//------------------------------//
// Chapter 85; End of an era 
// Story: The War of 1002 
// by Fireheart 1945 
//------------------------------//

As the army spread out across the city, it entered every house it came across. It didn't rampage and plunder, but it was thorough in its search. Any military grade weapon was confiscated at once, and any adults in the house were questioned. 

James kept his pistol in hand. He found that he kept checking whether it was loaded, even though he knew that he had made sure of it hours ago. It was difficult to help it. And he wasn't the only one; most of the soldiers he could see were on edge.

It would take days to sweep the entire city. It had been estimated to take weeks, but the city's population had rallied behind the new government; mobs of enraged peasants accompanied the Allied soldiers, holding pitchforks, torches, knives, and clubs of various kinds, including, but not limited to, baseball bats and pieces of piping, and roving bands of furious griffons wandered the streets and skies, conducting searches of their own. James had feared that the people of the city might try to hide the rebels, but that fear had proved almost groundless; virtually no one wanted to hide murderers who would fire on their own people. Of the few who did... James had seen a number of griffons lying beaten in the streets, with signs tied around their necks telling of their crimes, purported or otherwise. Two rebels had been found by peasants and had been lynched on streetlamps before the Confederate authorities could get to them. 

Silver Shield stopped in front of him and gave a salute. James returned it. "What did you find?" he asked. 

"Sir," the major began, "We found a house that looked innocent, but when we entered it, every opening we found, from closets to kitchen cabinets, was filled to the brim with powder, guns, and bullets. We also found three Gatling guns that they managed to squirrel away after the major fighting in the city was done."

"Sounds like we found a big storage dump for the insurrectionists. You secured it, right?"

"Of course. A full two companies are guarding it, fully armed and ready for business."

"Good. Did you find any hints that the building was occupied prior to searching it?"

"Yes, sir. It seemed abandoned, though."

"You searched everywhere? Loose floorboards and attic and all?"

"Yes, sir. No one."

"Well, keep your eyes open. They might have found a way to hide or sneak into the house."

"Understood, sir."

"Any other sign of the criminals?"

"Not as of yet, sir. Either they're keeping a low profile, or-"

A gunshot rang out not far away.

Shield stiffened. "Sounds like that came from the house... but it couldn't have. We checked it from top to bottom, and no one was inside!"

"Apparently, our enemies found a way to hide," James replied. "If they did break in or hide, we need to get over there quickly."

"You won't get there fast enough on your own legs. Hop on," Shield said, gesturing to his back with a hoof. 

James did need to be asked twice; he jumped on, and Shield took off at full speed.

"By the way, how's the...?"

"It's fine for now," James answered. "Let's focus on clearing out the rebels."

It didn't take long for them to arrive. James winced to see several soldiers sprawled on the streets outside the house. James got off Shield's back and took the rifle of his own shoulder.

The gun battle was well underway. Allied soldiers, mostly Equestrians, had taken over in nearby houses and were firing out of windows and doors. Opposite them, apparently in the house that Shield had been talking about. Hundreds of soldiers were firing into the house; griffons of fewer numbers were shooting. Although they were badly outnumbered, that disadvantage was greatly compensated for by the fact they were using the Gatling guns that Shield had mentioned earlier. Bullets were striking houses as though each individual round was part of a chain; every time an Equestrian rose to fire, he had to duck down fast. 

"Captain, what happened?" Shield demanded of a nearby soldier as he and James scrambled into a house for cover.

"Sir," the Captain said, saluting.

"Don't waste my time with protocol, answer the question! Where did they come from, and how did they get to the point of shooting at us!?!"

"Sir, it turns out the weapons in the house weren't just there to arm a rebellion; they were being used to conceal the rebels. We found one of the insurgents when we removed the stacks of guns that were hiding him. He shot one of us and we shot him, which must have triggered everyone else in the house to come out of their hiding spots; the other caches in the house all came apart to reveal griffon fighters."

James shook his head. "Wish we'd thought of that," he said, turning to Shield.

"Me too. Their plan was all too clever. New question is, why are they fighting us here?" 

James ducked as a chain of bullets flew through the window. "Beats me. They have to know they can't hold out. Not forever. If we have to, we can bring up tanks and cannons to blow the house to smithereens." 

"This gun fight can only delay the inevitable, in other words," Shield said, joining James in lying prone for a moment. 

"Delay..." James crawled over the the window, raised his rifle, above his head, and fired blindly at the house. A string of Gatling bullets answered, tearing the wall and further smashing up the inside of the room. "Or maybe a distraction? For something else?"

"But what?" Shield copied James and received the same treatment from the enemy gunner.

James found himself thinking of the refugees who had fled the city in the wake of the massacre in the square. Many griffons had left the city and were encamped outside it, within the former griffon defensive lines. "I'm worried that some rebels might have joined the temporary exodus outside the city."

"But we searched 'em all!" Shield raised his rifle above the window sill and fired twice before lowering it and turning toward James. "How could they have slipped past us? Any seeming civilian with weapons had them confiscated and was interrogated!"

"We were just in the middle of a war." James took quick aim and fired at an upper window on the enemy stronghold, ducking back down quickly. "Weapons might not be as hard to find as you think. And they're encamped between the walls and where the enemy trenches used to be. There may be small weapons boxes and caches that we didn't account for. If push comes to shove, insurgents hiding among the refugees could ambush and kill or kidnap legitimate Confederate soldiers and steal their weapons and uniforms."

"But what would they be able to do?" Shield fired again, and this time was met by a cry from across the street.

James reloaded. "Anything, really. Destroy supply dumps, ambush soldiers, raid our supply lines... or..."

"Attempt to murder the Princesses, again," Shield finished. He fired his rifle again, then began to reload as well.

"I don't think they expected to be found this fast," James said. "If this engagement had started the way they wanted, they would have engaged us before we got to the house, the plan would be underway, and they'd be all over the streets instead of being confined to just one building. That said, if there are assassins out there, they've probably been triggered by the sounds of this fight."

"They'll probably try and carry out their plan, if they have one, now that we found out their little hideout." Shield swore under his breath. "And here we are, stuck fighting these guys."

"Maybe, but we can get some messengers out to the main camp and warn them," James said.

"How do we get out of this mess alive in order to do that? I'm still half surprised we didn't get our tickets punched as we came into this fight!"

"We have to try and disengage somehow. No doubt other soldiers have heard and can tell  the Princesses about the fighting, but not about a plan against them directly." James took aim again, this time at one of the Gatling gunners. He fired. The gunner fell backwards, dead before he hit the ground. It didn't do much good; another griffon just got on the gun and continued spraying bullets everywhere.

"Ugh. We aren't going to get anywhere just shooting these guys," Shield muttered angrily, firing again. "We need bigger guns."

Just then, an explosion rocked the house. James thought for a moment that the griffon had shot one of their anti-tank rockets at him and Shield, but a moment later, he realized that the explosion had been too big for that, and the building he and Shield and a number of other soldiers were in wasn't the one that had taken the damage. He took a cautious look outside.

A Barrel-class tank had just shown up and fired its cannon at the window he'd just shot at. There was nothing left of that room now but utter ruin.

Allied soldiers cheered as the tank adjusted its cannon. It fired again, this time at a lower window. The entire wall around the window was blasted apart; griffon bodies were thrown hither and yon or struck with various kind of debris. A few seconds later, another shell struck the house from a different direction. A Gallop tank had joined the fight as well. 

"Do we rush them now, sir?" Shield asked. 

"No, but this is the perfect time to send a messenger, while the enemy is getting hammered. Find three pegasi and have them fly to the main camp."

"Right."

As Shield galloped away, James raised himself to the window and brought his rifle up. The rebel-held house was being blown to bits by the two tanks, and nothing the enemy had was making a dent in the tanks' shields. As the minutes went on, fewer bullets came from the house, until there were only a few rifles being fired here and there.

"Come on!" James ditched the rifle and pulled his revolver out of the holster before vaulting out of the window. He regretted this almost immediately, as the bullets had sadly not gotten rid of all the glass, and his left hand was cut. Wincing, he waved his hand, and Equestrians began to run or fly out of the buildings where they had taken refuge. Yelling as they ran or flew, they rushed the enemy house. 

James ran through a door that had been reduced to splinters. At once he saw five griffons, two of whom were clearly dead and three wounded, including one writhing in pain. He decided that they didn't constitute a threat; none of them was holding a weapon, and they were either motionless or too distracted by pain to do anything. To be safe, he motioned toward them as ponies followed him in. 

The inside of the house - or much more accurately, what was left of the house - was beyond repair. This heap of a building would have to be torn down and rebuilt entirely. The tanks had done their job well. Perhaps too well, he thought as plaster sprinkled off the ceiling. 

He passed by a griffon body that was lying against the wall as he inspected the house for any nasty surprises. The place was full of rubble and dust now, and he couldn't help coughing. 

Just then, someone tackled him from behind. James fell on his face; he jammed his elbow into where he assumed the attacker's face would be and was met with an angry squawk as the limb connected. Taking advantage, James rolled to his left, though not before the griffon managed to bite his arm using his beak. Hissing, James turned onto his left side to face the enemy, who he now recognized as the "corpse" he'd just passed. 

The griffon got up and moved to attack again. James pulled the trigger. The griffon fell back a couple steps, but remained upright, and took a step forward.

For whatever reason, James had forgotten to let go of the trigger before firing again, and in a panic he pulled back the hammer with his other hand and fired one shot after the other into the enemy, who was struck again and again and finally fell, now truly a casualty. 

James breathed heavily as he got to his feet. Several Equestrian soldiers entered the room, guns up and ready for a fight. He waved them away, and they eased up slightly.

It had been a mistake to pass an enemy without checking to see if he was really gone. "Check the bodies and make sure they're really out for the count," he said. "Capture anyone who is still alive."

The soldiers nodded. "Yes, sir," one of them said, and continued searching. 

James reloaded his pistol, then made his way toward the stairs. "Someone keep searching all the closets and cabinets; we don't know where they're hiding, or what they're hiding."

A soldier opened a closet door and jerked back in surprise; as he had chosen to walk on his hind hooves, the motion almost caused him to fall onto his back. "Sir, you might want to see this."

James walked over as the soldier got down to all fours again and shouldered his rifle. A large door, like that of a safe, was inside, behind a dead griffon and scattered Imperial rifles. He tried to turn the large circular wheel, but it wouldn't turn.

"Le me," the soldier said. The stallion put his hooves - shod with nailed- on horseshoes - to the wheel and put his back into it. The wheel slowly turned, and the door swung open. 

"A basement," James remarked. 

"Looks like it was a wine cellar of some sort, sir."

It looked that way to James, too. As he descended the stairs into the cellar, he noted the casks and barrels that were all over the place. Some goblets and beer mugs were scattered about, an indication that when the first shots were fired, the rebels had been enjoying themselves in their hideout. 

Gunfire broke out from upstairs. A couple of pained griffon squawks came to his ears. 

James and the soldier rushed back up to the ground floor, and up the stairs that James had initially been walking towards. The stairs were littered with debris, but they weren't impassible, so both of them managed to arrive on the scene pretty quick.

Two griffons in clan uniforms had been found in an upper room where a tank shot had landed. Seeing James and their fellow trooper coming into what was left of the room, another soldier said, "Sir, we found them alive. They tried to attack us."

James was suspicious for a moment, thinking that the soldiers might have killed the griffons in cold blood, but decided, after looking at the bodies, that their story check out; each was holding a weapon, and it was highly unlikely that the soldiers could have set up something like this in the ten or so seconds it had taken him to get here.

Another three griffons were lying wounded in the room, two in clan uniforms and one in Imperial red and black. The Royalist and one of the Nationalists were unconscious, while the third had managed to drag himself up so that he was lying against the left side of the room. 

"We take them prisoner, sir?" 

"Yes. They will go to court and stand trial with their fellow insurgents. Get some medics up here, and check the building for mines and anything else. And send some more messengers to the Princesses; if the first ones didn't make it for whatever reason, I want to make sure they're warned in case of a possible second assassination attempt."

"Yes, sir." The soldier who had spoken ran off.

James looked out the shattered window, where a ruined Gatling gun still stood. "Godspeed, all of you."

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Celestia sat quietly in front of a table with Generals Rolling Barrel and Shining Armor, Cadence, and Luna. She was sipping tea and seemed on the outside to be calm and collected, but that was an act on her part, and one she was having trouble maintaining. 

She had never witnessed a massacre such as the one seen a few days ago. It was utterly horrifying to see not only soldiers, but civilians, cut down by the terrorists. She had fought many villains in her time, but the slaughter she had just seen put every other battle she had witnessed in the shade. In short, she had been rocked to her very core, and she wasn't sure if she'd recover from the internal horror.

Furthermore, she felt a deep shame in not having done more... in having frozen in a moment of terrible crisis. She was co-ruler of Equestria! She shouldn't be letting this awful event affect her duty to her people...

"We're scouring the city," Shining was saying. "Hopefully, we can find the killers and either crush them or capture them. It'll take some time, but the griffons in the city are helping us to look for them. With their help we should find or defeat them all within the week." He was sitting in a wheeled chair; the nurses and doctors had insisted on it.

"We will not stop until all of the conspirators are brought to justice," Luna replied, "whether by the rifle or the gavel."

Luna had been galvanized by the events in the square, and now she desired one thing; to crush the killers into dust for their actions. She was still determined to be just, even after what had transpired, but she was, without a doubt, infuriated. If she was still afraid or otherwise put off, she wasn't showing it in the least. Then again, she had always been the better of the two sisters of keeping her emotions in check. She had also begun to use the royal plural once more.

"Continue to sweep the city," the Lunar Princess continued. "And check those who fled the city in the wake of the butchery we've seen; they might not all be as innocuous as they appear to be." 

"We're already checking them, Princess. We haven't found much yet, or at least not that I've been told of."

"Good. Continue to do so. I want no stone unturned, no floorboard unchecked, no box or door left unopened. Are We clear?" 

"Yes." 

"Excellent. We expect results."

"You'll have them, Your Highness," Barrel promised, nodding. "Good thing the griffons are largely helping us. Most of them are sick of war and dictatorship."

"Why aren't all of them, though?" Cadence asked. 

"Because some of them are loyal to the ex-king, even though he was a monster by our standards. Before we invaded, the royal demesne received favor from him, and apparently he had a secret school of officers in his palace, all trained to obey him. The rest are just against our occupation, and don't believe us when we say we'll withdraw. Hard to argue with them, especially if they've been taught that ponies are bigoted, self-loving, selfish people who care nothing for the outside world, a teaching that has all too many followers."

"And untrue," Celestia noted. "We've helped others in need and offered foreign aid to other nations, as well as maintaining good relations with them."

"Nevertheless, the griffon people believe, or believed, it, Your Majesty, and it's difficult for an occupying army to convince the native population, who want them out, otherwise."

"Their motivations do not matter," Luna said. "What matters are their actions."

"But if we can't deal with the root of the problem," Cadence reasoned, "we're just suppressing a symptom, one that will rise again to trouble us, unless we can turn that thinking around."

"I'm afraid-"

Barrel was interrupted by a distant gunshot. All heads turned toward the northern side of the tent, as if they could see through the wall. 

"Did that come from the town?" Shining asked. 

Moments later, more gunfire rang out. It was undeniably coming from Gryphos. 

Celestia's mind flew back to the killings, the blood...

No.

A sudden surge of resolve began to settle over her. Now was not the time to lose control. 

Not again. Now is the time to take up the reins as ruler.

"Send some of our soldiers to find out what is happening," she instructed. "Send reinforcements to the city at once."

"We will do so," Barrel promised. He saluted, then left the tent; once outside, Celestia could hear him barking orders. 

She looked at Shining. "What do you think has happened?"

"A fight of some sort, if I had to guess," the white unicorn stallion replied, "as opposed to another act of murder. We probably found a hideout and they chose to fight rather than accept a lifetime of prison, or..."

Celestia sighed. "As much as I want to believe that all criminals can be redeemed, justice demands that any of them we capture pay for their crimes. At their trial, any of those found to be involved in the square shootings will face the death penalty. Any other rebels, such as those our troops are engaging, will be sentenced to life imprisonment."

"Auntie..."

"I know, Cadence. I recognize that the death penalty has been off the table in Equestria for a very, very long time. However, the severity of the crimes they committed call for more than a stint in Tartarus or a normal prison. And on another note, they did not commit their crime in Equestia, but on griffon land, and the laws are different here."

The tent flap opened. Two griffons in armor came through. 

"What's happened?" Shining asked. "Have you found more of murderers?"

"Murderers?" one of them asked, sounding angry. "Is it murder to rid our land of you scum?"

Each of them pulled out a pistol. 

Time seemed to slow. Celestia didn't have time for any complex spells. She simply gathered as much energy she could in the half-second she had and directed it at the griffon on the left.

The yellow beam blasted the griffon, He seemed to become a shadow for a couple seconds, then faded from her sight.

The second one had opened fire. Luna, however, had cast a shield over the party, so the bullets bounced off harmlessly. The griffon cursed, threw down the gun, and pulled out a knife instead. 

He never got the chance to even try it against Luna's shield. Shining was on his hooves and had punched the griffon in the chin with all the strength he could muster in his good foreleg. The griffon flew several feet, and was thrown back through the flaps. 

Luna didn't hesitate, and leaped over the table and out the door. Celestia followed seconds later. 

The griffon was lying on the ground; he had dropped his knife, and was trying to reach inside his armor, no doubt for another weapon. 

Luna put her right forehoof on his neck and pressed. The griffon made a choking sound, and now attempted to lift the midnight blue alicorn's hoof. This only resulted in Luna pressing harder, and she used her magic to arrest the griffon's arms. 

Celestia looked up as the sound of running feet approached. Five more griffons were coming, all clutching weapons. Three of them raised rifles, two others rushed forward with swords.

Shining put up a shield to block the incoming fire, but the sword griffons had already passed the point where the shield was, and they closed in.

Celestia ducked, and then blocked the back-swing with her horn as Luna first punched the captured assassin in the face and them blasted the second melee fighter. The griffon facing Celestia grunted, trying to free himself without leaving himself vulnerable. He raised his left claws and swiped downward. All the while, bullets slammed into the shield, battering it.

A blue jet of light struck the griffon, pushing him back. Several more blue spells struck him, and he twitched as they hit. 

Celestia took the opportunity to use her magic to seize the sword he was carrying, and slammed the hilt of the weapon into his face, causing him to fall to the ground. 

Several more rifle shots rang out. Bullets ceased hitting the shield. Celestia looked; a squad of soldiers had come and shot the would-be assassins; all three of the gun-totting griffons were down. 

The soldiers outside waved and nodded, confirming that the coast was clear. More began to arrive, hundreds of them. Shining lowered the shield. "How did they get past our guards?" he asked turning his head to look back at the tent. He flinched, and when Celestia looked, she saw why. Both had been hit in the neck with daggers that had been thrown. 

"Poor children," Celestia murmured. "I'm sorry."

"The griffons are all in Confederate uniforms," Shining noted. "The Guards probably didn't try and challenge them until it was too late."

"Our loyal protectors will be missed," Luna said, bowing her head for a moment. "But are these all the killers?" 

A cannon in the city fired, followed by more gunfire. More cannons fired. 

"Soldier," Luna said to one of the pegasi who had rescued them, "take this spyglass, fly up high, and tell us what you see." She levitated a spyglass out of the war tent and gave it to the soldier in question.

"Yes, Princess." The pegasus flew up several hundred feet. In the meantime, the sound of cannon fire continued to come from the city for a few minutes before ceasing entirely.

The pegasus came back down. "Looks like a couple of our tanks were pounding a house," he reported.

"So, they must have found our foes' lair," Luna mused. 

"Looks like it. There was firing coming from the house, but most of the window positions got destroyed as I was watching. Our guys were beginning to charge the house when I came down."

"Good. Soon, the conspirators will be neutralized." Luna looked toward Gryphos. "And this insurrection will be over."

"It's been a dark year," Cadence said. "but I think we're finally about to see the light. And maybe it will be brighter than ever before."

"We still have some clean up to do," Celestia said. "Trying the criminals involved in this attack, as well as the rulers responsible for the war, will take up our time in the very near future, and the rebuilding process will be long and arduous."

"Not to mention the anger and perhaps hatred both sides will feel for a considerable time to come," her sister said. "That will take a very long time to dissipate."

The gunfire finally stopped altogether. They all waited, watching the city for several minutes, wondering if the fighting would reignite. 

After a while, Cadence said,"Nonetheless, the fighting's over. We can begin again." 

No one disagreed with her. 

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