//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: Ashy's Struggle 
// by ForgottenBliss 
//------------------------------//

	"What happened here?"  An officer asked.  'What happened here?' The never ending question of the hour.  It seems I was asked this exact question by many a paramedic, civilian, and cop in the past twenty minutes.  I replied with the usual, "We were bombed." 
"Bombed," he asked, "By who?"  
"Well, sir," I replied, "I'm not sure."
He looked from side to side and then said, "It wasn't the New Lunar Republic was it?"  Oh great, I said to myself.  He is either NLR follower or one loyal to the Empire.  Either way, he obviously doesn't want it to be the NLR.
"Why do you ask?" I questioned.
"Well," he said, "I am a member of the Solar Empire.  I just really don't want this war to escalate because of a possibly false accusation."
"Alright," I sighed, "I don't believe it was the NLR."
"Oh thank goodness," he said with a breath of relief, "I was really worried for a second there." He sounded like he wanted peace so I gave him my card and told him to call me if he ever wanted a way to relieve himself from the war.  He said he would and walked off.  Now I just had to figure out how to get to Canterlot.  I scratched an itch under my wings and then I realized,  Duh, I'm a Pegasus.  How could I forget that? I felt really stupid until I realized that, considering what had just happened, I was lucky that was all I forgot.  I flapped my wings and took off towards Canterlot.

When I finally arrived at Canterlot, a pony who I had not seen in the longest time was there to greet me.  My sister, Sun Blossom, grappled me out of the sky seconds before I landed.  She had me in a death grip and I was scared for my life.  "Sunny, why are you trying to kill me?" I squeaked through the embrace.
"Kill you?" she asked, confused. "I was hugging you, silly!"  With that, she released her death hug and stepped back.  With a smile, she asked expectantly, "Well, sis, finally ready to join the Solar Empire?" 
"Actually, no," I replied.  I had not joined the Solar Empire yet and truth be told, I didn't plan to.  Too imposing in my opinion.  "I came because my boss asked me to."
Deflated, she stepped backed even more and said, "Oh, so you chose them..." 
Confused I asked, "Sunny, whatever do you mean?  If you mean the New Lunar Republic then you're-"  I stopped, interrupted as a soldier walked over to my sister and asked,
"Ma'am, is this person bothering you?"
"No, Skyshade, she's fine," my sister replied, still obviously upset at the fact that she thought I had joined the New Lunar Republic. 
"All right miss," Skyshade said and he walked back to his post.
I cleared my throat and spoke up, "Ahem, as I was saying, if you mean the NLR, then you're wrong.  I have chosen to stay a neutral of sorts."
"Of sorts?"  My sister repeated, confused.
"Yes, I have chosen to join the Peace Corps." I replied happily. "Now if you'll excuse me, it's obvious that my boss has not heard the news and I must go inform him."  I began to walk past my sister, but she extended a wing to block my path.
"What news?"  When I didn't reply, she spoke even louder, "Ash, what. News?!"  
"Okay, okay," I said, giving up on keeping the secret. "I guess you were going to find out sooner or later anyway.  Let's just get somewhere more comfortable and I will tell you all about it, I still have time before I need to go meet my boss."
Ecstatic, my sister squealed and said, "Oh, goodie!  And I know just the place."  With that, she led me across town to her favorite café, Joe's Donuts.