“Uhh, Colonel, y’alright?” Applejack stood over the deep red stallion after he fell from above the barn.
Crimson’s eyes stayed wide, but he started to try to fight something. He used his wing to grab at his short sword, which had fallen out of its sheath when he fell, then acted like he was dueling. Twilight held him down with magic until he stopped moving. His pupils went back to their normal size, and he blinked a couple times.
“Why the hell am I in a bubble?”
Rainbow burst into laughter. “Because you tried to fight an invisible pony, that’s why!”
Twilight released the bubble, and Crimson glared at the blue Pegasus. “He wasn’t a pony. He was a Minotaur. And my sister was almost killed.”
“We’re the only ones ‘round here, sugar cube.”
Crimson shook his head. “Must’ve been a flashback.”
“A what now?” asked Rainbow.
“A flashback,” Twilight said, “is a psychological phenomenon in which an individual has a sudden, usually powerful, re-experiencing of a past experience or elements of a past experience. He essentially re-lived a memory. And by the looks of it, it wasn’t a nice one.”
“No, it wasn’t Princess.” Crimson stood straight. “The Final Stand of Atlantis was the most traumatizing battle I’ve fought in. It isn’t as well known as Aquarius River, but it was definitely worse.”
Twilight asked him if he could explain it in more detail. He replied that it was too hard on him to see it twice; to do it a third time would be torture. She nodded and asked instead if she could just look into his mind for the memory. “It shouldn’t hurt a bit. I’ve been practicing on Spike when he lets me.”
“Go ahead.”
Twilight closed her eyes and a magical aura appeared around her. Using the spell to mentally travel to Crimson, she entered his mind and searched for the memory. What she found was far worse than watching on the outside could ever have given her.
The freshness of blood, the dead, everything. The princess was close to just leaving, but her curiosity about why this came as a flashback pushed her on. She watched as Crimson joked with his sister in the moments before battle, paced with his wingman, and took off. Knowing she couldn’t be injured in something she never participated in, she followed the Pegasi to their allies and watched them provide air support where it was needed. One was hit by anti-air right next to her, and she burst into tears as the stallion fell, his face lifeless before he hit the ground.
Her eyes followed Crimson as he weaved through the smoke and fire with his wingman. A scream pierced the air, and she stole a glance to where it came from. Crimson’s sister had been hit by a Minotaur’s battleaxe. She looked back at the red Pegasus and saw his wingman take a hit while Crimson was distracted. The event snapped him back to the moment and he swooped to his sister’s rescue. After an intense duel, a brave but nearly suicidal charge, and hundreds more deaths, the memory faded from her mental vision and she returned to her own body.
“Twilight, that looked traumatizing.”
The princess looked around. She was in the Ponyville Hospital, her friends and family around her. “Where’s Colonel Dawn?”
“Here, ma’am. We couldn’t get more than ten feet apart while your spell was up, so I couldn’t really stray too far.”
Cadence glared at her sister-in-law. “Don’t ever try that again. You burst into tears on multiple occasions, you can’t walk for another three hours, your wings are tired beyond comprehension, you-”
“Ma’am, you need to let it go. I’ve seen worse come back with a nearly full recovery.” If Crimson shared her concern, he didn’t show it.
Cadence sighed. “Very well.” Looking at Twilight, she asked, “What happened in your mind?”
Twilight explained the whole thing to the ponies around her. As she did, she kept glancing at Crimson, who nodded assurance that what she said was true. To the other ponies, it was heartbreaking to hear just how terrible war was. Rarity began to cry before Twilight had told the part where Crimson’s regiment took flight, Pinkie Pie was quick to follow, along with Fluttershy and Rainbow. Applejack cried on the inside, like she always did. Cadence held her expression for longer than most of the others, but couldn’t resist when Crimson’s cutie mark was shaved. She realized why the scars he bore wasn’t symmetrical with the other side, and couldn’t find something to prevent tears. Losing one’s cutie mark was not only unheard of, but also terrifying. It defined so much about a pony.
To Twilight’s relief, the three hours it took to tell the story in full detail was the same amount of time before she could walk again. She got out of the hospital bed weakly and slowly made her way to the door. Her legs were weak, but she made it.
As the group walked out of the hospital, Lieutenant Silver Comet rushed up to his commander. “Colonel, we have news concerning the ships off the Baltimare coast. They wish to join our efforts, and in return, we supply them with what they need.”
“And why is this a concern?” asked Rainbow.
“Because the Changelings are staging an assault against them, that’s why. Sir, we could eliminate the Changeling threat with minimal losses.”
“Do it, Lieutenant.”
Not much could happen next. The ships still had to cement the peace treaty, and neither princess was going anywhere. Sombra’s army had invaded Canterlot the day before and the lightly defended city fell easily. Afterwards, he moved to surround Ponyville to starve out the princesses. Blocked by the Equestrian barrier, they could only cut off the north, while towns south of his target shipped in food and water for a long siege. The train blew its whistle nearly every day, bringing new arrivals for the army and supplies to match.
Crimson was glad his friend Captain Platinum Starlight had been ordered to give him a copy of the steam tank blueprint. With it, he could build more and train his ponies to use them. Equestria had a better chance at pushing Sombra from their territory. They just had to mass-produce war machines and get Cadence’s approval. Twilight would’ve done it, but she preferred to stay out of the spotlight and learn more about Crimson’s flashback.
They were on the path to ultimate victory. That is, if everything went without a problem. But as Crimson knew all too well, no plan nor weapon ever survived contact with the enemy.