Sunset

Goldenrod opened her foggy eyes to find herself lying on a cot. The golden pony instantly recognized were she was. She was in the makeshift surgical ward for the war, a canvas tent full of whatever supplies they got. It was large and busy after the last battle, even know many ponies were filtering out after getting fixed up.

Goldenrod then remembered what happened to her, and looked down at herself. She had a large bandage around her waist, and a few drains put in place. She summoned a nurse and asked what happened.

“Well, we won the battle today, and well…” The nurse trailed off and looked away.

“What? What's wrong?” Goldenrod asked, angrily.

“It took a bit... but we were able to heal most of your internal organs…it was pretty easy, we did have to redo some of your intestinal tract... but… you might have to get more surgery in a better hospital. You gut was torn up. You are missing a bit of your intestines, a kidney, and your reproductive organs” The nurse looked at Goldenrod sadly, and shook her head, “We couldn’t fix much. There wasn’t much left.” Goldenrods jaw dropped open, but then she closed it.

“Never mind that. I have a job to do. I am a soldier, and my job is out on the battlefield. And I want this war to end so I can get back home to Brownie. So how long until I am healed?” Goldenrod asked, her eyes full of fire.

“With the spell the surgeon used, a little less than an hour.Also, the general told me to tell everypony in here that we’re moving out soon. Some of the scouts intercepted a message from one squadron of King Sombra’s army to another, telling of an attack they are planning on Ponyville.” The nurse said, giving Goldenrod a needle filled with a pain reliever. Goldenrod injected it into her side, then stood up quickly, and grimaced in pain.

“That's were Brownie Button lives!” Goldenrod said, trying really hard to stand up straight through the pain.

“Who is Brownie Button?” The nurse asked, bracing Goldenrod as she started to walk out of the tent.

“My husband!” She said frantically, “We need to move out soon! King Sombra’s army is fast! They’ll get there before we can even…” Goldenrod collapsed on the ground, holding her side.

“Are you alright Mrs. Goldenrod?” The nurse said, helping Goldenrod up.

“Damn it hurts… but the meds will kick in soon.” She said trotting up slowly to a pony holding her standard military saddlebags. She put them on her, sucked in her breath, and trotted to a creek nearby after shooing away the nurse to go help out another pony.

Goldenrod dipped her face into the water, clearing off all the dirt and sweat on her face from the last battle. It felt nice and refreshing. Unlike the war that was going on at the time. Goldenrod looked up at the sky and saw how dark it was still. There was no light from the sky, and the princesses were still in a coma, not able to be woken up. The black rocky substance on their horns was growing all around their bodies, encapsulating them. The doctors caring for the princesses said their vital signs were going down slowly, and they couldn’t find a way to stop it.

Goldenrod looked off into the sky, wishing that something could happen, that maybe this war could end and the light could come. But right now, there was no princesses, and no Mane 6. Everything seemed to be going wrong, and Goldenrod wished something could go right for once.

Goldenrod took off the bandage around her waist, grimaced at the awful wound that was sewn up, and bathed for a little bit. It felt good, and she soon trotted out of the creek, dried off, put on her saddlebags, and met up with the rest of her battalion.

“So, are we going to Ponyville?” Goldenrod asked, nervous and a bit excited to see her home and her husband. The other soldiers nodded their heads.

“Yup. and according to the scout's calculations, if we get there by two thirty pm, we will intercept King Sombra’s army before they get to Ponyville.” a peppy private said with a smile on her face.

“We thought you died Goldie.” another pony said, punching Goldenrods shoulder. She laughed, and punched him back.

“Well I’m glad I’m alive, that’s for sure.”

“We are too. You are a pretty good soldier.”

Goldenrod nodded happily and started to trot with the rest of the group as they moved on to the next destination.

In front of the leaders generals, then there was the infantry, and behind was the ponies hauling the equipment like large guns and tents. The medical teams were scattered about in the march. It wasn’t really like moving to a new destination, it was more like moving to a new battlefield. There were still ponies at the camp to defend and help other ponies heal up.

“I just heard that they sent a few scouts ahead to warn Ponyville about King Sombra’s army, so they could get to safety and get armed.” A private said from in front of Goldenrod.

Goldenrod smiled, knowing that the love of her life and her town was going to be safe. The golden pony looked above the march to see Wonderbolts streak through the sky silently, ready for battle. She spotted Paris, her sister alongside her pet flying hamster who was wearing a similar Wonderbolt outfit as Paris and the rest of the Wonderbolts. Goldenrod smiled at her sister, who smiled back.

The whole day seemed to go from awful to good, and Goldenrod found herself in a good mood as they trotted to Ponyville.

That was until they got to Ponyville.

That is, what was left of Ponyville.