The Red Sun Rises: Homefront

by The Atlantean


26. The Battle of Canterlot Part 1

Major Crystal Snow, formerly of the Crystal Imperial Army, stood watch in the northern line. Beside her was a four-pony squad of the Atlantean Special Operations. They weren’t the brightest of squads when it came to nicknames; the leader was Alpha, the vice-captain was Beta, then came Charlie, and Scout was the Pegasus of the group, but they knew their business. Right now, that was keeping the Major safe while she wandered the potentially dangerous line.

Crystal didn’t mind them. She just wanted to walk among her troops as they prepared for the largest offensive this world had ever seen. Some were on recon duty, others trained in the rough but currently toned-down Everfree Forest as woodland fighting, while still others ran the expanded camp spread across miles upon miles of borrowed farmland. Urban combat would be the worst, but they couldn’t practice without either using Ponyville proper, which was not done for obvious reasons, or building a set, which they didn’t have the time for. We’ll just have to wing it.

She couldn’t understand why she was so important to the Atlanteans besides the fact that she was Crimson’s distant cousin. Special Ops kept shut, as did the entire AREA force. She figured out a few months ago that Atlanta was queen and she was related through that line, but that couldn’t be it - unless being in the line meant she was it if Atlanta, Crimson, and the colonel’s daughter Andromeda were killed. But considering the probability of that…

Crystal shook the thought. Lieutenant Silver Comet was approaching. She straightened slightly and saluted. Even if she had the technically higher rank, the lieutenant was Crimson’s third-in-command, whereas she was fourth. Equestrian ranks were confusing.

“What can I do for you today?” she asked, wincing at the familiarity of the question in front of their allies. Her liking towards the Earth pony stallion appeared to be the cause. She smiled sheepishly.

The target of her affections returned the salute. “Princess Celestia has come home. She’ll be making an appearance here to see the army and such after the Dominion arrives. Captain Shadow has mentioned his plan to you, right?”

The dark blue Crystal pony nodded. “He wants to retake Canterlot before she gets here. I think we only have a week or two, though. That isn’t enough time for a full-blown siege. The damn city’s built on a mountainside!”

He placed his hoof on her cheek. “I know your concerns. But we’re trying. Our combined armies should do the trick.”

“Colonel Dawn reported that they have flying machines that can inflict heavy damage. A sizable portion of AREA was sunk because of them. Why can’t Sombra have tanks? Repeaters? After all, hoo-mens” -her normally perfect Equestrian slipped with the resentment building inside her- “with technological advancements similar to our A-mair-i-can friends are helping him.”

Silver Comet chuckled at her slip, but replied that it would be fine. Sombra was probably keeping those as a reserve, anyway. “We move out tomorrow at dawn. The Atlantean artillery has the range to hit Canterlot if we go about three-fourths up the mountain.”

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It was three days into the siege, only six after they left Ponyville. Dense white smoke hung like a morning fog above the combined Equestrian and Atlantean armies. For some reason, the Atlantean Reserve Emergency Army pulled twenty-pound guns around with them, and it made sense. They were city-destroyers.

The night-blue Unicorn Captain Midnight Shadow walked outside of the command tent for a breath of fresh air. He was greeted instead by the thunderous roar of debris falling on a twenty-pounder, blasting junk and smoke everywhere. After the reflexive cough, he saw that the crew had survived. Midnight was relieved; good gun crews were hard to get.

He looked up at their target. The Crystal garrison stationed in Canterlot was acting very much like his own had back in Manehattan so long ago. On every flagstaff flew Sombra’s pitch-black cloth, defiantly streaming like Captain Reynolds commented about a Fort Sumter once did.

The once-immaculate capitol of Equestria, the seat of Princess Celestia’s power and just rule, was in tatters. Just looking at Canterlot was enough to put tears in his dried-out, irritated eyes. Though a telescope, he’d seen her grand hall collapsed in on itself from numerous shells. Luna’s watchtower had simply lost its base and come tumbling down the mountainside not four hours ago. The Archives were ablaze, but the Crystal army had done it themselves; the Atlanteans assured him their guns and ammunition could not set something on fire unless they hit stuff that would spontaneously combust with such an impact as roundshot. Many homes and shops just couldn’t withstand bombardment and were in shambles.

Several times, an overshot shell streaked above the ruined city and slammed into the cliff overlooking Equestria’s former seat of power. The hits sent large chunks of rock falling onto the marble streets as indiscriminately as the Atlanteans pounded it. Midnight was obligated to tell them to stop destroying the lives of innocent ponies, but knew they had it under control. Sombra would win if they stopped.

A huge blast echoed down the slopes. A Crystal ammo depot had been hit, rendering the guns they now had practically useless. Chunks and debris rolled, bouncing and shredding themselves on the mountain. Wait, is Canterlot getting really damn close really fast, or is it-

He didn’t have time to contemplate. The captain and perhaps three regiments’ worth of Unicorns instantly raised a shield around the army. It was immediately pounded with marble, stone, polished granite, random chunks of wood, and a couple of burning books. The thunderous roar and bone-crushing strain kept up for a full five minutes. To those under the barely-holding shield, it was a lifetime.

Already, a regiment of Pegasi were clearing the dust away with their wingbeats. Celestia’s sun finally peeked through the haze of smoke, debris, dust, and blood-red droplets from those not so lucky to have survived. Midnight squinted through it all and already was wishing he hadn’t.

Silver Comet ran to him. “Sir, what in Tartarus happened?”

“Look,” he shakily replied.

The dust-covered aluminum lieutenant peered up. “Wha… I… ah…” Midnight could see it tore up his friend.

The Canterlot Archives hadn’t been just randomly been burning. The building had been on a fuse. A bomb.

The Canterlot Archives were gone. Broken. Tumbled down the mountainside like an avalanche. The Crystal army had destroyed them with little care for anything.

“By Harmony…” Crystal Snow had joined them. “Celestia’s going to be heartbroken.”