Chapters Prologue: The Final Transmissions
Transmission 1: Taken from the answering machine in the Carousel Boutique.
The sound of the phone ringing is heard for a few moments before going to voicemail, and Rarity's voice can be heard.
"Hello Darling, you have reached the Carousel Boutique in Ponyville. I'm terribly sorry, but I can't come to the phone right now, I must be very busy. Please leave a message, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Thank You." the message said before playing the familiar sound of the beep signaling the beginning of the message, this time a higher pitched voice can be heard leaving the message.
"Hey Rarity, it's Sweetie Bell! I'm just calling to say that Scootaloo, Applebloom and myself have made it to the airport, and the Zeppelin boards in about 2 hours. Scootaloo is so excited, she can barley contain it. Again, thank you so much for planning this with Applejack and Rainbow Dash. We'll see you next week, I love you! Bye." Sweetie said in the message before hanging up.
Twilight Sparkle shuffled in her seat, readjusting the headphones on her head to a more comfortable position as she took out the first out of 4 tapes she had received, thinking about what had happened that led up to this.
Several weeks ago, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had finally graduated from school, and they were excited as ever. To celebrate this milestone in their young lives, their older sisters had planned a special graduation trip for them to take afterwards. They decided on a Zeppelin cruise that would take them outside Equestria before coming back, taking them over many spectacular places.
Once the girls graduated at the beginning of summer, everything was all set, and when their sisters told them about the trip, their screams of delight could nearly be heard all the way across Equestria. Not only was this a celebratory trip for them, it was also one that they would take on their own. Obviously, their sisters were a little concerned about them going without them, especially Applejack, but after some debating, they decided to just go for it.
Unfortunately, 3 days after the Zeppelin departed from the Canterlot airport, the princesses received dire news from the craft.
While flying over a region outside Equestria known as Kashmir Valley, the Zeppelin was shot down.
Twilight slipped the second tape into the player, this one was labeled as a transmission between the crew on the Zeppelin and whoever shot them down.
Transmission 2: Radio Communication between Zeppelin and Kashmir Valley Occupants.
The transmission starts with static before an aggressive voice comes through.
"Attention aircraft. You are flying in airspace occupied by the Order of the Iron, Identify yourselves. Over." the male voice commanded. This was followed by the female voice of Cloudy Skies, the Captain of the Zeppelin.
"This is the E.Q.S Lead, we are a commercial aircraft from Equestria, we have civilians on board, we mean you no harm. Over." Cloudy explained. After a moment of silence, the voice returned.
"You are not authorized to fly in this space, divert now, or we will use force. Over." the voice said more aggressive than before. Then Cloudy's voice spoke again.
"That will not be necessary, we are not hostile, we are carrying civilians, we are a commercial vessel just passing through. Over." Cloudy argued. The voice responded almost immediately.
"Negative, this is your last warning, divert now!" The voice shouted.
Unfortunately, the tape ended before the Twilight could listen any further. She didn't know exactly why this transmission ended, but she had an idea based on what had happened. She then took out the tape and put another in.
Besides the CMC, there were also 28 other pony passengers on that ship, along with 13 crew, so in total, 44 citizens of Equestria were on that ship.
The third transmission was of Cloudy Skies contacting Canterlot after presumably being hit and going down.
Transmission 3: Radio Communication between Zeppelin and Canterlot.
As soon as Twilight pressed the play button on the device, she immediately heard the voice of Cloudy Skies.
"Canterlot, do you copy? This is the E.Q.S Lead, we have been attacked and we are going down!" Cloudy said shakily, as several screams and chatter could be heard in the background.
"We hear you loud and clear Lead, state your location and number of souls aboard." A voice asked, presumably one from the Canterlot Air Control tower.
"We are over Kashmir Valley, the southern region of it, we have 44 souls on board, 31 passengers and 13 crew including myself. We have already prepared the necessary procedures for a crash." Cloudy explained.
"Okay, we have logged your position and we will go to help. May the odds be in your favor." The Air Control operator responded. After that, the transmission ended.
Twilight took out the tape and grabbed the final one. Normally, things would have been more simple. If the Zeppelin crashed, a team would've been dispatched to find the wreckage and save any survivors. However, according to the previous 2 transmissions, this wasn't any technical mishap or accident, this was an aggressive attack, one that was practically confirmed by the final transmission, that was received by Canterlot from the Occupants of Kashmir Valley.
Transmission 4: Received from an unknown location in Kashmir Valley.
The tape started off with static before a few grunts were heard, and a voice was heard.
"We're on." the voice said, then another voice quickly responded.
"Good, good." the voice said before a period of silence followed. This voice sounded husky, and was definitely male. After the silence, it spoke again.
"Greetings, Celestia. If you are hearing this, then you are most likely aware that one of your "Commercial Zeppelins" was caught flying over our airspace. Now, they were given warning to divert course, but chose not to. Showing that your subjects are just as stubborn as you."
Twilight frowned at this voice, the way he talked with condescension and contempt. He continued.
"Now, my forces immediately rushed to the wreckage after it crashed. And we found some ponies in it. After counting, we pulled precisely 42 Ponies from that wreck. Now, I gotta say, at least your safety measures have improved to minimize casualties. In fact, I applaud you." The voice said, applauding like he said.
"And, I pride myself as a very social pony, and I'm willing to negotiate with some of your top ponies for the remaining ponies from the Zeppelin. All I request is that you send them in passively, no Zeppelins, and no weapons. I want these to be peaceful negotiations, understand?" There was a moment of silence after he finished the sentence.
"Great! Send them to the compound in the center of Kashmir Valley. We will be waiting." With that, the tape ended.
"Twilight?" a voice suddenly asked, jolting Twilight out of her little world from the transmissions. She looked up and saw Starlight Glimmer kneeling next to her.
"Huh?" Twilight asked as she took the headphones off her head and ears.
"We're almost there." Starlight said as Twilight shakily stood up in the cramped Hot Air Balloon basket.
Twilight looked around, also in the basket were the rest of her friends, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. As well as her number one assistant, Spike.
After receiving the final transmission from whoever was in control of Kashmir Valley, Princess Celestia requested that Twilight and her friends quickly head to Kashmir Valley to solve this whole situation, supplying them with a substantial amount of bits for negotiations.
Of course, Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash practically volunteered the minute they heard of what happened to the Zeppelin. Hearing that their sisters were at stake was enough. The others also quickly agreed to help.
Twilight looked over the edge of the Balloon, and saw that they were quickly descending over the compound that the voice in the transmission spoke of. Twilight then turned to her friends and cleared her throat.
"Okay everypony, lets go over the plan once more. We go in there, we listen to what they have to say, then we negotiate for the ponies. Celestia said that we need to be exclusively passive, or else we might endanger the ponies. We don't want to start a war." Twilight explained. each occupant in the balloon nodded before Twilight turned back to see that the balloon was close to landing. And she could see other ponies near the landing zone.
"You ready guys?" Twilight asked.
"Yup" Applejack said
"Show me the money." Rarity said.
"Yeptastic!" Pinkie Pie said.
"mmhmm" Fluttershy said.
"As ready as I'll ever be." Starlight Glimmer said.
Ready if you are Twilight." Spike said.
"Let's do this." Rainbow Dash said.
Twilight then took a deep breath before the balloon finally landed.
Author's Note
Let me know what you guys think so far. This is an idea I've had for a while now, and I just couldn't wait any longer.
Chapter 1: Meeting Iron Fist
Twilight and the rest of her friends opened the door of the balloon where several other ponies were waiting for them. These ponies were all wearing similar uniforms, grey colored jackets with brass colored buttons, and patches on both sleeves with a six-pointed silver star symbol on it. The sleeves themselves only went halfway down the forehooves, and the ponies also had grey pants covering their other halves.
The ponies were also varied, being a mixture of Earth Ponies, Unicorns and Pegasi, and a mix of Stallions and Mares.
Twilight and her friends stepped forward, out of the balloon, and were stopped by one of the ponies.
"We are the negotiating party from Equestria, we are expected." Twilight said, noticing that a few of the pony guards looked a little on edge, with their guns at the ready.
"Yes, you are expected. Follow me closely, and no wandering off." The guard said, motioning to the other guards to stand down.
Twilight glanced back at her friends, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash all had stern looks, while the other looked worried, especially Fluttershy, who looked like she was about to cry, until she was comforted by Pinkie. Eventually, the group began to follow the guard into the compound.
As they made their way past the countless ponies on their way to the leader, Twilight began to think about what she learned about Kashmir Valley when Celestia gave her this mission.
Twilight had gone through practically her entire library for all she could learn about the valley. According to what she found, Kashmir Valley existed long before Equestria had been established. It was originally a mostly uninhabited region, mostly made up of scattered farms and pastures. However, after Equestria was established away from the Valley, it became more inhabited by all kinds of creatures like Ponies, Zebras, Griffons, and many others.
However, the really interesting facts she found were from recent books from around 30 years ago, when a group calling themselves the "Order of the Iron" came into the Valley and took control of it. However, for some reason or another, Twilight couldn't find much information beyond that.
The compound was bustling with ponies as they made their way through several corridors, passing rooms carrying bunk beds, some rooms with medical supplies, kitchens, and training rooms. All the while, seeing the six-point emblem everywhere.
Eventually, the group reached a large double door with the emblem on it. The guard escorting the group stopped and turned.
"Go on in, the council will see you now." the guard said, motioning for the group to enter. Twilight turned to her friends, and received a nod from each of them before entering the room.
Upon opening the door, they entered a large room that resembled a conference room. Directly in front of them sat a large table, with 7 spaces on the other side of it. to their right was a large lit fireplace along with a few windows, showing the sun setting over the mountains in the distance. To their left was another door with an emblem on it.
The group walked to the center of the room when a voice spoke.
"Halt. That's far enough." the voice was husky, and sounded like the voice from the transmission. Then, the chair positioned in the center of the table spun around, revealing an old Earth Pony stallion sitting their, the fire to the side casting a shadow across his light grey coat. He wore an eye-patch over his left eye, and he was smoking a cigar.
"Hello, you must be the leader here, correct?" Twilight asked. She then glanced over her shoulder, where she saw the worried looks on her friends faces.
"I am, you may call me, Iron Fist. I am the leader of the Order of the Iron, and ruler of Kashmir Valley. You must be the negotiating party that Sun-Butt sent over her little Zeppelin." Iron Fist said condescendingly. Twilight was slightly taken aback by Iron Fists attitude and foul way he referred to Celestia, she even heard Rarity audibly gasp.
"Yes we are. We are ready to begin Negotiations." Twilight said. Iron Fist nodded and clapped his hooves together, and the remaining 6 chairs at the table spun around to reveal six more ponies, 3 mares, and 3 stallions. "Let us begin the negotiations, shall we?" Iron Fist said.
"First, we need to be sure that everypony who survived the crash is safe, are they?" Twilight asked. Iron Fist removed the cigar from his mouth and placed it into an ash tray on the table.
"I pulled 42 living ponies from the wreckage, and 2 dead ones, both were adult stallions wearing crew uniforms." Iron Fist said.
"Okay, three of my friends here.." Twilight began, motioning to Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, "..their sisters were on that ship, they would like to know if they're okay." Twilight said.
"What were their names?" Iron Fist asked.
"Applebloom, Sweetie Bell, and Scootaloo." Twilight said. Iron Fist then nodded to the stallion sitting at the far left side of the table, and he got up and left the room.
"They are all fine, but now, I want to know how much Celestia is willing to give us for their freedom." Iron Fist said as he leaned back in his chair. This made Rainbow Dash furious, and she flew to the front of the group.
"What! Why do we need to give you the bits? Why can't you just let them go? Their innocent in all this!" Rainbow Dash shouted. Iron Fist scoffed.
"They were the ones foolish enough to not heed the warning my soldiers gave them. I've even sent letters to Celestia in the past about Kashmir Valley's restricted airspace, but does she listen, no." Iron Fist said as he stood up from his chair. Twilight placed a hoof on Dash's shoulder and calmed her down.
"We've brought 1,000 bits with us. Celestia said this should be enough." Twilight said, nodding to Starlight, who levitated the bag over to the table and dropped it onto it.
Before Iron Fist could say anything, the door on the left side of the room opened, and the stallion from before entered, escorting a very scared looking Sweetie Bell.
"Rarity!" Sweetie Bell cried as she rushed to her sister and embraced her. Iron Fist then cleared his throat after looking at the bits on the table.
"I'm sorry, but this isn't enough." Iron Fist said coldly.
"What?!" The three older sisters of the group said, with Rarity holding her sister tightly.
"Why? What will be enough for you to let them go?" Applejack shouted angrily. Iron Fist then slammed his hoof onto the table.
"Because, one, this isn't enough to compensate for the damage that your country's stupid Zeppelin caused, and two, I've decided to go in a different direction with the help of you all." Iron Fist explained. Then, from the door behind the group, several guards entered the room.
"You see, me and Celestia have had a long, troubling history, and I've been trying to get her off my ass, and with the help of you all, I could send her a "better message"." Iron Fist said with a smirk. Twilight gulped
"I'll still take the bits though, thank you so much. Now, guards, DETAIN THEM!" Iron Fist commanded. And all Tartarus broke loose.
Twilight turned and saw the guards rush to her friends. She saw a net get tossed over Fluttershy, two guards pull Rarity and Sweetie Bell apart, one guard strike Starlight in the head with the stock of a gun, and other guards overpower the rest. Twilight then attempted to use a teleport spell to get them all out of there.
Her horn lit, and there was a flash, but when Twilight opened her eyes, her friends weren't there, and she wasn't even out of the building. She was in the middle of a hallway. On one end, the doors flew open, and a few guards entered the hallway and saw her.
"Hey, stop right there!" one of the guards shouted. Twilight wasted no time, and turned and ran down the hall, making several turns and passing by several rooms before getting to another pair of double doors.
She busted straight through the doors and found herself in some kind of bedroom, with a pair of double doors leading out to a balcony. Twilight immediately rushed for the balcony and leaped into the air to fly away. But she heard the guards behind her. She heard the guards shouting before shots began to be fired. Then she felt it.
She felt a sharp pain in her right wing, and a squirt of blood splashed onto her face and she screamed in pain. Then then began to plummet, she looked down and saw a river, and her vision began to fade as she fell farther and farther, until finally, she hit the water.
(Here's some music to set the tone.)
Twilight's vision continued to fade in and out as she kept trying to break the water's surface, as she continued to float down the river as the current pushed her.
She had a million thoughts running through her head, what happened? Where were her friends? Why did this happen? How did this happen? All these questions kept clouding her vision.
She kept struggling to keep herself afloat, gasping for air every time she broke the surface. The river turned red with blood from her bullet wound, and she felt herself drifting further and further downstream, and even further from consciousness.
She almost went completely out, until she felt something grab her and pull her ashore onto the riverbank. She felt hooves flip her onto her back and inspect her wing.
"Oh, you poor thing! Don't worry, I'll help you, just stay with me." The voice said. Twilight didn't recognize it, but it sounded like a mare. She then felt herself get picked up, and she lost consciousness.
The Valley
Written by CeasarTwain31
Author's Note
Yeah, if you couldn't see the Far Cry comparisons before, I'll bet you see em now. Anyway, Hope you enjoy! :)
The first thing Twilight felt as she slowly regained consciousness was the soreness. She felt it all over, in her legs, her wings, her head, everywhere. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, and she could make out a small fire burning in a stove in the corner, but not much else, as the room was drowned in shadows.
Twilight attempted to stir, but when she rolled, she suddenly felt the sharp pain in her right wing, and she let out a pained cry as she rolled back onto the bed, not moving to minimize the pain. She then heard the sound of hoofsteps approaching, followed by the door to the room opening.
From the door, stepped a light green Unicorn mare with a purple mane and tail. She was levitating a plate containing a flask and a bowl with silverware. She glanced over to the bed, and lit up with a smile upon noticing that Twilight was awake.
"Oh my goodness! You're awake!" the mare said excitedly as she brought the tray over to the bed. Twilight tried to sit up in the bed, but the mare stopped her.
"No. I'm sorry, but you need to rest a little longer, you've been out for three days, and that wing still needs some time. I patched it up as good as I can." the mare explained as she opened up the flask and offered Twilight some water. Twilight took a sip, hydrating her dry lips and throat. It felt so refreshing.
"Uh, what happened?" Twilight said in a hoarse voice. The mare then offered her a spoonful from the soup that was in the bowl.
"Me and my husband saw you floating down the river, we pulled you out, brought you back here, and bandaged up your wound as best as we could. We didn't find the bullet, it must've gone straight through." the mare explained as she fed Twilight the soup.
"Thank you, so much. What's your name?" Twilight asked.
"My name is Weeping Willow, and my husband is Blue Cross, and we know about your mission Miss Sparkle." Willow said, feeding Twilight another spoonful. Twilight slightly flinched upon hearing that this mare knew about her.
"How do you know my name?" Twilight asked.
"My husband and I are part of the Kashmir Militia, we've been trying to fight back against Iron Fist, and we intercepted a few radio signals from them about you and your friends from Equestria." Willow explained. This made Twilight jolt up and once again try to get out of the bed.
"My Friends! What happened to them? I need to help them!" Twilight shouted as she got out of the bed, only to fall on her face. Willow helped her up and got her back in the bed.
"Princess, please, you need to rest, or you won't be able to do anything. We can help you, but you need to help yourself first by resting." Willow said sternly. Twilight was about to argue, but decided against it, as her whole body still felt awful.
Twilight simply let herself get back into the bed, and Willow continued to feed and hydrate her. Eventually, Twilight felt herself falling asleep again after Willow gave her medicine for her wing.
Twilight opened her eyes once again, this time, not feeling as sore. She sat up in the bed and stretched her legs as she shook her messy mane out of her eyes. She now noticed that there was some sunlight shining through the window. Twilight carefully stood up from the bed, slightly wincing as she looked at her bandaged wing.
Twilight yawned as she opened the door to the bedroom she was in and walked down a short hallway before entering a large room that was half kitchen, half dining room. There were two ponies sitting at the table, one was Weeping Willow, the other was a white earth pony with a short, shaggy mane and tail.
"Oh, Twilight, your awake." Willow said as she stood up and guided Twilight over to a seat.
"I feel much better too." Twilight said as she sat down, "Thank you so much for your help." Twilight said.
"It is nice to finally meet you Princess, I'm Blue Cross, I'm a medic in the Kashmir Militia." the stallion said, introducing himself.
"Now that your awake, we can get down to business." Willow said as she went into the kitchen to retrieve some food.
"What business?" Twilight asked.
"Well, after we saved you from both the river and the massive OOTI patrol chasing you, we took you back here and started to monitor the Order's radio waves. We found information about a team from Equestria coming to negotiate for the hostages from that crashed Zeppelin, and we discovered who you and your friends were." Blue Cross explained.
"Yeah, me and my friends were meant to do this peacefully to avoid conflict, but it was all a setup and a trap." Twilight said, thinking back to the meeting and how her and her friends were attacked.
"High Caliber, the leader of the Militia says that he'll help you save your friends if you can help us." Willow said as she levitated a plate of sandwiches over to the table. Twilight nodded.
"I'll do anything to save my friends from that asshole, who is he anyway? I read up on Kashmir Valley before we came here, but I barley found anything on him apart from the Iron Order or whatever." Twilight asked. Willow and Cross gave eachother sad looks before Cross sighed.
"Iron Fist, and his group calling themselves, "The Order of the Iron", came here to the Valley around 20 years ago. When they came here, Kashmir Valley didn't really have any leaders or government, we all just lived here peacefully. We also didn't really think anything of the Order, but then they began to expand, and get stronger, until Iron Fist declared himself ruler of the valley. Ever since, the Militia has been fighting against his soldiers, but its been a stalemate in recent years." Cross explained.
"How come you haven't asked for help from Equestria?" Twilight asked.
"Nopony except Iron Fist and his inner circle can leave the valley without permission from them. They control the airspace here, which is why they shot down the Zeppelin. Several Pegasi have tried to escape the valley by flying out themselves, only to be shot down. The closest way to escape is to scale the mountains surrounding the valley, but even that's a long shot." Willow explained.
"We should focus on one thing at a time. When I get my friends back, then we can focus on getting out of the valley." Twilight said.
"Okay, Willow, get the map." Cross said. Willow nodded and turned to go back down the hallway.
"Where am I now?" Twilight asked as she glanced around the rustic little house.
"You're at my family's farm, it's been in my family for generations, now it's one of the Militia's camps, there are more of us outside. Willow's gonna get you the map of the valley, so we can form a plan to save your friends." Cross explained.
Twilight nodded as she looked around the house, noting the very old light fixtures flickering like they haven't been changed in ages. She then glanced over to a shelf adorned with photographs of several different ponies, some of which Twilight could recognize Blue Cross at various times in his life.
Willow then re-entered the room carrying a map, compass, and a pair of binoculars and placed them on the table before unrolling the map out on the table.
Twilight leaned over the map and began to study it. The valley itself was divided into 5 different environmental regions. To the north was the White Pine Forest, as written on the map. Blue Cross pointed his hoof to it.
"This is the White Pine Forest, it's a dense forest where there's a few scattered towns, as well as a few mines, and lumber mills. Blue Cross then shifted his hoof to the West, which was labeled Cattail Swamp. "This is the Cattail Swamp, it's where the Zebras in the valley live. They've been trying to hold their own against the OOTIS, but they haven't been doing well." Cross explained.
"What do you mean by OOTIS?" Twilight asked.
"Order Of The Iron abbreviated, that's what we call them in the resistance." Willow explained. Suddenly, before Blue Cross could continue explaining the map, there was a knock at the front door.
"Come in." Blue Cross shouted. The door then opened, revealing a tall, crimson colored earth pony stallion, wearing a cowboy hat and a patch over his right eye. The stallion closed the door behind him and walked over to Twilight.
"Are you Princess Twilight?" The stallion asked. Twilight nodded silently, a bit intimidated by this stallion. He then stretched out his hoof for her to shake and she shook it.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm High Caliber, the leader of the Kashmir Militia." he introduced himself before taking a seat across from Blue Cross.
"Your just in time, I was just showing Twilight the map." Blue Cross explained, he then pointed his hoof to the southern region. "This is the Tangerine Desert. Not much to see down there apart from a few towns, and where the central prison camp is, and where the OOTIS train all their soldiers." Cross explained before pointing to the east region.
"This is where we are right now, the Kashmir Plains, this is mostly flat, lots of farmland." Cross explained before shifting his hoof to the final area, the area directly in the center of the valley. "This is the Oasis, this is where Iron Fist's compound is. This is the last place to focus on, so we can only focus on the closer stuff." Cross explained. Twilight nodded, taking in the info as Cross folded up the map and gave it to her.
"So, do you know where my friends are?" Twilight asked.
"We've been monitoring the radio chatter throughout the valley, and we've found something out. It seems your friends have been separated and given to each of Iron Fist's lieutenants." High Caliber explained. Twilight then remembered the six other ponies that were at the negotiations.
"Are there six of them?" Twilight asked.
"Yep" Caliber nodded, "There are six in total, with them spread out and controlling each region, acting out Iron Fist's orders of course." Caliber explained.
"They're Iron Fist's most devoted followers, they're so devoted, that they let Iron Fist change their names to live out his power fantasy." Willow cut in.
"And each of them are holding my friends?" Twilight asked. High Caliber nodded.
"We haven't tracked them all, but we've tracked the ones being held in the east. Virgo, the one in charge of food for the OOTIS, controls the east, and he has your friend Applejack." Caliber explained.
"Virgo?" Twilight asked, raising her eyebrow.
"Iron Fist named his lieutenants after zodiac signs. We've got Virgo here in the east. Aquarius, the one in charge of the pegasi and the air of Kashmir Valley, controls the west. Gemini, the one in charge of manufacturing supplies such as weapons and vehicles, shares the north with Libra, the one in charge of recruitment and propaganda. And finally, Cancer, the one in charge of the prison camps, shares the south with Scorpio, the one who trains the OOTI soldiers." Caliber explained.
"It's all so much, I don't know where to start." Twilight said.
"For now, we start here in the plains. After we get the plains back from Virgo, we can branch out from there." Caliber explained
"Okay, where do we start here?" Twilight asked.
"We overheard on the radio that a convoy was delivering prisoners from the white Pine Forest to Tangerine Desert tonight, that's where we'll start." Blue Cross said.
Twilight nodded. "Okay, sounds like a plan."
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."
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Chapter 5: Sunny Grove Farm
"I think Weeping Willow is the best choice for the taking these farms, no offense Blue Cross." Twilight said, giving a sympathetic nod to Cross.
"None taken Twilight, just make sure you bring her back in one piece, okay." Blue Cross said as he hugged his wife.
"Oh, don't worry yourself Blue, I'll be fine." Willow said in response. Twilight took the knife, as well as the rifle and pistol she was given from yesterday, downed the rest of her coffee and wiped her lips with her hoof.
"Let's get started."
Twilight and Willow exited the main farmhouse and walked to the edge of the farm, where there was a small hill. Upon reaching the top, Willow pointed her hoof out towards the northwest.
"You see that farm over there, that's our first target." Willow said. Twilight squinted her eyes, and she could make out the farm in the distance. She could see a few buildings as well as several rows of tiny trees.
"What kind of farm is it?" Twilight asked.
"Sunny Grove Farm." Willow began, "They grow citrus fruits, oranges, lemons, limes, etc. It used to be run by decent folks until the OOTIs came." Willow said, her tone saddened as she finished.
"Alright then, are we walking there?" Twilight asked. Willow nodded.
"We should avoid the main roads for now, no doubt they've doubled the number of patrols after last night's attack on the convoy." Willow explained. Twilight nodded and the two began to walk.
They walked over several hills and through a few small fields, at one point hiding from a small patrol, until they reached the outskirts of the farm. Willow pointed out a good vantage point and the two walked to it. When they reached the vantage point, Willow handed Twilight a pair of binoculars.
"Scan the area, and find out what we're dealing with." Willow said. Twilight looked through the binoculars and surveyed the area.
The farm was fairly standard in layout, with a barn, main farmhouse, silo, and 2 extra houses, probably used as the slaves' quarters. Then there was the field of trees, with each row marked with a sign signaling the fruit in that grove. Twilight also scanned the field of slaves, seeing several, but no sign of anypony she knew.
She then began to count the number of guards, which was fairly easy, since the uniforms distinguished them so well. She spotted 6 wandering around the houses, and 4 patrolling the area around the groves. totaling only 10 guards. Twilight also noticed the tower by the barn that was glowing green.
"What's that tower for?" Twilight asked. Willow looked up from assembling her rifle.
"That's the alarm, if it's rung, any OOTI soldiers on standby will come to handle the situation." Willow explained.
"Any way to stop that from happening?" Twilight asked.
"Don't get caught. Or you could easily disable it, though it takes a few seconds, or you could just smash the thing, though that'd probably make some noise." Willow explained as she finished assembling her rifle by screwing on the silencer.
"Okay, I'm ready. Take this." Willow said as she gave Twilight a small white cord. "It's an earpiece. use it to tell me which guards to take out and I'll send em to tartarus." Willow said. Twilight nodded and put it in her ear before turning and heading down to the farm.
"Good luck." Twilight heard Willow say through her earpiece.
Twilight snuck along the edge of the farm, eventually finding herself on the far side of the farm by the slave houses. She crept through the bushes to avoid being seen when a guard walked around the corner of the house. Twilight noticed that no one could see him if he was taken out and whispered into her earpiece.
"Take this one, by the slave houses." Twilight whispered.
Twilight heard a small ping before she saw blood spurt from the guards head before falling to the ground.
"Got em." Willow said.
Twilight knew that she couldn't risk the other guards finding the body so she quickly used her magic to levitate the body into the bushes to hide it before moving on.
Twilight snuck quietly into one of the slave houses and froze. There was a guard standing in the room, listening to music through a radio, and bobbing his head to the beat. The room was filled with bunk beds, confirming this to be some kind of slave living quarters.
(Music he's listening to
Twilight looked at the windows and knew that Willow wouldn't be able to make a shot through them, so she needed to take this guard out herself.
Twilight silently crept up behind the guard as he sung along to the lyrics of the song, and quickly but quietly, took out the combat knife and covered the guards mouth before stabbing him in the back of the throat. He dropped quickly and quietly.
"That wasn't pleasant." Twilight thought as she moved to peek out the other door to the house.
Twilight looked outside and saw two guards standing in the middle area, between the slave houses and the main house and barn. One guard was standing in the door to the barn, with the other standing right by the door Twilight was peeking out of, thankfully looking away.
Twilight looked around from her position, seeing a guard on the house's front porch, looking in another direction, as well as 2 other guards walking away down the rows of trees. Twilight hatched a plan.
"Shoot the one in the barn, now." Twilight said softly to Willow. Willow listened and Twilight saw the guard in the barn get shot. Before the guard in front of her could react, Twilight quickly stabbed him in the neck and dragged his body into the house by the other guard's body.
After hiding the body, Twilight opened the door, she could see the guard on the porch still in the same place. Twilight checked to see if anymore guards were near, and didn't see any, so she quickly and quietly snuck out of the house and started to move towards the barn where the alarm was. As Twilight approached the alarm, Willow spoke.
"The guard on the porch is starting to move toward you, I'll take care of em." Willow said. Twilight looked over and saw the guard walk around the corner of the farmhouse. The guard saw Twilight for a split second before being shot.
However, as Twilight was distracted by that guard, she heard a voice behind her.
"Hey!" the voice shouted. Twilight turned around and saw a Guard coming out of the barn, he rose his rifle to shoot her, when he was shot by Willow.
"Break the alarm, now!" Willow shouted into Twilight's ear. Twilight listened and took out her rifle and used it to smash the alarm by the barn. After taking care of the alarm, Twilight turned towards the fields where the remaining guards were emerging from.
Twilight quickly aimed her rifle and quickly shot 2 guards, killing them quickly. Another guard was shot by Willow, leaving only one more guard. Twilight quickly ducked into the barn to reload, when she heard the guard get shot with an automatic rifle, rather than Willow. Twilight poked her head out of the barn and saw a few of the slave ponies looting the weapons off the dead guards.
"Are you with the Militia?" one of the slaves asked. Twilight holstered her rifle and nodded.
"Thank you, so much." the now freed earth pony said. Twilight then saw Willow running over to her.
"I just radioed in, the Militia is coming to take over this farm." Willow explained. Sure enough, after just a few minutes, 3 trucks full of Militia soldiers pulled up and began to get to work. Removing the bodies, cleaning the workers quarters and removing all the Order's symbols.
Twilight and Willow assisted with the cleanup and after a few hours, Sunny Grove Farm looked much better, very reminiscent of Sweet Apple Acres to Twilight. Twilight then heard another voice on the channel in her earpiece.
"Well done Twilight, I just got word that you took back Sunny Grove. Pretty soon, we'll take back the rest of the valley from Virgo, and we'll free your friends as well. You and Willow make a great team. Keep up the good work." High Caliber said.
"Thanks Caliber, happy to help." Twilight said.
After the check in from High Caliber, Twilight walked over to Willow, who was helping remove the clutter from the farmhouse.
"What's next?" Twilight asked. Willow wiped her hooves and stood up.
"Now, we go and liberate one of the other farms, there's 3 more left to go after, then we'll be able to take out Virgo at her farm." Willow explained as Twilight took out her map. They both glanced at the map, with Twilight crossing off Sunny Grove on the north part of the plains. Twilight pointed her hoof to the farm at the western most part of the plains.
"Let's go for this one next." Twilight suggested. Willow nodded.
"That's the breadbasket, where the wheat of the valley is grown." Willow explained.
Twilight nodded and the two set off for the next farm, once again, on hoof to avoid the roads. But during their walk, a voice came through Twilight's earpiece, one she didn't recognize, a female voice.
"Princess, I know you can hear this, so listen. Leave my farms alone, you don't want to make me angry." The voice said menacingly. Willow turned to Twilight with a face of fear, having heard the voice.
"Who was that?" Twilight asked.
"Virgo." Willow simply replied.
