After the battle ended, medics and legionnaires that had nothing to do, assisted other units in the 212th Legion and began to attend to the wounded and count the dead. They constructed makeshift tents and other facilities for medical operations. They estimated that they lost more than two-thousand troops, and double that of the wounded.

Sunset Shimmer sat in one of the makeshift tents set up by the military to treat the wounded. She only suffered minor injuries from a Pilum attack and experienced a minor headache and exhaustion from overusing her magical energy during the battle, but all in all, she was fine.

Her friends also survived the battle without any major wounds as well. Though, Thunder Spark suffered a medium sized wound on his forelegs after being hit by an enemy arrow, but he should be able to recover quickly from what the medics tell her.

She wanted to know what the general would do now since the rest of the legion were beginning to wrap up their temporary medical situation.

'Perhaps marching again towards the enemy defensive line and wiping out the rest of the enemy forces?' she thought.

"I'm doing fine. Well, fine enough for a mare that used a LOT of magic. Crystal Tender has given me medicine for the headache, and she has also given me an energy potion to refill my magical energy." -she raised a brow as Dusky Sight's expression changed slightly- "I suppose you're not here for the usual chit-chat, yes?"

Dusky Sight sighed, "Right on the dot as usual, Sunset. General Wind's would like to see you."

After five seconds, Sunset was ready and Dusky escorted her towards the General Obay Winds' tent. They maneuvered through a bunch of resting ponies as they talked to each other on the way. There were some injured ponies here and there, but most of them were treated. Unfortunately, they had to go past the bodies.

The ponies that had fallen were covered with blankets (respectfully), and were organized in a neat row. The two winced at the sight, but that's just about it. Within a minute, the bodies were out of sight, and they came upon the general's tent.

Dusky Sight pointed towards the tent, "The general is waiting inside, sergeant."

"We're near the general's tent, sergeant, we have to." Dusky Sight responded in a serious tone.

"Thanks, Corporal Dusky Sight. Wait with the others while I talk to the general." Sunset ordered.

Sunset soon entered the tent and saw General Obay Winds sitting in his chair. Within the tent were various objects, though most of them seem to have its use. She focused more on the general, and saw that he was facing the latest battle map on a table.

The looked up from the map, and smiled, "Ah, you finally arrived, Sergeant Sunset Shimmer." -his smile turned into a grin- "Or should I say, the daughter of the Solar Primarch, Princess Celestia, to be more precise?"

Sunset's heart dropped and her pupils grew a tad bit smaller. She was prepared for many things: the enemy, spiders, unsavory food, and more. But, she was unprepared for what the general had said.

"W-What do you mean, sir? Ahaha! I'm not her d-daughter, sir, that's simply... erm... ridiculous! Yeah, that's ridiculous!" Sunset was a nervous wreck.

The general chuckled at her reaction, "Hahaha! Don't worry, sergeant, much of your personal information is still kept secret. Princess Celestia gave specific orders not to disclose any of it to the public."

Sunset Shimmer was no longer a nervous wreck. She sighed in relief and wiped her forehead of sweat. She honestly thought that she was about to be discharged for being the daughter of a princess.

"Phew... Thank you, sir, I honestly thought I was about to be discharged." -she tilted her head slightly in curiosity- "By the way, why did you call me here?"

"I called you here because I want to assign you and your squad for recon missions deep into enemy lines. Your previous acts before the battle saved so many ponies in this legion, so to prevent us from walking straight into enemy traps again, I want to deploy you and your team to scout the area ahead for any dangers."

She was caught by surprise yet again. Sunset never expected that she and her team would be deployed under the general's direct orders. And to be assigned to a scouting role? That's quite a job to uphold.

"Are you sure, sir? Aren't there other recon teams within the legion that is better at this task?"

H shook his head, "Unfortunately, that is not the case. For some apparent reason, you are the only battle mage in this legion who has the capability to recognize Cloaking Spells without the help of constant use of magical sighting." -he leaned forward- "Setting that aside, are you and your team up for the task, sergeant?"

She thought about it as this was sudden. A scouting role for her and her squad, that's a lot of responsibility suddenly on their backs. To be the first defense to an entire marching legion, it's no mystery that she took some time to think. There were some pros and cons to scouting for an entire legion. On one hoof, she could save many lives, but on the other, if they were spotted, they'd be far from the main group.

After some thinking and weighing both the pros and cons, she decided to accept the role.

The general smiled, "Good! You and your team have twenty minutes to get ready for the mission. Air support will always be available, so be sure to use that your advantage." -his face turned serious as his tone took a darker turn- "Remember, the fate of the entire legion are on you and your team's hooves, do I make myself clear?"

"Wait, wait, wait - it gets better. When the patient woke up, his skeleton was missing and the doctor was never heard from again!" Crystal Tender chuckled as she tells a story of her father, while also tending to Thunder Spark's wound.

Everypony in the tent gave a nervous laugh in response to her story. All of them, except for Flower Jade and a random bandaged pony at the end of the tent who gave a genuine one at Crystal's sickening story.

The pony at the end of tent who had both his hooves bandaged up, agreed with Flower Jade, "I agree with the crazy one! Shits got me laughing up a storm!"

Crystal Tender smiled, "Ahh... It is quite funny. It's also how my father lost his medical license and the reason why we had to migrate to Sweetzerland."

"Damn, I had no idea that your father was basically a real-world Frankenhoof." commented a new voice in the tent.

The ponies in the tent turned their head towards the entrance, and saw that it was Sunset Shimmer who spoke up.

Crystal Tender waved at her, "Oh! Hi, Sunset! I heard from Dusky Sight here that General Winds asked you to meet him in his tent. How was it? Wait, don't tell me," -a teasing grin came on her face- "did you both have a fun time? Some naughty things in the tent, eh?~"

Sunset Shimmer looked on with slight disgust, "W-Wha...? Not like that, moron. He wants to assign us on a scouting mission."

"Wait, what? But, doesn't he don't know that I just got some nasty cut on my leg?" suddenly said Thunder Spark.

"Oh, come on! Just get some some regeneration potions and you will be fine. Besides, you still have your wings to go around, genius." Sunset remarked.

"I've already covered your wounds anyways, Thunder Spark, so I guess it'll work." said Crystal Tender.

"Bah, don't be a foal, Thunder Spark." -Crystal Tender grabbed a potion near her- "Here, if my medical skills aren't enough to convince you, just take this."

He looked at the potion, then at Crystal, then back at the potion, and then back to a smiling Crystal, and he looked back at the potion, and reluctantly took it.

"By the way, I want to remind you all that on this mission, we will NOT engage the enemy. We are to only monitor the path and scout enemy positions to prevent the legion from walking down into a trap again." Sunset turned her attention to Flower Jade- "I'm talking to you, Jade."

"All right, everypony! We got twenty minutes to get ready for the mission. Pack your things and get your weapons ready." -she looked at the ponies that were not her team, and pointed at them- "Except for you guys. You guys stay put, this was meant for my team." she received several nods from the unknown ponies.

Her friends exited out of the tent, and went to prepare their things. They started with food and water, then medicine, and finally, weapons and needed equipment. They made sure to not forget anything before going on their very first scouting mission. After fifteen minutes of packing, they were ready for mostly anything.

Sunset took her squad to the general's tent, and reported to him that she and her team were ready to be deployed on any scouting mission given to them.

Satisfied, General Winds told them his plan. He explains to the team that they will be deployed to monitor the path between the 212th Legion, and the enemy capital, Bagshdad, and report any suspicious activity they spot. They were also tasked to secure several Magic Crystal wells, and explains to them that once the 212th Legion has finished resupplying and evacuating the dead and gravely wounded, he wants to quickly eliminate all remaining rebel forces, securing all the Magic Crystal wells and head straight for the enemy capital to end this rebellion once and for all.

After learning what their mission is, Sunset and her squad give a military salute to the general, and left the tent. Before they set off to their mission, Sunset ordered her friends to double check their equipment to make sure they didn't have anything left behind. After they made sure all the equipment was in place, they started marching towards the desert, leaving behind the 212th Legion, and leaving behind their general safety.

=///An hour and a half later, twenty-two kilometers from Bagshdad, 1630 hours\\\=

Under the scorching heat of Celestia's sun, there are six ponies walking in the desert. They all trudged on, despite the conditions, and kept their eyes focused on the desert horizon. Everything was silent, everything was still. Sunset Shimmer took out a map and compass from her saddle bag and double-checked their travel path to make sure they didn't go the wrong direction.

After making sure that they were on the right track, Sunset returned the map and compass back to her saddle bag and closed it up. She made a quick recap of everything that had happened today. She thought back to her first battle, she brutally took somepony's life with her magic. The look of horror on the rebel's face as he was about to be blown up by her magic made her shudder. She didn't like taking somepony's life, but it was a necessary thing to do, right?

She began to recollect her memories even more, starting from Flower Jade's sadistic smile as she smashed somepony head into smush, and to the sickening splat made by the war elephants when it got hit by two-tons of rock launched by an enemy Trebuchet.

All of these memories sent shivers down Sunset's spine, but instead of making her disgusted and making her want to leave military life as quickly as possible, it's the... opposite. Deep down, despite herself not wanting to take somepony's life, she wanted more. She wanted to see the carnage again, to see the chaos around her. Besides, the rebels got what they deserved anyways.

In fact, she would gladly kill Seeddam Hayssein herself and keep his head as a trophy and also as a punishment for all those who try to secede from United Kingdom Equestria.

She shook her head, 'Stop thinking such barbaric thoughts...' she thought to herself.

Despite warning herself, her thoughts continued on. Ponykind cannot be allowed to separate in the form of different countries just only for of some pathetic reasons such as democracy, republicanism, authoritarian, autocracy, or all those other... forms of government. They must all live under one nation to ensure that their species remain strong, to remain united for one cause. The existence of the independent Crystal Empire was already problematic enough, let alone this pathetic excuse of a republic.

Sunset shook her head again, this time more furiously than last, 'Jeez Sunset, enough of this!'

"Yeah, I'm alright, thanks for asking. It's just the heat getting to me." she lied.

Emerald Ace nodded in acknowledgement, "Yeah, it is pretty hot. Pretty hot for a city pony that is." he joked.

Sunset rolled her eyes in a friendly way, "Hardy-har-har, Emerald Ace, just keep moving or I'll assign you to a boring task when we make it back to the FOB."

The group continued walking for a few minutes, taking in the environment around them. There wasn't much to look at, so most of the time, they were looking for anything out of the ordinary.

A few steps later, Dusky Sight paused, pointed towards something, and spoke up, "Everypony, hold on! I think I saw some kind of structure in the distance."

The team turned their eyes towards the horizon Dusky pointed at, but unfortunately, they didn't spot anything. All they saw was, once again, the boring desert horizon.

"You... don't see it? How co-" -her eyes widen as realization sets in- "Ah... I forgot you guys aren't Lunar Pegasi, whoops. I guess my eyesight is more capable than yours."

Sunset took her binoculars out from her saddle bag and started looking for whatever Dusky saw. To her surprise, she found something.

"I see it, it's some kind of village. But, why does is it look destroyed?" she asked in ignorance.

It took her some seconds to realize it, and when she did, her eyes suddenly widened like saucers as realization slammed into Sunset like a train. She enhanced her binoculars to look closer into the destruction, and she saw burned figures lying all over the village.

Unbeknownst to the recon team, the rebels had just carried out a scorched earth policy an hour earlier. Sunset ordered her team to advance toward the structures to check for any survivors, but unfortunately for Sunset Shimmer and her friends, they were too late.

When they arrived at the village, they found dozens of charred pony corpses lying on the ground. The bodies ranged from a variety of pony species and ages. From the stallions, mares, the elderly, and even the foals, no one was spared. Almost all the buildings in the village had been razed to the ground, only a few stone structures can be seen still standing. A mixture of sadness, anger, and frustration began to grow on Sunset's squad.

"W-Why are they doing this? They are just unarmed civilians for Faust's sake!" Crystal Tender cried out.

"This... was a scorched earth policy. They destroyed all structures and any settlements they could find to prevent it from falling into enemy hooves. They didn't want the settlement to supply us so they resorted to this." Sunset Shimmer replied.

"But we already have enough of our own supplies to last more than a month! Why in the name of Luna do they think we're going to the village for supplies?" Thunder Spark asked.

Sunset Shimmer sighed for she didn't know the answer, "I don't know, Thunder Spark. This action was really stupid for their side." Sunset answered back.

Dusky Sight stomped her hoof, "This is totally a war crime! Did they not know of the Geneighva Conventions?!" Dusky Sight said angrily.

"Oh, they totally knew of the Geneighva Conventions, but they turned it into a checklist by the looks of it..." Sunset answered.

Sunset chuckled darkly, "Well, we'd better get used to it because I’m certain that this village is neither the first, or the last to suffer the same fate."

Before any words can be said in the group, Flower Jade's screams pierced the air.

Having heard Flower Jade's call, the team quickly dashed to her direction. After weaving through bodies and rubble, they found her standing at the edge of the village staring out into desert.

Flower Jade turned towards Sunset as the rest began to arrive, "More of a show than tell, Sunset, just look." -she pointed her hoof south-west from the village- "Quite a lot of smoke, eh?"

The ponies turned their heads in the direction Jade was pointing and saw smoke rising into the sky. Sunset could've sworn that she could hear faint explosions in the distance.

Sunset took the binoculars from her saddle bag and tried to take a better view of the origin of the black smoke. Once she did though, she was shocked.

They all gasped in horror. Securing the Magic Crystal Wells is, or was, one of their main objectives in the operation, and they failed to prevent it from being destroyed by rebel forces. Realistically, Sunset and her friends wouldn't have been able to defend all of the crystal wells, but they were still new to this, how would they have known?

"Flower Jade, update the main forces. Tell them that the Magic Crystal Wells have been destroyed."

As Flower Jade updated the main force, Emerald Ace spoke up, "What now, Sunset?"

(Author's note : This part of the story will try to mimic the phenomenon that many people call 'Oil Rain', during the Gulf war, Iraqi forces burned down Kuwait's oil wells which makes the battlefield basically look like hell for American marines.)

Sunset and her squad made their way across the desert towards the source of the fire. Compared to the supposedly hot air they had felt when they crossed the desert before, the desert air was chilly, too chilly. Sunset and her friends started to shiver, and attempted to heat themselves off by moving faster. Well, everyone shivered except for Crystal Tender. She actually enjoyed the sudden cold weather, so despite the recent events, she made fun of her shivering friends.

The sky was getting dark, and the only source of light they could rely on was the burning source of the Magic Crystal wells. The flames weren't the common yellow-red flame, but instead instead it was a purplish-blue color flame.

Things only got worse when the crystal dust that was previously blown into the air started to rain down onto the ground. These little bastards raining onto the ground weren't harmless. In fact, they actually cause pain.

The crystal dust has microscopic sharp edges and continuous contact or inhalation of these particles can result with injuries and bleeding of internal organs. The dust can also cause severe eye injuries if exposed for too long.

Fortunately, Sunset and her team brought gear like masks and goggles to prevent exposure to crystal dust. Unfortunately, it's not completely impermeable.

"Ah shit... it's stinging my eyes... my eyes are burning... oh wait, SHIT, OH BUCK! BUCK, IT'S IN MY EYE, I CAN'T SEE! SWEET CELESTIA, IT'S BURNING! IT'S BURNING!" Emerald Ace screamed in pain.

"OH BUCK! IT'S REALLY BEGINNING TO HURT!" Emerald Ace was continuously screaming in pain.

"HEY! HEY! Calm down! What are you doing? You're freaking out too much! Just calm down!" Dusky Sight tried to calm down Emerald Ace, but it didn't work. Instead, he attempted to rub his eyes.

Crystal Tender saw this and immediately grabbed his hoof to stop it, "Wait, wait, don't rub your eyes. It needs to be cleaned first you dumbass." Crystal Tender warned Emerald Ace, which he listened, though he still was screaming.

"Listen to me, just take a deep breath and close your eyes, okay?" Crystal Tender said gently to him.

Emerald Ace nodded and Crystal Tender then splashed water on his eyes, and started to clean it with a towel, she then gave him a regeneration potion to heal the damage caused by the crystal dust in his eyes.

"Alright, there you go, you want me to wipe your ass now?~" said Crystal Tender suggestively and jokingly, while he was looking at him drying himself from water splash.

"Nah, i'm actually into mare, maybe you'll have better luck with other mares, now put your goggles back on!!" Crystal Tender answered brutally, destroying Emerald’s mood.

Emerald Ace then took back his goggles and started wearing it again, he then stood up and cleaned his elbows of the sand.

"Thank you Tender." Emerald said gratefully to her, which caused her to smile.

"Hey, Listen up! The wind's changed, we're moving out of this shit, let's move!" Sunset Shimmer ordered.

"This whole campaign is absolute horseshit, we don't get paid enough to deal with this." Dusky Sight muttered.

After walking out of the Magic Crystal wells field, Sunset's shifted her gaze to the sky, she realized that the sun began to set over the horizon and the moon began to rise into the sky and started shining on the stained surface. Because of this she and her team decided to take a few minutes off from their journey, they started to grab their lunch and drink from their saddle bags, and started to enjoy their downtime.

For the next few minutes, the atmosphere felt really gloomy and quite, the only sound that could be hear was the sound of burning wood from the small camp fire they had built, maybe because the fact that they had just passed through the village that was full of corpses and being rained on by deadly crystal dust.

"Hi Everypony!, welcome back to random facts Crystal Tender! Today with me is Flower Jade~" Crystal Tender said energetically.

All the ponies then shifted their gaze to the Flower Jade who were sitting on a pile of sand.

"Did you know your asshole can spread up to eight inches wide therefore a raccoon can fit in your ass?~" Jade said in relaxed tone.

All the ponies in the squad started spitting up their food and drinks and started laughing out loud uncontrollably to the fact they had been just exposed to.

"Pffttt....*Loud laugh* what the buck Jade?!, Where did you learn that?? You did this to yourself?? bahahahah..." Sunset Shimmer said, barely catching breath from laughing.

"i cAn fIT a wHolE jAr oF jELlybEaNs uP mAh aSs..." Thunder Spark's said nonchalantly.

"*Loud Laugh*...i wasn't bucking ready Luna damn it! *Cough* *Cough*..." Dusky Sight said and then Laugh uncontrollably.

All the ponies in the squad started laughing out loud even louder than before, they started throwing jokes of their own, starting from the fact that all markets in Africolt is a black markets to mama mia papariza pineapple pizza rolls.

"Stop.. please stop...i can't take it anymore..." Dusky Sight said, barely being able to breathe from all the laughing, that their jokes caused.

"You know, there is strange comfort in knowing that no matter what happens today, the Sun will rise again tomorrow." Sunset's said after she finished laughing.

"You are bucking right Sunset, no matter how buck up things get, as long as we stay whole together, we can always enjoy the day of tomorrow." Thunder Spark answered, slightly smiling.

"*Chuckles*...You know what?, if this is going to be my life from now on, I'd love to keep it going forever."

With those simple words, Sunset essentially sealed her destiny and changed the course of Equestrian history forever.

In one of the towers of her castle Canterlot there is Celestia sitting in her private chamber relaxed, in front of her is a magical Snow globe, this snow globe is a special magical device she create from long forgotten magic is capable to monitor specific ponies without thier knowing, not only is it able to monitor them visually, this object also provides audio sound as well so she can listen to whatever is being said.

She had been monitoring her daughter for almost twelve hours, from the moment she set her hoof on FOB, her heroic actions in saving Legion from ambush, into her finally finding a comfort in the most stressful enviroment.

Tears of joy started to roll down to her chin the moment she heard what Sunset's said that she would love to dedicate her life to defending Equestria forever, because that all Celestia needed to know that her daughter is finally proven that she was worthy for Alicornhood.

All she needs to do is make a final push to break the barrier between the amaterium and immaterium realm to bring her to a higher dimensions, where she will meet her there and personally watched her finally receive her immortality.

After finishing thier food and drink Sunset's and her squad rested for twenty minutes before finally walking back, the sky was starting to clear and the moonlight could finally be seen again.

Even so the desert land still looked really dark and they had to rely on Dusky Sight who have nocturnal eyes to navigate the desert.

At least the current state of affairs was somewhat better than before, Jade had basically managed to improve the mood of everyone in the team.

They kept walking for nearly two hours, when Dusky suddenly signal them to stopped.

Sunset then took her binoculars from her bag to confirm what Dusky said, at first she didn't find anything, it was until she saw some kind of faint light from a torch in the distance.

Knowing that it was most likely an enemy, Sunset's ordered her team to start being vigilant, she also asked them to try to walk as stealthily as possible while they were trying to approach the enemy.

After listening to her orders the team started walking again, they walked slowly and tried to limit their profile as little as possible, by the time they finally approached barely a few hundred meters from the enemy they were shocked by what they saw.

Rebel troops, a LOT of them, they number nearly six thousand ponies, Sunset's assumed they were trying to put all their remaning eggs into one basket and hoped it would change the course of the war, they also found what appeared to be civilians employed by the military to dig trenches and pull Trebuchet into defensive position.

They didn't know if the civilians were volunteers who offering their labor to set up the defense line or the rebels coercively conscripted civilians into doing their dirty work.

Sunset's orders Jade to contact the Commanding General and inform him of what they have found, Jade then took his radio and then contacted the central command.

After a few minutes inform their discovery, Sunset's and her team were ordered to retreat one kilometer from the enemy's position to prevent them from being detected and also to regroup with the Legion currently on their way to their positions.

Sunset's followed his orders and ordered her team to start retreating at least one kilometer from the enemy's position.

After that all they needed to do was wait, wait for the Legion to finally catch up to their position.

Due to the destruction of the Magic Crystal wells, Equestrian's military decide to changed their objective, they will plan to destroy the rest of the rebel forces in one battle and then walk straight into the capital and end this rebellion once and for all.

After waiting for over two hours, the 212th Legion finally caught up with Sunset's and her SR-034 Vanguard Recon team, Sunset's then told where the position of the enemy's defense lines and other important information, the commander-in-chief was very pleased with this information and tried to exploit it to the fullest extent possible.

He then ordered all the Equestrian troops in his Legion to quickly reorganize and form an attack formation, they also slowly moved to flanking the enemy's defense line from the right where Sunset's and her team found it's was the weakest part of thier defense line because the trench and defensive weapons were still not fully completed yet.

After the troops were in position and ready to attack, General Commander Wind's then, without further ado, immediately ordered the unicorns troops to launch magical attack into the enemy lines, after hearing this all the unicorns in the Legion including Sunset's also then massing magical energy into their horns and then launch the 'WHAT'S UP BUCKERS!!!' spell at the enemy.

KÅ BÖŌM

The large explosion immediately swallowed up the rebel troops and destroyed many of their heavy defensive weapons in the area, they were caught essentially caught off guard and many of their troops that survived the Equestrian troops attacks by immediately started to abandoning their positions.

Not wanting to give the rebel forces time to recover and try to retreat again the commander general then ordered his troops to immediately chargeing towards the enemy lines.

Immediately all of the 212th Legion troops rushed over and started killing all rebel troops that tried to resist them. Sunset and her friends also started to kill the enemies one by one, Everypony were basically fighting for their lives, everypony except Flower Jade who was probably enjoying herself too much at this time.

Flower Jade continued to slaughter the rebel troops one by one without mercy, she continued singing her song while having a sadistic smile on his face and laughing watching her enemy try to run away from her.

"OH MY FAUST'S!!, Is it really necessary?" Emerald Ace asked, kinda irritated by Flower Jade’s singing.

"Heads up!~" Flower Jade said before throwing her war hammer at Emerald which he barely managed to dodge.

Emerald then looked back and found the body of the rebel soldier lying with his skull destroyed and brain matter is littered the ground after being hit by Jade's warhammer, what was most terrifying was that the rebel soldier body still seemed to be convulsing even though its owner had gone to Valhalla.

This makes Emerald throw up his dinner, seeing someone else's skull crushed up close makes him faint in the middle of the battlefield, seeing one of their friends pass out, Crystal Tender, Sunset and the rest of the team then try to help Emerald.

"I don't think I'll be able to maintain my sanity anymore after seeing that..." Dusky said

"Please focus back on your job for Faust's sake, we can talk about this after all this is over, Okay?" Sunset said.

Meanwhile Sunset and her friends try to help Crystal Tender treat Emerald Ace who has passed out, while Flower Jade tried to take her warhammer which was stuck in the skull of the unlucky rebel soldier, but because the throw was too hard the warhammer got stuck and it became difficult for her to retrieve her weapon from the enemy body.

Seeing their enemy in a vulnerable position their nearby rebel forces took advantage and launched an attack on her, one of them was a battle mage, the enemy battle mage then quickly launched an explosive magic attack which then exploded near Jade.

Caught unprepared, Flower Jade was thrown several meters off the ground and landed not far from Sunset's.

Seeing her other comrades being hit by Sunset's enemy magic attacks quickly acted, she then immediately moved her gaze towards the enemy battle mage who was attacking her friend, she also saw how quickly he threw the Spell 'BUCK YOU BLAST' into the enemy, but somehow he managed to dodge it.

Seeing her enemy dodge it, Sunset launched attacks again and again, but the enemy's battle mage is continuous, this shows that he is really experienced in magical fights.

The enemy then launched a magical attack of its own at Sunset's, which was immediately stopped by her shield.

The battle between Sunset's and the enemy Battle mage lasted for several minutes, where neither of them could get the upper hand.

This annoyed Sunset's, the first is that these rebels had betray Equestria, secondly he hurt one of her friends, and the third, she dodged all of her attacks like average Flowerida pony (Equis version of Florida man). She is here watching all of this carnage is to defend/keeping the United Kingdom of Equestria intact, she is here watching Jade psychopathic behavior is to defend her friends, she is here fight for her life is to defend her destiny.

Anger started to build up in Sunset's body, and that anger start to turned into hatred, and that hatred began to accumulate and become raw fury.

Sunset's rage made her begin to gather immense magical energy that buried deep in her body magical core and the natural surroundings, as Unicorn Flare, Sunset's basically has a magical core on the same level as Alicorn. She could feel that magic was overvlowing through her hair which made it start to move as if in a gust of wind and her eyes started to shine brightly.

She also began to float into the air as high as several meters from the ground while she was accumulating an enormous amount of magical energy, Sunset's could feel magic energy starting to fill her body, she had to quickly release it because otherwise it could be fatal for her.

Seeing this, the rebel forces began trying to escape as far as possible from Sunset's position, but unfortunately for them, it was too late.

With a blinding explosion of light, Sunset's then launched all her magic energy towards the rebel troops, she let out a loud scream as she release all of her magical energy towards the enemy at once.

The giant beam of hot plasma began to hit the position of the rebel troops who were trying to escape, all the ponies in the Legion swear they can hear enemy soldier screams of pain as their bodies are evaporated by Sunset's magic, in the end Sunset's basically achieved ultimate MVP for this battle as she essentially took the lives of over a thousand rebel troops who trying to escape with one blast.

But unfortunately, before they could celebrate their victory, a huge explosion that produced a blinding light tore the fabric between space and time happen right above them, after the Legion and Sunset friends recovered from the explosion, Sunsetwho should have been floating in the air above them has mysteriously vanished.

In a boundless multi-dimensional place filled with mist and Sparkling star Sunset Shimmer slowly opened her eyes, she immediately realized that she was no longer on Equis, panic quickly engulfed Sunset's mind.

"w-where am I?, What is this place?! D-did I die?' Is this a place, that all the dead ponies go?"

She then tried to look around her to find a way out, trying to reject the possibility, that she died in the middle of the battle.

Sunset's also tried to run, he kept running and hoped he would suddenly return back to the real world.

Just as she was begun to lose hope Sunset suddenly heard a voice, a voice that was familiar to her ears because she had heard it for decades.

"You did something incredible, someting that even a great Flare unicorn like Star Swirl the Bearded was not able to do, because he did not understand how to properly utilize his magical core to break the barrier between the two realm."

"Your Magical and Military lesson you learn in Canterlot and Fort Benneighing have taught you well, you have proven that you're ready Sunset." Celestia continued.

Quickly a magical panel that shows Sunset's Shimmer's memory starts to appear, starting from the memory of where she was born into the world, the tragedy of the Airship accident that taken the lives of both of her parents, torture and immoral experiments carried out by Neo-Neighzi Scientists, the time when Celestia finally saved her and decided to adopt her as her own daughter, memories where she enjoyed her life within the walls of Canterlot castle, her military training experience with her friends at Fort Benneighing, to her combat experience in the Operation Desert Shield.

"You've come such a long, long way, and i've watching you from that very first day~"

"To see how you might grow, to see how you might do, to see what you've been through, and all the ways you've made me proud of you, it's is time now~"

"For a new change to come you've grown up and your new life has begun, to go where you go see what you will see, to find what you will be, for it's time for you fulfill your destiny~"

A cyan-coloured magical aura emerged from Sunset's body and began to rapidly circle around her body at a fast speed, Sunset's body started to slowly lift into the air and her body started to be enveloped by a bright bubble of light, and with sparks of light multiple rays of blinding White-Cyan light engulfed Sunset's then sent her back to the materium realm.

After the destruction of the last line of defense the rebel forces were crushed by the Equestrian forces. The 212th Legion then easily reached the gates of the capital city of Bagshdad, realizing that there was no hope of driving back the central government troops, the government of the Republic of Iraqquus surrendered.

All the ponies in the 212th Legion celebrate their victory, several tens of ponies from the Legion started building fireplaces and tents around the city outskirts and then started a party to celebrate their victory, everyone except the member of SR-034 Vanguard team's, they were all grieving the loss of their team leader who 'died' almost an hour ago.

Their moods continued to be sad, especially Dusky Sight who had spent the past few minutes crying incessantly, because he didn't have time to confess his feelings to Sunset before, for him she wasn't just a friend or an ordinary colleague, but rather someone he had feelings for, he prays to Faust's to at least give him a chance to confess his feelings to her.

Luckily for Dusky, her request was granted when somekind of bright flash of light suddenly appeared above them and slowly began to descend to the ground, and with a small light burst, Sunset's Shimmer sunddely appears with her new wings wide open, showing all of its glory.

Everyone in the camp suddenly stopped partying, they all then gasp and their jaws dropped to the ground, because somepony who supposedly should have died in the middle of battle just an hour ago just somehow got reincarnated as an Alicorn, that's not something you can witness everyday.

The situation quick turn into awkward slience because no one dared to say something about it, so Dusky Sight decided to broke the silence.

Dusky then quickly ran to Sunset's and hugged her tightly, she also simultaneously gave her a kiss on the lips which instantly made Sunset blushing red.

All of her other friends also started to follow and join in the hug, even Flower Jade, who had a broken hind leg due to the enemy's magical attacks also did not want to be left behind, she basically owed her life to her because without the help of Sunset's, the enemy battle mage would be able to immediately finish her off.

"Please don't mysteriously disappear like that again, we're really worried about you." Dusky Sight said

"Bahaha, Sunset got wings!!, this is awesome new flying buddy!" Thunder Spark's

"You've become an Alicorn, i don't even know that was possible?! Emerald Ace said, in complete shock.

Suddenly princess Celestia slowly descended from the sky, all the ponies who were in the camp and including her friends gasp and quickly knelt down to welcome the arrival of the Solar Godness.

All the ponies suddenly turned their heads back to Princess and Sunset's Shimmer, Sunset's quickly embraced her mother with her arms and her mother used her wings, this made everypony in the camp extremely surprised, princess Celestia never announced that she had a daughter, no one has ever suspected this possibility.

"Hehe well, not biologically, she adopted me when i was little" Sunset's answered, slightly embarrassed of this question.

"I was the one who told him not to tell anyone that I adopted him, it's was for...security measures." Celestia replied .

Several 'Ohh...' came from all ponies in the camp, there were just under a hundred of them, few enough to be able to keep the secret a little longer public for the foreseeable future.

"Sunset, you are inspiration to all of us, you have proved your dynamism, intelligence, bravery and courage to be worthy of Alicornhood, from now on you will be remebered as Princess Sunset's Shimmer, The Alicorn of Defense."

=///Few days later, Equestrian Forward Operating Base (FOB), reused Bagshdad International Airport, 0800 hours \\\=

At the Baghdad International Airport which is now being used as a temporary military FOB Equestrian, there are hundreds of troops from the 212th Legian lining up to go aboard the military Airship.

After the defeat of the Republic of Iraqquus against the 212th Equestrian Legion, their military is starting to be demobilized and all the troops that joined the fight will be sent back home and their post will be refilled with the 157th Legion from the Neighgeria province to maintain peace and at the same time prevent another rebelion.

In one of the queues to Airship EAS Dan Dienggo there is Sunset's Shimmer and his friends, they will be demobilized and will be given a four month vacation from military service for their service in this operation.

Sunset's body was completely covered by ton of bandage by Crystal Tender to cover her wings from the other legionaries because princess Celestia ordered it to be kept secret for a while, she says she must keep this crucial Information from the public until the time of Emergency where Equestria will need her Alicornhood to be revealed.

Sunset of course was really disappointed by this and started asking why other Alicorns like Cadance weren't treated like that, Celestia answers because Sunset's is so important in her 'ultimate plan' to keep the United Kingdom of Equestria going, and she wants Equestria to at least have the last Trump card in case all of their leaders are incapacitated.

With this explanation, Sunset finally understood and promised to keep this secret as long as possible until an time of emergency.

Celestia also ordered all the ponies in the camp to swear not to tell anypony about this incident.

While they were waiting on the airport tarmacs, Thunder Spark's sunddely started to speak.

"Yeah, it's really been a wild ride, it's a shame we won't have something like this again for the foreseeable future." Flower Jade

"Likely not, Seeddam Hayssein and his cronies were outliers, i don't think we will have another full-fledged rebellion like this anymore, at least not in our lifetime." Thunder Spark's said

"Yeah, our lifetime." Sunset's whispered sadly because now she going to watch all her friends slowly die from old age.

After they started boarding the Airship the ponies who were lining up started singing songs, it's that always being singing by the legions when they coming home after their the war is over, where they will get the warm welcome they all deserve.

𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮

𝅘𝅥𝅮 The mares will cheer, the stalions will shout,
The friends, they will all turn out, 𝅘𝅥𝅮

𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮

𝅘𝅥𝅮 The village mares and lassies say,
With roses they will strew the way, 𝅘𝅥𝅮

𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮

𝅘𝅥𝅮 And let each one perform some part,
To fill with joy the warrior's heart, 𝅘𝅥𝅮

𝅘𝅥𝅮 The mares will cheer, the stalions will shout, 𝅘𝅥𝅮
𝅘𝅥𝅮 The friend, they will all turn out, 𝅘𝅥𝅮

𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅮

Summoning Equestria: Arrival

by NicieLunar

One Step From Heaven