Crimson Dawn looked up from behind his desk in the Equestrian encampment. The command tent was over his head, but that didn’t stop the pelting rain from occasionally seeping through leaks. It was a sudden storm of amazing proportion, probably stirred up by the magical wasteland that was the Snowy Badlands. Looking at it now, it didn’t make much sense for it to be raining in early March or April or whichever month it was, being as far north as they were. It wasn’t June yet, and that was all that mattered. But at the rate the original plan was deteriorating, it might be by the time they get around to it.
Crystal Snow stood just outside the tent flap, getting drenched by the torrential rain - no, it was more like sleet. Her normally lustrous deep blue coat was marked with many soaking streaks and hung like a wet dog’s. Those sparkling eyes of hers flickered of worry today, but they always did. It had to be fear. Fear of failure.
“Come in,” he called. She entered, and he gestured to a seat in front of him. “Please, sit.” She did. Purple creases showed under her eyes from a harrowing night of running from Tundra Ghouls. “So, what seems to be the issue, Major?”
“Sir, it’s about Dragonspire. The photos don’t have enough of the whole picture. Based on my own sighting, I assume that the place supports at least two hundred thousand. More than the entire combined forces during the Manehattan Siege,” she replied.
“And four times as many compared to the Equestrian vanguard at that bare minimum,” Crimson finished. “It looks as if we must wait for Atlanta to arrive before we even have their numbers. Flawless Ice’ll tip that scale for sure when he gets here, but Sombra’s defenses around that fortress would prevent us from using that advantage decisively!” He fumed. “I was hoping this wouldn’t happen. But that’s not how the stories go. There’s always the impenetrable fortress that will fall despite heavy losses.”
“Dragonspire Citadel has never been tested in combat. But they already have two walls, an outer wall and an inner wall, and are building a second inner wall. All the stone used came from the mine trying to excavate the Gem. My best guess is that the Gem is unstable as hell. Either that, or Sombra’s only got one more shot before it’s outta juice.”
“You’ve been hanging around the A-mare-i-cans too much. And speaking of them, Admiral Robinson actually commended Captain Reynolds since they finally got around to doing that sort of thing. They also have fuel; it’s shitty, but it works. Robinson says he’s taking the combined, repaired fleet up the Crystal Mountains River - the damn thing is apparently deep enough - and taking out the Crystal Empire’s port. But he doesn’t know how far to go upriver.”
“All the way. The port was just barely visible through the stone haze and half-blizzard about two miles east of the city. Robinson may have his hooves - I mean hands - full.”
“Yeah. Damn. And I know there’s something else on your mind. A certain colonel I once knew - a mix between a Pegasus and a Unicorn bitten by a werewolf, if you can believe it - Moonshine Silvercrest, that’s who! She taught me how. It ain’t hard.”
“One of the ponies being forced to work her tail off. She didn’t even look like she was older than ten! Late-evening coat, violet mane and tail, no cutie mark - Sombra’s making fillies haul three-ton rocks!”
Crimson raised an eyebrow. “Wings and horn?”
“Yes, the poor filly was an alicorn. Why?”
“SON OF A MOTHERFUCKING BITCH!!!” Crimson roared at the top of his lungs. In his anger, he bolted up and flipped the desk with his forelegs. The desk almost hit Crystal, but she backed off in time. She took one look into his eyes and saw a fury Queen Chrysalis would’ve had a hard time matching. The Pegasus practically seethed with anger. It was almost tangible, radiating off him in waves. “HARMONY DAMN IT!”
Crystal immediately backed outside the tent and into the lightening rain. The two guards, surprised at the outburst, looked at her, unsure of what to do. She motioned for them to keep away from the tent. “I’ve never seen a pony so upset. Just let him cool off. And one of you get Rose Thorn.” They nodded, content with doing that. One trotted towards the small makeshift hospital and inwardly smiled at his luck to talk to her. She was an alicorn, for goodness’ sake!
“Ma’am, Major Snow would like to speak with you,” he said when came close enough.
“It'd better be about Crimson. Typically I let go off like this, but he's quite a bit louder than his normal temper flares.” She followed the soldier to the command tent. When they arrived, she had to fly over a growing crowd to reach Crystal. “What happened?”
“I don't know. I described an alicorn that Sombra had enslaved and it set him off. He won’t let anyone in.”
“An alicorn? Elaborate.”
“Late-evening coat, violet mane and tail. No cutie mark.” the Crystal pony immediately replied.
“I see.” Rose Thorn took in a deep breath, then exhaled slowly, as if forcing down a thunderous rage. “That’s Andromeda. Our daughter. I’ll try to cool him off.” She opened the tent flap and strode in. when it closed again, she stared directly into her husband’s furious eyes. “Calm down. We can’t help Andromeda unless you let out that steam.”
“How can I? You were gone, Crystal Shard lost her dreams, and I didn’t go home. I stayed in the army. Andromeda was raised not by us, but by her grandparents! She hardly knew me! She’s never known you! Everything I tried so hard to protect is gone! With Atlanta herself adamantly sticking to the front line, you presumed dead, and her as Sombra’s slave, who do we have back home to rule if all of us die? I’d never be king; I wouldn’t do good enough,” he shot back. “We’ve lost.”
“That isn’t the Crimson I knew. The one I knew, know, would fight on despite the odds. He’d only ever give up when that was the only thing left. But he’d rather die than surrender.” She placed her hoof on his angry red cheek. “We’re all counting on you. Be the pony you are. Lead. Defeat Sombra. And bring our daughter home. You will, because if you don’t, you’ll die trying.” His eyes were lost in some alternate world, she could see, not even registering her voice. “Come back,” she whispered, and kissed him lightly on the muzzle.
It took him a moment to bring his mind back to the present. “Sorry. I don’t know what happened. I - I just overreacted.”
“No, you did exactly what I almost did. It’s natural to ‘flare up’ when somepony you love is in trouble. Especially if it’s your kid.”
In that moment, Crimson finally broke down. His rage had cooled into tears that dripped down his face and left wet streaks. He leaned and sobbed in Rose’s side. “I can’t. I don’t know how,” he said over and over.
“Of course you don’t,” she softly replied. “That’s why you plan. Now go do something about it.”