//------------------------------//
// War Council 
// Story: Ballad for the Medicpony 
// by Spirit Guide 
//------------------------------//

When everyone had gathered around the table, Mandate pointed to the map on it. "Shining Armor left me in charge of the base after taking a battalion of troops further south, to use both as a distraction and to cut the enemy off from any possible suppliers. We got a pegasus messenger from him the other day."

"You did?" Twilight exclaimed, her wings flaring up. "What did he say? Is he all right? Did he stop the terrorists?"

"Jeez, calm down, Princess," Gilda said, picking up a scroll from the table. "His message is right here. Read it out loud if you want."

Twilight frantically grabbed the scroll and opened it up. She quickly scanned it, her glowing smile slowly fading into a small confused line. Her five pony friends looked on. "Well, what's it say, Twi?" Applejack asked.

The purple alicorn was quiet. Then she took a a breath began to read. 

"To General Mandate

We have successfully crossed the land and are now positioned behind the enemy's base, which is built into a mountain several miles from the shore. So far, we've had no disturbances coming from behind us. The terrorists have apparently brought everything with them in one trip. We're still on our guard though.
I've sent ponies to scout the area surrounding the enemy base. We believe that a small team can enter the base, strategically plant what explosives we've recovered from the battlefield, and detonate them from a distance. The resulting blast would not only destroy the enemy's base, but leave them with virtually no spare weapons or supplies.
For this mission, choose the ponies you believe are best suited for entering an armed fortress unnoticed. Take the rest of the troops to the front line and distract the enemy. We'll close in on them from the the rear as soon as we know the attack has begun.

Good luck
Prince Shining Armor."

Applejack whistled. "That's some plan."

"We were going to do it tonight," Mandate said, pacing on his side of the table. "But we can't face the terrorists head on without Braith. He's the biggest dragon we've got. The others are either too far away to help or too lazy to try and save Equestria, which they migrate through every generation."

Gilda huffed. "Ingrates."

"Now we have to hold off the final mission. Another day for ponies, griffons and dragons to fall to the merciless terrorists." Mandate sighed and put his head in his hooves. "I just don't know what to think anymore, ladies. After the last war, I thought I had hung up my uniform for good. Now here I am facing an unpredictable foe and unable to stop my comrades from falling to their technology. I'm beginning to think this is the end."

Silence rippled through the war room. The Element Bearers watched as the military leader fell apart before their eyes. It was horribly depressing. Twilight looked at the map's marked positions, then at the message from her brother, somewhere out in enemy territory. She forced herself to remember the wounded soldiers in the emergency room and the still bodies of the dead. Then it came to her.

"I'll do it."

General Mandate looked up suddenly, his expression shocked. "You what?"

"I'll go on the mission."

"Twilight, you can't be serious!" Rarity insisted.

"It's a huge mess out there!" Applejack reminded, waving her hooves around to emphasize. "An' firin' an' bullets an' exploding caps an' who knows what else."

"If anypony's gonna go on this deadly mission, it's gonna be me!" Rainbow Dash declared, hovering over the table. "I'm the fastest here!"

"Also the one with the biggest head," Gilda commented, giving the pegasus a friendly nudge.

"No, Rainbow Dash," Twilight held. "I'm not going to allow any of my friends to take this responsibility. I likely have more magic than any of the ponies in this war on either side, and I can utilize that magic to its fullest." She turned to the general. "Mandate, I ask you to let me lead the attack on the enemy's base and to carry out this mission."

General Mandate stared at Twilight in silence, his face frozen in a state of horror. "Princess, I can't possibly authorize such an action. If you were to die, Faust forbid, what would the Prince think? What would your brother think?"

"He would know that I gave my life for Equestria, our home."

Twilight's friends glanced at one another speechlessly, silently informing one another of their unanimous disagreement with her decision. Gilda watched the princess curiously, wondering if there were any personal reason behind her wanting to lead the mission. General Mandate sighed. "Even not taking the Prince into account, Princess, that still leaves numerous other problems that would—"

The five Element Bearers quickly burst into protest, not even giving the general a chance to finish.

"You savage! Have you no respect for royalty?!"

"Pfffffffffffft!"

"Ah'm not having no friend o' mine leadin' a possible suicide mission!"

"Oh.... my... please, no..."

"What about meeee?"

"Silence, all of you!" General Mandate slammed his hoof on the map table, pacifying the mares' complaints. "Firstly, I won't have you all flipping out in our most crucial moment. We need fighters, not foals. Show a little control and stay calm!"

"Secondly, who said I was okay with letting the princess—"

"I said, Mandate," Twilight spoke up. "And I'm doing it, with or without your permission."

The stallion opened his mouth to retort, but Twilight continued. "I've now seen the results of war, the casualties that come from it. With this in mind, I will never be able to sit at home calmly and chronicle friendship as I once did. Not unless I put my mind at ease by helping to end this violence myself firsthoof. If you don't allow me, then I'll take this mission anyway. With my friends."

"Ha, yeah!" Rainbow Dash cheered.

Mandate looked back and forth between Twilight and her friends, his expression blank. He glanced at Gilda, who laid one claw on the map table and the other on Rainbow's hoof, surprising the pegasus. Finally, Mandate sighed. "As you wish, Princess."

Twilight sat back down, a confident smile splayed across her face. Rarity looked over at her friend. "Twilight darling, I really must object."

"Rarity's right, Twilight," Fluttershy said, doing her best to speak at all. "We care about you too much to lose you to the war."

"Are you kidding?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed with a smirk. "We're all going out on a mission to stop the terrorists. The Elements of Harmony, off to save Equestria again!"

"That's where you're mistaken, Dash," Gilda announced.

The cyan pegasus spun around to face her griffon friend. "What's that supposed to mean, Gilda?!"

Gilda blinked slowly, her face unreadable. "Isn't that right, General?" she called over.

"Indeed, it is," the stallion concurred. "Princess Twilight will go on the infiltration mission, but the rest of you will not. Because," he added, upon seeing Applejack and Rainbow Dash's outraged looks, "you'll be joining the main forces and each have your own unit to lead in the battle. It's a crucial part of the mission. The terrorists will have to be distracted by our forces if the princess is to succeed."

The war room became quiet again. Rainbow Dash was still overjoyed, maybe even more so at the thought of leading troops herself. Rarity was muttering about all the uniforms she wanted to spruce up. Applejack and Pinkie said nothing. Fluttershy was shaking from head to tail. "Um, G-g-general?" she stammered. "Maybe it would be best if I, you know, stayed at the base and.... watched over things?"

Mandate raised an eyebrow. "I believe the best place for you, Ms. Fluttershy, would be in charge of the airship. You skillfully deployed the medics aboard it in the last skirmish. I know you will do an outstanding job commanding the airship in the coming battles."

"I-I don't know," Fluttershy muttered, running her hooves through her mane. "I don't think I can take a responsibility like that, one that holds so many ponies', dragons' and griffons' lives on the line."

Gilda moved over to the trembling pegasus. "Listen to me, Fluttershy. War isn't a game, we all know that, and we'd all just as much prefer to be home right now. But peace isn't a gift simply forked over. It's a reward, and the price is war. War turns the simplest of ponies and griffons into grim battle-worn stormtroopers, and sometimes they don't go back to the way they were, ever after the war is over. That's why we need ponies like you, full of fierce determination yet brimming with compassion for her comrades. Such ponies are truly a gift and their friendship a valuable possession, in both daily life and combat."

Rainbow Dash whistled. "Wow, G. That was some deep stuff. Are you sure you're not getting soft?"

"Pfft, only as soft as your little pony head, Dash."

"All right, you two, that's enough." Mandate dragged his hoof along a perimeter line on the map. "Ms. Applejack and I will lead the rest of the ground forces against the enemy. Ms. Pie, you will be leading the artillery teams among the hills. With your speed, you'll be able to move through your troops fast enough to command them efficiently. Ms. Rarity will be in charge of the long-ranged unit. Without Braith, though, you'll have less firepower and defense than normal."

"This is gonna be one heck of a fight."

"I'm confident we'll manage, General."

"Mmhmm!"

"Dash, we'll be leading the air division together." Gilda then addressed the others. "Everypony, each of the teams we're being given command of contains a mixture of ponies, griffons and dragons. It's up to us to focus all the enemy's forces on us so that Princess Twilight and her team can blow their base. Prince Shining Armor will eventually join us and we'll crush the enemy in a vice. Everypony clear?"

The Bearers all nodded their heads. Mandate pulled out several badges and slid them across the each of the mares. "These represent your commanding rank, girls. In a minute, we'll introduce you to your units, which have already been acquainted with the Friendship Battalion you've led thus far. Together, they shall make the greatest army Equestria has ever seen!"

Army, Twilight thought dismally as the others began to file out, her friends admiring their officer rank insignia. This whole war business is so painful. If it weren't for all the lives being threatened, I'm sure I'd be locking myself up in my castle with Spike, away from all of this.

"Yo, Princess."

Twilight looked up, finding herself alone in the war room with Gilda. "Yes?"

"I know how you feel."

"Y-you do?"

"Yeah. Griffonstone was one of the first settlements contacted for drafting. We became aware of the threat early on and, being griffons, answered the call quickly. In battle, we're tough and strong, capable of fighting for great lengths of time. But even so...." Gilda turned and a shadow crossed her face. "War isn't a game. It's not like a scuffle or a brawl. You can't back out of it, smile and shake with your opponent. It's full-on all-out fighting to the death, and victory goes only to one side.

"You're worried for yourself, but also for your friends. At the first sign of violence, you'll feel like you never have before and wish you never had felt it. But that feeling eventually numbs and all you feel is the strong will to protect all you care about. That is what determines the winner of war, Princess Twilight, and our enemy has none of it."

Twilight looked at the gold horseshoe insignia in front of her, slowly curling a hoof around it as she took in Gilda's words. "You're right. Together with our friends, we will defeat those monsters."

Gilda clapped the alicorn's back. "That's what I want to hear. Now come on." She steered Twilight toward the door and down the hall. "You've got a few hours to eat, rest, learn the ropes and meet your team. Then it's all up to you."

"Yeah. I guess it is."