Baker
When you spend your whole life trying to hide something you feel like you have to hide, and then just… letting it go, there’s a relief that washes over you; a feeling that everything is going to be alright. But at this point, from what I’ve seen, I know better. Just because part of your journey is finished doesn’t mean the whole thing stops all at once. One battle might be over, but there’s still the war to win.
Time had passed on quickly, and with little real activity lately. The lack of missions and direct combat operations began to sink into the men, and a sense of relaxation had set in. With little to do, the days and weeks began to blur into each other, and time began to pass unnoticed. October came and went, and much of November did, as well. The fall, with its coolness and colors, began to give way to the winter, with the temperature dropping to increasingly uncomfortable levels.
But Baker and most of the soldiers did not mind. There had not been a major battle since the one to seize the bridge, for them at least. There had been a couple of large skirmishes between the humans and Griffons, but the enemy seemed to be running out of steam as Equestria’s military began to push back and the paratroopers succeeded in hurting some of the best units in the Griffon military. With Thanksgiving being celebrated in town, along with one of the best meals the soldiers had gotten since their arrival, many grabbed a sense that the war, at least this war, was done.
“And then it’s back to ours,” Baker said to himself as he walked along on of Ponyville’s dirt roads. “And then after that, it’ll be time to go home; our real home.”
Baker swore he would remember to keep Hartsock’s promise. He would find his wife and daughter, and offer whatever assistance was needed, if they requested any; money, work, housing, and anything else that they required. No doubt it would be difficult for them, as they would probably get the news before he could tell them in person, but he could at least be there to comfort them.
Stopping and reaching into his pocket, he took out the one thing he got from Hartsock. Joe’s wedding brand still had some shine to it, and still had the string attached from; if Baker went looking for his family for any other reason, it was to give this back. At this point, not much else mattered.
“Sergeant,” a commanding voice called from nearly right over his shoulder.
Baker looked back and saw Celestia, standing there with a grim look on her face, and jumped a bit.
“God, you scared me!” he replied before regaining his composure. “Sorry, Princess. What are you doing around here, ma’am?”
“I will tell you, but first we must meet with the heads of your forces,” she said urgently. “I needed to find you first, with my student being a liaison to you. But the other two are already at the town hall."
Baker wanted to ask another question, but Celestia moved past him before it could leave his mouth. Instead, he followed along with the nearly jogging alicorn until they reached the town hall, which seemed mostly empty form the outside. Upon entering, he found only two other individuals there; Generals Taylor and Gavin of their respective divisions. The whole situation spelled out bad news to Baker; if Celestia had to bring those two in, something big was happening. And from her state of worry, he guessed it was not good.
“I am grateful you all have the time to meet me,” she stated, not bothering with any formal greetings.
“Of course Princess, is there a problem?” Taylor guessed from her anxious state.
“Yes, and I am afraid I must go directly to it, as there is little time,” she said, doing just that. “I was informed earlier today that another nation near our border, the Changeling Empire, has entered the war against us.”
A few moments of dire, hard silence held as the two generals thought of how to respond; the Princess did not wait for them.
“They have already moved into our lands through the penetrations the Griffons made, and have begun attacking our troops, which, I am afraid, are not in the condition to fight off a fresh opponent.”
“And… you want us to deal with them, as well?” Taylor asked, only for Celestia to shake her head in denial.
“No, this task is too dangerous; their numbers are far too great, and they have already begun moving before we could respond,” she explained in her grim tone. “Battling them would only lead to your destruction, something I cannot allow after all you have done.”
Silence took over again as Taylor searched for the exact words to say. It seemed daunting, but he had a hard time believing that a whole new nation had entered the fray, and that they would be wiped out. Before he added any comments, he decided to ask what the Princess had planned.
“Ma’am, what will you do? What do you want us to do?”
“The Changelings are still a short distance from Ponyville and the area around it,” she explained. “I do think I have perfected a spell to return you to your world; you must assemble your men to be returned. As for us… I am afraid that my armies cannot hold all of our ground. It would be best to open negotiations with them, and we will more than likely have to concede sizable amounts of territory to them… including this town.”
None of the Americans there could stomach that. For all this time, they had fought and bled so that this place would not fall under some other nation’s flag. And after all of the fighting that had occurred, after coming so close to their goal, an entirely new nation had jumped in like a thief interrupting a nearly-finished duel, striking at them to take what they had fought so hard to gain. They could not, and would not, accept it.
“Sergeant, you’ve seen your share of the front,” Taylor stated, going straight to his decision regardless of the answer. “You think the men can handle another army?”
Baker thought of it for all of a second, but he already knew what the answer to that was.
“They shouldn’t be a problem, sir.”
“I didn’t think they would be,” Taylor replied with a grin. “I figured there’s still some fight in us. General Gavin?”
“What… are you talking about?” Celestia asked, despite knowing the answer already.
“Off the top of my head? I think we can stick around a little longer,” Gavin replied.
Now Celestia had her turn to be surprised. It was already stunning that these troops had stayed and fought one war, and now they were going to stay and fight a second. It was almost as if they were trying to be destroyed in battle, and take as many with them as possible.
“You have no need to stay here, otherwise you would be wiped out,” she warned ominously. “You’ve given far more than ever expected, we could not ask this.”
“It’s more than just helping you all now,” Taylor pointed out. “We’ve lost a lot just to get where we are; we’re not letting all that go in vain, not a chance in hell.”
Celestia looked over to Baker, whom she believed had seen the most of the conflict.
“The general’s right, I can’t leave and let my men’s deaths be for nothing.”
“I… I suppose I cannot say no,” she admitted. “But you cannot attack an entire army with the forces you have, especially after being weakened from fighting the Griffons. Fight or not, the Changelings will overrun much of the area around it.”
“Well, when you put it that way, it sounds foolish,” Baker agreed, though still not dissuaded from staying.
“I’m not planning on attacking, since we’ve got control of most of the major areas around town,” Taylor replied, strategizing in his mind. “Defense would be the best option, but we can’t win a war by staying on the defense, especially when we can’t defend an extended area.”
“Ma’am, didn’t you say this town was very vital? That it was part of the reason the war started?” Gavin recalled, hypothesizing a possible solution.
“Yes, General; Ponyville is of great importance in a number of ways, the most immediate being its roadways.”
“So then could we just defend the town itself, since it’s their main objective?”
From a small standpoint, it did seem like a sound strategy. Ponyville, as a hub, was important for any activity that involved travel in the region. The Changelings would be sending most forces there, and they could not afford to leave it be. If time were bought, the Equestrian military could at least stabilize the situation, and maybe even push back. Celestia pondered for a bit before responding in a more confident tone.
“Yes, it is possible. If Ponyville can be defended, then it would be possible to broker a better deal at the negotiating table with our foes; at least to the point of the return to pre-war borders,” she theorized. “Though I must warn you that if you choose to fortify your troops here, we will be unable to hold on to any land ourselves. Our forces are already disorganized and battered… you will be completely surrounded.”
“We’re the Airborne ma’am, we’re meant to be surrounded,” Taylor replied, finalizing the decision.
“So that’s the basics of it,” Baker explained to his men. “There’s another army coming at us, and we have to hold here and wear them out. If we don’t they’ll run over the whole country, and the whole fight will be pointless.”
Most of the men in the squad simply stared, contemplating what was happening and how to answer it. Some looked away slightly at the ground or to the side. Only Paddock said anything at first, mumbling a few swears to himself under his hand before returning to normal.
“Alright,” Zanovich finally spoke up, breaking the odd quiet. “We know how long that’ll take?”
“We’re not sure, but it’ll probably be a month or two; maybe more,” Baker replied, giving the best estimation from what he was told.
“What about the size of this army?” Holden asked.
“Not sure about that either; but it’s big.”
Other than an aggravated sigh from a few of the soldiers, most of them remained quiet, not willing to ask anything else that would lead to more bad news. Their faces did not hold much reaction, remaining largely blank and almost uncaring. It was worrying in a way, but none of them said anything, only waiting for the notification to end so they could go about their individual business.
“I’m sorry this happened, but all we have to do now is hold on to what we’ve got,” Baker continued. “So keep that in mind and get your things ready for this. I’ll get back to you if anything else comes up.”
No questions were asked, and no comments arose. Each soldier held his silence to take in the scale of this new task. Anger, fear, confusion, and a whole variety of feelings came over the group, but none of it showed. All of them were suppressed and hidden deep away under the layers cold callousness.
The group began to disperse without warning, with everyone going their own way. None of them had asked Baker if they could disperse, but he allowed it for this one time. In truth, he wanted to end the discussion as soon as possible. The lifelessness of his squad scared him deeply, and it surprised him how he, also, cared so little about having to stay longer. He was not sure if this was bad or good, but figured there was no controlling it.
Upon returning to his own bunk, he found himself without anything to do, and decided to sleep and hope that something would come up over that time. He no longer worried about the possibilities of the future, only focused on what was coming. Everything else had been removed. In an odd way, it was a very liberating feeling.