Black Powder

The Evening After****Day

-487

****Hornsburg

****

Twilight Sparkle stared into the campfire, the flames licking the evening air. Orange glows of light were cast onto her face as tears slowly went down her cheeks. Her uniform was a raggedy mess, her bicorne hat lying at a slant on her head. Her pink-highlighted purple mane was unkempt, appearing as though one of Pinkie Pie's balloons had been rubbing on it.

The atmosphere of the camp was dour. Essences of gloom and despair were shadowing the entire encampment. Many ponies were still exhausted, shocked, or wounded from what had happened today. Groans and sniffles resonated throughout the tents, mixing with the crackling of fires, sizzling of pots, and low whispering among some of the ponies. There was even some open sobbing from a mare a few tents down.

This was the camp of the shattered 20th Manehattan Regiment of Unicorn Hoof.

Staring into the fire, scenes from earlier today played out in front of Twilight, haunting her with gruesome images of her dead comrades. She could still hear the cannon fire, the menacing crack of a musket volley, and the chilling thud of another lifeless body hitting the ground.

It tore at her inner soul. It broke her heart. She wanted to run into a random tent alone and cry herself to sleep.

"What was I thinking!? This job is too hard! Why did I think I could do this?!"

"Lieutenant."

Twilight looked up and saw a blue unicorn with an interesting mustache looking back down at her. He had a neutral expression on his face.

Twilight was moving her hoof to her brow before Colonel Chamber Lane waved her off.

"Don't bother with the formalities. I just want to talk," he spoke softly.

He took a seat right next her by the fire, his sword and its sheath clattering against the ground.

"You did well today, you kept a cool head. A fine job," he praised.

Twilight sighed.

"No I didn't. I ran and cried like everypony else. I'm not brave or tough. I wasn't made for this," she looked to him with teary eyes.

He shook his head.

"On the contrary, you were very brave and I am proud of you. Masterstroke made a good choice in an apprentice," he spoke with a chipper tone.

He levitated a bottle of whiskey towards him and used his magic to pop it open. He took a couple of sips and offered the bottle to Twilight.

She shook her head.

"You know, he probably only sent you with the infantry to gain a perspective."

Twilight rose an eyebrow.

"A perspective?"

Chamber Lane nodded before he took another swig.

"You see, I too, was one of his students. About a couple decades ago, haha. Damn smart Masterstroke is. Him and Stone Leaf. Probably two of the best unicorn generals ever to graduate from the Academy."

The older blue unicorn stallion took yet another gulp of the alcoholic beverage.

"What does any of this have to do with perspective?" Twilight asked, now curious.

"I know how Masterstroke is. You may or may not be aware of it, but all of this is him training you. He is grooming you to be a general."

Twilight fumed immediately upon hearing this.

"What kind of training is this!? This is insanity! How is this going to help me become a general? If he is putting so much hope into me, why does he think its okay to put me at risk? I felt bullets fly by me today."

Twilight's rage made her stomp her hooves into the grass, tears running down her face. After a minute of her rampage, her exhaustion reclaimed her and she calmed back down.

"I know you're troubled. So am I. Today was awful, I think we can both attest to that," the older colonel spoke calmly.

She was sniffling, her eyes cast at the ground, still red with tears. She turned back to him.

"You still didn't answer my question," she said between sniffles, her voice much softer this time.

Chamber Lane nodded and proceeded to drain the last of the bottle in several large gulps. He tossed the bottle away and turned back to her.

"Perspective. He probably wanted you to feel what a grunt feels. Wanted you to train ponies personally, and feel what they felt in combat. To understand them."

Twilight's eyes widened with understanding as she turned her gaze from the fire back to him.

"I think I've got it."

"Do you?"

"Of course. He wanted me to learn how hard it is for the infantry so that when I became a commander, I wouldn't abuse them or treat them like disposable toys. He wanted me to understand their pain, so that when the time came to make decisions, I would consider the soldier's plight as well. To make me more conscious about the effects of my orders," she answered, becoming more ecstatic after every sentence.

Chamber Lane smiled warmly at the younger mare.

"Very good, Lieutenant! You see, you are pretty smart. It's no wonder Masterstroke took such an interest in you."

"He wanted to make me more responsible with handling an army...he really was training me."

"He didn't want you to become Crimson Fields," the colonel quipped.

"Haha...yeah," Twilight agreed.

She trailed off, looking up at the stars. The evening sky was beginning to drift from a dark orange to an even darker black and the moon was beginning to show.

Minutes passed.

The two ponies just sat beside each other quietly next to the fire, observing the soon to be moonlight sky above.

"Now that you understand, I think, with a little experience under your hooves, you'll be a fine general one day. Maybe even as good as Masterstroke," Chamber Lane finished.

Twilight smiled at him, dry tears staining her face.

"Thank you."

"Huh?"

"Thank you for helping me understand, colonel. Without you, I would still be an emotional wreck."

Twilight giggled and wiped her eyes free of fresh liquid.

Chamber Lane stood up on all fours and prepared to walk away. Before he took a step, he looked over his shoulder at her.

"You're a strong mare, Lieutenant Sparkle. A lot stronger than you realize."

With that, he trotted away. As his form disappeared into the tent, Twilight gazed back up at the night taking over the sky.

She eyes popped open.

"I almost forgot!"

Then, with great urgency, she galloped away.

****

"I am so glad y'all are alright!"

Three very uncomfortable fillies were trapped in a death hug courtesy of Applejack. All three of the filly friends squirmed and grimaced in uneasiness.

"What's the big idea, Sis?" Applebloom complained.

"Yeah, we're not even related to you!" Scootaloo added.

Applejack chuckled.

"I was worried about y'all. It feels like a burden just got lifted now that I know you're safe," she explained as she gave her little sister a noogie.

Applejack cuddled and hugged the three annoyed fillies as Big Mac entered the tent. The Crusaders broke away from Applejack and ran out of the tent to get dinner, leaving the two older Apples alone.

The younger farmer gazed up at her big brother with a smile. She was glad that everypony had survived the ordeal.

Big Mac trotted up to her slowly.

"So...word is 'round the camp that the others are mighty proud of ya," Big Mac's deep voice pierced the silence that had taken over since the Crusaders left.

Applejack showed no visible reaction.

"Are they now?" was all she replied.

"Yeah. Apparently, when the rest of the regiment saw you holdin' the line while most of everypony else broke...they said it was inspirin'."

"But you held the line too! And so did a few others. How come y'all didn't get any recognition?" Applejack frowned, uncomfortable with the special attention her peers were giving her.

"Don't you worry about us...Stonewall Applejack."

Big Mac smirked as he spoke.

Her eyes grew wide in shock.

"They gave me a nickname?" she cried in disbelief.

He chuckled softly.

"Ya better believe it, Sis!"

Applejack cringed.

"Well, golly. I'm not sure I feel too good 'bout this..."

Big Mac smiled at his little sister.

"Don't you worry none, its not that big of a deal. It'll probably blow over in a week. You know how these ponies are."

Applejack rubbed her head with a hoof, she was still reeling from this news.

Big Mac frowned.

"Say, didn't you say you had to be somewhere tonight?" he asked.

Applejack's green eyes nearly popped out of her head.

"Aw, darn it! You're right! I won't be long now!" Applejack called out as she dashed out of the tent at full tilt.

Big Mac just sighed with calm, stoic smile as he watched her gallop away into the evening sky.

"She's been acting a lot on emotion lately, which ain't like her. I hope she keeps the sense that ma and pa taught her. She's a passionate one alright."

"Eeyup," he concluded out loud to himself.

****

Rainbow Dash was lying on her back on a cloud, staring up at the fading light from the evening sky. Her rifle was resting on her chest as her saber was dangling over the side of the cloud from her belt. Snafu was sitting with his back against a smaller cloud next to her, chewing on a toothpick. Around them, the other Dragoons were resting on various clouds, trying to recover from the events of earlier today.

She could already count the stars that were slowly showing up in the night sky. She remember all of those quiet nights in Ponyville when she would do this all the time. The young lieutenant had a feeling that she would be missing those days real bad sooner or later. Hopefully, this war would be short. But if it wasn't, she would tough it out.

For everypony.

"Ya know, 'bout Crimson Fields...I like his style," Snafu spoke suddenly, staring out across the landscape of Equestria.

Rainbow Dash turned across her body to look  back at her fellow lieutenant. She was now leaning over her cloud, facing the cloud below her that Snafu was on.

"Why?"

Snafu chuckled shortly and spit out his toothpick.

"Cause he don't give a shit. He ain't no fancy Star-Swirled the Bearded. He's straight up: 'Imma come right up to ya and pop ya in the damn mouth.' I like that. He doesn't fuck around."

Rainbow Dash groaned and covered her face with her hooves.

"Could you...I don't know, cool it with the cussing?" she complained.

He gave her an arrogant smirk as he slid a fresh toothpick in his mouth.

"You better toughen up if ya wanna fight in Crimson Field's army, Filly. Cause it ain't gonna get any easier," Snafu said through his teeth as he bit into the toothpick.

"So that's how you plan to survive this war? Hardass your way through it?" she retorted, sneering at him.

"Ain't nopony's gonna make it out of this war, Dashie. Might as well enjoy yourself before ya cough up the ghost," he snickered.

"I told you before that only my friends can call me that. But maybe you're just too much of a fucking featherbrain to understand something like that. Is it too complicated for you?" she snapped back at him.

His attitude was already getting on her nerves, just another reason why she wanted to end this war quickly. The less of Snafu that Rainbow had to deal with, the better.

Snafu laughed.

"Oh tha irony. Ya tell me not to cuss but it's okay for you to run your mouth? I do admire your snippy attitude, though. Since you don't like it when I call ya 'Dashie', I'll just call ya 'Snips' from now on. How does that sound, Baby Cakes?"

Rainbow Dash groaned once again as she rolled her eyes at yet another nickname he used for her.

"Just how many names are you going to give me?"

She rolled back into her cloud, turning her back to him. At least she would be able to leave soon. It was almost time to see them after all.

"Just one now, Snips," the brown pegasus taunted.

****

Crimson Fields once again stood alone in the command tent with Commander Burntail. They were both looking over a final field reports that had come in.

"Judging from everything we've been told, we have suffered around 8,700 dead, 11,000 wounded or missing, and about 500 deserters. Nearly one-fifth of our force. We originally deployed 100,000 Equestrian troops to the field," Commander Burntail recited from the reports.

Crimson Fields scratched his beard with a hoof as he used his magic to levitate a written document, studying it closely.

"Replenishment rates will replace those losses in a month. What about the enemy? I know that we have the Karalians in an awkward stance thanks to my victory, but what of the rebel army? How much damage did I do to the traitors?" the general asked.

Burntail sighed as he glazed his eyes over a second report.

"From what we can tell, the enemy deployed about 77,000 troops to the field, a vast majority of that being militia. The rebel casualty rates stand at about...9,150 dead, 12,750 wounded or missing, unknown amount of deserters, and we have captured over sixty guns, and we only took about 400 prisoners. These are only estimates though. The only numbers that have been confirmed are the prisoners and the guns."

Crimson Fields glared at the younger pony once the results he had heard registered in his mind. He pounded his hoof on the table in anger.

"That's it!? They escaped that well intact!?"

His outburst resonated throughout the tent.

Commander Burntail was positive that some of the ponies outside had definitely heard it.

"We were supposed to crush them! But not to worry, that tick Stone Leaf can't run forever!" he decreed, his face flushed red with anger.

Commander Burntail shrunk back from the general in response.

"We must give chase immediately!" Crimson Fields declared.

"B-But sir! We are still recovering from today's engagement and our ponies are exhausted. We need at least a couple days before we are ready to have another battle of that scale. Besides, Stone Leaf has probably already slipped away by now," Burntail explained.

General Crimson Fields sighed heavily in discomfort. He pounded his hoof on the table once more. After a few seconds, he started to slow down his breathing.

He turned to Commander Burntail.

"Line up all of the prisoners," he spoke in a normal-speaking tone.

Burntail rose an eyebrow, completely mystified.

"W-What?"

Crimson nearly cut him off.

"I want you to put firing squads together..." Crimson finished.

Burntail stopped and stared, mouth agape at the general, unsure of what he had just heard.

"Sir?" he squeaked out.

Crimson Fields was abrupt.

"Kill them all. That's what we must do! Show Red Mane and the world what happens when they try to stand against me," he stated resolutely.

"But sir! We can't jus-"

Crimson Fields grabbed the young commander by the collar.

"Tomorrow morning, you will give the order to line them up? Do you understand? Or are you going to need a new job?" General Fields threatened.

Burntail's eyes grew wide in shock and horror.

This stallion was a madpony!

****

Rainbow Dash flew through the cloudy camp in the sky that the 10th Dragoons had set up for the night. Makeshift buildings were constructed out of cloud, giving the cavalry pegasi some shelter. She weaved her way through her fellow Dragoons as she moved to her destination.

"Sixty-one, sixty-two, sixty-three..."

Rainbow Dash rolled past a stallion and had to dodge a lance that she had almost run into. The lancer holding it uttered a quick apology as she zipped by.

"Sixty-seven, sixty-eight, sixty-nine..."

Rainbow Dash stopped.

"Who's doing that counting?"

Rainbow Dash looked over her shoulder and saw a Dragoon mare sitting by herself on a cloud. This mare had a yellow coat and an aqua-colored mane. Rainbow thought she had recognized her for a second but then shrugged it off. The mare was staring blankly out in front of her and slowly reciting numbers. The young lieutenant rose her eyes at this, it was very strange behavior for a pony.

She glided down onto the cloud, causing it to make the sound of a pillow being fluffed as her hooves touched. She trotted up behind the mysterious mare. As she got closer, she could recognize the raindrops that the mare had for a cutie mark.

Rainbow then realized that she knew this pony. She couldn't place the name, but she had noticed this pony before.

"Seventy-four, seventy-five, seventy-six..." the mare droned on robotically, her wide open eyes showing absolutely no emotion as she stared into the abyss.

Rainbow trotted up to the mare and put a hoof on her shoulder.

No reaction.

"Eighty-one, eighty-two..."

She rose an eyebrow, mystified. What was this pony doing? What is she counting?

"Stars? There's nothing else to look at here," Rainbow Dash reasoned as she gazed across the night sky.

She felt vibrations coming from her hoof. She looked down and realized that the mare's body had been shaking this entire time.

The odd behavior now had Dash confused. She shook the pony with her hoof.

"Hey. Hey," she repeated rattling her fellow Dragoon over and over again.

The yellow pegasus finally broke her concentration and slowly turned to acknowledge Dash. She still had the blank stare in her eyes, which were bloodshot, as Rainbow could see from close up. Frankly, this sight sort of freaked her out.

"Hey, Dragoon...what are you doing out here by yourself?" Rainbow asked with concerned tone.

The pony stared at her blankly and continued to count as if Rainbow Dash wasn't there.

"Eighty-eight, eighty-nine..."

Now Rainbow was officially creeped out. She shook the mare even harder, trying to snap the other Dragoon out of her trance.

"I'm an officer! I asked you a question, Dragoon! Respond!" Rainbow demanded as she continued to shake her.

The mare looked up at her and smiled at Rainbow Dash.

This was good. She was finally getting a response out of this strange pony...but something about that smile just didn't seem right to her. The Dragoon officer stopped shaking her and frowned at the mare.

"What are you doing out here, Dragoon? Away from the others?" Rainbow asked once more.

The mare just continued to beam at her, even being bold enough to stroke Rainbow's snout with a hoof. She opened her mouth slowly, as if she was struggled with what to say.

"I was counting dead ponies, ma'am," she spoke softly with a quiver in her voice.

The mare maintained her smile, still stroking Rainbow Dash's face softly.

Silence.

Rainbow Dash stared at the mare, unable to comprehend what she had just said. Her mouth was agape, trying to form a response that her reeling mind couldn't produce. She was just struck, not exactly knowing what to do. How was she supposed to act after hearing something like that?

The mare dropped her smile and turned back where she was facing before, locked in her trance once more.

"Ninety, ninety-one, ninety-two..."

Dumbfounded, she no other answer than to fly away immediately. She took off into the night sky, leaving behind the lone Dragoon.

****

"Girls!" Twilight shrieked in joy as all three friends tackle-hugged each other in the middle of an open field.

They embraced each other tightly and passionately as they all teared up in each other's forelegs. Rainbow Dash sniffled as she rested her cheek on Twilight's shoulder, while the unicorn was content with just crying softly and pelting both of them with kisses. Applejack did her best to nuzzle and cuddle both of them, her heart bursting with happiness.

"I'm so glad both of you are okay," Applejack said, gripping both of them even tighter.

Normally, Rainbow Dash would complain but at this moment, she could care less.

"All of us survived...thank Celestia," Rainbow sighed in relief, looking up at the stars above.

Twilight was now sobbing in Applejack's shoulder. She hiccuped as she cried, Applejack shushing her and Rainbow squeezing them even closer.

"To-day was awful! Just AWFUL!" Twilight declared between sobs.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash both looked at their friend with solemn, sympathetic glances. They felt the same exact way. They held each other for a while in silence, giving them time to collect themselves. After a few minutes, Applejack broke away from both of them with a huge grin on her face.

"What is it?" Rainbow asked in curiosity.

"I have letter from Rarity. I didn't open it yet because I thought it would be best if we all read it together," Applejack revealed, holding up a parchment proudly.

"Well, enough stalling! Let's see what it says!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

Applejack opened up the parchment and held it up so that they could all read together while the farmer-turned-Grenadier provided narration.

"It says: Hello my dear friends, I hope that this letter finds you well. Everything is practically the same here in Ponyville, despite the war. Aside from a number of ponies missing, of course. I happy to report that Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie have recovered marvelously, and were even well enough to be discharged from the hospital today. They are currently under my care at the Boutique, where I have taken it upon myself to nurse them back to health."

Rainbow Dash beamed at the news.

"This is awesome! They're okay! Aw, man. That is the best news I've gotten all day!" the pegasus squealed, her demeanor becoming ecstatic.

Twilight nodded in agreement.

"Does it say anything else? I can't see very well from this angle," she asked Applejack.

"Yeah. It goes on, see?" Applejack ran her hoof down the writing to the bottom of the page.

"It also says: Twilight, if you would please respond to us so that we know that all of you are unscathed, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are always asking about you three. And Twilight, Spike misses you so much, the poor little thing. Right now, he's helping me tend to the girls in the other room. I love you all very much...Rarity," Applejack finished.

Twilight smiled.

Everypony was alive and well.

There was a chance that they might all make it out of this yet.

The three soldier mares stood in that open field together converse for a few minutes. They joked, laughed, and talked out what they were going to do when they got home.

"Hey, I heard a lot about you, Stonewall Applejack. What's that about? You must have done something pretty cool to get nickname like that," Rainbow Dash brought up as she punched the apple mare's shoulder.

Applejack blushed in response, still not comfortable with her new namesake that Luna's 4th Grenadiers had given her.

"I don't if I rightly deserve that name. I was just doin' what I was supposed to," she tried to brush off as the farm pony's face grew redder.

"Well I think its great, Applejack. You should be proud," Twilight praised.

For the rest of the night, they stayed together in that field away from the army camps. They talked, hugged, and even slept side by side.

Together.

As friends.