Simplified

The Crystal Empire The Next Morning...

The dawning sun reveals both a morning in the city, but also the citizens in mourning of what all was lost. Homes, lives, peace of mind, way of life forever changed by the threat of invasion and violence. Clean-up is still ongoing, but with the help of the humans that arrived and assisted in the efforts throughout the tiring night, much has been achieved. Lives that were once doomed to die become much easier to save, and homes that lay ruined are uncovered in the hours, along with the many victims. The process is still ongoing, but the the results prove promising.

As the cleanup takes place outside of the spiring castle, a process of healing begins inside of it.

Shining Armor meanders into the medical center, seeing the multitudes of tubes streaming from a litany of machines flanking the bed his wounded wife lays within. Her body is wrapped in bloodied gauss, her motions so minimal that her heartrate appears to fade in and out. So frequently her numbers drop to threatening levels, but they act as the tide out at sea. The tube interconnected to her chest regulates her breathing. Shining sits in a chair by the side of her bed, laying fresh flowers beside her. "Morning, babe."

The stallion looks down, haunting images run through his mind, having him relive not only the pain of yesterday, but the traumas of years past, the lives he wanted to save but couldn't. The failures revisit him, all in the moment of him looking down to see the mangled form of his wife of ten years. His heart weighs heavy, knowing that his wedding vows demand so much of him. Normally, he would call her beautiful whenever she woke, or she would call him handsome as he did the same. But the absence from either brings grief, the pain of uncertainty, the trepidation of a looming finality lurking in the shadows underneath her bed.

A soft knock sounds on the open door. "Sir Emperor."

"Now's not the time." His eyes remain locked to his injured spouse.

"Sir, I think you should come out here and see─"

"Not until I've spoke to my wife." The stallion warns. "Leave us."

The guard is reluctant to let things go, but elects not to draw the ire of the disheartened emperor. He walks away, making his way through the hall, groaning with uncertainty as a two-legged figure walks past him with no regard for a wait.

Shining is timid, wanting to hold some part of his wife. He knows that doing that would only put her through more pain than she's already in. So he keeps his distance. "Hey babe. I just want you to know that Flurry Heart is safe. Twily said she'll come by to visit whenever she can, and knowing her, that'll probably be within the week. The citizens are still coming out of their own tragedies, but they're looking forward to rebuild. I understand it might be a bit soon to assume that, but these ponies have strong spirits. They'll rebuild, I can promise you that." The only response comes from the numerous machines hooked into her body, including the EKG monitor that shows a weak heart rate of 49 beats per minute. He leans forward, whispering to his wife. "I know you're not feeling well. And I know that somewhere you're listening, even if it might not look it. But I'm not gonna leave you. I promise I won't."

"Woah, that looks something serious."

"Can I help you?" The emperor turns to the doorway, ready to lay into whoever interrupted his time with his spouse. But his eyes glance from the normal height of a pony to the almost doubled height of the human standing in the doorway in full uniform. "Oh... you're a new face."

"Pardon the interruption. I was told to meet with an Emperor. Emperor Shining... Armor, I believe? I apologize if I was told to wait and ignored that instruction, as matters are pressing right now."

Shining adjusts himself in his seat. "I am Emperor Shining Armor, yes. Now who are you?"

Captain Ferris Mosley

---

Leader of the Haines Protector Initiative,
Militia Branch: Alpha Company

"My name is Captain Ferris Mosley, twelve years service in the USMC. Two combat deployments, one in Fallujah, other in Afghanistan. Certified copter pilot."

Shining tilts his head. "You'll have to forgive me. None of what you've just said makes any logical sense to me."

"Well sir, you're a talking horse, and horses don't talk in my world." The human bluntly replies.

The stallion nods, realizing that the human is operating in ignorance. "Nondis did tell me years ago that you humans aren't quite prepped to meet Equestrians. He wasn't kidding." Shining rises from his seat, walking up to the well-dressed man. "For starters, I can permit you saying something like that, but most ponies won't. For example, the term 'horse' which is a name you simply call larger equines of your world, is known as a derogatory conjugation between the word 'whore' and 'horse' which 'whorse' would be used along with such terms as 'brood', which is yet another negative misnomer."

The man sighs at his unwary mistake. "I'm sure we'll establish an understanding of our respective differences as we continue to work alongside one another, sir emperor."

"That we can agree on." Shining declares as he sees the human's attention being placed firmly on his bedridden spouse.

"If you don't mind me asking..."

"That's my wife... and the light in my daughter's eyes." The stallion answers firmly, glancing back to her. "And for the most part, I don't leave her side until something dire has come up that needs my undivided attention. So while it may seem that I'm too self-absorbed to care for what goes on outside, I do what I can while I remain by the one who truly holds the seat of power here."

"I'm sorry to see you two in such a time." The man apologizes.

"Not your fault, I wasn't there to protect her. I didn't even try to meet her at the station that morning."

"Well sir, if you had, consider what would've happened to you. I don't think she would appreciate you talking like that." The man earns the stallion's glare. "Forgive me for saying it in that manner, but I'd say you're a bit selfish in that line of thinking. It wouldn't be just her who'd have no one to look after her and her injuries, but also your daughter who'd have no dad." The main bows his head as a show of respect. "Again, I apologize if it sounds so out of turn. I just feel the way I do because I have a little girl of my own. She's twelve, and I love her each day I see her. And I know she'd be very upset with me if I didn't make it to at least see her go off to prom."

"Then you are married too?" The stallion asks.

"Divorced." The man replies with a heavy tone. "Wife got lonely while I was on deployment, brought another guy around, didn't think too much about it. But when Haylee, my daughter, told me about a new brother she was having, I had to ask questions. Didn't end well."

Shining's eyes widen at the moment of revelation, feeling sympathetic of the man's failed marriage on the part of spousal infidelity. "Sorry to hear that."

"Tragedies are commonplace. But we're not here to talk on that. We need to talk relief efforts. And we also need to talk about the potential need to defend the city. But also, we see that your castle has one hell of an overlook. It does prove to be a useful place to assign snipers and host relay equipment."

"If you need it, use it." Shining simply answers.

"Well we appreciate the compliance, sir. However, we don't know how to operate the elevators here."

"Yeah, that would make sense. You humans don't have magic." Shining remembers. His horn sparks alive as he summons a silver sigil bearing the crest of his cutie mark, giving it to the man. "Take this, it'll let the others know that you have a limited level of access throughout the castle. You can still use the elevator to get to the top. Set up how you need to, whatever you require, talk to my guards and they'll try to make room for you." The man accepts the item, looking down to the stallion who squats back into his seat by the bed. "Now you'll have to excuse me. I can't leave my wife alone."

"I respect it. An honor working with a good man such as yourself, your majesty. I wish you the best."

"Thank you." The unicorn responds as he leans his head against the bedside, being careful not to cause his wife discomfort.

The man leaves down the hall, coming into contact with his subordinate who questions him of the encounter. "What did he say?"

Ferris flashes the badge with the Emperor's sigil. "We get access to the castle, but it's limited. We do get access to the overlook, however."

"What does he look like?"

"Small stubby unicorn, white, blue hair and beard. He's looking after his wife, who's gonna have to go through years of reconstructive surgery because of how mangled she is from the bombing. Though I fear to say what would become of her if she were in our world instead."

"Does he speak English?"

"Fluent, like the other hor─I mean ponies around here. Yeah, don't say the h-o-r-s-e word, apparently that's an insult." He warns his subordinate.

The other man glances around. "This world is strange."

"What's stranger is that we're in it now, toting hardware completely unfit for the time period they look to be in."

Canterlot Throne Room...

Twilight continues to speak among her security detail, organizing everything for her next public address. Solemn Oath and Raven Inkwell take in their assigned tasks, ensuring that nothing else goes wrong in the event of another bombing taking place. But in the midst of their process, The doors swing open to allow a human man dressed in a button-down shirt, a black vest, and slacks, to enter the throne room. He continues with a phone call on one of his AirPods.

"Look, I have a close family friend in the hospital, they're in critical condition. I know I'm supposed to be on a Zoom call with investors to speak on our quarterly earnings. I don't care, I know we're doing good, but this matter is a serious one. Have Chauncey update them with the numbers, phone's going offline in fifteen seconds. Goodbye." He takes a deep breath and finally greets the purple princess standing before him. "Good morning, your highness."

"Alex, it's been a while." She greets fairly warmly, but not as eager as she normally would be.

Alexander Michael Haines

---

Founder & CEO of Haines Enterprises,
Chief Financial Backer & Commander of the Haines Protector Initiative

"Yeah, it's been a hot minute. I don't really get to take vacation days away from the family. I know Vanessa's been on and on about us vacationing here again. But obviously that'll have to wait." He groans. "I know I sound like I'm just everywhere but the main subject right now, but curious question. How's that district we set up doing?"

"It's doing well. I'm surprised Blue didn't tell you already, being that she had to be one of the the first ones you saw crossing over."

"Eh, she didn't really get to say much. Everything was chaotic. Her main concern for the day is trying to have the social media companies scrub that one video of Cadance off of everybody's servers. I'm sure you know which one."

Twilight shakes her head. "I didn't have the time, nor the heart to try to find it."

"Yeah, it's not pretty, I'll tell you that."

"If I did see it, I probably would've declared marching orders on enemy soil. I didn't need to act too emotionally for the time being, even if I was overwhelmed with it."

"Well all's fair in love and war, whether you like it or not. And these ponies from 'Ponyland' are indeed at war with you. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you've gotta treat it for what it is. You may not like it, but ignoring it will only make it worse for you."

"I know." She sighs heavily. "Just the sight of those helicopters flying over Canterlot has already gotten a lot of foreign attention."

"Yeah, they're pretty loud." He cosigns.

"And scary."

"Can be that too." Alex nods.

"As far as the 150 that you have stationed here, what do you intend to do with them?"

"Stand by." He answers. "We need to have a few patrol the city along with your guards, just to make sure we don't have a repeat of yesterday. So best believe if you got any announcements to make, it will be the most secure announcement you'll ever have. I'll have them cover every other block from high vantage, not even the local bakery will go unchecked."

"That's not going to be an issue." Twilight counters. "Most businesses around the town have closed up shop for the day out of fear."

"Well that's no good." The man points out. "I know your local economy is going to take a hit from this. But having them operate in that fear is gonna keep them hurting for longer than they need to. You might as well sell them on what it is so that they can shift their markets accordingly. They stay healthy, the money keeps rolling, the economy stays afloat, your citizens keep getting paid, they pay their taxes and bonds, your soldiers stay paid, the machine keeps rolling. Just because you have issues with one country shouldn't put a pause on everyone else."

"I know that much. I'm already looking into alternating some of our trade towards other business partners across the globe." The purple mare replies. "The parliament are also voting on the matter as we speak. We know what they're going to do, I'm just waiting to give their written resolution the wax stamp."

"Yeah, all that bureaucratic bullshit does take the wind of things." The man complains. "War, huh? Never thought I'd see that here. Not to this degree."

"As long as there are creatures with our kind of intelligence, there will always be a call for conflict." Twilight argues quietly. "I just hate that as the Princess of Friendship, I'll have to do something as drastic as make a declaration of war. But... the way they treated Spike, the others, I can't forgive that."

"So I've heard." Alex says as he takes his seat on the secondary throne. "Forgive me for my improper placement here, but would you care to tell me what happened, from your perspective of course?"

"It's a long story." The mare sits in her throne beside him.

"Well I'm here, and my business phone is off. That means I have time."

2407 Golden Oaks Way

"Social media companies throughout the realm have answered the call to remove videos, as well as the violent images depicting Princess Cadance from all hosting sites available. Many of the moderators have expressed distressful complaints about having to scrub the images, citing them being too harrowing for employees. However, the request was formally filed by none other than Shining Armor, Emperor of the Crystal Empire. He states that he wishes 'not to foster an environment where his daughter, Princess Flurry Heart, will be made to see the haunting visuals of her mother regurgitated before her eyes on a daily basis, that the psychological trauma would be too much'. Many social media site owners share solidarity in his statement, along with understanding the class action lawsuit that the royal administration threatened to bring to the table. The companies electing to scrub their sites for many more of those images depicting her and the other victims of the Tuesday morning bombings. In regards to the bombing, intelligence reports have made the statement saying that the nation of Ponyland has funded in full the terrorists responsible. A spokespony of the nation has been contacted for an official response, none has yet to be issued. I'm Morning Glory for EBNC, Canterlot."

"Thank you, Morning Glory. We now turn our attention to the Royal Throne room in Canterlot, where Princess Twilight Sparkle will look to give an important national address regarding the bombings, the rumored intel, and more importantly what lies ahead in regards to our nation course of action."

The TV continues to show the destroyed buildings. Ponies left homeless are seen waiting in line at a food bank near the local stadium, which also has extensive damages. And front and center of the viewing group is none other than the young princess taking in the visuals of her city left in ruins.

Yet only one thought runs through her mind. "I just wanna see my mom." Poor thing, her world is basically tilted and flipped upside down. While she speaks with the mind of a knowledgeable preteen, and even the body of a ten year old, she's only six. It's only right for that to be her only state of mind right now.

But thankfully a knowing mother figure chose today to stick around. "I know sweetie, but you can't right now. She's undergoing some important business, it's far too dangerous for you to be involved." Melanie does her best to comfort Flurry, even bringing her son to help keep her rooted in safety.

"Momma, is there going to be another one of the school shooter drills?" However, even he speaks of the harrowing reality we're in, comparing it to that of his home world.

"No, Jasper. It's nothing like that." The woman softly denies.

"But it looks a lot like one of those shootings that keep happening."

"I know, sweetheart. But what's important right now is that you're not there. You're here, and you're still safe. Okay?"

"Okay."

As teachers, both Smolder and Ocellus heads perk up at the conversation. They both are aware of what takes place in the human world, especially the mass shooting epidemic that seems to have gripped their home nation. But this is nothing like that, just as Melanie pointed out. This is violence, impersonal, uncompromising, and unrestricted. I'm sure shootings can be avoided by taking steps to stay hidden, at least as far as I'm aware and I could be wrong. But explosions don't discriminate against anything.

And Flurry is aware of that. "Mom...."

Hestia pops in with a few plates made by Amor. Feeding breakfast to everyone, she especially takes care of the little ones first. Jasper accepts his plate, but Flurry doesn't even look once at her food. "I know that your mom wouldn't want you to go hungry." Hestia urges kindly. "She'd be very upset if you didn't eat."

Amor gives me a plate, appearing sullen at the images scrolling across the screen. "I am... so sorry for this. To think that this all could've been avoided had I just remained at home."

"What are you apologizing for?" Melanie asks the stallion. "You didn't order any of this. You're not the one responsible."

"It's just frustrating!" The young prince replies. "Yet another instance of my home nation resorting to violence for the umpteenth time. It's like they know nothing but forced coercion through means of bloodshed."

"Hey!" The woman calls out to him. "Are you the one giving orders?"

"Of course not─"

"Then chill out! You're not the only one whose home nation has a history of using violence to coerce others into submission! I can give a whole list of things our people let slide. But none of us take any responsibility for the decisions that the powerful make on our behalf. And even if that, the only one that we can marginally pin some sort of blame on is that one right there on that couch."

"Excuse me?" Zenobia speaks up to defend herself. "While I have come to accept that my current position is not a fond one, I refuse to take any responsibility for this particular mess!"

"You've got a workable title, right? Ain't your dad signing off on this?" She asks. "Personally, I think anyone with both a horn and a pair of wings from your side needs to get this stuff straightened out."

"You say that, but I'm not the one giving the orders." The alicorn rebuts.

"You were the one on TV showing your admiration for dragon-shaped phalluses, that was just last week. You can't explain it any other way than you having some sort of pull in this."

"Mom, what's a 'phallus'?" Jasper questions.

"Ask your father, sweetie." The mother tells her son.

The foreign princess stoutly defends herself once more. "Well forgive me if I seem to be confrontational in front of the little ones, but I don't have any pull in any of this! You can ask Spike, mares barely get any status in our family, much less the damn─pardon my linguistics, country! I'm just lucky to be born with a horn and wings, otherwise I'd be no different from Hestia and Amor!"

"I don't think you quite understand what position you have right now, so let me spell it out for you." Melanie remains stagnant in her belief. "You. Are. An international figure! Your face, big. You talk, camera. 'Kay? When Ponyland is mentioned, everyone sees your face now. Your father, the emperor, could be some machine behind a curtain for all the world knows. The point still stands. You are an international figure now, and you need to do whatever you can to make the world see your stance in all of this. Continue to have press conferences, talk to the masses, try to reach to the folks back home and make them see that your way is better than what's taking place now─"

"Do you really think there's any room for any of that right about now!?" Zenobia argues back. "We don't have an ounce of─"

"Guys!" Smolder interjects. "Twilight's on!"

"Moment of truth, I guess." I grumble.

As the screen shows Twilight approaching the podium, there's a heavily armed coalition of men standing behind her, along with one appearing well dressed in business attire gently guiding her to the podium. Amor gulps with a tentative voice. "More humans."

"Wow, they're actually here. And there's so many of them." Hestia marvels timidly.

Ocellus rolls her eyes. "Oh boy, this is going to be a mess with Thorax."

♪Very superstitious...♫...Writing on the wall♪

"Speak of the devil." I say as Thorax's name and face pops up on my caller ID. Ocellus tilts her head with shock and disbelief as I answer the phone and place it on speaker. "Yyyyello?"

"Spike, what is going on? I'm on a peaceful envoy going towards the Dragon Lands to speak of an enhanced alliance with the dragons! Ember even invited me over to discuss terms! But then as I'm waiting for the airship at this station, I hear something about a bombing over the radio! I had to beg someone for a charger so I could turn this cursed thing on for the first time in eight months! What's going on!?"

I shake my head at the changeling king. "Thorax, you gotta keep your phone on, sir."

"You know I don't like these things! And now there's a report of there being more humans! Please tell me that we aren't at war with them in some manner! Please!"

"Actually, they're on our side. But we are pending that official declaration right now." I briefly explain, much to his comfort.

Ocellus grabs my attention. "Spike, they just announced the vote!"

"Turn it up." I say as I put my phone down and look at the screen.

"─and the count is unanimous. The resolution reads as followed: 'To the international community, we have come to the fateful conclusion that while peace is a pursued practice, and a more preferred one at that, it is also an unlikely path for the time being. Our intelligence reports have formally warned us of the intent that an official figure of Ponyland, Prince Aegis Militades has supplied the northern-based insurgents with explosives and deadly ordinance. According to reports from survivors, the train carrying one of our specialists─'"

I briefly put the TV on mute to give instruction to Hestia. "Hey, can you take Flurry downstairs─Hey!" But the aforementioned filly abducts the remote and unmutes the TV. It seems that she's not wanting to hear anything but the truth. She's way too young to be this involved, but her mind is too developed for her to willfully ignore it.

"─Cadenza experienced an emergency stop protocol. As the protocol was enacted, the rails were discovered to be tampered with by means of an added lubricant. From there, a second cart was sent speeding into the first where the princess and her assigned specialist was struck with an improvised incendiary device. Upon the conclusion of the crash, the bombs initially went off, killing thirty-two victims at the train station, including Specialist Padrig of the Reformed Changeling Hive. In conjunction, there were several more injuries, all ranging from minor, to grievous. One such injury case is that of the now-circulated images of Empress Mi Amore Cadenza."

I call on her, just to check if she's okay. "Flurry─"

"SHUT! UP!" The young filly starts to tremble with tears forming in her eyes. A picture of her family shows on the screen, only making her pain over the situation that much worse. "Mom..."

Her aunts words continue to juxtapose with the tranquil image of her parents standing on either side of her. "Emperor Shining Armor has issued a statement in regards to the reception of well-wishes for him and the city, saying this: 'We are very grateful for the wishes of good health and prompt recovery efforts. The tragedy that has befallen my city is harrowing and heartbreaking, but more so infuriating. It is of no cause that innocent civilians, stallions, mares, and foals alike in their daily journey, are brought to an end so abruptly and painfully, leaving the survivors with deepened wounds and unanswered questions.' As I reflect on these sentiments for my own self, I too think of the harrowing accounts of my Friendship Advisor, and the losses incurred for him. These painful atrocities cannot and will not go unaccounted for. So it is my official duty, with terrible regret, that I issue a call to arms. Our boarders will now be heavily guarded, our kingdom now closing it's doors to those who are not affiliated with us. Our embassies overseas shall now act in limited function, we hereby withdraw all forms of peaceful negotiations with the Empire of Ponyland. A war has been waged, so shall it be answered in kind."

Amor drops his head as he feels immense regret. "There it is."

"The moment father's been waiting for." Zenobia follows. "Now he has full license to send his forces to the coastal cities. It's just another thing our family's been clamoring for throughout generations. And now he lives to fulfill it." The princess sighs dejectedly. "So much for that human and his getting captured in Ponyland, he could be of some good use right about now."

Melanie snaps her head to the alicorn's way. "Wait, what? What human got captured in Ponyland!?"

I slap myself in the forehead, incredulous at her inability to keep things on the hush. "Zenobia, go downstairs for a sec."

"What?" She yelps in protest. "Are you upset at me─"

"That was confidential information on a need-to-know basis!" I explain to her.

I feel a hand tug at my shoulder, yanking me around as the woman stands only a few inches above me. "Well I need to know! What human got themselves caught up in Ponyland right now?"

I give her the answer without truly saying anything. "...Classified."

Her jaw hangs as her eyes grow from the concern of her friend being active again. "Oh my fu─" She collects herself before she full-blown swears at me. She turns to both Flurry and Jasper. "Kids, y'all stay up here, we need to have a grown up conversation right now, just call downstairs if you need us. Jasper, turn the channel to 256. you guys can swim in the pool if you want."

"Okay!" Easily convinced, Jasper snatches the remote away from Flurry and turns the channel to show some cartoons from the human world.

The young alicorn looks to fight for the remote, but Melanie gently denies her. "Flurry... please."

"Tell me my mom's gonna be okay..." The filly appears to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

We all look to each other, knowing how dire the situation is and how grim Cadance appeared to be in that video. But Hestia thankfully steps in and hugs the young filly. "She's gonna be fine. But your mom is really worried about you, you know. She wants to know if you're safe, if you're eating, if you're behaving, if you're not giving anyone else a hard time. I know your mom loves you, and that's why she would want you to be safe and healthy, to be good. So if she wakes up, we can tell her the good news. Okay?" The filly's eyes water with tears, overflowing down her cheeks as she nods. She warmly guides the filly towards the pool. "C'mon, tell me what all you like to do."

As the two partner off, Thorax speaks over the phone. "Hey, let me talk with Flurry too. Spike, can you work this thing and make it show my face like you showed me that one time during the wedding?"

Melanie jumps on the opportunity. "I'll get you set up. Me and Spike will be downstairs having an important conversation, if you can keep tabs on Flurry for us, that would be great."

"Sure thing."

The Crystal Empire...

Walking through the ruined streets of the city, a duo of men observe the state of the citizens and their reactions towards the armed brigade looking to help in whatever way they can. Some are truly thankful, but many are apprehensive with the weapons that they carry. It appears that they grow nervous with the passing time, knowing that they're here to conduct not just recovery efforts, but also combat operations. Being that these ponies have only heard stories of the humans and their destructive arsenal, many are wondering if the city itself will end up as the front line.

However, the humans are also nervous, encountering talking equines for the first time. And the two men are no exception to the unease. Captain Mosley turns his head every other way, his hands on the M4 strapped to his chest. They don't linger towards the trigger, but they're ready to snap in place at a moment's notice. "This place, I didn't expect it to be so much tension for a relatively simple assignment."

His subordinate, 1st Lieutenant Jerome Wimberly, cites back a fair observation. "Our guys are confused that we're working beside a bunch of talking equines, and who knows what the hell kind of thoughts they got about us. Probably just as confused as we are, if not more."

"I mean you can't blame them for being so off put. Bunch of tall creatures toting guns walking around their neighborhoods... or what's left of them."

"It's also uncanny." Replies the lieutenant. "They have deep emotional responses like we do, talk, think, act like we do. On some first-contact shit, this could really change things up if it gets out to the world."

"You know damn-well that can't happen."

"Yeah, but it doesn't mean it won't happen eventually. Something's got to give."

"And have the the boss bitching at us, suing our families into debt? Look, we get paid more than we do in the actual military with this job. More than some low level officers, with decades of experience. You think we're gonna give up that nice-looking paycheck for some clout?"

"Hell no!" He replies with a chuckle that quickly fades as the pair takes notice of a looming zeppelin in the distance. He narrows his eyes for a moment, making out the unusual shape. "Obviously that ain't one of ours."

"Hell no it ain't." Mosley quickly gets on his radio feed and relay the sighting to command. "Hightower, this is Falcon-1, I need visual on an unknown bogey bearing east, 6 klicks."

There's a small delay in correspondence, but the response is swift. "Falcon-1, this is Hightower. Confirmed not one of ours. Visuals confirm a purple flag, one with a unicorn and a pegasus dueling each other in a front-facing manner."

"Hightower, please advise?" The pair start to speed up their walk, anticipating the order to scramble.

"Falcon-1, we have negative on friendly. Repeat: Negative on friendly, confirmed bandit inbound. Lightly armed. Solo deploy advised, highly recommend warning shots. Over."

"Solid copy, moving out on first helo smoking." Mosley confirms as he starts running towards the nearest depo. "Party time!"

Running alongside him, Wimberly smirks at the notion of some early excitement. "Damn, they really giving us the red carpet already? We just got here!"

"Well say what you want, this party ain't gonna last too long."

"I'm just happy we get to blow some shit out of the sky instead of waiting around like we'd usually do. Time to make a point and instill some confidence in these four legged furries around here!"

As they run, the message gets sent out to all soldiers in the area. "ATTENTION ALL AVAILABLE UNITS. WE HAVE CONFIRMED VISUAL OF HOSTILES BEARING EAST 6 KLICKS INBOUND. ISSUING READINESS ALERT TO ALL AVAILABLE UNITS IN THE AREA, ALL ARE TO BE ON STANDBY FOR AERIAL INTERCEPT."

As they reach the impromptu air base formally known as the Crystal Colosseum, sounds of other men are heard scrambling about to get into their positions. "MOVE MOVE MOVE!"

The local guards watch with worry as the humans operate in a manic rush. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Incoming bad guys. Situation's under control." Mosley informs the armored guard.

As the multitude of humans continue about their scramble into positions, the crystal guard comments. "I wouldn't quite call this under control."

Wimberly promptly responds. "Bro, it's all good. Just sit back and watch the fireworks. We got this."

The two hop into the nearest available helo with full armament. As the two start going through their systems check, the blades start to stir. Nearby grunts call out to the ponies who stand watching the situation unfold. "Stand clear of the landing zone, stand clear! We don't wanna file no reports of any injuries today!"

The two in the cockpit complete their systems check, Mosley relays his operational conditions to command. "Engines good, rotors good, E-brake checked, instruments nominal, weapons loaded, fuel at eighty-five percent. Hightower, this is Falcon-1 awaiting deployment."

"Clear skies, winds westerly at five miles per hour. All conditions normal. Falcon-1, you are cleared for liftoff."

"Affirmative. Deploying into airspace."

The sound of the mighty metallic beast screams with the endless sound of the air being chopped at with such ferocity. The equine guards stare in awe at the machine's steady ascent. And before long, the helo banks right and carries off into the distance. The piloting duo wears stern expressions as they close in on the zeppelin slowly advancing on their position. "Be advised Falcon-1, hostiles are considered armed with ordinance capable of damaging chassis. Recommend you stay out of range."

"Copy, hailing airship for warning." Mosley replies as he swaps to an open radio channel, hearing a number of voices exchanging information of their current location. He promptly chimes in. "ATTENTION UNIDENTIFIED AIRSHIP, YOU ARE NOW OPERATING IN RESTRICTED AIRSPACE. LAND YOUR AIRCRAFT IMMEDIATELY OR LEAVE THE PREMISES. THIS IS YOUR FIRST WARNING."

"Where the hell is that coming from?" A voice sounds on one end.

"Wait a minute... what the hell is that thing!?" Another rings, assumably from the lingering airship.

"Better question, who's on our frequencies?" A third inquires.

"Do these dumbasses not know how an 'open channel' works?" Wimberly mutters.

"Probably not." Mosley answers before hailing the airship once more. "IN THE NAME OF THE HAINES PROTECTOR INITIATIVE, YOU ARE ASKED TO COMPLY WITH THE GIVEN ORDER. LAND YOUR AIRCRAFT OR EVACUATE THE AIRSPACE. THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING. REFUSAL TO COMPLY WILL BE MET WITH LETHAL FORCE."

"They are not moving." Wimberly cites.

Another signal rings over the open channel. "It's that thing that's hailing us!"

"It dares to meet Ponyland with lethal force, we shall respond in kind. All motherships sortie to the position of the enemy!"

"Sir!" Multiple voices all recite in unison.

"These motherfuckers are stupid stupid." Wimberly comments before a plume of smoke huffs from the front of the airship. "Shots fired!"

"Evading, hold tight." Gaining some altitude to easily avoid the short-reaching shots, Mosley calls in his confrontation. "Hightower, this is Falcon-1, hostile ordinance confirmed. They're using cannons, 10-inch, Revolutionary War replicas."

"Read you, Falcon-1, you are clear to engage."

"Affirmative. Weapons armed." He says as he locks into the signal of the radio transmissions coming from the bridge of the bulky airship. He presses a button on the joystick and calls out. "Hellfire is away."

The instant the missile leaves the wing of the Apache, it banks and drops to firmly lock into the airship's bridge. In the matter of a few seconds, the transmission sounds out a final message from the doomed airship. "What is that thing? It's headed towards u─" The brief moment of a loud explosion is suddenly cut into silence as the missile reaches it's intended mark, engulfing the airship in a brilliant explosion that sends the remnants of the zeppelin careening to the ground.

"Smoked 'em. Good hit." Wimberly calls out.

Mosley phones over to command their successful intercept. "Confirmed bogey down, hostiles are on rapid descent. Will standby for survivors."

However, Wimberly looks to his right, seeing another airship creeping towards them. "No time for that. Hostiles on left, 2 o'clock."

Mosley relays his partner's report. "Hightower, this is Falcon-1, we have confirm on more aerial hostiles inbound."

Command verifies the sightings. "Read you, Falcon-1. Seeing two near your A.O.. Confirm one bogey neutralized. You are free to engage."

The open radio channel continues to speak out from the other ends, with one voice notably missing. "Lockhead, are you there!? Lockhead!? Anyone from the Valkryie, please respond!"

"The Valkyrie is burning out of the sky! What the hell happened?"

Mosley responds. "Your 'Valkyrie' was sent back to Valhalla, suggest you leave the area post-haste before you join them."

"It's that weird-looking thing! It's talking back to us! They blew Valkyrie out of the sky!"

"Our mission was to cripple their city's defenses! We cannot fail here! We must be victorious, in the name of the fatherland, we must will it into being! If that thing is part of it's defenses, we must bring it down! Vince omnem potestatem!"

"VIVET IMPERIUM! PONYLAND FOREVER! WE SPILL BLOOD FOR THE VALKYRIE, AND THE EMPEROR!"

"These guys are nuts." Wimberly comments. "Think there's some way we can talk them out of this?"

"I know one." Mosley says as he locks in on the nearest airship, pressing the button on his joystick. "Hellfire away."

The airship crew responds as the missile swerves towards them. "What the hell is that thing, it's so fa─" A loud noise is once more ushered into silence.

"Phoenix! Phoenix, respond!"

"Good hit, that's two down." Wimberly calls out.

"That black wraith... it destroyed Valkyrie and Phoenix in seconds! Calling all nearby airships, requesting reinforcements against the black wraith! Swat that thing out of the sky!"

"Locking third." Mosley calls out. "Third is listing off course, looking to retreat for reinforcements."

"Dissuade them, Falcon-1. You are cleared to engage in offensive pattern."

"Actually, I kinda vibe with the 'Black Wraith' thing." Wimberly mutters.

"I know a way to thank them for the new callsign." Mosley yet again presses the button. "Hellfire away."

The missile curves sharply, spiraling into the hull of the retreating vessel. "Repeat, calling for all reinforcements! Please resp─" And for the last time, a loud crackle sounds before the sudden silence is induced. All that remains is the smoldering remnants being sent to join with the earth.

Wimberly confirms the hit. "Three for three. Hat trick. Good shooting."

"This is Falcon-1, all hostiles have been neutralized."

"Solid copy, Falcon-1. Conserve fuel and ammunition, return to landing zone."

As the second airship hits the ground, Mosley turns his eyes towards the first. In seeing the smoldering ruins of their first victim, he confirms the visuals of a few surviving pegasi holding unicorns and earth ponies. "I have eyes on airborne units, ponies with wings carrying others. Requesting sweep of downed hostile airships for further survivors."

"Negative, Falcon-1. Targets are rendered ineffective. Cannot risk losing bird or burning additional fuel. Return to base."

"Damn, can't even stalk these guys." Mosley grumbles.

"Those guys are equines too." Wimberly points out. "How the hell do those guys have guns and ours don't?"

"That's why we were brought here." Mosley replies before responding to command. "Hightower, orders are confirmed, returning to L.Z. for debrief and refuel."

"Copy. Will send mother bird for recon effective immediately."

Wimberly quirks a brow at the name. "Mother bird? Those are preds, we got those?"

"Apparently the boss got friends at the Pentagon.... That or he's got a beefy contract with them."

Meanwhile in the Crystal Mountains 90 Minutes Later...

Having witnessed the airships being turned into piles of flaming wreckage, the young Ponyland prince gawks with a laugh, many of the others looking at him as though he's lost his sanity in watching his country's finer airships go down without as much as a single dent made.

The cult leader seems vastly unimpressed in watching the one-sided affair take place. "It seems your forces aren't nearly as intimidating as advertised."

"What the fuck was that thing!?" The prince is too excited to share his disappointment in his country's failure. "Was that a pedalcopter!? Did our shit just get yanked out the sky by a fucking pedalcopter!?"

Rhapsody responds, still in her own state of shock. "Sir, that wasn't a normal pedalcopter! That had to be something we've never seen before!"

"It shot three times and wiped three of our ships, in seconds!" Militades replies, still enveloped with a maddened sense of exuberance. "I want one of those fuckers! That shit was awesome!"

The cult leader slowly turns his head towards the prince. "You're not too concerned over the loss of three of your airships, are you?"

"You kidding!? I'm more excited than pissed because I got to see something new! Truly this country of Equestria has held out it's best for the likes of us! I knew they had a human of some sort, but now I know for certain that we're going against what could be the vastly superior updates of human technology! Like did you see how that thing moved!? It was fast, it can evade like hell, and it can hit hard! We need like a bunch of those things!" The prince snickers in his increasingly manic thoughts. "You know... maybe they have a few of those humans hiding out here too! We should scoop up a few and see what all they know."

The cult leader turns to Rhapsody, point back at the prince. "Is he... there?"

"Sir, you don't want to know what he thinks of on a day-to-day basis." The mare warns.

The cult leader shakes his head at the prince, but halts for a moment as he hears a humming noise. "Someone's a little too joyous today, aren't we?"

The prince snickers. "That's not me."

"Then whoever it is, stop that incessant humming!" He demands.

Rapsody's ears flick at the sound, she rubs them to make sure what she's hearing isn't a figment of her imagination. "What is that noise?"

"I don't know." Militades giggles. "But it sure is getting louder."

Meanwhile at The Crystal Empire...

After their sortie, both Wimberly and Mosley enter the room where many of the operations are running at full-steam. Computers are set up all across the room, ready to provide information at a moment's notice. They look up at a screen set up towards the center of the room.

"Hot damn, y'all work fast." Wimberly comments about the setup.

"Also helps that we don't have to use antiquated technology that's over forty years old to get the job done. And in this world, we don't have to worry about data breaches, so we can run modern systems." One of the technical engineers cite.

"Huh, so now we get to watch everything from the comfort of our Windows 11 PC's." Mosley comments. "Hot damn, we're finally updating past XP systems. So there is a God." He turns back to the engineer. "Hey, Price, any update on those guys we saw limping off with their friends in the snow?"

"Not quite, but we do have confirmation on the positions of these guys." As the feed shows a group of ponies conversing amongst one another, he makes comment of the sighting. "Seems they're just watching whatever the hell is going on, more are coming in too."

"Might be the lucky few that survived the crashes." Wimberly suggests.

Mosley takes his copilot's observation firmly into account. "Zoom out. I want to see exactly where these guys are."

Wimberly pulls out a map, already observing the landscape and the varying elevations to understand where the growing contingent of ponies are. As he sees the feed expand to show a grouping of mountains, namely with two similar peaks stacked behind their position, he runs his finger along the map. "According to what we got here, that rock formation seems to be illustrated to this particular area. So that should be about nine klicks east-northeast."

Price interjects. "Actually, the ponies provided us access to their cellular communications to assist in the setup of our own radar systems. Everything's mapped already. We're not just online, we're running hotter than the afterburners of an F-22, and that's some hot-ass shit."

Mosley performs a double take at the update. "And they have cell phones, but no guns? The fuck?"

"You forget, our boss has been selling to these guys. How do you think we're getting paid as much as we do?" Price reminds the pair.

"This shit is nuts, man." Wimberly replies. "Well either way, we're up and they're blind."

"Oh yeah." Price nods. "So the funny thing is that we're just using some run-of-the-mill remote drone for this. Like we know it's only a matter of time before they see it, but we got a special prize for the one who catches it first. So on that note, wanna see how accurate our systems can be?"

Mosley purses his lips with interest, folding his arms with patient anticipation. "Alright, let's see it."

The man wags his finger happily at the pilot. "I'd knew you'd want to have a little fun. So let me show you something."

The Crystal Mountains

The group continues to discuss matters, many in the cult starting to tend to the wounded coming in from the destroyed airships. While most quote just being in positions before everything suddenly erupted into flames, others recall the screams of their compatriots as some are caught by the explosion, the smell of flaming diesel spewing onto their bodies and burning them alive.

However, Militades quietly snickers at their testimonies, almost deriving pleasure from such accounts. The cult leader scowls with disgust. "I don't recall seeing anyone so excited watching their forces getting decimated."

The prince smirks back. "Oh those fucks!? They're just in it for some stupid promise that their families will live surface lives, and they're way too poor for me to even care, they barely even pay taxes! If you ask me, less of them means lessening the poverty rate! Though I didn't expect you to care about things like that."

"It's not that I'm sympathetic to ponies of the less fortunate, but I do take extreme care to tend to my own forces. If we all fight for a common cause, then surely we should be an unbreakable unit who shows unflinching loyalty to one another. It's that togetherness that allows for us to achieve what we have thus far." The leader replies before looking to more of the wounded coming in. "I'm not exactly certain that the direct methods your country is known for providing is going to work here. Full-frontal assaults appears to be nothing short of a tactical mistake."

"Eh, better to find out now than later, I guess." The prince replies with a careless shrug. "But seeing that we're going to fight against crazy shit like that means they have a stockpile of them nearby. If anything, I guess it could be pretty awesome to somehow sneak away with the shits and pull them apart just to see how they work. Once we do that, we ship the thing back home and see if they can duplicate it. Then we can really run the world!"

Rhapsody gives her own suggestion to her prince. "Or, sir, we could simply sabotage them and increase the chances of our forces carrying out their attacks."

"No way!" The prince rejects. "We gotta snag one of those things in working order! If we do, we could match them pound for pound. Slap a couple cannons on those bad boys and watch the peasants squirm!"

Rhapsody flicks her ears again, still hearing the loud hum in the area. "That noise is getting louder and louder."

One of the cultists points a hoof to the air. "Hey! Over there! What's that thing!?"

Rhapsody looks at the item and immediately casts a bolt of magic in it's direction. The drone easily evades the blow. She tries again, only to hit nothing but air for the second time. Growing a bit frustrated, she sends a flurry of magic attacks towards the drone, the small device being far too nimble and evasive for her to accurately pin down. Militades calls out to one of his fairly uninjured pegasi. "Hey assholes! First one to get that thing out of the sky, you go home early with two-thousand spurs in the bag!"

A few having already witness the horrors of their prior encounters leap into action almost immediately. Four pegasi take a number of positions, trying to capture the drone as quick as possible. One tries to clip by it, attempting to take away it's lift and buoyancy. But the drone maintains it's stability and strafes away. Another tries to chase after it, not being particularly fast and getting outran by it. A third tries the same maneuver as the first, but looks to brush away the first one in it's approach. Instead, they simply crash into each other and fall to the ground. "It's a slippery bastard, I know that." The third replies.

"Not for me!" The fourth cites as he takes advantage of his path of successful intercept. He snags the drone in his hooves, holding tightly as he laughs victoriously. "Ha! I'm outta here─

His celebration is snuffed short, a missile snipes him out of the sky and crushes him by means of impact. Much of his body is left as a pink pasty residue on the underside of the black missile's head. His severed wing plops to the ground shortly after. "OH SHIT!" The prince shouts out as he's genuinely caught off guard by the dud warhead. His eyes are fixed wide open as he pokes his hoof at the severed wing. "Damn, what happened to you!?"

"Better question, where did this come from." Rhapsody asks.

"Well obviously the air, duh!" The prince replies.

"Sir..." One of the cultists grabs the attention of their leader, pointing him to the back side of the missile. "I think you should take a look at this." Written onto the side of the missile is a message.

High-yield explosive grade. Rating: See image adjacent.

The prince tilts his head at the image. "A two-legger?"

"...Humans." The cult leader replies with a heavy sigh. "These aren't ponies your forces went up against." The stallion grimaces as he takes a moment to think. "We'll need to readjust our campaign, us being in the open is no longer viable. We'll need to conduct from underground."

The prince groans with disinterest. "Please don't tell me we have to live like the rats back home."

One of the injured centuries replies to the prince. "Hey, at least you'll be able to relate, your majesty."

The young prince looks slowly towards the one who spoke up, at first producing a scowling expression, but then softening to a sweetening smile. "Fair century, would you care to perform a special duty for your prince?"

"Uh, what's that?"

The prince snaps his head towards his maid, startling her in kind. "Inform Melody that she'll have a playmate tonight."