July 1, 3868
20th Cohort Camp Grounds
Somewhere south of Fillysburg
Dear Jaywing,
Sigh…well, this is different. I don’t usually write stuff, especially letters. But… uhm, since there is a VERY big chance that we’ll all be killed tomorrow (more so than usual), my boys somehow manage to convince me to write this one out.
Earlier, Pvt. Quill Streak went into another one of his introspective episodes and started asking us if there was a part of our lives we regret the most. We all knew THAT was a loaded question, and for what seemed like a couple of minutes, nopony said a damned word. Surprisingly, it was Sarge Nut Cracker that broke the ice. And believe it or not (I still mostly don’t), his greatest regret was getting rid of his prized DOLL COLLECTION when he was still a foal.
Your dad was in the old army, right Jay? Now picture him in his prime, Sarge Nut Cracker in ten times that (No offense to your dad of course). He’s almost as tall as Luna herself and he could probably buck trees in half.
“When I was little colt, I loved collecting all those ‘Li’l Pony of Mine’ dolls-” At that point, he was interrupted by one of the “shinies” (green recruits, if you don’t get the jargon). The foal didn’t know the 2nd rule of the 20th Cohort: Never interrupt the Sarge. Tsk, tsk, if the kid manages to live through tomorrow, his life would become a living hell.
Anyway, Sarge said that he put his whole heart and soul into collecting those dolls of his (damn it! I still can’t imagine that image). One day, his parents had had enough of his “aberrant frou frou girly” obsession and made him dispose of all of them.
Dang, I could relate to that, remember that fiasco with the book burning? Hehe. Well, after Sarge let out his terribly emasculating secret (most of the enlisted probably won’t see him the same way afterwards, but nopony would ever dare say THAT in his presence), the other mares and colts joined in as well. The mood was “Hey, why bother keeping crap a secret if we’re all gonna die tomorrow!”
I didn’t join up with their impromptu heartfelt story-telling because despite how loosely I run my outfit (the loosest in the whole Luna-damned Legion, if the scuttlebutt is to be believed); I still have to keep up SOME semblance of authority. And I don’t think seeing the commanding officer of the cohort breaking down in tears reinforces that. But the whole thing did convince me to write this letter.
Yeah, I do have one big regret, and… sigh, it’s not saying goodbye to you when I still had the chance… I’m really sorry about leaving Trottingham so suddenly. You were there at that time Jay, you saw how tense things were between me and my parents, and I just wanted to get the hell away from them ASAP.
And… I’m guessing my sorry still isn’t going to be enough. I mean…. OH DAMN. I just realized, I hadn’t written to you at all since I started attending Canterlot University. When was that? Three years ago?...FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-
…So yeah, sorry isn’t going to be enough to cover the worry I probably put you through all this time. So, maybe I should recap what happened to me in the last few years.
Well, three years ago, college life was beginning to dull when the Red Market Massacre happened. So, my professor advised me to stay the hell away from Canterlot, given the volatile situation at that time. Admittedly, I wasn’t very happy with that since the only other place I could possibly go was back home in Trottingham, and I didn’t want to face my parents again.
Left with no choice, I trudged back home. There, I got into a wonderful argument with my mother over the role of the nobility in fermenting the present crisis. Long story short, I called her a hypocritical second-rate gold-digger, got kicked out and stripped of my noblepony status, and finally, I unironically joined up with the separatist Free Equestria Movement in an act of rebellion against my parents.
And this was where things got exciting. I signed up as an infantry-pony when Luna declared her support for the separatists and formed the New Lunar Republic. Heck, we barely had a month of training when an imperial army marched towards Ponyville, which was then the center of separatist activity. Imagine our delight (Hint, sarcasm) when we (a second-rate militia at best back then) were ordered to hold the town against two entire imperial regiments, that’s around six thousand soldiers against our measly two cohorts of four thousand raw recruits. Although they were mostly reservists, their training was much more superior to our improvised crash course and they had more troops than we had.
Fortunately, our commanders were veterans from Luna’s own Lunar Guard Battalion, and we were REALLY really lucky that day. To this day, I am eternally thankful for the Hoofington guards who chose to fight for everypony’s freedom and supplied us with those brand-new rifled muskets and the factories that made ‘em. If it weren’t for that slight technological advantage, I would probably be plant fertilizer by now.
After the Battle of Ponyville, I was shuffled all around Equestria. From the Everfree Forest to Vanhoover and to Baltimare. Hehe, speaking of Baltimare, we fought Griffons there (a few holdouts from the last pony-griffon war weeks before the Revolution) and even a fucking Dragon. By the way, the Griffons really were as terrible as the stories say. My squad and I passed a couple of pony bodies that were obviously eaten… and I’ll just leave it at that. And as for the dragon, we were lucky some idiot came up with a plan to get eaten by the dragon while hitched to a loaded cannon and then firing the damn thing inside the dragon’s throat. Like I said, that stallion was an idiot.
Oh, and I finally DID get to see Las Pegas in all of its debauched glory. Admittedly, we were just supposed to pick up some supplies there, but…uh, like they say: What happens in Pegas stays in Pegas. But I managed to get you a souvenir before we were chased away by bunch angry mares.
It’s one of those really pretty (and expensive) music boxes you used to talk my ears off about. I wanted to give it to you for quite a while now, but the concept of leave doesn’t exist in the Legion (especially for talented officers whom they work to the ground, not that I’m implying anything.).
Anyway, a few months ago, we were ordered to assemble near Appleloosa. Our legion, the 2nd Appleloosan, was to rendezvous with the 3rd Ponyville under General “Gray Mare” Ditzy. By the way, have I ever told you about our General Applejack? That mare, she’s like mother to us, sure she’s sometimes a tad bit too serious and she has the tendency to work us till we’re halfway dead, but she’s nonetheless a mother to all of us. Way better than my real mom…
Anyway, it was there in Appleloosa where we got our current mission: to capture or render useless to the Solar Empire the industrial city of Fillydelphia. Personally, I doubt the possibility of the former, and the latter option is not exactly to my liking. The only way to render Fillydelphia useless to the imps is to destroy the factories. And those are in the center of the city, which means we have to move through entrenched imperial defenses. Oh, and Fillydelphia is very much inside Solar Empire territory, which also probably means that we’ll be surrounded if we attempt a prolonged siege of the city.
But there is no use fretting over that concern, if we can’t even reach Fillydelphia in the first place. According to scuttlebutt, Gen. Rainbow Dash, who is a close friend of General Applejack, failed to return from her reconnaissance runs for a few days because she was apparently chasing something. I’m not quite sure what that was all about, but in the time she was gone, the Army of Northern Appleloosa had to march blindly in enemy territory.
Your father was a former guardpony Jay, and you did show some interest in military tactics, you can guess how well this went. An imperial army was sighted in our line of advance yesterday, and we had a gay old time being force-marched to the nearest defensible position, which was a series of hills south of the small town of Fillysburg.
Sigh…It is important that soldiers keep their opinions of their superiors to themselves. Doubly so for officers, as only the enlisted hold the sacred right to complain (makes me wish I was still a corporal, things were much more simpler back then). But in my humble opinion, our dear General Applejack was relying too much on Gen. Rainbow Dash and not enough in her other generals.
I mean, sure those two have been friends since before the war. But Gen. Rainbow’s pegasi scouts weren’t the only pegasi in this whole damned army. She should’ve at least sent more scouts once the “esteemed” General Rainbow failed to return after a while. But nah, that’s way above my pay grade and there’s no use crying over spilled milk.
Okay…I’ll say it again; we are, in all probability, going to die tomorrow. We can all feel it in our guts. So... I don’t know…
…I really don’t know what you’re up to these days, but I hope you’re well, especially since the war really fucked up the economy. And… ah screw it, if Sarge can come out with his secret, then I definitely can.
Jay, I really REALLY want to see you again. I know you said last time that we both weren’t ready for that kind of relationship, but maybe, just maybe, we could give it another try? Heh, I'm not the same short and nerdy colt all those years ago, I'm now a short, nerdy and crazy colonel in a rebel army who has a reputation for making foolhardy and insane tactical maneuvers. (By the way, that was me who did the whole “get-eaten-by-the-dragon-then-blowing-it-up” plan)
Hehehe, what? Can’t a guy make fun of himself every once in a while? …Damn, the paragraph above didn’t seem as stupid as it is when I wrote it.
I won’t beg you if you don’t want to, and who knows, maybe I will find another mare I can fall in love with. But, like you once said: “If we’re meant to be, then we’ll be together forever.” seems clichéd, but hey, you said it, not me.
Your old friend,
Col. Study Lamp, 20th Cohort, 2nd Appleloosan Legion
Lunar Republic Legion
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With the final stroke of the pen, the mud-colored earth pony groggily set the quill down on the table. He lifted his head up, seeing the interior of his personal tent bathed in the comforting orange of a mage-light. Study Lamp let out a long yawn as drowsiness overcame his tired mind. He absent-mindedly slipped out of his uniform and made his way to his drab foldable bed.
__---++=++---__
“Sweet Luna, I can’t possibly send this!” The colonel had woken up a few minutes earlier was perusing through his desk when he came upon the letter he had written last night. Col. Study Lamp has always been reserved and passive, especially in regards to his emotions, since he was a foal.
But he could vaguely remember somepony producing a barrel of hard cider from somewhere last night. He would’ve normally admonished his legionnaires, he ran things loosely but he hated having his troops drunk.
But it was also the eve of a terrible battle, they could feel it. So he let them have their fun just this once. He could also remember taking mug or two. ‘That explains this atrocity of a letter’ he thought to himself before remembering the old adage: “Truth in wine”.
Sighing at his drunken writings and breach of protocol, he was thinking of an excuse if ever General Applejack found out about his inebriation, not that it would be of much use, General Applejack had an uncanny ability to tell the truth from lies, when Major Fire Poker called out from just outside the tent.
“Sir, we have received our orders from the general!” Quickly placing last night’s events to the back of his mind, the Colonel folded up his letter. “Come in Major, what are we going to do today?”
Major Poker walked inside the tent, the teal unicorn’s mane was neatly brushed and his officer’s uniform crisp and well-ironed. That made Study Lamp conscious of the poor condition of his own uniform, which lay crumpled at the foot of his bed.
“Sir,” The major began, “the 20th Cohort, along with the 15th, 23rd, 28th, and the 31st have been ordered to march towards a pair hills east of our current position and hold them against a possible flanking maneuver by the imperial army, sir”
Study Lamp paused to process this information before speaking. “Alright, Major, rouse the boys. And get me a map of the local area; I want to know where we’re going to be fighting.” He trotted towards his discarded uniform, the indigo dye still lurid despite the many filthy battlefields and botched laundry attempts it has seen.
Major Poker gave a sharp salute as he hurried to carry out the Colonel’s orders. The Colonel on the other hand just stood there for a good few seconds before moving to open his personal footlocker. He rummaged through assorted knickknacks until he found what he was looking for.
It was small, intricately carved music box; the design reminded one of the old romantic style of architecture. The earth pony colonel slowly opened the cover until he triggered the activation of the music spell. The tune that rang out was much simpler compared to the normal orchestral compositions he preferred, but this tune was special, since it was also Jaywing’s favorite.
Inside the box were two simplistic figurines: a male earth pony and a female Pegasus. The earth pony was painted a mud-brown for the coat and had vibrant emerald green eyes, much like the stallion currently holding the music box. The pegasus on the other hand had a cheerful yellow coat, lavender mane and dark blue eyes like the early evening sky.
Just then, if one could look closely enough, they could see the small tear that trickled down Study Lamp’s face as he carefully, almost reverently placed the letter inside the music box as its sweet melody winded down.
He was silent for a few minutes more, memories of a happier tine flitting through his mind. But he was shaken from his stupor when the noise from outside became impossible to ignore. There was the sound of orders being screamed at unfortunate legionnaires, trumpet notes cutting through multitudes of background notes, and the rhythmic clopping of hooves as hundreds of mares and stallions of the 20th Cohort of the 2nd Appleloosan Legion prepared themselves for battle, possibly their last one.
Roused into action by the sounds of the camp, the Colonel gave a small smile as he donned his officer’s uniform, pausing to gave an appreciative glance at his Colonel’s crescent insignia. He then secured his revolver in its holster by his right foreleg and his personal short sword on his left side.
Exiting his tent, Colonel Study Lamp was met with quite a sight. The three and a half centuries his cohort have already formed up in marching formations, the sky was friendly shade of blue, the grass green and wet with dew, The slight breeze felt comfortable on his skin. And then there was the smell from the mess, Sweet and Spicy Vegetable Surprise, courtesy of the Legionary Logistics Corps. His stomach was already berating him for forgetting breakfast.
And strangely enough, he felt as if there was one less weight on his shoulders. Tilting his head towards the morning sun, he smirked as he whispered to nopony in particular. “It’s a beautiful day to die.”