The only good changeling is a dead changeling!

A troopers life!

Trixie sighed and trotted over to the stallion behind the large enlistment desk.

"This is it, my last chance at something, if I can get through this then I will be back on the stages with believable stories and new fans and respect!" Trixie's chest filled with pride and hope as she got in line, several mares and stallions were already signing up for the trip of their lives.

It had been over a year since the attack on Canterlot but the memories were still fresh in everypony's minds, the horror, the fear of being assaulted by the monsters. It would not go unpunished.

The line advanced quickly, the Solar Empire was in dire need of more volunteers, unicorns to be more exact.

Earth ponies were strong and all but they didn't last long against the swarm of the changelings, thousands upon thousands of battle hardened monsters without fear or regret, no retreat and no mercy were their principles.

And so the Princess decided ponies should accept that reality as well! Numerous posters had been sent around the empire.

For a brighter future! Fight today for the empire!

The empire needs you! Join today and achieve ultimate friendship!

No place like home! No place like the army! Join today and experience friendship like never before!

There are friends, and then there's army friends. Sign up today and do your part!

"Lulamoon Trixie." The light blue mare said as the large unicorn stallion wrote her name down in a list. "Unicorn infantry."

The stallion looked up and smiled.

"Good choice! The U.I. made me the pony I am today!" He handed Trixie a note with the directions to the barracks and she got a quick glimpse of the stallion's missing leg.

Trixie smiled faintly and left.

"No need to worry right? It will only be about a week of patrolling and then I can come up with a new show!"

Trixie tried to lift her spirits but found it hard to believe, she was going to war after all.

She arrived at the barracks after much effort and wandering around the military base.

21st platoon of Unicorn infantry read the sign on top of one of the buildings.

"This is it Trixie, time to show these ponies what you're made of."

Trixie gulped and opened the barrack doors, the scent of sweat and steel filled her nostrils and made her gag.

Around fifty ponies turned around to look at her, one of them smiled and trotted over to greet her.

"Good day comrade! Tis good ta see more ponies up an ready ta fight tha fight!" The bulky brown unicorn extended a hoof and smiled, plenty of his teeth were yellow and some were missing, his breath stank of cheap whiskey and old hay.

Trixie smiled and shook his hoof, she was trying to be a more friendly pony after all, making a few friends in the platoon wouldn't hurt either.

"Hello, I am the great and-err, I mean, my name is Trixie Lulamoon." She held her breath, the unicorn seemed like a nice enough fellow but his breath stank horribly.

"Heh, well mighty pleased ta meet'cha miss Trixie! Name's Benny Sharphorn, come along now, I'll introduce ya ta some of the guys." Benny nodded for her to follow and he led Trixie through the crowd, most of the ponies gave her a quick nod and a few others a warm smile and wave.

The pair arrived at the end of the barracks and saw a couple of ponies having a hoofwrestling match, on of them was a light red stallion with a sickle for a cutie mark while the other pony was a pale green mare with three coins as her mark.

The match was very even, it didn't look like any of them was about to give in, suddenly though, the mare did a final effort and her opponent was defeated.

"Haha! Beat ya again!" The mare crossed her hooves and smiled grandly.

"Ze match vasn't fair! I vas vorn out by ze veight lifting from earlier!" The stallion huffed and looked at the floor.

"Whatever, you Stalliongrad ponies never are good sports!"

"Zat is a lie!"

"Guys, keep it down! We have company." Benny nodded to Trixie and the quarreling ponies calmed down and greeted her.

"Hey there! Here for some good old fashioned flank kicking?" The green mare winked and smiled at Trixie.

"Morning." The stallion said indifferently and rummaged through a saddlebag behind him.

"I'm Trixie Lulamoon, this is the 21st right?" Trixie eyed the stallion sourly and looked at the mare.

"Yes, and don't mind old Zak, he's just a grumpy pony." The mare eyed him sweetly. "I'm Lightning Cloud by the way, welcome to the U.I.!"

As soon as she said that, an alarm started to sound from outside, signaling the platoons to suit up and get in formation in the courtyard.

Lightning Cloud smiled and trotted over to an armor and weapon rack, several suits of grey armor and many magic amplifiers of similar color lay on it.

Trixie looked at the weapons, the magic amplifier was reserved only for the U.I., not even the royal guard unicorns were allowed to wear them in public.

The weapon was basically a black cylinder with a metal barrel sticking out of its front end, the helmet of the armor was attached to the back end of the cylinder and the unicorn's horn was connected to the cylinder via helmet, the only thing said unicorn had to do was direct magic into the helmet and the cylinder would amplify it by a hundred percent, making even the smallest spark of magic a deadly projectile.

The weapon came attached to a saddlebag for counterweight, on one side of the pony was the bag with all the supplies needed for long trips and on the pony's other side was a weapon to be reckoned with.

Lightning levitated a set of armor and a magic amplifier to Trixie before sending another two towards Benny and Zak, and finally getting a set for herself.

Other ponies around the barracks were doing the same thing, the effect was amazing.

Trixie stared in awe as the many differently colored unicorns around her suddenly became very similar, the uniforms had managed what nothing else could have, it took away the pony's individuality and made them all look like one.

One unit, one fighting force.

No individuals, all the same, all as deadly as the next.

Benny smiled and nudged Trixie on the shoulder.

"Pretty cool huh? Wait till ya see what it looks like in a parade!"

"Ooh! Don't forget those tanks they've got! Pretty neat stuff!" Lightning said excited as she placed the grey helmet on her head, her horn locking into position inside the helmet's magical extractor.

Trixie wasn't so sure about seeing the immense war machines, she shrugged and started to put on her own armored chestplate, specially designed to block any magical shots except the most powerful.

After everypony was geared up, they left the barracks and started to get into formation, several other platoons were already there and a few other were starting to emerge from their respective barracks.

The barrack's courtyard was full of armored unicorns, ready for battle and whatever tartarus could send their way.

And there, in perfect formation and total discipline, stood the glorious 5th platoon and it's officers.

The 5th was the very best of the best when it came to battle hardened warriors, no other unit fought like them, endured like them, attacked and murdered like them, and when the ground crawled with enemies and from the skies rained fire and death they were the ones to stand proud and steadfast.

While all others would flee and rout in terror as the enemy approached, the 5th would smile smugly and aim their weapons, laughing as the magic beams tore the enemy to pieces and their blood watered the fields of battle.

All other platoons looked like foals when compared to the terrifying veterans, many a pony gawked and stared in awe at them.

The platoon's commander was a sour looking unicorn, his grim appearance rendering the color around him faint and dull, few were able to meet his eyes as he scanned the entirety of the assembled forces.

His disapproving gaze and frown making plenty of soldiers wince and look down in shame.

The 21st stood opposite of the 5th in the courtyard, facing the veterans was a position of both honor and high expectation.

If they did anything wrong, or embarrassed themselves, the highest ranking officer in the entire U.I. would be the first to notice, and the first to apply punishment.

Trixie and her new friends stood on the third file of their platoon, looking at the center of the courtyard expectantly, whatever announcement was going to be given would be grand, nopony sounds the alarm for nothing.

After a few minutes of waiting, the air was filled with the sound of heavy machinery and moving steel, it was a steam airship, they had become widely used throughout the military.

It was easier to transport nonflying troops through the air than it was through land, it was also harder to destroy steel and iron than flesh and bone from regular pegasi.

The behemoth of a machine appeared above the courtyard and the shadow it created completely blocked out the sun, the hot air balloon that stretched above it reached amazing lengths to be able to hold so much weight.

Several ropes fell from the deck of the warship, they must have been really long too because the body of the vessel was as tall as a three story building and as long as Ponyville's train, with several cannons sprouting from its broadsides.

After the ropes hit the floor, several unicorns started to slide down them and landed in the center of the courtyard.

The unicorns were uniformed and armed, they quickly made a protective square in the middle of the courtyard, all the platoons looked in obvious amazement and wonder at whatever was going on, all the platoons except the 5th of course, they were professionals.

Trixie wanted to ask her fellow recruits what was going on, but she kept quiet, not even the great and powerful Trixie wanted to provoke the wrath of a U.I. officer.

The troopers stood in formation for several minutes before a flash of white light emerged from the middle of the courtyard and, behind the unicorns that stood in defensive formation, the princess of the night appeared in her royal battle armor, purely ceremonial since royalty never fought.

"VALIANT FIGHTERS OF OUR FAIR NATION! WE SPEAKETH TO THEE TODAY SO THAT THOU MAY KNOW THE GRATITUDE OF THY RULERS!" The princess of the night practically shouted in her royal Canterlot voice as she addressed her soldiers. "MARCH FORTH! MARCH FORTH BRAVE WARRIORS! MAY THE EARTH QUAKE AS THY HOOVES TRAMPLE GRASS AND DIRT! MAY THE ENEMY KNOW NO REST FROM THINE WEAPONS!"

Most new recruits were astonished by the volume of her majesty princess Luna but the veterans of the 5th and several other platoons that had already seen combat cheered dutifully and beat their hooves against the ground.

Luna smiled and teleported back to wherever she had come from, the unicorns broke their defensive formation and held onto the ropes which where then pulled back up to the battleship.

The enormous war vessel then flew away and disappeared on the horizon, flying back to its base back in Cloudsdale.

The troopers stood in formation for a while before their officers started shouting orders to retreat back into the barracks for the night, the sun was setting and the recruits had to be trained in the morning.

Trixie and the rest of the 21st broke formation and entered their barracks where they were assigned a bed and a number.

"Lulamoon from Manehattan? Congratz! You get number 21!" The commanding officer, a chubby unicorn with a white coat, smiled at her and trotted off to keep giving numbers to the rest of the platoon.

"21? What's so good about it?" Trixie looked puzzled at the officer's reaction.

"It's the platoon's number, supposed to give luck." Lightning smiled at her as she removed her uniform and placed it back in the racks. "You're kinda like some sort of symbol now, so you better live up to it!"

Trixie finished taking off her armor and laid down on her bed.

"Symbol? I could certainly use the luck after all that has happened..." She sighed sadly at the memories of her past and fell asleep, much would await her in the months to come.

Three months later

The 21st marched through the heat of midday, the merciless sun scorching their helmets and transforming the interior of their battle suits into a living furnace, they couldn't care less.

"Who are we?!" Shouted the commanding officer, surprising how much he could endure, considering his less than fit appearance.

"U.I.! 21st!" Responded the entire platoon with a roar that rivaled Luna's royal Canterlot voice.

Trixie smiled in her mind, she did not allow herself any display of emotion during duty, it would not befit the image of the troopers if somepony was to see her smiling.

They were trained killing machines after all, and they did not smile unless it was over the corpse of a fallen enemy.

"One fine morning under the rising sun!" One of the officers started chanting and the rest of the platoon soon followed.

Their war chant was heard throughout the area, the ground shook under their powerful hooves and the wind itself yielded as they tore through it with every synchronized step they took.

There was plenty of reason to celebrate, that was the last day of waiting, as soon as night hit, the entire 21st and several other platoons would board a battleship and set course towards changeling occupied territory.

It was the quick hit and run type of mission, go in, blast holes into anything that moves and then get out.

Simple.

They marched for a couple of hours before heading back to the base, they had to gear up and get ready, that night was their big night.

7:30 pm

Trixie put her helmet on and checked her weapon to make sure it was secured and ready to fire, she was nervous, everypony was, but nothing in the world would make her change her mind about this.

She had changed, the 21st platoon had changed her.

She was no longer an egocentric mare, no more would she think so highly of herself, never again would her eyes look at ponies in a dismissive manner.

A couple of months being dirt under an officer's hoof does that to a mare, she was a team player now, every pony that stood beside her on formation held the same amount of respect for one another, they would all stand together, fight together, and die together!

Her comrades were at the ready as well, helmets were set, armor was ready for combat and weapons were just waiting to be unleashed onto the enemy.

"Time for truth Benny, are ya army material or just the drunk everypony says ya are?" Benny Sharphorn stared at himself in the mirror, the images of his past flying through his head as every second brought him closer to showtime.

A life of drinking and wasted years is not something that can be easily erased, but glory lasts forever and outshines all wrongs.

"Lightning... Vould ya be my-"

"YES!" Lightning Cloud jumped on top of Zak and kissed him deeply, the stallion returned the kiss.

The mare broke the kiss and looked him deeply in the eyes, the couple had met on the streets of Canterlot about a year earlier, both fell in love almost immediately and spent many a night together but neither pony had the guts to ask the question both of them were thinking.

Until then, when the fires of war and the risk of never coming back was staring at him in the eye, Zak from Stalliongrad decided enough was enough, he loved the mare.

It didn't matter what his family said about her, or that her views on politics were different from his own, danger had its way of igniting flames inside one's heart, flames that emboldened a stallion's mind and sent him into a fierce determination.

So now, with his spirits high and the mare of his dreams by his side, he was ready to fight, to die even.

"Tartarus! Let the vastards come! I vill kill them vith my vare hooves if need be! But not before one last night vith my mare."

Some ponies that saw the couple smiled and gave their best wishes before setting off to do their own thing.

In a matter of minutes they were in formation at the front of their barracks and ready to leave, their commanding officer waiting patiently for the rest of the platoons to emerge from their respective barracks.

The only platoons ready by the time the 21st appeared were the 5th, 7th and 13th platoons, only three more needed to appear and then they could board the approaching war vessels.

Trixie, Benny, Zak and Lightning looked at the approaching airships as they flew closer to the courtyard, only a mile away from them.

The dark night sky shielded the shape of the metallic beast but its general outline was still shocking.

This wasn't your average steam airship, it was the admiral's flagship.

Admiral Spitfire looked at the formed troopers below her.

"Hmph... Unicorns, thinking so highly of themselves, without us they wouldn't even make it to the fight in time!" Spitfire turned around and looked at Soarin, second in command of the royal fleet.

"Don't be so hard on them, just because the princess decided to let them have the first shot at the changelings doesn't mean we won't get our chance." Soarin smiled, he wasn't one for arguing but he didn't like to see accusations being shot at those who didn't deserve them.

"Meh, I guess you're right," Spitfire trotted over to the main furnace of the airship. "But I still think a pegasus corps would do better against the changelings, more mobility you know?"

"Yeah, but the U.I. has the firepower, and for mobility they have the fleet."

Spitfire nodded and trotted to her quarters, she wasn't in the mood for greeting recruits.

8:40 pm

The three airships landed one by one on the courtyard and the troopers boarded in silence, most of them had never been on an airship before.