Italics denotes Celestia reliving old memories.
The Plains of Neighbra was an old name for an area that seemed to always to be filled with troop movement in the old days. The north part started a little west of Ponyville and ran down till the river. It bordered the Everfree forest, and White Tale Woods. Nowadays, it had train tracks, small villages, and farms. But, as Celestia remembered, the Plains were soaked with the old blood of long since dead ponies. Modern day Ponyville was originally a fort, and still was at the time of the rebellion, the last stronghold outside of Canterlot in Central Equestria that was still under threat from the rebellion. No where else was the rebellion active; all forces had been concentrated in a final push for Canterlot. They now sat, just a little ways away from the fort.
Celestia’s flight between Canterlot and the Plains of Neighbra was short, uneventful, but nerve wracking. This was not a location any who knew of the day wished to visit. Although Iron Pass was closer to the castle, the Plains encouraged a more set piece battle. Just because they couldn’t win on the pass, didn’t mean that the rebels couldn’t win; it just meant that they wouldn’t win by taking the castle.
Hence the fort stationed at what was now Ponyville. So ingrained was this fact, that it became the whole of Equestrian defence policy; hold Iron Pass, and hold the Plains of Neighbra. Everything else will happen on its own. Anything could fall, but so long as Iron Pass and the Plains were held, it didn’t matter.
She landed, just behind the Officers Staff. Acting General Armour was finalizing the details. A bandage was wrapped around his head--same with most of the senior officers. She looked out at the troops, lining up for the defence. Most, it seemed, had wounds and bits of them missing; clipped ears, cut noses, and other small chunks missing. Some seemed more bandage then pony, and others still seemed barely able to stand.
“Everypony in Equestria must be here,” she noted as she approached the senior officers.
“Whosoever is not here, is holding the pass, or on their way,” Armour noted. “But they won’t be needed.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I have a plan to crush this rebellion. If all goes well, by this time in three days, we will be rebuilding,” he said, his voice stern, but proud.
“What plan is this?” she asked, an eyebrow raised. Of course she knew, but she had to ask for she did not control herself.
“Triangle attack,” he said with sly smile. “We lull them to attack a third of our forces, then hit them on the sides while they are engaged.”
“Its not going to work; General Thundercloud won’t fall for it,” a heavily wounded staff officer said.
“The traitor has no idea how many troops we have here; we could a single man and he’d order a full attack. He is blinded,” Armour stated.
“By ideology,” Celestia added, her voice low, but loud enough for all those around her to hear.
A silence overtook the group. It wasn’t a simple silence, but one of some inner regret. Something stronger that wished to be called, but no noise could come about to explain. Celestia knew, of course. Rebuilding was name. Her officers weren’t stupid, but they could only learn, while Celestia could only remember.
“We have a job todo. Dismissed!” Armour said, rolling up the map of the field. “Your majesty, I must humbly request your assistance.” A smile, one of desperation, but also bond filled his lips. “If you please.”
She returned it, not knowing what force made her do.
“I will. How may I be of assistance?”
“I wish you to join me, in leading the center that will be attacked. The traitor will have no choice but attack such an alluring target,” Armour explained. “It’s too good to pass up.”
“Will he not catch on? You and I are something worth attacking,” she noted.
A sigh left his lips and he spoke in a whisper. “Your majesty, Thundercloud outnumbers us quite badly. Even with the plan, he may still win, if taking heavy losses. However, in order to succeed, we need the entirety of his army attacking us at once. He will try and force a surrender, and once he gets close, he will attack.”
“This sounds less like a plan, and more like a gamble; where the winner still loses. The losses will be catastrophic,” Celestia noted.
“I know, I know. Believe me, I know. But we can’t fight a battle in our current state; and if we lose the Fort, we lose everything. The pass will be cut off, and communication will be based upon luck. No matter what; we gamble,” Armoire explained. “If you don’t want to join th-”
“I’m not letting my little ponies die alone. They will die with me as close by as possible,” She stated. “Allow me to prepare my guard.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. And thank you, your ponies have trusted in the right pony.”
Armoire left to finish the final touches, and Celestia turned behind her. She looked over the ponies, dressed in the finest armour known around: The Solar Guard. Well trained, equipped, and all technically officers, they were the troops she lived to for.
“We stand with you,” they said in unison as she approached them. “Always.”
She smiled brightly. “It has been an honour to know you, each of you. Are you all able and willing?”
They stood at attention, wounded and bloody. Dented armour, and missing feathers. Scars, and red splotches. Weapons dull to the eye, but lethal to the touch. Matted coats, but firm bodies. She looked over all of them; 15 in total were with her.
“We take the center, and hold it till breaths after the last,” the highest ranking one said. “Nothing passes until the order is given.”
She smile softly, her only future emotion.
“Then we go,” she said, leading her finest troops at the head.
She made no eye contact with any senior officer, and she watched a third go to the left, and another third go to the right. She marched forward with furrowed eyes, and tight lips. Passed Armoire, who simply nodded, and to the center of the field. Between two low hills, and stopped.
“Look around,” she said. “Take in the beauty of our land.”
Armoire’s troops came up to her groups left and right.
“See the blue skies, and while clouds. The green grass, and yellow, pink and blue flowers. The bright colours that fill the world around them.”
They held their position.
“Remember this sight, remember this beauty, because even if it is not your last time seeing the nature of this world, it is the last time. The last time before the last day of the Old Equestria.”
Thunderclouds troops started to move, a huge army of ponies.
“The last day will give birth to the first day New Equestria; a world where we stand together, and work together. Mare and stallion, filly and colt.”
They moved fast, and soon were close.
“A New Equestria where we are the makers together, and not separate. Where leadership is for the ponies and for tomorrow.”
Thundercloud roared, and raced to the head, his distance was too close, he could not stop.
“None alive will see that day,” she whispered as Armoire shot a flare from his horn. Within moments, there last two thirds changed Thunderclouds army. Celestia watched the last few seconds before spear filled her vision. It was a vision of one of her guards. A blue stallion, who held his weapon just enough in front of her to protect her--the only one--but far enough that she had mobility.
“Thank you,” she said to the stallion, before the first enemy made contact with her third.
The Battle of the Plains of Neighbra took a little under 20 minutes. To say Thunderclouds plan worked would have been an understatement. It was a total success. Although the Equestria Army took some casualties, about ⅓ were wounded, that didn’t tell the other story. 75% were removed from conflict on the side of the rebellion. The entire Third Army was, effectively, removed. The blood ran deep, and created a red lake around the area. Small groups managed to escape, but they were hunted down.
But still, the vision did not end, and Celestia knew why. Two ponies were unaccounted for.
“We’ve got him, Your Majesty,” Armoire said, approaching her, limping. He had nearly lost a leg. That was fine, in about a year he’d have a son, and take up organization of the military, post-Rebellion at the request of his soon to be wife.
He led her to the wounded, but still moving Thundercloud. He seemed dazed and confused. He held a sword in his mouth and was moving in a circle, fighting off eight soldiers. She watched them close in slowly.
“Persist thing, isn’t he?” Armoire noted.
Celestia said nothing. She watched him try and flap his wings, but they were stabbed by spears. He yelled and howled in pain, but stood, his wings to his side, before falling to the touch the ground. In his spinning, he slipped on his wing falling. The eight rushed in.
Thundercloud, as she heard, made no call of pain, but called out: “My home, forgive me!”
The greatest general of the age, was gone.
She glanced at Armoire. He watched with a soloum expressing. “Traitor to the crown,” he muttered, before turning to leave, as his body was removed to be thrown into a pile.
“That was messy.”
Celestia spun around. A wounded, armed with a sword, and barely flying Aerial Ace was there. He spat his sword to the ground, out of his mouth.
“Relax, Princess, I’m surrendering,” Arial said, holding his good hoof up.
“Are you now,” she asked.
“Well, no. I’m actually about to get out of here. But I thought I’d return my sword to you. It was a gift from you,” he explained.
Using her magic, Celestia raise up the blade. “Bolt,” she read, carved into the handle. “Yes, I remember. Part of fliers, the Wonders.”
He smiled. “Not much of a Wonder, so I figured I’d give it back. Give it to someone else. Someone better.”
“Where will you go?”
“Back to Luna, she isn’t far.”
“Luna? Where is she?”
But Aerial Ace just smiled. “The place where it should have started, but didn’t. You’ll find her in the court of the Castle, hidden in the forest. Come alone.”
“Ace, wait!” she called out, but he didn’t listen. “Wait!”
Present time came back to Celestia, and she found herself standing in a flower field, a little outside town. The hour was late, maybe 8 or 9. She could see the library lit up, and other buildings dark.
She smiled. It was where Twilight was, and she knew it well. It was an ok library, as libraries went, but Twilight wouldn’t care. She’d love it no matter what.
With a shade of her head and body, Celestia took off and with a jump, flew to Canterlot.
Quill didn’t get paid enough, as far as he was concerned. It wasn’t that he hated his job, he rather enjoyed it actually. No, it was more about the ponies he dealt with. Some were nice, some were polite. But the majority seemed to hate his existence.
At least the feeling was mutual?
He glanced outside the window; live music placed and he watched Shining and Cadence stand near one another. Talking, from the looks of it, though Quill watched the hoofs for behaviour. Cadence seemed closer than she’d like, and he could have sworn he looked up to his office window at least twice.
Then again, her room was in a different tower in the same direction as his, so that wasn’t likely.
Right?
He looked at his bandages, tapping his head, and hissing. Yep. Still hurt. He was in pain. He looked down at his desk, and admired how much he had done. It was a lot, even by his standards. He smiled at the stack of paper, and patted the top of it.
Chuckling, he leaned back in his chair and watching the ceiling do nothing. He closed his eyes, and smiled.
“Does Neighbra ever get easier?”
He sighed, but kept in his position. So much for a break.
“Which pony are you asking?”
“You?”
“You know what I mean.”
Silence filled the room for a little while.
“Vanhoover.”
“No.”
“Equestria.”
“You tell me.”
“The Last Hurrah, right?” Celestia asked, changing the subject.
“Yeah. That’s it. The Last. Always capitalized,” he noted, sitting properly and looking at her.
“What was this civil war really about, in your opinion.”
“I don’t think anyone can answer that question, Your Majesty,” Quill noted, looking out the window. Cadence and Shining were still together.
“I asked you opinion.”
“And you got it; never said you had to like the answer.”
“Well I want to like the answer.”
A bitter laugh left Quill’s lips. “You won’t.”
“Try me.”
“It was about Vanhoover being free, and independent. We wanted freedom, and Luna wanted recognition. We gave that her, and inreturn, she gave us freedom. Even joined, en mass, her army.”
“Then explain the Third Army.”
Quill sighed. “Most of the army were from Vanhoover, and Thundercloud was from my hometown even. Left behind a daughter and a son. Luna got them back to Vanhoover from Manehatten, as per his request to join.”
“Loyalty to the land, over Equestria?”
“I said you wouldn’t like the answer. Vanhoover isn’t Equestria. It’s distant, far, and while we speak Equus too, we don’t live Equestria; we live Vanhoover,” Quill explained. “And until you deal with that fact, or learn to live with that fact, Vanhoover will always be Vanhoover. Both have their own people, it’s just hard to tell the difference without knowing them.”
Silence returned. Quill watched the air in front of his desk, while Celestia watched the floor.
“I. I should go. Finish up the nightmare,” Celestia noted.
“I’ll be here,” Quill said, turning to look at her. “Doing my job.”
“You deserve better, Quill,” Celestia said, walking up to him, and kissing his bandage. “A lot better.”
He just smiled; a pained one. But a smile nonetheless.
“The Castle won’t be easy. The Chronicles tell of ‘everlasting pain, and death of never dying.’,” Quill explained. “They don’t like to be happy, do those writers?
The Princess just smiled. “Summon the guard, I have no idea what will happen.”
“Victory, or a fight. I like those odds,” he said with an eye roll.
“You know your role; keep to it and no more. Understood?” Celestia ordered.
“Clear as the crystals.”
Celestia said nothing, but left the office. Quill just looked at his desk and sighed.
“So much for the evening off,” he said before pulling out the list of garrisons to mobilize.