Well, this was creative.

The central planning room thingy had a map in the middle with lots of figures on it. Apparently they weren't toys, but that was OK by me. I knew know wasn't really the time for playing around, but they still looked pretty neat regardless.

I studied the map, which was of Zephyr Heights whilst the Queen and the Colonel looked at us with looks of concern on their faces.

The Colonel looked especially worried. "There's only one road in and out of the city that could handle our armour column."

I was going to ask why armour plating was moving in a column, but then remembered that a fancy way of saying tanks. So I didn't interrupt."

"Given," he continued, "that most pegasi fly in or out of the city on planes. This rather limits the armour support that we can receive." He then pointed to something else. "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."

I didn't really want to die, and I don't think anypony else did, to be fair.

The Queen looked again. "What do you propose?"

"I am aware that we must liberate the city, but it is my duty to minimize 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 mobilize their troops against us."

It was in that moment we learned what was going on, and why we had been summoned. We were each to assist in the assault if we wished to do so. Of course, Zipp offered to go- it was her home we were helping to liberate.

She was sent off to attack an airport or something like that, whilst the Colonel turned to us. "Sunny and Izzy, your briefing is next." He moved the map to reveal a new position. "The core of our assault will be initiating a diversionary offensive on the enemy lines up this road." Dotted lines snaked up the map indicating the road. "Our forces will be following this road and splintering off, but the only way in and out for the tanks is this road. It's a perfect defense which is now being used against us."

"So, what do we do?" Sunny asked.

Opwinden pointed. "About half of our armored contingent is vehicles from the unicorns, and the core of the infantry assault brigade is unicorn soldiers as well. As such, I intend for both you and Sunny to join and assist them. Your knowledge of their customs and beliefs will be invaluable during this offensive, so I want you two to act as liaisons."

I nodded. "Yes sir! We won't let you down, sir!"

"Very good," Opwinden said. "Weapons and armour are outside. Make good use of them."

Once we were outside, we were directed onto the formation. The tanks sat, parked up in neat rows, so we hopped on the back of one and sat down.

"Never thought I'd be going to war here," I said.

"Me neither," Sunny replied. "Shows how suddenly things can change, huh?"

"That's true," I replied. "But, you know, I've been sensing something. There's an odd feeling, an odd sparkle if you will."

"I was wondering if you'd ever bring that up again," Sunny sighed, trying to stay upright. "This helmet is really heavy."

"Well, it is designed to stop a bullet," I noted. "But Sprout is not a bad guy- and the world seemingly has another dictator ready to go. What if we are simply being driven around the map like pieces on a board by some unknown actors?"

"You're thinking of Chris, aren't you?" Sunny said. "I don't think that's him. He's mean, but he's no strategist. He'd probably get bored of moving us around and go back to playing on his Switch."

"He has a Switch?" I asked.

"At least three," Sunny sighed. "Why he needs three I have no idea. Surely one is enough?"

Just then, a bugle played over the scene, and several unicorns and pegasi dashed across the scenery, hopping into the turrets of the tanks and shutting the top hatches. After a few minutes, and the start of rumbling engines, the formation began to move away, slowly bouncing us up and down.

"HeEeEy!” I said, as the tank pitched back and forth like a boat on choppy waves. "ThIs MaKeS mY vOiCe SoUnD sIlIy!”

Sunny looked at me. "I don't think now is really the time for that sort of silliness," she said. "We need to focus our strength on stopping Gulfstream and winning the war. This is a task for soldiers." She sighed. "Too bad I sell smoothies for a living."

Our formation was properly underway, formed up at the back of the column. Soldiers marched in front of us, roughly formed up in the lines for the missions they would undertake. We'd not been briefed on the other missions in case we got captured- not that that would happen, right?

As we reached one point, Zipp and her fellows hopped off and started up a rocky path. "Goodbye, and good luck!" Pipp called to her sister.

"You two, sis!" Zipp replied. I couldn't help but detect some sadness in her voice, as though she were aware she may never see us again. It was always a risk, no matter what.

So, we continued on our way across the hilly approach. This was slower and less rocky than the approach Sunny and I had used when advancing across the country from Maretime Bay, but that made sense I guess. Tanks aren't exactly known for being able to drive up vertical surfaces, so a steep road it was.

As we continued on our road, more and more of us split off. Misty, Hitch, and Pipp all left together, and Sprout followed them a few miles down the road to whatever his mission was. Which, before long, left just us, the Queen, the Colonel, soldiers connected to the Palace Guard, and some more of us. Namely those allocated to the really big attack.

A few further miles, the Queen and the Colonel and their troops hopped off, proceeding up another rocky ledge at surprising speed. You know, the Queen is surprisingly sprightly for her age. Clearly she's doing something right if she looks like that at forty seven.

Anyway, it was time for the formation to move off, and we set off for our target a few miles down the road. Our forces moved along at quite a pace, having settled into a march pace.

I overheard a conversation between a pegasus and a unicorn. "How far does your army march in a day?" the unicorn asked.

The pegasus snorted. "Twenty in a day, easily. I bet you don't march twenty miles in a day."

"We don't."

"I thou-"

"We run fifty. And can fight a battle at the end of it!"

"I'd like to see that happen," the pegasus scoffed.

"Easy in the ranks!" called an officer. "We're supposed to be fighting the traitors, not each other."

We continued to climb higher and higher into the sky, as the titanic plateau continued to scrape the very skies themselves. We were on top of the world, and to be honest I was feeling a little woozy as we kept on going upwards.

I looked over and saw that we had passed the location where we met Zipp all that time ago. That explained how Thunder and Zoom had found us so quickly- they'd just stepped off the main road into and out of the city. Handy that. But what surprised me was that most pegasi flew in our out. I mean, I'd seen a few airliners, but I'd assumed they entirely transported freight or heavy goods. Though having said that none of the pegasi could fly at this point in time, so that was that mystery hidden.

As we rolled along, seeing the world unfolding below us, I found myself missing those days once more. When this was just a bunch of mates going on goofy adventures and having fun. Now things had turned into a fully blown war.

After some more movement, the formation arrived at what looked to be the edge of a city. I looked over and my face dropped.

They'd built a maze of defensive lines in front of the city. Barbed wire, boxes, buildings fortified, and some cannons.

This wasn't gonna be fun.

The soldiers formed up in position in front of the lines, ready to go.

The tanks appeared behind them, lining up their primary weapons on the buildings.

The commander looked over. "Go."

The unicorn officer raised his head. "FOR THE MOTHERLAND, COMRADES! SWEEP THEM ASIDE! UURAH!"

Author's Note

Fun fact: The line that Izzy Moonbow says in this chapter

"HeEeEy!” I said, as the tank pitched back and forth like a boat on choppy waves. "ThIs MaKeS mY vOiCe SoUnD sIlIy!”

might actually be a callback to Episode 4 of MLP FIM regarding this scene for of Pinkie Pie regarding the first stampede in that episode;