She Wore A Yellow Ribbon

by Backslasherton

Chapter 5

“Alright, everyone. Today is the day we’ve been working at for months." Shining Armor called. "We’ve planned for dozens of scenarios, and we have precautions implemented everywhere. But at the end of the day, it all comes down to you and your soldiers. We can plan, rehearse, and drill through a thousand different scenarios, but it all comes down to your ability to judge and decided on a minutes notice, as the department has shown us countless times. You’ll be responsible for the safety of her majesty herself. You need to be able to trust and depend on your fellow soldier, whether that be a DARP agent or a Royal Guard. Unity is everything. As the saying goes: United we stand, divided we fall. So let’s be united on this one. You all have your orders, so get back to your units and fall out.”

“Yes sir!” Dozens of voices roared back.

At the back of the room, a figure hidden from view by way of a spell nodded slowly. One by one, it watched every pony leave the room, taking note of each one’s face. When the last one had left, there was just it, and Shining Armor.

“Amazing job, Shining.” Jackson said, the spell falling from around him. “On the speech and on the invisible shield thing.”

“Thank you, sir.” Shining smiled shakily. “I haven’t been this nervous since I was back in school.”

“Well you killed it. Well done.” Jackson smiled. “So, you know everything you’ve gotta do?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then tell it back to me. I want to make sure you haven’t missed anything.”

“I’m going to stay here with Princess Cadence and keep her in the safe room with guards patrolling the castle, the walls, the city streets, and the skies to ensure the safety of Princess Cadence as the designated survivor.”

“And where will you be the whole time, never to leave?”

“Right by her side, sir.”

“Attaboy, there we go.” Jackson smiled wide and hit Shining Armor on the shoulder. Shining's smile relaxed.

“Thank you, sir. I’m going to go check up on the last minute preparations before I send them off.”

Jackson nodded, but stopped Shining as he left the room.

“Captain,” Jackson started. “Let me know if at any point this gets to be too much. I understand your sister is involved, but there’s no shame if it gets too much for one man.”

Shining nodded, grinning confidently.

“Don’t worry, sir. I’ve got this.”

Jackson nodded. Shining left the room, shutting the door behind him.

“I would’ve thought someone as experienced as him would’ve noticed me.”

Jackson turned around in time to watch a second figure appear from behind a spell.

“Told you he wouldn’t.” Jackson grinned to Celestia. “I told you, it’s like how those magicians do it back home. You only see what you expect to see. And boy did he not expect to see you.”

“It was probably also in part because I was right next to you. If he saw anything, he might’ve just thought it was you.” Celestia smiled back, in her human form. “And what are you going to be doing during all this, General?”

Jackson pulled her close.

“I’ll be doing something real special.” He grinned. “Absolutely nothing.”

Celestia’s excitement turned to confusion.

“What?” She stared back in disbelief. “You? Doing nothing?”

“Yeah, I know right?” Jackson laughed. “Boy was that unexpected.”

“Are you serious?”

“Of course not. But you bought it for a second.”

The man ducked as a hand swatted at him, laughing the whole time. He stood back up and kissed the woman.

“That was mean.” Celestia said, pulling away.

“I know.” He smiled. He pulled her by his side and started walking over to the window. “Anyway, I’ll be in Ponyville at a concealed base. We’ve repurposed that cave in the Whitetail Woods to serve as a temporary base for the event. I’ll be down there with runners coming in and out and giving updates as needed.”

“That sounds more like the Jackson I know.”

“Maybe someday I’ll actually be doing nothing for one of these things.”

“I doubt it.” The two shared one last kiss before she turned back into her pony self. “I’ll see you when we get back.”

“Alright, love you.”

“Love you too.”

He watched as she turned and left through the doors, leaving him alone in the room. He stared out the windows and sighed. He could just see the small, quaint little town of Ponyville doing in the valley. It seemed to him like everything he’d dreamed of having back home. A small town out in the middle of the country. None of the pollution you get in big cites, friendly people, and nothing but fields for miles. It was a shame he was confined to this castle.

His gaze shifted to the Whitetail Woods, where their FOB was set up. The edge of the forest reminded him so much of his property back home in Texas. Clear ground, yet backed up to a forest. It was the perfect spot for the quiet life he’d dreamed of living.

Then there was the town itself. Every time they’d sent ponies there for R&R, they’d come back raving about the place. The good food, the wonderful ponies, the carefree atmosphere of the place. He’d dreamed of a place like that back home, but here he was. Less than a hundred miles from his dream, but he could never live it.

“Maybe someday.” He whispered.

---

“Alright, so the commander has given us special tasking for Twilight Sparkle, the princess’s student. We’re to follow her, but not get near here. To accomplish this, we’re going to be in disguise for the entirety of the operation. Team one, Winter Skies and Blitz will be going undercover as weather ponies Whitewash and Sassaflash. Team Two, Golden Eyes and Time Flash, you’ll be undercover as…” Shroud reread the page. “Ditzy Doo and Time Turner.”

“What?” Golden Eyes asked. “Who thought of that?”

“They basically just changed the second half of my name.”

“We were pressed for time, alright?” Shroud shook her head. “Anyway, moving on. Silvermane and Rapid Flash will be Moon Ace and Swift Bolt.” She looked up. “Any questions?”

“Are we allowed to change our names?”

“No.”

Time Flash, now Time Turner, sighed.

“Fine.”

“Alright. We’re under orders to stay a fair distance from Twilight, but not let her know we’re guarding her. It doesn’t matter if she sees you or interacts with you, just don’t let her know you’re an agent. Alright?”

A chorus of replies came back.

“Alright, good. Any other questions?”

“Who thought of the names?” Golden Eyes asked.

“Yeah, they sound like they were made by someone who has no idea about anything of pony culture.” Time Turner laughed. Everyone laughed too, except for Lieutenant Shroud, who suddenly became very interested in the clipboard floating in front of her. Time stopped laughing. “No. No, please don’t tell me.”

Shroud sighed.

“I needed help and he didn’t really have anything going on. To be fair, those were the best in a list of many terrible ones.”

“He doesn’t know anything about pony culture!”

“Just suck it up. These are only temporary, anyway.” Shroud said. “Moving on, I’ll be at the command center with Captain Winds and Commander Douglas. If you see anything, report in with the nearest runner. You should remember who they are from training.”

“But why Turner? What does that even mean?”

“Drop it!”

---

“I swear to god, I could not figure out what to call that guy. Turner is a human last name, I justed figured, ‘Well Time Turner is just like someone who turns the time.’”

“Really?” Shroud asked. “He was really ticked off about that.”

“He’ll get over it. At least I made an effort for their names.”

“Ditzy Doo sounds like Goldeneyes to you?”

“Okay, well that was apparently what they called her as a cadet.”

“They called her Golden Eyes.” Shroud deadpanned. “Because that’s her name.”

“Remind me to kick Red’s ass after this.”

“Also not his name.”

“Would you look at that, I’ve gotta get to work. Winds!” Jackson shouted across their makeshift base of operations. “Status update on Angel One.”

“Angel One is still in Stronghold with Cupid One. Angel’s departure time is still green, Shield is confirmed in Stronghold with Cupid.”

“Have Angel Two secured a route for Angel One?”

“Yes, and they’ve kept the media at bay as requested.”

“Fantastic.” Jackson sighed in relief. “If anything changes, let me know immediately. Who’s my guy on Merlin One?”

“I am sir.” A pony near winds spoke up.

“Give me an update.”

“She’s landed and made contact with several individuals.”

“Who was it?”

“Most notable was a stop into Apple Orchards, but our field reports indicate nothing of importance, other than, quote from the field report itself: ‘An Inconceivable amount apple related food products.’” The sergeant rattled off. “Other than that, it was just a local weather pony, seamstress, random pegasus, and a baker.”

“Any reason to suspect any of them?”

“No, according to local records they all hold clean records. Nothing of note for any of them, other than the baker has a history of being rather 'eccentric' at times.”

“Well eccentric isn’t fair reason to arrest someone, so I think we’re good. Let me know if anything changes.”

“Sir,” Winds interrupted. “Angel One has left and is nearing touchdown in town.”

“Short flight, I suppose. Alright, let me know-”

“Hold on, Angel One has just landed outside of town.” Winds interrupted.

Jackson’s brow furrowed, confusion mounting.

“Where?”

“Sir, a member of Angel Two is rapidly approaching.” The sergeant joined.

"I've got the same confirmed over here. Angel Two-One has abandoned his post and is making his way here."

Jackson stood up, pistol in hand as he neared the entrance. He pushed past several posted guards and patrols that were in place to prevent anyone from walking in on their base. He shielded his eyes has he came out into the bright sun. A white pony in royal guard armor was right outside the base, landing roughly and running the rest of the way to Jackson.

“What the hell are you doing?” Jackson yelled to him.

“The princess is missing!” The white pony shouted. The guards all tensed up, and Jackson’s confusion grew larger, with some turning into worry.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

"We were bringing her in, just as rehearsed. But then out of nowhere we look over, and she’s just gone, sir. We didn’t hear anything, we don’t know what happened!” The guard crashed through his words, the rest of his apologies gushing out incoherently.

“Where’s your partner?” Jackson asked.

“I’m right here, sir.”

Jackson looked up to see another pony in identical guard armor pulling a carriage behind him by himself. Admittedly, the carriage was in fact as empty as the guard had said it was. The commander nodded.

“You two, inside with me.” Jackson turned to go in, but stopped. “Leave the carriage outside, thank you.”

The guard nodded, unhooking himself. Jackson shook his head. He pointed to the new guard.

“You tell me what happened. You,” He pointed to the one he’d already spoken to. “Don’t say anything until I ask. I want to make sure your stories are consistent. Walk and talk, let’s move!”

---

“Commander sir, any word on the princess?” Winds shouted. Jackson shook his head as he walked back into the atrium.

“Nothing. The guards' stories check out.” He shook his head. “Does anyone know what the hell is going on right now?”

“Sir, the mayor is starting the ceremony now.”

Jackson threw his arms up in exasperation.

“Of course she is!” Jackson cussed under his breath. “The hell does she think she’s doing. She doesn’t have a damn princess.”

“Actually, sir…” Shroud interjected. “She does…”

“...What the hell are you talking about?”

“These pictures just came in from a runner with an instant print camera.”

The commander grabbed the letters from the lieutenant’s magic, and scanned the stack quickly. Very quickly, his confusion was cleared. But in its place, fear mounted.

“Oh no.” He muttered. “What the hell have you gotten yourself into, Sunny?”

---

“The Everfree forest!” The six mares chorused.

Jackson stared through the bushes at the six ponies as they went into the forest. Twilight was the last one to go in, with the pink one bouncing off after a rant about candy apples or something. Jackson suspected she was the eccentric baker, but filed that under ‘Things to Deal with Later Never”.

“Sir, did you really think it was necessary to leave camp by yourself?” Shroud’s voice crackled into his ear.

“Which one of us was trained by the US Marine Corps in camouflage?”

“Which one of us has a cutie mark in disguises?”

“Which one of us gives a damn about cutie marks?” Jackson whispered into his earpiece. “I’m following Merlin and company into the woods.”

“While we’re here, what’s with the weird codenames. Can’t we just say their actual names?”

“If you’d like to rattle of Princess Celestia and Princess Cadence or Twilight Sparkle a dozen times, feel free. Angel and Cupid do just fine for me.”

“To each their own.”

“Hold on.” Jackson whispered. “What the hell is that?”

“What is it?”

Jackson stared at the creature before him. It looks to be a wolf made of wood. It’s glowing eyes creeped him out, but it seemed almost harmless to him.

“It’s a… wooden wolf. I guess?”

“A timberwolf?”

Jackson froze in his tracks, face meeting palm very slowly.

“Are you still there, sir?”

“God dammit. God fucking…” Jackson shook his head. “I hate this world sometimes.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Nothing. It’s not important. Are these things aggressive?”

“Yes, they’re usually quite aggressive when you’re on their territory.”

“Of course they are. How do I kill the wooden wolves?”

“Typically, you don’t. Not without burning them.”

“What I wouldn’t do for a flamethrower.” Jackson muttered.

“A what?”

“Why don’t these damn things have a push to talk button.” Jackson hit the primitive radio on his side. “Nothing! Just the crazy human muttering. Alright, I’ll let you know what happens. Jackson out for the moment.”

He pulled the earpiece off his head, and hung it around his neck. He pulled his knife out of its sheath on his belt, and grabbed his chrome zippo lighter in his pocket. Another handy little gadget from his home world. He gave it a test flick, and to the relief of the man, a flame danced joyously on the wick. With a nod of self reassurance, he flicked it shut. He didn’t want to waste fuel, especially at a time like this.

He slowly crept forward to the wolf, knife in his right hand, lighter on the left. The wolf seemed to be growling at nothing, its back to him as he approached. When the man was just a few feet behind the wolf, he lept forward onto its back.

The wolf yipped in surprise, thrashing around as it tried to rid itself of the creature on its back. Jackson slammed into it’s back, groaning in pain after the impact. He hit harder than he thought he would, forgetting that a wooden wolf would not have the same give as a flesh and blood wolf. He gripped on as tight as he could, trying to orient himself. He dropped his knife at some point, leaving only his lighter. The wood of the beast’s body seemed dry enough, but he’d see shortly if it would catch fire.

“Quit thrashing, you wooden bastard.” Jackson grunted.

He managed to flick the lighter, and attempted to hold it close to the wolf. The wolf saw the fire, and its thrashing became more frantic. A particularly rough buck managed to throw Jackson off, and he rolled roughly across the path. Groaning, the man sat up in time to see the wolf bound off into the woods, whimpering as it ran. He cussed under his breath.

“I suppose that works.” He muttered.

The sound of voices grew from down the path, and Jackson rolled into the bushes behind him.

“I swear I heard something!”

“Rainbow, there ain’t nothing here. You’re just being paranoid!”

“Maybe she did hear something, but it dissapeared!”

“Pinkie does have a point.”

Just keep moving, just keeping moving, just keeping moving. Jackson kept thinking.

“What’s this over here, darlings?”

Jackson cursed himself mentally as the white unicorn floated his knife off the ground.

“I think that’s a royal guard’s knife.” Twilight said. “I’ve seen dozens of guards carry them around the castle back in Canterlot.”

“What’s a DARP?” The blue pegasus asked, reading the stamped lettering on the hilt.

“It’s a military group. I’m not sure what they do, but I know they’re important.” Twilight took the knife from the white unicorn. “Whoever this belongs to takes good care of their equipment.”

“If the owner of that ain’t here,” The orange earth pony started. “Then where are they?”

“...I think we better tread carefully, darlings.”

“Can we take it?”

“No, Rainbow, it ain’t yours.”

“Well they dropped it, so obviously they don’t want it.”

“Do y’know how to use it?”

“No, but-”

“Then we ain’t gonna take it. We don’t need you cuttin’ yourself on it.”

“Ugh, fine.”

Jackson felt every part of his body relax as he watched the six leave. He counted to a hundred and twenty before finally leaving the bushes and picking up his knife.

“And that, Shroud, is why we wear these uniforms.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like the way they look.”

“You’ll like the way they save your life.”

Jackson slipped the knife into the sheath on his belt, snapping shut the retention strap.

“It was six mares with no military training, you were fine.”

“But did they see me?” There was no response. “Exactly. Now, I’m gonna follow them and make sure nothing happens. I have a feeling if anyone knows where Celestia is, it’ll be them.”

---

“A fucking serpent, a god damn lion bat lizard thing, and a who the hell knows what else is in this god forsaken wasteland you all call a forest.”

“There’s a reason no one really lives here.”

“You don’t say?!” Jackson shouted as he threw a vine off his body. “It’s not a good sign that the most normal thing you’ve seen all day was an illusion of a color swapped knockoff of a pony version of the Blue Angels.”

“What are the Blue Angels?”

“Think Wonderbolts, but with humans flying thirty million dollar planes instead. With occasionally a massive transport plane joining in on the fun.”

“Uh, alright. Just forget I asked.”

Jackson held his response as he neared some decrepit ruins.

“Is this a castle?”

“If you’re talking about what I think you are, that would be the Castle of the Two Sisters. It was the original Royal Castle from before the Nightmare Moon incident, if the legends are true.”

“I’d wager a guess that yes, those legends are true. If nothing else, because why the hell else would this castle be here.” Jackson paused, pulling the earpiece out and listening. He put the earpiece back in. “I think those six girls are also here.”

“Good job following, I guess.”

Jackson looked around, spotting a window not too far away. Nearing it, he realized it was a lot higher up than he thought it was. He cussed under his breath, and backed up. Getting a running start, he jumped up, grabbing the bottom of the ledge. He pulled himself inside, letting himself fall to the ground, breathing heavy.

“I need to go back to bootcamp.” He sighed, pushing himself onto his feet.

“General Desk Jockey.” Shroud snarked.

Jackson ignored his lieutenant, and peered through the doorway. The room he was in seemed to be at the end of a long hallway. He crept out into the hall, relaxing as he saw it was empty. He headed deeper into the castle, taking care to not make too much noise.

“Come on, Twilight. Isn’t this what you’ve been waiting for?” A southern drawl echoed through the halls.

Jackson ducked behind a pillar, just as a blue mist flew past. Shouting erupted from down the hall, and he watched as five ponies galloped out of the back of the building. He sprinted to the doorway, watching the five run towards the glowing building.

“Come on, girls. You can do this.” He whispered as he followed after.

He took a side path, avoiding the six of them. He came to another window, this one with a pile of rocks underneath. He clambered up, holding short just below the window.

“Shroud, I need you to send a detachment of guards to the twin sister pony royal whatever castle.” He whispered.

No response.

“Shroud?” He repeated. He cussed as static nearly blew out his eardrum, ripping the earpiece out. “Going solo, then.”

He pulled himself up a little higher, looking through the window. The five mares were in a semicircle behind Twilight as she gave a dramatic speech.

“I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you. To see you. How much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me. When I realized you were all,” She turned to face Nightmare Moon. “My friends.”

A glowing stone sphere floated down, casting a blinding white light around the room.

“You see, Nightmare Moon. When those elements are ignited by the… the spark, that resides in the heart of us all, It creates the sixth element. The element of… magic!”

The stone shards floating around the girls suddenly shifted colors, the white of the stone being replaced by various colors of the rainbow as they turned gemlike. The shards met around each of their necks and with a flash, they turned into golden necklaces with the gems in the shape of their cutie marks.

“What the hell…” Jackson muttered, astonished by the sight before him.

They all floated into a circle, and in a series of moments, what Jackson could only describe as a massive rainbow wave crashed down onto Nightmare Moon. Her screams of denial were drowned out by the intensity of the magic around her. In a flash of glory, all went quiet.

Once Jackson managed to regain his hearing and vision, he found himself staring at the most glorious sunrise he’d seen in his life. Golden rays of light streamed down, directly into the window where he had been previously standing.

“Indeed you are.” A familiar voice resonated from within.

“Celestia?” He whispered.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight gasped.

Jackson clambered up the outcropping, peering into the window once again.

“Now if only another will aswell…”

He watched as the white princess peered down at the smaller blue princess.

“Princess Luna,” She spoke softly. Luna gasped awake. “It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this. Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister.”

“Sister?” The six echoed.

“Will you accept my friendship?”

Everyone watched with bated breaths as they awaited the younger sibling’s response. Everyone was leaning in, with the pink one falling over.

“I’m so sorry!” Luna embraced her sister. “I’ve missed you so much, big sister.”

“I’ve missed you too.” Celestia returned the embrace.

Jackson smiled wide, climbing down from the rocks. The whole way back to the camp, his smile never faltered. The woman he loved had been reunited with her sister, and everything seemed okay for now.

“Can anyone hear me?”

“Solid copy, Shroud.” Jackson laughed. “Got a bit out of range there.”

“What happened? Where have you been?”

“Princess Celestia is safe, as is the six girls.” Jackson said. “Oh and Princess Luna is safe too.”

“...It worked?”

“Like a coked up german.”

“Right…” He heard an odd mix of relief, confusion, and exasperation in her voice. “Are you heading back now?”

“Yeah, I’m coming.” Jackson said as he walked past the treeline. He stared off at the small town, entranced by the open grassy fields that surrounded the small village. “How much do you think a couple dozen acres goes for around here?”

“What? Are you shopping for real estate?”

“I might be. Don’t avoid the question. How much, do you think?”

“Uh…” Shroud sighed. “I don’t know. Couple thousand bits.”

Jackson nodded, stowing that information away for now.

“Good work today, Lieutenant.”

Author's Note:

Sorry for the long wait, I've been getting sidetracked by other things in life (ex: Starting the application process to many schools, including service academies.) Also, I've rewritten this chapter as well as the latest chapter to my other story, Blue Moon. But worry not! We're not done yet, I've still got some plans for this story.

Also still looking for editors, PM me if interested.

SHAMELESS PROMOTION BELOW:
So if you haven't checked it out yet, I've started another series, this one set in the Equestria Girls world. It's called Blue Moon, and it's set before the events of the first movie. It's my take on Vice Principle Luna's past. If you'd like to check it out, you can read it here.

See you next chapter, whichever story that is!