Diary of a Soldier

by TheCamel

Los Pegasus: Day 1

We were ordered to pack up all our things in preparation to deployment. I’ve never seen everypony here moving around so frantically and quickly. Word came that the griffons are planning a massive attack on Los Pegasus. Why they’re choosing that city is an absolute mystery as it has no military importance whatsoever. But whatever their reason is, we have to deploy to protect the city. Red Canyon is taking the news especially hard since he’s from Los Pegasus, and his entire family is still there. He keeps on saying that they probably evacuated with most of the other civilians, but we all know deep down that his parents are stubborn and will stay to protect their shop. The only morale booster we had here was that we saw Captain Spitfire of the Wonderbolts right here in the capital, meaning that at least some of the Wonderbolts were able to escape Cloudsdale. Maybe Blue Skies is okay after all.

The train ride west was tense. Nopony knew if the attack will have started by the time we arrived or not, and as we pulled into the Los Pegasus station it was a huge relief to see that the griffons have not attacked yet. There were hundreds and hundreds of civilians waiting on the platforms to board the train to escape, and it was absolute chaos when we tried disembarking. All those ponies trying to push their way onto the train as we’re trying to disembark with all our gear… even when the local guards tried to cordon off the area, the crowd was just too much. It took longer than expected to get off and regroup but we managed.

The last time I was in this city was years ago, when I was still a colt. But even after all those years, the city changed more in the last few days than any other time frame. Almost every shop is closed, every building is empty. Checkpoints litter the perimeter of the city and the pegasi troops enforce a strict no-fly ban above the city. The only civilians that were asked to stay are the local weather ponies, who keep the sky clear 24/7 to prevent any sneak attacks through the clouds. Red was denied a few hours leave to go looking for his family. Poor stallion, we’re not even assigned to an area close to his home.

We’re bunking down in a shopping mall until we receive further word on the griffons’ movements. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared, but I’m kind of excited also. This is history, the first war in hundreds and hundreds of years. We all know our duties for our war plan, and our commanders are confident that since we have the home-field advantage, any attack will be easily repelled.

Oh, I almost forgot! Our old drill instructor, Rough Hoof, is leading our company! He was promoted to lieutenant and asked to command us guards from Canterlot! He was happy to see us again, and even said the next round drinks when everything is-

Uh oh.