Aftershock

by Emerald-Aegis

Aftershock

'Day 232 - 1945 Hours.

The Crystal Forces have retreated from our last assault in the southern Empire. In the fray, however, we lost Zone 8. The Lieutenant-General was less than pleased when we reported it.'

Pinkamena's blank eyes starred down into her Journal as she wrote the words, sat upright in her bed; still clad in her camo-combats, steeled boots, and the white tank. Smoke whipped around the blank barracks of a room, from the cigarette sat daintily in her mouth, the quill gliding over the page. Her mind returned to earlier that day, when she had delivered the news.

"Another Zone lost…" The Lieutenant-General snarled, glaring down at the pages as they sat on her desk. Her two commanders stood at the opposite side of the desk, to attention; the room thick with the stench of smoke, sweat, and strong Cider.
"We're not making the Ground we need. What are our movements in the Western Breaches?"
"Stable, Lieutenant-General." Spoke the second woman. Matching the pink-haired one's face, both commanders held a blank, cold, unliving gaze as they stared away. Her grey fringe sat flatly in front of her, the back of her hair forced into an upwards state from the helmets they bore on the battlefield; alike the Commander, and the Lieutenant-General. "Attacks are minimal, only every few days; yet random. The empire seems to have no favour to it."
"Without Zone 8, we have no secure movements to the area. Our forces there are cut off." The pink-haired commander input.
"Then we make for Zone 8, and reclaim it. Those men and women need supplies, if we hope to keep the West. Make preparations, you'll be leaving tomorrow at Dawn. I will gather your forces."
Twin salutes went to the Lieutenant-General. "Yes Ma'am."
"Dismissed."
The two commanders turned to leave, walking to the exit. As the grey-haired woman left, her pink counterpart stopped. Her ears perked up as she slowly turned her head back around to her superior.
She was stood there, leant over her desk; rainbow hair draped across her face, all one and a half ears drooped at the images spinning in her head; her metallic left arm squeezing the wood of the desk crunchingly. Her voice quivered.
"Not Cloudsdale… please…"
"Lieutenant-General?"
No response. Pinkamena turned fully to the rainbowed leader, seeing her properly. She was staring down at the pages on her desk, her chest reverberating as she held her breath.
"…… Rainbow Dash?"
Her eyes suddenly glared up at the pink-haired woman, bloodshot and hollow, anger and cruelty spitting in every word she spun.
"I dismissed you, Commander Pie. And you will address me as Lieutenant-General Iron Wing; not 'Rainbow Dash'. Is that understood, Commander?!"

She spoke nothing.
The words wormed their way into her head, her gaze drooping away from her superior.
'I have no desires to make an enemy of someone I would wish to consider my friend when all this is over…' She spoke in her mind, its reverberations bringing her to the light of day, such as it was.
"Yes, Lieutenant-General."
"Good. Now go. We need Zone 8 back. Princess Celestia awaits word of a stable front, if we are to assault the Empire at its core."
"Yes ma'am." Was saluted, as she turned and left the office.

The Journal was lay back down into the desk's second-drawer, at its bottom-right corner, as always. The drawer closed, its enactor lying back in the bed as she stared up at the ceiling. Her boots lay at the side of the bed; her jacket, gun, vest, and helmet sat at the ready for the following morning.

-----

'Day 235 - 2045 Hours.

Zone 8 was reclaimed. Myself and Maud lead our ground troops for the impending Empire forces; with Storm-Commander Lightning Dust leading our Pegasus Forces within the city.
There were many casualties.
Too many.
Especially for the Lieutenant-General's liking.'

The room looked barely different than it had the previous use, the only difference being the battered, bloodied, bloody, and beaten Pinkamena Pie sat at the bed, her feet softly brushing the cold floor beneath her as her legs hung over the side. She closed the Journal, sighing as she recalled the battle for Cloudsdale. A bottle of Applejack Daniels sat on the side of the desk, half empty; the Pie having turned to its soothing textures after witnessing the events of the battle.

"Six percent… Six Percent of Civilians, dead! What in the fuck of Tartarus went on down there, Pie?!" The Lieutenant-General cried out, her cerise eyes bleeding death into those who would dare to stare back. The Pie sisters stood opposite the desk, yet again; after Lightning Dust had been dismissed with uneasy results.
"There was nothing we could do, ma'am…" Maud began. "The Crystal Forces had already dealt the blow upon the civilians before we had the chance to intervene. We saved as many as we could."
The iron fist of the Lieutenant-General crashed down onto the desk; its structure leaning into the impact site. She glared down at the table, seething behind her teeth.
"Not. Good enough…… Dismissed." Her breath quelled slightly as the seconds ticked by. "There's a copy of the latest report on your desks… we're awaiting the Princess' orders to move. Expect the word any day."
Twin salutes replied to the Iron Wing, as both of the Pies departed from the room.The door clicked behind them as Maud turned to her sister.
"We have our orders. Check our stocks. I'll tell the troops."
Pinkamena nodded as Maud turned towards the barracks. Once her grey hair faded into the dimly lit halls of the bunker, she turned herself towards her quarters.
The room was cold. Damp. Not designed for comfort; four walls, a desk, a bed. A gun propped up against the desk, spare bullets beside it, yet another, though un-opened bottle of Applejack Daniels and a glass on the other side of the desk.

-----

'Day 238 - 0645 Hours.

Word from Celestia arrived. We are to prepare ourselves. Tomorrow at 0800, we make our assault at the empire.
Lieutenant-General Iron Wing is moving us to the front later today.'

The Journal drawer shut as Pinkamena reached for her cigarettes. She lit it as it reached her mouth, tossing the lighter back to the desk. Her gear equipped and prepared to move out, she began to make preparations for the coming battle. Both Mentally and Physically.
A smoke filled room, a clean gun, and silence.
Leaning over her desk, she pulled her gun over in front of her, and began rechecking it, when a rap came on the door.
Her blank eyes turned towards it.
"Enter."
The door creaked open, as a tall male clad in combat gear stood at the doorway.
"Sergeant."
The man saluted formally. "Apologies for the interruption, Commander, but we received a transmission for you."
"Speak."
A nod, followed by the Sergeant reaching to his side and taking a scroll. He unfurled it, as Pinkamena's gaze eyed up the page, unknowing of the words that were to come.
He cleared his throat.

"Intel from the west, Commander.
Zone 3 has fallen.
Your sisters are dead."

The sergeant rolled up the scroll and held it at his side as he stood to attention; or as well as he possibly could, underneath the dead, unblinking gaze of Pinkamena Diane Pie.
No words.
No movements.
Her mind was in Chaos. Screams, bellowing from the depths of her soul, tears bleeding from her heart, her body wanting only to lash out and turn the next piece of matter to a crumpled mess.
Limestone. Marble.

Gone.

"Leave…"
A quivered nod from the sergeant ending in a salute, as he left the room, the door clicking into place behind him.
Pinkamena turned back to her desk, the gun still sat to be prepared at her hands. Minutes seeming like hours, days even, passed; before the pink-haired Commander reached for the un-opened bottle and glass.
Ripping the cork out with her teeth, she poured herself a deep, full glass of the hard liquor.

-----

Day 238 - 0945 Hours.

Pinkamena and Maud stood to attention in the Lieutenant-General's office once more, their stares hollow. The rainbow-haired leader had her back to the pair, her hands behind her back.
"I received the news of Zone 3." She softly spoke. "… My condolences."
No response came from the Pie sisters.
The remaining Pie sisters.
What words they did not speak, Iron Wing was certain from the silence that they were in anguish.
"I would like to say that I know you both well enough to understand how much your heads are screaming right now. And how many things you want, or need to do…" She turned to face them, her glare strong as ever. "But by Celestia, no death in this war is in vain. Our victory over the Crystal Empire will cement the peace that Equestria strives for. Sombra will die… and we can send off our lost…"
The Lieutenant's words were met only by the squeezing of Maud's fist as it clenched at her side.
Rainbow blinked at her, her face still dead as a corpse.
"I didn't say we will not mourn them, Second-Commander Pie. But we're still here on the earth. And they're above us now… And if we plan on meeting with them, then we plan to have a good reason to be there. I don't know about the two of you, or the rest of this army; but I damn well plan to make sure that when my time comes and I'm flying with those we lost, I get to stare down at Sombra, and watch his soul Burn in the deepest pits of Tartarus!!" She bellowed, her flesh-fist pounding down onto the desk with her final words. Her eyes darted between the pair, whom had still said no words. However, while no words had yet been spoken from them, she noticed that their breathings had deepened and sped up.
That was enough for her.
"Finalise your preparations. We are moving to the front line at 1100 Hours. I will send word to the Sergeants to inform the troops. Dismissed."
The two saluted their Lieutenant-General and turned to leave, the Prismatic leader looking down to her desk, and picking up a phone.

-----

'Day 238 - 1950 Hours.

The Front line is cold.
The Crystal Empire is a Snow covered Wasteland.
Princess Celestia spoke to us all. She will be leading the charge. Granted us her boon… Magic and Wings can only get us so far.
Tomorrow we attack.
We've yet to see Sombra's front line.

Yet.'

Pinkamena shoved the journal into her side-pack, along with the stick of coal she was using as a writing-implement. Taking her gun in her hand, she leant against the trench-wall. To her right, was her sister; writing on a piece of paper with a chunk of blackened chalk, resting it on her hip. She folded it up as her chalk finished with a signature being flicked at the bottom. Ripping a piece of string from her pack, she bound the letter up and sent out a whistle. A short, camo-armed woman ran up to her with a quick salute. Maud gave her the 'Scroll' and mumbled something to the apparent messenger. With another salute, she ran off.
Maud's dead eyes followed the girl slightly, before turning to Pinkamena.
"Orders?" The Pink Pie asked coldly.
"No."
Maud turned back down to her gun, re-adjusting her gloves. "Mom and Dad.

I don't know if we'll see them again."

-----

"Are you Mister Igneous, and Mrs Quarts Pie?"
Igneous gazed at the woman before him; clad in formal military attire, a messenger bag at her right hip. The woman's prismatic hair was defining, even alongside its unique style, but the main aspect of the woman that caught his eye, was her left arm.
Or the lack of it.
Where it would be sat, lay a wrought dirtied stump of what seemed to be strong steel, at the shoulder; with nothing else following.

The woman watched back as the elder man eyed her up and down. His eyes were bloodshot, hair and beard ragged and unkept, his clothes tattered; the slightly shorter woman stood at his side looking no better, glasses sat on her face regardless of the fact only one lens remained in the spectacles.
The confines of Canterlot's Citizen Refuge was doing its best to support the men and women of Equestria, who had suffered from the war and were otherwise not in work. While the diamonds the two had brought with them had aided them in the front of things, money would only go so far; what was needed more, was supportive hands.
Hands which neither could offer. Igneous' hands still shook from the actions not a week prior.
His home in ruins.
His livelihood destroyed.
His daughters gone.
"… Thou art…" His voice managed to escape to the Vibrant-haired soldier before him.
She bowed her head, her right hand to her chest solemnly; raising once more to look Igneous in the eye.
"I have been asked to-" She halted, sighing slightly before restarting. "I came here to inform you that your Daughter, Pinkamena Diane Pie; has passed on."
"No… NO!" Quarts screamed out, her legs giving out beneath her as she tumbled into a pile. Her bloodshot eyes once again burned as tears bled from her heart, her voice quaking through each painful sob.
Igneous' body shivered, his jaw tightening as his eyes shut tightly, his fists at his side digging deep into his palms. Quivers ran through his throat as he dared to keep standing, his legs unsteadily holding beneath him.
Rainbow could only continue. Nothing she could say or do, would help.
"On the Front Lines of the Crystal Empire, at 1934 Hours on November 28th 2015, Pinkamena Diane Pie died from deep-impact wounds to her chest and stomach; resulting from heavy fire under Crystal Forces. She did so after saving the lives of myself, and twenty four other men and women from an ambush attack, including your other daughter, Maud Pie. On behalf of the Secretary of Defence, and the Kingdom of Celestia, I extend to you and your family my deepest sympathy in your great loss."
Igneous fell to his knees, driving his fist into the earth; Quarts still pounding her fists against the wall.
Rainbow could only watch down as Pinkie's parents' hearts broke yet again. The third daughter they had lost in a single week.
Horrible news, but Rainbow took the tiniest solace she could even fathom of mustering in the dire situation; that she was only reporting one death.
And not two.
Reaching into the messenger bag with her only arm, she took out a small package wrapped in paper, string binding it together with a letter. She held it in her hand calmly.
Onlookers watched only in silence as the two Pies broke down before the soldier, bowing their heads in respect. Some watched Rainbow, eyeing the package she held in her hand with curiosity.
Seconds.
Minutes.
Hours?
However long passed, it might as well have been eternity to Igneous. Nothing he could do or consider, would fix the past, or bring his family back to them. Taking his bloody fist from the stone, he forced himself to stand up to the soldier, his red eyes glaring deep into hers, tears still pouring from them as his chest quaked every few breaths.
His gazed turned downwards, to the package. No bigger than a book, wrapped in brown paper; a neat folded letter strapped to its top with string. The arm that held it offered it out.
"Her belongings. And a letter from your other daughter, Maud." She spoke softly as the package left her hand. Now free, she returned back into the bag, taking a small box. She, once more, offered it to Igneous.
"For her services to the Country of Equestria, and her highness, Princess Celestia; on behalf of the Equestrian Royal Army, I would like to give you the Purple Heart, awarded to Pinkamena Diane Pie."
"I hath no desire for trinkets!!" Quarts screamed out to her. "I want my Daughter!"
Rainbow's eyes drooped to the floor. The hostile, venomous words of Pinkie's mother were to be expected, and familiar to her ears. She took no pride in being the bearer of bad news, alas it was a duty that had to be addressed. She had been taken from the lines due to the injury that cost her her arm, for the time being at least. It felt her honour to be the one to tell them.
"I know."
Her eyes drifted upwards slightly as she felt the box leave her grasp. Igneous glared down to the medallion with contempt, as if it was the reason his daughter was gone.

-----

'Dear Mother and Father.

The front line is upon us. Snow filled dirt, enforced with granite and extrusive andesite. I did my part.
Pinkie has taken a taste for Applejack Daniels. And cigarettes. I know you do not like to know this, but we all have ways of coping.
Which I understand you are doing the same. Limestone and Marble are forever in our hearts. We take solace that they might guide us tomorrow. I can only hope that they were not in pain.
Pinkie said the Mirror Pool would be nice right now. Perhaps we can ask Grandma afterwards.

Apologies for the shoddiness of my penmanship. Quills and ink aren't commonplace on the front line.
Pinkie's journal will likely share the same issue. She writes in it often. At least daily. I haven't read it myself, but perhaps we can read it all together.
If she lets us.

Both of us send our love.

Maud and Pinkamena.'

Igneous' face dropped into his hands, sat on the small wooden table opposite his wife. She was still in hysterics, but managed to gain the composure enough to listen to Maud's letter. The package, and the medallion box sat to the side; both still unopened.
Dead words. Hollow thoughts.
Just a brown paper package.
His hand reached over to the package, bloodshot eyes glancing towards it as his fingers quivered. The brown paper felt soft and secure in his hands, his Daughter's possible final words written within its pages.
Was he really ready to hear them?

Despite his tattered mind arguing a million reasons for him to leave it at peace, Igneous held onto the tiny shred of what remained of his calm mind, in order to fight through.
The packing fell off of the book.
It was crumpled. Damp. Dried Bloodstains took the cover, leaking through several pages within it.
His breath shook.
The Pie's hand flicked through the pages, something in the back of his mind urging him, forcing him to read the journal another time; and to go straight to her final entry.

As the bloodied page opened to a snow-dampened script, his eyes glanced over the final words.
It was bloodier than the previous pages, perhaps even where the blood began. The sog dripped to the spine of the book deep at the page, and the writings on it were broken. Coal-markings blindly written in desperation, haste, and a final act to those who would read its the words. The unlined, messy, and shaky words.

Too many
Too strong
Nearly lost Dash

Crystals
Hurt

Author's Note:

This story was inspired by a single picture I saw after the Season 5 finale. Hopefully I did it justice, and people don't mind it

Enjoy! Or… don't. I ain't your boss.

Comments

[Crimson Dawn]

Saving Dash before she died? Sounds like Pinkie.

[Emerald-Aegis]

6710388
Considering the sacrifices and efforts she goes to normally for her friends, I wouldn't put it passed our dear Pinkie to go the whole hog in a warzone. Thanks ^^