Exiles

Three years had passed since Twilight had been exiled from Canterlot, two years since Smolder had been officially knighted as her apprentice, and a year since she had met her own coltfriend. Although reluctant to settle down in a mostly crime-free city (yet still crime-riddled nonetheless), Flash made it his mission to make the most out of his new life in Klugetown, becoming his boss's personal bodyguard and something of a replacement trainer/big brother figure towards her apprentice. Smolder herself became something of a little sister towards Twilight, who she said reminded her so much of Spike, who in turn was her own former dragon apprentice. On occasion, she would warn her about knowing who to trust and the reason why.

A prime example in an entire group would be that of the Magical Creature Overwatch, which was formed after the Changeling Invasion with the intent of hunting down creatures on the run and locking them up in Tartarus. They performed their job well, too well in fact. Despite their admittedly impressive track record of captured guilty monsters, what's more impressive was their track record of captured innocent monsters. Not helping matters was the fact that many of these blameless animals were executed without supervision and being proven otherwise. Adding insult to injury, the MCO wasn't even formed with the permission of the two Princesses or any other members of royalty whatsoever. Oh, and they were all ponies. Needless to say, the organization tasked with protecting Equestria from lethal creatures had earned itself an infamous reputation in its four years of existence by that same kingdom and its occupants, as well as the ire of Twilight, Flash, and Smolder alike.

All of that frustration had to be vented out somehow, someday, someway. That day was today...

Twilight, Flash, Captain Celaeno, and Capper all sat around a round table as they discussed their battleplan.

"So, our battleplan..."

"Yes?"

"We're essentially leading the MCO into a trap in order to prevent more innocent creatures from dying."

"Yes."

"And this is the crux of the plan, because...?"

"Because I'm choosing the lesser of two evils. Yes, their dedication to capturing the more evil creatures is irrefutable, but their execution of the innocent until not proven guilty has caused their families to lose their loved ones rather than regain them. And their methods of doing so are unforgivably brutal..."

"So are ours."

"But we at least have the decency to offer mercy toward our enemies before granting them a quick and painless death if they refuse."

"We must be careful then. Based on what I've seen, they're smart, pragmatic, and have the necessary resources to pull off their missions."

"Not all of them."

Celaeno left the room for a moment before returning with a crate of oddly yet intricately constructed weapons. They didn't seem to resemble swords, spears, staffs, or even crossbows.

"From what I've been told by the dragons, they're called guns. They're ranged weapons that can fire metal or charged projectiles so we don't have to rely heavily on hand-to-hand combat. Usefulness can be vary from different creatures."

"Quite fascinating. Is this all you have?"

"I have a few more on my ship. It should be enough."

"Excellent. We need all the guns we can get our hooves, paws, or claws on. Let's move!"

The four left their conference room and summoned their soldiers. Some of them were among the innocent that the MCO had intended to punish without evidence, but escaped due to high-quality planning and/or sheer dumb luck. A year after Flash's arrival, upon receiving word that Klugetown was ranked one of the safest places in a war-ridden Equestria at the time, the wrongfully accused prisoners retreated down south of the Badlands in search of a hopeful sanctuary. The town had expanded to 52 square miles, enough to harbor many of the prisoners; the rest were sent to two different geographic locations for temporary safekeeping. One half was sent to Trottingham, while the other half was sent to Monacolt.

One of the prisoners was secretly a former MCO-member turned Klugetown informant named Sandbar, whom Smolder fell in love with during Twilight's sorting of them. He was disgusted by his former team's treatment of non-pony creatures (innocent or otherwise) and immediately defected not soon after, something she appreciated and was impressed by. They were wise enough not to rush into romance with each other, however, and saw to it that their relationship was better developed. Of course, only a year had passed that Sandbar and Smolder decided to become a battle couple and defend their new home from the forces of evil that dare invade it.

As the soldiers loaded up and trained with their newly acquired firearms, Twilight and Flash readied weapons of their own. The former sheathed dual cutlasses and slung a M4A1 Carbine with an EOTech 552.A65 Holographic Sight and RM Equipment M203PI Grenade Launcher over her shoulder. The latter slid dual steel shield gauntlets to his foreleg and mounted a Noveske Rifleworks Diplomat with a M68 Aimpoint red dot scope and a Vltor VIS upper to his waist area.

"First ever battle. You nervous, Flash?"

"Yeah. Aren't you?"

"Nope. Why are you?"

"You said so yourself: first ever battle."

With everybody else's, their ears perked up at the sound of a horn blaring in the air, breaking the already tense silence of the about-to-be-war- battlefield. The couple shared a knowing glance, fully aware of the horn's true meaning. Silently passing a massage down the line for everybody to get ready and in their respective positions, they retreated toward the front of the line along with Capper and Celaeno, whose claws grasped firmly on the grip of her sword. A thick layer of mist surrounded them, so caution was risen to an all-time high; neither side wanted to accidentally kill their own allies.

"Occupants of this...crime-riddled town... We know that you are harboring fugitives who are guilty of the highest order. Give them up, surrender now, and come quietly, or there will be blood!"
. . .

. . .

. . .

"FIRE!"

The citizens opened fire and absolutely destroyed the first line of soldiers that charged at them with murderous intent. One by one, mindless cronies fell as they released their last shout of either horror or agony, all the while decorating the deserted wasteland with splatters of blood and guts everywhere. Each had their own reactions to the path of destruction laid out by this foreign weapon of mass destruction. Twilight and Flash's was one of fascination; Smolder and Sandbar's was one of shock; and Celaeno and Capper's was one of disdain. However, all of them shared regret: they all wished for the bloodshed to be averted, but they all knew that it was necessary for the sake of their safety and the prisoners'.

"CHARGE!"

Suddenly, the battle cry of twenty thousand more soldiers ringed out for the entirety of Klugetown to hear, and their hoofsteps followed suit not soon after. The denizens reloaded their automatic weapons and opened fire again, their number of kills matching that of their ammunition. So far, the only trouble they had were the armor-wearing and magic-wielding ponies, something Twilight and Flash noticed very well.

"Section #1! Attack!"

The aforementioned ground team joined their leaders into battle, specifically targeting those magic ponies in armor. Flash harbored no such desire to kill another living pony, let alone seriously maim him or her; he settled on incapacitation and knock-out maneuvers, instead. Twilight, on the other hand, gleefully made an exception to the rule as she sliced-and-diced any and all pony who was dangerously close to Klugetown.

"Section #2! Take to the skies! Citizens, hold your positions!"

Celaeno, Smolder, and the dragons/griffons flew up, up, and away carrying high explosives, which they dropped onto the areas surrounding Twilight and Flash and subsequently blew up various sections of ponies. They flew back when they noticed the others had wised up and began firing arrows at them. Even so, they began to retreat when their numbers dwindled drastically. Twenty thousand soldiers became ten thousand soldiers, while ten thousand became merely a thousand. The hundreds that did survive released the same screams of horror and agony as their fellow cronies did before their demise.

As silence replenished the atmosphere once more, the citizens of Klugetown gazed around the bloodied and bodied battlefield with equal parts dread and nausea. It would seem that celebration and mourning was in order, seeing as they won the battle but were far from winning the war; while racking up an impressive body count from the opponents' side, they themselves had suffered a significant loss because of mere stragglers. Speaking of which...

Twilight and Flash glanced over to find a lone survivor attempting to crawl away to safety. The latter flew over to him, picking him up and gently dropping him to a safe surface from where the former stood. If the soldier even dared to make a defiant killshot as a last resort, he would make sure that he would die before his swing fell, despite his reservations on taking a life (enemy or ally).

"Who sent you?"

"Go to hell," the soldier spat out blood in defiance, thankfully landing a few inches near her hooves.

"I was born in it already, as were you. Now..." Twilight stepped forward and slowly grinded her hoof on his stab wound, "I won't ask you again: who...sent...you?"

The soldier gritted his teeth, but ultimately relented after a few excruciating minutes, "N...Neighsay..."

Twilight and Flash exchanged glances of confusion. Who?

"He's... He's the newly appointed Captain of the Royal Guard. He was given a promotion after former Captain Shining Armor took an extended period of leave."

Caught off guard by the unexpected statement, Twilight stumbled back in shock. Her mind began swirling with a tidal wave of questions, namely What happened to him? Detaching her M4A1 from her waist, she reloaded her assault rifle, having emptied 60 rounds into 30 soldiers before resorting to her cutlasses.

"And where is the former Captain now?"

"Nopony knows."

"Hmm. Are there any survivors with you?"

"Just one..."

"Okay. Can you stand?"

The soldier began to push himself up until he could. "I... I don't understand. What do you want me to do?"

"Simple. I want you to run."

Firing a shot near his hooves, the guard shouted in fear before turning tail and sprinting as fast as he could. To prevent any soldier or citizen from shooting him dead, Twilight raised her left hoof and kept it suspended until he was out of sight and out of mind inside the fog. She too turned tail and trotted back towards the entrance of Klugetown, all the while sparing one final glance of the lifeless corpses of the Canterlot Royal Guards.

"Bury them," Twilight ordered a random citizen.

"I'm sorry?"

"These soldiers fought with honor. We killed them without a shred of it. It only makes sense that they receive a dignified funeral."

"... Yes, Your Majesty."

Ignoring the concerned calls of Flash and Smolder, Twilight went to her living quarters and curled up into a ball...but she didn't cry. She just couldn't find it within herself to do so...