What had started out as a potential battle had now turned into a large-scale meet and greet, as our soldiers mingled with their human counterparts from the Apocalypse. Where there was once a feeling of dread, there was now laughter and small talk.
I walked through the mass of people and ponies on my way towards the largest building in the base, where I had been told the Herald was waiting for me. As I passed an Apocalyptian soldier, I overheard the conversation he was having with a young mare.
"Now then, I bet you're glad you didn't end up on the wrong side of this bad boy," the soldier said, as he patted the anti-aircraft cannon they were standing beside. "We don't call these things 'Sky Shredders' for nothing, you know. This weapon can tear metal to pieces; imagine what it would have done to your soft little body."
The mare shuddered. "I don't want to imagine, thank you very much," she replied, casting her eyes over the weapons imposing frame. "It's just as well our respective leaders managed to recognise each other before any blood was shed."
The GDA soldier nodded. "Indeed," he replied. The two of them stood in silence for a moment, the man coughing awkwardly. "So, uh... why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?"
The mare's reply faded away as I walked past them, but she seemed really eager to answer the soldier's question. I continued walking, Equestrian and Apocalyptian soldiers alike showing me respect; a bow from the former, and a salute from the latter.
I finally reached the Herald's command building and walked inside, noticing that the room was crammed with equipment ranging from radios to weapons. On one wall was a large map of the surrounding area, the various arrows and symbols drawn on it indicating movement and actions undertaken by GDA soldiers.
I studied the map closely, and it soon became apparent that the intelligence we'd had on the Diamond Dogs was accurate. They had taken over this very area, but they were ultimately driven out by the Apocalypse; the arrows on the map indicated the GDA's attempts to find and eliminate any remaining pockets of resistance.
Someone cleared their throat, and I turned around to find the Herald in front of me. He looked at the map, and then at me.
"When we first got here, those 'Diamond Dogs' were rather welcoming," he said. "They were quick to see that the technology we possessed was far more advanced than theirs, so they really wanted to get on our good side." He narrowed his eyes. "But that all changed when they asked us to do something for them."
"What did they want from you?" I asked.
"They wanted our help to 'finally destroy the ponies,'" Geo replied venomously. "Their leader said, and I quote, 'With such power at our disposal, those disgusting little quadrupeds will kneel before us; at long last, the Great One's edict shall finally be fulfilled!'"
I smiled. "I think I know what happened next," I said. "You refused to help them and they tried to attack you, right?"
"If by 'refused to help,' you mean 'put a bullet between the son of a bitch's eyes,' then yes." Geo nodded. "I killed him, the Dogs tried to jump me, my men retaliated, and it turned into a Violet-damned bloodbath. They fled after suffering heavy casualties, but we've been expecting them to try and launch a counter-attack, as this area seems to be as important to them; they must have been planning an attack on Equestria. When we saw the airships approaching, we thought that the damned fools had finally mustered up the courage to launch it." He laughed. "However, I'm so glad that turned out not to be the case."
"Me too." I paused for a moment, then finally stepped forward and embraced him. "It's good to see you again, Geo."
He returned the embrace. "Likewise, Twilight." he sighed. "Now, I'm guessing I need to explain why I have an army here, right?"
"That's a splendid idea, Herald." we broke apart as Celestia entered the room with Luna, Cadence, Shining and my friends in tow. "After all, Luna and I both seem to remember expressly forbidding you from stationing your troops in Equestria."
Geo raised his hands in front of him. "I know, Princess, I know," he replied. "But you have to understand that my men and I wouldn't be here if the current situation didn't warrant it."
"And what situation would that be, hmm?" Luna demanded.
Geo fell silent, folding his arms behind his back as he walked to the centre of the room. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, then opened them and turned to face us.
"The Apocalypse is lost," he said flatly. "A rebellion, made up of traitors from within the ranks of the armed forces, has begun a bloody civil war and succeeded in forcing me off the seat of power. The former leader of the Apocalypse Navy, Daniel MacPherson, leads this so called 'United Liberation Army.' The capital is lost, and I was forced to flee the country after I was nearly killed."
"How did you escape?" Celestia asked.
"I used my portal, of course," Geo replied. "It was located at the base the men outside are stationed at, so—"
"Wait just a minute." Rainbow Dash pointed outside. "How can you be so sure that those guys aren't going to turn on you?"
Geo smirked. "Those men aren't normal soldiers, Rainbow Dash," he said. "What you see out there are three battalions of Shadow Troopers, the crème de la crème of Apocalyptian infantry. Together, they form the seventy-fifth Shadow Regiment, part of the Fourth Shadow Corps; the very same corps that I personally commanded before I became the new leader of the Apocalypse."
"So the men out there are all loyal to you?" I queried.
Geo nodded. "Every last one of them," he said. "I have absolute faith in all of them, for they are my brothers-in-arms. We went through hell during the war to overthrow our mad King, and I can't think of anyone else I'd rather have at my side right now... other than your good selves, of course, my Equestrian friends."
"If you are vouching for them, then we will not question their loyalty," Celestia said. "Now, I believe you were in the middle of explaining how you all managed to escape."
"Yes, of course." Geo cleared his throat. "As I was saying, we used our portal to escape. After I escaped from Geotopia, I knew it was only a matter of time before I was found. I had to escape somewhere, and I knew that this place would be safe, so I convinced my men to follow me; we've been here for two weeks."
"We've been aware of a presence here for about a week now," Celestia said. "Captain Spitfire saw you, but she thought you were Diamond Dogs; that's why we were coming here."
Geo chuckled. "I can see why she'd think that," he replied. "We arrived here on the seventh and had the base operational by the ninth. The Dogs arrived on the tenth, and the crap hit the fan on the twelfth. I'm guessing Spitfire saw us on the fourteenth?"
"She did." I nodded. "It took us a week to prepare our own forces, which brings us to where we are now on the twenty-first."
"What of your portal?" Luna asked. "Where is it now?"
Geo rubbed the back of his head. "If I set things up properly, the portal and the base it was located at should both be a smouldering crater by now. I wasn't prepared to take any chances, you see, so I blew the place sky-high using a couple of tons of explosives."
"I see," Celestia said. "And what of our other allies in the region?"
"From what I heard before we got here, the rebels sent some troops into Insignificance to look for me," Geo replied. "But when they got spotted by the Insignificance Civil Defence Force – the ICDF – it resulted in a brief firefight. Four ICDF men were wounded, and Jock is pissed off. Consequently, he's declared war on the rebels and pledged his full support to the Apocalypse."
"So another war has engulfed the region," I said. "The only difference being that this one is actually real. Is there anything else you can tell us about the situation, Geo?"
"Let me think... oh, yeah. The Paradise and Twilightlicious have declared their neutrality, but have kindly offered to take in any refugees. Azeertha, Elyshia and the Talasatenin Empire all pledged their support to me, but I told them to stay out of it in case MacPherson decided to turn his military against them for 'supporting the tyrant dictator scum.'" He paused for a moment. "What else? Ah, yes. As I said, I was badly wounded during the Battle of Geotopia — but after I managed to escape, the rebels told the people that I'd been killed; I soon heard rumours of mass suicide amongst the remaining loyalists in the GDA." He sighed. "We can't send or receive any communications, so our guess is as good as yours regarding the current situation... and that's pretty much the whole story, Your Majesties. All I ask is that you let us stay here while this whole situation blows over; in return, we will assist you in any way we can. As for the rebels, I have every faith in the abilities of Kevin Dawson – AKA my second in command – to crush them and their bones into dust, at which point they will hopefully figure out where we've went."
"Your 'second in command?'" I parroted. "I read all of the books I could get my hooves on while I was leader of Twilightlicious; none ever mentioned anyone named 'Kevin Dawson' being your deputy."
"That's because he only got the job two months ago." Geo smirked.
"Oh, I see," I said. "If you don't mind me asking, how did he come to be the second-in-command of such a powerful country?"
"I thought about what you said to me," Geo replied. "You know, about what would happen if I was to be killed or incapacitated? Since I didn't fancy the idea of some Sombra-worshipping nutjob undoing all of my hard work, I decided to find someone to act as my second. Kevin Dawson was conscripted into the GDA when he was twelve, and he proved to be a remarkable soldier. His loyalty is absolute, he is a proven marksman and tactician, and he inspires courage and determination in those around him. By the time he was twenty-two years, he was a Four-Star General; the quickest rank advancement in GDA history." He paused. "Oh, and for the record, we don't send children to the front lines. They undergo extensive training – the best in the world – until they are eighteen, and then they are put into active service."
I smiled. "Thanks for explaining that," I replied. "Now, if we can get back to the matter at hoof, I have no objections to you and your men staying here — but you all have to understand that life in Equestria is quite different than life back in the Apocalypse."
"I understand and accept that completely," Geo replied. "For as long as we are here, your citizens will get no trouble from us."
Celestia smiled. "Very well, Herald, you are free to remain here in Equestria," she said. "In the meantime, we will try and get in touch with Tracey, Sandra, Raymond and Jock, so that we can all be brought up-to-date with the current situation."
Geo bowed. "I don't see how that's possible, but thank you nonetheless," he said. "In the meantime, you are free to roam our camp, but I would ask – with the greatest of respect – that you keep away from our fuel dumps, ammunition stores, vehicles and aircraft; I would like to avoid any potential accidents."
We all nodded, just as one of the Shadow Troopers walked in and saluted. "My sincerest apologies for the interruption, Herald," he said. "It's just that our Equestrian friends seem to be under the impression that they can beat us in a game of football. So, with your permission, we'd like to get a team together and—"
"You don't need my permission to show off how great we are!" Geo laughed. "By all means, get a team together and show our friends here that we have ways of kicking butt which don't involve guns!"
"Yes, my Herald!" the trooper said. "Glory to the Apocalypse!"
"Glory to the Apocalypse, Trooper." Geo saluted. "Now, get it done!"
The Trooper grinned and turned on his heels to leave the tent, shouting "We've got the go-ahead!" to the men outside. My friends, clearly not wanting to miss the action, followed him. But as Starlight and I went to leave, Geo stepped in front of us.
"I don't recall having met you in Twilightlicious," he said to Starlight. "Are you another one of Twilight's friends?"
Starlight nodded. "That's just the half of it," she replied. "I'm also her student; Twilight here is teaching me the ways of friendship."
"You didn't meet her because I didn't even know her back then," I said. "Starlight has a, shall we say, 'troubled' past."
"By 'troubled,' she means that I enslaved an entire village and took away their cutie marks because my best friend left me, thus making me think that friendship was a useless concept." Starlight looked Geo in the eyes. "Judge me all you want."
"You're talking to a man who, before this damn war, made jaywalking punishable by a public flogging," Geo snorted. "Judging you for something so minor would be grossly hypocritical of me."
"Oh." Starlight looked away. "O-okay, then." She coughed. "So, shall we go and watch them play... football, is that what you called it?" Geo nodded. "Right, let's go and watch the football game."
With that, she beat a hasty retreat from the tent, leaving Geo and I to share a laugh before following her to the game.
A game the Equestrian team soon won by twelve points to two.