//------------------------------//
// The First Day 
// Story: The Red Sun Rises: Siege of Manehattan 
// by The Atlantean 
//------------------------------//

	It took approximately three days to sort out the shambled Equestrian army. Officers received promotions, proper supply lines were set, and recruitment stations pooped throughout the western side of the city. Downtown had transformed into a military camp.
At the same time, the Equestrian army pulled back to the west islands to prepare defenses. It was upsetting, but a necessary sacrifice. Trans-island traffic shut down almost overnight, and makeshift factories were created to pick up the slack from the Factory District, now controlled by Sombra’s forces. Archery towers rose up from the ground all over the island, giving archers a better view of the place they guarded.
All anypony could do was wait.

They didn’t have to wait long. Within two days, reports came in of Crystal troops marching up Manehattan Avenue, towards the Withersburg Bridge. The numbers were all over the place, but several Pegasi pinned it at an estimated three thousand. The Tartarus and Bricklyn bridges were also being advanced upon, with the numbers about the same. An amphibious assault appeared to be in the preparation phase, with ships being converted for the Crystal Empire’s needs.
As predicted by Captain Midnight Shadow, the Crystal ponies bottlenecked at the bridges. Packing as tightly as possible, there was fifty-five soldiers per rank, several hundred ranks deep. The Equestrian archers and unicorn mages had little difficulty taking out the enemy quickly.
Arrows flew into crystal armor and wooden shields, but a few hit weak spots, such as the neck, joints, or through the slit in the helmet just in front of the eyes. Blood spilled out of the dead troops and soaked into the pavement, creating a bloody path for warriors to follow. The lucky ones died as soon as they were hit. Others groaned and wailed in pain as the life drained out of them and onto the battlefield. Eventually, they lay still on the bloodstained asphalt of the road.
The Equestrian forces left the initial attack relatively unscathed. A few mages had been killed when the Crystal Army’s own Pegasi turned them into pincushions of crossbow bolts, but that was it.
Crimson Dawn walked onto the Bricklyn Bridge, seeing a rather upbeat defense force. This was the first victory Equestria had achieved since before the Gem destroyed the first army. Each soldier had either a ridiculous smile or a grim one upon their face. Somepony came with drinks from a local alcoholics dealer and everypony took a shot, including Crimson. He believed that the best way to improve morale was to participate in activities with the men to show he was one of them.
Figuring that the Crystal Army had hung back to lick their wounds for a day or two, Crimson then checked on the other bridges. The same high spirit abounded throughout the army, with plenty of celebratory drinks to go around.
It was a joyous occasion, so the middle-aged warrior decided to check on his family via a communications spell while he had some time alone. Seeing his daughter, Andromeda, again took away so much of the pain of war. Knowing that she could maintain the spell for him without her grandmother’s assistance made it more so. The six-year-old alicorn filly smiled to see her father. She had always admired him for the sacrifices he made to protect his home, and always had some sort of wonderful thing to tell Crimson Dawn about. Her sweet voice could calm even the angriest of ponies, and soothe her father into forgetting the day’s trouble for a while.
“Hello, Father. It’s nice to see you again.”
Crimson Dawn smiled softly. She was already making him think only of home. “The same for you, my daughter. How is your aunt?”
“She’s doing fine. Aunt Crystal Shard is finding her new wheelchair quite helpful. But you never told me why she needs it besides that she’s paralyzed.”
“It’s probably time I told you, then. You’re mature enough, at least by my standards. It started ten years ago, when Crystal joined the army…”

He told the story with as few gruesome details as possible. When he got to Aquarius River, Andromeda told him she had learned of it in basic history. But, having lived through the battle, Crimson could tell it better, so he did. He continued to four years after Crystal Shard joined his regiment, when she was nearly cut in half during the battle known to the soldiers as the Final Stand of Atlantis. Crimson had swooped in to save her, but lost the cutie mark on his right side to a grazing swing from the same stallion who chopped Crystal. She almost died from her wounds, but somehow found the strength to keep going until the unicorn healers completely patched her up.
Andromeda didn’t know what to say. She always believed that Crystal Shard was born with paralysis. This account rocked her world.

After Crimson finished talking to his family, he decided to send a report to Princess Celestia. Maybe with the pressure of fighting a losing war, some good news would ease her mind. The soldier walked out of his quarters to bump into Ensign Arctic Breeze, standing just outside his doorway.
“Something wrong, Ensign?”
“No, sir. I’ve been sent by Captain Shadow to report that no enemy movement has been sighted within the past three hours.”
“Okay.” Crimson was instantly suspicious. Midnight Shadow wasn’t in charge of scouting. That was Lieutenant Silver Comet’s job. But he nodded acknowledgement and dismissed the stallion.
Crimson entered the main command room to find a shimmering magic image of Celestia hunched over the table. She looked weary, as if she pulled three all-nighters in a row without a single half-hour of sleep. Her flowing mane slowed, showing the tiredness that radiated from her eyes.
She looked up from the table to acknowledge Crimson’s entry. A forced smile spread across her face, and she stood straight on all four of those tall, white legs.
“Report.”
“Princess, we have been able to halt the Crystal Army’s advance with less than fifteen reported casualties. Though, in order to do this, we had to pull back across the bridges from Autumn Island. They bottlenecked and were easily defeated, but far from retreat.”
Celestia nodded. “Good. But I have some bad news. Sombra began an assault on Cloudsdale earlier today, with major losses. We estimate the Crystal Empire’s forces there have lost up to ten thousand ponies. Most of them were Pegasi. Our own Pegasi lost about half that. Crimson Dawn, we need you practically everywhere. Just the mere fact that you, as a foreigner, have joined Equestria’s ranks increased morale significantly, and your defense here will do the same. Equestria can’t lose you.”
“I get that, your highness, but my duty is to the ponies under my command. Right now, they’re protecting Manehattan. If you can give us about a month, reinforcements will arrive and the siege will be broken. But until then, I remain here,” was the cold, deep-voiced reply.
“I understand you completely. Thank you. Continue your service, and may Harmony guide you.”
Crimson saluted the fading image of an ending communications spell, and looked to the Manehattan map on the table. The next day was going to be more difficult. It was almost tangible to him.