Part Twenty-Seven
“What?” Flurry asked absently.
“They’re gathered at Weter Radio!” the radiomare shouted over to the alicorn. The unicorn was crouched behind a car, ducking under the bullets flying from the grocery store across the street. Her squad of four was with her, taking shelter from the storm of gunfire.
Flurry Heart stood in the middle of the street, looking very bored, with a flat shield in front of her. The bullets ricocheted off the shield and back into the store. Flurry could see the Republicans through the transparent shield; they had taken up defensive positions along the aisles, using the store shelves for makeshift barricades. There couldn’t have been more than twenty or thirty of the griffons.
“Who’s at Weter Radio?” Flurry called over her shoulder. She extended the shield slightly to cover the entire front of the building.
The radiomare stuck her head out. “Everyone, Princess! The commanders!”
Flurry hummed and looked up at the sky. We’re making good time, but this could be going better, she reflected. “Is this the last group?” Flurry asked out loud.
Another mare stuck her head out from behind the car. “Yes!” she yelled. “They refused to surrender! We have the building surrounded from the back!”
The firing from the store stopped as the griffons inside realized it was useless to keep shooting at the shield. It now blocked the entire storefront.
Flurry seized the opening. “Surrender.”
“I’d rather surrender to Maar!” an old griffon shouted back from somewhere in the empty bread aisle. His balding head ducked out of sight again.
“I can arrange that,” Flurry replied. “Everypony pull back.” The squad of four ponies behind her immediately fled down the street. Flurry had done this routine enough times today for word to spread of what to do. She took her crown off and held it between her forelegs.
“We have ponies in here!” the old griffon threatened, but Flurry immediately called their bluff. If they had hostages, they would’ve shown them off the moment I landed out here.
A few gunshots came from the store, but this time it was one or two shooters, not the hail of gunfire from before. Flurry smirked and said, “You have ten seconds. Leave with raised claws.”
Flurry flapped her wings, hovering above the building and out of the immediate line of fire. She dispelled the shield and prepared a laser, charging her horn with a blue, crackling pulse of magic. The grocery store wasn’t quite in downtown Weter, but the store was on a crowded street. Flurry would fire through the roof and bring the store down, hopefully limiting the damage to the neighboring buildings. They hadn't been evacuated.
Her ears perked up as a fierce argument erupted in the store. Too many voices overlapped for her to pick out any words in Herzlander. There was one gunshot and the screech of a griffon, followed by a burst of submachinegun fire. A few scattered gunshots rang out afterward with screeches of pain, then the store fell silent.
Right as Flurry finished counting, an unarmed griffon climbed out of a broken window and into the street. Another griffon was draped over her back, bleeding heavily, judging from the large stain on their uniform. She raised her claws and looked up, spotting the hovering alicorn.
“We surrender! Please, my brother’s been shot!” the griffon spoke in Herzlander. A few other griffons emerged slowly, claws raised and balancing on their hind legs. The ponies swiftly moved in from down the street as the griffons raised their claws higher. Flurry only counted thirteen griffons.
Flurry snorted and landed hard in the street. Her horn winked out and she summoned her bubble shield. She waved a wing back at the squad of ponies and they halted and took cover along the sidewalk.
“Where are the others?” the alicorn asked in Herzlander. “Where’s the old buzzard?”
“Dead,” the female griffon replied quickly as she set her brother down. “He shot my brother for trying to surrender and I shot him. We shot the others that refused. Please, help my brother,” she begged.
Flurry scanned over the griffons; they were all young, some younger than her, including the bleeding griffon on the ground. His breathing was labored with a sickly wheezing sound. The red stain on his jacket was centered around his chest, and it was growing too fast. His eyes were already glazed over as he panted with ragged gasps.
Must’ve hit a lung.
Flurry sighed and waved the ponies forward. She dispelled her shield. “I can’t remove the bullet without causing more damage. The best I can do is a spell to slow the bleeding,” Flurry assessed in Herzlander.
“You can heal him! You have magic!” his sister protested.
“Magic doesn’t work like that,” Flurry shook her head and cast the spell. “It can’t close wounds instantly.” If it did, we wouldn’t have lost.
The griffon’s claws trembled and she struggled not to lean down to her brother. Flurry looked over to the radiomare, who was lining a few of the griffons up against the storefront. The other ponies were sweeping through the store. “Is there a medic in your squad?” Flurry asked in Equestrian.
“No, Princess,” the mare replied and shot a grimace at the dying griffon. “Even if we did, we’d prioritize our own.” She tugged on the straps of her bulky radio pack. “Do you want to radio for one?”
Flurry shook her head and turned back to the siblings. She gestured with a hoof for the sister to put her claws down. Flurry put the crown back on her head with her other hoof. The sister clasped claws with her brother and sat next to him as he lay dying in the street.
“I’m sorry,” Flurry apologized.
“No, you aren’t,” the sister muttered. “You were going to kill us all.”
The squad leader emerged from the store and slung her shotgun by her flank. “Nine dead Republicans in here!” she called out; she didn’t keep the mirth from her tone.
Flurry nodded in acknowledgement. The mare sidled up to the alicorn with a smug trot. “You know,” she said conversationally, “when I radioed for backup, I didn’t expect the Princess herself to show up.”
“I’ve been going block by block,” Flurry replied. “I haven’t been listening to the radio.”
“Well, with this block clear, we’ve taken downtown and the industrial district,” the leader said. “Most of the fighting’s done now.”
Flurry listened for a moment. She didn’t hear gunshots, but she heard screams a block away, distant shouting, and the slow wheezing of the griffon in front of her. “Take them to 17th Street,” Flurry ordered. “We’ve gathered most of the prisoners on this side there. Confiscate any weapons and supplies. We’ll need them.”
“Sure, Princess,” the mare bowed. She shot a grin at the crying sister with her brother. “I love it when they do our job for us,” she quipped.
“Maar take you,” the sister muttered, but kept her head down and cradled her brother.
Flurry flapped her wings and left without another word.
When Flurry Heart landed at the doors to the occupied Weter Radio building, she took a moment to shake the ash from her coat. Flurry stood on the sidewalk in the evening light, thoroughly exhausted from a long day of traveling. The guards, two crystal ponies, shouldered their weapons and saluted at the Princess.
Flurry was too tired to properly salute back. She yawned. Flurry’s spell devastated about three blocks in total, wiping out most of the hardcore Republican militias. Virtually every griffon in the city heard and felt the explosion from the Capitol Building, and word spread quickly about who did it. True to her guess, most of the Republicans in the city surrendered once the alicorn arrived at any fighting.
Most, but not all.
Flurry torched another two blocks of downtown in the early morning, those times with a simple oversized fireball. The Republicans formed a hardpoint around two of the anti-air stations. The fighting would be room to room in some of the buildings, and Flurry Heart knew it would be too costly. They didn’t see her coming. She teleported above the buildings, flung a gout of fire down, then teleported away.
Most Republicans fled or surrendered after two more demonstrations of her power. The ones that fled probably broke through the encirclement, but Flurry didn’t care about them. They would fly back home and take their stories with them.
Flurry entered the building and Cerie the former receptionist waved a claw in greeting. She was sitting atop her old desk, cradling a rifle. Her blue uniform was slightly ruffled and her cap was askew.
Gavin Stormfront, the host of Nova by Night and her former boss, was tied to the receptionist’s chair with a gag stuffed in his beak. He had been beaten badly.
“Hello, Little Flurry,” Cerie greeted in Aquileian.
“Cerie,” Flurry answered with a bob of her head. “How are things at the harbor?”
“Easy,” Cerie shrugged. “Many of Kemerskai’s thugs surrendered after the explosion this morning. We have the factories.”
“Good.” Flurry looked at Gavin as he started to wiggle. “What’s up with him?”
“He said he could be useful,” Cerie scoffed, “but a lot of his staff flew out on him, including his secretary. I caught him trying to leave,” the griffon smiled, “but he is so fat and flies so slow.”
“Does the radio tower work?” Flurry asked.
“It should,” Cerie answered. “I can help; many who stayed remember me.”
“Please,” Flurry requested and briefly bowed. “I appreciate it.”
“Of course!” Cerie blushed, then looked pensive. “What about him?” she gestured to Stormfront.
Gavin Stormfront tried to talk to Flurry, but the gag muffled anything he wanted to say.
Flurry considered the desperate, fat griffon. “I don’t need him,” Flurry stated. “He’s yours.”
Cerie clacked her beak. “Are you sure?” she asked and moved her rifle to poke Stormfront in the chest with the barrel. “I kept him for you. He made a good argument.”
“I’m sure he did,” Flurry replied, “and I think he would say whatever I wanted him to, then fly away the moment our backs were turned.”
Gavin struggled in the chair, protesting with muffled screams.
“I told you she would refuse,” Cerie laughed to her captive. “The Admiral and the others are on the second floor,” she spoke to Flurry Heart.
“Make it quick,” Flurry said. “I need the radio.”
Cerie nodded and Flurry left the room. As the alicorn left the stairwell on the second floor, the sharp crack of a rifle sounded below her. The guards outside the stairwell, a unicorn and a griffon, jumped. Flurry shrugged her wings.
“It’s fine,” Flurry dismissed. “Stormfront’s dead.”
“I, uh, I need to scan you, your highness,” the unicorn stammered.
“That’s a new title,” Flurry hummed and waited while the spell swept over her. The stallion looked more nervous afterwards.
“The commanders are in the lounge, second door on the left,” the griffon advised. His eyes never left her horn. Flurry smiled and passed between them. They shifted against the walls to avoid her wings.
The second floor was full of activity. Griffons and ponies of every tribe were pinning maps to a wall, or taking inventory. Several tables with radio packs were occupied by teams of griffons and unicorns making notes and updating the soldiers in the field.
As Flurry trotted by, conversations halted in her wake. Creatures stopped what they were doing to stare openly at the alicorn. When Flurry made eye contact with an earth pony carrying some folders between her teeth, the mare physically cringed back and dropped the folders.
Flurry stopped and lit her horn; her ears twitched as she heard several gasps. The alicorn picked up the folders in her magic and held them out to the mare. The mare fell to her flank and took the folders back with shaking hooves.
“Do you think I’m going to hurt you?” Flurry sighed.
The mare licked her lips to buy time. “No, Princess,” she said in a near whisper.
I don’t believe you. “Get back to work. We have a city to secure,” Flurry ordered in a loud voice, addressing the room, then trotted briskly to the lounge. Everyone bristled and rushed to fulfill her command.
Flurry passed through another checkpoint at the door to the lounge. The unicorn mare took two tries to cast the spell correctly while a pegasus fumbled with the griffon-style doorknob. Flurry avoided eye contact with them and entered.
Duskcrest, Dusty Mark, Spike, Thorax, Rainbow Dash, Fierté, and surprisingly Jacques hunched around a map with several folders and reams of paper. Spike was farther back and hunched over due to the low ceiling; he was the only one naked, except for two bandoliers. The rest were wearing mixed uniforms.
Flurry looked herself over. She was naked, lanky, and her feathers were askew. Her flank, still blank, was flecked with ash. Despite her crown, she looked the least professional out of all of them. As one, Flurry’s commanders looked up from the table and stared at the alicorn as the door closed behind her. They regarded her in silence, and Flurry stared back with pale blue eyes.
Thorax’s pupilless eyes were unreadable. Spike looked utterly crushed. Rainbow swallowed but stared back with hard eyes. Duskcrest and Dusty looked guarded. Fierté was openly horrified, but Jacques glanced at Flurry and looked back down at the map.
Flurry snorted. “You’re worse than everyone out there.” She trotted over to the table and wedged herself between Dusty and Thorax. It was a map of Weter, roughly marked with zones of control. There was a wide circle in downtown that looked like a coffee stain. There were two more black marks where she had destroyed the anti-air batteries. The Leisure District, the unofficial title for the mansions and high-class neighborhoods, was roughly scribbled over.
“What’s going on there?” Flurry asked and tapped her hoof on the scribbles.
“What have you done?” Spike asked in a low growl.
Flurry ignored him.
“Do you have any idea how many griffons you killed?” Spike continued.
“No,” Flurry shrugged. “Several thousand, at least,” she guessed.
“We don’t know,” Spike said, “because you didn’t leave any bodies. Your spell vaporized them.”
“Makes cleanup easier,” Flurry shrugged again.
Spike snarled and reached across the table, grabbing Flurry by her horn and hoisting her up to his muzzle. “You slaughtered thousands of griffons!” he growled. “Good, honest citizens. Griffons that had never done a thing to hurt you.”
“Oh, like all-out war wasn’t going to kill any civilians,” Flurry scoffed. Her rear hooves dragged on the table while she dangled by her horn. “You think shelling and encircling Weter would’ve been bloodless?”
“You don’t get to march in here and pretend this is what we agreed to,” Spike replied. “Nova Griffonians will never forgive you for this.”
“They wouldn’t have loved me anyway,” Flurry retorted. “Put me down, Uncle Spike.”
“You don’t get to call me that,” he spat back with a plume of smoke.
Flurry punched him in the chest. Spike stumbled back and released her. Flurry landed on four hooves on the table and scattered some of the papers. Her horn ignited and she cast a silencing spell on the room.
“I can melt ships at sea and kill thousands and that’s fine!” Flurry whinnied. She whirled around the table as she spoke, looking everyone in the eye. “I can blast planes out of the sky and melt landing crafts, but this is too far!” she exclaimed. “It’s too far to end the war in a day!”
“There’s a difference between outright murder and war,” Dusty said.
“War is cruelty,” Flurry replied. She glared down at Dusty. “You told me this morning that we couldn’t win this.”
“And you said you killed Blackpeak last night,” Dusty added. “We found his body in his mansion. He shot himself.”
“I helped him along,” Flurry admitted. “I knew his death needed to happen once the attacks started to break their morale.”
Flurry looked over at Duskcrest. “You said it yourself, most of his militias were fighting for money. Resistance collapsed and Kemerskai brought his entire party into Weter to celebrate. All of them in one place.”
“You planned this,” Thorax muttered. “All of it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?” Spike pleaded. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Why should I?” Flurry answered. “So you could talk me out of it? So you could tell me how wrong it was to kill all of the Republican leadership in one sweep?”
She twisted around on the table. One of her hooves landed on the black circle on the map.
“I saw the looks,” Flurry accused. “When I confessed to ordering Sunglider tortured, I saw how everyone looked at me, like I was some sort of monster."
She turned to Spike. "What would you have done if I told you I was going to sneak into Blackpeak’s house and kill him?"
Then Duskcrest. "What would you have done if I said I would kill Kemerskai and all of his leaders?"
Then Dusty. "Would you have followed me? Who would have agreed?”
“They’re all afraid of you,” Thorax said. “Ponies and griffons out there, they’re all afraid.”
“How many?” Flurry asked. She shuffled through the scattered papers. “How many losses today? How many have we lost?”
“Under two thousand,” Spike supplied. “Killed or wounded. Most wounded.”
“How many did we expect to lose?” Flurry snapped. “No one told me that number.”
Spike looked away from her. No one else spoke up.
“I don’t care if they’re afraid. As long as they’re alive to be afraid,” Flurry finished.
“You’re lucky I wasn’t there,” Thorax hissed. “You lied to everyone at the meeting.”
“You told me this morning that you were going to tell Kemerskai to surrender,” Dusty accused.
“I offered it,” Flurry countered. “He didn’t take it.”
“You were always going to kill him,” Thorax flared his wings and bared his fangs at Flurry. “Don’t lie to yourself.”
“Of course I was going to kill him,” Flurry snapped back and glared at Dusty. “You said it yourself at the meeting; he’d be more trouble as a prisoner!”
Dusty reared back.
“I didn’t run from my home just to serve another Chrysalis!” Thorax hissed.
“She won,” Flurry snarled and stared down at the changeling with extended wings. “She beat us and she beat you. If you had any balls, you would have blown her up instead of running to my mother. Maybe your brother would still be alive.”
Flurry immediately regretted saying it. Thorax flinched back at her words as if he was physically struck and slumped against the table. He curled his head to his chest. Flurry’s lip trembled, but she pressed through her guilt. “We can’t afford a long war. We need to get the factories and anti-air batteries running.”
“We lost two anti-air batteries downtown,” Duskcrest said with a grimace. “Some of the guns in the Leisure District aren’t operational.”
Flurry hopped off the table. “What’s happening there?” she repeated at a normal volume.
“Some of the Republicans retreated there and clashed with the remnants of Blackpeak’s griffons,” Duskcrest summarized, pointing a claw at the area. “All of the wealthy griffs are dead or scattered. We’re having a hard time restoring order.”
“A lot of our militias are looting themselves,” Dusty added.
“Let them,” Flurry shrugged. “No rape or murder, but we’re going to need all the gold and silver we can get. I’m sure a lot of the mansions are hoarding food as well.”
“That’s not going to endear the Nova Griffonians to us,” Duskcrest remarked.
“I don’t care about the rich ones, but the everday griffon will appreciate food distribution,” Flurry countered. “The High Hotel is still intact. Open it up for housing.”
“The owner is a surly bird. He won’t agree to that.”
“Shoot him,” Flurry stated simply.
Duskcrest clacked his beak.
Flurry turned to Rainbow. “How’s the sky?”
“Clear of planes,” Rainbow said slowly. “The Reich’s not big on day bombing, but the snow will clear during the night. We don’t have enough fuel or planes to cover all of Nova Griffonia.”
“Only cover the cities that have surrendered or are garrisoned by our forces,” Flurry answered. “I’ll cover Weter tonight.”
“Alone?” Rainbow managed a laugh.
Flurry gave her a look and rolled her eyes. She tapped her horn. “I can blow up a city almost as well as I can shield it. The Republicans have planes too. Are we fighting?”
Rainbow stopped laughing and her metal wing twitched. “No, we took most of the airfields by surprise. We caught Skywatch and a few of Nova Griffonians, but Air Command was at the Capitol.”
“I didn’t see them,” Flurry shrugged. “Who else was there?”
“You are the only survivor, Little Flurry,” Jacques answered quietly. “You tell us.”
“Kemerskai, Silverwing, Redtail, Ironclaw, a lot of the lower officers,” Flurry summarized. "I didn't get a good look at the whole building."
“There are many griffons missing,” Jacques remarked doubtfully. “It will take months to get a full account.”
“Republican command has completely collapsed in the north,” Dusty sighed. “We’ve pushed them to the coast, but the towns are fortified. Barrel Roller and Heartsong need reinforcements to take them. There are reports of fighting between the Nova Griffonians and the Republicans, but we can’t verify them.”
“The south is ours,” Fierté added. “We’ve taken every city along the coast. From the Equestrian border to Weter, we have total control.”
"We have the frontier and the mountains," Duskcrest finished.
“The Reich will take advantage of our infighting,” Jacques warned. “We must take the north quickly.”
“We need to shift reinforcements to the border,” Dusty countered. “Chrysalis might launch an attack before winter hits.”
“The border,” Flurry interrupted. “The border is the priority. I’ll make an announcement on the radio. Every city has until dawn tomorrow to surrender, or the city falls.”
“We need reinforcements,” Dusty reminded the alicorn. “The Herzlanders are up there, and they’re fierce fighters, but it’s not enough.”
“I’ll deal with it,” Flurry said casually. “How many prisoners do we have in Weter?”
There was a moment of silence.
“Several thousand,” Duskcrest finally answered with a worried expression.
Spike leaned forward and uncrossed his arms.
“Confiscate their weapons and supplies. Release them and tell them to go home.”
Spike sighed in relief.
“Is that wise?” Jacques asked. “Surely, they have caches and stockpiles. We’ll just be returning soldiers to fight us.”
“We don’t have the time or supplies ourselves to deal with thousands of prisoners,” Flurry stated. “We let them go, and they’ll spread the word about what happened in Weter. They know they can’t fight me.”
“You should not count on a griffon to be rational,” Jacques laughed. “We are creatures of chaos.”
“Maar lover,” Fierté muttered to Jacques reproachfully.
“I’m not,” Flurry replied. “I’ve already seen some infighting. If it comes between a last stand and keeping their families alive, let’s see what they choose.”
There was a moment of silence as everyone processed Flurry's brutal logic.
“Some will choose to fight,” Duskcrest warned.
“And I’ll deal with them,” Flurry repeated. “Dawn tomorrow. Anything else?”
“There was a prison break last night,” Fierté said sulkily. “Admiral Hellcrest escaped, maybe a few others.”
“Not many,” Flurry shrugged. “I broke him out.”
Fierté gaped at Flurry with an open beak. “Why!?” she finally squawked with ruffled feathers. “Why in Maar’s name would you let him go!?” She slammed a claw on the table.
“I needed him to deliver a letter to Grover,” Flurry said patiently. “He has until the end of the month to withdraw his fleet and air force.”
“That’s in six days,” Spike said doubtfully. “What happens if he doesn’t?”
“I fly to Griffenheim and burn it down,” Flurry revealed.
Everyone looked at each other with weary eyes. Thorax remained slumped against the table, and Flurry avoided looking at him.
“The Kaiser can’t back down from a challenge like that,” Jacques remarked with a snap of his claw. “Ask any of the Herzlanders.”
“That’s why it’s a letter that only he can read,” Flurry replied. “I won’t call him out in public.”
Jacques hummed. “That’s a long flight, one way. Griffenheim has strong anti-air defenses.” He waved a claw above his head like it was a little bird. He dropped his claw to the table with a loud slap. “You’ll be shot down.”
“I doubt they’re rated for an alicorn.”
“You won’t return,” Jacques said bluntly.
“Probably not,” Flurry admitted. “I’ll make sure to kill him before I die.”
Jacques flicked his wings and looked down at the map.
Spike licked his lips and leaned away from the table.
“I know it's not a great plan," Flurry muttered, "but we can't fight the Reich and Chrysalis. I’m going to make a radio address." She gestured with her horn towards the glowing doors. “Focus on getting the Republican prisoners released and don’t talk about the letter,” she stated and removed the spell.
“Oh,” Flurry turned to Rainbow with a whicker, “shoot Skywatch and any of the useless Republicans in the air force. They might not have been important enough to be at the meeting, but we don’t need them. We’ll talk about the new government tomorrow, after I’m done.”
Rainbow flinched, but gave a slow shrug with her wings. “Okay.”
As Flurry reached the door, she hesitated and turned her head back to Thorax. The changeling was still slumped at the table. “Thorax, can I see you on the roof after dark?”
Thorax didn’t reply.
Flurry Heart stood at the door and waited. She stood silently for nearly a minute.
“Yeah,” the changeling said softly.
Flurry left the room without another word.
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Damn dude. She's commited, I'll give her that. She'll probably need to be commited once the fighting is over too. Still, I feel like she's entering assassination territory from not just the Changelings but some factions of her own base with how hard she's going into this. She's selling her legitimacy on might makijg right as of now(Sound familiar to another ideology?), and while being an alicorn makes her pretty OP, she's still vulerable to a poison I assume. Or a Nuke. Changelings should have that one researched by now.
Still, if you're an average city Griffon right now, you must despise her. I can't imagine having your democratic country essentially stolen mid war on two fronts.
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Yeah, the urban griffons must hate her, and her nuking of Kemerskai transformed him into a martyr. No doubt that, even if she does win and unify the continent under her rule, coastal Nova Griffonia will be a really troublesome area for a very long time.
Smooth moves, Flurry. Casually nuke an entire leadership, then threaten to fucking do it again.
Still, Coastal Nova is gonna be a pain in the ass to maintain control over.
“The commanders are in the longue”
‘lounge’
“then trotted briskly to the longue”
‘lounge’
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Thanks! Chapter failed to upload twice and I lost all of my edits.
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She dodged a poisoning on accident once and the results weren't pretty. That was young Flurry.
Teenage Flurry: Yeah, you can try to kill her, but not even God can help you if you fail, especially if you were her friend.
Keep in mind, this is roughly 'historical' Equestria at War melded with the canon show. Aside from Twilight fighting Tirek briefly, there's no real example of an alicorn going all out in living memory. Twilight was a researcher. Luna was behind the front lines as a strategist. Celestia and Cadance were on the radio. Griffons mostly thought they were a joke. Flurry was not a joke.
Remember the backstory about Cadance and the bright flash? Apparently, the Crystal Heart held up. Saying nothing else.
Eh, Nova Griffonians probably would've been fine with Kemerskai. The issue is Flurry's a Pony.
The benefit is she's a terrifying Pony.
You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.
William Tecumseh Sherman
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As it mentioned later, Spike is (probably) angry at Flurry in large part because he hates that she shares Sherman's viewpoint in several ways, and she's right. She killed thousands of innocent people. She also decapitated the only other source of resistance, destroyed the most loyal of its soldiers, preserved the strength of her own forces, and created a terrifying image who's scare factor is immensely valuable (and hit that sweet spot of punishing resistance, rewarding cooperation, and letting people (mostly) sleep at night with a clean conscious). She probably saved lives, and she undoubtedly stopped any more infighting before it could even begin, which, as multiple people informed us, could not happen.
All life is equally precious.
So what is one to do when the choice is between a relatively surgical decapitation attack which destroys the enemy's government, their high command, and most of their military forces - along with several thousand civilians - or a drawn-out blood-soaked fight to the bitter end with those same troops, over a much larger area, filled with hundreds of thousands of civilians in the crossfire?
The reaction here is over the fact that they can't distribute blame across a mass of largely-unnamed, mostly-unknown beings pulling the trigger.
Because the mare who pulled it is right in front of them.
I honestly feel bad for Flurry. The environment she’s grown up has made it difficult for her to emphasise with other beings. It’s all ruthless calculations to her now.
The guy will probably become a martyr after this to his devote followers