“So, the day has come. We’ll assault the factory and finally bring the slaughter to an end.” Applejack says soberly and looks at the approximating settlement in front of us.
I nod: “It’s high time that this happens. So many innocent foals … just killed.”
“It’s a shame.”
I look up: “What will we do with the workers when we assault the factory? They are all murderers after all.”
Applejack approves: “They sure are. Let’s see what Luna has in mind with them. If you’d ask me we should just-“ she cuts herself off, “No, it doesn’t matter what I’d do with them. We should just look at what Luna plans with them.”
“I hope I won’t have to face too many of the guards.”
She looked into my eyes: “What should I say? Every guard could be my brother!”
I jug: “Oh, right.” Trying to cheer her up, I add: “Don’t worry, we’ll have them out of Celestia’s grip soon!”
She gives me a bitter look: “Soon? Ya mean if they survive the today’s battle! Have you read Celestia’s letter? I’m sure the entire army is positioned at the factory!”
“Likely.”
“So what do you think? How big are the chances for my brother and sister to survive that massacre!?”
I jug loudly.
“Yeah. Not that big, you know?” she looks away: “But forget it, I can’t do anything about it! I can only pray to the almighty Faust to make them survive the day.”
I nod softly: “You better do. I wish I could do something for you.”
She shakes her head: “You can’t. Just focus on your aim, alright? Go in there, find the manager and finish her! She deserves nothing else!”
I nod in determination: “Don’t worry, I won’t show any mercy!”
Her face shows a touch of satisfaction as she says: “That’s the spirit! Now let’s hear the battle plan.”
We arrive at the settlement: those guards who survived the battle at the embassy form a crowd around the pedestal in the center of the square and look up to it. Applejack and I join the crowd and look up to the platform, Luna steps on it and her glance wanders throughout the mass of guards.
With a slightly quavering voice, she begins to explain the procedure: “My brothers and sisters! First off: I thank all of you for being here today; I know that many of you had time off, but the upcoming assault probably is the most important thing we’ve ever planned, so please listen carefully. A couple of days ago, I’ve been approached by a stallion that said he wanted to join us. As I asked him for his reasons, he said that his daughter had been abducted and brought to an unknown place. With provisions provided from us, he hit the road to look for his little Firespark. With the help of our sister Applejack, he finally managed to find and enter the place she had been brought to; a place called ‘Rainbow Factory’. The pegasi under you may have already heard of that place: it’s an institution, situated directly above the weather factory in Cloudsdale. In the heart of this horrible place, the abducted foals are grinded and turned into spectra, the base for rainbows!”
Some guards in the crowd gasp unbelieving.
“I know this may sound questionable, but we have clear proof that the spectra is made of the foals’ corpses; we examined the co-leader of the factory: even though he struggled for some time, we finally got the information we need. He is imprisoned at the moment and will get a fair process as soon as our current mission is over. This brings me to the main topic of my speech: we will assault the Rainbow Factory! The crimes committed to the foals have to be punished and the whole place has to be closed down on once and for all!”
“Does that mean there will be no more rainbows?” a slightly concerned guard yells from the crowd.
Luna nods slowly: “For now, yes. However, I remember that my sister once told me that spectra could also be produced by unicorn-magic. So, we’ll have no rainbows for a few weeks, but as soon as the war is over, we’ll seek to provide Equestria with rainbows; rainbows which are not made from foals! In addition, we can use the secret behind the factory for our own benefit: Celestia’s subjects will be outraged about that secret! That’s why I plan to -given that the assault on the factory goes smoothly and without too high losses- assault Canterlot immediately after the factory.”
Again, the crowd of guards gasps unbelieving. “I know this may sound slightly exaggerated, but I am certain that Celestia will place the rest of her army -they fortunately lost many guards after the attack on our embassy- in the factory, as she awaits an attack, so Canterlot will be almost unguarded. We will use this moment of weakness and attack Canterlot; we will end the war!”
Some of the guards cheer, some silence skeptically. “But even though the Empire has lost many guards, they still are in the majority!” a skeptical voice sounds from the crowd.
Luna nods consciously: “I know, the army of the empire is bigger than ours. But I have a plan how we can defeat them anyways!”
Using her magic, she lifted a map-stand with multiple layouts on it on the pedestal and pointed to one of them. “As you can see here, there’s a big square in front of the factory, that’s where we expect the largest part of the guards to be positioned.” She points to another layout, showing the backside of the factory: “But, as you can see, there is another entrance on the backside of the factory. As we intend to capture the manager and employees of the factory, I decided to divide our troops into three groups! According to recent calculations, we are about two hundred guards. Team Alpha will be the biggest team: the troops from team Alpha will assault the factory frontally and face the Imperial guards in front of the main entrance. Team Bravo will approach the factory from the other side and enter through that-“ she pointed at the small door in the backside of the factory, “door. As soon as they are inside, they will fight the guards in case there are any. After that, they will locate the factory’s manager and arrest her, as well as the other workers in the factory. But mind one thing: the ponies working in the factory are civilians! You have no permit to kill them! I don’t know how they stand towards the war, but in case they act hostile, you are allowed to fight back, but do not kill them! Team Charley will consist of about ten guards, their task will be relatively easy: they will enter the weather factory, meaning the factory under the Rainbow Factory, and evacuate the workers there. Again: those ponies are civilians, do not kill them! After completely evacuating the workers from the weather factory -they don’t have to be arrested since they probably don’t know about the secret behind the upper level of the factory- you will join team Alpha and support them against the guards of the Empire. Questions?” Luna asks and looks throughout the crowd; a mare raises her hoof. “Yes, sister?” Luna asks.
“How are we supposed to come to Cloudsdale? And how should we move there? According to my knowledge, you have to be a pegasus to be able to walk on clouds!” the mare shouts through the mass.
Luna nods understanding: “I have considered this fact. But there is a way: the unicorns under us can help their brothers and sisters! There is a spell that can make wing-less ponies move on clouds like pegasi; I ask all the unicorns to apply this spell to themselves and the earth ponies as soon as I tell you to do so. And about coming to Cloudsdale: we will step through the portal and regroup in front of the embassy. From there, the unicorns and I will teleport the ponies without wings to Cloudsdale, to a point from where we will start our assault.” Luna looks throughout the crowd again, spots Applejack and me, and gestures us to come to the pedestal.
As we hesitantly depart, Luna continues: “I will lead team Alpha; team Bravo will be led by those two ponies who have already been to the factory, who have witnessed the crimes committed there with their own eyes: Fippo and Applejack!”
I enter the pedestal and look at the mass of guards in front of me, Luna continues: “They will tell you what to do and where to go. Team Charley will be led by Stormtrotter, a pony that has accompanied me ever since he was a royal guard in Canterlot! In the 48 years of his life, he has helped me so many times, I’ve stopped counting! I have faith in him, and I’m sure that he will do anything to make this assault succeed!”
The grey pegasus steps onto the pedestal, gives us and the crowd a friendly bow and steps back.
Luna gives the crowd a serious glance: “I will now divide the teams! Team Alpha will contain mostly earth ponies, as we have to prepare for heavy resistance and earth ponies are the most suitable for the battlefield. Since the rear-entrance of the factory is on its backside and consequently harder to approach, we will have team Bravo consist of preferentially pegasi. However, we’ll also need one or two earth ponies and unicorns in case that there are more guards in the factory than I expected. Please sort by races!” she summons the crowd gently, but determined.
It takes a few minutes, but finally, there are three smaller crowds in front of us; the crowd of the pegasi is the biggest, that of the unicorns the smallest.
As Luna begins to assemble three teams from the ponies, Stormtrotter turns towards me. Chuckling slightly, he says: “So that’s how we meet again, huh? You probably didn’t think that you would lead an assault when you turned up here for the first time.”
I shake my head: “Not really. But I can’t wait to do it! Those murderers have to pay for their actions!”
He gives me a slightly worried look: “You put your revenge over anything, do you?”
I nod hastily: “Of course I do! My daughter has to be avenged! Every single of the killed foals has to be avenged!”
He cocks his eyebrows: “Sure. Just be careful, alright? Revenge is like a demon: it takes control of you; it changes you and makes you act … different.”
I put him off: “Oh come on. That’s just ridiculous! The manager of the factory has to pay, that’s the essential!”
He rolls his eyes and turns away, mumbling: “Sure.”
I shake my head and look at the crowd again: Luna is almost finished and now allocates the last few ponies.
Applejack leans towards me and mumbles: “Ya should get your armor already! We don’t have time to lose!”
I nod absentmindly and slowly step down from the pedestal, focusing the forge next to the main building.
The blacksmith sees me and already grabs my armor, lying on the table behind him: “Oh, finally you’re here! I’ve made some smaller corrections, it should fit by now.” He announces and hands me the black piece of thin metal.
I quickly slip into it and he gives it another critical glance, concluding: “Alright, that looks good. Do you still have your sword?”
As a response, I silently hold my hoof up, the sheath is almost invisible in my blue fur.
“Great. Please be careful out there, your armor won’t absorb everything and we’ve already lost enough ponies!”
I nod silently.
He gives me a weak encouraging smile and turns away, facing his forge and saying: “Good luck with the assault!”
“Thank you again.” I say and want to turn around in order to head back towards the main square, but freeze as I feel a hoof tapping on my shoulder and a male voice say: “Hey, erm … Fippo, right?”
I quickly turn around and look at the pony that approached me: concluding from his light, purple armor, he’s a pegasus, his fur has a shining green-tone, his mane and tail are blue and his eyes have a dark cyan-tone.
I freeze as I recognize him, my eyes widen in disgust. He notices my surprise and quickly explains: “I wanted to talk to you for a sec-“
He gets cut off as I speed forward and pin him to the ground, growling: “Halo Star! How nice that you came to me voluntarily, so you spare me to seek for you! I still have a bone to pick with you!”
His eyes widen: “Please just listen to-“
He gets cut off again as I run my hoof into his face and shout: “YOU BUCKING MURDERER!”
He groans and gives me a desperate look: “I really don’t want to-“
I give him another powerful strike; tears start to wet my eyes: “SHE WAS ONLY NINE BUCKING YEARS OLD AND YOU KILLED HER! YOU AND YOUR BUCKING FACTORY!”
He grabs my hoof, desperately explaining: “I left the Factory! I want to leave my life as a murderer behind!”
I hesitate for a moment, then rip my hoof off his grip and continue to beat him up, yelling: “THAT DOESN’T BRING MY DAUGHTER BACK! IT’S YOUR FAULT THAT SHE’S DEAD!”
He finally manages to grab both of my hooves and shouts: “I know! And you have no idea of how much I regret what I’ve done!”
I forcefully loosen my hoof from his grip and lunge to strike again; he winces and closes his eyes in apprehension.
I hesitate and look at him derogatorily. After a few seconds, I coldly ask: “What the buck are you doing here?”
Hastily, he answers: “I joined the Republic! I want to fight against the Factory and the Empire! And I want to ask you for forgiveness!”
I don’t release him from my critical glance and bitterly ask: “Forgiveness?”
“Yes! It was partially my fault that your daughter is dead now! I swore to myself that I would avenge her death and hope for the world to forgive me my crimes!”
I look deep into his desperate eyes for a few moments, then slowly get up and walk towards the square where Luna supports the unicorns with casting spells.
Halo Star hurries after me and anxiously asks: “So, can we forget the past?”
I slowly turn around and look into his eyes again: “I can’t forgive you what you have caused. But I see that you really want to start a new life; that you’re bucked up from your past. I’ll try to forget about what I’ve seen; you’re a new acquaintance to me now.”
He sighs in relief: “Wow, thank you very much! And I swear: I’ll do everything to avenge your daughter!”
Turning back towards the square and continuing my walk, I dryly say: “Guess what: you’re not the only one.”
“I see. Look, we’re in the same team, so I thought we may fight together. You know: two stallions with one aim, fighting against the murderers and avenging the victims.”
I give his body a closer look: even though he’s quite slender, he looks like if he could fight properly. I exhale forcefully: “Alright.”
He holds out his hoof: “Brothers in arms?”
I hesitate, but finally accept the offer and press my hoof against his, soberly confirming: “Brothers in arms.”
He gives me a confident smile: “Together, we’ll kick some flank!”
I nod: “You can bet your life on it!”
We arrive at the main square and I take a look around: “What now? Doesn’t the assault start?”
“Luna gave us ten minutes to do some final preparations and receive the spells from the unicorns.” He explains.
I growl in anticipation: “I hope they’ll be finished soon, I can’t wait to get this started!”
Applejack approaches me from the side and gives my armor a short look: “I see you’re all dressed up an’ ready. We’ll begin in a few-“ she silences as her look falls on Halo Star. Her eyes widen, she growls: “YOU!” she forcefully steps towards him, “You dirty little son of a-“
I raise my foreleg and stop her: “Keep calm, AJ. He left the factory, he’s on our side now.”
She looks at me in surprise: “What!? But … he stood next to that mare that…”
“I know what I’ve done, and believe me: you can’t imagine what I’d do to turn back time!” Halo Star interrupts her gloomily.
Applejack gives him a dismissive glance, but remains silent.
“I just want to leave this behind! I want to start a new life in the Republic and hope to forget my transgressions.” He sighs, “But I know that I can’t forget what I’ve seen.”
She snorts derogatorily and turns towards the crowd: “Come on Fippo, we gotta join our team!”
Halo Star and me hastily hurry after her and join the mass of about twenty ponies, mostly pegasi.
Luna steps towards us and raises a large wooden box with her magic, placing it in the middle of the ponies: “Those are shackles, please use them to tie up the workers in the Rainbow Factory in case they struggle against coming with you. Additionally,” she places another box with multiple saddlebags next to the first one, “we have ten loads of explosive. Halo Star-“ she points to the pegasus next to me, “will show you where to place it the most effectively, I will trigger it as soon as the assault is over and the workers have been evacuated.” She turns towards the pedestal and looks over her shoulder one more time: “Do you still have any questions?”
“One thing.” I say and step forward.
Luna turns around and raises an eyebrow: “Yes, brother?”
“You said that we aren’t allowed to kill the workers in the factory.”
She nods: “Right, we have no permit to kill them; they are technically civilians.”
“I won’t attack the workers in the factory, but I can’t be held responsible for what I’ll do when I face the manager.”
She nods understanding: “Of course, I understand your current state.” She takes a deep breath, “I can’t grant you permission to kill her, but in case you do … I won’t reproach you for it. This mare has done so many horrible things, she has to be punished; either by a court or by you.”
I nod appreciatively: “Thank you, Luna.”
She nods silently and walks back to the pedestal. She steps on it and raises her voice again: “I see, the preparations are finished. Well then, let’s waste no more time! You know what to do, so step through the portal and extinguish this horrible place! For Equestria! For the Republic!” The mass of ponies on the square slowly dissolved and a constant stream of guards moved towards the portal.
Leading the group, Applejack and me walked towards the portal, moving behind team Alpha and in front of team Charley. I look at Halo Star walking next to me and ask: “Tell me, how did you get into the factory? And how did you manage to enter the jury of the test?”
He shivers: “I’ve been working at the weather factory for multiple years already; I didn’t know what happened above my head and I didn’t care either. But one day, I was approached by Emberstripe, my former mentor. He said that I’ve attracted attention by working ‘extraordinarily hard’ and offered me a promotion and a place at the jury. Of course I was overwhelmed by that offer! I mean: getting promoted and sitting in the jury! I couldn’t believe my luck! So I accepted without hesitating. The position in the jury was quite funny, well at least up to that with your daughter.”
“You don’t say.” I dryly reply.
He slowly nods: “Yeah, when I heard what Emberstripe planned -using a smaller ring and such- I was totally stunned; but they threatened me: they said that I’d lose everything I had; that I’d get banned from Cloudsdale if I would say a single word about that.” He sighs, “So I remained silent and hoped for your daughter to pass the test anyways.”
“As you can see…”
“Yes, I was speechless after I saw her falling, but I was too afraid to do something about it! And I didn’t want to disappoint Emberstripe, that pony that made me that generous offer in the first place.” He smashed his hoof against his face, “I was such an idiot!”
“Too right!” Applejack soberly comments.
Halo Star sighs: “Then, they brought me to the factory and showed me the process; I was about to puke when I saw what happened to the foals, but I tried to stay strong, I wanted to show those ponies that I’m not a wimp! I oppressed my desire to run away; up to the day I saw your daughter: I knew that it was my fault that she was in the factory and seeing her getting grinded was just-“ he chokes. “In that moment, I realized that I had to run away, that I had to leave the life in the factory behind and hope for a fresh start. I joined the republic and now hope to get the slaughter brought to an end.”
We stop in front of the gate for a moment. “Your chance.” I say and turn towards the crowd of ponies behind me: “Let’s get this factory razed to the ground!” I yell in determination.
Determined cheer comes from team Bravo and I -together with Applejack- step through the portal. The time of revenge has come! Firespark will be avenged! The murderers will pay!