Dear Ms. Moon dancer,
No doubt by now you've received full information about the untimely death of your son. No words of mine can ever relieve the grief you must be feeling. Our outfit has felt his loss tremendously. He was a fine soldier, and believed very strongly that he would make it back home to you.
It's no secret any more that we were involved in one of the most important operations in this war. AI was the one who held us all together. He was always the first to volunteer and the last to put his hoof down. We were coming near a road where over 4,000 troops had passed.
Your son had served in a combat unit whose dangerous duty is to place itself beyond the element of surprise. We all have relatives whom we all cherish and hold so dear. The loss of Ponderson and others like him is a distinct blow to the regiment. I fully understand your desire to learn as much as possible regarding the circumstances leading to his death. I'm afraid his entire squad died with him at the time, so even we can't guess as to how he perished.
Again, we are very sorry for your loss. The Army has lost a very fine soldier.
Sincerely yours,
Princess Luna, Chief of Staff for the Equestrian Army
Princess Luna read and re-read the letter she had written herself, checking places for errors. The Equestrian Army was losing too much, and the proof of that she had just written. Sons, fathers, husbands, cousins, uncles, nephews. They were all dying. If this war ever ended, than who would be left?
Luna's thoughts were interrupted by the door to her office closing. She folded the letter in fourths and tucked it into her pocket as she stood, and three ponies walked into the room, who Luna recognized at once: Prince Blueblood, her brother; Little Strongheart, the young bull calf; Caramel, a member of the Apple family.
"We're so sorry to disturb you, your highness," Strongheart said as she closed the door, "But we're having a bit of a problem."
"What is it this time?" Luna asked in a bored voice, and she sat back down in her chair. They were always having problems.
"Caramel here just lost his cousin," Strongheart explained, and Luna stood up from her chair again in surprise.
"Which one?" she asked urgently. If it was the friend of Sparkle...
"His name was Big Macintosh," Blueblood said, and I heard Caramel sniffling, "The brother of Apple Jack and Apple Bloom."
"They are alive too, am I correct?" Luna asked.
"Apple Jack is definitely alive, your highness," Strongheart said, "But we don't know about Apple Bloom."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, all three of them were in the same company in the 29th Division," Caramel said shakily, "but we split them up after Tiara and Spoon died on the Juneau."
"Well, any contact with Apple Bloom?"
"No, ma'am, she was dropped about fifteen miles inland near Neuville. But that's still deep behind Germane lines."
"Now, Caramel," Blueblood said, "there is no way you can know where the hay he was dropped. Luna, first reports out of Ike's people at Shaef said that the 101st is scattered and gone. there's misdrops all over Ponandy. Assuming Private Bloom even survived the jump, she could be anywhere. In fact, she's probably K.I.A. And frankly, Princess, we go sending some sort of rescue mission, flat-hatting through swarms of Germane reinforcements all along our axis of advance, they are gonna be K.I.A. too."
Luna turned around to a drawer behind her and pulled out a book. In that book, being used as a bookmark, was a letter written by Luna's sister. I took it out and unfolded it.
"I have a letter here," she said, turning around to face the others again, "written a long time ago to a Mrs. Junebug in Ponyville. So bear with me."
Luna cleared her throat and began to read:
Dear Mrs. Junebug,
I have been shown in the files of the war department a statement of adjutant general of Bassachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine, that would attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the republic they died to save.
I pray that Our Heavenly Mother may assuage the anguish of your bereavement and I leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost. The solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the alter of freedom.
Yours very sincerely and respectfully,
Princess Celestia
Luna sat back down in her chair and looked up at the three ponies in front of her. They all had shamed looks on their faces. Luna folded the letter and put t back in the book.
"That filly's alive," she said stubbornly, "We are going to send some pony to find her. And we are going to get her the hay out of there."