I have no idea how one could sleep before a battle before that night. I would have always assumed the fear of death would get you stuck in a state of borderline paralysis with the darkness all around you and the fear of death in your mind. Which was always a valid fear, given the end could come at any moment in war.

Having said all of that, I did sleep surprisingly well. It probably helped the bed had a proper mattress that was soft and firm, and Golden did me a favour by not hogging the bedsheets. In fact, whomever had designed this particular bed had the wisdom to put two separate sets of sheets and pillows on it, meaning that sleeping in it was a lot easier as you weren't having to constantly negotiate for the bedsheets.

Anyway, I awoke with the bugle as it sounded in the distance, and I could already hear some soldiers moving about.

"RISE AND SHINE, YOU LOT! BREAKFAST IS SOON, AS IS THE BRIEFING! GET YOURSELFVES OUT OF THOSE TENTS AND INTO THE FIELD, PRONTO!"

Well, that was us informed. I got myself along the landscape, and went to the tent opening, before turning to see my daughters still fast asleep. I trotted over to rock them gently.

"Just a few more minutes, mom," Pipp said sleepily.

"If we do that we'll be here all day," I said, gently but firmly. "Besides, they did say we had to get up at five. I'll see you to it you get extra strength coffee at the camp meeting this morning to get your brain going."

That seemed to do the trick, as Pipp was out and on her way pretty promptly. I then did the same with Zipp, who seemed to be more receptive.

"What time is it?" she said quietly, as she began to awaken from whatever dream she might have been having.

"Five in the morning," I replied. "Now then, it's time we got to the main tent. After all, we have a long and difficult day ahead of us."

"It's five?!" she said, in a panic and leaping out of bed. "Yikes. I overslept, didn't it?"

I laughed gently. "Only by a minute or two. There's plenty of time to get caught up."

Zipp complied, and hopped out of bed before walking along the ground to the exit. She was following Zipp. "Let's hope the showers are working properly. I'd been planning on showering in Bridlewood."

I nodded at that. Truth be told I had been planning on borrowing Izzy's shower and spending the night before making the return trip, but the circumstances had rather forced my hoof to return early. I rocked my husband awake before leaving the tent.

Soldiers were mostly on the move, heading for key points in the encampment where they needed to be. I was glad to see they were at least taking things seriously. The camp also sounded to last minute repairs to equipment and weapons, which was also good. I trotted out to try and find the planning room.

Once we were done with the other important things, such as food, I joined Opwinden at the planning table. He had, somehow, produced a relief map of the region with lights and projections on it. This display was quite handy for seeing what was where, but at the same time I had to wonder how he had been transporting this the entire time. Can ponies just produce objects from what appears to be thin air? It would explain where Pipp puts her phone when she isn't looking at it. That would explain many things, actually.

Opwinden peered at the display, his eyes focused on his proposed war plan. He had a map with lots of lines drawn on it, which I assumed would be translated into a battle plan of some description.

"There's only one road in and out of the city that could handle our armour column," he said, "given that most pegasi fly in or out of the city on planes. This rather limits the armour support that we can receive."

He looked deeply worried as he said this, a feeling I only understood only too well. If possible, I wanted to avoid heavy losses too, as each of our soldiers was a son, a daughter, a father, a mother, a husband, a wife. I know that many do not return from war, but minimising losses is always important. I, however, chose to remain silent as he continued to speak.

"A recon drone was dispatched last night, and revealed the road approach has been turned into a fortress. Pillboxes, machine guns- it'd be suicide mounting a frontal assault with our full force."

It was then I noticed the rest of our friends arriving, and I quietly acknowledged them with a head nod. I turned to Opwinden. "What do you propose?"

"I am aware that we must liberate the city, but it is my duty to minimise casualties as much as I can- I owe that to my men. As a result, and I am aware this is a risky strategy, but we must divide our forces into seven groups. That way we can hit our targets all at once with the enemy barely able to mobilise their troops against us."

I had to admire this. Zephyr Heights was a city that could theoretically be defended from many angles. A frontal assault would be unwise, as you cannot fight on multiple fronts with a single army.

I nodded, knowing my fellows wanted to know where they fitted into all this. "A bold strategy indeed," I said. "But nothing ventured, nothing gained. Where do we fit in?"

"That's up to you and your friends, of course, your Majesty," Opwinden replied, pointing at the map. "I feel, though, that having key figures by their side will help with morale."

He then began to lay out the individual missions. Zipp willingly joined the attack (which didn't really surprise me), and she was assigned an airfield. Sunny and Izzy were sent to help with a diversionary attack on the City, whilst Misty, Hitch, and Pipp were sent to infiltrate ZBS Headquarters and broadcast a message.

This was well thought out, even if I couldn't really get a handle on Hitch at the moment. I hadn't interacted with him anywhere near enough to build a proper picture of him as a pony.

So, Opwinden then turned his attention to myself and Golden, who had just arrived. "This is the next part of my strategy," he said. "And it's possibly the riskiest portion of the plan yet. I suggest we launch a direct attack on the Palace itself with a small force including yourself and His Royal Highness. This will allow us to take out the leader of this rebellion and restore order."

"Cut off the head and the beast will die," I said. "A bold, but effective strategy, Opwinden. I agree, we should launch this assault."

"Is this wise?" Golden asked.

I looked to him. "I trust Opwinden's judgement," I said. "He's been a part of the Guard for a very long time, and as far as I can see this plan is sound. I'm ready to join the fight. And together we can overthrow this tyrant and reclaim our home."

Golden nodded. "When you put it that way- I'm in. Let's go home."

So, that was that. Wearing the same flak jacket and helmet I'd been wearing for the last few days, we rode on the back of the tanks as they climbed the road. If cars existed in this world, this road would give their brakes a workout on the descent. It was seriously steep!

We continued to roll up the slope, with the tanks climbing with no difficulty. Apparently the treads were made of rubber, which improved grip for some reason.

Gradually our party grew smaller as we proceeded, and I waved Pipp goodbye. "Good luck, my dear!" I said.

"I'll be careful, mom!" Pipp replied, before she vanished up the rockface with Misty and Hitch.

I settled back as the tanks continued to roll along, and I looked up at the rocks to see precisely why Zephyr Heights was the perfect fortress. The rocks and cliffs provided countless places for ambushes and overlapping fire. And here I was, basically besieging my own home.

Eventually the tanks came to a stop, and Opwinden looked over. "This is our stop!" he said. So, with that, we dismounted and got to the ground, leaving only Sunny and Izzy on the tanks.

As we climbed up the rockface we saw the tanks drive away with power and speed, presumably to their final spot. Clearly my training had paid off for a while, as I was still climbing the rockface quite easily. I shook my head. Hopefully others could keep up.

Once at the top, I looked about as I stood there with a firm look on my face. This was it. Time to retake my own home.

Author's Note

Haven jokingly alludes to the use of the Hammerspace trope in MLP G5, as characters often produce objects from nowhere. The most notable example of this is Pipp, as her phone often just vanishes when she places it under her wing, but Zipp also produces a pair of headphones from nowhere in Portrait of a Princess, and in Ali-Conned Sunny's roller skates and helmet vanish to nowhere at the start of the episode.

Haven's worries about casualties are based on an observation of British officers in WW2. Many of them had fought in WW1 and had seen the lives of soldiers needlessly thrown away due to bad planning. This explains the very conservative strategies employed by them-it was an effort to minimise casualties as much as possible. This, unfortunately, caused large amounts of friction with American commanders who favoured a more direct approach.

There's a Point du Hoc reference in there if you can find it.