The cars were filled with moaning and cursing. Some ponies rocked themselves, clutching heads between hooves and eyes darting around frantically. None of them could rightly say what they had just seen, what only a relative handful of them had escape. Nearly thirty of them had snuck into Canterlot, bypassed its guards and found the dungeons. Two ponies, in the new armor of the Royal Guard had reduced their numbers to less than a dozen before they could be stopped.
Braeburn looked at his hooves, pupils shrunken in agitation. He did what he had to do, of course. He still remembered the guard outside the castle wall, broken against the ground. He remembered the other guard, the one in the fancy new armor spitting fire and metal from the contraption on his back. He did what he had to, to save his cousin and his friends. The look on that guard's face, though...
"Ah said thanks fer savin' me, Brae." Applejack's voice broke into his train of thought, "Ah'm sorry 'bout what happened back there, though."
As strong as Applejack seemed, even she was shaken. The only pony aboard the train who wasn't shaken was Pinkie Pie, who only stared out the window with dead eyes. Braeburn grunted and looked around the train car. Amazingly, they had managed to escape with nearly everypony they had brought in. The dead, of course, had to be left behind, but the wounded managed to escape. Braeburn's mouth twisted at the thought; dead and wounded. What were those contraptions on the backs of the Royal Guard? Why were only two of them equipped with it? Would there be others like them?
"It was nothin', AJ." Braeburn muttered, "Ah'm just glad we could get most of us outta there, even if a lot a' them are wounded."
"It coulda been worse," Applejack said, "if ya hadn't, well... Y'know."
"Yeah." Braeburn swallowed, "Ah don't feel like talkin' right now."
"Alright." his cousin sighed, "If ya ever need somepony ta talk to about it, just know Ah'm here."
Applejack left her cousin behind and walked around the car, grimacing at what she saw around her. It could have been worse; even though the majority of the raiders were wounded, they had only lost three ponies and a buffalo. Granted some of the wounded looked a little too pale and still-eyed for Applejack's tastes. Several pioneers, the ones not muttering to themselves darkly, were administering treatment to the wounded. It was rudimentary at best, but at least the ponies weren't bleeding out all over the train car.
Turning to the window, Applejack saw something flash by that caught her attention. Or rather somepony. She quickly ran to the engine and ordered a full stop. Slowly, but surely, the train lumbered to a stop, brakes squealing in protest. Applejack jumped off the train and called out to the dragon and filly some ways behind the train.
"What are y'all doin' so far outta Ponyville?" she asked once they were close enough.
"We've been trying to get to Appleoosa these last two days." Spike explained as Scootaloo's scooter slowed to a stop in front of Applejack. "It's a lot further than we thought it would be."
"Well a' course it is." the cowpony chuckled, then grew serious, "Yer folks know where y'all are?"
"I left Twilight a letter." Spike shrugged.
"They said it was cool." Scootaloo laughed nervously.
"Ah have half a mind ta turn this train around an' take you two back ta Ponyville, hog-tied." the cowpony scolded, "Runnin' off an' only leavin' a letter behind for Twi; she must be worried sick! An' why y'all comin' to Appleoosa, anyway?"
"We're trying to find Sweetie Belle." Scootaloo explained.
"Rarity's really shaken up about it." Spike explained.
"Ah shoulda figured Rarity would be worried about her l'il sis." Applejack sighed, "Alright, Ah'll let ya come along on this here train ta Appleoosa an' take Sweetie Belle back. The way Ah see it, we don't really have any right to hold her there, anyhow."
"AJ, y'all comin' or what?" one of the raiders shouted from the caboose.
"Yeah," she shouted back, "We got us two extra passengers."
As the three returned to the train, the pony who had shouted eyed the youths with some trepidation. He was familiar to Spike - he had seen him in Appleoosa last time they had visited - but dirtied and bandaged. There was also a tightness around his eyes that made the drake shiver.
"Ya sure they should ride in this car?" the pony asked, "Might not be the best place fer 'em."
"Ah guess yer right." Applejack motioned for the youths to follow her towards the front of the train and sit in the front-most car. They were the only three up there, except for one of the engineers taking a break.
"Why couldn't we sit in the other cars?" Scootaloo asked.
"Did... did something happen?" Spike asked. The youths were too familiar with violence after the riots in Ponyville, but of course Applejack hadn't been present for that.
"A' course nothin' happened." Applejack scrunched her face up.
"You're a horrible liar, AJ." Spike sighed, "Plus, you're here and not in Canterlot, so obviously something happened to get you out of Canterlot."
"Guess ya got me there." the cowpony tsked, "Brae an' some of the Appleoosians busted me outta that prison cell. A lotta them were hurt pretty bad in the process though. Ah didn't want ya younglin's ta be exposed ta that kinda sufferin'."
"I think we've seen worse." Scootaloo grimaced.
"AJ, some bad things happened in Ponyville earlier this week." Spike said.
"Really bad things." Scootaloo agreed.
"Ah heard." Applejack scowled, "Celestia's army is outta control!"
The train lurched and Spike took a tumble. Scootaloo, naturally acrobatic, regained her footing with the slightest of shifts, and Applejack's stance absorbed the lurch with rigidity. Picking himself up off the floor and dusting himself off, Spike muttered under his breath.
"We don't think Celestia had much choice in what her Royal Guard did." Spike said at last, "We're willing to give her the benefit of the doubt."
"Benefit a' the doubt mah hoof." Applejack grumbled, "Look, y'all are just too young ta understand."
"Funny." Spike scowled, "That's what Twilight said when we supported the republic idea."
Applejack shot him a scowl of her own.
The rest of the train ride was in stilted silence.
*-*
Rainbow Dash hadn't shifted her eyes from the body except to look at the bodies around it and the brass cylinders littering the floor. She never realized Braeburn had the strength to turn a pony's head into such an odd angle. She had never seen any weapons like that, either. At most, she had only ever seen spears, and never seen them used in violence. Then again, what other use did weapons have save violence?
And yet, for all the horror she had just witnessed, she couldn't help but feel a rush of adrenaline. The sound, like thunder in a pop can, and the smell like nothing she had ever smelt before. The sights, like lightning and fire and knee-jerk twisting, the slumping of sacks of fruit. It was all horrifying, and yet exciting. Her eyes never stayed focused on the bodies for long, but always came back to the equipment on the Royal Guard laying near her cell.
Sleek armor, much nicer than the silly golden pomp most of Celestia's guards wore, and those cannon-things on their shoulders. Rainbow felt bad that she honestly didn't feel all that bad about the dead ponies around her. She should feel something, honestly, yet all she could think was how awesome she'd look in that armor and how cool it'd be to fire those cannons. Not at ponies, exactly - as cool as they were, she didn't want to hurt anypony - but certainly at something.
Finally other members of the Royal Guard came and opened her cell.
"Took you guys long enough." Rainbow snapped, "Yeesh, why is everypony so slow?"
"Rainbow Dash." Celestia's voice resonated around the dungeon and all the Royal Guard snapped to attention. She had a pained expression on her face as she took in the violence. "I am so sorry you have to see this carnage. I should have told my guards to restrain themselves-"
"It's cool." Rainbow said, the nonchalantness in her tone startling the princess. "Hey, will the Wonderbolts be equipped with this kind of stuff?"
"You're taking this surpsingly well." Celestia said slowly, "Are you alright?"
"Sure. Why wouldn't I be?" the pegasus asked. Some of the Royal Guard smiled approvingly at how well she was taking the dead bodies.
"To answer your question, the Wonderbolts are typically first responders to disasters," the princess explained, "not a military branch."
"That's a shame." Rainbow tsked, "That'd be awesome if they were. I mean, could you imagine the advantages of flying with those cannon-things?"
"They're called guns." Celestia corrected, "And they're not to be taken lightly."
"I'm not taking it lightly, Princess." Rainbow offered a meek smile, "Ponies are dead. I got that. It's scary, but... it's also kind of exciting. Like going into a tailspin and waiting until the last instant to pull out before you hit the ground."
"This is war, not a stunt." Celestia frowned at her words. "This is war..."
"War." Rainbow tasted the word, "Like something out of Daring Doo."
"This isn't to be taken lightly, Rainbow Dash."
"I'm not taking it lightly, Princess." the pegasus repeated, "You're telling me you're not the least bit anxious about this? You don't feel any adrenaline pumping at the idea?"
"Of course not!" Celestia snapped, "I don't see how anypony could look forward to that!"
One of the guards coughed and when Celestia looked at them, they all avoided her eyes. Of course the military would look forward to war after centuries of peace. She knew all too well the initial exhiliration of combat, though - and she knew these unwetted soldiers would grow weary of it quickly. The sane ones, anyway; no military was without its bloodthirsty recruits. Celestia only hoped that the majority of her ranks weren't filled with such soldiers. She sincerely hoped Rainbow Dash wasn't that kind of pony.
"Guess I'm just weird, then." Rainbow chuckled, "Where'd you even get stuff like that? I've never seen anything like it before."
"From an anonymous party whom was concerned about Equestria's current state." the princess explained briskly.
"It's not really Equestria anymore, is it?" Rainbow asked, "What with half the country running off to be part of the Lunar Republic."
"We are still one nation." Celestia said, but there wasn't her usual steely resolve or authority in it.
"I'm just saying, if they're going to call themselves the Lunar Republic, we should have a cool name too. Something that reflects how awesome you are." Rainbow shrugged, "Something with the sun involved."
"The Solar Empire?" one of the guards spoke up.
"Oh, stop encouraging her!" Celestia snapped. It upset that her she couldn't discern which stony-faced guard had spoken.
"No! That's perfect!" Rainbow beamed, "The Solar Empire! 'Cause you're like the emperess and all, and your thing is the sun."
"I am not an emperess." Celestia sniffed, "Equestria is a free and prosperous nation; we are not an empire."
"Appleoosa was a pioneer town that expanded into buffalo territory, which we took." Rainbow smirked, "Pretty sure that's something empires do, expanding into other ponies' - or in this case, buffalos' - territory."
"You have a surprising grasp of vocabulary..." Celestia's brow twitched in minor annoyance.
"Like I said, this is like something out of Daring Doo." Rainbow began to pace the area. Celestia noticed all the guards' eyes were on Rainbow and not her. "In one book, Daring Doo had to take down a battalion of former Germane soldiers. I did some research and found out that those soldiers had been part of the Germane Imperial Army, which was pretty cool."
"The Germane Empire was vile." Celestia shuddered, "They took land by force and introduced ridiculous laws."
"Yes, but what if the Germane Emperor had been somepony nice and fair?" Rainbow suggested, "What if he had been an immortal, benevolent princess who only cared for her citizens? Would it have been vile to spread that to other lands?"
"I don't like what you're suggesting." the princess said.
"We have an impressive military here in Equestria, and besides these crazy Lunar Republic ponies, we live better than any other nation on this planet." Rainbow said, counting off countries from her hoof, "Better than Germane, or the U.R.S.A., or Marexico, or Trottingham, or Cameloo. Why not spread our prosperity to these other parts of the world? I mean, you're all about harmony and prosperity, after all."
"We are not an empire!" Celestia said, "We're not going to expand and conquer nations!"
"Not conquer," Rainbow corrected, "liberate. Once they hear us coming to improve their lives, ponies will be lining up to join us."
"Rainbow Dash..." Celestia warned.
"I'm just asking that you think about it." the pegasus interjected, "Maybe they could help us with our little... domestic spat."
"This 'domestic spat' doesn't need external help." Celestia said, then studied Rainbow Dash with a weighing look. She certainly carried herself like she knew what she was doing, self-assured if a little arrogant. The soldiers eyed her with respect, which was surprising. They looked like they agreed with the pegasus. "I will consider your suggestions, Rainbow Dash."
"That's all I ask, Your Highness." Rainbow bowed fluidly, "If there's anything I can do for you, just ask."
"Actually," Celestia smiled, "There is one thing."
"Name it!" Rainbow smiled eagerly at her princess.
"You seem to have a way with the soldiers that I've lacked these last few centuries." Celestia began, "They seem much more attentive, if that were possible. I think they've taken a liking to you. My request is simple, but by no means easy. I want you to join the Royal Guard. As an officer."
"M-me?!" the pegasus clearly hadn't been expecting this, "It's always been my dream to be a member of the Wonderbolts, though."
"The Wonderbolts are the most elite flyers in Equestria, this is true," Celestia said, "however, the Royal Air Guard are just as prestigious in their own way. They have a fine history of flight, and I have a feeling that military flying will be more enjoyable to you than stunt flying." Celestia chuckled lightly, than eyed the pegasus with a grave look, "I need somepony like you in the Guard. Somepony I can trust, who's good with the troops. Will you do it, Rainbow Dash?"
"It would be an honor." Rainbow bowed.
Maybe being an officer in the Royal Air Guard would look good on her resume when she enlisted for the Wonderbolts. Hay, maybe she'd actually enjoy it more than the Wonderbolts, if that were possible. It was too late to back out now, of course.
She belonged to the military now.
*-*
Braeburn and the other raiders had rushed their wounded into Appleoosa's hospital as soon as they had arrived. Spike and Scootaloo grimaced at the poor souls as they passed them, and hurried on their behind Applejack to find Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. It wasn't long before they found them, waiting in the crowd of Appleoosians who had gathered to greet the raiders with mixtures of shock and grief.
"Sis!" Apple Bloom galloped to Applejack and the two embraced. After a moment she ran from her sister to tackle Scootaloo with Sweetie Belle close behind. "Alright! Cutie Mark Crusaders united at last!"
"Let's not forget about our favorite dragon here." Applejack brought Spike into a hug and the Crusaders practically strangled him in a group hug. "Flushed from the heat, sugar cube?" Applejack smiled knowingly at the young drake.
"Right." Spike chuckled as the fillies practically smothered him, "Heat."
The group chatted as they walked into Appleoosa's town hall, the de facto capital building for the Lunar Republic. Apple Bloom told Scootaloo, Spike and Applejack about the Lunar Republic's continuing progress and how they had established a secure network of communication spanning from Appleoosa westward, but they were cut off from the eastern coastal cities who had initally supported the Lunar Republic. Applejack told the youths about how her time in prison was - stark and frustrating, mostly. Spike and Scootaloo told the others about how bad the riots in Ponyville were, which Sweetie and Apple Bloom had largely not heard.
"Things are gettin' mighty outta hand out there." the yellow filly shuddered, "What do you think, Sweetie Belle?" the unicorn filly ignored her, "Sweetie, ya listenin'?"
"What?" Sweetie snapped back to the conversation, "Sorry, I was just wondering why Mr. Rich was talking to Premier Luna."
"Diamond Tiara's dad?" Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. All of them looked toward Luna and Filthy Rich, who were engaged in a conversation before they disappeared into her office. "Weird."
"Well, we'd better be heading back." Spike suggested, "Rarity's been worried sick about you, Sweetie Belle."
"I don't want to go back." the filly crossed her forelegs defiantly, "I believe in the Lunar Republic."
"Believe in it all you want to, but your family's in tears with you missing." Scootaloo said, "I've never seen ponies so worried."
"Oh." Sweetie winced, "I didn't know everypony was sad about me being gone."
"They're really shaken up." Spike put a hand on Sweetie's shoulder, "It's time for us to head back home."
"I guess so..." Sweetie sighed, "It's kind of boring in Appleoosa anyway. All the adults talk about logic and philanthropy."
"Logistics and philosophy." Apple Bloom corrected.
"Dictionary." Scootaloo whispered to Spike, who laughed in response. A glare from the earth pony filly silenced them.
"So, Applejack, you coming with us?" the dragon asked.
"'Fraid not, sugar cube." the cowpony sighed, "Ah'm afraid Pinkie Pie an' Ah are fugitives. If we don't renounce the Lunar Republic, then we'll just get arrested in Ponyville an' sent back ta Canterlot. 'Sides, Ah don't think mah sister wants to leave Luna's side much, an' somepony needs to stay here an' look after her."
"Thanks sis, yer the greatest!" Apple Bloom hugged her sister again.
They said their goodbyes and departed. Spike, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle boarded the train and watched as the frontier town disappeared behind them. It was bittersweet to be heading home so soon after the Cutie Mark Crusaders had been united, but each of them had had enough adventures for awhile.
Or so they thought.
*-*
"Have you thought anymore on my proposition, Premier Luna?" Filthy Rich asked.
"Funny that you would sell me these weapons and armor when you're already selling them to my sister." Luna said acidly.
"There's no proof of tha-" Mr. Rich began before the Premier reeled on him, towering over him at her full height.
"Do not presume me a fool, peasant!" Luna roared, "You might have changed the appearance of your fancy armor and guns, but I know from the reports from our raiders that Celestia has similarly-armed ponies serving in her Royal Guard. You think I'd believe that coincidence?"
"Forgive me for underestimating your scrutiny, Premier." Filthy bowed, formally, and eyed the darkly-armored guards to either side of his only exit. Their eyes were cold and unforgiving, rather like Luna's at the moment. He swallowed. "My offer still stands."
"Look at you, selling to both sides like a coward." Luna spat, "I would respect you more if you were equipping my sister's army alone out of misplaced patriotism."
"Celestia won't take your little raid lightly." Mr. Rich went on as if Luna hadn't just insulted him, "She'll take this as a sign of escalation and send soldiers to squash your little rebellion."
"Little?" Luna seethed, "The Lunar Republic encompasses the western half of Equestria!"
"And you have quite a grasp on telecommunications, from my reports." Filthy chuckled, "But we both know that won't save you from this new trend in military hardware."
"I have little choice, don't I?" Luna growled, "How soon can you equip my ponies with these horrible things."
"I can have your entire Royal - excuse me - Republican Guard equipped in a month." the businesspony said.
"Not good enough for the price you demand." the Premier walked towards her window and watched the train depart back to Ponyville. "I'll need my Republican Guard ready within the week if we're to hold off my sister."
"That's insane!" Filthy sputtered but straightened himself at the icy look in Luna's eyes, "But doable."
"I'll need a further 300,000 units by the Winter Solstice." Luna continued.
"Whatever for?!" Filthy gaped, "You plan on fighting the Royal Guard pony-to-pony?"
"More than that, Filthy." Luna said, "If the Lunar Republic is to survive, we'll need a standing army. 300,000 is only the beginning. By next winter, I envision an army of more than a million ponies defending the Lunar Republic. Perhaps even liberating my sister's deluded realm."
"That's... quite a vision." Mr. Rich tried to grasp the scope of it, but only found himself grinning over the money to be made, "Celestia will want to match your forces, tic for tac, of course."
"If I find you were supplying her, 'tic for tac'," Luna said, turning to face Filthy Rich with a smile that didn't reach her lips, "I'll kill you myself."
"For a traitor, you certainly don't have much appreciation for ponies of a dubious nature." Filthy laughed, "Surely you realize I'm not stupid enough to reveal my hoof so early - selling to both sides in a war, I mean - and not have a plan to keep either of you from taking me out of the equation?"
"You do have that slimy quality about you." Luna confessed, "I've already agreed to your proposition. Now get out of my sight, and out of my city."
"As you wish it, Premier Luna." Filthy bowed his way out with a chuckle.
Luna glared at the door long after it was closed. She would have to do something about Mr. Filthy Rich, but for now she set her mind to building up the Lunar Republic's defenses. If there was one thing the ponies of Appleoosa were good at, it was building up defenses. She briefly spared a thought to how terribly sad it was that her and her sister had drifted apart to open war when just a few months ago they were close friends. A feeling of dread threatened to overwhelm her in that moment.
She crushed the emotion coldly, without mercy.