seemed to be okay with his leg, and immediately went towards me. “What is it with you ponies getting leg injuries all the time.” She said rather than asked. I didn’t bother to answer as she proceeded to prod my wound painfully. There were two holes, meaning the bullet went clean through. “At least nothing’s broken.”

“Why are we risking our necks in the most dangerous areas known to ponykind? Why this level of extremity in our missions?” Rain asked again, still arguing with Brass.

“If you have a better plan of action then what I got, let’s hear it.” Brass prompted. “Go on - tell us your plan, Rain Drop, I’m sure it must lead us to a better location than this shithole, right?” Brass extended both her hooves out, emphasizing the environment we were in.

It was a literal shithole.

Rain had no answer nor reply stored up for Brass’s intrusive comment. Everypony else was silently on edge, having survived such a close encounter. The tank’s engine and treads were heard directly above us, and for a moment nobody spoke. We waited in for something to happen on the surface for a few tense moments that felt like several lifetimes. The voices were louder, but still indistinct. The treads of the Panzer were moving… North, I think. It was hard to tell.

But nothing happened to the lid, the only thing standing between us and certain death. No changeling opened it, no explosion tore it apart, no gunfire was heard - it was eerily quiet, but not totally silent. Nopony dared to make even a peep.

As Syringe was finishing up bandaging my wound, she inserted a syringe (pun not intended) of Morphine into my lower abdomen. Soon enough, the pain will die down to a dull roar rather than a burning howl. It still made me wince when she touched the area around it, sharp tendrils of pain jabbing my leg.

“As I said, this is the best plan we got.” Brass said. “If you don’t like it Rain, you can always just walk away.”

Rain looked irate the moment she uttered those words, as if she set off a chain reaction of memories and emotions within Rain’s subconscious. But no response was given. He could only seeth to himself in silence.

Brass then noticed Syringe fixing my leg. “What’s wrong with her?”

“Shot. She can still walk on it, but she can’t put too much pressure on it.”

“Can she still shoot?”

Syringe didn’t answer immediately. She looked at Brass, muddled at her question. “In theory, yes.”

“Then we still got a chance. Hurry up with that so we can move-”

Blinding light flashed in our eyes from both directions, so bright I couldn't see where it was coming from. A feminime voice pierced through the light. “PYSY MISSÄ OLET!” it said, though I don’t know what it means.

Neither of us attempted to resist, given that no bullets were thrown at us. Rain clutched his gun tensely, moving a hoof to block the light from his eyes. They were ridiculously bright!

“Squad… don’t move.” Brass ordered, seemingly deflated. I’ve never heard her talk so softly like that before.

Amidst the several new pairs of hoofsteps, I heard the same voice again. “Aarni, tunnistaa ne.”

Through the north and the south tunnels, the light was pouring down on us from… someone, but I didn’t know whom yet. My mind was fuzzy and drawing a blank. Hoofsteps approached us from the northern tunnel, and I could see the silhouette of who was approaching us.

It was a Deer! But due to the light, I couldn’t see their features very well. The deer held some kind of staff in its hooves, and waved it over toward us. A humming noise was heard, until it ended with a simple chime amidst the blinding white light, I saw a faint green light emitted from the end of the staff.

“Ne ovat ... itse ponit?”

“Mitä he tekevät täällä niin kaukana kotinsa?”

“Hiljainen, Aarni!” the voices of the deer were arguing amongst each other. I really wished I understood foreign languages.

Another pair of hoofsteps approached us. This silhouette approached us slowly, and cautiously. After standing in front of Brass for about ten seconds, no words were said. Only looks were exchanged. The deer then knelt down, and with a voice soft yet thick as honey, said:

“Why are you here, Ponit?”

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait. Updates may be slow, but I will attempt to be consistent.

Read on!