Snowrunners

Chapters

01: The Mission
02: By The Moonlight
03: The Lost Company
04: Paranoia
05: The Traitor
06: Where The Light Doesn't Touch
07: Us and Them
08: Run Rabbit, Run

01: The Mission

“Good morning, Equestria! This is Starline Radio 98 live in Las Pegasus. I hope you’re all doing well out there, Celestia knows I am. This one goes out to the boys and girls in the Ninth all the way up north! I’ve got a friend up there. Wear a jacket, for Luna’s sake! It’s gotta be cold as hell this time of year!”

Extending a disoriented hoof towards her dingy alarm clock radio, attempting to shut up the enthusiastic radiopony Aux Bumper’s voice, Guardian Angel was not at all pleased to have been woken up. For the first time in weeks, she had been having a pleasant dream rather than nightmares, and by all means she had been loving it. She had seen her home, fields of bright green grass beneath a warm sun, and pillows of winds that rocked her back and forth deeper and deeper into blissful slumber. A paradise devoid of worry or pain, a timeless field of calm.

But all good things had to come to an end, especially when they were fictitious, subconsciously-derived fantasies.

Smashing the button to turn off her radio, she checked her watch lying on her nightstand to confirm it was currently 7:00 a.m. She had been afforded an extra hour of sleep by her lieutenant, as compensation for covering a shift on latrine duty the previous day.

Guardian, a pegasus, had a light cyan coat and a short, wavy turquoise mane that was usually hidden underneath her golden helmet, which she only ever took off to sleep. Her helmet was fixed with a crest holder fitting a row of straight-cut plumes, the same color as her mane. Her eyes were a soft orange, like a faint furnace glow.

Wiping some drool from her mouth with the faded white cover of her pillow, Guardian shambled off of her quaking cloth cot, planting her bare hooves squarely on the dirt floor of the tent she had called a home for the past several months. The tent was small, only large enough to house two ponies along with all of their gear. Guardian had always believed in traveling light, though the same couldn’t be said for her tentmate, whose bags of unnecessary extra equipment took up an entire third of the space. Guardian wasn’t one to start a conflict over things as trivial as that, though for the mornings when she accidentally tripped on something and landed flat on her face with a mouthful of dirt, she couldn’t help but be bitter.

She climbed into her armor, which was molded in gold the same as her helmet, complete with the distinct Equestrian blue star as the centerpiece. She took great pride in keeping her armor clean, soft light from cracks in the tent flaps peeking in and illuminating the armor’s spectacular shining glory.

Guardian had formerly been a personal guard to Princess Celestia herself, though, as for most ponies in Equestria, her life was drastically changed upon the outbreak of the Great War, perhaps the greatest war to ever plague the land called Equestria. She had been moved out of the Canterlot guard and deployed into the 23rd Infantry Solar Regiment, well-recognized for their pride in service and dutiful dedication to the nation. Guardian had always considered herself a patriot, so much so that a position in the 23rd was accepted with little hesitation.

Yet she hadn’t really known what she was getting into, as she quickly discovered in her first few months serving as a measly grunt in the infantry. Long gone was the classy elegance and civility of being a guard in the Canterlot Palace. In the front lines, life was grimy, harsh, and undesirable. She had never served in the field before, merely as an ordinary guard who patrolled the lush marble hallways of Celestia’s regal Canterlot palace. She mostly spent her days trying to avoid getting too bored. Her new life, surviving day to day in the cold brutality of the Northern Theater, living off of minimal rations and spending most of her time exercising her muscles doing physical labor, was therefore a significant change of pace.

The war, which began in the spring of the previous year, had carried on into the winter. And for the ponies fighting in the North, the change in temperature and inclement weather conditions made surviving even more of a challenge.

Guardian could recall the day she had first set off from Canterlot, marching with her regiment northwestwards. She had been so confident at the very start, certain that the royal forces would crush those pesky rebels with little difficulty. They had four alicorns on their side, after all.

She hadn’t necessarily lost her sense of optimism over the course of the war, though her perspective certainly did change. The rebel enemy, officially titled the Equestrian Nationalist Coalition, proved to be technologically equal, if not superior, to the royals. And the rebel queen, the dreaded, malignant witch pony whose name was rarely uttered for fear of summoning her, came to be a fervent match for the magical prowess of all four of Equestria’s proud princesses. However, their battles were so catastrophically destructive, that neither the Witch Queen nor the princesses often came out into the field anymore, strictly sticking to strategic planning from the safety of their respective bases of operation.

The fighting, as a result, was largely left to the average ponies of Equestria, few of which were well-accustomed to conflict. A war of such caliber was especially rare in Equestria’s history, and for most ponies, the idea of committing murder or other atrocities, even for the sake of protecting loved ones, was farfetched, possibly even insane.

The Witch Queen had indeed proven to be a charismatic leader, having raised a grand army primarily consisting of conquered civilians and idealistic volunteers. She was infamously ruthless, a trait of which seemed to seep down through the chain of command, guaranteeing an army determined to be victorious. She was passionate in her rejection of Celestia’s rule, a sentiment that surprisingly gained traction among the most disillusioned of Equestria’s citizens. The rebels proposed a restructuring of Equestria as a pony-only haven, arguing for a return to the traditional structures of old.

The war itself had initially begun in the Crystal Empire, spiraling down across the North and eventually encompassing the entirety of Equestria, and even some of the lands beyond. The cities of Vanhoover, Stratusburg, Sire’s Hollow, Saddleopolis, Hope’s Hollow, and numerous other smaller settlements had already been claimed by the Coalition, who now effectively held an advantageous domination over the North. The Crystal Empire itself had also fallen to the rebels, rather early in the war, Princess Cadance and Shining Armor both having been deposed.

Guardian never considered herself to be particularly well-versed in diplomacy or politics. She thought of herself as a warrior more than anything else; a defender of the defenseless, fighting for her beloved country and all those innocent ponies back home whose lives were at stake. She wasn’t entirely sure what the rebels even wanted other than the overthrow of Celestia, the eradication of the government’s pro-species integration policies, and the complete and utter submission of Equestria to the Witch Queen’s rule. Though, she wasn’t about to risk letting them gain enough power to find out for sure.

On the way up north from Canterlot, Guardian had first seen real combat at the deadly battles at White Tail and the Hovering Heights. She survived both, though a good third of her regiment wasn’t so lucky.

Taking a moment to grieve her fallen brothers and sisters in arms as she did every morning, Guardian gave a tired sigh and finished her morning preparation routine, gently slipping her legs inside her golden metal boots, which were just as uncomfortable as ever. It was true that she owned some more cozy, decorative, bright pink-colored boots, though she rarely wore them, wary of damaging or dirtying them, as they were her prized possessions.

Adjusting her helmet over her head, Guardian stepped through the dark grey tent canvas flaps outside, taking a breath of fresh air as she reaccustomed herself to the cold. Maybe she would have found the abrasive, inhospitable, wintry world of the north to be overwhelming in her first few weeks fighting in the front, though by now it was typical. Grim, but typical.

The 23rd Regiment soldiers’ official colors were gold with green edges, though Guardian had never particularly been a fan. She stuck with her typical solid golden Canterlot guard armor, making her stand out in a place where most ponies were made to look the same.

In every direction from her tent, there were more tents, haphazardly set up in a series of rows that stretched for at least half a mile in every direction.

Despite how foul the conditions of the camp were, her regiment comparatively had little to complain about. They were currently stationed in the back lines of the Northern front, relatively safe from the rebel threat that was running amuck beyond the Smoky Mountains. The back lines camp sat right below the mountains to the north, vulnerable to the cold winds and frequent bouts of unsavory weather.

Guardian sauntered through the camp grounds, beneath a steely grey sky of feathery clouds, passing through the hive of sleep-deprived, shell-shocked ponies. Some were lying on the ground by their tents, aimlessly waiting for their next work shift, and terrified of being called up to leave the temporary safety of the camp. There wasn’t much to love about the camp, except that it meant safety from the horrors that waited outside. Guardian felt pity for her fellow soldiers as much as she did for herself. But, as she saw things, they were the ponies whose job it was to sacrifice their own well-being to protect their everypony else back home. But despite her invigoration, sanity typically ran thin when death lingered so close by.

The camp had been undersupplied for weeks now, and Guardian was feeling the consequences as much as anypony else. The troops were already greatly fatigued from weeks of continuous combat and marching, and supply lines were stretched extremely thin. The Commander of the Northern front, Shining Armor, had chosen to hold the Northern Forests with as few troops as possible, due to the favorable terrain of a densely wooded area and the limited number of operational objectives in the region. However, the inability for any of the troops to reach any nearby shores caused enormous supply issues, on top of the problem of transportation vessels not being able to fit through the narrow waterways that dominated the region. The only coastal port the royal forces had successfully taken was a small fishing town in the Northeast, Frostlick, which had already been decimated by the rebel Coalition to prevent the use of any leftover supplies.

During these grim times of desperate hunger and intense struggling, Guardian Angel intended to persevere, to stay optimistic, both about the cause for the war and her own day-to-day survival. There was simply no point in wasting time complaining and being miserable, as she saw it.

The camp was worn down after months of enduring seemingly endless unfavorable weather. Ponies were typically two-to-four per their designated tent, with the exception of new transfers, who slept in the barracks for their first few days after arriving. The barracks were a long enclosed building made of mud-plastered wood on the verge of rotting. It was often said that it was colder inside the barracks than out, and having to be cramped alongside fifty-plus other ponies was certainly not pleasurable.

The officers of the camp were spared from both the claustrophobic discomfort of the barracks and the melancholic filth of the tent city. Instead, they were afforded the grand luxury of little private shacks, made of wood the same as the barracks. They had heating inside too, and real beds, as opposed to the stiff cots everypony else was forced to sleep on.

But for the past few days, the camp was enjoying a brief period of calm weather. No snow other than the small clumps that lingered on the ground here and there, no rain, and best of all, little to no wind. On one side of the camp was the tent city, where the majority of the soldiers slept, and on the other side was the fairgrounds, as it was unofficially titled by one soldier back in June. It was a more open area compared to the narrow walkways that wound between the soldiers’ tents, and it contained all of the constructed buildings, including the camp kitchen, mess hall, showers, officers’ quarters, barracks, and numerous other command facilities. The camp was originally meant to be temporary, until Shining Armor’s order that the position was to be held until new mobilization orders were given. That was months ago, and those orders still had yet to arrive.

Guardian entered the fairgrounds after carefully stepping over the body of a sleeping soldier draped in a raincoat, who was lying in the path.

The fairgrounds were full of life, ponies running around carrying out an array of tasks, from training exercises to supply transportation. Guardian was behind them all, having woken up an hour after everypony else, though she had a difficult time feeling guilty, since more sleep was always something to be grateful for.

Trotting past a line of ponies doing push-ups dangerously close to a large puddle of muddy water, Guardian noticed something odd. There was a crowd of ponies near the mess hall building, slowly dispersing away from what was left of some sort of commotion.

She reached for a good grip of the strap of her duffel bag that was wrapped around her back, and cautiously approached the scene to find out what had happened.

“You just missed it,” said one pony, leaning against the wall of the mess hall building, by the warm ambient glow of a hanging lantern. She was a female unicorn, with a soft light purple coat, icy blue eyes, and a fluffy white mane. She was no stranger to Guardian, in fact they considered each other one of a few ponies in this entire camp they could possibly call a friend. The unicorn’s name was Silver Saber, Guardian’s tentmate for the past several months, having replaced the previous pony who had been blown to bits stepping on a landmine. They had known each other since their training days, and their reunion came as a mild bright spot in an otherwise dreary, stagnant time. Silver had also previously served as a Canterlot guard, much the same as Guardian, with the exception that she had served under Luna instead of Celestia.

“Missed what?” Guardian asked Silver, waiting for a pony to finish walking between them so she could get closer. Most of the ponies in the crowd were leaving the scene, returning to their responsibilities after what had ended up being a brief spout of entertainment.

“You know Greenwich?” Silver asked, mid-chew of a juicy yellow apple.

“Sure,” Guardian replied.

“Well those new recruits, they came in through here, after they did some exercises with old Hardball out in the pitch. They come over here, and apparently Hardball was making them have their chow out in the cold. They get pissed about it, the slugs. One of ‘em, I don’t know his name, but he was good looking. Looked like he had a chip on his shoulder, though. You know how I can tell those things,” Silver said, smirking.

“Right,” Guardian said, humoring her with hopes of getting on with the story.

“So this guy starts making some comments, about how it isn’t fair that they’ve got to eat outside. And Greenwich, the cement-headed thug, he overhears all this, and he gets pissed, says that the runts are all ungrateful pigs, and, oh, you should’ve seen it! Greenwich starts cracking jokes, he’s got the whole division on the ground! So the recruit, he’s eventually had enough, so he starts wailing on Greenwich! Beating him right into the dirt!”

Guardian winced, slightly, while imagining a pony having his face beaten in. She held no admiration for violence, despite her profession.

“Greenwich is a big guy,” Guardian pointed out, skeptical of how an inexperienced recruit could even dare to attempt a brawl on their first day, and with the likes of Greenwich, who happened to be a hulking brute of a stallion.

“This kid was quick, Guardian, I’m telling you. He was dodging punches and all that. I was rooting for him by the end of it.”

“He won?” Guardian asked.

“Gratuitously. He’s lucky, that’s for sure. Hardball didn’t come back until it was already over,” Silver said, taking another bite from her apple.

“I guess I shouldn’t have slept in,” Guardian said, regretful of having missed all the action.

“Remember that one fight? All the way back, Canterlot?” Silver said, already unable to contain her laughter.

Guardian hesitated, and then remembered, joining Silver in bursting into a fit of laughter.

“‘Leave him alone!’” Guardian said, mimicking the exaggeratedly dramatic voice of a pony from their training days, who had come to break up the fight they were reminiscing about. Their laughter eventually subsided, and Guardian took advantage of the opportunity to restore some seriousness to the conversation.

“Hey, um, have you heard anything about Lieutenant Fanfare?” Guardian asked, biting her lip nervously. She had a sinking feeling there wasn’t much good news to be delivered.

Silver finished off her apple and tossed it to the ground, taking her sweet time to provide an answer.

“Don’t get your hopes up. Last night was their latest return date. Forest patrols three miles out of the camp saw no sign of ‘em. Can’t send anypony farther than that,” Silver said, dismissively. She’d much rather not talk about it.

Silver reached into her satchel to retrieve a metal flask, filled up with whiskey, which technically wasn’t allowed in camp, though she had yet to be caught or scolded for it. She offered it to Guardian, whose face was wound tight with concern over the fate of Lt. Fanfare and his division.

“No thanks,” Guardian said, turning her head away.

“Water?”

“Fine,” Guardian said begrudgingly, unable to deny she was a bit thirsty.

Silver handed her a different bottle from her bag, filled up with water from the camp well. Guardian drank it greedily, unable to quell her distress over the possibility that Fanfare and the sixty-odd ponies under his command were all dead.

“Ponies die everyday, Guardian,” Silver reminded, in an attempt to comfort her friend, though Guardian didn’t find it helpful in the slightest.

Guardian drank the entire bottle, and attempted to hand it back to Silver, who quickly declined.

“Keep it, now that it’s got your disgusting mouth all over it. You still drool in your sleep right?” Silver asked, smirking.

“Shut up,” Guardian shot back, stifling a laugh to preserve some dignity.

“I heard there’s a new delivery today,” Silver said, picking up her bag to start walking off with Guardian.

“Of what?”

“I’m not sure, I tried asking Miss Manage, but she wouldn’t tell me. I hate that pony, she’s so stuck up,” Silver whined.

“Well let’s go and I’ll ask her, she’s always been nice to me,” Guardian said.

“Sure, but we’ve got to be on the shoveling group by like, nine.”

“Then we’ve got more than an hour, let’s go,” Guardian said eagerly.

Every time there was a delivery, a sense of excitement would race through the whole camp. New rations were a rarity nowadays, and basic pleasantries were even fewer. However, deliveries could also just be more ammunition or mechanical parts, which often ruined ponies’ good moods for weeks, having to wait even longer just for the hope of some more food.

Guardian and Silver walked close beside each other through the camp, passing by groups of ponies mid-exercise and ponies moving supplies and parts to and fro. It was chaotic, and yet there was a strange organization to it. Everypony was set to their individual task, and was thoroughly dedicated to doing a good job, no matter how unmotivated or physically strained they were. Though strangely, there seemed to be far less ponies out and about that day than per typical.

“Where is everypony?” Guardian asked. Silver shrugged in response, indifferent to the status of everypony else.

“Hey! You two!”

The duo of ponies both stopped in their tracks, turning around to see a stern-faced stallion officer marching right up to them. He had thinning grey hair, a burly body, and a coat the color of oak. His face was worn with the hardened brutality of war, and his eyebrows were fixed to look angry at all times. His name was Splinter, and to Guardian and Silver, he appeared to be about to tear them a new one.

“Where are you going?!” Splinter asked, as if he was about to crack their heads open in rage.

Guardian and Silver shared a look of confusion, neither sure what to say. They hadn’t thought they had done anything wrong recently, yet by Splinter’s furious expression, it appeared they were one disrespectful comment away from being executed outright. Then again, Splinter happened to always look like he was about to pop somepony.

“Um, just to the supply depot, Colonel, sir,” Silver replied, hesitantly.

“Are we in trouble?” Guardian asked, innocently.

Splinter shook his head, trying to calm himself down, realizing he must’ve scared both of them with his intense demeanor.

“No, we just...You’re both aware the Commander is visiting today?”

“Yes sir, to see off the 13th on their campaign,” Guardian confirmed.

“Right, he’s giving his send-off speech in less than thirty minutes. We were supposed to give him a private escort of our own soldiers while he’s up there talking, as a show of respect, and hospitality and whatnot.”

“We know, sir, that’s Hotspot and Misty’s job,” Silver said, unsure what any of this had to do with them.

“Yeah well, we found Hotspot and Misty head over heels drunk with a pack of their moron friends this morning. Apparently they thought now was a good time to throw a party. That’s why I’m so pissed, can you tell?”

“Yes, sir,” Silver said, dryly.

“Good. Because I’ll be even more pissed if you say no to me, when I ask the two of you to step up and replace them.”

“Replace them? We get to escort the Commander?” Guardian asked, shocked. Neither of them were often picked for important tasks like this, which made it even more of a surprise to hear Splinter’s offer.

“It’s in your best interests to say-”

“Yes! Absolutely! Do we need to get ready?” Guardian asked, after glancing at Silver to get her affirmation. Though Guardian was far more excited about the prospect of serving the Commander directly, Silver wasn’t opposed to it, seeing it as a possible opportunity for a promotion.

Splinter eyed them each up and down, and tilted his head in reluctant satisfaction.

“You’re both passable as you are. But maybe tidy yourselves up. For Celestia’s sake, Saber, you’ve got dirt on your cheek.”

Silver said nothing, silently wiping her cheek with her hoof, embarrassed.

“He’ll be here in a matter of moments, both of you come with me,” Splinter ordered.

Once he turned around, Guardian and Silver glanced in each other’s eyes, both communicating a combined sense of nervousness and high expectations. Neither of them had seen or met with royalty since their days as guards in Canterlot. Guardian was elated, seeing this as a way to recapture that famous Canterlot glamour and sophistication, a remaining bright spot in a world shrouded by darkness and uncertainty.

“I can’t believe we weren’t invited to Misty’s party,” Silver said jokingly, as they started catching up to Splinter, whose quick strides were fueled by his frustration with the hiccups in that day’s itinerary.

“I gave her my dessert last week!”

The trio of ponies rushed through the camp, Silver and Guardian both struggling to keep up with Splinter’s aggressively quick pace. He stopped suddenly when passing the camp armory, taking a detour inside while the mares waited out in the cold.

Splinter reemerged with two golden spears in his hooves, handing one to each, who were a bit frazzled by his abrasiveness.

“Be at attention when you’re in front of the Commander, and do not embarrass me, understand?” Splinter demanded. His voice was like venom, and his red hot glare was dangerously close to burning holes right through each of the mares’ foreheads.

“Yes sir,” Guardian replied instantly. She really didn’t want to screw this up, what could end up being the chance of a lifetime. She had a burning desire to come off as impressive, to do her duty and do it well, with hopes of some highly-sought after recognition or appreciation. Or at the very least, a ‘good job’ would suffice to. She felt unfulfilled, though she had felt that way for most of her life. Any opportunity she could get to boost her own weak self-esteem or garner some attention from her superiors, she would likely take with little thought.

They continued to the eastern gate, which was already wide open. To Splinter’s frustration, they were a few minutes late to the esteemed commander’s arrival.

A large, elegant carriage with expensive golden decorations and soft purple satin curtains was parked in the mud just inside the camp, a splash of grace and bright color in a world of grey drab dullness.

Outside the carriage was an outfit of soldiers, all crystal ponies with shimmering metallic skin and stone-cold expressions. Splinter stopped in his tracks a few yards in front of the carriage, as did Guardian and Silver behind him, when the distinct sound of a hoofstep on the metal stair of the carriage signaled that the star of the show had arrived.

“Commander,” Splinter said, nodding at Shining Armor, who took a deep breath of the crisp cold air after stepping out from the carriage, and carefully walked down into the mud below.

“Colonel! How are you?” Shining Armor asked energetically, rushing over to greet Splinter, who was uncomfortable with how laid-back Shining tended to be.

They shook hooves eagerly, and then Shining took notice of the starstruck Guardian and Silver. His eyes stayed fixed on them for a moment, distant memories trickling back into his mind.

“Hey...I know you, don’t I? Both of you, I think…” Shining said, struggling to recall how he exactly knew these two vaguely familiar faces.

“Commander, these are Corporals Angel and Saber, they’ll be your escort, courtesy of the 23rd,” Splinter said, awkwardly, not having intended for too much attention to be shifted towards the replacement escorts.

“That’s it, you were both guards in Canterlot, weren’t you?” Shining asked.

“Yes sir,” Guardian replied, delighted that the commander remembered her. Being recognized by the Prince of the Crystal Empire was definitely something to feel proud of.

“Not under my command though, I think I was gone by then,” Shining said, struggling to recall exactly when his tenure as captain of the guard expired.

“Yes sir...though I would’ve very much liked to have served under you,” Guardian said. Silver couldn’t help but roll her eyes at Guardian's forced attempt at flattery.

Kiss-ass.

“Well it’s nice to see you’re both alive and well. And you too, Colonel! How are things here? Is everything running alright?” Shining asked.

Splinter stared at him with solemn disbelief, unimpressed with Shining’s pretend unawareness of the regiment’s desperate situation.

Not seeking to start an argument so soon, Splinter withheld from delving into the details of the camp’s supply issues and low morale, for the time being at least.

“As expected, Commander,” Splinter said, scornfully.

Shining ignored Splinter’s visible resentment towards him, walking past the colonel to get a better view of the camp. Though it was grey and miserable as usual, Shining saw the camp as a fine example of the gritty resilience of Equestria’s finest, though the colonel very likely didn’t feel the same.

“Lead the way then, Corporals. Colonel, walk with me, I think we should have a talk.”

Guardian and Silver swiveled in their posts to face the opposite direction, holding their spears straight upwards, formally.

As they began their march through the camp, the outfit of crystal pony guards who had accompanied Shining were trotting in lines right behind Silver and Guardian. Shining Armor and the Colonel were right beside each other, having a bitter exchange over the camp’s situation, that Silver and Guardian both tried to avoid eavesdropping on.

Marching over to the parade field, Guardian and Silver were both impressed by the size of the crowd that had drawn in to receive the commander, explaining why the camp had previously appeared to be depopulated. Ponies from all over the camp were standing together in a cluster, anxiously waiting for the commander’s arrival.

Guardian and Silver correctly assumed they were to lead the commander up to the podium platform to give his speech. The platform was a raised wooden deck, standing above the crowd of filthy soldiers cluttered together, who numbered a few hundred.

The crowd watched as Silver and Guardian led Shining up the platform steps, which noisily creaked under their weight. The colonel and Shining’s escort stayed down below on the ground, joining the crowd to listen to Shining’s highly anticipated speech.

Guardian and Silver awkwardly hung back on the platform deck to allow Shining some space to mount the podium stand. Also on the deck was another pony, who had been waiting for Shining since before he had arrived. Guardian’s eyes widened, recognizing the pony instantly. She was a young unicorn with a spotless white coat and a wavy cerulean mane. Her cutie mark was an eagle seated above a ring of gold stars, and she was clad in spectacular purple armor with golden lining. She was Periwinkle Radiance, the darling Captain of the 13th Velvet Regiment, who were due to ship off up into enemy territory that very day. She had only shown up to the camp the day before, after her regiment’s lengthy trek up from the south. Guardian had been aware that Periwinkle and the Velvets were stopping by, though she hadn’t yet seen the young unicorn captain herself.

The 13th Velvets were quite renowned in Equestria, famous for having never lost a battle, and commanded by the widely beloved Periwinkle Radiance. Beginning in the summer of the previous year, Radiance and her regiment had blown through the rebel position in the Southwest of Equestria. Aside from her military prowess, her reputation as a kind-hearted leader had won over the hearts of many of Equestria’s fearful civilian ponies at home. When the world was at its darkest, heroes were just the thing ponies needed to see in action to keep hope alive and well. And for some ponies, Guardian included, there wasn’t a single pony in Equestria who was more of a hero than Periwinkle.

Shining took his stand at the podium, clearing his throat and glancing at the dazzlingly beautiful Captain Periwinkle to his left, whose enticing smile distracted him for a brief moment.

Turning back to the podium, Shining was affected by how grim most of the soldiers in the crowd appeared, their spirits having been broken down after months of living off scraps and constantly fearing for their lives.

“Friends,” he began, his voice thundering over the silent crowd, “I’m going to be telling you the truth today...This has been a hard time for us,” Shining started, already feeling uneasy with having to put up with the soldiers’ intense hope for good news, when he really had none to give them.

“And the longer it takes to clear that passage...it will continue to be hard. The colonel has kindly let me know that the supply constraints here have become dire...I apologize for that, sincerely. The situation up north, to reclaim the Crystal Empire, has proven a costly endeavor. Myself, and the princesses, and all of the commanders have agreed that the Northern theater cannot be won without the control of this region. We still have an opportunity here, it’s not too late. It will take weeks for the rebels to rebuild the railway from the Crystal Empire to Vanhoover, which means we’ve still got a window to use while their supplies run out. We can no longer afford to hold this position steady. I misjudged how vital that passage would be to the enemy, and I regret that. They’ve been stocking up their resources to defend this area, to prevent us from advancing. You older ponies, and you with experience, know only too well what a siege of this kind means...it means an all-out war. Every battle, every victory, from small to large, is one step closer to resecuring order and control over Equestria. Every single one of you...Each of you decides how much longer this war will last. We will not have cowards, and we will not turn around,” Shining said, firmly.

Guardian glanced at Silver, who was expressionless for the entirety of Shining’s patriotic, if not slightly foreboding words.

Shining motioned with his hoof towards Periwinkle, who was standing proudly at attention. She was truly immaculate, clad in her purple-decorated golden armor, well-known to the soldiers as the aristocrats' daughter, Canterlot beauty.

“Today, Captain Radiance here will be leading her regiment northwards, into the passage, to destroy the rebel battalions active there. This fight will change the tide, I’m sure of it. Victory is too close to back away now,” Shining said, confidently. The crowd gave up their misery, briefly feeling the patriotic inspiration that had first driven them to enlist. They cheered out enthusiastically, Shining raising Periwinkle’s hoof into the air, as a decorated champion of the war.

Guardian too felt inspired, joining in the applause. It was the kind of energy that Shining displayed that made her remember why she had joined this war to begin with. Her homeland was at stake, and should she back down, she could very well be sentencing all of her loved ones to death.

Guardian’s smile faded, however, when she noticed Silver, who hadn’t even cracked a smile during Shining’s entire speech. The unicorn seemed completely unimpressed with his sentiment.

As opposed to Guardian’s firm belief in the good of the system and the value of fighting for Equestria, Silver had always found herself less ardent about sacrificing her life for the cause, whatever that cause really was.

Up until a few months prior to the outbreak of the war, Silver had still been in the service of Princess Luna as a Lunar Guard. It wasn’t Silver’s choice to leave, and in fact her departure from the guard was anything but a pleasant affair. She had been demoted, removed from the guard, personally by Princess Luna herself. Since then, there was a residual resentment boiling inside Silver’s heart, expectedly, after perhaps the greatest blow to her confidence ever encountered. She had kept her lunar guard armor as an attempt to spite her superiors, though she knew they probably hardly cared to even look in her direction. She had joined the army believing she could have become something greater, though that sense of fulfillment still seemed utterly out of reach.

And aside from personal disillusionment with the royals, Silver had also experienced far more than Guardian during her time in the war. She was there at the most infamous, deadliest battle, at Galloping Gorge, where she had to watch ponies be cut down by the thousands. In the heat of such chaos, and insanity, and violence, no call of patriotism or honor could convince her that it was all worth it. She had seen entire villages burned to the ground, the charred corpses of entire families stacked in droves in mass graves, wiped away from the face of the earth as if their very existence was completely meaningless. Lush forests reduced to foul brown wastelands, cities turned to rubble, lives torn apart. War was certainly hell, though at least hell cared to spare the innocent.

Silver’s old unit, the 14th Rangers Recon Division, had been cut in half after that campaign at Galloping Gorge, and Silver ended up being transferred over to the 23rd until the division could be properly restocked. Every now and then, memories of the unmistakable, ghastly stink of rotting flesh would pop into her mind, as would the crashing, hellish chaos of shrieking cannon shells and magical bombs of indescribable devastation, that leveled homes and reduced ponies to gaseous particles of red ash and agony. Needless to say, the inspirational words of Shining Armor were not nearly enough to convince her that the mission statement of the war justified its casualties.

Silver snapped out of her traumatic reminiscing, as the applause of the crowd grew stronger, like a wave of jubilation. She noticed her left hoof was quivering uncontrollably, and quickly tried to regain control of herself, trying her best to prevent the anxiety of memories past and futures uncertain from consuming her.

While the crowd continued to cheer, Shining Armor stepped down from the podium and shook Periwinkle’s hoof one last time, whispering something in her ear, likely bidding her good luck in what would be a fateful campaign northwards into the mountain passage.

“Oh, Commander! Would it be too much trouble for a picture? With you and the Velvets, before they leave?” called out one pony from nearby the platform, holding a large tripod and a box-like camera in his hooves. As he spoke, he motioned towards a selected group of the 13th Velvet Regiment soldiers, who were waiting eagerly by the platform.

Shining glanced back at Periwinkle, whose tight smile signaled to him that it wouldn’t hurt anypony to take one picture.

“Of course,” Shining said, moving out of the way to allow the photographer pony and the group of soldiers to mount the platform.

Guardian and Silver glanced at each other, and decided it would be best to step out of the shot, that was until Shining Armor stuck his hoof out to block their escape.

“Where are you going? You’ll be in it too, come on,” Shining said, smiling, riding the high of his celebrity status.

Guardian couldn’t remember the last time a photograph had been taken of her. And though she seemed to be ecstatic over the opportunity, Silver seemed to want to be anywhere else but on that platform.

While the photographer prepared his camera at the top of the platform, the other ponies all gathered together in a group, Guardian on one end and Silver on the other. The group of ponies seemed to be restless, as the anticipation of being photographed grew by the second.

“Alright, stay still now!” the photographer said, pausing while the crowd behind him stayed silent.

Guardian flinched when a bright flash of light and a loud click simultaneously burst out of the box-like camera, immediately followed by applause from the crowd.

The platform was now filled with ponies as they broke apart from the photograph group and began talking amongst each other, Shining Armor stepping ahead to address the crowd a final time.

He gave one last strong-armed wave to the crowd before he walked off the podium, rejoining his outfit of Crystal ponies and Colonel Splinter below.

As the crowd rejoiced and the platform turned into a social gathering of ponies, Guardian again noticed Silver’s demeanor, cold and unimpressed while everypony around her celebrated.

Before Guardian could question Silver on her somberness, a pony intercepted her, catching her by surprise. And not just anypony, but one of whom Guardian had least expected.

“Excuse me,” Captain Periwinkle said, stepping in front of Guardian right before she could head towards where Silver was. “Hello there, don’t mind me asking, but did you once serve in the palace? At Canterlot, I mean,” Periwinkle asked, her posh accent making Guardian sentimental for her past role as a palace guard.

“Yes! Yes, I did. Both of us,” Guardian replied, nodding over at Silver, who was already heading off of the podium. Guardian tensed up, and she doubled her focus on the words that were to come out of her mouth, for fear of embarrassing herself in front of the captain.

“I recognized you from some of the military balls,” Periwinkle said, smiling at the sight of a familiar face, “I'm glad I’m not the only one very far from home, then."

“Yes, very far,” Guardian said, nervous over fumbling over her words in front of a pony she so greatly admired.

“It’s all been so mad lately, hasn’t it? I do pray things get better soon. It’s like the Commander said though, it’s all up to us, isn’t it?”

“Absolutely,” Guardian said, smiling.

“I wonder if I’ll see you again when we return...You and your friend, I’d very much like to learn about the life of a Canterlot guard,” Periwinkle said.

“Good luck on your campaign, Captain,” Guardian said.

“The honor’s all mine, Corporal…” Periwinkle started, leading into a blank.

“Angel, my name is Angel.”

“Angel, very good. Till we meet again,” Periwinkle said, giving a nod of courtesy and turning around to depart from the platform.

Guardian waited until Periwinkle was far enough out of earshot before releasing a squeal of excitement, having just met one of her idols in the flesh.

She stepped down off the platform to join back up with Silver, who was waiting in the grass nearby.

“Did you see that? She spoke to me!” Guardian exclaimed, elated.

“That’s great,” Silver replied, petulantly.

“She wanted to talk to you too, why’d you run off?”

“I didn’t run off…” Silver muttered, glumly.

Guardian eyed her down, unsure why Silver’s mood had suddenly soured.

“What’s wrong? You seemed to hate every second of being up there,” Guardian said, her mouth curling into a smile. “You don’t have stage fright, do you?”

“No, I don’t have-...You know I don’t.”

“Well?”

“Forget it,” Silver said, not seeing the point in having a discussion.

She did love Guardian, like a sister almost, but she just didn’t believe the pegasus truly understood the reality of the war, not the same way Silver did. It was Guardian’s dedication and common sense that kept Silver from giving up on making an effort to stay alive. Silver had always felt isolated in the 23rd. The regiment had only seen combat twice, and fared poorly both times. They weren’t weak fighters necessarily, but they did happen to be a little too over-confident, without much to show for all their talk. Guardian was the closest to an exception to that over-confidence, which is what made her stand out to Silver. They had known each other fairly well from their training days in Canterlot, serving as the backbone for what would become a balancing friendship.

“Chin up, buttercup. We’ve got shovel patrol,” Guardian said, nodding for Silver to catch up as she started trotting away from the parade field.

“Great, just what I needed,” Silver replied, sarcastically.

When Guardian had first joined the 23rd Regiment, her expectations were endless fighting on the front lines, possibly even leading to a glorious last stand or something that could be made into a heroic story for others to be inspired by. Though that certainly wasn’t the case. Her life for the past few months barely contained any fighting. No, it was mostly just digging.

Guardian and Silver were put alongside in a group of twelve ponies, that week’s shovel group. Each week, ponies would be picked at random by Colonel Splinter to expand the outer trenches northwards. There were rarely any rebels hanging out that close to royal territory, though there were occasional traps laid out for them to avoid.

“I’m just questioning the sense in it, is all,” said Silver, between her shoveling. The group was far away from the main part of the camp now, standing a little bit beyond the northern lines, digging into the earth to clear a route towards the nearby forest.

The grey muddy plain that the back lines camp sat on eventually led into an evergreen forest to the north, that grew between and atop the Smoky Mountains. Captain Periwinkle and her company had headed off into the forests earlier that day, making the long and dangerous trek through the mountain passage.

The ground they were digging in was frozen solid, making the digging process exponentially more difficult.

“If I had to make a guess,” Silver said, grunting after putting some effort into digging up a heavy rock stuck inside the ground, “I’d say it takes us about a whole day just to make a five yard difference from here to there…” Silver said, wiping some sweat from her forehead.

Guardian, and the other ponies who didn’t have the benefit of being able to grip their shovels with magic, were having a much more physically strenuous time digging through the mud dirt.

“That’s amazing. You should’ve been a mathematician,” Guardian said, getting a small chuckle from the other ponies in the shovel group.

“We could be spending that time better, is what I mean,” Silver said.

“Somepony’s gotta dig. Today that’s us. Tomorrow we might not be around to do it,” Guardian said.

“You think five yards is going to win the war?” Silver asked, sarcastically.

“Maybe,” Guardian replied, smiling, “If it’s five yards for us instead of five yards for them, then I take that as winning.”

“Whoa!” yelled one of the other ponies in the group, who suddenly jumped back from something, frightened out of his wits. He landed hard on his back, his whole body shaking with fear.

“What the hell’s the matter, Sandlot?” Guardian asked, dropping her shovel in preparation for an imminent ambush or some other frightful surprise.

“Mine!” he yelled, trying to pick himself up from the floor and put some distance between himself and the landmine he had discovered buried in the ground ahead of them. The others all noticed the small metal device, which was shaped like a hockey puck, and all began backing away nervously.

“Holy-!” yelled one of the ponies, dropping her shovel and backing up.

“Did he set it off?” asked another, confused as to how they weren’t dead yet.

“I think we’d be in pieces right now if he had,” Silver said, plainly.

“Nopony get near it, nopony touch it. Turn around, head back to camp. The inspection team apparently missed some of these…”

“Morons. They’ve got one job! They’re gonna get us killed,” Silver said, angrily. If she was indeed going to die in this war, she’d hate for it to be so impersonal.

“That was lucky, how close do you think we were from being blown to bits?” Silver asked, incredulous as to how Sandlot had managed to avoid setting the mine off.

“Let’s get out of here, before we actually do set one off,” Guardian said, heading back in the direction they had come from. Her heart was beating fast, as she realized how close she and the others had been to meeting their untimely ends. The other ponies all followed after her, cautiously checking where they were walking to avoid any other potential hidden landmines.

Upon returning to the camp, it was afternoon, and Guardian and Silver stayed with each other, as usual. They both agreed to hit the showers after their muddy, nearly fatal trench excavation work. The showers were separated between the boys and girls, though neither sex was particularly comfortable with bathing in the freezing outdoors. The showerhouses were open facilities, with enclosed wooden stalls, but no roofs. It made bathing a cold, awkward, unpleasurable experience, though still essential in such a filthy place.

Guardian and Silver showered in next-door stalls, both watching to make sure nopony was going to bother either of them.

Once clean, they took turns using the disgusting, foul-smelling toilet, which was really just a hole in the ground with a tiny wooden enclosure built around it. The only privacy anypony could find in the back lines camp was in their own tent, and even then, it was unwise to do anything risky that could end in a reprimand.

They at last arrived back at the mess hall for their dinner, as the cloudcast sky above them began to darken. To their delight, there was indeed a new shipment of food rations, likely done by Shining Armor’s own order, as he was visiting that day.

Regardless of the reason, both Silver and Guardian were beyond excited to get some full rations for once. They took a seat in the mess hall on one of the benches after retrieving their trays. Sitting opposite to each other, they both took a moment to admire the food in front of them. In truth, it was aggressively disgusting to gander at, and didn’t even resemble real food. Though once gotten used to, it was enough to make their mouths water. Some sort of thick, mealy brown paste or chum, along with bland-colored vegetables, a single apple, and a small cup of water.

Like every dinner, Silver pocketed the apple to save for later, as she usually got hungry at random times during the day and didn’t like to wait. Guardian had mushy peas as her vegetables, sitting in a pool of some strange liquid that closely resembled urine. In fact, the warm yellow liquid didn’t taste far from it either, though Guardian was so hungry she didn’t care.

“Hey, I overheard something. About Lieutenant Fanfare’s division,” Silver said, mid-chew of her chum.

“You did?” Guardian asked, her ears perking up.

“Might just be rumors, I don’t really know...Apparently their communications were cut off like...halfway into the passage,” Silver said, somberly, implying that the division-worth of ponies were likely all killed.

Guardian, however, simply refused to believe such a harrowingly tragic outcome.

“They must’ve had to ditch their equipment to travel lighter. Terrain difficulties,” Guardian said, dismissively, unwilling to accept the possibility that Fanfare and his troops were all dead.

“Everypony’s been saying that they didn’t make it through. Not even halfway, can you believe that? Celestia help Periwinkle and the Velvets, looks like they’re in for the fight of their lives,” Silver said, hopeful that the day could still be saved.

“She’s competent. I’m quite sure they’ll have no problem making it through,” Guardian said.

“I don’t know, Guardian...nopony’s ever made it through that passage. Remember Lieutenant Iodine last October? And Fast Track, with that Fillydelphia company? They disappeared too. And now Fanfare. He was one of the best scouts we had, if he couldn’t make it through…” Silver said, refraining from filling in the blank. “We don’t even know how many rebs are in there, it could be full battalions. If the Velvets win this fight, it’d be a miracle. I just hope they aren’t wiped out,” Silver said.

Guardian sighed, dissatisfied with the seeming hopelessness of Equestria’s predicament.

“Have you still got those cards you stole from Fleetwood?” Guardian asked, seeking a distraction.

“Borrowed. And yes,” Silver said, grinning.

“Ok, let’s go, I’ve had enough,” Guardian said, deciding to hold off from finishing her foul-tasting peas.

They left the mess hall right as it was really beginning to fill up with ponies who had just finished their work for the day. It was now dark outside, the camp illuminated by various soft orange-lit lamps hanging around buildings and tall stakes stuck in the icy dirt ground.

They walked towards the tents, but didn’t make it far, when a pony stepped out from around a corner right in front of them to block their path.

“Who’s there? I can’t see,” Guardian said, squinting her eyes to try and see through the pitch black.

The pony raised the lantern he was carrying with a jolting hoof to reveal his face. He was Night Owl, a stallion unicorn, with a black coat and light blue hair that stuck upwards. He had bags under his eyes, and he seemed to be extremely anxious about something.

“Oh, Sergeant. Is there something you need from us?” Guardian asked, after awkwardly clearing her throat. She always made an effort to be polite with her superior officers.

“You, Angel, you’ve been summoned by the Commander,” he said, pointing squarely at Guardian.

Guardian stared at him blankly, shocked by the order and unsure how to react.

“The Commander...wants me?” she asked, her voice trembling. She hoped to Celestia that she wasn’t in any trouble.

“Come with me...And bring your friend,” Night Owl said, motioning for the two of them to follow him towards the command facility towards the east.

Guardian glanced at Silver, both unsure what this was all about.

“Jealous?” Guardian asked Silver with a playful grin, as they quickly caught up to Night Owl, who was trudging quickly through the muddy camp. His face was grave, which made Guardian suspect something important was happening. Why it concerned her, was still a mystery.

“Please, you could be getting thrown in the hole, for all you know,” Silver muttered, smirking.

“If that happens, I’ll be sure to bring you down with me,” Guardian shot back.

As soon as they reached the command facility, Night Owl turned to both of them, his cold demeanor snapping both ponies back to attention.

“Do as they say, and be respectful. The commander is waiting for you,” Night Owl said, stepping out of the way for them to enter first.

Guardian hesitated, as did Silver, unsure what to expect inside. Neither of them had ever been inside that building, which was reserved for high-ranking officers. They were both just lowly corporals, who weren’t meant to be concerned with the affairs of their commanding superiors.

Guardian took a deep breath to calm her nerves and entered the facility, taking a wide step inside.

There was a single room inside the building, lit by the flickering warm orange glow of several different lamps positioned around tables that lined the edges of the walls. At the center of the room was a wide table covered in maps, and waiting inside were several different officers, all of high rank. She recognized Shining Armor instantly at the opposite side of the table, his face worn low with exhaustion. Colonel Splinter was there as well, and several other officers who had thrown some commands towards the duo’s way more than once.

As soon as both Guardian and Silver had awkwardly shuffled inside the cramped command room, Night Owl followed them inside and shut the door behind them. There were about twenty other officers already inside, now all staring directly at Guardian and Silver. Guardian felt like she was being suffocated, by the several pairs of eyes all locked on her.

“Commander,” Guardian said, her voice giving out at the end as a result of her painful, crippling anxiety.

“Guardian Angel, and Silver Saber, right?” Shining asked, lifting his head from the map table to get a better look at them. Silver tried not to show her surprise, at the sight of Shining Armor, who appeared far more grizzled and unkempt since she last saw him that morning. His stubble had grown out, and his head refused to be still, swaying from side to side constantly, as if he was in disbelief.

“Yes sir,” Guardian replied. She was already sweating, small droplets of water freezing to ice right on her skin due to the dangerously cold temperatures.

“Relax, you’re not in trouble…” Shining said, sighing in an attempt to collect himself.

“We’re...We’re not?” Guardian asked, still confused, and slightly concerned as to why Shining appeared to be mid-panic attack.

“No, you’re not...The reason we’ve summoned you is ... Well I’ll be frank. There’s been a...complication to the situation regarding the mountain passage.”

“A complication, sir?” Guardian asked.

Shining nodded at one of the Lieutenants, Red Holly, to take over the talking.

“Are you familiar with Field Marshall Moonbeam and his battalions?” the red-coated unicorn mare said.

“Um, somewhat, ma’am,” Guardian answered. She had heard the name before, though she didn’t know much about the pony.

“He’s currently commanding three battalions, far up north from our position here, on the other side of the passage. The 19th, 46th, and 62nd. Our three spearheads. They came down from the north a while ago, in hopes of meeting us in the middle and crushing the rebel presence in this region. Just days ago, he was sending us angry letters, complaining about us giving priority access to the southern supply deliveries to Lieutenant Rotor in the highlands, instead of him. For the past three weeks, Moonbeam’s been pushing the Coalition’s command legion westward, towards the coast. However, we’ve only today discovered that he is walking into a trap.”

Guardian and Silver were both overwhelmed by all this information, but it was clear that the loss of three of Equestria’s largest battalions of soldiers would be devastating to the royals’ chances of victory. Shining Armor grabbed their attention back, pointing at an area on the map near the North Lunar Sea coast.

“Moonbeam was led to believe that the rebels’ reinforcements from the south had been delayed, making them vulnerable in their current position. What he is unaware of, is that the rebels have already been reinforced, by a fighting force even greater than the expected numbers of the southern reinforcements. They came north by the sea, but he has no idea. Our patrols south of Vanhoover caught sight of the sea reinforcements, they alerted us just a few hours ago,” Shining said, his voice withered as if he had been talking for hours

“And have they alerted the Field Marshal?” Silver asked.

Shining shook his head.

“That’s the problem. The rebels have made a considerable effort to prevent us from reaching and warning Moonbeam of what’s waiting for him at the coast. Magical communications have been jammed, and airspace is three times as hostile as before. There isn’t time to call in more air support. We only have seven days from tomorrow morning, at most, before Moonbeam is able to make his assault. Should his battalions be lost to the enemy, we will have no viable chance of establishing control over this region...Very likely, the Northern Theater will be lost, and...that is not something that we can allow to happen,” Shining said, his eyes darting back and forth between Silver and Guardian, terrified of the potential disaster he was alluding to.

“Sir, we have operatives all over the region that could make it to the Field Marshal! Lieutenant Fanfare and his division are still out there, if we could get this message to them, they could-” Guardian started, before Colonel Splinter could cut her off.

“Corporal...Lieutenant Fanfare is dead. His entire division was slaughtered last night near the river, we found their bodies washed up near Molestown,” Splinter interrupted, not wanting to waste time on false promises of hope.

Guardian’s mouth hung agape, and even Silver was a bit stunned. She had been skeptical of their chances of survival, but to know that an entire division was destroyed, was a frightful reality to accept.

“I, uh...All of them?” Guardian asked, distressed, choking on her words.

“I’m afraid so, Corporal,” Splinter replied, gravely.

“How long have you known this?” Guardian stammered.

Splinter was a bit taken aback by Guardian’s forcefulness, but relented, given how visibly upset she was.

“A few hours ago,” Splinter answered.

“And you neglected to tell the rest of us?” Guardian yelled, outraged. Silver subtly nudged her with her hoof to try and warn her to calm down.

Splinter scoffed, both at her nerve to talk so bluntly to a superior officer, and her naivety.

“And what good would that do, Corporal? Weaken the regiment’s hearts to the point they’re a hair away from throwing their spears to the ground and deserting into the countryside? I wouldn’t have told you either if you hadn’t said anything.”

“We all have a right to know!” Guardian contested, Silver again nudging her to calm down, this time with a stronger impact.

“Corporal. Watch your tone,” Red Holly interjected, practically snarling at an outraged Guardian. Holly’s voice was smooth and dominating, and as soon as she spoke, Guardian immediately shut her mouth, realizing that she may have pushed her limit with the officers’ patience. Splinter said absolutely nothing, while Guardian subtly lowered her head towards the ground.

“Sorry, ma’am,” Guardian mumbled, though she remained upset.

While Guardian was still worked up over the loss of Fanfare and his division, Silver was more concerned with her recently drawn conclusion.

“Do you mean for us to deliver that message to Moonbeam?” Silver asked.

Shining Armor scratched his stubbly beard, exhausted from the day’s events and stressed over the possibility of an imminent defeat in the North.

“You both have to understand what’s at stake here...We can’t communicate with these ponies, at all. They’re cut off from us completely, and they’re marching to their deaths! Captain Radiance will be distracted with the fight with the rebel battalions closer south in the passage. Which is why the only sensible route to take would be to send a smaller number of ponies to deliver this message to Moonbeam, while the enemy is mostly preoccupied. You two were the first ponies I thought of, that could be right for the job, I’m pleased to have met you both again today. And I had to have made a good choice...Colonel Splinter here tells me that you’re the fastest pony in this regiment, Angel,” Shining said.

“I’m-I’m faster on my wings, but I can run too,” Guardian replied, nervously. She was slowly realizing what they were asking her to do, and the more she understood, the more terrified she became. But her willingness to impress her superiors was persuasive enough to force her to keep her composure.

“It’s safer for you to travel with a companion, and it seems you’ve already got one,” Shining said, nodding at Silver. Guardian and Silver glanced at each other, both nervous about the daunting task.

“You want us to run miles into enemy territory? Straight into the mountain passage, where nopony comes back from? And just the two of us?” Silver asked, struggling to comprehend the monumental danger of the assignment.

“You’ll be properly equipped and given full rations for seven days. It shouldn’t take you longer than that to reach them. Past that point, it’ll be too late...” Splinter said.

“So...Do you accept? We need to know now, there isn’t time to think it over,” Red Holly said, trying to frighten the two overwhelmed corporals into obedience.

Guardian blinked a few times, still in a state of intense shock. To think she may be throwing her life away, was horrifying, but the knowledge that thousands of lives were at stake was convincing enough for Guardian to come to a reluctant agreement. On top of the implied ticking clock on the mission, Guardian forced herself to ignore her fears, and do the honorable thing.

“Yes,” Guardian said, her voice quivering slightly.

“Corporal Saber?” Splinter asked, turning to Silver.

Silver hesitated as well, struggling to process all of the risks involved.

“We’ll both do it,” Silver said, against her better judgment. This assignment sounded more like a death sentence than anything else, but she wasn’t about to let Guardian go through it without her.

“You have no idea how many ponies’ lives depend on this...You’ll be doing a great service to your country,” Shining said, firmly.

Guardian and Silver were both pale with fright, unable to process what they had just gotten themselves into.

“Mr. Pepperjack, set the watch. You two, and all you with time to spare, come with me,” Splinter said, storming towards the door, unwilling to waste any time. As Guardian and Silver were quickly rushed out of the building, they both caught one last look from Shining, a combination of desperation, fear, and hope that Equestria would prevail through its darkest hour.

The duo were quickly escorted out of the command facility by Splinter and the lieutenants. They gathered again outside, underneath a tent near the edge of the camp. Splinter reached inside one of his bags to pull out a map of the mountain passage, laying it out on the wooden table that sat right beneath the tent, lit by a nearby lantern.

“This here,” Splinter said, pointing at a spot on the map.

“You’ll be entering the forest through here. Don’t stray too far from the creek, follow it northwards all the way through the passage. The creek splits two ways after a while, follow it northeast. Avoid this town, here, Pine Hearth. We believe it’s under occupation. When you reach the fields up here, head straight east, you should reach Moonbeam’s position after not too long...Avoid flying at all costs, there’s rebel pegasi patrols all over, if you’re spotted, the mission will be jeopardized. Stay on task, remember you’re on a time deadline here. Do you both understand all that?” Splinter demanded.

“Yes sir. Er, one thing, what if we do encounter the rebels?” Silver asked, concerned with the possibility of just the two of them fighting against entire companies of enemy soldiers.

“Avoid being spotted. If a conflict is unavoidable, do what you must to stay alive, and get that message to all those poor souls up north. You two are supposed to be the best in the regiment, I trust you’ll be able to handle this. I wouldn’t have let the commander pick you otherwise. He seemed to have already taken a liking to you.”

Flurries of snow began to drift from the night sky as if the stars themselves were descending down to the earth, right as Splinter was finishing up his rundown of the mission.

“In each of these packs is seven days’ full rations...Maps, lantern, extra supplies. And here is the letter you’re to deliver. Do not lose it, at all costs,” Splinter said, handing Guardian an off-white envelope, which she promptly tucked inside her duffel bag, zipping it up for safekeeping.

“Good luck, both of you,” Splinter said, nodding to both of them, prideful that two soldiers from his regiment were the ones being sent, but also deeply worried for their chances of survival and success. He gave them a final, formal hoofshake, leaving them with the nod that it was time.

“Thank you, sir,” Guardian said, her voice shaking uncontrollably. Everything had happened so fast, and she didn’t feel prepared at all for an assignment of this magnitude. Maybe it was just to scare her into compliance, but those officers really made it sound like the fate of Equestria hung on her and Silver’s shoulders.

Guardian was excited, surely, and eager to save all those ponies’ lives, but she couldn’t ignore her fears of what lay ahead in that forest of nightmares.

Silver was just as afraid, though she happened to not feel as driven about the mission as Guardian. She was really only participating for the sake of sticking by Guardian, and to get some much-desired recognition from her superiors.

Both ponies were allowed to make a quick run to their tent to gather what belongings they needed, though Splinter stressed that they stick to the bare essential. Guardian grabbed an extra canteen and some extra first aid supplies, while Silver went for a pack of gum, one of the many books she was in possession of, and, of course, an extra bottle of contraband whiskey.

Guardian and Silver correctly assumed they wouldn’t be given a formal goodbye in the same vein as Periwinkle, gathering their gear and reuniting with Splinter and the other lieutenants back near the tent.

With a final wave from Colonel Splinter, Guardian and Silver took right to slipping off towards the wilderness beyond, their fears growing with each step towards the forests ahead.

Through the dark night air, droplets of snow landed and melted right onto their helmets and armor, giving them each a shudder as they approached the frozen forest of the Smoky Mountain passage. It was practically pitch black out, Silver using her horn for light while Guardian had to use the lantern. The packs that Splinter had given to them were thicker than what they were used to, and the extra weight slowed their pace ever so slightly.

“You ready?” Silver asked, right before they would take their official first step out of the camp. Guardian glanced at her friend, but said nothing, because truthfully she wasn’t quite sure. She took one last deep breath and continued her march forward, Silver walking right beside her.

Their descent into the hellish dark forest, soundtracked by the sounds of distant screaming and cannonfire, was marked by uncertainty. Neither were sure whether they would exit this forest alive, or at the very least the same as they entered. All they had was each other, in perhaps the most unforgiving place in Equestria.

Author's Note

Thanks for Reading! Feedback always welcomed!

02: By The Moonlight

When the branches of the trees hang low and the unknown surrounds all by the moonlight, and when the dark of night ascends from the broken bones and suffering screams it has wrought, still there is a light to be seen. Soft and pure, blinding and true, it is there. Through even the longest and darkest of nights, it will be there.

Snow trickled down from above, blanketing the trees of the northern forests in sheets of pure white. For months now, the wildlife of the forest had, for the most part, all scattered out of fear of the rowdy havoc and environmental destruction reaped by the war. Because of this, there was little sound in the forest that morning with the exception of the wind, and the snowbound hoofsteps of two exhausted ponies. From the branches of the trees, sharp fingers of frozen ice clung steadily, dangling precariously over the snowladen ground below.

The snow had come down heavy all through the night, finally letting up by the morning. The sun was completely hidden behind the great looming grey clouds, which tugged and wrestled with one another for dominance of the sky. Deep rumbles of thunder shook the forest from far away in the mountains, where a storm had been brewing for days. The distant sounds of cannonfire had dimmed, and a temporary, ominously quiet sense of peace seemed to have descended around the woods.

Throughout that night, Guardian Angel had been thinking of the words of a poem she was loosely familiar with, having learned and analyzed it in high school for an essay contest. She was terribly afraid, trotting through evil stalks of slithering darkness, and to try and comfort herself she read the words in her head, until it became all she could possibly think about. Her companion in the dark snowy trek, Silver Saber, simply took the route of repressing her doubts, in an effort to stay focused and avoid any clumsy mistakes.

After traveling all night through the forest without stopping, by the next day’s morning Guardian and Silver had finally reached the point where they absolutely required a rest.

Guardian gave out first, collapsing beside a tree right atop a small hill of powdery snow. She sunk down against the bark of the tree, gasping for breath, letting her duffel bag slide off her shoulders into the snow. Silver stayed standing, frantically glancing around the forest in every direction to make sure they weren’t too exposed out in the open.

“I don’t know if here’s a good place to stop…” Silver said, cautiously. She would have loved a break more than anything, but not if it meant risking their lives.

“Just for a moment…” Guardian said, catching her breath. Her muscles were exhausted, both from the long trek and the heavy pack she had to carry around with her.

After a series of endless panting, Guardian took one more deep breath, trying her best to recover as quickly as possible. She reached into her bag and retrieved the map of the area that Colonel Splinter had equipped her with. The map was slightly tattered and bent after being stuffed inside her already-cramped duffel bag all night. She laid it out flat on the surface of a nearby rock that jutted out from the snow, while Silver subtly leaned against a tree to relieve some of the stress on her legs and back. She was just as tired as Guardian, though didn’t think it wise for both of them to sit down at the same time and be too vulnerable. This was supposed to be extremely hostile territory, after all.

They had yet to find a sign of anypony else since they had first left the camp, to their relief. Their only company was the trees, standing over them like giants, reaching up towards the clouds above with dark leaves and thin fingers of wood.

“Here...We’ve made a good few miles,” Guardian said, pointing at the map at where she believed they were.

“Time?” Silver asked, after taking a gulp of her canteen.

“We’re doing fine, I think. We should keep going a little bit farther north...This time we’ll set up camp for the night,” Guardian said, picking herself up after a considerable effort.

“You know, we probably should’ve discussed this,” Silver said, feeling as though they had yet to properly acknowledge their situation.

“There’s nothing much to discuss, is there,” Guardian replied dismissively, picking up the map, folding it, and stuffing it back into her bag. She was too stressed to have an argument right now, especially with the famously stubborn Silver Saber. “We’ve only just started, Silver. The worst you can complain about is how heavy these stupid packs are, and they’re not nearly as bad as what they gave us back in training,” Guardian said.

“I wasn’t complaining. I volunteered for this the same as you!” Silver fired back.

Guardian didn’t reply. Though she was undeniably grateful for her friend sticking with her on this mission, it also meant having to look after another pony instead of just herself. This mission was about those battalions up north, as Guardian thought, which meant they couldn’t waste time on petty arguments or unnecessary detours.

Silver sighed in response to Guardian’s silence. She was still hesitant about this entire mission, she had really only agreed for the sake of making sure Guardian didn’t get herself killed. She brushed off some of the snow that had piled up on her armor, and then glanced up at the ominous cloudy sky through the trees above, letting the snow fall right onto her face. She closed her eyes, enjoying a brief bit of calm in the center of so much death and chaos. When she opened her eyes, that bit of calm dissipated in less than a heartbeat.

“Guardian, get down!” Silver whispered as loudly as she could, dashing to the ground by a snow-covered bush. Guardian didn’t think twice, rushing to a tree and staying as still as possible. She had no idea what Silver had seen, but it probably wasn’t worth the risk to question it. Her eyes scanned the forest vicinity for any threats, though she came back with nothing.

This better not be a prank.

After a few moments, Guardian had become fed up, unsure why Silver had beckoned her to stay hidden. She rose up from the snow, trudging towards the spot where Silver was hiding. She then froze, when she noticed something up above in the sky.

They were pegasi, at least four, flying far up overhead through the sky. Perfect formation, one in front and three behind, flying at precisely equal pace. They were just specks to Guardian from the ground, though as a pegasus herself, she was well-acquainted with the sight of pegasi in flight. She stayed completely still, hoping that the snow coating her body would conceal her well enough not to be seen.

She watched the pegasi slowly fly by, until they were at last completely out of sight. She gave a great exhale of relief, assuming that she hadn’t been spotted.

Silver quickly sprang out from her hiding spot to join Guardian in staring up at the sky, also relieved they were safe. They glanced at each other, coming to an unspoken agreement that they’d have to be far more careful if they intended to survive.

They put their packs back on, heading back out to march through the light, fog-like flurries of snow, making sure to watch their step for any obstacles ahead in their path.

Through the forest, they came across a steep rocky cliff that descended downwards into an even denser forested area. From the top of the cliff, the ponies both couldn’t help but enjoy the view, the mountains in the distance like faded shadows guarding the forests below. There was a cloud of misty grey fog hovering above the trees, which swayed gently in the cool breeze. Guardian tried her best to enjoy the calm weather, though she was also concerned, recognizing those soft winds as the precursor to an upcoming storm. She could see dark, clouds festering in the mountains beyond, crackling and shifting restlessly in preparation for a raging uproar.

Silver took the lead heading down the jagged rocky cliffs, using her magic to clear the occasional fallen tree or boulder that was obstructing the narrow path that led downwards. Dust slipped off from the stones with each crack of the distant, endless thunder and cannonfire. Neither of the ponies were really able to tell the difference between them anymore.

Guardian’s shoulders were aching. She found it odd, that despite her likely being the more physically fit of the two, she seemed to be struggling more. Part of her wanted to ask Silver for help or ask to slow down, but she decided to put up with the pain to preserve her dignity.

Descending into the forested valley below, the ponies found that it was even colder here than back up above. The shadow of the Smoky Mountains in the distance cast the forest in a sulking darkness, along with the help of the sun-obscuring clouds, which decorated the sky like rough grey strokes of a paintbrush.

Neither spoke too much to the other, both due to them having to focus on making good time and their fears of calling attention to themselves. They were both on high alert, especially after that close encounter with that rebel pegasi patrol.

Silver was increasingly finding herself stoically dead-set on making it through the mountain passage alive. She wasn’t exactly sure she actually expected to survive the war, given how careless she considered the officers to be with their troops’ lives. But now that being killed was a very realistic possibility at any given moment, she couldn’t help but want to defy fate, to secure her own destiny, to prove to those officers that she was not only capable of completing this task, but worth far more to Equestria than any of them would ever be.

“Hold it,” Silver said, suddenly. Guardian was a few yards behind her, struggling to step through the snow, which reached a few inches off the ground. She was trying her hardest to lift her legs high enough so that she didn’t trip, though that only ended up making it easier for her to fall over into the snow, off-balance. She came to a stop shortly behind Silver, taking advantage of an opportunity to catch her breath.

“What is it?” Guardian asked, fear teetering on the edges of her words. Again, she took a wide look around the forest, and up above too, for signs of rebels or traps.

“There’s a landmine...or something else. Just ahead,” Silver said, keeping her voice at a low, steady volume.

Guardian narrowed her eyes to try and see farther ahead in the forest, though everything appeared the same, an unspoiled blanket of snow that peacefully rested along the tree trunks.

“Where? I don’t see it,” Guardian said.

“Over there, the pattern in the snow, it’s not uniform,” Silver explained, pointing at a spot right ahead. Guardian realized what she was talking about, an abnormal layering of snow around some sort of object slightly off in their path.

Guardian was slightly impressed with how Silver was able to instantly recognize the anomaly, though she still wasn’t sure what they could do about it.

“It’s probably just a rock,” Guardian said, bluntly.

“I’d rather not take that chance,” Silver muttered, trying to figure out a solution that didn’t involve taking a detour.

“Do we walk around it?” Guardian asked.

“Let’s just...Let’s just think about this,” Silver said, unsure what to do exactly.

“It’s either a perimeter check or just a stray trap,” Guardian said.

“It’s safer to assume it’s a perimeter check...Which means rebels might be nearby,” Silver said.

“So if we set it off, they’ll be on us in no time,” Guardian realized, gravely.

“It could be connected to a tripwire...Damn it…”

“Well, I couldjust fly over it,” Guardian pointed out.

“What about me?”

“I can carry you,” Guardian offered.

Silver knew she’d be slightly embarrassed to have Guardian carry her around in the air, but supposed they didn’t have a better idea. She relented, taking off her bag, swinging it backwards, and launching it to the other side of where the landmine was. After a terribly nervous period of waiting, they were both delighted to see no trap had been set off.

Guardian threw her bag over as well, and spread her wings out.

“Alright...Help me pick you up,” Guardian said, awkwardly stepping through the snow towards Silver.

Guardian locked her arms underneath Silver’s arms and around her chest, hoisting her up into the air with all her strength. She took flight, desperately trying not to drop Silver. She was grunting and wheezing the whole while, until she finally made it to where their packs had been thrown.

Guardian dropped Silver into the snow and fell down right beside her, gasping for breath. Silver turned to her from the ground and broke into laughter, relieved they had both made it out unscathed.

“Thanks,” Silver said, bonking Guardian’s helmet with her hoof.

“Any time,” Guardian replied, adjusting her helmet with an exhausted smile. She thoroughly hoped she’d never have to do that again. Already, she had gotten more of a workout in the past day than any of the physical labor she had to do back at camp.

Silver too was worn out beyond reason, desperately counting down the minutes until they’d be able to take a break.

The ponies picked themselves up and slipped their packs on their backs, setting off once more into the dark forest.

Guardian replaced Silver in the front once Silver began to get too fatigued. In the army, they were typically accustomed to having the slowest one go first, though they were so pressed for time that they had to commit to the faster pace. Combined with an unending sense of competition between them, neither pony was ever too far behind the other.

At one point, Silver noticed the very first wild creature she had seen in the forest. A butterfly, with immaculate bright blue wings, so vivid and colorful it was as if the creature was a work of art on canvas, dancing around in the air by Silver’s face. She smiled at it, amazed by it's fluorescent, delicate beauty. She felt an internal desire to protect the poor creature, as if it was a lasting vestige of brightness in this place so dark. She extended her hoof out into the air, and, to her delight, the butterfly landed on it, pacing around as if it was settling in for the day. It flew off after just a few seconds, though Silver was glad to have any cherishable moments at all in this long, cold voyage.

The ponies both noticed the snowfall begin to wither as the day went on. The sun was beginning to set soon, the ponies only able to tell from how dark the sky was getting in comparison to earlier.

In a small clearing they happened to stumble upon in the forest, Guardian decided there would be a decent place to set up camp.

“We should stop here for the night,” Guardian said.

Silver didn’t protest, as she was so exhausted she could barely speak. She dumped her pack in the snow, immediately retrieving a large plastic tarp from inside and tossing it to Guardian.

Together, they pitched their tent, after which Silver began starting a small fire, using some stray twigs and sticks from the forest that weren’t too wet.

“I’ll take the first watch. Two hour shifts,” Guardian said, opening the tent for Silver to step inside. Silver agreed to the proposition, shuffling inside the tent and opening up her sleeping bag to hunker down for the night.

Guardian took a seat outside on a cut-down tree stump after zipping up the tent for Silver. Silver had the lantern inside the tent with her, which provided some mild warmth. The temperature in the forest kept dropping as the night progressed, Guardian shivering to her core more and more the longer she stayed outside.

Near the end of her shift, she was very much on edge, having occasionally heard strange noises in the forest from all around them. Cracking twigs, animal noises, grunting, among other bizarre sounds that made Guardian’s heart skip a beat. She wasn’t sure what was real and what was just her imagination, but the longer she stayed awake, it was difficult to tell the difference. She clutched her spear, which was wet with snow, as she waited patiently for something to strike in the night.

She practically leaped to her hooves, when after a few hours she noticed a pair of glowing red eyes suddenly peer towards her from the darkness. It was a wolf, slightly smaller than a pony, but still capable of doing severe damage if attacking. There was only one as far as Guardian could tell, after she carefully inspected the rest of the area. The wolf remained stationary, as if it was a part of the forest itself, and Guardian too didn’t budge at all.

When her shift had ended, Guardian decided to let Silver sleep a bit longer, unwilling to turn her back on that wolf for even just a moment.

They kept eye contact throughout the night, Guardian constantly expecting the beast to lunge out at her and tear her apart. The thought was terrifying, worsened as she felt herself drift off to sleep. There was little she could do about it, after not having slept for two days and being subjected to a physically intensive journey through the wilderness.

When morning came, Silver woke up promptly at 6 a.m. as she was used to doing, and realized she had slept through the whole night, despite Guardian’s plan to take shifts. She practically threw herself out of the tent to make sure Guardian was still alive. She found the pegasus sitting right where she had left her, her head lowered, asleep.

“Guardian!” Silver yelled.

Guardian jumped, startled awake.

The last thing Guardian could remember before she fell asleep was that wolf’s glowing red eyes, and instinctively she checked to see if the beast was still there. It was gone, to her relief, though the knowledge that she had fallen asleep while it was still watching her sent shivers down her spine. She then noticed Silver standing angrily over her, and she realized what she had done.

“Oh...Oh I’m sorry, I…” she said, pausing to yawn, “I didn’t fall asleep until like, 3...I didn’t want to wake you…”

Silver shook her head, both relieved that Guardian was alright, but annoyed that she had endangered their lives by falling asleep. She couldn’t fully blame her, however, as she knew all too well how exhausted they both were.

“You’re trying to get us killed?” Silver asked.

“I’m sorry...I’m really sorry…” Guardian said frantically, realizing how much danger she had put both of them in.

“It’s ok, but next time I’m taking first watch, sleeping beauty.”

Guardian cursed herself for being so careless, though since no lasting damage had been done, she took it as a careful warning not to make the same mistake twice.

Together, they took down the tent and prepared to head back out into the forest for another day of journeying. Overnight, some of the snow had melted, both ponies now able to actually make out the dirt on the ground they were walking on.

They both felt slightly more motivated to make good time, perhaps due to getting to take a real rest after so much exhausting traveling.

They continued on through the forest, Guardian up front, wary of possible threats around them. Most of the trees in this part of the forest looked the same, cast in soft grey light that shone through from above. Every now and then, the downdraft from the storm growing in the mountains would sweep through the forest all the way down to the ground, blowing up stray mounds of snow, sending snowflakes tumbling into the ponies’ faces. It was actually a refreshing sensation, or it would’ve been if it didn’t happen so often. Despite the reputation of the mountain passage as being a dangerous cesspool of death and misery, they had yet to encounter anypony.

It wasn’t until three hours into the day, when Guardian finally found something concerning.

“Holy-! Silver!” she whispered, terrified.

“What?!” Silver asked, startled by Guardian’s sudden panicking.

“Hide! Hide!” Guardian said, rushing over to behind a tree for cover. Silver followed suit and hid behind a different tree, though she was unaware of what had Guardian so spooked. She peeked her head out to get a glimpse of what lay ahead, and then quickly saw it.

There was a clearing in the forest lying up ahead, though it wasn’t empty. Guardian and Silver had both seen a collection of tents filling up the clearing, complete with a firepit and clotheslines, all signs of an active campsite.

Guardian peeked her head out again to see what else she could find.

“Wait...Silver…” Guardian said, realizing that the campsite was dead-quiet.

“Yeah?” Silver replied, petrified from behind her tree.

“It’s...I think it’s abandoned.”

Silver gave her a funny look, cautiously peeking out again to get a second look. She waited to see any signs of movement, though none ever came.

Before Silver could protest, Guardian stepped out from behind the tree, resuming her march forwards to investigate.

“Guardian!” Silver whispered. She groaned in frustration before following after her, reaching into her pack to retrieve her spear.

Guardian too armed herself, holding her spear pointed outwards in case of a surprise attack.

They approached the campsite, and, the closer they got, the more they relaxed they became. There was a remnant of a campsite, but nothing more. Just ruins and old supplies left behind, and definitely not any ponies.

“This was a rebel camp,” Guardian said, noticing some weapons left behind, their designs explicitly being used by the enemy.

Silver couldn’t believe their luck, and wondered if they’d really encounter any danger on this mission at all.

“We should get out of here in case anypony comes back for it...And take a different route, to avoid any trouble,” Guardian said, taking some steps deeper into the camp.

Guardian’s ears then twitched, and she swiveled around, to find Silver already rifling through a bag of supplies that was left behind.

“What are you doing?!” Guardian asked, shocked.

“They might have some food, or maps, or something…” Silver said, intent on finding anything useful.

Guardian didn’t try to stop her, though she didn’t have as much interest in searching the belongings of ponies who may or may not be dead. It was a disturbing thought, if she was to know that the enemy would be rifling through her belongings if she was ever killed.

“Those ponies could be dead, you know,” Guardian said, finally speaking up after seeing how careless Silver was with the personal supplies she had found leftover in the tent, tossing them into the mud as if they were meaningless.

“Good riddance then. Whose side are you on again?” Silver said, continuing to dig through what lay inside the tents.

Guardian scoffed, put off by how little regard Silver seemed to have for basic pony life.

“They’re still ponies,” Guardian said.

“Ponies! Yeah, traitor ponies. Murderers, rapists, thieves...Oh yeah, Guardian, but let’s show some concern for old Frolick Sunshine’s toothbrush here,” Silver said, as she tossed a foul-smelling toothbrush she had just discovered beneath a cot in one of the tents.

“What do you think they say about us? Probably the same thing. The longer we keep thinking it’s us versus them, the longer this stupid thing is going to go on,” Guardian contested, not wanting to appear weak-willed in front of Silver.

Silver stood up from the tent and walked back up towards Guardian, who stood her ground, undeterred by Silver’s steely, piercing glare.

“How could you defend those rebel filth?” Silver demanded.

“I’m not defending them, but-”

“But what? Newsflash, Guardian, we didn’t start this war! They did! All this? All those corpses, all those cities burned and destroyed, lives ruined? That’s all on them! We’re just doing what we’ve got to do! I mean, for Celestia’s sake, Guardian! They killed your-” Silver began, but quickly cut herself off, realizing she was about to cross a line that probably wouldn’t be wise to cross.

Guardian sighed, already aware of where Silver was heading.

“Silver, don’t you get it? I really want to think that they’re just some enemy on our doorstep, that they’re just some evil monsters that only exist to be horrible...Because that would make it a hell of a lot easier to live with what we do. But they’re not that. We’re all just ponies, Silver, like it or not. They’re the same as us.”

Silver decided not to continue the argument for fear of saying something she’d regret, angrily turning back to the tent.

“These supplies are wasted on the dead, Guardian. And if they are alive, and if it all really meant so much to them, they shouldn’t have left it unattended,” Silver said, bitterly. Few ponies earned her sympathy, and rebels weren’t even up for consideration.

Again, Guardian made no effort to stop Silver as she returned to scouring every tent, bag, and firepit in the campsite for anything of value.

Despite her thorough efforts, she came back with little.

“It’s mostly just stupid personal stuff...They must’ve taken everything useful already, or burned it….Found this though,” Silver said, revealing a hoofful of objects. Catching Guardian’s eye was a blue star, the traditional centerpiece to the Royals’ armor. She also saw a standard knife used by the royal soldiers, and a crumpled up letter. Guardian picked up the letter in her hoof, uncrumpled it, and read it silently. Her face contorted in shock when she realized what its contents were.

“Fanfare…” Guardian said, regretfully, her voice strained and full of sorrow, handing the letter back to Silver. It was addressed to his wife back in Baltimare, consisting of the typical ‘I love you’s and ‘I’ll be home soon’s. Why the rebels decided to take that letter off of Fanfare was a mystery. Silver expected they kept it as a cruel joke, though Guardian hoped that the rebels intended to send it to its recipient as Fanfare would’ve desired. Likely, they would never really know.

“Guess Colonel wasn’t lying. Poor guys...Didn’t even make it halfway,” Silver muttered, clutching the letter in her hoof with a burning hatred.

Guardian took a few moments to regain control over her emotions, remembering that they had a mission to complete and there wasn’t time to mourn the dead, no matter how much it hurt her heart.

“There’s no point in holding onto those…” Guardian said, softly, mostly for her own sake. She didn’t particularly want to be reminded of all those ponies’ deaths for the rest of their journey.

Silver ignored her, stuffing the possessions in one of her pack pockets.

Guardian made her way to the other side of the camp, altering their course slightly with hopes of avoiding the rebel company that had given up residence in their old campsite, wherever they were now. Silver caught up to Guardian, who was trying to focus on other things besides the weight of the loss of Fanfare’s company.

The alternate path, surprisingly, ended up being more of a shortcut to the forest creek they were supposed to be travelling along.

“Would you look at that,” Guardian muttered, smiling, as the duo came up over a snowy ridge and caught sight of the trickling creek down below.

The snow had already begun to melt around the creek, occasional patches of grass now free from the suffocation of the snow. They began walking right alongside the creek, careful to avoid falling into the freezing cold rushing water.

“I don’t suppose you’re feeling any better about this than me,” Silver said, bluntly. Guardian shot a quick glance from in front. She had been wondering how long it would be before Silver would say something like that.

“Hard to say,” Guardian replied.

“How long before we just call it and turn back?”

“We’re not turning back,” Guardian said firmly.

“Guardian, I know the commander thinks the rebels will be distracted with Periwinkle and all that, but this place...it’s a death trap.”

Guardian stopped in her tracks, turning around to face down Silver, whose hesitations about their mission had finally reached their breaking point.

“All those ponies, in the 19th? And those other battalions too? They’ll all be dead, all of them, and then what? You heard the commander, if we lose the Northern theater, we very well may lose the war, Silver! It’s all up to us!” Guardian exclaimed.

“Us? Guardian, come on. It was never about us. We’re expendable, that’s why they picked us. We could both be dead once we reach the 19th, nopony would care as long as they get that message,” Silver said.

“We have a responsibility, Silver. Why did you agree to this, if you don’t care at all for any of those ponies?”

“I do care! I just...I don’t know if we’re gonna make it, Guardian...I just don’t want to lose you,” Silver said. Guardian relaxed her aggressive stance, realizing Silver was coming from a place of fear rather than stubbornness.

“You’re the bravest pony I know, Silver, this shouldn’t be anything to you! And just wait until we’ve made it, and the war is won! We’re going to be heroes! They’ll promote you back up for sure. Maybe even some statues in Canterlot for the both of us!” Guardian said, putting her hoof on Silver’s shoulder, raising her head back up.

Silver smiled, appreciating Guardian’s attempt to bring her hopes up.

“Let’s keep going then,” Silver said. Guardian nodded in response, turning back around to continue on their journey.

They trotted along the flowing water of the creek, which floated around some small patches of drifting ice. They stepped over the occasional downed log and around the trees that hung right at the edge of the bank, doing their best to avoid getting wet from the freezing-cold water. With the loudness of the rushing water in the creek right beside them from the snowy edge of the bank, they began to feel more comfortable speaking aloud, unlike before.

“I’ve got a story. You want a story?” Silver said.

“Well now I’ve got to hear it,” Guardian replied. Silver smiled, clearing her throat dramatically to begin her revisiting of the good old days.

“Ok, so I had a dream about this yesterday. Like revisiting a memory, but it felt like it was real, like I was living through it all again. There was one day, in the guard, with Luna...Before things went bad between us...There were these ponies, from some dumb organization in Manehattan. I was the only guard on duty with her at the time. She never liked having guards around, you know. I don’t blame her, she probably didn’t need us anyway, but...oh, I’m getting off track. These ponies, they come up to her, and start pestering her, they want her to agree to some dumb proposal, and she tells them she’ll get back to them on a later date. And once they’re gone, she turns to me, and she starts complaining, about those ponies and how they’re just a bunch of cheats and swindlers. And she called me by my name, instead of just ‘guard,’ for like, the first time ever. And she talked to me, like I was a pony, and not just...an accessory that hung around her all day. It was fantastic…” Silver said, whimsically reminiscing about better days. Her demeanor then changed, her face scrunching up in bitterness.

“One day she’ll realize what a mistake she made kicking me out of there...Insubordination. Just because I’m not a mindless drone, they tell me I’ve got insubordination…” Silver said, bitterly. The wounds of that demotion were still fresh even after over a year. Guardian knew better than to ever bring it up with Silver, as it was something that had hurt the unicorn deeply. Her life had never been the same since then, and Guardian dearly hoped Silver would regain her happier spirits again one day.

“Do you remember that one pony? Salty Saddles?” Guardian asked.

Silver raised her head from her glum moment of regret. She sighed, realizing Guardian was trying to distract her from focusing too much on that incident with Luna. She did appreciate the gesture, though.

“Salty Saddles….Oh yeah! Oh yeah, I remember him! First week of training!”

“Right...And he quit, because of ‘unmet expectations,’” Guardian said, laughing. Silver laughed too, recalling the day he threw his tantrum in the cafeteria and stormed off out of the room.

“It was because the chow wasn’t cooked medium rare or something like that!” Silver bellowed, remembering how outraged the pony was.

“I was thinking about that the other day, what he would’ve said if he saw what they give us nowadays,” Guardian said.

“In the 14th, when our first sergeant was transferred, we got this new pony, and he was like that. A complainer, I mean. I should’ve said something, I should’ve said, ‘Look, we’re all in the same boat, pal.’ But he was uptight. Canterlot uptight.”

Guardian snickered, well-aware of the arrogant Canterlot elite’s attitudes towards the rest of Equestria.

“You know, that’s why Captain Radiance is so great. For a Canterlot pony, she’s not like that at all,” Guardian said.

“Oh here we go, fangirling on and on about Periwinkle Radiance,” Silver said, mockingly. Guardian laughed, aware of her obsession-like fixation with her idol. Her smile began to fade though, and Silver could quickly tell that Guardian’s fears were enveloping her mind.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Silver asked.

Guardian broke from her temporary gloom to catch Silver’s concern. She hated to acknowledge all of the death and misery that so egregiously held a sturdy grip over Equestria as of late.

“The other day I heard Rocky say-...You know Rocky, right?” Guardian said, interrupting herself.

“Yeah,” Silver replied, unsure what Rocky the earth pony had to do with Periwinkle Radiance or the 13th Velvets.

“He said-...He was talking to me and a few other ponies, we were cleaning the stockhouse. He was telling us about that scouting mission he was on, with him and some of those ponies from the Recon platoon. It was probably around here, actually. He said it was by one of the creeks on the western side of the forest. They were looking for Iodine’s company, this was a while ago. You know there were a few griffins in that company?”

“Yeah. I knew one. Goldie. She was nice,” Silver replied, worried about where Guardian’s story was heading.

“Rocky said his scouting group found six of them. The griffins in Iodine’s company. He said they were…” Guardian hesitated, struggling to go into detail with what Rocky had told her, “Mutilated. Badly. They were all dead, stacked on top of each other...With parts missing and...feather ripped out, horrible things. Rocky said that after he saw it, it messed him up for weeks.”

“Is that why he kept skipping dinner?” Silver asked.

“Probably. And, he said, they were stacked up in a clearing, like it was supposed to be a message or something…”

“Message received,” Silver said, disgusted. She knew the rebels didn’t care for non-pony creatures, though such barbarism was inexcusable.

“They found Iodine and his pony troops left in an open mass grave not far from there...Yeah, I’m worried. That Periwinkle could end up just the same. That we could end up just the same.”

“Don’t talk like that…” Silver said, consolingly, “We’ve made this far, huh? How many ponies have said that?”

A small smile found its way across Guardian’s lips, and she was relieved that Silver seemed to be more engaged in the mission now that she was aware just how terrified Guardian was.

“Hey, how about we stop here, get some water for the road,” Silver said, nodding at the creek right beside them. Guardian agreed, coming to a stop, dumping her pack off on the ground and falling down on her flank to take a rest.

Silver retrieved a pot from her pack and held it in her mouth, trotting down to the creek and bending over to collect some water. Once the pot was about three-quarters full, she trotted back to the bank where Guardian was lying.

“A pot?” Guardian asked, confused.

“Gotta boil off the bacteria,” Silver said.

“It’s already the clearest water I’ve ever seen,” Guardian said, skeptically.

“Better safe than sorry…” Silver said, taking out a portable stove from her pack and fastening the propane tank.

“You’ve got the matches,” Silver said.

Guardian realized she did indeed have the matches, reaching into her pack and tossing them to Silver.

Once the stove had been lit and the pot rested atop it, Guardian’s smile began to fade, as her concerns over the mission resurfaced.

“I’m not as strong as you,” Guardian said, feeling as though it had to be said. Silver turned away from the pot to Guardian, taken aback by the statement.

“I didn’t want to go on this mission...I still don’t, and I know you don’t...But they picked me...And when they were telling me that I’d be saving Equestria, all I could think was...that will do it. That will make me strong, that will make me a hero. Worthy...What could anypony say about me after that? Even my dad, what could he say then?”

“Guardian,” Silver said, sighing in distaste, “It doesn’t matter what your dad thinks,” she said, speaking of Angel’s father with great scorn. She had long been critical of the patriarch of the Angel family, Archangel, predominantly on the grounds of how cold he had always been towards his only daughter.

Guardian shook her head, unconvinced.

“I’ve always been a disappointment. This is my chance, Silver. If I’m going to die, at least maybe he’ll know I was trying to be brave...and be strong. I’ve got to do this.”

Silver rose to her hooves, trotting right up to Guardian until she was forced to make eye contact.

“You’re already brave, and you’re already strong,” Silver said.

Guardian didn’t respond, her eyes fixed on the rushing creek below, its running water scurrying across the riverbed carelessly. In the passing waters she saw opportunities of the past drift by, unreachable, mocking her with their cold distance and implied unfulfillment. She cursed herself for her failures, and thought on better days, though lately those came fewer and fewer.

Guardian sighed, wiping her eyes out of instinct, though there weren’t any tears.

Guardian took the map out from her bag in an attempt to distract herself, flipping it open to try and locate their current position. Silver turned back to her pot, which was now boiling. She took Guardian’s extra canteen and filled it up with the boiling hot water, re-securing it and tucking it away. Silver joined Guardian on the ground, taking a look at the map herself.

“There...We should take that route up into the mountains. It’s a shorter path to the other side of the passage, faster than following this creek,” Silver said, pointing towards the mountains on the map.

“The Colonel told us to stick to the creek, and then-”

“I know what the Colonel said, but this will be faster!”

“If we head into the mountains, the weather will get worse. We’ll have a harder time making progress,” Guardian countered, strictly opposed to the idea.

“It’s three days on the creek or one day pushing up over the mountain. Do you want to risk getting to the 19th too late?” Silver asked.

Guardian, despite believing it was a bad idea to break orders, couldn’t help but be persuaded.

“Alright, fine...northwest it is…” Guardian said, sighing.

“That a girl,” Silver said, putting her arm around Guardian, together standing up to their hooves.

“Come on then, we might be able to make it a good distance up before nightfall,” Silver said, gently grabbing Guardian’s hoof to check her watch.

Guardian took a deep breath before following after Silver, together jumping over the stream to the right side bank of the creek.

Guardian had grown up with two older brothers, and was therefore well-accustomed to being rough-housed and berated. Still, both of her brothers had always been very protective of her, which came in handy when dealing with bullies at school, or, far more often, an uncompassionate father. Vambrace, the eldest sibling, enlisted in the royal guard right after he graduated university, working his way up to an officer position in the Celestial Corps, serving directly under Princess Celestia. In the very first month of the war, when Celestia made her grand effort to confront the rebel Witch Queen, Vambrace came to an unfortunate end in the midst of the battle. Despite being family, Guardian had never been told exactly how he had been killed, and she had never been shown his body. She had a burning desire to know the truth, however, even going out of her way to find some of the soldiers who survived that terrible battle. Those that claimed they had seen the officer’s death, said it was too gruesome to describe, that he was killed defending Princess Celestia against the witch herself. Guardian took comfort in the fact that her beloved oldest brother died bravely, though, of course, was consumed with grief. It was Vambrace’s death early in the war that made her so eager to join the 23rd, to do her part for her country and have some sort of vengeance. She vowed should she ever meet the witch pony in the flesh, she would never stop in trying to kill her, to avenge her brother’s death.

Chain Mail was the middle child, originally working as a lawyer in an attempt to find an identity of his own apart from the rest of his military family. Though, when Vambrace had been killed, he, like his sister, was compelled to join the fight. He had been a star athlete back in his high school days, and was naturally suited to be a soldier. His family legacy earned him a proud reputation walking in, though, unfortunately, it wouldn’t save his life. He was killed while deployed in the Crystal Empire, reportedly having sacrificed himself to save the other ponies in his unit from a grenade thrown into their trench.

Guardian, therefore, was the last remaining sibling still fighting out in the front. Her father, Archangel, was an esteemed military general, who had overseen operations from a command position starting from a reasonably early age. He intended to retire shortly before the war broke out, a war unlike anything he had ever seen before. He had decided he was still needed, and rejoined the army with a strategic command position in Canterlot, rarely seeing any field work at all anymore.

Guardian’s concerns over her father’s opinion of her were not unwarranted. Growing up, she was constantly overshadowed by her brothers, when she wasn’t being compared against them. She had never been good enough for Archangel, who took great pride in parading his sons around with him, but would often leave Guardian at home. He had never wanted a daughter, and Guardian was unfortunately well aware of that. She was constantly ignored and criticized, in spite of every achievement she had ever made, in both academics and athletics. Her brothers had never been comfortable with the way their father treated her, but there wasn’t much they could do about it. He was a no-nonsense, demanding stallion, who wouldn’t ever take ‘no’ for an answer, and never tolerated failure in the slightest. Guardian often made herself laugh in her head, when thinking about how growing up under his roof was a more intense experience than anything she ever did in army training.

Silver, who was something of a best friend to Guardian ever since they met in their training days, was also aware of how Archangel treated his daughter. She despised the old stallion for how blatantly cruel he was towards Guardian, treating her as though she was better off dead or given away. She had witnessed numerous instances of Guardian being made the subject of cruel put downs or off-handed slights, though, because Archangel was so esteemed, she had never found the courage to say anything on behalf of her friend. Silver couldn’t recall how many nights she'd overheard Guardian breaking down into tears in her cot after receiving just a single letter from her father once every two months, that would only ever give her a report of her regiment’s current situation. Nothing personal, no concern for her safety. As much as she missed her brothers, she had to think it was divine karma against her father, that now the only child he was stuck with was the one he never wanted.

In contrast to Archangel’s stern unforgivingness, Guardian’s mother, Hyacinth, was a far more loving and gentle parent. She was too meek to ever have even tried to stand up to Archangel, but she did go out of her way to make some time for Guardian, who greatly appreciated having at least one parent who cared about her to some extent. Strung around Guardian’s neck, tucked beneath her armor, was a golden locket that had been given to Guardian, on it inscribed only her name. She wore it always, even into the perilous depth of the mountain passage, as it was one of the sole lasting keepsakes she had with her of her family back home. Still, Hyacinth had largely been a distant mother, not because she resented Guardian, but rather due to the increasing dominance her strict husband had over her and the family. The mission was therefore turning into something far more personal, as if its success of failure very well could finally prove her worth in the family.

“Stop,” Silver said, suddenly, yanking Guardian out of her melancholic dwelling over her family troubles.

Silver stopped dead in her tracks, as did Guardian, who tried to become alert of her surroundings. They were still in the woods, cast in grey shadow underneath the shade of the forest canopy.

“Do you hear that?” Silver whispered, nervously trying to locate the source of what she had been hearing.

Resonating from an indiscernible distance deep in the forest, Guardian picked up on the sound of subdued voices, muttering amongst each other.

Silver and Guardian stared at each other in terror, realizing that they were now no longer alone in the forest.

“We gotta get out of here,” Silver said, taking off at a jogging pace through the forest, Guardian wasting no time following after.

Once they had made it a good seven yards, they believed they might be safe, though their hopes came crashing down fast.

“Over there!” they heard a pony yell from somewhere behind them.

Silver looked back out of instinct, though Guardian was more concerned with escaping than confirming their enemy was in pursuit.

“Go!” Guardian yelled, practically shoving Silver to make her start running. Guardian was picked for this mission specifically because she was fast, though Silver, unfortunately, hadn’t. The unicorn struggled to keep up with Guardian as they sprinted through the woods. The sounds of cracking sticks, jangling of gear, and clicking of weapons, made both of them anxious, as they ran for their very lives. They were motivated to go even faster when a hot blast of magic zapped right through a tree not too far from where Guardian’s head would have been a few moments earlier.

“Shoot!” Guardian muttered, considering the worth in dumping her gear to go faster. But the letter was inside her bag, and without the letter the mission would be pointless.

Silver kept turning her head back every now and then, and each time it seemed as though there were more ponies pursuing them. They were rebels alright, about twenty of them, recognizable by their solid black armor. The rebel helmets were similar to the royals’ with the exception of more armor around the face, effectively concealing the face of the wearer except for the eyes, which had to be allowed space for visibility.

“Guardian!” Silver squeaked, as she whistled for breath, still on the run.

“Just keep going!” Guardian said, as another magical bullet zoomed by her head.

“Guardian!” Silver yelled again, seeing what Guardian was ignoring up ahead. The forest floor ended on a muddy cliff up ahead in the direction they were heading, and Guardian was completely unaware, as she was focusing more on not running into any trees or tripping on some roots.

She realized what the problem was once it was too late, practically running right off of the muddy cliff. Silver braced herself, running right off, hoping that the fall wasn’t too far.

To her relief, it wasn’t a life-threatening tumble.

Guardian was taken by surprise as she fell down the muddy slope, her wings unable to spread due to her confusion.

Once they had reached the very bottom, and were both thoroughly caked in mud, Silver picked herself up as fast as possible, and rushed over to Guardian.

“Guardian! Get up! They’re coming!”

The rebels quickly descended down the hill, just as Guardian finally snapped back to consciousness.

The duo took off again, though now the rebels were practically right on their tail.

Guardian made a sharp right around one tree in an attempt to trip up their pursuers, though the only real ramification was separating herself from Silver, who continued heading straight, oblivious to Guardian’s plan. There was no point in fighting, given how outnumbered they were, and above all else, that letter couldn’t fall into enemy hands.

Silver saw that the terrain cut off again, standing above a muddy dirt road that stretched through the forest. Silver managed to dive around a rock for cover, just to spring back up and blast a rebel directly in the head, searing his flesh right off his face.

Silver didn’t relish in violence, though if her life was at stake, she would take to whatever means necessary.

She continued firing, until the approaching rebels became too great of a force for her to handle. She turned and scaled down the dirt hill to the road below.

However, she made the unfortunate mistake of tripping right over a root that was poking out of the ground, flipping over and landing hard in a mud pit at the edge of the dirt road below.

She groaned in agony, trying to climb her way out of the mud pit, only to find herself completely stuck.

“Oh...shit!” Silver muttered, realizing she was practically helpless in the mud, which stuck to her like thick glue.

Elsewhere in the forest, Guardian had already taken out her spear, and was preparing for a fight. She was by herself now, with about seven of the rebels close behind her. Without delay, she took flight, darting up towards the treeline to reduce the numbers of rebels who could pursue her.

Two of the rebels were pegasi, who quickly followed after her. Guardian had planned on that, however, stabbing one of them straight through the chest as soon as he broke out from the canopy. The other rebel made a twisting maneuver in the air before heading straight for her. Guardian was faster, though, dodging his tackle and cutting back with her spear across the back of his neck, slicing apart the upper section of his spine. He, along with the other pegasus rebel, fell down to the forest floor below for their comrades to find, now bloody heaps.

Guardian sped through the air to another part of the forest, orienting herself to find which was the correct route to take to follow the plan.

She landed down back at the forest floor, now far away from the rebels. Her escape route was right in front of her, and without much thought, she was about to take it, until she heard the distinct cry of a pony in trouble.

“Guardian!”

It was Silver’s voice that carried over from deeper on in the opposite direction from Guardian’s escape route. She was in danger, certainly.

Guardian hesitated, glancing back and forth between where Silver’s cries were coming from and where her escape route was.

As much as she knew it would hurt to leave Silver to die, she had to consider the mission, that if they were both captured or killed, then they would have failed their task, and thousands of royal ponies up north would be killed. She was sweating with the weight of her decision, but she knew she had to choose to do something, fast.

Silver desperately tried to free herself of the mud, but was completely stuck. All four of her legs were buried deep in the pit, and wouldn’t let her budge a bit.

She was panicking, as she could hear the sound of rustling in the forest above signal that the rebels were closing in on her.

Then, in a cloud of dust, a pegasus pony descended down from up above, her light blue coat concealed in mud.

Silver’s eyes widened in relief, to see that Guardian had come back to save her. As much as Guardian cared about the mission, she just couldn’t bring herself to have left Silver to die.

“Guardian, help me! I can’t get out!” Silver cried, desperately.

“Hold on!” Guardian said, reaching over to help pull Silver loose. It took some muscle power, but eventually Guardian had pulled Silver hard enough that she could get herself free.

Silver crawled out of the mud pit beside Guardian, though it was already too late.

“Both of you! Drop your weapons!” yelled one of the rebel ponies from up above on the hill. The other rebels arrived too, both up on the hill and around on the dirt road. Guardian and Silver were surrounded, and now virtually out of options.

“Guardian, fly out of here,” Silver whispered, figuring she could cause a distraction to give Guardian some time.

“I’m not leaving you,” Guardian said, watching as the rebels encircled them on all sides.

The rebels had their weapons drawn and were closing in on all sides, though neither Guardian nor Silver had any intention of surrendering.

“Guardian, you’re the one with the letter, now get out of here,” Silver said, gritting her teeth, preparing herself for an imminent confrontation.

Guardian stayed where she was, steadfast and unwilling to abandon Silver.

They stood their ground, fully expecting to have to fight to the death at any moment.

But before they could carry out any sort of heroic last stand, a whistling beam of magic came soaring out from the brush behind them, striking one of the rebels right in the face.

Two more blasts came from above on the hill, nailing two more rebels in the head and back, respectively.

Guardian and Silver were both stunned, watching each of the rebels surrounding them be shot down by a new surprise ambush. Eventually their rescuers revealed themselves, running out from the forests on either side to deal with the remaining rebels who hadn’t already been shot to pieces.

“They’re on our side,” Guardian whispered to a frazzled Silver, recognizing that they were all wearing golden royal guard armor.

The surprise offensive had disoriented the rebels, who were now being cut down in rapid succession by these new arrivals. Once they realized they were unlikely to be able to hold them off, the surviving rebels, numbering about six, fled back into the wilderness, taking whatever weapons and supplies they could from their dead comrades first.

“Let ‘em go. They’ll starve anyway,” said one of the royal guards, a young pegasus stallion with a stubbly face, pale blue coat, and a short-cut, light cerulean mane, presumably their leader.

Guardian and Silver stay close beside each other, both relieved to have been rescued. Guardian, still, had her spear raised up towards these new ponies as they approached them, led by the pale-blue stallion.

“What do we have here,” the stallion said, still holding onto his blood-stained sword. There were three other ponies alongside him, all male, all filthy, and all holding their weapons with hostility towards the duo.

Guardian had first considered them to be rescued, though it seemed she may have been mistaken.

Author's Note

Thanks for Reading! Feedback Welcomed!

03: The Lost Company

“Neither of you take another step, if you’d care to live.”

Guardian retracted her hoof back to where it had just been, after a nervous attempt at approaching the quartet of filthy, disheveled royal soldiers standing before them with their weapons held at the ready. The pale-blue stallion was the one who had spoken, standing ahead of the other ponies, who were all still anxious from their recent adrenaline-pumping, violent escapades. The corpses of twelve rebel soldiers lay strewn around them, the scent of charred flesh making Guardian and Silver both wince in disgust.

“Get over there,” the pale-blue stallion muttered, shoving one of his subordinates to the left and the other two to the right.

The quartet soon had Guardian and Silver surrounded on all sides. Silver, instinctively, turned her back to Guardian, to try and cover her blindspot. The pale-blue stallion was carrying a sword, which Guardian found odd, considering they only typically used by higher ranking officers. The other three soldiers were carrying spears, the blades positioned just inches away from Silver and Guardian’s necks.

“Drop the spear. And you, unicorn, keep that horn where I can see it,” the pale-blue stallion commanded, pointing at Silver with an authoritative hoof. It was clear he wouldn’t be asking twice.

Silver had no intention of going down without a fight, which made it even more of a shock when she noticed Guardian behind her begin to lower her weapon.

“Guardian, they’re gonna kill us,” Silver muttered, desperately. They had just barely escaped death moments ago, it would be a crying shame to have such a quick reunion.

The pale-blue stallion’s eyes were fixed on Guardian, his rigid, penetrating stare like a heavy weight on Guardian’s heart, compelling her to do as he had asked. She was already exhausted from days of journeying through the forest, and knew she and Silver probably wouldn’t be quick enough to avoid the four stallions’s blades pointed right at them. After a final spout of deliberation, Guardian determined that it was worth the risk to trust the stallion, and continued lowering her weapon. These were royal soldiers after all, and, hopefully, ones with the good sense not to kill the ponies who were on their side. She dropped the spear to the ground, the ringing of its metal against the hard, frozen dirt shaking Silver alert.

“Guardian!”

Once the spear was on the ground, Guardian raised her hooves into the air for a moment to signal her surrender, to the pale-blue stallion’s satisfaction.

“Good. Now you’re going to tell me who the hell you are, and what you’re doing here,” the pale-blue stallion ordered, glad that they had complied but still concerned over the possibility of a surprise counter-attack. His eyes were constantly darting back and forth from Guardian to the forest brush in front and behind them. His erratic movements made him appear to be deranged, or at the least, majorly exhausted.

Guardian was painfully uncomfortable with having to surrender, especially to her own fellow royal soldiers. Right behind her, Silver was completely unwilling to cooperate with these ponies, even if they were supposed to be on the same side.

Guardian gulped, cautiously eyeing the soldiers, trying to keep her movements steady.

“I’m Corporal Guardian Angel, sir,” Guardian said, noticing the sergeant insignia pin on the stallion’s armor, “23rd Regiment.”

The pale-blue stallion twitched, his doubts slowly dissolving. He gradually lowered his sword, and the other soldiers all followed suit with their weapons, to Guardian’s relief.

“This is Corporal Silver Saber, we’ve been sent for the 19th Battalion’s position, north of here. It’s a confidential mission, sir, I can’t say more than that. Under the commander’s orders,” Guardian explained, hopeful that they would just be left on their way without the need for incident.

“The commander?” the stallion questioned, impressed by the significance of whatever their mission was. On the other hoof, it could all just be an elaborate alibi.

“Yes,” Guardian replied, with conviction.

The sergeant glared at her, still not completely sure if she was telling the truth.

“You’ve got identification, Corporal?”

“Yes sir,” Guardian replied, reaching around to her bag. She stopped right before she could open it, realizing the action may be taken the wrong way.

“I’m not reaching for a weapon or anything like that,” Guardian said, raising her hooves back up as a sign of earnest submission.

“Why would you even tell us that,” said one of the soldiers, laughing by himself with a toothy grin.

Guardian retrieved her papers, and slowly trotted up towards the sergeant, nervously handing them over.

He inspected them thoroughly, and seemed content, albeit begrudgingly.

“Alright, I guess you are who you say you are…” he said, handing her papers back over to her. All of them then felt more relaxed with each other, with the exception of Silver, whose mind was still racing after that exhilarating chase from which she had just narrowly survived.

“Thank you for the help...We could’ve done without you trying to kill us though,” Guardian said.

“Welcome to the jungle, kid. You have any idea how many rats we catch wearing our armor, trying to trick us? And the two of you wearing different armor, it’s a suspicious thing, is all,” the sergeant said, scratching his stubbly beard, glad he hadn’t been too hasty in killing these two strangers.

“Wait...None of you are unicorns,” Guardian said, realizing something odd.

“Last time I checked,” the sergeant replied, glancing up at his bare forehead.

“So...How were you using magic? We saw the blasts,” Guardian said, thrown for a loss.

“Oh, that. We picked up some of these a few days ago,” the sergeant said, motioning with his head to two strange devices strapped along the backs of two of the other soldiers. One of them, a bulky dark-grey stallion, held the weapon up for Guardian and Silver to see.

“Some rebel prototype weapon. Deadly. Takes ammunition. Pity is, we just wasted most of what we had saving you two,” the sergeant said.

Guardian was amazed by the device, of which she had never seen anything quite like before. It was like a long rod made of wood and metal, with some sort of cartridge lodged in its underside, and a trigger attached at the end.

“Who are you ponies?” Guardian asked, backing up to stand beside Silver, who was still in her defensive stance. Guardian gently grabbed Silver’s hoof to try and let her know it was safe to calm down.

“4th Squadron, 27th Fillydelphia Regiment,” one of the other soldiers said, sulkingly.

“In the 2nd Company?” Guardian asked.

“What’s left of it,” the sergeant replied, getting a remorseful laugh out of his companions, who all started moseying back over to where he was standing.

“Lieutenant Fast Track?” Silver asked, though she could already tell what the answer would be.

The sergeant lowered his head, as did the others, to grieve the loss of their former leader.

“Dead as dillinger. Fast Track, he was worth more than the whole lot of us, that was for sure. Poor little Rosebud, she’s gonna be growing up an orphan it looks like…”

Guardian couldn’t believe this news, that the entire company had been reduced to a measly four ponies who all appeared to be sick, dirty, and more dead than alive. And worse, that all those dead ponies’ families still had no idea of the fates of their loved ones. Everypony back at the camp had been under the impression that the 2nd company was merely staging a stalled campaign in the heart of the passage.

“You four are all that’s left? Fifty good ponies, all dead?” Guardian asked, astounded.

“There’s two more of us still alive. There were more before that, but they...didn’t make it. We’re the only royal unit left in these mountains, far as I know. There’s a battalion of rebels around here, leftover just like us. We first got overrun at Bowe’s Creek west of here, ‘bout two months ago. Since then we’ve been hunting down as many smaller groups as we can, trying to whittle down their numbers. Of course, they’re trying to do the same to us. You two happened to walk right into that. The rebels, they won that battle, but we’re still here, so it’s far from over,” the sergeant said, getting a half-hearted cheer out of the other three.

“I’m Halo, by the way,” the sergeant said, “This is Corporal Banes, that’s Caldera, and this is Private Hazel Hoof,” the sergeant said, pointing at a gruff, hard-faced dark grey stallion with jet-black hair, followed by a tan-coated pony with wild blonde hair and a thin scruffy beard, and finally a very young, skinny cream-colored stallion with messy brown hair that was brushed away from his bright green eyes.

“Forgive me, Sergeant, but I’ve got to say, you all look terrible,” Silver said, still taken aback by how grizzly and unkempt the four ponies all appeared.

Halo scoffed, as if there was an alternative situation they could’ve found themselves in.

“Two months spent here will do that to you, won’t it…”

Halo sighed and turned away from the duo, leading the other three soldiers behind him.

“You two can come along with us to our camp if you’d like, see to your needs best we can. We might be the only friendly faces you’ll ever find out here,” Halo said, wedging a cigar between his teeth to celebrate a successful ambush.

“What about the bodies?” Banes asked Halo, coldly. His concerns were anything but ethical. What he was really interested in, was ravaging those corpses for food or useful equipment.

Halo shot him a bitter glare of disapproval.

“When it comes to that, I’ll let you know,” Halo said, dismissively. Banes sunk back in line, still not seeing the point in wasting the available resources.

Guardian glanced at Silver, who seemed indifferent to following after Halo and his soldiers. Guardian, however, was a bit more eager to tag along, with hopes of learning any information that could help them find a faster route through the passage.

Guardian quickly jogged after the ragged quartet of soldiers, Silver reluctantly following after. She only hoped this wouldn’t slow them down.

Guardian and Silver followed the soldiers through the forest, in the somber grey afternoon light that rested on the faded green grass of the forest floor.

They finally arrived at a small campsite sitting overtop a grassy cliff that stood over more forests below. The mountains loomed over them in the distance, and for some odd reason, Guardian was both comforted and startled by the sight. It was if she was constantly being watched, and, in turn, judged for her actions. She recalled the risk she took with going back to save Silver. She had nearly jeopardized the entire mission, just for her friend. She wasn’t sure what she did was right, but she knew that if presented with the choice a second time, she’d probably do the same thing all over again.

The six ponies entered into the dilapidated campsite, containing a measly three tents, which was as many as the 4th Squadron soldiers were able to preserve following the destruction of the rest of the company. That fateful battle was a good two months ago, with only about twenty of the original sixty-odd soldiers surviving. Since then, their numbers kept slimming, with three deserting, two committing suicide, and nine additional deaths in the ensuing skirmishes. After the tragic death of the company’s beloved pegasus lieutenant, Fast Track, the command fell to a surly, inexperienced transfer first sergeant by the name Wilbury, who was killed with a blast to the head just two days into his command. Since then, it had been Halo who had taken the reigns of the disorganized, grieving, hopeless band of survivors.

“Well Corporals, if you’ve been looking for a summer vacation spot, you’ve found it,” Halo said, the other soldiers chuckling as they fell down by their tents.

Despite how poor the conditions of the camp were, Guardian was still impressed that these ponies had managed to survive in the wild at all.

“Sergeant!”

A young mare’s voice called out to Halo from around the corner of a tent, and out came a unicorn, blue in color with a dark blue mane with soft purple streaks.

“Yes?” Halo shot back, nearly being trampled by the unicorn, whose name was Blue Belle.

“Who’re they?!”

Halo calmly glanced back at the filthy Guardian and Silver, who were standing right behind him, awkwardly.

“Would you calm down? They’re not ours. They’re from the 23rd. Solars. Lost out here,” Halo said.

Blue Belle stuck her head out from in front of Halo to eye down Guardian and Silver, judgmentally.

“They’re covered in mud,” Blue Belle said, spitefully. Silver scowled, insulted by the blue unicorn’s aggressiveness.

“Don’t be rude, they’re our guests here,” Halo said.

“Well, they’re filthy,” Blue Belle said, as if she wasn’t dirty herself.

“How observant. You’re now the one who’s got to help clean them up,” Halo said.

“Sir! We’ve only got one sponge! My sponge!”

“Take it to the creek! Caldera will go with you.”

“Hold it right there, Sarge,” said Banes, rising to his hooves after picking up on some of Halo’s implications.

“I don’t know what you want with these two, but they sure aren’t staying here with us. I won’t stand for it,” Banes said, bluntly. Guardian and Silver were both intimidated by the stallion’s broad physique and imposing stature. He was glaring right at them with a fervent distaste.

“He’s right, Sarge, the last thing we need right now is two more mouths to feed,” said Hazel, who also stood up from the ground after intending to take a victory nap.

“Great, look at what you’ve started,” Halo said, mockingly, towards Blue Belle.

“You brought them here! I don’t want anything to do with them! They could be rebels in disguise, have you thought about that!?” Blue Belle said, panicked, her horn beginning to glow fearfully. Silver immediately responded by stepping in front of Guardian with her own horn glowing defensively.

“Whoa! For Luna’s sake! Calm down! Put that thing away!” Halo yelled.

Blue Belle realized she was also aiming it at Halo, and quickly drew her magic back.

“Sir! I’m sorry!”

“Enough of this! What the hell is wrong with you all?! You four think that now’s a good time to get comfortable? I haven’t slept in three days, haven’t eaten in two! Just so you all can get your stomachs filled and some rest every night! Miserable rats, talking to me like that. What if it was you out there, stranded in these Celestia-damned woods? How’d you feel to be turned down by a sorry gaggle of half-wits such as yourselves!”

“I’m sorry, sir, I wasn’t thinking...I just got nervous is all, you know I don’t like being left alone,” Blue Belle said, crouching down out of fear of a reprimand.

Halo shook his head, frustrated, his mental state having deteriorated significantly every day as their provisions continued to shrink. On top of surviving, he also had to try his best to organize and inspire the ponies under his command, and considering the ponies he was working with, the task wasn’t far from impossible.

“You’re not alone though. Let me see him,” Halo said, gravely.

Guardian and Silver shared a nervous glance, unsure what exactly he was talking about.

They trailed behind Halo and Blue Belle into one of the three tents, and were quickly able to understand what he had meant.

There was a pony inside, lying on his back on a wide cot, his eyes shut and his mouth hanging open. He had a brown coat and a darker brown mane that stuck upwards. He had grown a beard along his face, though it seemed more the product of a passage of time than anything stylistic.

“This is Hertz, my second...We knew each other before the war, joined together too,” Halo said, gazing at his unconscious old friend, watching his chest rise in and out with every breath. There was a crusty red scar running right along Hertz’s chest, likely a hideous remnant of a wartime injury, that had never fully healed. Guardian’s hoof jerkily reached to cover her mouth in horror when she saw it, and realized that the poor pony must’ve been in some sort of comatose state, or else closing in on death.

“He was pierced with a piece of shrapnel, right to the chest. Cut into his lung. Doc was able to fix him up with some surgery and some magical help…”

“Doc?” Guardian asked, not having realized that one of these ponies was a doctor.

“Oh, Doc’s not with us any longer. He got shoved off of a cliff during one of our encounters with those rebel bastards...He’s buried not far from here. He was Hertz’s last chance. Blue Belle here knows a little medical stuff, but we lost the right supplies for the job...I don’t know how long he has left,” Halo said, clearly upset over the possibility of losing an old friend.

He turned and stormed out from the tent, leaving Blue Belle inside. Silver and Guardian quickly followed after the sergeant, hoping to learn any possible details of the area that would help their journey.

“You’ll have to be patient with all these ponies here, they’re freezing to death. And when they’re not doing that, they’re starving to death,” Halo said, trotting right towards the edge of the grassy cliff. He stood there, at the edge, admiring the view. It was the only thing he really had to enjoy these days.

“You’re out of food?” Guardian asked. Of course, both her and Silver had seven day’s worth of rations in their bags, but weren’t exactly too keen on giving it up too easily.

“We haven’t had three-quarters rations for two days now...We’re down to half. Me even less. They need it more. Hoof and Belle are just kids, really. And Caldera, the more time spent with food in his mouth the less I have to listen to him yap,” Halo said, quietly laughing to himself.

“It’s amazing that you’ve survived out here so long,” Guardian said, impressed with the sergeant’s persistence. For a moment, she held eye contact with Halo, who was increasingly becoming fascinated by her.

“You’ve been out here for what, two, three months? Why don’t you return? To the lines back south?” Silver asked, concerned why anypony would want to stay in this inhospitable frozen forest longer than necessary.

Halo snapped out of his strange momentary trance lost in Guardian’s orange eyes, and resumed his professional demeanor, to answer Silver’s slightly grieved question. Silver subtly took a step in front of Guardian, who was still staring into Halo’s eyes.

“Our orders are to be here. The Lieutenant is dead, and I’m now in command of this unit. And as long as you’re traveling with us, you are too.”

“Our mission is ours alone. We don’t need your help,” Silver spat, insulted by his insinuation.

“Is it? You’d both have been captured or killed just before if we hadn’t found you,” Halo pointed out.

Silver couldn’t deny that, keeping her mouth shut.

“Our company was sent to patrol the northwestern route to the passage. The same route you two are taking, I presume. We were intercepted just a few days in, by a creek. Bad place to be ambushed, I know. Those of us that survived, we first tried taking over an enemy pillbox near the cliffs down by Chesterfield, northwestwards, but that was destroyed too. We’ve been relocating almost every three days, or whenever the rebels finally track us down. Most of the food we eat is what we can find in the forest. Berries and plants that look like they won’t kill you. I once saw Banes over there take an entire bite out of a husk of tree bark, believe that.”

“Is the northwestern route still viable then? You have to understand, we’re on a very limited schedule,” Silver said, plainly.

Halo chuckled, given how warped his perception of time had become since being stranded in the forests. Though Silver wasn’t sure what he found funny. She had yet to take a liking to Halo, mostly due to the way he had been looking at Guardian.

“I’m sure you are, Miss Saber. Do spare me the details. Yes, you could take that route. Can’t promise you that you won’t find trouble, but if you’re quick, you just may make it through…” Halo replied.

“Sergeant, if I remember right, your company was supposed to meet another group of ponies, from the north?” Silver asked.

Halo huffed on his cigar, as it caused him pain to think back on the time before his world was completely turned upside down.

“You remember correctly, Miss Saber.”

“The 14th Rangers, sir, they were your rendezvous. If they’ve broken through the western lead already, we could meet them on the other side of the river,” Silver said, confidently. That was the real reason she had sought to take the shortcut route over the mountain instead of following the creek as Colonel Splinter had instructed them to do; she saw potential in finding some more allies in this forsaken place, best of all ponies she thought of as old friends.

Halo lowered his head, continuing to smoke, and somehow Guardian was able to sense that he knew something that Silver wouldn’t want to hear.

“You know them? The 14th?” Halo asked, his unsteady eyes peering up at her.

Silver hesitated, finding herself stuck in denial before she even knew what to be upset about.

“I was a part of them, up until a few months ago,” Silver declared, pridefully, “I was transferred. Could you answer me? Where’ll we find them?” Silver asked, hoping to gain some extra protection on the road ahead. And better yet, a reunion with her old companions.

“In that case...I’m sorry to say they’re all dead. We were the ones to find the bodies, we buried them not more than fourteen days ago.”

Silver froze, experiencing a strange physical sensation of shock the likes of which she was not particularly accustomed to. She had heard of companies of ponies being decimated before, in fact lately it was becoming an almost daily occurrence. But to know that it was her own friends, closer to being a family, who had all been mercilessly killed, left Silver’s heart an empty shell of misery, a recovery from which seemed impossible.

“Silver…” Guardian said, aware that those ponies in the 14th were some of her closest, and only friends. Now Silver really had nopony but Guardian, who intended to do all she could to comfort her friend.

Guardian put her arm around Silver and tried to lead her away from Halo, who seemed to regret having told her the truth. Perhaps it might’ve been better to just say nothing at all.

Guardian took Silver near a tree by the edge of the cliff, sitting her down against it in the grass, where she immediately broke down into tears.

Guardian wasn’t sure how to help, meekly sitting down beside her friend and putting her arm around her, embracing her in hopes of comforting her. But if there was ever a time to be miserable, it would be now.

Silver let herself sink into Guardian’s arms, silently crying her eyes out, as hope dwindled and despair settled in deep. Silver rarely cried, especially in front of anypony else, which was how Guardian was able to tell just how deeply affected Silver was by the news.

As Silver lay in Guardian’s comforting arms, she recalled the day she first enlisted into the royal guard. Silver was the only child of two Manehattan professors, and had always had trouble making friends, all the way from primary school to university. She was stubborn, got into fights often, and always preferred to keep to herself. Her parents, however, were far more gentle and old-fashioned, who loved and supported Silver no matter what. It was when Silver was already in university, a well-read, straight-A student with a successful career laid out ahead of her, that she decided to abandon everything, to instead pursue a new path, the path of a soldier. She had a hard time explaining this decision to her parents, who had been so proud of how far Silver had come in her studies. It wasn’t necessarily that she wanted to rebel against the antiquated academic ways of her parents and defer from a life of scholarship, but she had really just come to the conclusion that she needed to experience something new. That, and having been convinced to try the military by a persuasive campus recruiter. She enlisted as a lunar guard, serving as a personal guard to Princess Luna, and was considered to be at the top of her class in the training academy. As always, she had succeeded in her pursuit.

At least for a little while, before she was eventually ejected from the lunar guard, under the order of Princess Luna herself, under the grounds of insubordination. Her pride had been shattered, utterly and completely. She had dropped out of university with the hopes of making a name for herself in the service, and she had failed.

It was then that she was transferred into the 14th Rangers. Her heart had already been blackened after the ordeal with Luna, and she feared unending humiliation from her peers. But, to her surprise, the ponies in the 14th welcomed her with open arms, and treated her with respect, certainly more respect than Luna ever gave her. At a time in her life when things seemed at their darkest, the ponies in the 14th Rangers renewed her hope for redemption in herself.

To learn of all those ponies’ tragic demise, then, was a catastrophically devastating emotional blow.

Silver stayed as she was in Guardian’s arms, crying softly, for a good ten minutes. Then, she slowly rose back up to her hooves, wiped her eyes of the remaining tears, and took a deep breath. Guardian stood up to join her, without a word. She figured she’d only make things worse by talking.

Silver stood before Guardian, slightly embarrassed to have broken down into tears, though Guardian understood. Silver slowly leaned in for another wordless embrace, thankful that she wasn’t yet completely alone.

“Um, are you two alright?”

Silver backed away from Guardian, both of them turning to see Blue Belle standing nearby with a bucket lying by her on the ground.

“Sergeant wants me to take you to the creek to get cleaned, so let’s go,” Blue Belle said, motioning with her head for Silver and Guardian to follow after.

Trotting through the camp, Blue Belle stopped by one of the tents, kicking a sleeping Caldera in the side.

“Hey!”

“Get up. We’re doing something.”

Caldera shuffled out of his withered blanket and rose to his hooves.

“Oh. Right. Give me a sec, would ya?” Caldera said, stepping inside one of the nearby tents. He reappeared moments later, holding the strange weapon that neither Guardian nor Silver were familiar with.

“What is that thing? And how does it work” Guardian asked.

Caldera waved the weapon around in the air excitedly, nearly whacking Blue Belle over the head with it.

“Careful! Moron…” she muttered.

“It’s one of those weird prototypes the rebels have been using. A crackpot amalgamation of magic and machinery. It’s like a cannon...but thinner,” he said, simulating blowing somepony’s brains off with the click of the trigger.

It was a long, thin barrel-shaped device, with a wide trigger and hoof guard on one end and a dangerous protruding snout on the other.

“They’ve got a name for it?” Guardian asked, fascinated by the strange piece of rebel technology.

“Maybe. I don’t know. But I do know that it’ll put a hole right through you. I call it a pop smoker. ”

“A pop smoker?” Silver repeated, breaking into a light mocking laughter that helped her to ignore her grief.

“Yeah, that’s what it does. Pops, and then smokes. So don’t piss me off, new girl, or I’ll show you what I mean,” Caldera threatened, jokingly.

The four ponies shambled out of the campsite back into the forest, stepping over dead leaves and stray clumps of snow as they went.

“Hey um, I’m sorry I pulled my horn on you,” Blue Belle said to Silver, aware that she had recently received some troubling news.

“No problem, I would’ve done the same thing,” Silver said, smiling. Blue Belle twitched, unsure whether that was a good thing.

“Oh, that’s nice, you’re getting along. Well, not to be that pony, but...you two aren’t going to be staying long, right?” Caldera said, half-jokingly.

“No. We’ve got to be on the other side of the passage in six days,” Guardian replied.

“Oh. Well if you get there, tell ‘em to send some more ponies down here. If we’re still alive by then,” Caldera said, hopefully.

Blue Belle shook her head, annoyed with Caldera’s unending bothersome remarks.

“If any of us get killed before then, I’ll be praying it’s you,” Blue Belle muttered, dryly.

“Ha! Get a load of that. Don’t mind her, she’s only good for whining,” Caldera said, turning to Silver and Guardian as if he was trying to impress them. Both decided to stay out of the conflict.

Right before Blue Belle could come back with a snarky reply, her hoof fumbled right over a stray rock that was sticking up from the ground. She tripped right over it, tumbling down an upcoming hill, grunting upon every hard hit into the rocky terrain.

Once she had come to a stop below in a heap, she groaned in pain and turned over on her back, while Caldera couldn’t prevent himself from bursting into laughter.

“And a klutz too!” Caldera said, practically falling over the hill himself as his laughter grew out of control.

“Watch where you’re walking next time,” Silver muttered, helping a frazzled Blue Belle back up her hooves after trotting down the hill.

Soon after Blue Belle’s bruising tumble, they arrived at the aforementioned creek, though not the same one Guardian and Silver had been following earlier.

“You two clean yourselves up, we’ll be right over here…” Blue Belle said, pointing at the nearby rushing waters. There was rocky terrain surrounding the creek, pebbles and boulders side by side, claiming their small portion of the otherwise densely wooded forest.

Guardian nervously glanced at Silver, who was already unfastening her armor. Guardian wasn’t exactly sure about bathing in that unbelievably cold water, though didn’t want to appear weak in comparison to Silver, joining her in taking her armor off.

Caldera was sitting atop a large round rock by the creek with the rebel weapon in his hooves, scanning the forest for movement while Silver and Guardian stepped into the water. Almost immediately, she started shivering and squeaking in discomfort. Guardian quickly followed after, but then immediately jumped out.

“It’s freezing!!” Guardian yelled.

“Just suck it up, go on,” Blue Belle said, rubbing her recently-received bruises with her hoof.

“Yeah, I don’t want to be out here for long, prig,” Caldera said, earning a disgruntled scowl from Guardian.

Guardian sighed, and made a second attempt, carefully wading through the water to where Silver was.

“It’s possible to get diseases from this, you know,” Silver said, slightly disgusted.

“Thanks. I really wanted to know that,” Guardian replied, sarcastically.

Blue Belle tossed them the sponge, while she waited by the bank of the creek, her horn at the ready in case of an ambush.

“What good is a sponge without soap?” Silver asked, confused why they had even been given it.

“What do you think this is? A five star hotel?” Caldera said.

Guardian shook her head, and started splashing some water at her body to try and wash off the mud that was caked onto her fur.

While Silver and Guardian got to cleaning themselves off, Caldera and Blue Belle were fixated on their surroundings, making sure there wasn’t any danger coming for them in the vicinity. Guardian just couldn’t help but overhear their conversation.

“That storm’s supposed to hit any day now,” Blue Belle said, “That’s what Sergeant said.”

“What does he know? He’s not a weather pony,” Caldera retorted, “Last time I checked that is. Maybe he’s started pursuing a new career other than leading us to our graves. I’d be first in line to encourage that switch.”

“The next place we go to better be in a cave or something. I can stand starving, and the cold, but I cannot put up with rain on top of it all!”

Blue Belle pouted with her arms crossed, all the while keeping her eye on Guardian and Silver nearby in the creek. She then noticed Caldera smacking his lips around something on his mouth.

“What is that? What’ve you got?” Blue Belle asked, hopeful that it was food, and that there was some for her.

“Relax, airhead, it’s just a piece of marrowleaf I picked off a bush. Tastes like yak shit,” Caldera said.

“Marrowleaf?! That’s poisonous! Spit it out!” Blue Belle yelled, jumping up to her hooves in surprise.

Caldera immediately hacked out the green leafy substance off of his tongue, spitting up as much as he could.

“I didn’t know that…” he muttered, horrified.

“How ever did you survive this long?” Silver asked from the creek, snickering.

“Piss off!...Lousy, filthy unicorn,” Caldera grumbled, slightly embarrassed. Death by consuming the wrong plant wasn’t a proud way to die in these parts. Or any parts, really.

“Listen to this, I’ve been thinking...We’ve got twice as much luck putting together a raft from some driftwood and floating downstream than we do spending more time under our dutiful Sergeant’s spectacular leadership,” Caldera said.

“You shouldn’t talk about him like that…” Blue Belle shot back. She was frequently critical of Halo as well, but not to the extent of being blatantly mean-spirited.

“There was this old picture I watched when I was little that had something like this. What we find ourselves in, I mean. There’s this group of ponies on this boat, right, and they get caught in a storm, and marooned on this deserted island in the middle of the Prancific Ocean. And on this island, see, they’ve got to find the means to survive and work out their differences and stuff.” Caldera said.

“That’s Galloping’s Island, and it’s a show, not a movie, idiot,” Blue Belle said, rolling her eyes.

“Oh. Well the premise is the same.”

Guardian and Silver finished up in the creek, wading back out, shivering from head to hoof.

“Here, warm up with this,” Blue Belle said, handing each of the freezing-wet ponies a blanket.

“It’s all we have, I’m sorry it’s not more,” Blue Belle said, consolingly.

Guardian and Silver were mildly cleaner than before, and quickly took to drying themselves off.

When they returned to the campsite, it was close to midday. Halo was waiting for them as they returned, the other two lingering back.

“There, better?” he asked.

“B-Better,” Guardian said, her body still warming up underneath the blanket.

“The lot of you, come and eat,” Halo said, nudging them deeper into the camp towards the box of rations.

It was Halo’s job to delegate who got what, since everypony else was deemed not trustworthy enough.

Halo divided each packet of full rations into halves, handing a piece to each of the ponies, including Guardian and Silver, who both politely declined.

“It’s ok, really, you all need it more,” Guardian said. She did feel slightly guilty about not sharing the small amount of rations in her duffel bag. Although, it wasn’t much to be upset about.

Halo didn’t press them, as he was already nervous about giving them their food in the first place.

“Eat that as fast as you can, and then take everything down. We’re leaving.”

“Now? Why now?” Hazel asked.

“Because there’s a storm moving this way, I’ve told you all this before…”

Hazel then remembered something about a storm, and made no reply, turning around to begin packing up his belongings. Living in the wilderness, they never stayed put in one place for too long.

“Have you seen these?” Banes asked Halo, holding something in his hoof.

“What?” Halo asked, having no idea what Banes was referring to.

Banes lifted up a wad of red paper pamphlets, laying them down on a log for the others gathered around to see.

“Some rebel pegasi were dropping these all over. We picked some up...Here,” Banes explained.

On each pamphlet were the words:

KILL THE ROYAL PIGS.

Halo snickered in amused disgust for the sentiment, picking up the pile of pamphlets and tossing them to the ground.

“If they have so much time for this, why not drop some cigarettes? Or food perhaps?” Halo asked, laughing to himself.

“Should I scout our route, sir?” Hazel asked.

“Eat first, kid. We’re all gonna need the strength to carry all of this stuff,” Halo said, tensing up as a strong gust of wind blew through his hair.

Guardian had never been in a proper relationship with anypony. She had always been afraid of taking any of the colts who pursued her in high school back home with her, for fear of her father’s wrath. And in the army, there was rarely time or peace of mind to allow for any kind of really getting to know somepony. It came as a devastating shock for her to realize that she felt some sort of attraction towards him, Halo, who had just recently saved her life. It was exciting, to have that rarely-felt sense of desire, that compelled her to make more of an effort to come across as impressive. In her heart, she was sympathetic to the struggles of the classical heroes of old, and had always sought to emulate those struggles herself. She saw those same struggles in Halo, and believed that he and her might even be good complements for each other. How else could it be so fortunate, that he survived this long against all odds, lest it be that they were destined to meet? It was sappy poetry at best, but it felt right nonetheless.

Guardian and Silver took to helping the 4th Squadron ponies take down their camp, packing all of the tents and scattered supplies into four large duffel bags.

They set off back into the wild. Silver wasn’t sure why Guardian had them still traveling with these soldiers, especially since their time limit was still counting down. But they were technically heading in the right direction, so she made no protest. She had ended up stuck carrying the comatose, cot-bound Hertz in a bed of her magic, though he wasn’t nearly as heavy as the large duffel bags the others were carrying.

“Hazel, head up a mile, make sure the way is clear,” Halo ordered.

“Why do I have to?” Hazel whined. He wasn’t much of a runner.

“It’s that or carrying the load, so which is it?” Halo threatened.

Hazel’s head swiveled between the dirt path ahead and the heavy bags being carried by Banes, Halo, Caldera, and Guardian. In a matter of moments, he decided he was even less of a lifter.

“I’ll go,” he said, sheepishly.

“Then get to it. If we’re gonna be surprised, I want to know about it,” Halo said.

Hazel nodded and began jogging up ahead of the others, eventually disappearing over the approaching hill.

“If we know about it, then it won’t be a surprise, would it, Sarge?” said Caldera, smirking that he had managed to undermine Halo.

“Shut up, and stop slouching with that bag,” Halo said, gritting his teeth. Out of all of the ponies under his command, the only one he truly couldn’t stand was Caldera, who seemed to always have to make a comment.

“I could’ve cleared that distance in less than a minute,” Guardian said, producing some high-pitched grunts in regard to the heavy bag she had volunteered to carry.

“The kid needs the exercise,” Halo said, shrugging.

“I think you’ll all be given medals, when you get out of here,” Guardian said, loud enough for the entire group to hear, “You most of all,” she said, directly towards Halo, who wondered what was going through her mind right then.

“Medals? A bit of silver? I’d be better off pawning it than sticking it in some frame,” Caldera said.

“Those medals are more than just a bit of silver,” Banes interjected, coldly. During the short time they had been with the 4th Squadron, neither Silver nor Guardian had heard Banes speak much, which made both of them increasingly more interested in what he had to say. The group slowly came to a stop, Banes having turned around to face down Caldera, who tried hard not to admit he was afraid of the imposingly stoic stallion.

“Oh my mistake, it comes with a little ribbon on it too,” Caldera said, cackling to himself.

“For some of us those medals are all we’ve got to remember ponies we’ve lost, have you thought about that?!” Blue Belle sputtered, close to crying, Caldera’s jokes having unintentionally struck a nerve. Guardian and Silver both figured Blue Belle was referring to herself, but knew better than to pry into some traumatic territory. Silver gently set Hertz’s cot down on the ground, taking advantage of the unplanned break in the journey to give her horn a break.

“Would you take it easy? You wouldn’t last one second if you ever got captured, you know. All the rebels would have to do is threaten to poke you with a toothpick, and you’d start squealing, telling them everything you know! You’re pathetic!” Caldera said, expecting the others to laugh along with him, though none of them did.

Blue Belle’s eyes flashed red with anger, Caldera continuing to poke her nerves.

“Give it a rest! You’re the most useless one of all of us, we’d all be better off without you!” Blue Belle yelled, driven solely by her anger.

Caldera hesitated, Blue Belle’s words actually managing to hit a chord in his heart.

“Aww, that’s cute. She’s trying to stand up for herself. Poor Blue Belle. I never got how they let a weak little pushover like you stay in the army, they must really be absolutely desperate,” Caldera said, his words like acid being thrown at Blue Belle’s face.

“Shut up!” Blue Belle yelled, her horn beginning to glow, her face bright red, tears still bubbling up in her eyes.

“Whoa...Whoa...Settle down,” Halo said, suddenly stepping between Blue Belle and Caldera, before the conflict could escalate.

Blue Belle realized she was again going too far, and dimmed her horn, lowering her head in shame for having dared to shed a tear in front of the others. Halo held her by the chin, affectionately, raising her head back up. His sharp gaze was enough to restabilize Blue Belle, who quickly wiped her eyes and tried to get a grip on herself. The stress of living every day in fear of dying a gruesome death was enough to break the spirits of even the experienced ponies of the royal army, but for small-town, bright-eyed privates like Blue Belle, it was a mind-altering, painfully strenuous experience.

Halo turned around to Caldera, who seemed oblivious to what he had done wrong, if anything.

“You need to keep your mouth shut. We’re all tired. And you’re not helping anypony with talk like that,” Halo said, bluntly, avoiding being too lethal in his put-down.

Despite the relative tameness of Halo’s words, Caldera was still disposed to stubbornly stand his ground.

“Well that’s just classic. Standing up for the little guy. Big Sarge, thinks he’s a big tough guy...Apparently we’re all forgetting what you were like before all this! Huh?” Caldera said, methodically walking between the group, eyeing every one of them down, trying to make them take his side.

“A drunk! A loser! Spending his nights alone with a bottle in his hoof, left to mull about in his own pity! And the Lieutenant felt bad for him! Well I don’t! Look what’s become of us! Two months ago we could’ve been back in friendly turf! Twenty strong! But instead we stayed here! Because why? Because of your precious sense of honor! You treat us like dirt, you drive us to our graves, and then you point your hoof at me, like I’m the one who’s killed us all!”

Caldera was practically out of breath, his deep-seeded despair finally being revealed through his cathartically painful beratement of Halo, who was still stone-faced standing right where Caldera had left him. All of the others, including Guardian and Silver, were looking to Halo, waiting for a response. Though Halo seemed too fatigued already to get in a screaming fit.

“I am nothing like Fast Track. I wish I was, but I’m not,” Halo said, his eyes grey and sullen, his head slightly lowered towards the ground. “I hadn't care if I came out of here in one piece. But something did change when the Lieutenant died, and that was that I got responsibility. Not for myself, for you all. We’re soldiers. We didn’t come out here just to turn around when things stop going our way, or start picking fights with ponies we’re supposed to work alongside with...we came to fight. You can whine about having to put up with the cold, or the food, or what have you...I get it. I’m just as pissed off as you are that we lost all those ponies. They were friends of mine. Fast Track wouldn't have turned around, and neither will we. The best we can do is make sure he didn't die for nothing. Caldera, if you’ve got such an issue with the way I’m running things, you’re free to run off. I won’t have them charge you with desertion, I won’t even mention it to anypony. You can go on if you’d like, leave us here. Is that what you want to do?”

Caldera said nothing, feeling humbled already despite Halo not having made any real jabs thrown at him.

Halo took Caldera’s silence as a ‘no,’ and nodded.

“Then let’s get a move on, we’ve got to get to cover before that storm passes over us,” Halo said, turning back around to continue leading the group forward.

Blue Belle left Caldera with only a bitter scowl, before she caught up to Halo and Guardian up ahead. Banes only seemed disappointed, and he too started following after the others, resuming the march through the forest.

Silver, however, for some reason, decided that she did feel pity for Caldera, who seemed to be either loathed or resented by every other pony in his squadron. She could tell the pony was stressed, as were all of the others, and tried her best not to blame him for his rashness.

“Come on, let’s catch up,” Silver said, nudging him to walk with her up to the others.

Once the entire group was reunited, with the exception of Hazel Hoof who was scouting up ahead, Silver decided to try her best and reinstill some calmness to the group’s declining morale.

“Your accent, it’s not from Fillydelphia,” Silver said to Caldera, hoping to break up the tension with some menial discourse. That, and she was truthfully unsure where his unfamiliar manner of speaking originated from. Caldera sighed through his nose, considering how much he was at fault for his actions before putting his doubts aside to answer Silver. He wasn’t sure why she was making any effort, but reciprocated it nonetheless.

“I moved there as a colt. Great city. I live downtown, Old City. I was born in a village that sits beneath the sun cliffs of Palo Alto...We all talk like this there. I’d return, if it wasn’t for the abysmal heat. She’s not from Filly either,” Caldera said, nodding at Blue Belle.

“Seaward Sholes,” Blue Belle said, glumly, missing her beloved coastal town with all her heart. She could recall sailing in the sea with her family, the cool ocean wind rustling through her mane. She dearly hoped that she would survive the war, if only to make it back home one last time.

“I’ve never been to Fillydelphia. Is it nice?” Guardian asked Halo, walking right beside him in the back of the group. Silver, who was a little bit ahead, could only roll her eyes as she realized what was happening.

Oh brother.

“It’s my home, born and raised...You should visit there one day, when this all ends,” Halo replied.

“And when will that be? In ten years I might not remember,” Guardian said.

“Ten years?! Celestia forbid I’m alive to see another ten years of this…”

“If we make it through, we’ll be sure to send back help for you...I think you’re very brave, for staying,” Guardian said, her voice quivering, partly from the cold, partly from the nervousness of confessing her admiration for him.

He glanced down at her, uncertain whether she was really implying what he thought she was implying. He smiled back, and for a moment Guardian thought she had secured a victory with establishing a bond.

But before she could get anywhere further, they were surprised by Hazel Hoof making his return, jogging back up onto the road, stopping right in front of Halo and Guardian.

“Sir! There’s a way north that leads towards the rocks, but we’ll have to cross a river,” Hazel reported, terribly out of breath.

Halo briefly considered their options, before reaching his conclusion.

“Banes! New route!” Halo called out to Banes, who was now at the front up ahead.

The group changed their path accordingly, heading deeper into the woods. Their travels went by mostly in silence, as they pushed through an array of natural hazards, from logs in the path to slippery rocks.

They reached the river in late afternoon, the sky now a faint, shadowy grey up above, the powerful, sparkling clear waters murmuring in dense tongues. The waves collided against large jagged rocks and downed trees, whose branches and leaves often still stuck up into the air, clinging onto a life that would never be resuscitated.

The group stopped at the bank of the river, all of them scouring the west and east for any possible crossing points.

“There, a log. We’ll cross over that,” Halo said, pointing at a large log a quarter mile west that hung over the river. Halo was the only pegasus in the group besides Guardian, which meant he would have to accommodate the others first before his own needs.

Once they were upon the log, Halo gave it a once-over, to ensure that it was structurally stable enough to support all of them. Below the log, the river was thunderously crashing in swift sweeping blows, strengthened by the pre-storm winds.

“Everypony be careful,” Halo warned, making way for Banes to take the first step on the log, which sat overtop the rushing rapids of ice-cold water.

“You’re not still scared of heights, are you?” Guardian whispered to Silver, who was stuck in place staring at the intimidating rapids.

Silver shook her head, though the fear was palpable on her face. Guardian held her hoof for a moment and squeezed, hoping that Silver would be able to recover from the emotional pain she was currently suffering through and persevere, at least long enough until they had some temporary safety.

In order, they went Banes, then Caldera and Hazel carrying Hertz’s cot-bound body between them, then Halo carrying the weapons, Blue Belle with the food supply, Guardian with the tents, and Silver with the rest of the supplies in the back. All of the ponies had a mildly difficult time keeping their balance while holding onto their heavy packs, slowly inching their way across the already-slippery tree log. Guardian would routinely be turning her head behind her to make sure Silver was doing alright, concerned for her safety. On one such occasion, it wasn’t Silver who happened to have an accident, but instead somepony else.

“Shoot!” cried Blue Belle, tripping over a slippery segment of the log. She lost her balance completely, nearly falling right off of the log into the rapids below. She was rescued, however, by a hoof belonging to Guardian Angel, who managed to reach out to save her just in time.

Although Blue Belle’s life had been saved, the ponies had no compulsion to celebrate. As Blue Belle had fallen, she lost her grip on the case of food, which fell right into the river. The case bounced in and out of the white foamy water, quickly being swept downstream.

Wasting no time to react, Halo immediately threw off his duffel bag, tossed it to Guardian, and spread his wings. He soared into the air to chase the case down, while the others all stood with their jaws to the floor. That case of food was their only hope for survival, and without it, any resemblance of optimism for coming out of the forest alive would be near-impossible to come by.

Halo struggled to locate the brown case in the bubbling, rushing waters of the rapids. He caught sight of it eventually, its dark green strap flying up along the tumultuous waters. He eagerly flew down towards it before he could lose sight of it again, and successfully managed to grab a hold of it, though at the expense of his peripheral vision. He slammed head-first into an outstretched branch of a tree by the bank of the river, toppling over backwards into the furious, treacherous waters. He was submerged completely, immediately losing his sense of surroundings as the waters knocked him about in every direction, carrying him downstream at an unprecedented speed. He still had a hold of the case, which he was clutching onto for dear life. In the chaos of the rushing waters, he was unable to regain flight, sputtering for breath while desperately trying to stay above water.

“He’s gonna drown!” Guardian exclaimed, throwing Halo’s duffel bag to Silver, spreading her wings, and taking flight herself. The others were helpless but to watch as Guardian soared into the sky after Halo, who was now so far downstream he was barely visible.

Guardian sped through the air while Halo was gasping for breath, his free arm flailing up in the air. The last thing Halo could make out before he blacked out was Guardian, descending from above, silhouetted by the rays of sunlight bursting through the clouds behind her, with her arms outstretched compassionately towards him.

Halo awoke in a panic, gasping for breath, unsure where he was or what had happened to him. He was in one of the 4th Squadrons’ tents, implying that they had successfully set up a new camp somewhere. But what was more of an immediate concern, was the stark lack of warmth resonating in his body. It felt as though his skin was frozen over in a thin veil of ice, and he ached everywhere. There was a pillow underneath his head, propping him up from the tarp he was lying on in the tent. He was wrapped in a blanket, though it did little to help warm him up.

“You’re awake?!”

Halo lifted his head to see Guardian Angel step through the flaps of the tent, relieved to see he wasn’t dead.

“What’s h-happened?” Halo asked, his voice quivering from the cold, as he attempted to push himself off of the ground.

Guardian quickly rushed over to keep him from moving. He could tell her touch would’ve been a soothing feeling, though unfortunately Halo was so numb he couldn’t feel a thing.

“You fell under the river...I pulled you out, and we set up camp not far, for your sake. They’re all very worried about you,” Guardian said.

“They sh-should be, ungrateful d-dogs…” Halo groaned, as a wave of shivering passed over him. Guardian giggled, lightening up Halo’s depleted heart.

“I s-saw you...Coming down upon me...It was s-something of a last sight if I ever saw one…” Halo said, reflecting back on the moment he had thought he was about to succumb to the merciless waters.

Guardian blushed, but said nothing, struggling to put together a response.

“The food! Is the f-food alright?!” Halo asked, suddenly, recalling what exactly he had risked his life for.

“Yes, it’s all still intact, not too wet...Blue Belle wanted me to tell you she’s very, very sorry,” Guardian said, stifling a smile. She didn’t blame Blue Belle, who had been a complete mess for the past few hours since Halo had been rescued, blaming herself for potentially killing him.

“She’ll be s-sorry, when I ring her head a f-few times...Oh Luna...I can’t feel my legs in the slightest…” Halo said, astonished by how brittle his body felt.

Guardian felt her anxieties grow at the sight of Halo’s shuddering, pale, ice-cold body. By all means, he looked not far from death. Believing there to be little time left to intervene, Guardian suddenly walked around him to his back, and laid herself down beside him. Without warning, she pressed her chest against his back, wrapping her arm around him, trying to put as much pressure between their bodies as possible.

“Whoa-Whoa, What are you d-doing?” Halo asked, shivering.

“I’m using my body heat to warm you, you’re gonna get hypothermia,” Guardian said, blushing with the awkwardness of the position.

“Oh...Huh…” Halo muttered, lying on the tarp on the ground, his whole body shaking restlessly from the cold.

“How’re you feeling?” Guardian asked, after about a minute of them awkwardly lying together.

“B-Better….Much better,” Halo said, trying to focus on staying alive.

“You shouldn’t have gone after the bag,” Guardian said, scoldingly.

Halo grumbled to himself, considering whether it had been worth it at all.

“We’re d-dead without it...Wet food is better than n-no food. Me dying means m-more rations for them...Win win,” he said, smiling, trying to preserve his positive spirits.

Guardian laughed with him, though she was still concerned for his well-being.

After time, both grew to be more comfortable with the physically intimate position Guardian had taken with him, though Halo was still wondering what she was really after.

After about a half hour, Halo could feel some warmth start returning to his body, enough to inspire him to break free of Guardian’s tender grip. Halo grunted, picking himself up from the ground, allowing Guardian to back away to the other corner of the tent.

She rose to her hooves to help sit Halo against a nearby crate of supplies, close beside the heat of her lamp, which she had left inside to help warm him up.

His breath was visible as a gaseous cloud, puffing into the air periodically.

“Thank you…” Halo said, grateful for Guardian rescuing him from the violent waters of the river.

“Don’t mention it…” Guardian said, subtly rubbing her elbow.

There was silence for a moment, neither sure what to say to the other. They were both beginning to feel a sense of mutual affection, thought neither was confident enough to say anything outright.

“I didn’t say anything before, I don’t know why, but...I recognized you,” Guardian said.

Halo tilted his head to the side skeptically, struggling to put together how and where. Guardian's cheeks flushed apple red with embarrassment, but she proceeded nonetheless.

“You were with Fast Track at his wedding, in Canterlot. I saw you,” Guardian said, neglecting to mention that at that wedding she had developed a mild crush on the stallion, following his well-received good-hearted speech during the after-party.

Halo laughed, not having realized that their paths had crossed ever before, and at such an occassion.

“Then you saw me mess up my words too?” Halo asked.

“No, no, it was really great. You were really great! Not in like a...I just meant that…uh...” Guardian mumbled, stopping herself before she said anything too revealing.

There was a brief, awkward emptiness of words for a short while, before Guardian took it upon herself to stage a quick conversational recovery.

“And uh...hey, I think it’s a good thing, what you’ve done here. Sticking by the others, leading them. I don’t know many ponies who would’ve had the guts to stay this long out here…” Guardian said, softly.

Halo marinated on her words for a while, his eyes lost in space in the darkest corner of the tent, warm orange light from the lamp bouncing on his face. His eyes flickered towards her, admiring the face of the pony who had saved his life. Her voice was soft and light, and pleasant to listen to, but what had really grabbed Halo’s interest was her eyes. Deep warm oranges, that seemed to be equally mysterious as they were inviting.

Guardian became alert, when Halo took a deep breath, preparing to break the silence.

“You’ve got more of a level head than any of us, I guess I’ll take your word for it…” Halo said, groggily.

“I mean it...I don’t think what Caldera said to you was right...I think he was just scared, that’s all. You’re doing a fine job leading them, you almost killed yourself just to save them some food!” Guardian said.

Halo leaned his head back, as his ruminations over Caldera’s words, and Guardian’s words, and old memories of the past came to a head at the forefront of his mind, until he couldn’t help but confide some of it in the only pony around to talk to.

“How is it that I’ve been reduced to this?...I must be cursed to live like this, otherwise I’d be dead already," Halo grumbled, pressing his face against the edge of the box, closer to the warmth of the lantern, "We've all gone mad."

Guardian noticed Halo's entire body twitch suddenly, as if he physically defrosting by the warmth of the light. Halo's eyes wandered back to Guardian, and his mind soon circled back to previous contemplations.

"You know, I’ve been thinking...There was this one guy in the company, his name was Cufflink. They thought he was an up-and-comer breakthrough kid, like Glitter Gleam or Periwinkle Radiance. I met him once, Cufflink. He was a timid fellow. Kept to himself mostly, I don’t think he liked fighting either. But he was a damn good shot, I’ll tell you that. We'd never seen anything like him before. Spoke like a poet too, he was educated and all that. But he wasn’t the kind to be a leader. Or even have responsibilities, really. He’d always make up some excuse, or keep his head down. But he was so good of a shot, and he was so smart and well-off too, that they went ahead and pushed through for him. Got him a lieutenant's position in our company, the 27th. Fast Track never liked him, he could see right through the fancy mask. Fast Track was all about principle, see, all about strength and courage. He never gave up on anypony. Even me, and I was close to deserting more than once. He was like a hero to me, though, and somehow...somehow he convinced me that I had a place here. Like he knew that he’d be gone eventually and I’d have to step up,” Halo said, pausing to contemplate how exactly he had ended up where he was now, “Cufflink wasn’t like that at all. He wanted to get out of here as fast as possible, even if it meant all of these ponies dying. He thought he was too good for the front, he was high class after all! He was our lieutenant, sure, but he wasn’t our leader. Cufflink got his wish in the end, though. We were stopped in a little town by the Breadpan, you know where that is?”

“Yes,” Guardian replied, though she had never been there before.

“He got caught pocketing some bits he had been robbing from the volunteer quarterers. The dirty bastard had nearly a thousand after three months on the road.”

“A thousand?” Guardian exclaimed, amazed by how high the number was.

“Uh huh. He thought he wouldn’t get caught. Fast Track was the one who found him. And he went up to me later, and said he expected the thieving son of a bitch would get a dishonorable discharge, at the very least.”

“Did he?” Guardian asked.

“Granted amnesty, just two months incarcerated,” Halo muttered, shaking his head while huffing on his cigar aggressively.

“And in the end he was just...inconsequential. Figure that. So after that, we headed up here, ordered to meet with your friend’s 14th Rangers in the middle of this Celestia-forsaken forest...What I was thinking was that...Cufflink, he managed to get out of that battle, avoid certain death, because of his wrongdoings. That battle...I saw Fast Track get it. He was ahead of the rest of us, who were huddled below this hill. He had his sword...the one I’ve got now...He had that in his hooves, waving it in the air, yelling ‘27th!’ He just kept yelling that, running up that hill. I wasn’t sure how many shots they put in him. At least fifteen. We couldn’t tell, he hadn’t stopped climbing that hill until he was shot to pieces. I was so angry, I was about to run right up after him, but Hertz went and stopped me. We tried pushing up, on either flank, but nothing worked. Those rebels had everything planned out. We turned back with a fraction of what we came with. Wilbury was in command then. He was scared out his wits, he didn’t know what he was doing. Can’t blame him, none of us were suited to fill Fast Track’s shoes. He wanted us to retreat back to the line...But Hertz and me, we wouldn’t let him give the order. Wilbury, he got his head blown off just a few days after Fast Track kicked the bucket. Poor bloke, he didn’t deserve it. So then it’s just me to carry on. Fast Track was a hero, a leader, and I wasn’t anything close. I could never get it through my head, why anypony would want to risk their life for this...I was only concerned with staying alive, following orders, all that. Basic training had me thinking like a cog in a machine. But when you’re out here, and everything moves so fast, and the world is just so...so unforgiving...Well it’s not like anything they prepare you for. Rank, structure, order, none of that matters when you’re starving to death. What I’m concerned with, is two things...food, and not turning on each other. I think I’ve figured it out, finally, after counting down the days till I’m joining Fast Track and Wilbury in a hollow grave somewhere not far from here...It’s not about the glory, or the respect...It’s about them, out there. I owe it to them to do everything I can to keep them alive and fed. I came out here, from my lovely little home back in Fillydelphia, to die. Die not for country, not for glory, not for them to write my name on some stupid plaque and mount it on some Canterlot wall...For them. Those rebels killed friends of mine, and by Celestia I want to make them pay for it...It’s been made personal…”

Guardian noticed Halo grow slightly more unhinged as we went on about his experiences on the front. His left eye was almost constantly twitching, and his face was worn from sleepless nights.

“You want to know what I think? I think you’ve done an exceptional job...Most ponies I know would’ve tried to retreat or desert if they were in your position. All those ponies that died, they’ve been avenged, because of you...I think that you’ve got a heart, and that’s something that a lot of officers I know tend to lack...Those ponies out there, they may talk a lot, but they look up to you, I can tell...They need you to be with them,” Guardian said, masquerading her feelings behind an analogy.

“Is that all you feel then? Cordial respect?” Halo asked, smiling.

Guardian stared at him with her mouth open, eyes wide, and immediately decided to stop wasting time, leaning in for a kiss.

Halo accepted her with little thought, his mind too saturated from exhaustion and early signs of hypothermia to reconsider Guardian’s advances. He held her in his arms, leaning back against the crate behind him, while Guardian shut her eyes and drifted off into a blissful state of carelessness. Her pursed lips found their place on his ice-cold mouth, as she awkwardly marched closer towards him. She sat on top of him lying on the ground, allowing him to wrap his arm around her from around her back.

“Do you mind if I take your helmet off? I just...I want to see your face,” Halo said, suddenly.

Guardian blushed again and backed away, nervously.

“I don’t like to take it off,” Guardian said, softly.

He eyed her, sensing some unease in her that he couldn’t quite explain.

“Why not?”

Guardian’s heart started racing, and Halo quickly regretted asking.

“Hey, forget I asked...Come here” Halo said, pulling her in tighter.

She laid on top of him, still trying to warm his body up, though their passionate gestures on the other were increasingly becoming the main attraction of the affair.

Guardian slammed her lips over Halo’s, graciously seizing the thrill of engaging in the mildly immoral act for the sake of some much-needed pleasure. Soldiers in the front were denied most of the things they needed to be happy: good food, relaxation, and, of course, relationships.

While Halo was slowly warmed up inside their tent, Silver couldn’t help but eavesdrop from outside. Part of her wanted to storm in and break them up from each other, especially before things escalated too much. But the more Silver thought it over, she decided it wasn’t worth it to separate Guardian from whatever happiness she might have invested herself in. How long it would last, was Silver’s only concern.

After a ten-odd minute period of grazing lips and sensuality, both of them became too tired to intensify things further. Guardian stayed lying right beside Halo, who had his arm around her and a cigar in his mouth.

“Hey, I want you to have this by the way…”

Halo opened his eyes to see Guardian dangling some sort of small golden locket in front of his face.

“What’s this?” he asked, accepting the piece of jewelry hesitantly. On its exterior was written the word, “ANGEL,” and inside was room for two pictures, though the locket was empty.

“It was my mother’s, she gave it to me...I want you to have it,” Guardian said.

Halo stared at her in disbelief. It was true, he was beginning to have feelings for her, but a gift of such seeming personal significance this early seemed a bit too much to handle.

“I can’t take this,” he said, clasping her hoof back over the locket.

“Please, I want you to...You can give it back to me after me and Silver get back from up north…” Guardian said, pleadingly. It was one of her only family keepsakes she had taken with her to the war, though she didn’t mind giving it up for a time.

Halo was still resistant, though he could tell how much she wanted him to take it, and so grabbed a hold of it, albeit reluctantly.

“I know we’ve really only just met, but...I like you,” Guardian said, softly, extremely embarrassed about confessing her recently-revived feelings towards him.

Halo smiled, holding her in his arms a little bit tighter.

“I won’t lose it,” Halo promised, burying it in a pocket of his satchel.

Guardian beamed, drooping her head on his chest and curling up against him. They fell asleep together, beside the warm light of the lamp, drifting off into each other’s arms.

The following morning, Halo woke up first, and quickly separated himself from Guardian, cautious about the others discovering the extent of their relationship.

Halo was feeling in better health, making it known by stumbling out of the tent he was expected to have died inside.

“Sergeant!” cried Blue Belle, practically sprinting up to him, hugging him tightly. He begrudgingly hugged her back, still a little disoriented from last night and his near death experience the previous day.

“I’m sorry, Sergeant, I really am! I’ll volunteer to do night watch for as long as you’d like! And do kitchen patrol! Please don’t be mad at me!” Blue Belle wailed, begged.

“I’m not mad at you, just...for Luna’s sake, watch where you’re walking from now on,” Halo said, shaking his head in amusement at her desperate pleas, gently whacking her on the head.

“Yes sir!” Blue Belle said, scurrying away before she made any more clumsy accidents.

Banes, Hazel Hoof, and Caldera all approached him next, aware of what he had been doing last night from the questionable sounds emanating from his and Guardian’s tent.

“You must be in great health, Sergeant, if you’re well enough to-” Caldera started, before Banes nudged him hard in the gut to shut him up.

“It’s good to see you’re still with us, Halo,” Banes said, cracking a rare smile. Banes did respect Halo, which, considering how sparing the gruff stallion was with his appreciation for others, was to be taken as a major accomplishment.

Halo smiled, gazing around at the new campsite the others had all set up last night.

“We’re to head to our original destination...hopefully this little detour hasn’t given the rebels the time they needed to regroup...” Halo said, deeply concerned that the ramifications of Blue Belle’s fumble were more worrisome than any of them yet realized.

On the other side of the camp, Silver had snuck after Guardian, having waited all last night to get a chance to talk to her. They practically ran into each other, Guardian having just come back from peeing off in the woods.

“Do I really have to say I don’t think this is a good idea?” Silver asked, stepping in front of Guardian right as she was about to exit the treeline into the clearing where the campsite sat.

Guardian coyly glanced to the side, struggling to maintain her innocent front.

“What?”

“Guardian, come on...You’ve only just met him,” Silver said, skeptical that there was as much of a spark between Guardian and Halo as Guardian was acting like.

“Our lives tend to be cut short. I don’t see any reason to wait around for another chance that we might not be around to take,” Guardian said, though she really didn’t think it was any of Silver’s business.

“That’s nice, but...you should maybe be more concerned with staying alive, not getting a late night stand in with a pony you hardly know,” Silver said, bluntly, “You’re complicating things. They don’t need to be complicated,” she said, souring Guardian’s mood.

“I like somepony! Really! For the first time in...I don’t know how long! If it was a threat to the mission, I wouldn’t have given it any ground.”

“Do you mean to take him with us?”

“I don’t know...I’m just...happy! Happy, right now, Silver!”

“You know I want you to be happy, but we’ve only got six days to make it out of the passage! I just don’t think now is the time for this! ” Silver yelled.

“Maybe not...But it’s what my heart is telling me...This place is so cold, Silver, I just want to feel something warm…”

Silver saw how emotional Guardian was becoming, and decided that perhaps it wasn’t a tragedy to allow Guardian a brief fling for the sake of keeping her spirits up. She would prefer something alternative, but decided that it wasn’t her call to make, backing off and permitting Guardian to enjoy herself with this one.

“You’re my best friend, Silver...You know that, right?” Guardian asked, hoping that Silver wasn’t feeling jealous or slighted by Guardian’s attempts at a deeper, romantic relationship.

“I just don’t want you to get hurt...or distracted…But you’re right, it’s not up to me…” Silver said, backing off a little.

Guardian smiled and embraced Silver, who hesitantly received her.

“I’ll be alright. We’ll be alright.”

Silver hoped she was right about that, reluctantly stepping out of the way to let her proceed back into the campsite.

The group set off once more northwards into the forests, over mossy rocks and lush ferns of green. Halo hung back to keep an eye on the others, despite Banes insisting he was a stronger fit for the time being. The cot-bound Hertz was being carried by Caldera and Hazel, while Blue Belle held the front.

On the road, Silver’s heart was slowly recovering from the hopeless pit of despair it was stuck in yesterday as a result of the news of the 14th Rangers’ deaths. Her denial had transitioned into anger, which was to be mainly directed at the rebel enemy, justifiably so. She might’ve been slightly envious of Guardian too, that the pegasus could find some sort of joy in this lifeless wasteland, when all she had found was misery. All she had to look forward to was having her revenge, exacted by the means of slaying every rebel soldier that would come into her path. She could feel her mind corrupted by hatred and bitterness, similar to how she had felt when Princess Luna had demoted her. But she still had Guardian, of whom she loved enough to try and hang onto the light side.

“Did you hear that?” Guardian asked, suddenly, her ears perking up. She could’ve sworn she heard some sort of rustling in the brush beyond them.

While in the middle of a patch of tall grass in the forest, the rest of the ponies slowly came to a halt after Guardian stopped abruptly. They were all exhausted, and frankly not in the mood for concerns that probably weren’t founded in reality.

“Halo…” Guardian said, slowly. The air was warmer than usual, and the forest seemed so quiet that they could hear a pin drop. For some reason, Guardian had a sinking feeling that they were in danger.

Halo nervously glanced over his shoulders, though couldn’t see much past the thick brush of the forest surrounding them.

“Sergeant, can we just-” began Caldera, though he stopped himself short when the first blast of magic flew past his face.

“Get down!” Halo yelled, right before a barrage of similar blasts of magic came rushing out from the forest on either side.

Caldera squealed in pain when his hoof was caught by one of the blasts, letting go of Hertz’s cot, dropping the comatose stallion to the ground with a thick thud. Blue Belle threw her hooves off of the handles and ducked down, to avoid being hit by the hellstorm of magic running through the air at a rate so fast none of them could quite process it. Guardian had ducked down first, though Silver had a slower reaction time. She would’ve been shot right through the neck in the first few seconds of the attack, if not for Halo, who tackled her down to the ground.

Silver, slightly disoriented from the fall, caught sight of Blue Belle right in front of her, whose hooves were over her head while she screamed in terror.

Banes and Hazel stuck together a little bit farther ahead, making communication between all of them difficult, worsened by the loud volume of the searing beams of fiery hot magic. Fire lit up the air around them, but was quickly covered by smoke. The royal soldiers could hear the sound of rummaging machinery and distant muttering, almost in every direction, contributing to their heightened anxiety.

Halo rolled over off of Silver and climbed his way up through the long grass towards Blue Belle, Hertz, and Caldera, who was whimpering in pain, his hoof burned to a crisp after being shot.

“Are you alright?!” Halo yelled into Blue Belle’s ear. She held onto his arm for fear of her life, eventually calming down enough to nod her head and stop screaming.

Halo moved over to Hertz, who was face down in the mud. Halo reached to spin him over, but then hesitated, when he noticed the pony seemed to be motionless, his face planted in the dirt.

Halo aggressively grabbed Hertz and rolled him onto his back. Hertz, who had already survived one gruesome injury to the chest, wasn’t fated to survive a second.

He was riddled with holes from his neck down to his stomach, flesh torn apart and blood boiled into vapor. Halo was frozen in space, staring down at his old friend’s soulless eyes, the color drained from his face.

“Sergeant!” Banes yelled from up ahead, after crawling down to the others. Hazel came close behind, his whole body shaking from fear of being shot.

The others all realized Hertz was dead, and weren’t sure how to react at first. Halo, who knew he had to ignore his grief in order to lead the rest of these ponies to survival, quickly attempted to regain his clear-headedness. But it was a different task, considering how much pain was now gripping his weakened heart.

“Make east towards those rocks over there, better cover...They’ve settled down,” Halo said. He was right, as the barrage of blasts of magic had slowly decreased once all of the ponies had dropped low to the ground.

“Sir?” Banes asked, glancing down at Hertz, unsure what to do with the body.

“Leave him for now, if we can get back here for the body we will...I’ll go first, the rest of you stay close behind me,” Halo said, preparing to make a break for it into the brush. He gave a last long look towards all of the others, hopeful that today wouldn’t be the day he failed them.

He leaped to his hooves and immediately took off towards the right of their path, leaping through bushes and through narrow routes between trees.

Banes, Guardian, and Silver went next, wasting no time in lingering around back in that death trap.

They all had their weapons drawn, which came in handy, when they encountered three rebels walking towards the scene, believing they had already won the skirmish.

Halo, sword in hoof, slashed right through the first rebel’s rib cage, and shoved the other to the side face-first into a tree trunk, who then slumped down to the ground. The final rebel attempted to stick him with his spear, though Halo was able to dodge it, scurrying out of the way to continue heading for the cover of the rocks in the near distance. Banes took the opportunity to stomp on the head of the rebel who had fallen to the ground, while Silver was able to blast the third rebel with a heated ray of death straight through the chest.

Silver and Guardian kept up with Halo before any other rebels could spot them, though Banes stayed where he was, waiting for Blue Belle, Caldera, and Hazel, who were all still crouching low in the tall grass, to catch up.

Blue Belle and Hazel, who were both relatively inexperienced when it came to actual fighting, were both in a state of paralysis, unwilling to leave the supposed safety of their current position lying on the ground beneath the tall grass.

Caldera, despite knowing he would be slowed down from his hoof injury, decided he would have to lead by example, slowly rising up from the ground and limping towards the brush.

Blue Belle gave a great exhale of fear before she too stood up to join Caldera, and Hazel wasn’t far behind. They each climbed through a narrow passage through a tree with two large branches, entering into deeper woods, the saem direction where the others had gone.

But their hesitation proved to do them no favors, when Blue Belle noticed a dark green round object being thrown out from the forest towards them.

“Frag!” Blue Belle hollered, diving with all her might to hide herself behind a nearby log.

Hazel, however, wasn’t sure what she meant, until he noticed the hoof-sized grenade rolling just a few feet away from his hooves.

Before Hazel could make any sort of attempt to protect himself, the grenade blew apart into a fiery mass of shrapnel, obscuring him behind a wall of thick grey smoke.

Blue Belle, covering her neck and head from behind the log, waited until she was certain the explosion was finished, lifting her head up from the log to see what had happened.

Banes had meanwhile been caught in a small collision with two stray rebel soldiers, one of which had his head crushed open against a nearby sharp rock, and the other who had been bashed through the chest with the back end of Banes’ spear.

Turning around to locate the others, Banes first ran into Caldera, who was moving as quickly as he could on his limp towards the rocks, where Halo, Silver, and Guardian were close to arriving at.

“Straight ahead,” Banes instructed, Caldera nodding in response. He would’ve tried making a joke, if he wasn’t deathly afraid of being killed any moment.

“Stick,” Banes commanded. Caldera took off the self-titled ‘pop smoker’ from his back and handed it to Banes, who was roughly familiar with how to operate the device.

Banes continued forward, until the distinct sound of a grenade exploding sent him crashing to the ground for cover. The explosion was a ways off, and Banes naturally feared that one of the privates had set off a trap or something.

He got his answer as soon as he rose to his hooves, witnessing Hazel Hoof stumbling out from the cloud of smoke not far ahead, his face and chest now erupting with scalding red blisters and dripping with wet melted flesh and blackened fragments. Miraculously, he seemed to still be alive, though he was so badly injured he was practically unrecognizable.

Before Banes or Blue Belle could say anything, Hazel started screaming in agony, sprinting forwards into the brush. It was clear that he had been blinded by the grenade shrapnel, tiny chips of metal wedged right into his eyes and all over his skin.

He ran as fast as he could in agonizing terror, though, perhaps fortunately, his suffering was cut short, when he ran straight into a barrage of rapidfire magic, barreling through his body from some fixed weapon hidden somewhere in the brush ahead. The rapidfire weapon was tremendous, hidden inside a forest bunker, being worked by three ponies. It was made of black metal, with long smoking barrels and a bulky mechanical contraption sitting in the rear. Its blasts were devastating surges of death, and nothing that encountered it seemed to survive.

While Hazel collapsed in a smoking heap, Banes avoided wasting any time mourning to instead head straight for Blue Belle, whose bright blue mane was clearly visible from behind the log she was hiding beside.

Banes jumped over the log and crouched down beside her, just as the rapidfire blasts began heading his way.

“We can’t stay here,” Banes muttered. Blue Belle was thankful she was no longer alone, though was too shaken up by Hazel’s horrible death to say much.

Banes understood she was too scared to move, which did make things more difficult. He grabbed a hold of the rebel weapon, which he was loosely familiar with. The magazine was fully loaded with pellets of magical energy, which, when fired, resembled that of a real unicorn’s magical blast.

Pulling back the bolt lever and then pushing it forward, Banes raised the loaded weapon over the log and waited for signs of movement in the brush.

Banes, his eyes still scanning the distance, put his hoof on Blue Belle’s shoulder, getting her attention.

“Run, now,” he said, motioning for her to head for the rocks where the others had gone.

“Are you-”

“Now,” Banes said, fiercely.

Blue Belle squeaked, and quickly darted off away from the log, desperately trying to make it over to the safety of the rocks before she was shot down.

At the first sign of movement, Banes pulled the trigger, though missed, and worse, he had given away his position.

The weapon was difficult to use while standing up, and Banes knew that the second he left the log, he’d have to rely solely on his speed to try and outrun the rebels’ fire.

He levied a few more shots at random directions into the brush, attempting to cover himself before he tossed the weapon’s strap around his back, rose to his hooves, and ran off in the same direction Blue Belle had gone.

He was surprised to hear the sounds of a screaming wounded rebel, signaling that one of his stray shots had actually managed to make contact with somepony.

Banes was slightly behind Blue Belle, both of them desperately trying to outrun the rapidfire attacks that had begun to target them.

Banes being the closer shot proved to be his undoing, when he felt a sharp pain burst through his chest, spraying blood across the snow-covered dark green ferns. Banes choked on his breath, the pain quite unbearable, though he persisted, continuing to run as fast as he could after Blue Belle towards the rocks.

Blue Belle had noticed Banes’ struggling, turning around to fire her horn in the direction of their attackers, in hopes of giving Banes some time to recover. The dark grey stallion stumbled over the edge of the ridge at the foot of the rocks, tumbling down below to where the other ponies already were. A pile of snow came slipping off the edge as he fell, covering his head.

The ridge didn’t go deep enough for the ponies to stand without their head poking up over top, forcing them all to crouch down.

Blue Belle jumped over the edge soon after Banes had fallen in, the survivors now all reunited.

“Are you alright?” Halo asked, helping a frazzled Blue Belle get a grasp on her bearings.

“Hazel, he-...Sir, they have a new weapon, a big weapon, we can’t see it!” Blue Belle wailed.

Halo would have tried to calm her down, had he not noticed Banes, bleeding out on the ground nearby.

“Banes,” Halo said, cautiously, while the injured Banes sat himself up against the rocky wall of the ridge, holding his bloody wound with contempt.

“I’m fine, I just got the wind knocked out of me,” Banes said, catching his breath, trying to ignore that insufferable pull towards the infinite blackness.

Halo said nothing, and neither did anypony else, all of them caught off guard in the chaos of the moment. Halo jerkily glanced up above the ridge, getting a glimpse of rebels running along the brush in the distance, weapons in hoof, mobilizing for another offensive. More and more magical attacks came to strike the ridge, though the royal soldiers were well-protected below by the sub-ground rocky ridge.

“They’ve got a few over there, southwest, and at least two others with a repeater, northwest…” Halo said, struggling to accept the staggering number of rebels in sight organizing themselves beyond in the forest.

“They’ve got a bunker or some sort of foxhole, that’s where the repeater is,” Banes said, between rasped breaths, “I saw it.”

“We’ll have to make a divided strike, we can’t take either side one at a time,” Halo said, though he knew that splitting up would weaken their odds of success.

“Sarge, we can’t possibly try and take them, they’ve got us down with at least three times as many! They’ve already got Hertz and Hazel! We try anything but get the hell out of here, we’re all gonna be right behind them!” Caldera cried, terrified of being killed in a similarly horrible way to poor Hazel Hoof.

“You’re right, they got Hertz and Hazel, and now we’re down two...Makes it even more obvious to me then, that this, this right here, is the last stand...You can try running away, Caldera, but I doubt you’ll make it far on that hoof,” Halo said, pointing at Caldera’s blackened hoof.

“We’ve lost two good ponies, two friends, and by Celestia I hope that’s all for today...They’ve got us, they’ve finally got us, right where they want us...Now we can either sit here and cry about it, or we can go down fighting. We’re the last of the 27th, think about that! All those ponies who’ve died, just for you to give up now? I won’t have it, and I know for a fact Fast Track wouldn’t have had it neither. I need you to step up today. Today of all days, I need you.”

Caldera felt some unwanted shame in Halo’s rousing words, though he had to admit that his sergeant was probably right.

“I’ll be heading around northwest to try and force the ones above ground to head downhill…Blue Belle, you’ll be with me,” Halo said.

“Yes, sir,” Blue Belle said, trying her best to show courage. She would hate to dishonor all of her friends in the company who had already died. If they did manage to survive, and better yet defeat the enemy, it would be a story worth telling for generations.

“I’ll head for that bunker,” Silver offered. After the news of the 14th Rangers’ deaths, Silver had found herself craving some vengeance, perhaps to an unhealthy degree.

“Banes, you’ll stay here, and don’t-” Halo started, turning around to address Banes. But it was too late, the hard-faced stallion had already gone limp in his seated position moments ago, unbeknownst to the others. His eyes were still open, and there was blood spilling out of his mouth.

Halo slowly turned back to the others, struggling to accept the death of yet another pony. Every fatality was like a slap in the face, and he took it all as his own fault.

“I’ll go with her,” Caldera said, finally splitting his conflict. He had a sinking feeling that if a pony as experienced and capable as Banes could be killed, then his chances of surviving were even slimmer. Regardless, he knew that with every death, there was more responsibility put on the others. Caldera crawled over to Banes’ corpse, removing the strap from the rebel rifle to use for himself.

“I’ll come with you,” Guardian said to Halo. She had had no real preference in which fight to pick, but she did like the idea of being in a more open area, in case she had to make an emergency escape. Under no circumstances could she allow herself to be killed or captured, for the sake of the letter, which ensured the lives of thousands upon thousands of ponies.

“Alright then...Good luck, don’t separate from each other,” Halo said, grabbing Silver by the hoof to bid her farewell. He gave Caldera a subtle nod of approval for stepping up to the task, before getting a grip of his sword and crouching closer beside the edge of the ridge.

After waiting to make sure the current silence would last a few moments longer, Halo drew his sword out and climbed up over the ridge, darting to the left into the thicker brush for protection from enemy fire.

As soon as he left the ridge, shots from the hidden bunker came screaming at them. Guardian took flight, soaring into the air to try and draw rebel fire away from the ridge to give Blue Belle a window to escape.

Blue Belle scurried over the ridge, firing her horn straight ahead, though she couldn’t see what she was aiming at.

Once Blue Belle had made it into the thicker brush, Guardian descended back down beside her and Halo.

“Keep going, this way,” Halo said, jogging between trees.

“There!” came a voice from nearby ahead of them.

Guardian, still in flight, evaded trees as she rushed forwards, until she practically ran right into a confused rebel soldier.

She stuck her spear straight into the rebel’s face, killing him instantly. She drew the blood-soaked weapon back and slashed sideways against another approaching rebel, realizing she was going to be in for a real fight, as more and more ponies began to spring out from their hiding places.

Further ahead, Halo and Blue Belle had also encountered rebels. While Halo was in the midst of taking on three rebels simultaneously, Blue Belle was firing her horn incessantly at anything that moved ahead of her, gritting her teeth as she desperately tried to cut down everything in sight. She was fighting for her life now, and she was absolutely terrified, yet had never felt more alive. Her friends’ lives, her home, and her own life were all on line. Continuing to fire her horn manically, Blue Belle kept cautiously stepping forward through the forest.

Blue Belle’s scream of agony grabbed both Halo and Guardian’s attention away from their separate conflicts, catching sight of the blue unicorn stuck in place between them, bawling her eyes out in pain.

Halo was too distracted to offer any aid, as was Guardian, though she could at least see what had happened.

Blue Belle, who had neglected to check the ground in front of her during her magical offensive, had accidentally stepped right into a rebel trap. The device effectively acted like a bear trap, slamming two ruts of sharp spikes into either side of her hoof. She was too consumed by her pain to even attempt to pry herself free, though her attempts would likely be fruitless anyway.

Guardian desperately tried to finish off the last rebel to go help Blue Belle, who was crying her eyes out in pain and despair.

Just as Guardian took care of the last rebel with a spear to the neck, she turned to run over to Blue Belle, but before she could, the unicorn was pelted with a barrage of magical blasts deriving from the hidden bunker northwards.

Guardian helplessly watched as Blue Belle’s mutilated body came crashing down to the ground, a steaming mess of burns and blood. Guardian had little time to grieve, though, when the rapidfire blasts moved away from Blue Belle’s body to where she was standing.

Guardian spread her wings again and set off at a low-level height, hoping to outrun the enemy fire before she could be hit.

She flew straight towards Halo, who was still wrapped up with two rebel soldiers.

She made it to him just in time to surprise one of the rebels, stabbing him up from the behind, leaving Halo to cut across the last rebel’s torso in an excruciating slice.

Without an explanation, Guardian quickly grabbed Halo by the arm and swung him with her behind a tree, just before they could both be shot by the rebel bunker’s rapidfire.

They had to get as close together as possible behind the thick wood of the tree, which was protecting them from the magic blasts. Sparks flew on either side of them, and if one of them was to just move an inch or two to the side, they would be shot to pieces.

“Blue Belle?” Halo asked, unsure whether the unicorn private was still alive.

Guardian quickly shook her head, her mind too pumped full of adrenaline to think about yet another pony’s untimely death.

Guardian then heard a distinct snapping sound, and assumed the worst. She grabbed Halo again and pulled him away from the tree to another tree, right as their previous cover spot was blown to bits. The tree stalk collapsed to the ground in a thunderous crash, having been thoroughly sliced through by the powerful rapidfire magic. The bunker fire moved right along to Guardian and Halo’s new hiding spot, seeking to whittle down their available place to hide.

While Halo struggled to accept Blue Belle’s demise, Guardian only hoped that Silver would hurry up and take care of that bunker, before they ran out of places to hide.

Silver Saber was merciless in her campaign towards the bunker, firing a red hot beam of fury-fueled magic straight towards every rebel she encountered. Caldera still had a hold of the self-titled pop smoker, squeezing the wide trigger that sat along the entire base of the grip, firing pellets of magical energy towards where he believed the bunker to be, straight ahead of them.

“Six on the hill!” Caldera called out, noticing a small group of rebels rushing over a nearby grassy hill towards them. Silver, having just sliced a rebel soldier in half, swiveled around to fire a series of shots towards their new attackers’ way, killing four instantly and wounding the fifth. The last rebel was taken care of by Caldera, who was able to make his mark with the deadly rebel weapon.

Caldera turned to Silver with a wide smile on his face, exuberant over his successful shot with the rifle.

His joy was taken from him after just a few seconds, when a sudden burst of bright purple magic came crashing down from above, exploding on impact a few feet away from Caldera.

The impact of the blast was strong enough to send Silver tumbling back a few yards, slamming into the bark of an evergreen tree behind her.

She groaned in pain, and then scanned the area for Caldera, finding his burned body just a few yards away.

“Caldera?” Silver said, uncertain whether the pony was alive or dead.

An agonizing groan gave her an answer, Caldera raising a weak hoof into the air to signal he was somehow still alive.

Incentivized more so in her vengeful warpath, Silver returned to her hooves, taking cover behind a tree to peer up ahead and try to locate the rebels’ hidden bunker.

“Caldera, can you move? Get to cover, they’re using mortar shells...”

Caldera grunted again, extending his hoof ahead in the dirt and clawing his way towards a tree not too far from where Silver was hiding.

The ear piercing scream of Blue Belle in the distance caught her by surprise, though she was too far away to do much about it. Blue Belle’s death, however, turned out not to be in vain, when Silver and Caldera both caught sight of the rebels’ bunker-bound rapidfire repeater firing an array of shots southwards towards where Blue Belle’s screams were coming from, giving away the bunker’s exact position.

“There!” Silver yelled, jumping out from her hiding spot to begin firing at the bunker.

To her surprise, she was met by three bolts of magic screeching towards her, all three missing their target, landing against the face of the tree she was previously hiding behind.

She retreated back behind the tree, realizing they were pinned down by another bunker rebel, evidently a sharpshooter with his scope positioned right on them.

“He’s facing us,” Caldera muttered, his voice broken as a result of the smoke he inhaled from the explosion, and the withered damage to his throat, “I can see him...He’s got a pop smoker, it’s aimed right at you,” Caldera said, trying to speak clearly to aid Silver while he was able. He was so badly burned all over from the blast, that he very much doubted he’d survive the day.

“Don’t move yourself,” Silver said, recognizing how injured Caldera was. It seemed unlikely anypony could’ve survived that explosion at such close range.

“We’re stuck,” Silver said, worried that they were running out of time. Blue Belle’s screams of agony had been cut off shortly before, signaling to both Caldera and Silver that the unicorn had been killed. Caldera began to feel some regret in the way he had treated her, that perhaps he had let his bitterness over the war manifest into some unnecessary cruelty. But what really bothered him, was that now he wouldn’t ever have a chance to apologize.

“If we can draw out his fire...You may have an opening...But you can’t miss,” Caldera said, though Silver still had no plan to work with.

“He’s just stalling for reinforcements to surround us...We don’t have time to waste setting up a distraction. Not to mention if I take a step past this tree I’m dead!” Silver yelled, struggling to find a way out of her current predicament. Caldera, meanwhile, was sitting himself up against the tree, licking his charred lips, accepting that if he was to die this day, he might as well have made it for a practical purpose.

“Perhaps I can make myself useful, for once,” he said, adjusting himself behind the tree.

“What are you doing?” Silver asked, her horn at the ready, waiting to find an opening to stick her head out and stage a counterattack.

“I’m going to draw his fire, Silver,” Caldera said, weakly.

Silver wasn’t sure what he was talking about, until she noticed him moving away from his cover.

“Wait, don’t!” Silver said, though it was too late to stop him.

Caldera took one step out from behind the tree, and was immediately shot through the forehead. Silver, despite her disagreement with Caldera sacrificing herself, was obligated to take advantage of it, joining him in jumping out from her hiding place. She fired seven shots straight towards where she saw the shot that killed Caldera derive from, and then stood where she was.

She waited out in the open to be killed, though the shot never came.

The sharpshooter was dead.

A smile grew on her face, as she restarted her march towards the bunker, now free from the fears of being shot to death. Caldera’s death was a further motivation to ratify her warpath, her bloodlust still not yet satisfied.

She ran for the bunker, and located the window where the sharpshooter had stuck his rifle through. She bent down and climbed inside, having to jump a few feet down to the sunken floor of the bunker. Immediately, she spotted the corpse of that sharpshooter who had killed Caldera, two smoking holes sitting in his head and chest.

The bunker was dug into the ground, fitted with temporary wooden battlements for structural support. Ahead of her were four more rebels, standing around their rapidfire repeater, firing into the brush of the forest beyond. The weapon was so loud, that none of the ponies had even heard Silver sneak inside.

Silver took advantage of their obliviousness, firing a single shot forwards, blasting through three of the four ponies at once. The last one was taken care of with a final, rage-filled blast. The four dead ponies fell from the handles of their rapidfire repeater, preventing any further devastation to Guardian and Halo outside. Silver leaned against the wall of the bunker, catching her breath and struggling to handle her grief over her fallen companions, coupled with the stress of carrying out so many murders in the name of revenge.

Halo and Guardian had taken up three different trees as cover from the furious energy of the rapidfire blasts, until at last the barrage was cut off, courtesy of Silver.

“They did it?” Guardian asked, hopeful that Silver was still alive, and better yet, victorious.

Before either could celebrate, a pack of around eight rebels came rushing out from the treeline behind them, brandishing a file of sharp-edged spears lined up to cut down everything in their path.

Halo noticed them first, grabbing Guardian and yanking her beside him on the other side of the tree they had just been hiding behind.

Guardian took flight, leaving Halo behind the tree to land on the other side of the rebels, who were disoriented from her sudden change in position.

The four rebels on the right flank turned around the attempt to surround Guardian, though she was quicker, throwing her spear through the chest of the closest rebel, and grabbing another rebel’s spear by its handle, wrestling it away from him before he could stick her with it. She whacked two over the head with the butt of the spear, spun it around, and stabbed another through the stomach, gritting her teeth in anger on behalf of the loss of all the royal soldiers who she was only able to know a short while.

Right as she finished stabbing the other two from the ground, Guardian went alert, at the sound of Halo grunting loudly in pain.

She flew back to where she had left Halo, to find him keeled over on the ground, surrounded by the corpses of the other four rebel soldiers who had committed to killing him.

“Halo!”

Halo collapsed on his side, gasping for breath. He had been speared through the stomach, blood leaking out of him like a knocked-over paint can.

“I’m alright,” Halo said, reaching out his hoof into the dirt to try and grab at something.

“Come here,” Guardian beckoned, extending her hoof towards him on the ground.

He laughed through his relentlessly desperate battle for breath, grabbing her hoof, letting her pull him up. He couldn’t quite stand, though Guardian didn’t intend for him to.

She lowered her back to allow him to fall atop it, Guardian struggling to bear his weight. He groaned while on top of her back, uncomfortable with the position. He could feel his breath withering, and his organs felt like they were all twisted against each other.

“Alright…” Guardian muttered, once Halo was resting on her back.

She adjusted herself and took her first step forward, making for the hidden bunker northwards, where she hoped to find Silver, who might’ve known a medical spell that could save Halo’s life.

“Watch it,” Halo grunted, when Guardian stumbled over some roots along through the forest.

Guardian would’ve apologized, if she wasn’t so distracted by the heavy weight she was carrying on her back.

“And they thought they won, did they...But we’re still here, aren’t we...To the farsides and Canterlot, tell them the 27th have held their post,” Halo said, gritting his teeth as the pain in his chest worsened. Blood from his wound dripped onto Guardian’s armor and stained the occasional clumps of pure white snow on the ground.

“Silver will be able to help you, and then we’ll take you somewhere, somewhere safe. Caldera can be the one to stay with you...And then we’ll meet again! In Fillydelphia, maybe.”

“Yes…” Halo murmured, enjoying the thought of returning home.

“Then the war will be over, and we can see each other again,” Guardian posited, she too being consumed by sentimentality, as she trudged through the snowy forest. Guardian wasn’t able to feel it, the moment when Halo drew his last breath. She simply carried on forward as if nothing had changed since the moments prior.

“Yes, we’ll surely see each other again,” Guardian promised, as she neared the bunker ahead.

“Silver!?” Guardian cried, stopping right outside the bunker.

“Yes! In here!” Silver replied. A wave of relief washed over Guardian, as she located a descending tunnel that led into the underground bunker.

She carefully trotted down a wooden ramp into the bunker, and was excitedly met by Silver.

“We did it!” Silver exclaimed, elated, until she noticed Halo’s breathless body lying atop Guardian’s back.

“Here we are,” Guardian muttered, comfortingly, to Halo, who was unable to hear her.

Silver helped her drop Halo to the ground, carefully laying him against the wall of the bunker, light from the opening seeping in right over his bludgeoned face.

“Do you know any spells that can help him?” Guardian asked, backing away while Silver inspected Halo.

She was met by silence, which troubled her greatly.

“Silver?”

“Guardian…” Silver started, hesitantly.

Guardian didn’t require Silver to finish in order to understand what she meant. Immediately, she became distressed, more distressed than she had been for any of the either soldiers’ deaths earlier that day.

“No, he’s just unconscious is all, he was hit through the chest,” Guardian said, certain that Silver was incorrect in her diagnosis.

“He’s dead,” Silver said, practically a whisper. She hated to be the one to tell her.

Guardian was kneeling beside Halo, whose mouth hung open, whose face was pale from the freezing air. She held his hoof, gently, and could tell instantly that his soul was no longer present. It was a disturbing feeling, to know that the pony who she was speaking with just minutes ago, who she had come to respect on a deeply heartfelt level in the past two days, had been reduced to an empty shell. He had never considered to be the hero in any sense of the word, but to Guardian he was as close as ponies could get.

Silver stood idly by, empathetic to Guardian’s grief. She had felt a similar feeling just yesterday at the news of her old unit’s complete demise.

Guardian waited by Halo’s side for a few more minutes, as if expecting him to be miraculously resurrected.

Eventually she had come to terms with the cold reality, rising up beside Silver.

“Blue Belle?” Silver asked, though she already had a hunch.

Guardian shook her head, regretfully.

“Caldera?” Guardian asked in turn.

“Him too.” Silver said, somberly.

Guardian’s head was a mess, contorted by broken-heartedness and a sense of failure to do her duty.

“We’re to bury them...Outside here, I suppose.” Guardian muttered.

“Burn the rest?” Silver asked.

Guardian sighed, as she would typically believe the act to be too impersonal and edging on immoral, though her heart was in so much pain she made no effort to speak against it.

“Do it yourself if you’d like,” Guardian said, walking out of the bunker, struggling to retain her spirits after such devastating losses.

For the next half-hour, Guardian and Silver took the time to dig six graves for Halo and each of his soldiers, buried all right beside each other. The rebels’ corpses, which numbered somewhere in the thirties once everything was all said and done, were dumped in a pile and lit ablaze, personally by Silver. She had positioned them all in the middle of the dirt road nearby, as if to make a public sign of their defeat for future passing rebels.

Halo was the last to be buried, Guardian rummaging through his satchel with hopes of finding one item in particular. She found the item in one of the front pockets, her very own golden locket that she had given to Halo as a gift the night before. She clutched it in her hooves, and intended to wear it again. But instead she found herself still clutching it, as she realized that she would forever attach the locket to the departed Halo, whose death she wouldn’t want to be reminded of for days on end. It seemed fitting then, that she bury the locket with him, as a parting gift, a sign that her cut-brief affection for him was as real as the snow that reigned supreme in these Northern Forests, as real as the smoke that climbed up into the sky, in the wake of a deadly confrontation, the last revenge of the 27th Fillydelphia Company.

Guardian stood by the graves of Halo and the last remnant of the 27th, wondering whether her presence had helped or hindered them against their unfortunate fates. Her despair could not be quelled, and she pondered whether the world would ever stop refusing her a shred of happiness.

Silver found Guardian by the graves, as expected, having just gone through all of the rebels’ belongings to find anything of value.

“That big machine thing is too heavy to carry...We can take these tiny cannon things though. I’d say we can fit two,” Silver suggested, holding two of the rebel rifles in an aura of magic.

Guardian shook her head, turning down the offer.

“I’d be no good with it...And it’s not regulation either,” Guardian said, dryly.

“Their ration packs had an emergency function, it’s all laced with chemicals now. Worthless. We should still have enough by ourselves to survive another couple days…”

“We’ll stick northwards, over this mountain, and find the river again…” Guardian said, firmly. Her mission seemed almost more dire now than before, with the personal losses adding some extra motivation to hurry.

Alone together just as they had been two days prior, Guardian and Silver returned to the dirt road, leaving behind the smoldering mountain of rebel corpses and dead friends. In the sky above, the stormclouds were rumbling like mad, beckoning a new frontier of despair that lay ahead in the dreadful Mountain Passage.

04: Paranoia

Cold.

That was the only thought Guardian was able to process, as she stumbled over the frozen dirt of the northern forests. Howling winds, like ghastly, wailing screams bursting forth from the crevices of the shadowy mountains ahead, shook against her, rattling her bones and withering her resolve to continue forward. On top of the wind, droplets of ice-cold water came down in thin, slippery gusts, landing on her frail skin. Small rivers of runoff rainwater slithered through divots in the dirt around her, watering the brittle trees and occasional patches of already-dead grass. Guardian was a shivering mess, her armor and bag drenched in freezing cold water. She was in desperate need of warmth.

Silver Saber wasn’t faring much better, mumbling some unintelligible curses under her breath while raindrops fell off her chin. Every step forward they took, it seemed the temperature was steadily decreasing.

They had been following a set of train tracks for a few hours now, both shivering to wits’ end and praying that by some miracle the weather could let up soon. The train tracks sat upon a thin, flat hill of dirt, elevating both ponies up slightly from ground level. The tracks sat in a narrow clearing that ran through the entire forest, whose dark green trees stood tall on either side of them, watching the ponies as they marched on.

Ahead of them on the train tracks, the forest would eventually give out into a barren plain of dust and desolation, a barrier that separated the edge of the forest from the jagged, ruinous rocks of the mountains beyond. They were fairly close to reaching the edge of the forest, only a few miles at least, though the wind and rain remained bothersome obstacles standing in their way.

The sky beyond was frightful, a dark mess of rumbling storm clouds and visible bursts of terrifying lightning and far-off explosions. Guardian found little comfort in knowing that the nightmarish sight in the distance was actually their destination, but supposed there wasn’t much value in complaining. They had made it this far already, it was too late to turn back.

Neither Guardian nor Silver had spoken anything to each other since departing from the mountain of burning enemy carcasses and buried new friends, back in the deep woods. The rebel ambush that had claimed Sgt. Halo and his squadron’s lives proved to be a significant detour, forcing the duo to make an effort to walk as quickly as possible along the train tracks, to make up for lost time.

Grief was a fickle thing. In the immediate hours following a disaster or emotionally-devastating loss, Guardian found it typical to not fully comprehend or admit the extent of a loss’s impact, that it was only natural to ignore the undesirable happenings of her life.

But as long as she could recall since joining the army out in the front, Guardian had yet to truly experience what it was like to watch somepony she cared for die in front of her, until today. Of course, both her brothers had been tragically killed in the war, but to her relief, she hadn’t had to watch them die before her own eyes.

Guilt tugged at her heart like an ox, prodding and damaging the remaining tendons of sanity that she had managed to keep together during her time in the war. Trickling into her mind, she could recall she had been speaking to Halo after he had died, as if he was alive, carrying out what she thought was a heroic endeavor to save his life. She had failed, and now the brief twinkle of light she had discovered in the abominable forests of the north had been shut off completely. She couldn’t help but wonder whether she could’ve done more, whether her presence had any part in sealing Halo and his ponies’ fates. But now there was simply nothing she could do, other than finish the mission she had come all the way out here for in the first place. She would often reach into her pack to feel for the protrusion of the letter, tucked away in her duffel bag. The letter was priceless, fundamentally, and the longer Guardian got to experience the cruelty of the war, the more eager she became to see that letter through, to save as many ponies’ lives as possible.

“Get off the tracks!” Silver suddenly yelled, frantically leaping off to the left side into the forest brush, leaving Guardian in a state of confusion. She had been so wrapped up over her grief, she had forgotten to stay alert for possible threats around her. She didn’t think twice while she still had time, scurrying down off of the tracks, sliding down the right-side slope of the dirt hill into the shade of the trees nearby.

Guardian caught her breath, trying to stay as quiet as possible, still uncertain what Silver had seen to force her to take cover. After a short while, Guardian couldn’t help but grow impatient, turning herself on her side against the mound of dirt, slowly lifting her head up past the edge to get a glimpse of lay ahead.

She kept watching for a train to arrive in the distance or something, but, as far as she could see, there was nothing.

It wasn’t a train Silver had seen, but rather a pegasi patrol, passing by overhead like a flock of birds. They were silhouetted by dark grey clouds, that seemed so wicked and contorted it was as if the devil himself had crafted them. The rain had begun to let up upon their arrival, and Guardian presumed the pegasi were intentionally fiddling with the weather conditions, for some unknowable strategic purposes. In any case, now there was less rain, which both Guardian and Silver took as a tremendous win.

Guardian then noticed the pegasi too, and was thankful that Silver had seen them when she did, otherwise they might have been spotted. Together they watched the pegasi soar past overhead, and both of them wondered whether that was the same pegasi patrol they had encountered earlier on their voyage. The thought was unsettling, that perhaps they were being watched, or that the rebels were fully aware of who they were, where they were going, and what they were delivering. Both found it best to avoid thinking too much about it.

Toying with Silver’s mind was a ceaseless barrage of doubt and fear, that pricked and snapped at her like a swarm of insects. She could see shapes in the forest that weren’t really there, silhouettes of imagined enemies creeping in the shadows. Every noise made her jump alert, and she found herself unable to even relax for more than a few moments, before the world around her grew so loud that she had to blink back into high-focus. And the pegasi above were but an extension of those fears, peering down at them like ghostly specters patrolling the skies. There was no safety, nowhere. Silver watched the rebel pegasi glide through the air above from the bush she was hiding behind, narrowing her eyes with scorn as her left front hoof began to quiver uncontrollably.

After waiting a few minutes until the sky was clear of pegasi once more, they climbed back up the small dirt hill onto the tracks, and prepared to carry on forwards, both a little shaken up from the close call.

“Have you got any gum left?” Guardian asked, after making it back to her hooves on top of the train tracks. She felt like celebrating, both for having avoided being spotted and now that their luck seemed to be improving.

Silver didn’t respond, silently reaching back into her pack with one hoof to retrieve a case of gum sticks, which she promptly tossed to Guardian.

“Thanks,” Guardian said, throwing a piece into her mouth and tossing the rest back.

Silver, again, made no response. All day since they had left the site of the skirmish, her face had been warped with anger. If it wasn’t for Guardian’s company, Silver wondered whether she would be able to control her anger in the slightest at that moment, for her heart was bound in fiery thorns. Since learning of the loss of her former unit, the 14th Rangers, Silver had realized that Guardian was now the only real friend she had left in the whole world, and she knew it would be absolutely devastating to lose her on top of everything. Silver felt about five times as more protective over the soft-orange-eyed pegasus as usual, especially given how uncharacteristically miserable she seemed.

Guardian rarely let herself become too consumed with her negative emotions. Growing up, the only way to survive the strict, no-nonsense authority of her father was to try and keep her head up. Whenever she had to cry, or was in a terrible mood, she would always make an effort to keep it all to herself, to put on a smile even if she wasn’t feeling it. But right then, as she sulked over the slippery metal train tracks in the freezing cold, she just couldn’t make the effort to ignore how much pain she was feeling. She wasn’t sure that any sort of real relationship could have begun between her and Halo, but now the very possibility was extinct. She wondered if the world truly hated her, if it just insisted that her life be a misfortunate story of despair and grief. She hoped that it was the opposite, a story of resilience and bravery, but the more ponies she lost and the colder the world seemed to become, she struggled to see how that would be the case.

“Do you remember how this all started?” Silver asked, speaking up for the first time in hours. Guardian turned her head, not having expected Silver to start talking unannounced, and least of all with such a question.

“How what started?” Guardian asked, uncertain what she meant.

“The war,” Silver said, gravely, holding off from making a sarcastic comment about Guardian not having understood immediately.

Guardian turned her head back forwards, not having much interest in the subject matter.

“A few weeks once things had escalated, I was in Canterlot, I remember that...And Lieutenant Bronze Beam, he came up to me, and offered me a transfer to the Solars,” Guardian replied, remembering the day, which was close to a year ago in the past. She still wasn’t sure she had made the right choice, but here she was anyway.

“No, I mean how it started,” Silver said, bluntly.

Guardian gave her a questionable look, unsure what she was getting at.

“You know the story. Crystal Empire, the filly princess was ponynapped,”
Guardian said, munching on her stick of gum. She really loved gum.

“That’s not what I mean...I meant, the day it really started,” Silver said.

“I don’t know which day, no,” Guardian said, rolling her eyes, uncertain what the exact date was. Guardian often felt as though Silver enjoyed flexing her college-educated knowledge, maybe too much.

But Silver didn’t intend to be a braggart, rather her mind was forming conclusions in other directions.

“I was with the 14th already, stationed in Mushroom Beach, way east. We had been hearing all these crazy rumors, of crystal ponies setting houses on fire, changelings staging another invasion, the dead rising from their graves, all sorts of stuff. Most of it was just exaggerations of small stuff that actually happened, or just made-up stuff to scare the foals. Less than a day in, we get our first orders, to deploy northwestward, to the Crystal Empire. I had heard all these stories, and then I was thinking, it’s all real? I was scared out of my mind, Guardian. I think we all were. None of us had ever gone through anything that crazy. We never thought any of us were actually going to have to give our lives for Equestria. Maybe that was silly, but...I was just thinking, that...we aren’t meant for this. It’s all just...senseless. Senseless violence. Those ponies, in the Rangers? They were good ponies. They didn’t deserve what they ended up getting. It’s not fair. Senseless...Unjustifiable! But that only gets said after the fact. And the ponies who are sending us to our deaths, they aren’t even fighting with us anymore,” Silver said, beginning to grow aggravated.

“Princess Celestia? She’s a princess, she shouldn't have to fight,” Guardian countered, defending the alicorn of whom she had spent two years personally devoting herself to.

Silver merely scoffed.

“Sorry, but come on, Guardian. She could take out entire armies of rebels with a single spell, Luna and Cadance and Twilight Sparkle too. They’re alicorns! And while we’re out here dying left and right, they’re safe in Canterlot, in their royal palace!” Silver said.

“Our goal shouldn’t be to take out entire armies! We’re not here just to kill as many ponies as we can,” Guardian argued, firm in her defense. She was in no emotional condition to have a rational argument at the moment, but luckily she and Silver had already had this argument on numerous occasions in the past, so she already had answers prepared.

“Are you serious? Then why the hell are we here?” Silver asked, stifling a laugh of disbelief.

“To bring back peace! But that doesn’t mean we have to kill everypony we come across. We have a duty to Equestria, Silver, and it’s not to murder ponies left and right. We should be trying to save as many lives as we can, civilian, royal, and rebel,” Guardian said.

Silver shook her head and sighed in disappointment.

“They died for nothing,” Silver said, her mind buzzing with bitterness over where her life had taken her.

Guardian slowed down her pace, hoping Silver wasn’t referring to who she thought she was referring to.

“What?” Guardian asked, slowly. Her eyes were unsteady, and she could feel her heart begin to race.

“Halo. And all of the others. They died for nothing,” Silver said, bluntly.

Guardian spun around, dangerously close to flying into a fit of rage. Silver immediately realized she shouldn’t have said that, by the sight of Guardian’s shocked expression on her face. However, Silver was too angry to back down, and committed to her point.

“They’re all dead, and so are all the rebels. Both of them came in here to stabilize the land, and they both failed. All dead. And now the land belongs to nopony, just like it used to. Their arrival, their fight, and their departure changed nothing. Except now there's a few more graves in the ground,” Silver said, deciding that she had to say what she had been feeling, even though it probably wasn’t what Guardian wanted to hear.

“They didn’t die for nothing,” Guardian said, bitterly, reaching into her bag to retrieve an off-white envelope, the letter Colonel Splinter had given her to deliver to the 19th.

“They’re the reason we’re still alive, why this isn’t in enemy hooves. Which also makes them the reason all those ponies up north will still be alive.”

Silver hadn’t thought of that, lowering her head for a brief moment to come up with a response.

“And then what? Most of them will just die another day. Probably someday soon. There’s no cause to this war. Honor, unity, all that rubbish they tell the kids in the training academy? That we’re serving our country? Stories of heroes taking on hundreds of enemies at once? They made that all up. It’s a lie, a ploy to convince the next generation to fill up the ranks that the previous ones all died in. And on and on it goes. They’ll never give it up, because they need bodies to hold the weapons they make. It’s all a work of fiction, made to distract us from accepting that our lives are worth very little to the ponies sending us out here. Guardian, you’re better than this. You can’t just be the mindless dog who does whatever they tell you!” Silver said, practically yelling.

Guardian spat her gum out of her mouth, her face tight with rage. She was too emotionally unstable to handle Silver’s aggressiveness properly right now, and was close to flying into a frenzy. But luckily, reason seized her once again, and she relaxed her posture.

“I’m not a dog,” Guardian muttered, turning back around and resuming the trek along the train tracks.

Silver sighed, hoping that Guardian would eventually see the world as she saw it.

Although Guardian was typically steadfast in her defense of the royals, she couldn’t help but wonder whether Silver was right about a few things, and how much all of this suffering would be worth it in the end.

Within the next thirty minutes, the duo finally reached the edge of the forest, where the trees began to scatter.

Before they were to enter the perilous void of grey dust and emptiness that sat between the forest and the mountains in the distance, they both stood idly by at the edge of the woods, still alongside the train tracks. The single positive attribute of traveling through the forests was the cover the trees provided from attack. However, in turn, it also enabled the potential for surprises ambushes, which they were well-familiar with already. Ahead in this wasteland of wind and frozen-solid dirt, the challenges would be far different, and neither pony was quite sure they were prepared for them.

Guardian glanced at Silver, who seemed to be equally nervous of what awaited them ahead.

“We’re to be quick...If there’s another rebel patrol,” Guardian said, her eyes drifting up to the sky to check for any pestering rebel pegasi. It was clear, but considering it would take them at least two hours to cross the barren plain over to the mountains, she wasn’t sure how much longer they’d have before it wasn’t.

Silver gulped, believing their chances of outrunning a pegasi patrol to be slim.

“You don’t happen to know any spells that can hide us better, do you?” Guardian muttered.

“What, like turn us invisible?” Silver asked.

“Yeah,” Guardian said, staring off at the wasteland ahead.

“No.”

Guardian turned her head at Silver, and glared at her.

“Why did you say it like you knew how to do it?”

“I didn’t say I knew how to do it.”

“But you said it like you did,” Guardian spat.

They both held off from laughing, beginning to come around to each other again after a brief period of silent tension.

“After you then, princess,” Silver said, nodding at Guardian to take the first step forward.

Remembering they were running out of daylight, Guardian took the fateful step out past the edge of the forest, making her way into the coverless plain of emptiness.

Both felt extremely uncomfortable to be so exposed out in the open, but to take an alternative route would surely waste too much time.

Trotting along the water tank, their fears slowly subsided when no threats presented themselves for the first half-hour of traveling.

“What’s that?” Silver asked, pointing up ahead at some sort of large structure, collapsed into the ground near the tracks.

Guardian narrowed her eyes, unsure what they were looking at.

“I’m not sure…” Guardian muttered, picking up her pace to get a closer look.

They continued until they were right beside the downed structure, now close enough to recognize what it was. A water tank, built right along some burned-down small wooden train station next to the tracks.

“How are we, on water?” Guardian asked.

Silver checked their extra supply of water, which contained less than a cup’s worth.

“Above zero, below satisfying,” Silver replied, closing up her pack.

“It’s our lucky day, then,” Guardian said, smiling as she trotted away from the train tracks towards the water tank.

Silver quickly caught up, and together they discovered a large pool of stagnant water that had leaked out of a large hole in the sideways, knocked-over water tank. The water had mostly been frozen due to the temperatures. But in a small section at one edge, the water was liquid, drawing in both ponies right beside it.

“Oh, that’s disgusting,” Silver muttered, at the sight of the muddy, filthy brown water.

“We shouldn’t drink that, should we,” Guardian said, dejected.

“Not unless you’d like to be sick as a pig,” Silver replied.

“Well, there goes that. Let’s go back, before-” Guardian started after turning around to head back to the tracks. She was cut off, though, by the distinct sound of a canine growling.

Guardian spun around, to see Silver slowly backing away from a ravenous-looking, mangy wolf, gritting its teeth and growling at them with devilish red eyes. Guardian recognized those eyes, as the same wolf she had caught sight of a few nights ago in the woods. She considered herself lucky to have escaped that encounter alive, though this time, the emaciated beast seemed so desperate for food, she doubted she’d be spared from conflict twice.

“Silver...Don’t hurt it,” Guardian said, coaxingly. Despite how deranged the wolf appeared, she felt pity for it, as it was probably just as starving as they were.

“Guardian, now’s not the time to be-” Silver said, but was cut off when she felt an animal’s ferocious bite tear into her right hind leg. Silver yelped in pain as a second wolf managed to trip her to the ground and thrash its teeth into her leg, ripping into her flesh. While Silver screamed in pain, Guardian moved to help her, but was distracted when two more wolves came springing out from around the other side of the water tank, jumping on top of her, attempting to sink their teeth right into her throat. Guardian had her spear drawn, blocking the wolves’ attempts at chomping into her jugular. She was struggling, however, with the weight of two wolves on her chest pinning her to the ground, their intense ferocity disorienting. The first wolf, who was apparently clever enough to understand how to stage a distraction, went for Silver while Guardian was fending off her attackers.

Silver blasted the wolf that was latched onto her leg, right through the face, burning a hole through its skull, killing the poor savage beast.

The initial wolf stopped dead in its tracks at the sight of Silver’s magical blast, as if it recognized its danger.

The wolf howled into the air, and almost immediately, the other two on top of Guardian lifted their heads and sprang off of her, the three of them all darting off around the water tank, running off before Silver could slay them too.

Silver was hyperventilating with fear, her shaky hoof pawing at the bloody gash on her leg.

“G-Guardian…” Silver muttered, on the brink of fainting.

“Hey! Don’t worry, you’re gonna be fine!”

Silver groaned as Guardian dragged her body over to the surface of the water tank, propping her up.

“Guardian...I need you to wash it off before I can try and heal it,” Silver said, through distressed pants.

“Alright, we’ll use mine,” Guardian said, retrieving her first canteen, unscrewing the cap, and gently pouring the water along Silver’s bite wound.

“Ow! Ok...Ok, thank you, now just...go away,” Silver said.

“What?”

“Just like, turn around! I have to focus!” Silver yelled, too angry to properly articulate herself.

Guardian reluctantly obeyed Silver’s request, turning around while Silver’s horn began to glow a misty lavender-white. In a flash of light, Silver sprayed her wound with a magical spell, which was effective in mildly healing the wound.

Once Silver’s agonizing gasps for breath had diminished, Guardian turned back around.

“Are you alright?” Guardian asked, hopeful that Silver wouldn’t be critically injured.

“Help me up?” Silver asked, extending her arms. Guardian quickly grabbed onto her and pulled her up to her hooves.

“Ow!” Silver cried, her back leg buckling down. The wound was only barely healed, and still hurt a considerable amount, even more when putting weight on it.

“Can you walk?” Guardian asked, uncertain what they would do if Silver was to be rendered helpless on her legs.

“I can! I can, I just...Ow!” Silver yelped again, clinging to Guardian for support.

“Don’t let me fall!” Silver cried, worried that her leg would be hurt more so if she was to risk injuring it again.

“I won’t, here…” Guardian said, gently laying Silver back down.

“You need some time to heal, we’ll take a break…” Guardian said, giving a sigh of exhaustion. Another detour was the last thing she needed, but they wouldn’t be able to make it far anyways if Silver could barely walk.

Silver groaned,, shutting her eyes, trying to dream up a comforting fake scenario, in which she hadn’t just had a chunk of her leg taken out.

Guardian sat down nearby, holding her arms as the bitter wind blew over her neck. She was clutching her spear as if her life depended on it, anxious over the possibility that they would encounter some other threat. She hoped Silver’s spell would work quickly, for beneath the freezing winds Guardian feared they wouldn’t survive long.

After about an hour in the freezing cold, a shivering Silver finally decided she was ready, attempting to grab onto the side of the water tank to pull herself up.

“Silver, are you-” Guardian started.

“I’m fine...I’m fine, really. Let’s go, we shouldn't waste time,” Silver said, climbing up against the side of the water tank to bring herself to her hooves.

“Are you sure?” Guardian asked.

“Come on,” Silver said, insistent they start moving. Guardian wasn’t too opposed to that, given how freezing she was sitting still on the ice-cold ground.

They retrieved what belongings they had and headed back to the railroad tracks, Silver grunting every time she had to step with her injured leg. She had a limp, and Guardian couldn’t deny it looked to be a ghastly wound, though Silver was unwilling to be the reason they were slowed down. Guardian respected Silver for pushing through the pain, as she wasn't sure she’d be able to if it was her who had been bitten.

Guardian’s heart ached at the sound of her friend in pain, though she knew if she was to say anything, she would likely be snapped at.

A half-mile off from the water tank, Silver was beginning to get used to walking on her leg, which was still gradually being healed by the spell she had cast. She wasn’t a doctor pony, but it was standard training for all unicorns in the army to have knowledge of basic medical application.

A few yards behind Guardian, who had adjusted her pace as to not leave Silver too far behind, Silver caught sight of something else besides the endless train tracks and barren wasteland she was wandering through. A butterfly, dancing through the air with graceful strides, with bright blue wings that reflected the cloudcast sunlight from above. Silver was in shock, wondering if it was the same butterfly she had met days before. She extended her hoof out, just as she had done the first time, and, again to her delight, the tiny creature landed right on her.

“Hey there little guy,” Silver muttered, finding herself smiling genuinely for what felt like the first time since she last saw the creature.

The butterfly appeared to be making itself comfortable on her hoof, pacing around for a short while before fluttering off once more. Silver watched it fly off until it was just a speck in the distance, a persistent brightness that Silver began to think had attached itself to her.

“Whoa!” Guardian suddenly cried out, catching Silver off guard. She turned back ahead of her to see Guardian staring at something up above in the sky, her face white with fear.

Silver too raised her head to see what had Guardian so spooked, and then saw it. There were at least fourteen pegasi, all practically right above them, far up in the sky. At first glance, Silver assumed that they were a part of a rebel patrol that was on their way down to kill them.

“Wait, those are some of ours! Airborne,” Guardian said aloud, realizing that the fourteen pegasi were actually in the midst of a scuffle up near the clouds, all of them too far up and distracted to notice Guardian and Silver down below. She could recognize the gold armor of the royal pegasi, contrasting against the black outfits the rebels were wearing.

“I can’t tell who’s winning,” Silver said, hoping that their side could earn a victory for once.

“I have to go help them out!” Guardian said, slipping off her pack from her shoulders, preparing to spread her wings and fly up to aid the royal pegasi in their fight. Silver wasn’t about to let that happen, however, telekinetically moving the bag back onto Guardian’s shoulders.

“We can’t risk it,” Silver said, though she did wish there was a way they could help.

Guardian reluctantly relented, readjusting her bag. They stood where they were, watching the skirmish up in the sky from down below.

“Do you think they’re from the Wonderbolts? I heard they had some Wonderbolts flying with the Airborne now,” Guardian said.

“Who’d you hear that from?”

“Misty.”

Silver forgot to continue with a reply, becoming too distracted with the fight they were spectating.

“Did you see that? That pegasus lost his balance!” Silver exclaimed, pointing up at who she hoped was a rebel pegasus, tumbling out of the sky.

“I think we won,” Guardian said, excitedly, watching as the remaining rebel pegasi, notable for their black-colored armor, fled away from the scene.

Silver smiled at the sight of a royal victory, though her smile quickly dropped, when she noticed the pegasus who had been struck out of the sky was still descending, only he was descending right towards them.

“Uh…” Silver started, getting Guardian’s attention until she too realized what was coming down on them.

“Shoot! Get out of the way!” Guardian said, jumping off of the train tracks to ensure she wasn’t hit by the crashing pegasus.

He came down in a booming, painful thud, managing to dig up a trail of long dirt from the very force of his impact. Guardian and Silver peeked up at the scene from the other side of the train tracks, and saw that his broken black armor hung on his motionless body.

Silver, not thinking twice, began to illuminate her horn, seeking to ensure the rebel soldier was deceased. Guardian, however, stopped her with an outstretched hoof, rushing over to where the rebel pegasus had landed. He was still alive, barely, his body broken and his mind in a daze. The pegasus had flowing brown locks and a handsome face, though, as most ponies Guardian had encountered in the forest, he appeared to be mildly emaciated and deranged in the eyes.

Before he would inevitably run out of time from the brutality of the fall, Guardian quickly unfastened her canteen from her pack and bent down beside him, silently leaning its tip against his lips, and gently pouring some water for him to drink.

She brought the canteen back, nervously, unsure whether the pegasus was even still alive. He was, and seemed to be grateful, forcing a weak smile as his body shivered, both from the pain and the cold.

“Thank you,” he managed to say, his voice groggy and choked.

Guardian nodded, and remained by him while he felt the pull of unconsciousness sweep over him. After about two minutes, the pegasus had given his last breath, and Guardian felt it was alright for her to stand back up.

Rejoining Silver, Guardian could feel Silver’s contempt for what she had done, like a smack in the face.

“That was a waste of water,” Silver muttered, magically grabbing Guardian’s canteen, and filling it up with around half of what she had in her own.

She handed the canteen back to Guardian, who had no intention of starting an argument.

They continued on along the train tracks, hoping that there wasn’t too much danger waiting for them ahead.

It had taken them a good three more hours since leaving the water tank to reach the end of the wasteland, entering into the first stretches of the rocky cliffs that ascended upwards into the mountain. The storm was boiling up above them, close to erupting into a raging bout of cruel fury. They still had at least three hours of solid daylight before it would become too dark and too dangerous to continue. Silver’ leg had healed enough that she could keep up with Guardian, though the pain still lingered.

Marching up through the growing fog up the slopes of the mountain, up through a patch of grass, it was Silver who first noticed something unusual in the distance up ahead.

“Wait,” Silver muttered.

Guardian, who was a few yards behind struggling to climb over a sharp jagged rock, froze in place, unable to see what Silver had seen.

“What?” Guardian asked.

Silver paused, listening to the rustling of the grass in the pre-storm winds, and the howling wind in the distance. But there was another sound, one that combined with what she had seen, made her highly suspicious.

“There’s ponies up ahead, over that ridge.”

“Ponies? How many?”

“I don’t know, I can’t see them…” Silver said, right before her eyes lit up with surprise, “And look! There’s some light smoke near that cliff over there, and I think I can hear something weird...Like metal clanking or something,” Silver said.

“It could be that somepony lives there. Blacksmithing maybe,” Guardian suggested.

Silver was so put off by Guardian’s idea, that she turned all the way around to stare at her in disbelief.

“Somehow I doubt anypony would want to live here...Intuition tells me those are rebels over there,” Silver said, firmly.

“They could be ours,” Guardian offered.

“Halo said there weren’t any other units still active in the mountains. They’re rebels...So what are we gonna do about them?” Silver said.

Guardian climbed up to where Silver was, and she too could make out the light smoke rising into the air in the distance.

“If they could see us from here, they would’ve already attacked,” Guardian said.

Silver nodded in agreement, though was still uncertain what their course of action would be.

“I could fly around...But I don't think I could carry you that high or that far,” Guardian said.

“There isn’t time to change the course. We’re gonna have to deal with them…” Silver said.

Guardian hated to agree, but there simply wasn’t any other decent option other than to go right through them.

“Alright...Let’s try and get a better look…” Guardian said, climbing up towards the left over some rocks, hoping to catch a glimpse of what was waiting for them over that ridge.

A few more steps higher up through the rocks, they found themselves able to get a clear view of the ridge from the cover of some large rock formations, sticking their heads out carefully.

On the ridge was a grassy hillside graveyard, stones worn by the years, broken by weather and stray bombshells here and there. In the center of the graveyard was a building, a small stone-built house with an active chimney, the source of the light smoke Silver had first noticed just earlier.

“Look,” Silver said, her eyes widening at the sight of a pony stepping out of the house, taking a look around before relieving himself, right out in the open into the grass.

“Gross,” Guardian muttered.

“That’s rebel armor,” Silver said, confirming her previous assumption.

“I can see through the window...I see...at least four, counting that guy,” Guardian said, as the other pony shook himself dry and returned inside the building.

“Is there a way around?” Guardian asked, checking her left to see if the rocks were navigable further up.

“Too steep,” Guardian said, nulling her previous suggestion.

“We’ve got to go through, Guardian. They might have sentries posted around, there’s no other way,” Silver said.

Guardian decided she was right, albeit regretfully.

“Let’s head down, stay low,” Guardian said, taking the lead of the duo, as she was the least injured of the two.

They snuck back down the ridge, through an opening in the rock that led them to the soft grass of the graveyard.

Using the graves as cover, the duo slowly crept their way forwards towards the small stone house.

Guardian could hear the sounds of laughter from inside the house, and wished they didn’t have to go through with subduing them, but time wasn’t on their side this time.

Guardian crept straight for the side of the stone wall by the door, while Silver took the other side. They froze, listening inside and realizing the rebels had all gone silent. Guardian and Silver prepared themselves, unsure if they had been heard. The door flew open, but neither reacted immediately, as nopony had stepped out.

“I swear I heard something,” said one of the rebels, taking a single step outside, only to immediately be blasted through the face by a blast of magical energy, courtesy of Silver to his right.

Silver spun around inside and immediately started lighting the place up, firing her horn at every pony she could.

Inside, the house only contained one large room with a living area to the left and a kitchen to the right, and a small staircase in the back that led to a smaller room above. The kitchen contained a large island counter and lots of cooking equipment, and the living room had a couch, two leather chairs, a rug, and the fireplace, whose smoke had first alerted Guardian and Silver of the house to begin with. The floor was all hardwood, and the house appeared to be more of a cozy mountain home for weekend visits, rather than anything meant for permanent living. The rebels, who now numbered five, were all completely taken by surprise with Silver’s uninvited arrival.

Guardian quickly followed after while the unprepared rebels were struggling to find cover in the room from Silver’s onslaught. Two had been killed immediately, another hiding behind the couch, and the fifth managing to scurry his way into a different room. The last rebel had taken the offensive, gripping a sword that had been lying on one of the tables, and swinging it towards Guardian’s head. She dodged it, backing up so as to avoid his return.

The rebel approached her as she stepped back out of the house, leaving Silver with the other two surviving rebels inside.

“For the Queen’s sake! They were unarmed!” the rebel behind the couch yelled. He was a young stallion, seemingly too young to be serving in a combat position. Silver, however, was far too enthralled in her own revenge, and had no intention of sparing any of the rebels from their comrades’ fates.

Telekinetically, Silver lifted up the couch in its entirety, and chucked it straight into the rebel soldier’s head, knocking him backwards. While the couch crashed into the wall and broke into several pieces, the spry young rebel attempted to make a run for it out the back door, while Silver was practically toying with him. He reached the door handle, but was then grabbed by a ring of Silver’s magic around his neck, tossing him across the room into the hard stone wall. She turned to finish him off, but was distracted by the sound of another pony screaming a cry of rage from behind her.

She turned to see the rebel who had escaped into the other room, returning with a spear in his hooves.

Silver tilted her head in disgust, and promptly sliced the rebel open, diagonally, two halves of his body collapsing to the hardwood floor in separate places.

She brushed her shoulder of dust and slowly turned back to the wounded, trembling young rebel soldier crouched up against the wall, huddled tight with his face hidden.

“Please, don’t!” he begged, his voice shaking.

Silver briefly felt sympathy for the kid, who was completely helpless against her attack. But then thoughts of her lost beloved 14th Rangers reignited her flaming heart, and she absolutely couldn’t help herself, but to blast the rebel directly through the head. It was a quick death, which was more merciful than Silver considered most rebels to deserve. The kid came toppling down to the ground in a smoking heap. The room was now a complete mess, and Silver was feeling some sort of high after her violent exploits. She then remembered there was a sixth rebel, and realized Guardian was no longer inside the house.

While Silver had been wrapped up massacring the rebels inside, Guardian had been stuck in a prolonged effort to avoid having her throat cut open by the last surviving rebel’s spear. He was a pegasus, the same as her, and was equally nimble on his hooves, despite having a slightly larger build. He was an orange stallion, with a dark, thin, unkempt beard and thick brown hair that swept past his ears. His strikes were precise, and Guardian was not having an easy time defending herself. She rarely had to focus on her posture and step movements when in a fight, given how typical it was for rebel soldiers to be uncoordinated and sloppy anyways. Rebels tended to be drafted from ordinary ponies, after all, with minimal military training. But this rebel appeared to be different, like he actually knew what he was doing. What Guardian feared, is that he may know what he’s doing better than her.

He brought his sword down hard against her from the top, and she barely managed to block it. Doubling back, she expected to find a weak point in his left hip, but he was expecting that, jumping backward, and slicing diagonally towards her neck. She was forced to block it with her bare hooves, grabbing the blade as it sunk into her flesh. She gritted her teeth, and attempted to overpower him and force the blade out of his hooves. But he was stronger, kneeing her in the gut and shoving her backwards.

Guardian managed not to fall over, to the rebel’s surprise. He began walking around her while she recovered, a slight gesture which she had to be grateful for. It was her decision to resume, lunging at him with her spear, managing to stick it back around his sword, so that she could twist back and knock him in the face with it. The strike was disorienting, enough for her to pull her spear back and knock it hard into his hoof. He yelled in pain and dropped the sword, grabbing his hoof in pain. She jabbed him in the neck with the butt of her spear, forcing him back down to the ground.

Now with the rebel disarmed and mildly injured on the ground, Guardian had the chance to finish him off. But she found herself hesitating, keeping the blade of her spear not far from his neck while he raised his head and glared at her with a burning hatred.

“Guardian!” Silver exclaimed, running out of the house to where Guardian and the rebel were in the grass. Silver saw the rebel was still alive, and her horn began to glow, until Guardian extended her hoof in front of her.

“Don’t,” Guardian said, eyeing down Silver, who was so hyper after all her action that she couldn’t even stand still.

“What? What do you mean?” Silver stammered.

“Go in my pack, and get some rope, tie him up,” Guardian requested, keeping her eyes on the rebel to make sure he didn’t make any sudden moves.

Silver was stunned by Guardian’s plea, calming down to rationalize how flawed this new course of action was.

“That’s ludicrous,” Silver said, flatly. She was completely opposed to the idea. She hated rebels already, to spend time around one for more than a few seconds would be just unbearable.

“Silver, just do it,” Guardian said again.

Silver rolled her eyes, assuming she would just get a chance to kill him soon after. She reached into Guardian’s bag, which was left on the grass nearby, and retrieved a roll of rope.

Guardian and the rebel were staring at each other, the rebel plainly confused about what was happening.

“Go on,” Guardian said, after a short period of Silver awkwardly standing with the roll of rope in her hooves.

Silver sighed, and magically began strewing the rope around the rebel, wrapping it around his wings and forming cuffs around each of his legs. After tightening the ropes and binding them all together with thick knots, she dropped it, hoping they could just get this over with and execute the rebel already.

“You’re our prisoner now, got it?” Guardian said, commandingly, to the furious rebel soldier, who was now bound to the leash his bindings were attached to. His wings were tied down, preventing him from flying off, and he wouldn’t be able to run with how narrow the knots were in his rope cuffs.

“Guardian, uh, I don’t know if you’re aware, but we barely have enough supplies to keep ourselves alive. Last thing we need is another pony, least of all one of them,” Silver hissed, aggravated by Guardian’s actions.

“Why don’t you go inside that house, clean up the place. We’ll set up camp inside for the night. Good place as any. I’ll handle this,” Guardian said, nodding for Silver to leave her.

Silver stared at her, dumbfounded, and was so insulted, so slighted that she readily complied with the request, if only to relieve herself of having to deal with Guardian any longer.

Guardian waited until Silver had stormed off back into the house, before sitting herself down, face to face against the rebel.

“I’m sorry about your friends, I didn’t mean for them to be killed,” Guardian said, apologetically.

The rebel said nothing, glaring at her with a visible hatred.

“Can you tell me your name?” she asked, hoping he wouldn’t make this difficult. With Silver around, she had enough problems to deal with.

When the rebel still refused to speak, Guardian decided to start herself.

“I’m Guardian. Guardian Angel.”

The rebel bit his lip with anger, but decided there was no point in resistance. If he didn’t satisfy the royal soldier who was sparing his life, he figured the other one would get free reign to kill him just like his mates. Still, he wasn’t sure what this blue pegasus wanted him alive for.

“Sundance,” the rebel muttered, his voice dark, twisted with humiliation and pain.

“Sundance, ok, nice to meet you...Look, I don’t want to kill you, or do anything to you at all. But, I’ll have no problem doing so if you’re not going to be able to work with me a little. And her, she’ll have even less of a problem,” Guardian said, nodding back at the house where Silver was angrily watching them from the window. Sundance could already tell he was beginning to fear that unicorn, who had a terrifying, menacing look in her eyes.

Guardian reached into her pack and pulled out her map of the area, laying it out in front of him for both of them to see.

“What are you doing out here in the mountains?” Guardian asked.

For a moment, Sundance stayed quiet in silent frustration, though he knew he would have to cooperate if he wanted to live.

“Scouting patrol.”

“Whose house is that?” Guardian questioned.

“It was abandoned. Recently abandoned. We’ve been staying there the past three...no, four nights,” Sundance answered.

“Scouting for who? You’re a part of a larger unit?” Guardian asked.

“Pathfinders. That’s a yes,” he answered, remembering that she wouldn’t be familiar with rebel unit names.

“How many are in the...Pathfinders?” Guardian said, pausing to make sure she would remember that name.

Sundance glared at her, unsure what her intentions were.

“More than the two of you. I wouldn’t recommend you go looking for trouble,” Sundance said, slightly condescendingly.

“Point out on this map where they are,” Guardian said, glancing down at the map.

Not to her surprise, Sundance refused to budge his hoof.

“I said-” Guardian started.

“You can’t expect me to give you information that would put Coalition lives in danger,” Sundance said, spitefully.

Guardian shook her head.

“We don’t mean to attack them. We mean to avoid them,” Guardian said.

“Avoid them like you did us?” Sundance said, scornfully.

“You would’ve spotted us eventually, it was better for us to have the first strike,” Guardian countered, unimpressed with his attempt at an ethical criticism.

“I’ve saved your life, when I know she wouldn’t have done anything close, and all I’m asking is for you to tell us where to avoid these ponies!” Guardian yelled, desperate.

Sundance sighed, deciding it couldn’t be that detrimental, since his battalion happened to not stick to any one location for too long.

He pointed at a spot on the map, east of the position they were at now, to Guardian’s relief.

“There. Was that so bad?”

Sundance scowled, hoping he would either be freed or killed soon, all just to be rid of this pestering pegasus.

Guardian grabbed the leash and pulled Sundance to his hooves, leading the humiliated rebel pegasus into the house, where Silver was waiting.

“Now can we kill him?” Silver asked, waiting for them both to step inside before closing the door.

Right after entering, Guardian grabbed her spear and whacked Sundance over the head with the staff, knocking him unconscious with a single hit. He fell sideways, hard, right onto the floor.

Silver’s eyes slowly rose from Sundance to Guardian, who seemed to have already come up with a plan. She saw the room had been cleared of all the other rebel corpses, to her surprise.

“You were fast with that,” Guardian said.

“There’s a pile outside. We could burn ‘em, but not until we leave tomorrow morning,” Silver said, before she remembered what she had just been upset about, “Don’t try and distract me! What the hell are you doing, Guardian?”

Guardian plopped herself down on one of the leather chairs, curling up under a blanket.

“He told me where his battalion is. East of here, we should be fine. Once we make it to the other side of the mountain tomorrow, we’ll have downhill advantage,” Guardian said, confident in their chances of success.

“Seriously? You seriously think he was telling the truth?” Silver asked, disappointed in Guardian’s appearing naivety.

“Maybe. He told me what he told me. We’re sticking to the same path anyway, it doesn’t change a thing. Just something we don’t have to worry about...as much,” Guardian said.

Silver sighed, not sure Guardian was making the correct decisions.

“And we’re taking him with us,” Guardian said, catching Silver off guard.

“What?! We most certainly are not! Guardian, this is too far! He’s the enemy!” Silver cried, hysterically, her fears of death bursting through the seams of her focus. “He’ll slash our throats in the night the second he gets a chance! We should just leave him here, if you want to keep him alive so bad! But don’t take him with us, Guardian, I’m begging you. It’s a bad idea,” Silver said, terrified of the potential repercussions of allowing a rebel to be in constant close proximity.

“If we leave him here, he’ll die of hypothermia in less than a day. We have to take him with us, it’s the right thing to do. We can’t just kill him. He surrendered,” Guardian said, “If you surrendered, would you want to be left to die?”

“I’d never surrender,” Silver said, bitterly, tying the leash of Sundance’s ropes to a nearby wooden column in the wall, making sure it was tight and that he was far away from them not to be able to reach them while they were sleeping.

“We’ll resume this in the morning. I’m exhausted,” Silver said, taking the other chair, opposite to Guardian. Guardian agreed, as she was also absolutely exhausted. She wasn’t sure what had compelled her to save Sundance’s life, perhaps just good honor, or perhaps pity. But she couldn’t deny what she felt was right. Silver, however, saw little but tragedy to befall them should Guardian retain her current mindset.

05: The Traitor

Through the hellish torrent of rain and great pillars of freezing wind, three ponies could be seen like specks on the face of a mountain ridge, that peered over the great northern forests like towers of bulking might. Staggering over slippery rocks and twisted formations, the trio had been subjected to the unfavorable weather conditions for close to an hour, moving slower and slower the worse the onslaught of rain and wind became. The mountain was cast in darkness as the fury of the storm raged on above. Small streams had begun to slide down between the crevices of the rocks. Where there weren’t wet surfaces that could easily be slipped on, there were thick caches of mud that bubbled up with rain water. The rain blew back and forth like currents due to the wind, showering over the mountains and forests beyond with seemingly no end in sight.

Guardian Angel was at the front, gritting her teeth as she put all her strength into marching forward through the rain. The mountain was beginning to get steeper, adding yet another obstacle to the ponies’ ascent. She held one of her front hooves up to shield her eyes from the needles of rain that descended from the sky like bullets. Tied around her other front hoof was a string of rope, leading behind her and connecting to the rope restraints of the newest addition to the group, Sundance, the rebel prisoner Guardian had insisted on bringing along with them. He was a sopping mess, his strength withered and his resolve weak, dragging himself forward against the fury of the wind. His climb was slow and tedious, grunting with every step forward as if his legs were about to give out right then and there. He was beginning to think he’d prefer to have been left behind at the cabin, even if that meant a slow death in the cold. And Silver Saber was in the back, carefully watching Sundance ahead of her to make sure he didn’t attempt to run off somewhere. Though, with such hostile weather, she didn’t expect him to try anything. Her injured leg had mostly healed, though she still wasn’t completely prepared for a climb up such treacherous heights. The rain was so dense, so ferocious, that it was difficult to see too far ahead, and Silver could feel the water begin to freeze right onto her armor and skin. She kept trying to shake herself off, but the rain was absolutely relentless. The sky was a terrifying dark blue and black, and the sun seemed to have completely disappeared. Lost in a dark world of incessant precipitation and freezing cold, each of the ponies were beginning to wonder how much longer they could last out here.

Earlier that morning, Guardian had woken up first, and was pleased to see that Sundance was still unconscious on the floor near the kitchen, just where she had left him since clocking him over the head last night. Guardian saw Silver still curled up in her chair, and decided to let her sleep a little longer, hoping that some rest would do her some favors. The only two pieces of furniture left intact after the scuffle of the previous night were the two leather chairs Guardian and Silver had used as beds,

Not bothering to move off of her chair, Guardian quietly checked her bag to inspect her belongings. Rations were down to half, though that wasn’t too bad, considering they had already been traveling for a few days. Miraculously, she still felt optimistic about their chances of success. Having made it this far, relatively halfway to their destination, was already something to be taken as impressive. The Mountain Passage wasn’t known for being kind to its visitors. And as far as Guardian could tell, the worst was already behind them.

The soft sunrise light streamed in through the windows of the cabin, shaded by the ever-present overcast sky. Guardian could see particles of dust drifting through the air, aimlessly tumbling to unknown destinations. She wondered of her own fate; still she insisted upon herself to focus solely on the positive.

She noticed Sundance, who appeared to be at least ten years older than her, likely narrowly short of the age maximum for conscription. His face was hard, worn from the inhospitable conditions of the north, and speckled with dirt. He was almost beastly in nature, with firm muscles and a bitter clenched jaw. Just by the looks of him, Guardian found herself afraid, and at the same time impressed with herself, for having a defeated a soldier nearly twice her senior.

Guardian's eyes drifted over again to the sleeping Silver, who, even in her dreams, had an indignant, residual anger resonating on her face, as if she was about to either burst into tears or fly into a fit of rage. Guardian noticed the unicorn twitch a few times, and hoped she wasn’t having a nightmare again. On more than one occasion, Guardian had witnessed Silver have some spouts of violent thrashing in her sleep, the product of some terrible nightmares that Guardian preferred not to know the details of. She felt sympathy for Silver, who she knew as somepony with more than enough internalized pain to live with, possibly even to a self-destructive fault.

Guardian had always made an effort to tolerate and get along with everypony. But Silver was one of the few who Guardian truly felt required her to make an effort to better herself. She did admire Silver’ determination, though if only Silver’s resentment for everypony else around her could diminish, she could perhaps begin to lighten up.

As long as Guardian had known her, Silver had never been a pony defined by her anger, rather a victim of it. Silver had always appeared to be merely dissatisfied, both with her own life and the world around her. And the worse the world became, and the worse her life became, the less control over her anger she could manifest. And now there was a new development to contribute to that anger, one with a pony’s face.

To what end honor compelled her, Guardian was aware of how logistically impractical it was to bring Sundance along with them. He was a burden, an unnecessary load to add to the collection of crushing obstacles already waiting in their path. But it might not have just been honor, nor pity, that made her spare his life. She didn’t know this rebel pony, Sundance, in fact they had barely shared any words prior to him being knocked unconscious to the ground. He was a stranger, utterly and entirely, and that was what may have been so alluring. He was the enemy, a live specimen of the supposed monsters who had brought about the ruin of Equestria. It was a strange feeling, to understand that he and his allies were the ones responsible for all of the misery that had encompassed Equestria for the past year. It was strange, to look in his eyes and understand that, and yet in any other situation he would’ve just been another pony in a crowd. Nothing special in the slightest. To know that her very own neighbors, or friends, could end up just like him, waging a terrible war and devolving into murderous monsters, as could anypony, made her uncomfortable. To think that those ponies immortalized in the textbooks as the villains of history, were once just as ordinary at surface value as anypony else, was an uneasy sentiment, but one that Guardian felt curiosity towards, to perhaps discover some sort of bridge between the divide that had already ravaged her homeland.

When he had surrendered himself to her, she had felt the distant voice of opportunity calling out to her, beckoning her to take advantage of a rare chance that may never come again. To see how the other side lives, to see whether the ponies she had been fighting all this time were really any different than her.

Silver, however, didn’t feel inclined to see things that way. All she saw was another sorry attempt by Guardian to stick some naïve moral code into their mission, one that would doom the mission to fail. She had let Guardian have it her way, though ideally not for too long.

Silver awoke in a huff, as if she had thought she was about to be hit by an oncoming vehicle, or face some other disastrous encounter. She produced a high-pitched, admittedly embarrassingly terrified yelp out of fright, her entire body convulsing as she jolted herself awake.

“Silver?” Guardian said from her chair a few yards away, while Silver was gasping for breath. Her face was pale, and she appeared close to throwing up. Whatever she had been dreaming of, Guardian prayed she never had to experience it.

Guardian cautiously trotted over to Silver, gently grabbing her by the arms to shake her back into reality.

“Are you alright?” Guardian asked, her face wound tight with concern.

Silver couldn’t bring herself to answer, far too perturbed by her nightmares to pretend she was perfectly alright.

“Silver, we should go. That storm is gonna hit us soon, and I don’t want to be caught out here,” Guardian said, pulling a groggy Silver off of her chair. Silver’s skin was pale and her breath was short, and she went out of her way to avoid making eye contact with Guardian, who was trying her best to make Silver feel at ease.

Silver shook her head back and forth in an attempt to wake herself up.

“Are you ok? Here, drink something,” Guardian said, trotting over to the kitchen to pour some water out from her canteen into a cup she took from a stack near the cupboards. She brought the cup over to Silver, who sheepishly accepted it and gulped down the whole thing. Her face was worn down with fear, upon remembering that she wouldn’t even be spared from the horrors of war in her sleep. She was exhausted, but grateful, glancing up at Guardian with appreciative eyes. Despite her trembling psyche, she did feel deep relief that she had a friend like Guardian, and couldn’t even recall what could have caused them to have a rout yesterday.

Then she remembered, when from the corner of her eye she saw Sundance, lying on the hardwood floor near the kitchen island with his mouth loosely hanging open.

“Guardian, it’s a bad idea,” Silver said, “Just leave him here. There’s a well outside, he’ll have water. He’ll be fine,” Silver said.

Guardian shook her head, having already made up her mind.

“Look, I know you don’t want him around, but...We may be able to get some use out of him...Like it or not, he knows this area better than us. He must know the positions of most of the rebel units around here. He mentioned his own, but there’s probably more,” Guardian said, having already reached a firm conclusion last night before she had fallen asleep, “Once we get over this mountain, we’ve got a straight shot down past the river to the 19th…”

“We’ve only got food for...I count five days...Less if we have to feed him too,” Silver argued.

“We’ll get by. It won’t take the whole five days, two at most, if we don’t waste time,” Guardian said.

Silver bit her lip, still uncertain that it was worth taking the risk of dragging a prisoner around.

“I don’t know about this...And my leg’s still not great,” Silver said, softly grunting as she adjusted her injured leg.

“We’ve got each other, Silver, we’ll be alright,” Guardian said, gifting Silver with a quick hug, which Silver warmly accepted. Her eyes closed during the embrace, grateful for the trusting bond she had to depend on.

“I don’t trust him,” Silver muttered, still in disagreement.

Guardian smirked as she backed away to prepare her bag for their departure.

“You don’t trust anypony, do you?” she said, clipping her canteen back to her bag. Silver gave a half-hearted laugh, though she wasn’t sure she was a fan of Guardian’s characterization.

“Can you wake him up? We should really go,” Guardian said.

Silver smugly obeyed the command, trotting outside and quickly returning with a snowball in her hoof.

Before Guardian could even be aware of what she was doing, she heard the sound of ice flying directly into Sundance’s face.

Sundance yelled in surprise, springing up to his hooves, only to immediately trip and fall on his face. Groaning in pain, Guardian swiveled around to catch Silver bursting into laughter.

“What? He’s awake,” Silver said, giggling.

Sundance gritted his teeth, desperately fighting back against the ropes that were still tied tightly around his hooves.

“Hey, stop that,” Silver said, lightly kicking him with her hoof.

Guardian walked over and brought Sundance up to his hooves.

“You’re coming with us,” Guardian said.

Sundance glared at Guardian, still harboring some major ill-feeling towards the pegasus who had bested him in combat.

“You won’t last long out there, neither of you. What’s that, royal guard armor? And you, unicorn, you’re a lunar guard? Yes, I see. Canterlot folk, in over their heads. This isn’t some pearly palace, you know, you ought to go home,” Sundance said, seething with rage and humiliation.

“You got a bandage or tape we can shut him up with, or something?” Silver asked, “If he’s coming with us, I at least don’t want to be listening to that the whole time.”

“No, I think he’ll be quiet,” Guardian said, condescendingly leaning in closer towards Sundance.

“Right?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

Sundance took a deep breath in an attempt to control his anger, and decided it would be better to comply for the time being.

“Right.”

“See? We can get along,” Guardian said, grabbing a hold of Sundance’s rope leash.

Silver slipped her bag onto her back, before joining Guardian and a miserable Sundance by the door.

“Ready?” Guardian asked, nodding at Sundance. He rolled his eyes, unwilling to cooperate beyond walking alongside them.

“Ready?” Guardian asked, this time to Silver, who seemed slightly more lively than usual. Though, it was probably more the exhilarating fear boiling up inside her more than anything else.

“Ready,” Silver replied.

Guardian, wearing a tight smile, quickly nodded and pushed open the door, taking her first step into the blistering cold outside.

Rain came down like pails of water, making the already-difficult terrain even harder to climb. The wind was a tantrum, shaking the trees and rattling the rocks, and Silver wondered a few times if she’d be blown right off the mountain.

Sundance hadn’t spoken a word since they had left the cabin, and was still bound in thick ropes, held by a leash, on the other side of which was Guardian’s hoof. He had resolved to be minimally compliant, but only to gain his captors’ trust, possibly enough to set up an escape. Silver would often let him take note of her piercing, disapproving glare, waiting for the moment when Guardian would give up her moral quest. She rarely let anypony except higher-ranking officers overpower her own will when it came to tactical decisions, though Guardian counted as an exception. Silver was aware she could be overly stubborn, but she truthfully preferred not to engage in heated arguments, especially not with a friend.

Guardian didn’t feel as though she owed Silver an explanation as to why it wasn’t ethical to leave Sundance out to die, though she knew any attempt would be pointless anyway.

The world was cast in dark blacks and blues, as the rain poured down mercilessly. With every step, Silver concentrated her anger on overcoming the aggressive downpour, as if she was in a physical battle. She was fighting for her own redemption, recognizing that should the mission be a success, her reputation may improve with the officer core, and she may even get some status back, after her bleak demotion. Part of her wanted to see Luna ask her back, just so she could refuse, to stick it back to the pony who practically ruined her life. Outside of the 14th Rangers, who had accepted her as one of their own, ponies all over the military knew Silver as the guard who was fired by Princess Luna, and an ill-reputation that unfortunately stuck to her wherever she went.

Up the slippery rocks of the mountain, Sundance was the first to finally succumb to exhaustion, collapsing onto his knees against the rocks. For the past four days he had been covering miles and miles of distance with his scouting patrol, and wasn’t much in the condition for some more mountain climbing. Silver, from behind, was already sour as a result of the weather, and had no intention of putting up with the rebel pony’s struggling.

“Look at that, standard rebel material. We’ve got foals with better stamina than you,” Silver spat, preparing to land a devastating kick to Sundance’s back.

Silver’s hoof found its mark, precisely as intended.

The exhausted, disgruntled pony forced himself back up to his hooves, stumbling on his shaking legs, before collapsing yet again. Silver gave a sigh of frustration and kicked him again, this time hard enough to cause him to cry out in pain.

“Silver, stop,” Guardian said, from up ahead, turning around to sort out the other two, not unlike a concerned mother.

Silver stared at her with contempt, and backed away from the prisoner, who was trying to catch his breath after enduring a short barrage of kicks to his head and back.

Guardian flew down the rocky ridge of the mountain face to where Sundance was, crouching down beside him, and helping him back up to his hooves.

She swirled her head over to leave Silver with a disapproving glare, before continuing her march forwards up the steep cliffs of the mountain.

For twenty more minutes, their pace had decreased to short steps and frequent pauses, holding onto whatever fixed structures they could find for fear of losing balance in the chaos of the rain and wind. At one point, everything seemed to get even worse, and visibility was reduced to practically zero.

“We can’t go on!” Silver yelled, as the rain and wind continued to pick up. The mountain would only get steeper from there, and with the current weather, they weren’t making much progress anyway.

Guardian couldn’t risk trying to fly, as the wind was so strong she feared she’d lose control and be carried off somewhere. She decided Silver was right, that they’d have to stop and find cover for the time being.

It was difficult to make much out through the thick onslaught of rain, though Guardian persisted in pushing forwards along the ridge, hoping to find some sort of cave or something for them to take cover in.

She located just that, a small cave, carved into the side of the mountain, not too far from where they were.

Guardian shuffled back around, motioning with her hoof for the other two to follow after her.

She climbed across the ridge to the cave first, the others close behind, all of them plainly dropping themselves to the dry floor inside, unapologetically exhausted.

“We shouldn’t have gone this way,” Guardian said, bluntly, as soon as they made it inside the cave. It wasn’t too large, but had enough space to fit all three ponies, who were now all lying on the ground, drained of energy and drenched in freezing cold rain. Silver, who happened to already be highly irritated with Guardian for taking Sundance along with them, was in disbelief at how thorough Guardian seemed to be with her sporadic, intolerable lunacy.

“Maybe you didn’t realize, the storm would’ve hit us if we were still in the forest too,” Silver spat.

“We should’ve stuck to the Colonel’s orders! To stay by that creek!” Guardian yelled, “What good has come this way? Your leg is still wounded and now we’re going to be held back by the rain!”

“Oh, what a surprise. Guardian’s incapable of thinking two steps past what the orders are. You should know by now, the plan sometimes has to be adapted.”

“We’ve only got four days left now before the northern battalions leave! We shouldn’t have wasted time on this stupid shortcut!” Guardian yelled.

“That’s rich! Slowing us down! We’ve got a lot of dead weight I think we can do without!” Silver yelled.

Sundance glared at the unicorn, who he was well-aware was dead-set on killing him. He was also now aware that she had a wounded leg, which he hoped to take advantage of as soon as he got a chance. Silver noticed him glaring at her, and was immediately set off, practically pouncing towards him, sticking her face just a few inches from his.

“You heard me, the second she gets some sense, you’re dead,” Silver threatened, unsettling Sundance, who was too weary to speak up for himself.

Guardian sighed and checked the weather outside, which didn’t seem to be improving.

“We’ll wait here until it calms down out there. Save some strength,” Guardian said.

Silver backed away from a nervous Sundance, sitting against the wall opposite to him, carefully keeping her eyes open to make sure he didn’t try to escape.

Close to a half hour of waiting for the rain and wind to let up, Guardian decided that now would be a decent time as any to restructure their plan, which had already encountered some unintended hiccups.

She surprised Sundance, dumping out a large map she had just received and unfolded from her bag .

“We need to get to the river,” Guardian said, hoping he would have some usefulness to justify keeping him alive, “North.”

Sundance was close to drifting off to sleep, he was so tired, though he couldn’t help but feel obligated to help Guardian, minimally of course, as a small show of thanks for not having him killed already.

“You’re on the right path, down the mountain, back to the forest, straight a-ways.”

“What’s there? Anything that could be a hazard?” Guardian asked.

“The way you’re going, over this ridge, you’ll have a pretty steep drop to get to where the river is. You could fly over it, I guess, but you’ll be caught by pegasi no doubt. And your friend will be stuck at the top.”

Guardian subtly turned her head back to Silver, who seemed to be hopeful for an alternative course.

“Is there another way?”

Sundance scanned his memory, before recalling a faint solution.

“There is, if I remember right. A divot in the ridge. Leads down towards the river. There’s a town there.”

“A town? Are your friends there?”

“No, I already told you, my unit’s east from here.”

“What’s the name of the town?” Silver asked from across the cave, chiming in unannounced.

“I don’t know! It’s a small town, we stopped there for some drinks a few months ago,” Sundance replied.

“Where are the other rebels in this area?” Guardian asked.

“There was a battalion further south, I don’t know how many of them are left. Intel said there was another coming down north to meet some unit of yours, marching up through the passage,” Sundance replied, beginning to grow weary of answering these questions.

Guardian glanced at Silver, presuming that unit to mean the 13th Velvet Regiment, of whom they had personally helped send off into the passage just days prior.

“So if we go around or through this town, we won’t run into any trouble?” Guardian asked.

“I’d say probably not. Though your friend doesn’t seem to trust my word anyway.”

Guardian mulled it over, aware that Sundance could very well be trying to trick them.

“You’ll be helping us stay on course then, into that town. Will there be boats? To cross the river?”

“Of course there’ll be boats.”

Guardian nodded, seemingly content, though still uncertain over the validity of Sundance’s claims.

“Alright,” she said, closing up the map and repacking it, deciding they would have to focus on getting over the mountain before worrying about anything else.

“That’s enough, let’s go,” Guardian said after another hour, once the weather had finally started to get better. The rain had dulled to a mild pattern, and the wind was calmer.

The trio set off once more, exiting the cave back into the open air of the mountain.

And, down the other side they found themselves in more forested areas, dark trees with twisted branches and bright red leaves teetering on the edge of mounds of dirt and rocks. Everything was terribly wet from the storm, and drizzle persisted even still.

“Hurry up,” Silver muttered, purposefully stepping on Sundance’s hoof. The rebel merely scowled and kicked her hoof away, trying to stay closer to Guardian, who seemed to have his interests more in mind.

“When exactly do you intend to release me?” Sundance asked, spitefully.

“Who said we were going to release you?” Guardian replied.

Sundance laughed, glancing around the forest as if he believed he had friends already nearby to rescue him. Silver noticed this, adding to her paranoia that they were being followed. Every bird in the sky made her freeze up for a moment, believing it to be another rebel pegasi patrolling the airways.

“They’re out there. Somewhere. What should happen once they find you? Hm? You won’t be able to outrun them with me tagging on,” Sundance said, smirking.

“I think we’ll manage,” Guardian said, dryly. She had thought Sundance would be grateful for her kindly insisting on him to live, though his mouth seemed to keep running.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be dead before you’re left for your friends to find, smart ass,” Silver said, kicking Sundance hard again in the leg. He practically growled at her, the two glaring at each other with mutual hatred.

“You’ll both be sorry when this is over. Kill me now, or kill me later, it won’t change a thing. In the end you’ll both be in some camp somewhere in the frozen north, slaving away until you run out of use and get put to death already.”

“You hear that, Guardian? That right there? You really want to keep him alive now?” Silver asked, eagerly waiting for her chance to put an end to the rebel. She was anxious, more anxious than she had been the whole journey. She didn’t like having an enemy so close to her, let alone one who kept making threats. For all the talk she usually had, Silver was afraid of the rebels in the northern forests. Their reputation was one of cruelty and domination.

“What do you expect him to say? What would you be saying if you were being marched around in ropes...Actually, don’t answer that. But it’d be a lot worse,” Guardian said.

Silver grumbled and kicked Sundance again, this time so hard he had to stop for a moment to hold onto his leg in pain.

“Silver, you let him be, he’s not doing anything wrong,” Guardian said, scoldingly.

“Sure he is, he’s still breathing, isn’t he? I have half a mind to try and fix that, if you weren’t so forgiving,” Silver said, preparing to land another sickening blow to a vulnerable Sundance. But she was stopped, when Guardian ran up in front of her.

“It’s wasting time, have you thought about that?”

“Yeah, listen to her, miserable bitch,” Sundance muttered. Guardian quickly helped him up to his hooves, but before he could thank her, she smacked him right across the face.

“Don’t call her that.”

Guardian marched back up the front, leaving both Sundance and Silver a bit stunned.

Silver remained in the back while Sundance slowly caught up to Guardian, who would tug on his leash everytime he began to saunter too much.

“There’s a fork in the road,” Guardian pointed out.

“Left. Always stick left from here on, until you reach the divot,” Sundance said, nearly slipping on some soggy red leaves lying in the path.

“Can I ask you something?” Guardian said, catching Sundance off guard.

“I’m the one in cuffs. Do what you want,” Sundance said, mostly under his breath. Guardian seemed unaffected by his mild sarcasm, proceeding as if he just gave her a simple, cheerful ‘yes.’

“If you had beaten me, would you have killed me?” Guardian inquired

Sundance wasn’t sure what to make of the question, since such a hypothetical was the exact opposite of the reality they had found themselves in.

“Your friend was still in the house, killing my mates,” Sundance reminded.

“So would you have killed me?” Guardian asked.

“I would’ve held you hostage, I would expect. Then I could escape. Otherwise she would’ve killed me. Not much I can do against a unicorn, except fly away.”

“Don’t count on that, I’ve got a quarter-mile range,” Silver yelled out from a few yards behind, smirking to herself.

“Ok. Say Silver was knocked out or something, that it was just you and me. What would you have done then?”

Sundance hesitated, as he truthfully wasn’t sure what the answer would be.

“Is this just some kind of joke, to gloat? I had you down before you surprised me, you barely got the upper hoof,” Sundance said, dismissively.

“Oh, is that right? Can’t even admit that you got beaten?” Guardian said, teasingly.

“Your hoof work was sloppy, by the way. Where’d you learn to fight? An alleyway in Manhattan?” Sundance said.

“I was the top of my class at the academy, actually. Personally trained by Blade Parry,” Guardian said, unashamed to be a little arrogant.

“Blade Parry! I’ll be! No wonder you’re sloppy,” Sundance said.

“You...You know him?” Guardian asked.

“I do! We were chums a while ago, the same grade at the academy,” Sundance explained.

“The academy? You were a royal guard?” Guardian asked, shocked.

“Long time ago. I left long before all this, don’t get in such a row about it,” Sundance said.

“You’re worse than a traitor, you’re a defector!” Silver yelled, furiously.

“I thought you fought better than most of the rebel soldiers I meet...You could’ve killed me, I know it, but you didn’t, you let me get back up...” Guardian said.

Sundance sighed, still hostile to accepting any potential gestures of friendship.

“Yes, you beat me, fair as anything. It’s improper to cut down an opponent helpless on the ground,” Sundance said, with conviction.

Silver kept her mouth shut, recalling the defenseless young rebel soldier she had mercilessly slaughtered just the day prior.

“Did you know Shining Armor when he was young? What was he like?” Guardian asked.

Sundance seemed to be slightly bemused by the question, taken aback by a starry-eyed Guardian, who was very eager to learn about the older generations of guards, most of whom now were the ones giving her commands.

“He was younger than me, I hadn’t heard of him really, but I suppose he must’ve been there during my last year or two. If I had stuck around a bit longer they would’ve offered me a job instructing him, I suspect. But I left, and so now you’re telling me they’ve got Blade Parry of all ponies teaching foals how to stick somepony with a sword. You’ve made me laugh, you have. If you see him again, send him my regards. I respect a pony who’s paid more than he deserves, it means he’s smart in the ways that count. Not for the benefit of you little trainees, though.”

Guardian wasn’t sure whether her feelings towards Sundance had changed, knowing that he had once been a royal guard the same as them. She supposed he had yet to prove any sort of true villainy as of yet, and his problematic attributes remained constricted merely to a resounding animosity towards her and Silver. And given he was their captive at the moment, she couldn’t claim that to be unreasonable.

Trotting down the sloped forest of damp red trees, it was Guardian who first noticed an odd aroma filling the air.

“Do you smell that?” Guardian asked.

Sundance and Silver both stopped behind Guardian on the path, pausing to sniff around for anything peculiar.

“That’s smoke,” Silver said, worrily. Smoke likely meant ponies, and ponies likely meant rebels. That very last thing Silver needed right then. Her nightmares seemed to persist into the day, and the world around her was almost surreal. She was beginning to see faces in the trees, figures in the distance that weren’t there. And eyes, most bizarrely. Eyes peeking out from shadowy bushes or underneath rocky crevices, staring directly at her. She was tense, and the knowledge that yet another confrontation may be upon them made her head rattle with thoughts of death and torment.

Then the sound of a screaming mare bursted through the air, deriving from somewhere farther up ahead on the path.

“Somepony’s in trouble!” Guardian exclaimed.

“Wait, wait, Guardian, it’s a trap, a rebel trick, it’s gotta be,” Silver said, terrified that Guardian was about to run right into her death.

“We have to help them!” Guardian said, quickly springing into a light jog down the path. Tugging on Sundance’s leash, he was forced to keep up, though with his rope cuffs it was difficult.

Silver nervously followed after, preparing herself to engage the enemy.

Trotting over a hill, the full scene suddenly came into view. Off the side of the dirt road that extended out through the red forest, there was a house, two stories tall and built from wood. And beside that house was a smaller fixture, built like a barn, ridden with bright orange flames that sent great wisps of thick smoke into the air.

The screaming, as Guardian quickly realized, was coming from inside the burning building. At least two distinct voices could be heard, as well as a dog barking.

Guardian wasted no time slipping off the other end of Sundance’s leash from her hoof, tossing it to an unexpecting Silver.

“Guardian, I’m serious! That thing is about to collapse, don’t do anything stupid!” Silver said, angrily.

Guardian had already unbuckled the straps of her duffel bag, dumping it on the ground in front of the other two. She turned to Silver with a commanding hoof raised in the air.

“Don’t let him escape,” Guardian said, before turning and spreading her wings wide.

She darted through the air towards the barn, which was now fully engulfed in flames.

She saw a small brown dachshund dog outside in the grass, barking at the fires aggressively. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do much more than that.

Guardian crept up towards the door, wary of the fires.

“Hey! Is there anypony in there?!” Guardian yelled, waving smoke away from her face.

“Yes!” came a voice, immediately, “Yes! Please help!” a mare inside yelled.

“Is there any way I can get inside?” Guardian asked.

“The front door, it’s locked from the outside!” the mare screeched.

Guardian saw the handle of the door was braced with a large metal fastener. All she’d have to do was lift it, though the only obstacle was the searing hot metal that was currently roasting in the fires.

Guardian took a few deep breaths before forcing her hoof through the fires to lift up the latch. She screamed in pain as she pushed up on it, releasing the latch, at the cost of some second degree burns on her hoof.

As soon as the latch was released, the doors were flung open, two mares rushing out from inside, falling to their knees on the grass away from the burning barn.

“Oh! A soldier! Thank you! But please, you have to help my father, he’s trapped!” the mare yelled, while the other pony, presumably her sister or friend judging by her age, rushed over to the dog in the grass, making sure the small canine wasn’t harmed.

Guardian quickly followed the mare’s pointed hoof inside the barn.

From up on the hill, Silver sighed in disapproval.

“She’s going to get herself killed,” Sundance muttered, hinting at a possible admiration.

Guardian dashed over the flames, the mare nervously walking behind her.

“There! Over there!” the mare cried, pointing at an old yellow-coated stallion earth pony, lying on the ground, pinned underneath a large wooden pillar that had collapsed during the fire.

“Go back outside, I’ll get him out of here!” Guardian said, rushing the mare back the way she came.

Carefully stepping over the fires on the ground, Guardian was beginning to sweat beneath the agonizing heat. The air was difficult to breathe, polluted with smoke.

“Sir?” Guardian called out, hoping the stallion was still alive. She saw him make some minor movements, which was enough for her to double her efforts, with hopes of saving the poor old stallion’s life.

Suddenly, a loud crashing sound bellowed out from above, and down came swinging another flaming pillar that had been supporting the second story rafters above.

Guardian dove out of the way right before the pillar would’ve run right into her, narrowly dodging a similar fate as the poor old stallion.

She suddenly found herself in a coughing fit, and she had landed on some small fires that singed the hairs of her coat. Her armor began to burn her skin from inside as it conducted heat, adding to her stress. She was slippery with sweat, as her armor cooked her skin like she was stuck inside an oven.

Guardian crawled over to the stallion, and stuck her hooves underneath the pillar, using all her strength to lift it upwards. She grunted with the weight of the large wooden pillar, and her weakened lungs did her no favors.

She knew she wouldn’t be able to keep it up for long, nor would she be able to move the stallion out of the way simultaneously. Using her back left hoof to kick over a nearby wooden box, she managed to prop the pillar over top it, backing away to see that her crafty plan had worked.

She quickly reached down and yanked the stallion out from underneath the pillar, carefully placing him over top her back, and making her way towards the front door.

Stumbling out a sweaty, ashy mess, Guardian carefully placed the stallion down in the grass. The stallion seemed to not be injured too badly, miraculously, and Guardian was relieved that everypony was safe. Guardian collapsed in the grass right beside him, exhausted. She lifted her head up just in time to catch the burning barn collapse entirely, having just narrowly escaped being crushed to death.

Silver and Sundance had arrived at the scene, to find the other ponies all weary and out of breath.

“Thank you! Thank you, oh, is there anything we can get for you? You’ve saved our lives!” the younger mare squeaked, still a bit frazzled from nearly being burned to death.

Before Guardian could reply, the family dog ran up to her, licking at her legs, excitedly yipping and pawing at her. Guardian smiled uncontrollably, as she already had a strong affinity for dogs. Her father had never allowed any pets, though her childhood friend Amber did have a dog, one who Guardian had always held a dear relationship with. She bent down to pet the dog, running her hoof through its short hairs, allowing it to lap at the burns on her legs and chest.

“One of our lamps broke, set fire to the whole thing...We’re very lucky you came. Really, is there anything we can get you? We have food, water...You must let us show our thanks somehow,” said the older mare, after helping Guardian back up to her hooves.

“No, please, it’s alright, we have enough. It must be hard enough living out here, you need all that for yourself...I’m glad we got here in time!” Guardian said, after coughing a few more times to try and clear the smoke out of her throat.

“You live out here?” Silver asked, surprised how anypony would willingly sit themselves in the middle of an inhospitable warzone.

“Yes, we used to take care of animals in that barn...We had to sell all of the animals to stay afloat, now we do smaller trade. My sister there used to live in Molestown, but she had the sense to get out of cities when the war first started. We’re getting by well enough. As well as anypony could. Rebels never really bothered us. It’s just the three of you out here?” the older sister asked.

“Yes, just us,” Guardian replied.

“Uh huh. And why’s he all tied up?” the older sister asked, confused.

“He’s...He’s a defecting soldier. We’ve been charged to take him to the lines up north,” Guardian said, changing the story slightly, afraid that these ponies may turn hostile should they know a rebel soldier was in their midst. Atop Sundance’s black rebel armor was his grey jacket and dark brown boots, which effectively concealed his military affiliation. Royal defector was the first thing Guardian could come up with, and she hoped it would go down better.

The older sister was disgusted, spitting at Sundance’s hooves. He glared at her, but kept his mouth shut, deciding not to instigate anything, considering the position he was in.

“We must be going, but I’m glad you’re all alright. You all be safe now!” Guardian said, waving them off as she slowly backed away towards the road. She made an effort to pet the dog one last time, as it yipped and jumped at her excitedly.

“We won’t forget this! Thank you!” the older sister said, her and the younger one waving them off as the trio went back to the road.

Neither Silver nor Sundance said anything of Guardian’s actions at the barn, in fact Guardian didn’t either. Silver still wasn’t sure she agreed with Guardian’s decision to throw herself into harm’s way, considering the pegasus just barely escaped a terrible death. Still, Silver had to admire Guardian making an effort at all, even if she did find it to be needlessly self-sacrificial. Sundance too, held some mild admiration for Guardian’s actions, and even decided to refrain from making anymore derogatory comments towards his captors, figuring it helped nopony. They continued along the forest trail, passing through falling leaves and stray clumps of snow, waiting until they finally reached the end of the forest.

The trio persisted down through the forests on the mountain, until they at last broke out of the tree line, nervously entering into some sort of large open area beyond.

The land was rank with the stench of grey corpses, basking in the cloudcast light from above. Every tree had been ripped from the ground, every bush scorched into ash. The dirt, which was upturned and scattered from stray craters left from explosives, was a mixture of browns and reds, dusting over bodies and abandoned vehicles. It was a field of desolation, of destroyed machinery and weapons left uselessly around in careless patterns. In at least two miles in every direction was this field, its grass now blackened or else completely disintegrated.

This was the site of a conflict, one of such great destruction that Silver could’ve sworn she was back at the battle of Galloping Gorge.

Bodies numbering at least a few hundred, lying in stray patterns or else in bloody halves or quarters. Deep indents in the ground had to be the remnants of terrible bombs and evil magic. Smoke rose from broken down vehicles and mechanical weaponry, colored black but stained red from both rust and blood.

The trio were all stone-silent as they breathed in the scent of decay, absorbing the vast feeling of loss that extended out through each crumble of dirt and each mangled corpse. So much death, for any cause, could never be a good thing.

Then Guardian noticed something, an object buried in ash, not too far from a mound of sagging sandbags a few yards up ahead.

She left the solemn file to approach the object, praying it wasn’t what she thought it was. Bending down, she wiped the ash off with her hoof, and then jumped backwards in horror, her fears confirmed.

It was a royal guard’s helmet, though, not just of anypony’s. It was painted solid bright purple beneath its gold edges, the distinct design of the 13th Velvet Regiment.

Silver noticed the tragic helmet once Guardian had stepped out of the way, and caught her breath in shock. All of these dead royal ponies, who must’ve made up somewhere between half to three quarters of the overall casualties on display on the field, belonged to the Velvets, under Periwinkle Radiance’s command, the ponies Silver and Guardian had first escorted Shining Armor to send off.

“At least they made it halfway…” Silver muttered, gravely.

Guardian was close to tears, as if she had witnessed the very destruction of Equestria before her eyes. The Velvets, aside from being the beloved unit belonging to Canterlot’s most beloved captain, Periwinkle, had gained a reputation for proving themselves victorious in all nine engagements they had participated in throughout the course of the war. To see the majority of them lying in a malignant wasteland of despair and carnage was a horrible sight, throttling both Guardian and Silver’s hearts, disintegrating much of the newfound optimism they had concocted following their victory against Sundance’s patrol. By all means, it now appeared that they were the only two remaining royal ponies who had yet to be killed in the dreadful Mountain Passage. If by the end of the war the number of ponies’ lives lost could be counted, it wouldn’t be a shock to neither Guardian nor Silver that the passage would hold the largest tally.

On top of the grief over all these ponies’ deaths, Guardian and Silver also came to mourn their chances of a victory in the region. Shining Armor had promised success this time around with Periwinkle’s efforts, though just like every regiment sent before them, it was a suicide mission.

While Guardian and Silver both struggled to keep themselves composed, Sundance said nothing, though he too was caught off guard by the morbid sight of so many dead ponies littering the ground, both royal and rebel.

Despite his silence, Silver immediately felt inclined to turn towards him, her horn glowing brightly.

“You still want to keep this sorry jughead alive, Guardian?!” Silver said, baring her teeth as she moved to blast Sundance through the face, as revenge for the defeat of the Velvets.

“Stop, Silver, don’t!” Guardian said, rushing between them. Silver forcefully shoved Guardian to the ground with one arm, and proceeded to smash Sundance’s face in with her front hoof.

Sundance fell on his back, while Silver planted a few more kicks to his side, getting a sick thrill from seeing him on the ground writhing in pain.

“Silver!” Guardian yelled, picking herself back up and pulling Silver away from the injured Sundance.

Silver took some deep breaths while Guardian held her by her arms, trying to hold her back from lunging at Sundance again.

The rebel pony grunted, raising himself up to one arm, to get a good luck of the furious unicorn who was still hellbent on killing him.

“Some of those ponies out there are ours! My friends too!” he bellowed.

Silver finally calmed down, and Guardian loosened her grip, letting Silver go free.

“Don’t you even try to-” Silver sputtered, before cutting herself off, “All this is because of you, not us!” Silver yelled.

Sundance’s eyes widened in disbelief, his head bobbing back and forth as he struggled to find the words for a response.

“Us! You’re as weak-minded as you are a sorry excuse for a soldier! We suffer losses, day after day, the same as you!”

“We don’t commit atrocities! We’re trying to help ponies!” Silver contested.

“Atrocities!” Sundance repeated, cackling in disbelief. He sprung up to his hooves, rejuvenated hy his passionate distaste for royals and the fantasy world he believed them to be living in.

“How many cities have you already brought down to rubble? Families deserted with nowhere to go, and who’s gonna be helping them? Not you, no, definitely not. They come to us, because they want protection, from the ponies who will burn through as much and many as they please just to win over some land! We get new recruits everyday, and you know why? Because more and more ponies are waking up, realizing that the way things are, shouldn’t be that way,” Sundance said, finally having had enough of Silver’s cruel abuse.

Silver glared at him with utter disgust, unswayed by his attempt at sympathy.

“You’ll be praying you stuck to the way things were when this is all over...If this is the change you wanted,” Silver said, waving at the carnage of the battlefield, “Then I hope you’re happy.”

Silver spitefully turned around to continue forward through the battlefield to reach the forests in the distance. But before she made it anywhere, she noticed Guardian wiping off some dirt from the scrape she endured after being pushed to the ground, and Silver realized she may have lost control for a second. She approached Guardian gently, unsure whether Guardian was angry with her or not.

“Hey, I’m sorry,” Silver said, earnestly, hoping for forgiveness.

“It’s alright...Let’s just go,” Guardian said, dismissively. She wasn’t a fan of Silver’s increasing violent side, nor her seeming obsession with punishing the enemy. If Equestria was to ever heal from the deep wounds made during the war, Guardian saw no viability in Silver’s approach.

Walking through the battlefield, Guardian became decently heartbroken at the sight of so many dead royal soldiers. She could see faces buried in mud, crimson red blood dried against their armor like paint. Every corpse seemed to have been pillaged of valuables, or else desecrated in other fashions. Neither Guardian nor Silver could recognize anypony, for their remains were so mangled and contorted that they all seemed to be one in the same. Ghosts left to rot in the fresh air, with no resemblance of respect laid in the slightest.

“Do you think Captain Periwinkle got out?” Guardian asked Silver, who wasn’t exactly in the talking mood.

Guardian wasn’t so much hurt by Silver’s lack of a response as much as she was afraid of what the answer to her question really was. Guardian had considered Periwinkle Radiance a role model for years now, to the point that their first meeting a few days prior felt like a dream come true. If she was dead, it would be perhaps the gravest of losses that Equestria had yet to endure, surely at least for Guardian.

They crossed over the battlefield to the forests beyond, Guardian finding some comfort in the familiar sight of dark green evergreens and snow that seemed to be unable to melt.

“If you’d like, I could find a way to get you back into our lines...You can ditch that uniform, move on...Maybe even rejoin the guard,” Guardian suggested to Sundance, lightly tugging at his leash.

Silver could just barely overhear them, and became increasingly bitter, skeptical towards Guardian showing amiability towards the pony who was supposed to be the enemy.

“You just don’t have a clue do you? I don’t want that,” Sundance said, angrily.

Guardian frowned, having hoped that Sundance may have begun to come around to their side. She wasn’t sure how much longer any of them would be alive and in each other’s companionship, and for that purpose she hoped to make some sort of progress, not only in getting a better understanding of the so-called monsters in the rebel army, but also to possibly ignite a bridging friendship.

“You meant what you said? That you’d have us in some camp somewhere?” Guardian asked.

Sundance laughed, tilting his head back, amused by Guardian’s bizarre attempts at trying to gain sympathy.

“You’re fanatics. Both of you. You’re so obsessed with all the lies your princesses have told you, that you do whatever they say. It’s a dangerous thing, being obsessed. You can’t break away by yourself, or at least most can’t. You’re stuck in a circle of strict obedience, and rationalizations. For that, you’re dangerous. I’d know, I almost got stuck in that before I wised up and quit.”

“I’m not obsessed. If Princess Celestia was to order me to do something I knew was wrong, I’d-”

“You’d do it. Without even thinking about it. I can tell just by talking to you. You play it safe, you follow along. You’re not a leader. You’re just a tool, I see it. So what happens when we finally do win? And, to be clear, that will most definitely be the eventuality we find ourselves in...What will happen is, those tools won’t be useful anymore. So you’ll be cast aside. That’s the price you pay for blind loyalty.”

“Let me make something clear, ok? I’m not fighting out here because of some selfish idealogue’s delusions made up by a psychotic, murderer witch. No, that would be you. I’m here because you’ve all put Equestria at risk. Celestia cares about Equestria, and she cares about everypony.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Sundance muttered.

Guardian wasn’t sure whether she really expected Sundance to have a change of heart, though she hoped that with some time, she may be able to reach him. But on top of that, she was beginning to have doubts of her own. For some unclear reason, she could see that Sundance appeared almost disposed to deny the royalty any ounce of favorability, even in due areas. She remained confident that he was wrong, though, and stayed undeterred in her ambitions.

That night, Guardian and Silver set up their camp in a small clearing in the forest, erecting their lone tent and a small campfire nearby for warmth. While Silver had collected some kindling and some rocks from around the forest vicinity of the campsite, Guardian had left Sundance by a tree away from the tent, and proceeded to continue preparing her sleeping area.

Silver returned shortly, with little to show for her efforts.

“What did you expect? Everything’s soaked. I found some small dry stuff inside a log, it might work,” Silver said, expecting Guardian to criticize her lackluster findings. Guardian shrugged, not bothered nor surprised by the undesirable circumstances of their adventure. Compared to previous events, wet kindling wasn’t much to complain about.

Using the matches from Guardian’s pack, Silver spent twenty minutes trying to start a fire, to no avail. Guardian finally decided she would have to intervene, all the while Sundance was sounding off an obnoxious, purposefully mean-spirited laughing fit at Silver’s expense.

“Guardian, I swear to the moon and back, I’m gonna kill him,” Silver muttered.

“Ignore him. Look, if we don’t get a fire started, we’re gonna freeze to death out here. It’s gotta be in the negative degrees,” Guardian said, nervously.

“I’m trying, ok?! There’s not much to work with!” Silver said, frustrated with her lack of success.

Guardian stared at her, until Silver finally broke her eye contact from her kindling to meet Guardian’s gaze.

“What?” Silver asked, unsure what Guardian wanted her to say.

“We do have something we could use for kindling…”

“Uh...what’s that?” Silver asked, unsure why Guardian was beating around the bush.

“You know...Those books you bought?”

Silver’s face fell, horrified by the very suggestion.

“No way.”

“Silver-”

“No. Way.”

“I know those are your favorite books, but-”

“Forget it! Just give me a few more minutes, I’ve got it,” Silver muttered, refusing to even consider Guardian’s alternative plan of action.

Guardian sighed and stepped away from Silver, climbing inside the nearby tent to go consult the map.

After a few minutes of said map consulting, Guardian was shocked to see the distinct glow and crackling of a fire shining in through the partially translucent tent flaps from behind her, outside.

Guardian unzipped the tent flaps and stepped out, and was impressed to see Silver had done it. There was a reasonable, small fire burning brightly in the pit Guardian had dug. Guardian was about to apologize for suggesting burning Silver’s books, until she noticed one of those very books sitting on one of the logs nearby.

“Did...Did you-” Guardian said.

“Just the Table of Contents,” Silver said, cracking a smile.

Guardian smiled, relieved that they now had some warmth to last the night.

“Those books were my only friends in middle school, you know,” Silver said, laughing as she bent down beside her duffel bag, retrieving some of her rations. But before she could toss some of the white crumbly bread-like substance into her mouth, Guardian caught her hoof.

“We have to give some to him,” Guardian said, nodding over at Sundance, who was shivering over by the tree she had left him at.

“Like hell!” Silver said, attempting to throw the rations in her mouth a second time, but was again stopped by Guardian.

“Silver.”

Silver glared at her, sighing in the most exaggerated manner possible.

Silver rose up and trotted over to Sundance, dumping some crumbs she rubbed off from her ration stick for Sundance to eat, not believing he deserved anything more. Guardian, meanwhile, was a bit more generous, giving him half of what she had for herself.

“Thank you,” Sundance muttered, appreciating that Guardian did seem to be trying to be decent towards him, especially in comparison to Silver.

When Guardian returned to the campfire, Silver caught her first, pulling her by the arm to the other side of the tent.

“Hey…” Silver started.

“What’s up?” Guardian asked.

“Look...I’m sorry, about pushing you. I shouldn’t have done that, it’s been eating me up all day,” Silver said, guiltily.

“It’s ok, really. Don’t worry about it,” Guardian replied.

“I was just...just so mad, and being out here, it’s just...You know, it’s hard. My head’s a mess. And...and I...I’m just sorry,” Silver said, lowering her head in shame.

Guardian smiled and gave Silver a tight embrace, appreciating the apology.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s alright,” Guardian said, and again, Silver found comfort in the arms of her friend.

“That’s not all…” Silver said, as Guardian backed away from her.

“I’ve been thinking and...Guardian, I think he’s leading us into a trap,” Silver said.

Guardian sighed, having expected something like that sooner or later.

“Do you,” Guardian said, dryly.

“I know you’re trying to be nice and all that, but trust me, he doesn’t care. The second he gets a chance, he’ll kill us both to escape. And this town he’s leading us to, there’s too much of a chance that there will be more rebels waiting for him, waiting for us.”

Guardian merely shook her head, too exhausted to continue the discussion, and frankly not in the mood to have yet another argument with her hot-headed unicorn companion.

“I’m tired. I need to lie down,” Guardian said, walking back to the firepit and taking a seat by the log.

She was surprised to see that Sundance had crawled his way over to the fire from where they had dumped him, coyly lying by one of the log benches.

“It was cold,” Sundance explained. Guardian smiled and helped him sit up better against one of the logs opposite to her, before finally taking her seat.

Silver, still back behind the tent, was struggling to put up with Guardian’s incessant naivety any longer, believing their safety was being put at risk.

She too walked over to join Guardian and Sundance around the fire, flakes of snow trickling down atop them between the trees.

“I wish we didn’t have to be enemies,” Guardian said, aloud. Sundance eyed her, still unimpressed. Though, he couldn’t deny that he was beginning to enjoy Guardian’s company, or at the very least not be opposed to it.

“I wish none of us had to be here, that nopony had to die,” Guardian said, before shaking her head, embarrassed. “I guess that’s stupid.”

Sundance glanced from Guardian to Silver, who seemed quite bitter over their current arrangement.

“No, it’s not stupid. Just too good to be true,” Sundance said.

Silver glared at him.

“You shut up, you don’t know anything,” Silver said, her words like fire from a dragon’s mouth.

Sundance eyed, her, and accepted her wishes, turning his head away carelessly.

Guardian, however, was in search of knowledge.

“Everypony always blames the world for being how it is. But I think it’s all just how each of us are. If we’re all terrible to one another, then the world is terrible. That’s how things are now, I guess,” Guardian said, hoping to get Sundance to open up again. Silver rolled her eyes, seeing right through Guardian's childish simplification of pony behavior. Guardian noticed Silver's dismissiveness, but thought little of it.

“That we can agree on,” Sundance muttered, to both Guardian and Silver's surprise.

Guardian was relieved to find Sundance’s newfound openness to a discussion, carefully preparing to pry at the perspective she was in search of. Silver, however, didn’t quite care for Guardian’s attempt at finding common ground.

“Your Queen is a monster, she’s killed hundreds of innocent ponies! Your armies have ravaged cities, destroyed lives,” Silver chimed in.

“Your Princesses have killed ponies too, a lot of them in fact,” Sundance retorted.

“Why would you follow her?” Guardian stammered. Unbeknownst to Sundance, Guardian did happen to have a personal vendetta against the rebel leader, the Witch Queen, who was said to be directly responsible for the death of her eldest brother, Vambrace. “And why did you join them at all? I can’t understand,” Guardian said, “You’ve betrayed your own nation.”

Sundance scoffed.

“They betrayed me first.”

Silver and Guardian both waited, expecting some elaboration. Reluctantly, Sundance opened his mouth.

“I used to live in a smaller village. Farmland near White Tail...I was like you, when I was younger, I was in the royal guard,” Sundance revealed, nodding at Guardian’s royal guard armor, watching a slideshow of old memories play in the shiny white glare of the gold metal.

“I lost touch with it all. But more than that, I had to retire from the service, to take over the farm after my father passed...My mom couldn’t do it alone. She went the next year. My wife hated the farm. I met her in Canterlot, a few years into the training academy. She was the daughter of a bussinesspony, very upper crust. A lot more money than I ever had. But she stayed around the dirt old farm, to keep me sane probably,” he said, his mouth curling into a small smile in reminiscing.

“The kids loved the farm, it was big, it was free, you know, all that...I had heard about all the fighting a week or two after it started, I went to get a drink at this place in Strapberg. My wife wanted us to run, to ditch the farm, flee back to Canterlot, but I didn’t think we’d be hit too bad, I thought it’d all be handled quickly. Eating those words nowadays. A few months in, these ponies showed up at my door, they looked very official. And they start demanding that I owe the state a small supply of my food. I didn’t have a choice, really, and things just kept getting worse,” he said, his voice trailing off. Guardian could tell he was now going over some memories he’d likely not prefer to recollect.

“Then...this pack of soldiers show up...Royal soldiers. And they barge in, drunk, I would have kicked them out if they didn’t all have weapons already drawn. Then two of them start talking up my wife, and she’s trying to get the hell out of here, so I intervene, and then they get pissed. Start throwing stuff around, breaking stuff. I didn’t care anymore, I started rushing these guys, but they had me down eight to one. Took a spear right here,” Sundance said, pointing at a spot on his underbelly. “I was bleeding out on the floor, I could barely breathe, and I see them start lighting everything on fire, dragging my wife away by her hair, keeping the kids close together. I was just trying not to pass out, I was afraid I wouldn’t wake up. I could hear what they were doing to her in the other room, she was screaming and fighting the whole time, but she couldn’t do much. They got tired of her screaming after a while, so they…” he said, but was unable to finish his sentence.

“And after they did it, they were still using her, like-like a piece of meat, the sick bastards….Kids didn’t know what was going on, but they were screaming too. The soldiers come out, show me what they did to my wife, and they dump her on the floor, on my rug, right in front of the kids. They’re balling their eyes out, and I can barely get up. When I saw her, she...I couldn’t…” he said, his voice beginning to waiver, “Then I’m watching them steal everything they can, and they take the kids outside with them, leave me to burn with the house. I didn’t see what happened, but I heard the kids screaming...and then they stopped,” Sundance said, his tears welling up in his eyes.

“So it was just me, and I felt like dying too about then, but I decided it wasn’t time for me yet, and I crawled my way out of there, right out the door to see the soldiers leaving. And I saw them, and they laughed. They just laughed. Everything was burning. I tried stating my case to some of the bureau in Canterlot, but they ignored me. Bad look, to put charges on their own soldiers. After that, I traveled north, and I found something worth getting myself into...I enlisted again, in Shortcomb. They didn’t have to persuade me or nothing, I wanted in. To destroy this broken system, where ponies like that can get off scot-free. The day I see those faces again, will be the day Equestria sees bloodshed like it never has before.”

Guardian was mortified by the barbarism of ponies she could very well call allies, and even Silver seemed a bit shaken up, both of them remaining quiet for a while, while the fire crackled in front of them. Sundance leaned back, contently believing himself to be thoroughly in the right.

“And I say, to hell with those ponies. And the two of you. And the ones on that field, to hell with them!” Sundance said, spitting into the fire in disgust.

Without delay, Silver’s eyes widened in shock at the disrespect to the dead 13th Regiment ponies, jumping up from her seat and leaping towards him, tackling the bound pony to the ground. Silver dug her hooves into his face and then wrapped them around his neck, throttling the very life out of him, practically screaming in rage as she attempted to choke him to death.

"You bastard! I'll kill you!" Silver screamed, squeezing as hard as she could as Sundance's head turned an unnatural shade of purple and red.

“Silver!” Guardian yelled, again rushing over to yank Silver off of Sundance, who quickly tried to regain his breath.

“You crazy bitch!…” Sundance muttered.

“That’s it! That’s it! You were right, this was a mistake!” Guardian said, suddenly drawing her knife out and bending down towards Sundance. The rebel pony shuddered, not having expected the seemingly kind-hearted Guardian to be the one to kill him. She brought her knife down towards him, but not into his neck, rather cutting across the rope restraints tied around his hooves. She cut his wing restraints too, effectively freeing him.

She backed away from a shocked Sundance, who scurried up to his hooves.

“Guardian…” Silver said, wary of permitting Sundance to be free.

“Go on, get out of here! You can find your own way back,” Guardian instructed.

Sundance, to his surprise, hesitated, having found himself slightly attached to traveling with these two ponies, if only it meant having some safety.

He eventually gave in, giving Guardian a slight nod of thanks, before turning and flying off into the air.

Silver was so exhausted, she wasn’t even able to protest. Guardian figured that Silver would get around to killing Sundance sooner or later, so it probably would be better if the two just went their separate ways.

“What if he alerts his unit, Guardian? They’ll find us...” Silver said, wearily.

“We’ll have enough time before that…” Guardian said, though she wasn’t completely sure. She had been aware of the risks of keeping a prisoner when she went along and did it, but now in the face of the consequences, she wondered whether she should’ve been less forgiving.

06: Where The Light Doesn't Touch

Author's Note

Sorry about the length of this one :derpyderp1:
Hope you like it!

06: Where The Light Doesn't Touch

In faint recesses of dinner table daydreams, Guardian would often find she was coming to be quite skillful at having conversations with herself inside her head. For there, inside her head, was the sole place she could feel the comfort of another pony’s interest while in her own home. Despite being surrounded by other ponies, her family no less, she often felt completely alone.

She had heard the news that morning, having overheard a discussion between two of the school librarians while she was searching for a book to check out for the weekend. All day, it had been the talk of the school. There was a new princess in Equestria, the protege of Princess Celestia herself, Twilight Sparkle.

Guardian was excited, she couldn’t help but feel prideful that she was alive to witness Equestrian history unfold right in front of her.

“Do you think we’ll get more holidays?” asked one of Guardian’s friends, Amber Leaf, during their lunch period that day.

“We better,” Guardian had said.

“I doubt it. They’re not gonna let her really do anything for at least a few months, right?” asked another friend at their table, Coda, in the middle of stuffing her face with some cafeteria french fries.

“Do you think she’ll come here and visit us?” Amber asked.

“She’s a princess, won’t she have more important stuff to do? Like stopping wars and junk?” Coda asked.

“Yeah, cuz stuff like that happens all the time,” Guardian said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

“A visit wouldn’t be too much to ask! Remember, in fifth grade? When Princess Celestia came?” Amber asked.

“If she does visit, next Thursday would be great, we’ve got a math test,” Coda said, laughing with food in her mouth.

Right as Guardian finished off a red apple she had bought that morning at the market, the bell rang, signaling to the cafeteria of middle-school age ponies that it was time to return to class.

“I’ll see you guys this weekend, at the parlor?” Coda asked, gathering her belongings.

“Yeah,” said Guardian.

“Totally,” Amber replied, packing up her lunchbox.

While Coda blissfully scooted off into the crowd, Amber stuck by Guardian, as the two of them had their next period writing class together.

Trotting together down the hall, Amber waited a few moments until the crowd behind them began to declutter, before she could make her next proposition.

“Hey, Guardian...Uh, look, you know, you can come over tonight, if you need to,” Amber said.

Guardian barely lifted her head up, trying to avoid the topic of conversation.

“Thanks, but it’s ok.”

“Yeah, I know, but I just want to...well, y'know.”

“I came over twice this week already, Amber. That’s my limit. My dad will flip if I’m even a few seconds late today.”

“Ok...But all you have to do is stop by, it’s alright with my parents, they know what’s up.”

Guardian smiled, but only for a moment. She wished she could stay over that night, but when her father set a deadline, it was never a good idea to disobey it.

Luckily, she wasn’t late that day, jogging her way home with a few minutes to spare. Nopony had come to greet her as she stumbled through the dark green doors of her well-sized house, though she hadn’t expected anything less.

Dropping her backpack off on a bench near the door, she scurried up to her room, in an immediate attempt to isolate herself until dinner time. She had checked out a new book from the school library that day, and was quite eager to get started reading. Her social life, for the most part, only existed while she was at school. Weekends were spent doing chores and entertaining herself in her room. Luckily, she didn’t hate reading, which helped pass the time.

Guardian’s room was unpainted, and noticeably lacking in furniture. Her bed was the same bed she had slept in since she was a toddler, and by her age then she was already definitely too big for it. She had gotten used to letting her back legs dangle off of the edge, though when that first started, she was deathly afraid that some monster would creep out from the dark and snatch her up. Her concerns were largely ignored, which unfortunately lent to the development of frequent nightmares and the occasional bedwetting, though she had mostly grown out of that.

For hours, she sat in her wooden chair by the window, reading her book, waiting until she was to receive a knock on the door to alert her that dinner was ready. There were some days that the knock never came, and Guardian would just have to judge what time to head downstairs based on the strength of the aroma of that night’s dinner. After hours of reading up to halfway through her book, dinner came with a knock on the door that day, to Guardian’s relief.

And that was where she was, at that dinner table, ruminating over whether she might have been able to convince her mom to let her sleep over with Amber that night, if she only made an effort. Her mother was despondent mostly, confined to the set roles that her husband had entrusted to her.

Guardian was seated at one end of the table, and opposite to her was her father, Archangel, and between them to Guardian’s left was her mother, Hyacinth. Altogether they were eating in silence, the boorish, broad-shouldered stallion Archangel savagely tore into his meal while the other two quietly ate. Something was upsetting him, visibly, though both Guardian and the timid Hyacinth knew better than to prod.

Guardian was shaken out of her daydreaming by the front door opening behind her, in stepping a young stallion, with a handsome face and a proper trimmed haircut. He was cyan in color, not unlike his younger sister, Guardian. His hair was a far darker blue than hers, though it would be clear to anypony’s eyes that the two were related. Immediately, Guardian began to light up, relieved that she had some extra familial support in the house. She said nothing, though, as she knew her father would prefer that he speak first.

“There he is. Later than we’d like, but here nonetheless. C'mon, Chain, come and sit with us.” Archangel said, as soon as he recognized his son stepping through the door. His voice was steely, low, and smooth, and would make even the bravest of ponies grow nervous. Even for Chain Mail, Guardian’s older brother, the middle child of the family, Archangel’s intense demeanor could never be gotten used to. Guardian frowned to herself, in the face of Archangel’s blatant hypocrisy in tolerance for lateness between her and Chain Mail.

Chain Mail laughed away his nervousness and dumped off his belongings on the same bench Guardian had, sauntering over to the dinner table in the kitchen with a good-natured smile.

“Hey dad, mom,” he said, pausing as he walked past Guardian.

“Hey troublemaker, how was school?” he asked, gently kicked the leg of her chair to alert her he was right next to her. He grabbed a hoofful of her mane and trussed it up, sending her into a giggling fit.

Before Guardian could answer, Archangel interjected with a hacking fit of powerful coughs from the back of his throat, as if to reassert his dominance over the conversation.

“Sit down. Go on,” Archangel said, sternly, as if Chain Mail had offended him in some way.

Chain Mail immediately shut his trap and took his seat opposite to his mother, the family now altogether. Guardian avoided making eye contact with anypony at the dinner table, knowing she would probably just cause trouble with her very presence.

“Well, have you heard what they’ve done?” Archangel asked, while Chain Mail began setting his plate. Hyacinth had made some delicious mashed potatoes and vegetable stir fry that day, a meal that was a unanimous family favorite.

“You mean the newest Princess? I have, yes,” Chain Mail replied, though he’d rather not discuss the topic further with his father.

“It’s a disgrace, it is. Listen here, Chain, if any of your friends come in here saying anything at all that validates that no-name unicorn’s pretend rank, I won’t have you bring another pony in this house ever again.” Archangel said, as if he was delivering a threat.

“Understood,” Chain Mail said, softly sighing and pouring himself a glass of water.

“Twilight Sparkle...I’ve never heard of her. These are the ponies they want our kids looking up to? She’s never served in any facility of the government in the slightest. What jurisdiction could they possibly give her? Nothing. This is all performative. And it’s got my blood boiling. Hardworking ponies spend all their lives working towards building their ranks, and this random unicorn from Ponyville of all places gets put at the highest level for nothing,” Archangel said, clenching his jaw furiously, "Pampered little lowland bitch."

“I heard she’s very talented with magic, and she was something of a student to Celestia, I think that had something to do with it,” Chain Mail said. He didn’t have any real problem with Twilight Sparkle’s promotion to princess status, though he made an effort not to make any direct challenge to Archangel’s opinion.

“Magic! Bah! Magic doesn’t make you any more capable than anypony else. Haven’t I taught you that, boy? Thinking like that, it only divides us! I had a friend at Hardgrove...have I told this story before?”

“Yes, but go on,” Chain Mail said, not having heard enough details to recall.

“I didn't ask for your leave, boy. Now, Hardgrove, he was a unicorn, and he thought like what you said, that unicorns were superior to pegasi and earth ponies. And you know what we did? We-” Archangel began, before stopping abruptly, after catching Guardian yawning silently from across the table.

Guardian was still staring at her food while she picked at it with her fork, not aware that Archangel was staring directly at her until she noticed his unprecedented silence.

She nervously put her front legs back under the table, having no idea why he was staring at her. But by the look in his eyes, he was definitely angry.

“Dinner's done now. Chain, take your mother upstairs,” Archangel said, his mouth tight with rage.

“Dad, it was just a-” Chain Mail began, before Archangel’s red hot glare swiveled into his direction.

Chain Mail held off from challenging his father, as much as he’d have liked to.

He, and Hyacinth alongside him, complied with Archangel’s command, nervously standing up from their chairs and walking into a different room. Guardian wanted to ask them both for help, though knew she’d be better off to keep her mouth shut for the time being.

There was a brief silence, tediously awkward as Guardian was still oblivious to what she had done wrong.

“Stand up," he said.

Guardian felt like throwing up out of fear, rising from her chair and stepping away from the kitchen table. Archangel too rose from his seat, his hulking figure towering over a small, still-adolescent Guardian.

“Am I boring you?” he asked, bitterly.

“No sir,” Guardian replied, instantly, though she still had no idea what he meant.

He bent down to meet her at eye level, staring deep into her soft orange eyes. Guardian restrained herself from flinching, while Archangel’s hard, piercing gaze shot straight through her.

“You have your mother's insolence. I've told you before. Your brothers both grew out of it by your age. But you seem incapable of doing that. Hm? Is that what you are? Incapable?"

"No, sir," Guardian replied, her voice quivering, "I didn't mean to be disrespectful."

"I don't care what you meant," Archangel snapped, "I wouldn't waste time imagining all the horrible thoughts you harbor against me, your mother, your teachers, everypony who you think doesn't know better. But they do. You are an immature, arrogant girl, who lacks any sense of discipline or respect."

Guardian bit her lip, forcing herself to keep her face still like stone.

Archangel snorted.

"Ah, look at you go. You think you’re tough, do you? Really?” he asked.

Guardian had no idea what to answer with, opening her mouth out of instinct, but without any words to speak.

“You’re never going to learn, apparently,” Archangel said, sighing in disappointment, "I wish I could somehow prove that you are not mine. If not for that coat and those eyes, I'd have done it already."

"I'm your daughter," Guardian said, plainly. She saw the words spill out of her mouth, and desperately wished she could retrieve them somehow, bury them back in her throat again.

Archangel's hoof came so quickly, Guardian had not even seen it. She only felt the sting against her cheek. She nearly fell of her hooves, before straightening herself up.

"You think I want to be reminded of that? Hm?" Archangel snorted, "If you were born a boy, you'd be an even greater disgrace, I expect. You'd like that though, wouldn't you?"

Guardian's lips were quivering again, terrified of what he expected her to say.

"You see your brothers train with sword and shield, you see my brothers and their sons serve in the army, the navy, the rangers. And you want to be like them. Don't you?"

"Yes sir," Guardian said, proudly. She was not sure what he was getting at. That was all she had ever wanted, in truth, to follow her brothers, to be just like them.

Archangel shook his head.

"Your place is where I say it is. What good is a girl like you, but to stay pretty and give some sons to a worthy stallion? Your mother doesn't aspire for the things that don't concern her. And neither should you."

"I'm not my mother."

Another smack came quicker than the first, and by now Guardian's face was a deeper blue from the bruises.

"No. No, you might be worse."

Guardian said nothing, her eyes batting back and forth slowly from the ground to Archangel’s gaze, her head hung low with fear.

“You’re cleaning the toilets on both floors tonight. You’re sleeping in the closet bed. At your age I shouldn’t still have to be teaching you what respect is,” Archangel said. There was a brief pause, in which Guardian wasn’t sure she was yet to be dismissed.

“Go on, you’ll get to eat the rest of your food if I think you’ve done a good job. Is that understood?” Archangel said, motioning with his hoof for her to head back up the stairs.

“Yes sir,” Guardian mumbled, turning around and heading towards the stairs, another dinner ruined for her by unknown causations.

Years later, the memory of that dinner in particular was dancing around Guardian’s mind, right up until she woke up that morning. Guardian had taken first watch that night, despite Silver’s concerns that Guardian would fall asleep again. She proved to be more responsible than last time, though, and the night went relatively swimmingly for the two ponies, after a rather eventful past few days.

Wiping off some drool from her cheek with the cloth of her sleeping bag, Guardian rose and stuck her head inside her helmet, regathering her things and stepping out of the tent to find Silver.

She had always tried her best to avoid thinking back on her childhood memories, as most of them were corrupted by the overwhelming sourness of her father’s resentment towards her. Though, in her dreams, the lingering pain and discomfort of those days seems to never leave her be. Despite her constant efforts throughout her life to prove she was capable, and good, and a hero even, nopony ever seemed to notice, and nopony ever seemed to care. She wondered if she was being arrogant, to want to be viewed like a good moral pony, or a hero, but she supposed that was just her insecurities talking.

Silver was awake outside the tent, sitting on one of the logs beside the dying campfire, her eyes barely opened as she came close to falling asleep.

Guardian smiled and gently kicked at Silver, startling her alert.

“Come on, wake up. A day more or two, and we’re there,” Guardian promised, extending her hoof down for Silver to grab a hold of and be lifted up. Silver yawned and smiled, using Guardian to pull herself up to her hooves.

Silver shook her head back and forth to wake herself up after nearly dozing off. She remembered life before she joined the army, when she could sleep in until ten o’clock a.m, and go straight to lunch instead of breakfast.

After taking down their tent, gathering their things, and trying their best to erase any signs of their presence in the clearing, Guardian and Silver set off once more, both feeling a bit more optimistic about their chances.

“How’d you sleep?” Silver asked, adjusting the strap of her bag around her shoulder, as the duo re-entered the forest.

“Alright,” Guardian said, ignoring the unpleasant dreams of her childhood, “You?”

“Pretty good, until you woke me up in the middle of the night.”

“Sorry, I wanted to sleep too,” Guardian said, both of them laughing, finding some comfort in each other after more than enough heartache over the course of their journey.

In spite of her attempts to be amicable with Guardian, Silver couldn’t shake the growing uneasiness festering inside her. All things considered, this place wanted them dead, and the longer Silver drew breath, the more anxious she became of just how soon the cold embrace would finally catch up to her. She couldn’t outlast the forest, and she knew it. She was out of sorts, and even Guardian could notice her nervous twitching and constant glancing behind her shoulders back and forth. Guardian, despite her concerns for Silver’s mental stability, said nothing, too exhausted to potentially ignite another argument.

Silver was still a little irritated with Guardian for keeping their former rebel captive Sundance captive, and then setting him free. Killing him outright would have been a far safer option, in Silver’s mind, though she also wanted to avoid forming a rift between her and Guardian.

Over the course of that day, they were both delighted to come across very few obstacles. Nopony in sight for hours on end, coupled with relatively calm weather, as the storm from yesterday had largely dissipated. Though, a new one seemed to be reforging itself over the mountains behind them. Streaks of wind rustled through the leaves, that brushed back and forth in great rattling waves. And below were Guardian and Silver, both worn down to a weak pace after days of on-hoof traveling. Guardian was already dreaming of getting some sort of spa treatment for herself when she was to escape the forest, to hopefully make up for the withered treatment she had already endured. The sky was a bleak grey seated above the swaying trees, and on ground level were slivers of run-off rainwater, pooling along dirt roads and beside great rocks. Through the woods, the ponies encountered a familiar stillness, one that had both of them on the tips of their hooves.

Guardian kept her eyes straight forward, focusing on trying to quicken their pace and avoiding being distracted by anything.

Silver was far more sporadic with her movements, ranging from dragging far behind to walking just a few inches from Guardian’s back hooves. Her mind was racing with thoughts of a sudden ambush, as if any moment the forest itself would come alive and attack them. But there was nothing but wind, snow, and trees, just like there had been the whole time. Nothing out of the ordinary, up until Silver was caught off guard by a familiar sight.

A pair of tiny fluorescent blue wings, bouncing up and down through the sky without a care towards her. It was the butterfly, which Silver was amazed to see must have followed her all the way over the mountain range. Silver smiled at it, right until it ran right into her face, dancing around her head and flying off. She stifled a gleeful giggle with what she considered to be a friendly gesture. And off the creature went, possibly the only good thing that lived in the dreadful mountain passage.

After a day of staggered journeying, the sun began to set beneath the cloudcast sky, and the weather seemed to worsen as night approached. Light flurries of snow sprinkled down , first in offset patterns, and then gradually upgrading into a steady descent.

The way the duo were headed was towards the river, the last major obstacle they were aware of that remained in their path. On the other side of the river, just a few miles down, was the position of the 19th Battalion, whose lives were held solely in Guardian and Silver’s hooves.

In that direction, they saw the terrain begin to descend downwards, between two ridges that gradually extended into steep cliffs.

“Straight towards the river, right?” Silver asked, after the two ponies had stopped right when the path downwards really began to separate from the ridges on either side.

“We don’t have time to go around these rocks, it could take us a whole ‘nother day,” Guardian said.

“What about that town the rebel was talking about?” Silver asked.

Guardian shrugged. Time had yet to be on their side, and though there were dangers ahead, Guardian couldn’t figure any time-wasting alternative would be much better. The town that lay ahead of them, however, hidden somewhere in the forests beyond, remained a concern for both ponies.

“We’ll go around. Obviously we’re not gonna walk right through. If the ponies are friendly, we may even be able to use one of their boats to cross the river,” Guardian said.

“Uh-huh. And what if they’re not friendly?” Silver said, believing her scenario to be far more likely.

“Then we’ll use one of their boats...just maybe without permission,” Guardian said, smirking.

Silver was more convinced, and the duo resumed their march down the descending hill.

Through the forest, they eventually caught sight of smoke rising over the treeline in the distance.

“I can hear the river,” Silver said, listening closely to the distant sound of rushing waters.

“Be careful…” Guardian whispered, cautiously stepping closer.

Without realizing it, Guardian had led them straight to the edge of a short ridge covered in dead leaves. The ridge had trees surrounding the edge, acting as a natural barrier against what lay beneath. The leaf-covered, flat rock ridge happened to be perched above a small basin that was seated far below. And in that basin was a settlement, a small town, presumably the same town Sundance had warned Guardian of yesterday

“That’s it?” Guardian asked, skeptically. The town appeared to consist mostly of wooden buildings, now covered in snow and illuminated by the warm orange glow of candlelight hung from doorpost to doorpost. There were a few ponies in the streets, though it seemed most of the town was inside their homes, possibly all asleep. The sun had practically set now, and night was nearly upon them. Warm lights hung along the walls of most buildings, illuminating the town in its shadowy basin.

“Well?” Silver said.

Guardian hadn’t heard Silver, as she was too engrossed in her study of the settlement below. There were wooden barricades up near the entrances on the south-end and north-end, and the streets were suspiciously empty. Every home had its lights turned off, and by the very demeanor of the place, it seemed to have already been seized by despair. Without knowing many details, Guardian was already beginning to feel her nerves tighten.

“We go around, right?” Silver asked, motioning with her head for them to continue the way they were ahead, which would effectively take them right around the town basin to the river, that was closer north than either of them realized. Ahead of the town was an uneven grassy field that led to the river, which was their proper destination.

“Something’s wrong...Look at those things down there, there’s spikes on them, and barbed wire, and...Oh Celestia, is that-?” Guardian said, gasping and clamping her hoof around her mouth, at the sight of what she believed to be a pony strung up on a wooden fixture near the battlements below. She practically threw up into her hoof, at the sight of a pony held up by ropes, their skin blackened by fire, their body mangled and charred.

Silver was very close to snapping at Guardian, until she saw the burn victim’s corpse too, hung up on the town battlements like a decoration. Silver’s eyes widened with fright, as she took in the grizzly scene on display below. She felt a pulse of disorienting anxiety swarm through her mind, and she could hear voices that weren’t really there, screaming in agony, as if she was subconsciously imagining what sounds the poor dead pony below had been making before they had succumbed.

Silver forcibly lowered her head so that she didn’t have to look any longer, and was frozen in place, feeling the powerful existential dread of the forest throttle her by the heart. In the ashes of that pony’s corpse she could see her own face, and she understood her fate could very well be the same, should she stay any longer.

“We need to get the hell out of here,” Silver said, frantically.

“But...There could be ponies down there, who need our help,” Guardian said.

“Guardian!” Silver exclaimed, her voice squeaking as her fear of death tore her apart internally, “We need to leave.”

Guardian hesitated, though she knew Silver was probably right. But before they could even turn around, both ponies jumped alert, at the sound of a twig snapping behind them in the forest brush.

Guardian and Silver spun around with their spear drawn and horn glowing respectively, preparing to kill whoever was sneaking around behind them.

“Wait! Don’t! I don’t have anything!” whispered the silhouette of a pony a few yards in front of them.

Guardian glanced at Silver to go investigate. The unicorn aggressively rushed towards the pony, brightening her horn to get a good look at the pony who had snuck up on them. He wasn’t wearing armor of any sort, in fact he looked rather homely, with receding fuzzy brown hair, a soft blue coat, circular glasses that hung low on his nose, and a short fuzzy brown beard.

“Please, I’m unarmed,” he explained, hoping Silver wouldn’t be too loose with her blazing horn pointed right at his head.

Silver paused, and then slowly backed away, reluctantly concluding that he was not, in fact, a rebel soldier.

“Who are you?” Guardian demanded.

“...I’m-I’m Buckwheat. Please, I don’t mean any trouble at all,” he said, terrified.

“What are you doing out here?” Silver asked, aggressively.

“I was gathering firewood, is all, I swear it!” he said, dropping a few small logs from atop his back.

Guardian seemed to find his alibi reasonable, lowering her spear.

“You’re...You’re both royal soldiers, aren’t you?!” Buckwheat stammered, as if he had just seen a pair of ghosts.

“Yes, we’re sorry, we didn’t mean to scare you, we didn’t know who you were,” Guardian said.

“You shouldn’t be here, anywhere near here, it’s much too dangerous!” Buckwheat said, glancing behind his shoulder to see whether anypony was witnessing their confrontation.

“Why’s that?” Silver asked, though she was already fairly sure that the rebels were involved somehow.

“That’s my town there, Pine Hearth, there’s been a battalion of rebel soldiers that have set themselves up for almost a week now! They leave during the day, but they’ll be back soon, the sun is setting!”

“Pine Hearth?” Guardian asked, recognizing the name from somewhere.

“Colonel warned us about this place,” Silver said, smiling in horrified disbelief, “He warned us!” she yelled, her eyes darting around the forest like mad, backing up towards the edge of the ridge as if expecting an attack any second. Then she stopped herself, her mind recoiling with a bitter revelation. “That lousy rebel rat was leading us to a trap.”

Guardian had already realized it, and was immensely disappointed to see that all evidence pointed to Silver being right, that Sundance had been intentionally leading them straight into a rebel occupation.

“Ok, we should get out of here,” Guardian said, glancing to the sky to confirm they were running out of daylight. Though she did want to help Buckwheat and any other townsponies trapped in the town below, she wouldn’t be able to do much against a battalion or more of rebel soldiers.

“We need a ferry to get across the river,” Silver said, hoping Buckwheat could help them.

“No! No, you can’t! There won’t be time, they’ll be here any moment! They leave during the day and return at night! They’ll come by land and the river, they separate!” Buckwheat said.

“What would you have us do then?” Guardian said, hoping Buckwheat had more to offer than just bad news.

The stallion hesitated, though they were all thinking the same thing.

“I...I suppose I can help you. Hide you, I mean, in my cellar. We must go now, though, and nopony can know.”

“Will we have to pass through any guards?” Silver asked.

“No, not until the sun sets, there’s not many of them down there now, come, come quickly!” Buckwheat said, rushing them along behind him as he jogged down the hill towards the main road path that led into the town.

Stepping over tan stalks of wheat and dead grass, Buckwheat led Silver and Guardian out from the forest brush and down a steep hill onto the dirt road below, cautiously approaching the town of Pine Hearth up ahead. The old stallion had received help from Guardian and silver with recollecting his firewood, all of them now trotting together down the dirt road towards the town gate. Their hooves crumpled the snow, leaving prints behind, of which Guardian feared might be found as suspicious.

The south-end gate of the city was made of wood, built right along the battlements that surrounded the city. Guardian and Silver tried their best to ignore the burnt corpse they had seen, which was still tied to one of the fixtures. Guardian saw Buckwheat seemed to have not even noticed the dead pony, and wondered how many other horrible sights he and the other townsponies had already been exposed to.

Guardian nervously watched for any rebel soldiers seated above on the gate battlements, though it seemed to be empty.

“I told you, they all go out, they’re not afraid of any attacks out here…” Buckwheat muttered, noticing Guardian’s nervousness.

“But they’ll be here soon. We don’t have much time, they’ll be upon us,” Buckwheat said, trotting straight through the opened gate of the town, entering its interior.

There were only three major streets in the town, which contained roughly forty homes at most. Guardian and Silver stuck close behind Buckwheat, as they all crept through the snowy, seemingly abandoned town.

“Where is everypony?” Silver asked, terrified of what the answer would be.

“The curfew is soon, it’s not wise to be out this late. But the wood’s just dried, I had to get what I could before the snow ruined it all again,” Buckwheat explained, content with his work, “Rebs would want it for themselves, I suspect. But they have machines that do the work for them, and here I have to search the woods here and back, all for warmth.”

Buckwheat led them down one street and around one building, careful to avoid letting anypony spot them from the windows of their homes.

“You musn’t trust anypony but me for now. I know many who would turn you in without second thought, do you understand that?” Buckwheat asked.

“Yes,” Guardian replied, her fears beginning to twirl about inside her heart, as her body shivered from the cold.

Behind one of the corner street houses, Buckwheat came to a stop, indicating that they had reached his home. Behind the house was a large storm shelter hideaway, with two large wooden doors, bolted shut with a small metal rod. After some fiddling with a ring of keys tied around his belt, Buckwheat unfastened the lock and raised up one of the doors, grunting with the weight against his aged muscles.

“I’m not sure how long I can shelter you, but for tonight, I think you’ll be safe,” Buckwheat said, nodding for them to enter inside.

Guardian glanced at Silver, both still nervous about this entire situation.

Their concerns were swept aside at the distant sound of some rowdy pack of ponies approaching from afar, carrying bright torches and leaving behind trails of spilt booze. Through the trees, Silver could spy the flickering orange light of the flames carried by the approaching ponies in the distance, twinkling like stars hovering above the ground.

“They’re coming! For Celestia’s sake, hide yourselves!” Buckwheat said, still whispering.

Guardian decided he was right, and it was better not to risk being caught. She climbed inside first, walking down a short staircase to enter the cellar below. Silver quickly followed, turning around just as Buckwheat shut the door behind them, leaving them alone inside.

Once the storm shelter doors were locked shut from the outside, the ponies found themselves in pitch black darkness.

Until, a light began to illuminate from Silver’s horn, revealing the full extent of the cellar inside. It mostly contained barrels of stored food and some tools, nothing that stood out in particular. The cellar was dark and dusty, Guardian having to force herself not to fall into a coughing fit. Despite Guardian believing she had already gone numb from the cold outside, inside the cellar the temperature seemed to be at least ten degrees less than outside. The cellar was made of thick stone stacked beneath ground level, the wooden roof above them rumbling with the sound of galloping hooves.

“That’s got to be at least an entire company!” Silver whispered, shocked as the hooves stomped overhead.

Guardian could feel herself beginning to panic, remembering that they only had two more days before it was too late to rescue the ponies in the 19th.

“I told you the rebel was lying to us! We should’ve taken a different route!” Silver said, hoping she would get to meet Sundance again, if only to finally kill him once and for all.

Guardian couldn’t help but laugh, unable to believe Silver’s double standards.

“If we stuck to the creek like Colonel ordered us to, we wouldn’t be here at all!” Guardian said, also trying her best to keep her voice down.

“Well this is just great. We’re surrounded, and now we’re trapped in this freezing basement! Do you know how bad of an idea it is to try and fight in a basement? And gosh, it’s cold! Does that pony not have a heater or anything?” Silver whined.

Both ponies jumped alert when the door behind them opened, in stepping Buckwheat, holding a lantern in one hoof. Behind him was a staircase that led upwards, presumably to the proper interior of his home.

“I apologize for the cold...I’d invite you inside, but those rebels occasionally do inspections…” Buckwheat said.

“And what? They inspect everywhere but in here? Let us inside, just for a moment,” Silver said, approaching the door. Buckwheat, however, didn’t budge. His face was strained, having just a few moments ago realized the gravity of his actions.

“You must understand...I have a wife, I have children...They’re just over there, I’ve already told them what I’ve done. It’s far too much of a risk to have you some place where you could be seen through a window, or something. Please bear with me, I want to help you as much as I can,” Buckwheat said, hoping they wouldn’t push his hospitality.

“And we’re very grateful for any help you can give us. We’ll be fine here. Right, Silver?” Guardian said, nudging Silver with her leg.

“Right.” Silver said, though she would much rather be inside the warm house.

“Let me get you something to eat, and drink, you must be desperate for something, I can’t imagine what it’s like out there. And that storm!” Buckwheat said.

“That would be great, thank you,” Guardian said, overwhelmed by relief. When Halo had told her he and his troops would be the only friendly faces they’d ever see in the passage, she had believed him. But to see that there were still ponies, civilians no less, who still held sympathy for the royals, was a breath of fresh air after many days of increasing hopelessness.

Buckwheat left the lantern atop a small table sitting by the door, and retreated back into his home, leaving the door slightly ajar.

“Are you sure we can trust him? What if he’s giving us poison?” Silver asked, as soon as she believed Buckwheat to be out of earshot.

“He’s not giving us poison. He’s just a civilian, he lives here. And clearly, he wants to help us. Only you would complain about help,” Guardian said, rolling her eyes.

“Lives here, right. Need I remind you this is a rebel town,” Silver said.

“Rebel occupied town. Most of these ponies probably want to get out of here, but can’t...Look, just relax, we’re alright for now,” Guardian said. Silver shook her head, strongly disapproving of Guardian’s inclination to trust everypony they met, especially given recent events with Sundance.

“Here you go,” said Buckwheat, carrying in a tray of steaming hot coffee for the two of them.

“Thank you, you’re very kind,” Guardian said, graciously accepting the cup of coffee after Buckwheat had set it down on the table near the door, right beside the lantern. Flakes of dust could be seen floating through the air in the light of the lantern, which offered the only warmth either Silver or Guardian could find inside the cellar.

“Hello,” said another pony, a mare, also slightly aged the same as Buckwheat, cautiously trotting down the stairs into the cellar. She was carrying a small tray of brownies, setting them down on the table next to the coffee.

“I made this for the kids, but I suppose you must need it more,” the mare said, backing away from the table. She had a head of curly dark magenta hair, a coat of very pale cream, and a lovely little smile that made Guardian feel more at ease. Buckwheat’s head bobbed between his wife and the two soldiers, nervous about making introductions. He was on edge, after all, given the risks he was now running on.

“This is my wife, Honey Pie,” Buckwheat said, stepping out of the way for the ponies to formally meet.

“Hello, thank you for what you’re doing,” Guardian said, eagerly shaking the bewildered mare’s hoof.

“It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen royal soldiers not in chains around here. I think you’re both very brave, for being out here,” Honey Pie said. Her voice was smooth, motherly, and gentle, and even Silver, whose anxiety was blistering, began to calm down.

“Darling, be a dear and excuse us for a moment, would you?” Buckwheat said, calmly eyeing the door. Honey Pie’s smile faded, though she didn’t protest, awkwardly leaving the room. She headed back up the stairs, quietly, leaving the other three below in the cellar.

Buckwheat closed the door behind her, and locked it, before taking his seat at the small table, opposite to the two soldiers.

“I only don’t want her to have to participate in these sorts of discussions. It’s for the better,” Buckwheat said, at a lower decibel than before. He reached into the pocket of his jacket and received a dark wooden pipe, promptly lighting a match and lighting it up.

While Silver and Guardian hungrily chewed on Honey pie’s brownies and drank the hot coffee, Buckwheat huffed at his pipe, trying his best to calm his nerves.

“There have been rumors about you two. Circulating around here,” Buckwheat said, before sticking the pipe back in his mouth.

“All good, I hope,” said Guardian, cheekily.

“The soldiers, they’ve been talking. Rebel soldiers, I mean. Though they don’t like to be called that. You learn that by ear or else the hard way…” Buckwheat said, trailing off before remembering what he had intended to proceed with.

“Talking of two royal ponies, traversing through the passage, destroying every rebel unit they came across...These rebels, they found bodies by Carpendale, they found bodies by the southern road, they found bodies near Crocket’s old cabin on the mountain...this was all you?”

Silver and Guardian shared a nervous glance, not having realized the rebels were aware of all their recent exploits.

“Yes,” Silver said.

“Yes, then they know about you. Pegasi patrols, from the Airborne Brigade stationed here, they spotted you, twice I believe, some days ago.”

Guardian felt herself shudder, having originally believed they had hidden themselves from those pegasi both times.

“It’s very dangerous for you to be here. The rebs, they’re all riled up, they’re angry. You’ve killed many of their friends. If they catch you…” Buckwheat said, letting them fill in the blank.

Guardian and Silver weren’t sure what to say, slowly coming to the conclusion that their mission’s chances of success were running slim.

“That’s why I stopped you, and brought you here. Had any of them seen you, there’d be near a hundred ponies hunting you down...Rebels near and far, they could all focus in on this town, which would surely bring about our ruin. I’ve seen what they do to ponies who wouldn’t harm a fly. No, you mustn’t leave this room, not until I say it’s safe,” Buckwheat instructed.

“Thank you, you have no idea how many ponies’ lives are at stake for this,” Guardian said.

Buckwheat gave a questionable look, prompting Guardian to reach into her bag and retrieve an off-white envelope, stamped with red wax.

“This is a letter from High Command, from the back lines. It’s orders to cease an assault from three of our largest battalions stationed just a little north of here, they’ll be running into a trap. We’ve been sent to stop them,” Guardian explained.

Buckwheat’s eyes widened with surprise, stunned by the significance of the letter.

“Yes...Yes, I know what you’re talking about. That large encampment, to the North...That’s the place, the place we’ve been planning for,” Buckwheat said.

“Planning for?” Silver asked.

“Why, to escape here, of course. This town has been under occupation for...it must be weeks by now, I’m afraid I’ve lost track. It’s a miracle we’re still alive so long. Those rebel ponies...These ones in this town in particular, they’re far more...dangerous than any other rebels I’ve encountered. They’ve robbed this house three times already. My daughter is too young for them, and my wife too old, so we’re lucky in that, thank Celestia. They’ve confiscated every item that could be used as a weapon...I’ve seen them kill two of my neighbors already, right out in the street, just outside. On grounds of resistance or dissidence or something else they cooked up, so I hear. In this house, we’ve put on a good front of submissiveness, and so they’ve ignored us mostly. But I fear how long we’ll have lost. Help isn’t coming, that’s for sure. It’s like my wife said, we haven’t seen royal soldiers that aren’t prisoners here for so long. I had to help you, I had to…” Buckwheat said, though his eyes told Guardian he was regretting his decision.

“If we make it to our destination, we’ll be sure to send help for you. We owe you that, and more,” Guardian promised, candlelight twinkling in her orange eyes.

“That’s very kind, but...I imagine it will be in vain. I’ve seen what they’ve done before. Occupied cities that are reaching the end, or about to be subjected to some assault. The rebels will round up every pony they consider useful, and slaughter the ones they don’t. Then they burn everything to the ground. No, we can’t wait for a rescue,” Buckwheat said.

Guardian had run out of good answers, silently sipping at her coffee.

“Well, I’ll leave you two here then, I’ll check on you, say...every two hours, is that alright with you?” Buckwheat proposed.

“More than alright,” Guardian said, gratefully.

Buckwheat stuck his pipe back in his mouth and rose from his chair, before trotting back over to the door, exiting the cellar, and locking the door behind him.

“What do you make of all that?” Guardian asked, waiting a few moments to make sure Buckwheat had ascended the stairs and was out of earshot.

“I wish we could help him, but I don’t think we have enough time,” Silver said.

“He’s quite possibly saved our lives, we have to try and get him and his family out of here,” Guardian argued.

“There’s thousands of ponies across that river who are gonna die, Guardian. Are you really gonna let that happen just to save a few?” Silver asked.

“I wish we didn’t have to make priorizations,” Guardian said, glumly, finishing off the last brownie from the tray.

“Look, I wish we didn’t either, but that’s how this works, ok? Obviously it’s not ideal,” Silver said.

Guardian said nothing, though Silver could clearly see she still wasn’t in agreement.

“What happened to sticking to the Colonel’s orders, remember that? Well, the orders are to deliver that message, without any detours. We’re already a little behind from nearly getting our heads blown off, we can’t blow it all now,” Silver said.

“Don’t even start with that! Following orders! Like you care about that!” Guardian shot back.

“Think about our chances, too. The longer we stick around here…” Silver said, her voice wavering, as her fears of death resurfaced once again. She wanted desperately to be out of this town, to be free from the burden that routinely threatened her and Guardian’s lives.

“You heard what Buckwheat said...they could execute this whole town tomorrow if they wanted,” Guardian reminded, “We have to help these ponies.”

“Guardian, use your head. There’s an army of rebels out there, we can’t fight them!” Silver said.

“Fine! We’ll leave them all to die! Is that what you want?” Guardian stammered.

“You know I didn’t say that. I just don’t think you’re focusing on the right things,” Silver said. Guardian flinched as if she had been struck, Silver’s words stinging her heart.

“Oh, because I’m incompetent, right. You don’t think I’m capable of making good decisions!”

“Not recently, no! If you want the truth,” Silver said, releasing some of her recent frustrations towards an emotional Guardian.

Guardian stared at Silver with her mouth hung agape, at a loss for words.

“All you ever do is complain, and whine, and I’m sick of it. It’s like you don’t care about anypony but yourself!”

“That’s not true, you know I care about you,” Silver said, loosening her hostile front.

“You’ve got a funny way of showing it! You’re supposed to be my friend,” Guardian said, bitterly, turning her back on Silver.

Silver sighed, unwilling to humor what she saw as a sad attempt at pity.

“Do you really think the world is going to be the same when this is all over? Or that those ponies’ lives will be normal again? Or ours?”

Guardian said nothing, too consumed by her emotions to formulate a response. Silver shook her head, disappointed.

“We’re leaving tomorrow morning, when all these rebels have gone out. And we’re not taking anypony with us,” Silver said, flatly.

“You’re heartless, you know that?” Guardian said.

“I’m heartless? Because I’m trying to save your life, and my life, and thousands of other ponies’ lives? We can’t save them all, Guardian, you have to grow up and understand that.”

“Grow up!?” Guardian repeated in disbelief, “Listen to you! Who do you think you are? Like you’re some lieutenant or something…”

“I’ve seen a lot more than you, that’s for sure, so maybe listen to what I have to say,” Silver said.

“Seen a lot more? Well I’ve lost a lot more. Who’s gonna be waiting for me if I ever get out of here? You’ve still got a family, mine’s destroyed! I need this! I need a win, I need something to feel proud of myself for, because nopony’s ever given me anything! I had to try my hardest for everything! Nopony’s in my corner! Not even you!”

Silver’s heart deflated for a moment, overwhelmed by a mixed sense of shame and betrayal.

“I’m going to bed. Unless you have a problem with that too,” Guardian said, glumly trotting over to one of the corners of the room, plopping herself down on the dusty stone floor, and curling up beside a large crate of packaged grain.

Silver sighed and sat herself down against some crates, assuming she would keep watch in case Buckwheat did turn out to be a lying rebel sympathizer.

When Guardian awoke, she was still lying in the same position she had fallen asleep in. She stretched her hooves out, and quickly checked to make sure the letter was still in her duffel bag.

To her relief, it was, its scarlet-red wax inspiring some much-needed encouragement.

Guardian lifted her head to inspect the rest of the cellar, which was still lost in darkness, despite it likely being morning.

“Silver?” Guardian asked, though she couldn’t see much of anything.

Met by silence, Guardian slouched back against the crate she had fallen asleep beside, as the creeping fingers of regret began to wrap around her heart. She may have been too cruel towards Silver in her beratement, then again, perhaps not cruel enough. She couldn’t think straight, and she knew Silver seemed to be in an even worse state. She resolved to maintain their bond with as much effort as she could muster. For without Silver, she would be alone on the mission, a fate of which she was not sure she would survive.

Catching Guardian off-guard was a sudden clanging of pots and pans, screeching out from above, up the stairs of the cellar.

Guardian rose to her hooves, after feeling blindly through the darkness to locate her spear. Checking the cellar once again, this time she was certain that Silver was gone, the impact of which struck her like a brick to the face.

Flying into a panic, Guardian quickly made for the cellar door, pulling it open and flying up above the staircase.

Light washed over her like a shower of sun, when she flung open the door at the top end of the cellar staircase. She found herself in a kitchen area, with few supplies left strewn about on top of the counters.

Standing near a bowl of fruit by the corner of the kitchen island counter was Silver, chewing on the flesh of a green apple.

“Silver! We shouldn’t be out here!” Guardian said, noticing the windows at the front-end of the house. The curtains were closed, though Guardian was still afraid.

“That’s one way to say good morning,” Silver muttered, turning her eyes away from Guardian.

“How long have you been awake?” Guardian asked, ignoring Silver’s bothersome sarcasm.

“A few hours. Buckwheat woke me up, he told me under no circumstances can we leave the house during the day. Said the rebels are all staying in town today,” Silver explained, “I let you sleep in.”

“We’re stuck here all day? Silver, tomorrow’s the last day, if we-”

“I know. Not much we can do. Except raid his pantry,” Silver said, grinning as she tossed her apple from one hoof to the other.

“You shouldn’t be doing that, we’re guests here,” Guardian said, flatly.

“Hungry guests.”

Guardian rolled her eyes, standing on the edge of the staircase.

“Is Buckwheat gone?” Guardian asked.

“He went out to work. His two foals went to school. Cute kids, I can’t lie. His wife is sleeping upstairs,” Silver said.

Guardian nodded, coming to the understanding that they had now hit a temporary road block.

“Well, when you’re finished robbing our host, I think we should take a look at the map, see if there’s a-” Guardian started, before a thunderous knock came aggressively pounding on the front door.

“Oh no,” Silver muttered.

Guardian and Silver glanced at each other, for a quick moment of indecisiveness. Silver, however, had to act first, magically grabbing a hold of Guardian in a magical pony-size bubble, throwing her through the cellar door, and shutting the door behind her.

Guardian caught herself before she could fall down the stairs, lifting her head just in time to see Silver telekinetically shut the door and lock it tight, trapping Guardian inside. The light swept across her face and left her in darkness as the door swung close, Guardian beginning to panic for Silver’s safety.

Silver ducked down behind the kitchen island counter, just as she heard a rock come crashing through one of the front windows. Silver held her hoof over her mouth to prevent any noise from escaping, her eyes catching sight of the rock rolling right past the kitchen counter, across the hardwood floor. She heard some ponies laughing from outside, and though she couldn’t see it from where she was hiding, the lot of them were peeking through the hole they had just made in the window, brushing the curtain aside, mockingly calling out inside the house. Silver’s whole body tensed up, though she had the comfort of knowing that at least Guardian was safe, and the letter too. The island was rectangular, and from a small distance across the floor it was surrounded on three sides by more marble counters, an oven that no longer worked, and the pantry door. She was facing the back wall, her back turned to the counter and the front door behind her.

From above, Silver could hear a pony begin stomping down the stairs, and around a corner to her left came Honey Pie, the tenderhearted wife of Buckwheat, her hair a mess and her face wild with confusion.

She noticed the rock on the floor, and Silver hiding behind the counter, and, once she heard the ponies knocking on the door again, she was able to understand what was happening.

Before Honey Pie could get Silver inside the cellar, the grave voice of one of the ponies outside brought her to a sudden stop.

“Mrs. Honey Pie? Please open the door,” the voice said. Honey Pie turned her head to get a glimpse at the hard stallion’s face staring right at her from the rock-torn hole in her window.

She gulped in fright, subtly glancing down at Silver, and regretfully the two of them came to the realization that she would have to stay hidden as she was.

“Coming!” Honey Pie chirped, donning a happy-go-lucky facade with hopes of deterring suspicion.

From inside the cellar, Guardian could only hear muffled voices. She knew the door was locked from the outside, and couldn’t do much other than standby and wait for the danger to pass. Should things escalate, she knew she’d have to figure out a Plan B, and fast.

Honey Pie made her way to the front door, opening it up with a smile, pretending as though a rock hadn’t just been thrown through her property.

Standing right in front of her was the pony who had addressed her from the window hole. He had a soft purple coat and fuzzy dark blonde hair, with a speckled spread of stubble and a youthful face. He appeared to be only a few years older than Silver, though his tall, powerful stature added the illusion of a few more years. He was wearing a rebel officer’s uniform, tight fitting leather with an authoritative black brimmed officer’s hat.

“Lieutenant, what a surprise! I’m very sorry I couldn’t answer right away, I was taking a rest upstairs,” Honey Pie said, ignoring the snarling faces of the five other rebel soldiers standing around behind the blonde-haired lieutenant.

He eyed her, carefully, already skeptical of her good-natured greeting. He turned his head behind at the rebel grunts creeping behind him, one of whom must have been responsible for the rock.

“Crux, and all of you. I am to be left alone for now,” the lieutenant said, his eyes half open with distaste for his lower-ranking subordinates.

“Yes sir,” muttered one pony, whose name had to be Crux, backing away with the others towards their carriage parked out in the street, sheepishly.

The lieutenant turned his attention back to Honey Pie, who was only hoping that his visit would be quick.

“How may I help you, Lieutenant?” Honey Pie asked, her voice wavering. The lieutenant noticed this, though didn’t appear to treat it with suspicion.

“Oh, my mistake, I apologize. My visit is nothing to be afraid of. Not even an inspection, I only mean to have a little discussion, is all. With that, may I ask you to please invite me inside?” he asked, smiling, as politely as he could.

Honey Pie hesitated, though she could tell the Lieutenant would only be taking ‘yes’ as an answer.

“Of course, of course, come in,” Honey Pie said, lowering her head and stepping out of the way.

The lieutenant nodded as a show of appreciation, and took two steps to enter inside the home.

Taking a look around, he saw little difference compared to the last time he visited, which was at the very start of the occupation.

“Mrs. Honey Pie, I promise you we’ll fully pay for the damage done to your window there. Those ponies, they think they can do anything, don’t they?” the lieutenant said, laughing at his own allies’ expense. Honey Pie gave a small smile, holding off from joining him and possibly labeling herself a critic of the rebel Coalition.

Behind the kitchen counter, Silver kept herself perfectly still, terrified of making any sounds or movements that would reveal herself. The rebel was just a few feet away from her, and all he would have to do was take a few steps, and she would be caught.

Honey Pie was just as aware of this, purposefully positioning herself so as to subtly block the lieutenant from being able to see Silver behind the island counter.

“Buckwheat is out today?” he asked, removing his hat and placing it on a small table near the front door.

“Yes, yes, he’s gone all day. Aster and Match are both at school,” Honey Pie explained.

“Oh, yes. What are they in? Fourth Grade?”

“Third.”

“Third! Very good, very good. I hope they’re doing well,” the lieutenant said.

“Well as anypony their age can do. Very difficult explaining to them everything that’s happening,” Honey Pie said, and the lieutenant could tell she was directing most of the blame for that towards him and his cronies. He smiled, acknowledging a certain extent of the blame.

“I wish it weren’t so, Mrs. Honey Pie, if only to spare those little angels of yours some bad dreams! I’d give anything for it all to end. I don’t like war. Some have a knack for it, but not I. Or maybe I do and I just wish I didn’t. Oh, forget that. I don’t mean to eat up your time too much today…” the lieutenant said, slowly making his way deeper into the house, ignoring Honey Pie’s subtle attempts to block him. She felt like screaming, as his steps reached closer and closer towards the kitchen island.

He passed the frontmost counter, his eyes scouring every nook and cranny of the home he could possibly inspect.

Honey Pie was frozen in fear, helplessly watching as the lieutenant slowly trotted past the island counter, though, taking a brief glance at the ground behind it, there was nothing much other than the wood of the floor.

Unknown to the lieutenant, and also unknown to Honey Pie, Silver had picked up on the lieutenant’s approach from following his hoofsteps, and had managed to silently reposition herself on the left side of the island instead of the back, again hidden from his view. And, as the lieutenant began to turn around and make his way back towards Honey Pie, Silver again repositioned herself back to where she had been, as silently as possible, her heartbeats rapid and relentless.

With his subtle inspection complete, the lieutenant trotted back towards Honey Pie, to get down to the true purpose of his visit.

“Mrs. Honey Pie. I would’ve much preferred to speak of this to your husband himself, but...I believe we can put our little charade here to an end,” the lieutenant said, bluntly. Honey Pie’s heart skipped a beat, and her mouth fell open and stayed there, as if she was paralyzed.

“I...I can’t say I know what you mean, Lieutenant,” Honey Pie said, her voice quivering.

Silver was now on high alert, but held off from taking any action quite yet, waiting for the opportune moment to reveal herself.

“No, I think you know perfectly well what I mean, Mrs. Honey Pie…” the lieutenant said, his voice hard and venomous against Honey Pie’s frail, frazzled ears.

“Your husband was spotted by one of our scouts. It’s amazing that he thought he could escape us, truly. Give him my regards for bravery. But yes, this must all be put to a stop,” the lieutenant said.

Honey Pie batted her eyes innocently, resorting to playing dumb until whatever evidence he had could be thrown right in her face.

“I’m sorry, I’m still not sure what you’re referring to.”

The lieutenant sighed, irritated with what he saw as an unnecessary waste of time beating around the bush.

“Two days ago, your husband was caught sneaking firewood to your neighbor, Mr. Curly. Now I don’t know where he got that firewood, but it certainly wasn’t the wood the Coalition provided him with, and it certainly wasn’t a regulated amount. Not to mention the transfer of personal materials such as that is explicitly forbidden under Coalition law.”

Honey Pie wasn’t sure whether to be relieved that the lieutenant was still unaware of Guardian and Silver, or terrified of the implications of this separate act of lawbreaking.

“Lieutenant, we’re very sorry, very! If Buckwheat was here now he would tell you the same! Mr. Curly’s son was sick, they needed more wood to keep a fire going, they had run out. Please, it won’t happen again,” Honey Pie said, pleadingly, terrified of suffering death or imprisonment over such a minute offense.

The lieutenant sighed again, tired of having to deal with disorderly citizens on a near-daily basis.

“I understand your struggles. And your neighbor Mr. Curly’s struggles. These are hard times for all of us. I’ve come on my own to tell you only to put a stop to all this. If the Colonel, or any of his heel-licking dogs were to know...I very much doubt they would be as merciful.”

“Oh, thank you, Lieutenant! We won’t ever do it again, I promise you,” Honey Pie said, shaking the Lieutenant’s hoof eagerly.

His smile was surprisingly inviting, despite his cold exterior.

“That’ll do, I suppose. It’s a pleasure to meet with you as always, Mrs. Honey Pie. Do take care,” the lieutenant said, trotting back towards the front door, opening it and lowering his head beneath the doorframe, of which he was too tall for.

“Thank you again, Lieutenant Goldfinch!” Honey Pie called out, catching upt him at the front door just as he was leaving.

He left her with a subtle nod, before trotting down the front steps back towards the carriage, where his rowdy subordinates were loitering by.

Honey Pie kept a smile on her face for a reasonable period of time as she watched Lieutenant Goldfinch’s carriage begin to take off down the street, before she cathartically slammed the door shut and gave a tremendous sigh of anguish.

Silver immediately sprang out from behind the counter, running up to Honey Pie, who had fallen to the ground, exhausted.

“Are you alright? Here, let me get you some water!” Silver declared, after taking a single look at Honey Pie, who had stifled a panic attack for the past several minutes.

Silver rushed back to the kitchen to pour some tap water into a clean cup she had retrieved from one of the cupboards. She darted back over to Honey Pie, who warmly accepted the water.

Once Honey Pie had drunk it all, the two shared a small moment of relief that they had survived a narrow encounter. Honey Pie sighed, and glanced back at Silver, whose mind was still running in a hundred different directions.

“I would very much like to go back to bed now.”

While Honey Pie had retreated back upstairs to get some daytime rest, Silver made her way back to the cellar door, unlocking it.

Without warning, she found the tip of Guardian’s spear positioned just inches from her neck.

“Whoa!” Silver exclaimed.

“Oh, sorry!” Guardian said, lowering her spear. She had been standing near the top of the stairs during the entire ordeal with Lieutenant Goldfinch, her spear held at the ready.

“Is everything alright? What happened?” Guardian inquired.

“It’s ok, everything’s fine...Tell you what...I think you were right. Safer down here,” Silver said, having had enough close calls for one day already.

Guardian moved to the side to let Silver head down the stairs into the dark cellar, before shutting the door closed. Silver was still in a state of exhilaration, having been just one wrong move away from death moments prior.

Neither pony was particularly comfortable speaking to the other casually, despite both wanting to. They were at odds, and were both so consumed by their exhaustion that they’d much prefer falling asleep in the pitch black of the cellar, in favor of risking another heated argument.

Both managed to fall asleep, and for the remainder of the day they lay strewn out on the floor of the cellar, letting their muscles relax after days upon days of physically demanding traveling. As long as the town outside was crawling with rebels, their chances of escape were small. Guardian figured that they may fare better at nighttime when most of the rebels would be asleep, or perhaps even the next day with hopes of the rebels moving out of the town again. However, tomorrow was their last day before they were too late to save the Northern battalions, which meant they would be cutting close. But not impossible.

Guardian shuddered on the cold stone floor of the cellar, weakly holding onto her legs to try and warm herself. The room was so dark, that Guardian could hardly see her own hoof in front of her. Fear surrounded her in and out. Hope remained indeed, though only by a withered thread. But for all she had left, it was hope that kept her spirits alive, even in the darkest of places. Though, despite Silver lying just a few feet beside her, Guardian felt alone. Dust drifted through the air aimlessly past Guardian’s nose, and she sighed, her heart heavy with despair.

Sleep carried the two ponies on through the entire day, all the way until the sun had begun to set, when the door opened suddenly to reveal Buckwheat, who was trembling with fear.

Silver was awoken immediately by the swinging cellar door, and jumped to her hooves, unsure whether Buckwheat was being followed by any rebel soldiers or not.

He wasn’t, to her relief, though the panic on his face was equally distressing.

“I’m sorry, but you both have to leave,” Buckwheat said, trembling over his words.

“What?” Silver said, her eyes widening. Guardian awoke in a fluster and stood up, hoping she hadn’t heard what she thought she had heard.

“They’re running night checks in a few hours. And without a doubt, they’ll find you…” Buckwheat said.

Guardian was speechless, struggling to accept what was happening.

“There’s no opening yet! That place is crawling with rebels! A battalion's worth!” Silver exclaimed.

“If I could, I would let you stay...But I cannot risk my family’s lives any longer, you must understand...I can leave you with as much food and supplies as you need…” Buckwheat said, apologetically.

“You’re killing us, you know that?!” Silver stammered, terrified of having to go outside and escape a city packed to the brim with enemy soldiers.

“Leave! Now! Please. I’ve done all I can for you,” Buckwheat said, marching up the short steps of the cellar to unlock the doors.

Guardian resisted the urge to protest, and took to picking up her belongings, while Silver defiantly stayed put.

“If by some miracle we’re still alive tonight, try and meet us by the docks around a half hour from now, and we’ll help you and your family escape from here,” Guardian said.

“Like hell! He’s stranding us! No way we’re helping them!” Silver said, furious at what she considered to be a betrayal.

“Silver…” Guardian said, dejectedly, already believing their fates to be sealed. She turned back to Buckwheat, who was visibly upset with what he felt he had no choice but to do.

“I don’t blame you, you’ve got a family to protect...Good luck,” Guardian said, extending her hoof out to him as a gesture of good will.

He warmly accepted her hoof, though his head quickly lowered, still feeling some shame for casting them out from the safe haven of his home.

“Silver, come on,” Guardian said, already halfway out from the cellar.

Silver was practically seething with rage, but followed after Guardian, leaving Buckwheat with a horrendously cruel stare before exiting the shelter. Guardian gently closed both doors in on each other, and backed away, the two ponies now back out above ground.

“Can you believe that guy? We’re screwed, Guardian, we’re screwed!” Silver said, outraged and terrified.

“Would you keep your voice down?!” Guardian whispered, pulling Silver closer towards the wall of Buckwheat’s house, trying to avoid being seen.

“Alright, alright, I’ve had it. I’ve had it with you, I’ve had it with this stupid mission...We’re gonna die, Guardian! There’s no way out of here!” Silver said, tearing up as her emotions overwhelmed her.

“We have to get to the docks, try and get a boat, and cross the river,” Guardian said, trying to stay calm while Silver resorted to panicking.

Guardian grabbed Silver’s arm suddenly, holding on to her tightly until the unicorn could stop hyperventilating.

“I need you to be with me,” Guardian said, staring into Silver’s unsteady eyes.

Silver nodded, her left eye beginning to twitch as her nerves got the better of her.

Guardian let go, and turned around to peek out from the corner of the wall.

“Mostly everypony’s got to be asleep. We still have a chance,” Guardian muttered, darting across the corner to another alleyway.

“Stay quiet, and don’t knock anything over,” Guardian said, once Silver caught up to her.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this...Of all the places to run into, it’s here,” Silver whined, spitefully.

Guardian scowled, frustrated by Silver’s relentless negativity.

“If I ever see that rebel again, Sundance...I’m gonna blast his brains in.”

“Silver! I mean it! Shut up!” Guardian whispered, swiveling all the way around and getting up in Silver’s face.

Silver was stunned for a moment, not used to Guardian being so assertive with her.

“Back off,” Silver said, undeterred.

“You need to stay quiet. Do you want to get caught?” Guardian said.

Silver gave no reply, waiting until Guardian turned back around, vindictively

Both of them then quickly froze, at the sound of a pony screaming, not too far from where they were.

They jumped back against the wall of the alley, staying as still as possible, hoping nopony had seen them. The screaming continued, and Silver first made the assumption that the cause for commotion had nothing to do with them.

Creeping up along the wall of the alley towards the end where it spilled into the main street of the town, Guardian winced at the sound of the pony’s cries.

“Guardian!” Silver whispered, trying to stop Guardian from inching towards the edge, for fear of her being spotted.

Guardian made it, however, peeking over to get a glimpse of what was happening.

There was a mare, on the younger side, down in the snow, enduring a barrage of ruthless kicks, courtesy of three rebel soldiers, all draped in their signature black armor and dark winter coats.

“Stupid bitch, I’ve warned you once about curfew, haven’t I?!” one of them said, before landing another devastating blow.

Guardian reeled back in disgust and prepared to step out and intervene, until a hoof grabbed her shoulder from behind.

“We can’t,” Silver said, “We have to get out of here, come on.”

“But-” Guardian began.

“Now,” Silver said, firmly.

Guardian hated to leave that poor mare to be beaten in the streets, but decided to comply with Silver’s wishes, as she too wanted to get out of this town as soon as possible.

Silver led Guardian back into the alley and down another path heading north, the distant rushing waters of the river growing louder every step they took. The streets seemed to be largely empty of ponies, dominated instead by the snow, which came down in thick flurries that glowed in the light of the candlelit lamps hanging along the edges of most buildings in sight. They progressed through the alley they were traveling through, both believing it to be their best bet for keeping out of sight. But at the end of that alley, which led to the edge of the town where the battlements were, both came to a sudden halt.

“Holy…” Guardian muttered, stopping dead in her tracks at the edge of the alley. The docks were within sight in the distance, over the battlements and across the uneven fields ahead. Guardian and Silver could both see the shimmering moonlight reflected in the nightcast waters of the river beyond, a bright light in the darkness that was waiting for them.

But closer in proximity to the duo was the northern gate of the town, which, just like the southern gate, had been built by the rebels in case of a royal attack from the north. Constructed in the dirt were several wood structures, ranging from simple battlements, to terrifying, splintery crosses dug snugly in the ground. From what they could see, there were the decaying corpses of two ponies strung up on said crosses, one of which appeared to be burned to a crisp, his skin black and ashy, his face warped from fire. His condition harkened back to that poor soul Silver and Guardian had spotted back at the southern gate, and both wondered how many other ponies had suffered the same fate.

But on one of the x-shaped crosses, and what immediately caught Guardian’s eye, was a young, white-coated unicorn with a wavy cerulean mane. She was wearing a few bruises over her body and some splatches of dirt, though, compared to the other ponies up there on display, she definitely seemed to more closely resemble being alive.

“That’s Captain Radiance,” Silver muttered, shocked. Both Guardian and Silver had already assumed Periwinkle Radiance had been killed along with her troops at that battlefield they had encountered just two days ago. But, it seemed that not all of the 13th Velvet soldiers had been exterminated. Periwinkle’s helmet, which was bright purple and lined with gold edges, was stuck upon a great wooden pike buried in the ground nearby, as if to make a symbol out of the poor unicorn, whose head was hung low. She hung there on that cross, still as any of the corpses nearby her, though Guardian was inclined to believe there was still a chance to stage a rescue.

Guardian had never formally met Periwinkle until a few days ago, though her reputation certainly preceded her. She was stunning, both in her looks and in her passionate determination to protect as many ponies’ lives as possible. In the latter aspect, she served as an inspiration to Guardian, and to many others in the army, though none of them could have known what had become of her now.

But Guardian did, and she was absolutely horrified.

“Wait, look! Did you see that? She’s alive! She moved, Silver, she’s alive!” Guardian exclaimed, still at whisper-volume. Indeed, Guardian had seen the sleeping unicorn move her head from one side to the other, though, unfortunately, Silver had missed this.

“Guardian, she’s dead,” Silver said, regretfully.

“No, I saw!”

Silver sighed, believing Guardian to merely be seeing things.

“We can try helping her down if there’s time...But first we should make sure we have a ride out of here.”

“And what if we-” Guardian started, before shutting her mouth at the sound of yet another series of commotion.

“What the heck?” Silver muttered, realizing some ponies were being rushed out into the main street to their left, close enough for them to see.

Out of the shadows, they saw a stallion being shoved to the ground, an older mare and two foals quickly catching up to him. The pony who had shoved him revealed himself next, a rebel soldier, the same one who had been leading the beat-down of that mare earlier.

Two other rebel soldiers followed him after, all three of them snickering at the sight of the frail old stallion down on the ground. His wife picked him up, and it was at that moment that Guardian and Silver could recognize who these ponies were.

“That’s Buckwheat!” Guardian muttered.

“Going for an evening stroll, eh?” said the rebel, chuckling as he slammed his hoof into Buckwheat’s gut. One of the foals, Buckwheat’s daughter Aster, screamed in fright at the sight of her father being mercilessly abused, though she soon regretted it.

“You pipe down, you little shit, if the Colonel is woken up, there’ll be hell to pay. And you’ll be the one to pay it,” the rebel said, threateningly. He cackled mischievously while the filly broke down into tears.

Buckwheat raised his hooves to signal his surrender, unable to put up a fight against the soldiers.

“Please, we only meant to retrieve a part I need, from my friend’s boat at the docks, please,” Buckwheat said, his hooves shaking.

“Really? And you need the whole family for that little venture, do you? Top marks for trying, now you’re in double the shit for telling phibs right to my face. Go get the dogs,” the soldier said, briefly turning his head to address one of the other rebel soldiers.

Right as he turned his head back, he caught the tail-end of Guardian’s spear, right to the skull, knocking him out instantly. Before the other two rebels could react, Silver Saber had already fired two quick shots both of their ways, incapacitating them both.

Buckwheat was in bewilderment, until he turned to see Guardian and Silver standing over him. His face lit up in delight, not having expected a rescue.

“Oh! Thank you! You kind souls, you’ve saved our lives,” Buckwheat said, graciously letting Guardian help him up to his hooves again.

“We should make for the docks now, we have to hope nopony heard all of this,” Guardian said.

“No, no, not the docks. They’ve locked up all of the boats. But there’s a boat I had tied down stream, not too far from here, weeks ago. If we’re lucky it will still be there. It’s a little far from here, so we won’t have to worry about guards,” Buckwheat explained, pausing a few times to caress his wounds.

“If you’re alright, we should go. Now,” Silver said. She still wasn’t fully over Buckwheat’s decision to cast them out, though she supposed it didn’t matter as much at the moment.

“Hey!” cried the voice of a rebel from down the street.

“Now! Run!” Guardian said, rushing Buckwheat along in front of her.

They ran straight towards the edge of the town into the wilderness, though there was still the issue of the barbed wire fence standing in their way.

“Silver!” Guardian yelled, though Silver was already on it, stepping ahead of the others and firing a blast of magic that incinerated the fencing in front of them, burning a hole large enough for them all to run through.

“There!”

“They’re over here!” came the voices of rebels behind them, the sound of rushing hooves growing in number. Guardian could feel nervous sweat drip off her forehead, as she was the last one to climb through the hole.

While breaking into a sprint into the woods that gradually led up from the town basin, Guardian quickly understood that her duffel bag was just slowing her down, and if she hoped to escape, she’d have to ditch it. Reaching into one of its pockets, she retrieved an off-white envelope, the letter she was to deliver, holding it in her hoof tightly, like her life depended on it.

Taking flight so she could use her hooves and catch up to the others, Guardian retrieved some medical tape from her belt and ripped off a piece. She then removed her helmet, flipping it over and sticking the letter inside against its interior, and finally securing it against the metal helmet using the strip of tape. She stuffed the helmet back on her head, the letter now attached inside, seated right between the top of her head and the underside of her helmet, crinkling it slightly. With the letter secured, Guardian quickly ditched her pack, tossing it to the side to lighten her weight.
Silver quickly did the same with her pack telekinetically, and then checked over her shoulder to see how close the rebels were in pursuing them.

Her heart nearly stopped at the sight of nearly twenty rebel soldiers galloping through the woods after them.

“Shit!” Silver muttered, realizing that the rebels would catch up to them in no time as long as Buckwheat and his family were slowing them down.

Silver stopped dead in her tracks and turned around, taking cover beneath a large boulder. Sparing no valuable moments, she immediately took to firing her horn towards the fast-approaching rebel soldiers, who came forwards like a wave. Guardian wasn’t aware that Silver had stopped until she heard the sounds of rebels screaming in pain behind her.

“Silver!” Guardian yelled, turning her head to see what Silver was doing.

“Go!” Silver yelled.

Guardian, although she respected Silver’s effort, was unwilling to allow her to make such a sacrifice, darting through the air on her wings to where Silver was, picking her up with all her strength, and flying back forward.

“G-Guardian! Put me down!” Silver yelled, terrified as the rebels gained on them.

“Stay with me!” Guardian yelled, carefully dropping Silver down on the ground, the two of them now running in tandem away from the enemy.

Ahead, they found Buckwheat and his family standing in place in a small dirt clearing, the moonlight from above shining down on them.

“What’s wrong?!” Guardian yelled.

She soon got to discover what. As soon as she and Silver entered the clearing, a good fifteen-odd rebel soldiers descended from the forest brush around them, encompassing the ponies in the center. Buckwheat was already waiting in the clearing, terrified out of his wits, having run right into the rebels’ trap. He had collapsed to the ground in defeat, while Honey Pie and the two foals were being held hostage under knife and axe by some of the rebel soldiers in the crowd.

“Oh...that’s not good,” Guardian muttered under her breath.

Silver’s horn was glowing brightly, as she prepared herself to go down fighting, like she had always expected. Guardian too, had her spear drawn, glancing over her shoulder in every direction to see what the rebels were doing all around her.

Soon the main group of rebels that had been chasing them caught up, joining the smaller detattachment and forming a thick ring around the exhausted ponies.

“D-Dad?!” cried Matchstick, the oldest of Buckwheat’s two children. The boy was shaking with fear, and though Buckwheat was feeling just as afraid, he knew he had to make an effort to inspire some hope, if only for the end’s sake.

“It’s going to be alright, son,” Buckwheat said, calmly, his eyes glancing up at Honey Pie’s heartbroken eyes.

Guardian couldn’t deny she was terrified, both of being killed and of the rebel soldiers themselves. They were all stallions, all brutish, rough-mugged fiends with scars and twisted faces. They were rowdy as well, as they completely encircled the ponies in the clearing. They carried axes and spears, and some had rifles too, but they all seemed to be quite eager to get down to business.

Their rowdiness soon broke down, when one figure started making his way to the front.

He must have been the largest stallion both Guardian and Silver had ever laid eyes on. His face seemed to be made of hard stone, his skin was as thick and rough as tree bark, and his eyes were like raging fires. He was dark grey in color, and his mane had all been shaved off. His muscles bulged everywhere they could, and his very presence ushered a sense of fear, even among his own troops.

“Pegasus,” he said, coldly. His voice was so grim, it was if he had just swallowed a cup of gravel and vinegar.

Guardian nervously perked up, dearly hoping he wasn’t referring to her.

“If those wings go up, that little girl over there is dead. Understand?”

Guardian nervously readjusted her steps, still a bit shocked by how imposing the stone-faced stallion came across.

“Understand?!” he yelled, as if he was about to rip apart everypony in sight.

“...Yes,” Guardian said, scornfully.

“Good,” he said.

Before anypony could say anything, another group of ponies shoved their way through the crowd of rebels from the opposite direction, carrying in a small wooden rowboat that had already been smashed apart and rendered useless.

“I think this was what they were going for,” said the pony carrying one of the pieces, as he and the others dumped the remnant of the boat to the ground.

The crowd of rebels erupted in laughter, while Buckwheat stared at what was left of his escape plan, tears forming in his eyes.

“Alright! Alright! Let me through! Let me through, I say!” yelled one of the rebels in the back of the crowd, shoving his way to the front. He was a unicorn, a narrow-snouted yellow pony with feathery orange hair and a signature look of superiority. He made his way to the front and center, approaching Buckwheat, who was still kneeling on the ground, perpetually defeated.

“Ah, here we are. Mr. Buckwheat...I’m afraid it’s within clear judgement that you’re found guilty of attempted escape, and collusion with the enemy. Terrible luck, my friend. I always knew you would crack one day,” said the yellow-coated rebel. He gave a nod to another pony next to him, who was carrying a long black rifle, aimed precariously towards the group.

The pony with the rifle took a step forward and raised his weapon towards the unsuspecting Buckwheat, who had already guessed what his fate was to be. The old stallion shut his eyes gently, just as the magical pellet exploded out from the rebel’s rifle, bursting through the back of Buckwheat’s skull, exploding on impact.

For a few seconds, there was silence, Silver and Honey pie now both partially covered in the sticky red mess that had sprayed out from Buckwheat’s now missing head. The body collapsed in a heap, blood draining out from the stump neck, blistered veins and burnt tissue spilling out from the wound.

Honey Pie, along with both of her children, immediately started screaming in horror and despair, helpless against the will of the rebels, who merely laughed at the eradication of yet another attempted escapee.

“Mr. Jolly! Take them back, I think we’re to deal with them later!” the yellow-coated rebel said, having to yell in order to be heard over the screaming of Buckwheat’s family.

Jolly Jingle, a short, aging, curmudgeon pale green earth pony, made his way out from the crowd followed by a few more rebels, walking straight towards Buckwheat’s family.

“Please! Please, Have mercy!” Honey Pie cried, as the rebels roughly escorted her and the foals through the crowd and back into the woods towards the town.

After a few moments of waiting for Jolly’s party to have left, the yellow-coated rebel turned back to Guardian, who still had her spear raised defensively.

“Well then. You two. I suppose you’ve already made a slight mess of things. Please, surrender. Let’s not make this difficult.”

“You’re gonna have to try harder than that,” Silver said, resolving to take as many of the rebel scum down with her as possible.

The rebels snickered in mockery, calling out some pretend reactions of intimidation.

“There’s not much of a chance for you, is there...Oh, and like Mr. Gash has already said, if you do choose to raise up your wings there, I am afraid we’ll be forced the execute that poor little family of our deceased friend Mr. Buckwheat...Are we still at an understanding?” Buckwheat said, nodding at the dark grey, stone-faced brutish stallion, Hammer Gash.

“...Yes,” Guardian said, painfully, as she ran out of options in her head.

Surrendering likely meant death, but there was still a possibility for escape. If she did defy the will of these rebels, she would certainly be outright killed, and the mission would be a failure. There was only one possible option, although it was certainly a terrible option on its own.

“Okay, we surrender,” Guardian said, bitterly dropping her spear to the ground.

“Guardian, what the hell are you-” Silver yelled.

“You know this is the only way,” Guardian said, clearly not happy to be doing it herself.

“Miss Unicorn? I encourage you to follow your friend’s example. Otherwise I guess we’ll just waste both of you,” the yellow-coated rebel said, getting a twisted thrill out of watching Guardian and Silver struggle with their course of action.

“Fine!” Silver yelled, furious. If it wasn’t for the threat of Guardian’s life and her insistence on sticking by Guardian through everything, then Silver would’ve certainly opted to die fighting.

Her horn dimmed, and now both ponies were virtually helpless to the ensemble of rebels surrounding them, glaring at them all with a steadfast resentment.

Guardian would’ve left the rebels with some final words of defiance as they closed in around her, but before she could, she felt a sudden impact to her head, and then everything turned to black.

Guardian’s mind drifted awake after an unknowable period of time, and immediately all she could feel was the resounding pain in the back of her head. She had been struck with something and knocked unconscious, something that had never happened to her before, ever.

She was in a large room, second story in what had to be the town hall of Pine Hearth. The room was built with wooden floors and held elegant furniture, and the warmth of a lit fireplace glowed against her back from behind her. To her left was a large window peering down at the town, which was still dead asleep.

Tied to the chair, Guardian was still wearing her golden armor, and her helmet too. She could feel the letter still stuffed between her mane and her helmet, and was relieved that hope was not yet fully lost.

Guardian bit at the piece of white cloth tied tightly around her mouth, which shut her lips together and prevented her from being able to speak. She was tied to a chair in thick ropes, tied so tight she couldn’t move anything but her head. The ropes were so tight it felt as though she and the chair were one and the same. If she was ever to escape from captivity, she’d have to be freed from that dastardly chair first.

“Mmph,” came the grunt of another pony, to Guardian’s right. Guardian turned her head to her right and saw Silver seated in an identical predicament, gagged and tied to a chair close beside her. It appeared that Silver had long given up trying to wrestle her way free, and appeared to have also been subjected to some abuse, evident by the black eye on her left eye and the couple of bruises on her cheek.

Guardian’s wings were wrapped tight in ropes to prevent her from even being able to take flight, and likewise, Guardian noticed there was a thin metal cone stuck over Silver’s horn, complete with a miniature padlock. The device seemed quite uncomfortable for the wearer, and the sour, exhausted look on Silver’s face helped confirm that. Guardian had heard of those devices before, magical restrictors, though none looked quite as painful to wear as the ones designed by the rebels for their unicorn prisoners.

“She’s awake,” came a voice from behind them. Guardian was shaking with fear, not used to being so helpless. She had heard stories of what rebels did to royal prisoners, and none of them were anything good.

To her surprise, Silver felt the gag around her mouth be undone by a stallion’s hooves behind her, freeing her mouth. She said nothing though, too afraid of receiving some sort of additional punishment from her captors.

While Silver’s gag was being undone, several ponies began to make their way from behind Guardian and Silver’s chairs in front of them.

Guardian recognized a few, namely that yellow-coated unicorn who had spoke to them earlier. There was also that stone-faced brute Gash Hammer, and Mr. Jolly the curmudgeon earth pony.

There were a few others, who all appeared to be higher ranking rebel officers, standing in the background by the bookshelves, watching them wriggle in their bondage.

Guardian and the wounded, half-awake Silver watched as the rebels all stepped back towards the walls of the room, away from their prisoners, as if to admire their newest catches. Guardian had expected the yellow-coated pony to be the leader of these devils, but, to her surprise, it was a different pony who was stepping towards them.

He had a pale grey coat and a large, orange and grey mane that swooned backwards over his neck. His eyes were a menacing green, like a serpent’s, and his smile was haunting to every letter of the word.

“So you’re the ones they keep talking about…” he said, slowly, and precisely, examining them each from hoof to head.

“I’m not quite sure what I was expecting, and so I’m not quite sure I am disappointed…” he said, chuckling to himself as he trotted over to a small table by the window and poured himself a short glass of scotch, a mild celebration for the night.

“It’s dawned on me that, though I’m quite aware of the two of you and your escapades in my passage, you must be entirely unaware of who I am…Are you aware of who I am?” he asked, coyly sipping at his glass.

Guardian’s mouth was hanging open, something she instinctively did when she was either scared or confused. And right then it was a mixture of both.

“No,” she replied.

“Perfectly understandable, then I suppose there’s a matter of introductions in order,” the stallion said, taking a gulp of his drink before returning to stand in front of the two bound ponies.

“My name is Fire Streak, I am the commanding officer of the 4th Airborne Brigade, and, more importantly for your sakes, the acting commander over this occupation. An occupation, the order of which, has been tampered with, by you…” he said, almost cockily, as if he was impressed with his own reputation.

“Wait...Fire Streak, like, Fire Streak from the Wonderbolts?” Guardian asked, recalling the name from some childhood memories of Wonderbolt air show extraordinaires. As much as Guardian and her father had their problems, they both had loved to sit and watch the Wonderbolts.

“In my youth,” Fire Streak said, again as if he was absolutely in love with himself.

“I had a Wonderbolts lunch box,” Silver said, her voice whispery and coarse. Guardian glanced at Silver, and then back to Fire Streak, who was staring out the window at the town, or rather, his town.

“The Wonderbolts! Now those were the golden days, weren’t they. Seems like grand old tales, now, don’t they. A world where we were all united under one banner, under one nation?” Fire Streak said, blissfully.

“Buckwheat’s family, are they alright?” Guardian asked, hopeful that the rebels hadn’t punished ponies who were far too innocent to be treated with cruelty.

“They are, at the moment, though, I hardly think their fates have anything to do with you...You’re no longer in the position to make demands, unfortunately…” Fire Streak said, smiling at Guardian, eyeing her body with a slithering, lustful, gaze.

“You two have surely created quite a ruckus around here. All over, my patrols have come back scared out of their wits. They say they’ve found piles of their friends’ bodies sitting in the road, ponies disappearing...I had first imagined your efforts were the work of a full unit at least. Now that I know it’s just the two of you...I can’t deny, that is impressive,” Fire Streak said.

“Quit talking, and do whatever you’re going to do,” Silver spat, disgusted with Fire Streak and the very way he carried himself.

“What was that I said about making demands?” Fire Streak asked, his eyes drifting over to the stone-faced brute, who promptly popped Silver hard in the face with his heavy hoof, turning Silver’s nose purple from blunt injuries. Trails of blood began to seep down over her mouth, and Silver decided she might be better staying silent.

“Don’t hit her!” Guardian yelled, furiously.

“I see you’ve already been acquainted with our dear Gash Hammer there. Yes, I wouldn’t recommend making an enemy out of him. You, unicorn, I’d suggest you keep your mouth shut,” Fire Streak said, and Silver was already in agreement.

“Days ago I thought we couldn’t have it any better here. All these units in this town came to help out the effort against your adorable little purple helmeted soldiers. We triumphed, predictably. It was of little contest. They went down like cowards, squashed beneath our hooves like ants. It was a pathetic display, I was even beginning to think you royals had very little to offer besides your do-nothing alicorn princesses...And then I hear about you two, stirring up trouble. And I was feeling excited again. A real threat. I just couldn’t wait to meet you…”

Guardian, again, began to feel uncomfortable with the way he, and all of the rebels as a matter of fact, were looking at her. She was completely vulnerable, to her despair, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to talk her way out of whatever they had planned for her.

“That captain they had...oh, for the Queen’s sake, what is her name? I know her name, what is it?...Ah! Yes, Periwinkle. Periwinkle Radiance...Have you seen what’s become of her?” Fire Streak asked.

Guardian nodded, disgusted with the pride he seemed to take in his evil inquiries to give a solid answer.

“A souvenir from a battle well fought. A trophy. I recognized her on the battlefield, from a formal event I happened to attend a few years ago. She must’ve only been a recruit then, and she’s still so young. I had my eye on her even back then. To think where we’d all be now! You know what happened? What I thought was strange? I talked with the other prisoners we took, and the one thing they all agreed on, is that they all begged for her life to be spared instead of theirs, like she...meant something to them, represented something. Naturally, I obliged them, and now she’s the only one left. And it came to me, that whatever she represented before, could be put on as a show. To be mocked. I take it as a divine gift, or whatever that is. Her? Out there? She’s old news. This is the future, the Coalition is the future. A world brought up on unity and solidarity, in place of division and dissatisfaction. And when it’s all said and done, and the history books are written, they’ll call out our names as the saviors of our species….”

“Don’t even try to paint yourselves as heroes. That’s a living, breathing pony out there, not some object for you to play with,” Guardian said, disgusted.

Silver glanced at Guardian, terrified that she had possibly warranted some punishment. But Fire Streak seemed more intrigued than angry.

“Look at her out there and tell me which of those she closest resembles. It’s always the weak who beg and cry for equality and justice, when they have no idea what that really means...They don’t want freedom. They want peace. They want routine. They want dependency, order, and attention. It’s only envy, and weakness, and arrogance that convinces ponies to fight for their so-called freedoms. The weak hate the strong, because they’re the ones at risk. They cry and moan that the world isn’t fair, because they can’t help themselves. And for all that to come from you,” he said, roughly grabbing Guardian by the chin and lifting her head back to get a better look at her, “A pony who, by all means, is of the top of the top stock, is just insulting. How are we to unite when we have ponies like you defending the weak, those who can’t even fend for themselves? You fight for a world of pity,” Fire Streak said, as he increasingly became unhinged.

Guardian was aggravated by Fire Streak’s words, but couldn’t find the strength to muster a reply. Fire Streak, however, had no intention of letting up on them.

“You call yourselves heroes. And even to this day ponies are still learning the truth. But some of you never learn...No matter how hard we try to make you see, you just keep pretending. Pretending that monsters don’t exist. Are we the monsters, because we’ve embraced the evil that’s inside all of us? What makes you any better, Corporal? You’ve killed the same as I, you’ve disregarded the code of morality that you once lived by, and sought to die by. You’ve made us all out to be a pest, a contagion that must be eradicated. But you’ve forgotten….that these ponies were once the same as you. You’ve put us into a box, where we either keep fighting against the label you’ve put on us, until we are all utterly extinct, or we accept it, and we’re fizzled out after time. What binds us to be ethical, or fair, when we receive nothing in return? Most of the ponies in this army don’t love the Queen...they don’t even hate the nation Equestria. They fight because they’re afraid. Afraid of losing what they care about. But once they see how you treat them, like foreign invaders, that’s when they truly become your enemy. They are your enemy, because you treat them like nothing less. But they’re just scared little ponies, doing what they must to save what they love. You’re creating the very enemy you seek to destroy, through your disregard and arrogance. Have you no pity for those ponies wrapped up in a war they want no part in? Of course not. So here’s what I’ve done, with my division here, that you’ve become so well acquainted with after managing to escape us for days now. I’ve found the very worst ponies that serve in this glorious Coalition army, the most violent, horrible, cruel ponies I could find, and I’ve told them that there is no going back. How could there be? Should you win the war, will there be amnesty for these ponies? You would expect so, but something tells me that the desire for vengeance will prove more persuasive. So us, we are fighting for our very lives, our very survival. We will rid the world of all the evil that corrupts it...starting with your dear Princesses, who have been blinded by their own folly. Celestia is weak-willed and consumed with her own majesty, she is unfit to rule over Equestria. And her princess subordinates are but extensions of that. I look forward to the day, when those princesses are all in chains and locked away deep underground for eternity...And once they’re gone, we will eradicate the weak, and unite ponies all across Equestria under one leader, one who will see to their needs.”

Fire Streak was practically livid, consumed with a prophetic sense of anticipation and excitement, all the while Guardian and Silver resisted every ounce of his corrupt ideology.

“Equestria will burn. It’s already begun. You think you’ve got us on the run, you think we’re days from surrendering, but it will never happen. Your princesses have abandoned you all to misery and death. Your heroes have been reduced to trophies and toys,” Fire Streak said, glancing out the window at the bound Periwinkle Radiance.

“And you two...both young, both easy on the eyes...You can probably guess what will become of you. If you survive my troops, that is. Which is, dare I say, unlikely. Oh, don’t give me that look. We’ve been cutting down your stragglers in these woods for weeks now. We took the tags of one of your lieutenants, after we hucked his body into the river. Fanfare, was his name. I remembered his face. He attended one of our Wonderbolt shows, back in my youth. There was another squadron by the river, where we found one of our pillboxes raided. Were you a part of that?”

Guardian and Silver both knew of whom he was speaking about, but said nothing.

“You don’t need to answer, I already know. You left this with their sergeant. We found it after we dug up the graves,” Fire Streak said, revealing a golden locket held by a chain, covered in brown dirt.

Guardian suddenly flew into a fit of thrashing in her bondage, outraged by the rebels’ desecration of Halo and his company’s graves, of whom she and Silver personally buried.

“Yes, judging by this, I take it he meant something to you,” Fire Streak said, gripping the locket she had left with Halo before his death.

“You gutless, heartless rats! To disturb the dead!” Guardian screamed, enraged.

“It was only practical. For things like this,” Fire Streak said, admiring the gleam of the golden locket. “This name, Angel. Is this you?”

Guardian refused to participate in this discussion, though Fire Streak already knew the answer.

“A royal guard by the name Angel...Intuition then tells me that you’re the daughter of...it must be General Archangel...I knew he had sons, but not a daughter. Did he give you this?” Fire Streak asked.

“My mother did,” Guardian said.

Fire Streak tilted his head, smiling as she walked closer towards her. He brought his face close beside her neck, as she awkwardly, desperately tried to turn her head away from him. His breath was hot on her neck, and it made her fume with anger and humiliation.

“Your father, I knew him. Before the war. He was always so brash, so hard, so focused. I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like to have him as a father….” Fire Streak said, slowly placing his hoof around Guardian’s shoulder, gliding his hoof up along her body towards her neck, “And would you look at that, it’s as if his name causes you pain just to think about. A family of killers. Did he raise you to be like him? Is that what you think we need? More ponies like him? What a pity that you won’t ever leave this place intact...The General’s daughter...He never mentioned you, to anypony, not once...Tell me, what did he do to you to make you wince like that? Did he ever hit you?” Fire Streak asked, breathing against her cheek.

Guardian was holding back tears, shutting her eyes tightly, her head still turned away from Fire Streak, whose face was now just a centimeters away from her. Guardian tried her best to keep herself together, though that was difficult with Fire Streak on top of her, his movements becoming increasingly invasive.

“Stop it! Leave her alone!” Silver yelled, affected by how upset Guardian was becoming, and how physically close to her Fire Streak was getting.

Fire Streak shot a fiery stare towards Silver, who was also trying her best to stay composed. As much as she was afraid of being subjected to more abuse by the rebels, she couldn’t stand to watch Fire Streak attempt to force himself on Guardian.

“You’ve both put up a good fight, I can’t deny you that. But it’s over now. You’ve nowhere left to run. Nopony to save you, nopony to save. We will move on from this town to the next, and on and on, until the whole of Equestria has learned what it’s like to suffer. Equestria will be born again, this time out of the flames of purifying fire. And you, who continue to resist, you will all be destroyed. One at a time, if necessary. If not today, tomorrow. If not today, then tomorrow. Your world is at an end.”

Fire Streak walked back away from the prisoners while Guardian tried desperately to stop herself from crying.

“Now then...It’s apparent that, although it’s very clear that you are the ones stirring up all this trouble in my passage, it is still a mystery to all of us as to why…” Fire Streak said, smirking as he nodded to the yellow-coated rebel nearby.

“Mr. Lemon Spot had kindly located and searched those two bags that you attempted to discard...Mr. Lemon Spot? Do share your findings,” Fire Streak said.

Lemon Spot took a few steps forward, telekinetically holding a few items on display.

Silver was absolutely terrified, expecting them to have found the letter. She was unaware, still, that Guardian had hidden it underneath her helmet. Yet, in Lemon Spot’s aura of green magic, the letters containing the orders to the 19th were noticeably absent. Silver turned her head to Guardian, confused. Guardian subtly glanced up towards her helmet, and Silver quickly understood, greatly relieved that the letter was safe.

“Some books in this bag, sir. There could be some hidden message in there,” Lemon Spot posited.

Fire Streak turned to Silver.

“Is there such a thing?” he asked.

“No, there’s nothing special about the books,” Silver said, dryly.

“Really? So we’re free to burn them? Right now?” Fire Streak asked, grinning sinisterly.

“What? No, don’t do that!” Silver cried, horrified.

“Oh? And why not? If there’s nothing special about them?”

“They’re special to me!” Silver exclaimed.

Fire Streak grinned, and he clearly wasn’t buying Silver’s alibi, although it was the truth.

Fire Streak gave Lemon Spot a nod, and the unicorn immediately took to throwing all three of Silver’s beloved books into the nearby fireplace. Silver turned pale with fright at the sound of crinkling embers and burning paper, signaling the tragic demise of her favorite books.

Guardian wished she could comfort Silver, who seemed to be losing every single pony and thing she cared about recently. Though, as long as she was bound to that chair, Guardian could do little to help.

“Well, since only you seem to be upset about the books, I take it that means they weren’t why you were out here,” Fire Streak said, still at a loss.

“So I’m beat. Ms. Angel. Tell me. Where’s your unit? Why are you out here? Where were you trying to go?”

Guardian stayed completely silent, defiant in her strong resentment towards Fire Streak and his cronies.

“Nothing? Really? Are you sure?” Fire Streak asked again, providing Guardian with a chance to reconsider.

Again, she was silent, though she was already coming close to tears, aware that she could be seconds away from being killed.

“Very well. Her first,” Fire Streak said.

Guardian and Silver shared a look of shock, as several rebels approached Guardian’s chair.

“Oh, and do leave her face. She has a very pretty face, we wouldn’t want to ruin it,” Fire Streak specified, making Guardian wince again with fear for what the rebels had planned for her.

They unfastened her tight restraints, freeing her completely from her rope bondage. Guardian first considered flying off through the window, though Fire Streak had expected this.

“Don’t make any sudden moves, or your friend’s neck is getting cut open,” Fire Streak warned, while Guardian was escorted closer towards him in front of the chairs. Fire Streak probably wasn’t lying, either, as Guardian noticed Gash Hammer standing behind Silver with a knife held dangerously close to her throat.

Guardian tried her best to maintain her composure and show bravery in the face of death, though, when surrounded by a pack of bloodthirsty sadists, that was rather difficult.

“Bring it over,” Fire Streak commanded.

Without delay, in a matter of seconds two rebels came springing out from one of the doors to Silver’s right, wheeling in some strange wooden contraption, that vaguely resembled a horse cradle.

“Go on,” Fire Streak said.

Before Guardian could act on her own, the rebel behind her whacked her in the back with the butt of his axe, forcing Guardian down on top of the cradle lengthwise, so that all four of her legs hung off the sides, practically perfectly aligned with four wooden legs of the device. The seat was fitted with a leather pad, which was surprisingly comfortable, though Guardian understood that she probably wouldn’t be comfortable for long.

Two rebels then bent down on either side of her, and began looping some ropes around her hooves and each of the four legs of the wooden cradle, effectively tying her down on top of it. She made little resistance, wary of the knife that was still positioned under Silver’s throat.

“This device was devised by the Queen herself, you should feel honored,” Fire Streak said, right as Guardian’s last free leg was tied to the leg of the cradle. Guardian scowled, uncomfortable with how tightly she was positioned atop the cradle.

“Mr. Wood Chip! You may proceed!” Fire Streak called.

Out stepped a short brown-coated stallion with black mutton chops and a pair of spectacles, carrying in a pail of nails and a hammer in one hoof, and two thin strips of wood in the other.

“Guardian…” Silver muttered, terrified for Guardian at the sight of such intimidating, crude instruments.

“Silver, don’t say anything, okay? You have to promise me, no matter what, don’t say anything,” Guardian said, intent on seeing this mission through, even if it meant she herself had to go through hell.

“Silver!’ Guardian yelled, after Silver held off from answering right away.

“Ok! I promise!” Silver replied, though she wasn't sure whether she’d be able to hold herself to that.

“You, unicorn, Silver’s your name? Whatever, listen up. You have to keep your eyes open and watch everything, got it? Otherwise we’re gonna make it a lot worse!” Fire Streak yelled, trying his best to rattle the distressed unicorn.

“O-Ok…” Silver said, struggling not to cry on her friend’s behalf.

Guardian was focusing on her breathing, and trying to avoid looking at the sharp nails sitting in Wood Chip’s pail, or his thick metal hammer.

Wood Chips first bent down on her left side, taking one of the thin wooden planks in his hoof. He angled it diagonally from underneath the base of the seat of the cradle, angling it upwards and outwards into the air. Wood Chip raised his hoof to signal another one of the rebel soldiers, who quickly approached carrying a large rock with a short string tied around it.

With Wood Chip’s help, the rebel soldier tied the other end of the string to the free end of the thin plank sticking up in the air. The rock effectively weighed down the plank away from the base of the seat, and Guardian could begin to tell what the point of the device was.

“Extend your wing,” Wood Chip commanded.

Guardian hadn’t even heard him, her mind was so flustered with fear.

“Spread your wing now!” Fire Streak yelled, getting a sick, evil pleasure out of watching Guardian hold back tears.

Guardian’s mind tweaked, and she reluctantly obeyed, her left wing spreading outwards. She was beginning to feel petrified, hoping to Celestia that she wouldn’t end up permanently deformed or scarred. As long as she could walk, and as long as the letter was still safe hidden underneath her helmet, she still had hope. She held off from complaining or begging for mercy, knowing she wouldn’t be getting out of this with words alone. She knew she had a duty to Equestria to deliver the letter, regardless of the costs. She only wished the costs wouldn’t be too painful.

Wood Chip gently grabbed Guardian’s wing and hoisted it outwards, far enough until the tip of her feathers were positioned right over the edge of the plank. The nearby guard held her wing in place, while Wood Chip positioned one of the nails right over the tip of her wing.

Then, without warning, Wood Chip raised up his hammer and slammed it down over the nail, sending a shockwave of pain through Guardian’s body. He hammered the nail deeper into the cartilage of Guardian’s wing three more times, until her wing was firmly stuck to the plank. Wood Chip released his hooves from her wing, which recoiled slightly back and forth. Guardian couldn’t stop herself from screaming in agony, as her wing was stretched outwards by the plank weighed down by the rock on the string.

While Guardian continued bursting into tears, Wood Chip trotted to the other side of her and gave her right wing the same treatment, leaving Guardian a contorted mess of blood and tears. He then moved to each of her legs, hammering nails all the way through to fix her to the cradle. Guardian cried and screamed bloody murder; she could feel the nails jaggedly scraping through and past her bones, tearing apart muscle and flesh. And her wings hurt most of all, as the weight of the rock stretched them so far she thought they might be ripped off the stems.

Silver was speechless, her eyes widened in fright at the sight of Guardian’s mutilated form, as tears slipped out from Guardian's eyes and agonized groans came pouring out from her mouth.

Drops of blood fell from the tips of Guardian’s wings and legs, seeping into the hardwood floor. Her deep breaths were mixed with exasperated moans, as she tried her very hardest to tolerate the pain. She was drenched with sweat, her eyes half-open and her mouth hanging ajar.

“Now, Miss Angel, before we really begin...Are you sure you can’t answer any of our questions?” Fire Streak said, getting close to her face while she sniffled and whimpered in pain.

“Go to hell,” Guardian said, right before spitting a thick glob of saliva directly into Fire Streak’s face.Despite the terrible situation they were in, Silver couldn’t help but feel proud of Guardian for that.

The rebels all laughed in spite of Guardian’s attempt at defiance, considering the position she was in. Fire Streak was laughing too, wiping off his face with a rag he had just been handed by one of the rebels.

“As you wish,” Fire Streak said, laughing as he backed away.

“Give it to her. Give all of it to her,” he said, slightly more sinisterly, as if he had actually been offended by her defiance.

Guardian braced herself, though she definitely wasn’t quite ready, when the first strike of a hard metal cane came crashing down into Guardian’s stretched left wing. Immediately, a sickening snap could be heard, quickly followed by Guardian gasping in shock and sharp pain. She felt the breath escape her for a moment, as the nerves in her wings screamed and burned.

Silver focused on keeping her eyes open as she was instructed, for fear of adding to Guardian’s torment, though it was unfathomably difficult to keep her eyes fixed on the now crooked, bent wing of her screaming friend. Silver was sweating in fear, afraid of what punishment would be given to her next, as she watched each rebel in the room take a turn landing some horrendously cruel blows to Guardian’s poor wings, using a variety of instruments. Aside from the cane, she saw them use a spiked bat, a splintery wooden club, and a metal bat, all used to demolish Guardian’s vulnerable wings.

After twenty strikes to each wing, Guardian was a sweaty mess of exhausted, agonized yelps, and ear-piercing screeching, her wings now covered in crude black, blue, and purple bruises, bent in unnatural ways and seemingly on the verge of breaking apart completely. Blood dripped from opened sores and formed puddles on the ground, and all the while the rebels were laughing as if they were at a comedy show.

Guardian hung limp on the cradle, and while early on she had been screaming non-stop, now the pain had gotten so bad her mind had almost short-circuited, and she could do nothing but hang there, sweaty and confused, only to scream out in intervals, in response to each individual hit. Otherwise she was just lying there, panting and grunting in pain, her eyes half open and her body motionless.

Lemon Spot had grabbed her by her face, grinning roughly as he considered all the ways he could further the torment. Guardian winced and whimpered when he moved in to kiss her on the lips, buckling to pull away. Lemon seemed irritated by her defiance, and proceeded to grab one of the baseball bats nearby. Guardian groaned in pain, and was caught unawares when Lemon bashed in her right wing so hard the snap could be heard from outside. Guardian, even after her voice had gone hoarse, was so overcome with pain she thought she might have fainted. My wings are destroyed. I'll never fly again. I've failed. I've failed everypony She cried and screamed and fought to stay awake, fearful of what they would do to her if she passed out.

"Still not in a talking mood?" Fire Streak asked.

Guardian was a panting, bloody mess. She managed to glare up at him, and said nothing, but her eyes gave him his answer.

"Take her legs," Fire Streak said.

It was only three words, but it was enough to send Guardian into a frenzy. The pain did not matter anymore, she had to get free somehow. She pulled against the nails in her legs with all her might, but they were firmly in place.

"Oh God! Please! Don't!" she cried. She had not thought she would ever let herself beg for mercy, but even she had her limits, "Don't! Don't!"

She saw Wood Chip approach with a saw, its blade glimmering in the candlelight. Guardian broke down completely, and could not bear to look at Silver. She deserved this, Guardian told herself, she deserved this for failing her mission.

While Guardian was shutting her eyes and praying the amputation went by quickly, Silver had not come to the same resolution.

“Stop!" Silver yelled, and the rebels all turned, "Stop! Please! Let her go! I’ll tell you anything you want to know! Everything!” Silver yelled.

Fire Streak raised his hoof to stop Wood Chip, approaching Silver with inquisitorial eyes.

“I just knew you’d come around,” Fire Streak said, laughing with his sinister grin.

“Silver….Don’t….” Guardian said, though her voice was so shot from screaming that it only came out as a whisper.

“Well then, Miss Silver, tell me. Where’s the rest of your unit?”

“Dead! We’re all that’s left. Those bodies you found, the ones buried with her locket that you’ve got, they were some of ours. We had others before that too, but they all died too,” Silver said, concocting her story as she went along, hoping she hadn’t made any narrative errors yet.

To her delight, Fire Streak didn’t seem to be immediately suspicious of her story’s validity.

“I know that pony, the sergeant, he was the third in command to that Fillydelphia unit lieutenant...That lieutenant, what was his name?” Fire Streak asked, testing whether Silver was telling the truth.

“Fast Track, he was our lieutenant,” Silver said.

“So you’re telling me you’re a part of that Fillydelphia unit?”

“Yes.”

“You’re from Fillydelphia then? Or lived there during the draft at least? What part of the city?”

“Downtown, Old City,” Silver replied, instantly.

Fire Streak seemed to be convinced, though he kept going, hoping to find some sort of holes to prove she was a liar.

“And what? They all got killed and now you two are on your own?”

“Yes.”

“Why were you down here to begin with? We’ve been hunting down you last stragglers for weeks,” Fire Streak said.

“Our mission was based on intel from October, to redirect enemy forces coming from Vanhoover.”

“That would be us, wouldn’t it...Great job you’ve done!” Fire Streak said, while the crowd of rebels erupted in laughter.

Guardian continued groaning in pain, hoping to fall unconscious so that she didn’t have to live with it for much longer.

Fire Streak laughed to himself, bending his head down while Silver focused on maintaining her front of seriousness.

“That’s a neat story, and it sounds nice to my ears, but...I don’t know, I’m still not sure...Mr. Jolly, do me a favor and package these two back up, keep them in one of the tents outside. We’ll deal with this again in the morning,” Fire Streak said.

The crowd slowly began to disperse from the large, elegant second-story room of the town hall, Fire Streak still laughing to himself over his triumph over the enemy that had been a thorn in his side for the past few days.

As Wood Chip came back to Guardian to free her from the cradle, she managed to glance at Silver one last time, managing a weak smile of approval for Silver’s delaying deception. But it only lasted a quick moment, before the world again turned to black.

Silver was helpless as the trio of royal soldiers picked her up by her chair, carrying her on their backs as they exited the elegant top room of the Pine Hearth town hall. Due to the tight ropes, she could only barely turn to get a glimpse of Guardian, who was now unconscious sitting on the cradle, her body limp and her blue coat stained with crimson red blood.

“You’re a bunch of cowards! You’ll get what’s coming for you, I swear it!”

The rebel soldiers merely laughed, roughly carrying her out the door and down a flight of stairs.

Exiting through the front door of the town hall lobby, Silver felt a blast of freezing wind and snow wash over her like a brick to the face. The violent storm had resurfaced, though now the rain had frozen into a mixture of snow and sleet.

It was hell on earth, worsened by her shaky mental state. Having to watch her best friend be tortured to near-death, coupled with the knowledge that her fate could perhaps be even worse, made her sick to her stomach.

She was dumped in a large tan tent built near the wooden battlements on the eastern end of the town, which housed a great deal of rebel soldiers. At least a few hundred.

Before she was thrown into the tent, she witnessed another group of rebels dragging a familiar pony, Periwinkle Radiance, whose face was pale with trauma. They were dragging her by her hair, laughing as they made their way into another tent, presumably to commit more heinous acts that reminded Silver why she hated the enemy so much.

Still bound in her chair, she was propped against the center wooden stake of the tent, the light of several lanterns nearby lighting up the tan tent, casting it in an orange hue. Inside the tent, there was little more than dirt and few boxes here and there, and certainly nothing that Silver could use to fix an escape.

Before she could really get her bearings, more rebels entered through the tent entrance, carrying a re-tied up Guardian, whose broken and bloodied wings were left free from being bound, since they were virtually useless now.

“Hey, watch this,” said one of the rebels, after dropping an unconscious Guardian to the ground, falling flat on her face in a heap. The rebel then stomped right onto her left wing with all his force, cracking a few more shattered tendons.

Guardian suddenly woke up, gasping in pain.

“You motherfucker! I'll kill you!” Silver roared, furiously trying to break free.

The rebels all laughed, and proceeded to prop Guardian up against the pole, right beside Silver, tying them to the pole separately.

“Marl, you’re first up,” said one of the rebels, to one of his companions.

“Colonel said don’t touch ‘em, you’re gonna have to wait,” said another, snickering to himself as he eyed the semi-conscious, delirious Guardian.

Marl, a young rebel with light grey coat and feathery red hair, nodded in understanding, raising up his spear for both Silver and a distressed Guardian to see.

“Don’t try anything,” he warned, though he seemed to be a little nervous about making threats.

“Thatta boy,” said one of the rebels, as he and the others all left the tent.

The flaps were left slightly open, Marls standing inside in front of the entrance.

“Guardian?!” Silver asked, hoping Guardian was still alive.

Guardian groaned something that was meant to be a “yes.”

Before Silver could make sure Guardian was still with her, Marl suddenly turned around, as if he had forgotten to do something.

“No talking.”

He reached into a nearby box and pulled out two large strips of clothes, and headed back towards them.

“Wait, wait! Please! Please, you can just let us go, we’re useless to you, we can-” Silver attempted to say, before Marl took one of the large cloth strips and wrapped it around Silver’s face, silencing the desperate unicorn, and blindfolding her simultaneously. He did the same to the half-awake Guardian, though for her, he did seem to feel sympathy for, helping to sit her up better and positioning her so that her terribly injured wings weren’t being squished against the pole. Guardian’s head was completely limp in his hooves, while Silver at least attempted to make some sort of resistance. Now that Guardian was critically injured, Silver had to accept that it would be her alone who would have to get them out of this. With luck, and to Silver’s knowledge, the letter was still hidden inside Guardian’s helmet. Which meant, they still had a chance.

But for now, she couldn’t do much, with her magic, ability to speak, and sight all being restricted.

But she could still hear, which she took advantage of after about an hour of sitting in silence, when she heard hoofsteps in the snow make their way towards them.

“You’re outta here. Shift’s up,” said a stallion’s voice, one that Silver immediately recognized.

She grunted into her gag, and attempted to nudge Guardian to get her attention. The pegasus was still only barely awake, stuck in a strange mental zone of combined pain and terror.

“Who the hell are you? You’re not 4th,” Marl said, skeptically.

“Pathfinders. I said you’re outta here, kid. Beat it.”

Marl hesitated, but reluctantly conceded, handing the new pony his spear and trudging off into the unsavory storm outside.

After a few seconds of silence, Silver heard the rustling of the tent flaps closing, and the sound of their new guard approaching them.

After some fidgeting, light returned to the world, as the guard untied the cloth from around Silver’s face.

“You fucking coward,” Silver spat, at the sight of Sundance, now wearing a polished, formal rebel uniform as opposed to his previous rough-worn armor. He seemed to be horrified with their predicament, and paid no notice to Silver’s namecalling, as he made his way down to Guardian, unfastening her gag and blindfold and backing away, slowly.

“What have they done to you…” he muttered, horrified.

Guardian’s eyes blinked up towards him, and immediately she felt her heart weaken even more.

“You…You lied to me,” Guardian managed to say, her voice faint and drained of life.

Sundance’s breathing drew short, beginning to feel guilt for possibly unintentionally causing their current condition.

“So you knew they were here, all along! You were leading us right into a trap!” Silver yelled.

“Keep your voice down, unless you want somepony else to hear,” Sundance said, resuming his commanding tone.

Guardian spat at his hooves, her mouth quivering from both the physical and emotional pain running through her body.

“You’re just like the rest of them. Monsters,” Guardian said.

“I know you won’t believe me...but I’m telling the truth, I didn’t know they were here,” Sundance said.

“Bull!” Silver said.

“You let me go the night before this one, remember? And I flew north, that’s where I imagined I’d find my unit. But I was intercepted by a pegasi patrol, part of the Airborne Brigade. They took me here, they thought I was a royal in disguise. The Colonel nearly had me hanged, but I was lucky, there was an old friend from another unit I used to work with, he knew me. Look, I didn’t mean to lead you right to them, I know these ponies, I know Colonel Fire Streak. They have a...reputation. I wouldn’t have sent you here willingly, I wouldn’t have even sent my worst enemies! You showed me mercy, you spared my life. Whether I care to admit it or not...You certainly don’t deserve to die here of all places.”

Guardian wanted to believe he was telling the truth, though she couldn’t think too critically over anything with how exhausted and in pain she was.

Sundance bent down beside Guardian and began untying the ropes from around her limbs, freeing her. He then helped the wounded pegasus stand up to her hooves.

“What are you doing?” Guardian asked, shocked, barely able to move her weakened muscles.

“I’ve come to make us even. To return a favor,” Sundance said.

“But...they’ll kill you for this,” Guardian said, confused as to what he was attempting to gain from freeing them.

“I meant what I said, I didn’t know they were here,” he said again, hoping to be believed. And, despite Guardian still feeling betrayed, she was feeling more inclined to trust him.

He moved to Silver next, untying her ropes and freeing her from the chair.

Immediately, Silver pounced up from her chair to try and strangle Sundance to death, but stopped first to watch Guardian collapse back to the ground, having fallen unconscious yet again from the pain of her wing-related injuries.

Silver returned to Sundance, still intent on killing him.

“I’m the only way you’re getting out of here alive! If you kill me, you and your friend are dead!” Sundance warned, waiting to see what she would do next. In truth, when he had heard of Guardian and Silver’s capture, he had only felt compelled to rescue Guardian alone, though he knew she would protest if he neglected to rescue her friend too.

Silver stopped her approach, reluctantly deciding Sundance was right.

“I never trusted you for a second. And I trust you even less now,” Silver said.

“You don’t have to trust me, you just have to follow close behind me. Do you want your horn free?”Sundance said, nodding up at Silver’s restrained horn.

“It’s padlocked,” Silver said, pawing at the uncomfortable metal cone fitting snugly around her horn. The device gave her a massive headache, as if someone was constantly swinging a golf club into her forehead.

“Those types all use the same key, here,” Sundance said, grabbing a key from a ring tied around his belt.

He approached a nervous Silver, who bent her head down to allow him better access to her horn.

He stuck the small key inside the hole of the padlock, and, with a simple twist, the device came apart, and Silver could feel her head slowly return to normal.

“Don’t try casting any spells for a few minutes, let the effects wear off.”

Silver rubbed her legs, which were still sore from rope burn, and glanced at the keeled over Guardian.

“Alright. How do we get out of here?” Silver asked.

“Follow me. Be quiet, and-” Sundance started.

“Hold it. You’re carrying her, not me,” Silver said, narrowing her eyes.

“Well that’s just not practical,” Sundance said, dryly.

“I don’t care if it isn't practical. Once my magic comes back, I’ll cover us if things get dicey. She can’t fly, she can barely walk, she’s lost blood,” Silver said.

“I can’t go all the way with you two, I’ll have to return here.”

“What a surprise. Does it look like I care what happens to you? If I had it my way you’d be set on fire and thrown in a pit of spikes. You’re damn lucky we need your help at all.”

“Does it really look like I’m not trying to help you both out here?” Sundance, said, annoyed with her verbal abuse.

“You rebels are all twisted in the head. No sane pony could do that to somepony else,” Silver said, nodding at Guardian’s mangled wings.

“I never meant for this to happen, alright? I’m trying to save your lives here,” Sundance said.

“If anything else happens to her, you’ll be the first pony I’ll be after.”

“Oh, like you two are such great friends anyway. All you do is bicker and complain!”

Silver stared at him, shocked by how brazen he was, given how close she was to killing him just a few seconds ago.

“She’s my best friend, I just...I don’t know, this place is making monsters of all of us,” Silver said, recalling that unarmed rebel soldier she had killed all the way back at the mountain cabin. She had killed many ponies in her time on the front, but that one in particular had stuck with her, haunted her.

“Some more than others,” she added, glaring at Sundance.

Sundance, for all his self-acknowledged faults, still believed in the classical tenets of morality, namely that decent ponies didn’t deserve to suffer just because they were aligned with one group or the other, or that they were just in the way. It was that way of thinking that caused the death of his entire family and the destruction of his home. Despite how much he despised the royals, he couldn’t bring himself to hate indiscriminately, especially towards Guardian, who he had to admit had been decently generous in her kindness towards him. Though he still wasn’t a fan of Silver, and she was not a fan of him, together they now had a mutual dependency to protect Guardian.

Silver’s horn suddenly started to glow, causing Sundance to back up in his tracks, uncertain what she was doing.

“Wait….Think about this,” he said, raising his hoof up cautiously.

She held her horn towards him, continuing to glow brighter and brighter.

But, right before it seemed she was about to fire, her horn dimmed, and a condescending smirk grew on her face.

“I guess it works now. Let’s go,” Silver said.

Sundance grabbed Guardian by her front hooves, dragging her along the snow out of the tent, Silver quickly following behind.

The thick onslaught of snow and rain came as an advantage, adding an additional layer of cover for the ponies’ escape.

Guardian drifted awake one last time, being carried by somepony else through the snowstorm somewhere outside. She made out a pony in the distance, who appeared to be Silver, though the night-covered dense snowfall was obscuring her vision, and her mind was very much on the fritz. Silver’s brightly glowing horn was a beacon in the night, firing in several directions. The distant sounds of screaming rebels and jangling of weapons, and the crinkling of snow-covered leaves beneath the her carrier’s hooves as he entered into the forests, were the last sounds she heard, before she again fell unconscious, dragged through the snow by Sundance, who was persistent in proving his efforts not to be in vain.

07: Us and Them

The trickling drift of freezing cold water dribbled over its thin riverbed of smooth brown earthy rock; the sound of foam and bubbles bellowed out into the forest, crying out to be heard.

And heard it was, by the twitching left ear of a cyan-colored pegasus pony with soft orange eyes, lying motionless on the pebble beach close beside the creek. She had been left beneath a fairly large log sitting atop a small grassy ridge, its bark ripped off in some places, and in other spots covered in grey-green moss. Frozen dew clung to the log in the form of tiny icicles, teetering underneath the brittle wood like sharp teeth.

She couldn’t feel a thing, at least at first, while her mind was trapped in a seemingly inescapable void of dark confusion. She could remember being upset, and in pain, but couldn’t recall what for. She felt as though she couldn’t move a muscle, as if she couldn’t even find the strength to lift up her eyelids or close her drooling mouth.

Until, she heard it. The water of the creek cascading over small hills and around stray rocks, the sound of the windgently swaying the branches of trees high above her, the sounds of far-off birds cawing and chirping.

Then it all came upon her at once in a loud cry, her eyes springing open and the cruel cold forest air striking her unsuspectedly. She gasped for breath as if she had just been resuscitated, and immediately, she was overtaken by an unbelievably excruciating pain screeching out from her wings.

She was still wearing her royal armor, which was stained with the occasional hideous crimson stain, the remnant of her own spilt blood. She groaned in agony, her wings still a disgusting mess of snapped bones and bluntly bruised muscle. She couldn’t resist the urge to take a look for herself at what had been done to her, slowly turning her head behind her.

She practically threw up on the spot, at the sight of just how mangled her wings were. Bloody streaks and gashes laid over crumpled bones that jutted out in unnatural directions, black and purple bruises that seemed to radiate pain, not to mention how the faintest attempt at moving them sent tormenting surges through her body, so powerful that Guardian could swear she was going to faint yet again.

Yet, she was determined not to give in, not until she was truly helpless. She could still walk, though she decided it would be wiser for now to wait where she was until the pain in her wings could subside to some extent.

To her shock, her helmet was missing, her ears and wavy turquoise mane now exposed in the cold air. Her brightly colored hair touched just slightly past her shoulders. Guardian was in disbelief, both that her helmet had been removed from her head, but also, far more importantly, that the letter she had hidden underneath it was also missing. The letter, the entire purpose of the mission, had been lost. And, to Guardian’s horror, losing that letter meant failure, and innumerable deaths forthcoming.

Struggling not to cry, Guardian tried to focus on what she could still control, namely, perhaps helping her wounded wings. She winced, tears slipping out from the corners of her eyes. She could barely bring herself to make any effort to survive any longer, now that the letter had been lost and hope dwindled thin.

Reaching into one of the small packs fixed on her armor belt, Guardian was relieved to see she was still in possession of her first-aid kit, retrieving it and laying out her supplies in front of her. She was first inclined to use her roll of bandages, though she knew it’d be difficult to bandage up her wings from behind her back, not to mention the pain that would likely coincide.

What she did see was a syrette of morphine, a regulated amount approved for soldiers to use for self-application in case of emergencies where a doctor wasn’t available.

Guardian had a mild phobia of needles, though after having her wings battered mercilessly for almost half an hour yesterday, she was confident she could ignore her reservations.

Twisting off the safety cap, Guardian flicked the syrette to ensure there was no bubble buildup, before positioning the device right above her left thigh, preparing to stab herself.

She squeaked out a high-pitched grunt as she pushed the needle inside her thigh, and squeezed on the tube, injecting the contents into her bloodstream. She no longer had her canteen, though, as if by good chance, the nearby creek would suffice for what she was after next.

Crawling towards the edge of the bank of the creek, Guardian extended her hoof towards the water, but then quickly reeled it back, caught off guard by just how cold it was.

She regained her resolve and tried again, reaching into the water and splashing some at her wings from behind. She groaned as the water stung her sore injuries, though, after a few more splashes, the blood did begin to wash off.

After a few minutes lying awkwardly on her side by the creek, she began to feel the morphine taking its effect, her nerves beginning to numb and her body starting to feel sluggish.

She decided she was still too weak to be doing much about anything quite yet, letting her eyes drift down and her body go lax, allowing herself to rest for the time being.

Yesterday’s snowstorm was intense, but brief. The beach was barren of snow, and the snow on the grass higher up on the ridge behind barely reached a few inches.

Guardian still wasn’t at all sure how she had gotten to this place, which was clearly somewhere in the forest. Silver was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Sundance, who was the last face she could remember before she first fainted. In her head, she cursed Fire Streak and his entire pack of devilish beasts, and was very much consumed by her anger. She had allowed herself to be tortured with the sole hope that she would survive and escape, and be able to see her mission through. But now that the letter was gone, she was without purpose, and without any hope that the ends of this terrible quest would justify the means. Guardian knew that today was the final day for the mission to be completed; the day set for the northern battalions to march to their dooms, now without anypony to stop them.

For a few hours, Guardian made no effort to move from beside the creek, her eyes fixed on the coursing water that flowed past her endlessly. For no matter how hard she tried, it seemed the world would forever bar her from crossing the bridge to success. She cared less for the titles and honors and more for the respect and love that came with being a hero. She foremostly cared about being a good pony, though in the heat of Equestria’s Great War, it seemed good ponies were beginning to go extinct.

She hated to feel sorry for herself, to the point where she was typically unwilling to even admit to herself when she may have been dealt a bad hand in life. She had learned from a young age that complaining and self-pity were just distractions from any progress she might be able to make, though that perhaps should not have warranted an aversion to dealing with her insecurities in any facet. Her anxiety was wrestling her mind into a frenzy nearly all the time, though she did try and maintain a front of emotional stability.

It seemed no matter what she tried, and no matter how hard she wanted to be good, her status never seemed to change. Certainly never in the eyes of her father, and barely ever in the eyes of her military superiors. She recalled what Sundance had described her as, a tool, and for some spiteful reason, that label stuck with her. Ponies that did great things were often left buried in ash, like Halo or herself possibly should she perish, nameless and forgotten. What could make them all proud, was what Guardian often wondered. She believed in doing the right thing, and in honor and respecting authority, all the things that she was brought up on in both her childhood and her military career.

Her father’s resentment towards her had a more profound effect than perhaps even Guardian herself realized. Her endless pursuit of validation came not as a narcissistic quest for glory or fame, but rather as a hopeful attempt at some respect for herself, respect which had been incessantly denied during her adolescence. Her head was constantly a mess, doubting every decision she made, worrying about what other ponies would think of her. At her core, all she really ever wanted was to help other ponies. Though, unfortunately, her goal neglected her ability to help herself.

And for Silver, her dearest friend, Guardian’s heart burned. She was gone, and Guardian had little clue as to where to look for her. In spite of their frequent tiffs and collisions, Guardian had never stopped loving Silver.

She recalled their first meeting, years ago in the training academy. She remembered the day fondly, struggling to decide where to sit in the mess hall, as she hardly knew anypony at all. She had spotted Silver sitting alone, and decided to sit with her, though Silver had initially been reluctant to start fraternizing with anypony. But they quickly took a liking to each other, and having a pony to depend on during training was always something to be grateful for. Guardian thought it to be a shame, if their friendship was to end in death in the mountain passage, apart from one another. She regretted some of the things she had said to Silver in the past days, though she only hoped she would have a chance to apologize to Silver herself.

But regardless of if she or Silver were to survive, living would surely only mean more pain. For the letter was lost, and with it the lives of the royals’ three largest battalions. The war would very well be lost, and ponies like Fire Streak would come to dominate Equestria.

Uncontrollably, tears fell from Guardian’s eyes, falling down her cheeks to the ground below. She shivered in the cool wind that blew past the waters of the creek, as despair seized her heart.

She lay on the beach, aimlessly, trying to keep herself from falling asleep. Though it was perhaps not too late to deliver the message to the 19th Battalion across the river, without the letter she would likely just be ignored. And, after considering what she already been through, she began to doubt any resemblance of success coming out of this doomed mission. She wasn’t sure if she could even live with herself beyond that point, to live with the guilt of thousands of ponies’ lives lost. And worse, she had nopony around to help her, nopony but herself to blame. She lay still, stuck in place, with no desired past to return to and no future worth facing.

On the pebble beach, for hours she lay completely still on her side. Completely still, all until she heard a twig snap from behind her in the forest brush.

She weakly lifted her head to see what was approaching her, and was surprised to see a familiar face.

“Are you alright?” asked Sundance, stumbling over some bushes near the log. He had other belongings with him, stashing them behind the bushes before he began cautiously walking towards Guardian on the pebble beach.

Guardian grunted as she tried to roll herself over without hurting her wings, though, despite her best efforts, that familiar dull stinging flashed a few times underneath her skin.

Sundance hadn’t yet seen Guardian in daylight, and was again taken aback by her condition, just as he had been the previous night. Her soft eyes seemed blank and empty in the grey morning light, and her initial motionless position on the beach first gave Sundance the impression she was dead. He gave an audible sigh of relief, as soon as Guardian had lifted her head, still confused as to what had happened to her and where she was.

“I’ve just come from Pine Hearth. I brought some medical supplies, all I could,” Sundance said, raising a backpack that was presumably filled with said things. He set the bag down, waiting for some sort of reply.

“You brought me here?” Guardian asked, close to slurring her words, slightly delirious from the combination of pain and drugs.

“I did. Last night. You had fallen under, I carried you here,” Sundance explained.

“Where’s my friend?” Guardian asked, shakily.

“She'd run off, lost her. I think she meant to lead the others away, to try and buy us time. She escaped into the forest, I think. I left you here last night, don't you remember? But I had to go back. It would’ve been a suspicious thing if I had been missing too, you see. I showed them your helmet and told them I found it on the eastern line, far from here. That should buy you some more time to escape, while you can still walk. Go north, across the river, like I assume you meant to. I can get you a boat, first we just-”

“My helmet!? Do you still have it?” Guardian interjected, despairingly

Sundance’s blank stare was an unwelcome sight, though he was only confused as to why the status of her helmet held any importance.

“Do you have it?!” Guardian yelled, again startling Sundance.

He slowly backed away and walked back over to behind the bushes where he had left his bags, and, to Guardian’s intense relief, he came back holding her very own golden helmet.

“I told them I’d keep it as a souvenir. The Colonel let me. I figured you’d want it back. Here,” he said, walking back over to her. Guardian eagerly received it and checked the interior, and was delighted to see the letter was still taped inside.

“Oh, thank Celestia,” she said, under her breath, dumping her helmet back on her head, cathartically.

“Don’t thank her. Thank me,” Sundance said, half-jokingly.

Guardian, who was now far more calmer since her hope had been restored, turned her attention to Sundance himself, whose cause for aid she still found suspicious

“You really didn’t know they were there?” she asked, still skeptical.

“Really. I’m trying to help you,” Sundance said, with conviction.

Guardian bit her lip, still uncertain she could trust him. Though, he was the only pony left who could help her, and beggars couldn’t be choosers.

“You don’t believe me?” he asked.

“I don’t know...I can’t think straight right now,” Guardian said, grunting as she readjusted herself.

“Here, let me help you,” Sundance said, picking up the bag and approaching Guardian, whose face was pale and worn from blood loss and extended spouts of agony.

“Leave it, you’re not a doctor...Have you got any morphine?” Guardian asked.

“Morphine?”

“Yeah.”

“A little, but I really think I should try-” Sundance started.

“You’ll just make it worse! Look, I’m fine, I can still walk, just not fly. I’m fine.”

Sundance didn’t seem convinced, though respected her preference, dropping the bag of medical supplies back to the ground.

“Alright. As soon as you’re ready, I can get you to a boat, north from here. Then you can get to your-”

“What are you talking about? I can’t leave yet, not until I find Silver,” Guardian said.

Sundance’s face fell with disappointment, happening to not be a fan of her loyalty.

“Fire Streak’s called in every unit in the area back to Pine Hearth, to mount a search and eliminate for you and your friend. It was hard enough getting you out of there once,” Sundance said.

“I’m not leaving her behind.”

“I’m trying to save your life, Guardian,” Sundance said.

“I’m happy for your help, but I’m not going anywhere without Silver,” Guardian replied, unflinchingly.

Sundance shook his head in disapproval, and glanced up at the grey sky above, taking a seat on the pebbly beach a few yards ahead from Guardian, who hoped he wouldn’t turn this into a real argument.

“What happens if they find out what you’ve done?” Guardian asked.

Sundance snickered, as if he wanted to discuss such things.

“I don’t know. I would expect a hanging. But knowing Fire Streak, it’s never that simple,” Sundance said.

Guardian noticed some regret in his eyes, as if he already expected to see through some terrible consequences for his actions.

“I don’t get it,” Guardian said.

“Get what?”

“Why you’re with them. With ponies like Fire Streak. And your Queen...They’re all horrible.”

Sundance’s breaths began to grow long and uncomfortable, as his mind seemed to scatter over his own ethical deliberations.

“They’re all the same, aren’t they...I’ve seen enough in Celestia’s royal halls to know that her reign isn’t all rainbows and harmony either.”

Guardian subtly shook her head, becoming exhausted from having to constantly defend the ponies she had sworn her loyalty to.

“How much have you and your friend had to risk to survive out here? How much have you had to give up?” Sundance asked, though didn’t wait for an answer. “That’s what I couldn’t stand. I quit the guard, not just to run the farm. I couldn’t stand them anymore. Celestia, Luna, all the officers with their noses held in the air. They’d never risk sacrificing as much as they demanded from us. Our names meant nothing to them,” Sundance said.

Guardian softened her hardened exterior, having realized that both she and Sundance shared similar experiences in training.

“Is it foolish to want to love your nation? To love all the ponies who just want to live happy lives? That’s what I care about. I don’t know what you think of me, but I’m not out here fighting for myself,” Guardian said.

Sundance leaned back against the log, moving his hooves along the small pebbles that covered the beach, his eyes wandering over to the scurrying water of the creek.

“It doesn’t matter to them. It never did. They raise us up to be killers, for that purpose alone,” Sundance said.

“Your Queen won’t be much different, I don’t think!” Guardian said, in disbelief.

“Maybe. Maybe not," Sundance said, "But the way things are, have got to change. And even if we lose the fight, I've got to hope that Canterlot's woken up a little."

Sundance fumbled with his hooves in his lap, as his doubts over helping Guardian began to pull at his heart.

“I helped you because I owed you one. But maybe I just thought you were a pony worth saving,” Sundance said, glancing over into Guardian’s exhausted eyes.

He sighed, wondering whether the choices he had made would be the death of him.

“The Coalition army is for the most part, coerced into serving. The Queen orders a village be raided, then she rounds up every pony she thinks can handle being a soldier, and that’s all. Then you’ve got ponies like Colonel Fire Streak, and that big guy with the scars on his face. Now those are the ponies who are just crooked in the head.” Sundance said.

“And where do you lie?” Guardian asked.

Guardian expected him to smile, though his face remained twisted with wretched forlorn.

“I joined because I was...angry. They took everything from me. Everypony I loved, everything I owned, everything I depended on to keep my own sanity. Gone,” Sundance said, his words trembling over his grief.

“I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t live under Princess Celestia’s rule after that. Not after those ponies responsible got to walk off. Nopony in Canterlot would even hear me out, because they had to protect their troops before their civilians. Even before their veterans. Because it’s not about honor, or patriotism, it’s about service. You work like the beast they want you to be, and when you’re all used up, they toss you aside to fend for yourself.”

Sundance had become unnerved, his shoulders taut and his whole body unable to sit still. Guardian, all the while, was beginning to feel more eager to prove him wrong.

“Things always get better if you let them. What they did to your family was horrible. And I know what it’s like to want payback. But that never helps anything. It’s not fulfilling, chasing vengeance and all that. All my life I wanted to prove to everypony back home, my family, my COs, that I was...just somepony good,” Guardian said, as she began to feel tears resurfacing in the corners of her eyes. “Everything will be fixed one day. There’s good in everypony, I know it.”

Sundance’s eyes flashed with admiration for her persistence, especially under the context of her recent harrowing experiences.

“This will all end one day, and maybe you and I can meet once more. This time, not as enemies,” Guardian posited.

Sundance couldn’t prevent a smile of re-encouragement from pushing its way across his face, while Guardian beamed at him with eager commitment.

“I’d like that very much.”

Guardian’s warm smile lasted a few more moments, until another wave of pain descended out from her wings. She groaned and fell back on her side, struggling to bare the red hot pain.

“You should rest...If you really must find your friend, then we’ll look for her,” Sundance said.

“Thank you,” Guardian said, deeply appreciating his change of heart.

He gave a small nod and stayed where he was against the log, keeping watch over Guardian as she set her head back down and tried to rest some more.

Half a mile away, in another, denser part of the forest, a dirt path was cast in an unfavorable darkness, hiding small pits of thick mud and wiry grass.

Six ponies, all draped in rain gear over their black armor, were walking on this path, coming to a stop around a certain spot, after one had raised his hoof to signal his discovery of something noteworthy.

“Would you look at that,” said the leader of this rebel squadron, while he and the other five all encircled the end of the hoofprints they had been following for the past hours on the path. The prints seemed to veer off the path into the forest brush to their left, signaling the pony they were pursuing had gone trailblazing.

“She must think she’s clever,” said one of the rebels, cackling with the others.

“Shut up, all of you. Stay alert. This is a unicorn we’re dealing with. You two, fan out that way. And you two, over there. You, you’re with me,” said the leader, pointing to each of the five ponies he was addressing.

The rain first began as a drizzle, sprinkling down through the forest canopy over the six rebels as they made their way into the forest, weapons held at the ready.

“I’ve already got a claim on this one, I’m third in line, after Hammer and that twat from the rangers get a turn with her,” said one of the rebels, whose name was Loose Screw, trotting alongside another rebel, Marl.

“We’re supposed to shoot her on sight,” Marl recalled.

“Have you seen this broad? Can’t let her go to waste without even a little bit of fun. Hammer’s in on it, so we’ll be alright.”

“Whatever,” Marl said, not very interested.

“Hey, kid, if you even think about going to an officer about that, I swear, I’ll rip you apart,” Loose Screw threatened.

“I wasn’t! I wasn’t,” Marl said, worrily.

They both slammed their traps shut, when they picked up the sound of some movement through the bushes behind them.

Loose Screw turned around first, and was immediately lifted up into the air by a ring of magic wrapped around his neck. He was flung straight into Marl, who was struggling to get his weapon aligned with the source of the attack. There was nopony in sight, though Loose Screw was still being throttled, his face being slammed into a mound of dirt.

“Hey! Hey! Over here!” Marl cried, hoping the others would come quickly to help them.

His screams died in an instant, when he watched a pony jump down from above in the tree right next to him, staring him dead-eyed in the face.

Silver Saber’s face was twisted with disgust and a mad rush for violence, which manifested into another icy, blaring burst of magic roaring out from her horn, rushing directly through a paralyzed-with-fear Marl’s face. The magical beam burned directly through his skull and brain, killing him.

All the while, Silver had still been mercilessly throttling Loose Screw, who was helpless as he desperately struggled to find any oxygen.

Silver peered down at him, narrowing her eyes as if he was the lowest, most despicable creature she had ever laid eyes on.

“Still gonna be third in line?” she asked, though she didn’t care for any sort of response, as she squeezed her grip around his neck. A distinct cracking sound made Silver aware that he had been killed, the rebel’s corpse slumping over onto the ground.

She spit at his cold body, turning around just as the other four rebels approached the scene, bewildered at the sight of their murdered comrades.

“Give up! We have you surroun-” began the leader, before he was cut off by a ray of magic slicing across all four ponies horizontally, cutting each in half. The rebels, or rather, what was left of them, toppled down to the ground, Silver now the final pony standing.

She glanced down at Marl’s corpse, and briefly wondered if she had been too cruel, though her doubts quickly subsided, as soon as she remembered what the rebels had put Guardian through. She turned around to start walking off, but then stopped herself, glancing back down at the dead Marl, who was still wearing his army raincoat and helmet, and suddenly Silver got an idea of her own.

Outside the town of Pine Hearth, large clusters of ponies could be seen marching through and out of the wooden gates of the rebel barricade. It was a grim sight, ponies in menacing black armor storming past twisted wooden poles of carved spikes and barbed wire. They all dragged their hooves in the mud, weary from what was for many a tediously long trek. There were close to five times the number of rebels now centered in the city compared to the previous day. The influx of ponies made it relatively easy for one fugitive unicorn to slip herself into the crowd. Draped in a heavy leather raincoat and fitted underneath a black metal helmet, Silver Saber fit right in with everypony else in the crowd, who didn’t seem to care too much for strict organization, to Silver’s delight.

Subtly walking behind a small group of rebels ahead, she was able to step right through the wooden barricade of the town. Surrounded by the ponies who had all been brought here to kill her, Silver focused on remaining calm. She had her new plan, and she very much intended to follow through. If anything, for one last stand.

“Sir, we’ve still found no sign of them,” said one tall rebel lieutenant with fuzzy dark blonde hair and a pale purple coat, Goldfinch. He was standing by one of the tents in the rebel campsite, having just finished his nervous approach up to a highly irritated Fire Streak.

The colonel’s face was hot with frustration, and it seemed as though he hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before.

“Everypony who’s idle, send them out as well,” Fire Streak muttered, “And the next time you come back here, Lieutenant, I expect good news. Nothing less.”

Unbeknownst to Fire Streak, standing in the snow right around the tent he was standing in front of was the subject of his inquiry, listening in from just a few feet away. Silver Saber kept herself out of sight from behind the tent, holding herself back from killing Fire Streak right then and there, despite how much she’d have liked to. She recognized Goldfinch as well, his black hat peeking out from the top of the slanted edge of the nearby tent.

“Sir, if my word means anything, I don’t believe it to be right to carry out the order. These ponies here had nothing to do with those two royals,” Goldfinch said.

Fire Streak glared at Goldfinch with utter contempt.

“If you find yourself without the stomach to carry out the order, Lieutenant, then perhaps you should reevaluate your place here,” Fire Streak, intending it as a threat.

Silver backed away from the tent as soon as she heard Fire Streak trot off somewhere, Goldfinch now left in a pit of internal conflict over what to do with himself.

Silver had assumed Guardian had already escaped across the river, soon to deliver the letter to the 19th Battalion, soon to finish what they had suffered so much to accomplish.

Her mission now, by her own inception, was not only to distract the rebels some more to provide Guardian a window to finalize her escape, but also to do what she could to help the innocent townsponies still inside the thorny walls of the town.

Her first rescue target was Buckwheat’s family, whose house sat on the opposite end of the town from which she had entered. Despite her previous bitterness felt towards the now-deceased pony, she was still mourning his death, and more, she couldn’t possibly let Honey Pie and her children suffer a similar terrible fate.

The town seemed different, its old cobblestone streets largely barren and devoid of any signs of life. Most of the rebels were either out in the forests searching for Guardian and Silver, or otherwise somewhere back in the soldiers’ campsite.

Stray fragments of litter and torn clothing blew across in the wind, and the dark morning sky above seemed to make every house and building seem black and empty inside.

Suddenly Silver picked up a distant whir, buzzing and chirping like an animal, echoing from the clouds above. The object was dark, nearly blending in with the anxious clouds that shifted and shook like cannons. It could’ve been one pegasus, maybe three, but they were so far up in the sky it was quite hard to tell.

Instinctively, Silver found herself inching towards finding cover, though she quickly recalled that as far as the enemy was concerned, she was just another rebel infantry pony.

Not having to wonder long why there were rebel pegasi soaring up high, Silver’s attention was suddenly seized by a screaming shrill shell descending from the sky, breaking apart upon touchdown into a violent burst of fiery, stentorian devastation, roaring up from the earth like the gates of hell had opened up from below. Magical fire, red and orange with terrible streaks of wicked purple and green erupted into the air, sending dense, cascading clouds of dust, dirt, and debris hissing out in every direction.

The explosion had enveloped a small portion of the forest not too far from the town, its distant smoking residue rising above the treeline, signaling to Silver where the earth-shaking blast had struck.

She quickly scanned the sky again, though now that she had lost track of the pegasi, she likely wouldn’t be able to find them again.

A second explosion sounded off somewhere in the forest westwards, and again Silver was caught shaking in fear, believing the blast to be descending upon her, despite it actually being over a half mile away.

Silver quickly returned to her search for Buckwheat’s home, hoping that all of the town’s ponies were just waiting inside their houses, that they were all still alive and well.

She arrived at the doorstep to Buckwheat’s house, where she was surprised to find the doorknob had been busted off, and the door left slightly ajar.

She nervously pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Inside the house, the lights were all off, and the furniture had all been knocked over or out of place. The kitchen had been ransacked, and if anything, the place appeared to have been deserted.

“Hello?” Silver dared to ask, despite her fear that there were rebels inhabiting the place instead.

Though, she received no reaction at all. The house was empty.

Silver wasn’t quite sure where to find them next, unconsciously walking deeper into the house to explore, if only to satisfy some sense of reluctant curiosity.

She saw a pair of dolls lying on the ground by the kitchen counter, their legs and heads all torn off, white stuffing sprinkled on the hardwood floor.

She noticed a bowl of soup that smelled absolutely rancid, with flies encircling it, buzzing and hissing all the while.

Disgusted, Silver finally checked inside the cellar, which had been completely emptied of all its stores of grain and vegetables.

“Bastards,” Silver whispered, horrified with her presumption that the rebels had robbed Buckwheat’s family of everything they had.

It was true that she had resented Buckwheat for casting her and Guardian out from the refuge of his home, though, given the assumption that Guardian was off completing the mission, it seemed the only morally correct thing for Silver to do was to ignore her past feelings and help some ponies who only wanted to survive the horrific rebel occupation.

Though for the moment, she wasn’t having success.

Pausing to contemplate her next options, Silver was suddenly caught off guard by some voices outside, belonging to a group of six rebels, laughing and speaking with loud, thundering, careless voices.

Silver panicked, and immediately made her way through the cellar towards the shelter doors, blasting the lock open and climbing her way through the left-side door.

She tumbled out onto the snow outside, and quickly regained her step, her eyes darting around for potential threats.

The rebels, however, were on the front side of the house, talking with each other in the street.

Silver backed away, slowly, unsure whether she would be spotted if she ran across the adjacent alleyway.

She was then caught off guard by the first sparks of fire crawling their way up the roof of Buckwheat’s home, rising tall into the grey misty air.

Silver’s eyes widened in shock as the house was engulfed in flame, and the nextdoor house as well, thick black smoke climbing up into the air.

She slowly walked across the alleyway, and caught sight of the rebels, two of them unicorns, spraying malicious flumes of red hot fire from their horns, coating every house in town, destroying everything in sight.

It then dawned on Silver, would had been done. The rebels, in line with Silver’s unforgiving assessment of their character, appeared to have thoroughly raided the homes of Pine Hearth’s residents, taking anything and everything of value. And to leave a lasting disgrace, they were burning all that was left.

Struggling to hold herself off from attacking those six rebels right out in the open, Silver forced herself away and ran off behind the burning houses, coming up with a new plan as she went.

Although the fate of Pine Hearth’s homes was now being set, the fate of its ponies still remained a mystery.

Crackling fire seeped its way into Silver’s mind, restlessly reminding her of the immense destruction that had been caused, and likely as a result of Silver and Guardian’s presence here.

Silver thought of her home, of how much of a tragedy it would be for all of her belongings to be stolen or burned, to be left with nothing but damaged dignity. To know that a loss of such an extent was being extracted to an entire town’s worth of ponies was an even greater pain to bear, especially as Silver found herself attributing the blame more and more to herself.

She regretted it now, both how she had treated Guardian for the entire duration of the journey and her insistence on altering the course.

And so the fires burned, and grew more terrible by the second, as if to mock Silver for her hopeless intention to defy fate and survive intact.

Stumbling over her own hooves as her walk progressed into a jog, and then into a sprint, Silver was beginning to succumb to her intense dread and paranoia that had burdened her all this time, and inside her head muttered low voices that spoke of nothing but shame, and death, and hatred. Her mind was like a furnace, radiating with anger and guilt, fueled by the very fires whose warmth Silver could feel clawing on her left side as she ran.

Rounding a corner, she was already close to breaking down into tears.

And then she saw it.

If, by all reasoned explanation, it could be said that Silver’s state of mind had been withered down to a mere hanging thread after the events of the journey, it was certain that she was now edging on the breaking point. The thread was to be snapped.

Around that corner, Silver had expected to find herself returning to some familiarity, even more rebel soldiers to distract her from the heavy pull tugging down at her weakened heart.

There were at the very least forty of them, forty ponies, lying on top of each other, assembled haphazardly and without any care at all. Some had their arms stuck in other ponies’ faces, and others with their bodies in strange, unnatural positions. They were old folk with lives well lived, children with worlds to explore, and regular adults with half-loved and half-hated responsibilities. All the same, lying together in a grotesque heap, like used-up animal carcasses. Their skin was pale from the cold, yet those with visible wounds had bright red blood oozing onto others’ bodies, and others’ eyes even still had some brightness in them. They were all dead, as dead as anypony could possibly be.

Silver didn’t scream, she didn’t even gasp, or cry, or shield her eyes or anything of that sort. She was frozen, staring at the revolting pile of corpses that lay against the wall of a pony’s house, a pony who very likely was among the dead there. The house was now on fire, much like the rest of the town, and if Silver was to stay a few minutes longer she would likely see the bodies burn with it.

She recognized three of them, the only three she could’ve recognized. Honey Pie, Buckwheat’s wife, her bouncy magenta curls now deflated and lifeless, and her two children close by, their arms fixed to be extended towards their mother, either by tragic coincidence or some malicious joke on part of the rebels responsible. Either way, it was close to bringing Silver to tears, an event that was notably rare for the stubborn unicorn.

Silver’s heart was shattered, as she felt a sensation unlike anything before. She had seen horrible sights in her time. Mangled soldiers’ corpses, innocence-staining acts of bloodlust and cruelty, and even atrocious instances of innocent ponies dying undeserved deaths. But, staring at the cold pile of bodies that were soon to catch fire, Silver couldn’t find a way to make sense of it at all. Not in a philosophical sense, but rather in a practical sense. These ponies weren’t fighters. They were little more than victims for the rebel soldiers to abuse during their unwanted occupation, she had seen about as much. To murder them all, and neglect to offer even the slightest degree of courtesy or respect to them in death, just as little as in life, could only be explained as some sort of sadistic, undeniably evil act of punishment. Punishment of the town, for her and Guardian’s arrival and escape, despite the near majority of those ponies having absolutely nothing to do with it.

She felt guilt, therefore, but not a kind of guilt that implied she would ever really be able to recover. She felt as though she had been damned, subjected to a soul-crushing weight that would rupture any ounce of self-respect or honor she could ever hope to mold in the future. For all these ponies’ lives taken so mercilessly, it was Silver who blamed herself. If she could switch places with them, she would, without hesitation. It seemed as though that’s what the universe was demanding of her now.

Her mind was a thunderstorm of agonizing guilt and aching despair. Her legs were shaking, and her heart was beating faster than normal, as if there was a clock she was racing against.

She turned her head slowly away from the pile of corpses, after picking up the sound of a pony screaming.

Her eyes blinked slowly as she took in the sights elsewhere in the town. The fires had spread, and now nearly everything was burning. Townsponies, the ones who hadn’t already been killed, could be seen frantically running up and down the street, being marched along by units of rebels, whose faces were blank and uncompassionate as they carried out a thorough reign of terror on the town.

Silver saw the townsponies' mouths move, and the rebels’ too, though she could barely hear any sound. The world had been reduced to a whisper, and Silver soon found herself in the center of a swirling fiery chaos, complete with a choir of screaming, pleading ponies, attempting to bargain for their lives with whatever they had left to offer the rebels.

But the answer to all of them was the same, as Silver could tell. She walked past the ponies that were being marched along, tears running down all of their faces. Likely, all of them had lost loved ones already, not that their own fates appeared to be much better.

Silver stumbled past the fires, and in passing alleys she saw numerous scenes of rebels cluttering over a mare townspony, rebels beating the life out of townsponies who refused or couldn’t bring themselves to continue obeying their commands, and a horrifying amount of additional corpses lying near burning dumpsters, hung from lampposts or stuffed in sewers.

Silver watched as the few townsponies that hadn’t been killed were marched away, likely to be recruited or turned into slaves. She now knew the rumours to be true, that there was no sparing for children or the elderly under the rebels’ order.

Sparks of guilt and sorrow flung through the rungs of Silver’s mind, tearing at her conscience and constricting her heart. She couldn’t comprehend it all, and what she could comprehend she could barely understand. She stumbled backwards, forcing her eyes away from the grueling sight of screaming, bloodied townsponies and burning homes.

Such terror had seemed to only be conceivable in stories, as works of fiction. But what the world was showing her was the truth, and Silver was right in the middle of it.

Her skin was pale, and though her hearing was beginning to return, she was barely focusing on her surroundings at all anymore. She could only think inward, and the more sense she tried to make of everything she was seeing, the more blame she put on herself. The fires raged, and the ponies screamed, and no rescue was to come for them nor Silver. It was Silver who could feel the tethers of reason begin to snap, whose conscience began to burn at the seams just as the town had. Whatever redemption could come out of such an atrocity, Silver could see no part in it for her.

But despite her troubling understanding that hope truly was all lost for her, she was not yet spent, and she was not yet dead like the lot of those Pine Hearth ponies. And, despite the loss of so many, there was still one last pony whose life Silver could save.

Stalking past the prim, organized tents of the rebel soldiers’ campsite, of which she had just returned to, Silver wasn’t entirely sure where to locate the pony she was searching for.

Silver had never formally met Periwinkle Radiance, unlike Guardian. Though, as with most ponies in the royal army, she was well familiar with the proper, respectable captain of the 13th Velvet Regiment. Silver still couldn’t admit to herself that the Velvets had all been destroyed, that now only one of them remained, their leader, and it seemed her fate rested entirely in Silver’s hooves.

“Excuse me, corporal?”

Silver froze in her tracks, as soon as a stern young stallion’s voice caught her off guard.

“Yes, you. I’m talking to you. Turn around,” the stallion instructed.

Silver turned around, to face the pony who had called out to her. He had a soft purple coat and fuzzy blonde hair, with a speckled spread of stubble and a youthful face. He appeared to be only a few years older than Silver, though his tall, powerful stature put Silver on alert. Silver recognized the pony’s voice instantly, as Lieutenant Goldfinch, who had nearly caught her in Buckwheat’s home just yesterday.

“I’d be correct to assume you’re with the Rangers?” he asked, perhaps judging by the uniform she had stolen.

“Er, yes. Yes sir. 2nd Squadron,” Silver said, making up a unit name on the spot for the sake of seeming genuine.

“2nd? With Captain Rover?”

“Yes sir,” Silver said, internally celebrating that she had made a working guess.

“I’m sorry to make you nervous, I just noticed you seemed to be shaking, are you alright?” he asked, seemingly concerned.

Silver had been shaking, still torn with emotional instability following recent events.

“Oh, I’m fine sir. Just cold.”

“Very good, forgive me for intruding. Where are you headed?”

“I…” Silver started, pausing to concoct an excuse on the spot, “Just to see a friend down this way, my patrol is on break.”

“Ah. Very good. Carry on,” the lieutenant said, waving her off and turning around.

Silver gave a deep breath, especially anxious over nearly being exposed.

She continued on her path through the campsite, aimlessly searching for where Periwinkle might be being kept. Until, she overheard something that would prove useful.

“I hope they don’t kill those new ones. The Canterlot bitch is getting to be used up,” said a rebel sitting by a tent with a few of his friends, drinking from metal cans and shivering in the cold, “Used up and worthless.”

“They’re gonna shoot ‘em on sight, and I say that’s what they deserve. Stirring up trouble, making us come back to this hog water town. There are fellas sitting in heated rooms in the Crystal Empire right now, and by the Queen’s goodwill, I oughta be with ‘em!” bellowed another, and the others gave a hardy cheer.

Silver stood idly behind one of the corners of the tent, out of sight, listening in for any real information.

“What do you say we get a last one in with her, for old times sake?” asked the rebel who had first spoken.

“You’re on your own with that. I’m not walking all the way to the north end just for that.”

“Your loss.”

Silver’s ears perked up at the mention of ‘north,’ and, without delay, she changed her direction to head northwards.

Walking through the winding paths between tents, Silver eventually reached what had to be the northern edge of the campsite, with tall wooden crosses and barbed wire fences just a few yards ahead of her.

She slowly turned her head to the left, towards one of the tents near the edge, at the sound of a pony laughing.

“Alright, I’ve had enough. Let’s ditch,” said one of the voices, belonging to a rebel pony staggering out from the tent, another rebel catching up to him. Silver braced herself for whatever she would find inside, after waiting for the two rebels to leave.

She quickly snuck herself inside the tent, where her heart immediately dropped.

Periwinkle was lying on the ground, tied to a wooden stake that sat in the center. Her face was bruised, and she was covered in cruel marks and scratches. Her head was tilted to one side, and she appeared to be in some sort of trance.

Silver quickly bent down beside the unicorn, gently grabbing her by the head, trying to shake her awake.

“Captain, come with me, we have to get out of this place!” Silver said, desperately trying to lift Periwinkle with her front leg. The white unicorn was too weak to move, her eyelids barely hanging open, her mind foggy and her voice like a whisper.

She said no words, only light, wispy groans, which percolated with suffering.

Silver, though, was far too eager to restore her own sense of fulfillment, and refused to allow any more good ponies to die by her hoof.

Gritting her teeth in desperation, Silver zapped the ropes around Periwinkle’s arms and chest, disintegrating them into ash. She then wrapped her front leg around Periwinkle and swung her around onto her back, intending on carrying Periwinkle out to somewhere safe.

Periwinkle’s body was weak and as light as a feather, and thus Silver didn’t have too much trouble baring her upon her back, swiveling around and making for the exit of the tent.

Though, as soon as she took a step outside, she felt her breath stop short. Staring her dead in the eye was that Goldfinch, and surrounding her was a full company of rebel soldiers, at least fifty in total. In the front were a row of unicorns, who all had their horns glowing at the ready.

“The second your horn starts glowing, you’ll already be dead,” Goldfinch said, smugly grinning as he glanced at the rebel unicorns.

“Drop her,” he ordered, calmly.

Silver was barely stopping herself from attempting to retaliate, but, despite how much it infuriated her, she was completely trapped. Her sole intention now was to survive the mountain passage, and if she was to die, she would hate for it to have been avoidable.

Spitefully, Silver gently set Periwinkle down on the dirt beside her, staring daggers into the lieutenant’s smoky eyes.

“Alert the Colonel. Take her somewhere safe. And if she tries anything. Just kill her,” Goldfinch ordered, speaking aloud for all the soldiers to hear.

“Very nice attempt,” Goldfinch said, as a parting gift before the soldiers approached Silver and began attaching a horn restraint. She glared at him, promising herself to see Goldfinch dead if she was to manage an escape. Though, before she could spit out any relatiations, she felt a powerful object strike her in the back of the head, and then everything turned black.

Silver opened her eyes slowly, to find herself restrained against a large flat wooden board, her mouth muzzled with tight leather, her legs each held down with metal cuffs. Her horn was locked tight in a solid metal cage, adding that uncomfortable but familiar headache that blocked out her ability to concentrate on casting any spells.

But what made her disgusted wasn’t the predicament she found herself in, but rather the pony whose face was staring at her from the other end of the tent.

Fire Streak was smirking, while Silver writhed and buckled in her restraints, attempting to break herself free, to no avail.

“I was first going to have you killed, but it came to me that...Well it just certainly couldn’t end like that. Not after all this,” Fire Streak said, his devilish grin sending shivers down Silver’s spine.

“I don’t know what’s become of your friend. Very crafty, taking up a disguise, I suppose I’ll give you that. But I am afraid craftiness won’t win you sympathy from me. Aw, what’s wrong? You look as though you’ve seen a ghost!” Fire Streak said, heartily laughing aloud, “Oh! I know, I know. You’ve seen them, haven’t you?”

Silver narrowed her eyes, and both she and Fire Streak knew who ‘them’ was referring to.

“Yes...Do you want to know something? Something I don’t tell many ponies? It gets better every time. The more I take, the more they think what’s left is special! Sacred! But they’re all the same, aren’t they...They died like pigs. Like coal shoveled into a fire. Oh, the sounds they made. Whatever could you have done? Not enough, it seems. I don’t know what brought you back here, Silver Saber, and I don’t know why you were here in the first place. But I do know that you’ll be regretting it. You must regret it already. I’ll leave you to it then, I trust your last moments in this beautiful world are as horrible as they should be. Ta da!” Fire Streak said, leaving her with a final wave, before carelessly trotting out of the tent.

The flaps were then shut, and locked, tightly, leaving Silver with just the guards who were still inside.

And one other pony, one who Silver also recognized, unfortunately.

Gash Hammer, who appeared even larger and even more imposing when standing above Silver on the wooden board, showed no resemblance of empathy as he eyed Silver up and down.

He waited a few moments, just standing there in front of Silver as she trembled in her restraints, terrified of what was going to happen to her.

“I don’t like ponies like you,” Gash said, his jaw tight and his words delivered as cold as ice. His voice was slow and heavy, like every word was either carefully thought out or physically difficult for him to say.

“You ponies who pretend to be strong. From here you don’t seem strong to me,” he continued, turning away from her to reach over to a small table, picking up a large metal club with one hoof.

“Your weakness is a curse. Ponies like you, you’ve allowed rats to infest a land that was once called proud. Those forsaken breeds, they don’t deserve to exist. The griffins, and sea ponies, dragons and other beasts, they have no right to a future. They are a disease on the face of the earth, they must be exterminated, for the greater good. We will be the ones to secure a future of peace for our children. While you only seek to pervert our world with lies and dangerous creatures of strange breeds. Filth! We will carry out this mission. If not today, tomorrow. If not today, then tomorrow.” he said, close to being enraged, as his veins throbbed and his eyes flared. His smile was wide and his nose was twisted. He had worked himself up so much, he seemed close to having a heart attack. But before that could happen, he took to releasing his anger via other means.

Swinging the metal club directly into Silver’s knee, the audible cracking sound signaled to everypony in the room that Gash Hammer had struck his mark. Silver screamed into the gag, her back left leg, which had already been wounded after the wolf-bite incident, now severely broken. Though, Gash appeared to not quite be satisfied, slamming the club into her leg three more times for good measure. Silver had already burst into tears, clenching her hooves, unable to stop the pain from overwhelming her.

“What do you say we take that horn off too, huh boys? She won’t be needing it anymore, I don’t think,” Gash Hammer said, laughing like a clumsy oaf, dropping the bloodied club to the ground and reaching onto the table for a large hacksaw.

The other rebels were all snickering while Silver buckled in her restraints, the shiny metal of the hacksaw glimmering across to her. The very notion of having her horn cut off was absolutely terrifying, worsened by the knowledge that Gash Hammer very likely wouldn’t be gentle about it.

He raised the hacksaw up into the air for her to get a good look at it, before approaching her horn. She tried her best to move her head away, though his hard grip quickly kept her still.

He smiled as if he had gone mad as he brought the hacksaw towards her horn, though quickly ran into an obvious obstacle, that being the metal magic restrictor that encompassed the entirety of her horn.

“For the Queen’s sake! You, loosen this damned thing!” Gash Hammer ordered one of the guards.

“But, she’ll-” the guard began.

“I’ve got her steady! Just loosen it, or I’m coming over there!” Gash yelled, his brutish, boorish, bulging build twitching as he narrowed his eyes at the back-talking guard.

The guard relented, picking up a screwdriver and approaching Silver’s horn. He carefully stuck it inside a screw on the restrictor, and began twisting.

Silver, however, had no intention of sitting by and allowing this all to proceed, and, taking advantage of Gash Hammer’s careless overconfidence, the very second the restrictor was loosened, Silver focused all the energy she had into a spell. And, right as her headache began to dissipate, that blast came, exploding the metal restrictor, and burning off the hoof of the guard who had been holding the screwdriver. Gash Hammer was flung back, as were all the other guards, while Silver was thrown off from the table, which had been torn apart during the explosion. The metal cuffs were still attached to each of her hooves, though she was now free from the table, which was enough of a victory to consider celebratory.

Silver, however, couldn’t quite take the time to celebrate, falling under the enormous pain radiating out from her horn. She recalled Sundance’s warning yesterday about holding off from casting any spells too quickly, though to be fair, there hadn’t been much of another option.

While she was groaning in pain on the ground, Gash Hammer rose to his hooves, huffing deeply like a bear, turning to try and tackle Silver to the ground.

The unicorn was faster though, lifting her head and shooting the brute right through the face, killing him in a bright flash of light, which again sent an intense wave of pain down through Silver’s body. Though, she was so full of pain, and guilt, and determination, that she persevered through the pain, proceeding to cut down every other rebel guard left alive in the tent, including the one with the burnt-off hoof, who had been screaming in agony for the past few moments.

She caught her breath, surrounded by the smoking carcasses of her torturers.

Silver wiped her face of dirt that had sprung up at her from the magical blast, and quickly came crashing out of the tent, hoping to escape before she could be captured again or killed.

Outside, she was met by four unicorn soldiers who had been waiting in the vicinity of the tent, all confused as to what was happening. They all did a double take at the sight of Silver bursting through the tent flaps, covered in dirt and blood. Her leg was horrifically broken, though she seemed so out of her mind it was like she didn’t even notice.

“Stop right th-!” began one, though he was interrupted when Silver’s rapidfire blasts came spraying out like a gatling gun, mowing down all four rebels before they could even put up a resistance.

Not bothering to make sure they were even dead, Silver continued limping towards the exit of the town, her mind fragmented in half, her body broken and her mental state deteriorated beyond belief. The emotional grief and hopelessness, coupled with days of worsening sanity and repeated physical injuries, had reduced Silver to a paranoid ticking bomb, exploding at anything and anypony she came across. Every rebel she passed as she stumbled through the camp, even those who had been sleeping or just sitting by playing cards with their mates, were all treated the same. Slain without much thought, murdered in a vengeful, delirious rampage that was justified as retaliation for the senseless killing of Pine Hearth’s residents. In her wake was a trail of ash and agony, and soon the whole campsite was set to burn, the same as the town had by the rebels’ hooves. And at the source of this chaos was Silver, her eyes flickering like the flames themselves, the pain inside her heart and body manifesting into a horrible display of anger and pain, of which nopony who encountered it would survive.

“Did you hear that?”

Guardian, despite still being in a foggy, sore state of mind, was very much able to hear the crashing blast of dirt and fire that had ruptured the earth, violent vibrations jolting her upright from where she was lying on the pebble beach.

Sundance, who had been watching over the resting Guardian for a few hours now, had already risen to his hooves, while the rattling ground slowly began to diminish.

“Can you walk?” he asked, suddenly, as he noticed a thick cloud of black smoke rising up from the tree line less than a half mile from where they were in the forest.

“What was that?” Guardian asked, beginning to panic.

Sundance marched over to Guardian and forcibly helped her up to her hooves, while she frantically scanned the forest for oncoming threats. She noticed the rising smoke in the distance almost instantly, and began to feel sick to her stomach.

“They’re trying to blow us up!” Guardian exclaimed, shocked.

“More like trying to force us into less dense woods...Come on, get your things,” Sundance said, while he picked up all of his belongings.

“I haven’t got anything, remember? They took it all,” Guardian said, slightly annoyed that she had lost all of her traveling belongings, most of which she had held onto since training.

“Oh, right. That reminds me, this is yours,” Sundance said, reaching behind the at the back edge of the beach to reveal Guardian’s golden spear.

“I snuck it off from the camp, I thought you’d want this back too. You’re pretty good with it, you know,” Sundance said, extending the handle of the spear over to Guardian, who warmly received it. She smiled, appreciating his effort.

“Where are we gonna go?” she asked.

“Anywhere but here right now...If you want your friend back…” Sundance said, pausing as he did not yet know how to go about that plan. He had been thinking it over for hours now, but every outcome seemed to be the same. Capture, torture, death. Not exactly desirable in the slightest.

“We can try making for the river first. Over the field next to it, I mean. We’ll be out in the open, but if we’re quick, we might just make it. We might be able to head through the gates and find your friend, if she’s still alive. Which is a big if.”

“I have to, she’d do the same for me,” Guardian said, firmly, though part of her wasn’t sure Silver would.

Sundance reluctantly obliged her, though he already had an alibi of his own cooked up in case things went south.

They quickly took off through the forest, Guardian grunting occasionally everytime a leaf or branch rubbed against her horribly sore wings. Luckily her legs still worked fine, which meant she could keep up pace relatively well.

“There! I found her!” called out a voice from somewhere east in the forest.

Guardian gulped, desperately running as fast as she could, to avoid being caught. She had barely survived her first experience with the rebels, a second time would likely be worse, possibly fatal.

“Don’t look back!” Sundance yelled, right as the first pellets of magical energy came soaring out through the forest towards them. Guardian hadn’t planned on it, though she was mildly comforted to know that she wasn’t yet alone.

Luckily, the rebel patrol of eight that had spotted them were at too far of a distance to hit their targets, and soon every single one had run out of ammunition. In their heated, bloodlusting wrath, they had fired every single bullet they had, providing Guardian and Sundance an opportunity to gain an even greater lead.

In a huff of frustration, the leader of that patrol, who just so happened to be Goldfinch, trotted over to the patrol’s radiopony.

“Give me that,” Goldfinch said, aggressively grabbing a hold of the radio and headphones from the radiopony.

Flipping a few switches, Goldfinch raised the headphones to his left ear and adjusted the frequency on the box, until the rough static was replaced by a low hissing sound.

“One-oh-six degrees, ten minutes, eleven degrees, zero minutes. Don’t miss it! Over!” Goldfinch said calmly into the microphone of the radio.

He was met by an awkward pause of rustling static hissing out from the radio, to his frustration. Glancing around at the others in disbelief, Goldfinch pressed a button and put the microphone back up to his mouth.

“Hey! Tin ear! Confirm the order! One-oh-six degrees, ten minutes, eleven degrees, zero minutes! Clock’s ticking!” Goldfinch barked, ferociously.

“Received,” came a voice from the other end, prompting Goldfinch to continue and adjust the frequency a second time.

“Colonel, this is the 10th search group. We’ve spotted them, heading northwest, towards the river. It’s the pegasus, sir. She has an accomplice, it appeared to be one of ours. That or another try at a disguise. Over, sir.” Goldfinch reported.

“Arrange two units on either side of the riverside fields, I want that area under control. You, Lieutenant, I need back here, the unicorn’s escaped,” said the voice of Fire Streak.

“Escaped?” Goldfinch repeated, shocked.

“That’s what I said, so get your ass back here, now. The brigade will handle the pegasus. I’ll be with them myself,” Fire Streak said, with clear malicious intent.

“Yes sir,” Goldfinch said, right before Fire Streak closed the line from his end.

The fuzzy haired captain turned to the others, who all seemed a bit impressed that the colonel himself was undertaking this task personally.

Stumbling over the small bushes that lined the edge of the forests facing the large fields ahead, Guardian was delighted to see that the river was within sight. And to her right, far off was the outermost parts of the town barrier. Guardian’s eyes flickered, at the sight of smoke rising from the town. She could see the great fires that had engulfed the town, small embers having drifted through the air all the way to where she was standing. Against the dark grey sky in the distance, and past the green grassy hills, the brightly burning town of Pine Hearth was a rare beacon of warmth in an otherwise forever-cold world.

“Come on! What the hell are you waiting for!” Sundance yelled from farther up ahead.

Guardian quickly regained her focus and sped up to Sundance.

Though, right as she was leaving the edge of the forest, the sound of a soaring object descending from the ground made Guardian’s heart skip a beat.

Guardian ran as quickly as she could forward, as the screeching sound grew louder, and louder, until it was so loud it sounded as though the entire sky was falling down on top of her.

Several yards behind her, the bomb that had been dropped from above touched ground, shattering into a hellish mess of shrapnel, dirt, and fire.

Guardian stumbled over her hooves as the onslaught cloud of dust and dirt blew from behind her, adding a minor speed boost that helped propel her forward. The vibrations of the blast rippled through the ground, shuddering both ponies to the point they were close to falling over.

The sound was so catastrophically loud, that Guardian believed she had gone permanently deaf for a second, though her hearing began to slowly return, albeit slightly muffled.

“Don’t slow down!” Sundance yelled from ahead, as another bomb crashed into the earth, sending Guardian tumbling across a grassy hill, rolling over her injured wings, causing her to tense up in agony.

She then heard the sound of a pony approaching her from the front, and was relieved, believing it to be Sundance having come back for her.

Only it wasn’t Sundance, but rather the very last face she had hoped to see.

Fire Streak had just landed in front of her, and soon a whole host of around sixteen other rebel pegasi all came down around them, surrounding Guardian while she was lying on the ground, a burning hatred radiating from her face.

“You continue to disappoint me, Guardian Angel. You’ve already had a good day’s head start, and here you are, barely one mile. Helpless and alone,” Fire Streak said, stepping on her hoof as she began reaching for her spear in the grass near her. She squeaked in pain, as his hoof came down unforgivingly strong against her.

Only, she wasn’t alone, unbeknownst to Fire Streak. And before he, or any of the rebels could be made aware, it was Sundance who got the surprise strike.

He came up from between two of the rebels, and in one single motion, was able to slice through the backs of their necks with his sword, sending both ponies crumbling to the ground, dead.

Fire Streak was caught off guard, as were all the rebels, who all turned over to see what had happened. That was all the distraction Guardian needed, concentrating on overpowering Fire Streak’s hoof. She managed to break free of his hard grip, grabbing a hold of her spear and springing up to her hooves.

“For the Queen’s sake!” Fire Streak yelled, realizing that Guardian was being aided by a traitorous rebel soldier.

Guardian immediately made her way towards two of the rebels to her left, chucking her spear straight through the jugular of one, before dodging the spear of another and bashing his head in with her hoof. She pulled her spear out of the rebel’s neck and stabbed through the rebel she had just punched, killing him in a thin spray of red blood. Three more of the rebels ran towards her, though Guardian was able to get her bearing before any of them could strike. She received the closest rebel with her spear piercing up through his chest, and the one right behind him received a slash across the side of his head. The final rebel came down upon her with an axe, attempting to tackle Guardian to the ground. She jumped out of the way, tripping the burly rebel over her hoof, and stabbing him through the back as he fell to the ground.

She quickly turned to Fire Streak, who had just begun to lose his confidence.

Sundance was meanwhile distracted with the remaining nine rebels, leading them away from Guardian with hopes of buying her time to escape. Guardian had no intention of running though, not yet at least, not until she could settle things with one pony in particular.

Guardian gritted her teeth in a rage-filled, glorious charge, running straight for the unprepared former Wonderbolt.

He was waiting for her, however, and, having already drawn his sword from its sheath, he cut down against the fast-approaching tip of Guardian’s spear, and attempted to cut back to strike through her neck.

She was dead-focused, however, consumed with all of the resentment and humiliation that had been forced upon her from a young age. It was ponies like Fire Streak who she despised, ponies like him who made her desperate for some sort of justice.

She blocked the attack , struggling beneath his strength as he pressed down on her with everything he had.

“You’ve been used, Guardian. You were only ever the means to an end. The cowards who order you around have measured the value of your life, and they have deemed you worthless,” Fire Streak said, grinning sinisterly as he tried to break her resolve. She screamed in anger and pushed back towards him, successfully forcing him off of her.

Fire Streak recoiled slightly as he stumbled backwards, regaining his posture as he excitedly prepared himself to move in for the kill.

“Hardly impressive. Perhaps I’ll let my dogs eat whatever remains of you when we’re finished, though perhaps that would be a disgrace to even them,” Fire Streak said.

Guardian’s eyes burned with anger, despite her typical insistence on controlling her negative emotions.

Before she could launch another attack, another of the rebel soldiers intercepted her, forcing her away from the laughing colonel.

While she blocked the approaching blade of the rebel soldier, Guardian saw from the corner of her eye Fire Streak, stalking towards an unsuspecting Sundance, who was also currently engaged in a fight with two of the rebels, being carried farther away from a struggling Guardian.

“Sundance!” she exclaimed, before ferociously overpowering the rebel she was entangled with, gutting him wide open with her spear.

Climbing over a nearby hill, she quickly found the others, all in a mess of crashing blades and grunting.

Over the hill on another large uneven plain of grass, there were large dark rocks sitting together idly, now with the additional decoration of a few rebel corpses left strewn about them, courtesy of Sundance.

Guardian rushed towards Sundance to help him fend off the six remaining rebels that hadn’t already been cut down. Jumping over a low-reaching flat rock, she stuck her spear through the back of one rebel, and then swung around at another to her left, blood gushing out from his neck.

Sundance noticed Guardian’s arrival while locking blades with two rebels simultaneously, all while Guardian struggled to get closer to him.

Two of the rebels noticed Guardian, hesitantly turning to face the fire-eyed pegasus. She dove towards them, catching both off guard. One caught her spear straight through his chest, gasping in pain as she drew the red-stained blade free. She reeled the spear back just in time to block an attempted swing of a sword at her neck, and pushed back, seizing the opportunity to impale the rebel up the stomach. As the rebel lurched in pain, Guardian turned to see Sundance a ways off, having just finished stabbing his sword down into the last of the defeated rebel soldiers. They shared a look of relief that they seemed to both be alright, though they were terribly out of breath.

Their joy was short-lived, though, when Guardian felt a pony’s front leg wrap itself around her neck, tugging back at her, choking her until she was forced to drop her spear.

Guardian glanced behind her and saw Fire Streak, his eyes burning bright with a menacing fury. He had her in a chokehold, with a sword in the other hoof, leveled dangerously close against her neck. Fire Streak’s face was covered in blood, his face deranged and his sword held in an unsteady grip. Guardian was overpowered, however, unable to break free from the colonel’s grip.

“Alright now, Sergeant...You listen to me, and you listen closely...The both of us know what the penalty is for betraying the Coalition...I’m afraid your fate is very well sealed already…” Fire Streak said, grinning. Sundance scowled, for some reason having believed that he may have been able to help Guardian escape with his betrayal unnoticed. But the cat was out of the bag now, and he knew he had to make some decisions, quickly.

“But her’s isn’t. Now here’s what you’re going to do...You’re going to drop that sword, and you’re going to turn around and kneel on the ground, with your wings folded down. I don’t have to kill the girl, I really don’t...Though she’s caused me enough trouble lately that I’d certainly like to. So I’ll ask one time, and one time only. Comply with the order. Sergeant. Or she dies,” Fire Streak said, snarling devilishly as she pressed the edge of his sword against Guardian’s throat.

“S-Sundance, Don’t do it,” Guardian said, tears forming in her eyes, “They’ll kill both of us...Don’t do it,” she said. Though, if she was to die, the letter couldn’t be delivered, and she would have failed. But it wasn’t really her choice to make in her position, to her despair.

Sundance hesitated, though with every second that passed he felt some sort of obligation creep its way into his subconscious, beckoning him to do something.

“Time’s up,” Fire Streak said, laughing, as he prepared to slice open Guardian’s throat.

“Stop,” Sundance said, suddenly, dropping his sword to the ground.

Genuinely, Fire Streak hadn’t expected the defective rebel sergeant to actually surrender, though it certainly made things easier for him.

“Wonderful,” Fire Streak said, laughing maniacally as he knocked Guardian to the ground with the hilt of his sword, so hard that she practically fell unconscious upon impact.

Guardian collapsed to the ground in a heap, and, taking advantage of a possible opportunity, she made the best effort she could to appear as if Fire Streak had, in fact, knocked her out.

Her ruse must have been successful, as after a quick once-over Fire Streak began marching towards an enraged Sundance, who had already turned around and fell to his knees, awaiting what he imagined to be an imminent execution.

Guardian opened one eye and saw Fire Streak walk away from her towards Sundance, his sword at the ready.

Guardian scrambled to her hooves, though she was still slightly disoriented from the recent blow to her head. She scoured the ground for her spear, and found it after a brief search.

She sprinted towards Fire Streak, hoping to intercept him before he could proceed with killing Sundance.

Fire Streak, however, had already noticed Guardian’s renewed attempt, spinning around the meet Guardian head-on.

She attempted to slash towards Fire Streak with her spear, though he was able to block it, the two caught in an intense struggle for dominance over the blade of the other.

“You simply don’t know when to quit, do you?” Fire Streak said, seething as he put all his strength into resisting Guardian’s blade.

Guardian couldn’t see where Sundance was, as she was too focused on pushing back against Fire Streak’s blade.

Eventually the two both backed away from each other, panting in exhaustion and weary from so much fighting, Guardian more so.

Guardian saw Sundance wasn’t where he had been kneeling earlier, though she did notice a trail of blood leading around the rocks.

Before she could investigate, Fire Streak swung his blade back towards her, expectedly intending to cut open Guardian’s neck right then and there.

She dodged the attempt at a fatal blow, and, in a heated flash of rage, stuck her spear straight through Fire Streak’s stomach, piercing through his flesh with ease.

Fire Streak gasped in shock as blood began to spurt out of his mouth and from the new hole in his stomach. And, as Guardian pressed the spear harder through the stallion’s stomach, she brought her face closer to his, staring straight into his eyes with pure disgust.

She then recalled the spear out from the pegasus’ stomach, leaving him to collapse backwards, limply tugging at his wound as if to try and heal himself.

She stood over him, and, staring at the face of a pony in terrible pain, closing in on death, she suddenly came to the realization, one that she had been fighting for months now. She saw in Fire Streak the personification of all who had tried to hold her back, to belittle her and deny her any ounce of respect. But even for a pony like that, Guardian felt sympathy towards, and wanted to be merciful.

She lowered her spear to neglect a finishing blow, and her face began to loosen. The two made eye contact, and Guardian hoped that they might be able to forgive each other, with the opportunity coming to a close.

But Fire Streak held no such sympathies, reaching for a knife tucked away in his leg strap, attempting to stick it into Guardian’s hoof to have the last laugh.

Guardian saw this coming, though, and proceeded to stab him straight through the forehead, brain and skull breaking off in chunks as she forced the spear free from the rebel colonel’s corpse. She took a deep breath, and she noticed her hoof was shaking slightly.

“Sundance!” Guardian cried, right after realizing that he was still nowhere to be found.

Picking up on the bloody trail in the grass, Guardian rounded the corner of one of the larger dark rocks, where, almost immediately, she felt a cold spell shiver through her entire body, frozen in a wave of shock.

There was Sundance, sitting in the grass, who had propped himself up against the edge of the large rock. His breath was coarse and wheezy, and he appeared to be fixated on something in the distance. The dark green shadowy forests lay far away in front of him, and the feathery grey skies also.

“Oh no…” Guardian muttered, realizing Sundance didn’t appear to be moving.

She sprinted up to him, kneeling down beside the stallion pegasus, who had his left front leg held over his stomach.

His face was distant and cold, though he was still breathing. Guardian nervously reached to lift up his arm, and saw that he had been pierced through the chest, blood pouring out at an alarming rate.

“Oh Celestia...Don’t worry, we have bandages, we can fix you...Silver! She’ll know something, she’ll be able to help you...Do you hear me? Hey! Are you listening to me?” Guardian said, almost frantically, as she tried to get Sundance’s attention.

He had already lost a decent amount of blood. To Guardian’s horror, it was apparent that she hadn’t made it to Fire Streak quite fast enough, and that the late colonel had left his revenge in the form of a blade stuck through Sundance’s chest.

“I very much want to see them again,” he muttered, struggling to keep his breathing at regular intervals.

Guardian had already dove into her medical supplies, applying pressure and using every drip of water left in Sundance’s canteen, trying her best to stop the bleeding.

She had succeeded, to a minor extent, after wrapping up his chest in white bandages, the bleeding having been slowed slightly.

“There! There...Now…” Guardian said, unsure what to do next.

“It wasn’t worth it, I see that now,” Sundance said, ignoring Guardian’s attempts at helping him.

“Don’t say that,” Guardian said.

“I never could get what I wanted,” Sundance said, a small, remorseful smile struggling to make its way across his face, “I do hope I’ll see them again. My wife, my sons. I could never avenge them in life. What will they think of me now? Of what I’ve done?”

Guardian grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing him to make eye contact.

“You’ve saved my life. And if I get this letter across the river, you’ll have saved thousands of lives. Not royal lives, ponies’ lives,” Guardian said, deciding to try her best and add some comfort for Sundance in his moment of need.

Sundance’s smile slowly fixed itself into something more genuine, though the pain in his body was so powerful that it soon became overwhelming. Then Guardian noticed his eyes catch sight of something behind her. Or rather, somepony.

Guardian turned her head to see Silver Saber, trotting towards the rocks, her back left leg visibly broken, her eyes held open wide, and maddened.

Guardian could see that something had changed in Silver, or perhaps something to the effect of a breakthrough following a gradual descent into madness. She had blood all over her, though most of it didn’t seem to be hers. Black and grey ash had meshed into her coat, and if it wasn’t for her armor, the pony would have been barely recognizable.

Sundance gasped for breath, gripping the wound in his chest as it bled through the bandages, ceaselessly. Silver’s head turned from a concerned Guardian to Sundance, who was too consumed with pain to pay any notice towards her. His movements began to lessen, and Guardian could tell that he would die if he wasn’t healed soon.

“Silver, you have to help him, he’s hurt, bad,” Guardian said, cautiously extending her hoof up towards Silver, whose breaths were slow and drawn out, as if she was meditating over something in her thoughts.

Her eyes were dizzying in their sporadicness. Guardian wavered, uncertain what had happened to Silver in the time they were apart.

“Silver, you-”

“Used up and worthless,” Silver muttered, though Guardian couldn’t hear her.

“Coal in the fire, died like pigs,” she said, her eyes ferociously darting towards Sundance. Her horn then began to glow, and Guardian realized what was about to happen.

Before Silver could murder the unresponsive Sundance, Guardian jumped in front of her, her eyes desperate and terrified.

“Silver! What’s gotten into you!?”

“Get out of the way,” Silver said, coldly.

Guardian stared at her in disbelief.

“No, I’m not,” Guardian said, firmly.

“Guardian...that pony is a liar, a traitor, the lowest, most despicable kind on this earth...Get out of the way.”

“Silver, stop,” Guardian said, unsure how far Silver was planning on taking this.

“What would your brothers say, huh? Guardian? That pony, he and his kind are the ones who killed them! Dead in the dirt, and you didn’t even get to say goodbye,” Silver said, hysterically, “And how many others lost everything?!”

She was close to crying now, and Guardian remained confused, and slightly disturbted, backing up gradually as Silver approached.

“Choose a side, Guardian Angel, daddy’s little punching bag, if you even have the spine!”

Guardian tried her best not to allow her feelings to be hurt, slowly coming to the understanding that Silver was somewhat out of her mind.

“Silver, you’ve got to calm down, you’re acting cr-”

“I mean it! Get out of the way! I’m ending this, right now!” Silver yelled, emphatically.

“Stop it!” Guardian said, shoving Silver back before the unicorn could attack Sundance, who was still groaning, propped up against the rock.

Silver’s eyes were frantic, and inside her mind it was even worse. Guardian wasn’t sure how she would have to react, but as far as she could handle things, she set herself to prevent anymore bloodshed.

“Silver…” Guardian said, nervously.

Silver couldn’t stop herself from laughing.

“Why are you helping him? Why? I’m the only real friend you’ve got left, and you’re the only one I’ve got left. Him? He’s not one of us. He wants to kill us, he wants to ruin our lives. I’m gonna ask you one more time, Guardian, get out of the way.”

Guardian shuddered, realizing that Silver truly did have no intention of backing down.

“You’re really gonna do this?” Guardian asked, her voice quivering.

“If I have to,” Silver said, burning with hate and a need for vengeance.

“Silver...I’m not your enemy!”

“You’re with him! With them! You’ll be the death of us!” Silver yelled, her horn beginning to glow even brighter.

Guardian took a deep breath and began cautiously reaching for her spear in the grass, raising it towards Silver, who was undeterred.

“You don’t know what you’re doing,” Silver warned.

“Yes, I do,” Guardian said, sternly holding her spear in a defensive position.

Silver glared at her with a ferocious malice twinkling in her eyes, spun into a delirium.

Soon, Silver’s low, bull-like grunting progressed into a psychotic cry of anger, as her horn glowed brightly, aimed right at Guardian, who was slowly raising her spear up, struggling to commit to defending against Silver.

Before Silver could fire anything from her horn, Guardian reasoned she would have to act first, rushing and tackling the unicorn down to the ground, right as the beam of magic came bursting out into the air.

Guardian wrestled her to the ground, panickedly wrapping her left hoof around Silver’s horn to try and block out her magic.

Silver was so full of rage however, that the heat radiating from her horn was strong enough to force Guardian to release her hoof, or else suffer second-degree burns. Guardian screamed and drew her hoof back, and was promptly shoved by Silver to the ground.

Silver spun around and fired two shots, one of which completely missed, the other of which skimmed against Guardian’s right shoulder, singing the hairs of her coat, causing her to cry out in pain.

Refusing to give Silver the chance to kill Sundance, Guardian punched the maddened unicorn, three times in the face, and in response Silver took to slamming her teeth into Guardian’s arms, biting down hard, again sending Guardian toppling down to the ground.

Silver, however, seemed to be more intent on killing Guardian now before Sundance, and Guardian quickly realized it, when Silver fired another blast straight towards her head. She rolled over on the grass, picking up her spear and whacking Silver over the head with the butt of the weapon.

Silver felt some blood seep out from her mouth, and was beginning to get fed up, running at Guardian with full strength, even on her wounded leg, tackling Guardian to the ground, attempting to throttle Guardian to death.

Guardian was pinned to the ground, unable to force Silver’s weight off of her, as the unicorn squeezed tightly around her neck. Now on her back, tears formed in Guardian’s eyes as her mangled wings were crunched and squished against the ground, as she bore the entirety of Silver’s weight on top of her. Guardian’s face turned red, then purple, and Silver seemed completely unrelenting as she pressed harder, all while Guardian’s head helplessly bobbed up and down under Silver’s grip.

Guardian stared at Silver with terrified, heartbroken eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks, though Silver seemed completely detached from reality, and she showed no signs of stopping.

Then Guardian saw Silver’s horn begin to glow, in what Guardian expected was a finishing kill, and, presented with no other choice if the mission was to be carried out, Guardian grabbed a hold of her spear and aggressively brought it upwards, sticking the blade deep into Silver’ side.

The unicorn suddenly snapped out of her deliriousness, her horn dimming and her grip on Guardian’s throat breaking apart completely.

Guardian watched with tear-filled eyes as Silver stared down at her in shock, collapsing sideways off of Guardian onto the grass in a heap.

“Silver!” Guardian gasped, desperately taking deep breaths before she was to faint from oxygen deprivation.

Guardian picked herself up, though she was still partially wounded in more than one place now. She crawled over to Silver, who was lying on her back, softly groaning in pain and blood pooled out from her side into the grass. Reaching down to where Silver was laying, Guardian held the unicorn in her front legs, crying her eyes out in anguish.

“Oh Celestia, what did I do?!” Guardian wailed, horrified.

The tightness on Silver’s face seemed to loosen, and her eyes began to steady, fixed on the sight of her friend balling her eyes out.

“Guardian….I’m sorry,” Silver said, managing a weak smile as she reached up to hold her crying friend’s face, “I don’t feel it anymore,” she said, choking on her words as tears formed in her eyes too, “I don’t feel the pain. It’s going…” Silver said, her voice far gentler than typical.

Guardian couldn’t bring herself to even dare to say goodbye, resorting instead to just crying ceaselessly.

“Hey, Hey…” Silver said, struggling to speak as her wound bled profusely, “It’s not your fault...it’s my fault...I just can’t take it anymore...I can’t take it anymore,” Silver said. Guardian rocked Silver in her front legs, struggling to bear the guilt of her actions.

“Silver, I-I need you,” Guardian sputtered, her cheeks flushed with a hot, somber red.

“You never needed me….I’m not stronger than you, I never let myself say it...I'm sorry," Silver said, releasing all the pain she had held onto for so long.

Guardian tried to calm herself down, focusing on savoring what moments she still had left with the unicorn.

“Now you’ve got that letter to deliver, and you’re gonna do it. You’re gonna make this all right, and I’ll be proud of you. I’ve always been proud of you. You’re the only friend I’ve got left. So you’re gonna finish this, okay?”

“I will,” Guardian said, “I promise, I will.”

For the first time in months, maybe even years, Silver felt a new wonderful feeling descend upon her. In the center of the war, the center of so much destruction, and death, and hatred, Silver had finally discovered peace. Lying on the grass, with the cool breezes sweeping by her, and the soft overcast sky standing above the grass, Silver could finally forget about the world, of which she loathed, and herself, of whom she loathed even more.

And, nearly bringing a tear to Silver’s eye, the unicorn saw another familiar face, or rather, a pair of wings. Bright blue in color, fluttering through the air carelessly, and yet every movement seemed to be intentional. Silver watched the butterfly dance through the air, and she wondered whether the beautiful creature was ever even real at all, whether it was just her mind playing tricks on her, beckoning her to grasp hold on what hope remained. And hope she had found, though only by her own end could she find it. She was free, free from the constraints of the world that had so consistently held her confined and discontent. The world seemed to be at peace, if only for a few moments, but that was all Silver needed. There was beauty in the world still, even in the smallest of moments, even in the darkest of time. The butterfly fluttered around her, as if it was bound to her, and Silver could feel her heart begin to free itself, at last.

“Can you forgive me?” Silver asked, smiling wide a final time to Guardian, who was smiling too through the tears.

“Of course,” Guardian replied, though her crying did make it slightly difficult.

Silver laughed softly, as she felt the pain in her side began to worsen.

“That’s what I always loved about you…”

Guardian continued to hold onto Silver, even after the moment the unicorn fell limp in her arms.

For a few moments, Guardian stayed sitting on the grass, rocking Silver side to side, struggling to accept the reality.

She glanced over at Sundance, and saw that he too had already succumbed to his injuries, his eyes still open and his head hung low. The wind rustled through his hair, against his body that lay so still it was if he was a statue.

Guardian was now completely on her own, with the fate of a few thousand ponies resting squarely in her hooves. If it was all up to her, then she knew that she had to succeed. For every pony that met their end to see that letter through, she owed it to them to ensure their deaths were not in vain. She was far too close to the finish line, and had lost so much already. There was no giving up yet.

08: Run Rabbit, Run

‘Get up.’

The wind ran past her like a gentle wave, rolling over her drooping shoulders and bloody, wounded wings. Her head was hung low, and her eyes were shut tight, as if to block out the world around her completely. There was a whispering voice clawing at the satin drapes that were drawn over her blistered heart. Though, the voice was drowned in silence, for the grey skies up above and thin blades of green grass down below were all one in the same at that moment, a great pit devoid of warmth or longing.

Since day one, her life ahead of her was an upstream river, one in which drowning often seemed preferable to desperately treading water.

In search of dreams, in search of love, she had long been battling against wicked thoughts of taking her own life or rescinding her hindered hopes for self-improvement.

Among the many tumbling memories knocking about her head, while snot dripped from her nose and fresh tears stayed watering down her cheeks, Guardian Angel recalled one in particular. The very last day she had seen her oldest brother, the pony who had been her greatest advocate against her father’s scorn, and sometimes the only pony who made any effort to make sure she was doing alright. Growing up having to fend for herself in nearly every arena, it was her oldest brother, Vambrace, who inspired her to find the strength and courage she very well needed, to overcome any and all adversity. Those sentiments were wearing thin at the moment, though still she held onto them for dear life.

“I can’t say there’s much to be jealous of,” she remembered him saying to her, while she was sitting on his bed while he stood by the doorway of his bedroom, his packed duffle bag sitting right near his dresser. Unlike her own room, which was barren and plain, Vambrace’s room had always been full of bright furniture and keepsakes from over the years. Their father had never expressed an interest in letting Guardian decorate her room. Often Guardian would find herself preferring to hang around in Vambrace’s room rather than her own, not only for the livelier scenery, but also, of course, to spend time with her brother. He was the closest friend she had.

The war had just begun a little more than a week prior, and Guardian , who was still a royal guard, had been in the process of transferring to a unit out in the front. Vambrace, however, would be the first to see the war, and little did either of them know that this would be their final meeting.

“They barely feed you out there. Even officers, we don’t get much. If you do decide to join up out there, Guardian, be smart and make a case for going south,” Vambrace said, and Guardian had been listening with eager ears. “I hear too many stories everyday of all sorts of really bad stuff going on up north. I don’t want you up there, if you have to be anywhere but Canterlot.”

“I want to fight! Help you, even! Celestia knows me, sort of, I could get a spot in her Corps! Then we could be together,” Guardian argued, fantasizing about getting to fight alongside Vambrace and Celestia.

Vambrace smiled down at her, admiring her warrior spirit in spite of her relative inexperience. His smile quickly faded, though, as he feared the possibility of Guardian eagerly running to her grave.

“Not in the Corps. I won’t let you. I’ll tell Celestia not to let you in, either, I’m not afraid to give her a piece of my mind,” he said, laughing as he raised his hoof up pretend-aggressively, “I’m serious though. If you really want to go out and fight, it’s your choice. But please, don’t go north. And stay away from the ponies with big ambitions. They always go to where the trouble is.”

Guardian sighed, her heart punctured by a dagger of dejection. Tears crept out from the corners of her eyes, and her face was bright red.

“What?” Vambrace asked, having noticed her miserable expression, “What’s wrong?”

“You...I…” Guardian sputtered, but couldn’t bring herself to speak coherently.

“Hey, come on, you can talk to me,” Vambrace said, sitting himself down beside her, wrapping his front leg around her affectionately.

“I can’t be doing nothing while all this goes on. I have to help, I have to be a part of this!” Guardian exclaimed.

“I know, I know. I just don’t want you to get hurt,” Vambrace said.

“I want to get hurt! I want to fight, I want to make you all proud! Make dad proud! This is my chance, don’t you get it? I have to get sent out there, I just have to!”

Vambrace stayed silent for a moment, hesitating on how deep to push things in regard to their father. He wasn’t home at the moment, though Vambrace still wasn’t quite comfortable dishing out any vocal criticisms.

“I don’t know what dad really wants. From any of us. That’s not what you should be worrying about,” Vambrace said.

“Not worrying about it? That’s all I worry about! Every day it’s the same! I’m nothing, I’m pathetic!”

“Hey, quit it, would you?” Vambrace said, grabbing her by the ear, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

“You got into the academy, first try. You passed way ahead of those other ponies, you barely even had to apply to get a spot on the royal guard...You keep telling yourself you’re at a disadvantage, and you start to believe it. But you’re doing great. You’re smart, you’re strong, so you’re at least gonna last longer than me, probably,” Vambrace said, getting Guardian to let out a small laugh through her soft, whimpering cries. “Don’t ever let anypony keep you down, you understand? Dad, teachers, nopony...You have to believe in yourself first, then you show ‘em all. You already have. I’m not gonna stop you, if you want to fight...You know I love you, Guardian. And Chain does too, and mom. And, I think, deep down somewhere, even dad does too,” Vambrace said.

“Really?” Guardian asked, her voice quivering as she cried.

“Yeah.”

Guardian sighed, wiping her eyes and trying to recollect herself.

“Sorry…” she said, embarrassed, letting her head fall on his shoulder.

“It’s ok...Now I really do have to go, ok? I don’t think I can be late this time…” Vambrace said, reaching for the handle to a dark green duffel bag on the ground packed with his belongings.

“Ok...Bye! I love you!” Guardian called out, and already her left hoof was shaking with fear over him leaving.

Standing in the doorway, Vambrace stopped to smile back at her, leaving with a sturdy wave and a final set of words.

“Don’t stop. OK? Don’t ever stop.”

That was the last day she would ever see him again, and less than two weeks later Guardian would be told of Vambrace’s untimely death. No less in a battle that Guardian herself probably would’ve died in too, had she made a greater effort to push for inclusion in the Celestial Corps. Some days she had wondered if she could’ve done something differently, that would have given her a chance to save his life. Though such a chance was long gone already.

Kneeling in the grass in front of her was a pale-lavender unicorn with icy blue eyes, covered in blood. Guardian had been silently lying in front of what was left of Silver Saber for what felt like hours, the cool breeze swaying over her soft-swept coat. Guardian couldn’t bring herself to move, nor do much at all except to sit where she was. Her friend, her best friend in the whole world, was dead, lying just inches from where she was sitting. Though, as a consolation, Guardian had never seen such peace on Silver’s face before. A pony who had been slighted and disregarded endlessly since her demotion, Silver had finally caught a break, though only under the most tragic of circumstances. And, on top of the grief, it was Guardian herself who had killed Silver, to her own horror. Guardian wasn’t sure she had a choice if she wanted to go on to live and deliver the letter, but regardless, her heart was heavy and damp with agonizing guilt and shame.

Considerably, there wasn’t anything quite worse than being left alone in the darkest of times. When Guardian had nopony else, she had always had Silver, though now she truly was all on her own. It stung all over, and she wasn’t quite sure she even had the strength to carry on at all, even to just lift herself off the ground. For all those ponies who had called her weak, and pathetic, and insignificant, she was struggling against her belief that she was now proving them right. Perhaps she was indeed a disgrace, and perhaps the mission was doomed to fail the moment she was picked for it.

Vambrace’s words stuck out to her, however, the longer she reflected sitting on the grass. If by some miracle all the death and pain wrought on this journey could be rectified, or avenged, it seemed clear that Guardian would have to be the one to do it. No one else was left, after all. She couldn’t stop, not while she was still breathing, not when she had promised Silver to see the mission through.

She was still alive, whether she liked it or not, and for the sake of everything she had lost already, she had but one remaining goal to accomplish. Deliver the letter.

The voice returned inside her, and soon it grew loud enough that she could not possibly avoid it.

‘Get up.’

Guardian’s breaths drew heavier and quicker, until she eventually discovered the fiery motivation she needed to lift herself up to her hooves off the grass. Grabbing her spear, she began her trot forwards down the grassy hills towards the nearby river. She didn’t look back at Silver, nor Sundance, who lay dead not too far, by the rocks. Though they were no longer walking beside her, she could feel both of their spirits inside her, as a part of her, and thus she felt even more invigorated.

Her trot turned into a jog, and then into a sprint, while she huffed and puffed, pushing herself through the inescapable pain that was screaming out from her horrendously wounded wings. Her confrontation with the rebel ponies, and Silver too, had also left her with some mildly bothersome injuries, though she tried her best to ignore all the pain, running straight for the docks by the river.

Her hooves came down heavy against the soft grass of the hills, as Guardian descended down towards the docks.

Stepping onto the slippery wet hardwood of the Pine Hearth docks, Guardian spied a boat small enough for one pony to row, sitting at the very end of one of the wooden strips.

“Hey! That’s her!” yelled somepony from down the docks. Guardian ignored him, storming off towards the rowboat. She felt invincible, though that didn’t mean she was careless, checking her back to make sure there weren’t too many rebel ponies in pursuit.

By the time she made it to the rowboat, a pack of eight rebels had just arrived at the other end of the docks, brandishing an assortment of terrifying sharp weapons. By this point, Guardian was correct to assume that the rebels couldn’t care less about keeping her alive. They had tried that with Silver, and certainly the ensuing incidents served as a valuable lesson.

Guardian jumped into the boat, and searched for the oars, which were left sitting inside. However, before she could get to her escape, she still had to deal with an iron chain tied from the boat to the dock, locked tight with a thick padlock.

“Shoot!” Guardian muttered, resorting to her spear to try and sever the chain. The rebels had already broken into a sprint in an effort to stop her, adding to Guardian’s anxiety. She swung the spear down twice in a row, with little effect.

“Don’t let her escape!” yelled one of the rebels.

Guardian could see the rebels were nearly upon her, and, in a furious last attempt, she swung the spear as hard as she could down upon the chain. An ear-piercing scratching metal sound gave Guardian hope, and she saw that she had indeed made a distinct crack in the metal of the chain. But, it had yet to be fully broken.

Before she could finish the job on the chain, the rebels had already arrived at the boat. Guardian welcomed the first rebel with her spear to his gut, quickly pulling it out and whacking another in the face. The rebel lost his balance, and toppled over the edge of the dock into the river, struggling to keep himself afloat due to the weight of his armor.

Before the other rebels could attack her, Guardian stabbed down at the chain two more times, and a loud clanking sound signaled to her that she had found success. The broken chain fell down off the boat, and now Guardian had a real shot at rowing over the river.

She pecked another rebel in the chest, before using her spear against the edge of the dock to try and propel herself forward.

“Get her!” yelled one of the rebels, to the only two pegasi in their group.

Guardian’s boat had been pushed far enough away from the dock so that the rebels couldn’t reach her, but that wasn’t an issue for the pegasi, who sprang into the air after her. Guardian jutted her spear forward into the air, grunting as she desperately avoided being hit herself by their swinging axe and sword, respectively. She managed to slice across one rebel’s knee, sending him screaming and falling into the river.

The other rebel, however, had more luck, cutting his sword down right into Guardian’s shoulder, slicing through her flesh. Guardian screamed in pain, and vengefully stabbed the rebel through the stomach, sending him and his sword also collapsing into the sea.

Guardian gripped her bleeding shoulder, out of breath and struggling to withhold a panic attack.

The remaining four rebels still alive standing on the dock watched Guardian as she picked up the oars in the boat and began rowing, groaning with every pull as her weary muscles were put to the test.

She had evaded the rebels, at least for the meantime, rowing back and forth, pushing her boat across the river. The current wasn’t as ferocious as the rapids where Halo had nearly drowned in days earlier, though it was strong enough that Guardian began to wonder if she’d even be able to make it across. Every push of the oars seemed to make no difference, as her meek little row boat was thrown back and forth across the rushing waves of the river. After days of traveling and all of her wounds, she was certainly not in any condition to be rowing through such treacherous waters. But she was without another choice, as her wings were far too damaged to fly properly. The very thought of trying to move her wings at all gave Guardian goosebumps. The pain was already nearly unbearable, and no matter how long Guardian put up with it, she never could get used to it.

After nearly forty minutes of excruciating, energy-depleting rowing, Guardian could reach the grassy bank of the north side of the river. She practically fell out of the boat onto the grass, landing hard on her side, narrowly saving her broken wings from being squashed. She gasped for breath as if it was her first, now soaking wet from the splashing waves. On top of everything else, now she had a strong chance of freezing to death, though she hardly cared given everything else that she was putting up with.

Clawing up at a tree to bring herself to her hooves, Guardian began her jog forwards, entering the forests. She wasn’t sure how far it would be until she found the 19th Batallion’s camp, though given how large it was said to be, she had hope it wouldn’t be too much running.

She tried her best to maintain a fairly fast pace, sprinting through the forest as if she was being chased. She had already been decently fast to begin with, such that her injuries didn’t reduce her speed too drastically.

Shadows ran over her head and in the path in front of her, and Guardian prayed that she had imagined it.

Her fears were realized, when at least ten pegasi rebel soldiers came crashing down in the ground in front and behind her, blocking her off completely on either side. She was out of breath from the sprint, but still had her spear held at the ready. She was barely in any condition to fight, though she knew how much depended on her. She absolutely could not fail. Not after everything she had already lost.

Of the five pegasi rebels standing in front of her, the one in the middle took a few steps forward, lifting off his helmet, to reveal a fuzzy-blonde headed pony with a light purple coat. He was Goldfinch, now the commanding officer of the Airborne Brigade in the wake of Fire Streak’s untimely death.

He stared at her, watching as she struggled to catch her breath, holding her spear weakly up in the air.

“You’ve seen better days,” said Goldfinch, almost pitying her, before remembering it was her who was responsible for the death of his colonel.

“We’ve seen what’s become of your friend. The traitor too. Bad deal,” Goldfinch said, as if he was offering some sympathies.

“It’s gonna be a worse deal for you,” Guardian muttered.

The rebels all laughed at her threat, finding her to be an easy target. Goldfinch was dead serious, however, seemingly more aware than the others of the threat Guardian posed.

“I would’ve liked to have kept you alive. To see no more bloodshed, but it seems neither of us can know peace,” Goldfinch said.

“We don’t have to do this...I don’t want to hurt any of you, I really don’t,” Guardian said. Goldfinch scowled, his competitive spirits being challenged.

“Those are lousy last words, I must say,” Goldfinch said, subtly turning his head to the side to let the rebels know that the pleasantries were now over.

Guardian took the chance to act first, swinging her spear in a circle around her, hoping to buy her some distance before trying to escape.

She succeeded to some degree, slicing open the throats of one rebel in front of her and another behind her.

She charged forwards, stabbing another rebel right up through the throat, ducking down instinctively to avoid any attacks from behind. From the corner of her eye, she saw a rebel approach her from her back right, sticking her spear in that direction without looking, to hear a satisfying crunching of bones and pierced skin.

Guardian dove through a narrow opening between two of the rebels rushing towards her.

Now with a temporary gateway, Guardian flung back into a sprint, making off into the forest at full speed.

“Shoot her down!” Goldfinch ordered, calling out to the several patrols of rebels approaching from behind, late to the scene.

Guardian had no clue how far the finish line was, focusing solely on not slowing down. She wouldn’t have long, she knew it, and she wouldn’t accept being killed or captured when she was so close to the end.

Magical bullets, shooting out from both the tips of rebel unicorns’ horns and rebel earth ponies’ rifles, whizzed past Guardian from afar.

She tried her best to stay as low to the ground as possible, shuddering every time a bullet blasted dangerously close to her head, ramming instead into trees or bushes.

She screamed in pain, when a bullet pierced through her back left thigh, significantly weakening her stride. Now burdened by a limp, she could hear the sound of rebels pursuing her from behind, which was enough to motivate her to keep going, despite how close she felt to brushing upon death.

Not more than ten staggered steps forward, Guardian burst through a final treeline, where she was shocked to find an abrupt end to the forested terrain, replaced instead by a large clearing. Straight ahead of her was a line of battlements, constructed from sandbags, wooden fixtures, and an array of other objects, surrounding the interior campsite, filled to the brim with tents, wooden structures, and ponies and creatures of all sorts.

However, the new change of terrain hardly meant her situation had improved.

Taking a wide gander around from the base of the treeline extending far in a line in either direction, Guardian bore witness to a battle of tremendous scope, shells bombarding every inch of dirt stretching out from the battlements ahead. From the treeline, beams and bullets of magic came screeching out from the forest towards the camp, and far off in the distance Guardian could see soldiers battling with spears and swords and axes, a large cloud of smoke piling high from where they were fighting. Cannon fire flew in hot red heaps of fire flowering from earthen mounds littered with bones.

All around her, dust and shrapnel sprang up from the earth and out from the trees, swabbing the air with a dense, unbreathable gaseous mixture. Guardian’s nose flared, the air reeking of strange chemicals and odorous natural scents, undoubtedly the rotting remains of ponies.

Guardian sprung alert again, when the rebel ponies that had been following her suddenly reignited their fire from back behind in the forest.

Guardian was terrified, now trapped between the pursuing rebels behind her and the treacherous battle ahead of her. It was a half-mile before she’d reach the battlements of the 19th Battallion’s camp. Under normal circumstances, that would be a cinch, but given her injuries and the ensuing obstacles in front and behind her, her hope for success was beginning to dwindle.

“Damn it,” Guardian muttered, realizing she was going to have to take one last suicidal risk.

Right as a magical beam zapped through the bark of a tree next to her, Guardian mustered every remaining ounce of strength inside her, and leaped forwards out from the brush.

Her breath was short, trying not to breathe in the dark yellowish gaseous clouds drifting through the air, what she suspected was poisonous gas.

She picked up on the rebels behind her beginning to spring out of the treeline, and hoped that they would be deterred by the battlefield she had just run into. But, to her distress, they persisted, running after her at full speed.

Guardian grunted with every step as she ran as hard as she could, bullets whizzing past her from in front, behind, and on either side of her. The gas and smoke in the air increased as she neared the center of the field, and it didn’t take long before she ran right into somepony.

She collapsed into him, both of them tumbling to the ground. Guardian scampered to her hooves, glancing down at who she realized was a rebel pony.

“Hey!” he yelled, reaching for a knife sheathed in his belt strap.

Guardian immediately swung her hoof across his face and returned to her hooves, just as two more rebels quickly approached from ahead of her.

Before the rebel on the ground could stab her in the ankle with his knife, she acted first and stomped hard on his wrist. He hollered in pain and let go of the knife, while Guardian pushed her spear forwards towards the two rebels ahead of her.

Her blade pierced straight through the chest of one of the rebels, while the other moved towards her with an axe in his hoof, swinging straight for her head.

Terrified, she grunted and dodged the blade, landing on the ground. In the same movement, she managed to trip the axe-wielding rebel with her hoof, causing him to barrel down into the rebel with a broken-wrist lying on the ground.

Guardian groaned and rose to her hooves, but then immediately came crashing back down, when a bullet sprang straight through her side. She screamed in pain, beginning to hyperventilate as she lay on the dirt beneath the wispy clouds of smoke, the thunderous sounds of cannonfire and distant yelling ringing in her ears.

Guardian’s breath was trembling, while she forced herself up to her hooves, avoiding putting any pressure on her injured leg.

Now having to deal with another injury, Guardian again pushed herself forward on her three good legs, still while the rebels behind her began to catch up.

Gaining a good distance, Guardian suddenly found herself toppling over the edge of the ground, landing face first in a puddle of thick mud.

“What the hell?” yelled somepony nearby.

Before she could drown in the mud with her face completely submerged, the pony who had spoken grabbed a hold of Guardian and lifted her up, sitting her down against the wall of mud and dirt she had fallen over. She had fallen inside a trench, though she was so disoriented she wasn’t yet sure of that.

“Hey, Swift! Swift, get over here! Get over here!” the pony kneeling beside Guardian yelled.

Guardian regained her senses after her headache began to settle, mud and dirt now stuck inside several of her wounds, adding a terrible stinging sensation to the list of things plaguing Guardian’s well-being.

The pony in front of her was a young stallion, with short unkempt dark green hair, a clean-shaven face, and striking eyes. He was clad in golden armor, a sight that Guardian was beyond relieved to see.

Two more ponies quickly arrived at the spot in the muddy trench where Guardian was laying. The first was a white stallion with wispy light grey hair hidden beneath his helmet, and the other was a mare, with a light orange coat and yellow eyes. Her mane was red-orange and a pale yellow, also hidden beneath her golden helmet. All three of these new faces were royal soldiers, exactly who Guardian had been on the search for.

“Good Celestia!” exclaimed the white stallion, who Guardian quickly deduced to be the one the green soldier had called Swift.

“Who the hell are you?!” yelled the green stallion, glancing at the other two royal soldiers for support. Guardian, who was shivering, bleeding, and completely out of breath, not to mention out of sorts after a very close call with being shot and stabbed to death. was still struggling to make sense of what was happening.

“I said, who the hell are you?!” the green stallion asked again, this time a bit more aggressively, backing away and raising his spear towards her, sticking the blade right up to her neck. The other two quickly did the same with their spears, leaving her with virtually no chance to escape.

“Don’t! Don’t!” Guardian squeaked, snapping out of her temporary daze. She dropped her spear to the ground, half out of fear and half out of exhaustion. She wasn’t quite sure she could fight anymore ponies, especially ones that already had her by the throat. Despite her apparent surrender, the royal soldiers neglected to remove their spears from her neck. She gulped, trying to calm herself down.

“I’m Guardian Angel, 23rd Regiment! Have the 19th left yet?!” Guardian said, her voice quivering, her eyes darting between the three soldiers sporadically.

“23rd? How the hell did you get up here? That’s miles south, over the mountains,” Swift said, skeptically. They all flinched and crouched down slightly, when a particularly large explosion ruptured against the dirt not too far from where they were standing. Once the smoke cleared and everypony had ensured they were all alive and unharmed, they resumed their interrogatory stances.

“She’s lying,” said the orange mare soldier, “She’s a rebel, she’s wearing some disguise she picked off some pony. Probably just heard the regiment name.”

“Have the 19th left yet?!” Guardian yelled, angrily, causing all of the soldiers to step back slightly in fright. Guardian had little interest in explaining everything to these ponies, considering her deadline.

“Left? What do you mean?” the green stallion asked, carefully being vague so as not to reveal any information to a pony whose allegiances he was still skeptical of.

“The 19th, 44th! 62nd! They’re here, they’re set to leave for the northwestern shore! Today!” Guardian wailed, close to crying, both out of relief that she had made it to friendly lines but also of fear that she would be inhibited by her own allies.

The soldiers all seem to be stunned, given that the assault was largely meant to be kept under wraps.

“How the hell do you know that?!” yelled Swift.

“Don’t listen to her, she’s clearly-:” started the orange mare.

“Shut up, shut up...Ok, why are you here?” the green stallion said, slowly lowering his spear. Though, he was still suspicious of this pony, whose face he had never seen before.

“Just please, have they left yet?” Guardian stammered.

“They’ve started off just an hour ago, they’re leaving in companies of 200, heading out in waves every twenty minutes or so. Three have been sent already. These rebels out here are trying to stop our assault, to distract us right here,” the green stallion started, before being interrupted by another thundering blast of magical fire rummaging through the trench wall nearby. He regained his train of thought and glanced back down at Guardian. “It’s less than a day’s march to the sea. How is it you knew of this? And where the hell did you come from?” he asked.

“Please, you have to let me talk to Commander Moonbeam, it’s very, very urgent! All those ponies you’ve sent, they’re going to die!” Guardian yelled, coming across as more than a little unhinged.

“Hey, calm down, calm down,” the green stallion lead soldier said, glancing at Swift and the orange mare as if Guardian was completely out of her mind, “Look, we can’t just let you see the marshal, he’s very busy at the moment. And first we have to get you identified first...and, good Celestia, what the hell happened to you?” the lead soldier asked, just noticing her mangled wings tucked behind her back, bent in unnatural ways. He glanced at the other two, who were equally horrified by the Guardian’s brutally warped wings.

By then, Guardian had finally had enough of the soldiers’ resistance. Catching them all off guard, she sprang up to her hooves and dashed straight through the green stallion and Swift, sprinting towards the inner battlements. Though she had escaped, she hadn’t been able to pick her spear back up, now unarmed.

“Hey!” the green stallion yelled, raising his spear back up and giving chase.

Guardian ran through the winding trenches, towards the inner campsite, where she imagined the officers would be. The attack she had narrowly escaped through must have been a reverse distraction effort, as Guardian quickly concluded, meant to make the royalists believe that their assault had the rebels afraid and on the run

Behind her, the three soldiers were in hot pursuit, still thrown for a loop as to who this pegasus was and what she was doing.

“That’s it! Sunshine, alert the sentry! Lock down every building!” the green stallion ordered. The orange mare, Sunshine, nodded without a word, breaking off from the chase to carry out the command.

After another minute of rigorous chasing, Guardian’s heart skipped a beat, when the alarms began to sound off in the interior of the camp.

“Hey! Stop running! We’re not gonna hurt you!” the green stallion yelled out to Guardian, though she wasn’t sure she believed him. She just didn’t have time to explain everything to them, not while there were ponies already en route to their own graves.

Then, she stopped dead in her tracks, when ahead of her, ten royal soldiers rounded a corner of the trench, blocking off her route.

Guardian spun her head behind her, and saw the green stallion and Swift blocking the way behind.

Guardian sighed angrily, quickly thinking over her options.

“Hey, take it easy, are you listening to me?” the green stallion asked, trying to be gentle towards Guardian, who was visibly half-delirious.

Guardian shook her head aggressively, realizing she had but one route to take if she wanted to stop the assault in time.

“Hey! Whoa, what the hell are you-Stop!” the green stallion yelled, while Guardian rushed towards the left wall of the trench, climbing up over the mud onto the above ground.

“Stop her!” yelled Swift, though before any of them could reach her, she was already over the edge.

Guardian immediately took off, carefully making sure not to step on any stray mines, barbed wire, deep holes or trench pits. The mud on the ground was thick, having been ravaged repeatedly by explosions and magic fire. Every step she took felt like she was sinking deeper into the ground.

Bullets whizzed past her, though Guardian tried her best to ignore everything else and focus solely on maintaining her pace, and reaching the camp.

A bomb then descended down from above, exploding on impact in a chaotic storm of fire and sparks. The shockwave was so powerful, that Guardian herself was flung off the edge of the ground, tumbling down into a nearby trench. She groaned on the ground, her bones rattled and her head aching like mad.

“There she is!” yelled a pony from behind her, the green stallion, leading the pack of soldiers who were still chasing her down.

She scurried up back to her hooves and ran, hoping to make it inside before she could be caught.

The wooden walls that surrounded the camp interior were straight ahead of her now, to her delight. Running out from the trenches, Guardian quickly spotted an opportunity in the form of a large hole in the wall towards her left, the remnants of a previous explosion, just barely wide enough for a pony to fit through.

She ran straight towards it, just as the soldiers behind her began to exit out of the trench.

Jumping through the hole, she was stuck for a moment, having to wiggle her way side to side until she could pass all the way through. The splintery edges of the hole scratched against her skin, though Guardian was so full of adrenaline she barely felt it.

“Stop!” yelled the green stallion, as he attempted to pass through the hole the same as Guardian had. Though, he was struggling far more, as he was too physically large to force himself through.

Wasting no time to get her bearing, she kept her stride into the interior of the camp. The campsite consisted mostly of tents and wooden buildings, similar to her old back lines camp. As she ran, she saw most ponies weren’t by their tents, and each empty cot reminded her of how many ponies would die lest she be the one to save their lives.

She rushed through the winding walkways of the campsite, uncertain where exactly to find the pony she was looking for.

She nearly ran right into another soldier, who had been filling up his canteen with water from a well.

“Commander Moonbeam, I need to speak to him!” Guardian sputtered, desperately out of breath.

The soldier barely paid her any notice, staring down at his canteen.

“First right past the cafeteria, building on the left corner,” he replied, nonchalantly, as if he was cursed to give directions for a living.

“Thank you!” Guardian chirped through her airy breaths, before restarting her sprint.

Guardian tilted her head back to see the green stallion and several other soldiers still running after her, invigorating Guardian to run as if her own life was at stake.

She saw what had to be the cafeteria, the largest building in the camp, trash cans filled to the brim standing idly outside. She rounded off a right and continued down through the dirt, heading straight for the small wooden building on the left corner of the camp.

She desperately reached out for the doorknob and twisted it open, right as the green stallion tackled her to the ground.

The door swung open, revealing a room of royal officers hovering around a large map sitting on a table.

Guardian screamed in agony, the stallion having completely crushed her already damaged wings during the tackle. He realized what he had done, and remorsefully jumped off of her, leaving her a sobbing mess on the ground.

“What in the hell?” yelled one of the officers inside, as soon as Guardian began screaming.

Guardian got herself under control, as soon as she had caught sight of the officers from the ground, and quickly brought herself to her hooves using the door for support, storming inside triumphantly. Whimpering, shivering, covered in blood, and physically exerted beyond reason, Guardian managed to make it up to her hooves, staring the frightened officers dead in the eyes. Their uniforms were polished and clean, not a medal out of place.

“What is the meaning of this?” asked one officer, glaring at Guardian with contempt, disgusted with how filthy and bludgeoned Guardian appeared.

“Commander Moonbeam!” she exclaimed, her breath choked and her voice strained. The green stallion, and several of the other soldiers who had been following him, also stepped through the doors after her, nervously expecting to take some flack for Guardian’s unannounced intrusion.

“Sir, I’m sorry, she-” the green stallion began, before Moonbeam himself could cut him off.

“Who are you, Corporal?” asked Moonbeam, a tall dark blue pony with a short cut black mane. He was an older stallion, and his head was covered snugly in a prim officer’s hat. Wading through the group of officers to confront Guardian by the door, he stared at her with complete bafflement, unsure what to make of this stranger pony who seemed to be closing in on death. He had recognized her lower rank by her uniform, and also took notice of her painful wounds, which made his gaze twist with disgust.

“And what’s happened to you?” he added, the other officers all equally put off by Guardian’s arrival.

“Sir! You must stop the assault! Call them back, do not send anymore!” Guardian said, still gasping for breath.

Moonbeam stared at her in disbelief, before turning back at the other officers as if to revel in a good joke.

“Call them back, you say! Ha! Only once we have the rebels running off to the coast to escape us, you say call them back!” Moonbeam said, chuckling to himself, lowering his head in amusement. He lifted his head again, resuming his serious demeanor. “No, I think not. I will not be held back by the folly of Canterlot patricians nor generals twiddling their hooves in their castles. Not this time,” Moonbeam said, slowly turning his back on a horrified Guardian.

“You don’t understand!” Guardian said, tearing off her helmet and retrieving the letter she had hidden inside. She ripped the tape off and brought the letter up for them all to see. The officers, and Moonbeam, who had turned back around out of curiosity, all stared at her, now even more confused.

Guardian extended the letter to Moonbeam, the envelope still relatively dry and intact.

“I’m from the 23rd Regiment sir, these orders are from High Command, I’ve been sent to relay the order to call off the assault, sir.” Guardian said, trying her best to regain her calm.

“23rd Regiment. Of course. How are things down south, may I ask? Warm and comfortable, no doubt. While we fight your battles up here,” Moonbeam said, pridefully.

“Sir, I made a promise that I would see this message through! I’ve risked my life to get this to you! It’s a trap, sir, you’re walking into a trap! If you march on that city, you’ll head straight into a massacre! They’ll all be slaughtered!” Guardian exclaimed, catching all of the officers’ attention simultaneously.

Moonbeam stared at her, incredulously, slowly coming to terms with this revelation.

“Please, just read this,” Guardian said, presenting the letter a second time.

Moonbeam glared at her with scorn, but conceded, receiving the off-white envelope and tearing it open. He unfolded the letter and took a full minute to read it, before scoffing in disappointment.

“Not even in my dreams, could we have been so close…” he muttered, before meeting Guardian’s unstable gaze.

“Do it then,” he said, practically spitting out the words. When nopony moved, he became irritated, practically throwing the letter across the table as he swiveled around to repeat himself.

“I said, do it! Call them back. Cancel the assault,” Moonbeam said, spitefully.

While the officers suddenly flew into a frenzy, some storming out the door to yell out at the large companies of soldiers preparing to set forth on their doomed attack, Moonbeam slowly turned back to Guardian.

“We were very much on the brink, weren’t we...That’ll do for you then, Corporal,” Moonbeam said, regretfully, “And perhaps tomorrow another 23rd Regiment pony will come to deliver a new order, this time to proceed ahead anyway.”

He managed a weak smile, as if he didn’t expect anything less from the upper crust ponies who gave him commands.

“One day this will all be at an end...And either we will remain or they, but only one. Only one,” Moonbeam muttered, at an immense loss over what would’ve been his crowning achievement in the war. Guardian lifted her head up to face Moonbeam, who still seemed to utterly despise her.

“See to your wounds. Sergeant Dire there will show you where…” Moonbeam said, nodding at the green stallion who had tackled her just moments earlier, whose name Guardian now knew.

Despite his indication for her dismissal, Guardian didn’t budge. For some reason, she expected some sort of gratitude from the Field Marshall, or at the very least an acknowledgement, for saving not only thousands of his ponies, but perhaps also his reputation.

Though, she would receive no kindness from him, at least not that day. He noticed she had yet to leave, and his tolerated politeness soon began to strain.

“And if you ever barge in here again like that, Corporal, I’ll see to it you’re properly dealt with. Now leave, before I come up with some other reason to send you to the medic,” Moonbeam growled.

Guardian put up no rebuttal, meekly turning around and following the direction of Sergeant Dire, who was still somewhat at a loss for words.

“Well done, Corporal,” said one of the officers, shaking Guardian’s hoof as she was escorted out of the room.

Helped along by a stunned Sergeant Dire, Guardian watched from afar as rows of troops were disassembled by distressed officers, scattering back into the camp.

A smile found its way to her face, and she was unable to even count how many ponies she saw. The lot of them seemed either relieved or disappointed, the consequence of how much excitement was directed towards what was thought to be the final act of the war. Little did any of them know that the result would have been just as final, but against their favor.

She saw some groups of soldiers cheering and practically jumping for joy, having been spared a grueling march and a likely ill-fate.

Dire helped Guardian along, preventing her from fainting or collapsing in exhaustion every time she seemed to daze off or stumble over her hooves. He felt guilt for trying to inhibit her, worsened by the knowledge that she had effectively just saved his own life, upon thousands of others.

Passing them on their way to a large white tent structure was a group of eight ponies, who all caught notice of Guardian as she limped along.

“Who the hell is that?” asked one, though none of them knew.

“That’s what you get with transfers, they get themselves killed. Bloody morons,” said another, prompting the group to laugh at Guardian’s expense.

They ignored her and moved along, stepping aside to permit her and Dire to enter the medical tent.

“Good heavens!” cried out the nurse, Redheart, a white earth pony with pink hair tied back in a messy bun.

“What’s happened?! Dire! Set her down here, right here I said! Be careful!” she said, flustered as she got a closer look at Guardian’s aching, bloodied body. Dire gently helped Guardian lie down on a cot near the center of the medical tent. He briefly examined her as she lay with her eyes closed on the table, and, despite how terrible her injuries were, still he had to acknowledge he felt a subtle attraction towards her. He admired her persistence above all else, and became consumed with dread knowing that he could have stalled the order she was sent to deliver.

Guardian was laying on her side, getting a full view of the pony on the cot next to her. His right front leg had been blown clean off, now just a stump wrapped up in bloodied bandages. Guardian tried to shut her eyes to avoid having to look, though the sight was already burned into her memory.

“Do you want me to stay?” Dire asked Redheart, who angrily shook her head.

“You’ll only get in the way. If you want to be useful, Dire, go down to the deck and find Doctor Hoofburn, tell him it’s absolutely an emergency,” Redheart said, rummaging through a cabinet of equipment while Guardian lay groaning on the cot.

“Anything else?” Dire asked, hopeful for a chance to do what he can to help Guardian.

“No! Just go already,” Redheart said, frantically.

Dire glanced down at Guardian one last time, remorsefully, and turned to leave, having hoped to be able to help fix Guardian to make up for his previous actions.

“You’ve lost a lot of blood, and your wings need immediate surgery,” Redheart said to Guardian, whose eyes were half open. “I’m going to put you under. OK?”

Guardian mumbled something that probably meant ‘yes,’ prompting Redheart to reach over for a plastic facemask with a gas tube attached. Muzzling it over Guardian’s mouth and nose, Guardian soon saw the world turn to a blur, until her mind shut off completely.

Drifting awake, Guardian took a few moments before opening her eyes, and found that her cot had been moved to the front of the medical tent, near the entrance. She was wearing a tight-fitting hospital gown, and her body felt clean for the first time in weeks. Her blue coat felt fresh and free of dirt and blood stains, a strange feeling that Guardian would have to get used to again.

“Oh, you’re awake!” came the voice of Redheart, dashing around some other medical cots near her to stand at Guardian’s side.

“The surgery was a success!” Redheart exclaimed. Guardian glanced behind her back at her wings, which were both wrapped tight in bandages. They had their traditional shape to them though, which made Guardian break into a subconscious set of thankful prayers. She had tried to avoid thinking about her wings earlier, as the pain was so terrible, she had to avoid thinking about how she would likely never be able to use them again. And for any pegasus, let alone one who loved flying as much as Guardian, losing her flight would be beyond devastating. But now that there was indeed hope again, Guardian felt like crying, overwhelmed by relief.

“You’ll need to rest for a few days at least. You’ll be able to fly again, just as well as you used to, but don’t rush things. Let them heal,” Redheart said, warmly extending a hoof holding a glass of water.

“Drink,” she ordered, and Guardian graciously accepted the command. She quickly began drinking the water, greedily, to try and aid her dehydration and exhaustion.

“Your Colonel sent a letter, congratulating you for your work,” Redheart said, “Oh, and is there a Silver Saber here too somewhere?”

Guardian paused her drinking, her eyes suddenly falling to the floor, somberly.

“No, there’s not,” Guardian replied.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” Redheart said, quickly connecting the dots. She hurriedly tried to change the subject. “Your Colonel has admitted you for indefinite medical leave. He’s recommended for a grand series of medals. And, he wants you to know that Princess Twilight Sparkle has heard of what’s happened, and very much wants to meet with you! Can you believe that?” Redheart said, excitedly.

Guardian’s eyes widened, slightly intimidated by being sought after by a princess. Not even Celestia, of whom she served loyally for years, had ever cared to really get to know her.

“Would you be able to give a message to Colonel Splinter, for me?” Guardian asked.

“Of course!” Redheart chimed, picking up a notepad and grabbing a pencil in her mouth from a nearby table. Guardian took a moment to collect her thoughts, thinking over precisely what she wanted to say.

“Tell him, that during the trek it became unavoidable to pass through the town Pine Hearth. And tell him that the town has suffered numerous casualties...civilians, rebels… and Corporal Silver too. I want him to make sure everypony there gets a proper burial, even the rebels too. And any survivors need to be taken care of. Do you have all that?” Guardian asked, hoping Honey Pie and her family, and any other townsponies of Pine Hearth, were still alive.

“Uh-huh,” Redheart said, unable to speak with the pencil in her mouth. She set the pencil down and stuffed the notepad in the pocket of her white jacket.

Guardian finished off her water, satisfied, and held the cup down in her lap.

Redheart smiled, content with her work and Guardian’s cooperation, reaching back for the cup.

“Ok. You just sit there, and don’t move,” Redheart said.

“Thank you,” Guardian said, smiling softly. Redheart trotted off gleefully, another pony well-taken care of under her watch.

Guardian let her head fall back on her pillow, sighing in relief now that the pain in her wings had indeed subsided. There were bandages looped around every cut and possibly-infected scrape on her body, including her recent shoulder injury and bullet wounds.

She noticed her helmet and armor sitting in a box nearby, but made no effort to grab for it. Her eyelids were heavy, and her body sore. She intended to rest, though her plans were quickly interrupted.

“Uh, hey.”

Guardian lifted her head back up, to see a somewhat familiar face, that being Sergeant Dire, the green-colored pegasus with dark mossy hair and a clean-shaven face, the pony who had first welcomed her to the camp, though not under particularly good circumstances.

“Uh, Guardian, right?” he asked, nervously. Upon their first meeting, Guardian had been covered in blood and dirt, and thus he hadn’t really known what the pony really looked like. And now that she had been cleaned up, he was a bit taken aback by her looks, and immediately his brain began to freeze up.

“Angel. Guardian Angel,” she said, smiling and raising her hoof for a polite hoofshake. Dire smiled and accepted, though his intentions for visiting seemed to extend beyond simple introductions.

“I’m Dire. Look, uh, I just wanted to come and apologize. For holding you up, and what I did to your wings, too…” he said, uncomfortable with having to admit his fault.

“Oh, you don’t have to apologize for that,” Guardian said, having forgotten that he had crushed her wings under his entire body weight earlier. All of the pain experienced in the past few days felt like it was all one continuous thing, and Guardian was far too exhausted to harbor any vengeful hatred towards anypony right then, especially not the ponies on her own side.

“Yeah...If there’s uh...If there’s anything I could do for you,” Dire began, quickly losing his train of thought as soon as he watched Guardian bat her eyes a few times.

“I think...just let me rest a little for now. But I’d love to talk more later,” Guardian said, though Dire couldn’t tell if she was being serious or not.

“Alright, you take it easy. Sorry, again,” Dire said, awkwardly stumbling out from the tent. Guardian had meant what she said, as she was admittedly in need of some friends in this new camp, where she hardly knew anypony.

She followed through on her claim, resting her eyes, hoping to get some much-needed sleep. Her mind drifted back down, and her body grew limp, as she fell into a blissful slumber.

Waking up a few hours later, Guardian felt more relaxed, until she again caught sight of all the injuries on her body. Every wound, every cut and scrape and bruise, reminded her of the journey she had made, and the ponies she had lost along the way. She wasn’t sure how much was her fault, though, naturally she took the blame on herself entirely.

She had no burning desire for a medal, nor a trophy or anything of that sort. Saving those ponies’ lives was all she had really cared about, through and through. Recognition and appreciation would be pleasant enough, though with the officers she usually had to deal with, even that would be a longshot. She wondered what her old regiment was saying about her, if anything, and whether they even knew she was alive, or that Silver wasn’t.

“Guardian Angel?” asked a pony in a brown hat trotting through the large flaps of the medical tent.

Guardian raised her head in surprise, though she didn’t recognize the pony who had called out to her.

“Mail,” the pony said, raising up a single letter for her to see.

Guardian raised a weak hoof to receive the envelope, though before she could say thanks or anything, the mailpony had already turned to leave.

She hesitantly glanced down at the letter, stamped with the emblem of the War Department Office. Realization swept through her like a gust of wind.

She ripped the envelope apart, and found inside a neatly-folded letter.

Guardian,

It has reached your mother and I here in Canterlot of what you have managed to do in the northern front, traversing through the forests to deliver orders that prevented a terrible loss to Equestria. I will be the first to say that you have served your country to the highest degree, and for that, I, your mother, and Equestria, owe you our gratitude. The loss of your brothers pains me still, as you must know. I am old now. And I cannot weigh the burden of a heavy heart against you any longer, while there remains light in this world. You are my daughter. You will always be my daughter.

Your father,

O.M. Archangel

Guardian read the letter three times, before laying it down in her lap, stunned. For all that she had cried and sulked over with her family strife, she could never imagine it would be her father himself who would try to resolve things between them.

She wasn’t entirely sure how to feel, partially still resentful of her father for waiting until she nearly died fighting to express his pride in her. ‘Too little too late,’ she wanted to say. But she was also amazed, grateful even, that she had gotten his appreciation at all.

Despite how much she wanted to hate him, for all the abuse and cruelty she had been dealt growing up, she couldn’t bring herself to do so. He was her father, and though he was strict, and cold, and often merciless towards her, she had never stopped trying to impress him. And now that she had done it, she felt a great weight be lifted from her own heart, just as Archangel had written about himself. She wasn’t sure he deserved her forgiveness, or if she was even supposed to forgive him; but she was too exhausted and had crept too close to the pale face of death one too many times to harbor a grudge against her father.

She wanted to forgive him, in spite of the past. She wanted to move on, to live with a family that loved her, in the wake of the loss of her brothers. Whatever remnants of her family could still be salvaged, she would be open towards. She pressed the letter against her chest, and held it there, shutting her eyes.

That night, Guardian fell asleep with little effort, her body weary and her mind still swirling through a chaotic mess of thoughts. She would rather not think about the pain that had a grip around her heart, though the tighter it became, the harder it was to ignore.

Days later, Guardian was deemed by Nurse Redheart to be fit to leave the medical tent, though was strictly prohibited from doing anything too adventurous. Luckily, she was already well-spent on adventurous behavior already.

She squirmed out of the hospital gown she was wearing, folded it neatly, and set it down atop her bed, of which she also remade, for the sake of politeness. She glanced down at her armor, and found herself resisting the urge to put it all back on. It seemed to mock her from below in its box, reciting a cold retelling of every grave fault that she held against her own heart.

Despite her hesitation, she did proceed to climb back into the armor, stuffing her head back into her helmet. Her armor was still stained red in some spots, though Guardian didn’t find herself as insistent about maintaining its grandeur any longer, at least not for the meantime.

The battle outside the camp had largely calmed down, likely due to the cancellation of the assault. Guardian had correctly guessed the rebels had been staging a reverse distraction, and as soon as the jig was up, they hadn’t taken long to pull their efforts back. The camp was now more full of life and activity than before, the thousands of ponies whose lives were largely indebted to Guardian now celebrating another day alive and an arguable victory over the rebel scheme to end the war.

Guardian saw ponies laughing, eating, and celebrating with each other, drinking and smoking contraband, enjoying the cool breeze as it blew like a trumpet’s horn.

Guardian trotted through the camp, walking for the first time in days, her muscles still sore and her emotional state weak. She was craving some sort of comfort, though there was little to be found in the camp. Ponies would walk right by her as if she was invisible, and after a point Guardian was beginning to feel isolated yet again. She hadn’t expected a parade in her honor or anything ridiculous, but to be ignored completely did her withered mental state no favors at all.

“Guardian!” called out a stallion’s voice.

Guardian turned her head to catch Sergeant Dire trotting up to her, excitedly.

“You’re out! How’re you feeling?” Dire asked, energetically. Unbeknownst to Guardian, Dire had been practicing what he would say to her for days, using his friend Sunshine as a test mare.

“Alright...I’m alright,” Guardian replied, softly.

“So uh, how long are you gonna be around here?” Dire asked.

“Oh, um, just a few days, probably. I’m getting sent home for medical leave,” Guardian said, recalling what Redheart had said to her.

“I’m getting sent back home in two weeks, maybe we could meet up again, huh? How’s that?” Dire asked, excitedly.

Guardian raised her eyebrows, realizing what the stallion was attempting.

“Are you trying to make a pass at me?” Guardian asked, coyly smirking.

“What? No! No, of course I’m not,” Dire said, shaking his head and fidgeting relentlessly, internally surprised that Guardian would dare to be so blunt.

“No, it’s ok, I just meant, if you were, uh...that wouldn’t be a problem with me,” Guardian said, her face turning red, biting her lip in embarrassment.

Dire hesitated, and then smiled.

“I’ll see you in Canterlot then?” Dire asked.

“I’d like that,” Guardian said, smiling sheepishly.

Dire nodded energetically, beginning to back away, seemingly having to get back to something.

“You’ll meet some of my friends tonight, I’m sure you’ve got some stories for us!” Dire said, as he trotted backwards, locked in trance with Guardian’s soft orange eyes.

“Bye,” Guardian said, waving, smiling to herself.

Once Dire had disappeared around a corner, Guardian continued trotting off through the camp, aimlessly wandering to try and get comfortable with the layout of the area. She would be leaving in a few days, no doubt, though she never liked to be unfamiliar with the land she was on.

Rounding a corner of one wooden building, Guardian noticed something a few yards ahead. A crowd of ponies, gathered around something, laughing and jeering, likely somewhat under the influence.

Guardian approached the scene cautiously, entering the crowd to see what was happening. The crowd of royal soldiers numbered twenty, all of them appearing to be drunk, likely following the recent celebrations.

After carefully pushing her way deeper into the crowd, she caught sight of what the commotion was about: a pony, held down on the ground in restraints, being subjected to an overwhelming blast of mocking and thrown objects. Guardian’s eyes widened in shock, realizing that the pony was a pony she recognized. With a fuzzy blonde head and a light purple coat, the stallion was on the ground, groaning in pain as he fell victim to a barrage of merciless kicks from the royal soldiers surrounding him.

Guardian quickly made her way to the front, careful not to let anypony shove into her injuries too much.

Once at the front, she stared down at Goldfinch, the rebel officer who had led the pursuit into the woods after her, and she felt sympathy for him, in spite of the fact he would have very likely been the one to kill her not just days earlier.

In the midst of the kicking and cruel jeers, eventually Goldfinch caught sight of Guardian from the ground, and she expected him to become enraged, or perhaps even beg her for mercy, though he did neither. He merely smiled, shaking his head in disbelief that she was alive.

The royal soldiers began to settle down, as soon as two royal officers began strutting their way through the crowd to see what the commotion was over.

“What is the meaning of this?” yelled the first officer, a stern-faced mare with bright velvet hair and a red coat.

The soldiers drew quiet, unsure whether they were going to be on the receiving end of a reprimand or not.

“What’s this? A rebel? An officer rebel?! Why has nopony reported this? Instead you take him into the streets to beat him like a dog! Are we animals? Come, see to it now. String him on the gallows, that’ll make good use for him. Rebel rats, trying to play a trick on us. Let this be a lesson to the others. After, hang him from the post in the square yard! Let them over the ridge see, let them all see!” the mare said, cackling while Goldfinch was still lurching over in pain, covered in bruises from the onslaught of beatings.

“Ma’am,” Guardian said, first softly, though nopony could hear her over the loud cheering of the royals.

“Ma’am!” Guardian said again, this time catching the officer’s attention.

The officer raised an eyebrow, not recognizing the corporal who was calling after her. The crowd quickly became quiet again.

“You can’t kill this pony,” Guardian said, angrily.

The officer stared at her blankly, in shock.

“What?” the officer said.

Goldfinch raised his head in surprise, confused as to what Guardian was doing.

“I know him. Just days ago he was hunting me down through the forest. He meant to kill me,” Guardian said.

The officer seemed not to believe Guardian, her gaze shifting down to Goldfinch on the ground.

“Is that right?” she asked, lifting his chin up with her hoof.

He gulped, slightly out of breath from enduring the beatings, and nervous over his very life being at stake.

“Yes, that’s right,” Goldfinch said, spitefully.

The office’s eyes rose back up to Guardian, slightly impressed.

“What of it? What does his life matter to you?” the officer demanded.

“It isn’t right to kill him. Please, don’t. I’m asking you not to,” Guardian said, hoping to end the continued bloodshed brought about by her mission.

Goldfinch stared at Guardian, stunned, while the officer pondered things over.

“Fine. Doesn’t matter much to me either way. Throw him in the brig,” the officer ordered.

Once she had stormed off, the crowd quickly began to disperse. Two of the soldiers moved to pick up Goldfinch, while he and Guardian’s eyes stayed locked on each other.

He didn’t have to say aloud his gratitude for Guardian to understand, for his eyes were wide, crying out an unexpected thanks. And, in turn, Guardian was radiating a sense of forgiveness, deciding that more death would not avenge anypony.

After watching Goldfinch be dragged away, Guardian trotted towards the entrance of the camp out into the forests, heading out of the camp and down the road to the nearby royal-friendly town where she had learned soldiers tended to head over to cool off. The town’s name was Wickerville, sitting in a small clearing among some green trees, bustling with a decent population of ponies.

Guardian stopped short before stepping onto the main road into the town, sighing. She lifted off her helmet, and unbuckled her boots and chest armor as well, hiding it all inside a bush near the side of the road. She quickly tied her hair back into a ponytail, trying to get used to having her head stuffed inside her helmet.

Shuddering against the cool breeze, her mane was rustled by the wind, and Guardian felt free for the first time in years.

She trotted into the town, and received little to no attention as a newcomer. The town was full of life, ponies smiling and talking with one another, eating outside beneath street-spanning streamers, and working their trades during the day.

Guardian entered the town pub, named the Foggy Notion, hoping to get some sort of food or drink to lift her spirits.

Inside, she took a seat on the bar, a pack of grovely old stallions sitting at a table behind her, loudly drinking and chatting as if they were the only ones in the place.

Sitting in a type of place where Guardian would once go to wind down or celebrate some joyful occasion with friends, she noticed a disconnect, one that she was still unfamiliar with. It was different now, to just be a normal pony sitting in a bar on a cloudy afternoon. The world was still cold and grey, and it was as though the sunlight of yesteryear was now little more than a childhood memory, or a pretend fiction dreamed up to distract from the dark reality. Who was she, now that she was free from the constraints of the front? Abandoned on a mountain of complexities that she couldn’t even understand, withering away like snow in the springtime. She dreaded having to meet Twilight Sparkle, or anypony in the Canterlot elite for that matter. She had no interest in being barraged by tedious questions, the answers of which could only be understood by those who had experienced. Answers that could not be revealed, topics that could not be discussed. The horrors were hers. She could not speak of such things, not until she had at least sorted some of it out for her own.

“What can I get you?” the bartender, a young gold-colored stallion earth pony, asked, snapping Guardian out of her existential daydreaming.

“Just water, please. Thank you,” Guardian said, politely.

The bartender nodded and grabbed a cup from underneath the bar, filling it up with water from a small tap, and setting it down in front of her.

“That’s free by the way, but you’ve got to get something else if you want to sit there,” he said, trying his best not to be rude about the restaurant policy.

“Oh, ok, sorry, uh...I’ll have some hay fries, do you have that?” Guardian asked.

“We do, I’ll get that for you,” the bartender said, before trotting off behind a door into the backroom kitchen.

Guardian sipped at her glass of water, and she began to find some comfort in memories of ordinary life. She hadn’t thought a town like this could still exist during the war, when everything else was in grand upheaval.

She thought back at Pine Hearth, a town that was perhaps not unlike the one she was in now, with ponies of all sorts, living happy lives. These ponies were safe, and thriving, which, to some extent, validated Guardian’s resolve.

“And I’ll tell you what, they’re still afraid to send the troops past Vanhoover! Can you believe that? We ought to throw everything we have at them already, or admit defeat!” said one of the old stallions behind her, of whom Guardian was unable not to overhear.

“How many bits are those saps always asking for down main street? I don’t know what the hell they’re doing out there with my money, but they don’t seem to be doing much! Lollygagging!” said another.

“They don’t train those ponies enough, that’s the problem. They’re weak, and they don’t get anything done. Lazy buggers,” said the third, after he took a deep sip from his mug.

“Aye, and those soldiers up the road, they’re witless. They don’t see the big picture, none of them. I hear them complaining, talking about things they couldn’t understand. All they know is their own little pockets of the war that they’ve been through,” said the one who had first spoken, “If they were in charge, Equestria would be rubble already.”

Guardian was shocked, and wondered if they would be saying similar things if she was still wearing her armor.

“Here you go, hay fries,” the bartender said, preventing her from proceeding to turn around and give those stallions a piece of her mind.

“Oh, thank you, here,” Guardian said, laying down some bits on the surface of the bar table.

“I think I’ll take these to go,” Guardian said, deciding she wouldn’t want to be spending any more time listening to those ponies.

On the way back to the camp, Guardian relocated where she had hid her armor, and found it was still there.

She stared into her reflection in the shiny gold surface, the image shaded in red, her own blood from days earlier. She sighed, stuffing the armor all back into her duffel bag, carrying on down the road.

Re-entering the camp, Guardian was surprised to see most of the ponies were gathering around something up ahead, by the parade field.

Taking a closer look, she stood beside the cafeteria wall, staring up at an impressive-looking stallion standing tall on a wooden podium, hundreds and hundreds of ponies standing around, all eyes on him as he spoke.

Shining Armor was dressed in his formal armor, standing pridefully behind a wooden podium atop the raised platform, staring down intently on the ponies below.

“Friends...I’m going to be telling you the truth today...This has been a hard time for us,” Shining said, “And the longer it takes to clear this area...it will continue to be hard. The supply constraints won’t be any better, not anytime soon, and I apologize for that, sincerely…”

He went on, though Guardian couldn’t bring herself to continue listening after a while. She recalled his speech verbatim, as the send-off words for Periwinkle Radiance’s 13th Velvet Regiment, of whom were now all dead, to her despair. Gradually, she could no longer deny it, what Silver had insisted on numerous occasions, that the violence had to be pointless. The war would rage on, seemingly to no end, until only a few ponies were left to live in the ravaged world that was left over.

Or rather, that was the conclusion that Guardian was resisting. After everything she had been through, the easiest route of all would be to look only at the cold reality, where ponies were killed senselessly and horrors of unimaginable sorts were left as stains on her psyche. But what compelled Guardian further was the very hope she had first clung onto. Walking into the mountain passage, she hadn’t known if she was to even survive. What she did know, however, was the value of fighting for other ponies’ lives. Life, and the beauty of nature, creations, and relationships that came with it, was the sole thing Guardian believed in entirely. Hope for a better life had carried her through her childhood and adolescence, resisting the urge to give up to her self-deprecation and into her father’s resentment. Hope for a good life had helped her through her military career. And maybe she would never have the ideal life she wanted, with a family of her own to love, provide for, and protect, but she certainly wouldn’t have a chance lest she hope for such.

And she may have been able to show that, even to Silver if she had survived. She would never stop, no matter the pain or hardships. There was good in the world still, even in simple and miniscule forms. The little moments caught among the chaotic forces were what had to be salvaged. And should she forget that, and allow misery to consume her, she knew what routes ponies could be driven down.

The life of a soldier, and the value it had, therefore seemed to be carelessly, wholly insignificant. Tossed into the fires to carry out a goal that may never be realized. Those that survived the depths they were forcibly plunged down into would never again see the world the same. Not as long as the darkness of some evil forces still lingered. For though many had died, memories, regrets, and atrocities remained, clawing at the damaged minds of ponies who would have much preferred a normal life. A life free of pain, a life free of death. But the world was not so, and perhaps it never would be.

And after witnessing those horrors, and living with a strange kind of guilt, Guardian could barely stand herself any longer. She felt attached to the darkness now, as if it had already had a hold of her, inescapable. To return home, she realized, would mean an inevitable, inescapable alienation from the society she had risked her life for, the ponies she cherished, and the things she used to love.

Though it may have been all senseless, could she admit to herself that there was no point? That the ponies she had loved and fought to protect died for nothing? The war carried on, and each casualty was another drop of rain in an ocean of sorrow. It was wrong, and it was evil, Guardian knew this already. But she could not bring herself to say they died in vain, she would not even allow the notion to cross her mind. To die for life was of the noblest acts. And for those ponies killed in the cruelest of ways, for unjust causes, they certainly did not deserve such fates. But their memories would live on, and be carried over greener hills of tomorrow, where, with hope, the world may look a bit brighter. The memories of the past, the struggles and the obstacles all the same, were what shaped the very beings of ponies big and small. And through it all they would grow into stronger ponies, wiser and more fit to create a better world.

Guardian could no longer look to her own side as the spotless heroes she had once dreamed them up as. She recalled Silver, and the slight of their superiors’ towards her, even in death. Nopony had asked about her. Nopony seemed to notice, and perhaps better that they did not, for they would not care anyways. But without Silver, Guardian might never have escaped that dreadful rebel town, and all these ponies in her new camp would very well be dead. She was no longer sure she could say she believed in the cause, whatever that really was. Another trick, Guardian imagined Silver would say. She missed her terribly. Her voice could no longer taunt her, her breath could no longer inform her that she was not alone. Now the world seemed to be emptier, and emptier still. There were a thousand stories like hers, after all.

So the war would continue, and new stories would perhaps be told, as if there was nothing before it that mattered. It was a cycle, and the longer it spun, the taller the tower of corpses would climb into the sky. Guardian was indeed disillusioned, to some extent, with the acclaimed infallibility of her superiors and those that ruled over her beloved land. Guardian of all ponies was very well familiar with the evil that dwelled in some rebel ponies, she had the scars to prove it. But she knew equally as well that not every pony on the enemy side was a sadistic killer. Some were just scared, some were just angry, some were just doing what they believed they had to for the sake of protecting their loved ones. Guardian believed the majority were in the latter category. It was the royalists' villainization of the opposition that made peace implausible.

She still loathed the Witch Queen with all her heart for the death of Vambrace, and there were other rebel ponies’ whose faces she remembered, monstrous thugs who still walked the earth without shame. But if no more ponies had to die, and if some compromise could one day be made, Guardian would find that to be a better solution in favor of more war.

She would continue to mourn Silver, the kind of friend that only came once a lifetime. She would remain alive in Guardian’s heart for as long as Guardian still drew breath. She hoped that Silver was happy, wherever she was now, and that she could know peace, peace that she never knew in life.

Just as staunchly as when she had first joined the front, Guardian had hope. And then, in the distant cavalcade of dark thunderous clouds and black smoke above her, Guardian saw the first rays of sunlight burst through the sky, for the first time in months.

Her furnace-orange eyes reflected the light of the sun, that streamed down softly around the feathery clouds. A smile soon burst onto Guardian’s face, as the sunlight illuminated the world around her. For challenges overcome and challenges ahead, Guardian was ready, her strength intact and her spirit stronger than ever. In spite of everything, hope remained. Hope that peace would one day be restored to Equestria, hope that the light of the sun would last unto tomorrow. For as long as she was alive, as long as she was breathing, there was hope.

And the words returned to her then, calmly running along the beat of her heart, like a stream of water. And she shut her eyes and dreamt of all she held dear, and all that there was still left to gain, and she knew then that she would endure.

Through even the longest and darkest of nights, it will be there.

Author's Note

Huge thanks to everyone who took the time to read, and also to everyone who kindly left a like, it means a lot to me! I had a lot of fun writing this and I hope it turned out to be enjoyable! Thanks!!