Red Alert: 16 Years Ago

Certain names, locations, and other elements of this work of fiction are owned by EA, Namco, and Hasbro respectively.

On another continent, thousands of miles away from Equestria’s shores, lies the epicenter and reason why I am standing in front of this door.

The architecture was astounding, as were most homes in the capital city of Canterlot. The walls looked like they had recently been painted, and its white glow was warm enough to bring peace to your soul.

And here I was, a scrawny gray unicorn wearing the nerdiest glasses money can buy, about to conduct his first real interview as a rookie journalist.

Of course I was nervous.

The topic I had picked for this interview was not very common, especially for a fledgling reporter like myself. I had a profound interest in the subject however, and after discovering some inconsistencies in the Canterlot archives’ history books, curiosity peaked my interest.

I kept searching.

I was certain that I would find something there.

All I had to go on were some unclassified documents and very vague depictions that I had managed to scrape together. It obviously was not going to be enough to satisfy my curiosity. After scrounging through some records I found a list of names that might be useful to me.

One name stood out in particular.

I needed an eyewitness account to get the answers I wanted.

My story wasn’t very popular back at the office.

When I had presented my story to the editor-in-chief, it was denied immediately. After he told me that such an event never existed, he became suspicious of me for selecting a topic that may have included a massive government cover-up.

Even though my request was rejected and I was working on more approvable articles, my curiosity was biting at the back of my mind the entire time. I couldn’t resist the urge to delve deeper into uncharted territory.

I had to find an answer.

I didn’t care what the outcome or conclusion was, but I had to have closure regardless.

Little did I know, I had stumbled upon something much larger than I had anticipated.

Still to this day, I can tell you that I was not prepared for this.

A few seconds after I had knocked on the smooth wooden door, it opened slowly to reveal a blue unicorn with a dark blue mane. He had a moon inside a larger moon facing each other for his cutie mark.

“Come in,” he said in a in a suprising gentle yet masculine voice.

Maybe this was the story I had been searching for, all this time…

Red Alert: 16 Years Ago

Reminiscence

****

Belka.

It was the gem of the Verusan island continent. A powerful industry, backed with economic growth that would have soon rivaled the great superpowers of the east, Equestria and Karalia of the Osean continent.

This proud and strong nation was well on its way to becoming a superpower.

Then, twenty-five years ago, the worst recorded drought in world history struck the nation’s mainland. Forcing the country to purchase imported food, foreign businesses took advantage of the situation by pushing prices and tariffs to ridiculous levels. Soon Belka was unable to pay to keep its citizens fed, so foreign powers like Equestria and Karalia began to gut her resources and advanced technology programs as compensation.

Losing valuable resources that made up a large amount of its profits and with the national debt increasing, Belka’s economy collapsed.

The country's frustration was directed at the foreign powers for "stealing what was theirs" as the superpowers continued to ransack Belka's resources and technologies unabated. Bitterness toward foreign nations and extreme nationalism began to take hold in Belka, a volatile combiniation.

Amidst the economic panic, a radical party took power in Belka, promising to restore the nation to its former glory. Utilizing propaganda, they had gathered an immense amount of support and crushed all political opposition.

And sixteen years ago on this date, with the discovery of natural resources in surrounding nations, Belka began to invade its neighbors.

Entire foreign field armies were obliterated by the might and technology of the legendary Belkan military. Said to have some of the most elite units in the world at the time, even the superpowers feared them. The Belkans continued their hate fueled assaults.

It wasn’t long before they had seized a vast majority of the continent. Crying out for help, the superpowers acted swiftly to aid the defeated nations on the continent.Covert task forces were deployed by both Equestria and Karalia while masking the action back home.

Using newly acquired Belkan technology to reweaponize their troops, the allies began their counterstrike operations.

This is all the information I have now and I realize that it lacks detail greatly. Mainly because of the cover-up affecting the amount of documents I have access to or the fact that this might not be true at all. Maybe it was just another wild rumor, a conspiracy theory if you will.

Perhaps I am chasing nothing.

But there is only one way to find out for sure…

According to one record I have located containing a list of names; this blue stallion standing in front of me was attached to the Equestrian task force.

Midnight Sparkle.

****

“Please have a seat. Can I get you anything? Starlight has tea on the stove,” the unicorn across from me offered.

“No thank you, I’m fine,” I said as politely as I could manage.

I took a seat in comfortable purple couch while Midnight pulled up a wooden chair and sat across from me. Despite the friendly welcoming, I couldn’t help but to feel a bit anxious. As my haunches sunk into the plushy couch below, I pulled my notepad and pen out of my saddlebags.

“So, what brings you here?” he asked nonchalantly as he eyed my writing utensils.

“I’m uh…actually a reporter,” I said, trying my best not to stumble on my words.

“Well then, what is a reporter doing in my home? Is this about Shining Armor or Twilight?” he asked, his face betraying a look of concern.

I gulped.

Here we go.

I had no idea how this was going to work out or the possible implications of my prying. This wasn’t just a normal family no doubt. The Captain of the Royal Guard and an Element of Harmony user slash Celestia’s protégé in the same family, and that’s not including the fact that their father may have been a part of the covert operation of the century.

I had to tread carefully here.

This family has strong ties to the crown and if I make a wrong move or utter a poorly chosen comment, then I could possibly end up in a Canterlot dungeon for my actions.

“Actually sir, I kind of wanted to talk about you,” my voice quivered slightly as I was trying my best to tread lightly.

“Really? Why in Equestria would you want to talk about me?” Midnight shook his head at me as he spoke.

He leaned in my direction and looked mystified.

He obviously hadn’t seen this coming.

“Sir…I uh…have done some research…about the Belkan War,” I squeezed out, my heart beating faster by the second as I could hear and feel it thump in my chest.

I was getting light-headed as beads of sweat dripped down the sides of my face.

“Oh?” he inquired, raising an eyebrow at me.

“You know about it, don’t you?” I said quickly as I struggled to recollect my wits.

“Of course, those crazy Belkans were trying to take over that entire continent and even attacked a second one. Then, the allied nations down there pushed them back. That’s about it,” he calmly stated.

“They attacked a second continent?”

I hadn’t known about that.

“But, I’m pretty sure you’re not here to reverberate a history lesson to me. Now tell me, why is it you’re really here?” he asked, leaning even closer to me.

“Just get on with it. The worst he can do is refuse, but you’ll never find out anything if you don’t ask!” I urged myself into action.

“Sir…I just wanted to ask you about the fighting,” I said nervously, trying desperately to ignore the emotional tsunami taking place within me.

He scoffed.

“Why would you ask me about the fighting? Like I would know anything!” he chuckled at the presumed ridiculousness of my question.

I felt like an idiot.

What was I doing here?

Should I just turn back and forget about all this?

No.

I had already come this far and by Celestia’s sun; I was going to get what I wanted.

“Sir, you can drop the act,” I said boldly.

“Excuse me?” he replied.

“I-I know you were involved with the fighting…in fact, I know that the Equestrian military itself was involved,”

My voice just echoed the gravity of what I had just done.

I had just accused Princess Celestia as a greedy liar, the same princess who gave peace to Equestria and that everypony adored.

If I’m going to be arrested, I might as well go through with it knowing I had tried…

Midnight was silent for a couple seconds.

“Where did you hear such a thing?” he spoke softly, gazing at the blue carpeted floor with the thousand yard stare.

“Research. I have drawn my own conclusions and I want answers. Please,” I implored.

“How much do you know?” he demanded.

“I know that the Equestrian and Karalian militaries bravely fought back the Belkan aggressors and all I want is to find out is what those ponies went through,” I pleaded.

“Go to the Canterlot National Cemetery, you’ll get a better story there if you want to talk to a hero,” he said as he bit his lip.

Nausea overtook my stomach as I had talked myself into dangerous territory.

“I thought that was supposed to be classified but apparently not. Dammit, I thought I was done with this,” he moaned as he buried his head in his hooves.

“Are you alright sir?” I asked in fear that I might have brought up some unpleasant memories.

He huffed out a quick sigh and gazed into my eyes with a stoic expression.

“Well, I see the damage has already been done. If that much information has already been declassified then I’m afraid that there isn’t much else to do…”

“Sir?”

“What do you want to know?” he said bluntly.

I was stunned.

Was he really going to tell me?

Was I going to be in trouble?

I hadn’t told him that this information wasn’t declassified, I just took a shot in the dark and it hit.

“Everything… if you don’t mind,”

“Well in that case, where should I start?”

Afterthought

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