The War

by lifeofthe6

Rating: mature
Tags: Profanity, Adventure, Violence, Death, Main 6, Drama, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Starlight Glimmer
Length: 5690

The Mane 6 share their experiences as participants in an Equestrian civil war.

Equestria is suddenly embroiled in civil conflict, and (most of) the Mane 6 are selected as generals to serve in the military. Each of them share their experiences at various points over the course of the war, showing how it changed them, as well as how they embodied their Element of Harmony to get through some of their toughest challenges yet.

Mature for heavy violence and harsh language.

Published 2018-07-10 17:00:06 UTC
Last updated 2018-07-12 06:21:38 UTC

14 August, 5YH

My name is Twilight Sparkle. I am the Princess of Friendship in Equestria, and I am prejudiced. Before I saw war, I thought it would have a different face. I thought of Diamond Dogs on a raiding campaign to plunder Equestria’s riches. I thought of rogue dragons who refused to follow Lord Ember’s rule. Heck, I even thought of Yaks mounting a full-scale invasion after an unintentional insult. I never imagined my enemies would be among my own subjects—subjects who I’d smiled at and who smiled at me. Ponies who I looked in the eye and saw genuine good.

The first war I’d ever been a part of, Princess or otherwise, literally began right before my eyes in the center of my nation. This is how it began, how it changed me and my friends, but most importantly, how it showed me that no matter what: the Magic of Friendship is unbeatable.

14 August, 5YH (Year of Harmony)

Princess Celestia had lowered the sun to a point where its rays cast a vibrant but calming orange glow on Canterlot Castle for the evening. We were attending a formal event. It was one of many for the summer and the first one in quite a while that all four Princesses had the spare time to attend. This particular event took place in the main throne room. The usual crowd was there: nobles, elites, and rich ponies from Canterlot and all over Equestria, other ponies who wanted to experience some of the royal life, and, of course, my friends. That day would have been mostly forgettable, really, had I not caught the gaze of a certain unicorn stallion as I meandered through the crowd after a dance. His eyes were as gray as his coat and his black mane and tail were expertly styled and slicked. Though his cutie mark was slightly obscured by the coattails of his tuxedo, I could make out that it was some sort of crown.

Our eyes met, and I felt the need to approach him. I’d only been a Princess for a short while, but already some movements were automatic to me—I extended my hoof for him to take and greeted him,

“Hello,” was all I said. I didn’t intend to have a conversation with him. I started speaking because I felt I had to. I had no desire to talk to him, though it wasn’t as if I wanted to stay away from him either. Perhaps the magic within me was guiding me to him unconsciously, because I cannot forget him to this day.

He took my hoof, but did not bow. In fact, he locked up instead. It wasn’t out of fear or nervousness, though. I think he wanted me to notice that he was intentionally not showing respect. I was never very fond of royal behavior toward me, so the fact that I didn’t respond to his gesture was probably what prompted him to engage me.

“This is a lovely event you’ve put on, Princess Twilight,” he said. His deep, smooth voice sounded commanding even though he was just delivering a compliment. It unnerved me.

“Oh, it wasn’t me,” I chuckled and waved my hoof dismissively, “In fact, this isn’t even a royal event. The four of us just happened to be free for the evening, so, here we are.” I gave a courteous smile.

“How fortunate for us. I know I speak for many ponies when I say that a simple summer night being graced by all of Equestria’s royalty will make this evening truly special. Even more special than it was before.”

“Thank you, that’s flattering, mister…”

“Silver Crown,” he said. Before our small talk could continue any further, a pony came up to Silver Crown and whispered in his ear.

“Excuse me, Princess,” he dismissed himself. I made my way to my temporary throne set up next to Celestia’s, where she sat alongside Princess Luna overlooking the party’s patrons. I let out a sigh as I sat down.

“Enjoying yourself?” Celestia asked jokingly.

I rolled my eyes, “I’m beginning to understand why you wanted to start livening up the Grand Galloping Gala. These events are becoming…”

“Routine?” Celestia said.

“Predictable?” Luna chimed in.

“Downright boring,” I said.

“Are you sure about that?” Princess Cadance joined us on her own temporary throne next to mine. She poked me in the side with her hoof, “I saw you talking to that stallion just now,” she winked.

“Don’t get excited,” my eyes circled again, “I don’t even know why I talked to him. He’s just another noble trying to get cozy with royalty. Silver Crown, I think it was.”

“Silver Crown?” Celestia echoed. I noticed panic in her voice. “He shouldn’t be allowed in Canterlot, much less the castle. None of his family should be. Where is he?” I scanned the partygoers for him, but he had disappeared.

“His entire family is banned from Canterlot? Why?” I asked as I continued to look for Silver Crown. Because the four of us had taken our seats many of the partygoers observed us like we were scenery. We nodded and waved occasionally as our eyes met one face after another, on the lookout for the rogue stallion.

I scanned faces and but struggled to find anything out of the ordinary, that is until I noticed eyes much more intent on meeting ours than the usual royal gawkers.

“Celestia,” I whispered, “Do you see them?”

“I do. They’re waiting,” she said.

“Waiting for what?” I asked.

“Likely for us to notice them,” Celestia responded.

“Then let us oblige them,” Luna spoke up. She stood and flared her wings and lit her horn,

“Luna, no!” Celestia called, but it was too late. That was the sort of signal they were looking for.

A mare tore her dress to reveal several explosives strapped to her.

“FOR A NEW EQUESTRIA!” she yelled. She pressed a button on her harness and detonated.

“FOR A NEW EQUESTRIA!” a stallion on the other side of the room blew up as well.

The same declaration blended in with a growing cacophony of screams and explosions. I lost count of how many ponies had turned themselves into bombs. The throne room transformed into a sea of blood and fire, and the other Princesses and I could only look on in horror.

When my head stopped shaking enough for me to form a thought my mind snapped to my friends, who must have been in the explosions.

I called their names, desperate for a response, “Applejack! Rainbow Dash! Where are you? Starlight!”

“Here, Twilight!” it was faint, but Starlight Glimmer’s voice reached my ears amidst the din. I teleported to where I thought I heard her. Luckily my guess was right.

Starlight had a handful of ponies around her, all terrified, but alive. She was helping wrap a torn tapestry around a mare’s gashed hind hoof. She didn’t even turn to me as she continued to wrap and explain how she survived.

“The first explosion was on the other side of the room. I threw up a shield right away and managed to save these ponies. Well, most of them. A couple ponies ran out of my protection and were caught in other blasts.”

“That’s horrible… Thank goodness you’re all right. Have you seen any of the others?” I asked.

“Not since before everything went straight to Tartarus,” Starlight shook her head, “Rarity went to the garden a bit before, so I’m pretty sure she’s okay. As for everypony else… well, I’d get looking.”

I went to Luna at a shattered window holding the hoof of a pony in his last moments.

“I shouldn’t have moved,” Luna cursed herself. The dying pony put his hoof on hers,

“Please, Princess Luna. You saw a threat and were trying to protect us. I would have expected no less of your vigilance.” Luna displayed confusion. “My daughter is in your guard,” the stallion explained, “I know the good work you do.”

Tears welled in Luna’s eyes, “I’ll release her right away, your family won’t suffer any—”

“No,” the stallion coughed, “No, let her keep her post, your highness. She will not take my death sitting down.” He took in a few more sharp gasps before his chest rested for the last time. Luna closed his eyes.

“Princess Luna,” I said, “I have to find my friends.”

“Go, Twilight. We will be meeting soon,” Luna dismissed me. I teleported to the garden and found Rarity ushering more survivors away from the castle. She was the most intact pony I’d seen since the attack, save for a few cuts on her dress and face from flying glass.

Rainbow Dash immediately took toward the ceiling after the first bomber exploded. She tackled another attacker preparing to detonate and restrained him. A nearby royal guard disabled the explosives and Rainbow immediately took the attacker to the dungeon to question him.

Applejack was in close proximity to another bomber. She managed to kick up a table just before they exploded, and while the table prevented a fatal blow, one of her hind legs was heavily injured and she suffered many other deep lacerations. While this would have caused a normal pony to pass out, Applejack continued to help who she could after haphazardly splinting her leg herself.

Pinkie Pie was in the nearest kitchen at the time of the attack. She barricaded herself and the ponies that were with her inside, including several foals, refusing to let anyone enter until I convinced her that I was who I was. When I told her what happened, I saw an ominous spark in her eye when she vowed to “help make sure no one lost their smiles that way again.”

Fluttershy lost a wing. Her side from her cutie mark up to right behind her eye was scorched. I found her among other bodies and body parts and screamed. Seeing her laying there… I couldn’t move. Starlight ran over in response to my cry and checked Fluttershy’s pulse. She was alive, but barely. I had Fluttershy rushed to the Royal Canterlot Hospital where surgeons managed to re-attach her wing, though I was told it was unlikely she’d ever fly again. She was in a medically induced coma for weeks.

As for Starlight, I commended her for her quick action. Her… uniquely pragmatic attitude and cool-headedness in the wake of the attack was instrumental in saving the lives of dozens of ponies, including Fluttershy.

Days after the attack, I met with the other Princesses and my friends (minus Fluttershy). It was determined that the organizer of the attack on the party was Silver Crown himself, who was at the party to witness the destruction he had ordered with his own eyes. The Crown family, as Celestia explained, was a family that used to live in Canterlot for several hundred years. Over that time, various members of the family have sought the throne of Equestria, going through various plans as simple as asking Celestia directly to abdicate, to organizing coups and attempted democratic referendums to do away with royalty altogether. The coups were foiled, the referendums barely ever gained any modicum of support, and, of course, Celestia always said no. After the most recent attempted coup before I was born by a younger Silver Crown, who launched the plan as an ambitious coming-of-age celebration, the entire Crown family and many of their supporters were ousted from Canterlot. As we learned, though, the adage about keeping your enemies closer showed itself to be all too true.

With the family spread across Equestria, the Crowns gained more followers than ever. As Celestia’s control could not reach other cities outside Canterlot as easily, it was much easier for the Crowns to convince ponies of their ideology. Their argument was that Celestia’s reign was archaic and far too arbitrary to be relevant to a modern Equestria. With the return of Princess Luna, the consolidation of the Crystal Empire into Equestria’s domain, and my own ascension to royalty under Celestia’s wing, the Crowns’ spun a tale that all of Equestria’s prosperity would soon be stripped from the average pony and used to elevate only those that royalty deemed worthy to everlasting luxury. Other ponies and creatures within Equestria would be exploited to fuel that luxury, and even other nations would be invaded and conquered to add to Celestia’s tyranny until the entire world would be burned bare from the overconsumption of the elites. The Crowns touted themselves as the perfect replacements for the current reign, suggesting that because most of their cutie marks were crowns, tiaras, brooches, and other symbols of leadership, that magic itself was willing them to usher in a new era.

Although it was estimated that only about one in one hundred Equestrians supported the Crowns, it was enough to raise a faction that claimed many cities across the Princessdom, including Vanhoover, Manehattan, Fillydelphia, and Baltimare. These seizures happened at the same time as the terrorist attack in Canterlot, which was more of a declaration of war than an attempt to take the city. The suicide bombers were meant to show how loyal the Crowns’ supporters were in an attempt to make the Princesses surrender. The four of us were a focus, but not a target.
Instead of bowing, we decided to put the Crowns down once and for all and answer their challenge to war. Equestria’s military was mobilized across the land for the first time in centuries. A number of armies and officers previously under Celestia and Luna unexpectedly swore loyalty to the Crown family, leaving the royal military starving for leadership. My friends were recruited as generals, and we entered a life we never expected to have. It was our history as the bearers of the Elements of Harmony and our bonds as friends, though, that would ultimately prove to the Crown family that without the Magic of Friendship, they would never have their way.

20 March, 6YH

20 March, 6YH

I should have been planting then. At the very least, I should have been in Ponyville. There I was, though, just outside Baltimare, heading a company of those metal monsters that Celestia had tucked away in secret “just in case.” One hell of a “case” that was. Heck, those things would have probably made great plowing machines if they weren’t spittin’ magic shells at ponies and running through buildings. I’m Applejack, and honestly, I wish I hadn’t agreed to be a general.

Don’t get me wrong, I know the war couldn’t have been won without me. I’d help Twilight and my friends no matter what. It’s just that now I got dreams I’ll never get rid of and memories that have to sit right next to the ones of my wedding, my foals, and the rest of my damn life.

Probably wouldn’t have agreed to this if one of them bombs didn’t wreck my leg back then. It’s mostly healed now, but it still hurts if I’m on it for too long. Plus, I got a bunch of small scars all over from where flyin’ wood and glass cut me. Wouldn’t want anypony thinking some coward-ass attack is enough to put an Apple down for good, though, so I held onto my hat and went into the fray with the rest of my gals.

My first major mission was re-taking Baltimare by land from the west. Griffonstone was none too happy ‘bout war happening so close to them, so we had their navy coming in from the east into Horseshoe Bay. Ruby Crown was the mare who claimed the city as “hers” back when the war started. Silver Crown’s baby sister—the girl was young, younger than me, but about ten times as fierce. She’d throw her forces at us even when she knew they’d have no chance of winning—and the fuckin’ idiots would listen. Dying was part of the message, part of the cause. For them, half the time winning was optional. In the first few months, though, that recklessness helped ‘em take Baltimare and kept us away up until my campaign. Turns out you can do a lot when you’re told lies like Ruby drilled into them. Those crazy ponies did a number on my forces with every attack, even if they didn’t kill anyone. My soldiers had their heads on a swivel and jumped at every sound, wondering if more of them suicide bombers would be running out of the trees or diving on us. That’s how they’d do it—scatter us with a surprise then rush in and pick off anypony they could before we got reorganized. Shit, I’m glad me and my officers were the ones in charge. I don’t think any other ponies would have been able to keep this army together.

That day in late March my artillery divisions were tearin’ Baltimare’s Old Quarter a new one. Shame we had to level it, but Ruby Crown’s forces were dug in like moles on my orchards, and they weren’t comin’ out until we smoked ‘em out. It was the first time we were taking the fight right to the enemy, and my ponies were a grab-bag of emotions.

“Finally, we’re gonna take those Crownies out. I’ve already had enough of this war,” One of my captains, an earth pony stallion named Shady Oak, spoke over his tank’s magic transceiver.

“I was done day one,” his loader and lieutenant, Ginger Beer, responded, “I wouldn’t even be here if my neighborhood wasn’t infested with ‘em.”

“Yet here you are, miss ‘youngest lieutenant in Celestia’s East in 200 years’.”

“Yeah, youngest lieutenant and my job is shoving my hoof in a tube. Can we get my street back today, please?”

“I don’t know how you all are so calm. I’m scared shitless over here,” Sergeant Flywheel, a pegasus who was a mechanic before the war, called from the driver’s seat of his tank, “I haven’t slept since I shot that Crowny hiding in the bushes two nights ago.”

“Hey, Flywheel, if you’re gonna run over anyone make sure they’re on the enemy’s side, yeah?” Shady Oak laughed. Runnin’ over ponies. Laughin’ about it. Un-fuckin’-thinkable I’d be with ponies like that a few months ago. Even more unthinkable that I wouldn’t say nothin’ about it—but I didn’t.

The last round of shelling stopped right about when their conversation did, which meant it was time for me to take the reins.

“All right, y’all, there’s our opening. Heads on a swivel, ‘cause anypony left in the Old Quarter is gonna be waiting to ambush us. Gunners on your coaxials for close range. Roll out!” I pounded the top of my tank’s turret to signal my crew to start moving to the road. We rolled in a column into Baltimare with groups of infantry between each tank. The artillery did a damn good job, ‘cause most of the time rolling toward downtown was quiet, save for the rumbling of engines, stepping of hooves, and the occasional pop of a soldier’s rifle when they found a Crowny hiding in the rubble.

“We’re coming up to the Old Center, General Applejack. Should we just push on through and hope for the best?” Shady Oak asked.

“Hope don’t save surrounded ponies, Captain. Put the tanks in a fan and get some soldiers searching the buildings. All other soldiers on rest and ready.”

“Aye, General.” My company began sweeping the Old Center, an area of Baltimare that was considered downtown before the first skyscraper went up closer to Horseshoe Bay. It was a ring of buildings surrounding a statue of Celestia, which had been demolished by Ruby Crown. Even after the city got all modern, the Old Center kept being a place full of ponies, shops, and homes. If I had come here instead of Manehattan as a filly, I might’ve never come back to the farm.

It took my soldiers about three hours to finish their sweep of the buildings. Thankfully, nothing interesting happened until the end so we at least got some rest in. Even I lowered my hat for a spell and leaned against my tank’s tracks. Shady Oak woke me up,

“General Applejack, we’re about done clearing the buildings. We found some civilians, though. Looks like a family caught in the fight,” he said. The family was taken to the base of the destroyed statue, being watched by many of my troops. It was a stallion, a mare, and their little filly.

“I told him we had to leave months ago. A lot of ponies in the Old Quarter were against Celestia since way before the attack in Canterlot. When talk of her and the other Princesses ‘finally going down’ started happening, I knew things were about to get bad, but my husband insisted it was just talk and didn’t want to put our daughter through something like moving out of fear,” the mare explained when I asked how they were caught in all this.

“It’s true,” Ginger Beer nodded, “Half the patrons of my family’s bar were pretty hardcore anti-Princess. Thank Celestia I was on vacation in Canterlot when everything went down. When I saw the castle that night, I signed right up.” The couple’s filly ruffled her little feathers. I thought she was just nervous but couldn’t help but notice she moved right when Ginger Beer made her off-hoof comment about her vacation. I caught her gaze and she darted her eyes away.

“No need to be shy, little one. We’re here to help,” I smiled, bending down to meet her height.

“You’re General Applejack, right? We’re so glad it’s somepony like you who came through to save us,” the stallion spoke up.

“Happy to be here, partner,” I tilted my hat, “but y’know, I’m a tad bit curious about somethin’.” I tapped the back of my hat twice, a secret signal I taught to my captains and their crews that told them to get back to their tanks. The family tensed up when all the soldiers guarding them left my side.

“For one, your daughter got awful fidgety when Celestia was mentioned. I know the battlefield ain’t exactly a calming place for a filly, but I usually see relief when one of the Princesses comes up. Secondly, there’s no way any civilian pony would know I’m a general.”

“Wh-what do you mean?” the stallion stuttered, “Anypony would expect Equestria’s greatest heroes to lead the Royal armies, especially with all the defectors…”

“Right, right, the defectors. Boy, our top brass was sure put in a scramble when we lost a bunch of officers to the other side. That, by the way, is something your average civilian shouldn’t know,” I said. The stallion took a cautious step back. I’d found them out. “Someone like one of the Crown family might know, though. Ain’t that right… Ruby?”

Ruby Crown’s face soured right quick, and she pulled out a pistol from under her dress with her magic. I dove and tackled the filly as Ruby shot at me. The stallion pulled a rifle out of his saddle bag and began firing at my soldiers but was turned to paste when a slug from my tank’s machine gun hit him. At the same time, a bunch of hidden Crownies popped out of hiding in buildings and potholes covered by rubble around the Old Center and began attacking us from all sides. All that caution and we were still caught in an ambush.

“Ginger, where you at?” I called over my radio after ducking into cover with the filly, “Get this little one out of this battle, now!”

“I didn’t get to the tank in time. I’m behind an overturned cart by the bakery! I see you!” Ginger responded. I saw a hoof wave.

I turned to the filly, “You see that cart over there, sugarcube? My friend’s gonna take you in one of our tanks where you’ll be safe, you got it?” The filly stared at me with wide eyes and nodded. “On my signal… go!” The filly dashed off to Ginger Beer, who emerged with two other soldiers and made a break for their tank. One was killed on the way, but she, the driver, and the filly managed to reach the tank.

“Now for you, ya plum crazy mare,” I grunted to myself. Ruby Crown had also retreated to cover. I could hear her screamin’ orders as well as the same damn assurances we’ve been hearing her soldiers yell at us since this campaign began. “Glory,” my applebuckin’ ass. Peeking over the short wall I was using as cover, I saw Ruby Crown just a few meters away from me. Judging by how engrossed she was in keeping herself alive, she didn’t notice that I was so close. Once a couple of her soldiers rushed away from her into battle, I made my move. I jumped over the wall and made a beeline for Ruby Crown. I slammed into her and pinned her forehooves behind her back, binding them with a length of rope I carried in my saddlebag.

“Gotcha!” I said.

“Argh! Dammit! When did you—” Ruby’s hissin’ at me was interrupted by the building above us being blasted and raining down bricks on us. Only after that did I notice my radio was crackling.

“—Equestrians clear the area! Battleship shells inbound! Repeat, all Equestrians in the Old Center clear the area! Griffon battleship shells inbound!” The Griffonstone Navy must have just come in range as we rolled into the Old Center. I told myself I was gonna both hug and punch the stuffing out of whoever called in the strike, but while we were being rained on wasn’t the time.

“Tanks, get movin’ to downtown! Infantry form up on the armor! Don’t get hit by flyin’ rocks!” I called over my radio. I started to run toward my own tank with Ruby tied up on my back, but saw that it was just a burning wreck. It must have been destroyed in the ambush. “Flywheel! You got room for two extra?”

“Everypony but me and my driver are gone, so yeah, it’s pretty spacious in here! Flag’s up, we’re the lead tank!” Shady called back. The Equestrian flag rose from a hatch on the tank in the front of the formation heading out of the square. I made a break for it and tossed Ruby up top, her shriekin’ bloody murder the entire time.

I hopped up on the slowly moving tank. “Pull her in, Flywheel!”

“What the fuck—you captured her?” Flywheel said. A laser flew over my head, nearly grazing my hat.

“Do what I say before I hog-tie you, too!” I yelled. He growled more of his disdain but pulled Ruby Crown into the tank. I followed after. I grabbed the tank’s radio, which was stronger than the one in my pack, to call to the griffons. “This is General Applejack. Y’all nearly flattened us, too, but we’re clear now. Pound them Crownies into dust! Meet you at the harbor.” I stared in Ruby Crown’s eyes as I called for the destruction of her followers. She had stopped struggling, but I could still feel her rage boring into me from her eyes. As the last of my tanks and soldiers exited the Old Center the shelling from the Griffonstone Navy got heavier. Not that there was much left of it in the first place, but there wouldn’t be an Old Center by the time they were done.

It took an hour before the ringing of the battle got out of my ears. As we neared downtown we enjoyed relative quiet. Ruby had stopped complaining, sitting in the tank just staring at me and the back of Flywheel’s head as we planned our next move. The tank’s radio crackled to life.

“General, it’s lieutenant Ginger. Permission to speak freely?”

“You know I ain’t big on formalities. Shoot,” I responded.

“Why’d you have us take the kid? She was with the Crownies.”

“She’d be part of the dust if we left her in the Old Center. Little ones ain’t gotta suffer just ‘cause of the grown ponies around ‘em making bad decisions.”

“I agree,” Ruby Crown spoke up suddenly. Her voice was strangely calm, a far cry from the loud protests she was making when I captured her. It terrified me. Our eyes locked and we had a silent conversation.

“Lieutenant, search the filly.” The radio was silent for a moment.

“AJ, she’s rigged.”

“Let me talk to her,” I said. There was a rustling sound as the transceiver changed hooves.

“Babygirl, you gotta listen to me. Everything they’ve been tellin’ you is a lie. I don’t know if you know me, but I’m Applejack, and any of the ponies around you right now are gonna tell you that every word out of my mouth is the truth. Equestria is a great place. It’s your home. It’s been amazing for a longer time than even the oldest of ponies have been alive. All the bad things happening now, all the hurtin’, it’s ‘cause Ruby Crown and the ponies around her are mighty upset, and they’re takin’ it out on Princess Celestia and her friends in the worst possible way.” I paused to give her a chance to respond.

“But why are you killing each other? If Celestia and the Princesses are so good, no one would get mad at them, right?” she asked.

I sighed, “I… I really don’t know, sugarcube. Even grown ponies don’t know everything. I promise you, though, you take those straps off and you’re gonna be happy. You’re gonna grow up and see the world and maybe have some fillies of your own one day. How ‘bout it, huh?” I waited for an answer. I could hear the rumbling of the tanks’ engines, the sound of soldiers’ hooves, and the static of the radio, but it might as well have been dead silent. A smile creeped across Ruby Crown’s face.

“Princess Luna took my friend away one night. I get to be with her again if I fight for Ruby. She’s my best friend in the whole world.”
“Ginger, open up the hatch—”
“For a new Equestria.” Shady Oak’s tank exploded, killing him, Ginger Beer, the crew and several soldiers around it. Ruby Crown cackled, as if to accentuate the explosion. She wasn’t worth responding to.
“What’s happening? Another ambush?” Another tank’s commander called over the radio.
“No, it was… the kid was a bomb, everypony. I…I’m sorry I missed it. ID the dead and let’s keep moving.”

Eventually, we reached the harbor at Horseshoe Bay, where small Griffon warships had docked. We exchanged details of our battles, and I presented Ruby Crown.

“I’m surprised she was so close to the front lines,” The Griffon general, Gallant, said, observing the bound Ruby Crown escorted by a couple of my soldiers.

“I reckon my artillery caught her by surprise and she stayed put while the tanks rolled in. It was enough time to set up that sneaky ambush, though. Call myself preparing for it but they still got us.”

“You’re alive, though, and you won in the end. Savor your victories, General Applejack.”

“I’d rather not. She used a damn filly to get one last swipe at us.”

“Ah, yes, I heard. Tragic, that.” Gallant’s aloofness irked me something fierce, but the bulk of my anger was elsewhere. “What do you want to do with her?” he asked.

“I’m gonna flip a coin,” I said. An actual coin wasn’t what I had in mind, though. I grabbed a pistol from my saddlebag and went over to Ruby Crown.

She scoffed as she saw me approaching, “So this is how Celestia’s ‘general’ operates. You’ll kill a pony while she’s tied up? While she can’t fight back? How honest. How harmonious.”

I pulled back the hammer, “You get one chance to come out of this alive, Ruby. You’ll be in a cell for the rest of your natural born days, but you’ll be alive. Now I’m gonna ask you a question, and your answer will decide whether go under in Equestria…” I pointed to the water, “Or just off its coast.”

“What, you want troop movements? The locations of the other Crown family members? Whatever you want, you won’t get it. My loss is—”

“Was she yours?” I asked sternly. She stayed silent. “The filly. It was only for a moment, but I saw a piece of her cutie mark. Looked an awful lot like a crown.” Ruby stared at me more. I couldn’t even read her eyes.

“She shows just how easy it is to lull the naïve. She’s not the only foal to—”

“Was. She. Yours,” I repeated myself.

Ruby’s face contorted into a scowl, “Are you going to kill me if I say yes?”

“I’m gonna kill you if you lie to me,” I told her. She glared at me, those red eyes of hers unblinking.

“If only you knew. If only—” My pistol’s bullet stopped her sentence short. Flywheel watched it all unfold. He stared between Ruby Crown’s lifeless body and me. He joined my stride beside me as I walked away. Other soldiers moved in to store her body.

“Wow, Applejack. That was… brutal. If I can speak freely: I’ve seen you fight, but I’ve never seen you… kill.”

“Neither have I,” I said flatly.

“But you didn’t hesitate, not even for a second. I thought with you being the Element of Honesty you’d at least think about it.”

“I did think about it. I’ve been thinkin’ about it since before this campaign, Sarge. Bein’ honest isn’t the same as bein’ right. Least not in this case.” I waited for Flywheel to say something, but he stayed quiet. “I made a choice to be honest with myself. It wasn’t right and it won’t be right for the rest of my life, but it was honestly what I wanted to do.” There was a bit more silence before Flywheel spoke up.

“So, Ruby Crown. Was she lying?” he asked.

“I have no idea.”