Renaissance

Act I: Terminus ut Exordium
Chapter II: Young Mares Dead

Fleur couldn't help but grumble under her breath as she laid eyes upon her destination. There was still one Lunar guard keeping watch over the prisoners. She wasn't expecting them to play it safe with a charge from the Solar Empire baring down on them. She was hoping every last one of them would have went to the front lines to fight, making her job at least two times easier. But it didn't matter. ...She had a few tricks up her sleeve.

The guard looked confused as she walked up to him, swaying her hips and sashaying her tail left and right in the opposite directions of her hips' movements. He spoke up as she got four feet away. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you out on the front lines, soldier? We need every mare and stallion possible to be out there defending this town!" It was easy to tell he was obviously rather passionate about his status as a guard and a soldier.

Fleur smirked. "A mare as pretty as me getting covered in more blood than she needs to be? Don't you think that's a bit unfair~?" She walked a couple feet closer, leaning forward a little to allow him to see her cleavage better. "I'm supposed to take your place, they want you out there. So, why don't you go fight for our cause, and when you get back, we'll have some fun~?" She stepped forward once more, groping his crotch, which was only covered by leather.

The guard blushed a deep shade of crimson, his wings popping out at Fleur's advances. "O-Oh boy!" He clears his throat. "I'll be back as soon as possible, beautiful!" He knelt down before jumping and flapping his wings hard, shooting into the air before beginning to fly towards the battlefield. "FOR THE LUNAR EMPIRE!" His halberd was at the ready as he took off, ready to make airstrikes like he'd just been waiting for the chance.

Fleur couldn't help but chuckle. Too easy. She quickly made her way over to the Solar prisoners, some in cages and others tied up on the ground. She pulled out her glaive and cut the ones on the ground free first. "Go, go! God Empress Daybreaker is unleashing a full scale charge against the Lunar troops here, it's only a matter of time before they fall back, you need to be out of town before then!"

The prisoners were confused at first, seeing the colours Fleur was wearing, but nodded shortly after she called Daybreaker by her proper title. Only a member of the Solar Empire would call her by that, and that earned their trust. Her horn glowed as she imbued her glaive with fire, the edges of it's blades heating up as the prisoners that were on the ground began to make their escape.

With precise strikes she was able to get the locks off of the cages one by one, most of the prisoners catching on quick and making a run for it as soon as their cages were open. All except one mare who was having trouble standing, her right leg and stomach in makeshift bandages made from torn cloth. She looked up at Fleur with golden orange eyes that complimented her blue fur, letting out a small laugh before having to cough. She cleared her throat of the blood. "L-Long time no see, Miss Lis..."

"Sassy...! W-What did they do to you?!" Fleur dropped her glaive by her side as she knelt before her fellow fashionista, the flames and heat on it's blades dissipating with the glow of her horn doing the same. The ex-model's breath became shaky as she looked upon her friend's wounded form. Fleur moved next to Sassy, helping the mare lift her right arm over her shoulders, hooking her other arm around Sassy's back and under her left arm, before using her magic to bring her glaive to her own right hand.

As Fleur lifted her up, Sassy chuckled weakly. "I was... sent to make sure the sets of armor for the Solar Empire's troops were in perfect order... and to take down notes on how to improve them if they weren't... And then the Lunar soldiers ambushed my caravan, I-I... God Empress Daybreaker is going to think I'm a failure, she'll have me fired and punished, or worse!" She coughed again, a little of her blood getting on the chainmail over Fleur's left forearm.

Fleur could only give the boutique manager turned partial armorsmith a look of worry. "Shh... Just relax Sassy, let me be your right leg, ...and the blade that protects you tonight." She didn't mean for that to sound charming, but Sassy blushed deep scarlet none the less, remaining silent. "Let's get you somewhere safe, and on an airship back home..." Fleur was glad she took the time to remember the layout of the town, knowing just what roads would make for the fastest way out, trying to comfort Sassy along the way with gentle but concerned smiles.

She looked off towards the battle, thinking about the prisoners she'd just saved, hoping they would take better care of their lives, having been given a second chance. Every day ponies were wounded and killed on the front lines of the battles that the Equestrian Civil War had brought to the land. Some of them were only at the beginning of adulthood, having been conscripted right when they became of age.

Young mares and stallions laid dead after every battle, their futures ripped from them like bark from a tree. The trenches and no mare's lands sang silent songs of sorrow for the innocent lives taken by the war. But she knew why they fought. She understood all too well why they fought, believing that peace could only be obtained by following their cause to the end, despite how bitter they knew the end would be. They were fighting to protect their old lives. To protect and the lands they called home and the ponies that were their friends and family.

Fleur looked ahead as they passed behind a small building, feeling both grief and dread in equal measure. And yet she couldn't shake the solemn hymn that she felt in that moment, letting it out in spoken word. "Run for the hills, pick up your feet and let's go... We did our jobs, pick up speed now let's move..." She swallowed hard and grit her teeth a little. She wanted it all to end, the separation, the spilling of blood, the withering away of the lands and buildings of Equestria.

Sassy spoke softly, but Fleur listened close. "...I remember that song. Wasn't it... inspired by the war with the Changeling Nation? Wasn't the next line..." She took a slow but deep breath, letting it out shakily. "Hold on tight, yes, hold on tight, you're too slow..." She coughed again, furrowing her brow and looking sad upon seeing she got more of her blood on Fleur's armor. "I guess I'm the one who's too slow now..."

Fleur sighed. "Sassy, don't demean yourself. It wasn't your fault, none of it was. You were doing your job, it's the Lunar Empire that ruined it, ...and did a number on you." She furrowed her own brow. "I'm here for you Sassy, please, just relax. I'm getting you out of here, even if I have to walk through Tartarus to do it." She looked adamant, looking ahead with an intense expression that showed Sassy the fire in the former model's eyes, and the boutique manager nodded gently, remaining quiet once again.

Fleur could only hear the solemn hymn from a past war, feeling like it still rang true for the one they were currently in. "And you were wrong by the way... that wasn't the next line. That's the one after..." She took another deep breath.

"The trees can't grow without the sun in their eyes... and we can't live if we're too afraid to die..."