Jackson lost track of how long he and the other leaders had planned and plotted in the Princess’s war room. Judging from the way his bones creaked and ached, probably a good five hours. The holographic image before them depicted a simulation of the coming battle. Even from a bird’s eye view, the unreal fighting was desperate and bloody. Equestrians and demons made of dancing lights slaughtered each other in brutal close-quarter fighting.
As the battle ended, Princess Luna used her magic to switch off the crystal that was displaying the images. “I’ve seen enough.” She paused and then added, “I believe we are as ready as we are ever going to be for this offensive. What say you?”
The group was silent until Rainbow Dash growled, “I don’t like this.” She wasn’t looking at the Princess. She had directed the comment at Jackson.
“What are your objections, ma’am?” asked the Iron Ghost.
“Everything! I don’t like relieving you, our best General, of your command before a battle. I don’t like abandoning the Crystal Empire. And I sure as Tartarus don’t like trusting our entire strategy to Discord. We don’t even know for sure if he is on our side.”
Jackson nodded. “If the circumstances were any different, I would agree with you. But, we are out of time. If we do nothing, the demons take the Crystal Empire and with it the north. If we go to aid our imperial allies, we give the enemy time to reinforce the gate. While we war in the north, they will eventually renew their offensives in the south and center of Equestria.” Fixing the pegasus with a hard look he continued, “In six months our land will be a burnt husk. We cannot fight this war forever. We must strike now and with everything we posses while the momentum of victory is on our side. I will be dead in a matter of weeks, and God only knows if I’ll make it that long. For the final offensive you will need a strong right arm, and Applejack is ready for such a role.”
“But what about . . .” the Sky Marshal started to say but was interrupted by Princess Luna.
“Grand Commander Rainbow Dash, if you will not fulfill the plans that have been laid at your hooves, I shall find somepony else who will.”
Flash Sentry and Big Macintosh winced at the alicorn’s tone.
Rainbow Dash glared back at the Princess. “I will do as you ask, your Majesty, although I do this under protest.”
“Noted,” Princess Luna sniffed. “You are all dismissed.”
Jackson rose and retrieved his cane from his aide. As the other Commanders left the hall, he paused at the threshold of the door. Hearing the lack of foot falls behind him, Big Mac turned and saw the human staring into space.
“Sir, are you coming?” the earth pony asked tentatively. Hearing the question, Rainbow Dash and Flash Sentry both stopped and looked at the human curiously.
The Iron Ghost shook his head. “There’s something I must talk to the Princess about. You three go on ahead. I know you have family and friends here in the city you want to see.”
Coming up to his commander, Major Macintosh whispered, “What about your arm, sir? You’re not supposed to wear it for too long.”
“Let me worry about that, Major. You go now, and give my regards to Miss Cheerilee.”
The earth pony hesitated before finally saluting and rejoining the Marshals. As Stonewall shut the door, he smiled reassuringly and waved good-bye to his friends. Jackson turned and limped back to the table. Surprisingly, the alicorn had a question for him as well.
“Do you think she’s ready?”
“Who? Sky Marshal . . . I mean, Grand Commander Rainbow Dash? Yes, your Excellency, I do. She is confident, brilliant, and listens to her gut as well as her head.”
Luna smiled. “In other words, she is a lot like you.”
Jackson chuckled. “That could be good or bad.”
As suddenly as Luna’s smile had appeared, it was gone. “Why, Thomas? Why did you have to try and get yourself killed?”
The human didn’t hesitate, “My reserves were committed, my line was broken, and my boys were dying by the hundreds. What would you have had me do? Skedaddle like a frightened Yankee with my tail between my legs?”
Stonewall wheezed the last part and began to cough violently. He fished out a handkerchief and covered his mouth. When he was done, the cloth was flecked with blood. He stuffed the piece of fabric into his pocket and continued, “Rainbow Dash does have a point about Discord. She is not the only one concerned about his loyalty and intelligence reports.”
Luna looked at her soldier with pity. “As you have said, we don’t have a choice. We will strike and destroy the gate, no matter what we may face.” She didn’t say what the alternative was if they failed. It was too horrible to imagine, much less speak.
Jackson’s grip tightened on his cane. He looked behind him to make sure the magically enchanted door was closed before asking in a low voice, “Is project two nine zero prepared in case the army is defeated?”
She stiffened. “It is. Two nine zero will be presented to you at a time when my agent feels is right.”
The general blinked. “I don’t understand. By the time this attack is launched, I’ll be with the Lord watching our glorious offensive from on high.”
The Princess smirked. “I haven’t given up all hope on you, Thomas. I want you to visit Rarity’s Canterlot facility tonight.”
Despite his discipline, the General couldn’t help but ask, “Why?”
“Trust me,” Luna replied. “I want you to handle two nine zero above all others. If we can save you, then we will.”
Despite himself, the mere thought of the instrument he could be wielding caused his human hand to tremble slightly. “No one else knows of it?”
“None besides you, me, my agent, and Dr. Hooves. The Doctor’s assistants that have labored in creating two nine zero only knew of their own personal assignments. Only the four of us know what the sum of the parts can do.”
“Has it been tested?”
“No. We had time to make just one. If you die before or during the battle, somepony else shall use it, but I know you have the best chance of success.”
Jackson took a deep breath. “Your Excellency, I highly recommend that you tell the Grand Commander about this weapon. A General must know of all the tools in his . . . or in this case her arsenal.”
Luna shook her head. “The fewer ponies who know about this, the better. And besides, you and I both know she might hesitate to use it. I have no doubt in my mind that you won’t, should the need arise.”
Thomas closed his eyes, and for a moment he pictured himself using the weapon against a multitude of demons. “And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, ‘Come and see.’ And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.”
“That’s a quote from your Bible, isn’t it? The book of Revelations I believe . . . it seems appropriate.”
The two stood in silence for a few long moments until at last Jackson spoke. “Your Excellency, may I ask a favor of you?”
“Name it,” Luna replied.
Tapping his cane on the wooden floor in nervousness, Jackson asked, “I want to know how events fair from where I come from. Has Virginia achieved her Independence? Is my family well?” The words tumbled out of his mouth much faster than he had wanted, but what was done was done.
Luna frowned at this request and slowly turned her back on the Iron Ghost. “You know I can’t tell you any of that.”
“Begging your pardon, your Excellency, but I believe it’s more of a question of will then ability.”
The alicorn turned around to face the waiting soldier. She held his blue eyes for a moment with her own, and then looked away.
As the seconds rolled by, Jackson drew breath to speak but thought better of it. He had asked this question before and had gotten a similar reply. Perhaps it was better this way, to remain ignorant of what had happened since his “death.” Bowing his head to his Princess, he began to limp back to the door.
“Wait,” the Princess said suddenly.
The hair on the back of Jackson’s neck started to rise in anticipation as he turned back around.
Walking up to her former Southern Commander she said, “I can’t show you everything you desire, but what I can show you . . .” Luna paused but continued firmly, “Are you sure you want this?”
Jackson hesitated only for a moment before nodding.
Not wasting a moment, violet, black, and green alicorn magic began to gather on the tip of Luna’s horn. Her eyes became jet black as the beam of gathered power shot forth and blasted into the center of Stonewall’s mind.
Rainbow Dash had not been waiting long outside the Princess’s war room when the heavy metal door opened. Out stepped a weary midnight-blue alicorn. At once, the Grand Commander bowed respectfully.
Luna favored her new Grand Commander with a tired but disapproving glance. However, as she wondered why the outspoken pony was still here, her eyes fell on the wooden case at the pegasus’s side. Without uttering a word, she nodded and departed down the long hallway that led to the blood-doors.
As the Princess left, Rainbow Dash considered calling after her and asking if Thomas was still down here. Her question was answered by a muffled cough as Jackson slowly made his way out of the room. The pegasus was shocked at the human’s transformation. The Iron Ghost was a proud man with burning passion and energy. Gone was that man, replaced by a haggard, older-looking copy who limped forward haltingly.
Jackson, leaning heavily on his cane, closed the door to the room he never wanted to see again. Too many bad memories now haunted him from that place, from the past, and now from the present. Lost in thought, he barely heard his name being called from right in front of him. He looked up slowly, and his bearing changed immediately. He rigidly straightened his demeanor, and his right hand rose in salute.
“Grand Commander, my apologies, ma’am. I thought I was alone down here.”
Rainbow Dash smiled at the human. His eyes were red and puffy and his hair and beard were wildly unkempt. His earth-brown uniform though, was as straight and crisp as the moment she had first seen him in the castle tonight.
“Element of Loyalty, remember? I’m not going to abandon my new advisor. A talk with the Lunar Princess can be painful sometimes.”
In spite of his mental torment, Jackson laughed a little at that. “Tell me, Rainbow, did you have to wrestle my arm-case away from Big Mac, or did he surrender it willingly?”
Patting the wooden box like she would Tank, the pegasus replied, “It wasn’t an unconditional surrender. He said that I’d have to stay here and wait for you until your meeting was finished.” Pausing she then continued, “He also said that if you didn’t detach yourself from that metal thing the very second you were finished with the meeting . . .” Rainbow Dash smiled evilly, “that I was supposed to tell Granny Smith that you were misbehaving.”
Thomas sucked on his teeth at this latest revelation. “You’re bluffing.”
Eyes narrowing, the pony replied, “Try me.”
The two stared at each other until finally Stonewall sighed. “Her Excellency made no mistake in choosing you to lead the army in the final battle.”
After handing his cane to the pony and rolling up his sleeve, Jackson grasped his metallic wrist and gave the slightest of tugs. The appendage disconnected from the chromed stump easily. Coming forward, Rainbow Dash took the arm from the human and shut the weapon in the case.
As Jackson took his cane back, he said awkwardly, “Well, Grand Commander, I appreciate you waiting on me, but do you not have somewhere else to be?”
“Why? Are you trying to get rid of me so I won’t ask you about what you and the Princess were talking about?”
Yes! Jackson wanted to shout as he took back his cane. He wanted to say it badly, but he couldn’t, not to a superior officer.
“No, I just don’t want to keep you from more pressing matters. Surely you have someone you want to visit here while you are still in the capital.”
“At 4 a.m.?” The pegasus asked curiously. “The only ponies that are up are guards and ghosts.”
Nodding his head in agreement, Jackson beckoned to the blood door, and the two started to walk. As they continued past the guards stationed on the other side, the human asked suddenly, “Out of those two choices, what am I?"
“What?” Rainbow Dash asked looking up at Jackson.
“Am I a ghost or a guard?” Jackson asked.
“You’re the Iron Ghost. You have been ever since your string of victories in the Hayseed Swamps, the Bad Lands and the Rambling Rock Ridge. You moved your earth ponies so quickly it was like you were at all three places at once. Many of my pegasi commanders are still jealous about how fast you can get your ground troops to move.”
Jackson smiled at this as he limped down the crimson carpet. He knew that Rainbow Dash was trying to keep his spirit high as best she could, but it was a losing battle. The General was doing all he could not to think about what Princess Luna had just shown him. He did not want to lose his composure now in front of a superior officer, but he feared that he might not have any choice.
As they walked, he looked up at the stained glass windows. Each one was magically lit so that the viewer could gaze upon them both night and day. He stopped to look at one in particular. It depicted a human warrior woman, armed with a spear and a sword standing over a defeated opponent. At the bottom of the window were the words Sic Semper Tyrannis. Princess Celestia had wanted a portrait of General Jackson depicted on the window to commemorate his service to Equestria. However, the human had insisted the flag of his former home be portrayed instead.
Normally, the Iron Ghost would pass this window and look upon it with pride. This window was a reminder of what he had fought to defend seemingly a lifetime ago. Now though, the image caused hot tears to come streaming down his face. He did not even try to hide them. There was no point now. Seconds later he lost all composure as his body was wracked with sobs.
Feeling a couple of hooves being placed on his arm, he found himself being gently led to a nearby bench that was used for viewing the windows in all their glory. There the two sat silently for a while as Jackson released his pain.
Rainbow Dash wrapped a wing around the man. “You don’t have to tell me, but I am asking because I am your friend. What did the Princess tell you to cause you such sorrow?”
For a moment Stonewall said nothing. What he wanted to do was curl up and die. . . no, that was the coward’s way out. He was a Christian soldier, and the last thing Christians and soldiers did was give up and lose faith. Wiping the tears from his eyes with his sleeve, he looked up once again at the stained glass window.
“She . . .” Jackson began shakily. Taking a deep breath, he tried again. “She didn’t tell me anything; she showed me. And I wish to God I could take it back. I shouldn’t have asked her, but I had to know.”
“Know what, Thomas?” the pegasus asked gently, taking Jackson’s hand in her hooves.
“I had to know about what was happening to my home, to Virginia, to my family. I had to know before I died.”
Nodding in understanding, the pegasus waited for her friend to continue.
Jackson bowed his head and looked at the ground. “It’s over. The Confederacy is no more. Richmond is burned, and the southern armies have surrendered.” As he said these words, he recalled all the images of endless bodies and rivers of blood. These memories were not his own, but they were so graphically real they might as well have been. Names appeared out of the ether of his mind. Gettysburg, Vicksburg, The Wilderness, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, The Crater, Atlanta, Franklin . . . the litany of slaughter stretched on and on. So many dead, so many lost.
Not wanting Jackson to dwell on this defeat, Rainbow Dash asked, “How is your family?”
“That’s the worst of it. I don’t know. She couldn’t show me their fates. She could only show me . . .” Jackson struggled for the right word, “generalities of events that had happened over there since I’ve been gone.”
Rainbow Dash squeezed Jackson’s hand encouragingly. “I’m sure they’re alright. From what you’ve told me, the Yankees wouldn’t harm mares and their foals.”
The Iron Ghost shook his head as he leaned back on the bench. “I know. I just wanted to see them one more time before the end came. I wanted to face death without doubt in my heart for their well-being. Now, all I see is death and my old country shattered. I shouldn’t have looked back. I shouldn’t have asked her for this. Why did I? Why . . . ” Jackson couldn’t bring himself to complete his sentence as new waves of grief swept over him.
The pegasus held him as he despaired. Finally after several long minutes, Jackson took a deep breath and let go of the pegasus.
“Thank you, Rainbow. I . . . needed to do that.”
Rainbow Dash wiped away her own tears as she said, “No problem, Thomas. You did the same for me.”
Slowly the human soldier stood up and said grimly, “My wife, my child, and Virginia. . . I must leave in God’s hands. There’s nothing I can do for them, other than pray that we will meet in the life to come.”
Getting to her hooves, Rainbow Dash responded, “We all will eventually, Celestia willing.”
“Amen,” replied the Iron Ghost.