The Red Sun Rises: Siege of Manehattan

by The Atlantean

Counterstrategies

“I assure you, Princess Twilight, reinforcements from elsewhere in Equestria won’t be necessary. Everything is under control,” Crimson stated.

The lavender-colored alicorn nodded. “It’s just that Celestia and Luna put a lot of trust in you, and I guess I don’t have that. I can’t stop being nervous.” Twilight replied via communications spell.

He saluted, and she ended the spell. His men had buried Princess Luna the day before, and the Crystal Empire’s holdings in Manehattan were awfully quiet. This was a cause of concern for both him and the remaining princesses, but he neglected to tell Twilight. She had enough on her hooves already.

Lieutenant Silver Comet raced into the building, a large grin spread across his face. “Colonel! Great news!”

“I’ve been waiting for some of that.”

“You won’t believe it,” he breathed heavily from his long run from the Bricklyn Bridge, “but the Crystal commander has ordered a retreat from the Bricklyn area! They’ve left the entire peninsula!”

“Then take control of it.” Crimson beamed. This was certainly good news indeed. “I want to see a green signal flare over Garnet Island Park by nightfall.”

“Yes, sir!” The Earth pony galloped out to his command, beaming from ear to ear.

It was noon when the flare rose high above Bricklyn. The green signal had made history.

Crimson Dawn called a meeting with his officers. Soon, they all were shimmering images around the map table. Joining them was Princess Twilight’s own image, at her request. There was Rainbow Dash’s next to hers, being the last Wonderbolt in Equestria, and the other Elements of Harmony.

“Everypony, you can see that we are joined by the Elements. The reason is that they are one of the keys to Operation Everfree.”

Nopony had a clue for what he was talking about.

“Uh, sir, could you indulge us on what the hay Operation Everfree is?” asked Captain Midnight Shadow. The others nodded their agreement to his question.

“I was about to get to that. Operation Everfree is a plan to push all of Sombra’s forces out of Equestria. According to my sources, they’re laying siege to Canterlot in less than a week. So, part of the idea is to relocate both Princess Twilight and Princess Cadence to the Castle of the Two Sisters before they get there. We’ll have to be wary of his weapon, but it should be fine.”

“Wait a minute, I have to give my consent!” Twilight was quite shocked.

“Princess, need I remind you that Celestia has given me authority over the Equestrian military? I am allowed to make tactical decisions like this.” he replied.

“No.” The princess lowered her head.

“Alright.” Crimson continued. “I trust you to get that done, your highness. Meanwhile, we have to retake more than just Bricklyn. I mean the entire western half of the metropolis, from Fairplay View all the way down to Bayroan.”

“Whoa, sir, hold on!” Captain Shadow raised his hoof. “How do we get there? The ferries are out of the question.”

Once again, this was the kind of thing Crimson liked. “The tunnel under the Hubson River. Our main entry point will be the Berrybush Botanical Gardens station. I do believe Major Dazzleflash is working on it. Speaking of that, how is it going?”

“Sir, scouts report half the Crystal army massing on the other side of the tunnel. They may be trying to stage an attack.”

“Oh, they are, huh? Well, I would fight five hundred blocks and then I would fight five hundred more just to get back every single city block they’ve stolen yet so far. Let’s be unconventional for a moment here. They are obviously gonna march through that tunnel, so we’ll wait for the bulk of their army to be deep into it. Then we take the subway.”

“Sir, not to object,” said Captain Shadow, “but the Crystal army may be waiting for us to drive the train, and that’s why the mass is staying outside the tunnel.”

“Good point.” Twilight’s head rose again. “I know this isn’t my field, but my suggestion would be to see what their move is. If the entire army is waiting for us to drive a train through the tunnel so they don’t get hit by it, then they’ll wait for it to come.” She shrugged. “It only makes sense.”

“Now you’re thinking like a general, Princess.” Crimson smiled at the lavender alicorn. “This war is throwing Equestria into upheaval, but anything to try to lessen it will be appreciated.” He now locked eyes with everypony, one at a time. “Our story will be told, telling all that we have done, whether or not we win. We won’t be lost by time. But it’s our choice as to whether or not we do something great with the time we have in this world. So I say we win. For Celestia. For Equestria. For our friends and family who have lost their lives to Sombra’s army and weapon.” He looked at Twilight. “For Luna.”

The Princess of Friendship’s image placed her hoof on the table. One by one, the images of the officers placed theirs on hers, finishing with Crimson. “For Luna.”

All the communications spells ended, and everypony was alone again. Each officer went back to work, moving soldiers around to strategic positions in the vicinity of the small command posts.

Unbeknownst to the Equestrian army, the Crystal Empire worked the local population as much as possible to mine a tunnel under the subway line. They were already close to a quarter of the way done.

Author's Note:

I know that Dazzleflash was the guy who originally killed Luna, but I looked back and saw that it was actually Ensign Arctic Breeze who gave faulty intel. So I've fixed that mistake, and still decided to use Dazzleflash somewhere else. Giving him a promotion to a high-ranking officer from a low-ranking enlisted soldier seemed like a logical choice, and now I can still include him in the story.

I know the Elements of Harmony finally made an appearance. That was intentional. Now I can say the Mane 6 are kinda involved, even if they're taking orders from a colonel. They may be more involved later, but I gotta make the story flow good enough for it to work.

Now, if I make a mistake like the Dazzleflash-Arctic Breeze mix-up fiasco, PLEASE TELL ME. I want to keep this as a good story, and mixing names around won't contribute to that! Feedback appreciated!