But You Were There

by SpectrumArtz

Rating: mature
Tags: Violence, Slice of Life, Death, Drama, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Equestria at War, Dark, Original Character
Length: 6860

Entry for the Equestria at War 2024 writing contest

What happens when the Land of Harmony split itself apart? With all-out civil war ravaging the nation, two ponies are caught in a tactical withdrawal and are separated from each other. With a war fought over Thestral rights to survive, will they?

The Equestrian Civil War is my take on why Thestrals aka Bat Ponies are no where to be found besides the fringes of society.

Published 2024-09-01 05:10:00 UTC
Last updated 2024-09-01 05:10:00 UTC

Peace?

He was given a full physical by the nurses and staff there, but the biggest question he was asked was about the stitching on his side. He’d tell the staff that during the retreat he was blown into a hole and when he woke up he had that. The looks he gave them were not reassuring, he wasn’t sure they believed him. He’d shrug and say: “maybe an angel came down from Heaven and showed me mercy” with a big grin. They weren’t impressed by that but as the saying goes, the devil is in the details. It didn’t take long for his return to spread through the trenchline, it rippled through his regiment and ended up exactly where it needed to be.

“And what?” Apollo snarled at Vega, “Are we to wait until ANOTHER Solar attack pushes us even further back? We are wasting time when we can hit them on their backhoof!”

“Enough!” Vega snarled back at Apollo, “I will not sit here and argue with you while we wait for High Command to hand us our orders.” She breathed in and breathed out slowly. “I suggest you go cool off; we will continue this strategy meeting when you are cooled off. Verstanden?”

“Ja commandant.” Apollo huffed as he kicked loose debris across the floor, avoiding eye contact with Vega but giving Stardust the side-eye. “I will leave you with your ‘Star protege’” he hissed as he left the room through the flap. Vega shook her head and sighed.

“That one will never be happy until he is in the history books and is praised by all Thestralkind.” She looked up at Stardust and gave her a slight smile, standing up in the process. “You have a bright, sharp mind Captain. That is something to be proud of. You would do well to stay with us after this war is done, we can use a brilliant strategist.” Stardust stood open mouthed at the sudden praise and stood up straighter than she already had been.

“T-thank you Madame Major Vega, M-Ma’am!” she relaxed a bit however as her eye looked towards the floor: “Speaking freely Major, I would like to finish school and eventually settle down and start something of my own. It is not that I don’t appreciate the sentiment, it is an honor to serve all Thestralkind! Howe-” the conversation was interrupted as a runner entered the Command tent and stood at attention.

“S-Sorry to interrupt M-Ma’am! Ma’ams!” He quickly cleared his throat and continued his message: “Lieutenant Artz has returned from No Pony’s Land!” Stardust’s eye widened as she approached the pony: “Where?” The small pony gulped and quickly blurted out:

“He is in the triage line, Ma’am!”

“Thank you, you are dismissed.” As the runner left, she turned towards Major Vega who had raised an eyebrow to her for this sudden change in demeanor. “W-We have been waiting for Leutnant Artz to return from the battlefield all day, Ma’am. He went missing without a trace and f-feared the worst had happened. Permission to check on him?” Vega eyed Stardust up and down before nodding and giving her a salute.

“Ja, when you are done with your Leutnant report back to me so we can discuss a battleplan in the absence of High Command’s orders.” Stardust stamped her hoof and nodded with a salute before turning to find him. Her heart pounded, her body felt warm, was it true? When she entered the medical barracks, she saw ponies wounded in today’s attack with varying degrees of injury, but then she saw him and approached.

“Captain, it is good to see you again” he said with a smile and a salute. “I’m glad to see ya in one piece still.”

Stardust smirked and saluted him back “It is good to see you again Leutnant. How was your recon mission?”

“Oh, it was great!” he replied. “I saw mud, some rain, a corpse here and the-” his sarcasm was met with a backhoof across the face and a look of surprise. “Ow! Starry what the hell!?” Stardust replied to his remark by pulling his collar close and pressing her nose against his.

“If you ever pull a stunt like that again I will make you wish that the Solar Empire killed you. Understood? "He looked at her wide eyed and gave her a salute.

“Y-Yes Captain! Understood!” At that she gave him a fanged grin and hugged him tight. “Ow! Injury!”

She looked at the wound and raised an eyebrow at it: “What happened to you?” At her asking him, he quickly looked around and leaned in close to her.

“A Solar nurse did that. She saved my life, probably a bunch of others too. She had this dog with her, you see? He was sniffin’ out those still alive.” As he told her the story, her eye widened.

“A Solar nurse with a dog? Interesting...” She would press him more but there were more pressing matters at hoof. “So... this injury here ja?” she asked him while pointing to the newly cleaned and stitched up injury. He nodded and before he could say anything she was already leaning down to it and kissed it. “There, all better,” she said with a smile. He grinned back at her as she leaned forward and rested her head on his chest. “I want to go home, Spectrum, I want this war to be over soon.” He reached up and placed a hoof on hers, prompting her to look quickly at him before resting on his chest again.

“I know what ya mean Starry Night, I want to go back to Nocturne and watch the ships sail by. Or maybe we take a trip to Canterlot and see one of those plays ya have been dying to see.” As he spoke, she smiled at him, daydreaming about life far away from here. She thought about home, getting their degrees, home cooked meals, and the future. The war could be another month, another two months, another year, they didn’t truly know how long it’d be until they could go home to whatever home would be in the new world. She buried her face in his chest and enjoyed his warmth, for the moment it was just the two of them. Aside from the injured Thestrals in the room of course.

The moment was interrupted by that same runner, out of breath and holding a piece of paper up. “T-Telegram Captain Shine,” he huffed as he sat down, “from High Command!” That was not what she was expecting but she took the paper from him and saluted.

“Danke private. As you were,” she said to the runner. With that he turned to leave, Spectrum spoke up and asked him:

“Hey kid, do ya mind droppin’ this off to the Feldpost? It’s very important.” He reached into his tunic and removed the letter he took from Dewpoint and handed it to him. They saluted each other and he left them alone once more. Stardust unwrapped the paper she received from High Command and her eye widened.

“Fuck” she muttered upon reading it. She looked at Spectrum and held his hoof as she read the paper out loud to him. "From Lunar High Command. Stop. Due to recent setbacks from the Solar Empire’s front wide advances into our land we are in the process of distributing well needed supplies, weaponry and soldiers to sectors in dire need. Stop. In four days' time Operation Kaiserinschlacht will commence at the zero hour. Stop. All officers are to prepare their soldiers for the upcoming offensive. Stop. We will retake our lands for the glory of the Night Mother and Thestralkind. Stop. May the Night Mother be with us. Stop. For the Republic.” She slowly put down the paper and looked at Spectrum, the injured in the room who could hear her were staring at her but at that moment she didn’t care. They slowly looked away, wondering what would happen to them when this took place. Stardust laid her head on Spectrum’s chest with her eye closed. “Another offensive. I’m sure Apollo is happy” she huffed. Spectrum frowned and went into his tunic pocket and pulled out a ring, looking it over. Stardust opened her eye and looked at it questioningly. “What are you doing?”

“I’m thinkin’” he said, looking at it before looking back at her. “It’s another offensive but we’ll make it. We always do. It’s one offensive closer to us goin’ home.” He gave her a smile and she gave it back to him. “There it is. I love to see that grin of yours, dear.” She nuzzled herself on his chest more, just enjoying his company. He thought for a moment, the world would change when the war ends. They’ve killed, they’ve seen things they cannot explain nor will want to. “Hey Starry,” he began to ask while watching the New Lunar Republic flag flap calmly in the breeze outside the medical barracks door. What will we tell our kids when they ask about the war?” Stardust thought for a moment. This was a war to defend the Thestral right to exist, otherwise what would happen to them?

“Well, my dear,” she began while holding his hoof. She leaned forward and gave him a gentle kiss: “we will tell them that we were there.”

The World So Far

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equus, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land. The elder sister was in charge of raising the sun, while the younger used her powers to raise the moon. There was a balance between the two sisters for their subjects and kingdoms but, as time carried on, more subjects appeared more equal than others. Everyone knows the tragedy of the royal sisters, Celestia banished Luna to the moon when she became Nightmare Moon to maintain the peace. This is what the history books tell us, then again history is written by the victors correct? With that question in mind, my friends, what is the truth?

Who would think that a matter of circumstance and hatred of another creature could spawn the greatest waste of life that ponykind had ever seen? Months of anti-Thestral propaganda from the Black Hoof society apexed at Saraneighvo where Archduke Fangs Furdinand, archduke of the Thestral kingdom Roamania, was visiting with his wife. It was meant to be a peaceful visit to strengthen ties between Thestrals and Earth ponies, instead an assassin appeared from the crowd and assassinated both in cold blood. Tensions rose, arguments ensued, political discussions happened behind closed doors. A month later the situation had worsened immensely, anti-Thestral sentiment spread across Equus with cries of “Fangface get out!” could there have been forces behind the scenes prompting this or was it simply mob mentality following Saraneighvo? Whatever the reason was, the Thestral kingdoms declared autonomy from the four tribes and rallied behind Princess Luna, the Night Mother. The younger sister was asked to rejoin the other three tribes by her elder, there would be peace again. During an emergency summit, where Princesses Celestia and Luna joined delegates from every kingdom under their rule, shots rang out and missed the Night Mother. Celestia tried to find the one responsible, arguments flared up again and with a roar the younger sister declared “Thou wish to put us out of the picture!? Then prepare dear sister, this means war!”

Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, which then rolled into years of static trench warfare. In days of old, ponies would have pitched battles of sword and steel which evolved into musket and cannon. Three years passed from the initial declaration and the frontline stagnated; if there is a push for land it is reversed by the opposing side, lives lost for nothing. I often think to myself what the purpose of it was all. Was this truly the price of harmony? Thousands of dead young ponies fueled by nationalism and hatred of the other. Why did we have to fight our fellow ponies? It doesn’t matter now, that is long past, and we are still trying to repair what is broken. Thestralkind is still scattered, hidden in the fringes of society and deemed as dangerous outcasts.

At this point you might be wondering what my role in this is? What do I gain by telling you what could be deemed an old mare’s tale? Simple, I wish to tell the long-forgotten story that has been hidden through time. Take it as a warning, take it as entertainment, take it however you wish. This is not only my story, but there are also many faces just as important as mine, some more important even. The story you are about to read is only a part of the greater conflict, hidden from history, known as the Equus Civil War. Through trials, time, and a haywire spell I still remain. Every bit of what you will read is true despite what you know from your history book. I know it to be true because I was there.

Retreat

The whistle blows and confusion raves the frontline: “Retreat to the fallback trench! Regroup for counterattack!” an officer calls.

His voice is quickly drowned out by the sounds and force of artillery shells being dropped on the trench; during the rain of fire and steel the New Lunar Republic’s flag flapped violently in the wind. As artillery began to fall en masse and the Imperials charged their trenchline, Thestrals, Pegasi and other creatures began to scramble out of the trench in haste. Machine gun fire rang out as the retreat was held as long as the machine gun companies could hold the line, those brave bastards. Infantry scattered the land; pegasi dropped shells where artillery couldn’t reach, then came the awful rumbling of two Solar tanks crossing into No Pony’s Land. The Republic had been pushed back well over a mile. Two ponies of the 381st Luna Nova Stormtrooper Korps jump over shell holes, wounded ponies and the mud. The larger of the two, a blue pegasus, used his wing to cover the smaller gray Thestral by his side from debris as they approached their line.

“Tanks” she began shouting as fear and adrenaline pumped through her veins,They brought TANKS!”

“I KNOW they brought tanks! I see them!” he shouted back as the same feeling filled his body, trying not to think of the metallic monsters behind them.

The sound of machine gun fire in rapid succession ripped behind them followed by a flash of light behind them. They had a suspicion on what that flash was, the primal screaming behind them answering their theories.

“C’mon Stardust, we’re almost there! Just a hundred more yards” he shouted to her in the hope she’d hear him over the sounds of battle.

“Ja, and once we get there then we can radio for reinforcements” she called back at him, she knew the reality of the war though; no one would come for them.

Behind them, the sound of battle approached faster than they could run. The stallion looked behind him and saw Lunar soldiers began falling in mass with Solar soldiers following directly behind them; soldiers caught in barbed wire and crying out were easy targets after all. He saw one in particular finish off a changeling before turning their head towards them. He shouted to the Thestral mare:

“Stardust keep going! I’ve got this one! Just don’t look back!” At that he turned around and removed his pistol from the holster and dropped into a nearby shell hole. She turned her eye towards him and began to slow down: “Spectrum we have to g-”

“Stardust GO!” At that she got tightlipped and ran as fast as she could towards the safety of the trench line as the Solar soldier raised his rifle at her at first until Spectrum shouted “Hey Firestarter! Over here!” The shot was drowned out by the pounding of artillery.

Stardust dove into the trench line and looked at the situation at hand, disorganization amongst the young faces, panic and chaos ran rampant; these soldiers were lucky that an officer landed in their presence. Whatever fear she had in her mind of what happened to Spectrum was pushed out for the moment and she began barking orders at those around, her high pitched Bamareian accent rang through them like a stray bullet. She turned to a few ponies frozen in fear standing by the trench’s machine gun.

“You three,” she began with an upright stature, “machinegewehr! Hold the Imperials off and send them back to their holes!” She ran down the trenchline to Thestrals operating the field gun encampment and barked:

“I want you all to punch a hole in their tanks! Aim for the treads and the fuel tanks in the front!” She ran down the trench as fast as she could, pushing soldiers out of the way if needed, shouting for the company officer. Who she found was a young Thestral mare around age 19, two years older than herself, crying her eyes out.

“W-We are all going to die! They are going to overrun us and slaughter all of us!” the young Thestral babbled at her. She rolled her eye and ran towards a field phone and called back to the artillery officer:

“What are our orders?” a young squeaky Germane accent answered.

“Covering fire! I want to see them pushed all the way back to Canterlot!” she exclaimed, a moment later the cannonade went off in a sweep away from their trenchline. Those from the 381st came to find her barking orders, an ensign approached her and asked timidly “Hauptmare Shine? What are our orders?”
She thought for a brief moment and replied: “defend the trenchline. If anything unfriendly comes into view, shoot.” As her troops lined the trench and staved off the attacker's momentum, she scoured the battlefield with a pair of trench binoculars looking for a familiar blue form. She didn’t see anything where he was, nor did she see hide or hair of him anywhere. She remained silent as the attack was repelled by their artillery and her strategy. The question remained though, where was he? All she saw were Solar soldiers rounding up those they captured while the Solar flag raised over their previous home. A yellow eye scoured No Pony’s Land in a frantic search as tears rolled down her cheeks, at least the eyepatch covered one of her eyes.

Mercy

The pistol went off and a bullet found itself lodged in the Solar soldier’s front leg, causing them to flinch enough for Spectrum to have a second shot. Just as he was about to fire again the scream of artillery whizzed overhead and landed near the distracted Solar soldier, making him vanish in a plume of smoke. Now was his chance to run back to the trenchline, he wasn’t going to waste it. Crawling out of the shell hole, he holstered his pistol and began running as fast as he could towards the nearest Lunar trench. Shouts and shots rang out behind him as the remnants of the retreat were either being wounded or killed off before they could reach the Lunar line; his hooves ran on autopilot as adrenaline fully consumed him. He heard the infernal motor of a tank approach him, with a turn of his head he saw that a Solar tank was gaining on him with the main armament belching fire at him and those not in cover. He quickly looked around frantically for any kind of cover, then he saw the remains of a field gun. It would have to work, what other choice did he have? He along with two others found themselves squeezed behind the metal corpse as they waited for the metal beast to roll by. He checked what he had on him, his shovel, his pistol and two grenades, one being an improvised anti-tank grenade.

They watched as the Solar tanks drew near, their fronts belching flame and their sides picking off whoever remained, when suddenly the field guns came alive. The first shots were fired, the tank on the left was a direct hit, its front horn exploding and the surviving crew evacuating as fire engulfed them. The tank on the right, the one closest to them, was hit at an angle where the shell bounced off of it. A moment later a second shell was fired, and it suffered the same fate as its counterpart. Spectrum motioned for the other two to go now as he began running yet again, his heart pounded in his ears, his blood was boiling, he was going to make it. Then he heard the sound of artillery from the Lunar side and his eyes widened. He began running faster, looking for a nearby hole big enough to sustain him. The initial shells hit the ground and turned small holes into crater, perfect he thought. As the second round of artillery fired, he ran for a hole, any hole he could find: there was no other way to survive this bombardment. He neared a crater when a shell landed by him, detonating in the ground and sending him flying. He let out a pained scream as his side began to burn intensely, more so when he landed unceremoniously in a nearby shell hole. A third barrage began as he landed and, as he was getting up, another shell went off nearby and sent half of a Solar soldier into the hole with him. When their helmets collided with force, everything went black for him.

Hours after the attack Spectrum would find himself regaining consciousness, the blue sky turned to gray, and the ground was soaked. That was not a good sign especially if he was in here for a while, he feared that trench hoof would settle in and the field surgeon would amputate his leg off. He looked over and saw a rat approaching him, even though it had already feasted on the poor soul who was thrown on top of him.

“Hey! Go away!” he exclaimed while whacking it away with his wing, prompting an angered hiss by the rodent. It skittered away from him and went over the ledge as if there was no danger to be found. Outside the crater however he did hear something: movement; groaning; the distinct sound of a rifle; screaming and talking. He pulled the corpse higher up onto himself, coated some mud on his face and laid waiting. He played dead and when he listened in, he heard an unsettling exchange.

“N-Nien! Nein don’t shoot,” the young voice called out, followed by laughter.

“Aww vhat is ze matter little bat?” the voice asked in a mocking tone, “did zomeone get stuck in ze barbed wire?” it asked followed by more laughter.

“I think this little bat looks cold, why don’t we warm him up?” a second voice called out, followed by the creaking of a tube.

“NEIN! PLEASE LET ME G-” was all that Spectrum heard before the guttural scream cried out briefly before it died down into a gurgle and the creatures walked away. The power of the sun mounted on your back, he thought, no creature should be allowed to harness such power, such...cruelty. He began to wonder though; how much cruelty was created in a short amount of time? It is only a matter of time before someone makes a superweapon that can wipe everyone out in an instant as if it was the word of the gods. A short bit later he heard more gunfire than nothing more. He laid there and thought on this for a while until he believed the coast to be clear, when he tried to get up, he realized how much danger he truly was in. He felt a sharp pain in his side, just below the wing, and looked at the mess that was made. Pieces of shrapnel had been embedded in his side causing a sharp sickening pain to go through him when he moved. For the first time in this war, he felt disillusioned. He laid there for what felt like an eternity, rain gently falling on him and half a corpse to keep him company. Those dead eyes looked into his with an expression of fear on his face.

“What are we doing here?” he asked the former Solar soldier. “We should be home with our families or in school or anything but fighting in these Gods damned trenches. There is nothin’ here ta gain except a one-way ticket into the ground.” He sighed and looked at the stiff pony in front of him: “Look at you, your Ma doesn’t even know you’re gone. She’ll be waiting for you every day until she gets that letter. That damned letter that every Ma in Equus is afraid to get.” He opened the front pocket of the soldier’s tunic and removed an envelope from it. The name on it was female and the mailing address was somewhere in Canterlot, he looked at the fearful face and stroked his mane slowly: “I’ll make sure she gets this one too, I promise ya” he said while looking at the soldier’s identification tag,” Dewpoint? I promise.”

As the rain continued on, the hole began to fill up with mud and his wounds began to burn more. He looked to the sky, wondering when his last moments would be. He began to think of home and his mother getting the telegram that he wasn’t coming home and sighed. Suddenly he heard the most peculiar sound, was that barking? He lifted his mud covered ear up and yes it was, there was a dog out here! Spectrum began to whistle as best as he could given his current state but after a moment there was nothing. His one chance at salvation was gone, or so he thought. There was a tiny brown face that poked their head over the shell hole’s ledge and began barking. The shepherd dog bounded its way into the hole and stood by his side, licking the mud off of his face. The overexcited dog wore a white medical harness with pouches full of supplies, a short moment later his handler came over the edge and Spectrum’s hope quickly turned to dread.

“Good boy, Antione! You found a survivor!” the pony said as she approached and began assessing the situation. Spectrum, however, was also assessing the situation. The mare in front of him had a blonde mane in a bun, red lipstick, cream fur and a Solar medical uniform topped with a white helmet depicting a red cross. She looked saddened by the corpse on top of her patient and removed him with as much respect as she could but with a sense of haste. “Tell me Ami, where does it hurt?” she asked him while pulling him out of the mud with the help of Antione. At first, he just stared at her, wondering if her soldiers would appear on the ledge at any moment. They did not. He slowly lifted his wing and spoke:

“Here, burnin’ sensation.” he began, “Feels absolutely disgusting and if I try to sit up, I feel sick. "At that she quickly took a cloth and water from Antione’s pouches and started cleaning Spectrum’s side with it. She had a look of horror to her face as she looked into his eyes.

“How long were you here for?” she asked.

“Uh..a few hours, I think? Why?” he asked as he tried to look at the wound before pain forced him back down.

“It is infected, the shrapnel is deep in there. I can do my best, but you will need to go to a field hospital if I cannot get this out. Bite this” she said as she put a rag in his mouth. He protested into the rag but realized what she was doing the moment the tongs and morphine came out. “Hold still mi Ami, this will sting.” She gave him an injection and went to work removing the larger pieces of shrapnel from his side, prompting him to bite into the rag and scream into it, to which she rubbed his arm and calmly shushed him. When the larger pieces were fully removed, and it was only the smaller bits she removed the rag and spoke: “you should be able to recover from that. If it was any longer than infection could have spread wider.” She began disinfecting the wound, prompting him to grit his teeth. “The morphine should kick in soon. I am sorry for the pain, I have to sew your side up. "She continued her work on him, prompting him to wince at the feeling.

“Why did ya help me?” he asked her. “You’re a Solar nurse, are ya going to turn me in?” She stopped for a moment and looked him in the eyes:

“I helped you because it is my oath to help anyone in need,” she replied sternly behind her sweet voice. “I joined the war effort to help every pony, every creature I could.” She sighed at that and muttered that “unfortunately, I cannot bring back corpses. So many sweet young lives were taken away too soon.” As she went along with her impromptu surgery she spoke more: “When I was back home in the Kingdom of Prance, I saw a recruitment poster for the Solar Empire’s Nurse Corps.” she looked him in the eye as she finished her stitching and asked him “why did you come here? You are a Pegasus, this is not you nor your kind’s war.”

He took a deep breath and shrugged: “Honestly? I was lookin’ for someone. Neither of us should be here. My number came up and she took my spot.” Mercy put her hoof on his arm and frowned at the thought.

“You poor dears,” she said solemnly, “what happened to her?” He chuckled to himself a bit and looked at the mare before him.

“She outranks me now” he said with a cheeky grin despite the circumstances. He looked at the mare before him and sighed again, pushing aside any political repercussions that could come from this. “Thank ya for savin’ me. Name’s Spectrum.” The mare in front of him grew a slight smile and met his hoof.

“Mercy, it is my pleasure.” A concerned look went over her face but, as she was about to speak, Antione had begun barking and hopped out of the trench. “Merde, more souls to save” she uttered as she got up. “Please take care of yourself Spectrum, this war doesn’t pick sides on who dies. Get back to your trench and get medical help,” she looked out of the hole and looked back at the Solar lines. “And hurry.”

“You as well, Mercy. When this war is over maybe we can find a coffee shop somewhere and talk on better terms.” She gave him a small smile at that and hopped out of the crater, following Antoine to their next patient.

“There’s someone in No Pony’s Land, tell me when to fire!” one of the Lunar defenders called out. Their spotter looked through a pair of binoculars and raise their hoof about to give them a go ahead, when Stardust came trotting by in thought. All day long her mind had been going rampant wondering where Spectrum is, and she was going to explain what happened to him to his parents. She dreaded writing the letter when she heard the exclamation of the riflemare.

“Give me that!” she said, snatching the binoculars away. What she saw was a Solar soldier alone in No Pony’s Land, leaving a hole in the ground, and was about to give the go ahead when she saw the ambulance dog with her. Then she noticed the symbol on her helmet. “Hold fire! Medical personnel are off limits.” With disappointment she shoved the binoculars back into the pony’s hooves and walked away as the frontline soldiers chattered.

Gas

As the sun set on the battlefield sentries kept watch for any movement under cover of night. Stray shots went off through the night and lit the battlefield up for a brief moment before fading. It was a normal night as always if you were a frontline soldier. Further back from the frontline, Lunar officers were arguing amongst each other and strategizing their next move. Stardust was among them and listened in, she wanted revenge on the Solar Empire for today, however her biggest holdbacks were her superiors Major Vega and General Apollo. Vega is more traditional and calculated whereas Apollo believes in shock tactics and is the more reckless of the two. has been known to be a cruel leader bent on glory hunting and has always been a death sentence to those under his command.

“They caught us with our trousers down you old fool! We need tanks! We need reinforcements!” Apollo hissed at Vega. “Telegraph back to the homeland that we are out of supply and our rail lines need to be expanded further out!”

“Calm down son,” the older mare said with an air of elegance to her, “our factories can only produce so much and the production lines can only make so much if we don’t have the proper resources to build them. We will have to make do until the Republic has more to spare. Now,” she said standing up and going to the map table, “they got us with our trousers down so we must prepare for their next attack. They have flamethrowers, tanks, more allies and resources, more of everything. Do you know what we have?”

“An old windbag as a commander and a cruiser of fuckall nothing?” Apollo hissed at Vega with his arms crossed.

“Respect your superiors!” Vega snapped back. “No, what we have is strategy. After all, Neighpolean proved that artillery wins battles. And we have a lot of artillery.” She removed her picklehaube and rubbed her chin, thinking about a defensive strategy. “Stardust, you are quiet. What do you have to say?” Stardust was surprised that she was asked her opinion and stepped forward in attention.

“I suggest that we utilize every resource we have to plan a counterattack, Ma’am!” Secretly she was hoping to use this as a rescue mission or, worse, a recovery mission. “Are we still waiting on Command or are we on our own in this?” She hoped that if Command was going to act it would be soon. As Apollo was going to give his two bits in when an alarm went off that shook the three of them to the bone; gas attack.

As the major and general stayed behind in the officer’s barracks, Stardust ran to the frontline after donning her gas mask to see what the situation was. A few Thestrals had succumbed to the gas, the warning coming too late for them. When she arrived, there were no bullets firing nor were there any Solar soldiers to be seen. A frontline officer called back to the artillery crew for a flare so they could see what was happening out there. A moment later a flare was shot up and through the green cloud they saw smoke that concealed several dozen Solar troopers.

“Open fire!” the officer called as he blew a whistle. The frontline trench erupted in the sound of bullets being fired from bolt action rifles and machine guns. The occasional grenade was thrown into No Pony Land for good measure. Stardust stood alongside her fellow Thestrals and fired her luger into the twisting shape of ponies or at least what looked like ponies to those defending against the attack.

“Hold this point!” she commanded, “Don’t let the Sun humiliate us like it had done to us today!” She walked past the members of the 381st and shouted to them: “Make them pay for what they took from us today! Show them what the Moon is capable of!” As she spoke, she snarled through her fangs, anger filled her by the moment. She fired back into the mist, hatred taking her over, Make them pay for what they took from me today.

As the day went on, Spectrum looked for every opportunity he could to leave his hole. He could try to hop from crater to crater but he’d be too exposed for a few precious seconds and that could spell death for him. What he did instead was bide his time and try to regain his strength back as best he could, Mercy’s patchwork was holding up well for now. If he could get back to the trenchline he could get well needed medicine and a diagnosis if needed. As minutes turned to hours, he began thinking how he would get back under the cover of night. He listened to the sounds of skirmish as he sat and strategized, today will not be the day he died. In the mud he drew out a map and rubbed his chin, memorizing it so while he was blind in the dark he could see. There would be no second chances here, no way to do it again if he made a slip. It was time to be an iron pony.

He took Dewpoint’s helmet off of him and spoke to his departed friend one last time: “Sorry Dew, I need this. I promise I’ll get your letter out. Ya won’t be forgotten.” To see if anypony was watching, he stuck the helmet up out of the shell hole as a decoy. He waited a minute, and nothing struck the helmet. He took a deep breath and hauled himself out of the crater, back in No Pony’s Land again but…something wasn’t right. His fur began to stand on end and his eyes and nostrils began to burn, his eyes widened in fear as he quickly donned his gas mask and breathed out into it. They were using gas now!? Strangely enough he couldn’t see a thing, it wasn’t like the nighttime air at all. It was thick and he couldn’t see a foot in front of his face, smoke maybe. It was then he heard the marching of boots coming from the Solar direction and realized his predicament; he was stuck in the middle of a sneak attack. Spectrum began hopping from hole to hole, wondering what to do. Thestrals can see at night, but they cannot see through smoke, they’ll be crushed. He could shoot but that would give away his position, if he did nothing then they might not see it coming. He continued to think as he snuck through No Pony’s Land, the only sounds he heard were the marching boots behind him and his breathing in the mask. Think Spectrum, think. He then had an idea, he had two grenades still, it would give him a brief window of opportunity, but it might be the alert that his soldiers need. As he, as well as the gas, approached the trenchline by the minute he knew it was time. While sitting in a crater he pulled the cord out of a grenade and set it down before hastily making his way into another one nearby. The grenade went off seconds later and it lit up the green cloud as a result, however, the marching boots quickened their pace believing that the Thestrals were onto them. Seconds passed and he could hear the gas alarm, a minute later a flare was shot up. The sneak attack had been spotted and the firing began.

As the sound of firing grew louder, he knew that he was getting near the frontline trench but if he was spotted moving the cloud he might get mistaken for a Solar soldier. Through blind luck he found the wreck of an armored car to hide behind as the Imperials advanced. Minutes passed and it sounded like the ambush had been pushed back, firing died down and the sound of boots was no longer advancing. He took a deep breath and ran around the armored car when he thought that the machine gunner was no longer at their post, as he exited the cloud of smoke, he saw a Thestral aiming at him to which he flapped his wings rapidly.

“Don’t shoot! Don’t Shoot! I’m unarmed!” he shouted as best as he could through the mask, which wasn’t well. The machine gunner was about to pull the trigger when she saw the Lunar crest on his helmet:

“Leutnant!?” she exclaimed in shock seeing him, moreso when he dove into the trench with a thud. Shock filled other creature’s faces upon seeing him alive and somewhat well. Between the injury in his side, running through No Pony’s Land and now diving into a trench, he began to feel his ailments catch up to him.

“M-Medic,” he uttered as those not repelling the Imperial stragglers off surrounded him. Within minutes a stretcher bearer was there and carried him off to the medical line where he would be tended to.