A Fawn's Journey

Chapters

Another Day in the Village
A New Routine
The Trident from the Horizon
Under the Yoke
Motti
Hjortland
The March
Towards the Rainstorm
Chasing Shadows

Another Day in the Village

Elain sat over a tree stump near her house, surrounded by an eternal snow about a hoof thick to which the deer were used to. The night was crystal clear thanks to the lack of light pollution, allowing for a brilliant starry display underneath a bright full moon.

The stars reflected off her blue eyes as she gazed up into the night sky, while the moonlight barely illuminated her cyan horns and white spotted hazel fur. Elain could feel the weight of her coat upon her body, the white trimmed, cyan hoof stitched fabric kept her warm enough as it reached just down to the bottom of her flank. It also had a neat clasping cord to hold it around her neck, which she briefly paused to adjust.

The silence was suddenly interrupted by a high pitched voice behind her.

"What are stars for?"

Elain flinched and almost fell off the tree stump. She turned around to meet her little brother.
The fawn burst out into laughter after witnessing her sister's overreaction. His hoofsteps on the packed snow made no sound due to his light weight, which made it easier to approach without being noticed.

"Elmer? What are you doing? You should have gone to bed an hour ago." She asked the young fawn

Elains brother was only 6 years old, like his sister, he also had cyan horns and blue eyes. If it weren't for his masculine buck frame and the dark brown fur he could have been easily mistaken for her twin.

"But, Eli, I'm not tired!" The fawn complained after regain composure. "What are stars for?" He asked again, moved by his stubbornness and curiosity before the doe could reply.

Elain sighed and focused his gaze again on the starry sky. She started with a soft voice. "I am not sure, The parishioners say there's a God that created everything. . ." She narrowed her eyes and paused to think her words, She wasn't interested in religion and her close family never went to the local parish. "I think the stars are our deceased ancestors, They watch over us to protect and guide our way through the darkness of the night"

Elmer gaped at the stars with a bright look and full of innocence. "Do you think granny is up there watching us right now?"

Elain wrinkled her muzzle at the question, although her brother couldn't see because she was turning her back on him. Elain didn't actually believe on what she said, she just made it up to content the fawn. She nodded and turned around upon the tree stump to meet her brother again.

"Now it's your time to go to sleep, or else I won't take you to the trade fair tomorrow" She said with a frown.

"Aw! That's not fair!" Elmer looked back at his sister in disgust, but the frown on her face made him reconsider and he just walked into the house.

After that, Elain smiled in amusement and turned around again to continue gazing at the stars a few more minutes before going to sleep, this time mulling over what she said to his brother about them.

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Dawn comes, Soft sunrays goes through the window into Elain's room. She woke up and yawned, then sat on her bed with tired eyes.

Her room was pretty simple and practical, The bed was vertically next to the window. At the end of the room opposite the window she had a desk with a small wardrobe on its right and the room door on its left, upon the desk a few old books about agriculture and a calendar that marked October 25. The house was a cabin so the ceiling and walls were made of wood.

She got up from the bed and stood up on the sanded wood, then walked to the wardrobe to wear on her coat.

A female voice called out. "Elmer! How many times do I have to tell you not to eat like that? No one is going to steal your food"

Elain walked towards the door and opened it. She saw the wooden table in the middle of the living room with a bowl of fruit on it. Her little brother was sitting around it, next to a doe with completely brown fur, brown eyes, and cyan antlers larger than Elain's, it was her mother, she also wore a black coat, the same kind of coat Elain has. The older doe glared at Elmer, he was chewing with his mouth open, completely filled with a mixture of fruits, while he grabbed an apple and a pear with both forehooves at the same time, both nibbled.

Elmer noticed Elain with the corner of the eye, he left both fruits on the table and grabbed a tomato, then turned his head to look at her, he almost choked in the proccess. Elain giggled as she saw her brother approaching her on three hooves while grabbing the tomato.

"Here" He swallowed before continue talking. "I saved it for you!"

Elain petted his head and grabbed the tomato. Raw tomatos were Elain's favorite food, Elmer knew that so he always saved one for her breakfast.

"How kind of you, thank you!" She smiled warmly at him, Elmer looked happy and proud after her reaction.

Elain's mother sighed and looked at her.

"Good morning, Eli"

"Good morning, mother"

"Are you taking Elmer to the trade fair today, right?"

Elain nodded.

"Keep an eye on him, he could get lost at any moment"

"I won't!" Elmer interrupted and stood next to Elain as she took a bite of the tomato with indifference.

"I don't know how you make him listen to you" Her mother chuckled.

"Maybe I have a natural talent with fawns" Elain shrugged. "We should go now, Östskog is an hour away" She swallowed. "I will eat on the way" She walked to the main door, then opened it. Elmer followed her"

"Be careful!" Her mother called out, Elain didn't turn around to meet her mother eyes but nodded instead as she walked out. Her brother closed the door.

Both siblings began to walk along a path that went through the forest after leaving the village. None of them saw their father, but they were not surprised either, both assumed he would be felling wood or picking fruit, like any other morning.

Around them, the whole village could be seen from their view. There were around two dozen cabins similar to their own house. Among them, a blacksmith shop and a herbal shop. To their left, behind the cabins, a snowy plain disappeared into the horizon, infront of them and to their right they had the forest, there was also a pile of felled logs close to their house, maybe for firewood.

"So. . . What do you want for your birthday? We are only a week away" Elmer reminded her after a few minutes walking through the snowy path, looking at her eyes, She kept looking foward.

Elain thought about it for a few seconds. "I want to visit the capital, the big city of Hjortland. I heard about buildings that touch the sky and huge crowds of deer, they also have a lot of shops with any kind of item" She said excited.

"More crowded than the fair?" Elmer genuinely asked.

"Way more crowded!" Elain patted him on the head. "There's a new train station in Östskog that connects directly to Hjortland, I want the four of us to travel"

"Eli, What is a train?" Elmer looked confused.

"A big metal machine that transports things" She looked away. "It's hard to explain, it will be easier if I show you instead"

And they kept walking into the snowy forest through the path as they chatted, Elmer kept changing the subject while Elain tried to answer all his questions.

Author's Note

Hi there ^^, this is my very first fanfic. I am not a native English speaker so I have decided to start this new project to improve, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.
All reviews are appreciated.

A New Routine

The gentle rays of the sun illuminated through the spaces between the clouds. The snow fell in flakes and curdled on the white blocks of buildings in the distance, almost seeming to merge with them. A large fence surrounded the premises.

Two guards were wearing the characteristic pastel blue uniform and a cap of the same color with a white logo that was difficult to distinguish from a distance. They were armed with rifles and guarded the main entrance, whose doors were opened wide as the convoy approached, it passed through the gates and continued during a few minutes before it fully stopped and the engine shut down.

Elain got off of the truck bed with a little jump after the hatch was lowered, Rainer went after her. The trip had presumably been calmer than the last one. Furthermore, this time only one convoy traveled with just a dozen deer, although they were a bit crowded.

Elain was quite shy around strangers, she didn't make much conversation during the trip beyond talking to Rainer.

Once everyone got off, the herd walked guided by a pair of guards towards one of the buildings, a low and long one, possibly a residence.

As they walked, Elain looked around while doubting several times in her head whether she was really making the right decisions. She didn't even like guns, she found their sound terrifying. She just wanted to go back to her village, but that was no longer possible.

Is this worth it? Isn't there another option? The intense silence of that environment, only disturbed by the hoofsteps, helped her mind to be filled with thoughts.

Once the deer arrived at the building they stood infront of a military buck who appeared to be of high rank. He stood rigid in the main hall, holding a few paper sheets with a hoof, frowning at the herd.

"Listen. Let's keep this short. On this floor there are two free rooms, divide yourselves by gender and settle in them. At 12 I want you on the field where you have been to start the first training session" He said bluntly with an authoritative tone. Rainer checked his watch.

"Have I said it clearly?" He spat at the silence generated by the confusion of the herd.

The deer said yes in different ways in a disorderly manner.

They are in such a rush for everything, is this even normal? Elain asked to herself.

"Great, now get out of my sight" He suddenly walked away while looking at the papers he was holding.

Elain was somewhat stunned by such spontaneity, but she quickly shook her head and followed the pair of does that were already entering in a room, she barely managed to see them. Rainer had gone with the bigger group of bucks to the opposite room.

The room was small and full of bunk beds and lockers, with a window on the other side opposite the door. When she got in, she spontaneously took over the closest bottom bunk by lying face up on it. Elain closed her eyes and breathed several times. Normally she would be snooping around the room, inspecting every drawer. However, she was too tired both physically and mentally. Too many things were happening and she needed a good time to assimilate it.

"Hey! How are you?" A female high pitched voice rang out in a sprightly tone.

Elain opened her eyes with a surprise drawn in them just to meet the doe's hazel eyes staring down at her.

"What?" Elain asked bewildered. The light from the window illuminated her white spotted grey fur and her light green antlers. She looked Elain's age, but she was shorter than the average.

"You were so quiet during the trip, We don't even know your name!"

Elain slightly cowered on the bed, that's when she noticed a long lump beneath her.

"Freya, Stop bothering her, if she doesn't talk it's because she doesn't feel like it" Another doe with a deeper voice said plainly from the other side of the room.

Freya rolled her eyes and walked away to argue with the other doe.

Elain was relieved, but she didn't look up to see who was saying that, instead focusing her attention on what she had been lying her back on. She sat on the bed and saw it, a training uniform consisting of a pastel blue sweatshirt and mauve pants with a pastel blue camouflage print, both folded. At least now I have new clothes She thought. Then she began to untie the cord around her neck with her hooves in order to wear off her cyan coat.

She left the coat hanging on one of the wall hangers next to the door and, while the does argued, she headed to the bathroom infront of her bed with the uniform, where there was a mirror.

Just before clossing the door she heard Freya ranting. "Of course she can speak! She has been talking to her boyfriend the whole trip!"

Elain's hears pinned back as she stared concerned at the mirror. I'll pretend I haven't heard that She said to herself as she shut the door, the argument suddenly stopped.

She left the pants on the sink, then started to wear on the sweater, she felt it quite comfortable and loose. The same thing happened with the pants. It was a sewing she had never tried before, and she also found its colors pretty. Elain smiled slightly as she enjoyed the view in the mirror.

She gently opened the door and, peeking behind it at the two does standing near the window. "What hour is it?" She asked shyly.

"Uh. . . It's 11:30" The taller doe answered disconcerted watching at the wristwatch attached to her auburn fur, then glanced at Elain with brown eyes. Despite she had short brown antlers she was still slightly taller than Freya.

"Thanks" Elain said as she walked towards her bed.

The couple glanced at each other.

"So, What's your name?"

"Astrid, Didn't you just say she doesn't want to talk?" Freya whispered out loud only to receive an elbow in her chest, she wheezed.

Elain suppressed a chuckle. "My name is Elain" She said with a little more ease.

"Pretty name! I'm Astrid and this is Freya" She said glancing down at Freya with a Smirk.

"Hey! What do you mean 'this'?" She complained.

Elain glanced at the door. "Well I should be going out there"

"Oh right! The uniforms!" Freya trotted towards her bed.

Astrid rolled her eyes at Freya's reaction. "We will be there in a minute" She assured with a nod.

Elain walked towards the open door and left the room with a smile.

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The whistle blew and training began with a speed test, the objective was to go around the field.

Elain began to gallop along with the other recruits. She narrowed her eyes and looked foward, focusing on the race. Her new clothes tugged to her fur comfortably so that it didn't get in the way.

Soon she began to leave the rest of the runners behind. She unconsciously caught the attention of most of the group, including the sergeant. She only had one recurring thought in mind to bury the silence of the race. I will go back home

The breeze hit her sweatshirt and gently swayed the fur on her face.

Before she noticed, the sergeant called her out with his powerful voice. "ELAIN!"

Elain stopped suddenly as her eyes widened, her rear skidding on the snow. She slowly turned her head to look back at him, terrified by those seconds of silence. "Y-yes?"

"You've crossed the finish line, stop running!"

"I'm so sorry" Her ears pressed against her skull. She actually was several meters beyond the line. The adrenaline that her body generated from running was exhausted and Elain began to pant.

The rest began to reach the finish line, the first was Freya.

"WOOHOO! That was amazing, Elain!" She celebrated with glee as she trotted closer.

"You think so?" Elain's fear expression was replaced with confusion as she cocked her head aside.

"Well, duh!" Freya pointed at the finish line, barely half of the deer had crossed.

Rainer and Astrid approached seconds later.

"How did you do that?" Rainer asked amazed.

"Yeah! How?" Freya emphasized as she took a step foward.

Elain blushed and looked away. "Stop it, There's no secret" She giggled.

The whistle blew again and Elain's ears pinned back, it would take her a while to get used to it.

The following physical tests passed normally. Elain did not stand out, in fact she was left behind due to her lack of stamina. The sweat began to feel uncomfortable under her outfit.

After a long hour, Elain was lying on the floor, panting and squeezing her eyelids. Her companions were near her in line in front of an improvised shooting range as a final test. There was only one rifle for the entire group and it used wooden bullets, it was somewhat disconcerting for everyone except the sergeant.

Once Elain recovered her breath, she sat on the ground and covered her ears with both forehooves before the rifle was fired.

"ELAIN!" The sergeant roared at her with a glare, visibly upset.

Elain quickly lowered her hooves and stood up. "Sorry!"

The first shot rang out, Elain couldn't help but cover herself by ducking behind Astrid, who was the penultimate in the line.

"Hey, It's okay. No one is going to harm you" The taller doe said as she turned around in order to pet Elain's head.

"I'm sorry, I'm not made for this" Elain apologized.

"Then why are you here?" Astrid asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Like I had another choice" She whispered.

Astrid fell silent for a heartbeat. "I see" She turned around as a second shot rang out.

Elain squinted her eyes but quickly got up to avoid being yelled at again.

Each deer had 3 shots to prove their aim. Each shot made Elain wanting to run away, but she knew she had to gather courage.

After a third shot that made Elain flinch, the next one to grab the rifle was Freya. Now Elain focused her gaze on her while, along with Astrid, she held her breath in anticipation.

Freya fired the three shots as fast as the gun would allow her, all three hitting the targets.

After the sound of gunshots stopped, Elain gaped at Freya, She simply replied with a wide smile on her muzzle, waving her hoof.

"Oh well, I didn't know she was that good!" Astrid looked proudly at Freya.

It seems like they've known each other for a long time Elain thought as she glanced at Astrid.

The turns continued to pass, Rainer hit all three shots, although it took him much longer to aim than anyone else, Astrid also took a while to shoot and hit two shots out of three. Now it was Elain's turn.

For the first time, she held a rifle between her hooves, it felt strange. She wanted to hold and appretiate it for a longer time, but, again, she didn't want the sergeant to yell her name again.

She quickly positioned himself, resting the butt of the rifle on her shoulder, just as she saw the others do. Then she pulled the trigger and the bullet was fired, the terrible noise it caused made her flinch and almost drop the rifle. Unfortunately, the shot missed.

What? Am I missing something? She glanced behind her, Rainer was blinking, pointing at his open eye with a hoof. Elain quickly noticed she forgot to aim. She fixed the rifle over her shoulder and closed one eye, aiming for several heartbeats before firing another shot. She flinched again, her right ear began to hurt. When she opened her eyes her face saddened as she saw that the second shot missed too.

Elain glanced at her left, the sergeant was silently taking notes. Everyone was watching her, which didn't help at all.

Her forelegs were shaking, Elain took a deep breath before firing the last shot. This time she didn't flinch but squeezed her eyes, the bullet stuck into the ground, just below the target. Elain was the first and the only one to miss all three shots. Everything went silent for several heartbeats.

"Everyone is free to go back to their accommodations. . . except Elain" The sergeant said bluntly.

All the deer walked back towards the building. Rainer, Astrid and Freya glanced worried at Elain as they passed by.

Elain lowered her ears and wrinkled her muzzle, she was tired and wanted to flee, she also knew this was just the beginning.

The Trident from the Horizon

The fair of Östskog, deer were shopping while fawns played and laughed, jogging from one place to another. The stalls covered the entire street on both sides of the sidewalk, the fair began right at the entrance to the town. Unlike Elain's village, the street was full of life.

The siblings stood after the entrance, Elmer looked fascinated, that would be his first time outside the village. Elain enjoyed seeing her brother so excited and chuckled, she had already been there in previous years, but that time she felt something odd in the surroundings, something that caught her attention and made her suppress her smile. There were soldiers on every corner, deer dressed in pastel blue uniforms and armed with rifles and holstered pistols attached to the back with a strap.

Elain tried not to give it importance and focused her gaze on Elmer, she had to be more aware that her brother didn't get lost. They began to walk between the stalls, some sold food like fruits or cheese, others clothes. There was a wide variety of items that caught Elain's attention. She stopped for a moment to look around.

And when she least expected it, Elmer began to trot foward.

When Elain noticed it her eyes widened as she started chasing him, avoiding colliding with the rest of the deer, which severely slowed her down. Her brother, despite being slower, had the advantage of being smaller to dodge the crowd more easily.

After no more than twenty seconds of chasing, that seemed eternal to Elain, Elmer stopped suddenly, something from one of the stalls caught his attention. She rushed to grab his left forehoof.

"Don't do that again, please. . ." Elain said with a fake smile, trying to hide her nervousness.

Elmer ignored her "Eli, look!" He tried to point to a stall to the right with his right forehoof without losing balance.

Elain sighed and turned her head to see what was catching his attention. It was a stall full of toys, brought from Vaverfront according to the sign, a port city in the east that shares a maritime border with Equestria, famous for its export of wood and toys. She nodded and walked with Elmer towards the stall, still holding his hoof to make sure he wouldn't run away again.

When they got close enough, a hazel-colored deer with brown antlers focused his pink eyes on the siblings and greeted them. What caught Elain's attention was the haute couture suit that deer was wearing.

"Oh, Welcome! Please take a look around, you will not find better quality toys anywhere in the kingdom" He said with a grin.

Because of his bourgeois accent, similar to that of the nobility, Elain deduced that he was from Vaverfront.

"Hi" She said abstinently as she was looking around. The vast majority were wooden toys, they looked perfectly sanded and several were exactly the same, something impossible to do by hoof. Elain wondered how he did it.

"I like this one!" Said Elmer pointing at a small stuffed reindeer among the wooden toys.

"How much for this one?" Elain glanced at the reindeer, then looked up at the seller.

"Depends, how much do you have?" He narrowed his eyes and smiled at her in amusement while resting one hoof on the wood of the stall.

Elain rolled her eyes and put a hoof under her coat, looking for her saddlebag. She felt nothing, She had forgotten her saddlebag at home in her rush.

"Well. . . looks like i forgot the wallet, I think we should just. . . go away" She said embarrassed "Let's go, Elmer" She turned to the right, pulling her brother's hoof towards her.

"Hey, not so fast" The seller said with an almost threatening tone, Elain got scared.

Then something happened that made the world freeze. Elain saw that deer burst into green flames out of the corner of her left eye. Everything became silent for an eternal three seconds.

Elain looked around as several soldiers bursted into green flames too and other figures appeared in their place, black creatures with blue eyes and long fangs in black military uniform pointed their rifles at the remaining deer soldiers.

Gunfire erupted and chaos took over the fair, an uncoordinated stampede of deer began between screams and shots. Elmer was completely paralyzed in shock. Elain didn't understand what was happening, but one thing was clear, she had to get out of there. Almost instinctively, she pulled on her brother's hoof and carried him on her back in a heartbeat, then she began to gallop towards the exit of the town, this time too scared to think about whether she would collide with others.

Above them, a swarm of those creatures approached from the sky to reinforce the attack and prevent civilians from escaping. The few remaining soldiers tried to form a barrier while shooting at the swarm, all of them quickly falling one by one, in a desperate attempt to save as many civilians as possible.

Elain's pupils shrank, she was not prepared to see deer dying, especially not like that. Elmer, didn't make a sound. both fawns had just arrived and the fair turned into hell.

Elain was lucky to be close to the exit since both siblings only went through a few stalls into the fair. She managed to cross the exit, but then one of those creatures landed in front of her, causing her to stop abruptly. The slide of her hooves in the snow brought her closer to that creature. Now they were barely a meter away, this time she could see it in much more detail.

She spotted a print on the side of its steel helmet, the logo was a black trident with blue wings. A weapon visibly more modern than a rifle rested between its holed forehooves. Elain noticed it was a changeling, she heard stories about them but never saw one before, She couldn't tell if it was a mare or a stallion.

The changeling glared with icy eyes and hissed at her with their forked tongue. Elmer screamed in fright. Elain never screamed when she was scared, instead she lowered her head and rammed at the changeling with her antlers, hoping to keep running until she reached the forest, too many things were going through her mind, she was simply acting on instinct. Her reaction caught the changeling off guard and he moved to the side to avoid being rammed, then he started shouting things in a brutal language that she didn't understand, while he clumsily adjusted the gun to point it at her.

Elain kept galloping between gasps as she began to hear bursts of gunshots heading towards her, hitting the snow and causing small splashes of water that reached her fur. Luckily, she was already close enough to use the nearest trees as cover. The changeling didn't follow her, instead he hurried into the fair. She continued running until she went a little further into the forest trees, away from the main path. When she realized that no one was chasing her anymore, she stopped and sat in the snow, letting her brother get off her back.

Elmer sat on the snow next to her sister leaning his back on the trunk of a tree, he was weeping and shaking. Elain hugged him, trying her best to comfort him, although she was shaking too.

After a few minutes, Elain stood up after regaining her composure. She looked around to make sure no one was there following them, the sounds of gunshots coming from the fair had already stopped. She assumed that all the defenders had already died.

"We need to return to the village right now" She said with an altered tone.

"Eli, What was that thing?" Elmer asked timidly.

"A changeling" She paused to breathe. "We don't have time for this, I will explain later"

"Why do they want to harm us, What have we done?"

"I don't know, please, get up. We need to go"

Elain waited for her brother to get up, it didn't take long, then they both walked towards the village at a brisk pace.

Elmer had so many questions, he opened his mouth to start asking again but then glanced at his sister's face, she looked overwhelmed, a look that Elmer had seen very few times so he didn't say anything for the moment, he was afraid of making her upset.

Elain knew that part of the forest, so it was not a problem to find the path. Once they found it she quickened the pace since there were no more fir trees or branches to block the way.

"Hey, wait for me!" Elmer yelled between gasps as he tried to gallop faster to reach her speed.

And they both continued running down the path. It wasn't the most discreet way, but it was the fastest.

They had made good time, in just twenty minutes they were close to the exit of the forest towards the village. Elain decided to stop after noticing her brother was far behind.

"Come on! Mom and Dad are in danger!" She yelled at him.

Elmer couldn't stand the pressure and had to stop to throw up. Elain was panting, unable to think clearly because of her nerves.

After that moment of waiting, looking at Elmer with a wrinkled muzzle, she noticed one of the tips of his left horn was broken, probably from a shot from that changeling.

Elain didn't have time for this, finding her family as soon as possible was the most important thing at that moment, or at least that's what she thought.

"Come here right now! I won't stop again because of you!" She scolded her brother.

Elmer's eyes widened and began running towards her with teary eyes after vomiting, terrified by his sister's unusually threatening tone.

The race resumed at a slower pace for a few more minutes until they finally reached the village.

When Elain arrived at the village, she stood paralyzed in shock for what she found ahead, her pupils shrank.

Most of the cabins in the village were destroyed. There were a few changeling soldiers patrolling the area and two huge metal machines with wheels and a cannon as long as the trunk of a small fir tree.

Elain saw that her cabin was still intact. She shaked her head and motioned for her brother with a forehoof to follow her. She headed to the left, walking behind the first row of trees that faced the village, Elmer went behind her. The plan was to skirt the village until she got as close as possible to her house.

A hoofstep caused a branch to break, Elain jumped in fright. Elmer was about to laugh out loud like last night due to her overrreaction, but Elain put a hoof in his mouth in time.

A pair of changelings who were near the trees became altered, as if they could sense the presence of both fawns in some way.

Elain quickly grabbed her brother in her hooves and sat behind a tree so as not to be discovered, however, she could hear hoofsteps in the snow approaching her position. She could feel her heart pounding against her chest.

A male voice with static sounded out of nowhere, saying things in that unknown language. Elain heard how those hoofsteps were now moving away. She risked a peek and she saw how all the troops were heading south, towards those snowy plains. In the south layed the heart of Olenia, the great cities of Cervus and Hjortland.

Elain sighed in relief and released Elmer, he was completely in silence, both fawns started walking again through the trees until they were already close to their home, they took advantage of the fact that the soldiers were no longer there to get out of the trees. Elain looked around and ran directly towards the door.

The door was half closed, Elain kicked it open and went into the cabin first, no one was in the living room. The property was in a mess, as if a search had been made.

Elmer arrived after Elain, but unlike his sister he spotted something that made him scream and take a few steps back.

Elain turned around abruptly to see what was going on, she saw a stain of fresh blood on the floor, next to the wooden table, her eyes twitched. She turned around again and ran towards the stairs that led to her parents' room and quickly climbed them, tripping a couple of times on the steps. Elmer glanced at the blood stain as he followed her sister up the stairs.

She began jogging down the hallway once up the stairs, this time paying more attention to the details. The door to her parents' room was open. As se approached, she saw the window glass was broken, shattered glass on the floor next to some photo frames and clothes from the closets that were open. Her mother's black coat was lying between them, torn and stained with a few drops of blood.

Elmer arrived and stood behind Elain, she was blocking the way to enter in the room. He didn't understand anything and clearly he wasn't at all aware of the situation. Elmer couldn't resist anymore and started asking questions.

"Eli, What happened here?" He said with an altered tone.

"I- I don't know" She begun walking foward.

"What was that metal cage with wheels?" He entered in the room and stood in the right corner.

"I don't know" This time she took a longer time to answer as she took a look around"

"Where is mom?"

Elain didn't reply. Elmer was behind her, so he couldn't meet her eyes.

"Eli, Where is mom?" He repeated.

Again, Elain didn't reply, she was just standing still in the middle of the room.

He pulled her left rear hoof. Elain gritted her teeth

"Eli?"

"SHUT UP!"

She quickly turned around and glared at him, Elmer pupils shrank, meeting her glare with his own blue eyes. Elain was venting as she glanced around the mess multiple times.

"This is all your fault!" She continued scolding. "We could have arrived on time if you hadn't stopped!" She focused her blodshot eyes on him "You with your stupid questions only make everything worse!"

Elmer reared back and lowered his ears, teary eyes now looking down at the floor.

Elain's eyes widened as she suddenly stopped, consumed by guilt for what she had just done. Her muzzle sunk into a sad expression, but before she could say anything to fix that, one of the portrait frames that was lying on the floor behind Elmer erupted into green fire as another changeling in military uniform appeared behind him, smiling deviously at her.

Elain raised her hooves and grabbed her brother to pull him towards her, or at least that's what she tried when she suddenly felt a solid object that smashed her head away.

Everything went black.

Under the Yoke

Elain woke up lying on a humid wooden floor after a loud growl from her stomach. The room was small and rectangular. Only the sun's rays through a window providing some vision, it was dawn. It took Elain a couple of minutes to regain consciousness, she moved her head to look around and noticed she wasn't alone.

There were many deer of different characteristics and colors, all of them with a hind leg chained to the ground next to the wall with metal shackles. Elain felt too weak to count how many they were, but she could notice they were acting strange, all of them had their eyes lost and were sitting in silence. It seemed as if they were dead in life.

There was a door infront of her. Elain tried to get up, but then she heard the sound of metallic tinkling, she turned her head back and looked down to notice that her own rear hoof was chained against the floor of that seedy room, although she was still wearing her cyan coat. She sighed and looked foward, then sat on the wood, like the rest of the deer and adjusted the cord of her coat around her neck.

"Hello? Where am I?" She tried as she casted an glance around the herd in the room. No one replied back.

From outside Elain heard footsteps on the snowy ground approaching the door. She suddenly remembered what happened last time she was awake.

The changelings must have captured me.

She laid back on the floor and closed her eyes, pretending she was still unconscious. She heard a kick that violently opened the door, hitting it against the wall. The sunlight illuminated the room.

Elain ajarred her right eye and saw three changelings on the door, two of them armed and wearing that military uniform with the helmet. The changeling in the middle wore a gray uniform with medals hanging on the chest, on his head rested a black cap with that winged trident embroidered in gray on the front. His purple eyes differentiated him from the rest of the changelings.

The three changelings where talking to each other in that language Elain couldn't understand. But she could recognize a name among their words, referring to the purple-eyed changeling "General Pharynx".

After a few minutes judging his movements and tone, Pharynx was upset and wanted something from the deer. The other two changelings stood stiffly professionally, weapons between their holed hooves. Elain felt her heart pounding.

Pharynx fell silent and focused his gaze on Elain, a malicious smirk appeared on his muzzle as he licked his fangs.

"I know you are awake" He turned into Olenian language with his rough voice.

Elain pinned her ears back as she remained on the floor scared, still pretending to be unconscious. Pharynx clicked his tongue as he begun approaching.

"I'm not in the mood to play, fawn. Get up"

Elain didn't move, she was scared and doubtful, wishing that all that were just a nightmare. The hoofsteps stopped right infront of her, suddenly she felt a kick on her stomatch that made her wheeze. She coughed and risked a look up, pale blue eyes met purples. Pharynx analyzed her for a brief moment.

"You should eat something if you want to last more than one harvest" He glanced at one of the guards on the door. The guard left the weapon on the door frame and grabbed a bucket full of apples, he poured them on the floor for every deer to eat. Some deer reacted slowly to grab an apple, others didn't move. Elain scrunched her muzzle, but she was starving.

"W-where's my brother?" She said with a shaky voice as she frowned at the changeling.

"I don't know, neither I care. I just give the orders" He stared back with a serene look. "But don't you worry, as soon as this war is over we will release you"

Elain was really confused, she didn't understand what was the point of their actions, she remained silent. Pharynx simply turned around and walked out of the room, both changelings grabbed the bucket and the weapon and walked away behind him, then closed the door. The room became dark again except for the light coming through the window.

Elain sat again and took a look around the herd once again, some of them staring at nothing, others focusing on their apple and eating slowly.

"What is wrong with all of you?" She asked concerned.

After several heartbeats finally someone replied.

"Love harvest" A tired female voice answered from her left.

"What?" She turned her head to that side to meet a doe that looked two decades older than her. Tired hazel eyes stared at her with an expressionless muzzle. The sun's rays dimly illuminated her white horns and her green jacket.

"The changelings are here to invade, their next target is Vaverfront" A male voice replied from the right corner next to the door. Elain looked ahead, he was a buck with light green horns barely a few years older than her. He was wearing that pastel blue uniform she saw in the fair.

"I don't understand, Why are they doing this? Why are we here?"

"They feed on the emotions they extract from other living beings, that's why they want us"

Elain gasped. "I need to get out of here and find my brother!"

The older doe sighed. "Good luck figuring out how, fawn" She laid on the floor and closed her eyes.

"We can only wait and have faith" He said downhearted.

"Wait for what" Elain asked confused.

"For the oportunity to break out."

Elain's stomatch growled again, then she looked at the few apples left on the floor. This time she grabbed one of them and bit into it eagerly.

The buck laid on the floor but remained alert.

About an hour passed judging by the position of the sun. The deer had already recovered from their trance state, the doe to her left was sleeping. Elain was lying melancholically on the floor, still hungry.

The door opened and the sunlight illuminated the inside of that seedy shack once again. Elain raised her ears and squinted at the door. A squad of armed changelings entered and began unchaining the deer with keys. The weapons rested on their side with a strap.

"Wake up, it's time to work" One of them said with a strong accent.

The changeling begun unchaining that buck in Olenian military uniform, the buck suddenly pounced on him. Elain's ears pinned back and her eyes widened. The changeling fell backwards on the floor and hissed up to him. The buck tried to kill the changeling with bare hooves but a bullet pierced his temple before he could put a hoof on him, the sound of the gunshot made Elain flinch, she covered her eyes with her forehooves to avoid looking at the scene. The blood spread across the floor, splashing onto the nearby deer and the changeling on the ground.

One of the changelings was in the door, pointing at the corpse with a pistol whose design was particular, smoke coming out of its barrel.

"Don't try anything stupid or you will end up like him" He said with a hiss.

The changeling remained on the door frame, pistol in hoof. The changeling on the floor got up and left the building, muttering something in that unknown language, he looked upset. The two remaining changelings kept unchaining all the deer one by one, no other altercation occurred.

All the deer filed out the door. Elain remained on the floor with covered eyes. The changeling who unchained her kicked her flank.

"Get in line!" He hissed.

She quickly rose on trembling hooves and walked foward, trying to avoid looking at the corpse. She left the shack and was escorted by more armed changelings. The change in luminosity after going outside made Elain wrinkle her muzzle and close her eyes for a moment, then she looked around as she walked.

There were many shacks around like the one Elain was in, and the horizon was covered by a tall metal fence, it seemed like everything had been built quickly. In front of her was the entire herd of deer walking in a row, she was the last one. On the sides and behind her were a dozen changelings, most armed with normal rifles, it seemed that the most modern models were reserved for the battlefield.

"Where are we going?" She risked asking.

One of the changelings pushed her forward. "Keep walking"

Elain almost stumbled, but regained her balance and kept walking.

They finally stopped when they reached an area far from the shacks, still inside the fenced area, the ground was full of rocks. A pile of pickaxes rested in front of the rocks.

One of the changelings was standing infront of the deer, he wore a different uniform with a cap instead of a helmet. All the deer in the enclosure gathered in a square position. The changelings forced the herd to join the square and then the officer begun counting deer one by one. Elain glanced around, looking for her brother, but there was no fawns between the crowd.

"Now each one of you will grab a pickaxe and mine until the twilight, otherwise you will be shot" The officer said dryly as he pointed at the tools with a hoof.

Elain had no choice, all the armed changelings were watching at the deer. She approached to grab a pickaxe with a hoof, she felt the tool heavy, it almost fell off her shaking hoof so she stood up on two hooves and grabbed the pickaxe with both forehooves.

Elain had never mined in her life, she didn't know what she had to do, she simply observed the deer around her and imitated their movements. Some grabbed the tool with their forehooves, others with their mouths. Elain began to mine, raising her pickaxe over her head with difficulty and sticking it into the stone, repeatedly but slowly. The effort made her wrinkle her face every time she raised the pickaxe.

After several minutes, a buck around her age panicked, threw his pickaxe on the ground and ran towards the fence. Elain widened her eyes and lowered her ears at that, but the changelings did nothing about it. When he touched the fence, he received an electric shock. He didn't get up from the ground, no one knew if he was still alive, the changelings didn't care.

Elain was shaking, more from fear than from muscle fatigue, she just wanted to go home to her family and was fighting the urge to run away. She continued working, no one started talking, they preferred to save their strength to get through the day.

After three hours, Elain couldn't take it anymore, her legs hurt too much. She left the pickaxe on the ground, fortunately more than five minutes passed until one of the guards noticed, he yelled something in his language and pointed his gun at her. Elain jumped in fright and quickly grabbed the pickaxe again. For a few moments she felt it lighter, but it wasn't long before it became heavier between her hooves again as she lifted it. She wanted to cry, she was hungry and tired, she was afraid and uncertain. But what weighed most on her was not that tool but the last words she dedicated to Elmer, she knew that memory would haunt her conscience for a long time.

Most of the changelings had already left, they took turns from time to time, Elain could see how some of them were playing cards at some outdoor tables.

why do they do this to us? I don't know them. Is this the end? Where's Elmer? Where are my parents?

Several thoughts were going through her head, she felt helpless.

The older deer could no longer continue after four more hours, some had already passed out, including the doe she spoke to earlier. Fortunately the sun was already going down behind the mountain range. Elain didn't know what part of the kingdom she was in.

"psst" someone called out behind her.

Elain turned arond after sticking the pickaxe into the rock one last time. It was that young buck with light green horns and Olenian uniform, Elain stared at his brown eyes in shock.

"How. . . I thought you. . ." She begun with a tired voice as she widened her eyes in terror, like she was seeing a ghost. She thought maybe she was hallucinating due to hunger and overwork.

"I will explain later, it's the perfect time to go now" He wispered and pointed to a guard. Elain glanced around and saw that the few remaining changelings were apparently sleeping.

He turned around and begun to walk towards the shacks. Elain followed him.

"The exit is on the other side, let's go"

Elain slowly nodded, she walked with difficulty because of her leg pain. The buck slowed down.

Why did he pick me and left everyone else there? She thought, but she was too tired to ask it out loud.

They both continued walking slowly among the wooden buildings in the evening light, there was absolutely no one around them, everything was silent. For the first time since she arrived, Elain felt calm.

The buck and the doe arrived to the main door, it was closed.

"How are you going to open it?" She tilted her head.

She barely finished the sentence when suddenly she heard that damn sound behind her, that flaming sound she heard when that fair vendor turned into a changeling, her ears pinned back. Elain looked around and saw how they were both surrounded by six guards. She was terrified, she instinctively closed her eyes and hugged tightly to one of the buck's legs. Nothing happened, not a single sound, every second the tension grew.

After several heartbeats Elain heard that flaming sound again, this time much closer. She opened her eyes and realized she was hugging a changeling's foreleg.

The changeling began to laugh out loud, then the other six followed and high-fived each other with their hooves. Elain let go of his leg and fell on the snow from fright, surrounded by those seven guards who were laughing at her. Elain's eyes where teary, her pupils shaking, she did her best not to burst into tears in that place.

"This was funny, but is time to go back" said the changeling who deceived her as he wiped away his tears from laughing so much. Two of the changelings helped her up and escorted her back as the other five walked away cheering and talking to each other.

Elain walked on shacky hooves all the way to the shack, the sun had already set.

One of the guards opened the door, the deer were already chained in place, some of them narrowed their eyes at the guards. The guard forced Elain to walk to her spot at the end of the room, then chained her hind leg. The other guard stood in the doorway with a pistol on his hoof, to make sure no deer would attack them.

Both changelings left the building and closed the door. Everything became dark and silent in that humid room, like when Elain woke up, but now she was physically and emotionally exhausted.

The deer started talking to each other about how they missed their homes, about their professions, about their lives before entering that place, everyone shared names and stories but Elain did not pay attention to any of their words, she remained lying on the floor lost in her thoughts.

Why are they so cruel?

The door opened again, this time it was the dim moonlight that partially illuminated the room. A pair of changelings entered without saying anything, one with a bucket of apples and the other with a tray full of small wooden glasses, they handed out an apple and a glass of water to each deer one by one.

The changeling carrying the bucket of apples looked at Elain after leaving her an apple, Elain looked up and made eye contact with her. That changeling had Elain's age, she was saddened by the expression on Elain's face and decided to leave her a second apple when the other guard wasn't looking. Elain blinked and her expression changed momentarily, she now looked confused. The changeling turned around and, without saying anything, both guards left the room and closed the door.

Elain started to eat eagerly while the deer resumed their conversation.

"And why are they invading our land? Simply because they are hungry?"

"They want resources to continue building tanks and planes" Elain thought on those terrifying vehicles she saw in her village.

"I heard they want to attack Equestria"

"I think they are testing their weapons on us before daring to attack the ponies"

Elain this time was paying attention to the conversation as she chewed on her second apple, filling her stomach relieved her.

"It's all King Johan's fault, Chrysalis offered an alliance before this war started"

"Lie! that bug only wanted to enslave us from the beginning. The king did the right thing by rejecting"

And several deer entered into a political debate, Elain did not speak at any time, nor did she understand anything about the debate, she just ate her apples and laid on he floor.

Finally everyone quieted after a long time arguing, Elain didn't have a watch, but in her mind about two hours had passed.

All the deer were already asleep, the room was completely dark, the moonlight through the window was barely noticeable. When the silence returned, thoughts flooded Elain's mind again.

Elmer, Mom, Dad. I hope you can forgive me, I hope you are okay. I have been a bad sister, I'm just an useless fawn. Even these bugs mock at me for how incredulous I am.

She curled on the floor.

Elain was finally relatively alone and had a moment of rest. She began to sob silently until she fell asleep.

Motti

Has been five days since Elain woke up in that place. She was walking in a line of deer escorted by some changelings, like every morning, going to her next job without knowing what it would be. During those days, Elain was forced to do different jobs, such as making weapons, sewing uniforms or carrying heavy materials. The changelings had said that day was the time of the weekly love harvest. It was a particularly cold and cloudy day where the heat of the sun did not reach.

Elain looked at the ground as she walked slowly, the pain in her back and front legs was unbearable. She was afraid that the harvest would kill her, she was worried about finding Elmer, but there was nothing the weak doe could do except accept her fate.

Is this the end? Will I die in here? Elain thought, She felt tired, the headache didn't let her think about anything else.

A buck walking next to Elain patted her on the back. Elain looked up to meet his blue eyes with a tired expression on hers. His name was Rainer, he was eighteen years old and arrived to the camp two days ago, since then both of them had gotten to know each other, chatting to pass the time during those long nights at the shack. However, Elain deep inside thought he was another changeling playing a cruel prank on her, like last time, he looked too carefree.

"Don't worry, we'll get out of here" He said with calm, trying to cheer her up.

"You already said that" She snipped and fixed her gaze on the snowy ground.

Rainer rolled his eyes, then took his hoof out from under his brown coat to look at his watch tied to his hazel fur with a black leather leash. He used to look at his watch frequently.

In the middle of the walk, she heard a distant explosion that made her ears twitch. She looked up and saw how all those changelings who were escorting the deer ran in one direction, shouting words in their language, a siren began to sound. It didn't take long for Elain to realize that they were under attack. At that moment, all her good memories flashed through her mind, she wanted to go back, she realized that was worth to fight for it, and she saw the perfect time to act as a ray of hope enlightening her light blue eyes. She turned around and ran away towards the buildings, then the herd dispersed. Rainer followed her.

Elain wasn't running, rather she jogged with difficulty due to the pain. She reached the shacks and then walked through the gaps between them, It didn't take long for her to feel fatigued, she was weak due to the weight loss. Despite everything, she continued her march towards the front door.

Some shots began to be heard coming from one side of the fence. Elain stopped for a moment as her ears twitched again, then she spontaneously changed direction towards the battle. The short journey went without problems. Among the narrow corridors she only found another doe that was running towards the door and almost collided with her, but at least she didn't see any changeling.

Elain's breathing, slightly labored, left puffs of steam that faded into the frigid air. She reached the last line of shacks facing the fence and stood behind one of them. She took a deep breath and then stuck her head over the edge to take a look.

A hoof grabbed her by the coat and pulled her back almost instantly. Elain could barely see a pair of changelings shooting towards the mountain in front of the destroyed fence before feeling the cord strangling her throat. Elain sat down, getting covered by that wooden wall as she clasped a hoof on her throat while coughing.

"Was that necessary?" She complained and glared up to meet Rainer's eyes staring down at her with disappointment.

"What do you think you are doing? Do you want your head to be blown off?" Rainer said with unusual indifference as he dropped her coat.

"I'm getting out of this hell!" She replied upset.

"I told you we will get out of here, just wait" He said with a dull voice.

"Wait for what?"

He genuinely shrugged.

Several heartbeats passed until another explosion sounded near them. Elain pinned her ears back as she ducked on the ground reflexively with shrunken pupils. Rainer chuckled at her reaction, Elain glared at him again, but it's like he really knew what was going to happen.

"Who are you?" Elain kept staring up at him, now with a confused look.

"What do you mean? You already know me" He offered a hoof to help her up with a smirk on his muzzle.

"Nevermind. . ." Elain accepted his hoof, getting up on all fours.

the shooting had stopped after a few minutes. Elain came out from behind the shack to peek towards where the fence was, despite of what Rainer just said to her, but this time he didn't pull her back.

The field was weakly defended, the few changeling guards laid dead in the snow. In front of her were a large number of convoys parked, Elain counted at least thirty. The vehicles were the first models, the truck bed at the back was short and covered by a fabric roof

Around the trucks, several deer soldiers wearing the Olenian military uniform, some of them riding skis. It wasn't an army, but an expeditionary force that had come to rescue the prisoners.

The siren was still sounding, the changeling reinforcements would soon arrive.

Rainer approached to the to the corner of the shack and saw the armed deer.

"Now is time! We need to go" He smiled and grabbed Elain's hoof.

Elain pulled back her hoof so as not to be dragged. "Wait! What about my brother?!" She said worried.

"There's no fawns in this camp, he's not here"

"I know, but he could be near this camp" She tried.

Rainer sighed.

"He will be fine, We will come back for him" He lied.

Elain was concerned and paralyzed by doubt.

"But now we have to go! The bugs are coming!" He pulled her hoof again.

Elain slowly nodded and began jogging behind him towards the trucks.

Most of the deer soldiers had gone into the camp to rescue as many prisoners as possible.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" A soldier shouted. several of the remaining soldiers between the convoys raised their rifles against Rainer and Elain. She stopped abruptly by sitting on the snow as she lowered her ears and widened her eyes, Rainer stopped right infront of her.

"We are not bugs!" Rainer shouted back at the soldier.

"I will decide that!" The soldier spontaneously shot at Elain, the bullet ended up embedded in the snow next to her foreleg, a few centimeters from her. Elain jumped in terror and hid behind Rainer, hugging his hind legs. Rainer was concerned.

The soldiers lowered their rifles. A changeling would not be able to maintain their illusion in the face of such a scare, unless they were very well trained.

"Get on one of the convoys, fast!" The soldier said.

Is this their way of detecting changelings? Elain stood up again. They both began running towards the nearest convoy, taking advantage of the momentum, Rainer jumped into the bed of the truck, Elain did the same after him. There was no one inside, they were the first.

Elain sat, leaning her back against the short wooden wall of the platform, then she clasped a hoof on her chest and raised her head towards the roof as she panted, Rainer sat infront of her, leaning against the other end of the inside.

"How did you know they would rescue us?" Elain asked after recovering her breathing, then fixed her gaze on Rainer.

"I just had faith" He said with satisfaction.

"What? I can't believe that" Elain shook her head. "Do you work for the army or something?"

Rainer cocked an eyebrow, then giggled. "I am neither a soldier nor a seer. Sometimes believing helps"

Elain crossed her forelegs. "That's stupid, what a waste of time" She narrowed her eyes.

"You may not believe in deities or spirits, but doing it gives you hope to move forward" He changed to a neutral expression on his muzzle.

"You can lie to yourself all you want, but you're not going to get anything done if all you do is sit on your ass all day"

"Well, that's not what i meant to say"

"Does that mean you won't help me find Elmer?!" Elain interrupted as she stomped both forehooves on the platform and shouted with a higher pitched voice than usual.

"What?"

The conversation stopped due to the sound of another explosion from the other side of the camp, both of them looked outside. The soldiers were coming back, running along with a large number of prisoners.

The expeditionaries were few, but with their skis they quickly surrounded the field and caught the changelings off guard. Still, they had nothing more than a few transport trucks and rifles. There was no artillery, no planes, no combat vehicles, if they didn't get out of there soon they could be crushed by the changelings.

"EVERYONE ON BOARD!"

"COME ON! COME ON!"

The soldiers shouted as they stood on both sides of each convoy, holding their weapons while the deer began to board the convoys in an uncoordinated manner. Elain moved to the back corner to make room for the others, the truck filled quickly as its chassis bounced. The driver turned on the engine and began to accelerate rapidly right after everyone went up.

"We will talk about this later" Rainer said.

Elain just gazed towards the camp through the spot between the fabric roof and the short wooden door on the back of the convoy.

Whooshing sounds began to be heard in the distance after a couple of minutes, but the deer had not brought any planes. It was probably the Luftwaffe, the changeling air force, Rainer told Elain about it last night. Although she couldn't see it because the roof of the convoy was in the way, She neither wanted to risk sticking her head out of the vehicle to take a look.

Elain saw around her how most deer began to pray silently, including Rainer, some of them cried with joy for having left that place, but that joy wouldn't last long until they realized something from the sky was approaching. Elain just looked around with concern, she had never seen a fighter plane, not even now that she heard them approaching. Elain had no idea what could happen to her, yet she couldn't stop wondering where Elmer and the rest of the fawns were.

The truck's chassis vibrated in coordination with the engine, which was operating at maximum power. Every minute that passed the planes were closer, the terrifying sound they produced became louder and louder until powerful bursts of gunshots began to sound. Elain closed her eyes and covered her ears with her hooves as she stuck to the corner, she began to hear screams of fear from the other deer that were with her.

The fabric roof was torn by the ammunition, cruelly ending the life of a doe that sat next to Elain. She noticed liquid splashing on her fur, but she remained trembling with eyes and ears covered.

A couple of soldiers who were in the truck took their rifles out of the platform, pointing towards the sky, desperately returning fire at the plane that was shooting at them. The plane began to fly upwards to prevent any lucky shots from reaching the cockpit.

The chase continued across the tundra. The convoys dispersed as the changeling aircraft continued the attack. Elain noticed how the sound of the planes had decreased, as they all dispersed in order to keep chasing all the convoys, but there was still one chasing the one she was in. She decided to open her eyes. The first thing she saw were five corpses lying on the platform, including one of the two soldiers. Rainer had taken his rifle to take his position, firing upwards at the plane.

The plane fired another burst of bullets towards the convoy. Elain saw everything pass slowly before her eyes, she could hear her heartbeat as she looked at the bullets impacting on the corpses that were lying in the middle of the platform. Fortunately no one died this time. When the shooting from the plane stopped she glanced down to her left side. Her coat was partially stained with blood, as was her fur, but that blood was not hers, it was from the doe that was now lying on the floor.

The sound of that powerful engine slowly ceased, the plane decided to withdraw, maybe to regroup with the rest. Rainer collapsed on the platform, the deer in the convoy could breathe a sigh of relief. Elain remained motionless with narrowed pupils. The situation was uncomfortable, the convoy had managed to escape, but with so many corpses lying on the truck bed no one dared to celebrate.

The journey continued without further interruption for a few hours. Elain managed to compose herself. The blood on her fur bothered her, she thought about wiping it with her own coat, but she reconsidered in a heartbeat and decided that that coat was too important since it was the only thing she had left.

Elain wondered where they were going, the convoy had been driving south for a few hours and had already regrouped with others. Rainer was sitting, staring at his rifle, Elain did not pay attention to him or the rest of the surviving deer, she felt weak.

"Thanks for the help, you handle the rifle quite well" The soldier who was still alive addressed Rainer with a deep voice.

"I was doing military service before the war started, so I already have some experience" Rainer shruged and smiled up at him.

"What's your name?"

"Rainer, what's yours?"

"Elias" He said as he adjusted the collar of his pastel blue coat with a hoof. Her dark fur offset the white color of her horns, then he slung the rifle over his shoulder by the strap.

"Where are we going?" Finally a doe asked, cutting off the conversation. Elain's ears twitched.

"Hjortland, you all will be safe there" Elias cleared his throat and softened his voice. "We have food and shelter for you when we arrive"

"Wait!" Elain interrupted. "What about the fawns?" She met Elias's brown eyes with a pleading expression on hers.

"Um. . . We didn't find any, we have no idea what the bugs did to them" He looked away with an apologetic look.

Rainer coughed.

Elain bit her lower lip and glared down at the floor. Elmer, Where are you? She wondered.

"But we are working to find them" Elias tried to comfort her. Then he began to cover the corpses with thin white blankets as he resumed the talk with Rainer. Some deer looked sadly at the scene, others preferred to look away at the landscape.

"We need as much help as possible, we could use a new soldier in our ranks"

"Sure, It will be a pride to defend the kingdom" He said with a confident expression on his muzzle.

"Come with me after lunch" Elias offered.

Rainer nodded.

Maybe I should join the army too. . . Elain was determined to find her brother at any cost, but for now the best thing she could do was rest. She decided to sleep by curling in the corner of the truck bed until the journey ends.

Hjortland

Elain woke up slowly as a hoof tapped her shoulder, she felt annoyingly weak and hungry, not to mention the blood on her fur, which was now dry.

"Mmh. . . What now?" She looked up with narrowed eyes

"Wake up, we are already here" Rainer called out.

The engine no longer sounded, the convoy was stopped. Elain yawned and got up slowly, her limbs still hurt from the soreness.

"mmh. . . What time is it?"

Rainer raised his hoof to look at his watch. "It's 4PM"

Elain rubbed her eyes, then squinted and looked around, all the deer were already gone. She pushed herself up with her front legs to sit on the platform, the effort made her grimace, showing her teeth.

"Follow me, sleepyhead" He said in a mocking tone, then jumped off the truck, Elain did the same a few moments later, she almost collapsed on the floor after jumping, but she managed to keep her balance.

She begun following Rainer, who was walking towards a stall. Three volunteers were serving soup from a cauldron in front of a double line of refugees. Elain's mouth watered when the smell reached her nose as she gazed at the cauldron, her stomach roared, her ears twitched due to the sound as she blushed slightly. Rainer ignored that.

When they reached the queue, Elain took some time to observe her surroundings. The truck was parked in a large square plaza along with another dozen vehicles, it seemed like the others had not managed to escape. The plaza was surrounded by tall buildings with a huge opening on one side. The landscape was much more overwhelming than Elain could have imagined.

Many deer walked around the square, going to different directions, some in groups and others alone, sometimes glancing at the refugees.

"Mom, what is going on there?" A fawn asked and pointed a hoof at the stall, Elain looked at him, the fawn stared back. He seemed to be wearing some kind of black costume.

"Nothing dear, let's go home" The mother grabbed his hoof and started walking hurriedly until they got out of the square. Elain looked confused. She also noticed that the doe, like the rest of civilians, was wearing garments of apparently greater tailoring than Elain was used to seeing.

Elain shook her head and looked somewhere else. She noticed the whole square was decorated with orange and black balloons, skulls and cobwebs, that made her raise an eyebrow.

"Ahem, I think this is yours"

Elain's left ear twitched as she turned her head to look behind her, Rainer was offering her a bowl filled with watery soup, he was holding another one on his right hoof.

"Oh! Thank you" She said as she quickly grabbed the bowl. Rainer nodded.

Both deer began walking out of the queue to the left towards a nearby bench in a corner of the square.

Elain sat first, holding her steaming bowl with both forehooves, despite how hot the soup was she quickly dipped her muzzle into the soup and began to drink in gulps. Rainer sat to her left and started to sip his soup after a few seconds, if he made any gestures towards Elain, she hadn't noticed.

"So this is your first time in the capital" Rainer began. "have you ever wanted to come here?"

Elain raised her head and stared at him, with her mouth closed and a slightly surprised expression, broth dripping down her chin.

Rainer raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her muzzle, Elain noticed and quickly wiped away the broth with a foreleg.

"No" She shook her head. "Well yes, but not like this"

Rainer sipped on his bowl as he glanced at her.

She continued, looking away with narrowed eyes. "I wanted to come here with my family but" Her voice trailed off.

Elain didn't told Rainer about the anxiety attack she had before losing her brother, in fact she always avoided talking about that day at all.

"I'm sorry" Rainer interrupted. Elain nodded slightly and lowered her muzzle to the bowl to continue sipping. They both stayed quiet for a few minutes.

Elain raised the bowl over her head as she emptied it, then placed it aside while she sighs sated.

"And what about your family? You haven't told me anything yet" Elain asked as she wiped her muzzle again, then glanced at Rainer.

Rainer stared down at his bowl as a smile began to appear on his muzzle. "I live with my parents in Cervus. My mother likes to carve wooden figurines and owns a store. My father has been a radio fan since it was invented and works making them-"

"Wait, Cervus is far away from the frontier, How were you captured there?" Elain tilted her head to her right.

"I don't choose where they take me to do my military training" Rainer chuckled. "They assigned me me to Östskog so I had to go there" He paused for a heartbeat and raised his gaze forward. "Speaking of which, I have to go talk to Elias"

"You mean that soldier?" Elain asked rhetorically.

Rainer nodded and stood up, his bowl already empty was left in the bench.

"Let me accompany you" Elain also got up, with less difficulty than before, but her limbs still hurt.

"Uh. . . Sure, come with me" He said with some hesitation.

Elain began walking slowly after Rainer, looking around once more, those strange decorations were everywhere. Plastic spiders hanging from lampposts and pumpkins with carved faces in each corner that somehow combined with the cloudy sky that partially blocked the sunlight.

Are they somehow celebrating samhain? Elain asked to herself as hoofsteps sank into the thin layer of snow.

Both deer walked past the soup stall, which was already closed. Elain squinted at the opposite corner of the square as they walked towards it, she could see a white tent with a white flag on its top representing the head of a deer and two swords in pastel blue, same color as the top and bottom edges of the flag. That was the flag of the Kingdom of Olenia, Elain noticed that its blue color matched that of the military uniforms. There was a small table in front of the tent.

There were still plenty of deer around, but there was also enough space in the square so that it didn't seem so crowded. Elain and Rainer walked with hardly any obstacles. As they approached, Elain saw that there was no one in the tent except for two soldiers talking to each other, she recognized one of them was Elias.

The two soldiers stopped talking and looked at Rainer once he got close enough.

"Ah! Rainer, here you are" Elias said with a grin.

Before Rainer could say anything Elias started again. "Wait here a moment, please, I'll be right back" Then he went inside the tent. Rainer blinked.

One of the other soldiers approached him, he was wearing a pair of medals on the chest of his uniform.

"I'm sorry for the rush" He said bluntly. "Since coordination on the border has collapsed, we must re-establish some papers with recruits who were there"

"I understand" Rainer slightly nodded.

"Lieutenant Gormsson" He offered his hoof, Rainer shaked it with his own.

Elain stepped aside and sat in the snow. She felt like she was being ignored. However, she remained silent, watching the scene from one side between both bucks a few meters away from them. When should I ask to join? She thought.

Elias suddenly came out of the tent with a paper sheet full of text on his mouth. He put the contract on the table and tapped it where Rainer was supposed to sign. "I have already prepared your papers, all you have to do is sign below"

There was a pen on the table, Rainer took it with his mouth and signed it before leaving the pen back on the table.

I have to ask, but not yet I think . . . Elain looked nervous as she began tapping her forehooves on the snow, her gaze had drifted to the ground.

"Well, everything is ready" The Lieutenant said.

"Oh wow, that was fast" Rainer replied as he slightly tilted his head.

The soldiers ignored Rainer's comment. "You will be assigned to-"

"WAIT!" Elain cutted off and looked up at them.

Everyone looked at Elain, the lieutenant frowned at her, apparently upset for having been interrupted.

The doe covered in dried blood splatters faced the lieutenant's frown with a look of determination on her blue eyes as she cleared her throat. However, her voice betrayed her and she began with a trembling voice. "I-I want to join the army too"

Everyone remained silent for several heartbeats as the two soldiers analyzed Elain from top to bottom.

Rainer tried to contain himself but failed miserably and burst into laughter. Gormsson cocked an eyebrow and Elain glared at him. Rainer quickly suppressed his laughter with a forced cough. "Sorry" He hastened to say.

Gormsson began to whisper something at Elias as he glanced at Elain. Elias nodded several times. Elain stood up, then stared back at them.

Elias walked into the tent once again. This time it only took him a few seconds to come out with a blank sheet of paper on his mouth. "Alright, tell me your full name" He left the paper over the table and took with his mouth the pen Rainer just used to sign.

"Uh. . ." She hesitated because of her nerves. "Elain Olsen"

Elias wrote it on the paper sheet as Elain approached to the short wooden table.

"Birthdate?"

"November 1, 991"

He wrote it down beneath the name.

"We will formalize the document later, don't worry. Now sign down here please. "he grabbed the pen with a hoof, then offered it to Elain.

Elain retracted her head as she looked concerned at the pen. "I don't have a signature" She said embarrassed.

Elias glanced at the lieutenant Gormsson with a puzzled look.

Gormsson quickly came to help. "It's fine, just draw an X"

Elain grabbed the pen with her own hoof to draw an X. Rainer approached behind her. "Are you sure about this?" He whispered.

"I have to do this, I'm not going to sit around doing nothing while my family is missing" She whispered back, struggling to keep her voice low.

Elias took the paper from the table with his mouth and walked inside the tent for the third time.

Gormsson cleared his throat. "Tomorrow morning you two will be sent to the northern military base to train together with the 13th infantry brigade, Any questions?" His deep voice sounded with authority.

A lot . . . Elain thought, but she didn't want to test the lieutenant's patience.

Rainer stood rigid. "No sir!" He shouted.

Elain's ears pinned back, then Gromsson looked at her, she just she shook her head vigorously.

Gromsson suppressed a chuckle. "Rest for today, dismissed!" He turned around and walked slowly inside the tent.

Once he was out of sight, both deer began walking towards the large exit of the square, the shelter could be seen in the distance. The sky was clearing of clouds and the sun was already hiding behind the sea.

"What now?" Elain asked after several heartbeats.

"We can go to the shelter and check if your family is there" Rainer offered.

Elain stopped as her pupils shrank. She felt like a block of ice falling into her stomach. SHIT!

Rainer stopped after her. "Yeah, I wanted to tell you before you sign that but. . ."

Elain panicked. "Did I just join the army for nothing?!" She yelled in a high-pitched voice.

"Wow! Hey, calm down!" Rainer stood infront of her, looking down at her blue eyes with his. "You are going to fight for your country!" His voice ringing with encouragement.

"ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!" She roared at Rainer, frowning up at his eyes. Rainer bit his cheek from the inside. "I don't care about that! I just want to see my family!"

"Let's check the shelter first, okay?" He changed the topic in a strange attempt to tranquilize her.

Elain found Rainer annoying, however, She didn't have many options, he was her only company in the big city. She closed her eyes and took a deep sigh. It's fine, what matters now is finding Elmer, Mom and Dad, we will see what happens next She mentally said to herself.

They both resumed their walk towards the shelter. The journey was downhill, something that Elain was grateful for, although they needed to go through some streets.

As they began walking between the buildings, Elain soon noticed a lustrous and cheerful lighting on the street lamps made up of a bunch of small orange and purple lights linked by a black wire. Fawns dressed in a variety of costumes that Elain found exotic eagerly went from house to house asking for sweets. She obviously knew this tradition. However, there were several new things such as drawings of supposed ghosts hanging on the walls or the little colored lights themselves.

While they were both distracted looking around, a small figure wrapped in what looked like a trimmed white sheet ran towards them, its antlers stood out in a funny way from under the sheet.

The fawn crashed into Rainer's chest with small antlers, luckily no sharp parts went through. Rainer wheezed and widened his eyes as the fawn fell sitting in the snow, their basket of sweets flew out.

Elain winced but quicky put a hoof on her muzzle and began to chuckle.

"I-I'm so sorry Sir" From that tone of voice, Elain assumed it was a female. The fawn began to pick up her sweets from the ground. Rainer growled.

Elain slowly approached the fawn and stroked her head. "It's okay, just be more careful next time" She said with a tender voice as a genuine smile appeared on her muzzle.

The fawn nodded, although no one could see her expresion, her costume didn't even have a pair of holes for the eyes to see through. At least the sheet was thin enough to see something from inside.

Elain gently picked up the fawns basket and offered it to her. Rainer glanced moodily at the fawn as he got up.

"Thank you!" The fawn said happily as she grabbed the basket. After picking up the few candies she had on the ground she ran away.

Rainer frowned. "Pfft! of course it's easy when you're not the one who's been hit"

Elain smirked in amusement to the annoyed buck when suddenly another fawn wrapped in what appears to be toilet paper almost crashed into her, the fawn passed right in front of her. Elain jumped back involuntarily and flinched. Rainer smiled at her with satisfaction.

"Okay! let's get out of here" Elain said after regaining composure as fast as she could, then began walking forward avoiding looking at Rainer, however, she could still hear his laughter.

They both continued walking through the illuminated alleys without further interruptions.

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Elain stood infront of the entrance. The shelter was relatively far from the rest of the buildings. Its white walls matched the color of the stars, although they were seen much less than before.

She took a deep breath before opening the double metal door. The door creaked open and revealed to Elain a gigantic room full of simple and poor quality beds with only a small iron base supporting the thin mattress. Possibly where all the refugees who fled the northeast were located.

"What hour is it?" She asked Rainer with a glance.

Rainer raised his wrist watch over his coat. "8:31 PM" He answered plainly.

Elain began walking between the beds, almost all of them were occupied, Elain patiently glanced at those who were in them as she passed by. Many deer were sleeping, others were just staring into nothingness while sitting or lying in their beds.

Minutes passed, Elain walked around the room from end to end and then returned from another line of space between beds, but she couldn't find anyone from her family, nor was she even able to find anyone from her village, as if she had been the only survivor.

Rainer had gone out the door long ago, probably to wait outside.

Elain began to despair as she approached the door from the last line of beds that she had not yet checked. When she reached the wall she lowered her ears and closed her eyes as she let out a sigh of defeat.

Finally Elain decided to go out with Rainer. She walked slowly to her right and once she reached the double door she opened it. She found him lying on the snow with his back against the wall and his head down. His snoring was a clear indicator that he was asleep.

Elain sat next to him and gently tapped his shoulder with a hoof, then wrapped her torso completely in her cyan coat and pressed her muzzle down to the white trimmed edge. The icy breeze gently moved the hazel fur on her face. Elain clung to the only thing left of her old life.

Rainer stretched, raising his forehooves with a long yawn. "Oh, finally you are done" He looked at Elain sleepily. "How did it go"

"Not good" Elain said bluntly with a broken voice, her ears still lowered.

"Come on, I'm sure they are out there, It is possible that they are in Cervus"

Cervus was the second largest city in the kingdom and was the same distance from Östskog as Hjortland, It would make some sense if her family had been taken there.

"You've already come far enough to give up, don't you think?"

Elain considered it and took several heartbeats to reply. "What if they aren't?"

"In that case they are up there, praying for your well-being" Rainer pointed up to the stars, the few that could be seen despite the light pollution from the city.

She raised her gaze, then suddenly remembered the words she said to Elmer a week ago, with the sole purpose of telling him to go to sleep. She cleared her throat to speak more clearly. "I think I'm starting to see your point"

Rainer said nothing, instead smiling gently.

"What will happen to us now?" Elain asked with a soft voice.

"Tomorrow morning they will come for us. We will live in the north base of the city during the training"

"How long were you there?" Elain glanced at him, he was looking up at the sky.

"Around three and half months" He raised his hoof to look at his watch. "I'm going to sleep now, I'm tired"

Elain wasn't tired due to the nap she took earlier in the truck. "Okay, goodnight" She fixed her gaze towards the starts.

"And. . . You should take a shower before going to sleep" Rainer said neutrally, then he went inside through the door and closed it.

Elain remembered that she was still stained with blood, she cringed. I hope the shower is free early in the morning She thought. However, she sat there for several more minutes to make sure at least one of the showers was free.

It was probably midnight already. She was officially spending her 17th birthday in the big city of Hjortland, however not at all as she expected.

The March

Elain aimed the rifle, concentrating as much as possible on her target. After several heartbeats she pulled the trigger and the bullet was fired, hitting the target right in the center.

"Not bad, you finally learned how to aim" Rainer scoffed.

Elain grunted. "Come on, that happened long ago!"

"And yet I have never seen such a scolding from a superior" He sniped.

Freya and Astrid were sitting near them, the squad was alone in the shooting range.

It has been about three months since military training officially ended. However, the Kingdom of Olenia suffered from an exorbitant deficit in military equipment. The base had not acquired sufficient rifles for each recruit until several weeks later.

"So tomorrow we will be deployed" Astrid reminded as she laid on her back.

Freya slightly smiled as she narrowed her eyes at the rifle she held between her hooves. "Oi, Astrid"

"Hm?"

Freya begun with a weak voice. "Promise me that we will go home together when this ends"

Elain was aiming for another shot, but then she glanced at Freya.

Astrid chuckled. "Don't tell me that now you're going to get sentimental. We will be fine"

"Right . . ." Freya cleared her throat, then shook her head.

Astrid got up and approached her. "I'm sorry, I know this is more serious than we would like. I promise we will get through this together"

Freya suddenly hooked her hooves around Astrid's neck, hugging her tightly. Astrid reared her head back in response, but then wrapped her left hoof around Freya's back. Both of them remained silent for several seconds.

Wow. I have never seen Freya acting like that Elain thought, her rifle pointed to the ground due to her distraction.

"Nice theater, but we don't even know where are we going" Rainer said, opening the way to uncertainty. Astrid glared at him.

"Why do they refuse to tell us?" Elain cocked her head to her right as she lowered the weapon.

"I have no idea" Rainer spat. "You have already seen that the organization is terrible, it took them six months to bring us how many rifles? Five hundred?" he sat on the ground and crossed his forehooves. "It's their fault we haven't already won the war. Surely they don't even know where to send us"

Astrid broke away from the hug and looked at Rainer. "Assume it, no matter how patriotic you are, Olenia is not the empire it was centuries ago, we have adapted poorly and we don't have enough industry" She confronted him as she walked foward.

Rainer closed his mouth and frowned at Astrid.

"We have to play with these rules, if we can't compete against changelings in production then we have to be smarter than them"

"And that's what we are doing, the front line is stagnant despite the amount of panzers they bring us" Rainer finally replied.

Freya quickly recovered her enthusiasm and pulled herself together. "We are smarter than a bunch of bugs, we will eventually win!" She cheered before another argument could break out.

Rainer cocked an eyebrow and Elain stared confused at Freya, Astrid just chuckled, she didn't even glance behind her.

"My turn!" Rainer took the rifle Elain was holding and aimed towards the targets.

Elain resisted rolling her eyes. Oh fuck off She wanted to say, but the words remainded in her head. She stepped aside and stood up, then approached Astrid to join the conversation. "This is far from over" She sighed. "Who knows what have they done with my parents, or my brother and with the rest of the fawns, there was none where they sent me"

Astrid and Freya froze for several heartbeats, Freya broke the silence. "Wow, that's right, you have been separated from your family half a year ago! Are you even sure they are still al-" Before she could finish the sentence a snowball hit her squarely in the face, she fell backwards on the ground.

Elain flinched and turned around. Astrid was in a throwing position, with her hoof pointing at Freya, She made eye contact with Elain and quickly concealed by lowering her hoof to the ground, her facial expression remained neutral.

This situation had been repeated many times over the past months and Elain was already used to it. Elain covered her muzzle with a hoof and closed her eyes in a giggle. "Thanks, I guess"

After a few seconds, Elain had all eyes on her, again that pious expression on their faces. The situation had changed in an instant. Also, Freya's comment felt like a block of ice falling on her stomach. The discomfort caused by the combination of both things made Elain only think about getting out of there. "uh. . . Excuse me" She hurried to get out of the shooting range, passing between Astrid and Freya as she avoided eye contact by lowering her gaze.

Elain trotted towards the building and back to her room, once she got inside she closed the door and threw herself face down on the bed.

Her cyan coat was hanging on the same hanger with some dust.

What's wrong with them? Why do they have to do that every time the topic comes up? She asked to herself as she extended a hoof under her pillow to grab a paper. She rolled face up, holding the paper sheet upon her between her hooves, It was a drawing of Elmer and her parents made with a pencil, Elain wasn't good at drawing but that was the closest thing to a photo she could get. Maybe I look too weak? What can I do? She looked at the tall stag with wide antlers, the drawing staring back at her. Then she looked at the fawn drawn on the left side with a frown. Definitely things must change, I can't continue being like this

"I promise I will rescue all of you" She said out loud with a slight frown when suddenly someone knocked the door. Elain flustered and hurried to hide the drawing under the pillow, the abruptness with which she did it caused the paper to tear, she winced at the sound.

She sat up straight on the bed and cleared her throat as the door opened.

Freya stood beneath the doorframe. "Hey, uhm. . . Sorry, I forgot to pack my stuff" she said apologetically. "And also wanted to say sorry"

Elain offered her a warm smile. "Oh no, it's fine! Go ahead"

Freya looked confused after her response. "Uh, Really?" she coughed. "I mean, alright"

Elain jumped off the bed and grabbed her coat from the hanger, that would be the only thing she would bring to the frontile apart from her military uniform. She grabbed a small white suitcase from under the bed and unzipped it, When she opened it, there it was, the thick pastel blue coat along with a cap of the same color, its logo was a pair of white antlers, there was also a brown saddlebag and a pistol with its holster. Elain had a brand new uniform in her suitcase, she wasn't excited to wear it either.

Freya was very quiet, which was really strange. Elain suspected and tried to guess what was she thinking about. "I'm fine, really" She broke the silence.

"I didn't say anything" Freya looked up at her from the other side of the room.

Elain glanced up at her with a cocked eyebrow before fixing her gaze on the suitcase.

Freya sighed. "Okay, I'm sorry! You know I didn't mean to-"

"And I said it's fine" Elain interrupted her, then giggled.

"But you just ran away" Freya tilted her head.

"Don't worry about that, I just forgot to pack my coat" She lied. "You know how important it is to me" Elain was just trying to hide her feelings, so far it seemed to be working.

Freya smiled back at her with a sigh of relief. "I thought I fucked it up again, I'm glad you didn't mind about me saying-"

"Yeah! I don't need to be reminded tho!" Elain cut her off again with a forced smile.

Freya shrugged, then started packing her clothes.

Elain was relieved, she took one last look at her coat before folding and packing it along with her uniform.

The sun was beginning to hide behind the horizon and the orange rays of the sunset crossed the bedroom window.

Freya raised a hoof eagerly with her suitcase half prepared. "Dinner time!"

Elain chuckled. "Do you ever get tired of doing that?"

"No!" Freya answered with a grin, trotting towards the door.

Elain rolled her eyes in amusement and pushed her suitcase under her bed before getting up and leaving the room along with Freya.

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The next morning, the entire brigade was marching through the capital on its way to the port. The sidewalks of Hjortland wide streets were filled with civilians, at some point they started cheering on the recruits. The crowd whistled and shouted energetically, fawns watching from balconies with awe and admiration. Elain's eyes were wide open. She had never heard so much noise in her life and her head was starting to hurt. Please, can someone make it stop?

Elain was carrying her almost empty suitcase, it was of little use to her to pack, since she was ordered to unpack and wear the full military uniform before leaving. Now she also had a rifle tied to her waist. The coat was thick and warm, it felt quite comfortable in a freezing place like anywhere in Olenia.

Elain did not expect such a reception at all, especially after seeing those reactions when she arrived in the city as a refugee. However, the real surprise came before leaving the base, when she and her friends were informed that they would be going via convoy to support a naval invasion in the northeast, right in the port of Vaverfront. That would leave Elain very close to home.

Elain glanced at her left, Rainer and Astrid seemed to be talking to each other. However, she wasn't able to hear anything beyond the roar of the crowd. She focused her gaze on the fawns from the sidewalks most of the time, their tiny size and the hopeful sparkle in their eyes kept reminding her of Elmer. Elain looked back at them with determination as she walked forward.

After several minutes She finally left the last street, he sound was slowly fading as she got closer to the coast, fewer and fewer civilians as they walked towards the sea. Elain closed her eyes and sighed in relief. Her mind finally had a moment of peace.

"Look! I can see the sea!" Freya yelled from behind. Elain looked up and gaped at the horizon. Elain had seen the sea several times, but the ships were new. Great, towering steel monsters all over the sea, whose tide was not strong enough to sway them, the national flag of the deer with the two swords hung from the top of some ships, moved by the soft breeze. Olenia had concentrated its entire fleet in Luna Bay, the gulf that separates the snowy kingdom from the west coast of Equestria, in order to ensure the security of convoys, both for troops and for resource trading with Equestria. Although this would make the rest of the kingdom dependent on a coastal defense.

"We don't have better infantry but also better navy!" Rainer spat as he looked proudly at the ships.

Astrid groaned in annoyance. "The changelings have tons of submarines, we literally have our whole fleet here just to secure a sea!"

Both deer began to argue about more military stuff that Elain simply decided to ignore. Those ships, under the sun of the clear sky, were reflected in her cyan eyes.

"No one is gonna comment what just happened on the streets?!" Freya asked them, however, she got ignored.

"Right, It's the biggest crowd I have ever seen" Elain affirmed after several seconds. "However, it makes sense since we are protecting them" She argued doubtfully, her sentence ending with a questioning tone.

"Aw come on! That was so cool!" Freya jumped with excitement.

"Save that energy for when you're in the trenches, you're going to need it" Astrid sniped.

"I just hope this doesn't end too badly. . ." Elain murmured with a scrunched muzzle.

Finally everydeer arrived at the docks, anxious and bewildered by what they will encounter from now on while they were organizing to start boarding.

"Hey, Eli" Rainer called her out. "Do you get seasick?" He asked.

Elain turned back and stared at him concerned. "Uh. . . I don't know"

Towards the Rainstorm

Elain was lying on her bed, reading her old book. The sun's rays came through the window, illuminating her room naturally.

"Eli!" Elmer called out.

Her ears twitched as she closed the book, then sat upon the mattress, looking at the door. "Yeah? Come in"

Then Elmer walked into the room, holding a tomato. "I saved you this one!" He waved his hoof eagerly.

Elain couldn't help but laugh. She felt the thin fabric of her cyan coat rub gently against the fur of her side as she lifted a hoof over her muzzle to suppress her giggling. She left the book over her mattress.

"Look! I saved this one for you!" Elmer repeated himself with the same energy as always.

Elain jumped off the bed and approached him "Thank you, you are very kind" Elain raised her hoof again, now to stroke his head.

Elmer squeezed his eyes while his sister caressed him. He suddenly raised his hoof and shoved the tomato into Elain's mouth.

Elain's eyes widened as she reared back. What the hell was that for?! She thought.

Elmer sat before her with a grin, waiting for her to eat.

Elain rolled her eyes and bit the tomato. She felt her teeth sinking into a soft mass when, suddenly, all the liquid spilled into her mouth. The tomato was rotten, her pupils shrank. She immediately turned her head to her right and spit it out on the floor.

"Elain, what's wrong?" Her mother asked. At some point she entered the room while Elain was spitting, but only a couple of seconds passed, it was not logical for her to arrive so quickly.

"Mother?" Elain asked bewildered, then she looked in front of her again. Everything froze around her for a moment as an unpleasant chill ran down her spine. Her mother's black coat was covered in blood.

"I thought you liked tomatoes" Her mother continued in a disappointed tone, with a stern expression on her face.

The environment darkened, suddenly the sunlight weakened severely. Elmer kept looking at her with a wide smile.

Elain's ears pressed against her skull as she slowly walked backwards with trembling legs.

"What's wrong, Eli? You don't love me anymore?" Elmer asked in a mocking tone as He approached at the same pace as Elain retreated.

"W-what? No!" Elain answered with a shaky voice. Her rear collided against the wall.

"You already forgot about us" Her mother said as her face saddened.

"That's not true!" Elain responded desperately.

Green flames began to emerge from the ground. The fire quickly spreaded in the direction of her two relatives until it covered them completely. Those figures did not react at all, but Elain saw how they started to melt.

Elain woke up abruptly with a gasp, she coughed and sat on the mattress, covered in sweat. She was only dressed in her uniform pants.

With heavy breathing, she looked at her hooves, then around her to realize it was just a dream.

The complete darkness of the room surrounded her, she decided to get up and walk carefully towards the door so as not to collide with the other beds.

She reached the deck of the ship after a slow walk. Elain looked up, her eyes shining under the starry sky, the one she had not seen since she lived in the village. She dropped her ears and gave a long sigh, then walked over to one of the edges to lean on the railing.

Elain only remembered over and over again the day she was attacked at the fair, how those soldiers who wore her same uniform fell one by one, how he was treated during her captivity. For the first time, Elain began to feel resentment, a deep hatred that increased every time she was left alone with her memories.

Elain looked forward as she spotted some shapes on the water, she considered them to be the escort ships.

The temperature was mild, as was the breeze blowing against the fur on her face and chest. A relaxing star show over the sea that helped Elain to de-stress before reaching the coast.

Just after a few minutes the sky began to light up, the dawn sun was rising from the Equestrian coast in the East. The soft light also revealed land in sight in the west, that one was Olenian territory already occupied by the changelings.

After six days of sailing, Elain seemed to finally arrive at Vaverfront. The convoys approached the port while the crew woke up. Elain decided to return to her cabin to get her luggage.

"Good morning, Eli!" Freya yelled, taking a hoof out from under her bed and waving it as soon as Elain entered the cabin.

Elain chuckled. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Apparently searching for her dignity" Rainer scoffed from his own bed, then coughed on purpose.

"OI!" Freya took a few seconds before getting out from under her bed. "Here it is!" She got up with a green bow tie on her hoof, it matched her antlers. It was Freya's favorite item of clothing, a gift from Astrid years ago. Elain supposed it felt the same way she did with her coat. She proudly tied it around her neck.

"Where is Astrid?" Elain asked as she casted an eye around the cabin.

Rainer shrugged.

"Oh! She's probably in the shower, I wanted to check that but the door was locked"

Elain frowned unwittingly as Rainer choked with his own saliva, coughing violently.

"What? Is there something wrong?" Freya asked with her typical amused smile.

While they were chatting the convoy docked at the dock. The bathroom door opened as an agglomeration of steam came out. Astrid walked out of the shower, wearing a towel wrapped around her back. "Oh, right in time to go"

Elain shook her head. "Oh, I almost forget!" She rushed towards her bed to dress in her uniform.

"Were you all waiting?" Astrid asked as she pointed a hoof towards the bathroom behind her.

Both deer shook their heads in unison, Freya with her carefree smile and Rainer with a poker face.

Astrid shrugged and walked past them, then every deer went back to their beds to finish packing.

Once they finished preparing, they left the cabin and hurried to get where the rest of the troops were organizing, ahead in the port.

From the height of the ship, artillery pieces could be seen, as well as trucks advancing towards the city, supposedly already recovered from changelings' hooves. The plan was to concentrate the counteroffensive on the eastern border.

Elain and her friends walked in an orderly line, along with the rest of the crew of their convoy.

The situation was overwhelming and confusing for Elain, mostly accustomed to a completely rural life, she was deeply grateful inside that she had someone to follow. She walked behind Rainer, concentrating not to get lost in the crowd.

As they walked through the streets, divided into smaller and smaller groups. Elain recognized some places from time to time. She remembered how her parents took her to bakeries and toy stores in winter when she was a fawn.

The city was full of rubble and several buildings lay destroyed, but it was still habitable. The local population watched the soldiers march from their windows, no deer dared to go down to the streets.

Rainer's voice brings Elain back to her senses "Why are we dividing ourselves so much?"

"Possibly to reduce casualties in case of bombing" She offered.

"Wow! Since when you have become such a nerd?"

Elain puffed out her cheeks as she glared at Rainer.

Rainer chuckled and gave Elain a malicious smile.

"Remind me, How old are you?" Astrid sniped.

Rainer snorted and rolled his eyes.

The march went relatively silent as they passed through the streets of Vaverfront. The frontline was north of the city and it would take a few days to arrive on hoof. The rails had already been damaged, so train travel was no longer possible.

After an hour, the silence was brutally interrupted by the city's alarms that suddenly started howling.

"TAKE COVER"

The order sounded several times, from the voices of different officers.

Elain's ears twitched. Acting on instinct, she tried to run away without a clear direction, Rainer grabbed her hoof in time.

"Stay calm, don't separate from us" He ordered with a stern face.

Elain swallowed and nodded as she tried to contain her labored breathing.

The four deer started running, going with the rest of their platoon, they ran in the direction of several abandoned premises to take refuge as the sky darkened, Elain did not dare to look. But the bomber aircraft engines were too loud to ignore. Explosions began to be heard in the distance from all directions.

The city barely had anti-aircraft defenses and the Olenian air force was too small. Elain has not yet seen a single fighter plane from her side. The memories of when she was attacked while escaping from that forced labor camp invaded her mind again, she let herself be carried away by fear and galloped forward, easily overtaking her friends until she finally gained cover by jumping through an open door into a small abandoned stationery store.

The bombings increased as the planes roared closer. Elain hid behind the counter and gave a sigh, closing her eyes for several heartbeats, then looked out the window as more soldiers arrived at the building between the explosions, explosions that scattered debris and smoke.

The bombings hit the streets and the already damaged ruins of some buildings.

Why? Elain wondered. How can such evil beings exist? They just want to destroy everything

She gritted her teeth because of the helplessness she felt. She just wanted a normal life with her family, simple aspirations like having a tomato garden one day. Those creatures had ruined everything for some reason she couldn't understand.

Rainer, Astrid and Freya didn't take long to arrive. Fortunately all three came out alive. However, Freya was limping.

"Freya!" Elain yelled as she shook her head to make her thoughts fade away, then jumped over the counter. As she approached Freya she could spot a blood stain on her uniform at the level of her right shoulder. "Are you hurt? What happened?" She hurried to ask with concern.

"Astrid hits me harder" She shrugged with her left shoulder.

Astrid stood behind Freya with a hoof on her own face. "One of the explosions, I think a piece of debris hit her" She offered.

"Great, just great. What do we do now?" Elain asked with an annoyed tone as she quickly looked around, she was anxious.

"Now we wait here until they stop" A stag from behind Elain answered.

Elain's ears twitched, but she didn't turn around to meet him. Instead, she approached Freya to take a better look at her wound.

"Elias?" Rainer asked.

The stag was sitting, resting his back against the edge of a shelf as his cap partially covered his face, his white antlers were the only thing that stood out.

Elain raised her head and turned around this time. "Isn't this the one who saved us?"

"technically-"

The only word that came out of his mouth was interrupted by another explosion near the building, the furniture shook from the impact. Elain fell to the ground, squeezing her eyes and covering her ears with her hooves. Freya patted her on the head.

"I didn't expect to see you here" Rainer sat before Elias.

"Yeah, the new recruits weren't the only ones that got dragged across the sea"

Elain composed herself and looked at the window again.

How are we supposed to fight something we can't fight? She asked to herself.

She looked around and saw Astrid taking care of Freya behind the counter, Rainer and Elias sitting on the floor and around a dozen stags sitting in the corners, one of them smoking. The scene was depressing in Elain's eyes, it was as if they had already lost.

Elain wanted to do something to change the situation. But what can a doe like me do?

Astrid seemed to have everything under control, she even took a bandage out of her small backpack.

The bombardment would last about a couple of hours. For now, the best thing she can do is to watch while she waits for it to stop, as if it were a rainstorm.

"I don't like this at all" Elias said with uncertainty.

"Duh!" Freya yelled from the corner of the shop.

"I mean, this isn't normal" He continued. "The bombers are always spotted in time, why haven't they warned us?"

"He has a point" Astrid said as she was concentrated on bandaging Freya. "We have radars and explorers, I'm sure they saw it more than an hour ago"

Rainer bit on his lip with a frown.

"What's the meaning of this?!" A stag asked indignantly from the other side of the shop.

"Did they betray us?!" Another stag accused.

"Hey, what the fuck?" Said the one that were smoking.

the crowd began to riot.

"Silence!" Elias yelled. "This is very unprofessional"

"what is unprofessional is what our superiors just did to us!"

Elias unholstered his pistol and shot at the ceiling. Elain flinched and the rest of the recruits fell silent.

"Making a fuss here will do you no more than die uselessly, I will take care of issuing the complaint personally when this is over" He said with authority. No deer objected to it.

Well that was definitely something Elain thought as she stared to the bullet stuck in the ceiling, then she looked back at the window. The planes flying towards the south and the bombings getting further and further away, Elain sighed with relief.

Chasing Shadows

The brigade just crossed the river of the North, passing Vaverfront. The thin snow crunched under the hoofsteps of hundreds.

Has been a couple of days since the bombing of the city. Dozens of soldiers were surely missing, but there was no certainty about the casualties, no information that reached Elain's ears. There was no news about Elías either, when the march resumed he retreated and has not been seen since. Maybe he would come soon to clarify what happened with the communication issue, or so Elain hoped.

The main task of Elain's division was to skirt the region to the east, recover all the beaches up to the border with Equestria to make it difficult for the changeling fleet to access the region. However Elain's village was very close, less than a week's walk to the northeast. She was hoping to return back to her old home so she could search for clues to her family's location.

She finally reached the front camp, exhausted after the journey. The troops had to reach the front line urgently, so they were not allowed to stop except to eat and sleep.

Elain sat down in the snow and sighed, arching her back in a sign of exhaustion, her legs hurt. Luckily she was already trained, so this time she wouldn't be sore the next day.

She was not the only one, Freya threw herself face down against the snow with a thud, her limbs sprawled against the snow as she fell next to Elain.

In front of them, a bunch of tents, supply boxes and radios. Soldiers were rushing about their tasks. Experienced troops mingled with fresh recruits, making preparations and keeping watch in front. They had some anti-aircraft units to ensure the defense of their position against bombings.

Elain looked up and scanned over the camp after taking a breath. The tents were white and no flags hung upon them. The artillery and various boxes of supplies and ammunition were covered with snow and all the vehicles were parked in front of the camp, facing forward and ready to advance.

Maybe some kind of camouflage?

The trenches were just a few miles to the north. Freya looked forward and squinted, trying to spot the them.

Elain pressed a hoof on her mouth and chuckled softly. "I don't think you are going to make it from here" She mocked playfully and glanced down at her.

Freya looked down, burying her muzzle in the snow, a low growl escaping her.

Rainer and Astrid arrived moments later as the group merged with the rest of the troops.

As they came to a halt, Astrid closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, releasing a long puff of steam into the frosty air.

"Having fun, aren't we?" Rainer teased with a grin only to be hit in the temple by a snowball seconds later. The impact left him dazed.

Elain gasped as Astrid cleaned her hoof dry by rubbing it against her coat with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Suddenly, Elain's ears twitched at a distant scream.

"They are coming!"

She fixed her gaze forward. A soldier upon one of the trucks was holding a pair of binoculars.

"Seriously?" She said to herself out loud in frustration. She was exahusted and her hope of resting some hours faded away.

Some of the deer around her ran towards the trucks, getting ready to support the defence on the trenches ahead.

"Maybe we should be moving too" Aistrid pointed out.

Freya lifted up her head from the snow, leaving a dent in the shape of her muzzle. Her ears pinned up. "Wait, there's something wrong in here"

"What do you mean?" Astrid tilted her head aside.

After several heartbeats, Freya shook her head. Her ears relaxed and her face returned to its usual smug smile. "Nevermind, I was just being delusional again" She changed the topic before anyone had time to speak. "Good idea, let's go to the trucks! That was the plan anyways"

"The plan?" Rainer raised an eyebrow.

Freya grew nervous and started running towards the trucks without a reply.

Elain tensed thinking on the inevitable battle, fearing the worst that could happen. That brought back her memories about that tragic day back at the Östskog fair.

Are we really prepared? Will they do another surprise attack? Am I going to that camp again?

Rainer softly knocked oh her left antler with a hoof like it was a door. "Is anyone home?"

Elain gasped, she quickly stood on her hooves and rubbed her forehead with a hoof, only then she opened her eyes and glanced at Rainer, who was behind her.

"Yeah, sorry, I was zooned out"

"I can tell, but they don't seem to be waiting for you" Rainer said as he pointed forward, then started walking in that direction.

Elain gazed at the trucks on the distance and saw Astrid and Freya already infront of one.

"OI" She shouted, only to start galloping forward. She realized the word had lodged itself in her mind from hearing Freya use it so often. She shook her head to make that stupid thought fade away, then sprinted towards them.

The truck was an early convoy, pretty much like the ones Elain rode before. Astrid already sat inside, at one of the corners.

"Get in, Eli!" Freya waved a hoof excitedly as she grinned.

Her enthusiasm was oddly comforting to Elain, she smiled back before climbing into the bed of the truck.

Rainer arrived about a minute later. "Wait, are you sure we should get in now?" Rainer questioned, then looked around.

"mhm! That lieutenant told me before arriving! he will just say it again" Freya nodded, wide smiling with her eyes closed.

"sure" Rainer replied with distrust. However, he stepped on the platform after seeing Astrid and Elain sitting inside.

A shot rang out, piercing the relative quietness of the camp. Elain gasped, her ears instinctively flattening as a distant scream followed. "W-what was that?" she stammered, fear gripping her tightly.

Freya signaled the driver to start moving by waving a hoof through the rearview mirror, then lifted her rifle, aiming it at Rainer.

Elain, Astrid, and Rainer stood frozen, disbelief etched on their faces as they stared at Freya.

"Freya?" Astrid's voice trembled, laced with disappointment. Her expression was a haunting mix of terror and sadness.

More shooting began to be heard from the camp. The tents partially obstructed Elain's vision, still she saw a largue amount of green fires burst upon them. It didn't take long for her to realize what was going on. The air caught in her breath and the world around her slowed down.

"I’m sorry, guys" Freya said flatly. Her words felt weight and piercing, leaving Elain staring baffled at her.

The truck’s engine roared to life as the sounds of gunfire and screams intensified. Fear coiled in Elain’s chest, making it even harder to breathe as she trembled in her seat.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!" Rainer bellowed, stepping forward with fury, his hoof on the edge of the platform.

Freya clicked off the safety of her rifle, and Rainer froze, the tension thickening around them.

“I’m sorry" she repeated, her voice quaking, yet her smile remained eerily intact.

The driver floored the accelerator, the sudden jolt sending Rainer crashing to the ground with a painful thud.

"RAINER!" Elain screamed, her throat constricting as she instinctively raised a hoof, as if she could pull him back. But it was too late; the truck sped away from the camp, leaving chaos behind, with only Astrid and Elain on board.

Astrid flexed her limbs, ready to leap from the truck, but Elain seized her rear leg. She couldn't let her jump while the truck was moving, the fall could be deadly.

Astrid's breath hitched as she fought to break free, her movements frantic and clumsy. Elain tumbled to the floor due to the stronger doe's efforts but clamped down harder, wrapping both forelimbs around Astrid's leg, her eyes squeezed shut in determination.

Astrid finally stilled, but not before unleashing a piercing howl of rage and helplessness.

A pressure stung on Elain's chest, making it hard to breathe as tears pricked at the corners of her eyes.

Freya just betrayed her friends and sent them to the changelings, the unthinkable did just happen.

Astrid collapsed to the floor, her composure shattered as she began to sob. Elain had never seen Astrid show such vulnerability, yet here she was, openly crying before her.

Elain released her grip on Astrid’s leg and stood up, circling around to sit in front of her.

Astrid buried her face in her hooves, but tears continued to spill down her chin.

Elain fought back her own tears, biting her lower lip as a single tear traced down her cheek.

───────── ౨ৎ ─────────

"Don't worry Eli, I already promised we will save your brother!" Freya claimed with confidence.

Elain didn't offer a reply, she was lying on her bed on the side, facing the wall where her cyan coat hung. From time to time depression would hit her and make her long for her old life in the countryside.

Freya, determined to lift her spirits, crawled around the bed and suddenly appeared in front of her, playfully booping her muzzle with a hoof.

Elain's eyes went wide, and she nearly toppled off the bed in her startled retreat.

With a mischievous grin, Freya rested her elbows on the edge of the bed, propping her chin on her hooves as if she'd just pulled off a masterful prank.

A smile broke through Elain's melancholy, and she chuckled. "Okay, okay!"

"Great! Now let's go grab some dinner!" Freya exclaimed, her victory infectious.

Elain rolled her eyes in mock exasperation but couldn't suppress a smile as she climbed off the bed.

───────── ౨ৎ ─────────

Astrid pulled Elain towards her for a tight hug, shaking her out of her memories.

Elain scrunched her muzzle as she corresponded to the hug. She knew Astrid would take a long time to get over it. After all, Freya was her best friend.

Elain glanced around the truck, then back at her weapon, thinking on a way to get out. She wasn't willing to get dragged back into the changelings' clutches.

She suddenly saw their tanks next to her, rolling to the opposite direction, then trucks behind them.

Astrid released Elain from the hug after realizing what was going on. She quickly grabbed her rifle and leaned it on the railing with anger. Her bloodshot eyes, still shining with tears with her gaze fixed on the swarm of trucks passing by

"Wait! No!" Elain shouted as she tensed, guessing Astrid's intentions too late.

Astrid. however, shot before Elain could intervene again. The bullet hit the driver of a convoy packed with soldiers, wearing those steel helmets and black suits, whitch matched their exoskeletons. The crack of the gunshot barely reverberated against the roars of the engines as the cab of that truck abruptly turned to its right, causing the truck to overturn. A second convoy, unable to react in time, crashed into it, lighting a fire and causing a chorus of agonizing screeches from those changelings among the flames. Few managed to escape and roll in the snow, the rest were trapped in the wreckage.

Elain gaped horrified at the chaotic spectacle that Astrid had unleashed with a single bullet. dreadly afraid that the swarm had seen where the bullet had come from.

Their truck slowed to a stop as all alarms blared among the swarm via radios, all nearby changelings stopped to watch the accident.

Both does seemed to have the same idea, since they jumped off the platform in unison, taking advantage of the confusion among the battalion. They sprinted away from the vehicles until they found cover behind a snowbank.

Elain gasped for breath, her eyes wide and cross-eyed, her chest rising and falling like a crumpled paper bag.

Astrid hushed her. "Calm down!" She whispered out loud.

"YOU WANT TO GET US KILLED?!" Elain yelled with difficulty due to labored breathing, her pupils trembling as she fixed her gaze on Astrid's brown eyes.

Astrid finally silenced Elain with a slap on her cheek hard enough to leave a mark.

Elain staggered back, leaning against the snowbank. She stared up at Astrid in bewilderment with shrunken pupils and watery eyes.

"Listen, we don't have time for this now, we must-" Astrid tried to explain before Elain resumed her rant.

"NO! YOU LISTEN!"

Her sudden interruption caught Astrid by surprise and her eyes widened.

"I HAD ENOUGH! I HAD ENOUGH OF EVERYTHING! I AM NOT FOLLOWING YOU! OR FREYA! OR ELIAS! OR RAINER-" The air caught on her throat. However, she forced her voice out with a glare. "or.. OR ANYONE! NOW GET OFF MY SIGHT!"

She sprinted forward, passing by Astrid while tears dripped from her cheeks. Quickly moving away towards the north, in the opposite direction to the front line.

"Shit... ELAIN!"