"Relax, you two. It's going to be fine."
Walking among the eastbound army, Spike said to Starlight and Thorax, all while scanning the surroundings. As they progressed towards the City, he was relieved to see the Manehattan countryside largely untouched by the ongoing conflicts. However, few ponies were tending to the fields, presumably because they had fled into the protection of bigger cities. Most companions beside the dragon merely looked on with complicated looks of their own.
The uneasy duo, however, was not calmed. Starlight promptly complained. "Fine? How's this fine? You're telling us to walk right back into the giant mouse trap that is Manehattan!"
"Come now, Manehattan is the proud royal gem of Equestria. Surely they will not be uppity when we, a just army loyal to the will of princesses, arrive? We might just be able to resupply and find a way home."
"Wow, you sure are naive!" Starlight huffed in disbelief. "This is a city that cynically sic the ponies onto the donkeys and mules for political gains! Pogroms against one of its own in Equestria, it's unheard of in the modern age!"
Thorax, however, was more collected. He merely sighed. "Not even you believe what you said, right, Mister Spike?"
The dragon held his forehead resignedly. "... It's good to be optimistic in mind, and practically prepared for the worst at the same time."
"Oh great, more wise-sounding adages." Starlight mocked. "Try tell the Manehattanites your big-hearted speech. I'm sure this would make them less prone to setting fire to our tails."
The impatient Kanipha had had enough of her passive aggression, and huffed. "It happened that Spike did speak to a bunch of murderous Villians, and dissuade them from literally burning ponies at stakes."
Starlight frowned, but Thorax kept shaking his head. "It won't be this simple."
"Why?" Kanipha pressed on.
"When we left, talks of secession were already rampant." Thorax frowned. "When it comes to time like this, it's everylin- everyone for himself."
Geuse interjected. "I still don't understand why they're making a fuss right now, given what's at stake. Aren't they all Equestrians? The Villians I at least understand, they sort of have a distinct culture and history. But these ponies in Eastern Equestria should be Equestrian and nothing else, shouldn't they?"
Starlight tutted mockingly. "It's never about who the people think they are."
"Huh?"
"The average citizens here do think that they're Equestrian. And for many many years they do. But ponies can change, and they change even quicker when they're following a leader."
"You'd know, huh." Pinkie muttered, and Spike looked up feigning ignorance.
On the other hand, Geuse asked in bewilderment. "Like how?"
"From day one, the provocateurs are not some rabble-rousers on the street, but those in the high society."
"Really? Shouldn't those ponies be the most loyal to the royal government and the Equestrian princesses? They're highborn, after all."
"Bah. Lots of those high-trotting ponies are only loyal to power. Some even have wild ambitions of their own. Seeing what Lion Muzzle achieve in La Ville boosted their galls a lot."
She then wryly exhaled. "The crown is seen as a lost cause after Sunset Shimmer seized Canterlot. That gal has the temerity of demanding hoofpower, food and bits from the east to help her fight fellow Equestrians, all the while denying them any tangible promises in return. It's no miracle that the people here are so easily roused against the royal government."
"What on earth are they trying to achieve, though?" A concerned-looking Shining Armor chimed in. "Proclaim themselves independent and hope everything would just blow over?"
"I don't know what their end game is, but it certainly isn't turning the East Coast into a bastion of loyal subjects to the missing princesses." Starlight shrugged. "When we were chased out of Manehattan, the royal governor had already been disposed."
"If what Starlight said is true, then they're not going to take our arrival well." Cadance sighed. "We're a proper royal spanner in their works."
"Let's not be this glum."
Spike waved down the doom and gloom. "Look, isn't that the Empire Crystalline Building at the far horizons? It seems that we're finally within Manehattan's perimeters."
"You're right!" Thorax exclaimed. "We're back..."
"But what was that flag on the pole?" Geuse pointed to a fluttering flag hoisted on a townhouse. It was a circular array of six-pointed stars enclosing a windmill, and arranged within the Prench tricolor.
"That is the Manehattan seal." Thorax pointed out.
"Enclosed within le Tricolore. They certainly got inspiration from the Prench." Starlight added.
Shining Armor gritted his teeth. "How can ponies be this disloyal? It takes not half a year for them to go from loyal subjects to completely abandoning their Equestrian roots."
"Shiny, we should wait till we actually meet ponies in the city first." Cadance said. "Maybe things, as Spike said, won't be too bad after all."
"Right..." The white unicorn captain sighed.
~~~
The mixed army pushed on under the command of their leaders, and gradually the magnificent skyline of Manehattan entered their sight.
Across the roaring Manehattan river, seemingly improbably tall buildings extended high into the sky, themselves arranged in neat plots of squares. The ongoing conflicts seemed not to have taken away the grandeur of the Big Apple, as the skyscrapers reflected whatever left of the sunlight and streetlights into the eyes of the visitors, many of whom only saw the concrete wonder for the first time.
Seeing the dancing lights of the metropolis, the northern ponies looked the most astonished. "How in the world do Equestrians build such enormous pillars of stones?" Stellan exclaimed. "This looks like a city of jotuns!"
Magnar merely shook his head in disbelief, and muttered in a low breath. "Miklagard... Miklagard... This is the Great City."
"... Well." Starlight looked to the city with a mixed look of resentment and forlorn. "This may be the city that chased us out, but it does carry a weight unparalleled in Equestria, even the world. It's the biggest city in Equestria after all."
"How's the city defended, though?" Pisacan asked cautiously. "In case... things turn sour."
"It's very complicated, and I hope that it doesn't come to fighting on streets again. Canterlot was more than enough." Thorax winced. "If things did not change too much from when we left, then the city defense was probably still on the shoulders of voluntary militia, which could easily swept aside by your professional army."
He shook his head worriedly again. "If we're a changeling army, airborne and mobile, then it's fine and dandy. But for a big regular army like yours, fighting in city streets is many times worse than fighting in the open, with everything working against you. Ambushes at every street corner, hostile citizens... You're going to be bogged down really quickly."
Pinkie interjected. "We must avoid that at all cost, Spike."
"That's the worst case scenario. I'm sure they too have no reason to fight us." Spike reassured, and then called out to the grey Prench pegasus. "Madame Octavie-Fontaine?"
"Oui?"
"I believe that you carry the friendly message from Director Muzzle with you."
"This is correct."
"And not that we've escorted you safely here, surely you will also speak to the Manehattanites on our behalf about our peaceful intentions?"
"... Certainly." The pegasus thinly smiled. "I shall be a messenger once more and bring news of your arrival to the current leaders of the city."
"Great. Then..."
Octavie-Fontaine merely nodded, and flew away towards the big city in a gust of wind.
After the grey pegasus disappeared at the backdrop of a magnificent suspension bridge, Kanipha asked with doubt. "Can she really be trusted...?"
"I hope so. She's our best hope to make peaceful contact anyway. If we move any closer, the defenders would become panicked and start firing on us right away."
"That mare gives me the creeps as well." Starlight tutted. "She's obviously a Prench spy. I bet she's hiding something big from all of us."
She then smirked. "If you'd just let me, I could've made her spill the truth, you kno-"
"Absolutely not, Starlight Glimmer." Spike turned and loudly grunted, stunning the purple mare. "Any sort of tampering with mind is strictly forbidden in this army. You should know why Cassie the kelpie is with us, shouldn't you?"
"... Tsk. Fine." Starlight pouted, and turned away.
"Argh!" Magnar barked, drawing everyone's attention away. "It's so frustrating to be so passive. I know we've sworn off the ways of raiders long ago, but I wonder... if we just gallop in and ransack the great city, how long can we live like kings with the loots? The riches in this place is simply untrue."
Magnar's query elicited more than a few spit-takes and head-turns. Stellan huffed with amusement, and Rainga chuckled. However, everyone else simply looked appalled.
"Hah. Quit staring at me like that, you lots. We're not exactly barbarians, you know. I believe what I said is called... monkeying around?"
"For the first time, our thane doesn't mince up the idiom he uses." Stellan quipped with a smirk, causing the bearded pony to glare daggers at him.
Spike grinned helplessly. "Thane Magnar, it's fine to joke now, but please don't say something like that when we're inside the 'Great City'. It's going to scare them witless and make them do silly things."
"Ja, sure." The thane again barked a laugh, releasing the tension in the air.
~~~
The army reluctantly set up camp outside the city, when the Prench emissary did not return as soon as they hoped. Spring chill seeped into the bones of the soldiers and commanders alike, dashing their morale, as their hope to have warm food and a roof to stay under in the big city seems to be slipping before them.
"I told ya that mare does not care for us a bit." Kanipha was unamused. "Leaving us out here hanging, what is she thinking?"
"Princess Cadance! Commander Spike!" A crystal pony patrol ran towards the assembled leaders, interrupting their droning wait. "War ships are sailing up the Manehattan river from the bay!"
"War ships? Whose?" Cadance asked with surprise.
"It has black and white strips on the colors. It must be Duke Guillaume the Bald's grand navy."
"So they've come back again." Starlight frowned. "They might've heard how relations have totally broken down between Sunset Shimmer and the eastern cities, and swooped in again."
"No wonder nopony from the city came out to greet us." Spike harrumphed. "They must've been busy organizing defense."
"Right." Shining Armor frowned. "We always arrive at some place when it's about to get sieged. What rotten luck."
"Can we do anything at this moment?" Geuse asked.
"What, do you want to help the Manehattanites out? Do you remember how grateful the Villians were?" Kanipha mocked.
The pegasus puffed her cheeks. "W- Well, they did give us help! ... Eventually. It's going to help us get cosy up with these big city ponies."
"Like they'd suddenly be friendly to the bunch of donkeys and mules whose homes they looted a few weeks before." Starlight frowned. "I have little faith in them being a thankful lot to be honest."
"But alas."
Frigg shook her head and interjected. "Even if we want to, there is nothing that we can do to help. We don't have a navy to speak of now, and waving the griffons over to our defenseless transport barges is simply foolish."
"So we've traveled so far, just to hole up here in the fields?" Geuse huffed.
"We have sadly no choice." Spike shook his head. "Still, we should prepare, just in case, for any sudden engagement with the griffons, especially since they can just fly up from their ships and attack us. Commanders, get back to your posts and get the soldiers ready."
~~~
The grueling wait was wearing everyone down, including the dragon commander. He impatiently looked over the records of dwindling supplies and injured personnel inside the main tent, with Pinkie leaning by his side.
"Commander Spike."
Marin, who was assigned to guarding the tent, cantered from the outside and saluted. "Somepony from the city has come."
"Really? Is Octavie-Fontaine back?"
"No, it is not Madame Octavie-Fontaine." Marin shook his head. "They claim to be somepony you personally know, and they demand immediate audience with you."
"What? Who're they?" Spike was even more astonished, and so was Pinkie. She exclaimed. "M- Maybe they're somepony we know, trying to link up with us!"
"Well...There are two earth ponies. They didn't tell me their names 'for security reasons'." The crystal pony shifted in apparent embarrassment. "But I recognize at least one of them."
"... Wait, what? You recognize some random pony from Manehattan?" Spike was in disbelief.
Marin blushed with a grin. "Well, she's definitely not 'some random pony'. Even though she tried to put up a disguise, I doubt that there is anypony around Equestria with good eyes or ears could mistake her for somepony else. Even I, a crystal pony, recognized her from certain... memorabilia that I acquired when I was outside the Empire."
"Okay, you can stop being all mystical and straight up tell me who she and that other pony are."
"Alright. The first pony was a earth pony mare with an off-white coat and light blue mane. The second one... is the Countess Coloratura."
"Hang on, you mean... the pop superstar?"
"Yep, commander. I'd have to ask, though, how come you personally know her? She's such an instant hit even in reborn Crystal Empire, that I didn't even manage to get the tickets, back when she was invited to perform at the celebration for our miraculous comeback."
"It's a long story. But let's just say she's a good friend of a good friend, and we were acquaintances." Spike smirked. "And the other pony..."
"Judging from the description... It's probably Coco Pommel." Pinkie suggested.
"Ah, yeah, Coco! Oh my goodness, how I've missed her!" Spike brightly smiled. "I still remember how happy Rares was, when she got to poach her from some other fashion pony. Quick Marin, invite them in... and bring us some warm drinks as well. They'll be hugely helpful."
"Aye, commander." Marin thinly smiled, seemingly infected with the joyous atmosphere as well. After a while, the two ponies were allowed inside the tent, cautiously led in by the crystal pony.
After the visitors removed their hoods and capes, Spike and Pinkie looked delighted, as they confirmed that the visitors were really whom they've guessed.
"Wow, are you really Spike?" Coco Pommel covered her mouth with her hoof. "I can't believe the news were true!"
"There ain't another Spike in the world, Miss Pommel." Spike grinned.
"I'm very impressed by the size of the army you're leading, Mister Spike." Coloratura nodded with some unease. "I trust that they're not here to..."
"Of course we're not here to do anything outrageous towards the people of Manehattan." Spike said. "And I trust that you two are here... because somepony told you to look for me?"
Both Coco Pommel and Coloratura smiled. The demure fashion assistant chuckled. "Yes. Ever since you've gone missing in the north, Rarity has been telling me to look for you and the others using all the resources."
"So am I." Coloratura added. "I hadn't had the chance to see Applejack and you again, since I performed in the groundbreaking of her southern railways. Therefore I was kind of surprised to be called upon by a desperate AJ to search for you."
"Then you might be happy to know that everyone that they're looking for is also safely with me, including Pinkie, Geuse the Zebrican and Kanipha the zebra. Even Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, who were wrongfully ousted and proclaimed that by the traitorous Sunset Shimmer, are here with us."
"That's excellent news, Mister Spike!" Coloratura beamed.
"But what about you two? How come you two become their... messengers?"
Coco Pommel squeezed out a smile, but she looked genuinely sad. "... After the conflicts broke out, everything in Manehattan went to chaos. Much fewer ponies went to Coloratura's concerts, and clothes aren't selling as well as before because ponies spend most of their bits on storing up food. Life is not good in Manehattan."
"I heard that the city was shelled by griffons, and all the donkeys, mules and griffon residents got expelled, are these true?" Spike asked.
"... Yes. It wasn't a pretty sight at all." Coloratura sighed with regret and shame in her voice. "We all got caught up in a craze, and it happened so quickly. Most of us know that these non-ponies are not so different from us, but few were courageous enough to stand up for them when everypony else was outraged."
However, the singer then swiped at her lips with her hoof. "But when we were feeling dejected with the deteriorating situation, Coco received something interesting... pigeon letters from Miss Fluttershy in Ponyville."
"Message from Fluttershy?" Spike gasped. "What did it say?"
Coloratura and Coco Pommel looked at one another with a wry smile. The fashion helper then said. "Our friends in Ponyville told us how they fended off Sunset Shimmer and preserved peace there. They also swear that they will use their power, including those of the Elements of Harmony, to return peace to the entire Equestria. I then followed the instructions and contacted Miss Coloratura, who is one of my clients, and told her everything."
"... You two believe them, just like that? Off some scribbled words on a small piece of paper?" Spike questioned, secretly unsure of their resolve.
The two ponies briefly frowned. After a while, Coloratura sighed. "... I must admit, we're at times uncertain as well. Our links to the Ponyville resistance are a bit tenuous. Sometimes I was even worried that the messages were forged by ponies with bad intention, and I'm working towards their goals."
Coco Pommel added with a small smile. "But... But these messages bring us hope. A hope that peace and normalcy can return to Equestria, and nopony shall fight each other over meaningless things ever again. A hope that even a simple seamstress like me can work to achieve."
"And I'm convinced that nopony, other than my dear friend Applejack, can write to me in such honest, sincere words about our shared hope." Coloratura's smile then turned a bit wistful. "Since my singing alone can no longer bring peace to Manehattan, I decided to band together with Coco and help our friends in Ponyville out."
"What do they want you to do?" Spike asked.
"Specifically, they want us to be their agents in the east."
"... Eh?"
"It's quite funny, actually." Coloratura smirked. "I've never imagined that a pop singer like me would be spy material. I thought it's something that only happens in plays, like the Mareta Hari."
Coco Pommel blushed. "So do I. I'm only good with trimming, sewing and design. Rarity never told me that my job would involve any kind of intrigue."
Spike joked. "Not even fashion secrets?"
The blue-maned pony looked up, and chuckled. "... We don't steal designs from others. But we decide to place trust in our friends to end this conflict, and begin to pull strings in the city and elsewhere to help our faraway friends."
"How exactly?" Pinkie asked with interest.
The duo looked at the pink mare with some clear hesitation, causing her to sulk and turn away. Spike quickly explained with a pained look. "Now, you two might've heard that Pinkie... had been helping Sunset Shimmer and denouncing her other friends. But it was because she was mind-controlled at the time. Please don't hold it against her."
Coloratura and Coco Pommel shared a glance. Coloratura let out a surprised hum. "Huh, they're right again."
"What?" Spike asked with confusion.
"Rarity wrote to us that she also thought Miss Pinkie Pie was not being herself, and told us to be careful while not blaming her for anything that she might've done under undue influence." Coco Pommel explained.
"Rarity..." Pinkie could not help but sniffled at her friend's magnanimous generosity.
Coloratura nodded. "So anyway, we're told to collect information and send them back to Ponyville, as well as to influence public opinion, so that ponies here would be friendlier towards the resistance." She then grinned sheepishly. "I guess that's when my celebrity status comes in handy."
"I'm just a humble dressmaker, but I overhear some interesting things as well, when I'm invited to important ponies' houses to tailor-make dresses for them."
"I see..." Spike nodded slowly. "I'll tell you my side of story soon, so that you might communicate that with everypony back home... using pigeons?"
"We'd be very glad to hear them." Coloratura smiled. "However, there's no need to send out pigeons now. We're only here to confirm that you're indeed the Spike that we're looking for."
"... Huh? Why? The sooner we get the news of our survival, and that we have the capable helping hooves and paws of the Northern Alliance to the girls in Ponyville, the better!"
"Well, for one, pigeon post is not a hundred percent secure. Although I'd like to believe that we've never been intercepted, news as big and complicated as yours might be better told in person."
"... In person?"
"Yes. Some of our allies in Ponyville are coming to Manehattan themselves."
"R- Really?!" The news shook both Pinkie and Spike to the core.
"That's right. From what I've read in the last pigeon mail, the resistance in Ponyville had been organizing a naval relief for the East Coast cities. They have been amassing ships in Las Pegasus, and they had departed quite a while ago."
She sighed. "Despite the more and more complicated politics around here, they seem to still think that we're all Equestrians, united in our opposition to tyranny... I should hope this is so, even after the big-wigs here moved forward with their wild ambitions..."
Spike asked with bemusement. "What do you mean?"
"There has been heated talks among leaders and delegates from Fillydelphia, Manehattan and Baltimare in an emergency convention a while ago. They soundly denounced the latest orders from the central government, and sought to formally secede from Equestria to deny it any authority. The Union of Alleghaneigh seems to be the most popular name of this... to-be new nation, after the Alleghaneigh Ranges of the Foal Mountain. So far the people here are at most lukewarm to the idea, many questioning the wisdom of dividing ourselves at times like this, but who knows what would happen a few months down the line."
"..." Spike and Pinkie knitted their brows, offering no comment on the disquieting development. Instead, the dragon sighed and asked. "When will this naval relief arrive, and who would be on board?"
"The estimated date of their arrival was... the day before yesterday, actually."
"Eh?!" Spike gasped.
"But they also said that they intended to track down and defeat the griffon navy first. So it might slow them down a bit." Coloratura looked to the entrance of the tent in thought. "Now that the griffon navy are here blockading our harbor again, I believe that they would show up in here very soon. And when they arrive, they can sink every single ship of those greedy raiders, and bring some of the hungry citizens and expelled refugees to the safety in the south... Bread and butter is more substantial than mere cheerful songs, after all."
"Don't say that. Morale is something very important during times like these. Keeping our collective heads up will only reinforce the powerful magic of harmony."
Spike then lightly sighed. "That being said, what you said about the relief's arrival sounds a bit too optimistic."
"But I heard that Miss Rainbow Dash is on board." Coco Pommel quipped. "She's already a war hero before all these, I read from the papers, single-hoofedly rescuing a lost nation from the ancient times!"
"Kinda like Daring Do, only with less rope and more flying snakes." Coloratura chuckled. "If it's her that's leading the relief, then I'd put some serious currency in it."
"Well, when you put it like that..." Spike offered up a defeated smile.
"Dashie..." The longing on Pinkie's face was obvious. Spike sighed and stroked his marefriend's mane gently.
"So." Spike turned after a silent moment. "What would you recommend us to do now? We do not have the permission to enter the city, sadly. The Prench emissary who would speak on our behalf have yet to come back."
"Madame Octavie-Fontaine, you mean?" Coloratura said.
"You heard about her?"
"Of course. It was her who brought news of your arrival to the city ponies. However, she seemed to have trouble arranging a meeting with city leaders after the griffons come again. Coco and I only managed to sneak out before there is a total shutdown."
"Tut. Oh well. I suppose that it might not be safe for you two to return to the city for now, right?"
The two ponies sighed, which prompted Spike to wave at Marin at the entrance.
"Marin, can you please escort our two very important friends to rest? I have to relay the new information to the rest of the commanders as well."
"Yes, sir!"