Dear Princess Celestia, From: The Battlefield

Chapters

From Rarity: To Princess Celestia
Rainbow Dash
Fluttershy
Pinkie Pie
Twilight
Applejack

From Rarity: To Princess Celestia

Dear Princess Celestia;

It's me, Rarity. This will be my final message to you from the battlefield. Commander Shining Armour is all worked up about the changelings ambushing our mail-ponies and the supply lines, and somehow getting info which could somehow lead to our untimely downfall...

Princess, it's been 8 months since we were drafted to this god forsaken war. I'm under a lot of emotional stress, so please bear with me... I still remember my first kill as a sniper. My target was a small looking changeling. He looked like me; scared. He had stretch lines all across his temple. He was crying an immense amount of tears. His face was dirtied with a crude mixture of sweat, tears, blood, and his own vomit. Shining Armour came up to me and screamed to me "TAKE THE GOD DAMN SHOT!" I don't know how I made the shot, but it hit. I was terrified, mortified. My face was muddied with tears and dirt. I couldn't even think straight, so how I made that shot is a mystery. Maybe Shining adjusted my hand, I don't know. I don't know any more. since then i have made more than 90 kills, almost 100. 90 changeling's who died under my bullet. 90 changeling's who's life i held in my hands. 90 changeling's who's lives I threw away, who's families will cry unending rivers for.

Princess, what should I do? I can't keep this up any more. So much violence... so much pain... so much death. It reeks of scorched flesh. We fired White Phosphorus at the enemy once. They burned alive, as they struggled to get the flames off them. It's ironic. We now dine, sleep, and live among their ashes, and burned corpses. The first day we came here, I found two still alive, and in pain. They were my fiftieth and fifty-first kills. I once stepped in a strange liquid while on my way to my sniping post. I later found out i stepped onto the liquid remains of a changeling. I was in a state of shock. It was because of us that these changeling's are like this. What happened to Equestria Princess? What happened to the love we all had for each other? What happened to the hand in hand attitude we all had? Why are we like this? Blowing changelings up and burning them... Why can't we try a diplomatic approach? Why does it have to be this way?

Some ponies come up to me and ask me "How are you Rarity?" I always reply that I'm fine and I can't wait to go back on the battlefield. I can't take it in any more. I'm cold. My mind is cloudy. My eyes are blood-shot. I'm sore. I'm depressed. I miss home. I miss everypony. I would rather die than me here. I hate myself. I am in denial of who I am. I am in constant fear. I am a mess. I am a shadow of the pony who used to be "the belle of the ball" or "the star of the show." I am just a soldier. A mindless tool. All the happiness in the world is gone. Everypony is changing.

Rainbow enjoys the killing. She doesn't have any regrets or hesitations when she bombs our enemies. I don't know how to respond when she asks me "DID YOU SEE THAT GUY??? I TOTALLY BLEW HIM APART! IT WAS SO AWESOME!!!" Will I turn into her? Will I scream "YES!!!" when I snipe a changeling's head off and see it ripped to pieces?

Pinkie is the same. As our trigger friendly pryo, she's the first into the battlefield. I hear her screaming above the sobs and cries of pain as she blows fire on her already dying enemies. I have seen her crush a changeling's head while he was crying and burning. Pinkie... our Pinkie... is this really Pinkie? Or... is Pinkie a full time Pinkamena... So many questions.

Applejack is no different from both of them. She commands her small army of mortars and artillery ponies. She gets annoyed when she misses the biggest group of changeling's, and laughs like a deranged maniac when she hits them. What will happen when she goes back home? What will her family say? How will she react? Is she Applejack anymore?

I know deep in my heart what they are.
Murderers.
I can't seem to find it within myself to call them that though.

Oh my Fluttershy. I am horrified by the things you see every day. Fluttershy is our medic. I have been in the medical room, and it is a disaster. Not the room itself, but the patients. I vomited one time just by the scent of the wounds on some of the ponies. Poor Fluttershy... so innocent. She isn't used to all this. The cries I hear at night, followed by her sweet voice, like a beautiful melody playing, trying to calm the patients down. She isn't like the others. I hope she bears with us. I don't want her to change to something else, though I fear she is scarred forever. Sweet Celestia, please tell me there is a spell that can help us forget all of this.

Twilight. She's also like Fluttershy. I see her at night, writing to herself, or writing to you. She will be devastated when she discovers that her brother cut the mail line to you. She has to sing to herself at night just to sleep at night. I wonder how she feels, every night, knowing she is away from home, to see the destruction caused by ponies. I can hear her weeping at night. it sometimes makes me break down and cry quietly to myself. Sometimes I hear her crying, and feel like visiting, but I don't. I'm in fear of being rejected. I fear that she will shoo me away, or feel embarrassed.

The line has been drawn with my friends. Those who kept their old self and those who have changed.
I have yet to decide which side of the line I fit in.

I just want this bloody war to end! I just want to go home and make dresses with Sweetie Belle. Is she alright princess? Please send someone over to check on her from time to time. Princess... i have a secret I wish to tell you. No matter how calm I may look when I make a kill, no matter how many times I say "its a war. Ponies die." I'm afraid of dying. I don't want to die here. I just want to go back home. I miss my parents, I miss Sweetie Belle. I miss the small things too... I miss the time I knew I wouldn't wake up to a raid, and the times I didn't need to worry about being shot in the back of the head on my way back. I miss going to sleep knowing I will wake up. I miss the sweet smell of Mr and Mrs Cake's workshop of heavenly delights and divine creations.

I can't think any more. I feel like im not a pony any more. Am I a heartless warrior, who looks in the eyes of her enemy, without a thought, or a soul, and does not hesitate when she pulls the trigger? Am I a mindless drone, who carries out her orders simply because she was given them? Or... am I a monster, who enjoys the fear in the eyes of her foe, who doesn't see her coming? Who doesn't hesitate the shot, and loves the sound of the lifeless body of her enemy slump to the ground like a dropped rag doll? Any way... I must get back. we are pushing forward. Please give Ponyville my kindest regards, and tell Sweetie to be strong. Tell her I love her, and big sister will be home soon. I just wish that last sentence was true. I will be here a bit longer than I expected.

-From Equestria's very own,
SGT "BULLSYE" Rarity.

Rainbow Dash

Dear Princess Celestia;

Rainbow here! Or, as they like to call me here, Seargent Rainbow "Longbow" Dash!!!! No, no please... hold the applause. Yes it really is I, the "Longbow" of the Elite Cloudsdale Sky Brigade -well my letter anyway-. I still can't believe its only been eight months since we first arrived here. I had to unfortunately turn down the invitation to join the Wonderbolts, in order to get into the Sky brigade.

Personally, I think we should call ourselves the Rainbow Crusaders. It would totally strike fear in the hearts of our enemies, and make us about.... twenty percent cooler. Sadly, our commander thought it was a ridiculous idea. I told him that was a load of changeling dung. I'm ALWAYS the first one in, and the last one out. He should have a bit more respect for a mare of MY status. They don't just give anyone in the army an awesome name like "Longbow" do they? Okay, okay. I know you are just dying to hear the story on how I gained the fitting name of "Longbow."

You see it was 2 months into our deployment, and we were totally caught off guard by the enemy night attack. So anyway, there was screaming and yelling and stuff, and it was incredibly hard to see. What did I do? I took out my night-vision goggles, - which i may or may not have taken from the spec-ops armoury- a bow, a quiver of explosive bows and arrows, and one of those bombs of "canned heat" and took to the darkness of the sky. It was a foggy night, as usual. The changelings were used to it but it seemed to decrease the morale of our ponies.

As I did my initial recon of the area, I spotted 2 changeling tanks closing in on our second trench line. Since the tanks were very close to each other, I dropped the bomb of "canned heat" and simply watched the cogs and bodies fly. Boy did they fly! Though that was pretty impressive, that's not the reason I got my name. As I was busy celebrating, I didn't notice the tank converging directly towards commander Shining Armour's tent of operations. The huge thing was tearing ponies apart, literally. I then knew in my head, I had to act fast in order to save Shining's life. I spotted 2 fuel tanks at the very back of the tanks, exposed. I flew around the tank at high speed, took out my bow and a single arrow. My aim was as deadly as my name. I lined up the shot perfectly, and let go. I saw things in slow motion. So many things were happening at once, but somehow I managed to focus on my arrow. It flew as fast as I did, hitting the fuel tank. The explosion was one that was hard to describe, and had to be seen to fully take in what happened. Pieces of the ruined tank, littered the ground, as well as some of the bodies of the changeling drivers. I heard my name chanted throughout the trenches. "RAINBOW! RAINBOW! RAINBOW!" Of course being me I had to take a bow. Can't let your audience down can you? I blew a kiss to the Commander, as I slowly made my decent. From that day forth, I was known as "Longbow." What can I say? I'm a war hero, but really, it was no sweat.

In case the other girls don't write to you, I'll give you a heads up on what's happening.

Applejack tells me she misses home. Who doesn't? Even if it is a war, and it is totally fun blowing stuff up, we all do want to come back home. She's always up late with her mortar pals, getting drunk on how they "totally bombed those changelings," or how they "totally saved that guy's ass." To be perfectly honest, it sounds like me, only one of us is totally cooler -its me hint, hint!- From what i hear, she is becoming quite the strong-mare. She weight lifts from five in the morning, till we all get roll called at eight. She even continues lifting and pushing herself in the gym till we get called for a mission. She is a fighter that one, but lacks the twenty percent of coolness that I have. Though I admit, -though so unlike me- that I could only push myself to the maximum of two hours. I would collapse after that.

Pinkie is totally insane. You know that saying about not playing with fire? Because she is the pyro expert, that's exactly what she does. She almost burned down the commanders tent down TWICE, almost set off a trench full of explosives, and was a hoof-step away from blowing our armoury and munitions cache to the moon. Long story short, she is a time bomb which is set to explode at any given moment. To be quite honest, I don't like this Pinkie. I miss our old cake guarding, balloon-in-a-boxing Pinkie. She cackles like a witch when she makes a kill. It scares the whole lot of us. I hope that this is only a battle attitude. If we bring her to Ponyville, one can only imagine the damage that she will do.

Rarity is totally hiding something from us. She always tells us it's nothing when any of us ask her, but her eyes shy away to look up to the sky or to the ground. She definitely has a lot on her mind, I can understand that, but I wish she would at least let us help her. I can't help but wonder what she thinks about every night. I hear her talking to herself at night. I've actually never seen her like this, ever. Y'know what, I'm getting to the bottom of that... one of these days.

Fluttershy... oh sweet Celestia... She must be horrified, poor mare. She works in the medical station if you didn't know. I can't even imagine the horrors she has to face each day. Sure I have had my visits and check-ups there, but there is a critical room where only she and some choice doctors and nurses can be. I wonder what's in there. At night you can hear her comforting the patients, telling them to calm down as they scream like banshees. Her voice is amazing. It's like a singing angel. As far as I know, she's the only pony that can do that, who can make patients calm just by the sound of her voice. I will be honest, It's the only reason some ponies -such as myself- can go to sleep at night. I personally think it would be awesome to have a permanent scar on me, but I doubt anyone can shoot this speeding wing warrior!

Twilight is totally, totally, TOTALLY, stressed. I'm sorry to say but that mare is a total disaster. It will be a miracle if she ~~survi~~- I mean... just... don't... never mind. I think she is depressed. It's like the magic inside her somehow died. I hear her quiet sobs in the night. I don't cry very often -just the odd bit of sand in my eye,- but it makes me a bit depressed too. Maybe I'll check on her. Maybe all she really needs is nice company with somepony else. Maybe I'll visit her next time I hear her crying. I hope my egghead isn't too depressed.

Well, I guess that's all I have to say right now. Say princess, have you ever been in a war as a soldier? Was it cool? Was it fun? Was it depressing? Sorry, sorry, I'm ranting on again aren't I. Alright, I gotta go. Maybe I'll join Applejack for a nice cold sarsaparilla. STAY AWESOME!!!!

-SGT Rainbow "LONGBOW" Dash

PS: Take after Tank for me please! DASHIE WILL BE BACK HOME TANK!!!! I would ask you to keep in touch, but you're a turtle.

Fluttershy

Dear Princess Celestia: It's Fluttershy. They call me Hospital Corpsman "SAWBONES" Fluttershy, but you know... whatever you want to do is fine. If you are wondering, I'm fine. I'm doing...fine... What am I saying? I'm not fine, I'm not fine at all. Even though I should feel very happy, I feel horrible. I'm one of the leading doctors here, and I am very good at what I do. Why am I not happy? It's simple really, I'm sad. I'm horrified, I'm depressed, I'm scared. Let me cover all of that now.

I'm horrified. The thing's I have seen... It makes me want to cry. Because I work in the infirmary, I care for a lot of ponies. I used to get simple gunshot wounds, and small injuries but.... now all I see are dismembered ponies. I don't just mean hooves and tails, but now i see things like dismembered hooves, eyes missing from their sockets. One times, they brought half a pony in. He was still alive too. Luna knows how he survived. He was half awake, and half alive. It horrifies me and I can't go to sleep at night. I have to take sleep medication just to get my eyes to close. I have nightmares too, scary ones.What terrifies me the most is that I can remember every single detail. Scientists say you can't remember dreams and nightmares, but my nightmares are so dug in that i sometimes believe they are memories. If you don't want to read this then that is fine. Whatever you want to do is fine...

I was on the floor of a long hallway. There were three rooms on both sides of the room. It wasn't the type of dream where the hall starts moving away from you. Anyway, I figured the only way to get out of the dream was to find out what was in each of the doors. I opened the first door to my left. I saw Twilight, in a classroom in Canterlot. She was studying as usual, not that that's a bad thing. She was a filly, still learning the basics of magic. I then saw the "screen" if you will, fade. Another scene came to play. This time, i saw Twilight rushing towards Nightmare Moon, and saw us use the Elements of Harmony to defeat her. Another scene change. It showed her what i believe to have been after this war. It seemed like we had won but.... Twilight was different. The spark in her eye, the magic within her seemed to have faded. She looked faintly grey. Another scene change. Twilight was married with a stallion of who's name i do not know. Yet another scene change. Twilight had a foal with the stallion, the sparkle in her eye replenished and rejuvenated. And yet again, another scene change. Twilight was at home watching her full grown mare leave for another war. The scene changed, and twilight was reading a letter, stating her little foal was killed in action while buying time for her squad. The whole screen faded to black. I walked out the door, horrified. What I saw next made me fill with complete, utter fear.

As i walked out, i saw a frame beside the door. In the frame there was a picture. In that picture was Twilight, a rope on her neck, hung to a ceiling fan. She was dead. In her hooves were two pictures. One picture, was a hand drawn picture of her foal and herself, drawn by her foal when she was young. In her other hoof was a picture of her whole family, taken days before her foal was shipped off to fight the unknown enemy. I instantly ran towards the door at the end of the hallway, eager to get out. Thank Luna i did. Every night i had the same dream, each with a different pony, each with a different friend. What's worse was what was behind that door at the end of the hall after i viewed all the misfortunes of each of my friends. I can't talk about it.... it brings back too much pain. I used to be able to sleep at night, even if the horrors i see kept me up. After that nightmare, I couldn't even sleep 2 hours without waking up. I even used the pills and could only pull an extra hour or so of sleep. Due to both the nightmare, and the things i see each day, I have become reliant on the sleep medication. If i don't take them every single night, then i get hallucinations. Eyes in the dark, sometimes I imagine the other nurses and doctors as horrible beings. Their skin falling off, and flesh becoming liquid. I can't say any more....

I'm depressed. I doubt it's because of the painkillers. I think that i just wasn't ready, just wasn't prepared. How can you prepare yourself from the amount of pain you have to see ponies go through? How many ponies rely on you to get better? How do you cope with the pain and guilt of knowing you let some of the same ponies down? To see their eyes stay open,, as they slip to the unexplored, unknown void we know as death? I have to live with the guilt that i let many of my patients die. DIE. My heart is breaking. So many families, who looked to me to heal their mares and stallions, who once looked at me with hope.... Now they will look at me with hate, rage, sorrow, and grief. How will I ever recover?

I am scared. I may have healed a lot of patients, but there will always be one patient I doubt I can heal; me. I will never be able to forget these memories. I will carry them forever. The screams at night, the sobs of patients, the scribbling of the last letter of a dying patient to his family. I'm scared for the well being's of my friends. They all seem to be changing, not for the better. I'm not only scared for them, but for myself. I'm scared for my life. So many what if's clutter my brain... Oh princess i don't know anymore. What if they attack us and break our lines? What will become of my friends? What will become of me? I don't want to die... I don't want to die.... I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!!!! I'm sorry princess.... but i hope the message is as clear as day. I simply don't want to die.

I'm sad. Ponies are changing. I don't just mean any ponies, but i mean my friends, your elements of harmony. It's like the magic inside them died. Let me cover what i know about their changes. I don't get to leave the infirmary, so I only know so much.

Applejack is very scary. She almost got blown to bits last time she was in the infirmary. She gets hit a lot and is here regularly. she has been in the infirmary about fifty to seventy times. Don't ask me how a mortar mare gets hit fifty to seventy times, cause it just happened. So here's a story about how she almost got blown to bits. She was doing her normal duty as a mortar mare, raining hell on our enemies. As she was firing, a shell exploded only FIVE METERS From her, sending shrapnel into her pony. I saw her that afternoon, with more than fifteen pieces of shrapnel littering her pony. Miraculously she didn't have shrapnel anywhere vital. She is a very lucky pony. She simply said after I asked if she was OK that it was nothing. Just another day in the life of a soldier. She has a few permanent scars, but is otherwise alright physically. Through my first scans of how she acts, she seems to be clouded mentally. Probably all the drinking she does.

Rarity comes in every once in awhile, to come talk to me and give me a bit of company. She hasn't been injured ever. She's one of the lucky ones who gets to be a sniper. I rarely get snipers come in, and its usually just something minor like a broken bone. Physically she is in a good condition. I seriously doubt I could say the same about her mental condition. Distress if visible on her face. Stretch lines, streaks on her forehead... Small stretch lines but its still a sign. She usually talks about home and how she misses Sweetie Belle. Sometimes I think of all the ponies and animals we left in your care. Angel, tank, Sweetie... How are they? Ooh getting off track. Anyway, Rarity doesn't like when i ask her if anything is wrong so i can't say much about her.

Pinkie has definitely changed the most. Pinkie went from being the insane, harmless, party with balloons pony to an insane, unstable, play with fire pony. The mare is unstable. She has been in our infirmary more than a hundred times. Eighty percent of the time the wounds are caused by her lack of judgement. When she is in the infirmary, she hurries me up so she can burn some more changelings. Physically Pinkie needs frequent medical checks, and mentally she is insane.

Twilight was in the infirmary three times. Don't worry princess I took good care of her. She suffered very minor wounds, though nothing vital was damaged. Out of all of us she seems to be the most distressed. She once told me the only thing that would get her to sleep at night was quote: "your angelic, healing voice when you calm down the patients." After hearing that, I make sure to take a bit more time to calm down the patients for her sake. Sometimes i sing too. I can't say much about her, but stretch lines and blood shot eyes read distress and lack of sleep. Physically, she needs more sleep, and needs to strop stressing out. Mentally, she is depressed.

Rainbow has tons of charisma and charm, which of course feeds her huge ego. She once saved our commander sure, but its not an excuse to blindly charge in and get shot a billion times. I had to patch her up 10 times in a week once. She has a couple scars, though none permanent. She is in great condition otherwise. Her body was made to take damage. It's probably because of all the crashing she does. She loves flying laps around the perimeter of the base. She complimented my voice too, but doesn't really talk too much about anything else. She has abs too, which scare some of the privates. Actually... they don't look that bad... They feel nice and strong... Oh... I mean like... I don't like her... I mean I do but as a friend.... OKAY OKAY OFF TOPIC!!!! Uh... lets wrap this up quickly. She has a one track mind, and is very egotistical, but physically in good shape.

Well, that's all I have to say princess. I miss you. Please tell all the ponies and all the animals we left in your care that Fluttershy loves them and will be back soon.

Lots of love,

Hospital Corpsman "SAWBONES" Fluttershy.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Authors note:

I purposely was vague about Fluttershy's dreams for a reason

I might be making another series just for that.

An idea that came to my head :)

Hope you enjoyed!

AND VOTE CABOOSE FOR PRESIDENT!!!!

-Cabooseforpresident.

Pinkie Pie

Dear Princess Celestia, PINKIE PIE HERE!!!! I'm known here as Private First Class Pinkie "MATCH" Pie!!! I doubt I'm the only one thinking this but, let me be he first to say that this war is SUPERY DOOPERY FUN!!!! I have never had so much fun in my life!!!! I think my friends totally hate this war but i personally love it. I know many would disagree, but I simply love all the shiny medals you get for doing simple things like killing changelings. It's tons of fun earning them too! You have so many ways and tools and weapons to use to complete this task. Want me to tell you some? HUH??? HUH?? HUH??? Of COURSE you do!!!! Everypony loves when Pinkie talks!

Okay so anyway, our armory is huge. Since I'm a pyro, i can only use things that shoot out fire. I don't let it stop me from "borrowing" some other cool things that go bang bang. My personal favorite toy is Fwoosh. The commanders call it a flamethrower , but I prefer Fwoosh because that's the sound it makes when you press the trigger. I absolutely love it when the changelings scream. It sounds kinda like this: EEYAAAOOOOH!! Or something like that. It makes me laugh so much! It just sounds so stupid and funny!!! I know I'm not usually so violent, but ever since the commander told me to take those pills in the morning, i just feel so giddy to start the day! The commander said I had to take twenty of those things every morning so that i could be a super-weapon, and also because I'm special. DUHHH I'M SPECIAL!!! I love being special! What's better is that those pills taste so sugary sweet! I love taking them. Sometimes i take up to six because they taste so good!

Aaaaaanyway, the changelings are being annoying, and so is the commander. The changelings keep shooting me and it tickles when they do. I need to keep focus when I kill them. When I'm ticklish everywhere, the commander tells me to run all the way back to Fluttershys infirmary. It's so frustrating to have to run all the way back, and it's so boring waiting for Fluttershy to do whatever she does to make the tickle go away. When she is finally done, our attack is usually over and I have to wait until we finally get attack, or attack again.

My favorite time of all favorite times is when we raid an enemy command base. All the changelings are bunched up so tightly together, and it's so easy to pick them off with my flamethrower. Seeing them squirm is just so.... so.... satisfying. OOH! Story time princess! I have three stories i want to share with you. They all share a common subject: How i almost managed to get us all killed.

Alright, so one time I was playing around with the cool stuff in our armory. It was late morning, close to lunch. I was playing with this funny round thing. The other ponies called them something like green-odes or grenodes.... something like that. Anyway, Rainbow walked in while I was playing with it and asked what I was doing. I held up the strange round thing and her eye widened. I heard a click and Rainbow snatched the round thing and ran outside. She threw it as far as she could and it exploded in mid air. All I managed to say was "uh...whoops?" All she did was twitch once and facehoofed. She then walked away. Apparently I could have made the whole armory explode, but wouldn't be alive to see it. NEXT STORY!

Alright so, one time the changelings had this super smart idea to attack us at night when we were sleeping. I was protecting the commanders tent. It was dark, so I lit myself up with this super armor thing that could make me light up with fire shooting holes. Anyway, I saw Rainbow fly over us, and blow up these huuuuge tanks with a bow and arrow. It was like Nightmare Night and my birthday wrapped up in this epic-super-duper-explosion-of-awesomeness. Anyway, I was all like yay and was bouncing up and down because i was so happy. I forgot to turn off the fire holes on my armor, and the tent somehow got caught on fire. luckily somepony put it out with his water bottle. Pretty cool huh?

Okay last story, and then i'll get to how my friends fight. So one time, I was doing a boring patrol, and we were walking by an abandoned trench line. I saw these little square things sticking out of the ground. Bring me, I was super duper curious what was lying in the dust. I jumped into the trench and carefully took off the dirt that covered this little square object. It had words on it but I didn't get to read it on time. I was pulled away by Rainbow, who told me that the trench was covered in mines and C4s. I thought it was a shame we never blew them up. Thankfully, days later the changelings attacked us, and when they took cover in the trench it EXPLODED!!!!!!! I saw this re mist go up as well as a few body parts. It made my day. It helps me go to sleep. So many battlefront memories. I thought war would be horrible but its actually really fun!

Anyway, on to my friends. Alright so, who to start with? What about Twilight?

Okay on the battlefield, she barely fires at all. I see her pop up a few times but she always looks like she is about to cry every times she gets a kill or wounds a changeling. All together i counted 20 kills. I saw her get chipped in the shoulder once. She kinda shrugged it off. Must be the adrenaline. She always seems so sad, its kinda depressing around her. I don't think she has ever smiled since we got here. I don't know. Maybe it was just a side affect of the food here? I don't know.

Next is Applejack!!! AJ has a blast up in the mortar hill. I visited her once. Apparently some of her cousins also signed put and they got put together on a team. It was naturally pretty busy. What did you expect? It's the Apple family. Anyway, we had so much fun drinking, and blowing up changelings, and laughing, and blowing up changelings, and firing the mortar, and blowing up changelings. Unfortunately, the commander found out and told me to leave cause I was too "distracting..." Pfft....I was totally not.Anyway, she seems to be having a good time.

Rarity saved my life once. I was pinned on the ground by a changeling. I saw him/her take out a knife and hold it against my throat. I thought it was going to be the end, until Rarity totally sniped what changeling in the head. I was splattered in blood. Tasted okay, but not recommended. She gave me a thumbs up from her sniping perch and I smiled and waved back. She seems kinda happy, but also kinda sad. She seems alright though, but tired. Her aim is impeccable, as always.

Fluttershy is alright, but DAAANG slow at taking tickles away. She's okay though.... Oh Luna who am i kidding? SHE'S NOT OKAY AT ALL!!! She's depressed all over. She's mopy and sad all the time an doesn't like talking about the war either. She's too peaceful, and I don't really talk to her often but she has a lot of patience to put up with all these patience. She's very peaceful, but hey. She's a great friend and she's awesome.

Last on our list is Rainbow. She's having a blast on the battlefield. She never backs down from a fight, and she fights with anything that's lying around. Again, like I said before, Bow and arrow versus a fully armoured tank, armed with Two cannons that could rip her wide open, and two machine guns on them. And there are two of them. She has the spirit of a champion, and you can tell she is devoted to our war. I won't be surprised if she becomes the key to our victory.

Well that's all I have to say about anything. OH! I almost forgot. If you see Mr or Mrs Cake, tell them Pinkie is ready to make ~~cupcakes~~ some sugary sweets when she gets back!

Love, Ponyville's very own:

Private First Class Pinkie "Match" Pie

Twilight

Dear Princess Celestia, This will be my last letter to you. You should know I have attempted suicide five times. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I wish I would just die. I hate this war. I can't take it any more. Pull me out... please.... I can't do this. All the death, all the blood... Its too god damn much. I'm living in a trench infested with the bodies of changelings. Dirt litters our beds, and what terrifies me the most is that we are sleeping in the beds of dead changelings. Their souls, restless to get revenge on us. I hate knowing that their souls cannot rest because we defile the beds they used to sleep in. There are so many memories here. I wonder what they were? All the joy, all the laughter that happened here. Its amazing because to think, they were made by changelings -the laughter and happiness.- Imagine all the sadness, and hate for us... What stories linger these halls? So many questions, and still no answers.

I regret signing up for this war. I'll admit it. I really do. I regret dragging my friends to that signup station, and forcing them to sign the signup forms. I regret it. I regret it so much. I'm lost without you Princess. I need your guidance. I'm not used to being so... just... so alone. I try to block out everything that happens during the day, but I can't. I can't sleep at night. I need Fluttershy''s voice to go to sleep. Call me crazy but... I think I'm in love with Fluttershy. In love with her voice... and her soothing touch when I'm injured... The way she keeps everything is so neat and tidy, whereas the battlefield is messy and harsh. She's the only light in my darkness. I don't mind getting hit any more because I get to see her. Oh Luna, how will I cope with anything if I lose her? Ugh I'm such a fillyfooler. Hope nopony is spying on me when I'm writing this. Anyway... I've lost everything but hope. Fluttershy is the reason why I still have hope. Always so positive. She was the reason I didn't kill myself. Anyway... I was hoping we would get back for Nightmare Night, but I doubt we can any more.

They call me Private First Class Twilight "Sparkplug" Sparkle. Why they call me Sparkplug, the stars know. I probably got a title because I am an Element of Harmony. My brother has Changed so much. It's no longer "Twi!" or even "sis!" It's now "HEY! YOU!" or "YOU MARE!" I don't even know if he remembers my name. I thought he was supposed to protect me. I thought we were family. I thought he was my Big Brother Best Friend Forever. I thought we were close enough that at least he wouldn't forget my name. The battlefield hurts.

Through my time here, I have found the last puzzle piece to the magic we know as "friendship." This may be my last lesson I ever learn about this ever, so I'll be quick. With friendship comes happiness. Friendships may last forever, but happiness may not. My friends were separated from me the moment we entered the Dead Zone. There is no happiness here. I have a theory on it actually. I'm guessing that it's because the land sucks up happiness. Quite interesting. Land that kills happiness. Anyway, on to other matters. I need to let it out. I cry every night. We are nearing the changeling capital. I don't know what will happen after that. They named their capital "Anarchy." I can't even imagine what the total death toll will be, just for the civilians. I know what they are going through. I have found logs, I have found journals, I have found pictures. They are going through an incredibly rough time. They are starving, and low on morale and ammunition. The guilt for killing them weighs incredibly on me. I can't do this any more. Please end this war. Please.

On to my friends then...

Applejack sits on the top of the hill with the rest of the Apple family recruits. She seems to be alright. She doesn't show many signs of depression or sadness. Enjoyment? A lot. It's practically like taking her to a rodeo. She doesn't understand war like we do though. If we make it out alive, I think she will be the same old Applejack we know. She doesn't see war like we do. She doesn't see the pain and suffering of the front lines. She is far from it. Maybe that's why she seems the same. Poor Rarity, she's also far from the front line, but look at her. She's depressed. Anyway that's for later.

Hoo wee... Pinkie's sanity is lost. Dead, Gone, Kaput. Laughing when she gets shot, laughing when she kills. She can't stop laughing at all. It isn't regular laughing either. It's a more sinister sounding laugh. Almost blowing up the armoury, almost killing the commander in a tent fire... I think her sanity reflects her actions. Dear sweet Princess Luna help us all. Please find us a book Princess Celestia.... Find a spell book that can change her back. I don't think there will be a Ponyville left if she comes back. I don't like this Pinkie at all. I can't see the difference between -if you can call it- "normal" Pinkie, and Pinkamena. Normal Pinkie now talks about making changelings into cupcakes. I hope it's just a side-affect of being here, just like the ground sucking up happiness.

Fluttershy.... Fluttershy.... I don't know. I feel most guilty for dragging her into this war. This war is tearing her emotions apart. I feel like it's my fault whenever she gets sad because she has to see so much death. Half a pony came in one time, still alive. They took him to the intense care section. I swear I heard an "eep" from her when it he first came in. Incredible how much pain some ponies can take. I wonder how she managed to calm him down. I'd rather not ponder about hat at the moment. I hugged her once. It was the first time in the war I felt at peace. Peace is so hard to find here, unless you love seeing changelings in pain. Maybe when I come back... or one of these days I'll confess my love for her. I love her so much....

Rainbow seems to be enjoying her time here. I see her flying overhead when I'm in the trenches sometimes. Egotistical as always. She has become quite a hit with our rookies. She always gets asked about Luna knows what, and when I hear her answer there is always an "awesome" or "epic" and sometimes the infamous "Twenty percent cooler in Ten seconds flat" line somewhere in there. I don't really talk to her very often but I find myself rolling my eyes a lot in a friendly mockery when she talks to me. She definitely has gotten stronger. Muscle development is visible on her legs and her... chest area... Anyway she has proven to be a very capable fighter. I don't know how in Equestria she keeps her cool, but she again is enjoying this war. Quite a lot I might add.

Lastly is Rarity. I rarely see her around (get it? Rarely? Rarity? Hahaha..... ha.... I'm sorry princess life here is difficult and we have very bad jokes too.... always trying to scrap together some happiness....) the trenches. When we do see each other, she is always painted in this weird, green striped pattern. She has a major depression problem. Sometimes I hear her crying at night, just as I am. I can see the sadness in her eyes. It's unbearable having to watch her slug her way to her post. Her legs crying to go back. Her arms begging not to aim. Her hoof, hopelessly trying not to pull that trigger. It hurts to see her in so much pain. She's my friend and I care for her. I think we have the closest relationship now because of this war. We now have so much in common. I don't like seeing my friends in pain. It kills me slowly and painfully.

Please stop this war. Please. End this. It's too much for me to bear. I cannot even stress the amount of pain I have to go through every day. More so, the pain of my friends. I feel like if this war goes on I might be losing some friendships. This war is tearing us apart in every aspect. Physically, mentally, and spiritually. Not being with my friends every day, and not getting to see them everyday hurts me. I cannot stress enough the pain I have to bear every day. I can' stress even more so the pain we cause to the changelings. They have families too. In many aspects they are just like us. My magic is fading away. My happiness is too. Spare the changelings. They attacked us, but we should not be brutes. We should not follow their footsteps. They might be brutes but really, do we want to be put in the same league as them? Do we want to be known as bloodthirsty? I don't. Please head my pleads for this war to end.

Your hopeless, dying student:

Private First Class Twilight "Sparkplug" Sparkle

Applejack

Dear Princess Celestia,

Corporal "Mortarjack" Applejack reporting for duty MAM! If you visited us, I would have to address you like that. How are you doing princess? I'm alright. This place is so interesting. Every time I explore this place I always find something different. The place I'm talking about of course is Boom Hill. Boom Hill is a nickname for the place we have our artillery stationed. There are so many Apple family soldiers here. I even met some very distant cousins I never knew I had. There's Applejohn, Applehead, Applehoof, etcetera etcetera. Basically there are a whole bunch of them. I was wondering what I would write to you about in this letter. After pondering on that for about 5 minutes, I decided to tell you what it means to be a soldier, then to tell you stories on how I saved every one of my friends.

"What does it mean to be a solider?" I am asked this by many of our new recruits. Being a soldier demands SACRIFICE! The battlefield is a dirty, grimy place. It is nothing compared to your neat and tidy houses. It is a filthy, bloody, garbage filled place. WE never have mashed potatoes and hay sandwiches. We have slop, made of Luna knows what. There are no comfy fireplaces in the winter, or air conditioned rooms in the summer. In the winter, we sleep on freezing floors, and in the summer you will be roasted alive.

You must be ready to sacrifice your very lives for the sake of your country, and your countrymen! I have seen ponies give their lives, hoping and praying for this war to end. I have not cried for any of them, for I know they died believing we can win this war. DO NOT CRY FOR THEM, BUT HONOUR THEM. Every shot that comes out any weapon I use, bears the heart and soul of one of my dead comrades. I do not allow myself to miss, for that means I have failed them. I train every pony I get to do the same.

Being a soldier also means discipline. This means NO SHENANIGANS.No fancy shcmancy ways of doing something. You get down to the basics! Straight to the chase! You must follow your orders too. You must trust your commander to protect you, because that is his or her job. Yes we do make bad decisions that sometimes may get you killed, we know that. We pay for it. You also cannot take another ponies job! You have one job, ONE. You cannot wake up one day as a demolitions officer and go to sleep as an engineer. You must follow the orders of any pony with a higher rank. The world has always run this way. Your will was never yours. Your will was always bound to some pony else. If some pony does NOT follow this rule, they will be punished. Without discipline, this army is doomed.

We are a herd! We never leave a pony behind! I live every day knowing that I might have to give my own life for the sake of one of my comrades. I know being a soldier means a lot of other things, but I really want to tell my stories. They all feature me of course, as it is my letter. I love telling war stories, so I figure instead of telling you how my friends are doing, I would tell you how at one time or another, I saved their flanks.

Alright, one time we were forced to fall back because the changelings had nearly broken our final line of defence. The medical station was getting hit hard. My ponies were far enough from the charging changeling attack line, so I ordered them to give me some cover fire. I rushed off to the medical station, knowing Fluttershy was stationed there. On the way I grabbed a shotgun from one of our fallen ponies, as well as his left over rounds.. Out of respect, I closed his still opened eyes and said a little prayer for his soul. It was all I could do for this brave, fallen soldier. I wasn't going to let Fluttershy suffer the same fate, not on my life. I galloped, and damn did I gallop. I galloped faster than I ever had in my life. I swear I could have made a sonic Appleboom. In seconds, I sprinted the entire span of the base. Don't ask me how big it is, I have better things to do than measure the base. Anyway, I made it to the medical station and barged through the front door. I heard explosions outside. "Flutter??? Fluttershy???" I called out. I looked around and noticed a little pink tail sticking out from below one of the beds. I went towards it and pulled out a cowering Fluttershy. "C'mon shy. We're getting out of this hell hole." I told her. She whimpered, but got up. The explosions were closer now. We barged out of the tent, surrounded by changelings. I didn't get a chance to load my shotgun. As Fluttershy was already willing to surrender, I heard a call I knew too well. "APPLESAM. DEAR CELESTIA DAMNIT! I SAID ON THREE!!" Appleboom was yelling at Applesam again. Applesam, one of my cousins, fired (once again) too close to the target (they were trying not to kill us) and too early. I had seconds until we were going to become Flutterpie and Applejuice. I slammed my body on top of Fluttershy. I said a silent prayer to the princesses, hoping that if I couldn't save myself, I could save Fluttershy. I heard a blast. I noticed after a few moments that I was still alive. I slowly opened my eyes. I felt Fluttershy against me, her heart beat soothing me. She was shivering in fear. I held on to the moment for a bit, then helped her up. When she got up I pulled her against me, rubbing her back. "It's alright shy. I got ya." I whispered in her ear. I brought her to the camp, where I let her stay for a bit. I gave her ear muffs for the constant artillery shots. We later took back the fortification.

Next... lets tell you how I saved Rarity.

It was just after lunch when the commander decided to be a complete flank hole and stage an attack. I mean come on, I just ate. I'm gonna get a cramp. The attack kinda went as planned. Shoot, kill, capture, win right? The changelings did push back though. I noticed Rarity wasn't on her usual sniper perch. It was when Applejames spotted Rarity on a little hill, just about one or two kilometers away from us. Why was it that Applejames could spot Rarity, who was still as a rock instead of Pinkie who had explosions surrounding her, or Rainbow Dash who was flying in the air? Because Applejames had a thing for rarity. I find it weird. He thinks I don't know. Anyway, Rarity was being out gunned by a troop of changelings, closing deathly close on her position. I know she could be a bit annoying at times, but she was my friend. I called out to Applehat (yes I do have a ton of family). "Applehat! Set yer markings to 20, 147 ASAP! Our friend needs help!" With that, he was off. After about ten seconds he replied back "Set to fire mam!" Knowing Applesam would probably fire earlier than three, I let him take the shot. Guess what? I was totally right. "SWEET CELESTIAS FLOWING MANE APPLESAM! I SAID ON THREE! BUCKING THREE! ONE, TWO, BLOODY BUCKING HELL THREE! WHERE IN SWEET, SPIKED, CACTUS HELL DID YOU LEARN TO COUNT??? THE BIG CITY??!?!?!!!??" Oh Appleboom. Your loud voice never ceases to amuse me. "Ahm sorreh sir! Ahm sorreh!" I heard Applesam reply. The shells hit, without killing Rarity. Thank Luna. I slumped down and put my hat on my stomach. "Go on guys... I need a break" I told them.

Hold on! there is more. Who should I tell you about next.... what about Pinkie?

Alright this has nothing to do with my mortar team. This story is all me. It was early in the war. We were losing by a ton. One month in and barely a week worth of training, we were in panic when the changelings attacked. Pinkie was so panicky that she forgot to charge her fancy shcmancy suit up. It was midway through the fight. I got permission to leave my artillery team and see the fight from up front. As I was firing away, with a trigger finger that puts Rainbow to shame, I got a call on my radio. It was pinkie screaming she was near the vehicle hanger, and her suit shut down. She couldn't move. The armour was stuck. I galloped like the wind. I saw a squad of thirteen soldiers when I arrived, protecting Pinkie from an approaching platoon. I estimated there were about thirty soldiers closing in on our position. I had to act quickly. I had the most stupendous, apple bucking idea ever. I once saw Big Mac charge a tractor with this box and two cable doohickeys. I noticed there was an identical box and two charger things on Pinkie's armour. I grabbed the two cable doohickeys from the ground and attached it on the two antenna looking things on the box, and attached the other side to Pinkie's armour. To my distress, it didn't work. I had another brilliant idea, and just in the knick of time. There were only 5 people in the defending squad left. I started up the Jeep, and Pinkie lit up like a flash bang. I woke up to a pony poking me, telling me to either drive, or get out of the Jeep. Guess which one I did.

Lets do Twilight next.

Okay so one time, we were on an offensive front against the changelings. Twilight, unlike her, was disorganized and totally confused. That wasn't the bad part by the way. The bad part was that the attack was going well. "Well Applejack, how is that bad?" Well, in the state of disorientation, Twilight rushed blindly into the enemy base. The changelings had her surrounded. I couldn't have done anything if I tried. If I sent an artillery strike, she would have died. I knew I had to do something. For the millionth time, some pony's life is in my hooves. That night, I had Rainbow do recon of the enemy base. Their camp had a prisoner area on the west side. I went out in the middle of the night, armed with a silenced pistol, and a rifle. I successfully infiltrated the base without getting spotted. I set my plan into motion. I spoke quietly into my radio: "Break." The east side of the camp erupted into an inferno of chaos. I had the girls stage an attack on the east side of the camp. Troops ran from the west side to the east side, desperately trying to hold back the surprise attack. I easily slipped by them. I made my way to the prison cells. I killed both of the guards guarding the entrance with my Glocks and dragged their bodies into the darkness behind the prison I peeped inside. I saw Twilight, badly bruised and cut up, chained against the wall. I saw the commander of the changelings, toying with her and abusing her. She was struggling to get up, as the commander squeezed her flank and rubbed it, then whipped it. I felt rage boil up inside me. I knew where this was going. I heard him speak to her. "You are going to carry the hundreds of offspring I want pony. I don't care how much it hurts.... the number of children we will make will put he number of stars to shame." I totally lost it. I had friends who were raped by other ponies. Twilight was always there for me. It was my turn to return the favour. I charged at the commander, and tackled him to the ground, breaking both of his legs, and throwing his holstered pistol away. I grabbed the key to Twilight's chains and unchained her. I took out my survival matchbox and struck a match. I dropped it on the changeling commander and helped Twilight get out of the building. I didn't care for his agonising screams, or the fact that flesh was melting off him. I helped Twilight out of the camp, using the back alleys I took to get into the base. I gave the order to pull out, and all my friend's got out safely. I cared for Twilight with Fluttershy. I learned some neat stuff. Hey did you know leeches actually s- err... never mind.

I know you probably received letters from Rainbow stating how awesome she is and how she never needs help. I'm here to prove that wrong.

It was mid day. What made this day special was that ti was one of the only days we had sunlight shining through the darkened clouds. Rainbow was in the hanger, and she was granted permission to test fly some flying doohickey for a bit. I saw her take off from the hanger. It was almost as loud as an artillery strike. She was flying that huge bird when the changelings attacked us. From my artillery post, I could see a legion of changelings marching head on to us. I could see we were outnumbered, but I doubted the fact we would be out gunned. Rainbow was given a weapons free order to attack. I was about to relax, knowing we had a billion bullets flying around overhead, ready to kill anything and everything, but I got cocky. While I was getting relaxed, letting my ponies fire, letting Applesam screw up, I heard Applejames call me. I got up lazily, but he dragged me. Behind the line of changelings, was a line of heavy vehicles. We were going to be slaughtered if Rainbow didn't do anything. I yelled for my ponies to focus fire on the armoured vehicles. Rainbow was also in combat with the armoured vehicles, when an AA cannon attached to one of the tanks shot down her plane. She was going down fast. I saw her punch out as she was going down. She flew down to the wreckage of her plane, trying to find if her weapons survived. I saw a tank appear out of the forest. Amidst all the chaos, Rainbow didn't notice. The tank was only meters away from her. She was weapon less. I galloped to our personal armoury and grabbed a rocket launcher. This was going to be close. I galloped back to the edge of Boom Hill, and aimed the rocket with ease. I fired... It soared... and it hit. Rainbow luckily saw the rocket fire, and kissed the dirt. I gave her the thumbs up and ran to Rarity, telling her to cover rainbow while she gets back to base.

So there. I did save even Rainbow's flank. Well thats all I really wanted to write about. I hope my stories didn't bore you. I can't wait until we get time off. I want to go back to bucking things besides changeling heads. Can't wait till we see you again too Princess.

From your friend,
Corporal "MORTARJACK" Applejack.