Well, this was interesting.

There we were, travelling across terrain once more, as I imagined I would have been back in the old days, but with a different group to what I had anticipated.

Instead of a small band of friends roughing it in the bush and roaming through empty lands with relics of an ancient past, instead we were on the move as part of an army. And it was quite the unusual army, to say the least.

Of the pegasi, we had our usual band of survivors from the crash- a handful of soldiers, the team dad had brought, my dad, mom, Pipp, and of course myself. Boy was this helmet getting heavy, and I adjusted it to try and fix an itch on my head. That at least brought me some brief relief from the itching.

But the remainder of the formation was rather more unusual. We had our own tanks, but unicorn tanks were on the move alongside ours. They each rattled along, their commanders on the swivel for any threats. Even if they looked a bit older than our models, they could certainly make a mess of most things that came our way. It did sorta make sense as the unicorns were technologically behind on most things. So it stood to reason they were behind on military hardware.

Alongside them were two companies of soldiers, marching in step beside the tanks. They were not riding on the tanks, like we were, but were instead marching. Marching in step with drums blaring and music playing from musicians and musical instruments. I assumed these were their marching songs. Apparently the one currently being played was Defense of Galloping Gorge, when apparently the city was laid siege to by the pegasi, and the unicorns held them off for over a year despite being outnumbered.

I would need to check this one when I got my hooves on a proper history book. A true history book, not a text full of distortions and half truths as fitted the propaganda state.

But still, as we proceeded across the battlefield, tensions seemed to be rather low, even if one of the pegasi complained about the unicorns playing 'disrespectful junk', though I imagined that was because we were focused on bringing down a common enemy who wanted nothing but to crush us under his bootheels.

I looked about, the shaking of the tank being an accompaniment in purpetuality to my situation. It was oddly hypnotic after a while, even if these vehicles were not exactly suited to transporting living things on top of them. What would happen if we came under attack?

I dismissed those thoughts very quickly. We had to focus on our current objective. When I had set off on this trip, I never imagined we'd be coming back here later on, to help save the city where all had seemed so well for me.

I noticed Pipp seemed to be rehearsing a speech of some sort- presumably one she'd deliver to the populace when this war was over and all was well in the world once more.

Never did I imagine becoming a pegasus would involve effectively becoming a soldier and fighting in battles. Still, I guess that's my lot when we're fighting an ancient evil and trying to stop a madpony at the same time.

Even so, it wasn't as if I was trying to overthrow an entire state on my own (which I doubt I could do). Instead, we had many, many soldiers marching by our side in a rather unlikely alliance of soldiers from all three groups. Earth ponies, unicorns, pegasi- all fighting together for the first time in what was probably millenia!

I must admit the musical accompaniment did help to break up the monotony of the journey, so we pushed on with the music and sound as we marched on our way. I looked over to see what the others were doing. Sunny seemed to have her nose buried in her father's book, whilst Izzy was looking at... something. Hopefully she wasn't sniffing glitter again.

Pipp, as I say, was looking at a speech, whilst mom was holding onto something as if she was seasick. Dad was telling her something, though, but I don't know precisely what.

Hitch was checking over some equipment, though unfortunately nopony had thought to bring a gun for the battle, and that just left the odd ones out.

Misty was sitting on another tank, with Sprout by her side. Now then, Misty turning up had been a bit of a shock, but given she's ultimately a good pony at heart it wasn't really an issue to me. She ultimately only wanted the best, and one could only hope Opaline wouldn't abuse the fragile situation.

Which left Sprout, who sat on the tank with no issue. In fact, he seemed very calm and professional, even checking his gear once or twice as we rolled across the terrain. It was all oddly quiet as we went on our way, rolling across fields that once were green but were progressively having large track marks left in them.

Not the nicest of sights, I will confess. But absolutely required.

We continued to roll along, the sheer noise from the vehicles and the blaring of music making for a very off combination as we proceeded along. None of them being tunes I recognised, of course. It was a crash course in the culture of another group of ponies, and an element never really explored in the show as far as I know. A shame. That would have been interesting to see.

The sun continued to move as we rolled across the country, and eventually we once more crossed the border back into pegasus territory, taking advantage of a gap in a wall.

Dad laughed briefly. "Never imagined I'd be going over the border with the invaders!"

One unicorn looked up, his face disapproving. "Not hugely funny, if I do say so myself."

One of the tanks switched on its loud hailer. "Less chit chat, more marching!"

However, as we continued across the land, we suddenly saw an interesting sight, which explained why that section of the border was wasn't properly guarded. There was a small encampment up ahead, well I say small, but there must have been as least a company of soldiers out there. There were tents, soldiers round campfires, armoured personnel carriers parked up in rows, and even a command tent. The central area also had a table distributing food to the soldiers all around.

"Eat up!" ordered the Quartermaster. "Anything we eat the General can't steal!"

Naturally, we pulled in to take a look, and what was going on surprised us. Many soldiers were waiting, at least a company in strength. And it turned out they were in the same boat as us.

Their commanding officer had spoken out against Gulfstream, and as a result the unit had been exiled. An entire company of soldiers exiled because their commanding officer said something the top nutter didn't like? That didn't sound very sensible. If anything, that's a company worth of soldiers who now have a reason to dislike you.

Upon learning we were going to overthrow the General and restore the Queen to the throne, they joined up, packing up their camp and adding their considerable troop complement to our ranks. Not to mention those armoured personnel carriers would really help with the advance.

Several of their musicians were also ready. "What would you have us play?"

"Wareham's March!" called Colonel Opwinden. "That always roused my spirits when I was newly into the ranks."

The sound of bagpipes soon began to sound, combined with more conventional instruments, and before long we were on our way once more, the bizarre sound of music echoing over vehicles from the terrain.

A unicorn looked over in surprise. "I know this one!" he said. "It's Las Pegasus March! Play along, boys!"

It took a bit of work to combine our two sets of music, but it somehow worked quite well. Their version of the tune was slightly different to ours, but we soon got that worked out.

That surprised me, though. If both of them used the same melody but had different names to them, that suggested the tune was one they had both inherited from the old days of Imperial Equestria!

I know there's that bit in Winter Wishday where they all sing a song that's survived from the old days but with different lyrics, as often happens in culture. But it seemed at least another melody had survived from the days when the ponies still lived in harmony.

That's living proof that we still have something in common.

As we continued on our way, our formation had now swelled to a small army, and as the sun set we made camp for the night. Time for some more sleeping in a tent, I guess.

I got a spot in the Royal Tent, so that at least helped. Here's hoping dad's snoring wasn't too bad.

Author's Note

Welcome back to another set of chapters involving Zipp! As we begin our next arc, the focus moves back towards where we have spent so much time- Zephyr Heights. The chapter title is an allusion to the popular WW1 song It's a Long way to Tipperary, often sung by British soldiers when on the march. The real Tipperary, which is in Ireland, humurously references this with a sign outside the town boundaries informing visitors they have come a long way.

There is a long history of melodies surviving in different cultures at once and being used differently by the respective cultures. One very famous example of this is the German carol Stille Nacht, which also exists in English as Silent Night. During Christmasses in WW1, there are verified instances of soldiers on both sides singing together, albeit in different languages.

And with our heroes rested, it will soon be time for the long, hard push towards victory. Join Zipp and her friends for more battle tomorrow!