The Black Squirrel Brigade

by Lamasioux

Chapters

Act 1 - The Generals Meeting
Act 1 - Detour
Act 1 - The Canterlot Banter
Act 4 - Celebration
Act 1 - Whinnyapolis Greetings
Act 2 - The 22nd ‘Everfree’ Division
Act 2 - Just Another Night
Act 2 - Approach
Act 2 - Chicoltgo Shitcoltgo
Act 3 - Interview
Act 3 - Fiery Fire
Act 3 - The Generals Report
Act 3 - The Secret Meeting
Act 4 - Promotion
Act 4 - Fly High Red Sky
Act 4 - Glassware
Act 4 - The Red Declaration
Act 4 - Reunification

Act 1 - The Generals Meeting

What are you willing to do,

To protect the world you know,

From death,

And from misery.

Sacrifice everything you know?

Or sacrifice everyone you know?

Why not both?

The chatter of generals was strong and prominent. Each thing they said was of an important opinion. An opinion that was critiqued at every word, letter, and pronunciation. Any sound of uncertainty from a voice was brought forth by the others, whether that creature liked it or not. Everything they discussed dictated the lives of millions.

One of the creatures who was debating among the scrabble was Pinkie Pie. A pink earth pony who helped critique any idea that others put out, offering feedback on why the other’s ideas might be good or what kind of flaws they had. Sadly, these days, smiling was a rare, if not an abandoned trait of hers, replaced in favor of moral and high spirits. Smiles didn’t win wars, but neither were the other two it seemed.

“A retreat to Mead Resort would present ourselves with a better defensive position in the south. The Smokey Mountains and Ruby Mountains will be good defenses from the advance.” Tempest Wind presented once an opening was allowed in the conversation.

“A retreat that fast wouldn’t help. There’s no defenses down there. If the south can hold up from Prancisco to the mountains, it would allow time for fortifications to be built up once the forces retreat that far back.” August Eisenstadt chimed in.

“We can’t just pull back in the south that fast. Tall Tale is still evacuating. Do you know what kind of moral damage that would do to the population? A major city, just being abandoned like that. Especially since the Changelings will just send more forces north once we’re in a choke point like that.” Pinky finally added.

“The inevitable is coming for the south. Eventually the mountains will split the lines and we’ll be fighting separate fronts. Reinforcements between the two will become near impossible. We have to start planning for a stalemate in the south. Fortifying around Mead Lake will allow us the best opportunity to redirect our forces north. If we stall them in the south, we might be able to focus on counter assaults.” Selenite added.

“Yeeeup. The fallback line from the Shire to the Evergreen has already been fortified. If we can focus on evacuations while mitigating losses during our retreat, then we’ll cover Pinkie’s concerns while also setting ourselves up for a stalemate. The Changelings can’t keep pushing their panzers forever like they are. They know it, and so should we.” Big Macintosh said. “Ain’t that right Decay?”

Pointing at the map that they were all using for reference, Caltrop Decay motioned to the areas being talked about. “The massive forests that sit between the current front lines and the fallback line will slow down their advance, yes, but unless we destroy the roads and railroads, they’ll just use that instead for transporting once resistance is so little. If we do destroy it, they’ll be forced to run their engines for so many miles, they’ll be required to do a lot of maintenance, or fear their tanks breaking at the new front. I’ve toyed with some of the captured ones. Once their logistics are behind, they’re nothing.”

“I will give you two reasons why I am against destroying the railway's Decay. One; if we destroy them, we will have to rebuild them once we retake the land. Two; we can hit the trains with Typhoon’s, use them instead of the big stuff as they have maneuverability and speed, which will bog down the railways with broken trains instead. We know where the railways are, we have the maps. The Changelings are going to have a worse time knowing the locations. I’m sure their intel has some of it, but all of it? No way. Bog down the railways, which will help delay their advance while keeping the tracks intact. Mostly.” Soarin said.

The conversations kept going between the creatures, some speaking up, others writing down ideas and thoughts, trying their best to figure out some form of plan.

Of the creatures that spoke up, Pinky Pie was one of two Elements Of Harmony that became a commander of the Equestrian Army. Applejack was the other Element of Harmony that became a commander, but they were on the front lines while Pinky Pie was on a visit to the Shire for the strategy meeting.

Pinky Pie and Apple Jack used their positions as Elements of Harmony to get their positions in the military, but they were proving their worth among schooled officers, so they were able to stand proudly with them.

Then there’s Tempest Wind, who is a pony that was a part of Luna’s Royal Guard before her thestral reforms, advocating for bat ponies as one of Luna’s personal advisors. Among those two reasons, once the military began ramping up changes because of the Olenian invasion, she was chosen to become a commander within the Equestrian Army. She is now in charge of the southern lines.

August Fon Eisenstadt is another pony who came along during the military reforms. They are in charge of back-line logistics and supply.

Selenite is a bat pony who also helped Luna during her thestral reforms. She was one of the brave ones to come out and directly show her support. She is only one of the two bat ponies at the meeting, but there are more bat pony commanders, just they are all busy at the front lines or elsewhere. Selenite is also a part of the southern lines, directly in charge of all southern tank divisions.

Big Macintosh more so joined the Equestrian Military because of his sister, wanting to be there for her and protect her, but the reality of the war has made it impossible to be there for her constantly, so he has taken up a roll ensuring that she can get what divisions, ponypower and else what she needs.

Caltrop Decay is an earth pony who is also in charge of tank divisions, but they’re in charge of the northern line divisions. They were always fascinated with tractors when young, that the love eventually moved to vehicles and ultimately tracked devices, like tanks. They went to military school and ended up joining the royal guard for a few years before the war, but decided to focus on opening a dedicated Armor School for the military. Just in time for the war, the first classes graduated before she volunteered to be in the Army Command during the reforms.

The last notable creature that spoke up was Soarin. They are the current sitting second-in-command for the wonderbolts AND the commander for all air-corps. The wonderbolts have been transformed into a special forces unit within the Equestrian Military, becoming a very active, but most importantly, very fast reacting infantry group. Soarin’s second-in-command officers for the air-corps were Fast Clip and Whiplash.

For a moment, the chatter died down and small talk between the generals and commanders sprung up, the ones who didn’t add anything discussing what they might think is a good idea, or forming their own ideas, gathering their thoughts to spring it up on the meeting once ready.

Pinky mulled over the situation for a moment before being the next one to speak up. “What about you Luna? What do you think?”

Luna sat with the generals. She was above everycreature else in the room, not just in authority, but also rank. It had been authorized by Celestia herself. Only two ponies sat at the top of military command. Luna and Prince Blueblood.

Prince Blueblood wasn’t at the meeting though. He had taken it upon himself to always be on the front lines, never leaving. It was his self designated role to be with the troops at all time, regardless of the danger it presented himself.

Celestia, though being ultimately in charge of everything, had delegated military operations to Luna.

Luna, being smart, allowed Blueblood to stay where he was, while she herself delegated herself to being the back-line commander. She attended all major meetings when possible. She gave speeches to enlisted that were being shipped off to the front lines and did her best to stabilize the current situation.

Though the position was of importance, Celestia’s was bigger. She wasn’t just worried about the war, but the whole country AND diplomatic issues that arose around the world. With Luna busy with the war, it did help Celestia with responsibilities. It allowed her to focus on getting the economy geared towards war production, while also making sure all creatures of Equestria had food on their table.

It took a moment for Luna to realize a question had been asked of her. It wasn’t until the room was dead silent as the other commanders and generals stared at her in await of a response.

“Instead of holding the advance, we do a slow pull back to the defensive positions. Entrench ourselves behind the river and sever the main lines as we do. Only the main ones. Everything west of the Shire should be razed to the ground. Make it hard for them to bring logistical supplies into the city once it’s their next supply hub. If we need to, burn the city down as we lose it.” Luna finally answered.

There were some whispers between the others until Pinkie Pie spoke up. “Luna… We can’t destroy our own city like that. Did you not hear what I said a moment ago? We can’t just abandon and destroy our ponies like that.”

“It’ll just give Stalliongrad more talking points against helping us.” Decay said. “I know your focus isn’t internationally, but our talks with Stalliongrad are very thin. A place like the Shire is ABSOLUTELY a place we need to hold out for. No matter the cost. Destroying it can’t be a choice. I know it’s grim, but some thousand dead over a city is worth the help Stalliongrad could bring if they see the situation get that bad, but just abandoning stuff that willy-nilly isn’t- Just- Isn’t a thing we can do without dire consequences.”

“And Luna, we can’t have an outlook like that. We don’t know that we’ll lose the Shire yet. The panzer’s have been the biggest problem for us, but by the time they’re at the fallback line, so much will have changed by then.” Tempest Wind added.

Luna relaxed her mind for a moment, letting her thoughts wander elsewhere for a second.

“Ok. Ok. For now, we just need to keep building up the fallback line defenses because currently, regardless of what will happen later, it’s currently a losing fight. We just need to focus on keeping the current lines alive and fed. It’s still too active to make a concrete plan. We need to just stay flexible and view the situation on a minute-by-minute basis. Once the Changelings take Tall Tale, that’s when we’ll get our long-term plans made. We just have to ride out their push for now.” Luna said.

There were more whispers in the room before Luna spoke up again. “We haven’t been able to figure out a plan so far today, so does anyone object to ending today’s meeting?”

There was once again some more whispers, but besides the disapproval looks from some, nocreature objected.

“We’ll have our next major meeting after Tall Tale unless something major happens. Communicate with each other and bring up any concerns. Please.” And with that final statement. Luna stood up, and gave a salute to all the ponies, who all in return returned it, waiting for Luna to drop hers before they followed suit.

Luna was always the last one to leave the meetings, ensuring that if anycreature had something important to bring up, she was there to hear it. Besides a few comments and small concerns that were brought to her, they were simple to work out.

With only a few generals still conversing, Luna basked in the quietness that the previous past hours had overtaken. It finally allowed her some alone time with her thoughts while the other generals meandered about. Luna wasn’t focused on them though, but if they needed her, she was sure they’d get her attention.

For now, Luna let her mind think about many things. All things related to the war and what could be done. Some things were small, and some things big.

One thought brought out a sigh as she realized she had to make her way out to Las Pegasus once the current meeting wrapped up, just to have yet another meeting with the Admirals. A few of the generals from the meeting just now would be there as well, but the meeting they just had was focused on the land and air fight.

And once the Las Pegasus meeting was over, Luna had to go all the way up to Whinnyapolis to have a meeting with the Crystal Empire’s military command. Her next few days were just booked left and right with meetings, though that’s what most of what she did was anyways. A lot of her other work happened between meetings while taking a train or plane. It’s hard doing paperwork while flying, you know.

As Luna continued to think, a thought came across her mind as she saw Bipen in the room still.

Bipen is the other bat pony at the meeting. They are Luna’s personal guard and general for a mostly thestral army. She earned the position by being Luna’s personal guard during her thestral reforms. She currently directly works under Luna.

“Bipen.” Luna said casually.

Perking up to her name, Bipen quickly became aware of Luna and made her way over to her, standing at a salute upon coming up. “Yes Princess?”

Luna dipped her head at Bipen, who then lowered their salute. “Do you know Fizzlepop?”

Bipen pondered the name for a moment before shaking her head.

“Fizzlepop Berrytwist? Tempest Shadow?”

Bipen lightened up once both names were said. “Yes, I know them. Not personally. They’re out east, correct?”

“Yes, Fizzlepop is stationed at Bales currently. They’re currently helping train up recruits from the east and watching the cost. They do a lot of traveling between Bales and Manehattan. They’re kind of on their own, neither under me or the Prince. I was wondering if you could get a message out to them. I want them to meet me in Whinnyapolis during our meeting there. Is that something you can get done?”

Bipen looked enthusiastic with the request, giving no sign of wanting to deny or be against such a request.

“BUT! Bipen.” Luna perked up some. “I need you to directly ask them. No radio, no messages. Word of mouth only. Can you do that?”

The enthusiasm Bipen had before began to die out. “Obviously Princess, that will require me to go to Bales to ask, which I am against. I would like to stay with you.”

“Get the guards you trust the most to guard me then. This is something I need only you to do. It’s a task that if I gamble on correctly, can’t rely on anycreature else doing. Can you?” Luna asked.

Being a bit hesitant to the request, Bipen obliged with a salute. “I can Princess.” Dropping her salute after her answer, Bipen asked. “When will I do this?”

“During the Las Pegasus meeting. Once I make my way there, that’s when I want you to leave for Fizzlepop. The meeting with her will be after we finish at Whinnyapolis. So you won’t be at the Las Pegasus one. Send someone below you to fill in for the meeting. Guards of course separate if that’s to your taste.”

“Understood. I can start making preparations to leave right now, I have finished up everything here myself, if that’s ok with you.”

Luna agreed. “That is ok with me. Just remember, word of mouth. This conversation never happened. Got it?”

“Got it.” Finishing with another salute, Bipen made her way out to begin finding a guard replacement.

Once Bipen was gone, Luna slumped in her chair and sighed out. “Oh sweet pumpkins. I’d take another thousand years on the moon over this war.”

Act 1 - Detour

Is it the incoming doom that has us scared?

Or is it the chaos the doom brings?

If one can survive chaos,

But not peace,

Are they scared of peace,

Or are they bored of it?

Luna sank into her chair as the room erupted into chaos.

Admirals and generals were at each other’s throats as they discussed what course of action to take regarding the western coast. Anything the generals wanted, the admirals were against as it put strain on the navy, while anything the navy wanted to do left the ground forces open to naval bombardment from the Changelings.

“All we can provide is shore bombardments for Mead Lake. Prancisco’s waters have already been breached by U-boats and the Olenian Navy will just about be in range of attacking it. Maybe- Just maybe, some carrier operations to the city, but anything else would put our ships at risk.” Admiral Madoor Stronghammer said above the room.

Tempest Wind, who came to Las Pegasus, joined with Madoor. “After consideration from the Shire Meeting, I am still in belief that we should move back to Mead Lake. Fortify Mead Resort as the main base with a final fallback line behind the river further east. That paired with the narrow northern route around the lake will really solidify the defenses and with the navy pounding the enemy, we can hold out. A solid defense.”

Admiral Dust Hoover was quick to also join in. “I can’t see how leaving behind a city, regardless of what a few cans might do, can justify leaving it for the enemy. You all already know I’m pissed about Vanhoover. We can’t be scared of some antiquated raiding navy of the Olenians at every opportunity. Eventually, THEY ARE GOING TO TAKE THE ENTIRE COASTLINE, and we’ll just be having a nice vacation in Baltimare because you didn’t want to get your ships wet. I can’t go alone against the Olenians with my fleet.”

“Admiral Hoover. Vanhoover was already encircled by land. The aerial raids along with the complete control of the fjords prevented us from getting in. The captains of a few boats scuttled their boats so they couldn’t be captured as Vanhoover fell. It was a lost fight before we could even get there. It made no sense to go in just to be hit from Celestia knows where.” Admiral Evening Squall added in. “Your concerns were already accounted for and known. We DID NOT abandon it.”

“Well, the enemy doesn’t have control over Prancisco yet, by LAND OR SEA. If we don’t start getting our joint task-forces operational, we’ll never get our anti-submarine technology tested, which will only lead us on a downward spiral of failure as the Changelings continue to output better and greater submarines. Eventually they’ll be able to sink entire fleets on their own.” Dust Hoover responded back with. “Submarines don’t control oceans, surface vesicles do.”

“I have to agree with the other Admiral. Prancisco is too much of a loss to hold for long. Strategically speaking, Prancisco doesn’t have any value to us right now. It is best to- frankly speaking- Abandon it for Mead Lake. Let the mountains put in some work. They’re of better value at this moment.” Selenite added.

“I WILL NOT ABANDON A CITY!” Hoover yelled out across the room. The other conversations that were taking place within the room, whether of the same volume, or quieter, died. Hoover continued speaking by slamming his hoof onto a table. “I DO NOT CARE IF THE REST OF YOU REFUSE TO HELP. I WILL TAKE MY FLEET TO PRANCISCO AND DIE WITH EVERY HOOF THAT TROTS A SHIP THAT DAY IF IT MEANS ONE MORE COLT AND FOAL CAN GET OUT!” Hoover nearly spat out his lungs when screaming that.

Upon Hoover’s comments, the room became a mingled mess of shouting and cursing. Nothing could be heard from one another and nothing of value was being gained. It had just become another front line Equestria had to manage.

“GENTLECOLTS AND GENTLEMARES!” Luna spoke out with a royal voice. It was the only way to get the room to quiet down after slamming her hoof down a few times failed to quell the chaos. As the entire room quieted down, a dreaded aura of darkness crept over everycreature near Luna as her stress levels peaked.

Once silence filled the room, evercreature stared at Luna.

The tense air crept out of the room as the silence dragged on and the other creatures began slowly conversing with one another in calmed voices.

Luna was fine with just meditating the meeting this time around if it meant discussions happened.

Even knowing what these meetings entailed sometimes, it still became stressful for Luna to listen to. The last thing she needed was the military high command being at each other’s throats during strategy discussions.

As the other commanders watched as Luna came to peace again, proper strategy talks came back.

Admiral Stronghammer was the first to speak up for the room. “Admiral Hoover. If you insist on Prancisco that much, the most I am willing to do is form a small breakoff attachment from my main fleet to help with the evacuations of Prancisco. A carrier included, but they will not die needlessly for the city. Or yourself. The city’s fall is guaranteed. We need everything we can for future engagements and operations.”

“I might add, if we go through with a proper naval defense for Prancisco, we’ve been developing some new bomber planes, specifically for naval bombing that could get the proper field test.” Fast Clip added to the mix. “Some really good ones. They should be able to help with the U-boat problem. I know not only Rainbow Dash’s Wing, but herself as well would be up for escorting them. It would be a great morale boost for Prancisco if they had an Element of Harmony flying for them.”

Even with the calmer conversation, Selenite was still against the idea of helping Prancisco, but she decided to keep to herself for the moment, hoping for some other idea to pop up later that she could latch onto to help convince the others of her choice.

The rest of the meeting was on and off the same. Sometimes the yelling got so bad again, Luna had to intervene with it to make sure nocreature killed each other, other times she just listened and gave her opinions.

The war was not putting the high command in a good spot. No ideas were working in preventing the advance so evercreature was stressing out, maybe panicking as they tried to come up with ideas.

Finally, though, as the conversations died away and not much else was being said, Luna called the end of the meeting and sat in the room as she waited for whatever conversations the lingering command had. For this meeting, nocreature had anything to directly say to Luna. It had been more of a bicker for the generals and admirals, but in the end, it ended with some plans.

Prancisco was going to be defended for two weeks. Some of the generals focus on the defense was to test out some new tactics and equipment, while others truly wanted to just help the citizens and some just wanting to keep the military alive from suicide missions. For them, it would be enough time to figure out plans regarding Applewood and Mead Lake. Both were hot topics, but with each passing day, it was clear the mountain range would become a positive obstacle in the war.

Once the meeting was all wrapped up and the final commanders left the room, Luna was left to herself. She decided to take the moment of solitude to go out on the balcony for some fresh air.

The smell of Puerto Caballo cigars was very strong, and it was favorite among the high command, so whenever meetings took place, whatever room that was used quickly became filled with the tasteful smell.

Luna herself hated the smell, but it was something she learned to ignore. The last thing she wanted to do was make the commanders lose their minds if a ban on smoking took place. Who knows what kind of bickering and ideas they’d come up with then.

The only downside of being outside though, was the smell wasn’t like Canterlot, or most other cities. Las Pegasus was split between two sections. The clouded city above of gambling and luxury, while the ground below was a near industrial landscape built for economic growth and production.

Luna looked upwards towards the floating city of Las Pegasus, admiring it. It was rare for her to come to Las Pegasus, but it was the only other major floating city in Equestria while differing so much from Cloudsdale that it couldn’t even be compared. It also brought on a unique worry.

How will it fare against air raids?

No known cloud city has ever been under attack by an air raid, but with Las Pegasus being the closest to the front lines, it was something to think about.

Within that industrial landscape of Las Pegasus though, was Equestria’s biggest naval production yards. Since the war started, the keels of many ships had been laid and started for new vessels, but they had since slowed with the fear the city might fall to the Changelings. The only other in-country production of naval ships was on the east coast, Baltimare and Fillydelphia. Baltimore was the smallest of the three, but it was the pinnacle of naval research. Because of fears of Las Pegasus being lost, production has greatly ramped up between the two eastern cities. Some expect Baltimare to catch up and even surpass the production of both Fillydelphia and Las Pegasus.

From the same balcony, Luna was able to look out towards the ocean, where a sizable number of naval ships were. The security for Las Pegasus was heightened for the meeting, but the fleet that guarded the bay was nothing compared to the whole navy.

Between the east and western oceans, the west now had most of the Equestrian Navy for the war. A sizable chunk of it was still based at Manehattan, with a spare carrier, but it wasn’t clear from the war or duties.

With only a few destroyers stationed to the south to patrol for U-boats, the eastern navy had to focus on any potential U-boat that got past, though not likely given how far it was from Changeling ports. That wouldn’t be true for long as SMILE intel indicated that the Changelings were developing long range submarines for such tasks. So not only for the future fear of enemy subs attacking, the escort of merchant ships through Haukland and past Wingbardy required the need of the navy due to pirating and the unpredictability of Wingbardy.

After spending some time on the balcony, Luna was finally interrupted by the personal guards Bipen chose for her. Luna always got carried away with after meeting solitude to enjoy the small moments of life.

Right now, the city of Las Pegasus was normal. Despite everything happening, things here, and for the rest of the country, carried on. Creatures went about their daily lives. For most of them, the war was an afterthought, only interrupted by the occasional draft letter and rare air raid.

The advance of the lines and the advancement of technology would soon disrupt that more and more though. Eventually, the Changelings would get better bombers, which would allow for further bombing runs that they would surely use to cause havoc on the country. Once then, maybe then the ponies of Equestria will truly wake up to what was happening in the west.

That future didn’t matter yet, as Luna had to worry about the present. Her guards had informed her that it was time to head for Canterlot. There had been a slight change of plans since coming to Las Pegasus, so now Luna was to meet with her sister at the Canterlot Castle.

It was Celestia’s idea though, which Luna protested against but eventually caved for. It was rare though, to have Celestia invite her over. In fact, Luna wasn’t even sure when the last time she was directly invited over. Once she thought about it, she remembered it was after the explosion she survived in Manehattan. The whole country was scared for a day when that happened, and massive unrest almost occurred because of the thestrals, but ultimately, once Luna recovered, she was able to quell the unrest.

It was a few days afterwards that Luna was invited to Canterlot by Celestia. It was a simple sister-to-sister conversation regarding some topics, but it was easy to tell Celestia just wanted to check up on Luna. What else is a big sister supposed to do?

The only problem Luna had with the detour was her meeting with Fizzlepop. Depending on what it was she and Celestia would do, she might miss her opportunity to speak with Fizzlepop. The orders she gave Bipen were clear that it would be the day of the Whinnyapolis meeting.

Meeting with the Crystal Empire command was fine to miss. Luna could just go directly to the Crystal City afterwards, but it would delay getting with Fizzlepop, which Luna was against.

It wasn’t like their country was losing a war against little bugs or anything, so what would a few more days do.

Act 1 - The Canterlot Banter

When one asks how you are,

Do you answer them in whole,

Or answer them in halves?

What can one lie do,

If it means helping everyone,

But at the cost of a few?

Canterlot was not the same. The pleasureful strolls ponies took had long since stopped, replaced with the urgent trots of all. The skies were empty of all creatures after the skies around the city were outlawed for free flying. Only the occasional spitfires flew about, their engines buzzing the buildings below before they vanished off in the distance to who knows where.

The further towards the Canterlot Castle one got, the more checkpoints appeared. Royal Guards stationed at each checkpoint ensured that whoever passed through wasn’t a Changeling. Sadly, since the start of the war, to ensure Canterlot Castle was safe from any type of infiltration, all Changelings were banned from the city. Even though Equestria had some Changelings living within the country before the war, their presence had slowly been disapproved of by the population, especially those living closer to the front lines.

For those that lived in Canterlot though, they were forced to relocate. There were no protests against such decisions as their numbers were too small to make it worth the hassle. For everycreature else, they didn’t know this happened. Most of the vacant houses were given thestral priority for those that wanted to move in, a decision made by Celestia to secretly help with Luna’s reforms. Don’t worry though, the few Changlings were given a nice sum of money for the hassle if they bothered to go through the bureaucratic process.

Paired with the checkpoints below, there were also the many rooftops and courtyards throughout the city that had secret AA positions about. Unless one looked hard enough, it was otherwise impossible to tell the whole city had an armada of guns pointed at the sky.

Because of the defenses that Canterlot was under, not even Luna or Celestia were allowed to go about on leisurely flights, either for fun or for travel. They as well were required to stick to the ground while in the city, at least when outside.

As the process of reaching Canterlot Castle finally wrapped up, Luna was ushered inside by her personal guards and the royal guards.

Despite being at the heart of Equestria, security was insistent with procedures for the Princesses until they were inside the castle. Once inside, the guards lessened up, whether for the Princesses or for whoever might be visiting. Anycreature that made it this far was cleared of being a changeling.

Luna wasn’t there for anycreature else though but Celestia. Canterlot Castle had become a central point for the ongoings of the country since the start of the war. Communication lines had been set up on the nearby mountain for ease of access to run the country from a central point. If something needed to be sent out or received, the communications station on the mountain received it and then sent it by wire down to the castle. Interestingly, buffalo had been assigned to communications when possible throughout the country and the front lines due to their native language being entirely unknown to the Changelings and other creatures. The buffalo were seclusive to their region, so their language didn’t spread easily.

All that fancy stuff wasn’t important for Luna though. Right now, her only objective was meeting with Celestia and seeing what she wanted. Or needed? Luna had no clue what this was about.

After being directed to where she was to meet Celestia, she was shown inside the room where she should wait. It was in one of the towers, but Celestia wasn’t there yet, she was probably being bogged up with some kind of issue or complaint. Whatever it was, Luna had some time alone.

Of course, in the room, there was some cake and tea prepared. Despite the commodities of sugar being rationed. Some sugar here and there for Celestia was fine.

“Luna!” Celestia barged into the room without further notice, putting a large smile on her face as she saw Luna.

The sudden appearance of Celestia was a surprise at this point, Luna had thought Celestia would show up a bit later, but yet here she was.

Celestia was quick to move in for a sisterly embrace with Luna before some greetings took place.

“It’s been a few long months since we last saw each other. I hope you did not wait long.” Celestia said.

“I actually just got here, believe it or not. I hadn’t even had time to get some cake.” Luna said as she motioned to the untouched cake. “I was just about to sit myself down and relax while I waited for you.”

“Well, let us get to that then! You had a long journey here I bet! Take some time to relax a little. I’m sure it will do you some wonders.” Celestia said.

Before the two continued with any meaningful conversation, they got situated at the table and took it upon themselves to divvy out slices of cake and cups of tea for themselves. Of course, Luna only took a small amount of cake, leaving most untouched while Celestia took it upon herself to enjoy the rest.

After warming herself with the hot tea, Luna levitated her cup down on the table and asked the important question. “So, Tia, I need to know, but what exactly is the purpose of calling me out here all of a sudden. I know it’s a bit brash to be, but we’re both really busy now, so I just want to know.”

Celestia finished a chunk of cake she had stuffed into her mouth before losing her cheerful demeanor she had from the moment she entered the room. “An escape, Luna.” Celestia brought up a cup of tea and sipped on it. “Nopony will question why I’m wanting to have a meeting with you, so it’ll free up my schedule once it’s announced that’s what I’m doing. And I’m sure you needed it as well.”

Celestia looked exhausted now, as she did her best to relax. “The politics of everything is only growing worse Luna. Griffus is collapsing and we’ve lost the support of our colony. Any help they were providing is about to end. Stalliongrad still hasn’t decided to help and the situation in Aris’ is a lost cause. We’re down two countries. The yaks aren’t being helpful either. They border the Hegemony to the north yet still refuse to join us. As it stands now, it’s just us, Cadance, the buffalos, and Puerto Caballo.

And then within Equestria, I’m having to deal with all the evacuations that you are doing. Finding somewhere to house those ponies is straining resources. Families taking family first, and even then, they’re running out of room for that. Anypony that’s willing to take in a refugee is also running out. Oh Tartarus, don’t even get me started on the job situation it’s causing. We can’t expand factories fast enough to get them jobs. No farm needs a hoof right now because of the season. The only saving grace is a lot of them are enlisting because their homes aren’t anywhere but west. They want it back.

Overall, it’s functioning. Things are working out and eventually, all ponies will be supporting the war effort. I just need to put more effort into my speeches and everything else.”

Luna was mid sip of some tea when Celestia finished her ramble.

“So that’s the short rant version of my situation. I needed a short break.” Celestia finished her comment with a tired smile. “How have things been on your end?”

“The same, more or less. I didn’t know about New Mareland though. That might require some work once the enlisted from there learn about it. When did it happen?” Luna asked.

“Last night. We wrapped up a meeting with their embassy this morning and are preparing an announcement after noon for the press.” Celestia had already stuffed herself with cake by the time Luna asked her question, so she had to talk through it.

“Well, everything else is splendid. To say. I think the more land the Changelings take, the more the generals panic. They’re realizing that we were never a country for war and are trying to plan around the fact we always were. I think by the time we’re at our fallback line, they’ll have passed that stage and know what to do. I know the Crystal Empire is dealing with the war a bit better because of Sombra.” Luna paused for a moment. “You know, it might be worth having some of the command shadow some Empire generals to get more comfortable. I might bring that up at Whinnyapolis actually.

But I can’t blame them. Acornage and Vanhoover were lost real fast and we’re about to lose Tall Tale. Three major cities on top of the vast amount of land and smaller towns, it can be very scary for them. One of the Admiral’s is very fond of Vanhoover. It was the city they’re from, but we weren’t able to do much for it. They caused a mess back in Las Pegasus. That meeting alone was something in itself.” Luna said.

“It required a lot of convincing to expand the military Luna, we can’t be having it collapse on itself if fights are happening during your meetings.” Celestia said concerned.

“The meetings always end with a net positive. Don’t worry. I make sure they stay on track when it gets that bad. It’s easy when everypony is working for the same goal.” Luna said.

“As long as it’s all working out. All I get are detailed reports, but even those don’t cover things like that. Speaking of reports, Twilight might be joining us today if she’s able to make it. There was also something I wanted to discuss with her. Speaking of her though, how have those three been? I haven’t heard from them since the war. All I know is Rainbow Dash has started flying airplanes?” said Celestia.

Luna looked confused at the question for a moment while she thought about it. “Ah, well Applejack and Pinky both report to Blueblood, so I’m sure at some point, their names don’t become important when you’re getting updates from him. Rainbow Dash is indeed flying airplanes. I guess you don’t know about her though.” Luna looked concerned and saddened by what she was about to say. “She lost a wing while leading a Wonderbolt division and had to retire from it. She now flies for the Air Corps. That’s why she’s in a plane. It’s been kept classified from the public though. They don’t need to know that. The Elements are important to the morale of the troops and citizens. They don’t need to know they’re getting hurt.”

Celestia looked a bit shocked at the news. Even Celestia didn’t know. But then again, why would she. Those three were busy on the front lines, which had been delegated to Luna and Blueblood. As long as they were doing something, it allowed Celestia to do something else.

“And Pinky and Applejack? Are they ok as well?” Celestia finally asked.

“Well, to be honest, I haven’t seen Applejack at any meeting since after Vanhoover. I think she has taken up the same stance as Blueblood and is staying at the front lines the entire time with her troops, but last to my knowledge, she was faring better than Pinky.”

The concern on Celestia’s face grew even more with that final comment.

“Pinky, is, well, not good to say? She’s different Tia. I don’t know if she’s the same pony she was before the war. Of all commanders I’ve seen, the toll on her body from the stress and everything has been the worse. Parties have been replaced with meetings and even her efforts at morale have started to dwindle. She made a good switch to focusing on morale at the beginning of the war, but she’s not meant for that. She’s a good general though, respected and dedicated, but if you saw her, you might not recognize her.” Luna finished off her statements by sighing. Her cup of tea looked appealing, so she took a sip of it while she waited to hear from her sister.

Nothing came from Celestia for a moment, just silence. Celestia wasn’t even bothering herself with cake or tea while she processed the information. The two sisters sat in silence as they thought about the effects of the war for a moment.

“Should I have her replaced?” Celestia finally asked.

Luna wasn’t sure of how to answer. Luna let her mind race around for one while Celestia waited for it.

“As you said, she’s under Blueblood’s command, but he’s still my nephew and Pinky is an Element of Harmony. If Applejack and Rainbow Dash are faring better, but Pinky isn’t, it might be better having her stepp down. If she wants to continue helping, she could help with food research and production. I know they’re trying to figure out some new type of ration for the troops. Or help with–”

Luna finally shook her head. “No Tia.” Luna figured out how to word her thoughts. “The war is going to affect everpony. Pinky shows no sign of wanting to step down. She’s doing her job as a commander just fine. We can’t just pull somepony away from the war because it’s stressing them out. Ponies are dying on the front lines Tia. You need to remember this. We have a little over 500,000 ponies and other creatures currently fighting. Between the air corps and navy, we’re a little over 100,000. The Crystal Empire is at over 220,000. 30,000 between the buffalos and Puerto Caballo. Of the Alliance, we’ve lost between 150,000 and 220,000 already. The war will take its toll on everpony some way or another, and it seems for Pinky, it has been greater than others.”

“But is that 220,000 because we have generals that can’t handle the war like Pinky?” Celestia asked.

“No!” All of a sudden, Luna got fired up with Celestia’s comment and stood up, rattling the table, causing the tea and cake to shake. “It’s because ponies were never meant to kill another creature! How can we expect them to do that in the span of a few months when for all of history we’ve been nothing but peaceful!”

Celestia looked like she had something to say regarding the ‘peaceful’ comment but decided to keep it to herself.

“You can’t just expect everypony to just, be ready for war Tia. They’re dying out there. They’re watching their friends get blown up and shot. Ponies are drowning in boats as they sink into the ocean. Families are losing their parents and children. I met a mare from Acornage who’s husband died in the city from aerial bombings, only to lose their two children who enlisted and died in the same city while defending it. They’re never going to be the same. They were just a botanist. They liked plants. They said they were going to join the navy once they got home to their parents in Manehattan.” After finishing her own ramble, Luna sat back down and fixed her cup and plate, so they were orderly on the table again.

“That mare, along with Pinky, are going to bear the scars of war for a long time, and there isn’t anything we can do to stop it until this war ends.” Luna finally finished off.

“But even their friend Rarity is helping out with the war in a way they enjoy it. They’re leading the design team for uniform production. Pinky could–” Celestia was cut off by Luna simply shaking her head.

“Pinky wants to be where she is Tia. We can’t rip her away from what she believes.” Luna said.

“What if we need her and the other two to fight against Discord again?” Celestia asked.

“He’s not anymore safer than we are in this world now. I would know when you were worried sick for me after Manehattan.” Luna said bluntly.

Celestia didn’t try countering with anything else after that. She knew that even for alicorns, they weren’t as powerful as they once were.

After a bit of awkward silence, Celestia tried to break through it. “Did you read the new Daring Do book that came out?”

“I got a copy, but I’ve been too busy to actually read it. Maybe once we’re in a stalemate with the Changelings, I’ll be able to. All of my nights have been busy with helping the soldiers having nightmares. It's been non-stop the entire night these past few months. I think once an opening shows up, their morale will boost, and I should get some time.” Luna said.

“I haven’t read it either.” Celestia responded back.

As the two sisters slowly broke through the awkwardness of the prior conversation, they moved onto more heartfelt stuff, minor things that really didn’t matter. Catching up on what the other was doing, which wasn’t related to the actual war. For Luna, it was a lot less than Celestia, but still, enjoying the weird concoction of food some soldiers made was still an interesting story for Celestia while her weird stories about the politics of the world were interesting for Luna.

The two were able to have a good time together for a few hours while they discussed many things until a knock happened at the door, which was unexpected for the princesses as they had wholly forgotten about the ongoings outside of the room by that point.

Celestia collected herself before calling in whoever was knocking. Luna sat quietly as she also waited to see who it was.

It was just one of Celestia’s royal guards coming in, but with a quick salute, they announced, “Princess Celestia, Princess Twilight Sparkles is here.”

Celestia brought on a smile as she accepted the announcement and had the guard bring Twilight in.

“My young student! It is nice to see you!” Celestia said upon seeing Twilight enter. Celestia was already making her way over to greet Twilight before she could respond.

Accepting the sudden hug from Celestia, Twilight seemed to be more focused on Luna’s presence. “Luna? What are you doing here?”

The greetings between Twilight and Celestia finished, and it became Luna’s turn to greet Twilight. It had been a while since the two saw each other as well.

“Just visiting. Tia invited me over and was insistent about it. We’ve just been catching up. How are you Twilight?” Luna asked.

“Well, actually, you’re just the pony for me to encounter. I won’t bore you with the details right now, but we just invented this new type of gun that uses crystals to power itself, shooting spell-based projectiles. You know the crystals fillies grow during science class? Well, we learned of a process that can refine them into a purer form, holding more magic within them. We made a few prototypes and already have the first design ready to go for mass production. I just have to get with the Macintosh Factory and see if they can make room for this new weapon design. We’ll also need a lot of crystals grown, but we’ve also already figured out a good design for labs that can grow them for the ammunition. We’ll just need unicorns to work at them so they can help infuse the crystals with magic faster.” Twilight said.

Celestia and Luna listened on, not entirely sure what part of that wasn’t ‘boring you with details.’

“Well, I’ll have to read the report on it first before you take it into mass production Twilight. You know that. The factories are already backed up with orders.” Luna said.

“Well, I just thought I would tell you that is all. I didn’t expect to see you here. You’re normally busy with the war.” Twilight finally turned her attention to Celestia and took out a folder from a satchel she carried. “And Celestia, before we get into what it is you want to discuss, Fluttershy agreed to–”

And without warning, Celestia was quick to interrupt Twilight. “AND LUNA!” Celestia suddenly started acting cheerful about Luna’s presence. “It was nice talking, but now I think it’s time for me to have a chat with Twilight here about some things. Nothing that you need to worry about. Didn’t you say you were heading for Whinnyapolis after this? Urgently for a special meeting or something? Don’t worry about the details, go to the airfield and you’ll be able to fly out. Faster than the train. I’ll convince the royal guards to let it happen, so why don’t you head off now. I’m sure the Crystal Ponies have much to discuss!”

And before much else could be done, Celestia was pushing Luna out of the room with a shocked and bewildered Twilight watching on.

At the door, Celestia spoke to the guards. “Be sure Luna gets a ride out north by plane, please? No arguing with it, ok?” With smiles and cheers, Celestia said her goodbye to Luna before retreating back into the room.

It wasn’t just Luna, but also the guards that were entirely confused by the quick and sudden interaction.

“What's up with her?” Was the only response Luna was able to say to it.

Act 4 - Celebration

Are the watchful eyes of progress

A good sign of things to come?

December 31, 1013

The Canterlot Castle courtyard quickly filled with ponies as they piled in for the new year celebration.

While the biggest event for the new year took place in Manehattan, Major Sparkle was currently in Canterlot for the investigation into the Black Stripes. He, along with Mythic, came to the castle’s celebration to try and see what Luna was doing, at least from the perspective of the other civilians.

As it turned out, being targeted in an arson attack by the very group you are investigating isn’t a good sign that they want to be investigated, so new plans had been put in play for Sparkle and Mythic to follow when it came to the investigation.

A few more hooves were brought into the team to help with the investigation, their names and identity unknown by the generals and hopefully anycreature else. The generals know about it, they just don’t know who was helping, as they had given full authority to Sparkle for the investigation and trusted whatever method he chose as long as he presented information from the investigation.

Because they learned that Luna was visiting Canterlot, which they concluded was for Celestia given Luna never came here, they had decided they would take a direct approach during the new year party with hopes they noticed something helpful.

Because air defenses had been holding up against the Changelings bombing efforts against Canterlot for the past month, the party had been permitted to take place, as long as contingency plans were in place in the event a air raid did happen.

While it wasn’t preferable, the party goers would be rushed into the castle in the lower floors until any threat passed. Security at the entrances to the lower portions of the castle from the courtyard were lightly guarded, while all access points that went to upper floors and secured rooms on the lower floor were heavily guarded. Preferably, the Royal Guard didn’t want an air raid to happen, but what could they do in the midst of war and Celestia’s orders.

Outside at the courtyard, ponies gathered together in groups as they spoke with one another. A lot of them were local ponies who had been lucky to get in, while others were military officers who happened to be in the city for the new year or ponies in important governmental positions from the surrounding cities.

Because the war had stalled at the front lines more or less, the mood with everypony was high. They all held smiles and shared laughs with one another as they took bites of their slices of cakes.

Because it was a celebration, the castle paid premium prices for extra cake and drinks for everypony. There were a few dedicated servers who handled the cake, along with a guard, that way there was enough for everyone. The sugar rations were still in effect across the nation, but it was expected to stabilize in the next few months, where it would then lift.

Sparkle didn’t bother with any of the cake, he chose to just opt for a simple drink. He wanted to have full attention on the event while he looked for anything that might be off with Luna’s presence since he had seen Luna a few times at some prior celebrations before the war.

Mythic also opted for the same thing, only going for a drink as the two conversed with each other.

The two were trying to figure out where they should stand when the princesses gave the New Years Celebration speech. They still had an hour until then.

There were Royal Guards that surrounded the entire courtyard, all of whom carried pikes with a pistol. This was a standard at any celebration or party that took place at the Canterlot Castle though, but ever since 1002, there have been armed guards hidden away within the castle who could respond within seconds if anything happened.

At this point, the courtyard was jam packed with ponies. While those from the military and government were keeping to their conversations and being calm, it was the normal citizens who had gotten in that were elevating the mood and basically partying and celebrating. The most riled up ones ended up having the Royal Guards intervene and tell them to calm down a little.

While it was a celebration, the guards couldn’t have chaos taking place as it would interfere with security.

Once the hardcore core party goers were calmed and one was kicked out, it had nearly become time for the princesses to appear.

The balcony that overlooked the courtyard that wasn’t that far up, was rigged to the brim with microphones that had been installed earlier that day by all the news networks and media. There were also big film cameras that had been setup on the upper walkways that surrounded the courtyard, which aimed up at the balcony. With them, there were a plethora of photographers ready to capture whatever might happen.

Ever since the war began, the press had ramped up their work with documenting the public ongoings of Celestia and any event held at the Canterlot Castle.

While Luna also was under view of the lens, she had a lot more leeway with denying and permitting who and what could document her given her role was entirely military focus.

As the celebration started winding down as word spread that the princesses were about to come out, Sparkle and Mythic found themselves near the edge of the crowd. There had been an open spot there from them to stand that hopefully allowed them a good view of at least Luna, while having a good view of everypony else in the crowd.

Finally, after standing for an hour since being permitted into the courtyard, a member of the Royal Guard appeared on the balcony above and spoke into one of the microphones from the mess of them that lined it.

“Ladies and gentle colts, please let me gather your attention at this time!” The guard's voice was heard throughout the courtyard as it beamed from the speakers the microphone was wired up to, which caused the courtyard to quickly hush into silence, “I am Captain Pommel of the Canterlot Royal Sun Guard. It is with great pleasure to have you all gathered here tonight for the New Year Celebration. As always, it is never under the circumstances that we wish it could happen, but nonetheless we push on and will continue to hold it every year regardless of the circumstances.” There was then a quick moment where the captain caught his breath before continuing, “But now I would like to extend my hoof and invite all of you in welcoming not only Princess Celestia, but also Princess Luna tonight!”

And with that, the captain stepped back from the microphone and moved out of the way from the door that was directly behind him so Celestia could step forward.

Celestia came out from somewhere behind him, likely waiting for her cue from the captain to do so. In the time between the captain going quiet and Celestia stepping forward, the crowd riled up into cheers and hollers as they saw Celestia, but they only grew louder as Luna also stepped forward a second behind her.

Following the emotion of the crowd, Sparkle and Mythic both raised their drinks in celebration but stayed quiet. A few of the ponies around them had only celebrated when they saw Celestia, but they had come out in full yells themselves for Luna.

Sparkle and Mythic knew Luna was going to be here, but they couldn’t mention that to anycreature as it was classified information up until she made her appearance. Because of the nature of their work, before and after being assigned to the investigation, they kept quiet about most, if not all of their work. That was just the reality of working within SMILE or in military intelligence.

For nearly a full minute Celestia and Luna both waved at the crowd below as the photographers snapped away pictures and the film cameras rolled away.

One of the things that Sparkle noticed right away, which any pony could, was Luna wore her military uniform with her crown and all ribbons and medals while Celestia only wore her crown and necklace, as she always did.

It was rare for Luna to be seen out of her officers uniform since the war began. As the years passed, the amount of medals and ribbons she wore grew, which were always awarded by the other generals.

Finally, it came time for the princesses to speak, which was prompted by a simple glow from Celestia’s horn as she lowered her hoof down, which gathered the attention of everypony. The crowd quieted down and with the attention of everypony at the celebration, Celestia began.

“My ponies of Canterlot and Equestria, it brings me great joy to see you here today, not just here at the castle, but here in the country! For the past three years we have been troubled by the events out west, but you have proceeded to carry on against all ill will brought against you and continue to hold close the values you have always believed in.

With the new year upon us within the next few minutes, I would like to come forth and announce the alliance that we will be establishing with Stalliongrad. Through the many months of work I have put in with Sinister Serov and the Red Army, officially, in the new year, they will come to our aid and help us reclaim our very homes!”

And with that, Celestia finished her opening statement. While previous years, Celestia dragged on with her opening statement for a bit longer, but given the announcement and news of this, the impact of it covered the lack of length.

There was a moment of silence from the crowd, even the guards, as they heard what was said, and then ever so slowly, amongst the ponies, they each came out in hollers and cheers once again.

The sound of the crowd exceeded their previous energy, with even some guards breaking rank and looking up at Princess Celestia in astonishment, but there was one thing that Sparkle noticed immediately. Luna.

Luna looked confused at the announcement, as if that hadn’t been expected.

While the crowd continued to cheer together, the two sisters above on the balcony gave each other a quick glance, Celestia giving Luna a reassuring smile while Luna looked as if she asked a question. Celestia seemed to ignore Luna before she turned back to the crowd.

As some of the cameras pointed back up at Celestia after the eruption from the crowd, Celestia raised a hoof again to calm everypony.

“And now for the second announcement,” Celestia motioned towards Luna with a hoof, which indicated for Luna to step forward, “My sister, Princess Luna, is here today to show her own love for you, the ponies of Equestria. It has been two years since she was last able to attend with me up here, so please, show your excitement and love for her!” And with that, Celestia stepped out of the way, making way for Luna to take her spot at the podium with all the microphones.

The entire crowd ended up cheering just as loud for Luna once she stepped forward, which Luna let marinate for a few seconds as well before she also raised a hoof to quiet them down.

It took Luna a few good seconds before she was able to process what Celestia just thrust onto her. While there were some planned aspects of tonight that they had gone over before starting, this wasn’t one of them.

It had been some time since Luna had to speak before ponies in this capacity, but being a Princess herself AND a field marshal, thinking on the spot came easy for her, well at least Luna thought. She was still the lovable but introverted moon god she was.

Luna ended up giving her speech just fine, though it was heavily biased towards military speak and inspiration instead of a speech for the general population, but that didn’t stop the crowd from cheering once they finished up.

It was Luna’s speech that Sparkle really paid close attention to, though it provided nothing of value for the investigation, which showed on Sparkle’s and Mythic’s faces.

While the cheers of the crowd filled the courtyard, Sparkle looked around at them to see how they were acting.

As expected, most of them were just shouting and cheering, holding smiles and bumping into each other with excitement. But that was when Sparkle noticed a pony within the crowd looking away from his direction before they disappeared behind a pegasus with flared out wings.

With a single click in his head, Sparkle scanned the crowd yet again until he saw a pony up towards the front of the crowd looking at him, who also turned their attention away immediately.

And with that, the ethereal feeling of having multiple eyes focused on him directly became apparent to him, which caused the hair on his back to raise up.

With his newfound ability, Sparkle took one last sweep of the crowd, which resulted in success as his eyes landed on yet another pony, this time a different one that was around the same spot as the first. Following the pattern, this third one also ended up looking away just as Sparkle spotted him.

All three ponies Sparkle spotted all looked away naturally, as if they were also just passing eyes with one another by chance, but what made it weird was Sparkle didn’t notice any of the other ponies within the crowd looking at him, or trying to look around as those three had.

A shiver ran up Sparkle’s back as he felt the lingering of eyes on him from throughout the crowd, but just as quickly as his ability was found, it was lost and he wasn’t able to spot any other pony looking at him.

Sparkle tried his hardest, scanning the crowd for any new onlookers, but proceeded to fail as the crowd calmed down yet again and began looking back up at the balcony above as Celestia stepped forward with a hoof raised, gathering their attention.

Once Celestia began speaking, Sparkle gave Mythic a nudge to get his attention.

“We’re being watched,” Mythic whispered to Sparkle before turning his attention to him.

This was a surprise to Sparkle when he heard that, but he held the same face and whispered back, “Who’d you see?”

“Earth pony, brown fur, pink satchel.”

“Where?”

“Near the entrance.”

Sparkle looked out towards the entrance, giving the crowd another glance over before looking up at Celestia as she began speaking up, who paused for effect, and then continued as a few cheers began up. Sparkle then looked at Luna, who stood back from the microphones and stood there stoically with her sister.

There was no reaction or worry from Luna as the two below seemed to have realized they’ve learned they’ve been spotted.

Sparkle ended up nudging Mythic again as both their attentions had been drawn up to the balcony, “Just keep looking out for them, I’ll watch Luna and Celestia.”

For the rest of the speeches that Celelstia gave, and the few that Luna gave along with her, there didn’t seem to be any other sighting of anypony watching Sparkle and Mythic. That turned out to be more worrisome than seeing somepony watching them.

There wasn’t much that Sparkle and Mythic could do about whoever was watching them, though they had a pretty clear idea on who it might be. While none of the ponies that either saw were anypony they recognized, given that they were there investigating Luna and her brigade, they were certain it was the Black Stripes.

None of them made any moves against Sparkle or Mythic while they were at the celebration though, at least none that the two were able to notice, even all the way until the near end of the year.

Finally, it came time.

There was only one minute left now until the new year.

Celestia and Luna had finished with their speeches at this point and just stood on the balcony watching out towards the open skies behind the courtyard. Everypony had also turned around and looked up at the sky as a quiet countdown was spreading throughout the crowd.

While there were still a few ponies who looked up at the princesses and some that spoke with each other, the majority watched and waited for the new year fireworks to begin.

Sparkle and Mythic stood with one another, facing towards the open skies with everypony else, though Sparkle was keeping an eye out for anypony that was watching them.

Ever since the first sighting of the ones watching them, neither Sparkle or Mythic were able to spot them again. They also never saw anything weird with Luna that indicated anything of note, so at this point, while they waited for their speeches after the fireworks to begin, they just stood there ready to enjoy the next few minutes.

And then it was here, the crowd upped their voices as the countdown reached ten.

“Nine!”

“Eight!”

“Seven!”

“Six!”

“FIVE!”

“FOUR!”

“THREE!”

“TWO!”

“OOOONEEE!”

And the crowd of ponies threw out cheers, some of them dragging out their ones as the first firework shot up into the sky and exploded into a bright sun shaped symbol, before the thundering pound of poppers started exploding in succession from one another in the same area.

A big spectacle of lights blew up in the sky, pounding away at the air which vibrated the ground and everything nearby as they sounded away at the new year.

In the midst of the entire show, while most eyes were off of the princesses, they spoke with one another.

“Luna, please go change out of your uniform now. We need some photos without you in it. After our final speeches and some photos, I will need to prepare for my trip to Novo. It will be a very quick ten minutes.”

“Already? I thought we would have a bit more time.”

“You can stay around for the after party, I’m sure the ponies would greatly appreciate seeing you, especially the media.”

Luna’s attention was drawn to the fireworks again as a moon shaped firework exploded into sparkles, “Should there be anything I talk specifically about?”

Celestia shook her head, “No. I trust whatever you say will be sufficient for them. Though, you might get bombarded with questions about Stalliongrad, so just answer to the best of your abilities, or direct them to the royal guard. They will make more announcements regarding it once the talks are finished.”

“What if they ask about the situation with Aris or the Herzland wars?”

“Have you been following those situations like you should?”

Luna was a bit hesitant to answer, “No…”

Celestia cracked a smile, “Then redirect those questions to one of my assistants that is staying behind.”

Luna gave a nod, just in time as two fireworks exploded into the blue and white circle that tried its best to resemble the Equestrian flag.

“Now quickly sister, go get out of that uniform!” Celesetia gave Luna a small nudge to send her on the way back inside so she could remove the outfit.

The small interaction happened under the watchful eye of Sparkle, who then turned his attention back to the fireworks before any of the undercover Black Stripes saw him doing so, though he doubted he escaped their eyes anyways.

Author's Note

I struggled to write this chapter since the previous one. I wrote the chapter after this one before even starting this one, so that's why there was a big gap between the previous chapter and this one.

Act 1 - Whinnyapolis Greetings

What choices do you have,

When you have none left,

But ones that only bring death?

The plane ride to Whinnyapolis was boring.

After being kicked out of the room back in Canterlot, Luna couldn’t do anything but think about the billion reasons as to why Celestia kicked her out of the room once Twilight showed up.

Fluttershy! What did she have to do with anything! Wasn’t she just taking care of animals or something!?!

It was frustrating, but there wasn’t anything Luna could do about it now but hypothesis, but even that gets boring after an hour. The only thing she could do at this point was start preparing for the coming of meetings happening at Whinnyapolis. At least then, she’ll finally meet back up with Bipen and get her personal guard back, not that Luna had a problem with the two Bipen chose.

One thing about the flight that was interesting was how rackety it was. The plane transporting Luna was of an older design, dating back to 1004, but it was a custom designed one. It had been padded with steel plates around the cabin she currently sat in, with beefier engines and enlarged fuel tanks. It was made for transporting important figures of Equestria, and it currently transported Luna.

Paired with the improved plane, there were two spitfires that flew with it as escorts. It was fun watching them through the thick bullet proof glass, or at least it was when they dipped into view. The only thing lacking was heating. They were currently cruising at a higher altitude than normal. Though the princesses were unphased by temperature, the other ponies that crewed the plane, along with the guards, all had to wear thick coats to stay warm.

One of the bad things about the plane though was the food. It wasn’t the best as compared to what was served on trains, but it was still better than what some of the creatures on the front lines were eating and having to make.

Though, even with everything going on, it was quite peaceful up in the air. Besides the escort fighters, the only other stuff that could be watched out of the window was the sky, clouds, and terrain below.

At their height, small hamlets of towns they flew over looked invisible, it was only the few large towns and the city of Umberfoal that were noticeable.

Even the terrain was hard to make out, though that was mostly due to it being flat. Once they had left Canterlot, there were no mountains nearby. Going north, in the direction towards Whinnyaplois, there were no mountains until the northern part of the Crystal Empire, near the yak’s borders.

Here in the middle of Equestria, it was very flat. Just forests and plains that went on forever. The only interesting features that stood out at that height were the rivers. They looked a lot more interesting up in the sky at that height and it helped remind Luna of what it was like to fly up this high.

Suddenly one of the crew ponies interrupted. “Princess Luna!” They said with a salute. “The flight captain says will be on approach for landing in half-an-hour.” That was all they had to say before they waited for Luna to dismiss them.

As the plane began its approach and started to descend, the two escort fighters were replaced with two others in a seamless transition once Luna’s plane neared closer to the city. Luna hadn’t noticed as she had busied herself with some work before landing.

But at last, after a small detour to Canterlot, Luna finally made it to Whinnyapolis.

Whinnyapolis was an interesting city when it came to Equestria. Unlike Canterlot and the other coastal cities, Whinnyapolis was the only major city within Equestria that took on heavy inspiration from the Crystal Empire’s designs. It had the biggest central population of crystal ponies anywhere on the continent outside of the Crystal Empire itself. This was due to a major railway and road connecting the Crystal Empire from the middle, down into Equestria. It was at this location long ago that transportation by the river could effectively begin, allowing bulk goods to be sent downriver, straight into the Eclipse Gulf next to Manehattan.

Because of that, Whinnyapolis formed at that point of the river, where Crystal goods came down and were sent throughout the world, while also allowing for goods to be easily brought in. Because of this, there are major freight yards along the banks of the river around Whinnyapolis that help employ ponies.

Even though Whinnyapolis is a major city, just across the river, is a smaller city called Riverpool. While Whinnyapolis has mixed Equestrian and Crystal Empire designs and has been built up into a sprawling city like many others, with skyscrapers and industrial sections, Riverpool is a simpler place. Riverpool is mostly inhabited by normal Equestrian citizens, with it’s design more similar to other small cities around the country. Most of the residents here are separate from Whinnyapolis, though that doesn’t keep them from visiting constantly.

Before the start of the war, Whinnyapolis had become a central point for crystal research within Equestria due to the abundance of crystals that flowed in from the Crystal Empire, but since the start of the war and the current situation, with fears that the Changelings might take the city in the future, there has been a push to move the research elsewhere throughout the country, mostly towards the south where it’s not expected for the Changelings to make it.

But it was here that the next meeting Luna was having. It was chosen because of its location between the Crystal City, Canterlot, and the front lines, allowing for easy travel for all parties. As all the other commanders arrived in the city, it became closer for the start of the meeting. Because Luna had come in by plane, she was one of the first to arrive, so because she had some downtime before the meeting took place, she decided to meet with some local citizens.

There was no announcement regarding this for safety reasons, though Luna was allowed to go to one of the parks with heavy guard presence and chat with whoever was around. There was an hour or so before the sun set and Luna had to raise the moon, so there weren’t many ponies out. Those she did meet didn’t have much reaction to her presence in the city. For a lot of them, they didn’t hear much about Luna, nor knew what she did outside of her past as being Nightmare Moon and the Princess of the Night. Only the singular thestral that was at the park was ecstatic to meet her.

Overall, it wasn’t that successful of a meet and greet, but that was expected. This was what Celestia’s job was, not hers. Luna did her part in helping the thestrals with her reforms, but now her focus was the war, so making sure the progress she started continued without her direct involvement was hard. At least she was able to make at least one pony happy.

But now that it was about time to start the meeting, Luna left the park and went to the military base within the city where all the generals were gathering.

As all meetings prior to the Whinnyapolis one, it was the same situation. Discussions on what to do and what they should do, what might happen, but this time, it was more centered around the discussion of the northern Equestrian lines and the Crystal Empire lines, as well as integration of their forces. While Equestrian forces were in the south part of the Crystal Empire, they didn’t span the entire border against the Changelings. The Crystal Empire was in charge of defending the northern regions of the line that weren’t filled by Equestria, while also keeping a few divisions at the yak borders.

Because the yaks hadn’t attacked the Changelings or been attacked themselves, the Crystal Empire had worried that the yaks might be siding with the Changelings to invade from the north. Though there was no real evidence of this, Shining Armour still worried about it. Thankfully, the amount of forces needed to defend the north borders was comically small. With only two viable ways for armies to advance down south, it only required a few mountain forts and some defenses for the simulated invasions to fail. While being stationed at these passes might be preferable than the west, they weren’t important. The Changelings advance from the west wasn’t just pushing into Equestria, but also the Crystal Empire, but because the Crystal Ponies were more better suited to the cold, they were able to defend against the invasion better than their southern allies, but because they lacked a sizable air force like Equestria, they were currently losing the air battle.

A big chunk of those attending the meeting were from the Crystal Empire, though Shining Armour wasn’t present, another Field Marshal like him was. Reese. While Shining Armour was taking charge of dealing with the current advance, doing his best to halt it, it was Reese that had been charged with planning all counter assaults for the country. He, along with Dust Ember, Solid Shot, Crystalline, Cloudie, Icy Snow, and Forest Nutmeg were the Crystal Empire high command that were attending the meeting, with more lower ranking commanders and officers with them.

Thankfully for this meeting, Luna didn’t have to intervene as much with the group. The most notable things that came out of the meeting were some radical ideas by some of the Crystal Ponies, which were all shot down by Luna herself. Though finally, as the meeting ended and all the commanders left, Luna finally found herself in quietness again. It allowed her time to empty her mind and relax before her second meeting took place.

Once the time came, Luna reserved the room they were using for a bit more time and had Bipen bring in Fizzlepop, the much awaited pony she desired to meet with since Las Pegasus.

Luna still sat at the table from the meeting, patiently waiting for Fizzlepop. As Fizzlepop entered, Luna kept to her seat. Fizzlepop, who was unsure as to why she was even there, was quick to stand at attention for Luna upon approaching her.

“I was told that we needed to speak Princess?” Was the first question Fizzlepop said after being put to ease. There was a bit of worry for Fizzlepop as she stood there waiting for an answer. She has never personally spoken with Luna since rejoining Equestria, so all of a sudden being called out for some unknown meeting with Luna wasn’t exactly something she was prepared for. “I have to ask Princess, this isn’t related to anything with the Storm King, right?”

“Last to my knowledge, the remains of his army ended up fractured and declared war with one another, but I do not know the outcome of it, but that is not why I called for you.” Luna finally stood up and walked towards Fizzlepop. “Or I stand corrected. It might have some connection to your involvement with the Storm King.”

“The Storm King’s second-in-command and now a general within the Equestrian army. Is it still true that you currently run the eastern recruitment for volunteers and draftees, or have you been reassigned to something else? To my knowledge, you currently don’t have a superior besides Celestia?”

“Yes, I still run that. Bales to Manehattan and everything east of that, but I have to correct you. I currently report to Prince Blueblood, but because he has been busy with the fighting, I have more or less just been given indirect command of my region. Currently, recruitment has increased as more territory is lost, but we also carry out the draft process for my region following standard regulation from Princess Celestia. I hope nothing regarding any of that has caused any issues?” Fizzlepop said.

“Nothing is wrong, but I am interested in the involvement you had with the Storm King.” Luna inspected Fizzlepop for a moment before going back to their seat. “What was training like in the Storm King’s army?”

“About the same as any army’s? Because tactics have changed since then, training has also changed to suit the need.”

Luna sat quietly for a moment as she thought. She sat long enough that Fizzlepop ended up speaking up again.

“I mean, I can’t say too much regarding the training they had, that wasn’t my responsibility then. The only thing was the yeti’s were more aggressive with fighting while under threat of the Storm King and myself, so things progressed a lot differently.”

“How many wonderbolts get training under your command?” Luna asked this suddenly without warning.

“Luna?” The wonderbolts aren’t under my command or responsibility. Anypony that signs up to join as a wonderbolt is sent off to Cloudsdale for training there. We just deal with recruitment for the normal army and navy, well Cynosura’s command is, but we work hoof in hoof.”

“And your direct involvement with training?”

“I will give speeches and be a part of graduation ceremonies for everycreature that completes training, but I have many other responsibilities so I haven’t directly helped train any specific pony.”

Luna sighed as she continued to think some more. This time, Fizzlepop didn’t speak up as she waited for Luna. It was just quiet. But again, as the quietness dragged on, Fizzlepop spoke up again.

“Princess Luna?”

“I have this idea for a new force and need somepony to help with it.” Luna directly looked at Fizzlepop. “Preferably somepony with your experience since you currently already deal with recruitment and training in some capacity. Is this something you can help with?”

“As I said Princess, I’m currently under Prince Blueblood. That isn’t something I can exactly answer.”

“I’ll talk with him if you agree. If anything, you staying under Prince Blueblood’s command will be better in the long run. Given that he’s focused on the front-lines, I’m sure he’d be fine to transfer you under me anyways. Do you want to agree to this?”

“As long as Prince Blueblood agrees to whatever this is. But what do you even want to do Princess?”

“Secrecy Fizzle. Everything about what I want to do is to be kept under secrecy. Anything you learn or do is to be learned by nopony sideways or up besides me. Prince Blueblood will know nothing either. Neither Cadance or Celestia. The less ponies that end up knowing, the better.”

“I don’t know if we can keep something secret from Princess Celestia, Luna.”

Luna shook her head. “Since your promotion, have you met with my sister?”

There was a bit of hesitancy from Fizzlepop. “I have not.”

“She delegated the war to me and Blueblood. As long as reports don’t exist and word of mouth doesn’t get out, she won’t know about anything. And Blueblood, has he bothered you since the start of the war?”

“I get the rare message, but since I’ve been doing perfectly fine on my end, he hasn’t worried about me or called me in.”

“Keep your work up and your mouth shut then.” Luna said with an encouraging smile.

“But what exactly kind of force do you want to make Princess?”

“I will talk with Blueblood first. Once he’s ok with me using you, we’ll talk then. I know our chat didn’t last long, but I just need to get a start somewhere, and this was the first step.”

“Couldn’t you have sent a message instead of meeting?”

“I had the idea when I was leaving for a Las Pegasus meeting before here. That’s why I sent Bipen for you. Word of mouth only. The whole idea of what I want will require the utmost secrecy. That’s why this conversation today didn’t happen. Nothing happened once we leave this room. Once I meet with Blueblood, I will send Bipen for you again for another scheduled in-pony meeting.”

Fizzlepop thought over the request herself now, taking a moment to decide. “I have a single question Princess.”

“Yes?”

“Who would you choose if I don’t agree?”

“Secrecy. The less everypony knows, the better. Do you want to help?”

Fizzlepop stood up straight and responded with attention after coming to their conclusion. “Yes Princess.”

“We will speak of nothing regarding this. Thank you. You are dismissed.”

Once Fizzlepop dismissed herself, Luna relaxed. She finally set in motion a plan she wants to create and now all there is to do is everything else that will be required to make it work. The only question is whether this plan will have any effect on the war. Luna only hoped it would.

Act 2 - The 22nd ‘Everfree’ Division

How long can a secret be kept,

Once part of it has been revealed?

Whether it was on purpose,

Or by accident,

Eventually, it will all be known.

It was a few years into the Great War and the Changelings had pushed Equestria past their original fall backline that had been established, but a new one has since been established, which is currently where the United Ponies Alliance sits. As expected, the Changeling push had stalled, which slowed their advance until it finally came to a halt. In that time, the Equestrian army and air corps had grown into a sizable force, but it still wasn’t enough to push back into their stolen land.

The past few months had devolved into trench warfare between the two sides, spanning the entire front lines. Currently, the two sides sat between the Ruby River and Twilight River, an expansive swath of land barren of any features but endless plains. It was here that the trench lines dug into the earth, scaring it.

In the far south, at Mead Lake, Equestria was able to hold off the Changelings since the beginning of the war. Equestria finally ended up pulling back and fortifying it and it currently had the most expensive trench network anywhere in the world, along with having seen the most destruction. There were no trees around the current line, the soil had turned into mush and life no longer lived there besides the changelings and ponies that killed each other.

Up in the far north, the Changelings were still pushing into the Crystal Empire, but slower. The Changelings currently were fighting for the city of Hedgewards, the Crystal Empire’s southernmost city, while the Emerald Piedmont Mountain pass had been taken, which was one of the two passes into the yak’s country.

Near Hedgewards though, in Equestria, was a small city called Chicoltgo. It sat on the western side of the Twilight River, which was currently under Changeling control. As it stood now, Equestria held the western side of the river from the city, where the army was dug into trenches and bunkers. It was expected that once Hedgewards fell, this location would be next, as it would allow for the railway system to be connected between the two cities, letting the Changelings have a new city to fortify in and stage their next pushes out of.

But as it currently stood, Equestrian intel said that the city of Chicoltgo wasn’t that well defended as the main Changeling panzer unit that held it, was currently helping with the advance into Hedgewards. Because of this development, Equestrian high command had issued orders for a counter assault into the city by the 22nd ‘Everfree’ Division. They were the ones who were stationed across the river, but due to concerns about the strength of the division, special help was coming in to back them up, along with massive aerial support.

The plan was to push into the city and hold the western side, which had originally been fortified by the Equestrian army before they were pushed out. It would be then, once they held the city again, to defend it against the expected panzer division that originally held the city, but this time with help from the air corps, which they hadn’t had when they originally lost the city.

“SECOND SQUAD, GATHER UP!” Staff Sergeant Watch suddenly yelled out as he entered the bunker. Sergeant Shadow followed in after Watch and stood with him.

Suddenly, everypony within the bunker scurried to attention, dropping playing cards, books, and waking from their naps, or whatever else it was they were doing.

“We have just gotten orders from command that we’re going to be assaulting the city tomorrow. I need everypony to be ready before sunrise to head out. That’s when we’re heading out. That’s the brief explanation. Does anypony have any questions?” SSG. Watch asked.

Of course, there were questions, which prompted Pvt. Gust to raise a hoof. “Yeah, Staff Serg, what’s the long explanation?”

Watch waited for any other questions to arise before he sighed given that only Pvt. Gust had been one to ask a question. All of the other Pvt’s looked at Watch in anticipation of an answer, given it’s what they all wanted to ask. Watch was never keen on giving details which everypony in the squad hated, but that’s why they always relied on Gust to ask.

“Map.” Watch asked for, which prompted Shadow to dig through a satchel she wore before finally taking out a paper map.

Watch took it with his telekinesis and moved over to the table the others had been playing cards at and placed the map down, clearing cards and mugs out of the way, which more than likely disrupted whatever game the others were playing.

“Well? Gather around. You wanted a longer explanation, so I’ll give one.”

With that, everypony else started to gather around the table, some choosing to sit while others chose to stand. Watch and Shadow chose to stay standing.

The map Watch laid out on the table was of the city Chicoltgo and the surrounding areas from the east and south. On it, their own position were labeled, along with railways and enemy fortifications that were believed to be in the city.

Watch tapped the table a few times. “Ok, listen. The general plan as of right now that I’ve been told is this. Right before sunrise, we’ll have three Muletilda’s and two Stallion tanks roll over the trench crossing, at that time, once the last tank crosses over, us, along with all of 1st Company and 2nd company, will follow them across the bridge and setup on the southern side of the city. 3rd and 4th Company will do the same with the remainder of the tanks and set up on the eastern side of the city after crossing the bridge after us. Once we push into the outer parts of the city, the 5th company will come in behind us and push west while we continue north. 8th Company will push north once 3rd and 4th take the outer parts of their section. We’ll have direct artillery support if we make it to the western side of the city, until then, they’ll do fire missions on the western road.

We’re going to have a bunch of birds flying about if it gets hot up there, so we’re going under modified flight rules for all you pegasus. Unlike the low clouds you can use like normal, you’re restricted below fifty feet once the operation begins.”

As everypony listened on, there was some quiet complaints from the pegasus in the squad, but they remained quiet as Pvt. Snow pointed at the map.

“But what about the direct approach from the main road? Why do we have to go to the south and push in? That’s going to take a few hours just to set up before we’re all in position. Shouldn’t we send someone through that point?”

Watch had a frustrated expression form as he heard that question. It was a big oversight that was clearly in the plans he just explained, which now meant he had to further explain stuff. “Some random battalion is going to come in and push that direction, which brings up another thing I have to say.”

Watch had to clear his throat as he looked around the bunker at all the watchful eyes. “Whoever this battalion is, we aren’t allowed to ask questions. They’ll show up before tomorrow, and when they do, we’ve been told it’s best to leave them alone. They’re going to hunker down with us in the trenches and be the last ones to go into position tomorrow. Of those that are taking the direct approach that is.

Now, Celestia forbid us we actually take any prisoners, but if we do, this new battalion is going to lend us soldiers for the southern and eastern approaches who’re going to be in charge of any POW’s. We will be forbidden from interacting with any prisoners and are to hoof any over to whoever is assigned to us for that duty. It might be one, it could be five, I don’t know. No questions.”

Pvt. Blaze proceeded to ask a question. “But why?”

“Listen Blaze, in this world’s chain of command, not everything is passed down to anypony below, currently, of everything I’ve told you, is everything I’ve been told and currently know. No, I’m not keeping some classified info from you or keeping you in the dark purposefully, fuckin’ if I could though, I just wasn’t told, neither was Lt. Pain or Captain Oddity. The only one who knows anything currently is the Colonel, but they’re going to wait until this new battalion is here to sort things out with them before we’re informed about anything further.”

Pvt. Gust spoke up again. “And what about tanks for this new battalion? If we’re using them all, what’re they using?”

“Nothing. They won’t have any.”

There was a bit of weird looks between the Pvt’s as they heard that answer but continued asking more questions, some regarding this new battalion and others about the actual plan.

Once Watch finished up explaining the plan to everypony and the others finished with their questions which had obviously began to annoy Watch, he dismissed everypony and left with the Sgt. Once the two had exited the bunker, everypony wandered back to their spots as before, only a few of them gathering at the table to talk.

“Flight restriction?! We haven’t been under a flight restriction in eight months!” Gust asked the group at the table as he joined them.

“When was the last time you even flew up past thirty feet Gust?” Jackpot said as she began fixing up all the cards for a new game.

Chaser had gone over to his lavender rifle and checked its ammo count before chambering a round into it and going back to the cot he’d been napping at. “Last night myself. The moon was above the clouds and was peaceful.”

“I was asking Gust ya’ dumbo.” Jackpot turned to Gust again and began tossing out cards to the others, including Gust. They had been quick to shuffle them with magic.

Gust looked irritated as he thought about it. “Featherfall?”

Jackpot broke out into a laughing fit as she finished hoofing out the cards.

“What!?”

“Gust!” Hazelblossom said over their excitement as they examined their card. “Featherfall was two years ago.”

Gust looked less irritated and more upset as it was blatantly said out loud.

“One.” Snow said.

“Hehehe- Then why’re you complaining about a flight restriction?” Jackpot asked. She had a straighter face as she examined her own card before she placed it down and wrote down the number one on a piece of paper.

“One.” Blaze said. Jackpot wrote his number down as well.

“Well of course you’d ask, you wouldn’t know. Imagine if you were restricted to using magic as a unicorn?”

“We’d have lost the war before winter ended?” Jackpot asked.

Gust was defeated by Jackpots answer so he finally decided to look at his own card. “What’s been called?”

“Two ones.” Snow said.

“Already? Damn. Pfft, zero.”

Jackpot wrote down Gust’s number.

“Zero.”

Jackpot wrote down Hazelblossom’s number.

“Yo! Let me join in if you haven’t started!” Moonshadow said as she scurried over to the table from their kit. She had been rushing to make sure it was all together after the meeting with the Staff Sergeant.

“We have already passed out Moon!” Snow yelled! A friendly yell at least.

“Just the top card! It doesn’t make any difference.”

Jackpot sighed and just took the top card of the deck and floated it over to Moonshadow.

“You had all night to fix your stuff together, don’t let ‘em join!” Snow said in protest towards Jackpot.

Snow shook his head as Moonshadow looked over their card.

“One.” Hazel said.

There was a look of concern and worry between all the ponies at the table, including Snow, after Hazel said their number.

“By Celestia’s!”

“Gods damn!”

“Holy f–”

Jackpot was busy going over the numbers on the paper, in disbelief herself. “Are you sure Hazel? Really? One?”

Hazel had a smug look as she stared Snow down. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

Jackpot wrote the number down and announced. “Well, we’re currently over two, so I’m allowed to say whatever I want.” There was a brief pause from her as she looked at her own card and the piece of paper. She didn’t answer right away.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU AREN’T SAYING ONE EITHER ARE YOU!?!” Blaze yelled out.

“KEEP QUIET YOU DUMBASSES! I’M TRYING TO NAP BEFORE WE EAT!” Rain said in anger as they sat up from their own cot. They had nearly fallen asleep before Blaze yelled out.

As the room quieted down for a second, Chaser came over and stood behind Jackpot and stared at her card, and all he could do was laugh.

“Well?” Gust asked.

“One.” Jackpot said.

The entire table went quiet. Everypony else who had said one before was deeply worried now. Gust slowly began breaking out in a laughing fit while Hazel just waited for the game to continue.

“We’re all fucked.” Snow said.

“First play, all cards down.” Moon said as she laid her own card down faceup on the table.

“Whatever.” Blaze said in pure defeat as he also tossed his card out.

Everypony else followed suit and as every card came out, everypony just stared into the abyss of the card pile after that.

At this point, the silence was so loud, even Rain got up from his cot and came over to look at the table.

The shock of seeing what cards were laid out was enough to wake him up fully.

“Y’all weren’t betting on this game, were you?” Rain finally asked.

“Cursed game. I’m out. Nope.” Blaze said as he quickly got up from the table leaving the rest behind as he went for his helmet and gun before going out into the trench with some smokes.

Gust was just shaking his head with the biggest smile.

Snow didn’t know what to do, but he was the second to ask a question. “Dude! Why’d you bet zero on a king of clubs!” He asked his question directed at Gust.

“Hehe. Cause I don’t wanna lose, that’s why.”

“You NEVER bet zero with a king of clubs on the first round. I thought you weren’t a unicorn!”

“I ain’t, just played the game correctly, and realized I did so correctly once Moon and Jackpot said one.”

“Yeah, fuck this, I’m also out.” Snow said as he got up and went over to his bag to get a book out.

“I guess that’s the game then. Looks like I won.” Jackpot said with a grin that finally formed.

“How the hell do you get all clubs from ace down to a nine on the first round?” Rain asked the group.

Gust also stood up from the game. “You don’t.” He then went for his helmet and gun before going outside to also join Blaze.

Rain looked at Jackpot once Gust left, wanting her to confirm his answer.

“The odds are there, but I’ve never seen it, so don’t ask me. I just play the game as well.” She said as she began gathering up all the cards.

“What...” Hazel said as she finally began snapping out of what just happened in the game.

After that, everypony left the table and went back to doing their own things. Chaser and Rain went back to their beds and fell asleep, while Jackpot began playing a different game of cards with Hazel and Moon.

Gust adjusted his helmet and rifle to his body, so they were comfortable and snug once he was outside. Gust was quick to find Blaze, who was standing next to the entrance of the bunker currently preparing a cigarette.

As Gust came over and joined Blaze, he eyed the cigarettes Blaze had, who in turn noticed and took one out and floated one over for Gust.

Now that the two had cigarettes, without saying much of a word to one another, Gust extended one of his wings out to shield Blaze’s lighter as he lit up his own cigarette. Once Blaze’s cigarette was lit, Blaze floated the lighter over to Gust’s cigarette, who was quick to shield their face with their wing as it was lit up.

Once lit, Gust’s wings returned to normal while Blaze put away the lighter.

Taking a long drag of the first puff, Gust let smoke plume out of his nose until he let whatever remained escape through his mouth. After that nice first breath, Gust went to having small sucks on it as he left it within his mouth, while Blaze had the luxury of taking it out between breaths as a unicorn. Gust hadn’t bothered with perfecting his telekinesis.

Neither of the two said anything to one another as they stood outside. It was quite peaceful besides the distant sound of artillery, though at this point, it could be considered peaceful to most front-line soldiers.

The sun by now was starting to set and the amount of light was quickly diminishing, which meant a drop in temperature. It was starting to be cold now once the sun dipped away, which meant warm clothing had to be worn at night, which was apparent as a few ponies who were making their way through the trench showed. They were already prepared for a chilly night of sentry duty.

“I don’t think we’ve ever assaulted a city before.” Blaze said once a cloud of smoke cleared from his nose.

“We assaulted a small town in the beginning of the war, but that was before you and Jackpot replaced Dino and Domino.”

“When’d we do that?”

Gust made his cigarette glow red for a moment before shrugging. “Last year?” Gust then let the smoke that had piled up.

“Huh.”

“Yeah.”

The two once again stood in silence as they finished off their first cigarettes, and once they did, they were quick to light up two more and start on those.

Gust adjusted his helmet before leaning back against the trench wall and closing his eyes.

Moonshadow appeared from the bunker, peering around for somepony, who was obviously Gust and Blazer. “Preserved apples or old rations?”

Gust let out a puff of smoke. “We don’t have any of that new shit?”

“We do, but we’re keeping it for tomorrow.”

Blaze chimed in. “Apples.”

“Apples as well.” Gust added.

And without another word, Moonshadow dipped back into the bunker.

And with that small interruption, the two went back to standing in silence as they enjoyed their cigarettes.

Eventually Gust had a small coughing fit. Once he recovered from it, he looked at Blaze. “Where did these come from?”

Blaze took the package out and inspected it. “Puerto Caballo.”

“Yeah, no shit, I mean where’d you get them.”

“Oh, before we got kicked out of the city.”

Gust finished a drag with another few small coughs. “They’re kind of shit.”

“Go see if another squad will lend us some then.”

Gust looked around the trench, looking for the next nearby squad’s bunker as he debated it. “They’re good enough.”

“Hmph.”

Suddenly, a pegasus hopped down into the trench from above, which brought on the looks of concern from Gust and Blaze.

“The fuck you doing up there?” Blaze asked.

“They’ve cluttered the trench further down.” The pegasus looked obviously frustrated as they had just flown above the trenches to where they currently were. Blaze and Gust looked confused at the answer.

“Who is?” Gust asked before going for another inhale.

The pegasus looked like they wanted to hurry along, but Gust’s question obviously held him up. “You know those reinforcements we’re getting?”

With a few simple nods from Gust and Blaze, the pegasus carried on. “Yeah, well a few of them were chatting with a lieutenant and wouldn’t budge. They’re weird. Just- I don’t know, weird.” And before any other questions could hold the pegasus up, he left.

Just as the pegasus left, Gust finished off his cigarette, so he tossed it into the mud and stomped it out.

Blaze got to work prepping another cigarette for Gust.

Just as Gust’s third cigarette was lit, Gust motioned down the trench, from the direction the pegasus had come.

As Blaze looked in the direction, was when he noticed the five masked ponies making their way down the trench line.

The presence the five ponies had as they walked wasn’t ordinary. As the five approached, Gust backed against the trench wall as much as possible to make sure they had clear passage. As Blaze noticed, he copied as well but to a lesser extent.

Once the five ponies made their way past Blaze and Gust, it was then that they noticed the five had no markings or identifications of any form donning their uniforms. The only thing they had was a simple black striped patch on their shoulders.

One of the masked ponies carried a bolt action, while three carried limestone smg’s, while the last carried one of Equestria’s newest guns, which Gust or Blaze hadn’t seen yet, an Everfree SLR, which was a select fire light machine gun. It looked fancy.

None of the masked ponies acknowledged Gust or Blaze though. Only their eyes were visible between the mask and helmets they wore.

As they carried on and eventually made their way further down the trench and disappeared, Gust and Blaze looked at each other, until a smaller group of masked ponies started making their way down the trench.

As Blaze and Gust watched them this time, Gust blew out a cloud of smoke into the trench, which the masked ponies simply walked through without complaint.

After the second group went and passed, Gust looked down the trench to see if there was anything special down that way while Blaze looked up the trench, to see if anymore were coming. When nothing apparent happened, the two looked back at one another.

“The fuck was that?” Gust asked.

Blaze looked concerned from the situation, and with habit, he tossed his own cigarette butt to the ground and stomped it out. “Did you catch what unit they were with?”

“They didn’t have anything. Nothing. Just a random ass black strip on their shoulders. Did you see that?”

“Yeah, I saw that, but was that it? No ranks, names, nothing. I don’t think I even saw any dog tags.” Blaze said as he looked back up the trench in anticipation of more showing up.

And just as before, Moonshadow popped up from the bunker and smiled as she looked at Blaze and Gust with a smile. “Dinners prepped!” And without waiting for any response, she disappeared back into the bunker.

Without questioning the situation anymore, Gust put his cigarette on a wood beam for safe keeping until later. “As you said, fuck this, I’m out.” And Gust decided to join with the others inside of the bunker for dinner.

Blaze followed suit, but not before taking a hit off Gust’s cigarette. He knew Gust wasn’t coming back for it.

Jackpot and Hazelblossom were at this point the last two playing a game of cards while Snow was still busy reading while they all ate. Everypony else was sitting around listening to what Gust and Blaze were talking about regarding the strange ponies from outside.

“It was weird, like that pegasus had said, they were all wearing masks, so all you could see were their eyes. They all had plane helmets, no liners or netting, all with standard uniforms but with no markings but a single black stripe on their shoulder that I could notice as they walked past.” Gust said.

“I think one had their mask down actually.” Blaze chimed in through a mouth full of preserved apples.

“Which one? Were they in the first or second group?”

“Second.”

Gust thought about it for a moment. “They may have been looking down, right?”

“Mhmm.” Blaze mumbled through the apples.

“So, they’re the random battalion the staff sarg talked about?” Rain asked.

“I think so, I mean, who else would it be? They fit the bill of ‘no questions’.” Gust said.

“So, did you try asking them any questions?” Snow asked.

“They didn’t even seem irritated to the smoke ol’ wings blew at them.” Blaze said.

“But no, we didn’t. They just marched on through without a care in the world. They didn’t even acknowledge us. Not even a single eye glanced at us.” Gust added.

“Well, do you know where they went or where they were going?” Moonshadow asked as they stuffed themselves with preserved apples.

“Nah, we were just smoking out there. The only other ponies we saw just walked past off to wherever, that pegasus from the top and the black stripes.” Blaze said.

“Is that what you’re going to call them? Black stripes?” Gust asked.

“They were wearing black stripes and nothing else. What else would I call them?” Blaze asked back.

Gust just gave a shrug as he focused back on eating his apples.

“Well, whatever you want to call them, they were weird. I’m sure you’ll think the same thing once you see them yourselves.” Blaze concluded as he finished off his preserved apples with some water. They were quite dry.

“You know, one of them had that inverted gun that was just developed.” Gust added in real fast.

“Oh! The Everfree!” Rain asked. “Production of it only recently started. We probably aren’t going to see one ourselves for a few months then.”

“And this random group of ponies have one?” Moonshadow asked.

“At least one did. They still had bolties though.” Gust said.

“I’ve been itching to see an Everfree though. I’ve been curious since I heard the rumors about it.” Rain said.

“Why don’t you go off and ask them then?” Chaser asked.

Rain had to think about that for a moment, his bed catching his eye a few times as he did. “I’m done with eating, screw it.” And without much thought to that question, he was quick to stand up, gather up whatever he might need for leaving the bunker, along with whatever leftover apples he had left, and made his way out.

But before Rain could leave, Gust was quick to try and slow him down verbally.

“You should hold up for a moment though Rain. What we saw from when they walked past and from what the staff sergeant said, we really probably shouldn’t bother them. They really might not be worth the hassle if there’s something going on with them.” Gust said.

“You really think that we couldn’t ask them about the weapons they have? If we’re about to attack a city, that’s something I’m sure we’re fine knowing about them. We can’t be keeping secrets from ourselves now, can we?” Rain asked as he still did his best to scurry off into the trench.

Gust didn’t do much else, but Blaze yelled out instead. “They went left, but if they kidnap you, that means I can date your sister without permission, right?”

There was no response from Rain as he reared left out of the bunker once outside, either ignoring or not hearing Blaze’s comment.

“Well off he goes I guess.” Gust mumbled.

“You think they’ll harvest his horn?” Moonshadow asked.

“Probably just his organs.” Chaser said.

“Well, whatever-”

And not even a moment after Rain left, gunfire erupted outside in the distance.

With the turn of heads towards the exit, Rain came bolting back inside as some ponies ran past him yelling along the same thing. “ENEMY ATTACK!”

Act 2 - Just Another Night

Nightly attacks and nightly dreams,

Only Luna, who controls the night,

Shall see the end,

In the fight.

Thankfully, as it turned out, an enemy attack wasn’t happening.

Somepony had just started screaming about the enemy after seeing something over the top of the trenches. They never confirmed it was an enemy but had started screaming about it anyway, which quickly spread across the trenches.

The gunfire that had started was a response from the nearby gun position that began suppressing down range, which was standard procedure.

When the supposed attack did begin, the ponies of 2nd squad had grabbed their guns and ran outside to help defend. Once they learned that the attack was fake, some of them meandered about outside with everypony else who had come to the defense, while others went back to the bunker.

Gust, along with Snow and Blaze, were some of the few who lingered behind.

By now, the sun had fully set, and the moon’s light shined throughout the trenches and among the topside of the landscape.

Snow took a peek over the top of the trench after the gunfire had died a while ago, only to be pulled down by Blaze.

“That’s how you get shot Snow,” Blaze said casually.

“Weren’t you telling me off about how to play my card as well?” Gust asked.

Snow adjusted his helmet so he could see again, after it had gone wompy from the yank Blaze gave him.

“There isn’t shit out there that’ll get me though.”

“There could be a bug with a scope. You never know,” Blaze shook his head at the stupidity of Snow’s answer.

“Their only targets would be the gun nests.”

“Or a peeking head.”

“Hush it,” Blaze said.

“Just don’t peek back over,” Gust added.

As they finished up their banter, all three moved to the side of the trench as a group of ponies made their way through. All their guns were slung around their bodies as they chatted quietly among themselves.

Just as Blaze was about to start going back towards their bunker, Snow stopped him.

“So where’d Rain go off to? Once everything died down, he was the first to dip.”

Gust had to give it a thought. Everypony else stuck around for even a minute longer before leaving, but Rain was the first one gone. Gust was a bit slow with answering as Blaze gave one first.

“Probably off to ask about that gun I’d reckon.”

“The everfree?”

Gust chuckled. “He never found them originally. He ran out and then ran back in to tell us about what was happening. So that’s probably what he went off to do.”

“You don’t think the scare was caused by the black stripes?” Blaze asked.

“What? No. I saw some without that new gun when everything was hectic for that minute. They were ready for the attack just as much as we were, plus you saw them,” Gust motioned up and down the trench. “They were all down here with us. Whoever started the alarm, thought they saw something above,” Gust then motioned upwards.

“The only thing up there are ponies trying to get around the black stripes,” Blaze said with a scoff.

“Yeah, they need better trench etiquette if they’re going to be down here with us after they caused a pegasus to fly above the top,” Gust said.

Snow looked between the other two as they went back and forth for a second. “You think we should go look for him?”

“Ehh, nah,” Blaze said as he readied his stuff to leave again.

“I’ll go with you,” Gust directed at Snow.

“I mean, it’s fine, I was just curious if we should.”

“No, we should look for him. I’d prefer he doesn’t get kidnapped myself.”

“Fine.”

“Well, I’ll be asleep by the time you two’re back from your date. Good luck. Hopefully, he hasn’t been filleted,” Blaze said before heading off down the trench.

After Blaze had left, Snow and Gust were alone in the trench for a second before some more ponies wandered through. They made their way through quickly, all with their gear on, and most importantly, their proper clothing.

“Hopefully we do find him fast, shit’s starting to get cold,” Snow commented.

“Really? You’re cold? An earth pony AND your name is Snow? You seriously can’t be complaining.”

“What do you want me to say? I’m from Dodge, it’s hot all year long there. It’s what I grew up with.”

“Phfft, yeah. It’s not like we just survived two years already or anything while up here in the north.”

“Whatever. Where are we going to look for Rain?”

Gust started to lead the way down the trench in the direction he thought Rain was. “Probably wherever those black stripes are, so let’s just ask where they are.”

As Gust and Snow began making their way around the trench, they were quick to learn the location of some of the black stripes. After taking some straightaways and a few turns here and there, the two finally made their last turn when they came into a roofed pathway that was dug out into a pit.

Inside the small pit, were some of the black stripes, who were all sitting around with their weapons besides them. None of them had any everfrees and there was no Rain to be found.

When Gust and Snow came up on them, a few of the black stripes peered over at them. Of the three that looked, only one wore a mask over their face while the other two had it pulled down around their necks.

The eyes they looked at Gust and Snow with were sharp as they tried to win a one sided game of stare down.

Just as Gust was about to open his mouth and speak, one of the staring black stripes interrupted him. “No.”

“What?”

“No. Now fuck off,” It was one of the unmasked black stripes who said it, and they continued to stare down Gust and Snow.

“Yeah, well we’re just looking…” Gust trailed off as two of the black stripes, a masked and unmasked one, stood up and walked up to him.

The intimidating aura of the two made Gust and Snow both uneasy, nearly forcing them to ready their weapons in some off chance something happened. Nearly.

As the two black stripes stood in front of Gust, Snow was the one who pushed Gust through the two and forced themselves to continue through the pit.

Gust walked through the two, nearly butting shoulders with them as he did so. Once through, Gust and Snow kept going, not stopping as they passed through the spot. The whole time, all the black stripes focused their gazes on the two until they rounded another corner and were gone.

“What the fuck was that!” Gust asked concerned.

“Our apparent friends it seems,” Snow added.

“Yeah, no shit. They didn’t have to be so hostile though.”

Snow had been closer to having his weapon ready, but once they were clear of view of the black stripes, he relaxed. “But don’t ask me, I was just as tense as you were.”

“Yeah, no way Rain’s alive,” Gust said in a concerned tone.

“I’m sure he’s fine.”

“Yeah, I mean, of course, but damn.”

Snow pulled Gust to a stop once they reached an intersection in the trenches. “You think he just went back to the bunker then? I bet you all of them are going to be like that.”

Gust looked around the intersection, eying some of the ponies that were down some of the lanes, including another pair of black stripes in the opposite direction they needed to go.

Not wanting to gain the attention of the other two black stripes, Gust looked at Snow and nodded. “Yeah. Fuck that,” And as Gust lead Snow down the correct trench, he spoke up again. “Sure is a lot of ‘fuck that’ attitude going around tonight.”

“Sure is.”

After winding their way through the trench network, Gust and snow finally made it back to their bunker that they were staying in.

As they entered, the lights that had been lit before had been dimmed down. Only Jackpot had some lights going, which was coming from some orbs of magic she had floating around.

“Where were you two at?” Hazelblossom asked once Gust and Snow finally entered.

“Looking for Rain?” Gust asked. He was confused at the question as he began looking around the bunker to see who was inside.

At the mention of Rain, Jackpot’s magic light orbs directed themselves towards Rain’s cot as she herself looked at him. Rain was asleep in his cot with his rifle slung over his chest.

“He was asleep when I got back. I was the first one here besides him,” Hazelblossom said.

As Gust and Snow looked from Rain to Hazelblossom, Jackpot’s magic lights shined away from Rain and back towards the card game she was in the middle of. The lighting of the bunker dimmed to a low level again as that happened.

“Blaze?” Gust asked.

“Hmm?” Blaze asked as he came back into the bunker from behind.

“Oh! Where were you?”

“Smoking.”

“Hmmph.”

And just as Blaze had entered, Sergeant Shadow entered from outside as well. “I know we just had a,” Shadow mockingly coughed, “attack, but you need rest as well. Get sleep,” And as Shadow said that, she glanced at Jackpot. “Down with the cards you addict.”

Jackpot grumbled as she disgruntledly gathered her cards and put them into their package.

As Gust, Snow, and Blaze began taking their helmets and guns off themselves, Shadow stopped them for a moment. “Just so you know, we have two from that battalion that’ll be our POW crew tomorrow. They’ll meet with us before we leave, and before you ask, no, we don’t know their names. Ok? Ok.” Shadow smiled as she was quick to then leave the three alone, knowing well that question, or something like it, would come given that the rest of the squad had asked earlier.

As the three finally finished up taking off a few bits of gear, they went for their cots to get in, as did Jackpot.

“Blaze,” Gust whispered out now as he realized a few members were already asleep.

“Hmm?”

“Those stripes, we ran into them. They nearly fucking held us up for just walking through their little nest.”

“What?”

Snow came over and added in. “They were sitting in a covered pit and we were about to ask about Rain and they just shut us down. Stood up and gave us quite a fight.”

“No way. Why?” Blaze asked.

“I guess everypony else has pestered them already and they were just done with it,” Gust added.

Shadow came up and cleared her throat. “Privates.”

Blaze chuckled and Snow quickly made his way back to his own cot.

Once Shadow left back to her cot, Gust whispered even more quietly. “Yeah, they’re real weird. Worse than what we thought.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, just, we’ll see what they’re like tomorrow then. Hopefully, they’re not in our way,” Blaze whispered back before he finally left for his cot.

Now that everypony had split up, they all were quick to fall asleep, or nap. It was still hard to get rest on the front line for some. Others were able to snooze away at a moment's notice, whether gunfire, artillery, or cold wet mud surrounded them. If only Gust was so lucky for such a skill.

After a slow night, Gust had to get up.

He hadn’t been able to sleep for much of the night for whatever reason, so he finally got to his limit and had to get up. While having no regard for how much noise he made, not that he made much as he moved around, he grabbed his basic kit, but this time his extra jacket he could put on. Overnight, the temperature had obviously dropped, so it was heavily encouraged to wear it at this point.

Wearing the warmer clothing and having his stuff, he stepped out of the bunker and back into the trench.

Outside of the trench, in the spot where he and Blaze had smoked last night, stood Moonshadow, who quietly smoked her own cigarette in silence, by herself. Gust must not have noticed her missing from the bunker.

Moonshadow wore her helmet and her own jacket, but they didn’t have any of their kit or gun on them. Just themselves and some smokes.

When the two noticed one another, nothing was said. Moonshadow exhaled some smoke and Gust nodded at them before leaving her be.

There wasn’t much noise around as Gust walked through the trench. There weren’t as many ponies about as before, and the ones who were out huddled together with their guns ready, whispering away to pass the time.

As Gust continued around, he eventually came across a lookout who was glued to a mirrored periscope that looked up and over the trench. They were alone.

When the quiet mushes of the mud that came from Gust’s walking became audible to this pony, they got excited. “Hey, come check this out.”

As this pony looked away from the periscope to look at Gust, they looked disappointed. “Oh, you’re not Crate.”

Gust adjusted his rifle as he slowed to a stop. “What is it?”

The pony peered through the periscope again before looking back. “Ah, well, look. It’s just a random light out in the far distance. I think it’s at the city, but it’s hard to tell due to the darkness.”

The pony then motioned at the periscope device for Gust to look through it.

“It’s just an ever so small light. Nothing our guns could reach. Take a look.”

Gust stepped forward towards the periscope to look through it. Pressing his eyes up against the device, he was able to see over the top.

Most of what Gust saw was just the darkened outlines of trees until the obvious light in one direction glowed. It really was in the far distance, which was easy to tell by the brightness and size of it.

“Yeah, do you see it?”

Gust took his face away from the device and looked at the other pony. “Yeah? I saw it.”

“It’s been there for a few minutes, and I’ve just been watching it.”

“Do you know what it is?” Gust asked.

“No. It appeared a few minutes after my bud went to get something for us, so I’ve just been scanning since while I waited for them and saw it appear. I’m surprised some artillery has been called onto it yet.”

Gust took a peek back at the periscope and looked at the light one last time before stepping away from it. “Yeah, surprising.”

Everything in the direction that they were looking was all considered enemy territory. But the Changelings didn’t have any trenches themselves on this side of the river, or theirs, as they currently just sat in the city.

Just as Gust was stepping away from the periscope, a new pony appeared. The new one was quick to be spoken to by the other pony and it quickly became clear that this new pony was Crate, or at least somepony the periscope one knew.

As the new pony was shown to the periscope themselves, Gust took the moment to scoot away and continue down the trench without saying anything else to the other.

When Gust took a few more turns and began going around the back line of trenches back towards his own bunker, he came across another interesting thing.

In a different bunker, belonging to some other squad, there was noise. The entrance to this bunker had a simple wooden door made out of planks, but it was open. Outside of the bunker, were a few ponies peering into it as they stood at the sides to not block it.

As Gust joined the few ponies outside, he nudged one to get their attention.

“What’s going on here?”

The pony Gust had nudged, turned around to respond. “They’re dancing,” And with that simple response, they motioned into the bunker.

Gust took a peek with the others and listened. As he tuned into what was happening, he heard drumming and banging.

Once Gust’s eyes adjusted to the lanterns inside the bunker, he finally realized what was happening. A few ponies were dancing, as he had been told.

But what was really interesting was the sound of the music that was being produced.

It was rhythmic, while being broken up with the sounds of rattling. The source of the drumming and banging was from a few empty tank shells and brodie helmets, while the sound of the rattling was still unknown.

There was a bit of whispering from some of the ponies watching into the bunker before one spoke out. “They’re from the third. They have a bunch of bats and jungle ponies in their squads. It’s apparently a ritual they do before they go on a hunt.”

“Oh! The ones from Acama- What’s it called? Acamadichi? Acamasuchi? That one jungle in the south?”

“Yeah, yeah, that jungle area west of Stableside.”

After Gust’s attention was drawn back into the bunker from the chit-chat, he finally saw one of the bat ponies come into view.

This bat pony flared their wings largely as they shook two helmets tied together. When they began spinning around, the drumming intensified and a language none of the ponies outside knew began being chanted in.

“They apparently used bullets for those make shift shakers,” One of the ponies mentioned.

Just as it seemed that the ritual dance was about to intensify even more, a pony walked up behind everypony at the bunker entrance and yelled out at them. “What in Luna’s moon is going on here!”

With all the ponies jumping at the sudden announcement, they all turned to look at who it was.

Before them stood a captain. A pissed off one at that.

One of the other ponies spoke up. “They’re havin–”

They were cut off by the captain. “All of you, go back to your positions!” And as they said that, they stormed through everypony and into the bunker.

Once a yell came from the captain, the entire bunker was silent, but before watching whatever was about to happen unfold, the other ponies started to scatter.

“Best not stick around bud,” One of the ponies said to Gust as they headed off themselves.
Gust took that advice to heart and took off, with a bit more speed in his step towards his own bunker a few minutes away.

The direction Gust took was the same direction one of the other ponies was taking.

“I think a corporal turned them in. I was there since it started and they didn’t seem too happy about it.”

Gust looked around the trench for a second until he realized he was being spoken to. “Oh! Really? Why? It’s not that loud until you’re next to the entrance.”

“Who I think did it, isn’t fond of bats, so he just wanted to ruin their fun.”

“Why so?

The other pony shrugged. “I think they were robbed by one back in o-eight.”

“That’s kind of stupid.”

“They’re also just kind of an asshole, so it’s expected.”

As the two reached a split in the trenches, the other pony motioned down an opposing path. “This is my way.”

“Huh, well, cool chatting,” Gust said as he went down a different path. The two didn’t have any further goodbye than that.

“How was your walk?” Moonshadow asked once she saw Gust show back up.

Moonshadow was still outside of the bunker.

“Got yelled at by another company for watching a ritual take place,” Gust laughed at his own statement.

“A what now?” Moonshadow said as she floated her fresh cigarette near her mouth.

“A ritual. Some jungle folk were dancing and singing in their bunker, then their command came in and yelled at them. For us that were watching, we dipped before we could get yelled at again. It was kind of weird.”

“Oh, the third? I heard they had a few batties from the jungles that had some odd traditions.”

“That’s what somepony said they were. They had their own music as well. It was quite interesting really,” Gust said.

“You think it’s a bad omen?” Gust asked next.

“What, that a ritual’s taking place?”

“Of course. Why else would some strange ponies show up all of a sudden, and then the jungle folk start a ritual? They said it was for hunt.”

Moonshadow was surprised at the final comment. “A hunt for what!”

Gust could only shrug, but Gust and Moon both had some idea as to what a hunt might mean.

“Good thing we don’t have any batties in our platoon,” Moonshadow said.

“It was also some normal ponies. I think an earth pony is what I saw.”

“I’d just be worried about the batties myself.”

“Sounds like smart thinking,” Gust added. “Can I take a smoke?” Gust then asked right afterwards.

Moonshadow agreed with a smile and took out a smoke from her pack and floated it over to Gust.

Once Gust had the smoke in his mouth, Moonshadow also helped light up his cig. Because there wasn’t any wind, Gust hadn’t bothered with shielding the cigarette and lighter.

With the cigarette lit, Gust joined Moonshadow outside as the two smoked. He stood in the same spot he had earlier with Blaze.

“You should really get your own pack,” Moonshadow said.

“I’ve never been able to,” Gust replied back.

“You’re always hitting off of ours.”

“You all keep sharing.”

Moonshadow took a hit and puffed it out. “Touche.”

Act 2 - Approach

Quiet through the night,

Luna can fight,

Rising with the sun,

Celestia guides us.

The rest of the early morning went by quickly as Gust went through two smokes. The sun was nearly about to come up and everypony in his squad was awake, among everyone else in the division as they got ready for the day.

As it was discussed last night before dinner, they had the new rations they saved for their assault served for breakfast.

It was better food than what they had the previous nights.

As they all ate quickly, Snow was reading a book, while Jackpot and Chaser were already gearing up with their kits. Everypony else was rushing to eat but also listening to what Shadow had to say about the assault, going over simple things.

Once everypony had finished eating and were readying their gear, the Staff Sergeant came in to gather everyponies attention.

He discussed in more detail what the plan was going to be, telling what tactics and what information there currently was about the town. It was more of a refresher from what was talked about last night, with only a few other things thrown in, mostly having to deal with the black stripes.

Once Watch finished discussing everything, he left the bunker. Once he was gone, everypony went back to finishing up their kits and having it on and ready before they gathered up at the entrance of the bunker.

They didn’t leave much behind. There were some bags and belongings to other ponies in the bunker still, but they belonged to a squad that was out in the trenches during the night, so the two squads were able to share the bunker.

The other squad wasn’t going to be a part of the assault though, as they still needed someone to stay behind and hold it.

Of who was staying behind, it was a small force to directly patrol and defend the trenches, some who were going to be a part of a quick response force in the event something happened in the city, or the changelings started to advance in another direction. There was also the logistical section, who were in charge of maintenance of the trenches and bunkers, along with all the other backline buildings. There was also the main medical team that was ready for any injured pony that was to be pulled out of the city in case of injury. There was then of course the artillery, which had coverage of the whole city plus from their location, so they had no reason to move, though the companies that were going into the city were bringing mortars.

Currently though, it was only the 1st and 2nd company that were going to be leaving first, so they were already in the trenches near the main passing point, where they waited for the tanks to roll through before joining them. Once they passed, that was when the operation began, when they walked into enemy controlled territory.

All the ponies in the second squad were also in the trench waiting. They all had their combat gear loaded up, along with day bags loaded with supplies. The plan for them was to drop off the bags at their hold point, and another platoon was going to be in charge up carrying in everyponies stuff afterwards. Until the drop off point, they would have to carry their bags personally. The only lucky ones were the tank crews, who stored their stuff on the outside of the tank and the drivers of trucks, but the reality was, what anypony actually carried was all issued equipment. Stuff none of them had any attachments to. Anything of value they did carry, was carried in pockets, like photos or a piece of jewelry.

In the second squad, Jackpot, Moonshadow, and Shadow all carried SMG’s, while Hazelblossom carried the squad’s MG. Everypony else just had bolt actions. The staff sergeant wasn’t with them, as Shadow was the one in charge when Watch wasn’t around, which was how it was going to be for the assault.

The two black stripes assigned to the section the 2nd squad was with, were a part of the command unit that would be behind everypony else during the assault. They, nor the command unit, were a part of any direct, purposeful attacks that were going to happen, though they’d be doing security in the back, along with close quarter clearing when they needed to occupy a building.

As they waited, the chitchat began among them. Some of them had their normal conversations, but for a lot, due to the length of time it had been since they had gone on an assault themselves, discussed the operation. They talked about strategies, scenarios, while others again did their fifth check for gear.

Blaze and Gust had already lit up cigarettes and were smoking away as they also did their final checks.

“Hey, Jacky, you got an extra grenade?” Gust asked.

Jackpot was shuffling cards with their magic as they waited but put them away at the question. “No,” After answering, Jackpot turned towards the 1st squad, who was to their right and asked the same question to them.

One of the members from the 1st squad tossed Jackpot a grenade, who in turn, floated the grenade over to Gust.

Gust took the grenade and stashed it in his uniform, but after stashing it, Hazelblossom tapped Gust's shoulder for his attention, who also in turn hooved over a grenade.

Hazelblossom had asked somepony to their right and had also received one to give to Gust.

Gust took the second grenade and stashed it.

And just as he finished stashing the grenade, a pony who had been looking down the road towards their side, yelled out. “They’re here!”

Right on que with that announcement, the soft rumble of engines was heard. As the rumbling became louder, the whirling pitch of the engine changing as it upped speed and decreased speed screamed.

As everypony began hearing the tanks, they all started fidgeting with their guns.

“Second Squad! We’ll follow behind the second Breezy on our approach. One meter distance max, preferably three. Keep close, not but not bunched!” Shadow yelled out as they also got ready.

All of the other sergeants and commanders began going over their final instructions to the ponies they were in charge of, making sure they did everything correctly.

At this point, the engines of the tanks vibrated the ground, and the sounds of the tracks clacked away as the first tank began to pass the crossing.

Momentarily, the front tank stopped as it adjusted its heading, digging into the ground as the weight shifted around and then began going forward again.

The ponies in the second squad could see the tank from their view within the trench. None of them were looking over the top of the trench towards the enemies direction, but other ponies were.

As the first tank left view from their position, the second one finally came into view. It was the same model as the first, a Muletilda medium tank, but it soon passed from view of the second squad.

As the second one continued down the passing, a few of the squads around the second squad began going over the trench top and began pushing down with the first two tanks. They kept their distance from them while they walked along the side of the road that eventually connected to the trench crossing and finally into the tree line that was further up.

“We’re up! Let’s get ready!” Shadow shouted out as they stood up and peered over the top of the trench. Everypony else in the second squad quickly followed suit and joined her, readying themselves on the enemy’s trench side.

Hazelblossom had thrown their MG on the top of the trench top, that way when she hopped up, she wasn’t lugging the MG with her and could just pick it up once up top.

Chaser and Snow both did the same thing as they waited, while the unicorns simply floated their guns about while they waited.

Finally, the third tank began to pass, which wasn’t a Muletilda like the first two tanks, but the Breezy. It was a smaller tank, a light tank of older design. It wasn’t modern like the Muletildas, so it was going to be acting as support and or a backup for the mediums, or whatever the situation called for.

As the first Breezy finally passed, some of the other squads also joined in with it, hopping out of the trench and going along with it.

Finally, the second Breezy started crossing the trenches and as it did, Gust noticed that the commander was sticking out of the hatch as it rolled along.

Once it passed them and continued for a few more feet, Shadow yelled out, “Alright second, let’s get to it! Up and go, up and go!”

With her announcement, and the announcements from a few other commanders, the second squad, along with some others, hopped out of the trench.

Gust flapped his wings while holding onto his rifle and gave himself a boost as he pushed himself up over the top of the trench. After running a few feet, he slowed his pace as he began matching the pace Shadow was going at, who in turn was matching speed with the other squads, who all kept up with the Breezy.

The tanks weren’t going full speed during the approach, that way the infantry could keep up. The distance from the trenches to the hold points and the town itself wasn’t as far as one might think.

The distances between all three advances was enough though that none of them were likely to see each other at their hold points. It was only once they began clearing the first section of the city that any of them might bump into one another.

Now that the 2nd squad was at a steady pace, Gust took the moment to check behind him, which was just in time to watch as the Muletilda tank that followed behind had also crossed the trenches. Just as the last tank crossed, the rest of the squads hopped out of their trenches and followed behind.

What was interesting about the last tank, was that it also had its commander poking their head out of the hatch as it rolled along. The commander kept their head low but looked around constantly at the infantry support it had surrounding it, along with the Breezy ahead. They wore a thick leather tanker’s cap.

The commander of the Breezy tank that Gust was following also wore one, as it was standard equipment for tankers. The interesting thing about this commander was it was a thestral.

As Gust changed his focus forward again, that way he didn’t lose his squad, he noticed the command element that was a part of the section he’d be in during the assault.

In the command section, were the two black stripes that also walked along with the rest of everypony else. Both were wearing their masks over their face and they carried less equipment than others, which was real apparent given they had SMG’s.

When focusing back at his walking, there wasn’t much to notice besides where he stepped and what direction he needed to go. There wasn’t a bug need for him to focus on security as they were deep within the formation. If any attack happened, the 2nd squad wouldn’t be the first target.

As the advance continued, the tanks eventually made the transition from the main road, onto a dirt path that led into the forest and towards the river. They were south of the bridge they had been going towards that would’ve given them a direct approach.

While the tanks had no problem advancing, the infantry didn’t. When the infantry began walking through the forest, they slowed down. They had suddenly had to start fighting their way through bushes and uneven terrain.

For the ponies that carried MG’s or extra equipment like radios and the such, they were affected even more, while those who carried lightly fared just fine.

Because of this, the tanks slowed down their pace, that way the infantry were able to keep up.

After some light struggling through the forest, everypony came to a stop, including the tanks.

“Take a knee!” Shadow announced to everypony nearby, while also motioning downwards with a hoof.

As everypony followed suit with getting low, they stayed quiet under the sound of the tanks.

Suddenly, a shout of commands came down from the front that spread across everypony.

“Security! Pull security!”

As that order came through, everypony began finding any hole or tree they could use for cover, while setting themselves into firing positions.

Blaze came running over to Gust after the order came in, and the two hunkered down in a small dip in the ground that had a tree growing out of it.

Blaze set his rifle against the tree while adjusting his helmet, before picking it back up and looking in a direction away from the tanks, out towards enemy territory, which happened to now be entirely around them.

Hazelblossom was nearby, with her MG setup on a bipod while she lay on the ground with it. Chaser was right next to her, supporting her as her assistant.

As everypony sat around for a few minutes, the sound of artillery rounds were heard being sent and delivered somewhere around the city, only to then be interrupted by the sound of a plane engine.

Gust, along with some others, looked up at the sky, but couldn’t see anything as it was still too dark.

As the sound of the planes got quieter before dying out under the tank’s engines, another command came in from the front.

“Alright! Everypony up! We’re moving to the next spot!”

With that, everypony got up and left the positions that they had been sitting at.

The current advance was having to cross a section of the river to the other side. It was a shallow area that allowed for infantry and tanks to cross over with ease, as well as any wheeled vehicle, not that there were any trucks for the attack.

After moving up to the river themselves, the same order came in where they all had to hold positions, so everypony sat down again.

Currently, from their vantage point, Gust could see the river and across it, where the front of their advance was sitting. They currently held a defensive point as the ponies following the second tank crossed the river, while the first Breezy tank’s section covered the bank of their side of the river.

It was a slow ordeal as everypony crossed. The forces on both sides of the river looked up and down it, as well as looking towards the other side where they might have a better view of the opposing banks.

At this point, the sun had only had a sliver poking out from the horizon, that Gust could thankfully see from within the forest. It was nice to see, but also bad as once the sunlight was out, the Changelings were more likely to spot them as they readied for their assault.

Just as the spot Gust sat on began to get boring, the orders came in for the advance to move up. At this point, Gust and everypony with the second Breezy, now sat on the river’s bank, with the first Breezy group, who all were about ready to start crossing.

Once they were all in position, the first Breezy group started to cross the river while the second Breezy group overwatched them.

Where Gust was now, he had full view of the river, upstream and downstream.

From his point, he could see the bridge they had avoided crossing upstream. It was intact, but that was for the black stripes to push across, but it also had a high chance of having Changeling’s covering it.

As the first Breezy group got to the other side of the river, it was time for Gust and his group to now get into position to also cross.

As the orders came in to do so, they got to the position everypony else crossed and readied to walk through the river.

Finally, their turn to cross began, so the second Breezy ramped up its engine and dipped into the water and began crossing.

Because Gust was a pegasus, he, along with the rest of the pegasus had decided to glide over the surface of the water to the other side, that way they could spare themselves from getting wet.

After they got to the other side and set up security as they waited for everypony else, the sound of more planes was heard above.

Again though, it was still too dark to see where they were, so once their engines died away, they focused back on the crossing.

While everypony began arriving on the other side of the river, Blaze and Rain stopped by with Gust once they crossed and sat with him for a second while the rest of everypony else made it.

“You’re fuckin’ lucky, you know that?” Blaze said by nudging Gust in the wings.

Gust looked at Blaze and noticed his soaked legs and clothing, and then noticed how much worse it was than Rain’s. “Was it bad?” Gust then asked as he began noticing the shivers that came from both of them.

“Fucking freezing,” Rain said. He had put his rifle down for a moment and was trying to wring out parts of his clothing and shaking his legs to get what water he could off.

“Isn’t your full name Window Rain?” Gust asked as he took his attention off of the direction he faced for security.

“I clean windows, not freeze to death in rivers,” Rain responded back with an annoyed tone.

Laughing a bit, Gust went back to looking in the direction he had chosen. “What’s with everypony complaining about what they’re best at?”

Blaze was also busy trying to get what water he could out, but he had given Gust a confused look.

Gust clarified for Blaze, “Snow was complaining about the cold last night, and now Rain’s here complaining about getting a little wet.”

“I clean windows in Fillydelphia. That has nothing to do with hating the freezing cold water,” Rain responded back with. “And Snow’s from Dodge City, that place is hot as Tartarus all year long. He’s not cut out for this weather either.”

Gust shrugged his wings off. “I’m just joking, just messing around with your names.”

“Says the pegasus who doesn’t fly above ten feet,” Chaser chimed in. He was listening in but was quiet until then. Since he was also a pegasus, he also had flown over the river with Gust.

“Hey, I don't want to get hit by some counter-pegasus sniper. They’re watching the skies constantly. They’ll get you,” Gust said in response back to Chaser.

Just as they finished bantering, the next orders came in for them to move inland from the bank so they could make room for the last group.

While a lot of the ponies were soaking wet, they were able to manage. They would have the time to dry out while they waited for the rest of the units to get into position for the assault on the city.

“It sucks,” Blaze said.

“What does?” Gust asked.

They had finally gotten to a position to overwatch the river while the last Muletilda and the infantry that followed it crossed the river.

“I stepped into a deep section in the river and nearly got fully soaked. It sucks. I’m freezing,” Blaze said.

“Why didn’t you just levitate yourself then?” Gust asked.

“I can’t do that yet, but it’d also be a waste of magic energy. Who knows what the city will be like.”

Gust then motioned down at the bank where they reached the other side of the river. The other Muletilda had finally crawled its way through the river and was rolling up the hill and into the trees.

As the last bit of infantry finally made it, they took to holding up security for a moment while everypony waited for the next orders to come in.

“Defending it was one thing, attacking it will be another, that’s for sure. Hopefully their stuka’s don’t start diving on us like before, given that we’re supposed to have that air support this time around,” Chaser chimed in. “You’ve been hearing the plane engines overhead, right?”

“I have. Are they Changeling ones?” Gust asked.

“We’re two years deep in the war and you still don’t know the difference?” Chaser asked.

“I can’t tell either, if it means anything,” Rain said.

“REALLY! It’s quite clear if you listen,” Chaser said.

Rain had to shake his head in response. “All I focus on are the stuka’s, I have no clue what the difference between 109’s and spitfires is.”

“What about you?” Chaser asked looking at Blaze.

“Shit, don’t ask me, even the tanks all sound the same to me.”

“That’s because they do,” Gust said.

“Holy- I can’t believe it. How have none of y’all learned the difference between any of them?”

Before Chaser could go off about the sounds of tank and plane engines any further, the next orders finally came in.

“Alright! Everypony up, we’re going to the hold point now!” There was a delay in the next shout from Shadow as she looked around for her squad. “Damnit, Chaser, Rain, you four, split up, don’t bunch together!”

“Looks like we’re ratted out, let's scatter boys,” Rain said as he quickly grabbed his stuff and split from the group.

As the other three did the same, they quickly got into a formation with the entire squad as they started moving with the entire force.

While they continued advancing towards the hold point, the main part of the city came into view. From the direction they approached, they would go directly into the city from the forest, unlike the other approaches.

As they finally got to the hold point, all of the tanks and infantry began stopping and security was set up by everypony as they found spots to sit.

Again, as before, Blaze came to Gust and joined him for the security, with a few of the other squad members joining together with who they normally did.

“I guess all we have to do is wait now.” Gust said once Blaze had settled down.

“Probably… Hey, are you going to ask for a smoke?” Blaze asked as he was getting one out.

Gust looked at the package and laughed, “Yeah, sure.”

Blaze laughed a bit before also getting a cigarette out for Gust.

After the two lit them up, they had been hitting their cigs for a while until Moonshadow moved up to their spot and joined them.

“Hey, you two, the fuck you think’s going on?”

“Hmm?” Gust gave in response to Moonshadow. He looked entirely confused at the question as he emptied his lungs of smoke.

“You’d reckon the Changelings would’ve had some form of defense against us moving in?” Moonshadow asked.

“What’re you going on about?” Blaze asked.

“You’d think that after the river, we’d have run into some form of resistance, but nothing. We didn’t even hear anything coming from the other sections.”

Blaze motioned around them at everything. “Well, given we basically got here in the dark, that’s probably why.”

“I’m just asking because it’s weird.”

“Well, maybe they needed those panzers that left for Hedgewards for attacking, and now they’re just waiting for us to come into the city before they open up on us,” Gust said in response.

“I already asked Snow and Jackpot. Jackpot didn’t have anything either, but Snow brought up a good point.”

Gust and Blaze looked at Moonshadow in anticipation. The look in their eyes told Moon to continue.

“He said it’s probably because of the black stripes. Probably. He’s weary about their reason for being here now given that we haven’t been attacked.”

Gust stared at Moonshadow after she said that, pondering it for a moment.

“I can’t see how they’d have anything to do with it,” Gust finally said.

“Why are they here then?” Moonshadow asked.

“Don’t ask me, I have no clue.”

“Didn’t you run into a few already though? Is there anything about them that makes you question stuff?”

Gust then had to think again about it. “Uggh, I don’t know. They didn’t have trench etiquette, so I doubt they’ve been on the front lines since they became the standard,” Gust then looked at Blaze for his input.

“Don’t look at me, I would have less of a clue than you. You’re the one that almost got into a fight with one.”

Gust looked back at Moonshadow, who in turn spoke up. “This is coming from me, but we should be wary of the two, or any that’re in our section, and further, the entirety of their main force. Nopony but them is a part of that apparently.”

“They’re probably just some criminals who were drafted into a division,” Blaze said.

Both Moonshadow and Gust looked at Blaze with concerned looks.

“What? I’m just suggesting that. Why do you think they don’t want us speaking to them?”

“Why would they put criminals in charge of POW’s then? Who would think that’s a good idea?” Gust asked.

“I was just suggesting it! We don’t know who they are. They won’t speak to us! I’m just throwing theories out there.”

Moonshadow cleared her throat to get their attention. “Just, listen. Be a bit wary of them, will you? I’m going to go ask the others about them,” With that, Moonshadow got up and left Gust and Blaze behind as she went to the others in the squad to pester them.

“They’re right over there,” Blaze said as he motioned in a direction. He had pointed at the command group, where the two black striped ponies were. They weren’t doing much right now besides helping pull security.

Gust looked over at them and eyed them from the distance they were at. “I mean, I don’t know, maybe I can see them being criminals. They were quite rude when they stood up to me and Snow.”

“It’s just a theory, so we should probably focus on the attack instead, yeah?”

Thinking about it for a moment more, Gust caved in and agreed. “Yeah, we can just ask question about it later anyways.”

After that, the two went back to finishing their cigs as they waited for things to start.

While everypony in the first advance was in position, the second advance was about to be in position themselves.

They had left soon after the first, but went in the opposite direction, going north towards a different crossing in the river where it was also shallow.

Their advance was a bit different though, as instead of having a nice forest going directly into the city, they had to go across open fields and scattered houses before they entered the city proper.

The third advance, the black stripes, were taking the direct approach, so they were crossing the main bridge and attacking the city head on. They didn’t have to walk long before they were in position at their hold point for the attack.

Finally, once the sun was fully above the horizon and shining across everything, and everypony for the assault was in position, the order came across the radio.

Word spread fast across the infantry and the tanks ramped up their engines and started to roll towards the city. All of the infantry started following them.

“Second squad! Push with our Breezy until we’re at the buildings! We’re going far right!” Shadow yelled out as the rest of the squads also began issuing orders among themselves.

Gust and Blaze stood up and quickly followed with their squad. They all went right as directed, and followed the Breezy until they left the forest and immediately walked into the city.

The battle for Chicoltgo began.

Act 2 - Chicoltgo Shitcoltgo

Bricks for a buck,

Streets for a stamp.

Tanks for a tooth,

Guns for a gut.

It was quite sudden, the transition from the forest into the city.

The forest ended at a near perfect tree line that had been cut away. There was only a few feet of grass, shrubs and debris that covered the area between the tree line and the paved road that ran parallel with the trees, stretching far to the left and right.

To the right, the road eventually curved, along with the trees, until they both dipped behind the buildings, while to the left, the road eventually turned into a sharp right turn and cut into the city, along with the trees.

The stretch of road they came onto looked like it was used often and was about to soon be developed more, but due to the obvious war, that likely wasn’t happening anytime soon.

Besides the tree line and road, the next thing was the buildings that donned the city side of the road, that spanned the entire length of it. Throughout the row of buildings were other roads that cut into the city at various points. There were a few around the section that the 1st and 2nd Companies were pushing into.

The surprising thing about this area though, was how little the city was damaged. A few broken windows were about, but there was no destroyed building spanning up or down the main stretch of road. It looked relatively intact.

The biggest concern right now was the many windows that faced the tree line that the two companies were advancing in from. There was no denying that it was dangerous, it was a war after all, but still, walking straight into view of that number of windows would give anycreature worry.

Nonetheless, the attack had to continue.

The first thing to break through the tree line and enter into the open area between the trees and buildings were the first two Muletilda’s.

They rolled over bushes and sticks as they pushed forward until they sat in the openness of the road and waited. After a moment, the infantry that followed them began pouring out of the trees, rushing across the street until they got to the buildings on the other side and had better cover against the windows above. Some of the infantry still sat in the tree line while they watched the windows as cover.

Even though the Breezy’s hadn’t yet rolled into the street themselves, the 2nd squad had already pushed up to the buildings across the street.

Just as they began catching their breath from the run across, the last three tanks made their way into the street.

By now, the first two Muletilda’s had begun moving around and going for the road that they had planned for the main assault.

The other squads that were following those Muletilda’s were starting to clear the buildings that turned down into the road the two tanks were going for. Some of the other squads following them waited outside, taking cover at walls and corners while they waited for the tanks to push down the road.

While they lead the main force, the last Muletilda lagged behind, putting some distance between the first two, acting as a backup and rear security, while the two Breeze’s pushed along two side roads that were separated by buildings from the main road.

While other squads within the 2nd Squad’s force began pushing into buildings, they continued to stay outside, holding a corner at their road while they waited for their Breezy to push down it.

All the commanders for the tanks at this point had gone back down into their tanks and closed their hatches. At this point, the radio ponies who followed along with the command squads that went with each section were the most reliable way of communication with the tanks.

The first Breezy was to the far left, pushing down a road by now, while the two Muletilda’s had already gone between the buildings on their road, with infantry falling in behind them now, while the second Breezy was only now just reaching the roadway it had been ordered to take.

Shadow shouted out while she pointed her SMG up at a window, “Once the tank goes pass this first building, we’ll follow along the left side.”

There were some nods and grunts of response from the 2nd squad while they aimed their guns at various windows and doors around. Hazelblossom was currently laying down, aiming her MG down the road the Breezy was going to take, while Chaser and Snow aimed their bolt actions down it.

After adjusting its position by turning on its tracks, which didn’t damage the road unlike the Muletilda’s, the Breezy finally began pushing down the street.

The street size worked out perfectly for the Breezy, as it could maneuver around easily unlike the Muletilda’s if they had gone down it. The road they were currently taking was bigger in size.
Once the Breezy passed the building that Shadow had talked about, she informed the squad, “Alright, alright! Let’s start going! Me and Snow will be in front!”

As the other squad on the other side of the road waited a moment longer still, the 2nd squad started moving, joining the tank in its advance.

There was another squad that was behind the 2nd, with the two others on the opposing side.

When everypony of the 2nd squad had left the main road they started on, was when the other side also joined in.

From any point now, it was expected for things to start kicking off, but after the second building was passed by the infantry, Moonshadow had to speak up. “We–”

She was cut off as a burst of gunfire was heard from the main road, followed by the sound of a tank firing its cannon.

The echo and reverberation of its cannon was heard even by the 2nd squad from their road.

As the sound of the explosion died out, Blaze yelled at Moonshadow, “You just had to speak didn’t you! I know what you were about to say!”

Shadow turned towards Blaze and yelled at him in return, “Keep your focus on the windows Blaze, of course there’s going to be Changelings!”

And just as Shadow finished speaking, a crack broke through the air as a bullet whizzed by and hit the ground, only to be followed by a second.

“Down the street! Down the street! Up on those stairs behind the bush!” Somepony yelled out as everyone began diving for cover and taking up firing positions.

The Breezy halted after they were informed about what happened, which caused its momentum to carry forward into its front tracks as it wobbled back and forth to a still.

Hazelblossom had found a spot and quickly set her MG down and was already unloading a spray of bullets in the direction that was called out. None of the shots were hitting any confirmed target, as she was just suppressing.

Chaser, who had been the one who made the call, was firing a few shots at the stairs, with Snow and Rain joining him in the volley.

After two short bursts from Hazel’s MG, she held her fire while the three firing the volley finished up and dipped down into cover in time for Gust and Blaze to take aim down the street.

The front most squad on the opposing side of the street then suddenly opened up with a few shots from their bolt actions and a single burst from somepony’s SMG.

Hazel then gave another short spray of bullets, dragging her barrel across the street, sweeping an area in the direction of the stairs.

Shadow was waving her hoof to grab the attention of the other squad across the street, “There’s a small alley to your front that opens up back that way!” She motioned towards it directly, trying to help indicate what she said, “See if you can go around that way!”

When the other squad acknowledged they heard Shadow, their sergeant discussed it with somepony for a moment and then shouted back, “Suppress it for us then!” They then gave a command to the squad behind them, who proceeded to move up to join them.

“Ok. Ok. Hazel! Give another burst,” Shadow then looked at everypony who had their bolt actions ready, “And y’all, give a few rounds as well,” Shadow then was quick to draw her attention to the Breezy and yelled at it, “Damnit, do something!”

Even though the crew inside the tank couldn’t hear Shadow, the turret began rotating before finally adjusting its elevation. Though the caliber was small compared to the Muletilda, the Breezies still had HE rounds, which was what it suddenly shot out.

The puff of smoke from the turret wasn’t big, nor was the sound, but it was still a cannon.

The round it fired had gone further down the street, into a building that hadn’t been the target, and exploded inside of it as the round broke through its window.

Just as the smoke from the HE shell grew to max size and spilled out of the building, was when Hazel gave a burst of rounds at the same spot, while everypony with a bolt action looked out from their cover and began firing a few rounds at the same spot.

When the rounds of fire from the 2nd squad died out, the Breezy fired a second round at the spot everypony had been firing at, but instead of hitting it, it had aimed too low and hit somewhere in front. The round didn’t ricochet as it exploded on impact.

During all of this, the other squad that had been on the other side of the road was all in the alleyway now, with the squad that had been behind it, taking their position.

The squad behind the 2nd was the 1st, and they yelled out to Shadow. “The tanks going to move up!”

Shadow waved her hoof in response before turning to her squad. She then peeked down the street to see what it looked like.

Everypony with their bolt actions were still aiming down range.

“The tanks going to start moving, when it does-” Shadow ducked down when another crack was heard. The bullet ended up hitting the Breezy, which sounded like a loud ping.

Another shell was fired from the Breezy, this time it hit a different building, which proceeded to explode as the round detonated.

Hazel let loose more bullets at the staircase with Chase and Rain, while Blaze, Gust and Snow fired at the spot the tank hit.

After a few bullets were exchanged, the gunfire stopped, and the tank began rolling up.

“They’re in that building the tank just hit,” Blaze said. He was ducking down for cover as he reloaded his rifle with some extra bullets. Chaser did the same but stayed standing.

“Snow and Jackpot, bound up to that garden ahead, Gust and Blaze, go past them towards that wall, and stay behind the damn tank! Hazel, get ready to suppress anything you see,” Shadow motioned down the street at the spots she talked about.

Just as she finished, the tank sent another round into the building it had hit before, exploding another portion of it. When that happened, Gust and Blaze were the first to go forward, making sure they didn’t get into the pressure zone of the tank.

Hazel fired a few rounds before Snow and Jackpot bounded up themselves.

The cover Snow and Jackpot had wasn’t the best, so they had to stay to the ground and aim over a little berm, while Gust and Blaze had a wall for protection.

There were no more shots being received from the Changelings down the road, but there were some sounds of gunfire elsewhere within the city now. The Muletilda’s had fired their cannons as well, but the heat of the gunfight prevented the 2nd squad from hearing it.

Gust and Blaze took turns peeking from the wall to fire at the building, while Snow and Jackpot fired at the stairs.

Once the Breezy had rolled up to the stairs, the rest of the 2nd squad moved up, along with the other squads. The 1st squad began moving into the buildings while the 2nd stayed in the street, and the squad on the other side was also still following along the road.

Since reaching the stairs, the tank had come to a stop while its turret stared at the building it had been shooting. The infantry began taking up positions around it, the other squad searching around the stairs and not finding any Changelings present at it.

As the lull in the fighting dragged on, everypony began reloading their weapons.

Hazelblossom had moved up into a new position now and worked on getting more ammo loaded into her MG.

Gust finished topping his rifle off and peeked down the street, only for a crack of bullets to announce themselves, which caused Gust to duck down for cover.

Quickly adjusting his helmet, Gust took a peek back out once the bullets stopped and returned fire at whatever his gun ended up aiming at, just to get some suppression down.

Other ponies returned fire at the seemingly invisible enemy, while the tank began rolling down the street again.

As the tank closed its distance on the building it had been shooting, it fired another round. The round exploded on the outside. With this shot, it had especially kicked up a lot of dust and made the area between the infantry and building clouded.

While the tank didn’t halt for the smoke, the infantry did for a second, waiting for it to clear a bit before pushing.

The tank fired another round and kicked the smoke back up, which made it hard to see at this point, so an order was made for everyone to finally push up.

Thankfully, as everypony pushed up, the smoke was able to clear in time before they got too far.

Once the view of the building was clear again, everypony stopped pushing and waited again.

The two squads fired a few rounds at the blasted out sections of the building before they finally began advancing on it. The tank continued pushing down the street, making sure it stayed clear of the building by going down the right side of the road.

As the infantry pushed up on it, the tank turned its turret away from the building and watched further down the road.

The other squad, which happened to be the 5th squad, quickly took up positions around the tank as they watched the buildings around while the 2nd squad moved up on the blasted out building.

“Moon, Jack, Blaze, and Gust, we’re clearing the building,” Shadow said.

Hazel, Chaser, and Snow set up near the house outside and helped watch down the street while the others gathered up at it.

Gust took out one of his three grenades and when he sat under one of the blown out windows, he unpinned it and tossed it inside the window, “Frag!” He screamed out as he did.

Jackpot, Moon and Shadow were all about to enter but halted while they waited for the grenade to go off.

When the grenade exploded and vibrated the building, causing some of the remaining glass to break, Gust and Blaze quickly joined with the other three as they began pushing into the building.

Inside, the building had been blown to bits from the obvious tank rounds exploding inside of it, but there were no bodies of any Changelings inside that they were able to find, just some drops of blood from them.

With how quickly they entered the building, they were soon to leave it back into the street where they met with Hazel and the others.

They all took cover to see what the situation was like now in the street.

“Did we get them?” Chaser asked once Gust and Blaze joined them.

“Nah, they were able to escape somehow. They probably went out the back or some other way,” Gust said as he shook his head as well.

“Damn, first engagement, and right off the bat they escape,” Chaser said while also shaking his head in disapproval.

As the 2nd squad sat for a moment, the sounds of the other fighting within the city was heard.

They could barely hear the sounds of the Muletilda’s engines now, but their guns still fired away occasionally as they encountered the enemy.

The Breezy at this point had rolled down the street some while the 2nd squad was in the building, and the 5th squad had followed with it.

“Ok, let’s hurry up and push up more,” Shadow said once everypony was ready to go.

Just before they began pushing up some more, the 1st squad quickly caught up after they came from the building they entered.

“I think behind this building,” Shadow motioned at the building they had cleared, “Might be where those bugs escaped too. Are you able to go back there and check? We’ll keep pushing with the tank.”

The commander of the 1st squad agreed and took themselves into the building that was just cleared, to find a way behind it.

“Alright alright, let’s start bounding,” Shadow said.

After bounding for a few buildings, it became clear that there was no enemy at the moment, so they loosened their formations and began carefully moving down the street instead, with the tank.

Up ahead, two ponies came out of an alleyway and were quick to check up and down the street before noticing the tank and two squads following it. They were from the 4th squad that had pushed into the alleyway before.

As the tank halted with the two squads, they all took positions as the two ponies quickly made their way down the street to meet up with everypony.

It turned out that the 4th squad had got into a firefight with the Changelings that had been at the stairs and were able to take them out. It was only two of them, but they were treating a minor injury somepony took. They currently sat in a building just ahead that they were able to push to from the alleyway they went down.

Once the squads learned of that, they, with the tank, pushed down to the building the two ponies talked about and halted again.

Jackpot was sent into the building to help with the injured pony, given she was the 2nd’s medic, while everypony else waited in the street holding security.

While they all watched the buildings, windows, and any area a Changeling might pop out of, the adrenaline of the fighting began cooling off.

“She’s warm,” Hazel said from her prone position as she aimed the MG down the road.

“I’d think, given you’ve thrown a few bursts through it already,” Chaser said.

“Shit, our bolties don’t even get hot to the touch when we rapid fire them,” Gust added.

“What about your stuff?” Blaze asked at Moonshadow.

“I fired a few rounds a while ago, and it’s not like the ammo’s hot anyways, so it’s basically cold still.”

“Blaze and Rain, keep your rifles pointed down the road,” Shadow said as she went around to everypony making sure they were alright so far.

While the current situation was calm, the air above wasn’t as much.

Gust took a single look up and it dawned on him that there were planes flying about the entire time they had been pushing into the city.

The planes didn’t fill the sky, but there were a few currently decking it out with one another. They were quick to disappear behind a building.

“You even notice that?” Gust asked pointed upwards at the sky.

Blaze looked upwards for a moment before looking back down the road, “They’ve been dog fighting for a few minutes now. I saw a few planes flying right when we started pushing into the city as well. It really is active.”

“Enemy! Enemy!” Somepony shouted.

Right as Gust looked down from the sky, down the street he saw two Changelings running across it.

Everypony got ready instantly.

When another two Changelings started to run across the street, everypony opened fire on them.

Bullets landed around the two as they tried crossing, with only one of the bugs getting hit and falling over. They were able to get themselves back up and stagger to cover.

Once the two disappeared, everypony stopped shooting besides a few who were firing at the spot they disappeared at.

When their firing stopped, an object was thrown into the street ahead from one of the buildings and exploded after a few seconds.

A second passed after that before a few Changelings popped out from some areas and opened fire.

A few ponies ducked for cover, while the others returned fire.

Once the tank fired its cannon at one of the Changelings and mistified it, the rest of the bugs took cover.

“Push it up!” Shadow shouted at the squad with the radio. She was pointing at the tank.

After the pony spoke on the radio, the tank began moving forward.

“Push, push!” Shadow yelled to the squad.

The tank fired another round at another corner the Changelings had been at as it rolled forward.

The 2nd and 5th squad pushed alongside the tank, clearing windows and nooks they passed.

When they closed the distance halfway, they all stopped again.

While they sat there, the 4th squad began pushing up from the building they were in, which brought along Jackpot who quickly joined back with her squad.

This time around, it was the 5th squad’s time to flank around the buildings and see if they could find another way forward.

Right as the last member of the 5th squad left, a Changeling ran out into the road from one of the corners they’d been at and was immediately shot.

Despite being shot, they also ran back behind cover before the hail of bullets hit around their area.

Once the tank began moving forward again, a Changeling appeared in a window up ahead and fired a rocket at the tank, which missed over the top and exploded behind it. The explosion caused dirt and debris to fly everywhere.

On que with the rocket, a few Changelings appeared in some other windows and from down the street and began shooting.

Because a lot of the ponies had ended up ducking after the explosion, they didn’t have as many guns pointed down the road, ready for the attack.

The tank turned its turret towards the building and fired a round at it, all while being under fire from the small arms that the Changelings were shooting.

The gun fire exchange between the two forces went back and forth, with each trying to not get shot in the process.

Because the 4th squad was closer to the Changelings, some of their members ended up throwing grenades at the Changelings, while the 2nd squad pushed up.

The tank was still able to help push forward as its armor held up against the small arms, but not rockets, which is why it fired another round into the building, making sure that whatever Changeling had the rocket, didn’t fire it again.

Finally, through the chaotic mess, the gun fire stopped for a moment as all of the Changelings took cover or had died.

Because the squads had pushed up far enough now, they began making plans on what to do regarding the building and were about to enter. They were stopped in their tracks with entering as the Breezy decided to shift on its tracks, face the building it had fired at, and roll forward, straight into the broken window it had caused.

The infantry tried to communicate to the tank over the radio, but the tank didn’t stop as it came to a halt, raised its turret and fired a round point blank into the building. As debris fell onto the tank, it began rolling forward again, pushing directly into the building, destroying its walls in the process.

“Holy sh-”

Whoever just about spoke was interrupted as a few rounds were fired at them.

Shadow had to take cover for a moment, and in it, she yelled out confused, “The fuck are they doing!”

Another round was fired from the tank, which then resulted in some ponies yelling out as they watched the tank.

The tank suddenly began sliding forward and crashing through the floor underneath it as it caved through the ground and into the basement that building apparently had.

It fell far enough that when it hit the basement floor front first, the weight of it vibrated the ground in a small thud.

A few more bullets whizzed by as the Changelings attacked without the tank threat.

The ponies didn’t have much time to respond to the tank crashing as they were quickly brought into another small gun fight.

At the end of the small fight, once the Changelings scurried off in a retreat, the only damage they were able to inflict was a shot through a backpack. The Changelings though, lost another bug, one that they had dragged to cover themselves.

With the tank still stuck in a basement, the two squads made their way up to the tank and cleared the building themselves that it had driven into.

The tank’s engine finally came to a sputtering stop after it had redlined its engine a few times, realizing it was indeed stuck.

As it became quiet and the 2nd squad was able to hear while next to it, Gust and Blaze began trying to see if they were alright while everypony else held the location.

Gust had crawled onto the tank’s top, which was angled downwards, and banged on one of the hatches.

“HEEEY!” Gust yelled out. He was unsure what the crew could hear from within the tank as he had never been in one.

“Open up! We’re clear out here!”

The commander’s hatch ended up opening and the thestral from before poked his head out, cursing as he did.

“Yo! What happened to you guys? Why’d you crash?” Gust asked, despite the commander not paying him much attention.

“Are you able to pull him out? No? Shit,” The commander then looked at Gust for a second and then looked downwards at the driver’s hatch, which was pinned shut by the building debris from the tank falling through. “Gods dammit, can y’all get that hatch open?” The commander directed at Gust as he pointed down at the hatch.

Gust looked at Blaze, who was inspecting the bottom of the tank from below, who looked back at Gust before climbing up onto the tank to move some of the bricks.

The tank commander had looked back into the tank and was talking with his crew members before poking his head back out, “Yeah, shit, we need one of the medics for our driver. He broke a leg and can’t climb out.”

Gust then looked upwards, at the first floor, where Shadow, the 4th’s commander, and Jackpot stood, and yelled up to them, “Hey Jackie! The crew needs your help it seems. They’ve got a broken leg!”

Shadow and the 4th’s commander both looked like they were done with this shit when Gust yelled out.

The tank commander poked back in and shuffled around for a moment before yelling out, “Hey light blue! Give us a hoof, we’re pulling our driver out!”

Gust realized that it was him, given he had blue colored fur, so he poked his head into the commander's hatch to see what it was.

The Breezy only had a crew of three, and the commander and gunner were currently navigating around their tight space of a turret as they tried dragging their driver through the space and up towards the two turret hatches.

As Gust looked into the space, the lighting dimmed due to him blocking the hatch, which caused the commander to look at Gust’s poking head. “Open the other hatch, the gunner's one. Twist and push, you’re–” There was a loud interrupting scream of pain from the driver as their broken leg got caught on the tank.

Gust covered his ears momentarily until the scream stopped.

“Yeah, gods damnit, open that fucking hatch!” The commander yelled up to Gust once the scream subsided, “And then stop blocking our light!”

Gust pushed himself further into the tank so he could reach for the other hatch. He felt around for the supposed handle it had, which he found and then did as the tank commander instructed. It took a few tries of twisting the hand in various ways before it finally did, and Gust was able to push the hatch open.

With it open now, Gust pulled himself back out of the tank and opened the hatch the rest of the way from the outside.

In the time Gust had helped with the hatch, Blaze was already working on trying to clear his way to the driver’s hatch while the 4th commander and Jackpot had come down to the basement.

Gust had to shimmy his way around on the tank, so he was clear from the hatch while staying near it to help if asked.

The voices of the crew members became louder as they slowly pulled themselves up to the hatches, which was accompanied by the pained grunts.

Once the crew members got into position within the turret, they began helping get the driver through the gunner’s hatch.

“Help him through bluey, just be careful of his back right leg!” The commander said.

Gust couldn’t see a good way to help the driver out while on his own, so he yelled down at Blaze to join him, who still happened to be clearing the driver’s hatch. Blaze started climbing up the tank to join Gust, who by now was already helping handle the driver, giving them stabilization so they didn’t fall head first from the hatch.

As Blaze began helping, he and Gust communicated with the tank crew, doing their best to firstly get the driver fully out of the tank without falling down. Once the driver was out of the tank and stood on the sloped tank, they put no weight on their back right leg, so with the continued help of Gust and Blaze, they were able to slowly get themselves down onto the basement floor, where the 4th commander and Jackpot met with him.

As Jackpot began assessing the driver, the commander poked his head out of the hatch again and yelled down at Gust. “Get back up here and help us get our shit out!”

While Blaze assisted Jackpot, Gust scrambled back up the tank to the turret hatches, where he was met by the gunner who quickly handed Gust a bag.

The commander was elsewhere in the tank, not in view from the hatch, but they were handing stuff to the gunner, who in turn handed it to Gust. Gust piled the items at his feet until the gunner got word from the commander that was everything.

Gust climbed down the tank some before taking the bags and stuff and handing them to the 4th’s commander, who placed them on the ground.

During that, the gunner and commander popped out of the hatches and came down from the tank. The last items they had brought out were SMGs that they had slung around themselves.

Once everypony was on the ground, the tank commander and gunner both inspected the tank, but were interrupted by the 4th’s commander.

“The fuck was that! Why did you go into the building! You just lost us a damn fucking tank!” The 4th’s commander, who was Sergeant Temp, was obviously angry now that he had the opportunity to speak with the crew.

The tank commander returned the hostilities to Temp and the two got into a quick argument until the sounds of gunfire from the street began up.

“Fuckin’ damnit!” Temp cursed out.

Shadow yelled down from above as the gun fire continued, “Blaze and Gust, get back up here! We’ve sat here for too long, they’re attacking us now!”

Before Gust and Blaze left, they looked at Jackpot who was still tending to the tank driver.

“What about him?” Gust asked when pointing at the driver.

“It’s shattered is what. I gave him some pain relief, but he’s done for. He has himself a one way ticket home,” Jackpot said as she quickly finished her assessment.

The two other crew members' faces were horrified at that news and quickly spoke with their driver.

Just as they started speaking, a loud explosion happened above, which prompted Shadow to yell down at the others again, “DAMNIT, GET YOUR ASSES UP HERE!”

With the urgency of the situation now, Gust and Blaze quickly made their way back upstairs, joining Shadow within the building as the others were firing away from the street.

“They shot a rocket at us. They’re at the end of the street now,” Shadow informed Gust and Blaze. She pointed out of a window that didn’t put her in danger.

As more gunfire is exchanged, Gust and Blaze look around for where they can get an angle to shoot back themselves.

“Here, you two go upstairs, there’s a view from up there I think,” Shadow said by pointing at the stairway that went up.

The stairs were shattered and splintered about, holes and dust lining it up and down, but it still looked sturdy.

With an adjustment of his helmet, Gust nods and begins making his way up the stairs with Blaze behind him.

They go up a few flight of stairs until they reach the third floor of the building and find a window that indeed faces down the street towards the Changelings. They still had a bit of cover from the building, so they used it as they aimed their guns, being at the ready.

Blaze looked around the room, checking to see if there were any openings that the enemy could see them through, or vice versa, but there was nothing, so he focused back on the one window they currently used.

For a moment, the only gun fire they heard coming from down the road was happening from somewhere they couldn’t see.

The only things they could see were the puffs of smoke from bullet impacts from their MG’s gunning away and one dead Changeling.

As the moments passed, the gunfire came to a stop and silence dawned on the area outside of the distant noise of war.

“Shit,” Blaze muttered to himself.

“Oh, oh, oh!” Gust spat out as he quickly aimed down his rifle and took a shot at a Changeling that came into view.

Gust quickly chambered a new round and fired again before Blaze shot as well.

The Changeling wasn’t hit in those three shots, so they were able to get to cover.

Blaze took a pot shot at the spot the Changeling hid at, which somehow made them hop out of cover and run somewhere else, but before either Gust or Blaze could shoot again, the Changeling had cover again.

Without warning, a massive explosion hit the end of the road, which kicked up dust and smoke.

Gust looked at Blaze with a confused look before the shouting from below made its way to them through Shadow.

“Friendly tank! Friendly tank! Coming from the left!”

After Gust and Blaze focused back on the road, they saw MG tracers flying through the streets, which was coming from the left turn at the end of the street.

From his perspective, Blaze saw a sliver of the tank out of their shot out window. “It's that other Muletilda.”

By now, the Changelings began retreating from their positions down the road, running under fire from the tank and the infantry.

With the Changelings pushing out of view from the rest of the infantry, the 1st squad began pushing down the street to the intersection.

The 2nd squad stayed at the building for now as the tank crew figured out what to do.

After a few minutes of fighting, the Muletilda finally rolled into the intersection and pushed past until it blocked the right side of the road. While it pushed to there, friendly infantry followed in from behind, checking walls and corners where the Changelings had been, before holding to the sides of the road while some cleared the buildings.

Shadow then came up to the third floor and got Gust and Blaze to come downstairs. The tank driver had been patched up the best Jackpot could and currently sat on the first floor with his crew mates.

When Gust joined the rest of his squad outside, the Muletilda ahead had reversed and backed up down the road towards them with only its front end and turret’s cannon peaked around a corner. The infantry adjusted to the shift and no longer lingered to the tank's right and took positions on the left side of the road.

With things being stable now given the Changelings had been pushed back and weren’t attacking currently, the 2nd squad and the two other tank crew members moved up to the Muletilda’s position, sticking behind the tank, with only the injured driver, Jackpot, and the 4th stayed behind at the Breezy.

After holding position near the tank for a moment, the commander of the Muletilda opened up their hatch and popped their head out and instantly began yelling at the Breezy’s commander.

“You fucking dumbass! You fucking fuck head! Why the fuck are you driving your tank into a fucking building!” The Muletilda commander had to take a breath to calm themselves down before they continued, “Your ass is done for if we can’t recover it later, you hear me?” The Muletilda commander then ducked back into their tank for a moment before popping back out. “Is your gunner alright?”

A look of defeat dawned on the thestral before they checked over their gunner and answered, “They’re fine!”

“Then get their ass up here, I need a replacement for my loader. They got swacked by hull shrapnel, so our gunner’s been having to load the shots themselves,” The Muletilda commander then pointed down at the other tank commander, “Go get your driver to the backlines. I heard over the radio they’re out.”

There was a bit of discussion between the two on the ground before the gunner started climbing up onto the tank and then entering the gunner's hatch after it was opened by the Muletilda gunner.

As the situation with the Breezy’s crew finally became sorted out and its commander left to go help the driver, the Muletilda’s commander went back into the turret and closed the hatch.

There was a bit of downtime as the Muletilda and the three squads sat around. They had been at the intersection for about ten minutes while they waited for orders to come in, or for the Changelings to attack again.

While they all waited, the reorganization of gear began. Everypony made sure they had loaded magazines and clips, topping of their bolt actions or repacking SMG mags if they had been partially used up. Some ponies traded grenades between one another and a lot of them took swings from their canteens or nibbled on some ration bars they carried.

It turns out that one of the 4th’s members ended up getting hit by shrapnel from one of the rockets and didn’t notice until things had calmed down. They were treated too, but they ultimately had to be sent to the backlines.

Jackpot had rejoined the 2nd squad after the Breezy’s driver was taken away with a few others and the Breezy’s commander.

“I mean, they’re not fighting that hard. I would think they would given they put a lot into taking the city,” Blaze stated.

“They had those panzers when they did, but they left for Hedgewards. I guess they underestimated themselves finally,” Snow said.

“But still, so far, it’s gone pretty well, for us at least. Well, outside of the tank crashing,” Blaze added.

“I don’t know, maybe they’re strained on units because of the extra help that we brought in,” Gust said after motioning at the two black stripes that were with the 1st squad. “Maybe they’re good in combat,” Gust then shrugged his wings with his answer.

And with that, the click of one of the radios between the squads sounded on. Through the static of it, some orders came in.

Based on the positions of the tanks and all squads, the spot where the 3rd Muletilda was, which was with the 2nd squad, was in a prime spot to conduct a small ambush.

After the orders were finished being delivered, the squad commanders spoke with one another and made a plan on a map. After some quick discussion, they all split to their squads.

“Alright 2nd squad, we have a new task. We’re going to push into the backroad behind this building,” Shadow pointed at the building that was in the center of the intersection they waited at, “And we’re going to push for this building that has a AT gun inside of it. It’s currently watching the road the other two Muletilda’s are trying to take but can’t get around any of the buildings. We’re hitting it. We have a direct path to it from that backroad. Any concerns, questions, complaints?”

“Yeah, where’d the 5th squad go off to?” Hazelblossom asked.

“They’re actually holding off to the right somewhere. They’re going to rejoin with this tank,” Shadow points at the Muletilda, “And push with them down the right. We’re the ones going because we haven’t had anyone injured yet, lucky us,” Shadow said with a shake of her head, “Anything else?”

When nothing came from the members of the 2nd squad, Shadow quickly had them rally together so they could move out. The rest of the squads were already moving themselves, with the tank rolling down the road as well.

As the 2nd squad made their way between buildings and behind the one from the intersection, they made their way onto the backroad that was there.

From here on, they were a lot more cautious about their movements and began watching all windows and corners again as they moved along.

Because the distance to the building with the AT gun wasn’t that far, they didn’t have to travel for long.

The only encounters they faced were some birds that gave the squad a small fright, but didn’t stop them. It wasn’t until somepony peaked around a corner that the described building was now in view.

At this point, the sounds of the fighting throughout the city still went on, but they were tuned out as the 2nd squad had to focus on their attack.

From some quick peeking, the distance to the actual building from where they were now wasn’t that far, but there looked to be an enemy MG position in one of the windows facing down their road. They had just barely been able to make out the barrel of it, which probably saved their lives.

The 2nd squad was able to discuss a quick plan before they took on the house. They had looked around for another way to access the building, but that proved to be unsuccessful, so they had to go with the direct approach. This was probably why the MG was positioned this way.

“So, because we have the surprise right now, we’ll have Hazel spray it down while you, you-” Shadow pointed at Snow, Rain, Gust, Moonshadow, and Blaze, “Will all begin bounding up. You’ll get about halfway and then lay down fire on the house, that way the rest of us can come up and join you,” Shadow looked around at each pony for agreements or disapproval, and only saw some heads nod, which prompted her to continue. “After Hazel’s in position again, you five will run up to the building and enter it. We’ll hold at the midway point until you take that room the MG’s in. And obviously, if shit changes, adjust accordingly. Ok?”

With nods of approval from everypony, Shadow had everypony get into position to start.

Once Shadow gave the word to start, Hazel quickly moved out into the road and laid down fire on the building, specifically the window that had the MG in it. Chaser stood nearby and fired a few rounds from his bolt action at the other windows.

The five that had been directed quickly ran around Hazel and ran down the side of the street near whatever cover there was in the event of return fire.

The bounding was quite successful as no return fire came back, but now that the five were in position halfway to the building, they quickly took up their guns and continued firing on the house.

Their fire rate was a bit slower due to them only having bolt actions, while Moonshadow just held security for the other four due to only having a SMG.

While those four littered the house with bullet impacts, the four behind them quick began running down the street, on the opposite side of the road. Once they reached the midway point, Hazel was quick to set up her MG again, but she had to have Chaser assist with reloading it, so his rifle was down while Shadow and Jackpot held security for them.

“Ok! Bound again! Bound again!” Shadow shouted at the five.

As the order came, the four stopped firing and quickly loaded up their rifles with a few extra bullets before they began their second bound down to the house.

Before they reached the house, the first return fire began. The enemy’s bugsaw wasn’t what fired, but rifles. Their shots weren’t landing anywhere close as it appeared the bugs were holding the rifles out from cover and firing blindly. It was only two as well.

The front five quickly took cover at what they could before reaching the house and took aim at the building.

They then quickly, along with Hazel’s bursts of fire, shot at the windows the rifles were at.

Puffs of smoke began clouding them as their bullets hit around the window.

Finally, one of the guns disappeared while the other continued. When the second one disappeared for a moment, that’s when the five took the opportunity to start bounding up again.

This time, they were able to reach the building before any return fire happened again.

Hazel stopped with her bursts to not hit the five as they got ready to enter the building.

The five were all underneath a few of the windows to the building, with them all being shot out now because of Hazel, which Gust quickly took advantage of.

“Toss some frags in!” Gust said as he was already getting one of his two grenades prepared.

“Lend me one!” Rain said. He didn’t have any himself.

Gust tossed Rain his other one, so those two, along with Moonshadow, unpinned the grenades and on the count of two, they tossed them into the windows of the building.

“FRAG OUT!” Gust said loudly before all five braced for the explosions.

Moonshadow had crouched down and held onto her helmet as she prepared.

One, two, three. All three grenades exploded at different times, and each time they went off, it rattled each pony, along with the building. Dust shot out of the windows, which also sent the remainder of broken glass flying.

Some pieces of glass and debris fell onto the five’s helmets, but they were able to shake it off as they quickly got their weapons ready to enter the building. The door they were going for already had some shots through it from Hazel, who also happened to suddenly fire a controlled burst into the upper floors of the building.

Snow was the first to enter the building as he breached in through the door, with the order behind him being Gust, Blaze, Moonshadow, and lastly Rain.

The inside of the building was clouded with dust from the previous three grenades, so it was hard to see in some areas.

As they pushed through the first floor, the bodies of two Changelings were found in the rooms where they had thrown the grenades. After they cleared that room, they continued going through the building.

A waiting Changeling gave a surprise pop as he? She? It? Fired a round at Snow after he had turned a corner. The bullet missed as Snow didn’t stop moving until he butted against the hallway wall. Snow returned fire at the bug, who fired back as well. Neither were hit still until Gust also rounded the corner and quickly took aim at the bug and shot them. The bug fell to the ground with a thud and squirmed around, only for Snow to finish them off.

“Go past!” Gust yelled out as he quickly went to Snow to check him. Gust patted Snow down, seeing if he found any blood on him, which resulted in nothing. Some sighs of relief were interrupted by the spray of bullets from another room, that sprayed across and through the wall.

Blaze fired a few rounds into the wall in return, as he had been the one who pushed on, but was quick to take what cover he could as more bullets sprayed through the wall.

Blaze pointed at the doorway that went into the room to bring attention to the entrance.

Moonshadow was finally able to make use of her SMG and give her own return fire of bullets into the wall herself, with the hopes of them hitting whoever was on the other side.

In the meantime as Rain fired into the wall with Moon, Blaze had taken out a grenade, unpinned it, and threw it at the doorway. Blaze then quickly retreated backwards.

The grenade had bounced off the edge of the doorframe and into the room, and after a few seconds, the grenade was suddenly back out into the hallway.

Everypony took cover back the way they came, ducking around the corner before the grenade went off.

Boom!

The vibrations of the grenade were a lot worse now that they were within the building, but they were all fine.

Moonshadow took up position on the corner of the hallway, looking down towards the door frame Blaze had tried to grenade, while the rest figured out what to do.

While figuring out what to do, the Changeling that was in the room peaked around the corner, which caused Moonshadow to fire at them. The Changeling retreated their head back in but quickly stumbled out into the hallway from being hit, which made Snow and Gust finished it off.

With the single Changeling dead, they all began pushing down to the doorway and entered the room to quickly clear it. There were no other bugs inside the room.

There was only one more room on this side of the building, so while Snow and Rain held the hall that led to the other side, Gust, Moonshadow, and Blaze setup to clear the room.

Just as they were about to enter, Snow and Rain began firing at some Changelings that tried to counter-attack them, but having to focus on this final room, Gust quickly charged into it. He didn’t make it far, only into the doorframe as there were two Changelings in one of the corners of the room, ready for them.

Gust began to panic as he tried aiming at the bugs, but they had already fired at him, “FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!” Their bullets nearly missed him while his own also missed.

As all three began chambering new rounds in a panic, the few known Changeling curses were being shouted in return from the bugs. As one of the bugs got a round chambered, they fired it again and missed Gust while Gust’s rifle jammed up, only for Moonshadow to slam into Gust’s side and with indirect aim, sprayed her SMG into the two Changelings. They couldn’t get any rounds off in return as one dropped to the ground and the other collapsed.

One of them started kicked and shoving themselves away into whatever there was for protection, while the other lay still, both had dropped their rifles in the process.

While Moonshadow moved further into the room despite having an empty magazine in her SMG, Blaze came in behind and took aim at the two bugs. As he noticed the one moving around, so he shot it twice before moving over to the two.

While the gunfire from Snow and Rain had stopped, Blaze took the moment to check over the two bugs, making sure they were dead before turning his attention to Gust.

Gust finally gave up and just violently shook the bolt, “FUUUUUCK!” And in doing that, he was finally able to get a new round to chamber in.

Moonshadow had finished swapping magazines and was already moving out of the room to get back with the other two.

“By Celestia’s grace, how’re you still alive!” Blaze was dumbfounded himself at the situation just went down as he watched the pissed off Gust calm himself.

Gust and Blaze both now began following Moonshadow out, but as Gust left the room, he kicked a wall in a spout of final anger and put a hole in it, “Damn fucking gun jammed on my ass and wouldn’t load,” Gust showed off his gun to Blaze, not that there was anything visually wrong with it.

As they gathered up with the other two, they learned that a Changeling had peeked at them but retreated back up the stairs that were down the hall.

“Ok, so right around us above us should be that window with the MG,” Gust pointed up at the ceiling and then down the hall. “It should be quick to access from those stairs. We’ll frag it, clear it, and then signal for the other four to join us. Anypony have any frags?”

It turned out nopony had any grenades left. “Ok. Rain, Snow, hold at the bottom for us, we’ll just go up and get the room. That should draw the upstairs attention long enough then that we’ll come back down and signal for the others, ok?”

With nopony disagreed, they got ready to start it.

“Ok, push,” Gust said now as his focus was back on clearing and not his weapon. He had done some function tests while they figured out what to do and it worked fine.

Snow and Rain pushed down the hall and were the ones who cleared the stairs. When no Changeling fired at them, the other three came in behind and started pushing up them right away while the other two held security at the bottom.

Blaze was the first one pushing up the stairs as they went, with Moonshadow right behind and Gust last.

When they got to the top, they didn’t encounter any bugs besides more hallways and doors to more rooms, but as expected, there was a door around the spot they had expected the MG nest to be, it was also the first door.

They quickly pushed for the door and got ready to enter it.

As Blaze opened the door, a rip of bullets teared through the wall, nearly splitting Blaze in half. The spray of bullets didn’t stop for a few seconds, but it didn’t hit anypony else, or Blaze anymore as he’d fallen to the ground in pain.

In the chaos of the smoke and gunfire, Moonshadow and Gust had ripped past Blaze into the room and as the initial burst of fire came to an end and they both fired their own weapons.

This time around, Gust was able to cycle a few rounds without fail until the two bugs were both dead.

For a moment, the two stood in the room under the clouds of dust all the gunfire had kicked up and made sure nothing else was about to pop out and bite them.

In the silence of everything, Gust turned back around and went into the hallway to check on Blaze.

As Gust saw the condition of Blaze, he began shouting at Moonshadow, “Let’s get downstairs! Quick! Blaze is hit!”

Gust immediately began dragging Blaze down the hall to the stairs and pulled him down them. Moonshadow followed right behind Gust as this happened. Once they had gotten back downstairs, the looks of Snow and Rain as they saw the condition Blaze was in. They went from looks of concern to fear as they saw the holes and nearly torn off leg.

“Shit- Fuck-”

“Go get Jacky! Shadow! Them!” Gust yelled as he continued dragging Blaze back into the cleared portion of the building. Moonshadow ran past them all and went to the entrance they had used to flag down the other four.

Once Gust had found a spot to put Blaze, he began treating Blaze himself to the best of his abilities. He had a few bandages and tried plugging the spots that Blaze bled from, but that was about the extent his knowledge allowed given the situation.

After a minute or so, the other four barged into the building. Hazelblossom and Chase set up near the entrance to secure it, while Shadow and Jackpot assessed the situation.

“Oh, shit hells,” Was Jackpots first response upon seeing the condition that Blaze was in.

It took Jackpot less than a minute to announce Blaze was dead. This dulled everyone upon learning about it.

After letting some tears flow for a few seconds, Shadow pushed Gust away from Blaze and dragged him to the stairs where the other two still waited.

“This side of the building,” Shadow motioned down the hall Snow and Rain were watching, “Should be where that AT gun is. We’ll push down and find it, kill the crew or whatever we need. Got it?” Shadow asked. With no disagreements, Shadow looked at Gust and said, “You’re watching the stairs while we clear the rest.”

Without even asking about Gusts thoughts, Shadow force Gust into a position to watch the stairs while she went with Snow, Rain, Jackpot and Moon to clear the rest of the building.

Gust was quick to suppress his feelings while he watched the stairs. He was trying to clear his eyes of tears so he could see properly.

The sounds of gunfire from the others were heard a few times over the course of a few minutes as they cleared the bottom floor.

During it, a Changeling appeared from the top of the stairs, so with quick thinking and acting, Gust fired at them. His round missed, but the Changeling didn’t disappear. They were trying to surrender, which was evident of a white sheet of cloth they carried.

After the first shot, the Changeling began screaming in its language, none of which Gust was able to understand as he failed to understand what was happening and fired at the bug again.

This time, one of the previous tears got in the way of his vision and made the round miss the bug at the last moment.

Through the fear of death, the bug still pursued with its surrender in hopes of it working out as Gust chambered his third round, but with the third round, Gust realized what was happening, seeing as there was no threat, he didn’t fire.

Because the bug had gone halfway down the stairs during its descent, Gust started yelling at them to stop and while aiming his rifle at them.

While the bug was unarmed, they didn’t stop and continued going down the stairs, yelling themselves because of the tense situation.

Gust wasn’t sure what to do, so he made a split decision to go up the stairs and meet the bug directly on, grabbing them and pushing them hastily down the stairs. The Changeling ended up tripping down the stairs as this happened, but they were quick to push themselves back up and keep going down, while Gust followed them down with his rifle.

At the bottom of the stairs, Gust again grabbed the Changeling and brought them over to a wall where he forced the Changeling to sit on the ground so he could watch them. Gust’s focus was now split between the bug and stairs now.

Thankfully nothing happened further, but when Jackpot and Moonshadow were the first two to come back from clearing the rest of the bottom floor, they were surprised to see the Changeling Gust had.

“Why’s there a Changeling!” Jackpot asked.

“I don’t know!” Gust answered with confusion.

Moonshadow was quick to raise her SMG at the Changeling when she approached closer, but she didn’t get in physical distance of them. The Changeling before this point had been trying to speak to the others, despite the language barrier.

“Why didn’t you shoot them?” Moonshadow asked with a snarl of hate. She normally didn’t act like that, but the death of Blaze probably fueled it.

“I missed twice!”

As Gust answered, Shadow had come back as well and quickly noticed the captured bug herself. “Gods fucking damnit, why’s there a prisoner!” Shadow didn’t sound happy either about the bug.

“They were unarmed, and I missed damnit!” Gust had to respond again for Shadow.

After Gust had spoken, Shadow moved over to the Changeling and aimed her gun at its head and nearly pulled the trigger on it, but Jackpot stopped her.

“I didn’t want to take a prisoner today! Shit! Just kill it and we don’t have to deal with it!” Shadow said.

Gust had put his full attention back on the stairs as the other three were dealing with the Changeling, so he couldn’t keep track of what they were doing.

“Gust damnit, they just killed Blaze, and you let one live!” Shadow shouted, “I didn’t want to deal with this shit and the black shits!”

With Shadow not wanting to execute the Changeling anymore after Jackpot’s decision, Moonshadow went back to holding the Changeling at gunpoint. Jackpot had left back down the hall to where Blaze had been left while Shadow quickly went back towards where Snow and Rain still were.

It was a quick interaction between them and the Changeling, and since Shadow had almost shot them, the Changeling had been quiet.

With the small moment of silence, Gust gave Moonshadow a quick glance to ask her a question, “What’s the bug saying? They were just speaking a moment ago!”

Moonshadow knew a little bit of the Changeling language, but nothing that proved much use for their normal operations on the front lines against them.

“Ask them what?” Moon asked back to Gust.

“They were speaking something since I had them sit at that wall. Are you able to figure that out?”

Moonshadow gave an attempt at asking the bug a question, which was a very simplified down to her just saying ‘what’ in their language.

When the bug was asked that question, they began speaking again, but not as hectic as they had been during their initial surrender or when Shadow nearly killed it.

There was a small back and forth between the two, but Shadow soon returned and halted it.

“I already didn’t want prisoners, so don’t make it harder on me by talking to them! I don’t want those black shits becoming a problem because you can’t shut up.” Shadow was right to the point as she then quickly hurried past Gust and Moonshadow.

At her first sighting of Hazel and the others, she asked for a smoke grenade from them, who were quick to supply Shadow with. Once Shadow had the smoke grenade, she quickly went back down the hall to where Snow and Rain were, wherever that was.

Once Shadow was gone, Gust asked Moonshadow a question. “What’d they say? The bug?”

Moonshadow shifted her focus to Gust for a moment to answer him. “I didn’t understand most of it, but they’re surrendering and then something about ghosts. That’s all I was able to get.”

After Moonshadow finished speaking, the bug began speaking up again, but they couldn’t say much as they were interrupted.

This time, instead of Shadow appearing, it was Jackpot who did. “Listen, we should follow the orders we have and not speak with them, but let's also not kill the damn thing, ok?” Jackpot moved down to join Moonshadow, trying to get Moon to lower her gun from being aimed at the Changeling, “I’m sure it’ll be interrogated, and they’ll talk about how we spoke with it, and then our asses are shit out of luck somehow. I don’t want to deal with that shit myself.”

After Jackpots long answer, the Changeling began speaking yet again, thinking it had the opportunity to.

“OK! Clear the upstairs! Me and Jackpot will hold down here with the prisoner and the hallway while y’all are upstairs!” Shadow had appeared again with her quick orders, along with Snow and Rain. They both go ready with Gust to push upstairs. The captured Changeling was then forced to stay quiet as Shadow and Jackpot watched it.

Things happened fast after that, the original four that entered the building went upstairs and checked it out. They didn’t find any other Changelings up there besides the dead ones, and supposedly the gun from the one they captured.

Once they had come back downstairs, Shadow ordered the four to go down the hallway to where the AT gun was at and meet the main advance once they arrived.

There wasn’t much time to stop as the other three guided Gust to the room where the AT gun was. There were a few dead Changelings who had been around the gun, but all four ponies ignored them.

The Four ended up taking up positions around the AT gun while they looked out the hole the gun faced out of. It had a clean shot down a road that was currently filled with dissipated smoke, which had come from the smoke grenade Shadow had gotten.

It had been a few minutes since the smoke grenade was thrown, so it wasn’t long until the first few ponies pushed through it as they approached the building the 2nd squad had taken over. They took up positions around the road and faced a direction that led further into the city while some came into the AT gun building.

By now, the smoke had really dissipated, but right before it did, a Muletilda tank rolled through it and then turned down the street going further into the city and advanced down it some before stopping. Right as it came to a stop, the second Muletilda tank that had been with it also showed up.

Both tanks had light bullet damage to their hull and paint that wasn’t present before, but they were functioning just fine.

With the short break they currently had before continuing on with the advance into the city, this main advance’s command unit came into the building the 2nd squad was in, which brought along with it, the few black stripes they had.

While other ponies were holding security, Gust and the other three went back into the heart of the building where the Changeling had been captured and where Blaze was.

The black stripes were quick to take over control of the captured prisoner and made sure that nopony else was able to get close to it once so. That had only brought on the interest of others outside of the 2nd squad, as the 2nd squad was quickly gathering where Blaze was.

Hazelblossom and Chaser were still holding security at the back of the building, so they weren’t present as the rest stood around Blaze’s body.

Now having the proper opportunity, they were able to mourn over him.

Moonshadow and Snow didn’t stick around for long. Shadow was quickly pulled away for discussing things with the other commanders and giving a statement for the black stripes, while Jackpot had been pulled away to go help some other injured ponies, so it was Rain and Gust who were left with Blaze.

Blaze had been moved to a different room that was out of the way while other ponies went about through the building for various reasons.

After Gust had calmed down from his mourning, he ended up taking Blaze’s pack of smokes and matches. Blaze didn’t carry anything of value with him so there wasn’t much else to take. The pack of smokes had a small bloodstain on it, but that didn’t prevent Gust from taking them.

Not wanting to dwell on Blaze’s death and sour their mood any more than they should, Rain and Gust finally left and joined with the others. Blaze’s body location was marked down for retrieval later, but because the assault on the city was still happening and because support ponies were occupied with living victims, the dead weren’t a priority.

The rest of the 2nd squad ended up trying to cheer Gust up, as he was the closest to Blaze, so they were having a fun time nagging on him and shit-talking with one another while they sat around and waited now.

They had replenished themselves with refreshing water from their canteens and some more nibbles of rations and small snacks they had. They were all just sitting around outside near the street in some cover as they waited for their orders. This group wasn’t who they were supposed to be with, so Shadow was trying to figure out what to do.

With what ponies they could though, they all exchanged stories of their perspectives on the attack, trading information on what they could so everypony knew how the assault was going. It was currently going fine besides a few injured ponies and the few less that were dead.

The biggest thing that was brought up between all the other small groups was how the resistance from the Changelings wasn’t as tough as they had thought. It seemed that their attack was either unexpected or they just didn’t have the bug power for it. It was something that they all passed off though as panic started happening from the squads that held at the front of the road, near the Muletilda’s.

Snow, Rain, Gust, and Moonshadow were all trying to figure out what was happening before they noticed ponies getting ready for their weapons, which caused them to also get ready for the supposed attack. The attack then showed up in the form of a Changeling panzer III that rounded a corner far down the road the Muletilda’s sat on.

“PANZER!” Were the shouts that ponies all began spreading throughout the group.

Everypony took cover as no enemy infantry showed up, which was good for them as the Changeling panzer fired a round at one of the Muletilda’s. It was a direct hit and punched right through the hull of the tank.

Nothing happened for a few seconds until smoke started flowing out of the hole the panzer made. The smoke slipped through what cracks it could in the Muletilda as it burned from the inside. None of the hatches on it were open as the crew had been sitting inside.

In this time, the panzer had rolled back behind cover. The second Muletilda wasn’t able to react in time to the panzer, so it never fired a shot back, but it did rev up its engine and began rolling backwards to get behind a building.

Ponies that were around the tanks began pushing away from it, retreating back for better cover.

And then the panzer pushed out again and stopped in the road as it looked for the other Muletilda. The two saw each other and both fired at one another, though the Muletilda had worse accuracy as it moved backwards, that didn’t stop it from landing a hit on the panzer. The panzer didn’t hit the Muletilda.

The Muletilda didn’t stop backing up until it had reached cover behind the building it was getting behind and so it was only infantry that looked down the road at the panzer, but the panzer didn’t move after it had been hit.

Eveyrpony tried to hide, doing their best to not move as they feared the panzer might see them and blast them away, but nothing happened. As brave ponies peaked to see what was happening, they noticed that the panzer was also smoldering, but not as bad. There was a hole in the side of the turret that cleanly punched through, but it didn’t kill the entire crew as the driver’s hatch popped open and a Changeling began climbing out.

As the ponies saw this, some began firing at the Changeling, but none of them were able to hit it, only putting marks in the panzer itself as the Changeling got cover behind its tank.

When the gunfire from the ponies stopped, they kept their guns pointed down at the tank as they expected enemy infantry to show up.

The second Muletilda now pushed forward again and positioned itself to fire at the panzer again. It landed a direct hit on the side of the panzer’s hull as their own gunner had time to aim properly.

One the Muletilda fired at it, it didn’t reverse as they were loading a new round to fire. Once they had their new round loaded, they aimed as best as they could behind the panzer and fired. This round, when it impacted, exploded. After the HE round exploded behind, the panzer itself began cooking off as its insides turned to flames and burned heavily.

The first Muletilda that had been hit by the panzer still smoked, but none of its crew had climbed out so it was clear they were all dead or would be soon if not already. Nopony wanted to check though.

As they all prepared for more Changelings to attack, they began to realize one might not, so with new orders, the squads began pushing down the road to try and clear the area the panzer was at.

The 2nd squad didn’t push with them as they had regrouped in the AT gun building. There they learned that they would go meet back up with the original group they were with and push with them again. They would be making contact with the eastern companies that were pushing in from the east and then they would all push west to the western part of the city to retake the fortified areas.

So, with everything that had happened so far, as the second Muletilda pushed alone with the rest of its group and a dead Blaze lay in the building they had cleared, the 2nd squad set out with their new orders.

Act 3 - Interview

In the night,

The bodies fall,

Down below,

Into the freezing cold.

The shelves were empty of any bottles and alcohol.

They had all either been broken or pillaged by Equestrian soldiers during the first battle of Chicoltgo, during the occupation by the Changelings, or after the city was captured again by Equestira. Either way, it was quite a boring place now.

The only window for the bar was broken out, the glass from it laying on the ground outside and inside. Because power for the city was out, the far back side of the bar was dark, while the bar’s counter sat near the window, providing the seats with plenty of light.

There were a few broken bottles on the ground behind the counter, whatever liquids they held had dried out, leaving behind faint-colored stains. Besides the broken glass, all the bar supplies were thrown about. Some of it was on the ground while some of it was on the counter while the rest was in its proper spot, though cabinet doors were nearly all thrown open. The last thing that was thrown about was a single chair. It was pushed over and it currently lay on its side.

The rest of the bar was in a bit of better shape behind the counter. Besides a few turned over chairs, it looked like it fared just fine. There was dust everywhere due to the building shaking from explosions.

Because the building was fine, it was currently being used by three ponies. Two of the ponies found themselves sitting at one of the booth tables, while the last pony sat at a center table near the booth working on the transcript as the other two spoke. They had chosen to sit near the broken window as well, so they had sunlight to work with.

At the table, both of the ponies wore Equestrian Army uniforms, while one had the rank of captain and the other was private. The captain only had a few simple things with him, a simple, small bag and a service pistol that he carried in a leather holster. His name was Gala Sparkle, or otherwise known as Captain Sparkle. He was a unicorn.

The other pony, the private, was Gust.

Gust’s equipment was with him, but it sat in the booth with him as he currently spoke away, going through his story of the assault that had taken place a few days prior. He had just gotten to the point where his squad met back up with its original group. Gust had been explaining it for nearly the entire time he sat at the table, all while the captain listened and the other pony wrote everything down.

The other pony that was writing everything down as a transcript wore a simple Equestrian Army uniform, but just the bare minimum. It didn’t bear any rank or patches of any kind. The pony also had a similar bag as Captain Sparkle, but they didn’t have a service pistol. What they did have was a hidden revolver under their uniform. This was Agent Mythic. They were also a unicorn. They were an agent for SMILE so their real name wasn’t used when in the field. They weren’t taking part of the conversation besides transcribing it.

Gust had been rambling on with his story for quite some time now, given that’s what was asked of him. The captain had no intention of stopping Gust until another pony came into the building. This new pony also wore a similar uniform as Agent Mythic. Given the ease they were able to come in past the door guards, they were likely a SMILE agent as well.

“Captain, we’ve found something important,” The pony entirely ignored the fact Gust had been in the midst of his story, even going above to make his own voice loud with urgency.

With the interruption, Sparkle raised a hoof at Gust to put the story on halt and then proceeded to turn towards the new pony. Sparkle lowered his hoof once Gust was quiet, “Watermark? What’s the report?” Sparkle’s attention had made the quick switch to Watermark as Gust’s presence was now nearly ignored.

Now that Gust had gone quiet, he along with Mythic both looked at Watermark with Sparkle, in anticipation of whatever the report was. Given how long he had been talking for, Gust took the opportunity to take a swing from his canteen.

Agent Watermark looked at Gust for a moment, before looking back at Captain Sparkle, “It has something to do with what some members from that 3rd platoon have found. Anything further though-” Watermark motioned towards Gust, hoping the Captain brought his attention back to him.

Sparkle’s attention indeed returns back to Gust at the mention of him. Sparkle readjusted himself to face Gust again. “Private Gust,” Sparkle turned his attention to Mythic for a moment and motioned with a hoof for them to stop the transcribing. Again, looking back at Gust, Sparkle continued, “I believe we have gotten what information we needed from you at this time, unless anything else of importance happened between then and now.”

A short silence followed after the Captain spoke, which Gust quickly caught onto as he answered, “Well, no, nothing else of importance happened, nothing that I don’t know about,” Gust gave the two agents a small look with that comment, given he truly had no idea why he was being held. He had already done his reports for the assault of the city so this interview was entirely unexpected.

The Captain and the two agents looked at Gust as if he was holding a secret from them, but as the stare down brought nothing else from Gust, the Captain spoke back up. “Then you are dismissed Private. I’ll expect you to hold this conversation to only yourself? You are bound to secrecy just as much as we are.” Sparkle then gave a smile to finish off his sentence, hopeful Gust took it as his sign to leave.

There was another moment of silence before Gust realized his dismissal, so the moment he realized it, he responded with, “Yes sir!” Gust then gathered his equipment and gun as fast as he could before he got up from the table and stood at attention for the captain, saluting, and then leaving.

Once Gust was gone, Sparkle’s attention was brought back to Watermark. Since turning in the seat to face Watermark wasn’t the most comfortable, Sparkle got up from it and faced towards Watermark. “What’s the report Water?”

Mythic also looked at Watermark in anticipation for what the report was. Currently, Mythic was also tidying up their work, getting the transcript filed away into some folders and shoved into a bag as he paid attention.

“Well sir, I was with the platoon that was helping us investigate Luna’s sector and a few of the soldiers found some dead Changelings that had something odd about them,” Watermark turned around to check the door, making sure there was no peeping heads or ears present, “Well, I believe you should take a look yourself. I can explain it when we get there.”

“How far away are these Changeling bodies from us right now? I’m not opposed, but I do want to check out the building that private captured a Changeling in,” Sparkle responded.

Having no clue what the Captain was talking about, Watermark answered, “Ten or so minutes away. It will be faster with your command car though.”

Sparkle gave everything a thought as he figured out what to do. His attention was drawn around the table he had been sitting at before it moved over to Mythic. A sigh built up and was released before Sparkle came to a conclusion, “Ok, that’s what we’ll do,” he then turned his attention back to Watermark, “Are you coming with us or do you have anything else you need to look at over here?”

Watermark shook his head at the question and jiggled the bag he had on, which carried documents.

Sparkle adjusted his uniform as the answer came in, which only prompted him to turn to Mythic and ask him if he was good with going as well.

Mythic had just finished tidying up their supplies and equipment as the question was asked, already standing up themselves so they could get on the move, “I’m also good sir.”

As all three were set to go, they made their way out of the building, and when they did, Sparkle dismissed the guards who stood outside. They were part of the 22nd Everfree Division’s security forces.

Because Luna didn’t inform any of the high command about the existence of the brigade she sent, it had brought the attention of a few generals, but none of them pursued Luna to explain it. It wasn’t until after the city of Chicoltgo was taken that concerns were brought up by the officers and NCOs of the 22nd Division, who brought it up to their general, Sun Marble.

Because Sun Marble knew just as much about Luna’s Brigade as the other generals, once the concerns were brought up to her by the 22nd commander, Brigadier Brindle Dew, Sun Marble sent a message to General August Fon Eisenstadt regarding the concerns and requested for a simple investigation into the brigade past what was learned and documented by the 22nd. Since all of Sun Marble’s divisions were currently fighting on the front lines at the moment, and none of them had investigation detachments to them, that’s why she contacted General Eisenstadt.

Since General Eisenstadt was at the meeting where Luna first brought up her brigade, she had also been one of the generals who had an interest in them, but she had since forgotten it until Sun Marble sent for the request. Since Luna’s Brigade had left soon after the city was entirely captured and the 22nd had dug into the fortifications before Sun Marble learned about the concerns, there weren't any concerns between her or August regarding the investigation and Luna learning about it.

Since Captain Sparkle had been stationed at the nearby airfield base in Crystalville, he was chosen to lead the small investigation. To aid him, August had sent a request to the SMILE agency in Whinnyapolis for help. Since the railway was still intact, it connected Whinnyapolis directly to Crystalville and straight into Chicoltgo, or did until the rail bridge over the river was blown up. It would be a while until it was repaired for use again.

But since that morning, the three had been given a command jeep for traversing the city, along with some power to command 22nd troops to help with the investigation, well as long as they were reasonable commands that neither brought too much attention to themselves or disrupted the ponypower at the western fortifications. There was no dire threat of any Changeling counter attack at the moment, but the 22nd didn’t want to take any chances.

Even though Captain Sparkle had the authority to command troops for various things given his rank, like having the security outside at the bar or having some squads from the 22nd help search the city, the SMILE agents didn’t, at least not directly. The only authority they had was directly under him, but even then, it was limited. From a military point it was. They still had authority over civilians and areas away from the front lines, but given their location, the military was in charge here.

Now that the three were in the command car and driving away from the bar, Sparkle did his best to navigate around the city to where the building Gust had cleared that had the AT gun.

It was later in the day now and Sparkle and Mythic had spent most of the day so far interviewing a select few ponies who took part in the assault of the city. They were trying to gather as much information they could on the so called ‘black stripes’ from first hoof accounts while Watermark went along with some squads to search through the areas the stripes had cleared. Obviously, they had found something given he had reported back to the Captain.

“So, Sir,” Watermark asked from the backseat of the command car as Sparkle drove through the city, “Did you learn anything from the interviews?”

While the Captain was navigating through any of the debris that lay about in the road, he was still able to talk as he was going carefully through them, “Well, the most interesting thing that last soldier said was something about a ghost, or what his apparent Changeling POW mentioned. I’m sure there was some translation error with his team mate. Where he captured them is where we’re going actually. I just want to check out the building and see if they had anything lying about that mentioned this supposed ghost.”

As Sparkle continued driving down the road, he eventually looked to Mythic, who was riding in the passenger seat of the car and asked for directions. Mythic had jotted down the location on a map at Sparkle’s request during Gust’s story.

“What about your search Water?” Sparkle asked to Watermark.

“As I said, it’ll be better to wait until we get there and then explain. I already took photos of the Changelings, but the soldiers have been told not to mess with them.”

Sparkle gave a grunt in response as he focused back on driving, they had come across a destroyed building and had to carefully go around the debris of it.

The destruction to the city was very apparent while driving through. While there were still sections of the city untouched, there were broken windows on just about every building from the explosions that had gone off. Bomb creators from airplanes or artillery, from both sides, weren’t rare. What was rare, unless you looked for it, were the signs of actual ground fighting between the forces. It was hard to tell at this point which fights had happened during the first battle or the second.

That was until they came across the Changeling Panzer III tank that had been destroyed a few days prior. It was also on the road that matched where their destination was, so it matched with Gust’s story.

While Sparkle didn’t stop at the Panzer, he did drive around it and looked at the bodies of a few Changelings that were piled together on the side of the road. Among the few bodies was a Changeling wearing a tanker uniform. There were also bullet holes and marks surrounding the area from when the 22nd pushed down the street. Sparkle didn’t pay it much mind as he drove by.

Once he had turned the street corner and drove around the Panzer though, up the street was the Equestrian Muletilda that sat in the middle of the road still. Sparkle drove around it as well but parked close by given the house he wanted to look at was right there.

Once parked, Sparkle and the two agents got out of the car. Sparkle walked over to the destroyed Muletilda to look at it while the agents looked at the specific building.

The Muletilda, along with any tank really, looked massive when you stood next to it. Sparkle walked to the front of it and saw the hole that had been punched into the tank, which had black scorch marks surrounding it and right above it. Sparkle couldn’t see any of the hatches open on the tank, so either the crew really didn’t get out or the infantry couldn’t get in.

His mind stared at the tank for a moment more until he turned to look down the road where the Panzer sat, who’s turret stared in the direction of the Muletilda, who’s own turret did the same for the Panzer. Both stared at one another’s lifeless body.

Sparkle turned back to the Muletilda and stared at it once again before he stepped away and went to join the two agents. He didn’t want to think about what the insides of the Muletilda had turned into.

At the house, which had been found, the two agents stood at the window and looked into it where the Changeling AT gun sat still. All the bodies of the Changelings that were from the house were in a pile outside, though Blaze wasn’t present. Medical units from the 22nd had come through the city to retrieve their dead after support groups did a secondary clearing of the city. They’re who piled the Changelings into piles.

“So what exactly are we doing Captain?” Watermark asked.

Sparkle stood at the window with the other two and peered inside before his focus turned to the Changeling pile. He grumbled to himself as he thought, “Well, if you two want search the bodies of the Changelings, I’ll take a quick look inside. I’m going to look for any journals or books that belong to them. Papers, maps, anything like the sort.”

“Didn’t the 22nd already clear it out if the bodies are outside?” Mythic asked.

“Maybe they missed something,” Sparkle commented before he found a way into the building.

While Sparkle left the two outside, he checked through the building.

Besides the stains of blood that adorned the place and the many bullet holes and markings that were about, there really wasn’t much inside the building when it came to intel. The previous run through the town by the 22nd really had cleared out the building. The only things that remained was the AT gun and all the equipment from the Changelings that wasn’t attached to them, so guns and various things. It was all thrown into a pile in the building and left behind. This made it easy to check through after searching the rest of the building. Since it was all just equipment and had no value to Sparkle, he eventually made his way out of the building.

When Sparkle came out, he saw that the two agents were still searching through the bodies of the Changelings, so he ended up joining them to help. It wasn’t a fun task, as their bodies had been dead for awhile now, especially with the mess some of them were.

“So, were you able to find what you were looking for? Or did you find anything at all?” Mythic asked.

Sparkle shook his head, “No, I think the 22nd already got everything useful. We might have to talk with their command later to see what intel they ended up finding,” Sparkle said.

They pursued on through, but their search turned up nothing as they went through the Changeling bodies.

After they did what they could to re-pile the bodies for later cleanup, they piled back into the command car and left for the location Watermark was wanting to show Sparkle. The distance to where they went wasn’t far from their location, due to them driving the car, but the distance was surprising with how close the southern push had gotten to the black stripes sector.

Once they had arrived at the building Watermark directed Sparkle to, they found some soldiers standing outside the building who were guarding it, who were doing so under the order from Watermark.

There wasn’t much authentication that the three had to do to get past the guards. One thing Sparkle did was dismiss the guards once they had arrived, while Watermark told them to continue helping search through the area.

“So, here’s the thing that makes this weird Captain, there’s two Changeling bodies on the top floor, but the one window they were at isn’t damaged, no bullet holes, no broken glass, nothing.”

The three were currently walking up the stairs of the building and had reached the top once Watermark finished speaking. They had come across the bodies of the two Changelings that lay on the ground near the only window of the room.

Watermark motioned around the room, “There’s nothing indicating there was any damage by bullets or shrapnel. Nothing is destroyed here as well.”

Sparkle took a look at the two bodies of the Changelings as Watermark talked about them.

“But the Changelings were obviously shot, is the thing,” Watermark said as he made his way to the bodies. He pointed at some spots on the Changelings with his hoof, “Here and here. This one was shot a few times in the chest and neck, while this one was in the head,” Watermark then stepped away from the bodies to let Sparkle have a better view on them.

Sparkle looked at Water, who in turn saw the question forming on Sparkle's face so he continued and pointed around at the floor, “The thing is, there’s no bullet casings around,” Water then started moving to the stairs they had taken up, “No casings downstairs either. This building wasn’t touched by anything but two dead Changelings.”

Sparkle began looking around the room for the non-existent casings Watermark talked about, before he went to the stairs. Seeing how there truly was no casings anywhere on them, he took Watermark’s word for full truth, assuming he did inspect the whole building. “And who found this?”

“A few of the patrols who helped search. They didn’t touch anything and came to inform me,” Watermark said.

While this was going down, Mythic had gone to the bugs to inspect their bodies himself.

“Was it suicide?” Sparkle asked.

Even though there were no casings, Mythic had picked up the Changeling guns and opened their bolts to check. In both, their chambered bullets flew out while the remainder inside were all accounted for, so neither had shot one another.

Sparkle grumbled while Mythic went on to check more things.

“They also weren’t brought up here while dead given the amount of blood that poured out,” Watermark said.

“So?” Was all Sparkle was able to ask with their given information.

“I don’t think it’s the work of the 22nd or Luna’s brigade,” Watermark answered.

“Do you think it’s related to that ghost?” Mythic asked.

Despite the oddity of the situation that was before them, Luna’s secret forces had done their job while in the city. The cleanup crews had come across their work on Changeling held positions where their fights had taken place.

While Luna’s brigade only had a few injuries and two deaths, they had carried them out themselves when they left. The direction and way they left was unknown, but it’s believed they took the railway to Whinnyapolis, though that wasn’t confirmed. Along with their own injured and dead, they had taken the few POWs that were captured during the whole assault.

Sparkle gave Mythic a look, “What else do you think ghosts do?”

While they documented the situation and wrote down notes, there wasn’t much else they could do until they reviewed everything over the next few days. The day had been good though, as they they gathered plenty of information to start with.

Nothing else showed up in the section of the city that the black stripes cleared, so the troops that were helping search were dismissed.

With what they were able to do this first day, they finished up and went back to the eastern trenches where the main command post was still set up and got to work finalizing everything they did. It was going to be a long night for them to get the information sorted before they left for the Crystalville airfield, where their first report would be sent in.

Act 3 - Fiery Fire

Once you see it,

The mystery,

How can you not be drawn into it?

Does it not dwell on you,

Or can you not see it?

Chowing down on some warm vegetable soup was one of the perks of being stationed at an air base. The air crews, who were constantly going up for missions, needed something to keep their bellies warm once they returned, plus it was a big moral boost for them.

The Crystalville air base was among three other air bases that sat at the front lines of the Equestrian northern front. A new air base was constructed north of Hope Hollow since the Changelings got bogged down, while the Twilight Mountain Pass was constructed after the invasion of Olenia, while the Crystalville airbase was constructed right at the start of the war. The last air base is in Marechester, which has been around since airplanes were integrated into the military.

While all four are still in service, the Marechester air base was the smallest of all due to being downsized since the frontlines crept directly onto it. Because it was now an easy target for the Changelings, only the most hardy planes could take off and land at it, which are the old Hurricane models.

While Crystalville air base didn’t sit directly on the front lines, it did have to worry about Hedgewards and the fighting that was taking place there. Once the city was lost, it would put the Crystalville air base, as well as the Crystal Empire’s air base that just sat north of the border, both in danger of being hit by more than just air raids.

Because of the heightened risk the airbase was under, security was up tight. Patrols happened along the entire perimeter of the base by infantry, while at least two spitfires were constantly circling around. Don’t worry, there were flight plans so the two spitfires never interfered with the constant stream aircraft going and leaving from the base.

That’s one of the things that was enjoyable though, the constant buzz of the air base, Captain Sparkle loved it, it allowed him to work with ease, the perfect white noise.

The two SMILE agents seemed to be, ok? While in Chicoltgo, they were fine, but it was quiet when they were there. There hadn’t been constant fighting while they were in the city, at least nothing major they could hear. The two were from SMILE, not the military, so what they probably expected to encounter during their jobs didn’t prepare them for this, or maybe it did. The agents seemed to work slower when the sounds of the base increased, but any emotion or reaction of any form was entirely suppressed, which must have come from their SMILE training.

Captain Sparkle was currently going over the transcripts that were typed up from the interviews they conducted a few days ago and writing down notes for anything that stuck out. He had already gone through four entire transcripts and a dozen after action reports from the 22nd. He had a cup of hot chocolate and an empty bowl of vegetable soup. He was on his third cup of hot chocolate.

Agent Mythic was busy going through more after-action reports and going over all reports given by NCO’s and officers from the 22nd who had spoken or complained about the black stripes. Mythic was also in charge of filling Sparkle’s hot chocolate.

Agent Watermark was going through the past two weeks of various documents and schedules, from train departures and arrivals, intel on troop movements from the Changeling side and their own, to even all documented planes that have arrived and left.

Amongst all of them as well, whenever they needed a break from their current task, was the military censor's notes. Anything the censors had to black out or take notes on from messages soldiers wanted to send back home or elsewhere, were all laid out before them.

It was their second night of working on the air base since coming back from Chicoltgo. They were trying to figure out anything regarding the black stripes with what limited information there was. They were scraping through everything possible that might give them any information.

The biggest thing they learned was the black stripes had come from Whinnyapolis, or from that direction. It wasn’t concrete, but the first reports of their location came once they arrived in Crystalville, coming from the east, which is where Whinnyapolis was.

As Sparkle turned the page of one of the reports he was looking over, the buzz of Halifax's started up as they prepared for a bombing mission.

While Lancasters were a newer, and more abundant plane, only Halifax's had been assigned to the Crystalville air base due to its proximity to the front lines while Lancasters flew out of nearly every other air base, along with Halifax's.

Just as the final Halifax took off and a new one didn’t replace it, Mythic spoke up, letting his horn take a moment to relax from moving documents around, “So what planes were those just now?”

“Halifax's,” Sparkle answered. He didn’t even bother looking away from his documents.

“Aren’t those old?”

“They can still carry bombs,” Sparkle flipped through yet another page without looking up.

“I mean what year did they come out? They’ve always been the bomber shown on recruitment posters,” Mythic said.

Sparkle finally looked up from his documents and gave an eye to Mythic, “1007? 8? Why? Is this paperwork making you want to enlist?”

Mythic laughed, “No, I was just curious. The posters are just everywhere in Whinnyapolis, plus we’re ineligible to join once we join SMILE.”

“Really?”

“Mhmm, I don’t know the specific reason though. Since the war, a few members have tried joining and were denied,” Mythic looked at Watermark and grabbed his attention, “Do you know why?”

Watermark looked up and shook his head, “I don’t either.”

Mythic looked back at Sparkle and shrugged, “Probably just so we still have agents. The workload for the entire agency has increased tenfold twenty times over since Olenia was taken over.”

Sparkle nodded off while his eyes fell back towards his papers. He reached for his hot chocolate and noticed it was empty so he floated it upwards to grab Mythic’s attention just before he looked back down himself. “Another fill?”

Mythic took control of the mug with his telekinesis after placing down his documents again, “On me.”

As Mythic left the room, Sparkle focused on the documents again.

“We never got around to directly asking Cable what made him raise the alarm the night prior to the assault since he ended up getting killed, but it turned out the alarm was nothing. All we know from what rumors spread through the trench is that he thought he saw something, something about red eyes that made him think there were Changeling infiltrators, but nopony else saw anything once the flares and tracers went out.”

Sparkle was going over the transcript of a pony they interviewed. There was a lot that each pony said, so it was hard to remember everything that was said, but when Sparkle read this part of the transcript, something clicked in his mind.

It wasn’t rare for one of the three to rummage through the documents looking for something, so when Sparkle started doing it, Watermark paid him no mind.

After sorting through the organization they had set up for themselves, Sparkle finally found Gust's transcripts.

After flipping through the pages of it, he finally landed on one of the earlier pages and read through it.

“And all of a sudden Rain comes running back to tell us we’re under attack, just in time for the machine guns to go off. We all run into the trench with our guns and…”

Sparkle skimmed a few lines of the transcript until he got to the part he was looking for.

“It turned out somepony started screaming about the enemy after seeing something over the top of the trenches. It wasn’t confirmed by them or anypony, but they screamed about it anyways.”

After reading that part, Sparkle stuck a pencil in that part of the transcript and flipped to the back of it and skimmed over the lines until he reached the part he wanted.

“Moonshadow said the Changeling said something about surrendering and ghosts.”

Sparkle then flipped between the two spots in Gust’s transcripts and the other one that started this lead, reading each part a few times before he started to write down some notes. He wrote down the transcripts' identification numbers and what folders they were a part of, wrote down very short versions of what was said between the three parts and then put the documents away.

Keeping the workspace clean was vital to getting any work done, so once Gust’s documents were put away, he stood up and went for the cabinet that his office had.

The three were using his office in one of the buildings on the base to do their work. The whole building was under its own security given the amount of intel and information that was within it. Neither Sparkle or the agents could get into some rooms.

The cabinet that Sparkle went for had a few boxes inside it, which in turn each had more documents and various other items. One of the things inside one was a journal that had been recovered from some Changelings. When Sparkle found it, he brought it back to his desk.

Looking at the notes he had taken, Sparkle began flipping through the journal.

The entire journal was written in Changeling though, but ever since the war slowed to its crawl, Sparkle had been learning Changeling when possible. It became a requirement for officers to learn after the Changelings invaded in 1002, but it hasn’t been enforced since 1007.

Watermark also knew Changeling, but Mythic didn’t. What Mythic did know was Herzlandish.

Herzlandish and Changeling were very similar languages to one another, at least to an extent. If someone knew Herzlandish or Changeling, they could easily learn the other language, but if you only knew one, you were limited to basic conversations with the other language. The moment it became complex is when the understanding of the other fell apart. This is why the Changelings and the Griffonia Empire had military cooperation with one another.

“Yadadadada…” Sparkle began muttering to himself as he went through the journal.

He had gone through the journal the day prior after the base received it from the 22nd. The commanders of the 22nd already looked through the contents and didn’t find anything of value in it so it was sent to the air base. It was going to then wait for further transportation to Whinnyapolis for either storage or destruction, or that was until Sparkle requested it.

Most of the contents of it went over the journey whatever bug had it as they invaded Equestria. Since the journal came from Chicoltgo, either it was lost, or the owner was killed.

“Ich schreibe das so schnell, wie meine Flügel summen können, aber gerade kam ein Trupp angerannt und schrie etwas über den unsichtbaren Tod. Anscheinend trugen sie die roten Augen eines Drachen.”

Sparkle finally found the passage that he was looking for. It was at the very back. A quick look at the date, which he must have forgotten, told him even more. The date was the night before the 22nd attacked Chicoltgo.

Upon seeing that, Sparkle looked back at the last bit of text and began reading over it again.

“... this as quickly as my … can buzz, but a … just … by screaming something about … Apparently they wore the red eyes …”

Sparkle translated the passage into Equestrian in his head, but he wasn’t able to understand most of it, but there was only one thing that did stick out, the red eyes.

“Captain, your chocolate,” Mythic said after coming back into the room. He floated the mug by, which now had steam rising from it. It was fresh hot chocolate!

“Cloudy, can you read this passage for me? The last part?” Sparkle asked Watermark, Cloudy was their real name.

Sparkle had floated the journal over to Mythic and held it in front of him. Watermark looked up from their work to find the journal near their face. It wasn’t like he could refuse though, since he was the only one who was fluent in Changeling.

“Writing this as quickly as my wings can buzz, but a squad just came running by screaming something about invisible death. Apparently, they wore the red eyes of a dragon,” Watermark then looked past the journal at Sparkle, “That one?”

“Mhmm!” Sparkle mumbled out as he began downing the fresh mug of hot chocolate Mythic had floated over.

“Is there something important about it?” Watermark asked.

Sparkle put the mug down, “I think so,” Without answering anything else, Sparkle brought the journal back over to himself so he could look at the writing again. After looking at it, he began writing down on his notes the proper translation that Watermark said.

After Sparkle began looking between his notes and the journal a few times, Watermark went back to his work as he realized Sparkle had gotten focused again. Sparkle would speak up once he gathered his thoughts.

“Do we know where exactly this journal came from?” Sparkle asked after holding the journal up for the other two to see.

Of course it was a long shot to ask, it was a random journal.

“Which bin did it come from?” Mythic asked.

“1013-2 Bin three,” Sparkle answered.

“That’s the one with some other books?”

“Mhmm,” Sparkle answered with the mug in his mouth again.

“You would have to go ask the quartermaster’s lieutenant. He’s the one who I got that stuff from,” Mythic answered.

“Where’s he at?”

“Storage depot three I believe. Or two. They’re right next to each other.”

Once Sparkle had that information, he downed the rest of the hot chocolate and placed the mug back on the table. He gathered the journal and his notes up again, “You two can finish up your current documents and you’ll be good for the rest of the night. I’ll come back to organize my stuff later.”

“Taking a swing for that lieutenant?” Mythic asked.

“Yep, I want to catch them, or whoever is running the depot tonight, for what information I can. General August will be here tomorrow and I’ll be giving her the report of everything we have so far, so I want to make sure we have something solid,” Sparkle said.

“When will we catch you then?”

“August is arriving after noon and will be staying for about eight hours. I'll be doing the report about an hour before she leaves, so show up here at 0700.”

“So, we have another full day to basically work?”

“We can take a small break around the time she arrives. I think the mess is serving filling food because of the visit.”

Mythic broke a smile at that information. He and Watermark had been eating military food since they arrived at the air base when meeting up with Sparkle, but this would be the first time since arriving that they were going to have a proper meal.

“So, we're just finishing our current notes?” Watermark asked.

“Just your current page. I don’t expect you to still be here when I return. We have all day tomorrow to basically finish.” Sparkle answered.

With that, Sparkle took the journal and notebook and left the office for the other two and left for the supply depots.

Outside, the sun was just about to start setting, but the air base seemed unaffected by that. A bunch of Halifax's were taxing on the runway to gather up for takeoff. They were both waiting for the rest of the bombers to join them, but as well as waiting for the last bombers from a previous mission to return. They just waited for two more to land.

Sparkle could watch just fine from where he was, he was away from the main ongoings of taxing planes. He was on the side of the airport that housed many of the fighters, which were all grounded at this point due to the night. Only a few heavy fighters were spooling up to join with the new group of Halifax's.

The unlucky thing was Sparkle had to walk across the base to the depot now. The commander's car he had while in Chicoltgo belong to the 22nd so they needed it back once he and the agents finished with their work. Thankfully though, Sparkle was able to hitch a ride with a truck that was carrying some fighter pilots down to the main mess hall.

The pilots ignored Sparkle’s presence, but only because so many ponies got lifts around the base that it was like riding a bus in any city.

Once they arrived at the mess hall, all of the pilots hopped off and the truck driver asked Sparkle where he was going. Learning it was the supply depot, the driver agreed to take Sparkle there. There were of course a few pickups along the way there, most who hopped off before they arrived at the depot.

When Sparkle arrived, he gave a small thanks to the driver before he started searching for the correct building that Mythic said the lieutenant was in. Depot two and three were the ones he was looking for. They were quick to find given they were the first three in the rows, so he started searching for any pony working at them.

Between all the storage depots, there were ponies going about their jobs.They were sorting things or moving things around for whatever order or request that had come in. Sparkle spoke to a few ponies, who all ended up pointing him to depot three, which is where their lieutenant was.

After another short look, Sparkle was able to find the lieutenant by a pony who showed him where he was.

There was a small office room in the third depot where he sat. There were no guards at it so Sparkle was able to walk right in, not that anypony would prevent a captain from entering once they were verified.

Upon entering, the lieutenant that was sitting in the office stood up and saluted Sparkle upon seeing his rank. After telling the lieutenant to be at ease, they sat back down.

The lieutenant was an earth pony with goldish fur, their cutie mark was hidden by their uniform. They were writing on a spreadsheet for inventory purposes.

“Captain sir, what can I do for you today?” The lieutenant asked.

Sparkle took out the journal he had brought and put it on the table before taking out his notes so he could look at them.

“This journal came from your storage. A SMILE agent came in and requested specifically for the journals that came from the 22nd’s assault on Chicoltgo. I don’t know what information you need, but it came from 1013-2 Bin three. That’s what box it was in when we received it.”

The Lt took a quick look at the journal before moving it across his desk back towards Sparkle, “The SMILE agent? That Mythic guy?”

“Yes, with black fur.”

The Lt. gave a nod before he started rummaging through the piles of paperwork he had on his desk. After going through the disorganized mess, at least what seemed disorganized to Sparkle, the Lt. pulled out some papers. He looked over the papers really quickly before turning them around and handing them over to Sparkle.

“That’s the request form that was filled out by them. There’s some weird stuff with it since they’re not military but had the authorization, so the entire ‘RELEASE’ section you can ignore,” The Lt. then sat there as he waited for Sparkle to look at it, but after a moment, the Lt spoke up, “Is that what you need? You didn’t actually ask for anything.”

Sparkle took a look over the papers, scanning over them for a moment. The ‘RELEASE’ section of the paperwork had a bunch of signatures and stamps that in all honesty, looked out of place, so he ignored it as suggested.

“Hmm, this is just the paperwork for the request,” Sparkle looked up at the Lt. “Do you have any of the paperwork or documents that told you where the items came from?”

The Lt. took a look at the request forums again before putting it in a bin that said ‘unorganized’, “Oh, that information,” The stallion took a moment to think it over as he stared at all the papers around his desk. He started to rummage through the paper now.

Sparkle stood there with his notes while the Lt. looked through the papers. The sounds of the Halifax's from earlier started to roar loudly as they began taking off, a noise neither of the officers were bothered by.

After opening a drawer, the Lt. rummaged through it before finally taking a sheet of paper out and placing it on the desk to give it a look over.

The Lt. mumbled to themselves as they began skimming over the document until finally the Lt. tapped the paper with a hoof and turned it around for Sparkle, “22nd Everfree intelligence supplies, arrived four days ago for transportation to Whinnyapolis by train,” The Lt. then moved their hoof down the page and tapped at another spot, “It says for 1013-2 Bin three, that was intel gathered by the 22nd’s 6th company,” The Lt. then lifted his hoof and pushed the document over to Sparkle, “That’s all it says.”

Sparkle picked up the document with his magic and took a look at it. He glanced over the page from top to bottom for anything else before looking at the sections the Lt. tapped at.

After taking a glance over the document, Sparkle floated the document back over to the Lt. before taking his own notes and flipping through them. After a few moments, he came across the specific page he was looking for a read over it to himself.

“The 6th company helped sweep the eastern side of the city, clearing buildings and looting bodies.”

Sparkle closed his notes with a sigh and tucked his notes away.

The journal that made him come over here had no connection to Gust’s POW, or any changelings from that sector.

“Is everything alright sir?” The Lt. asked after taking the document back and sorting it back where it belonged.

Sparkle had grabbed the journal with his magic and brought it back over to himself before answering, “Yeah, just, it wasn’t anything useful is all.”

The Lt. gave a nod, “Well is there anything else I can help you with?”

Sparkle shook his head, “No, not right now. I’ll come back around tomorrow most likely for more details on things.”

“Ah, well my captain will be here tomorrow, for these depots. I’ll be gone towards the front later tonight.”

Sparkle gave another nod to his answer, “Well, regardless, thank you for the help lieutenant.”

“Sir,” The Lt. answered before he picked up the previous spreadsheet he was writing in.

After that, Sparkle left the office and the supply depots. As he began walking back to the building his own office was in, the sun had fully set.

The insides of hangers had their lights on, which beamed away their location, so their doors were being shut or the lights were turned off. Ponies carrying red lights popped up everywhere as they continued to go about their tasks.

Spotlight crews got into positions around the base, prepared to light up the sky in the event of any aerial attack by the Changelings.

The biggest change about it now being night, was you had to watch where you walked due to the vehicles driving around with dimmed headlights. Operation of the airbase didn’t stop at night, but it did become slower.

To help with any bombing missions the Changelings might have for the airbase, a bunch of lights making the outline of an airfield were set up a mile away from the actual one, which were run the entire night to make it a target instead of the real airfield.

At some point while returning to the building, one of the air base's firefighting trucks drove by, which was followed by a second behind it.

That wasn’t a good sign to see.

It didn’t prompt much action from Sparkle other than walking faster to maybe see where they were going.

As he got closer to his building, the scurry of ponies began catching Sparkle’s attention. He noticed that some were running towards the building’s location before a few more fire trucks whizzed by.

Well that really wasn’t good. The only important thing in this direction that would warrant that many fire trucks from the base was the intelligence building his office was in, that or a plane crashed down this way.

As he got closer, passing buildings and trotting now, he saw the glow of smoke rising above the wooded section that he had to go around. Just behind the woods was his building.

By the time Sparkle rounded the woods, three more fire trucks had arrived at the building. Half the building was on fire, which is why nearly half the base's fire trucks responded to it. Some were already attempting to put the fire out. The glow of orange lit up the area surrounding the building, which gave light to everypony to see.

There was no reason to approach any closer at this point though. Some of the entrances to the building already had water hoses dragged through them, which meant there were ponies inside fighting it from within.

Sparkle could only watch now, cursing under his mouth as other soldiers gathered around to watch.

Mythic suddenly bumped into Sparkle from behind. “Captain! Watermark went to the depot for you!”

That’s all Mythic said to Sparkle before Sparkle spoke up himself, “What happened to the building?”

That was the question many ponies were asking at this point, unknown to them how the intelligence building could catch fire to this extent.

“It started in your office!” Mythic answered with a heavy breath. He had obviously come running form somewhere before he purposely bumped into Sparkle.

Sparkle looked confused at that answer, “Wait, what? How? When?”

“We were both leaving and were outside,” Mythic pointed in a direction towards the building, “When some ponies inside started screaming about a fire happening. A bunch started running out of the building with a bunch of boxes, documents, all that stuff, but then it accelerated to an ungodly speed!”

Sparkle looked at the building again before he looked between Mythic, the fire fighters and the other ponies all outside, “Did you get anything from the office?”

Mythic shook his head, “No, we had already finished up organizing everything so we left the rest of it there for you.”

As Sparkle began looking between everything more and more, all he realized he could do was just watch.

There were a few ponies still running in and out of the portion of building that wasn’t on fire or smoking like crazy, while some of the fire fighters were bringing loads of papers and documents out of other entrances that weren’t being used for the hoses. There were already high-ranking officers and military police watching the pile that was being formed and organized by some unfortunate low ranking officers.

“Was it a Changeling?” Sparkle had to ask.

“That should be impossible?” Mythic asked back.

After they were approached by some other soldiers, Sparkle and Mythic got into a conversation as they tried to figure out what happened.

In the meantime, the fire on the building was slowly being put out by the fire fighters who had prevented it from spreading any further.

Eventually Mythic said he was going to go search for Watermark at the supply depot after things had calmed down, while Sparkle was now left to the smoldering view.

As the beginning of the night only began, some nearby pony who had been watching the building, screaming out, “CHANGELING INFILTRATORS!”

Upon screaming that out, they were firing their pistol into the wooded area next to the building.

A bunch of ponies jumped to action, while some of the guards who were watching the documents took their rifles and began firing into the woods.

In the short midst of the gun fire, Sparkle looked into the woods where they were firing and saw the movement of the Changeling.

It was a single Changeling that moved quickly before it began taking off into the air, but there was one thing Sparkle saw that made him question if it really was a Changeling. Red beady eyes that looked in his direction momentarily before disappearing under the chaos.

Just as fast as the gunfire began, it stopped.

Only the guards had rifles, while it was other officers that carried pistols that were firing into the woods. The direction they were all firing in had nothing behind it besides any unlucky patrol that might have been in the back during the ordeal, thankfully though, there wasn’t.

Moments after the gunfire stopped, the sirens began.

Spotlights turned on and began shining up into the air while lights from patrols turned on as they began searching around for the Changelings. The base was now going into lockdown and a bunch of the spitfires that were grounded, but at the ready for defending the base, began their take off procedures.

At this point, all the ponies around the building began to scatter. The ones that were just watching the fire fled away for their bunkers and rally points, while the officers from the intelligence building began taking cover inside the smoking building, ready to defend it with their lives, well, the guards were. The officers only had pistols.

Given that Sparkle’s office was the one that caught fire, he just went for one of the fire trucks and hid behind it with some of the fire fighters as they tried to figure out if an attack was about to happen from the woods.

Once armed infantry arrived, they were able to get to better cover while they figured out what to do. Sparkle was busy making his way to the supply depot again, where he would hopefully find the agents. He was originally going to stay at the intelligence building while he waited for Mythic, and hopefully Watermark, but since the base was going under lockdown now, he wasn’t sure what would happen.

Through all of it though, there was only one thing that was left in Sparkles mind, the red eyes he thought he saw in the woods.

It made him open the Changeling journal he still carried, as well as his notes, both of which he went over so many times as he slowly tried to make a connection.

Red eyes and ghosts.

Whatever connection he could make, was only solidified later when no Changeling presence was found by base security.

Act 3 - The Generals Report

Papers and reports,

They’re kind of boring,

But is some knowledge not worth having?

Because the base went on lock down last night, security today was even tighter than it originally had been planned.

With General August arriving at noon, they couldn’t have any mistake or mishap happen during her visit.

Because both of those incidents happened, the entire base was stressed out. Over the night, two Halifax bombers were shot down during their missions, along with a heavy fighter. The standard amount of damage also happened to the ones that returned, which was quickly patched up by ground crews as fast as possible. Base command wanted as many planes flying during August’s visit, to give the bugs something else to worry about.

The intelligence building had been saved from further destruction by the fire fighters, though parts of it still smoldered, so it was being partly used. A bunch of tents and new guards were brought in for a makeshift intel center, where the intel that was saved, could be sorted through and reorganized. The evacuation of everything had messed it all up.

Thankfully for Sparkle, he wasn’t assigned to any of that work. All of his work, though, was burnt and destroyed. His entire office was gone. There wasn’t anything he could do about it now but start again. He did however have his notes and the Changeling journal still, along with his brain and the two agents.

Watermark and Mythic were found to be fine, along with almost everypony else. Only two officers from the building had inhaled smoke, while one of the fire fighter ponies was burnt on the leg. All three were able to make a full recovery from the unicorn doctors.

Sparkle and the agents still ended up meeting at 0700 that morning, despite the night, and figured out what they were going to do. They were going to the supply depot again, but they were going to sort through whatever new and remaining documents there were that came from the 22nd. To make it simple, they didn’t take anything from the depots, so nothing could get destroyed again. The depots, along with all other high value buildings and hangers, now had armed infantry on the guard. The base didn’t want to tank a chance at another infiltration.

The thing about the infiltration was Sparkle didn’t think it was a Changeling that did it.

From what he and the two agents gathered so far, it seemed like there was a connection across a few points they had figured out. The Changeling journal mentioned the invisible death and red eyes, Gust’s prisoner mentioned a ghost, the pony who alerted the trench the night before the 22nd attack, and now the infiltration he witnessed last night.

Well, at least that’s what he originally thought. Giving it more thought, it didn’t make much sense if it was any other creature either. If it was a Changeling, it didn’t make any sense for there to be infighting among the Changelings. All Changelings on the front lines were enemy, any Equestrian, or just any bugs at all, were all banned from joining the Equestrian military, so any present were assumed to be an enemy. But that point brings up something else, what if it is Changelings and they’re a part of Thorax’s resistance groups?

That’s where it being Changelings doesn’t make sense, because if they’re Thorax supporters, why would they attack an Equestrian air base, specifically the intelligence building?

But then if you look at the other end, if it’s from the Black Stripes, why would they both cause an uproar at a trench line, but also commit high crimes against their own military by sabotaging their own intel?

This is where the situation gets muddy, because there’s evidence that supports it being Changelings, but also, ponies? At the least, allies, but with the whole burning building part, does that not rule that out? The trench part, if it was allies, could have been a mistake.

When looking at each individual part, it’s easy to see how it might be an ally for one part, but the enemy for the other.

But if you combine it all, you can throw it all in the trash by accounting for third parties. The Crystal Empire? But they’re allies, why would they still burn down their building. Olenia? The polar bears? They’re both a part of the Changeling Hegemony, plus the polar bears aren’t known for their stealth capabilities, and Olenia is fighting in the south and the ocean. There’s been no reports of any deer north of the Smokey Mountains.

Stalliongrad? They’re a possibility.

Yaks? Also no, they don’t have the stealth capabilities to pull stuff like that off.

It’s just hard to think all of these documented and witnessed incidents were separate incidents. There haven’t been any known weird occurrences like this until Luna had the Black Stripes arrive, but the Black Stripes were all accounted for. Well, accounted for in the sense they’re not accounted for. They disappeared just as easily as they arrived.

This is also just speculation that is written in Sparkle’s notes after he and the agents came up with possibilities of what the situation was, all of which he was going to report to General August. It just seemed like so much happened and so much was learned off of only a little information.

Whatever the case was, shifting through more papers and documents at the supply depots wasn’t as fun now. Everything they were going through now had little connection to the assault of Chicoltgo or the 22nd. Maybe they shouldn’t have requested all of the documents pertaining to the situation and kept them all within one room. I’m sure they either broke a code of some form or were the reasons one would be created.

At this point, it was already past midday and there had barely been anything new the three learned about.

Because the intelligence that was useful was destroyed, they had resorted to looking through stockpile sheets and requests for equipment. It was an idea from Watermark to try and search for any specific requests made for more supplies for the arrival of the Black Stripes.

Their only leads with that ended quickly when it came from a commander of the 22nd, but they were also one of the ponies that complained about the Black Stripes after they were gone. Since there was still a possibility that they could be a double agent, their name was written down for the report.

“Captain,” Mythic looked up from their documents, “I know that this task was requested to be small and produce little noise, but at this current rate, even after your report turn in, if we continue to go over every document like this, we’ll be here for months,” Mythic raised up some sheets of paper and spread them out while pointing at the other piles they had, “Us three won’t cut it anymore if your commander wants this done quickly.”

Sparkle looked up from his own piles of documents and stared at the ones Mythic held up. Sparkle suppressed a sigh as he rubbed his head.

They had so much useless information to go through now that their main sources were gone. What they were doing now, truly was the whole needle in a haystack. There wasn’t time to get the accounts from more soldiers or the complaints the 22nd had, or wait for more letters to come out of the division, August was here today.

Sparkle shook his head as he finally sighed, “Alright, we’ll work for another hour, but after that, we’ll need to spend what remaining hours we have to formulate all thoughts and notes we have for the report. Detailed. Everything written down and copied,” Sparkle looked around the area for a typewriter or something that could make that task easier, “That way we can all carry it in the event SOMETHING does happens to them, or us. We still never ruled it out as being a targeted attack against us. If it’s the Black Stripes, that’s all the more reason to get it to the general, if it’s Changelings- Well, I guess that’s what the war is for.”

Watermark spoke up this time, “Sir,” He pointed at the clock that was nearby, “Don’t we need to prepare for the general arriving?”

Sparkle looked over at the mentioned clock, which made him release a relaxing sigh, “Oh, thank the gods.” Sparkle took a deep breath and stood up, stretching, before he looked at the two agents, “Never mind, you can go get food now. I’ll wait for you two to return before going myself. I don’t want any of these documents getting burnt. Once we all return, we’ll start finalizing our findings into a report. I won’t be there for her arrival anymore because of security changes.”

Mythic and Watermark were both quick to put their stuff down once Sparkle said that. Once they had left, Sparkle got back to work with his own documents, going over them one page at a time.

Of course, nothing showed up in what he went over, that was expected, but he was still working. Once it became around the time that the other two should return, Sparkle began working on his own notes, writing down what few new things there were, but also what he had discussed with the others. He wanted to make sure they had a good start to the report so they had as much information to turn in.

Once the agents returned, Sparkle took that opportunity to also get food. They hadn’t brought anything with them as it was normal to eat at the mess hall. Sparkle had been eating at his office the past few days, but since the incident last night, the base command was restricting officers from eating elsewhere, or at least taking mess hall plates and the like with them.

Because of that small restriction that was in place, Sparkle was quick to eat his food once he arrived at the mess hall. He didn’t waste time chatting with any of the other ponies.

As soon as Sparkle finished, he took off from the dining hall, back to the storage depot.

Though it was a nice break from the tedious work he had been through the past few days, Sparkle was already refreshed from lunch and ready to work on the report once he arrived back at the depot. He walked into the room he and the two agents were using and really brought the mood up as he sat back down and prepared to begin.

After a few grueling hours of combining everything the three had learned, writing everything out, typing it out again and copying it across multiple copies, they finished.

Once all written and confirmed facts were laid out first, they had then moved onto the less clear information, which was when their opinions and thoughts regarding the incidents came forth. When the half-known things were finished up with, they moved onto pure speculation and debated with each other what might be behind the incidents and what that might mean.

They used as much time as they could, until Sparkle’s meeting with the general came by.

With everything they had worked on for the past week, now written down and ready to go, all three went to go meet with the general.

“And we have copies for you as well. We can make more if need be, but all three of us currently have full copies of the whole thing,” Sparkle said as he stood before General August.

General August Fon Eisenstadt was sitting at a desk, within the command center of the base, which had been given to her to use for the visit.

She had been paying close attention to the entire report Captain Sparkle and the two SMILE agents presented. Due to their in-depth knowledge of the report, it was easy for them to speed through the entire thing while being clear. They basically know every point by memory.

One of the copies had been given to August at the start of the report, that way she could follow along better.

As the report came to an end, Sparkle stood there and waited for any question or response from August she might have, but August just took a quick skim through the report once they finished. Once August finished flipping through it, she closed it and leaned into her chair and sighed. She flipped the report over, making sure nothing was missed on the back of it, before turning it right side up.

“Captain Sparkle,” August said as she sat up in her chair, “I’m going to need you to come with me to Whinnyapolis for a meeting I’m having, and you two,” August looked between the three in the eyes, “I can’t disclose anything else about it,” August paused for a moment before looking at Sparkle, “Are all of the reports you have made regarding your investigation with you?”

“Yes Ma'am. All current copies are with us,” Sparkle answered. After answering, the two agents took out the reports and notes they had, indicating they did have them.

“Can you verify all the contents of a copy is correct for me?”

The request was odd, which prompted a look between the three.

“Just a single copy. How long will that take?”

Sparkle looked down at one of his copies, “Well, not that long, a few minutes?”

“Do that real fast.”

There was another moment of awkwardness between the three before Sparkle said, “Yes Ma’am,” He then started scanning over the document he held.

“Just one,” August repeated.

For the next few minutes, the three quickly scanned over a single copy, ensuring all the contents of it were indeed correct. August was silent the whole time as she looked over the copy that was before her while the other three quietly spoke to one another as they verified the contents.

After the contents were verified, Sparkle held up the copy they went over, “This one is correct.”

August shoved her own copy forward, indicating for the others to take it back, “Destroy the rest but that one.”

There was a moment of shock from the request, but Sparkle calmed himself, “Destroyed?”

“Magic, fire, chemicals. Whatever you deem necessary to destroy all documents but that verified one. In fact, we can go outside right now and you can do it for me. Can you?”

“Well-”

“You do have a working horn, correct Captain?”

“Right now?”

August stood up and walked around the table and stood with the three, “Captain, I’m going to make arrangements with your division commander to transfer you to the 5th Strategic Command.”

This also came as a shock to Sparkle as he securely held the verified report, “Excuse me?”

“The rest will be explained in Whinnyapolis. You will be under my direct command from here on out, but don’t worry, a promotion will come along with it,” August smiled as she told this to Sparkle, who was still in a bit of shock from the announcement, “Now let's get to it! We got some papers to burn!”

With that, the four went outside, along with some guards, and found a nice spot to burn away the extra copies of the report. Sparkle was able to do it with his magic, but August also had Mythic give it another blast of magic once the burned remains were mixed around, ensuring a thorough burn!

After that, August made sure that the three stuck together with the remaining report, guarding it, along with having some armed guards follow them as they went to gather their stuff. August had them go get what items they had to bring with them to Whinnyapolis since that was her next destination. Today.

Sparkle didn’t have much himself though, as he lost it when his building caught fire. It did make packing easier though.

Author's Note

This chapter kinda feels off / not my best?

It wasn't really even supposed to be a chapter but i started writing some stuff that was going to transition into the main stuff I had planned to write, but it turned more so into its own thing that didn't have a good vibe to transition from, so here's this unplanned chapter!

Also thank you M2 for the last line of the top quote.

Act 3 - The Secret Meeting

Should you listen closely,

You might hear something,

That could change your life.

It was like any other generals meeting, just minus the assistants, lower ranking officers, and everything else. Though I guess that makes it the truest ‘generals meeting’ there is if it’s only generals at it.

Besides Captain Sparkle and the two SMILE Agents.

The two agents sat at the table, silently, as they listened to Sparkle give the report to the group. He went slowly, making sure every part of the report was said clearly and out loud, which was similar to how he had done it for August back in Crystalville, only slower now. The other generals had to hear everything as clear as possible. That was by order from General August herself.

Besides General August, the other Generals were Sun Marble, Caltrop Decay, and Tempest Wind. They all sat at the table, listening to the report Sparkle was giving.

While there were a few other generals that couldn’t make the meeting due to various reasons, the biggest reason was it being on short notice, every General here was present when Luna announced she had a brigade that could come help the 22nd. This brings up another important thing. All of the generals here also had some form of concern regarding that decision. They had all been selected by August to attend the meeting if possible.

Sun Marble came because she was the general of the 22nd, along with her also having concerns regarding the Black Stripes after they left. Caltrop Decay had concerns regarding Luna being secretive about the brigade. Tempest Wind also had concerns regarding the secrecy, which she pointed out as being odd from Luna’s normal behavior. Tempest had spent most of her time during Luna’s reforms as one of her advisors.

August's concerns had only grown bigger once Sun Marble requested for the investigation. It was that request that prompted August to be the one who invited the other generals together for the meeting prior to Sparkle arriving.

While the two agents had the report just as much memorized as Sparkle did and had no reason to listen, they couldn’t slack while sitting there with Generals of the military, so they at least sat there with proper form, ready for anything that might happen, which would just be questions.

“-but with conclusion regarding the 22nd’s quartermaster, Captain Anker, there isn’t any evidence that points to her complaints or request for equipment for the arrival of the Black Stripes as suspicious. Because of this, we see no reason for an investigation into her for connection to the Brigade, as they were simply fulfilling their duty.”

Sparkle caught his breath for a moment before moving onto the final part of the report, which simply concluded the entire thing. Once Sparkle did that, he lowered the report down and placed it on the table so the generals could take a look at it if they so desired.

At this point, August let Sparkle sit, who promptly did so as the other generals looked at the report and began thinking about what it all meant.

“So, nothing,” Caltrop was the first to speak up after the report. She let out a sigh and went for a cigar, lighting it up as she didn’t have to entirely focus solely on Sparkle now. Caltrop took a single suck in and breathed it out before reaching for the report to flip through it.

Sun Marble slammed her hoof onto the table so everypony looked at her, “Why don’t we just ask Luna herself?”

“Just straight to the point?” August asked.

“Well, nopony pushed to ask at that meeting with Luna, but we can’t be having some secret brigade of hers going around burning our own bases down. If they’re attacking our own base, we have to put a stop to that instantly,” Sun Marble said.

“What about Chicoltgo? They were still helpful with taking the city from that report,” Tempest said, pointing at the report Caltrop had.

“I think there’s a connection. The number of complaints I received, and continued to receive after requesting for the investigation was high. It was nonstop,” Sun Marble said, “Those, paired with everything else the captain learned about, makes it look like they did everything. Here’s the thing we need to know, why did Luna keep this all away from us at this point. She never should have from the beginning either, but now that she’s revealed this brigade, what point does she have any more to keep it a secret.”

“What does she have to gain from having our own intelligence burned? It wasn’t just the investigation that was lost, but other intel. I don’t know what was lost, but any intelligence lost in sabotage like that is entirely deliberate. Unless security was slacking, there shouldn’t be infiltrations like that.” Caltrop said. She just finished giving the report a quick glance and shoving it to the center of the table for anypony else to take.

“It was right there in the report,” Sun Marble pointed at the report, “The red eyes, the journal, the ghost. That all pointed to it being an enemy of the Changelings. I don’t think Changelings are known for having red eyes. Just as the Captain said, all of this happened after the Black Stripes showed up. So, following the timeline of the red eyes and ghosts happening the same night the 22nd was alerted while in the trenches, what direction do the Black Stripes then leave? West to Whinnyapolis. The captain then comes in to investigate and a few days later, and when he’s west of Chicoltgo at Crystalville, he is ‘attacked’ by his own set of red eyes. You have to follow the timeline. Those Black Stripes have to be the ones behind it. They just weren’t all seen.”

“I agree with Sun on this, we should just ask Luna. She will tend to keep things to herself unless you ask about it. It was one of the few negative things about her during the reforms,” Tempest said.

“What if it wasn’t Luna or the Black Stripes?” August asked.

“Then she tells us,” Tempest said, “She’s not going to lie about it if we confront her. It wasn’t exactly a priority to talk about when she originally brought it up.”

“And if she does lie?” Sun Marble asked.

“I don’t see why she would lie. Luna, or any of the princesses, have no reason to lie like that,” Tempest said.

While August wanted to say something regarding the ‘princess’ comment, she kept it to herself. Obviously, Tempest wasn’t one of the selected generals to know about it, or the others it seemed.

“In the event that Luna does lie, or not tell us the full truth, then what? Are we supposed to just accept it? The report didn’t exactly get us much in terms of closure for this mystery,” Caltrop said.

“We will continue the investigation then. Do you think Luna will only bring that brigade up for a single assault? She will have them appear again, and I’m sure more incidents like these ones-” August pointed at the report, “-will appear again, but we should keep investigation a secret. The one we’ve already had done, along with anything else we need done. We should also push the investigation into the fire sabotage to further figure out what caused it and who caused it. That, and we should wait for the brigade to make an appearance again and then investigate them again. So, I believe that for now, we should keep this quiet from Luna until further notice.”

“Confronting Luna would get us answers sooner, which could help push the investigation into the sabotage and figuring out who did it. If it turns out it wasn’t the Changelings or Luna, then we need to start looking into other countries that might have something to gain for meddling with us,” Tempest said.

“So, if we have further evidence that it was Luna who burned down an intelligence building, what does that mean? As I had said, what do we gain from Luna destroying it? Once there’s evidence that Luna is going against us, that would plummet the entire country- Continent into Chaos. That’s only something Ni–” Caltrop was then cut off.

“Luna is not Nightmare Moon! There has been no evidence of such a thing. All Chiropterra cells have been fully dissolved, and all officers are screened for connection to Lunarists.

Besides small, insignificant circles of Nightmare followers that are Equestrian based, there is nothing currently pushing her in that direction,” Tempest had been quick and firm with saying all of that, “So don’t accuse Luna of doing something Nightmare Moon would. Luna has full loyalty to the country and anycreature that supports harmony and friendship.”

“That does not mean we should not prepare for a scenario where Luna abandons all of that, or become Nightmare Moon again. Since the beginning of the war- No, the first Changeling invasion of Canterlot, there has been a massive change in how everyone views the world. I would not put it against anycreature if something of this scale changed them in some way. We have already seen it throughout the world and within our own ranks. Ponies won’t be the same after the war, who says Luna won’t either?” Caltrop said.

Before the two generals started bickering between one another more than they were, August spoke up again, “And nothing says we can’t monitor the situation. Investigate what we can and act on what intel we learn. I don’t see Luna becoming our enemy, but we still need an answer of some form. That’s why Captain Sparkle is still present,” August motioned over at Sparkle, who had been quietly listening to everything, along with the SMILE agents.

Uh-oh, Sparkle though. Being at the center of attention of this many generals wasn’t something most officers, or enlisted, probably wanted to face.

“I want him to lead the investigation into the Black Stripes. He will be under my authority and will only report to me, but I will in turn bring every report up to all of you, and anything regarding the Black Stripes we need done will be something we- Well I- will tell him. The investigation for the current information was loosely kept small and flexible with what they could do, but because bringing attention to themselves and the investigation from the Black Stripes and Luna herself isn’t something we want, they would operate with stricter requirements. One thing we don’t want ourselves, is Luna finding out we’re probing into her and then making her worry about what we’re up to. For how much we want her to be innocent, we don’t want to make it an issue that makes our structure seem weak. That will drop morale across the fields and among the other officers. We can’t have the entire command structure not trusting one another. We won’t survive another year if we resort to how we were at the beginning of the war.”

“We have to have something about asking Luna, even if it’s just through simple conversation,” Tempest said.

“I can see why we shouldn’t ask Luna, but at least not aggressively. It should be- Natural. We can also get information from her if we wait for her to bring the Brigade out again and ask questions then. One time, maybe it’s something we didn’t know about, but a second time? Other generals will also ask questions eventually,” Sun Marble added in.

“Ok, so here’s my question; What if they never appear again? What then?” Tempest asked.

“Then the Captain here wastes his time searching for a ghost that doesn’t exist until finally, the war ends and all knowledge regarding the existence of them is lost to the piles of papers this war produces, until finally, they fade away from even the localized legends that existed of them,” August answered.

“So, I need to know, if you go through with having this investigation happen no matter what, what’s the name of it going to be?” Tempest asked.

There was a moment of silence as August thought it over, “Operation Black Squirrel,” There was then another bit of silence from August as she looked at the other generals, “Now, we all seem to be on the same page of wanting to do something, but if we want to continue discussing it, is anyone against such a plan? Regardless of what we do, we will be doing something. Whether it accomplishes anything or not is something we’ll find out.”

When none of the other generals disagreed with what August said, they all continued with the discussion.

The discussion didn’t last for long though, as each general still had more important matters to deal with.

Sparkle sat through the entire thing, listening to the generals speak. He was allowed to stay for the entire thing after his report on August’s orders, since he was the one August had planned to lead the investigation personally.

At the end of everything though, after Caltrop and Tempest left, Sun Marble was present for Sparkle’s promotion to Major, which was directly done by August. The two SMILE agents were also present for it, though that’s because they were also a part of the whole operation at this point. August would just have to do some more paperwork regarding their assignment, along with all the paperwork that would be required for Major Sparkle and his new position.

Once August finished with all the paperwork that day, it was official;

Operation Black Squirrel began.

Act 4 - Promotion

Above all else,

What kind of power should you have,

If you lost respect once,

But regained it later?

December 31st, 1013

Luna didn’t have any reason to visit Canterlot with her position, but she was now just arriving for the second time since the start of the war.

Celestia once again invited Luna out of the blue as she had done a few years ago, but this time it had actual purpose to it. Luna wasn’t sure what it was as her sister had been quiet about the topic, so Luna had theorized it was to help boost morale for the country for the new year. Having the two alicorn sisters stand side-by-side was a site to behold these days since the two never saw each other. There have been tons of photos of the two on their own since the beginning of the war, but they were always during speeches or meetings where reporters were allowed.

Thankfully nothing was scheduled for Luna on New Year's Eve, so she was able to make her way to Canterlot. She was coming in by plane this time. Since her last visit, security and technology had updated enough that it was safe for the alicorns to travel around that way. They weren’t in any danger east of the Twilight mountains as the frontlines were still between the two rivers, though not static. Across the few counter attacks Equestria was now able to pull off, the Changelings just advanced in other areas.

Advanced. It was still a slugfest of trenches and craters.

In the months since Chicoltgo was retaken, it had been attacked again and taken back, which unfortunately meant for those there, the 22nd Everfree, they had to fight over it again. Again, and again, and again. Because of that, the city had slowly crumbled to the ground, leaving nearly nothing left of its former self.

Bipen wasn’t present with Luna for the visit though. She had gone to the Bitterberry Royal Guard training facility for an urgent meeting of her own. She would be meeting back up with Luna in the following days.

Luna didn’t mind though, it meant the guards Bipen picked out for her replacement would be quiet. Bipen knew Luna a lot more than other guards, so she knew how to push Luna’s buttons without getting in trouble while new guards stood there silently, waiting to be called on by Luna, as any royal guard should. It was a nice change from the norm, especially since the visit to Canterlot was out of the norm as well.

Landing at the airport was nice and smooth, and not because Luna was a ruler of the country. Since her last visit, the planes that she was able to ride in had become newer models that were made, with newer technology, and better pilots.

The pilots that flew Luna around had become real accustomed to the precision they put themselves under for getting smooth landings. It wasn’t a requirement of Luna’s, they just wanted to give her the best experience possible. Luna was never aware of this, but one of the pilots ended up winning a local flying competition in one of the cities they had been stuck in for a few days when a meeting Luna had come in for lasted longer than expected.

The short drive from the airport to Canterlot Castle wasn’t long. It barely gave Luna any time to enter the dream realm and deal with some nightmares. Even though it was morning, there were still plenty of soldiers around the front lines who were sound asleep.

Once at the castle, Luna had to leave the dream realm and go through castle security. Security was still an ever-pain, but something Luna never complained about directly.

The purple inside of the castle was a nice touch from the boring colors she was constantly surrounded by. It was a lot better since the start of the war though, as meetings had finally picked up on having nice accessories, like plants and colors. A lot of the locations that were used for meetings were quickly chosen locations within military buildings or government buildings throughout the country, depending on who was at the meeting, and what kind of meeting it even was.

Any amount of ‘normal’ life one could get was worth its weight in crystals, so that’s why there had been some push to invest in such arrangements for meeting locations.

Another nice thing about Canterlot Castle, or the inside at least, was once you were past the security, it felt calm. Sure, some of the rooms at various times during a day or week became heated and full of stress, but just walking around the halls of the castle was calming. Luna had arrived a bit early, but she didn’t want to bother her sister yet as she was likely as busy as possible until their scheduled time. Just because they were sisters and both the rulers of the country, didn’t mean Luna wanted to interfere with her. Maybe this would be a good time to enjoy some of that tasty Canterlot Cake that was always served. With reduced sugar of course! Canterlot wasn’t free from rationing.

The royal guard that roamed the castle was also nice. Compared to elsewhere through the country, the royal guard still held some traditions. Since they were still guards of the castle they carried pistols now, but the big pikes they carried were what every creature looked at. It was an old tradition that started long before her banishment, but I guess back then it wasn’t tradition, but anything that lasts over a 1,000 years basically becomes tradition.

It was also a nice surprise to Luna when she saw one of the royal guards was a thestral. Last time she was here, none of the guards were thestrals, so that meant they were slowly trickling into the branches and systems after her reforms.

Luna’s thoughts about that were put to a halt when one of the royal guards popped by for her.

“Princess Luna, Princess Celestia is now ready for you.”

That gave Luna a small fright when the guard came out of nowhere. She had gotten lost in the enjoyment of the relaxing castle, though it was only now she realized she should’ve been in the dream realm while waiting. I guess even alicorns need a break from work sometimes.

It didn’t take long for Luna to get to Celestia, as she was in the throne room of the castle. When the guard and Luna arrived at the entrance, the guard bowed their head before leaving to tend to another task Celestia had asked of them.

There were two guards at the entrance of the throne room, neither unmoving as they stood still. Luna went past them into the throne room and let the door close behind her.

There, at the throne, was Princess Celestia, and with her was her nephew, Field Marshal Blueblood, or Prince Blueblood as everypony away from the front lines called him.

Luna had only seen Blueblood a few times since the start of the war, which was always a surprise when anypony learned that. Not only was it because Blueblood’s approach to commanding was entirely different than Luna’s, but the two dealt with different problems. Luna dealt with a lot of back line meetings and issues, while Blueblood almost entirely worked directly on the front lines, no matter how much Celestia insisted he didn’t have to, or shouldn’t.

Now, this situation was unique, seeing the two here in throne room of Canterlot, but what was more unique, which caught Luna’s eyes, was the amber colored mare also with them.

Isn’t that-?

“Princess Luna! Sister,” Celestia said with a loud, but warmly welcoming voice from the throne. Celestia then bowed towards Luna, and Luna did the same in return, “I’m glad you were able to make it today. We have a few things to go over, so please do make your way over!”

Without wasting time, Luna moved over to the throne so there wasn’t a shouting match between them to hear each other. While Luna moved over, she spoke up to return the greeting, “Princess Celestia! It is nice to visit the castle again. I was just taking my time to enjoy it before I was summoned.”

Now that Luna stood near the throne with her sister and the other two, they were able to speak like normal now.

“Does that mean the dream realm was calm while you waited?” Celestia asked.

Luna shook her head slowly, “I got absorbed by the beauty and calmness of the castle that I ended up forgetting. I was able to on the ride over though,” Luna gave a soft smile with her answer.

Right before Celestia spoke up, Luna spoke up again, “So-” Luna looked at Blueblood for a moment before she shifted her gaze to the amber mare. Luna couldn’t complete her sentence as Celestia broke in front of her.

“So, straight into?” Celestia laughed quietly after reading her sister. Celestia quickly lost the laugh and breathed deeply, “To get right into it,” Celestia motioned at the amber mare momentarily, “You might not know her entirely well, but this is Sunset Shimmer, my previous student before Twilight. She will be joining the ranks of you and Prince Blueblood as a field marshal.”

And as Luna looked over at Sunset, it became apparent that she did indeed wear an officer's uniform that bore the rank of field marshal on it. It was hard to see when Luna first entered, but it’s also not like Luna recognizes it by memory given only she herself and Blueblood bore the rank. Or did.

Sunset Shimmer stood proud in her uniform, which looked new as all could. Even Blueblood’s uniform looked brand new since his was also never worn given that he preferred the front lines. Only Luna’s uniform had the expected wear from being constantly used.

The only problem with their uniforms is that Blueblood bore many more medals and patches compared to Luna’s, who’s own uniform at least bore something compared to the bare nakedness of Sunset’s.

Upon hearing this announcement, Luna also stood upright to give Sunset a proper greeting as a fellow field marshal.

Beyond the simple greetings the three commanders had with one another, they didn’t say much else until they finished, and Luna looked back at Celestia.

“Sister, I have to ask now, but why wasn’t I informed about this?” While there was a small pause to let Celestia answer, Luna was quick to add something else, “Not that I am against it!”

Celestia slowly shook her head as she kept a giggle away, “It was originally her idea, but after she brought it to me, I decided to bring it up with you and Blueblood. At the time, I learned you were unavailable because you were helping with Chicoltgo, but Blueblood wasn’t. Thankfully around that time, the Changelings weren’t hurting too bad, so he was able to discuss it with me. We concluded that it would be best to have her join, so for the past few months she’s been getting the proper training. Today is Sunset’s first official day as field marshal. We will be announcing it tonight for New Years, which brings up the other reason.”

The entire time Celestia spoke, Sunset continued standing proud, with the biggest and most obvious suppressed smile on her face as she tried to hold to her training.

Blueblood didn’t hold an expression though, at least not one Luna was able to notice. The time he spent on the front lines likely made him dull to showing emotions or at least becoming a master at suppressing them. Luna wasn’t sure how good that was, but instantly, she was hopeful that Sunset could help alleviate some of the burden he likely faced. Then again, he actively chose to spend his time on the front lines, so not much might change anyways.

“We’re both going to do the New Years celebration together. We have missed the past two because of the war, but the morale of you being around will be overwhelming. Plus, we haven’t seen each other in some time. Even though we’re always busy, I still always enjoy the little time we’ve been able to spend together,” Celestia finished off her explanation with a soft smile.

It was a good thing Luna’s schedule was free this time around. Various problems came up around New Years Eve and New Years Day that prevented Luna from visiting Canterlot the previous two years. It was always a fun get-together party before the new problems of the new year crept up on them, but parties weren’t a priority for Luna anymore. Celestia on the other hoof, still did the same stuff, just on a tighter schedule now.

“Then we got lucky this time around. Even the Changelings seem to be against the war in some aspects. Did you hear about the Honeycomb ceasefire on Hearth's Warming Day?” Luna asked.

Celestia shook her head, but before she said anything, Blueblood spoke up, “There was a ceasefire between the trench lines. Ponies and Changelings both met in no creature land and celebrated the holiday with each other. While it was good for spirits, we limited the spread of the news, so the rest of our forces didn’t try and emulate it themselves. It is likely word of it hasn’t reached you yet.”

“It has not. A lot of the small ongoings of the war are things left to you three. Which reminds me,” Celestia looked at Luna, “Before the new year celebration tonight, I would like you to go discuss with Blueblood and Sunset here about what role you want her to pick up. I know it will take some time to formalize it, but having a start is better than nothing.”

“Oh, I actually have something I want to discuss with you myself. It’s just about some small problems that have happened that I think you should know about. It’s not that important but being here makes it convenient to just talk about,” Luna said.

Celestia shook her head again, “I’m afraid we won’t have any time during your visit for that. You’re going to talk with these two because I also have some governors coming in that I have to speak with, which will take up all the time I have until tonight. But even tonight, our time will be closely watched. For the entire party we’re going to be having our pictures taken. I’ll tell you details about that once the celebration starts, but we need to have a stockpile of photos of us together that we can use over the next year at least. Photos with both of us present is something that has been pressed on me to get done.”

“So, what about after the celebration then?” Luna asked.

“Even after the celebration I am pressed for time. I will have to leave by plane to Novochernushsk to meet with the city governor and Stalliongrad representatives. This is a big thing, but Sinister has agreed to begin talks about helping us fight the Changelings. They’re an unexpected ally, but after the Big Sister incident, all support from the other contents ceased to exist.”

When Celestia said all of that, both Blueblood and Luna looked surprised.

“Sinister? Sinister Serov?” Luna asked, “I thought they were putting out propaganda against us. They’re also allies with Nova Griffonia. If they have a change of heart and come help us, that would put us at the advantage against the Changelings!” Luna now had a bit of excitement as she spoke.

“It’s not confirmed yet, but that’s why I’m going to Novochernushsk. I will be doing everything possible to get them to side with us, or feel sympathetic to the war. Just make sure you keep quiet about this news,” Celestia then dipped her head, “Now Luna, Blueblood, and Sunset, if you don’t mind, I do have to stick to my schedule, even though it would be nice to enjoy some cake and tea together. We can save that for the celebration tonight. And Luna, after the new year, we can schedule to meet again for what you want to discuss, ok?”

Luna dipped her head in return to Celestia, “That’s ok with me sister. I look forward to tonight,” Luna then looked at the other two and smiled, “So shall we head off then? It will be nice to catch up with you Sunset.”

After that, the three went off elsewhere in the castle to figure out Sunset’s role and discuss the various many other topics that were needed now that a third field marshal had been selected for the Equestrian military.

Act 4 - Fly High Red Sky

"Everypony loves a good surprise party!"

-General Pinkamena Diane Pie,

Two days before the Changeling invasion in 1011.

January 1st, 1014

The countryside was a beautiful place compared to the gray concrete of the city.

Most of the land was dedicated to farming, from wheat to winter berries, along with the vast amounts of trees that grew in the area. It was also quiet and remote. The perfect place to take off in an experimental aircraft.

Marble Wings had been tasked with a specific job today as she and her crew went down the dirt path in their trucks. Marble was in the second truck of the three truck convoy, which towed the main chassis of the La-5-X14, which was an experimental La-5 designed with removable wings. The front truck towed the two wings and the rear truck towed the required amount of gasoline and ammunition for it. Between all three trucks, they had all the supplies and equipment to assemble a functional fighter.

Thankfully for Marble Wings, it wasn’t her job to assemble the aircraft, but to fly it. She was an exponential pilot that had earned her place within the ranks of top pilots on all of Equus, if not maybe the world. She was one of the best there was, and that’s why she was chosen for this special mission.

She and her crew were driving out to a field that had been flattened out by one of the nearby farmers after a handsome fee was paid to them. Sequentially, for no reason, a robbery happened a few days after the payment came in and the pony, along with their whole family, was killed. Their entire house was burned to the ground to remove all evidence by whatever perpetrator decided to do such an act. It just so happened that the local police department was busy and couldn’t investigate anything else currently whenever the locals reported it in. But oh, what’s that, there’s a harmonist loyalist hiding in your house? We’ll be right over.

Marble didn’t care about any of that, it wasn’t her place or concern. She just likes flying airplanes and being damn good at it. She also REALLY supported the communist party, so when the order came directly from Sinister Serov himself, she damn near ejected out of her fighter over the Kremlin's Palace to thank him personally.

So here she was, with her mechanic crew and some experimental engineers who were driving out to this flattened field in the middle of bum bun nowhere Loshadsk.

Once they got to the field, Marble was the first to get out of the truck and take a good look at the field while the rest of the crews began dismounting and getting the trailers unhitched and unloaded, so they could assemble the aircraft.

A grassy field extended in all directions, which looked near endless, with the only thing nearby being a forest and the burnt remains of a farmhouse. It looked like there was a barn outside and some farm equipment scattered near it. Marble didn’t care as her focus fixated on the make-shift runway.

While the grease hooves started bolting together her aircraft, she took a walk down the strip, looking at the condition it was in.

It had been about a week since it was made, but nothing about it looked out of place. Just some pieces of grass here and there on it, a loose bit of dirt at the sides and in some spots. And a coin?

Marble picked it up with her magic and inspected it.

It was a Equestrian Bit. What was it doing here? There hadn’t been Equestrian forces here in years, nor was it a circulated currency here.

On the front of it was the Sun Alicorn, and on the back was the Canterlot Castle. Marble flipped the coin back to the front and looked for the manufacture date. While the words that encircled the coin were in Equestrian, which she didn’t know, the numbers were. 989 ALB. Interesting. It was five years older than Marble.

After flipping the coin around a few more times to waste time, Marble flung it into the grassy fields on the sides of the dirt runway, that way it was out of the way, but when she did, a freezing gust of wind came by and carried it back onto the airstrip with her. Marble didn’t catch it as a shiver ran up and down her body from the wind.

The wind chill wasn’t making it worth it to be out here. Maybe it would be a good time to start a campfire to heat up the soup they brought.

Marble’s attention was drawn back to the coin after the sunlight glimmered off it, which made her pick the coin back up with her magic.

“You don’t want to be left behind, do you?”

Marble giggled before she pocketed the coin in her flight overalls, “I’ll take you back home.” There was a faint smile that grew on her face at the comment.

There were no concerns Marble had with the runway, so her walk down and back up it was quick.

Once she returned back to the ground crews, they were nearly done with one of the wings, which made her upset. Why couldn’t her crew always work this fast when tinkering with her planes normally. It wasn’t worth fretting over for long as another gust of wind nearly froze her. Soup time!

Because the ground crews were doing all the work on the plane, Marble tasked herself with making the soup. She got some twigs and branches, dug a small hole with a shovel, and then started up a fire with the help of her magic. Once the fire was burning nicely, she got out the pot the crew had brought along, the jugs of water, and ingredients before preparing it.

While she waited for the fire to heat up the potted water, she effortlessly cut vegetables and mixed it into the water, doing everything in one big motion. Her control of magic allowed her to mix, chop, lift, and move items around.

While most unicorns might struggle with it, she did it as second nature. Her control over magic was greater than others, from experience and training. The work brought the attention of some of the engineers, but they were kicked back to attention by their peers when their slack was noticed.

As everything came to a collective mixture of schlop in the pot, Marble began adding what few seasonings they had to it as it all began boiling together.

A little bit of salt. Mmmm.

A little bit of pepper. Mmmm.

A little bit of grease from her overalls. Mmm- Wait, oops.

Marble gave the engineers a quick glance and saw the mess of grease and oil they were dealing with while assembling the plane together. Since they lived in it, there shouldn’t be any harm in consuming a little. It didn’t matter to Marble anyways so she shrugged it off and continued, giving the soup a taste with a spoon.

A little… Normal? That was good enough, it wasn’t like the others were going to make it anyways.

While Marble waited for the soup to finish, she watched the crew put the rest of the plane together. Tools of all types were being used to assemble it, none of which Marble understood.

While Marble might be a pilot, she wasn’t an engineer or mechanic. She was just damn good at flying.

Hey! That’s the propeller! It looked a little funky though. It looked like it had an extra prope on it compared to the normal La-5 she normally flew. Ehh, it didn’t matter either.

Marble just enjoyed the sunlight as she sat there. She had gotten her own bowl of soup once it finished boiling and consumed it down so she could get a second. She removed a few of the burning logs underneath the pot to keep the soup from burning as hot, pushing the coals around to help further.

As each crew member’s job was finished with assembling the plane, they each came over to get their own bowl of soup.

“What’d you make it out of this time?” one of the engineers asked.

“Grease,” Marble answered with a cheerful grin.

“Ahh- Fantastic,” the pony said with a face of regret as he filled his bowl reluctantly.

“Don’t worry, it tastes fantastic!” Marble lied a little as it still tasted meh.

The pony shook his head and took the bowl of soup to one of the trucks to try it. There may have been a blob of grease floating on the top of his soup. Maybe not. Marble didn’t care.

As the hour passed, each crew member finished up a bowl of soup, some in view, some not, before they went back to working on the aircraft.

The plane had come together nicely. Everything on it was assembled at this point and the 20mm ammunition was being loaded into it as it was simultaneously being loaded up with fuel.

By now, the fire beneath the soup pot had burned out and just emitted heat from what coals remained. The chilly wind made what remained of the greasy soup all cold, so Marble decided to dump it after checking with the crew members if they wanted any the remainder. None of them did.

At this point, Marble got out the book she brought and started reading it as the final parts of the plane were finished up.

The book were stories of Prywhen soldiers from 1007 and the experiences they faced. While Prywhen had similar values as hers, it didn’t really pique her interest. It was a recommendation of one of her wingmares a few months ago. The stories from infantry perspectives were just boring though, she thought, so she closed the book and put it back into her bag in the truck.

It was around now that a radio message came in and one of the crew members informed Marble her plane was ready.

Upon hearing this, Marble took a deep breath and looked around the plat planes surrounding themselves and relaxed herself. It really was quite beautiful, and she made sure to soak it in as much as possible. She then exhaled and made her way to the truck with her gear and started putting it on.

After a few minutes of swiftful movements, her gear was on. Some of the experimental engineers watched in wonder as the gear was donned near instantly. They had never seen a pilot put equipment on that fast before.

Just as Marble finished, the sound of the La-5-X14 started up, the roar of its engine purring beautifully in the air. It was the most calming sound in the world, at least for Marble. The vibrations of the engine called for her, so she made her way over to it, just in time for the engineer who started it up to step out of the plane and make way for Marble.

Marble glided into the seat with ease. There were a lot of features and specifications that were different with the plane, but none that were noticeable within the cockpit. From the specifications sheet she was shown before coming out here, it looked like it was all stuff she could tell an instant difference with compared to her normal plane.

First, she had to do her pre-flight checks.

She had the list next to her, which she went down quickly. While she was one of the best pilots there was on the continent, that didn’t mean she skipped procedures, at least not the ones done during the startup. The engineers had to confirm themselves that that portion was good.

Each box was ticked off once it was confirmed it was good.

Fuel, oil, air, flaps, wings, weapons, power. All that fancy plane stuff. It was all good.

Once her pre-flight checks were done, she levitated the checklist to the engineer that stood just behind her wing, who then scurried away. Her flight today didn’t allow for any extra bits besides herself and her flight gear. Bits? Marble tapped the pocket where she left the Equestrian Bit and felt it was still there. Oh bummers, she had changed her mind and was going to leave it, but Marble shrugged it off and spun up her prop and taxied the plane to the start of the makeshift runway, which wasn’t that far given they built the plane right next to it.

In the time she angled her plane down the runway, which looked more like a dirt path from her perspective, the crew members and all their equipment moved out of the way, driving down the path they came from to give Marble some distance.

After talking on the radio with one of the crew members, she was given the go ahead for takeoff, so she increased her engine power and took off.

Even during takeoff, Marble felt the differences of the plane, well, after she was off the ground. The bumpy ground of the runway vibrated the plane too much for her to feel any differences then.

In the air, the plane felt responsive and fast. It felt like she had so much more control of the plane as she flew through the air, so after a single circle of the air strip to get comfortable with the controls, she headed south west and began climbing.

Her location of take off was precisely known, along with the time she did, both of which she communicated constantly over radio to somepony who helped direct her.

Currently, her destination was a river in Cloudy Hills, south of Novochernushsk, and she would have to fly for quite some time before she reached it.

The time passed quickly for Marble, as every second of the flight she was able to enjoy the skies above, flying through clouds, watching the ground pass by below. She occasionally saw the homes and villages of other ponies below, none of which likely saw her.

Marble’s La-5-X14 was painted with Equestrian RAF colors, but the only difference was on her wing. Instead of a big circle, it was a horseshoe and hammer.

Whenever Marble looked at the symbole, she smiled. It’s what allowed her to power through the sky without a care in the world.

Occasionally, she spoke on the radio, indicating her direction, speed, altitude, and time, which always resulted in a reply back with a change of course in some small direction.

After doing that for a few hours, the sun started reaching the horizon. It’s one of the things Marble always hated about winter, was the sun always setting early. Flying at night was never fun, and was one of the few things she was terrible at. Likely, she didn’t have to worry about that today.

Finally, the radio buzzed on in her headset, “Red One, Red One. Wing One is 10-minutes out. How copy?”

Marble clicked her mic on, “Red One, Red One, I copy you five-five.”

“Red One, start climbing to 3,800 meters bearing 2-4 degrees. How copy?”

“Red One, Red One, I copy you five-five,” Marble repeated exactly as before.

When no other order came over the radio, Marble carried out the instructions. She fixed her heading to 2-4 degrees and began climbing even higher. She currently sat at about 3,500 meters above sea level so she didn’t have that far to go before the target altitude.

After two minutes, the radio clicked back on, “Red One, Red One, report altitude, bearing, speed, and time.”

After keying her mic again, Marble answered back with what her gauges told her. After a bit of silence on the radio, the pony on the other end keyed back in.

“Red One, turn Bearing 8-5 degrees, maintain altitude and speed. Wing one should be in view now, please report back once visual is confirmed.”

With the new order, Marble turned her plane in the correct direction before she began scanning across the sky for Wing One.

During the entire flight, Marble never used her magic, which she finally let out with pure ease, forming it into a spell that helped her search for Wing One. She only had a few seconds to use the spell at full strength so she had made sure to check what areas she could without it first.

Almost immediately upon using her spell, she spotted Wing One. It was a transport plane flying below her that bore a massive sun symbol on the tail of it. It was impressive how she needed the magic spell to spot the plane once she saw the symbol due to it sticking out like a sore hoof.

The plane was going north, while she flew east.

Without thinking, Marble clicked her radio and spoke into it.

“This is Red One, Red one. I have confirmed visual on Wing One.”

After a few seconds, the radio clicked back, “Acknowledged Red One. You are clear to engage. I repeat, you are clear to engage. Glory to Stalliongrad!”

“Red One, Red One-” Marble choked on her words while speaking, which prompted her to declick her mic.

Just as she declicked it, her focus regained on her surroundings as the white fog of a cloud began slightly obscuring her vision to Wing One.

Ugh, why’d that have to happen now. She had kept her composure the entire flight. Days. WEEKS! She had known about this for some time now and it was now of all times her mind raced. She tried to shiver out the choke up before she clicked back on the mic, “Red One, Red One, I acknowledge you five-five. I repeat, I acknowledge you five-five. Glory to Stalliongrad!”

After letting go of the key, Marble swallowed again as she took a deep breath through her oxygen mask. For a moment, she closed her eyes and calmed herself. She let her thoughts race through her head and escape through her ears before she reopened her eyes and began looking through the clouds for the transport plane.

After a few seconds, her impeccable skills at spotting came in and helped her see the moving yellow splotch of the tail.

With a calm mind, Marble flipped a switch in her head.

Four spitfires.

Ok.

Dive.

Marble spun her plane around, nearly inverting as she pulled her plane sideways and pulled back on her stick, which sent her nose going upwards and to the left as she raced through the cloud into a dive.

Immediately as she began her dive towards Wing One, another spitfire came in from above the cloud she was in, diving down onto her with open guns. Her plane rattled in vibration as it was struck a few times in the volley of tracers.

OH FOR HAY BALES SAKE MARBLE, PAY ATTENTION! DON’T LET SOME DUMB HARMONIC CUCKFUCKERS GET THE JUMP ON YOU NOW!

Marble beat herself up for losing her concentration like that.

Marble didn’t hold back with maneuvering out of the volley after the few hits landed, which saved her as the rest of the tracers zipped past the tip of her left wing, followed by the spitfire they belonged to.

At this point, the transport plane began banking to the side as it started taking evasive maneuvers. Three of the spitfires that followed it broke off, each in their own direction as they turned to face Marble.

Marble had already picked up speed by this point after she had slammed forward the throttle for full power. While the spitfire that dove first would take a moment to get back, the first one from the transport was already blazing away at her with its guns.

Without losing her speed drastically, Marble flicked her stick and adjusted her throttle in one fell swoop and pushed on her pedals to aim her plane at the spitfire and unleash a short burst of 20mm at it.

With her accuracy the spitfire took every round directly, which resulted in it catching fire from the front as its engine blew, causing it to plummet towards the ground. Marble never saw if the pilot ejected or not.

Since the transport plane was her priority and maneuvering to shoot at the other two spitfires as they closed in would slow her down, she went back to full throttle and went for the transport.

Once Marble was in range of the transport, she unleashed her cannons on its left wing.

For the first two seconds of her burst, every round exploded in small flashes as they slammed into a magical shield that surrounded the plane, but as her 20mm’s kept impacting, the shield weakened quickly until it finally exploded into a fine mist.

With only another second, Marble ran her gun down the length of the plane, getting as many hits on the two engines this side had before she pulled hard on her stick and braced herself for the massive amount of G’s, which came just in time as the two other spitfires began spraying at her.

With perfect breaths, Marble was able to hold through the maneuver and stabilize momentarily as she looked around for the two spitfires. She found them, but there was still another second before they were a problem, so she looked to her right to see if the first spitfire was finally back on her.

Marble pulled on her stick immediately as she saw the incoming tracers from the first spitfire.

DAMNIT, YOU AREN’T MY PRIORITY RIGHT NOW!

Marble had to regain sight on the transport, and when she did, the last spitfire had finally made its move and was going right for her. It unleashed its own tracers on her plane, many of which ended up connecting with her.

The rattle as they littered her plane was loud, even over the sound of the engine, but that didn’t stop Marble from returning her own fire.

Both fighters landed hits on one another, but Marble seemed to fare just fine through it unlike the spitfire as it ended up spitting gas from its tanks as it blew past, but that didn’t stop Marble from ignoring her target.

With the transport in site again, she went for it, but not before the other two spitfires began unleashing hell on her.

It seemed as if every round they fired hit her plane, causing it to jolt and rattle. The sounds of the wind tearing away at her canopy as some of the bullets broke through it.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!

This was it. There was no turning back as Marble dove towards the transport. As she squeezed the gun's trigger, she thought it would snap off the flight stick with how much her adrenaline rushed through her body.

As her 20mm’s connected with the transport again, a new but stronger looking shield was absorbing the rounds. Her rounds were having no effect, no matter how many she sent into it, but at this point, with the two spitfires, no, three now, trying to take her down, it didn’t matter. Once she failed to take the plane down the first time around, there was no turning back.

Marble never felt this high before as her red blooded spirit coursed through her body in full strength, causing her to scream out in time for a stream of blood to trickle into one of her eyes from some unknown wound.

“FUCK YOU YOU FUCKING HARMONIC PIECES OF SHIT! THE RED ARMY IS GOING TO TURN YOUR STUPID PRINCESSES INTO FUCKING BREEDING SLAVES AS THEY STEAMROLL YOUR STUPID FRIENDSHIP!”

Marble shifted her stick, aiming her guns at the rear of the transport plane, sending her rounds directly in the shield, which still did nothing, but she no longer registered the spitfires behind her or the clouds above her, nor the ground below her, nor the plane she flew. Just herself in the open sky as she barreled towards the transport. The bullet holes in her canopy let the wind flow into her face, which allowed her to fully immerse in what it might be like to be a pegasus for one split moment.

Full. Ultimate. Freedom.

And Marble let her voice sing one last time to convey her feelings as loud as her little unicorn voice could.

“SO YOU KNOW WHAT?! FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK YOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUU-!”

For however strong an alicorn's shield might be, not even it could stop a 3.5 ton plane going nearly 350 mph from crashing through it and into the very plane it protected.

Act 4 - Glassware

“Chaos and War are two separate things.
One is full of entertainment while the other is just death.”

-Discord,

a week after the Changeling Invasion

January 1st, 1014

The sizzling of food is a unique sound.

When you're starving, it’s a welcomed sound that makes your mouth water as the aroma of the food wafs through the air, but when you’re full, it’s enough to make you throw up at the faintest sound.

For Watermark, it was a welcomed one.

The chef currently stood behind the grill as they waited for the eggs to finish cooking on one side of the grill while they worked on a pot of grits on the other. The chef looked like a tough son-of-a-bitch, especially given their size as an earth pony, so it had come as a surprise to Watermark when they answered with one of the softest voices possible.

It would be a moment before any of Watermark’s food was ready though, so he was busy sitting at the diner reading the back of a ketchup bottle.

Suddenly, the waitress came by with a mug and placed it onto the counter with a nice thud before sliding it towards Watermark. “Your coffee hun.”

Watermark brought the mug closer to himself as he gave thanks to the waitress, who then proceeded to go wait the two other ponies in the diner.

Because of the sugar rations, all coffee was currently served black, which wasn’t Watermark’s favorite. Thankfully, unbeknownst to him before coming to this diner, they served small cups of honey for anypony who ordered coffee.

Watermark had never tried honey as a sweetener with coffee before, so he poured it in with watchful eyes to see if it reacted weird. When nothing weird happened, he stirred the coffee until he no longer felt the clumps of it in the mug. Once mixed, Watermark took the mug of coffee and gave it a small blow before taking a sip.

“...oh…” Watermark mumbled a moment as he let the steam from the coffee rise over his nose, enjoying the scent of it before taking a few more sips to savor the taste.

After those first few sips, Watermark lowered the mug back down, which again hit the table with a heavy thud, before he moved the mug away, but still in reach. He wanted his area clear for when his food was ready.

While Watermark let his coffee naturally cool off, he let his eyes wander around the diner as he sat there waiting.

The chef was still busy with making the eggs and grits, which looked like they were close to being finished. The waitress was cleaning up the table the two other ponies had been at before she moved over to the checkout lane where the other two customers now waited.

One of them was a small colt that was nudging the bigger mare he stood with, while the mare seemed to more so ignore him.

“OOHHHH COME ON! Just let me get another waffle! Please! I promise I’ll be good tonight!” The colt was nearly hanging off the mare.

The bigger mare finally caved and gave attention to the smaller colt, “Mom will get mad at me if I let you have another waffle. You’ll be bouncing all around the house if you do, so please stop asking!”

The colt gave a whine as he continued to cling to the mare, “Just pay for it with your own money! She won’t know! I’ll go to sleep once we get home, I promise!”

The mare let out an annoyed sigh, “We’re already in line, and I won’t spend my own money on a waffle. You can break your piggy bank if you want an extra waffle next time.”

The colt again whined as he did everything possible to annoy the bigger mare.

The whole while, the waitress stood at the checkout with a big smile of patience. “Will that be everything tonight?”

The mare gave a nod, “Yes, that’s it, we won’t be getting anything else, trust me.” The mare gave a very worried look, along with a shake of her head to the waitress to not push it anymore.

“Ok! That was one waffle, two cups of coffee, an omelette and four slices of bread. Your total will be seven bits,” the waitress said with a nod of her head after reading off a sheet of paper.

The mare dug through a coin bag she carried and dished out exactly seven bits before placing them on the counter for the waitress.

After the waitress took the bits and counted them, she gave another big smile, “Thank you for visiting! We hope to see you again!”

The mare grunted her goodbye before she tugged the colt out of the diner, going out into the dark and heading off. As they left, the bell on the door rang a few times before it finally came to a stop.

It was currently dark, past the prime time for when things happened and when most shops and stores were open, but this diner still was, which was common, but that meant Watermark was the only customer inside, besides the waitress and chef.

They were currently just north of Las Pegasus along the highway next to a small town. After this town, there was next to nothing until Raspberry Grove, which had been taken over by the military, which was Watermark’s destination once he finished getting a quick night meal.

While Changeling bombing runs ran in the area, this small town had yet to be hit by anything major. There had only been a few bombs that dropped on the rail system then ran through the town, but those never resulted in anypony getting injured or killed. It was a surprisingly good source of money to go deal with for the locals though, who were constantly doing repairs on the rails in the area.

But right now, a steaming hot bowl of grits and a plate of eggs caught Watermark’s attention as they were brought over to him by the waitress, who placed them on the table. She slid the plates towards Watermark, just as she had with the coffee before giving him a smile, “Cheese grits and eggs hun. If you need anything else, just holler,” and without waiting for a response, the waitress left Watermark for his meal.

The food was brought in with thick plates, ones that could take a beating with being tossed around, though obviously not too much given they were still made of glass.

Watermark adjusted the two plates so they sat to his perfection before bringing the coffee in to join with them.

The bowl of grits had a nice layer of yellow and white cheese coating the top of it, which Watermark mixed with the grits with a spoon. As he dug the spoon in through the cheese and pushed it into the grits, a dense cloud of steam escaped from the opening, which felt near scolding for a moment. Watermark was then careful with mixing the grits together after being jumped by the trapped heat.

Once mixed, Watermark moved onto the eggs, which he sliced into small chunks. As he did, the yolk inside the egg spilled out and made a small pool. The pool’s depth increased as he cut into the second egg, which began soaking into the white parts.

Once the eggs were cut into slices, Watermark lifted the egg plate and slowly poured the pool of yolk into the grits until the plate was drained of the majority of the yolk.

While the yolk began seeping into the grits, Watermark took a quick bite of the egg whites before he took the spoon again and went back to mixing the grits together with the new addition.

A few moments of mixing later, the grits were done.

Watermark left the spoon in the grits and went for a sip of his coffee before he finally went for a bite of his obvious main meal.

One spoonful of cheesy egg grits later and Watermark was nearly melting into his seat from the flavor. After giving the bowl a few big blows, Watermark began shoving spoons of it into his mouth, taking the occasional sip of coffee while he basically ignored the egg whites.

While some might think Watermark’s choice of food is weird, the two diner employees didn’t seem to care at all, at least not at the moment. The chef was busy making two more eggs while the waitress was cleaning some dishes.

The peace of the night began to settle in as the three did their own thing until the bell from the door rang as a pony rushed inside screaming their head off.

“MEATCHOP! MEATCHOP! THE RADIO! TURN IT ON!”

With how loud and sudden the pony was, you might’ve had a heart attack if you weren’t prepared, which Watermark wasn’t. He had dropped a spoonful of grits back into its bowl.

While Watermark looked over at the new pony with a bit of annoyance, he was curious what they were yelling about. The new pony was entirely out of breath at this point, but he was busy trying to get any possible words out, “THE RADIO! ON! TURN IT ON!”

The chef left the grill and stood at the table bar, leaning over it to speak to the other pony, “Quickbuck, you need to go slow. What has you going on about the radio?”

“Turn it-” the pony took a very quick breath, “Dammit! TURN IT ON!”

The chef let out a grunt as he turned around to reach for the radio that sat on the counter near the grill, “Fine, fine, whatever you say.” As the chef turns the radio on, the static of the cosmos plays through the speaker, which prompts the chef to speak up. “What channel bud?”

“Any!” Quickbuck yells out as he leans against the counter, nearly trying to get over it.

“What has you in such a rush to get us on the radio anyways? You look tankered,” The chef says as he’s tuning through the channels while looking at Quickbuck.

“Celestia’s dead!”

…

There was no noise at this point besides the static of the radio, the sizzling of the eggs as they cooked on the grill and the breathing of Quickbuck as he panted away. Those were the only three noises that filled the diner at that point.

There were a few blinks between the three already inside as they processed what was just said, and Quickbuck dared not to interrupt any of them.

The chef was turning the radio’s dial ever so slowly while this went down that it finally came across an active channel, which made his ears perk up and break from his stillness to look at the radio.

“....Schhueiiildclesitaiathi…What…Ca…” click, “--Fancy Pants has issued a statement regarding the situation. He says that those among the upper class are willing to come together and bring forth an improvised government to fill the gap of Celestia’s wake. He hopes to bring his plans forth with Princess Luna as soon as possible in hopes that they can get a stable hoof in the castle.”

“While Princess Luna has yet to make any comments regarding Princess Celestia or Stalliongrad, we believe she is currently working to the best of her abilities to prepare something soon.”

“While the situation in Canterlot is currently in complete chaos, Princess Cadance has already issued a statement. Currently, we are waiting for a full transcript to be brought to us before we relay her exact words, but from what was heard, she is issuing orders to the Crystal Army to march east so they can try and stall the Red Army’s advance.”

“For everyone out west, north of the Twilight Valley, we implore you, on word from Field Marshal Blueblood, to evacuate east. Just ten minutes ago, at this time, a massive Changeling push began into the city of Marechester, Honeycomb Grove, and Oleander. It is believed that Changeling infiltrators snuck past our lines and are currently sabotaging all garrisons and military bases, so it is important that you avoid all military creatures and facilities at this time.”

“For everycreature to the far east, we implore you to head west, as Stalliongrad forces are expected to start pushing into Equestrian territory. Everycreature in the Novochernushsk region is urged to get to safety and avoid contact with any creature tied with communist affiliations. The current reports are that communist cells have popped up along our border with Stalliongrad and are currently fighting local militias for control of towns and cities.”

“At this point, our eastern forces are mobilizing and making their way to the east, to try and halt the advance of the Red Army. While we don’t know if they are our enemy at this point, we urge you to avoid any and all contact with those associated with Stalliongrad.”

“Now, I would like to bring every new pony tuning into 108.2 about the current situation that is going on.”

“At a time of around, 4:37pm Canterlot Central Time, south of Novochernushsk, near a city called Cumulus, the Alicorn One, which was carrying Celestia, was shot down by a Stalliongrad fighter pilot. The Royal Guard, who were escorting Alicorn One, engaged with the Stalliongrad fighter but were unable to stop it before it crashed head on into Alicorn One.”

“After ten minutes, ponies on the ground were able to make contact with the wreckage site, but they did not find Celestia alive. While we don’t have more details about the situation, they have confirmed that Celestia is dead.”

“Further, there has been no announcement or declaration of war from Stalliongrad at this time, but there are reports that Stalliongrad forces are mobilizing and moving west and south, into Equestrian and Crystal territory.”

At this point, with everything that was said on the radio, Watermark entirely tuned out.

Everything went mute.

No static, no sizzling, no nothing. Just mute.

Watermark lifted a hoof and looked at it as he failed to feel any senses in it.

Watermark then extended his wings lightly to feel if there was anything in them as well, but also failed to feel anything.

His eyes darted back down to his food before moving to the waitress and chef who both listened to the radio. They were both in states of shock as they stared at the radio.

The first sense that came back was Watermark’s smell, and all he smelt was burning eggs.

Watermark looked at the grill, where the eggs that the chef had been cooking, were now smoking intensely.

Just as Watermark noticed, so did the chef. The chef quickly moved to turn off the grill and stop the smoldering eggs, all while the waitress fell onto her rear and held hooves up to their mouth.

Right before Watermark regained all of his senses, the pony that had run into the diner quickly left once everypony inside learned of the news.

Watermark stood up and stepped away from the table as he went for the door.

A little bit of sense regained in the waitress as she watched Watermark begin to leave, who spoke up, “Your food!”

Watermark stopped in his tracks and looked at his plate of food and the waitress, who obviously still wanted some form of payment despite the shocking news. Watermark was quick to dig out his S.M.I.L.E badge and flash it to the waitress.

“Sorry, government business,” was all Watermark said before he put away the badge and left the dinner.

And after Watermark left, the waitress fell to the ground again and let out a scream of terror that was muffled by the sounds of the diner’s windows, all of which left Watermark’s view as he got into his car and sped away from the diner and back towards Las Pegasus.

Act 4 - The Red Declaration

Author's Note

blood/death warning

Act 4 - The Red Declaration

How often should you worry,

About the chaos that happens,

When you aren’t present?

January 2nd, 1014

“Comrades! Creatures! Mares and stallions! Colts and fillies! Ponies of our army and navy! I am addressing you, my friends! Today marks the start of a new beginning of our history!

Far too long has Equestria, Celestia and her ponies, basked in the wealth of their resources while we sat here struggling for years. They have kept to themselves, only aiding what they believe with their so-called magic of friendship while they ignored the ongoings and hardships of the world outside their realm. But after our revolt, our final attempt to finally bring attention to our problems, Celestia sent in the Royal Army to quell or voice through force.

But we did not give in. We held strong against such oppression and were able to come out as victores as we claimed our land and independence!

In the time since the revolution, we have prevailed on our own against all odds thrown at us. We have proven that even in this age, an age of change, that we can cement ourselves in the books of history alongside Celestia and the other prin–”

Just as Rapid sat down to listen to the speech replay on the radio, the power was went out.

The streets outside in Novochernushsk were in a frenzy as ponies ran about. They were all trying to figure out what to do after Stalliongrad had declared war on Equestria. Word was, the Stalliongrad army, known as the Red Army, was already marching their way south, directly for the city.

Rapid had just arrived back home that day after a trip to Krupochkin and he was met with the chaos that was outside. He had stopped to ask some ponies what was happening and that’s when he learned of the news, so at that point, he rushed back home to listen to the radio.

Concern quickly grew within Rapid once the power shut off, which made him rush for the window that faced the street outside to see if anything special had happened. For a moment, there didn’t seem to be anything happening outside other than ponies packing their belongings into vehicles as they prepared to leave the city, but just as Rapid moved away from the window, an explosion shook the building complex, which kicked up dust everywhere.

After collecting himself, it didn’t take Rapid long to figure out what just happened. Right behind the building complex he lived in, was a substation, which powered every building in the nearby area.

It didn’t take that long for everything to begin clicking in Rapid’s head about what was currently happening. Between the short amount of information in Sinister’s speech, the ponies he talked to, and the explosion just now, it was likely the work of a communist cell.

Once Rapid realized that, he made quick work for the safe in his closet, scrambling to it and fumbling around with the dial to open it up. Once open, Rapid found his trusty Lilia rifle sitting inside with a few boxes of ammo. Next to the safe, was a simple uniform of gray color, a blue scarf, and some ammo pouches.

Rapid quickly changed into the uniform, putting the scarf around his neck and putting the ammo pouches around his body. With all of that on, Rapid went back to the safe and began opening up the boxes of bullets, which he poured into the ammo pouches he now wore.

Just as he finished filling his pouches with bullets, another explosion rocked the building, which made Rapid stumble to the ground. After the shakes passed through the building, Rapid stood back up before going for the Lilia rifle.

The Lilia was an old, single shot bolt action style rifle that was used by the Equestrian military until 1007. It had since been replaced, but the military still had stockpiles of them. Under an initiative started by Luna at the beginning of The Great War, civilians could volunteer to join local militias run by local garrisons.

The program only allowed for a certain number of ponies and creatures depending on the location, but those who were in, were exempt from the military draft, but in turn, whoever joined was required to show up every two months for seven days of training. While anyone who joined was exempt from the normal draft, the expectation was you would take up the call to hooves in the event that the local garrison was overwhelmed. Because of this, everyone who was in, was given a personal rifle to keep at home, which they could also keep if they served in the militia for two years.

Rapid was one of those ponies who joined, but he had only been in the program for a year, not that matter now, so he had realized that with everything going on, it was very likely that the Novochernushsk garrison would need help.

With his equipment now, Rapid gathered a few more items, some water and a small snack, before he ran out of the building into the street. Looking around, it didn’t seem the other ponies who were still about after the explosions. Since Rapid didn’t want to linger in the area, he quickly set about going down the street towards the garrison’s location once he remembered his training.

As Rapid went towards the garrison, right before he left the view of his building complex, he looked at it from the distance he was at now and saw the cloud of smoke and dust that was floating in the air from the two explosions that happened behind the building. Even when he was inside his home, it was clear from the amount of smoke that lifted from behind the building that the bombs had been big.

Rapid was only able to make it a few blocks away from his building before he was stopped by a pony. “Hey! They’re gathering at the Speaker’s Building!” the pony was pointing down a road in the opposite direction that Rapid ran.

The pony didn’t give any other description or explanation as to what they were talking about. “What? Where? Who’s gathering where?” Rapid asked.

The pony again pointed down the same street, “The socialists! I saw them armed with rifles!” And again, the pony didn’t say anything else, as if expecting Rapid to do something about it.

It was still a concerning thing to be told though, but since Rapid was trying to get to the garrison, he just shook his head, “Sorry.” Before the other pony could say anything else, Rapid quickly left. The look of concern on the pony’s face was alarming given Rapid basically ignored what they had said.

After ten minutes of quick trotting, Rapid neared the garrison, but before he reached it, he saw some other ponies wearing the same uniform as him, with the same blue scarfs and rifles standing together at the corner of a road. While he was focused on getting to the garrison, the group of ponies caught his attention so he went up to them.

As he approached, one of them began waving with a hoof for Rapid to join them once they saw he also wore the same uniform.

“RAPID! Quick!” the pony yelled once Rapid approached closer. A few of the ponies in the group were now huddled against the corner of a building wall with their own Lilia rifles at the ready once Rapid joined the group.

The pony that had yelled out was Keyboard, another pony in the militia that Rapid knew. “Key-” Rapid had to catch his breath after having trotted for so long, “What’s going on?”

“Those communist cells we’ve always heard about are out of control. Since Celestia’s death, they’ve been springing up everywhere across the city. They already took the garrison building,” Keyboard replied.

“Wait, wait. Celestia’s death? What do you mean Celestia’s death?!” the amount of concern that quickly grew on Rapid’s face at the statement wasn’t healthy.

Keyboard was trying to move Rapid to the corner of the building wall as the two spoke, “Shot down. She was on her way here and some red pilot shot her down. It happened yesterday evening.”

“You mean to tell me that Stalliongrad killed Celestia?!” Rapid again asked with concern.

“Did you not hear the news!?” Keyboard asked with a tone of anger and confusion.

“I just got back to the city! I was about to listen to the radio broadcast when some bombs destroyed the substation behind my house!”

Keyboard began looking into the nearby window they were near, trying to see if the lights were on inside, which they were, “Wait, what? Bombs?”

A few of the other militia ponies looked over at Rapid at the news of the bombs, “I think some of those communist blew it up. It shook my entire building. Did you not hear it?”

“No, we’ve been here for the past 30 minutes holding this spot. We encountered some of those communists down the street and got into a gunfight with them,” Keyboard said as he motioned to the corner of the wall, “Look.”

“Fuck, what!” Rapid moved to the corner of the wall, where he took a peek around the corner with one of the other ponies who peaked with him.

Down the street, there was a pony laying in the middle of the road, unmoving, with a pool of blood surrounding them and a gun next to them. Before Rapid could look anymore, he was dragged back behind cover by Keyboard. The other pony that had been sticking their head out also got back into cover.

“Yeah, we’ve been holding here while Staff Sergeant Clip figured out where the other teams are. While we were, some of the communists that came from the garrison began shooting at us, but we killed that one and they scattered. It’s been quiet since. Clip was supposed to be back by now, or anypony, but they haven’t, so we were about to head out for the library on 7th Av.” Keyboard gave one of the ponies nearby a nudge, “Woodstove here said it was a discussed rally point at the last training for group H.”

Rapid looked down the streets they were currently on, looking at the road names, “7th Av, isn’t that halfway across the city from here?”

One of the ponies smacked their lips and yelled out, “They’re back!”

Everypony looked at the pony that yelled that, it was the one that stuck their head out with Rapid, and saw him reading his rifle.

Quickly, everypony got their own rifles at the ready and began taking up stances around the corner. Rapid did so as well, but he had to open the bolt on his rifle and load in a single shell into it before closing it. That was one of the bad things about the Lilia rifle, you weren’t supposed to walk around with it chambered, but it could only hold a single bullet.

“HEY FUCK OFF! WE DON’T WANT TO FIGHT YOU DAMMIT! JUST GO HOME!” the pony on the corner yelled out as he peeked around the corner with his rifle.

“Dammit, get your ass back here, they aren’t going to listen to us,” and just as Woodstove said that, the crack of a bullet whizzed past the corner, which made the pony on the corner jump for cover momentarily before they went back around it, aimed, and fired a shot.

“SHIT!” Keyboard yelled out, “Return fire!” he yelled out as he rushed for the corner to fire his own shot.

And just like that, a gunfight broke out.

Crack after crack broke through the air as bullets whizzed down the street, and the gunfire of their own guns filled the air. Rapid had yet to fire yet down the road, but an opportunity finally showed itself as Keyboard pointed across the street to the other building corner. “RAPID! Follow me!”

And without much else to it, Rapid found himself running across the street with Keyboard to the other side, with a few bullets bouncing off the street as they crossed. They had done it without suppressive fire or coordinating with the other ponies, but they were able to cross unharmed. With the free space they had, they were both able to take to the corner and fire back.

Rapid was able to look around the corner finally as he turned around to shoot. In the two seconds he had, he was able to see that there were a few ponies down the road that were aiming back at him, so with the first one he was able to line up his sights on, he fired and quickly got back around the corner.

Quickly, Rapid opened the bolt, let the empty casing fly out, and loaded a new one into the rifle before he aimed back around the corner to fire yet again. When he aimed again, he noticed that there was a new body on the ground among the ponies down the road, which he aimed at and shot. He had done that, even though whoever it was wasn’t a threat, because a bullet whizzed past his head as he had taken aim and panicked.

“FWUAHH!”

While Rapid was reloading his rifle, he looked up to see what that noise was and saw one of the ponies on the other side of the road squirming around for a second before collapsing to the ground. It was the one that had peaked in the corner with him.

“Get back over here Key! We need to get into a building! We-” Woodstove was yelling out to Rapid and Keyboard, but the whizz of a bullet interrupted them just as Woodstove was hit.

There was a moment of looking across the street as the two waited to hear what Woodstove had to say, but he began collapsing to the ground as well, but not before a few more bullets whizzed about. It didn’t make sense as to how Woodstove got hit since he was behind the corner, out of view from the ponies down the street, but Rapid quickly figured it out as he looked around and saw some more ponies down the street they were hiding on.

“Key. Key! KEY!” Rapid quickly shouted out as he aimed his rifle at the few blobs of ponies that were taking aim at them.

Keyboard looked behind and saw the new group of ponies that had appeared and ran around the corner they hid behind as a few more bullets shot at them, but because of Keyboard’s small mistake, a volley of bullets came at him from the original group of communists. None of them hit as he again ran back around the corner to Rapid, “GET INSIDE! INSIDE!”

A small amount of panic began building up inside Rapid as Keyboard shouted that. All of the militia ponies began rushing into the buildings they were near so they could get out of view of the new group of communists that were firing on them.

The other ponies across the street were able to drag Woodstove into the building with them, but left the one Rapid didn’t know.

Once Rapid and Keyboard were inside the building, Keyboard let out a defeated voice, “Rapid… Fuck.”

Trying to recollect after the ambush, Rapid looked at Keyboard with concern, “Should we sprint over to them?”

“No, look,” Keyboard pointed at one of Rapid’s legs, “You’re bleeding.”

Rapid blinked before he looked down at where Keyboard motioned and was surprised to see the blood that coated his uniform. With a simple breath, Rapid’s adrenalina waned from his mind and the pain began to creep up on him, which caused him to twitch his injured leg, which spread into a loss of balance that made Rapid fall to the ground.

A crack snapped by and the glass window on the building they entered shattered into many pieces as a bullet hit inside, which caused Rapid to regain focus on what was happening and not his injury, it also caught Keyboard’s attention as well.

“FUCK!” Keyboard took a quick peek outside and snapped off a round down the street before hopping back inside and reloading his rifle. “Are you able to run still? We’ll get to the others.”

Rapid took a few shaky breaths before he inhaled and pushed through the pain that crept into his leg as he pushed himself. Taking a few steady breaths, he clenched his own rifle and nodded, “Let’s make it quick.”

“Ok, ok,” Keyboard swallowed and readied his rifle, “On go from three, two, one. GO!” and with that, Keyboard was the first out of the door as he ran towards the other side of the street, with Rapid behind him.

Keyboard didn’t make it into the street before he fell to the ground after being shot, but Rapid didn’t stop for him, he just kept on going as he muttered, “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” on repeat the entire time. By the time Rapid made it to the other building, he was going through heavy breathing as he barged into, greeted by the guns of the other militia ponies.

After a tense half second, they all realized it was Rapid and they relaxed.

“Where’s Keyboard!?” one of the ponies asked.

Rapid had thrown his rifle to the ground as he carefully brought himself to the ground to try and tend to his wound, all while answering the other, “Outside! We ran from across the street and he got hit instantly.”

The pony tsked before they made their way to the door of the building, “Let me see.” Just as they took a peek, trying to see where Keyboard was, they were shot, which caused them to convulse and fall backwards into the building, “GHEHAHHAHHH!”

Just as this all happened, Rapid saw the condition of the other pony here. Woodstove was laying next to a wall, barely moving his mouth in an attempt to say something while he bled out. Nopony was tending to him.

At this point, the pony that had peaked around the corner was scrambling with their hooves to try and press against their wound, but it proved fruitless as the stream of blood flowed from their neck. It was clear that the wound they had received was bad, so Rapid quickly moved to them to try and help out until his leg gave out.

There were only two more ponies who weren’t injured, and they quickly moved to help. One went for the one who peaked out, and one came to Rapid to help him. Neither looked like they were doing well with the situation. The one that was helping Rapid was shaking to heavens high, but they were able to manage through it.

As their injuries were tended to, a few gunshots rang outside that brought up the fear factor among everyone inside.

Over the next minute, things seemed to calm down, especially as the pony who was shot in the neck came quiet and quickly began dying silently due to their injury being out of the scope of help. Rapid looked with fear over at Woodstove who also now appeared to be dead themselves, before he brought his gaze down to his own leg that was currently bleeding. While it wasn’t as bad of an injury, it still brought on concern.

“Page. There’s an alleyway right across from us. We might be able to escape if we go now.”

Rapid blinked.

“Escape?” the pony helping Rapid turned around and looked out the window towards the alleyway that had been mentioned. There was a moment of thought before they turned back to Rapid and looked at his leg. “Get up.”

“I can’t,” Rapid answered with a shaky voice.

“HURRY UP PAGE! THEY’LL COME IN ANY MOMENT!”

Page looked at the other pony and just answered with a simple reply, “Ok.” There was nothing else they said as they stood up and gave Rapid a quick look before going to the last pony. The other unknown pony didn’t even acknowledge Rapid as they simply booked it out of the building towards the alleyway with Page.

There were a few rounds that fired off at them, but neither of them were struck and they were able to make it to the alleyway and escape. Just like that.

Rapid grabbed his gun and held it tight as he began backing up, pushing himself away from the front of the building, away from the two dead ponies that had pools of blood around them, to try and get somewhere safe.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck,” Rapid muttered on repeat with each breath he took as he struggled to move. He began choking up on his words as he exerted more effort in moving, which transitioned into tears as pain began engulfing his body.

Just as he managed to get a good distance into the building, a few rounds littered through the front of the building, which made Rapid duck his head down for cover behind his body. He laid as still as possible for a few seconds until he heard the sounds of hooves, which made him turn around and face the front of the building with his rifle raised up and aimed.

Rapid took a deep breath and held it, doing so to calm himself down and to suppress the pain. It proved its use as a pony barged into the building and he fired at it. He missed, and before he could even touch the bolt on the gun, the pony fired back, along with the others that had piled in behind. They didn’t miss.

Rapid dropped his rifle instantly as pain shot through his body as a bullet hit his chest, which caused him to winge in pain and curl up. Another round was fired, which filled the room with excessive noise, but also hit Rapid. At this point, he was moaning in pain, nearly crying.

The ponies that entered shot a few more times, but none of them were aimed at Rapid.

There was a moment of silence now, the only noise coming from Rapid, until the sounds of one of the ponies was heard walking over. They stopped just before Rapid and they knelt down to him and spoke in a thick Stallion accent, “Glory to the cause comrade.”

The entire time, Rapid hadn’t looked at who it was due to how much pain he was in, but he did hear the other stand back up and move away. There were some murmurs from the new ponies that had entered the room, but they went silent as a bolt was heard being racked.

Rapid gasped in some air to suppress the pain and before he realized it, he had been shot in the head.

Act 4 - Reunification

Once you become desperate,

All questions are out.

So once they are,

What should you ask?

January 4th, 1014

With however ordinary life with the war had become, it did not prepare anypony for the death of Celestia and what ramifications that might bring to not just Equestria, but the whole world.

By now, word had spread to all corners of Equestria, controlled or not, and every country around. No creature was left in the blind with the news. Creatures down in the far south of Zebrica to even the Knights of Arcturian and their wall all knew about Celestia and her demise. Nothing stopped word of it from spreading.

While most countries and their leaders sent their regards, there were others that didn’t. The Changeling Hegemony spewed radio broadcasts and newspapers into the void about how alicorns were no longer rulers of the new world and were to be removed from it, bastardizing and doing all they could to influence creatures' thoughts. Then there was the Griffonia Empire, who cared not about the ongoings of Equestria and the alicorns since they believed in their own gods. The Riverlands sent their condolences, but that was all they could do. Surprisingly, Grenclyph, a small changeling hive that controlled an island to the east of the Riverlands, had spoken out against the Chrysalis and Sinister regarding their involvement with the death of Celestia.

There was no help coming to Equestria though and Luna knew this. They were now locked into a war between two countries on two fronts, coming from both sides of the continent, and it was Luna’s responsibility to manage it and Equestria now that her sister was gone.

Luna obviously knew that there was no point in trying to manage both, so she was quick to drop her position as Field Marshal to pick up the void that Celestia left her. Prince Blueblood had already gone back west, while Sunset Shimmer was quick to go east to manage the now new eastern front, but before both left, Luna announced she would be promoting General Pinkie Pie to Field Marshal. Luna left the discussion to Prince Blueblood and the other western Generals to figure out what Pinkie’s new role would be.

Despite all of the new duties that Luna had taken up over the past two days, there was one thing that was imperatively important that she got done. Celestia’s funeral. A small one.

It had been two full days since Celestia’s death, but there were only a few select ponies allowed to attend the procession that was being held in Canterlot. Only two photographers were allowed in and two cameras to capture the event.

Twilight and Rarity were able to make it since they weren’t held down by any obligations. Pinkie Pie was dealing with her new promotion and the western front, so was Applejack. Rainbow Dash was shot down behind enemy lines a week ago (for the seventh time) and had a Wonderbolts team going out to rescue her, while Fluttershy had her plate filled with managing important business and Discord.

Princess Cadance had also come down to Canterlot for a quick in-pony visit after Celestia’s death and happened to somehow have time to stay until the funeral. Ponse, the president of Puerto Caballo, also came to visit. He happened to be in Canterlot for a meeting with Equestrian military officers until the fifth. Bipen was also there, as she made quick work of getting back to Luna upon hearing about Celestia’s death and has sworn to never leave her side from this point forward. The other few attendees were important figures or friends to Celestia and Equestria.

The funeral was being held in the throne room of the Canterlot Castle, and a closed coffin casket was laid out just a bit after the stairs that lead up to the throne. There were two Royal Sun Guards standing on either side of the casket. Along the walls of the room, both Sun and Moon guards alternated apart from one another at each pillar. At the entrance to the throne room, were two Royal Sun Guards that stood on both sides of the door, which was currently kept open.

Outside of some flowers that had been laid out on Celestia’s throne and the casket, there wasn’t anything else out of the ordinary within the throne room. It was kept simple and straight to the point on Luna’s order.

Luna herself stood at the top of the stairs, beside the casket while looking down at the small crowd of ponies that gathered in the hall. At the moment, everypony was observing a moment of silence for Celestia. Most of the crowd held their heads down low while the guards stood as stoic as always. What no pony knew was that a few of them were on the verge of tears. No pony would blame them if they did, they were royal guards after all and had sworn loyalty to their respective princesses.

After five full minutes of silence, Luna broke it.

“I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t ready to lead a country a few years ago, before the Changelings invaded. I wasn’t in a position to help my sister in all of the work she put into the country. I was still adjusting to the new world after a thousand years of change, but the final major thing I needed to adjust to was war.”

“I became a field marshal to learn how that aspect of life was. In the process of it, I learned a lot and began fitting into the role perfectly, but now that Celestia is gone, I have to take up her position and ensure we continue to push onwards, I won’t be a perfect replacement and I will do many things differently than her, but the stability of Equestria takes priority. It will take me some time until I catch up on everything my sister managed, but please don’t let that misplace your trust in me. I will do everything in my power to protect everypony and everycreature that wishes to live in Equestria; Everycreature that wishes to live free from Changeling rule.”

Luna took a moment to catch her breath and let her small speech linger in the air for the crowd to absorb. After it was soaked up, Luna spoke back up, “But I don’t want to take from her anymore today than I have so far. If anypony wants to come up and say their goodbyes,” Luna looked at the closed casket with a saddened expression, the casket was empty besides a crown that lay inside, “Then this will be the time.”

Luna kept her gaze on the casket for a few moments before she looked back at the crowd. Luna dipped her head with closed eyes before she moved to the side.

No pony moved, and Luna took note of their expressions which made her swallow. Luna sat to the side of the casket for just a second longer until she forced herself to stand up and walk to the front of the casket and face away from the crowd, towards the casket.

Luna lowered her head and pressed it against the top of the casket and whispered to it. It was unknown what Luna said, but she held herself against the casket for a good minute before she finally stepped away from it and moved to the side.

Without a word from the crowd, Ponse was the first to come forward and walk up the stairs to the casket. No pony else followed.

Ponse stopped before the casket and dipped his head, “Thank you for taking me in.” Ponse then raised his head, took a deep breath and spun around before making his way back to the crowd.

Once Ponse returned to his spot, another pony followed suit and went up to the casket and said something to it before returning. Again, no pony else joined them.

This went on for quite some time as pony after pony took their turn going up to the casket to say something before returning. Some cried as they walked back, others looked defeated, some chose not to go up at all.

Finally there was a lull in ponies who chose to go up, but before it lingered for long, Cadance took the opportunity to go up.

There, a second alicorn stood before the casket, looking down at it. Luna noticed that Cadance had next to no expression on her face as she stared at the box. The only expression she seemed to show was tiredness, which she had been showing the entire time she had been in Canterlot. She had dark, deep bags under her eyes and a mane that looked like it could use a real royal upkeep. Her movements looked like they had no energy to them but like they needed more than normal effort to exert. Just looking at her, it seemed like the aura around her was dull and bleak. She did not look like she was in good shape.

Luna knew about Cadance’s condition, along with many others. The war had taken a toll on her the hardest of all the alicorns, even before Celestia was killed, but it was the first time Luna had seen her since she got like this. It was sad to see her in this state and situation. It was sad to see anypony here. This shouldn’t have happened in the first place.

Cadance didn’t seem to acknowledge Luna’s presence as she stood up there at the casket. She lifted a hoof and placed it on top of the casket and dragged it along its edge. After tracing a section of the edge, Cadance removed her hoof and placed it back down before she turned around and went back to her spot in the crowd.

There was another moment where no pony stepped forward and it seemed like there wouldn’t be anypony else until Rarity took up the courage to go forward.

Rarity wasn’t wearing anything fancy for the funeral, or well, anything. She didn’t find it appropriate to pick out anything special so she chose nothing, just as most other ponies had chosen, but that did not mean she didn’t have something. Rarity had her composure together a lot better than Cadance and some others. While she was at the casket, she floated a small piece of jewelry to the top of the casket. It was a sun shaped gem. One of simple design that she had made herself.

Rarity then got close to the casket and whispered quietly to it, “Oh darling, what you have given for us all.” After letting the moment settle, Rarity stepped away and went back to her spot in the crowd.

At this point, everypony within the crowd who had wanted to go up to the casket, had done so, except Twilight. She was the last pony who still had the opportunity, and all she did was stand next to Rarity in silence. That didn’t last long as Rarity gave Twilight a small little nudge, which caused Twilight to take a single step forward.

For how subtle the nudge was, it was enough to bring the eyes of other ponies within the crowd. Luna looked down at Twilight with sadden eyes of her own while Cadance couldn’t muster the strength. Twilight noticed the lack of eyes from Cadance, which caused her to back up into her spot next to Rarity.

“Twilight, this is your only opportunity. Please don’t miss it,” Rarity had leaned into Twilight’s ear and whispered to her before giving her yet again, another small nudge.

There was a very quiet whimper from Twilight as she went one hoof forward again. She was putting some effort into keeping her emotions down until she took her own step forward and began to cry.

At this point, no pony else looked at Twilight as she took slow steps down the hall and towards the stairs. Every step that brought her closer to the casket, brought a few more tears until she finally stood before the casket, just as every other pony before her. Suddenly, Twilight found herself frozen as she stared down at the casket, unable to move as uncontrollable crying began pouring out from her.

The crying went on for a few seconds, which was enough to make Luna step forward towards Twilight and wrap her wing around Twilight in a hug. Luna didn’t say anything as she embraced Twilight in her grievance, simply letting the young alicorn cry out her heart. This went on for a few minutes, which everypony saw, but none were bothered by.

Eventually Twilight finished crying and was able to go back to her spot in the crowd, at which, Luna became the only pony besides the guards that stood up top.

Luna went back to her spot and stood next to the casket for a moment as she let anypony else from the crowd have any final opportunity to come up, which none took. Luna quietly made her way back to the casket and stood in front of it one last time as she stared down at it.

“Goodbye,” Luna said. Without anything else, Luna turned around and walked down the stairs and between the ponies in the crowd, through the center of the hall, towards the doors and left.

There was a moment of stillness between everypony that had been left behind, but it was quickly broken as some ponies also began taking their leave. One-by-one, each and every pony that had come for the funeral left, doing so in quietness without saying anything else to Celestia or each other.

Despite the emotions that Twilight had, she also was able to leave in silence with Rarity after they had chosen to stick around until everypony else had gone, but Cadance. Even though it had been a long time since Twilight saw Cadance, she did not take the opportunity to speak with her. At the end, it was just Cadance and the guards who were left in the throne room.

Even as the moments passed, the guards didn’t budge and stood where they were, but even Cadance finally took the opportunity to leave as well. With slow movements of exertion, she made her way out of the throne room.

And with that, the funeral of Celestia was held and over with. It was nothing spectacular or grand as one might think, but there were more pressing matters to deal with as it was and a dead alicorn couldn’t get in the way of things, and it didn’t get in the way of Luna as she waited for Cadance just outside the throne room.