//------------------------------// // Chapter One - Leaving // Story: In Times of War // by Th4ack //------------------------------// In times of war... Pointless death, pointless destruction accomplishing our temporary objectives achieving nothing Painful wounds, painful goodbyes Iron, steel and lead colliding Ending hostilities, but causing more. Celestia and I were sorrowfully staring down at the poor stallion who had to leave his family. His wife begged us and pleaded for us to change our minds, but we unfortunately had no choice. He had to leave, we needed every warrior we could get our hands (hooves in Celestia's case) on. This man had been part of the Royal Guard for many years, well before Celestia and I were even engaged. Now that we were an official couple, we performed royal duties together, and this case was no different. This stallion was going to be sent to Canterlot to help defend against the upcoming changeling attack, we received word they would be upon us within hours. He had to leave his family behind, and had to make his final goodbyes soon. I wished there was another way, truly, but there was none. We needed him with us to defend against the storm. One of our best guards, one of our most loyal, and equally loyal to his friends and family, was about to be yanked from them for who knows how long. His wife was absolutely bawling. She lied there on the floor, crying, and staring up at us with her red, teary eyes. "Why are you doing this?" She sobbed. "Why must you take him away from me, from his family!? You're abandoning us!" I had no idea what to say, so I kept my mouth shut. I thought about saying something, and was about to choose some of the most carefully chosen words I had ever said, but Celestia spoke up first. "I... We..." She paused, looking at me with much sorrow in her eyes. She somehow had refrained from crying, but you could see the pain this was causing her. "We didn't mean to do this, especially on such short notice. Your husband has been with the Guard for so many years, and is one of our most experienced soldiers. We know how much you love him, and how much you both care for each other." This was very true. Every time Celestia and I took the chariot to Ponyville to visit Twilight Sparkle and her friends, we always saw those two walking about, talking about the latest gossip, guard news and general family business. We thought it was really cute, they seemed inseparable. I always told Celestia it reminded me of us, as long as we didn't have any royal paperwork to file. She would always laugh and blush at the comment. These times are of course, much different. The attack was imminent, and we all knew that the ruthless changeling queen and her army would show no mercy. This mare was dealing with so much right now, and we were trying to be there for her. "We had no idea an invasion would be this soon, ma'am." I stated, relieving Celestia of this very painful conversation. "We tried the best we could to repel it, but the changelings are soon going to be on our front doorstep. We need all hooves on deck if this can be stopped. I'm sorry, but your husband needs to help us. There is no other choice." Perhaps I should have worded that a bit less bluntly. The mare looked to us, eyeing us one by one. She then eyed her husband, who nodded softly to her. She then looked back at us, an intense frown forming on her face. "What if he chose to stay here, with his family!? He could help guard us and keep us safe!" She yelled, tears still forming. Celestia looked like she was going to speak, but the guard spoke instead. "Berry, honey, I need to go. Equestria is at stake here, and I need to help protect it. What would it be like if we lost our Princess? The whole country would be in chaos! I love you, but I have to go..." He said, the last part almost in a whisper, but heard by everypony clear as day. "But I love you! I don't want to lose you!" She shouted, causing her two fillies to look at her confused. She fell down, more tears streaming from her face like Neighagra Falls. The guard went to try and comfort his devastated wife. "I love you, you know that." He reassured her, a stray tear falling from his eye. "I would never abandon you, the most beautiful mare I put my eyes on." He smiled. This was painful for all of us. "But I need to go. It won't be forever, I can promise you that. Even though it may be like I'll be gone forever, I'll come back, Celestia as my witness." He pointed at Celestia, who looked at him briefly, before looking back down. She nuzzled her face into my chest. I gave her the best hug I could muster in return. I was there to comfort my wife, and he was there to comfort his. "It's your job to protect the family until I get back. You're a strong mare, we all believe in you. If you can get through this, you can go though anything the changelings dish out at us." He looked down at the two fillies, next to their mom, confused and worried about her. "Daddy's going away for a while, kids. It's your job to protect mom. Make her feel better if she gets sad, and wait until I get back. Daddy will come back, I promise you." He smiled, the fillies still confused. He gave them each a hug, and told them to behave while he was gone. He looked at me next. "So when does the next train to Canterlot leave?" He asked, further driving his wife to tears. The kids tried their best to make her feel better, and it seemed to have worked, somewhat. Their innocent smiles seemed to have been just the trick to get the mare to stop her sobbing. So as not to upset his wife, I leaned into his ear and told him, "in about an hour. If you make it to the station soon you might be able to catch it." Celestia looked up at him. "We will get the rest of the troops garrisoned in defensive mode, to protect the castle and the city. This will be our final stronghold against the queen." She whispered, the soldier nodding. "Alright". The guard said. Not long after he said this, another guard bursted through the door behind us. "Celestia, Tyler! I bring grave news." He announced to the room. "What is it?" Celestia and I asked in unison. "Fillydelphia is in ruins! The changelings leveled the place!" "Did you evacuate everypony?" The Princess asked calmly, so calmly my jaw dropped somewhat. "We believe so, yes." "You believe so!?" I almost shouted at him. "Everypony should be safe and sound, not assumed to be safe and sound." "Sir, we did the best we could to evacuate everyone." He assured. "The changelings overwhelmed us. Forgive me for saying this, but if they fought this hard for a city like Fillydelphia, imagine them trying to take over Canterlot!" "If we have high enough defenses, we just might be able to turn the tides." Celestia said, everyone in the room looking at her. "So what do you suggest we do, Princess?" The guard asked, looking at both me and her. I figured it was obvious, that we go aid Fillydelphia before the battle, but she had something else in mind. "We need to tighten our security around here. If they can easily take over that city, we need to make sure Canterlot is on high alert at all times." She said, without any stutter in her voice to speak of. "Um, honey?" I say, a little worried about her course of action. "Don't you think we should help the ponies in Fillydelphia a little bit before the fight?" "We can, and will, but only after we win the fight, sweetie." She said, a small glimpse of a smile on her face. She abruptly changed back to her battle-ready face. "If we lose Canterlot, we will instantly lose this war. We must defend our castle, and the ponies around it, at all costs." "I uhh... I understand." I said, understanding her point, but disheartened that the poor ponies in that city would get no help whatsoever, at least for a while. They wouldn't stand a chance against the changeling army, as Fillydelphia was more of an office city than anything. Both Celestia and I knew that the defenses of that city were lackluster, to say the least. Canterlot had a lot more robust of a military system, but we still needed as many troops as possible to defend it, hence why we were here. "So give the order to head to the train station?" The guard asked Celestia for confirmation. She sighed a sigh of pure grief. She knew the choice she made would determine the fate of the city, if not Equestria in its entirety. "Yes." She confirmed. "Yes, Your Highness!" He saluted, rushing outside to tell the other guards her orders. We both looked at the guard, and his family. They all knew what would happen next. "We're very, very sorry that this happened," she paused, looking at the mare. She appeared to be keeping her composure together very well, with the aid of the two fillies next to her. "But," she continued. "This war cannot be won if we don't get as many guards as possible to Canterlot at once. That city will be our last hope if we are to succeed." "I..." The young mare stuttered. "I understand what you mean, Princess." She said, looking up at Celestia, smiling, even through all of her tears. The two mares hugged each other, smiling as the guard and I looked on. "We would never ask you to do this if the situation was different." I assured them both. I looked at the mare, who was keeping her composure much better than before. She looked back at me, the tears now dried away from her eyes. "Once this fight is over, we will bring your husband back. We will win, and he will return, I promise you." I said, trying to make her feel better. "Everything will be back to the way it was before, and you could have your normal lives back again." Celestia said, smiling to the now comforted mare. The children gazed up at the tall alicorn, who they most likely never even saw this close before. One of them spoke up. "Please keep daddy safe." She said simply. They had faith in the Princess, they believed in her. A stray tear fell down Celestia's face following the request. "I will, child, I will." She said, smiling down on the two fillies. This was a solemn promise, a promise approved of by the Princess. The two fillies smiled weakly, then darted back over to their mother. The same guard opened the door again, but appeared to be more relaxed. He stepped inside, and looked at the Princess directly. "Your Highness, are we ready to leave?" He asked emotionlessly. He at least appeared to be emotionless, although he could have been doing a successful job hiding it. The Princess stood up, and beckoned us to follow her out the door. "Goodbye Berry, goodbye kids." The guard we came here for said, weakly. He slowly stepped out through the doorway. As we closed the door, the poor mare who had been sobbing for so long called out, "Wait!". We stopped as she reopened the door, and handed her husband a spear, dagger and golden helmet, signature pieces of equipment used by the royal guard. "You forgot these." She said, weakly smiling at her husband. The guard took his belongings, and kissed his wife goodbye. "Goodbye hun, I'll be back soon." He promised. "I know." She said simply, closing the door behind her gently. We marched off to the train station, with one of our best soldiers now in tow.