We're Gonna Hang Out the Washing on the Lunar Line

Chapters

1: Here's the Song that we All Sing, it'll Make you Laugh
J1: Dear Diary,
2: A Nice Fireside Song
3: A Ring, in More Ways Than One
4: How to Trick a Bunch of Nerds
5: How to Hold this Gun with Hooves
6: Her Again...
7: Magic is for Nerds. Trixie is a Big Nerd.
8: In Which the Shit Impacts the Fan
9: The Fan is Ruined
J2: Cracking

1: Here's the Song that we All Sing, it'll Make you Laugh

“We’re gonna hang out the washing on the Lunar line, have you any dirty washing mother dear!”

The halftrack rolled along, the ponies in the back singing their song. Their voices were full of energy, carrying for hundreds of meters. The song was a familiar one, having been written in the last war; though things were different, they were still at war with the same bloody ponies over the same bloody thing. So, not really different

Although most ponies sand, Trixie did not; she just huddled up against her rifle, holding on to the smooth steel and cold wood tight. Some Lee-Field or other it was called; what mattered is that it worked and felt nice to cuddle against, to shelter herself away from her problems. Away from the cold, biting wind, snapping at her hindlegs, and the rumbling of the engine under hooves...

“We’re gonna hang out the washing on the Lunar line, for the washing day is here! Whether the...”

Tuning out the ponies, she quickly slipped deep into her thoughts, dark may they be. Three days ago, she was a normal magic student, studying to become a great magician to rival Starswirl himself; now, she was a dirty conscript, riding in this carrier thing. Forced to fight a war she didn’t care about for some stupid idea of supremacy. Of course, she knew Unicorns were superior to Pegasi, and Earth Ponies, and Thestrals, and... the traitorous unicorns. Insidious agents who espoused racial harmony. Trixie knew better than to listen to such vile talk, such treason; she was a pacifist, simply believing that the superiority of the Unicorn race would propel them forwards with time.

That had put her at odds with the Solar Guard more than once. The evangelists had attempted to arrest her multiple times, but thankfully the courts weren’t so religious.

Yet.

Either way, she was taken from her home at five in the morning, given a gun, a day of training, and then sent with this dreadful squad of hers. A tear formed in her eye as she went and reviewed her short life, normally a comforting activity. So, I was born in a pretty bad situation. Mom and Dad left, but first they gave me a crack addiction, physically harming me as a child. At least the doctors said that. And it explained the shaking. And shivering. And the small height...

She squeezed the rifle harder than anything she had ever squeezed, holding onto it for life. But then I got to school. I did well. I got all As, and I brought it to the orphanage to show Mrs. Welded. Heh, she was so proud of me. Like a mom... like my mom...

The tear rolled onto her cheek, slowly dragging along her fur. And then I kept doing well in school. Through Middle School and High School, I kept those grades up. Hell, the government even gave me a college grant I did so well! Everything was looking up...

And then...

...

She felt a hoof on her shoulder and quickly whipped her head around, wary of danger. “You ok?” Sparkling Blaze asked quietly.

Ah, Sparkling Blaze. Trixie’s closest and most trustworthy friend since childhood. Even just her voice made her feel a bit better, a little less afraid. After all, no matter what Trixie did, Blaze was there beside her with a smile on her face. So, how to answer...

Trixie forced on a smile, knowing she wasn’t fooling her friend. “Yeah. I’ll be fine,”

“Ok,” Blaze also forced a smile, though Trixie noticed it looked a lot less fake, then returned to her singing. Something about a Yellow Rose in Hayxas. Trixie sighed. She missed Albaneigh; the suburban, yet rural lifestyle, not too far from Neigh York City either. She was three years into magician school there, having learned all but the most intense of magics. She quietly ran her eyes over her rifle, lost in thought. She could have been a magician, earning a living by making ponies happy. Fillies and colts and mares and stallions would all come to watch her shows and she would make them all happy and she would be famous and she-

A bump in the road jumped her up, causing her to squish herself into the corner and hold on tighter. Stupid fucking army with it’s stupid fucking wars and it’s stupid fucki-

“Alright ya lazy slobs, get out!” Sergeant Dripping Mane was the only mare with experience, or even more than a few days of training. A veteran of Tanneighburg, she had plenty of experience with war and death. “We have word of Earth ponies just a couple miles from here! Get out, get low and follow me! If you make a noise, we leave you!”

Trixie slowly hopped out then lowered herself, staying just above the ground. Blaze jumped down and followed, getting ahead of her, though not before whispering “Make it through for me, ok?” With a warmer heart and stronger will, Trixie proudly galloped off with her squad, repeating her mantra in her head.

You don’t have to do the best, but do it anyway.

At first her hoovesteps were full of pride as she gallantly trotted with her unit; then, as they traveled, the bounce in her steps disappeared. A couple miles while crouching and running is no easy feat with a 20lb backpack, especially for a conscript of three days. She set up a tap from her magic to her energy reserves in her head; that should at least keep her going. For now.

She refocused a few steps away from crashing into Blaze, and halted herself just in time. She peered over the tan mare and saw a patrol of twelve Earth Ponies. They each had a similar, though different, rifle, except for the lead. His gun was much shorter, though it had a stick-like object - magazine? - sticking out from the left.

Mane hissed in a low voice “Spread out. Shoot after I fire. Don’t die,” Her waving hoof signaled everyone to find a spot and aim, and she quietly dashed off.

Trixie carefully approached a nearby bush, trembling. Although not crowded by any means, the field had some vegetation on it, so she wouldn’t have to rely on a flimsy wooden fence to stop a bullet. Her rifle peeked out of the bush and she locked her aim on the rear pony. Her sights lined up - mostly - just like she had been told to; front finds the target, back aligns. She slowed her breathing down as she tracked the purple pony, watching him slowly trod through the mud. In... out... in... ou-

BANG. Her left ear vibrated as she heard a rifle shot. She instinctively pulled back the trigger with her magic, causing it to go off and...

BANG.

After a second, she opened her eyes and eagerly looked for her target. She hit it. She hit it! She had done her part for her country, for her people! She had faced the vile beast an-

BRATATATATATAT. Bullets whizzed all around her, then to her left, then her right, and then stopped. She peeked out and saw the lead pony, busy reloading his gun. Holy fucking shit! How do I-

BOOM. The pony was replaced by a bright flash of light and metal. Eyes open in awe, Trixie stared. When the flash had cleared, all that was left was a rear hoof and a flying head. Holy...

Several cheers rang out as her squadmates jumped up and rushed the remaining ponies. She quickly got up and followed, more timidly shouting “Aaaaaaaah!” The two Earth Ponies - looking like her, but inferior of course - turned around and started running away.

But Unicorn magic accelerated her squad forwards. Their stride grew longer, their gait faster. They quickly caught up and sank their bayonets into the two remaining ponies. Blaze specifically gave out a triumphant roar when she ran her bayonet through the closest one’s back, quickly pulling her trigger then dropping the dead body. Brutal...

The squad stood there, panting. They quickly huddled up, all seven of them. They were missing five then. That included their sergeant it seemed.

“Well...” Trixie panted. “What now...?”

“Um...” A blue stallion clicked his tongue. “Check for wounded...?”

After a fe minutes of searching, Trixie found the sergeant. Her eyes were glazed over, and a huge hole was torn into where her left eye should be. That could’ve been me... “I found the sarge!” she called out, voice shaky yet holding.

The group quickly gathered around her, each taking a look at the body. Blaze draped a hoof over her shoulders. “You ok Trixie...?”

“I... I wanna go home...” That could’ve been me...

She tuned everyone out again, silently wishing it was her. Then she wouldn’t have to deal with all this shit again. But alas, she had survived...

After a few more seconds of thinking, Blaze shaked her shoulder. “We’re going...” Trixie silently trekked to where they had come from, barely noting the rest of the patrol behind her.

J1: Dear Diary,

Dear Diary,

December 12th, 937 P(ost)S(plit)

Hey, Trixie here. Writing my, what, seventh entry now? Damn, it’s been a while. Tell you about what happened later. Anyways, let me continue after that last trench run with a bit of a time jump. Sorry, life’s been busy and not too much happened these last two weeks.

So, to recap. Over a few months, our group grew closer and closer, as you can probably tell. Us seven ponies always managed to stay together and alive somehow, forming a little clique within the company. The blue stallion - solid blue, eyes, mane, and fur - is named Hardy Heart. Although his heart is just average, his eyesight is real good. His marksmanship skills have bagged three snipers so far, and one was with a pistol! Wish I was that good. His eyesight saved us many other times, mostly from booby traps, and he is most certainly a central part of the team; I am happy he’s made it along this far.

Curling Tendrils is, how do I say, a graceful exceptional mare. With dark purple fur and a bright red mane, along with those cool, brown eyes, she isn’t easy to hide from anything, and it shows with how she acts. She’s much more brutish than the rest of us; always at the front of a charge, and her gun - Sten or Stan, some sub-machine gun, like that monster from earlier - worked well in such a role. She earned a reputation for clearing several trenches by herself with a grenade and two knives at the recent Battle of Leneighgrad, and a promotion to match it. Now our sergeant, she keeps us out of harm’s way, at least where possible.

Slinking Fetch is that one mare who will disappear, then show up an hour or two later with three heads and some officer’s papers. No, seriously; it’d happened at least twice this month, and it’s only the 12th! December’s wack. Other than that, I can’t say I see her much; most of her time is spent away from the group, doing fuck knows what. Probably getting more heads. Not in that way you dirty little

Sorry. The voice spoke up again.

Valiant Merry is the closest to an ‘average’ pony you can get in this squad. He’s always happy, and looking after everyone else. Hell, he even tried to talk to Slinking once, and although it... didn’t work out - his knife wound attests to that - that says something about him and his heart. Valiant even talked to me once, at night! Everyone else was asleep, and we laid under the stars, alone, just talking to each other until I

“So where do you come from?” Trixie asked, still looking up. The two had just laid down, a few dozen steps from camp so they wouldn’t wake anyone. Their camp itself was at the edge of a clearing; a cleared forest laid to one side, the remaining trees at their back.

“Sacramento, Calhayfornia. You?” That’s why he’s got a movie accent.

“Albaneigh, Neigh York,”

“Heard of it, sounds like a decent place,” Valiant prodded her flank, causing her to turn her head. “Want some?” he asked, holding a bottle of... some sort of alcohol, Trixie didn’t know.

“No, I don’t drink,” She looked back up at the stars.

“More vodka for me,” Valiant began to quietly sip as the two looked up at the stars, slowly shimmering in the sky. As they were looking, the stars bounced, twirling in circles above them. It was like watching someone paint, but you couldn’t see what they already painted; just the brush, slowly moving up and down.

After a few long seconds of watching, Valiant said, “You know, Luna may be our enemy, but the night still looks damn... beautiful,”

“That’s what I’ve always thought! The stars are just so... peaceful!” Unlike life here...

“Yeah! It’s a moment of calm in the storm we live in,”

“Even at home, it... it always calmed me down,” Heh, Trixie thought. My excuse of a house anyways.

“I hear ya,” Valiant took another sip. “Always calmed me down after a long day with family. Like, after Hearth’s Warming, I would just get onto the roof and stare. Felt like a little reset, y’know?”

“I... yeah...”

“Speaking of family, I’ve got a little foal who’s supposed to be born about now. Wife was just unfortunate enough to get pregnant right before I left,” Valiant gave a hearty chuckle. “What about you? Who you got back home?”

“...” Trixie, you gotta say something!

“Trixie?” Trixie saw Valiant poke his face into her view, a little frown on his lips. “You o-”

“Does Blaze count?” she quickly blurted out. Well, something that’s not that...

“I... when’d they die?” Valiant looked sorry, but he kept pushing. What a fucking idiot.

“I... I have no clue if they even did...” Trixie could feel a tear forming at the corner of her eye.

Valiant’s frown grew. “Oh... I’m sorry-”

“Don’t be,” Now go away.

“Ok,” After a few seconds, Trixie felt Valiant’s forelegs wrap around her chest in a hug. It felt warm, calming. Inviting. Yet, before she knew it, she had shoved him off and stood up, staring at him with anger in her eyes. “Trixie?” Valiant looked up, concerned piercing his otherwise stoic eyes.

Without another word, Trixie trodded back to her tent.

Stirling Shield is a really small pony. Her white coat and orange mane hardly matter when you see her; her tiny, foal-ish stature immediately encapsulates your attention. And to be fair, she really is a foal still; unlike the others, Stirling is just 17. 17! Yet she consistently remains the most valuable fighter, always killing the most of those pitiful savages. Her rifle is always the hottest, her bayonet the bloodiest, her belt the emptiest. She’s like a professional soldier, but just a foal. What a paradox, eh? She should be whining about calculus, not the missing rations...

Blaze has changed, just like the rest of them. I couldn’t put a hoof on it, but she’s... scarier. She no longer feels like a safe zone, but more of a brick wall; sure I could lean against it, but it won’t lean back. Blaze is no longer the pony I knew for all those years; the change hadn’t been noticeable day to day, but it shows after three months. She’s... At least she fights well; nothing outstanding, but she makes a good riflepony. She could quickly reload her Lee-Enfield in just three seconds and fire off the whole clip in about two.

I’m... wasn’t sure how I have changed. But I know how her role has. One day, Curling walked up to me and...

“Trixie!” Curling called out, her new rank resting on her right shoulder. Her step had a certain bounce to it and her voice a tinge of excitement.

“Yes?” Trixie popped out of her tent, rifle slung into her backpack. Another patrol? I just got back two hours ago...

“I have something for you lass! C’mon, follow me!” Trixie obeyed - funny how quickly they train you into that - and the pair started heading over to the truck that just dumped off three boxes and left. Unloading duty? “So, I’ve noticed that you’re a lot less aggressive, and much more defensive than everyone else...”

“Y-yeah...” Fuck.

“So, I thought to myself: ‘What do I do with her? She’s clearly not fit to be a riflepony...’”

Please don’t execute me. Please.

“And so...” Curling opened a box with the Solar Eagle on it. Inside laid a really big, long gun with a box on the bottom and a smaller, yet still large, gun with a round drum-like object in the center. “You are the heavy weapons mare for our squad!”

Trixie immediately relaxed, releasing the tension that had been silently building. “Th-thank you...?”

“You’ll be using these prototype weapons! This one is a BAR with a box magazine...” Curling pulled the first gun out and swapped it for Trixie’s rifle. “It’s full auto, and has about a hundred rounds in it. Be careful though; you’ll need that bipod to shoot with any sort of accuracy, and...”

The first thing Trixie noted was the weight. It immediately poured stress onto her back, straining her weak muscles. Fuck! She slowly breathed in and out, in, out, calming them do-

The other gun was set upon her back, doubling the weight. Although she could faintly hear something about prototype and grenades and drum mag, she was mostly struggling to maintain her balance. St-steady! Trixie very slowly gained her balance, swaying as she stood. She managed to listen back into what Curling was saying.

“That’s all you need to know private!” Fuck. Now, off you go!” Curling patted Trixie on the back, causing her to collapse under the sudden weight. Bith guns immediately went off, the BAR filling the weapons crate with bullets and the other gun launching some sort of explosive into the nearby tree, causing it to fall down onto a nearby tent; thankfully, it was empty.

Fuck.

“Trixie...?”

I’ve grown better at holding the BAR and, as I now know, M32, but it was a struggle nonetheless. I often set up behind my comrades, providing inaccurate suppression fire or cover destruction. The BAR feels nice and comfortable, but the M32 is more powerful, so I gotta take both to be effective. Yay me. At least my muscles grew.

As for me as a pony... ask anypony else and I’m a stone-faced killer. Using my BAR without a complaint. But this BAR is... frightening. I kill ponies in swathes as they run towards me. Sometimes I see it in their eyes; the terror, the fear of death. No one wants to eat a bullet. But here I am feeding it to them. Sure they may be savages, but they look pony. Not like the failed imitations they are, but like if you add a horn they’re proper ponies. It’s scary.

I need to talk about today.

Trixie quietly sung her marching song to herself as she fiddled with her spare mags for the BAR. “Praise the Sun, and pass the ammunition,” She carefully loaded in the bullets - .30 cal in fact - and counted how many fit in it. After she filled it to the brim, she picked up her pen and wrote 197 on the side; as each mag had a different capacity - something something decentralization bad - she wanted to know how long each one would last before she needed to reload. She put a little cover over the top and set it down with the other four spare mags, picking up another empty one.

She sat behind her sandbag wall in this stupid jungle. Word is that there were Earthies around here, so her company was sent as rearguard for key installation. Trixie and Blaze were stationed together at an airbase, with just a radio set, their bullets, and some ammo to keep them company; resources were tight, so they split up along the base’s entrances.

Crack.

Trixie threw the mag down and grabbed her BAR, flipping the safety off. “Who’s there?!” Her eyes darted over the treeline, searching for enemies. The trees all looked the same, but she had heard a crack somewhere... Nothing, nothing, no-

A bullet suddenly whizzed past her. She turned her gun towards where she thought the source was and opened fire, sustaining it for a couple seconds. A couple shots rang out in response. “Die you filthy savages!” She swept her gun back and forth, making sure to cover her whole arc of fire before she heard a click click click. “Fuck!”

She threw out the old mag and grabbed a new one, ripping off the cover and jamming it in. She slid the bolt back, cocked it forwards and turned her attention back to the forest. “Any more of you fucks out there?!” After a few seconds of nothing, she heard footsteps behind her. Blaze.

“Trixie! What happened?!”

“Something shot at me!”

“I’ll check!” Trixie set the BAR down and grabbed her pistol while Blaze went into the forest. Keep calm, don’t let them notice you’re nervous... Savages sense fear, so stay brave... Blaze will be back soon...

“Trixie! Found them... Or what’s left...” Trixie jumped over her sandbags and rushed to where Blaze was. The trees smacked her face with branches as she dashed through, but she got there in decent condition, skidding to a stop in the clearing.

“Holy...” The first Earthie was a victim of the initial spray. About 17 bullet holes covered his face, and another dozen covered his chest. Blood seeped out of most of them as his hole-riddled body was slumped back, against a tree, his sub-machine gun laying next to him with a backpack of explosives. The pool of blood was, most likely, his, as his comrades were a bit away. The second one had a single bullet hole through his heart, the exit point being his lower abdomen. Blood had seeped out of it as he crashed into the ground, his face planted in the pool of blood. His rifle had fallen into him, the bayonet digging into his foreleg. The third one just a few feet away on top of a slight incline, had so many bullets through his legs that they were cut clear off. The stumps of his forelegs laid an inch behind the rest of his body, which slumped forwards. The only reason there wasn’t screaming was the other bullet holes that riddle his chest; Trixie could see his lungs through one of them. His own machine gun laid on the log keeping his body up, having fallen off during the shooting.

“...shit...” Blaze finished Trixie’s sentence. She picked up her radio and said “Minor threat dealt with. Three saboteurs disarmed...”

It was just as gory as it sounded. Now I need to sleep. It’s 21:57 and lights out at 22:00. Goodnight.

2: A Nice Fireside Song

Trixie woke up with a smile on her face. Today was the day that she didn’t have to get up and shoot any savages, risking getting shot herself; no, today was her day of rest. A day to calm down and collect her thoughts and belongings. She sat up and hopped off her cot, heading out to the patrol’s “mess hall”. Nothing more than a blanket with a few MREs, it really didn’t deserve the name, but it’s the best Trixie had seen in a few weeks. She took her seat to the left of Blaze and grabbed an MRE. Daisy and Hay sandwich. Yum...

She opened the packet, her stomach oblivious to the complaints of her mind with its own agenda. She immediately shoved the sandwich in her mouth, taking a huge bite. Fills me up at least. She looked up to everyone else at the little conclave of unicorns. Everyone was present when she sat down it seems; not unusual, she stays up an extra couple hours for first watch. Every single night.

Blaze was the same really, even with a stew of flowers and grass in her muddy hooves. Still between that stage of close friends, like they used to be, and mere acquaintances. Her heart hurt a bit just thinking about it. Curling, on Trixie’s left, was as professional as ever. She maybe grew a bit slimmer - constant patrols and combat does that - but that was all Trixie could see. Slinking was to Curling’s left, and she had a scar right between her eyes. She had ended up captured on a patrol a few days back, and now had that little slice as a stark memory of it. Stirling was intensely staring at the fire pit, having already eaten. She was idly disassembling her pistol, humming "Yellow Rose in Hayxas". Supposedly, she had a coltfriend waiting in the armor corps. Lucky bastard. Stirling that is, not the col- whatever.

Hardy had a banjo, and was slowly strumming some Southern song. He was like that. Came from New Horseleans, and it showed; he had a Southern flag in his kit and everything. Valiant, on the other hand, was reading a book. This one was called How to be a Good Friend. Well, you can't fault him for trying. His rifle laid just a few feet away, along with a couple more books.

Blaze set down her meal to quickly turn the fire on. Being proficient in fire magic, she got it blazing in no time, then went back to her meal. The group looked into the fire, watching it as it burned. Trixie quickly finished her sandwich and threw the trash into the fire, causing it to roar towards her as it embraced the trash within it's fiery embrace.

Trixie didn't quite know how, but Blaze's fires were special. Stare at it long enough, and you'd start to see something strange; an illusion almost. In this case, Trixie saw... something pink. As she stared into it, it started to form a shape. Her first thought was pink mare? Her second thought was her. Her? Her.

Her? Who is she...?

Clearly everyone else was having fun. Snapping away from her fever dream, she noticed all of the other ponies were smiling, or grinning or something nice. Deciding to break their trances, Trixie asked "Hardy?"

Predictably, the group all snapped their heads up. "Yes?" Hardy responded, smile wiped from his face. He looked annoyed that Trixie had drawn him from whatever he had been viewing.

"Play another song for us, will ya? Hate this silence shit," More likely that pink mare.

"Anythin' in mind miss?" He brought his banjo onto his lap.

"Whatever ya want, just play,"

"Hmmmmmm..." After a few seconds, Hardy began to play his banjo in a way none of them had ever heard before. It was nice, and cheerful. It made Trixie feel... happy, and that's no small achievement. She found herself swaying her head to the beat.

Then, he started softly singing.

"I am a soldier, though I do not wish to be,
I was ripped away from hearth and home.
They sent me straight off into a battle,
Not even a 'thank you', just a gun.
They tore me away from all of my friends,
From my dear family, whom I love dear.
Whenever I think of it again,
My blood simmers in righteous anger."

The song was entrapping. The words weaved around her, filling her ears with their messages; messages she already knew. Her thoughts filled of home and friends; happy Hearth’s Warming Eves; even just walking to school with Blaze. As she was about to speak, Hardy started singing again.

"I am a soldier, though there is no need for one,
This war they have started is not mine.
I do dislike this life of war and rifles,,
For my defense, a stick would be enough.
And so I ask: 'Why do you need soldiers?
Every pony only likes peace and quiet.'
Only tyrants ever need a soldier,
To trample upon a poor pony's field."

Every line Hardy came up with reflected Trixie's thoughts perfectly. Why? Why am I here? Why is Stirling here?

Does a war for survival excuse tyranny?

"I am a soldier, so I just stand on guard,
Watching some fields instead of doing work.
My time is wasted, all my skills are pointless,
I would even prefer to be a clerk.
And so I fight, I waste my time with soldiery,
While my life at home rots and burns away.
Stuck here I am, between bayonets and death,
For my future, I've run out of clay."

Trixie passively sensed as Stirling got up and moved away, rapidly. Probably crying. She couldn't blame her; she wanted to cry too.

"Come you ponies, whether you're from the North,
The South or West, or anywhere else.
Whether red or blue or white your flank,
Let us do business instead of war.
Let us unite, in arms we shall match home,
To save our Homeland from the wretched tyrants.
For only tyrants wish to wage a war,
I want to be a soldier of freedom.
I want to be a soldier of freedom!"

...

The whole group remained quiet for a whole half hour. Crickets filled Trxie’s ears as her thoughts ran wild, sedition and heresy filling her head. After that, Trixie quietly got up and headed over to where Stirling headed off to.

Trixie gently pushed open the tan flap of Stirling's tent. "Hey..."

Stirling was laying on her cot, her kit unpacked on the ground. She had flipped her air mat off; in fact, it looked like she had thrown everything but the cot around. Probably in anger... "Hey..."

"You ok kid...?" Trixie pushed her way inside and zipped up the tent behind her. She looked down at the shivering mare. Should I be worried?

Rather than respond, Stirling motioned for Trixie to sit down. Obliging, Trixie sat down next her face, carefully watching. "More..."

Trixie sighed, laying down next to the mare. "That good...?"

In response, Stirling pressed herself into Trixie, eliciting a quiet oomph. “B-better...”

“Hey, you’ll be ok...” Trixie wrapped a forearm around the mare’s head. This is uncomfortable what the fuck am I doing what the Before she knew it, Trixie was starting to tell Stirling a little bit about herself. “I was practicing magic before this all started. I was pretty good at it if I do say so myself,”

“Wh-what type?” Stirling kept her head buried in Trixie’s side, muffling her words.

“Illusionary. Wanna see a trick...?” Stirling turned her head up and nodded. Show time. Show time?! Are you fucking insa- “Heh, alright then...” Trixie carefully started to create a ball of swirling, writhing light at the top of the tent. She then slowly brought it down, flying it around the two ponies. Encouraged by a giggle from Stirling, she wicked the energy past her face to create an image.

Stirling was sitting on a couch with two other ponies. One was all white - albino, it looked like - and the other was orange with a white mane. Who are they? Parents? The three ponies were snuggled up with each other, quietly relaxing in front of a fire. "That look familiar...?"

"Y-yeah..." Stirling let out a weak chuckle. "My p-parents..."

Figured. “Are they nice...?”

Stirling slightly nodded, eyes watering. “V-very...”

“Hey, it’s ok, don’t cry...” I don’t wanna be a fucking mother. Is this being a mother? Feels like it. Babying this stupid little shi-

A loud BANG broke the peace inside the tent. Trixie immediately got up and flipped up her pistol, peering outside of the tent. She could see Slinking’s body, blood spurting from the back of her head as she hit the ground. What. The. Fuck. She held her breath, both terrified and furious, slowly pulling back the tent flap a bit more. She saw the rest of her squad, disarmed, being guarded by a purple mare - unicorn - and a blue one - earth pony. The two had shouldered... something. It looked like a gun, but wasn’t anything Trixie had seen before.

Trixie’s eyes narrowed with hatred. She hissed “Traitor!” as she watched the ponies shove her squad into the back of a truck. The ponies then got into the front and drove away. “Fuckers!”

“Tr-trixie...?” Stirling poked Trixie’s flank. “Is everyone o-ok...?”

“Look for your fucking self!” Stupid little baby. Trixie stomped out of the tent over to her friend’s dead body. Fucking hell. As she watched, a fly lazily landed on the hole left in her head, slowly eating at the flesh. Full of rage, she used her magic to pick up the fly and slowly pull it apart. First, she took off one wing; then the other; then a leg; and so on, until it remained a lifeless, limbless husk. She snarled, using a fire spell to burn the body of the fly, watching as it fell onto Slinking’s. "Fuck!"

Her gaze traveled to the tire tracks. "That's it, we'll follow them! Come on Stirling!" Yes, we can kill them all...

Dead silence.

"Stirling?" Trixie slowly made her way back to the mare's tent. "We have a job to-"

The mare laid in her tent, either unconscious or dead. She had a slight bash wound on the back of her head, indicative of the butt of a gun. "What the fuck?!”

She whirled around, looking for the perpetrator. Her eyes darted between tents, looking for any hostels. She slowly unslung her machine gun. “Come out you fucker!”

Trixie heard a... strange sound, followed by a "You really need better books ma'am," Trixie whirled around to see the purple mare, a rifle butt, and then black.

Author's Note

For those who care, the song is a rough translation of "Ich Bin Soldat", a Prussian era German pacifist song:
https://youtu.be/ZWClFjsaseE

Delay Christmas, yadda yadda, sorry

3: A Ring, in More Ways Than One

Trixie slowly opened her eyes. Not that that did any good; she only saw black either way, no matter how many times she blinked. She could feel a bag over her head, horn and all, with a rope tied loosely around her neck. It wasn’t noose tight, rather just tight enough to keep the bag still. She tried to move her hooves out of instinct, to remove the rope around her neck, but found them tied down. She seemed to be on some sort of chair; either way, her legs hung off of it, her ass sat on it, and her back laid against it.

“I see you’re awake...” You! It was the same voice from the pony who knocked her out. Although the bag muffled it a bit, the voice was distinct enough that Trixie could easily tell who it belonged to. I’ll fucking kill you! “How are you doing? I assume poorly, but maybe you’re loving this,” Fuck you. Burn alive so I can blow you in your mother’s eyes. “Sheesh, no need to be so rude,” What?! Did I say that aloud?! Impossible, I- “Anyways, you want some water, miss...?”

“Fuck you,”

“About what I expected,” The rope around Trixie’s neck was quickly undone, scratching her neck as the coarse rope ran past, and the bag lifted up. Immediately, Trixie’s eyes homed in on the pony. They were purple, with a - much darker - purple mane, and a horn sticking through the hair. Race traitor. “So, about that water?”

“Fuck you,” Bitch.

“Suit yourself,” Trixie’s eyes dashed around the room. It was solid gray concrete, no windows in view. She guessed it was the same behind her, though she couldn’t check. A wooden door sat on one wall, a little latch on it. Unlocked. Good... “Good luck opening that door,” The mare walked up to it and spat at it. The spit immediately evaporated as it touched the handle, taking Trixie’s hopes with it. “Reaaaaaaaaaaaaaally hot, burned more than one to-be escapee,”

“How do you get out then?”

“Simple,” The mare set her hand on the door and opened it, then closed it. There was no sizzling of fur or charring of her hoof. “I have the spell,” Fuck. “Fuck indeed,”

The door opened again; this time a light blue pegasus with a rainbow mane walked in. She had on a solid blue suit, skin-tight, with a single equal sign on it. She can’t use magic, how did she- “Twi,”

“Dash,” The two exchanged nods, then looked back at Trixie. “This is the one who stayed behind. Not the one you already... ‘interviewed’, but the one who was up and about. She had a machine gun on her; a BAR, in fact,” This ‘Twi’ scribbled notes into her notepad, but it wasn’t paper. It was flat, and the back at least was made of some sort of metal.

“Huh... looks like what everyone else was describing...” Fuckers tortured my friends! “Should be named ‘Trixie’,”

“Is this true, Trixie?” Twi turned around and asked the cyan mare.

“Fuck you!” Fuck!

“Woah there,” Dash chuckled. “Fussy little mare,”

Trixie’s horn started to fill with energy, yet when she tried to use it, it burned the base of her horn. What the fuck?! “Magic-blocking ring,” Twi responded. “Can’t cast a spell,” Well fuck you too! Trixie immediately started pouring as much energy into her horn as possible, causing audible sizzling as this ‘ring’ burned into her horn. Although it hurt, Trixie kept pouring more and more into it, until eventually

“Uhhhhhhh... Twi?” ‘Dash’ asked, voice quavering.

“Y-yes, Dash?” Twi looked something between uncomfortable and frightened as she watched the cyan mare overpower the ring. Good...

“Should we... get out? Like, now?”

“Good idea!” The two ponies hurried out the door and slammed it shut on the mare left inside.

“Fuck... you!” Trixie screamed in rage as she felt the sizzling fade away. She was free once more! Her horn could cast spells, she could move about, she could

Conveniently pass out.

What felt like a while later, Trixie woke up on a hospital bed. The room was white, sterile looking. Her hooves were tied by... some strange, black contraption that was rope-like, but appeared to stick to itself. The bottom side was sorta prickly, and the top fuzzy. She could feel a tingling sensation from the ring, still on her horn, as she looked around the room. Multiple... lines, from bags full of fluids, flew straight into her arm. “D-doc?” She shakily called out. Am I... home...?

Two sets of hoofsteps came down the hallway. “So, this is the troublemaker?” An unfamiliar voice asked. Yet at the same time, it was... comforting. Familiar. Trixie didn’t know how to describe it.

“Yes. She had the ring ingrained into her horn,” Twi’s voice. So I’m still captive...

“Sounds like a powerful mare,” The voices were much closer, just outside of her room. Trixie began to look around in panic before biting at the rope-like substance. Although unlikely to yield, it was worth a shot...

“Yes, her name is...” The hoofsteps stopped in the doorway, and Trixie looked up with a sigh.

Trixie began with a “Fuck yo-”

“Trixie?” Trixie found herself looking at a pink unicorn, with a mane of purple and blue. Just like the one in the fire... “No way...”

“Who the fuck are you? How do you know my name?” How don’t I know yours?

The strange one walked over to Trixie’s bed, a pained look on it’s face. “I...”

“Starlight?” Twi asked, concerned.

Immediately, something clicked into place in Trixie’s head. That sounds... familiar...

“Twilight... go away...” This ‘Starlight’ responded. Before Twi could protest, a pink magical aura shoved her out of the room, closed the door, and latched it.

“What, you gonna kill me?” Trixie snorted. Fucker. Fitting for a xeno... but it’s Starlight... and? She’s a race traitor!

“No, never!” Starlight shook her head as hard as it could. “Never...”

“Then what do you want with me, bitch,”

Starlight visibly shook at the insult. “I’m... here to... show you a story or two...”

Trixie’s view faded to pink.

‘Starlight’ and ‘Trixie’ were in bed, in some sort of house. The walls were half pink and half blue; the bed sheets the same horrid color scheme. A nightstand laid on each side of the bed, each holding a lamp of the pony’s corresponding color. Trixie watched as ‘her’ eyes slowly opened. This alternate version of her... kissed ‘Starlight’. “Hey beautiful...” I... hallucinations!

This ‘Starlight’ opened her eyes, and kissed ‘Trixie’ back. “Beautiful yourself...”

The two mares giggled as the real Trixie retreated into her thoughts. What sort of... heresy is this?! Obviously it’s false, but... it looks so... right to watch it... After stewing over that, she returned her gaze to the scene in front of her. The two mares were up; this ‘Trixie’ had the real Trixie’s purple, starred hat and cape on. What the fuck! Those are mine! Starlight was watching her from a chair. “So, remind me what the schedule is today?”

“Well, the Great and Powerful Trixie puts on a show for... Jeremy’s birthday party...” this false Trixie put on a proud smile as Starlight nodded, grinning. “...then, she puts on a show for you...”

Starlight’s cheeks turned red proper at this line as Trixie was suddenly yanked from the scene, view turning pink once more.

“So...” Starlight asked from above trixie’s bed. Her left eye had a tear forming in it. “Anything c-click...?”

“That you’re a great illusionary, but you’re still a filthy traitor I’d love to smite and...”

Starlight turned away as Trixie was sucked into another story.

Trixie was in a car. But, unlike her Carrier, this one had no guns on it. It was a two seat car, moving reaaaaaaaaally fast. It had some sort of... sci-fi esque interface inside between the windshield and the transmission-thingy. Whistling, this ‘Trixie’ pulled into a house’s parking lot and got out, locking this car behind her.

It was a rather nice house. Two stories, it was surrounded by similar quality, yet different houses on each side. Reminded her of Albaneigh, but... futuristic. This Trixie walked up the paved sidewalk, a garden on either side, and pulled out her key. It slid into the door, sliding the door open, and letting Trixie in.

“Honey, I’m home!” This Trixie called out, shortly followed by a giggle as she closed the door behind her. The mare then started slowly walking up the stairs to her left. Fucking... awful... right? This is the still the same hallucination? Jeremy was a real blast. I walked in, and they threw a surprise for me!” Fake Trixie set down her hat and cape on a coat rack. “Then, I walked in further, and they had a mini stage and everything! So, I set up, and I had a proper show! They saw everything... well, safe for foals that is... and it was just so... perfect! Then...”

She felt ‘her’ face drop a bit, the joy in her heart fading. “The kid’s dad at the end... he walked up to me, and offered me exactly seventeen bits... I asked ‘what’s this?’ and he said, ‘all I have left...’ and... I know it was a really important three hundred bit contract, but... I ended up giving him three th-thousand after taking a tour of his house...” Was I a fucking idiot back then?! Wait... that’s not me... And ‘back then’? What?! “It was...” She took a deep breath. “He needed it, and I contacted public services, and... yeah...”

After a few seconds of silence, Trixie called out “You’re not mad, right hun...?” The air in the house hung thick for a few seconds as Trixie reached the top of the stairs. “Starlight...?” Trixie quickly scrambled forwards toward their bedroom door, ripping it open. She found Starlight staring at a little blakc cube on the bed. “Starlight! Thank Celestia...”

Starlight didn’t respond. At all. “Hey what’s this?” Trixie walked up and touched the box.

“Trixie, n-!”

A big explosion of black and blue filled Trixie’s eyes.

Starlight was at the end of Trixie’s bed, her face buried in the sheets. Although it was muffled, Trixie could hear crying.

“I... was this... rea...”

Trixie and Starlight were in bed again, but this time, it was pitch black outside. The pink mare had a can of something that looked an awful lot like ‘Jack Daniels’, famous beer company. Except it was in some sort of metal can instead of a glass. Trixie’s own bed stand Wait wait wait. Not mi had no such beverage, or any beverage whatsoever. Trixie was too busy holding Starlight down for some reason; not like a proper restraint, but more of wrapped around the bottom half of her torso, dragging her to the point of non movement. Her eyes were full of water... tears. Those are tears. For...?

“N-no... don’t...” Trixie’s voice sounded full of pain, and the modern Trixie’s eyes quickly darted to the knife Starlight held in a forehoof. Is she gonna kill me?!

“It’s just so... painful...” Starlight responded, almost whispering. “Watching you try to do this... It’s so...”

“P-please...” Trixie was outright sobbing at this point. And for once, that little voice in her head didn’t have some snarky comment. “I c-can’t... lemme...”

After a few seconds, Starlight vanished the knife. Trixie’s cries immediately multiplied, but Trixie had no idea why. I wanted to... stab someone? Something? Huh... Starlight slowly picked up the cyan mare, and set Trixie on her leg.

From this angle, the height difference became apparent; Starlight seemed to tower a whole head over Trixie. “Shhhhh... it’s ok...”

Starlight looked up at Trixie. Her eyes were still wet, although the tears appeared to have stopped. “How you doing...”

“I... that was me, wasn’t it...”

Starlight nodded somberly, and began to undo the rope-like stuff. “By the w-way, that ring merged with your horn...”

“What does that mean?” Trixie asked, panicked. Am I screwed?

“You are not screwed. In fact, it’s... sorta good. All your magic will probably sting a bit, but I can’t shove on any stronger rings, so...”

“I see...”

“Trixie...” Starlight took in a deep breath as she finished untying Trixie. “I’m sorry...”

“What did that box even do?”

“I...” Starlight took in a deep breath. “I... don’t know to be perfectly honest...”

“So... you were studying it...?”

“Yes... Then you came, activated it, and...”

The two mares fell silent as they stared at each other. Fuck, did I mess up here? Trixie offered Starlight a hoof onto the bed, and Starlight gladly accepted. She got up, taking a spot next to Trixie. As the bed was really made for one person, this resulted in Trixie promptly falling off and hitting the floor. “Trixie! You ok?!”

“Yeah... Just a bit... I’m fine...” The cyan mare stood up, groaning. “You have a different room for me to stay in?”

Starlight’s eyes faltered a bit. “W-well... there’s a proper room available as of a week ago... ummm... that’s abou-”

“Do you have a room?” What?! What the fuck am I aski

Starlight’s eyes sprang up again. “Yeah, wanna share or something...?”

“With you? Anytime,” Damn, I’m good at this thing, at least with her.

“Alright, let’s go,” The two mares walked out of the hospital room, side by side. Trixie didn’t know where she was going, just that she was really really hungry god damn it I want some fucking food now.

Twilight watched the two ponies leave. Walking side by side. Her boss, her leader, and an enemy so powerful that her ring was melted into her horn. Like lovers.

I need a drink.

Author's Note

Voila. No song, just lore dump. Have fun or something.

4: How to Trick a Bunch of Nerds

Trixie woke up, yet again. Quite a common theme in life, isn’t it? This time, it was in a sleeping bag in Starlight’s room. She did just meet the girl, and Trixie’s not that cheap of a date. She rubbed here eyes and slowly sat up, looking around the room. When she was tired last night, she hadn’t gotten a good look at it - or anything at all really - but now, she had a chance to look at it. The walls were all pink, as were the bedsheets. And the bedframe. And the floor; pink tile. Everything was pink. Not just pink, but a slightly muted, fuzzy pink, almost the exact same color as Starlight’s coat.

Except the door. The door was cyan. In fact, as Trixie held her foreleg up to compare, it was the same color as Trixie’s fur. Puzzling... “Hey Starlight?”

“Mm...?” The mare sounded cranky, as if she had just been asleep. “Yes Trixie...?”

“Was the door color supposed to be the same color as my fur or was that an accident?” Trixie turned her head to look at Starlight.

Starlight sat up and stared right back. “The color of your fur, the mare I spent years fascinating over and hold dear to my heart, is just accidentally on the door,”

“Oh, ok,” Trixie turned back around. “Pretty nice coincidence, isn’t it?”

“Trixie, are you... ok?”

“Huh?” Before she could turn around, Starlight was sat down next to Trixie.

“That was the most blatant sarcasm, like ever, and you just brushed it off,”

“Oh... I mean, I guess it was...” Wake up stupid.

Starlight sighed and stood up. “...'Mess hall' time. This is still a military operation,”

“Wait, what?!” Trixie jumped up. “But you’re all race traitors, not true unicorns!” As she spoke the hated words, she could feel the fury in her heart roar back to life. “There’s even pega-”

“You think we’re under Celestia?”

“...I-”

“No,” Starlight sighed. “We’re her direct opposition, well, other than Luna. Come on, I’ll explain with chow. And make sure that you keep that horn on you so Twi can’t read those thoughts of yours,”

The two mares finally sat down at some sort of command table; at least, that’s what the name “COMMAND TABLE”, painted into each end, implied. At it sat her two jailers from earlier, an orange earth pony of the same stature, and a white unicorn with a purple mane. When the two mares sat down, Trixie made sure she sat as far away from the earth pony and pegasus as possible.

Starlight sighed as she sat down in the extra seat. “Now, everypony, this i-”

Immediately, the Dash, Smash, whatever pegasus freak asked “What the hell’s she doing here?!”

“Well, Dash, give me a moment, and I will explain,” After making sure Dash was seated properly, Starlight continued. “This is Trixie. Everypony say high,” After a chorus of greetings, some more warm than others, Starlight pointed out every pony to Trixie along with their names.

“This is Twilight Sparkle, our ‘Goddess’ if you would,” Purple. Prick. And goddess. Great.

“This one is Rainbow Dash, our head of the Pegasi units,” Blue, Rainbow mane fits in. Asshole.

“That is Applejack, and she is the head of our Earth Pony units,” Orange all over. Probably eats foals or something.

With a stern glare, Starlight finished. “This is Rarity, head of the Unicorn units,” White with a purple mane. Looks upper class. Decent I suppose.

“So!” Starlight clapped her hooves. “As to why Trixie is here. Well... how do I say this... basically, this is partially nepotism and partially a proper assignment,”

The command table fell silent. “So,” Rarity inquired. “This mare is your family?”

“No, she-”

“Apparently, I used to loooooove this pink pony before,” Trixie finished for Starlight. “Like some sort of faggot,” That explains everything! But that would mean... no I can’t be a fa Ew, this sandwich has eggs? Eh, I’ve had worse...

The table fell silent again as everyone turned to look at Trixie, who was munching on her sandwich.

Trixie swallowed her sandwich bite. “What? Did I say something wrong?”

Silence.

“You know, you guys are creeping me out...”

Silence.

Trixie nervously ate her sandwich, eyes darting between everypony on the command table.

After a full three minutes, Starlight said “Yes, like a... f-faggot...”

The whole table burst out into angry chatter, all aimed at Trixie. “‘Scuse me, but what in the fuck ma’am?” “Good heavens, what is wrong with you!” “That’s it! I’m gonna kill her!” “You’re even more stupid than I thought was possible! Gonna need to change my book...”

“Silence!” Trixie shouted. The whole table obeyed. “You telling me that you guys...” She pointed at the unicorns. “Aren’t only race traitors, but also faggots?”

“Well,” Twi responded, “Only Starlight is. Me and Rarity like stallions. Why, does it matter?”

Trixie sat there, stunned. Great! I just slept in a faggot’s room. What did she do to me?! Did she turn me gay?! Am I-

Starlight said “No, I did not. How would that even work?”

“Well, Trixie hissed, “as we all learnt at school, being gay is bad. But I went to a university. There we learned how the vile disease spread. Although it can’t be spread through the air, it can be spread through contact, and, as such, any fags should be avoided. Keeping that in mind, the worst thing you can do in sleep in a fag’s house; they’re sure to turn you gay overnight. And that’s exactly what happened last night, isn’t it...”

The whole table looked shocked, except for Starlight. Starlight just stared at Trixie, a tear in the corner of her eye. “Trixie...”

“Shut up,”

“Trixie-”

“Shut up-”

“TRIXIE!” The whole table now turned to Starlight, who was actively shaking with rage. “Shut up. Ok? Just shut up. No one else here believes in that propaganda. Any of it. There is no value assigned to you based on race; being gay is no disease; it’s called not being a mindless drone trained to serve that bitch Celestia. So you’re gonna shut the fuck up and remember what we used to do for all those years, ok?”

“B-”

“Do you understand?”

“I... yes...” Hooooooooooooooooooooly shit she’s crazy.

“Good,” Starlight sat up with a sigh. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to... go...” Starlight quickly stood up and started speed-walking back to her room.

For the next five minutes, everyone just sat there. In total silence. Everyone was processing what Trixie had said, what Starlight had done, and just... everything. Eventually, Twilight slammed a hoof on the table. “Oh, I’m remembering!”

“What!?” The rest of the established command asked, excitement on their faces. Trixie, however, looked on with a passive gaze. Her thoughts, however, ran rampant.

Remembering? What, that you’re an awful mare for being here? Or some bullshit about integrating these savages and monsters? This sandwich ain’t half bad. Pfft, stupid race traitor. Oh, maybe she’ll kill me for being true to my race. I should get another sandwich.

“So, back before the... y’know what, this Trixie mare...” Trixie’s ears perked up. “...was a traveling magician” Trixie stopped chewing. “And then she... brought an Ursa ma- no, minor into Ponyville! And then she...”

Trixie’s mind snapped.

Her memory flooded with everything she had done before... the thing. Her cart, her... Ponyville performance, her engagement to Starlight... Where was all this? What happened? Is this what they mean? When she looked to the other ponies, they all had similar looks of ephiphanies on their face.

“Trixie?” Twi asked. “That all sound right?”

“It’s... I... heresy!” Trixie slammed her hoof on the table. “Heresy! Heresy! Here... sy...” The group studied Trixie as she lost steam. “It... does...?”

“What, somethin’ wrong?” Appleflap (?) asked.

“I... shut up, you stupid... don’t know...” Stupid little... ugh...

“Ya need a minute to calm down or sumthin?”

Rather than respond, Trixie got up and slowly trudged back to Starlight’s room.

Trixie pushed the cyan door aside and walked into Starlight’s room. “Starlight...?” As she walked in, she saw Starlight laying on the bed, facing away from the door. Trixie gently closed the door behind her. “Hey...”

Starlight did not respond.

“Starlight...? Listen...” Trixie gently got up on the bed and laid down. “I... I’m sorry...”

Starlight’s ears flicked. “What?”

“I’m sorry. I... I didn’t realize what I was saying...”

Starlight sighed. “You sure s-sounded confident...”

“And I was at the moment,” Starlight flinched. Nice going idiot. “However, you know why, right...?”

“I... yeah...”

“I can’t say I love you, but I do know that I don’t hate you...”

Starlight stopped breathing for a few seconds, before saying “Get. Out,” Without another word, Trixie grabbed her bag, rolled it around her barrel, and left.

She arrived back at the officers room met by a few surprised glances. On the table was map of the border all 2 nations shared which centered on Canterlot - the “Canterlot Crucible” as many Unicorns had called it. Oddly enough, the map was 3D, and it was all shades of blue. There were lines pulsing through it like a movie - it looked just like a sci-fi projector.

On each of the three designated flanks lay a set of figurines; green on one, blue on another, and orange on the third. Oddly enough, there were black ones within the city. They weren’t very sophisticated, but they didn’t need to be; you could easily tell that green meant Earth by the horseshoe, blue meant pegasi by the wings, and orange meant unicorns by the horns. That meant

“We’re in Canterlot?!” Trixie asked.

“Yes. Say, what do you know of Unicorn troop movements?”

“I... well, my 31st division was moving towards the Earth pony front as of... uh...”

“Three days ago,” Applesmack swiped a hoof and an orange token was moved a bit closer to the Earth pony front. “Any other knowledge?”

“Well... uhhhh...”

“Troop type? Equipment?” Applecrack flicked her hoof to show an entirely new screen, full of statistics on the unicorns such as conscription ages, manpower pool, average gear, factories...

“Woah...”

“Answer the question,”

“Oh, ummm...” Trixie dashed her eyes over the screen. “The conscription ages are from 17 - 49 now...” A wince came from one of the other mares. “We have no grenades as the average soldier anymore... uhhh...” As Trixie gave Applejack information, the pony entered it in, changing the text in front of her. “Cool... and the factory count is at 700 according to news,”

After some quick deliberation, Applegack entered ‘70’. “I said 700 Applefack,”

“It’s Applejack, and that’s called propaganda,”

“I... ok...”

The map reappeared as a little blakc box in the center of the ceiling sprung to life, spewing out troop movements. “1st battalion 3rd ramparts; 2nd battalion 5th ramparts; 3rd battalion...” As it continued on, the black figurines were moved, supposedly in accordance with each announcement. After a couple minutes, the... thingy switched its tune; “We have reports that 1st battalion is severely understrength and in need of ponies, guns, and especially bullets. That is all,” The box clicked off.

“I can fight!” Trixie said eagerly, raising a hoof.

“Not with our gear,”

“I can learn!”

“True... Starlight is gonna kill me... leave, go straight left, don’t stop until you have to, then enter the third door on the left,”

Trixie saluted and ran off.

She swears she only has great intentions and no evil plans to shoot up the high command.

Author's Note

Comedic line at the end there. Didn't know how else to end this.

5: How to Hold this Gun with Hooves

This group of rebels, rogues and race traitors did have some very good equipment. For a start, her standard issue rifle had no wood; it was solid metal. Called an M4, it was apparently full auto - impressive for a standard issue. It looked a lot less sleek, but it was more black and gray metal instead of wood - Trixie liked that look. She was also given four “pineapple grenades”, a suit of extremely thin armor called kev-lar, and a huge ass knife. Her rifle had a scope that had a little screen on it, allowing for easy viewing of enemies - her kin in this case. She slung her rifle over her shoulder and gave the sergeant filthy earth pony a killing glare as he walked up to her. “How’s the weapon soldier?”

“Ready to use on you,” Trixie muttered.

“What was that?” The sergeant leaned up to Trixie’s face.

“I said, ready to use on you,”

“I think you mean, ‘ready for action sarge!’”

“I meant what I said, ‘sarge’,” Trixie gritted her teeth as she spoke.

“Ah, so you’re still brainwashed, eh? Shame, you look good otherwise,” The sergeant gave her a flirtatious wink and walked away.

Trixie stood there, mouth agape. What the fuck was that? Did he just... “We’re going, private, get in the APC,” Trixie walked in, noticing the covered top and the rifle slits. There were quite a few ponies in the wide space, all talking with one another. “Real beauty, ain’t she?”

“I’d say so sarge,” a new voice said. Trixie turned to find a pegasus, gold and tan. He was carrying some sort of green tube along with a much smaller, all-black weapon - similar to the thompson sub-machine-gun-thingy in size. Her left wing was missing a few feathers, and the right one had a bandage in the middle of it.

“Who the fuck are you?” Trixie asked, practically spitting the words. The APC roared to life underneath them and started to go to God knows where.

“I’m Fortune,” The pegasus extended her left wing before wincing, then sticking out a hoof in it’s place. “Who may you be?”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie. What’s it to-”

Sarge snorted. “With that anti-magic ring? Yeah, good luck with that whole schtick,”

Rather than respond to the filthy non-believer, Trixie watched as a blue haze set over the sergeants knife. The knife slid out and pressed against Sarge's throat. “What was that?”

The whole APC went speechless, the talk dying down. The only sound for the next few seconds was the nearly-silent humming of the APC. Slowly, the sarge said “Y-you truly deserve that title, great and... magica-”

“Powerful,” After a second more, Trixie returned the knife to where it belonged. “Great and Powerful,”

After a few seconds where no pony talked, Trixie started to rifle through her uniform. Her eyes first set on a black box with a stick pointing out of it and a bunch of small pane of glass in the front. "What's this?" She hooves towards the object.

Fortune responded with "A r-radio. It allows for communication between us and sarge,"

"How does this radio work?"

Fortune tapped the box on his chest with his hoof. As he said "Testing testing one two three", his voice echoed out of all of the other boxes, though a hit scratchy.

Woah… "Useful…"

"More than you think," a unicorn, carrying some long green box on their back, commented. "I'm Glare,"

"Glare? Nice to meet you," The ponies held out their hooves and shook.

As Trixie was about to comment on the diversity in the APC for the tenth time, the aforementioned APC screeched to a halt. A black box in the corner screeched out We're here, similar to the radio. "Alright, get out and get sharp!" Sarge yelled. The doors slammed apart and the ponies started hopping out.

Trixie dashed out and took cover behind what appeared to be an old apartment store. Now that she looked around, it seemed… rural almost. But not rural like she knew. It wasn't a town, full of homes, but a few smaller buildings… below rural but not some desert hellhole. The scenery was nice; all sandy and warm, with a couple shell holes here and there. She pulled up her rifle and looked around the corner. From across the street, Glare called out "No tangos he-"

A bullet dinked her helmet, causing her to fall back around the corner and wince. "Bastard shook me. On the right,"

Trixie's eyes flew to the right, and as she brought her rifle over and looked into the box mounted on top of it, the ponies - earth - appeared a solid red within the sight. Everything else had a haze of green. As she swept the looker around, it detected no one more, until

"Is that… a tank?!" Trixie quickly pulled back behind the corner, terrified. Holy fuck we are sooooo dead.

Trixie heard a low fwoosh, followed by a loud bang. Turning the corner, she saw the tank... eviscerated. It was just a pile of scrap metal. It wasn't resemblant of a tank, or... anything. "What in the..."

A group of earth ponies started running down the street. Trixie heard the sarge shout "Switch to shock rounds!" Trixie inspected her gun, and indeed found a switch on the gun that had three options: 'lead' the active one; 'shock', the requested one; and 'safe'. She flipped her gun to shock and aimed at one of the ponies and pulled the trigger.

The gun had almost no kickback. There was a tiny jolt against her shoulder. The bullet hit the running filth, causing it to crash into the ground, but there was a little thing sticking out of him.

The other two runners hit the ground at the same time. "Good shots everypony! Now get to work with entrenching!" Trixie looked around and saw the other ponies pulling shovels out of their backpacks and starting to dig. Sighing, she pulled out her shovel and joined in.

Author's Note

Been some time, eh?

6: Her Again...

Trixie hummed a little tune as she tightened her grip on her gun. What tune? She didn't know, but it sounded nice. She flipped down her goggles and briefly scanned the outside. Nothing.

She sighed in relief and returned to the fire. Watch, finally over. After that firefight, digging, and a looooooooong watch, she relished the chance for rest.

She got to the campfire, now cold, and turned around to view the little village they were in. The few houses all led to one of the two crisscrossing central roads, which is where they had encamped. She faintly smiled as she imagined Unicorn families walking, foals frolicking... everything she missed at home. Shaking her head, she entered the tent of the next watch.

It was warm. Very warm. The inside felt more like twenty Celsius than the negative twenty of outside. After shaking the first stallion up, she stumbled out and into her tent, collapsing on the cot. She breathed into the pillow, hard. Her eyes closed, and she started to drift gently to sleep...

The cot to her right squeaked, as if somepony was getting up. She slowly turned her head to see a stallion laying down, wide awake and staring at her, and a mare halfway out the door. "Were you two-"

"Shhhh!" The stallion hissed. The mare left quickly, and the stallion shut the tent. "Just... shut up!"

"Why would I care anyways?" Trixie could tell she sounded delivered, or delirious, or dilapidated - whatever it was. She sounded bad.

"Because we were..." he blushed. "...doing that while deployed?!"

"You could fuck for all I care, as long as you're quiet..." Trixie turned around and immediately fell asleep.

Trixie awoke to a shrill bugle call. She quickly sat up and hopped onto her feet. She felt... refreshed, considering she had just 7 hours of sleep. She found both of the other ponies laying in the other cot. "Gooooood morning you two!"

"Morning," the stallion responded, clearly nervous. It was just then that Trixie noticed that the stallion had a horn, but the mare had the strap wings. The stallion gave a very unconvincing smile.

"Why are you so nervous...?" Trixie stared into his eyes. Maybe he's ashamed he's betraying his race...

"W-well... it's still a bit... taboo for interracial breeding..." The two other ponies got up and started to dress out.

Knew it! "Interesting..." Trixie quickly started to dress herself out, sliding into the kev-lar suit and slinging her rifle. "So, what is your name?"

"I'm Starry Barrow," the stallion said.

"And I'm-" the mare began.

"Did I ask for your name?" Trixie made sure her gaze was extra stern.

It seemed to work, as the mare visibly recoiled. "N-no..."

"Then don't give it," Trixie strapped on her helmet and walked out, receiving a harsh glare from the stallion. Good. Filthy race traitor.

The sergeant had everypony else in formation. "Supply truck in five, get ready to unload!" The unit saluted, ordered arms, then fell out to the tables that were set up overnight.

Trixie sat alone at one, smug. She had shown that stallion!

...right?

Her head held onto that word for all five minutes. Nothing with it, just the word. ...right?

Was she right?

Soon enough, the supply truck came in and interrupted her thoughts. Trixie gladly got up and started unloading some crates, marked "CONCRETE".

She barely noticed the driver getting out, but after half a minute Sarge approached her. "Trixie,"

"Yes?" She set the box down. "What is it,"

"You're going home. Pack up,"

Hearing a few murmurs, Trixie shrugged. "Ok," She got into the shotgun seat of the car and waited for the unpacking to finish. Her mind settled back on that damned word...

Soon enough, the driver got in. Trixie looked her over. Gray pegasus, eyes unaligned; typical pegasus derp. "What's your name,"

"I'm Derpy!" The pegasus started up the truck and pulled out of the parking lot. "And you?"

"Fitting name," Trixie snorted and looked away. "Stupid Pegasus,"

"Hey, that's not nice! And you looked good too..."

Trixie was, once again, flabbergasted. Another pony trying to hit on her... maybe she really was attractive? Even... pretty...?

She toyed with the thought in her mind for a while. Eventually, she asked "I... look good...?"

"I think so, but I can't see straight so what do I know!" The truck pulled up into the base, somewhere in the supply depot. "You can get out now!"

Trixie slowly got out of the vehicle and started trotting, probably towards the stairway. Was she pretty? Or was Derpy

"Hey thar sugarcube, let's'a go!" Trixie looked up to see AJ, or AG, whatever.

"To?"

"Starlight's room. Now c'mon!" AD led Trixie up the stairs, presumably to Starlight's room. Along the way she couldn't get that though out of her head. Was she... was she drugged or something? Normally she wouldn't pay any mind to this, but...

"We're here," Trixie nodded as she quietly entered the room. As she locked the door, she turned around to see Starlight, alone on the bed.

"I said, LEAVE ME ALONE TWI-" Starlight looked up to see Trixie. "Light..."

"Hope I'm no trouble...?"

"Trixie," Starlight patted the bed next to her. "Come, sit with me,"

Trixie obliged and sat down on the bed only to be immediately assaulted by a pair of forelegs.

"I... I missed you," There was a pang of sorrow in Starlight's voice.

"I can tell..." The fuck do I do?! Trixie awkwardly reached over and patted Starlight's mane.

Starlight flinched. "Sorry..."

"For...?" Weirdo...

"Flinching..."

"I... ok? Look, I don't know what I-"

A huge flash filled Trixie's vision, causing her to stumble back. When she opened her eyes, she found herself at Starlight's door.

"Ah expected that. Let's go,"

Trixie bit her lip furiously, studying the tactical map. "But I thought they couldn't produce that many tanks?" There were 147 tank figures,beach representing 50 or so, lined up directly towards Canterlot. "How did they..."

"Very good question," Twi responded. "But they have that many, so we have to adapt..."

"Ah still say we give satchels n gun emplacements to tha engineers," AJ interjected.

"If we dropped bombs, we'd take less casualties!" Dash snorted furiously.

"Ladies, we obviously need more Jaegers..." Rarity mused, referring to the Changeling troops with special clothing. They had one model, representing all 437 soldiers. "Our priority is still ponypower,"

"Food!" Pinkie said, voice laced with aggression. "We're running out and winter is around the corner!"

"I have an idea!" Trixie shot up her hoof. A dumb one maybe, but... The mares all turned to look at her. "So, that's cool doctrines you have there, but consider doing them all at once? Combined weapons or something?"

"That... that would take care of the tanks..." Twi tugged at her camo cap, clearly berating herself. "Yeah... so that's the tanks then. I want your wings scheduled ladies!"

"Yes ma'am!" Dash and AJ stood up, saluted, then jogged off.

"Now, any other brilliant ideas?"

"Well..." Trixie mused. "What's in the former city?"

The table froze. After a few seconds, Twi said "Corpses. Monsters. And more,"

"Disconcerting... well, were there disaster shelters?"

"Probably, why...?"

"Those would have MRGs, right?"

"MRGs?" Twi stared at Trixie, eye raised.

"MREs, sorry,"

Pinkie slammed the table. "Yes!" Within a blink, she was gone, hallway filled with the sound of thunder.

"Ok, so... ponypower,"

Trixie started biting her hoof. It was a common nervous habit. So, let's see... nighttime abductions? Robots? Cloning? Or...

"I have it!" Rarity shouted. As the mares turned to race her, she proposed "So, if we deal with the tanks in a non-lethal way, that's abductions waiting to happen..."

Twi quickly scribbled up an order and handed it to Rarity, who went racing after Dash. Twi then sighed and sat back down in her chair. "That's the large-scale issues dealt with..."

"Just Starlight left," Trixie quipped.

To her surprise, Twi responded with a completely serious and very grim "Yes..."

"Wait, that's an actual issue?"

"Trixie..." Twi sighed, clearly frustrated. "Lemme explain. She's never been 100% happy, right? But, ever since you got here and... had your initial conversation, she's been... absent from everything.

"The Supreme Commander. Has been absent. From everything. She's despondent. How do we fix this? What did you even do to her?"

Trixie very carefully considered her next words. "So... she showed me some old memories of us in love... and I made it... very clear i am not her lover anymore,"

Twi groaned and slumped forwards into her hooves. "So, heartbreak?"

"Yes ma'am,"

After a few seconds of frustration, Twi returned to her original posture. "Go, talk with her and figure this out. Fast,"

Trixie slowly pushed open this cursed door for the second time today. This time, she made herself pretty beforehand: she brushed her hair and wiped away the sweat. As she entered the room, she found the pink mare asleep with a pillow skewered on her horn. She whispered "Yikes," then moved onto the bed. Not really sure what to do, she just laid down next to the mare.

For the first time, she took a good look at Starlight. Her mane was purple, with little streaks of dark blue run throughout. Sorta cute. Her fur was indeed pink, and her cutie mark was

Starlight's head shifted onto Trixie's lap. The pillow pressed against Trixie's stomachand Starlight's breathing slowed a little. Though a bit hard to tell in the dark, Starlight seemed to have a faint smile. Unsure of what to do once again, Trixie wrapped a foreleg around the mare's head and settled in for the night.

Author's Note

Back to uploading it seems.

7: Magic is for Nerds. Trixie is a Big Nerd.

Trixie awoke to a sharp gasp. She scanned the room, eyes still blurry. There was a wall, there's a bookcase, and next to me is... oh, right. Starlight. "Y-you're..." she began to say.

"Whu?"

Starlight giggled, a very familiar and comforting sound. "Seems right..."

Trixie yawned, rubbing her eyes. "How long did I sleep...?"

"Well... it's 6..."

"So... I don't know when I fell asleep,"

Another giggle, making Trixie just want to turn and ki Where the fuck did this come from?! "Yep, that's my Trix..."

Trixie got out of bed and stretched herself out. "So, what's the plan for today,"

"Well, let's see what's going on first," Starlight walked past Trixie - she must have gotten off of the other side of the bed - and pushed open the door. "C'mon, let's go see,"

The two mares walked down the hallway, dead silent. The clattering of hooves was the only thing to accompany Trixie's thoughts: What in fuck's name was that?! She kept mulling it over in her head. She's no one I know... but she's so... familiar...

Trixie jumped as she felt something brush her tail. Looking back, she saw their tails intertwined, although Starlight quickly pulled hers away. "Sorry," she said immediately. "Force of habit..."

Nonetheless, Trixie scooted a step to the right. The silence hung heavy now, drowning out any thoughts with it's pure noise.

After a bit more of awkward walking, the two arrived at the command room. Only Twi was there, scribbling Goddess-knows-what down. "Morning lovebirds," she chirped.

Trixie could feel herself getting flustered. "I- wh-"

"Morning Mrs. Alone," Starlight replied with a sly wink. Twi replied with a scowl, but refused to verbalize her thoughts. "What's the sit rep,"

"I just finished moving the models," Twi replied.

Rather than explore her feelings - that's hard after all - Trixie decided to take a look at the table. Almost all of the Unicorn tanks were gone; however, they had covered a third of the distance between Canterlot and the front. Conversely, the UPDF - United Ponies Defense Force - had gained a model on the front, meaning the plan probably worked. The other fronts seemed static.

After putting a winter coat on her torso and a green helmet with three stars on, Starlight studied the map. "Where's the Air Force?"

"My bad ma'am," Twilight put up four flying pegasi, colored in the UPDF colors, above their borders.

Immediately, Starlight began moving pieces around. She moved UPDF artillery near the breach, then had infantry units go around it. Finally, she used the one armored unit to smash the theoretically trapped enemies. Genius. However...

"Starlight, what's that knocked over UPDF unit just behind this bulge?" There were two infantry models, both knocked over, and one Unicorn infantry model.

"A POW camp. Why?"

"Well..." Trixie retracted Starlight's moves a couple steps, and instead of instantly filling the gap, she had the armor weasel through it and dash towards the POWs with a unit of mechanized and a special supply unit. That unit would then free the camp, and the infantry would still push the other side

"...allowing them to meet up... here," Trixie clicked the mechanized and Spec For together. The proposed encirclement had half of the Unicorn models.

"Trix..." Starlight pulled out a paper and started scribbling orders down. "Genius,"

"Thank you. Now I'm gonna go get some breakfast,"

The Officer Corps ate in the planning room. That is the only place they stayed; planned, and organized, and dozens of other things in that cramped little room.

Trixie did not like that.

About halfway through the lunch break, she got up to 'use the restroom'. She wasn't mad at the other ponies in there really, she just... she wanted more, or so she assumed.

She walked down the officer hall, staring at the floor. Thinking. War normally doesn't give time for such petty things as free will, thinking, or love, but Trixie could afford it. What is with that mare... she must be wearing some sort of drug, because she's so damn addictive!

Trixie could never fall in love.

As she was getting ready to turn around, she heard the slamming of a door. Whipping towards it, she found herself locked in by two Changelings. They were wearing badges with wings on them. "Looks like ve found her!" one of them said.

"Jawohl. Get her!" Suddenly, the two were flying at her with lightning speeds. Trixie barely had the time to throw up her hooves before she was crushed against a wall.

"Who the fuck are you?!" Trixie shouted, pulling up a shield in front of her.

"Zat does nacht matter. Vorwärts!" The other Changeling cane towards her with a glowing sword; when it touched her shield, her shield dissipated as the sword... cut a hole in it.

All Trixie could do was stare in disbelief as her defences were rendered useless. As the center of her shield clattered to the floor, she called back her magic and instead pushed the force upwards, from below him. The magic and metal clashed, and although the Changeling looked a bit shaken, he was physically ok. How in the

"Vibranium! It reacts to magikal trauma very vell!" The other Changeling laughed. "Now die!"

This time, Trixie rolled out of the way, causing the Changeling to hit the wall. As she did, she noticed that they had no armor on their rears. What if I...

Approximately one 'soul' of magic is required to kill a pony through blunt trauma. Changelings take a little extra. So, when Trixie applied one hundred souls, directly into his anus and thus into his guts, he had no chance of surviving. As soon as Trixie cast her spell, the Changeling exploded into blood. There weren't even guts; too much force was applied too quickly. The armor clanged to the ground, coated in more red than she thought was possible.

"You vucker!" The other one screamed. Trixie laid on the ground, mouth agape at the carnage in front of her. "I'll... I'll ki-" The other Changeling blew up, but with much less force; Trixie got smacked in the face by his helmet, and a healthy share of guts.

Shaking, she stood up. That. Was. Sick. Queasy, she walked outside, trembling as she stumbled forwards. I should do that more!

Trixie swung open the staff door. "About ti..." Starlight started.

"Hey girls..." Trixie giggled. She fucking giggled. I'm so badass. "Had a bit of a... run in with some Changelings back there..."

Then she fell onto the floor.

Trixie woke up in a bathtub. Starlight stood behind her, washing her hair. "Faust, it really got in there..."

"Yeah," Trixie sighed in bliss as she slid into the bath. Been years since I had a nice bath...

If Starlight was surprised, she didn't show it. "Well, that should be everything then," Trixie inspected herself, and indeed her body was clean. She felt extremely refreshed, yet simultaneously unlimitedly tired. "You can get out now,"

After a few minutes, the two mares lay in bed. Thankfully for Trixie, it was large enough that they didn't have to touch; unfortunately, she found Starlight dragging her close.

"I swear this'll make you feel better," Starlight said, pulling Trixie in once more.

"No! I don't wanna deal with this tonight!" Trixie replied, slipping away once more.

"Well... fine..." Starlight sighed. "I'll leave you be then,"

Starlight turned off her lamp, flooding the room in darkness. All Trixie could hear was the thumping of her heart. Badum. Badum. Badum. She could hear Starlight's snores. Would she mind if I...? Trixie slowly rolled towards the mare, looking up to make sure she was asleep. She carefully laid Starlight's foreleg out and laid herself on Starlight's chest before wrapping the foreleg around herself.

Heh, she was... right...

Author's Note

Gonna be on vacation for a few days.

8: In Which the Shit Impacts the Fan

Author's Note

Got quite a bit of backlog saved up. Still gonna space it out though.

8: In Which the Shit Impacts the Fan

Trixie pulled her shaky hoof away from the journal, shutting it closed with her magic. That... yeah... She put the journal away and into the desk she had been gifted; the only other things in it were her cape, hat, and a pen. She rolled away and stood up, shaking herself. Am I really a puppet for the Empress? Or am I being puppeted by these ponies? Trixie did not know, but she was glad she did not have to figure it out that moment. Time to get out there I guess...

Trixie slid into the Officer's room. The other mares looked up, and then looked back down. Except for Starlight.

"Trixie!" She sprang up and wrapped Trixie in a tight hug. "Are you okay?!"

"I..." Yes. As okay as I can be. "N-no..." What the fucking cunt are you fucking pulling you piece of fucking shi

"...wanna go talk about it...?"

There is nothing wrong you fucki "Y-yeah..." ing cunt what the fuck am I saying?!

After dismissing herself, Starlight pulled Trixie with her out of the room and towards the bedroom. "So, what is it...?"

As much as Trixie wanted to hate the pink pony - as much as she knows she should hate her - she couldn't. Not one bit. "I... I have this v-voice in my head..." I'm your thoughts! "It... it h-hates you and m-me for being h-happy here and it-"

Starlight turned the pair around. "That's what I feared... we're gonna have to operate on you, ok...?"

What in the fucking slutlestia are yo "O-ok..." u talking about?!

Trixie could feel tears slowly trickling down her face. "I-it told me to... to eat the... ars... arsen..."

"Arsenic...?" Starlight prompted, face plastered with concern.

"Y-yeah..."

"Tr-Trixie, listen carefully: that voice is not yours," Yes I am! I'm your thoughts! "That's a p-plant by Celestia. It disguises itself as your thoughts," ...you believe this whore?! "and makes you... well, you've seen it..."

Trixie could feel her head nodding, but not her head; it was like some other pony's head she was watching.

"So... w-we need to get it out and... y-you might not... l-live..."

"Wh-what're the... o-odds...?" Zero! I'm your fucking brain! Trixie could barely see through the tears in her eyes as she was towed around a corner into a whitewashed room.

"...n-not very good..." Trixie numbly did nothing as Starlight told the doctor what procedure was needed, and after a minute she felt herself being lifted onto a gurney. "P-promise me you'll be o-ok...?"

"I..." Before Trixie could finish, she was swept into an operating room and felt a needle jab into her foreleg.

"It's ok ma'am, we'll take good care of you..."

---Starlight---

My hooves leaned against the window as I pressed my face against the glass. Trixie was in there. She might die... I just got her back and she's just gonna... not on my watch!

She pulled a doctor over with her magic. "What can I do to help?!"

"Stay out and don't disturb us," the doctor said, keeping his cool.

"Th-there has to be something!"

The doctor sighed. "Well... there's a theory that same of us have... that if the pony being operated on has absorbed enough magic, they have about a 17% chance of the chip just popping out, no harm done,"

"A-and the other 83%?"

"...her head will explode," Starlight recoiled, another tear streaming down her cheek. "The magic will not interact well with the chip, and it'll direct the magic into an explosion spell..."

"W-what's the survival rate of the surgery...?"

"Well, as Trixie has so much magic and an inhibitor...? About..." The doctor mulled it over for a few seconds. "...0.0061%..."

"..."

"H-how do I help...?"

---Trixie---

Trixie sat up as her head felt as if it was on fire. She immediately began screaming as she scraped at her skull. "It h-hurts! M-make it st-stop!"

A bunch of doctors were in the room, along with Starlight who was backing away, trembling. Before Trixie could react, she felt another jab in her arm. "It'll be..."

She woke up with a gasp, her head not feeling like a fireball. "Did it..."

The door slammed open and Starlight ran through, practically jumping on top of the cyan mare. "Yes! It worked!" She held the mare in an iron tight hug. Heh, Trixie could get used to this... The voice in her head sounded different, much more like her vocal voice. It sounded right.

Trixie chuckled, though even she noticed how weak it was, and wrapped a foreleg around the mare on top of her. Hey, she was right. That voice is gone... "Yeah, it worked..."

Starlight got off of the bed, tear in her left eye. "Y-you're... ok..."

"I think..."

A doctor walked up and took off Trixie's restraints. "You're all good, Ms. Lulamoon. Have a nice day!" He(?) quickly walked out and towards whatever office he worked at.

But Trixie didn't care. She stood up, stretched, and simply said "Well, I believe we have a bed to get in?"

"B-but you just got out of it..."

"Well, that wasn't our bed..." Trixie winked, brushed her tail along Starlight's cheek, and started walking.

"I... I vaguely remember... everything..." Trixie said to Starlight. "I was a showpony, travelling in the road, making a living in showsmareship, and then I had... the Ursa minor incident..."

"C-correct," Starlight replied, voice full of hope.

"And then... I went around... doing..." she quickly coughed. No need to tell her now...

"You n-never told me wha-"

"And then I came back to Ponyville with the amulet... and then..." Trixie bit her bottom lip. "That purple gal... Twidark?"

Starlight giggled. "Twilight. What's a Twidark?"

"ANYWHO! Then I settled in, and then I met you, and then... well, you know..."

"Aft-ter our little adventures, we m-moved to...?"

"It was... Oh! The suburbs around Ponyville central!"

"C-correct!" Starlight clapped her hooves. "We had a car... and a nice house..."

"And then... the box happened..."

"Then w-what?" Starlight asked, voice full of confusion.

"Well... I was given the chip... and then... I was... killed..." Starlight gasped. "...only to come back in Manehattan... and then I kept growing up, and dying, and kept being reborn in different places... it's hard to explain. It's like...

"Like... like my memories were wiped, a split second of bliss, and then... I was a foal again. I was born naturally, and just... lived a new life..."

"F-for 938 years...?"

"Y-yeah. This is my... 48th life..." Starlight took a deep breath. "...and I'm 18..."

Starlight moved from the other side of the bed onto Trixie's splayed arm, rolling up against her chest. Looking up, she said "That sounds... awful..."

Trixie chuckled. "So, how are you still alive Glimmy?"

Starlight blushed a little at the nickname. "Th-that's new... but me and the other gals... we h-haven't aged a day..."

"Since this whole thing started?"

"Y-yeah... unbelievable, I kn-know..."

Rather than talk back, Trixie simply put her arms around the pink mare and kissed her forehead. "Well, I hope you're comfy," Reaaaal nice subject change there...

"H-hey Trix...?"

"Yeah?"

"So... wh-what'd you do in the y-years between Ursa minor and the a-amulet...?"

Trixie sighed. "Do you really wanna know...?"

"I n-need to..."

"Ok..." Trixie silently gulped, gathering her courage up. This'll be fun... "Should I put it delicately...?"

"Wh-whatever you want i-"

"I was a whore, Glimmy," Trixie looked down as Starlight gasped. "I was a common fucking street whore. And what else could I do?"

"M-m-magic sh-shows...?"

"Glimmy, my name was tarnished. I tried that and they threw me out with pitchforks and torches," Trixie shivered at the memory. "I had no other options,"

"Wh-why w-would you..."

"Hide it?" Starlight nodded. "Because you didn't need to know that I had been whoring myself out for a living whilst you were in your little town. And it didn't really stop after the amulet..." Another, much shakier, gasp. "Really all that changed was that I did it less, cause those magic shows still didn't pay the bills..."

"I'm s-so sorry..." Starlight turned around and wrapped her own forelegs around Trixie. "I'm so s-so sorry..."

"Hey, you didn't force me into that... or rape me... like all the stallions who did..." Starlight whimpered, and Trixie mentally slapped herself. You know how to calm her down, don't ya. "...so you're fine..."

After a few seconds of heavy silence, Starlight looked up and asked "Wh-when did it stop...?"

Trixie looked down, biting her bottom lip. "D-don't ask that..."

"I a-am..."

Trixie sighed as she scooted down to bury herself in Starlight's chest. "G-gimme a couple..."

Starlight wrapped her forelegs around Trixie's head. "Wh-whenever you're ready..."

Trixie spent a couple minutes gathering her thoughts. I can't tell her. I have to tell her. She'll be heartbroken. She has to know. I can't let this out. I have to let this out. She'll hate me. She'll support me. She'll hate herself. She'll love me even more.

Fuck me, I gotta do this sooner or later.

Drawing a shaky breath, Trixie muttered "P-prostitution? Once we shared out b-bank account... the r-rape...?" Trixie shook her head.

"T-Trixie...?!" Starlight squeezed Trixie's head tighter as her breathing sped up.

"Right b-before I g-got home... w-when we opened the box..." Trixie felt the tears leave her eyes, but for once she didn't care. "I..."

---Twilight---

The whole staff corps looked towards the door when the loudest scream they ever heard in their lives came from Starlight's room. "Uh... what in tarnation was that?!" Applejack asked.

"I'll go check!" Twilight said, quickly teleporting outside Starlight's door before anypony else could say anything.

She gently pushed the door open. "Starli-" Before she finished, a blue flash of light threw her against the far wall, at an angle from what Twilight presumed was the bed to the far end of the hall. Dazed, she barely got up in time to see the door shut, lock, and have a gentle blue haze settle around it. Was that Trixie?! That little...!

"St-starlight!" She galloped to the door and tried to force it open with magic, only to watch as her magic did absolutely nothing to the haze. Desperate, she began pounding in the door. "You b-better not hurt her Trixie!"

She watched through the window as Starlight appeared at the door. Her face was covered in tears and she wore an evil, hatefup snarl on her face. ohfuck. Starlight opened the door - Why didn't I do that? - and shouted "TWILIGHT! Get the FUCK out of here!"

"Are you o-"

"SHUT IT!" Starlight punched Twilight on the nose, causing her to stumble back. "GO!"

The door closed, and Twilight rubbed her nose. That was a mean boop..." she muttered, walking off towards the Officer's room.

---Trixie---

"G-glimmy...?"

"Yes d-dear?" Starlight quickly slid into bed and pulled Trixie against her.

"That... was c-cool..."

Starlight snorted. Trixie giggled. Starlight giggled. Soon enough, the two mares were laughing their hearts out on that little bed, tears running down their faces.

"I... kn-know," Starlight gave Trixie a little pat on the head. "I kn-know, Trix..."

But I'm not done yet... "C-can I finish the st-story...?" Trixie asked.

"S-sure can..."

---Twilight---

Twilight yawned. It was late. After she got back to the Officer's room, she sat back down, quiet about what happened, and finished up her work. Nowz an hour later, no one else was in the Officer's room. She folded up her manilla folder, labelled 'Twilight', and put it in her cabinet. "Ah, bed time..."

She got up and trudged down the hall, hooves heavy with exhaustion. She fluffed her wings as she thought about her bed. Her sweet, sweet, wonderful, warm bed...

Suddenly, the door to her right burst open and Starlight stumbled out. She had much less tears on her face, which was good. However, her face contained about ten times the hate as before, causing Twilight to recoil another step. "Twilight! Where's Stone Marble?!"

"Th-the new guy?"

"Yes! Where is he?!"

"Q-quarter three, block A, bunk 17..." Twilight pointed her hoof in the general direction of quarter three. "...wh-why?"

Rather than answer, she merely shouted "Go watch Trix!" The mare disappeared in a flash of pink light.

Stunned, Twilight peeked into Starlight's room. "Trixie...?"

After letting her eyes adjust to the dark, she caught sight of the mare lying on the bed, looking away. "Y-y-yes...?"

"Hey there..." Twilight sat on the bed, extremely uncomfortable. Just remember what 'Your Friends and Awkward Conversations' taught you... great read by the way. "You... ok...?"

Trixie's shoulders moved and Twilight heard a sniffle.

"What's wrong...?" She reached over and put a hoof on Trixie's shoulder.

"N-n-nothing..."

"Trixie, that's a lie. What's wrong,"

Trixie muttered something unintelligible.

"I asked, wha-"

A bright flash of pink filled the room as Starlight appeared. "Thanks Twi. You can go now,"

"Wh-what'd you..." Twilight looked down to see Starlight's hooves bathed in a bright red liquid. "Did you..."

"He... he committed the..." Starlight bit her bottom lip, lost in thought for a couple of seconds. "...the ultimate crime, ok?"

Twilight curled her lip and nodded. When she turned to leave, she thought better of it and instead said "Honestly, I'd feel better if I could stay here and make sure you two are fine..." That's 'Your Friends and Unspeakable Crimes'... right?

Rather than respond to Twilight, Starlight looked down to Trixie. "What do you say...?"

The mare gently nodded. "I... ok-k..."

"I'll just set up over here then," Twilight teleported a cot in the corner and laid down on it. "If you need me, just shake me, mk?"

"Got it," Starlight answered. "Night Twi,"

"Night Starlight. Night Trixie,"

"N-ni... night..."

9: The Fan is Ruined

Twilight woke up at precisely 04:37. Yawning, she sat up, then reached over to hit her alarm clock. However, her hoof hit a wall. She opened her eyes and looked around. "Oh yeah," she whispered as her eyes fell on Starlight and Trixie. She got out of bed and slowly made her way to her room.

She turned into her bathroom and brought her toothbrush up with her magic. She put on a dot of toothpaste; no more, no less. She put it in her mouth and brushed, for precisely two minutes; afterwards, she spat out the toothpaste, rinsed the brush, and put it back. She hopped into the shower for three minutes and seven seconds; no more, no less. When she got out, she used the fifth towel, as it was Thursday; she made sure to rub off every part of her body. Mane gleaming and teeth shining, she went into her main room and glanced at the clock. 04:50. Perfect.

She walked out into the hall, a new bounce in her stride. It took her sixty five steps to reach the officers room; it always did.

For once, she stopped before entering the Officer's room.

I should check on them... Twilight walked over to Starlight's room, her hooves slowly clacking on the tiled floor in stark contrast to her quiet entrance. Just to make sure...

As she got to the dark room, she poked her head in. Starlight appeared to be comfortably asleep, but Trixie was sat up, looking at the door. "H-hey Trix,"

"Lemme come with you," Trixie said quietly.

"I... ok," Twilight shrugged and waited outside for Trixie to get out.

---Trixie---

Trixie gave Starlight a quick kiss on the forehead, then slid off the bed and onto the floor. She shook her mane to make it look somewhat presentable, then walked outside to meet Twi. "Ok,"

The two set off for the Officer's room. "Hey Trix?"

"Yes Twi?"

"That stallion Starlight said committed the ultimate crime... that means he raped someone, right?" Twilight asked, voice full of curiosity.

"I... yeah..." Watch your mouth, Twilight Spar

"Was it you?"

Trixie froze midstep. Although Twilight was just curious, she wasn't able to answer it without

"Oh, is that something I'm not supposed to ask?" Twilight asked from her seat. "I'm sorry," Her frown seemed genuine, and her voice was full of sincerity.

"I... it's ok..." Trixie walked in and slid into her seat, shaking a little. "Just... don't ask again please..."

"You got it,"

"O-or mention it to any other pony..."

"No problem," Twilight gave her a little smile. "Your secret's safe with me,"

Trixie buried her face in her hooves. "I... it's not... hngh..."

"Are you okay?" Trixie heard Twilight get up and felt her kneel down next to her. "I can get Starlight, or you can go back..."

"Th-thanks for the offer, but..."

"But...?"

"I'll pass..." Trixie looked up at the table. "Let's just do this, ok?"

"Alright. I'll let you be,"

"Somethin wrong sugarcube?" The two unicorns looked up to see Applejack walk into the room and take a seat.

Trixie began with "Not that you need to wo"

Pinkie Pie leaned into the room and said "Just that Trixie got raped a bunch of times!" She then happily skipped her way down the hallway.

"Oh... tha's..."

Trixie buried her face in her hooves. Fuck. "Just..."

"I..." Another voice, very posh, said from the doorway. "I'm so sorry to..."

Trixie could tell that the mares were still talking, but she tuned them out. Just focus on being calm. It doesn't matter that all your friends know that you were assaulted... right?

---Twilight---

"Just shut up you fools!" Twilight seethed at the two newcomers. "Shut the fuck up and"

Twilight paused as she heard a single sob from the cyan mare. "Ah..." Applejack began, silencing when Twilight gave her a deadly glare.

"Trixie..." Twilight focused her magic and teleported the two of them to Starlight's room.

---Starlight---

Starlight awoke with a stretch. "Hngh... morning Tri..." Her voice died off as she found herself alone in bed. She sat up, creaky forelegs barely holding her up. That's odd, where is she?

At that instant the room was filled with a purple flash. Trixie stumbled onto the floor as another flash signaled Twilight's departure. "Trix?!"

Rather than respond, Trixie just lay there. Starlight looked down at her; she wasn't even breathing. "Not this again..." She levitated the mare up onto the bed, rolled Trixie onto her lap, and began to gently massage the mare. "That any better...?"

Trixie began to breathe again. "They... they kn-know about it..."

Starlight sighed. "You'll be ok Trix... trust me,"

Trixie whimpered.

---Trixie---

I'm such a fucking failure. Can't even keep my own secrets... Trixie looked up at Starlight and quietly asked "You s-sure?"

"Of course," Starlight stopped massaging and sat Trixie up, pulling the mare against her chest. "You'll be perfectly fine,"

Trixie sniffed. "B-but"

"Shhhh," Starlight put a hoof on Trixie's lips. "Quiet..."

Trixie quieted.

"Now, I have to go help the girls. Do you wanna come with...?"

"I... in a b-bit..."

"Ok. I'll check in shortly, mk?"

"O-ok," And just like that, Starlight set Trixie to the side and disappeared. Great, just me and my thoughts...

She pulled open her desk drawer with her magic and floated her pen over to her. She put the writing end against her foreleg and slowly pushed on the little clicker on the top to get the actually inked part to come out. Come on, just do it! Trixie gasped as she pushed the tip all the way out and it buried itself in her flesh.

...why did I do that? She quickly took the pen out and put it to the side, staring at the small puncture mark it left in her foreleg. That fucking stings...

Trixie took a deep breath. Calm down Trixie, deep breaths... in... out... in... Her hyperventilation slowed into a panicked breathing, noticably better if still worse. There you go...

Trixie's routine was interrupted as the door was slowly pushed open, surrounded in a pink haze. "Hey Trix..."

Trixie quickly scrambled to cover her self-inflicted wounds just a moment before Starlight's head poked into the room. "Uh, h-hey Starry!"

"Starry, eh?" Starlight chuckled as she she waved Trixie out. "Keep it out of the Officer's room though, mk?"

"Wh-whatever you say!" Trixie galloped out of the room. Very discreet...

---Twilight---

Twilight was giving a presentation to her fellow officers; the map was gone, and in it's place was a large sheet with numbers, words, and every other imaginable character. It was a production sheet of the last week. "So, as you can see, we went up by about... 17.295 rifles produced, with similar gains across the board. Any questions?"

"Well, not on this, but on something similar," Applejack said. Twilight still wasn't good with ponies, but she assumed it was... hostility in her voice? That couldn't be right...

"Yes AJ?"

"Well, I was thinkin' bout what's gonna happen after... after we win this," Applejack pointed at the table. "How this nation o' ours is gonna be run,"

"Well, I assumed the same as always, right? A monarchy?"

Before Twilight could continue, the room broke out into a chorus of shouting. "So did I darling!" "You're joking, right egghead?" "What's a monrachy?"

"Ladies, quiet!" Twilight slammed a hoof on the desk, quieting the room. "I don't know, and I don't plan on thinking about it. We've got a war to win, ok girls?"

After a few seconds of deliberation, each of the girls said "ok" in order.

Trixie burst through the door, face covered in a sheet of sweat. She quickly slammed the door behind her and dashed under the table. "Uhhhhh..."

"Oh!" Trixie backpedaled out from under the table, smiling from ear to ear. "H-hi girls! You, uh..." Trixie hung her head low and trudged to her seat, sliding into it. Her smile was replaced with trembling lips and watery eyes.

Uh, what'd the books say? Oh! "Trixie... mind telling us what that was...?"

"What what was?" Starlight's head poked through the door before she pulled herself through.

"N-nothing!" Trixie shouted, smile plastered on her face.

"She dove under the table, realized we were here, and then..." Starlight pointed to Trixie. "This..."

Starlight groaned. "Trixie, what's wrong,"

"N-nothing!"

"Trixie, I will travel back in time an-"

"Fine!" Trixie dashed next to Starlight and whispered something to her. Starlight's face fell a little, causing Trixie to take a step back, before she said "I'm sorry, shouldn't have left you alone..."

"No, it's my fault! I'm the one who did... it..."

Twilight cleared her throat. "Ladies, this is still a military planning room. Can you save that for later...?"

Starlight sighed. "You're right Twi. C'mon Trix, sit down," The two mares sat across the table from each other, eyes shifted towards some random speck of the wall.

Applejack's eyes suddenly light up. "Say, Starlight. What's in store fer the ponies once we win this war?"

"Well, obviously a monarchy," Starlight's voice held no hint of sarcasm.

That's what I'm talking about!

---Trixie---

What?!

Trixie stood up and slammed the table. "Starlight! We talked about this!"

Starlight sighed. "I know, bu-"

"But what?! You're just gonna throw out everything like that?! Again?!"

Trixie could feel everypony's eyes on her. She knew her eye was twitching. She didn't care.

Starlight had betrayed her.

"Now T-trix-"

"Well, if that's what you want, I'll just start burning this place to the ground!" Trixie aimed her horn at Starlight, charging it with all her power. "And I'll start with you!"

---Starlight---

The last thing Starlight saw was a bright flash of cyan, and a snarl full of hatred.

J2: Cracking

Dear Diary,

January 9th, 938 PS

Eighth entry. I'm not good at keeping up to date on this, am I? Trixie in case you couldn't tell already.

So, I sorta got... captured. And then this Starlight chick is in love with me? I've never seen her before, but she seems so... familiar. Anyways, she and her little cadre of staff have been running the whole rebellion, and I've been roped into helping them.

How do I feel about it?

Good question.

In all seriousness, I don't wanna think about it. It feels so wrong to help these xeno scum, but it's also... fulfilling. Like I'm complete. It's... beautiful.

What am I saying? The Empress would kill me if she saw this! Stupid xeno scum, roping me in with their unicorn-like feelings and their unicorn-like bodies and unicorn-like faces and unicorn-like

What if it's not unicorn-like? What if it's the same? Not the same the same, but you know what I mean... Maybe they're not so different after all...

I'm sorry Empress.

January 10th, 938 PS

They found the arsenic. Too late for the bastards though I already ate it. I ate it alllllll up. There's none left. They can't stop it now. They can't stop it they can't stop it they ca
The next three pages are filled with unintelligible writing stained by liquid every here and there. It abruptly ends halfway through the third page.

January 11th, 938 PS

I'm so sorry Empress I failed you and I failed me and I failed and I'm a fail
Part of a 'u' is written out, but it doesn't finish; it seems to have been interrupted.

January 12th, 938 PS

I'm better now. Well, the arsenic is gone and I'm functioning like normal. Still a failure though. Yay...

I want my mommy.