The Ghost Of You

by MadMan

Us And Them

It was just before sunrise, a time that Nightfury had always enjoyed. The moon had sunk behind the trees, so the only light available was from the stars. The forest was only a shade lighter than pitch dark, but for the Black Berets, it was enough. They thrived on the darkness. It was home.

Their plan had changed several times since they had first put it forward to Twilight. They were originally to leave in the evening and march all night, until they realized it would put them dangerously close to populated areas just after sunrise. They had decided to leave early and march all day, arriving just after sundown. As well, instead of two separate groups going to two locations, there was one group going first to Dodge City and then Baltimare afterward, hopefully returning to the camp with something useful to report.

Nightfury had been elected by the other Berets to lead the expedition. He had planned on staying behind and helping the militia train, but Winter had insisted that of they are going on a covert recon operation, their resident covert recon expert should go. As much as he wanted to, Nightfury couldn't argue the point, and so here he was.

Thinking of Winter, Nightfury turned to look at her. She was by far the smallest of the Berets, but she insisted on carrying as much as the rest. Years of service had made her strong, much stronger than one of her size could be expected to be. Her legs were hard, muscles rippling with every step. Even though her load was enough to pin a normal pony to the ground, she bore it with ease. Nightfury smiled to the darkness, and turned his gaze forward. He could hear the others marching along behind him, if barely.

Step by step, hour by hour, the small group trudged through the forest. The sun and the temperature rose. Sweat dripped down their sides and legs, but they marched on silently, stopping only to refill their waterskins at streams they crossed. Nightfury lead, with Winter behind him. After her came Bill, Red, Hawkeye, then finally Willow. While Nightfury was confident with the group's abilities, he couldn't shake the feeling that they were marching straight into the mouth of Hell.

It was late afternoon when Willow spotted smoke in the distance. They had been following the edge of the forest, never coming out into the open, but close enough to see. Willow was taking his turn to walk the closest to the treeline, while the others followed a short distance back under the cover of shadows. Bringing the group to a halt, Nightfury crouched low and crept up to Willow's position. The smoke rose dark and thick, only a mile or two away. It was coming from roughly where Dodge City was. Nightfury forced the knot in his throat down. He didn't want to guess the source of the smoke, he wanted to find it. The smoke seemed to be in a single column, meaning a solitary source, probably out of a chimney, as opposed to, say, several buildings on fire, which would create smoke in a more widespread pattern.

Nightfury wordlessly went back to the group and waved for them to continue forward, but with more care. They were expecting to have to start dodging patrols soon, and it wasn't long for their expectations to materialize. The patrol was small, only ten or so of those things. They were very ugly, and Nightfury thought they looked uncomfortably like the Changelings. It had been night when the battle for Ponyville had happened, so he hadn't the best of views, but now he was able to crouch in the bushes and observe them.

They looked quite a lot like the Changelings at first glance. Flat black coloration, blank eyes, jagged and twitchy movements. However, there were differences. There seemed to be chitin plates covering certain parts of their chest and back. The skin elsewhere was coarse. They had no manes, and their tails seemed to be more like rat's, thin and leathery. Around their mouths, there seemed to be more chitin, and they seemed to have no teeth. Their speech was whistling and chirping, as if a bird and a grasshopper sang at the same time. None had horns, and Nightfury didn't see any others nearby, so he didn't think it likely that they would be found by magic. He held perfectly still, and knew that the rest of the Berets were doing the same. They didn't know how well the things could see or hear, and their mission was too critical to risk alerting the rest to test these ones. At least he knew their sense of smell wasn't more keen than a normal pony's, as a long march had made the group a bit rank.

The patrol meandered along, not seeming to be in much of a hurry, or that concerned about actually finding anything. They chirped and chattered along, adn before long had passed the Berets and out of sight. Once they were gone, Nightfury waited a few more minutes before rising out of his bush, looking around to see five ponies appear from thin air. They nodded to each other, and continued on towards the smoke.

As per the plan, the sun was halfway below the horizon when the outskirts of Dodge City came into view. The smoke was coming from just beyond them, in the city center. The group settled down to wait until darkness. The night will shroud them while they sneak in. They wanted to know what Axion wanted with the railways. They would be useful in such times, through the movements of troops and supplies, but Axion was placing much emphasis on them, too much. She had something specific in mind.

An hour passed in silence as the sun set, and another after that in darkness. The moon was half full, casting the land in a dull grey. Nightfury rose, and the others followed suit. The time had come. The packs were discarded, covered in loose leaves to await return. They were moving quickly and weightlessly, the shadows of clouds. There were hundreds of those creatures patrolling the perimeter, but they were looking for ponies, not ghosts. Once inside the city, there were far less troops, so the ghosts materialized into ponies. They moved silently, moving ever further into the city. The smoke was still rising, close now, a dull beacon in the night.

Very soon, the source of the smoke came into view. It was a very large, tall, square building with no windows and only one entrance that was heavily guarded, although the purpose of the entrance was somewhat misunderstood. There were probably fifty creatures and ten ponies around the doorway looking outwards, but not a single soul was going in or coming out.

Nightfury and Willow left the group to observe the entrance while they went around the back. There was only a single perimeter sentry, slowly making the laps of the building. There were no other doors, no windows, no vents, no means of entry. Looking up, they noticed sentries spaced every so often along the rooftop, so going up there was out of the question, as the walls were completely smooth with nothing to hide behind. The Berets were good, yes, but still mortals. The only way in for mortals was the front door. The train track ran nearby, a stone's throw from the back of the building, although the lack of cargo doors or method of moving anything from the building to a train was interesting. Nightfury nodded to Willow, and they made their way back to the other Berets, still crouching on a rooftop.

It took a whisper from Winter to tell Nightfury that nothing had changed about the entrance. They wanted in the building, but the only way in was through a fully awake and aware regiment. Nightfury made himself smile by thinking of just walking up to them and asking nicely. He was sure they could handle a fight against ten normal unicorns, but they were to be silent and unknown. The contents of the building were to remain a mystery, it would seem.

They left Dodge City as silently as they came, with a few answers, but just as many new questions. They hoped Baltimare would yield information, but at this point, they all doubted it. Axion's army might have seemed like a brash and undisciplined mob, but then again, the initial push had been fast and harsh. Now that they had the time, they were proving that they knew how to set up solid positions. Or, at least, those in charge did.

The packs were retrieved, and Dodge City was out of sight before the moon had completed it's journey. Dawn found them halfway to Baltimare. Sunset found them just outside. This time, there were not just one, but three columns of smoke guiding them in. There were twice the perimeter guards, but there was also twice the distance for them to be spread out. Getting in was no challenge, nor was finding the buildings. They were much the same as in Dodge, but bigger. Still flat and plain, still only a single entrance, still heavily guarded, still none in or out, still near the train tracks. More scouting found more of the same. The Berets weren't ones to leave nearly empty hooves, but they had been told to avoid a fuss, and they also weren't ones to disobey.

They stayed inside Baltimare for two full nights, finding a nice abandoned house to stay the through the daylight. Peeking out the windows during the day revealed rare traffic. Not many ponies out and about, and those that were looked sullen and reserved. They were going where they had to, not where they wanted. Winter put forth the idea to go out. She could pass without suspicion, as she was the only one there that wasn't obnoxiously large. She wanted to try and walk past the buildings and see if any were going in or out. Nightfury had toyed with the idea for a minute, but had to shoot it down. They couldn't risk it.

The third night, they had to leave, disgusted. It was rare for the Black Berets to admit defeat, but it did happen. No matter how they tried to think of it as a tactical retreat, the sentiment rung hollow. They had come to get information, and they were leaving without anything solid.

The march back to the Ponyville camp went quickly, all lost in their own thoughts. Winter looked up to realize that she had gotten to within a stone's throw of a perimeter sentry before she noticed him. He saluted the group as they silently passed into the camp. Walking through the tents, they immediately picked their way to Princess Luna's tent. She had wanted a report as soon as they returned.

Pushing the tent flap aside, they entered and saluted sharply. The Princess looked up and returned the salute, pushing the papers she had been studying aside.

"Report."

"Princess, we have ashamedly little to report. At both locations, we found large buildings, rectangular and without exterior features. One door, no windows or ventilation vents, sentries around and on the roof. We had no quiet way in. They were practically on the train tracks, clearly meant to interact with a train in some manner. We assume they would pull a train up and load it with something, but without bay doors we can't understand in what manner or end. We can only assume that they would remove a section of wall, inferring that whatever they are making in there is large and singular. It's probably not an assembly line type factory. Maybe they are some large, purpose build carriages or trains. However, this is all conjuncture. All we know is that they had chimneys belching thick, dark smoke, hinting at smelting or metalwork."

"Very well. I wish we could know what was inside, but I agree, it would have made too much of a fuss. How did the cities themselves look?"

"We didn't stay long in Dodge, but we found a hole in Baltimare. There aren't many ponies out and about during the day, and those that were looked miserable, if determined."

"Thank you, Berets. You did well. Dismissed."

The Black Berets saluted and left, and Luna turned back to her papers. They were material readiness reports. How many blades, how many arrows, spears, hunks of armour, the like. Very boring, but the Princess had to be sure they had enough to arm the ones left in case of attack.

A sudden thought caught Luna's attention, and she immediately summoned her magic, calling to Twilight Sparkle. The connection took a moment, and as it solidified Luna could feel drowsiness. She had woken her dear lover, but she had something to ask Nightfury, and because of her relationship with Twilight, it was far easier to contact her than anyone else. She felt Twilight yawn, followed by a twinge of adrenaline.

Luna, what is it? Something wrong?

No, Twilight. The Berets we sent to Dodge City and Baltimare are back. Have they reached the tent yet?

Actually, I can see them coming this way now. Did they not report immediately?

They did, but I realized something I forgot to ask. Can you sent Nightfury back?

Of course, love.

Luna felt the connection wither. Not a minute later, Nightfury and Twilight stepped into the tent. Twilight came to sit beside Luna, Nightfury stayed just inside the entrance and saluted.

"Princess, how may I assist you?"

"Nightfury, I realized I forgot something. Did you get a good look at the creatures?"

"Yes, actually. I apologize, in my weariness I forgot to mention. At one point we came close to a small patrol. We were hidden, so they passed us by without noticing. They appear insect-like. They are similar to the Changelings, but without the ability to change. They have hard carapaces over sections of their back, chest, and mouths. Their eyes are black and small, like beetles. They don't seem to have any magic, and we never saw any with horns or wings. Their senses don't seem to be any sharper than a pony's. Their language is odd chirping and whistles, somewhat akin to a bird's. That is all."

"Any leadership?"

"A few unicorns per a hundred."

"Thank you. Now, get some rest."

"Thank you. Good night Princess, Commander."

As soon as he was gone, Twilight sank against Luna, savoring the warmth and softness. Luna lay her head on top of Twilight in kind.

"Luna, I have a question. Do you have any idea who we are fighting? I mean the soldiers."

"No, Twilight, I have no idea what those things are."

"Why are they a 'what' instead of a 'who'?"

"Because they must be."

"I don't understand."

"No, Twilight, I wouldn't expect you to."

Twilight lifted her head and gave Luna a suspicious gaze.

"What's your point?"

"The point is, no proper commander will ever allow that the enemy is just like 'us', and if you plan to win the war not go insane with remorse, that is how every soldier must, in the main, think."

Twilight wanted to argue. Her morality demanded that she say that they are ponies, or at least intelligent, and not creatures, not things. But her logic agreed with Luna, and told her heart to shut up. They are puppets, hollow puppets of dust.

We were made from dust, and dust we shall return to. These things are just an obstacle to be removed.

Twilight vowed to take those words to heart. She refused to let herself drown in regret. She had a whole life with Luna to enjoy, and nothing, not even a war, was going to get in the way of that.

Author's Note:

Windmill, windmill for the land.

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