Author's Note

Greetings! I finally got WIFI back, so expect more updates soon, not just to this story, but hopefully my others as well. Enjoy! :)

Chapter 3: The Convoy

Twilight followed High Caliber, Blue Cross, and Weeping Willow out of the main house of the farm and out into the air. Twilight's eyes squinted as the sun hit her, and when her eyes eventually readjusted, she looked at a sight that was surprisingly beautiful.

While discussing the Valley from in the house, Twilight initially pictured the valley as a place that didn't look very great, or one destroyed by the OOTI, but what she saw now took her breath away. Not only did the Cross farm have a rustic feel that reminded Twilight of Sweet Apple Acres, but when she looked over the fields with the mountains looming in the distance, it looked absolutely wonderful.

"Looks great, doesn't it?" High Caliber asked as he walked up beside Twilight. Twilight nodded, but kept gazing at the amazing sight before her.

"It looks better than I imagined, it's beautiful." Twilight said, unfortunately, her eyes were drawn to an eyesore to the west, a structure that could easily be seen despite how far it was, with it's grand design and bright lights, even in the daytime, it ruined to scenery.

"That there is The Oasis, Iron Fists stronghold." High Caliber explained. Twilight then snapped out of her thoughts and turned to High Caliber.

"What's the first thing I need to do to save my friends and stop him?" Twilight said with a bit of anger in her voice. High Caliber felt a small smile creep onto his face upon seeing Twilight's enthusiasm.

"Well, first, have you ever fired a gun Princess?" High Caliber asked as politely as he could. Twilight was slightly taken aback by this and shook her head.

"No, I haven't, and you can just call be Twilight, no need to be so formal." Twilight said. High Caliber nodded and waved his hoof for Twilight to follow her.

The two walked through the farm to reach the other side of it. On the way, Twilight looked around, the buildings had all been fortified, and several other ponies stared as she walked past, these ponies wore old, tattered clothes and carried rifles.

"We've all heard stories of the things you and your friends have done over in Equestria, so you helping us will be a big boost for moral." High Caliber said as they approached a makeshift shooting range by the barn. High Caliber walked over to a table next to the barn and placed down a pistol and an assault rifle and he motioned for Twilight to come over.

"Now, first to get you acquainted with your weapons, this is a hoofheld pistol and this a rifle used with both hooves, though, if you want to use your magic to levitate and fire them, you may." High Caliber explained.

"Can't I just use my magic to fight the OOTIs?" Twilight asked. High Caliber's expression saddened and he shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but the Order used a very powerful spell to suppress all but a few basic Unicorn spells, so no teleporting more than five feet, no magic attacks, no transfiguration, etc." High Caliber explained. Twilight's jaw dropped.

"He was able to do that?" Twilight asked.

"Iron Fist is always a thousand steps ahead." High Caliber said, "But anyway, let's see if you can fire a gun." High Caliber motioned to the guns again. Twilight stepped forward and levitated the pistol off the table and inspected it, it was an Equestrian model, built for use by all three pony species, fired either by hoof, wing, or magic.

"Try Shooting it with your hooves, then magic, and see which way is best suited for you." High Caliber suggested.

Twilight nodded and took the pistol in her hooves and aimed it downrange, where there were several training dummies of varying distances from where she was standing, as well as a fence with glass bottles all lined up on it. Twilight took a few deep breaths before aiming at one of the bottles and firing the gun. She was startled a bit by the recoil, as well as the loud bang of the gun firing. Twilight looked downrange and saw that all the bottles were still there.

"Okay, you've started, now keep trying until the clip is empty." High Caliber instructed. Twilight nodded and tried again. She kept aiming and firing downrange, eventually, hitting two bottles off the bench before needing to reload.

"I got some!" Twilight said excitedly. High Caliber chuckled.

"Good job for a beginner, I heard that when Blue Cross first tried, he didn't hit anything until his third clip." High Caliber chuckled.

"Hey, I got better!" Blue Cross shouted. High Caliber took Twilight's pistol and reloaded it.

"Okay, now try it with your magic..."

For the next hour, Twilight slowly but surely got the hang of firing the guns, she found that using her hooves or magic were both comfortable ways to fire them. She eventually got the hang of the pistol, but had a few bumps when using the assault rifle, which was also an Equestrian model.

"I have a question High Caliber, Where did you get these guns you use?" Twilight asked.

"We stole em from the OOTI, who in turn either stole em from Equestria, and started manufacturing their own Equestrian models in the White Pine Forest." High Caliber explained. Twilight nodded, and turned back to the range and using her magic, fired the assault rifle at a dummy, and hit nearly every shot.

"Wow, you have some accuracy, your gonna do fine." High Caliber complemented.

"Thanks. I've only ever read books about guns, or books with guns in them, but never actually held or fired one until now." Twilight explained.

"Well, you seem to be a fast learner, and with those skills, we'll be able to save your friends and stop Iron in no time." High Caliber said with a smile. Suddenly, Blue Cross, along with several other Militia ponies emerged from the barn and approached High Caliber and Twilight.

"We just got word from one of our spies, the Convoy is leaving the White Pine forest now, we need to move." Blue Cross said. High Caliber nodded and turned to Twilight.

"Twilight, can you come help, whoever is being transported on that convoy needs as much help as they can get." High Caliber said. Twilight nodded.

"I'm good, let's do it." Twilight said enthusiastically. The group moved to the garage, where a large truck emerged. The group climbed in the back, and Blue Cross unrolled a map of the Kashmir Plains with some scribbles on it and Blue Cross explained the plan.

"Okay, so the convoy will be entering the plains from the north here..." Blue Cross pointed at the border between the plains and the White Pines Forest at the top of the map, "...then, the convoy will follow this road straight down to the desert, where they will be taken to the Hades camp." Cross explained, tracing his hoof down the line that represented the road, "And this is where we'll ambush the convoy." Cross finished, pointing his hoof at a highlighted area of the road.

"Okay, does everypony understand what we're doing?" High Caliber asked the rest of the Militia in the truck. The rest responded with nods and vocal responses. Twilight also nodded, though she still felt unsure about all this.

"Okay, we've got the weapons and the explosives, lets go!" High Caliber shouted to the driver, who started the truck and began to drive out of the farm.

During the drive Twilight looked at the map and saw a place marked Clydesdale, she pointed at it and turned to Blue Cross.

"What's this place?" She asked.

"That is the only town in the Kashmir Plains. Clydesdale use to be where all the farmers would meet up, go to the bars, and have a good time, but after the OOTIs rolled in, it's become a place where the citizens are oppressed and we can't go in or we'll be shot on site." Blue Cross explained.

"And about the convoy, do we know who exactly they have prisoner on it?" Twilight asked.

"They could have anypony, they're either going to be ponies who were living in the valley, or they could be prisoners from the Zeppelin crash." Cross explained. Twilight nodded and gave the map back to Blue Cross. She then settled herself in her place in the truck and began to watch the landscape as they drove.

The valley really was a beautiful place, the rolling landscape of the valley looked like something out of a postcard. But as much as Twilight tried to think of the positives, her thoughts drifted to her friends. She had no idea where they were or what Iron Fist's group was doing to them. She knew that her friends were tough, but she knew some of them might not be able to hold out as long, like Fluttershy or Spike.

"I will free them, I will.." Twilight thought as the truck continued its drive.

Eventually, the truck reached the ambush spot and the group poured out of the back and began to set up the ambush. Twilight helped with laying down the fuse line for the explosives that they would place. According to Blue Cross, the convoys consisted of three vehicles, 2 trucks with armed soldiers in front and behind the prisoner transport vehicle.

Eventually, the explosives were set, and all they had to do now, was wait for the convoy to approach. The group set up positions on both sides of the road, far enough from the explosives, but close enough to be able to attack. A few were also positioned further down from the explosives, so that the Militia could attack from all sides.

Twilight crouched under a bush next to Weeping Willow and Blue Cross while waiting for the convoy, they stayed silent. As they waited, several vehicles passed by the trap, many being civilian vehicles.

After a few hours passed, Twilight felt like she was going to doze off, Blue Cross nudged her to make sure she stayed awake. By now, the sun was almost set, and the night was practically here.

"Twilight, if either of you get hit during the fight, call out for me, I'll help." Blue Cross said, motioning to his medical satchel. Willow and Twilight both nodded. Suddenly, a light began to shine from across the road, meaning that the convoy was approaching. Twilight looked down the road, and sure enough, she saw the headlights of the first truck approaching.

The ponies sat in complete silence as the waited for the convoy to reach the trap. The tension was thick, and Twilight found herself unconsciously shaking. Was she really about to shoot somepony? Eventually, the trucks front wheel passed over the explosives and High Caliber triggered the explosives from his position across the road.

*BOOM*

The explosion nearly shattered Twilight's ears, or at least, that's what it felt like. Twilight was also blinded by the bright light the explosion generated, and when her sight came to, she saw the charred remains of the truck, the OOTI symbol barely visible on the side.

The Militia let out a battle cry and rushed out of the bushes, focusing their fire on the driver of the prisoner transport and the truck behind the prisoner transport. Twilight mustered all her strength and stood up and followed the Militia.

Twilight saw the OOTI soldiers climbing out of the truck, only about 5 of them, as they were getting shot at by the Militia. Twilight turned and saw an OOTI soldier climbing out of the passenger side of the Prisoner transport with their gun drawn. Twilight made a quick fire decision and levitated her rifle, quickly aimed at, and shot the soldier several times. The soldier fell to the ground, dead.

Twilight took a moment to process the fact that she just killed somepony, even though the were going to kill her, it still made her a bit frazzled. Twilight quickly snapped out of her shock and joined to rest of the Militia, who had already taken care of the soldiers from the back truck.

They walked around back, where High Caliber dragged the driver to and pointed his revolver at him.

"Open up the back, or I'm blowing your brains out." High Caliber threatened. The stallion driver, who was wearing the same uniform as the other soldiers, quickly unlocked the back and opened the door.

From the back, several disheveled and weary looking ponies stepped out. Twilight didn't recognize any of them. High Caliber ushered the ponies out before taking out a handheld radio.

"This is High Caliber, we need a truck to take some liberated prisoners back to camp, over." High Caliber said into the radio. He then ushered the ponies over to the side of the road. Blue Cross walked up to Twilight and patted her on the back.

"Looks like we did it, and with no casualties." Blue Cross said. Twilight nodded, still slightly shaken from the fight.

"Don't worry, we'll help you get your friends back, this is just the beginning." Blue Cross said reassuringly. Twilight looked up to Blue Cross and smiled. "Thanks." she said. Blue Cross nodded and looked over to Weeping Willow, who was looking into the back of the prisoner vehicle. Blue Cross and Twilight walked over to see what was wrong.

"Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you, we're trying to help you." Willow said into the back of the van in a caring and soothing voice. Blue Cross and Twilight gazed into the back of the van and Twilight gasped.

Slumped at the far side of the van, trembling and crying, was a filly. Though, this was one that Twilight recognized. She was a unicorn, with a light purple coat and a blonde mane. She was Dinky Hooves, she was in the same graduating class as the crusaders, and she remembered that her and her family were some of the passengers on the Zeppelin that was shot down.

She sat cowering and not moving, still sobbing into her hooves. Willow turned to Twilight. "I can't get her to come out, she's too scared." Willow said sadly. Twilight then slowly climbed into the van and approached the filly.

"Dinky?" Twilight asked slowly. Dinky gasped and turned to face her, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Princess Twilight?" Dinky said slowly, her voice breaking due to her sobbing. Twilight nodded and extended her hoof toward the frightened filly. Dinky Stood up and quickly ran and embraced her.

"Mommy just knew you would save us." Dinky said, crying into Twilight's shoulder. Twilight smiled, despite being a teenager at this point, Dinky always did have that sweet childlike innocence that she's always had. Twilight guided Dinky out of the van and brought her over to where the others were waiting. Twilight knelt down to Dinky.

"Dinky, where is your mom?" Twilight asked. She knew that Derpy had taken Dinky along with the rest of her family on the Zeppelin as a gift for Dinky.

"Mommy and me were in this place in the forest, they were forcing us to work in this strange factory place. I don' know where they took Daddy or Sparkler though." Dinky explained as best she could through her tears. Her father, Time Turner, and her older sister, Sparkler, had also been on that Zeppelin.

"Why wasn't your mom with you in the van?" Twilight asked. Dinky inhaled to answer, but her voice caught in her throat, and she felt her tears welling up again as she though back to when she was forcibly taken from her mother. Twilight saw Dinky's distress and pulled her into another hug.

"It's okay Dinky, you don't have to say anything. Just know, that you're safe now, and I will find your family, and get them back to you, I promise." Twilight said. Dinky sniffled against Twilight's shoulder.

"Thank you." Dinky said into Twilight's shoulder, muffling her voice. Then two trucks pulled up, and more Militia got out of the trucks.

"Alright folks, time to get you all safe and fed. lets go." High Caliber said, leading the freed prisoners into the trucks.

"Come on Dinky, lets go to where it's safe." Twilight said, leading Dinky over to one of the trucks. Twilight helped Dinky into the truck and waved as the now full truck drove off to the Cross Farm.

"You know her?" Willow asked. Twilight nodded.

"She's the daughter of a friend I know from Equestria. Her family's been split up." Twilight said sadly. Willow walked up and put a hoof around Twilight

"We'll get em back Twilight. Now let's get back to the farm with the others, and we'll think of how to move forward in the morning." Willow said as the other started to get back into the truck they came on. Twilight nodded and climbed in after them. She quickly fell asleep on the drive back to the farm.

Meanwhile, at Virgo's Farm....

The main office was silent, apart from the faint sound of fire crackling and the scribbling as Virgo sat at her desk, writing down the reports of food production, one of the more boring aspects of her job as head of food production for the Order of the Iron. She was distracted from her writing when the door to her office opened and a soldier entered.

"What is it, I'm in the middle of my weekly report." Virgo said irritated.

"Apologies ma'am, but we just received word that the convoy traveling through the Plains today was attacked, and the prisoners were freed by the Militia group." the soldier explained. Virgo leaned back in her chair and sighed.

"Okay, I will report it, now, return to your post." Virgo ordered in a calm voice. The soldier nodded and left the office, closing the door behind them.

As soon as the door was closed, Virgo slammed her hoof down on the table.

"DAMMIT!" she shouted. Normally, she was used to the resistance meddling with her things in the plains, but that convoy was for prisoners from Gemini in the North, to be given to Scorpio in the south, with the plains just being used as a route to transport them. And now, they were probably going to give Virgo hell for letting their prisoners get away. Virgo spun around in her chair and looked out over the empty fields of trees and bushes that she grew on this main farm.

"I need to deal with this Militia somehow." she said to herself as she poured herself a glass of hard cider. She then downed the glass in one gulp.

"I'll find a way, you fucks."