Equus: World at War

The bell rung loudly and soon; students began filing into their classrooms. Despite the war, the education continued almost as normal, with students attending lessons for a wide array of subjects, all of which fitted within the tightly set curriculum of the EDA. Education was paramount not only during this war but to the country’s economy and sociability on a worldwide level, as what they were taught would not only help to stimulate development of their way of life for years to come, as they had been told.

Life continued within the many cities, whether they served under the rule of the diarchy or were part of a rebellious county or province, vying for their own doctrines and beliefs, aspiring to maintain a 'true' Equestria, to wrest control from the monarchs and restore some form of balance to the world, or simply for the greed of profit and power. Wars really could take all sorts of creatures. The people of these city states, in various forms of success, tried to shelter their citizens from the fighting for they knew that when this was over, they would need normal people to claim what was left, not twisted and trained soldiers which could only form dictators and military states.

As the months now became years, many people had come to adapt life for a war without end it seemed, in particular the education sector. The young adults were less than a year away from leaving the confines of the school halls to begin their lives... not aspiring for whatever they had dreamed of doing but working the daily grind to help with the war effort. To toil in the fields and factories to produce the necessary equipment and supplies to support the army, or to throw themselves headlong, hearts brazen on their chests and spirits soaring with their banners into the battlefields.

"Cozy Glow are you listening?" the teacher soon asked, looking at the little pegasus who was almost staring blankly at the board. The green mare moved her glasses up her muzzle as she looked at her student, the other children in the class doing the same, turning around with various looks of amusement, waiting for the pegasus to make a fool out of herself.

"Oh yes miss, I was!" she was quick to answer with a smile, attention snapping to the teacher, glancing about with confusion at the children staring at her suddenly.

"Then what did I just say... loud enough for the class to hear please," the teacher called across the room, leaning on her desk with a deep frown.

"The Night Mother wrested control of Equestria from her horrible sister 44 years ago, 45 this time next week. That's why we will have the Lunar Eclipse Celebration, as it's the anniversary of that day," Cozy answered swiftly, hands together in her lap fiddling with a small rubber stress ball she had been given.

Seeming more than satisfied, the teacher did not give out a punishment, instead continuing, "Yes, the celebration will commemorate her victory, her reclamation of her throne and will show the strong bond between Queen Nightmare Moon and all her subjects, no matter where they come from," she'd go on, "Due to the obvious unrest in Equestria, the celebration will still not be as grand as most years but will go on nonetheless. It's a time for us to grow stronger as a community and as a people. To understand all our new citizens and neighbours, welcoming them into our world and showing them our culture whilst also learning theirs."

The students listened as the teacher carried on, "The celebration this year will take place through the streets of Canterlot under guard supervision, I hear two of the Armoured Orders have agreed to be in the streets for our protection,"

Several of the students cheered and called out at the thought of seeing the Armoured soldiers who looked so powerful and cool. Though armoured suits had existed for decades now, the mechanical suits of armour did not fail to impress young minds still. What boy didn’t dream of joining something as prestigious as a power armour order after all, a literal representation of ancient beliefs and doctrines which had been revitalised upon the run of the Queen, one who had lived in a time of swords and magic.

"Furthermore, our Mistress of Change, Queen Chrysalis, will be attending this year. Though her particular celebration is in four months, she has decided to lend her words to the speech Queen Nightmare Moon shall give as well. Now I want all of you to keep up the work you’re doing each day and finish your homework. School will be closed for two days over the celebration period so this homework will be set early. I want you to answer pages fifty through to fifty-five. Ask each other if you have any problems and failure to obtain at least fifty percent correct will not be acceptable… remember that everyone," the mare looked over the young faces before glancing up as the hand of the clock hit 1pm, "school is finished," the teacher concluded.

Immediately the students all scrambled to fill their bags with their books and stationery, heading to the door silently before bursting into conversation once they were outside the class, walking down the hallways. So too would the other classes as they left their rooms and crowded into the school corridors, pushing and shoving as they tried to get out of the school doors and get their freedom from the confines of the school curriculum.

Cozy Glow packed her bag slowly, giving time for the students to filter out first so she could easily pass through the hallways without having to deal with being crushed between masses of bodies.

"Cozy, you headed straight to the factory today?" Sapphire, a blue pegasus with an aquamarine mane tied back in a bun, would ask as she flew across the room to her friends side.

"Mmm I don't know. I've got to get all these books back to the library before they shut or the fines will just tear through my savings," Cozy replied, wings flapping and lifted her off the ground, Sapphire following as they headed out into the corridor, settling on the ground once more to join the crowds shuffling about as flying not allowed indoors, even if it would have been more convenient and eased the congestion in the hallways. Such was the rules of the school.

"Do you need me to cover for you again?" Sapphire eventually asked as she clutched her bag in her arms tightly, resting her chin on the fabric as she looked across to her friend.

"Oh, would you Sapphire, it would really help if you could buy me a few minutes extra," Cozy shifted back and forth with a small smile.

Sapphire nodded immediately, "Of course, it's no problem. I just hope the line manager doesn't catch on any time soon."

"I heard what he did to that colt last week. I mean golly, giving him the belt for messing up a few stitches on a uniform doesn't seem fair at all," Cozy agreed. She’d never liked their line manager, abusive to all of them on an almost regular basis… but it wasn’t as if that would change any time soon, especially with him on track to become a full assistant manager from maintaining such high production levels from his work force.

"And it wasn't his fault! He's just new is all an-and he only messed up four of them... Plus his dad paid for the bad uniforms so he shouldn't have gone that far,” Sapphire went on before growing silent as she clutched her bag tighter, tail flicking anxiously.

"Well I'm just glad it's my birthday soon and I'll be able to move out of that crappy factory soon," Cozy said with an affirmative nod to her friend as they left the school, heading out and into the grounds, a short space of grass that had been cut all the shorter to allow the walls around the school to be fortified encase of an emergency and to make space for the expanded width of the city streets, which had significantly reduced the accident rate of vehicular collisions.

"Oh Cozy, you're not actually going to move are you!" Sapphire asked, moving to her friend immediately, "Don't go, otherwise I'll be stuck by myself!"

"You've got Jasper, Harriet and the other girls... and it's not like it'll be long till it's your birthday anyway, you can move to the same factory as me," Cozy would say with another nod, looking up and down the street before crossing.

"But why though!? It's not that bad at the factory… despite what we said. I mean sure the sowing machines aren't the best, but the head manager said our line will get newer ones soon," Sapphire continued to do her best to convince Cozy to stay.

Despite the Pegasus' efforts though, the other filly shook her head, "I can't, the pay is terrible, I have to walk and fly thirty minutes from the train station just to get to it and that manager outright 'hates' me and I don't know why... Plus I hate when Sight Seeker's uncle comes around to pick him up. He always just stares at me and acts all weird. Asking weird questions, it's just creepy. No, I'm definitely moving to P&R munitions factory.”

"A munitions factory! Cozy they're so dangerous and your fur and skin get stained yellow and everything," Sapphire replied immediately, squeezing next to her friend as stallions walked past, workers returning from their break.

"Well, I'll just buy some gloves with the extra money I'm making," Cozy gave a sideways nod and flicked her tail, straightening her back, "But honestly, anything’s better than this factory... Hehe, I say that, but I'll probably find another creep at this new place anyway,"

The two fillies were soon joined by a young female griffin. Her feathers were interesting in how they were a mixture of greys, blacks and whites though despite the monochrome colours, they always appeared so vibrant. At first the griffin said nothing, listening to the pair carry on with their conversation before finally joining in, "I still think you should work finding scrap. You can just go amongst the heaps and not have to do much if you don't want to, it’s not like they can do much to watch you out there."

"Ginny, you know we have a job to do. We can't be shirking off. What we do matters to our very way of life and those of the next generations!" Sapphire would immediately say, quoting their teacher

"Well, you do that after working a five-hour shift at a mechanics shop and tell me if you have anything left to give," the griffin crossed her arms over her chest, wings ruffling, "I work hard, I'm just... taking my breaks as I work is all. Nothing wrong with that right"

Sapphire looked away before looking back once more, as she spoke earnestly, "Yes but... but if you worked harder, then you can save more lives. The uniform or canteen you make could be the difference between life or death for a soldier out there."

"I don't think one more uniform is going to change that. I mean if you really think about it, making that extra uniform means one more soldier has the kit necessary to go out there," the griffin countered.

Cozy caught the look that Sapphire gave from Ginny's comment, the thought that her actions were getting their soldiers killed in a long, convoluted manner and spoke up quickly, "But let's not forget, having another person in uniform means one more soldier on the front lines and we know that one soldier can make all the difference for a group of them, maybe saving all of them. But anyway girls, we shouldn't be arguing over this sort of thing. We have to stay together and just do our part," she'd say, pulling them both closer and walking with them down the street.

It was enough to convince the two girls to concede in their personal beliefs and change the subject to schoolwork and the eventual celebration. In time, Cozy would break away from her friends to return her books to library. She'd taken her notes on all the chapters to come and broken it down into a much more concise, information dense manner. They should get her to write these books, she could get the same amount of knowledge across in an eighth of the pages. Probably would mean they could get eight books printed instead of one and give them to students to keep, rather than only taking books out for a week at most.

For all the new ideas these creatures brought from their worlds, there were still places as simple as a library which needed reinventing. But she was just a kid after all, not like her voice would be enough to make a change.

Arriving at the factory finally, she would almost be surprised by how quickly the line manager picked her out amongst the masses of workers as she moved to her machine, the stallion rushing up to Cozy before she could even sit before her sowing machine.

He grabbed the pegasus roughly by her wrist, yanking her to the side, "What the hell do you think you're doing coming in this late! Do you think you can just skip on your shift and let everyone else slave away while you go burying your head in books!"

"N-no I just wanted to return..." Cozy managed before turning away as the stallion continued yelling in her face.

"Don't you dare talk back to me and give excuses! You're going to work without pay today and then you're going to work an additional 3 hours overtime to make up for the time you owe me!" he shouted, in part using the young filly as an example, glaring about at several of the other workers that had stopped working briefly.

The filly took in a breath before nodding, eyes fixed on the chipped concrete ground. She would eventually be released from his grip, the stallion continuing to berate her as she moved to her station, "Everyone does their part in this war. Everyone. Don't think you can just skip your work and go about doing whatever you please. When I was your damn age, I had three jobs before I signed up to the army and I was never late, yet you've done it again and again every month now."

He paused as the filly said nothing, finally snorting through his nose, "This is the last time you bloody do this, or you will be fired and you will 'not' get your pay at the end of the month," he called at the back of the filly's head as she continued working. The subtle movement of her head was enough of a 'yes' that the stallion needed and finally he left. He didn't doubt she would do it again, but he'd laid down the line in front of everyone, she had her last chance. Now he could get rid of her and get someone in who really worked hard and did their hours.

Cozy kept her head low till he was gone, wiping under her eyes and sniffing as she heard the clopping of his hooves moving off. She could feel the glances of the other workers on her or the staring gaze of the few as she measured out the required material on the ruler marked on the side of the work bench, taking up a sharp pair of scissors to cut the necessary amount. She gulped eventually, shaking herself off at the horrible feeling weighing down on her as she could just imagine how much they judged her. As lazy, late or ignorant of the war effort. But she worked harder than anybody to do her job, to work hard in classes and when she went home.

Her jaw worked somewhat at the thought of it, instead just deciding to focus on her work at hand, pausing only briefly to tie back her light blue curls, pulling a length of midnight blue cloth from a pocket, discarded material she had left over from one of the uniforms, its edges fraying from use. She continued to stand at her station and work for the remainder of the shift, then worked overtime as the next group of employees began their shift, having to push the heavy carts and collect the piled-up stacks of uniforms from the workers, taking them to the back rooms.

*****

Once truly released from the cold confines of the factory, she would rush to the train station, just managing to get on a carriage before the train departed. The filly fell into her seat, rubbing her forehead hard as she switched her mind onto everything she needed to do when she got home and what she had to prepare for the next day, for school and her job.

From down the carriage she heard three colts laughing and talking amongst each other about their work collecting scrap and whatever material they could find from the pits. Piles upon piles of waste that spewed out from other worlds and the portals, all collected and thrown in the scrapyards to be sorted. It was a job that was dangerous but very rewarding if you happened to be in the right place at the right time. From the sounds of it one of the boys had been in such an instance, finding something of worth.

Cozy turned away and looked out the window instead, the moon pushing high into the sky as the sun would be dropped low behind the distant mountains that punched up through the Everfree forest. The train jostled gently as it followed the tracks that spiralled around the side of Mt. Canterhorn to the ground. Another train passed by on the other track, Cozy making out the briefest faces of the other passengers about to begin their night shifts in the city, obscuring her view of the rolling land at the base of the mountain for a time till it finally passed.

The train stopped in Crescent, the town that had formed rapidly near the base of the mountain, predominantly filled with the overflow of Canterlot's growing population, a large majority of its people being the non-natives, the outsiders and other-worlders that all came tumbling into their world. Every day it grew bigger and swelled with their numbers, construction sites constantly active at its edges.

She enjoyed the buildings the most. All the different styles these creatures brought with them and their buildings of prayer, single spired, multi turreted, domed or crenelated. The more exotic and unusual simply being a large statue for religious gatherings or even modelled after the unopened petals of some plant like structure, stranger designs still being produced as well. How they accommodated them, these creatures from other worlds. Made them feel so connected and welcomed, catering for their many cultures as best they could to remain connected and unified despite their differences.

The train pulled into the station though she remained seated, waiting for the next stop in Poneyville. Cozy relaxed somewhat as she was now alone in the carriage, finally taking the chance to eat her lunch, now dinner for her, as she rested back in her chair, the tattered cushion of the seat flattened from use so she could feel the hard wooden board beneath, making every bump uncomfortable. She still had so much reading to do and things to organise, especially with her extra-curricular work.

The train slowed down almost noiselessly but the sound of a muffled screeching from the brakes, gently pulling itself into the station for Lunar Lane Junction, several creatures stepping into the carriage, many non-pony creatures resembling moles, bats and others much more unusual and alien in appearance, taking up the seats and waiting to reach Poneyville, Cozy assumed. The grey and red initials of 'MW' on their uniforms denoting their place of work within the Maxwell and White Automobile factory on the outskirts of Poneyville. Gone were the times of making purely civilian automobiles and producing aesthetically pleasing designs, now they worked tirelessly to produce trucks and armoured cars, welding thick steel sheets and tirelessly meeting the demands set by the military.

Cozy considered it ridiculous how anyone could work there with its sub-minimal pay and workloads. She was glad, despite the travel, that she'd looked for a factory in the city that accommodated her school schedule, despite the problems she had.

The train stopped just outside of Poneyville in a small, newly built station that only allowed exit from the first five carriages. Several large double decked buses waited to take workers from the station to a munition factory operating under the 'Longleaf A1' name. Before long, the train set off yet again to arrive in Poneyville where the filly could finally step outside. She'd spread her wings out as she'd take to the air, clutching her bag to her chest, heaving a sigh as she saw the house several streets away and what it entailed.

As soon as she landed and her keys clattered lightly on the wooden door as she tried to unlock it, an annoyed males voices called through, "Don't you dare think you're coming back in at this time!"

She found the chain still on the inside of the door as she attempted to push it open, "Look I had to work overtime at the factory and I'm sorry I haven't made your dinner yet," Cozy pressed herself against the door frame, struggling to undo the chain as her hand slipped through the narrow opening it allowed.

"The cheek of it, not apologising after letting me starve in here, by myself for hours! What did I do to deserve a girl like you," the voice called through and continued to rant on about their years of service to the country meaning nothing, their voice growing distant as she moved into the next room.

The filly gritted her teeth and banged the door, "Just open the door already!" she called through, pulling back to taking in a deep breath to compose herself as she cast a glance behind her to make sure no one was in the street watching the whole scene. Calming herself to a degree with another deep inhale through her nose, she worked on the chain once more, fingers and arm straining to reach through the tight space. Finally, it was undone and clattered to the side, the door opening fast as her weight was pressed against it, banging on the hallway wall loudly and jittering on its hinges.

"Stop all that banging, the neighbours are trying to sleep!" he yelled through loudly.

"And people in other towns are trying to sleep too," Cozy said to herself quietly, soon making her way into the living room, finding the griffin by the window, staring out with a glare.

"So... am I making you dinner now or..." Cozy raised a brow as she already had an inkling of what the answer would be.

The griffin turned his wheelchair around, "You bloody will not! All those fumes from that damn stove will kill me!" he called across the room, "Have you no sense girl! Don’t you ever listen to what I say!"

The filly huffed, "I know that..."

"If you knew, then why did you ask! Bloody excuses for you forgetting is what it is," he'd cut in, taking a book off the mantel piece and beginning to write in it, "That Taut Knot has been coming back later each day, he has to be doing something... Something illegal I just know it," he rambled on as if forgetting about the filly for a moment.

"If you're still trying to catch him out then you won't. He's just been caught with more shifts than normal lately and likes to be the last person to leave the factory. He's got the keys to lock it up so he has to," Cozy would say, holding onto the door frame, brow furrowing briefly in annoyance at the Griffin's one-creature-crusade to maintain a watch on his neighbours and report them to the police.

"No he's not. Don't be so stupid! What do you even know about him, he goes to work at Crescent every day," he'd sneer, though a grin crept across his beak as if he had caught the filly out.

"I talk to him in the mornings on the train 'up' to Canterlot. It's the same train line you know… and if you don't stop bothering Liam with questions and everything, he will call the police... Hurgh! Why can't you get on with everyone, instead you keep trying to... to catch someone out in a hope the Queens will reward you with something," The filly called in exacerbation

He glared back at her, "Listen her you little... I've worked all my life for this country, even though it's not mine! I've served for nearly two decades and made sure you weren't taken over by those damn cat bastards. They would have had you working in the coal mines at the age of six if it weren't for creatures like me fighting them. They would have gone beat you daily and put you on their labour camps and worked you to death!"

"Guess you're forgetting the griffins that attacked us as well and threatened to send all pegasi to slave camps too. Don't want to leave that out... No pony should be higher than a griffin right? I think I remember reading that the clipping of pegasi wings was also a thing they did frequently," Cozy would comment, moving back and forth on her hooves, hands behind her back.

"Don't you get smart with me you brat. If it... I've done more than anyone else for you! When your parents died I did well by Gallow and took you into my house and you have the audacity to answer back to me! You do nothing in this house! You lazy little shit! You don't know what the real world is like and are to air headed in your books to ever know what it is like. Should have smacked you when you were younger, might have given you some respect! You’re a selfish and stupid little girl who won’t amount to anything… ANYTHING. You can barely hold this job, I get letters every damn day about how the teachers see you don’t pay attention in class, you’re an embarrassment!" the griffin shouted, growing steadily louder as he moved himself up to the filly with every word till he was in front of her glaring into her eyes.

With a deep breath in, Cozy would hold her next comment and remain silent, finally averting her gaze to the ground, squinting her eyes as they began growing wet around the edges, though she managed to stop it from going further.

Several moments passed in silence till he moved away silently to the window, continuing his 'watch' on the neighbours. It was the opportunity the filly took to leave and go to her room, hearing him mutter on about her snivelling and needing to grow up. He had enough food stockpiled in the cupboards to sate himself for today and probably a month even. But she'd most likely be paying out of her own wages to replace it.

She'd close the door behind her as she went into her barren room, with its peeling walls and chipped wood. Black mould was growing by the window ledge from the lack of air circulating through. He would never let her open the windows and had quite literally locked them and thrown away the key, all for that paranoia of the factory's smell. The filly was surprised the rotting walls hadn't come down atop them in the last few months especially, always seeming creak loudly which was followed by the occasional sound of the wood cracking or being gnawed upon by the nest of rats. Funny how the griffin was scared of a little smoke that wasn't there but when faced with an obvious problem of an infestation he buried his head in the clouds to ignore it.

She inadvertently let out a sigh which didn't seem enough to get the weight off her mind and chest, leading to her performing a subsequent, heavier sigh. The only thing she could do was to remind herself it wouldn’t be long, only a few more weeks till she was 16 and that was it, legally an adult and finally free to make her own decisions. She could feel a certain level of excitement at the thought of all the things she could finally do, even the smallest things such as painting the walls or eating something other than foul smelling mackerel nearly every day, maybe she could even go out for a midnight walk when she couldn't sleep at night amongst other things, it was all so exciting and was enough to keep her going.