//------------------------------//
// Foreign Losses 
// Story: The Red Sun Rises: Siege of Manehattan 
// by The Atlantean 
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	A few days later, Crimson Dawn looked over the casualties list once again. He had to be prepared to give Luna a report when she arrived in less than an hour to see the battle for herself.
Just her being within a five miles of Manehattan was asking for trouble. The Crystal Empire would attack in full force in an attempt to capture Luna, and were quite likely to succeed, given the circumstances. Crimson’s army was down to two-thirds strength, nopony joined up in the past week, and supplies had reached critically low levels. He already started considering the possibility of blowing the other bridges, but decided against it. If he knocked them out and lasted long enough for reinforcements to arrive, they’d have to land on the mainland instead of where he needed them- on his island.
“Sir, Princess Luna’s scout has arrived. She requests to speak with you ASAP.” Midnight Shadow knocked on the door.
“Tell her to wait in the map room. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Yes, sir.” The Captain walked to the front entrance to admit Luna’s scout into the building. She had a deep blue coat and a sparkling mane. Her robe concealed everything but her head, which was covered by a hood. As she walked in, her hooves sounded like she had some kind of metal on, and Midnight could’ve sworn that she looked suspiciously like the Princess of the Night. The mare was certainly the right height, with the same slender build, and that sense of authority.
“So, is this where I wait for your commander?” she asked. That voice matched Luna’s perfectly.
“Yes, ma’am. Col. Dawn should come in a few minutes.”
Crimson walked into the map room, still adjusting the repeater with his wing. He looked over the mare and raised an eyebrow. Then came the question.
“Are you the scout, or Princess Luna in disguise?”
She sighed. “Yes.”
“And exactly which part of the question does that answer, may I ask?” He cocked his head to the side to get a slightly different angle on the mare before him.
“Well, I was hoping it wasn’t noticeable,” she replied. “I guess that means I need to work on it.” The hood and robe were magically removed to reveal Princess Luna beneath. “By saying my arrival was at a later time, I was hoping to keep the commotion down.”
“Honestly, Princess, it would’ve caused less if you hadn’t announced your trip.” Crimson smiled. It was a playful, teasing smile, completely unlike the soldier she knew him to be. He saluted before continuing. “Our forces are down to two-thirds of our original strength, and I may have to start issuing a draft. Supplies are at critical levels. If we keep up the amount used per engagement, we’re out by noon tomorrow. The makeshift workshops just simply can’t keep up.”
“I heard you disregarded the standard rules of Equestrian warfare. We don’t destroy major pathways.”
“No disrespect, Princess, but maybe that’s one of the reasons why you were losing before I got here. In Atlantis, if you can’t use it, don’t let the enemy use it against you. Yes, it obliterated the economy and made travel a hell of a lot more difficult, but it slowed the Dominion down enough to allow my regiment to build defenses. Without that strategy, I would not be standing here, and Manehattan would’ve already been lost. The Crystal-Equestrian war would’ve ended already with both you and Celestia in chains. All hope for ponykind would most likely have been lost.”
Luna took a minute to digest what he said. Running the scenario in her head, she realized it was Celestia’s recurring nightmare. Equestria lost, the one she cared for most suffering torture, and the Elements of Harmony gone forever. Crimson was right; this was the only way to win.
The princess nodded, and said, “Your argument has a certain logic behind it. If we can stall them, we have a better chance against them. I guess that sometimes we need to make exceptions to the rules. Not every fight will be fair, so we must take it down so that it is fair. I understand your position, Colonel, and I am willing to allow you to turn any bridge you need into rubble, on the condition that it is the last option. Everything else must be tried first.”
“Ma’am, it is my duty to follow your orders. May Harmony-” He was cut off by a shriek from a voice he knew all too well.
“Father, help! Dad!”
“Andromeda! Sweetie, where are you?”
“I can’t hold this together much longer. Dad, they’re here. Soldiers. And they’re looking for me.” A shimmering image of the young alicorn materialized. “They’ve killed Icecaps and Moonstone, and-” she shivered with fear- “I don’t know where to go. Father, I’m scared.”
He reached out to her image with his hoof. She held it for a minute, tears streaming down her face. “I don’t want this to be the last time I see you.”
“Andromeda, I need you to listen very carefully. If you do it right, you can get to the family’s raid hideout. Stay there until the soldiers are gone. There’s food and provisions to last you a good long time.” Crimson held his gaze into her eyes.
Suddenly, Andromeda’s image blurred and ended as an arrow whizzed by, skimming her muzzle. She quickly moved to face her attacker, but turned around to run almost instantly. All the time, she kept the spell going.
The alicorn galloped to the hideout, followed by the soldiers. They were much bigger and faster than her, but she had basic flight on her side. She hovered about a half-meter off the ground, and was able to increase her speed significantly. Her zigzag path prevented them from shooting her, but was still grazed every now and then.
Andromeda reached the hideout- and it was surrounded by her enemies. So she then changed course to the weapons locker. Doing the same motions as before, she wasn’t hit as much as she could’ve been. Eventually, her wings gave out and she dropped to the ground- into the waiting net snare. It snatched her up, and the soldiers caught her.
“Put a horn lock on her.” one ordered. It was, and the spell fizzled out.
Crimson was heartbroken. It was more obvious than a bomb going off less than two feet away.
Luna could see his torn emotions and knew she could not help him. She did not have the parent-child loyalty he did. Instead, Luna tried to make sense of the situation. An alicorn had just been taken prisoner by an unknown entity, her best commander was torn by the loss of his daughter, and- something just didn’t feel right. As if someone was waiting for a certain pony to go outside.
“Sir, what do we do? The Crystal army should attack in less than an hour if you’re right.” Captain Shadow asked.
“For one thing, let’s get the Princess out of here. Send everyone to the bridges, including the reserve. And hope it doesn’t happen,” he replied.
Midnight saluted and trotted out to carry out the orders.