Operation: Postal Office

by Visharo

Rating: teen
Tags: Dinky Hooves, Other, Derpy Hooves, Tragedy, Violence, Dark, Death, Alternate Universe, Anthro, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 5608

Changelings have invaded Equestria, Derpy and her fellow mailponies and civilians are trapped in a post office. It should be a one sided fight...

Changelings have invaded, Equestria is in fighting back desperately. A town near the border has been overwhelmed, civilians have either been gunned down or have fled. One group were too late, they are now trapped in a post office. Mailmare Derpy and her daughter are trapped here, will they make it?

Commission by shining paladin.

Published 2023-11-05 22:50:00 UTC
Last updated 2023-11-05 22:50:00 UTC

The Polepony city of Gdance

"Mommy? I'm scared." Dinky Hooves' voice trembled as the little filly wrapped her arms around her mother. Derpy Hooves hugged her daughter as she casted her multidirectional sight to her fellow mailponies and outside at the same time. Everypony wore a scared expression, she was sure she had one too.

Tensions have been high between the nations of Equus for a while now, but Derpy didn't think much when she brought her daughter to another town in order to deliver some packages to the town of Gdance in the neighboring country of Polepony. She was about to pack up and head back home to Ponyville when the raid sirens started blaring, signaling an invasion.

Outside, ponies were already running through the streets, cars honking and swerving, foals crying for their mothers. Inside wasn't any much better, some civilians thought it best to run inside the post office, some mailponies ran out into the mayhem, some were wailing about how it wasn't fair, some just stared off into the distance.

"Come here, baby." Derpy lifted her daughter off the ground, despite her being way too old for that, and the mare half ran half limped to where she had placed her luggage. Thinking they had plenty of time, everything was disorganized. It took several precious minutes to pack everything and rush back to the lobby. When she arrived it was too late. Off into the distance, gunfire could be heard, the roars announced the presence of tanks, loud chittering meant changelings. Chrysalis' Changelings. The CC.

"We're doomed!" Cried a pony next to Derpy. The terrified mother put on a brave face and smiled slightly, if only just to convince her daughter that everything was going to be okay. Dinky didn't looked convinced. She raised such a smart daughter. A pang struck Derpy's heart.

Then the doors burst open. Several ponies were screaming, Derpy might've been one of those ponies but she couldn't be sure. But it wasn't the CC. No black chitin, no clicking, no gunfire. She put Dinky down and pushed her daughter behind her and peaked to see who it was.

"We mean no harm! We're here to help!" It was a pony. Derpy blinked. There were several ponies. A lot of ponies. She quickly counted and the ponies numbered to around 40 which meant there were 20, give or take. They were all wearing combat gear and military fatigues, each pony carrying at least one weapon, and none were hostile. "We're Vortex 39, sent by Princess Celestia to defend this post office until the Equestrian Military gets here."

There were some audible sighs of relief in the air, but it didn't calm the panic. A pink mare in a pretty blue dress hurried to the stallion who spoke earlier and asked in a frantic voice, "you'll protect us? Right?

"I can't make any promises, ma'am." Derpy didn't feel assured, nor did anypony else. The leader of the group didn't blink, merely gazed at each of them. "Is there a place where we can keep the citizens safe?"

His questions were met with shrugs, scared whimpers, mumbling, and even a few accusative glares. Derpy wasn't paying attention all that much, she was instead crouching down and looking deep into her daughter's eyes.

"Dinky." She said softly.

"Yes mama?"

"I want you to know that I love you, no matter what happens."

"I know mama." Her filly, her brave brave filly, tried to put on a smile, but it instead looked like she was going to break down crying at any minute. Derpy hugged her daughter tight.

"...you heard the stallion, go down below!" The leader was directing civilians and mailponies down a hallway where a brown stallion, the lead pony of this particular postal office, was standing. Derpy smiled through the pain as she hoisted her daughter and carried her down the stairs to the basement. It was somewhat cramped, but there was enough room for Derpy to sit down and have her filly by her side. She was about to prepare herself for long hours of gunfire, painful postures, and overwhelming fear when the leader came down.

"The CC have come into view, our snipers have counted at least 180 soldiers and three armored carriages. The odds are not in our favor and we would welcome any volunteers, there is no shame in not wanting to risk your life." He waited and the basement was quiet.

One second ticked by.

Two seconds.

Three.

Fo...

"I volunteer." Derpy stood up with a defiant expression on her face. She wanted to be out there, defending her daughter herself. There were many audible gasps and on a very distinctive one, she couldn't bring herself to look beside her.

"What about your daughter?"

"You can't go, Derpy!"

"Don't throw your life away!"

"You won't be able to hit anything anyways, what's the point."

That last one stung a little, but Derpy let it slide. "My daughter is in this post office and I am not willing to let her fate lie in the hooves of ponies I just met. No. If we have to live through this battle, then I will fight to protect my loved one. Who cares if I can't an enemy, I am still trying and that's all that matters." Derpy was trying very hard not to cry. Her filly must not see her cry. "Sunshower, can you look after her?" She turned to look at a yellow pegasus with a spiky turquoise mane and tail.

"Of...of course." She nodded somewhat hesitantly before wrapping her arms around poor DInky.

"Mama will come back, be brave Dinky." Derpy quickly scampered out of there before her volatile emotions got the best of her.

"That was some speech." The leader said, his eyes alight with respect. Derpy didn't feel the need to acknowledge it, all she felt was the pit of dread in her stomach. "I'm Agent Cone, welcome to the Vortex 39." He threw up a salute and Derpy followed if halfheartedly. "Agent Sail will get you prepared." He pointed out a white stallion before galloping off to the front door.

"Agent Sail?"

"That's me!" He was a nice fellow, a happy smile, eyes twinkling.

"I volunteered and...uh...I need some gear?" Derpy said sheepishly, hiding her fear behind a smile.

"Oh." His smile fell a little before coming back up, it looked more forced this time. He had the decency to not look at her eyes, though. "Come this way, miss...?"

"Derpy."

"Miss Derpy it is then." The two trotted through the hallways, several more Vortex agents crouching by the windows. Unicorns had rifles floating in their magic, pegasi had several guns, some even wrapped in their wings, earth ponies were lugging around heavy weaponry, all looked prepared and determined. They rounded a corner into a storage room where two more ponies were talking strategy. When Agent Sail walked in, the two snapped off a salute before going back to their plans.

"Alright, miss Derpy, here is a combat vest and a Vortex cap to know that you're on our side." Derpy put them out without much struggle. "This is a Karabiniek Rifle, you aim by putting the butt of the rifle to your shoulder and looking down the iron sights. You might have some trouble aiming, but that's okay. You just need to fire, the simple fact that there are bullets raining down is enough for them to seek cover."

Derpy nodded, then frowned. "What about reloading?"

"Smart filly." He flashed a half hearted smile. "You pull the chamber back and then place the magazine through the top. Make sure they are in the right way so the gun won't jam, after that, push the chamber back and you're ready to fire. Make sure that after each shot, you rack the chamber to get rid of the shell, otherwise you can't fire the next bullet. Got that?"

Derpy nodded, no trusting herself to speak. She was about to be hoofed a weapon that is used to kill creatures. She knows that she should be terrified, but all she felt was determination. She was going to fight as hard as she could to protect her daughter. Nothing else mattered.

"Good filly, now go down the hall and find Agent Raft. He'll give you your instructions." Just then, a loud boom echoed through the post office, Derpy instinctively ducked and looked around with wide unfocused eyes. "They're here. Go."

She didn't need further encouragement and took off down the hallway, surprising a few agents, but she didn't stop to apologize. She burst into the entrance hallway and quickly spotted a stallion who looked like he knew what he was doing, while through her other eye, she noticed a wall of changelings looking towards her. She eeped and fluttered to the stallion.

"Agent Raft?"

"Yes?"

"I'm the volunteer." She felt out of place, her vest was slightly loose, her rifle felt awkward in her hands, the Vortex cap felt wrong compared to her mailpony cap.

"As long as you can fire." He said while nodding. "Take that window and only fire when I say so."

She hastily saluted before taking her position. Beside her was a lime green pegasus mare and a rust brown unicorn stallion. Both of them gave a nod to her and she reciprocated. From her vantage point, peeking, she made out a slightly buffer changeling step forwards and shouted in that two tone voice.

"Surrender now! Give back the building to the city it was stolen from, and bloodshed can be avoided!"

Derpy looked back with wide eyes. Agent Cone was there, he looked to Raft and both shook their heads.

"Hold your position." Cone said then said something quietly to Raft. He nodded. "I need ten of you, follow me."

Ten ponies without hesitation got up cautiously and followed. The agents went down a hallway that led to the back of the post office. Raft stayed behind and took up a window that was previously occupied by an earth pony. They waited for the first volley.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Derpy was about to stretch when suddenly a loud boom echoed over in the distance. From the loud flash that accompanied it, Derpy concluded that it was near Polepony's port. Then gunfire started raining on the brickwork of the post office, occasionally followed with a large boom of the armored carriages.

"FIRE!" Raft shouted before standing up and taking shots and ducking down.

The next half hour became one tense blur of ponies getting up, ducking down, firing, get fired upon, shouting in pain or surprise. As for Derpy, she tried her best at following her fellow defenders. With a panicked screech, she stood up and fired once before squealing and ducking back down. She didn't even bother to see if she hit a mark, too scared out of her mind. After a few calming breaths, she racked the chamber, got up, aimed and fired. She was in disbelief when she saw a CC fall, it's head snapped back. She barely had any time to duck before a smattering of bullets crashed into the window frame, scattering glass everywhere.

"DOWN DOWN DOWN!" Agent Raft shouted before half crawling, half scampering away from the windows and down the stairs leading to the first floor. Derpy quickly followed after taking a potshot. Before she galloped down the stairs, she spared a glance at the now empty room and with a pang, noticed two bodies. She quickly shut her eyes before the bile rose.

The group made it to the front entrance, scattered envelopes littered the floor. Agent Raft started issuing orders, lining earth ponies in the front with their heavy assault rifles while the pegasi and unicorns lined the sides with their smaller rifles. As for Raft himself, who was a unicorn, was standing beside the earth ponies only carrying an officer's pistol.

"Wait for them to bust down the door before opening fire." Everypony nodded and waited with bated breath.

Derpy was riding adrenaline, her thoughts only on firing on the CC and of Dinky's terrified face. She was crouching behind a crate, her iron sights trained on the doorway. A carriage round slammed into the double doors, the heavy mahogany holding steady, then a second slammed into it, tearing the wood off its hinges. Not a second went by when the CC started pouring in.

Everypony opened fire, the cracks of the pegasi, the booms of the unicorns, the thunder of earth ponies.

The hailstorm quickly ended, just as fast as it began, when no other changelings decided to enter. From her position, Derpy noticed four chitinous bodies. But she felt nothing, not elation, not horror, just...nothing. Then there quiet from both sides.

Agent Raft kept his eyes and gun trained on the entrance so, Derpy did the same. Then there was another boom, but not from the front. Raft stood up, surprise in his eyes.

"You! You! Go see what that is, we'll cover you." He ducked back down when a stray round hit the wooden frame around him. The ponies he picked out was coincidentally, Derpy and the rust brown unicorn from earlier. He nodded and got up with a questioning nod towards Derpy. She also got up and the two slid around walls and crates, trying to not attract attention to themselves then scampered up the stairs and galloped through the halls.

Derpy's heart was pounding in her ribcage from pure terror. She had no idea why Agent Raft chose her, she had no experience what so ever, no training! She was just following the stallion without much thought on anything else. There was another muffled bang and the stallion galloped even harder, in which Derpy spread her wings and started flapping to gain more momentum.

They soon rounded a corner and saw debris and smoke in one room. The stallion entered with no hesitation, his gun up and scanning everywhere. Derpy followed, determined to be at least somewhat useful. Then her left hoof hit something and she looked down and bit back a scream. The stallion looked behind him and noticed what caused her panic.

Below them lay the body of Agent Cone, his eyes closed, his chest and uniform bloodied. Beyond him was a giant hole in the wall with four dead changelings. The stallion crouched by his leader and whispered, "alive," and touched his forehead with a hoof tenderly.

"Come on, we need to close this hole." The stallion dropped his gun and started pushing a desk. Derpy shook her head to regain some control over her body and grabbed a rack and started heaving. She wasn't much progress but the stallion was by her side and together, they were able to get the rack to fall over the hole, covering it. They pushed some crates before they decided that was enough. "Come on, we should get back."

"What about him?" Derpy stared at the fallen commander. He was a respectful pony from the very limited interaction Derpy had with him. "We can't just leave him."

"We have to, we have no other choice." The stallion looked pained, but adamant. "Come on."

"...okay." The two left without a glance back and quickly made it back.

"Is everything okay?" Agent Raft asked, concerned. The fire around them had stopped and from the open doorway, Derpy noticed the changelings retreating. She didn't allow herself to feel hope, they might be coming back after all.

"Cone is dead." The stallion said bluntly. Raft closed his eyes and whispered something. Derpy noticed that everypony who overheard were doing the same thing, not wanting to seem disrespectful she muttered "sorry," under her breath.

"Okay, go find the rest of his squad. The CC are retreating for now but we think they're getting backup, we need to spread ourselves around to protect all sides."

"Yes sir." The stallion saluted and bolted off, Derpy was about to follow him when she felt a hoof on her shoulder. She turned around questioning.

"Stay, go see your daughter while you can. Maybe you can convince more mailponies to join." Raft looked haggard, his eyes haunted but determined.

Derpy nodded and made to go to the basement but stopped and turned around. "...how many?"

"...six."

She nodded again, that one felt more instinctive than actually acknowledging the terrible news.

Derpy went down the stairs, bone weary as the adrenaline started wearing off. The other mailponies started whispering and gasping once they noticed who she was.

"Mama!" Dinky sped out from underneath Sunshower Raindrops' hooves and tackled Derpy. She chuckled in turn and wrapped her hooves around her filly, not caring about anything else. "I was so scared!"

"I know, I know my darling. I'm here, aren't I?" Derpy smiled as she took in her tear stained, beautiful, brave, daughter.

"You'll be here forever, right?"

"Of course baby, I promise."

"Pinkie promise?"

"I pinkie promise." Derpy felt a whoosh behind her as if a force was watching.

"You better keep that promise."

"Mmm." Derpy smiled softly as she hugged her daughter closer. From one drifting eye, she noticed her fellow mailponies were watching in either awe or terror. "Is something the matter?"

The ponies scattered.

"Excuse me, dear." Derpy carefully extracted Dinky out of her grasp and stood up. She was aware of her different uniform and the gun slung around her back as she stood in front of her colleagues. "Listen, these Changelings have invaded your home and are you willing to let strangers from Canterlot defend your home while you huddle here like cowards? I'm out there, fighting to protect my daughter, so if you'll excuse me."

Derpy turned tail and marched up the stairs with confidence she didn't feel. Right before she turned the corner, she looked back and gave a wink to her daughter who clapped happily. She smiled warmly and trotted back to the entrance room. She found it empty, the other agents no doubt scattered at defending positions. The open doorway was now barricaded with heavy furniture and several heavy gunners had their rifles trained at the various gaps within the barricade.

"Sir." Derpy gave a salute. Raft looked in surprise before reciprocating.

"Are you okay? Don't you want to spend more time with your daughter, you won't know the next time you'll be able to see her."

"It's okay, sir." Derpy didn't feel okay.

"...okay." Raft turned and gave a short order to a pale brown mare before turning back. "Any luck with the others?"

"I don't think s..." Just then, five mailponies entered the room, looking around questioningly and still looking scared and confused.

"Seems you did." Raft chuckled mirthlessly and trotted over, Derpy stayed back uncertain on what to do.

"Miss." Derpy turned around and saw the rust brown stallion. "Follow me."

The two trotted upstairs to the second floor and took a position in an office room. They waited for several hours, the CC outside not doing much. Derpy wondered if Poles backup would come, then an eye drifted to the stallion beside her. She didn't even know his name.

"Hey...what's your name?" She asked hesitantly, as if she was back in high school asking for a prom date. She mentally kicked herself for that particular memory.

"Agent Brick Wall." He replied curtly, his eyes still trained on the outside. Just when Derpy thought it was over, he spoke. "And yourself?"

"Derpy Hooves."

"Ah, the only volunteer. I must say, I'm impressed, your aim is impeccable." He allowed himself to glance in her direction, his eyes glittered with hidden warmth.

"Tha...thank you." Derpy blushed, attempting to hide it by looking out the window. A chuckle behind her told her it didn't work.

The two chatted amicably while they waited, then from the distance, the CC started moving again. The armored carriages emerged first, providing cover for the hoof soldiers. Then behind the soldiers, Derpy spotted something.

"What's that?" She pointed it out to her companion and he cursed under his breath.

"Those are 75mm field guns. This is bad news, they hit heavy." The two waited anxiously after that.

Derpy watched as the changelings got into position. Then the battle began anew. The CC let loose their new firepower, resounding booms from the huge guns, the foundation shaking. Derpy got out of cover and fired, the bullet striking one of the field guns' operators. It was quickly replaced.

The rounds kept hitting the brick, concerning sounds echoed through the hallways, but mercifully there were very few screams. Derpy took another shot, killing a hoof soldier before ducking back down. It was only then did she fully comprehend what she was doing. She was killing living creatures, changelings, but still. She felt sick but kept the bile at bay enough to fell another CC. It was then she lost her lunch in the corner. Behind her, Brick made sympathetic noises but kept his attention on the invaders.

It was after the first hour did something miraculous happened, they started retreating once again. Derpy had regained her senses enough to fire one last time before they retreated beyond the range of their rifles. She sighed and leaned against the wall, her head filled with terrible images of dead soldiers, both ponies and changelings.

"Hey...hey, look at me." Derpy rolled her head to look at him. "Don't think about it, it'll only get worse."

"...riiight." Derpy wasn't convinced, but shook herself out of her funk anyways. This was not the time to become weak, her daughter's life was on the line. "I'm fine, I'm fine."

"...if you say so."

They waited peacefully if somewhat anxiously.

"Should we go down?" She asked, unsure what to do with herself.

"Maybe." He replied, but made no move to get up. She didn't get up either.

Just then, an earth shattering boom shook the foundation. Dust and wood shavings fell from the ceiling landing in Derpy mane. She ruffled it out of her mane before hosting her rifle up and looked out the window. The changelings were back with an even bigger gun. A quick and extremely risky peak later, Derpy spotted a giant, crumbling hole at the entrance and to make matters worse, the changelings were poring in.

She didn't even hesitated. Derpy stood up, slung her rifle over her shoulder and took off, ignoring the protests of Brick. With acute knowledge, she was able to make it to the staircase and was about to fling herself down the stairs, but a couple of changelings saw her and pointed their guns at her. She barely had time to throw herself to the side before the bullets slammed into the spot she was at earlier.

Derpy gritted her teeth, these CC bullies were between her and her filly. Red started filling her vision and for the first time in her life, she saw straight. Without thinking of the consequences, she jumped on the staircase, basically drop kicking the first changeling into the chest. It let out a squeak of surprise and like a domino effect, the three collapsed on top of each other.

Derpy was up first and started bashing her gun butt into their heads, no mercy. It was Brick who had to drag her away from their mangled corpses, green blood oozing from their nonexistent heads. Her blood haze started to clear and the full grisly sight of her actions was visible. She quickly rolled over and puked for the second time that day.

"Come on..." Brick didn't need to repeat himself as Derpy pushed herself to her hooves and brought out her rifle to her ready position. Together, the two of them tore through the hallways, heading towards the basement. The cut through several changeling patrols, all of which were between her and her filly.

Then they made it to the staircase. She wasted no time and ran down the steps. She quickly singled out her daughter and hugged her tight much to her surprise. The other mailponies started asking her questions, many of them frightened. Before she could answer any of them, more Vortex agents poured into the basement, including Agent Raft. He was the last one to enter and started issuing orders to keep guns trained on the staircase.

Derpy pecked her daughter's forehead and glanced at the newcomers. To her sorrow, she only counted eight. One of which was a mailpony. It was Craft Crate, the leader of the Ponyville branch, and he looked traumatized. His eyes were wide and unfocused, his breathing came out ragged and rapid, and his hand kept on shaking.

"Excuse me dear." Derpy slowly made her way to Crate's side and without warning, she gave the big stallion a big hug. He stiffened before melting into her embrace. It wasn't long before he started sobbing. Dinky, bless her, also came over and gave him a big hug. The other ponies looked uncomfortable or confused, but Derpy didn't care. Crate clearly needed somepony and she was willing to be that somepony.

A crack resounded behind her and a quick glance told her it was a Vortex agent that fired. There was thump, no doubt another body. There were a couple more shots and with each one, Crate shook. Derpy made soothing noises and petted him. She had no idea how long she sat there, comforting the big stallion when liquid started pouring down the stairs. It came in the gallons and it wasn't before long when an acrid tang touched her nose.

"It's gasoline!" Raft cried. "Run!"

Everypony screamed and took off down the basement hallway. The gasoline was suddenly awashed in flames and horrible screams started echoing through the hall. Derpy was holding Dinky in her arms and was unable to use her hands to cover her filly's ears, so she ran even faster. The group pushed their way into another doorway and into another room. Once the last pony stumbled in, Raft shut the door with a slam before the flames licked at them.

Several of the remaining ponies collapsed from exhaustion, burn injuries, or terror. Unfortunately, Derpy was one of those ponies.

"Mama?"

"I'm...ah! I'm, I'm okay, Dinky." Derpy tried her best at a genuine smile, but it was more of a grimace of pain. The fire had scorched her flank and back badly. Her pelt was shriveled and black in those areas and it was stinking something fierce. Raft saw her and gave a look of knowing. She knew too and the thought enraged her. Those changelings got her after all.

She, with the help of DInky, pulled off her vest to let her back to breathe. Carefully, she allowed herself to lean against the wall with her filly cuddled next to her. There were some worry lines and tear stains, but she had a brave smile.

"We'll win, mama. I know we will." Her daughter had such conviction, Derpy nearly believed in it too.

"Alright ponies, I have a plan." Agent Raft was standing on a box and addressed the crowd, although the term crowd was generous. Their number has been reduced to a mere fifteen. The sight was heartbreaking. "I am planning a near suicidal escape, you are free to choose to not to. You can choose to surrender like that changeling suggested earlier, but I believe they are to execute us. I will not let that stand. So, whoever is with me, come to this side of the room." Raft maneuvered himself to the left side. There was a slight hesitation and then ponies started moving.

"Come on, baby." Derpy said with a small smile. She heaved her daughter up and carried her to the left side. There were some gasps, one of which was Sunshower who was still alive.

"Miss Derpy." The mare in question turned to look at Raft. "There is no guarantee of our survival."

"There is a guarantee of our death if we choose to surrender. We're coming." As if to support her mother, Dinky nodded fiercely.

Raft had the decency to crack a grin before saying, "So this is it. The six of us and the eight of you. May you have what you wish for." He saluted. Some of the surrendering agents also saluted and the eight moved upstairs to surrender. There was some silence and then a gunshot. Raft scrunched his face in pain before ordering to go.

The six, which consisted out of Agent Raft, Agent Brick, two more agents, Derpy and Dinky, moved upstairs silently and slinked to the back where they peeked out a window and saw two changelings prowling as guards. Raft told them to wait and Derpy took this time to comfort her daughter who was wearing a very frightened expression. Despite being young, she knew what was happening and the risks and was taking it all in relatively well. Derpy was so proud, but hated the circumstances that required her daughter to be so brave.

The silence was interrupted by gunfire.

"Alright, go go go." Raft jumped out of the window and everypony followed him, Derpy was slower because she was carrying Dinky, but Brick was there to help. Once the six were down, the took off for an abandoned street, not daring to look over their shoulders. Once they turned a corner, Raft found an apartment and broke down the door. They quickly entered and ducked into cover, wondering if any CC soldiers saw them. A few quiet minutes later, they took a much needed breath.

Then Derpy falls. Dinky cried out and immediately started asking questions.

"Mama! What's wrong? Did I hurt you? Mama?"

The other agents rushed to help her, Brick was there faster but Derpy waved them off. From all the adrenaline, she hadn't noticed a gunshot wound around her shoulder bone. It was aching now and she felt tired, so so tired.

"Derpy?"

"I...I don't think I'm going to make it." Derpy tried for a smile, not daring to look at her daughter, instead looking at Brick. He blinked, then nodded. Bless him, he knows what to do. With careful movements, the stallion extracted the blubbering filly off of her.

"Come on, little filly..." He said softly. Raft and the others were watching in respectful silence, a mare even had her cap resting over her chest in honor.

"NO! NOOOO! Mama! You're okay, right? You can come with us! We're almost there! Come on, mama! Get up!" Dinky tried her best to throw herself out of Brick's grip, but he was an agent for a reason. "Let go of me! Mama! Please...please. You promised..."

Derpy finally let her gaze land on her daughter and she smiled softly. Tears were already rolling down her cheeks. "Be brave, Dinky. You're a big filly now, Brick'll take care of you." She turned to look at Raft. "Go. Leave me. I can't keep going." He nodded somberly. "Brick?" The stallion looked up. "Promise you'll take care of her?"

"I promise."

"Pinkie promise."

"I pinkie promise." There was a whoosh. Derpy nodded, satisfied.

"Now go." Raft snapped a salute and the rest of the agents copied their leader. Dinky was still howling and crying and trying half heartedly to push away from Brick. Then the five left, one unwilling, the others heavy hearted. Derpy thought she heard "alive," whispered before her consciousness faded.

When she awoke, she was face to face with a changeling soldier. It clicked and pushed Derpy's face to the side. She winced as her injuries were being jostled then barely had time to look up when a loud bang cut off everything.

***

A lone unicorn mare walked down the streets of Gdance, Polepony. She had her head down, but she knew where she was going. Her coat was purplish-gray, her mane was blonde, her cutie mark was an open book with a heart in the pages.

The residents of Gdance watched as the mare trotted through a park where plants were regrowing ever steadily. She trodded through well worn paths, the gravel crunching underneath her hooves. A few moments later, the mare stopped. She stood in front of a statue. It wasn't any statue, it was a memorial of a battle that was fought 30 years ago in the post office that was right over yonder.

The mare looked up and smiled sadly. "Hey, mama." The statue was of a pegasus mare with a rifle slung over her back, a determined look in her eyes, a warm mother smile on her lips, a postal uniform adorned her stone body, but what completed the whole thing was her eyes. When Dinky got word of a commission by the Poles' government to make a statue commemorating the hero, Derpy Hooves, she advocated for the sculpture to keep Derpy's eyes truthful. Dinky wouldn't allow anything else and even threatened to blow up the statue if her mother was portrayed as anything but the truth. "It's been thirty years, crazy how time flies. Brick passed away a few months ago," she sniffled at that, "but my coltfriend helped me through it. He's such a sweet stallion, you would've loved him." She choked out a laugh as tears started falling. "I miss you, mama. Love you..." Dinky took one last look before turning around and heading back home. Maybe next year she'll come back, once the baby's arrived.

Author's Note

It's done!
Sorry this took a while, had vacation and several other nonsense stuff irl. It's just how life goes sometimes. Anyhoo, I hope you liked it, and may the rest of your day/night be a good one.