A War

by Comma Typer

Whether Right or Wrong

"So, Vapor Trail," Silver Script said. "You're what they call a pacifist. Am I right or am I wrong?"

She nodded, a glimmer of a smile lurking in. "A practical pacifist, to be sure."

"Not willing to fight in most circumstances, then?"

She shook her head.

"If your hometown of—what was it, Stratusburg?"

"Yeah. Stratusburg."

"OK, at least we're on the same track," he commented, picking up a piece of paper and writing something down with his wing. "If the mayor of Stratusburg declared city-wide conscription for everypony, say, eighteen to twenty-eight years old...what would you do? I got some clippings that Cludclod's actually considering such a measure."

"I'll do my best to legally avoid the draft," she said. "I'll tell the officials that I'm a conscientious objector."

"Hmm." He rubbed his chin, narrowing his eyes on her. "You do know that they're going to have hearings to make sure you're really objecting out of conscience, not just because it's convenient."

"Test me," she blurted out, smiling. "You'll see how well prepared I am."

Script placed a hoof on his head, thinking as he wrote further. "They'll immediately ask if you have any connection with Starlight Glimmer and her town. Biggest anti-war movement out there now and no doubt about it."

"No connection whatsoever," Vapor said with another shake of the head. "We merely agree on the tenets of our pacifism. Never met the mare and, as far as I know, never met any of her residents and neighbors either."

"If they search your house?" he prodded.

"My Dad's the ambassador to the griffons, so he'll object first."

He slid his chair back. "Your father's Steer Straight?!"

"Gives me time off from their excessive...dedication to me." She frowned a bit.

He rested a hoof on the table. "Let me guess. Only child?"

Vapor gasped a bit. "How do you know? We only talked once by letter!"

"Power of observation," he replied, pointing to his head. "Natural deduction—well, five percent of it is natural. I ask myself, 'Why does Vapor believe that her parents spend too much of her time with their daughter? It's probably because that there's no other child to spend time with.'"

"Wow." Vapor had her mouth open. "You could be a good detective."

Script giggled. "You wouldn't want to say that. It doesn't work well in real life—trust me, I tried."

It was now Vapor who giggled.

"But, back to the topic." He wore his serious face again. "Still couldn't believe that your father's an ambassador, though." Scratched his mane. "Anyway...they'll ask if you have anything that's preventing you from physically being a soldier. Broken wing? Sick a lot? Are you Stratusburg's best sneeze?"

"I have no idea what the best sneeze would be," Vapor said, looking up as she pondered about it, "but I don't think I have that." She spread her wings out. "My wings are fine, and I consider myself to be a healthy pony all the time. There was this one time I got the cold, but it's only cold. Hot soup, drink water, some medicine, and I was fine before the week was over."

He scribbled down on the paper. Not looking up from it: "How exactly did you become a pacifist? Did you inherit it from a peaceful family? Is Stratusburg unusually for peace, considering it's populated by pegasi? Did you read a book or something from an influential author, especially if he or she's a philosopher?"

Vapor raised up a hoof. "It's a short story. I didn't have much of an idea or a stance about it until the war broke out—I didn't see the signs, so I thought, 'Why bother?' From the beginning, I had qualms about the whole thing. Sure, King Sombra made the first move, but what happened before that? Was there a diplomatic incident hidden from us? Did Sombra have a personal motive against Celestia—or, did Celestia have something personal against him?"

"Ooh." He looked up from his paper, a smirk growing. "One of those, huh?"

"Princess Celestia isn't perfect," Vapor said. "She admits as much from time to time if you care to read her speeches up. She's good, excellent, but not perfect. Did she mess up somewhere down the line during that fateful week or so when the Empire was at peace with us? I hope not."

"A rational pacifist, then," he remarked as he wrote down some more on the paper. "Which means that, if you were to enlist as an Equestrian soldier, then that would mean going against your beliefs about peace and war?"

Vapor nodded. Then, a tilt of her head. "Well, that's not the whole thing."

His scribbling stopped. Wing poised to write.

"Do the Crystal ponies have anything to say?" she asked. "They do and I'm certain of it. Of course, they can't speak since they're mind-controlled...but, so what? There's a pony behind the mask, even if that mask is hard to remove. They have their own thoughts, their own points of view, their own spin on things. We don't get to hear them only because of this war."

And off to writing he was. "Alright. The more common questions that everypony knows."

Inhaled.

"The E.U.P. Guard's purpose is...?"

"To defend the kingdom."

"Are you afraid of using force?"

"Yes, most of the time."

"If somepony stole your wallet, what will you do?"

"Call for help while I chase him down."

"If you're faced with the choice of imprisonment or conscription, what would it be?"

"Imprisonment."

"What are the kinds of books you have? If you cite examples, more credibility."

"Slice of life novels. A bit of adventure here and there. My Mom's got the whole Daring Do collection—all seventeen of them—my Dad's trying to finish his collection of Shadow Spade, and I'm waiting for the last book of the 'Town of Countdown' trilogy by Blaze Winter."

"Non-fiction books."

"'History of the Lipogram', 'The Mob of the Kitchen: Why Cookbooks are a Scam', 'A Treasure Chest of Poems', and 'The Grittish Isles Today'. Nothing about war, I think."

A stroke of the quill. "You'll pass if I was part of the hearing committee."

Vapor smiled again.

"If you don't pass the hearing, though...what would your next course of action be?"

"Hang around a sick person and get sick myself," she said. "We're pegasi, but I'm sure they're not that mean to push a sick pony to the limit during training."

"What happens if they don't buy that?"

"Well, if I can't even go to prison, I'll do my best to be part of the rearline soldiers—the ones who don't do the actual killing."

"Like a medic?"

"Exactly like a medic," she said. A frown again. "Although, a medic's not exactly on the rearline. And, with Sombra apparently ordering his minions to prioritize harming medics first...you can see why I'm hesitant."

"Understandable." He wrote down yet a few more lines on the paper. "That makes it hard to sympathize with the Crystal ponies—ignoring the rules and all that."

"But you and I know it's more complex than that, right?" she asked.

Script nodded. "Way more complex. Sombra's been banished for a long time. He certainly missed out on every modern international convention to decide on the guidelines of warfare. Objectors can say that he was biding by the rules for the first month or so, so that complicates it a layer further." He sighed. "Yeah. Nuanced."

The two were silent for a while, looking at anywhere other than each other.

"Let's slow down." Stretched his forehooves and cracked his neck. "I'm assuming that, if you weren't a pacifist, you'd like to have an army made up of volunteers only. Is that true?'

Vapor nodded.

"Why only volunteers? Does that mean drafting and conscription are bad?"

"I...I think they're not bad per se. It's just...ineffective. You're forcing ponies to do something they don't want to do—which sounds crazy since this is protecting your homeland from the 'bad guys'. Who wouldn't want to secure a better future for himself, his family, his friends, and the rest of ponykind? But, what if he has good, logical reasons why they're not supposed to be fought for? Then, if he's drafted...he's going to fight, but he won't have that passion, that fire in him. He'll probably do worse than the average guard because he doesn't feel the need to battle for Equestria. Volunteers, on the other hoof, want to fight and will do everything to get their skills up to speed, to do it all for the Princesses and ponykind."

"Good point, good point," Script said, jotting down still more lines on the paper which was close to full.

A pause in the interview.

"Uh, how long is this gonna take?" Vapor asked. "I have a train to catch at ten o' clock sharp. Have to meet somepony else there."

Script's eyes went wide. Scratched his head in confusion, pulling on his ear. "That was unexpected. You didn't write anything about a train trip."

"I thought it was a go-in go-out kind of thing," Vapor said, shrugging her shoulders as she looked around the room. "I like sharing my thoughts, but I'd rather do it while we move around." Looked at him. "How long are you staying here?"

"Until I get my book out," he said. "After that, I'll have the money to buy myself a tiny bungalow far away from here. Far away from the frontlines, too. Maybe somewhere in Radon, central Equestria. Not too far from Canterlot. Open fields where I could write in peace...I mean, inside a house in the open fields. Get it?"

Vapor nodded, standing up from her chair. "Yeah, I get it."

"Keep in touch through letters?" Script asked.

"Once every two months. I tend to forget, though."

"Oh, that's alright," he said, waving a hoof aside as he flew and carried the stuff on the table to his bed. "There's zucchini-flavored chips on the counter. You can take it for your ride."

Vapor fluttered her way there.

A green bag of potato chips advertising its "Authentic Zucchini Flavor!"

"That's cute," she said.

Picked it up.

"It was nice knowing you, Silver Script," she said, heading her way to the door.

"Nice knowing you, too, Vapor Trail," he said back, waving at her.

And she left.

---

As the train left the Maneway Station, going West and away from the sparkling Celestial Sea, Vapor looked at the clock hanging above the carriage door.

It was ten o' one.

"Psst!"

She glanced to the left and right.

Normal passengers reading newspapers, talking with each other, looking outside, eating and drinking, sleeping and snoring.

"Psst!"

Vapor turned around. "Who's that?" she whispered.

A white, shades-wearing unicorn on the side looked at her odd. Before fitting her headphones back to her head and nodding to whatever music was playing there.

"Psst! Over here."

She saw a blue hoof behind that unicorn's seat.

"Psst!" Another unicorn's head came into view from the seat behind. "I'm the pony you're supposed to meet!" he whispered.

And Vinyl Scratch kept bobbing her head to the music.

Vapor trotted her way to that mysterious pony's seat.

Nopony else was there. Only him.

This blue unicorn had puffy blue hair. His eyes, too, were blue. His cutie mark was a balloon animal with confetti and streamers around it.

"Sit down, please," he said, beckoning her with a hoof. "We've got lots to discuss."

Vapor groaned. "Really? Um, I just got out from a writer's interview. I need to recollect my thoughts if you wanted to discuss about this and that and—"

"We're not going to bombard your mind with high-level stuff," the unicorn said, clasping a hoof around his mouth, watching the aisle cutting across the carriage. "You could say that...we've been taking notes on you."

"What?!" Vapor yelled. "You can't do—"

He plugged her mouth with his hoof. She kept speaking, her voice muffling through.

"Psst!" He placed his other hoof to his mouth. "Calm down, OK? You're going to cause a fracas here."

She pulled his hoof out and spat out. Coughed. "Don't do that!" she shouted by whispering, glaring at him. "Don't you know you walk with those things? And, it's 'ruckus', not 'fracas'."

"I'm a party pony," he said, wiping his hoof with a tissue roll. "I'm obligated to say 'fracas' instead of 'ruckus' because it's funnier that way."

Silence as the landscape outside changed yet stayed the same. Open fields of grass and trees. Farms with their crops as farmponies harvested the yield. Sky above: clear and blue.

"Who are you?" she asked. "You said your name was 'Festival Three', but I'm pretty sure you weren't named with a number."

He grinned and rested on his seat. "That's because I need to keep some things confidential. Secret. Classified. Private. Hush-hush." He put on black shades—though they were really several small balloons shaped to look like shades. "Party Favor's the name."

Vapor twitched as she shook hooves with him. "The party pony of..." and gulped, "the town?"

"Town of Efficiency. Yes, ma'am or miss," Party said. "By the way, would you like to be called 'ma'am' or 'miss'? Or, you know, we could just—" a little laugh "—say your name."

Vapor stood up. "I don't like being watched like I'm a pony of interest. I'm a pacifist like you, yes. I don't like this war just like you don't, yes. But, I have other things to do. I'm going home to check the bookstore out and see if 'Upset Land' is on shelves yet. After that, I want to try out bungee jumping—I know, sounds weird for a pegasus to bungee jump, but it's exhilirating. At least, that's what I heard from those who tried it."

Party took his balloon shades off. A grim curl of his lips. "So be it, then."

Vapor halted. "Are you threatening me?"

"Eh...it's a shame that you've declined our offer before we even began. The Town of Efficiency is a utopia realized, but it cannot co-exist with this...conflict. With you, we would've persuaded many ponies to desist from their support of senseless killing and murder of other ponies who don't know what they're doing—but our troops do and do it anyway."

"I know already," Vapor said. "It's flawed. Doesn't mean I can find a way to improve on it."

"Improve on war, hm?" Party stroked his non-existent beard.

"You're putting words on my mouth—ugh!"

Vapor flew out of the seat, opened one of the carriage doors, and moved to another part of the train.

---

The Stratusburg Train Station was witness to an interesting sight.

Up the paved trail around jagged and rocky protrusions. High up in the mountains were small tracts of hilly fertile grasslands. On the hilltops, quaint cottages dwelled; several had the interesting design of having roof-shaped houses, as if somepony made a tall building, cut off the part beneath the roof, and made a home out of what was left. One of those 'roof abodes' had a big backyard where a large pegasus family played about—a stallion and a mare jumping on the same trampoline, two more mares showing their father their furniture designs laid out on the table, and the mother seeing her filly ride a unicycle. Painted on a drooping banner above the house's main door were the words: "Happy Family Reunion!"

What made Stratusburg more than a regular pegasus town, though, were the clouds that floated close by, holding entire domiciles, shops, and workplaces by themselves. A faint mist went through the settlement, giving the city an atmosphere of wonder.

Stratusburg was, in a way, two cities. A terrestrial one on the mountains, and an aerial one on the clouds—the distance between them merely a throw or a pace away. Pegasi flew back and forth between the two parts of the city, some stopping at the gap separating (or connecting) them to talk and share some stories.

Vapor Trail passed by the house and its family celebrating the reunion.

One of the younger stallions—having spiky blue-white hair—waved at her.

But she went on, flying higher.

---

"What do you mean it's not out?" Vapor asked, placing a firm hoof on the counter.

The bookstore was a small and quiet place where a line more than five ponies long would spill over to the outside. It smelled of fresh wood with a hint of mint.

A tiny pony-like creature stood on the counter. The size of an insect, she had hefty yet delicate wings, long antennae, and big eyebrows.

"What do ya' expect me to do?!" the breezie librarian shouted back in a squeal. "Tell him to write faster?!"

"But, h-he said that it was coming out today!" Vapor said, sounding a bit desperate. "There were press releases, news articles—everything!"

"That's why I don't read the news!" she answered, crossing her forelegs and shaking her head; disapproval. "Not saying that they also make me dizzy when I flip the page the wrong way!"

Vapor groaned and gripped her head with a hoof. Glanced at her twitchy wing, then at the breezie.

Boom!

And the breezie sent flying behind and below the counter.

Gust of wind through the door's open window.

Pages flapped, books fell.

Vapor felt her mane whip by.

Covered her face with a raised leg.

Hovering.

"Everypony, please get into orderly fashion," a dull voice announced through far-off speakers.

Amidst screams and panicking pegasi dashing across the street just outside.

Vapor yelped, bent over the counter, cradled the unconscious breezie with a hoof, and flew out.

Organized road networks and planned out structures towering over the normal pony against the blue sky and its near-noon sun.

She did not mind that, for her eyes caught the purple cloud approaching from her right first.

Slow, sluggish. Nearer and nearer, closer and closer, inch by inch.

A pony grabbed her by the neck, pressed her snout. "Train station, immediately!"

The two opened their wings and flew, Vapor keeping the breezie close to her chest, eyeing it as the creature's wings swished under intense speed and wind.

Below, more pegasi, and even a few Earth ponies and unicorns, were galloping their way on the ground toward the train station.

Looked behind her.

Half of the cloud city eaten up by the purple gloom.

Mountain homes on fire, inhabitants evacuating.

Breakneck speed, forward to the train.

Crashed into it.

Blurry vision, throbbing pain. "Ow..." and rubbed her head.

Gasped.

Relaxed her hoof.

The breezie fell limp on to the carpet.

"No time to waste!" the other pony yelled, pulling her up and away from the breezie. "Get to the seats!"

Pushed there.

Swooped the breezie with a wing.

And sat down, the other pony sitting across.

Put the breezie down beside her on the cushioned seat.

Flocks of pegasi entered the train en masse, at times squeezing through the door, at other times jamming at the door altogether. The train conductors, with their unique hats and glasses, attempted in vain to dissuade them from panic—the residents had crazed looks in their eyes.

"The poison's only two hundred feet away, ponies!" one of the conductors exclaimed, pointing at the nearing purple cloud about to engulf the final roofs on the hills. "If you want to get out of this alive, then please cooperate with us!"

Teary-eyed citizens they were, stuck at the door.

Others got up from their seats and pulled the hooves of the stuck ponies.

Barged in.

"Last of 'em. Let's go!"

Conductors went inside.

Closed doors.

Closed windows.

Closed curtains.

Closed lights.

Not much to see in the dark.

Whistle shrilled.

Wheels chugging.

Train was ahoof.

Lights turned on.

Silence gave way to unnerving chatter. Fast words, quick sentences—long periods of more silence for others.

Briefcases and baggages proliferated the carriage. Train attendants glided by, carrying baskets of food and water and first aid kits to the passengers.

Vapor Trail breathed in, breathed out, hyperventilating. "Wh-What just happened? D-Did I just see our whole home go up in smoke?" Held her head, irises shrunk. "I...I...I can't..."

"Hey," the other pony said, waving his hoof in front of her. "You're not the only one who lost her home in five minutes."

Vapor tilted her head up a bit. "W-Weren't...weren't you the pony who tried to get my attention earlier?"

"Y-Yeah," the stallion replied, somewhat timid.

"And I don't know your name." Looked down on the floor.

A smile over his face. "I'm Sky Stinger," he said. "If we're going to survive this together, we might as well know each other's name first."

Vapor forced a giggle out. "Yeah. I-I'm Vapor Trail."

Sky Stinger's eyes rested on the unconscious breezie. "Ouch! Was that the librarian?"

"One and only," she said. "Poor little thing." She brought the breezie up to her face and tapped the librarian on her head. "If only I knew anything about how to treat a breezie."

"Attention!" another voice blared and echoed through speakers, filling the carriage with the word.

Everypony looked up.

"This is not a drill. This is an emergency situation. Please remain calm as we head to the nearest place of refuge."

"Which would be Dirtfield," Stinger pointed out, then shuffled his eyes at Vapor. "A dump, but better a dump than dead. We'll receive all the help we can get. If you want, you can join us—our family's thinking about moving West, maybe the capital."

"Canterlot?" Vapor said, frail in accent.

"If we can get in line before anyone else does, that is," Stinger went on. "They've got workers and builders propping up houses like there's no tomorrow—"

"Oh, hey, Vapor Trail!" yet another voice called out.

Vapor gulped. Not turning her head to see the mysterious speaker: "Why do you sound so familiar?"

A balloon came into view.

"Don't recognize jolly ol' Party Favor?" the unicorn said, about to take a seat beside her.

"W-Wait—hey!"

Slapped him.

Grabbed the breezie and put her on the other side of the seat.

Slapped Party again. "You were about to suffocate a breezie to death!"

"Woah!" he said, finally sitting down. "I didn't know."

"Oh, for all your watching me, you don't know about the breezie!"

"Uh, the breezie was small and—"

"Attention!" the announcer declared again through the speakers.

The upheaval—the quick talking, the painful mourning, the comforting hugging—it was all quieted down and silenced.

"Please remain calm. We are under attack by enemy forces. Hold on to your seats in the following manner—"

Boom!