"I’m feelin’
Fresh!
Like my mane is on fleek/
Happiness is all I need/
Spreadin love from you to me!"

Well, nice to hear my alarm clock was working. I tried to pull myself up, but I still felt pretty exhausted from the last day. I'd done so much stuff, so I think I deserve my beauty sleep, thank you very much.

I simply tried to drop back to sleep with my eyes closed, aware of some noise in the background but trying nonetheless to blot it all out. I simply needed some more rest, and had to get it even with Zipp snoring like she did. It got super annoying sometimes, to be honest, so I'm glad ear defenders were a thing out here.

No sooner had I dropped off then I heard some shouting in the distance.

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

Some whinnying was there as well. Oh well.

No sooner had that dropped out of my ears than somepony started rocking me back and forth. Really, Zipp? I know you can function on basically no sleep, but this is ridiculous!

I then realised the texture of the hooves wasn't Zipp. It was probably mom, then. Time to see if this still works. "Just a few more minutes, mom," I asked, still absolutely exhausted.

"If we do that we'll be here all day," she said to me, making it clear there was no room for argument. "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."

Well, coffee usually does the trick for me. I hopped out of bed, and soon was on my way out of the tent, with Zipp following a few minutes later. She was speaking now, though to nopony in particular.

"Let's hope the showers are working properly. I'd been planning on showering in Bridlewood."

"Hopefully," I said. "I've got nicer things to do than sleep in mud, after all."

We made our way to what looked like a water place, but the soldier manning it informed us this was all drinking water. No showers for us at all!

Honestly, I can see why this appeals to colts so much given they love to roll in mud. Same for Zipp, by the way.

So, it was off to eat and fill up my gut. Unfortunately, the breakfast was nothing to write home about. No orange juice, really? And who eats beef for breakfast? Honestly!

Having said that I saw Sprout stuffing his face, so that was at least one pony happy for a bit. I sat back, a bit unhappy, as I chewed my way through some rather unhappy looking grits. If the food was this bad, no wonder we're having trouble recruiting.

I could only hope the plan would be less insane than I had thought it was going to be.

The later bit of the day took us to the war room, where Opwinden was already busy nerding out over a map covered in toy soldiers and bright lights. I stood there as he and mom talked for a bit, and then mom acknowledged us. She then spoke to Opwinden. "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."

I'm sorry, what? We're already outnumbered and you're chopping our army into bits? Isn't that crazy? Surely everything should hit one point to have the best chance of breaking through!

Unfortunately, mom agreed with him on that one. "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."

Well, there goes my hope of a quiet morning. Sure enough, we were each assigned different places to attack. Zipp got dumped with an airfield, and Sunny and Izzy got assigned the tank formation attacking the city. What did they do to deserve that, I wonder?

They each trooped out, and then it was me, Hitch, Misty, and Sprout left in addition to our command staff. This was handy, as it meant the last mission must be for each and every one of us.

Opwinden finally got to addressing us. "Misty, Hitch, and Your Royal Highness," he said.

"Just Pipp, please," I said. "It'll speed things up dramatically when we get onto the briefing."

The Colonel nodded, and pointed to the map. "Very well. Misty, Hitch, and Pipp, you have a rather different objective. Confirm visual on Whisky Target?"

"Confirm visual on Whisky Target, over."

Whisky Target? Why is it called Whisky Target? Honestly, talking with soldiers sometimes is like trying to get through a brick wall of an entirely different language. I once learned they call compasses 'direction finding modules, or a gun a launcher, rifle cartridge, 7.62mm. Honestly, a gun is a gun! Just call it that!

Opwinden then took the opportunity to explain what Whisky Target actually was. "This is Whisky Target, or as you may know it the ZBS Building. It's been taken over by Gulfstream and his troops, and he's using the network to play incessant propaganda. We must stop these broadcasts and play him at his own game. You three will break into the building, take control of the broadcast equipment, and then read the following message over the network."

Just in case I lost or misplaced the piece of paper, I took a photo and saved it to my important image folder. "Got it!"

The Colonel then began speaking again. "Remember to move quickly; hostile numbers could be high and OPSEC could be tight to nonexistent."

Seems as though I wasn't the only one struggling to follow this, as Misty then spoke up. "In Ponish please."

"You might have to shoot your way out." Opwinden then indicated to a nearby wall. "The equipment in there will be critical to the completion of your mission. Best of luck."

We were then on our way. The tanks at least provided a nice ride on the climb out of the region, and I could rest for a bit.

Zipp was the first of us to leave, and she and several troops dismounted.

"Goodbye, and good luck!" I called.

Zipp looked back to me, and smiled that calm, brash way she did. "You two, sis!" With that, she and her fellows climbed into the mountains overhead and into the distance.

Before she had dropped out of sight, the column started moving again, and we proceeded higher up the mountain. After a bit more travel, we then stopped in position, and Hitch indicated to me. "This is our stop."

"Thank you for travelling with Zephyr Heights Taxi Company," said the tank commander, with a wry smile. "I hope you will consider using our services again."

I nodded, before hopping off and landing with a thud. Ow! This helmet was really heavy! How did anypony walk in these things? Give me a dress any day.

Mom glanced over to me. "Good luck, my dear!" she said.

I nodded back. "I'll be careful, mom!"

I then went and joined my friends. We clambered up the rockface as best we could, with Hitch and Misty having a much easier time than me making their way up the rockface and into position. I was pretty calm, all things considered, but at the same time we were potentially in for a rough time if we got this wrong.

So, we continued to make our way across this place, our eyes looking around carefully as we proceeded along. The higher rocky mountains were starting to cause Hitch and Misty some trouble, so I slowed down. "This is one case where being able to fly would be super handy!" I said.

"I think a chopper would be too noisy as an approach!" Hitch said. "This isn't Mogadishu!"

"What's Mogadishu?" I asked.

"I'll explain later."

I honestly didn't know at the time, so we just kept going along the terrain, weaving across the top of the land high above the city. Quite why they put it exactly where it is I'm not sure, but it probably has something to do with it being on a high place. No doubt Zipp will explain when she gets back from Maretime Bay.

But then, as we walked across the rocks, it began to loom into position below us. We had found what we were looking for. We were into range of Zephyr Heights.

Author's Note

Another day..... another chapter for Pipp :3