Rarity's Army

by BronyDan

Chapter 1

It had been six months since Queen Chrysalis and her Changeling Army had declared war on Equestria. The first shot had been fired since the events of Princess Cadence’s wedding, when a few days after, a squad of Changelings had tried to infiltrate the palace in the dead of night in an attempt to assassinate Celestia, but they had been caught and sentenced by Celestia herself. Chrysalis had her revenge when another Changeling attack was focused on the prison, and after the bombing, when the prison was little more than rubble, and her Changelings were free; twenty of the prisoners had been killed, including three guards. Shaken by what had happened, Celestia had demanded increased security all across Equestria, and after Cadence and Shining Armour had moved to the Crystal Empire, they made a pact with Celestia, and set up their own military organisation, sending in their troops all over the country to help prevent the Changeling invasion. Many attempts had been made to invade, but the Changelings were always kept at bay, however Celestia was not convinced that it would last, so she decided that there was no choice but to allow artefacts from the Forbidden Vaults to be made.

Soon, the army were equipped with rifles and bayonets, every home was ordered to have electrical wires fitted in for communication purposes, like radios and telephones. The trains were soon filled with stallions being sent off to various locations to fight. In some of the larger cities, fillies and colts were being evacuated to the countryside and small towns like Ponyville to be protected against the threat, and many family Stallions were being called up to fight; Mrs Cake had already had a teary goodbye on the platform as she watched her husband board the train.

However, with all this security and protection, the Changelings still found ways to try and cripple the pony forces. The food supplies that were sent to the towns would often be intercepted or destroyed by the Changelings, so all food was rationed, and everypony was given a ration book containing coupons, which would allow them to purchase a certain amount of a product each month. The process took some time to get used to, but eventually they were able to in-corporate it into their normal lives. Gas masks were also sent out to homes as Celestia was fearing that the Changelings could be experimenting with poisonous gases and air-raid systems were set up in town halls with search lights and guns that would be used to shoot down any flying Changelings, and everypony was asked to dig and set up shelters in their back gardens, or anywhere that could keep them safe underground until the All-Clear was heard.

One afternoon, as the All-Clear was dying down, Rarity was busy in Carousel Boutique. She had decided to help with the war effort by making uniforms for the soldiers. She was starting to get rather bored of the colour of khaki day in and day out, however it was for the good of Equestria, so she wasn’t going to complain. As she sewed on the straps on the shoulders, Spike came in through the back, carrying a very heavy sandbag; he heaved it on to the windowsill where other sandbags were piled on top of each other. “I think… this is the last one, Rarity.” he panted.

“Thank you, Spike.” said Rarity sweetly. As she turned around, She saw Spike out of the corner of her eye, stand next to her, his claws held out in front of him, “Oh, sweetie, I would give you a gem for your troubles, but I’m afraid jewels are hard to come by these days, they’ve started to ration them as well now, to help pay for the war.”

Spike’s jaw fell open in shock. He grumbled as he headed for the door in frustration, “I just wish Chrysalis would just give up and loose, already.”

Rarity felt bad for him and said, “Look, why don’t I give you some tea? I may have some carrot cake left if you want some.”

Spike turned around, quickly. It may not have been a jewel, but he never could turn down the opportunity for some carrot cake. As they headed out towards her kitchen, the doorbell jingled. They both turned to see Twilight Sparkle rush in.

“I thought I may find you here.” she smiled at Spike, giving a sigh of relief “I was getting worried when the air-raid started. Thanks for keeping him safe Rarity.”

“Not at all, Twilight.” said Rarity, “Would you care to join us for some tea and cake?”

“Alright.” said Twilight and she and Spike followed Rarity into the kitchen.

As they sat in the kitchen, Twilight and Rarity were soon talking about the war. Twilight had been getting information from her brother Shining Armour, who was stationed in the South side of Appleloosa, looking out over the desert, as there had been rumours that the Changelings may come over the sand.

“Well, from it sounds like Twilight,” said Rarity after she sipped her tea, “I would say we are getting close to winning. If the Changelings will be unable to make it via the desert, then I can’t see any other way of an invasion.” but just then, Spike suddenly belched out a scroll of parchment. Rarity grabbed it quickly, unrolled it and began reading, excitement showing in her eyes.

“Rarity, what are you doing?” Twilight asked quickly.

Rarity sighed as she finished reading the letter, “If you must know Twilight, I had recently written a letter to the Princess.”

“Oh.” said Twilight, looking a little relieved, “So, what exactly about friendship have you learnt?”

“It wasn’t anything to do with friendship.” said Rarity, excitedly. Twilight raised an eyebrow suspiciously, “You see, I had written to her, asking if there was anything we ponies in the smaller towns could do to protect Equestria, and here is her response.” she unrolled the parchment again and began to read.

"Dearest Rarity,
Having read about your concern, I fully agree that everypony should try all they can to protect our country. Therefore, I have decided to propose a new defence organisation that will be used as a secondary force of protection. I will not give away any more information, but if you were to tune in to the radio at three o’clock on Wednesday, you will understand.
Princess Celestia"

Rarity looked at the clock on the wall; it was one minute till three. She rushed out of the kitchen towards her radio, and twiddled with the dials, looking for the right reception, until finally Princess Celestia’s voice was soon heard, addressing everyone.

“With the growing threat of a Changeling invasion, protection is everything. So, as of today, you will be allowed to join up and be a part of the new defence organisation, which will give many ponies, which are not able to join up with the regular army, a chance to still fight. This group, with a properly appointed commander, will involve you protecting your family and friends within your very town, as well as protecting areas of national importance, and this organisation shall be known as the “Local Defence Volunteers” and everypony from the ages of 17 to 65 will have the chance to protect Equestria. If you wish to join, sign up at your nearest military station, with your information ready.”

Rarity knocked off the radio and turned to Twilight and Spike standing in the door, “That was it.” she said excitedly, and she headed for the door, “Come along you two.”

“Rarity, wait.” said Twilight, hastily, “You’re not honestly thinking of joining are you?”

“Why not?” said Rarity, “The thing was technically my idea, so I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t. Now Princess Celestia mentioned that we’ll need a “properly appointed commander”. Ok, that’s me.”

Twilight covered her mouth as she giggled, “Really Rarity, you’re going to be the commander?”

“Yes.” said Rarity, as she stuck her chest out, proudly, “Captain Rarity, and you, Twilight Sparkle, shall be my Second in Commander, by the rank of Sergeant.”

“Thank you.” said Twilight, Rarity missing the sarcasm.

“Now, Spike,” said Rarity, taking a strip of card, and rolling into a cone shape, “I want you to go around town, saying that if anyone wants to join up for the Local Defence Volunteers will need to meet up at the Town hall at 4 o’clock, precisely. I’ll meet you both there with the forms for them to sign.” and with that, she was out of the door like a shot, leaving Twilight and Spike standing there, looking bemused.

“Are we honestly going to go along with this, Twilight?” Spike asked.

“I’m afraid so.” sighed Twilight, and they both walked out of the Boutique, both wondering on how many ways this may fall apart.