1. Intro - Twilight Sparkle

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Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand.
Matthew 12:25

Twilight gulped. Ever since she’d moved to Ponyville, she had been starting to feel more comfortable around large crowds of ponies; this time though, it wasn’t a friendly bunch of the small town inhabitants, but an angry mob, mostly consisting of muscular earth ponies, along with some donkeys and a few mules.

Behind them, several Royal Guards were visible, guarding a gate to an old brick building with a large chimney. A similar squad was surrounding the podium she was standing on.

She inhaled deeply. The air smelled of red hot iron and smoke, drying her throat immediately and leaving a bitter aftertaste.

"Listen, everypony!" she tried to shout over the murmuring of the crowd but with hardly any effect. "Prince Blueblood decided to reconsider the group layoffs…"

Suddenly, the crowd was silent, except for one pony, who climbed on his companion’s back, and shouted, "Why did he send you here, instead of talking with us himself?"

"He doesn’t want to talk to filthy mud ponies!" another pony answered him, and the crowd started to laugh.

"He said that he’s going to make redundant only twenty percent of the workers…" Twilight said, hoping that it’d be enough to appease them; however all she heard were angry mumblings.

"Listen! If he doesn’t reduce the amount of workers, the factory will have to be closed!" she shouted, but it only made matters worse.

"The Princesses are with Blueblood!" somepony shouted.

"Royalty always sticks together!"

"He lives in a fucking palace while we break our balls just to earn a few bits!"

Several eggs and rotten tomatoes flew in Twilight’s direction, splashing against the transparent magic shield she had conjured. Some of the ponies rushed towards the Royal Guards.
Somewhere in the back of the crowd, several ponies set an effigy of Prince Blueblood on fire, while a group of mules started to chant Princess Luna’s name.

The unicorn guards started to conjure their own shields, as more eggs flung in their direction. Bricks and cobblestones were bouncing off, often hitting the ponies standing in the front rows, but it only angered them more; they rushed to the guards, trying to break through the shields. Twilight saw in horror that one of them panicked and fired a magic beam at one of the protesters, rendering him unconscious.

Seeing their companion fall down, the workers gave out a collective outcry, a large mass of their bodies ramming into the guards. Some of the magical shields failed, popping like bubbles, as the guards inside immediately overwhelmed by the ponies.

Twilight felt the blood freezing in her veins and staggered, hyperventilating. She lowered her horn, aiming at the mob, but then remembered what happened just a minute ago.

The crowd was like a wild beast. The most she could do with her magic would barely scratch it. Incapacitating one pony was only maddening the others, wounding the beast, provoking it to attack.

She took a quick glance at the situation before her. Guards, many of them bloodied, were tightening the circle around her, shielding her from the angry workers. A rain of bricks and stones were ricocheting off her shield.

“Permission to fire a warning shot?” the captain of the Royal Guard asked, hiding behind the field of her magic. His own reservoir was almost completely depleted.

She almost nodded her head, but stopped abruptly. It just didn’t feel right. As a princess, she should protect her subjects, not shoot at them. Even if they were just warning shots.

“No!” she shouted. “There must be other way!”

“There’s too many of them!”

“Wait!” She looked around, trying to focus. “Think, Twilight… When you fight a beast, you need a…”

"What are you doing, Princess!?" a captain of the Royal Guard shouted, watching as she spread her wings.

“Distraction!” Twilight took off, flying above the protesters. They noticed that, throwing everything they could find at her. Her shield faltered slightly – she wasn’t used to keeping it up for so long, and was now at the verge of exhaustion. Flapping her wings as hard as she could, she was dragging the crowd away from the guards, who started retreating to the factory.

With a sound resembling a popping balloon, her shield gave up. An egg splashed on her wing, and a large chunk of cobblestone missed her head only by few feet. Focusing every bit of the magical energy still present in her body she quickly teleported away.
She could still feel the bitter taste in her mouth when she appeared in the Royal Guard station and collapsed on the floor in a rather ungraceful way, panting heavily. She felt that it wasn’t only the air’s fault.

***

"So, how was Detrot?" Rainbow Dash asked. They were sitting in a library, drinking tea with Applejack.

"Bad. They heard about Princess Luna, and didn’t want to listen to me," Twilight replied.

“Well, Ah think she's right,” Applejack said. “Ah can hardly find clients for apples this year, and taxes can’t pay themselves. Y’all like it or not, sugarcube, there’s a problem with Equestria magic just can’t solve.”

"Yes, but Luna didn’t have to publicly announce that her sister doesn’t know how to deal with the crisis!"

"She didn’t say that," Rainbow Dash interjected.

"But that’s how they heard it! Since Luna returned, ponies have been considering them as royal sisters, the unity, almost goddesses. Now they see them arguing, and they're starting to think–"

"That they’re just normal ponies? Ah can’t see why it’s a bad thing," said Applejack.

Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but Spike, who had just entered the room, interrupted her.

"Speaking of being blunt…” he lifted a newspaper. The headline on the first page stated: “Princess Twilight Sparkle: ‘If you don’t stop your protest, we’ll close the factory’."

"Hey, I didn’t say that!"

"But that’s how they heard it," Rainbow Dash deadpanned. “You're lucky they weren’t pegasi: it’s not safe to be in Cloudsdale these days, some of them have started carrying guns around…"

"Can anypony explain to me why most of the protests happen in towns such as Detrot, Fillydelphia, Manehattan, and Cloudsdale while ponies in Ponyville are still calm as usual?" Spike asked.

"It’s simple: they’re industrial towns,” Twilight replied. “Due to the latest developments in new technology less ponies are needed to work in the factories; and factory owners, like Prince Blueblood, want to cut costs. Cloudsdale is a bit different, as it’s not focused solely on industry, so the group of dissatisfied ponies is smaller than in other towns. Still, the scale of those protests is surprisingly big – especially for such a peaceful nation as Equestria."

"Yeah, but when I was in Cloudsdale recently, there was also a crowd of ponies that were angry at the disgruntled factory workers. Another group of ponies afraid of those two groups just want to protect their families from them," Rainbow Dash added. "Pegasi are always a bit short-fused."

"Exactly. This is like a barrel of gunpowder, and Princess Luna saying 'Celestia spends too much time with ponies from Canterlot,' set it off," said Twilight.

"Yeah, right." Spike nodded. “But I don’t get why some of them say that the current diarchy is bad, while others want Princess Luna to be their leader?"

"You see, the protesting ponies aren’t a single group: some of them are anarchists, some of them didn’t learn their lesson from the fall of the Hooviet Union, and some of them don’t mind the diarchy, they just want the jobs," Twilight explained.

“Well, some of them aren’t even ponies.” Applejack said. “There are more mules and donkeys in Equestria than ever, but Ah have a feeling that ponies in Canterlot prefer not to see them. Ah meet ‘em all the time when Ah’m checking on competitions. They’re good farmers, but the way they’re sometimes treated...”

“Same with the bat ponies,” Rainbow Dash nodded. “A year ago there wasn’t a single bat pony in Cloudsdale, now there’s about a hundred, and new ones are coming every day. Some pegasi are afraid that they’ll take their jobs...” She shook her head.

“Yeah, what’s up with the bat ponies?” Spike asked. “Why have so many of them moved to Equestria recently?”

“Well, at first it was just Luna’s Guard members and their families,” Twilight explained, sipping her tea. “Their ranks expanded since they were tasked with fighting changelings on the south… You know, they see in the darkness better and are more agile than the regular pegasi, so it’s easier for them to fight in caves. But there are also former mercenaries who used to fight for griffons and later decided to settle in Equestria, mostly around Manehattan and Fillydelphia.”

“Yeah, they’re weird,” Rainbow Dash said. “I saw those guys once. Scars, tribal tattoos... Most of them speak only Pferdisch… And some ponies think that all of them are like that.”

Twilight sighed, remembering what she’d witnessed in Detrot. At first, the protesters had been clearly separated, ponies forming one group, donkeys and mules forming another one. Yet, as soon as they attacked her, they stopped caring about the differences between them, turning to their new target – her.

Apparently, she thought bitterly, the royalty really helps to maintain unity in Equestria...

***

A bolt of lightning tore through the sky, and a distant roar of thunder caused the ponies gathered inside the pub to frown and take another sip of their beverages. It was a week since Twilight Sparkle was attacked by the protesters in Detrot, but it was still a topic heavily discussed among the patrons.

The door opened, and Rainbow Dash entered the wooden building, shaking the water off her. The patrons looked at her and began exchanging nasty whispers, staring at her from time to time, as she was walking to the bar.

"Double whisky for me," she said dejectedly.

"Hard times, huh?" Berry Punch asked. "For you it’s on the house, but you’d better leave quickly. Other ponies might get stupid ideas…" she added, whispering.

"What kind of stupid ideas?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"The kind they usually get when it’s a storm when there was a sunny day scheduled, and a pegasus from the weather team shows up in a pub. It’s not a problem for me, I have more clients, but they’re not really happy about that…"

"Hey, that’s not my fault!" Rainbow Dash snapped. The patrons lifted their heads, and listened quietly. “There’s a fucking riot in Cloudsdale! Fuck, it’s a regular war! When I came to work today, everypony were either trying to contact their relatives, or were in Cloudsdale themselves!" She downed her glass of whisky, and sat on a bar stool. “Another one, please," she said.

***

It was unusual for Twilight Sparkle to throw the newspapers away without reading them, but recently she had been only skimming through the headlines before tossing the papers on a large pile next to her front door. "Riots in Cloudsdale claim at least ten lives," she read, “Angry mob occupies Prince Blueblood’s mansion – Royal Guard protecting the site."

"Yeah, and the icing on a cake," Spike said, entering the library with a copy of Canterlot Times in his hand, “Princess Luna moved out of the palace in Canterlot, saying that she can no longer live with somepony who exploits other ponies…"

"What?" Twilight flapped her wings. “She really said that?"

"Yes. She moved to their old castle in the Everfree."

“That’s strange…” Twilight muttered to herself. Her mind started to work faster.

"Castle in the Everfree… disagreeing with Celestia… all those bat ponies suddenly moving to Equestria...” Twilight looked at Spike nervously. "I’m afraid that it might be like what happened a thousand years ago…”

“Impossible!” Spike exclaimed. “She’s no longer Nightmare Moon, right? You purged the nightmare from her with the Elements…”

“That’s why I’m not sure about this theory…” Twilight began pacing around the library. “Can the nightmare come back?”

“Well, I have no idea…” Spike shrugged.

“Let’s think for a moment…” Twilight muttered, mostly to herself. “If it was hypothetically true… What would be the cause?”

“Well, first it was Luna’s ambition…” Spike said slowly, not sure where it was going. “But I guess now it’s not the case. The cause lies here.” He poked a stack of unread newspapers in front of Twilight. “No magic. No Nightmare Moon. Just a group of ponies who hope that Princess Luna is able to help them.”

“Ambition…” Twilight muttered. A picture of the angry mob appeared in her memory again, making her shudder. “She could feel the desire to overthrow Princess Celestia, knowing that there are ponies who’d follow her…”

“Chill out, Twilight,” Spike replied, “You definitely think too much. Remember Smarty Pants? Overthinking again. There could be many reasons, not just ancient magic. I bet the Princesses will manage to resolve that in a week or two.”

“What if they don’t?” Twilight sat on her haunches. “We can just go there, try to talk… Take the Elements, just in case…”

"Twilight, wait,” Spike sighed, "I don’t think this will help... Besides, Rarity is still in Canterlot."

"What’s she doing there?" Twilight scratched her head.

"Geez, Twi, you really need to go out more. She’s now in charge of designing new uniforms for the Equestrian Army so she spends lots of time there, with Fancy Pants." He gritted his teeth as he said the noble’s name. "Oh, and I almost forgot, Rainbow Dash isn’t going to help you either – she’s sleeping on a cloud near Sweet Apple Acres. When I said 'hi' to her, she told me to stop shouting and fu– I mean, go away. I guess she visited Berry Punch yesterday…"

"Who did?" They heard a familiar, melodic voice.

"Rarity!" Twilight exclaimed, running to the white unicorn who had just entered the library. "Good to see you! Now, we have to get Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Applejack, and Fluttershy, and go to the Everfree…"

"Twilight, darling, not so fast!" Rarity shouted. "Can anypony explain to me what’s going on? I came back from Canterlot when I heard that atrocious news about…"

"We know, we read the newspapers here too…" Twilight sighed.

"No, not the news those despicable tabloids write about." Rarity leaned towards her. “Fancy Pants told me that they were trying to send the soldiers from a local garrison to stop the protests in Manehattan from escalating, but the officers refused to fulfill those orders."

"They didn’t want a second Cloudsdale, that’s understandable."

"Yes, but that’s not even the worst part! The mayor also supports the protesters and said that the town is not going to obey orders from Canterlot anymore! And similar things are happening in Detrot and Fillydelphia!"

Twilight sat on her haunches, feeling dizzy.

“So, can you explain me what’s going on?” Rarity broke the uncomfortable silence.

“Twilight thinks that Luna transformed into Nightmare Moon again,” Spike explained.

“No, I don’t!” Twilight replied, glaring at him angrily. “I just… I just can’t rule this possibility out. I wanted to go to Luna, try to mediate…”

Rarity stared at her blankly.

“Please Rarity, help me. If the towns rebel, we’ll need both Princesses to resolve that situation…”

Rarity thought for a moment.

“Okay, darling,” she said, “let’s go and gather the girls.”

***

The sun was high above the horizon. The six ponies walked through the forest, barely talking to each other, intimidated by the Everfree’s grim atmosphere. Only Pinkie Pie didn’t seem to care, jumping up and down as usual. Fluttershy was keeping close to Rarity, looking nervously around. Applejack was frowning – it took Twilight long to convince her to go with them.

“Ah don’t think we should go there with the Elements,” she said. “It’s like going to negotiate a peace treaty with a loaded gun, sugarcube.”

“Luna doesn’t need to know that we have them,” Twilight replied. “If everything turns out good, we won’t even take them out of my saddlebags.”

Applejack grunted. They stopped on some small clearing, waiting for Rainbow Dash who had to excuse herself for a moment. For a second time since they entered the forst.

"Geez, my head," moaned the pegasus, emerging from the bushes. She spat on the ground and wiped her mouth. Instead of flying, she was trotting through the Everfree along with her friends.

"Poor Dashie," Pinkie cooed. "Do you want a cupcake?"

"No, thanks, I’d rather not give my stomach any more ammo…" she groaned. Twilight looked at them and sighed.

"Can you two focus? We’re walking through the Everfree, who knows what awaits us on the way…"

"I’ll focus... when you find a spell to cure my hangover."

"There's one potion." Twilight saw Rainbow Dash's eyes open wide, reflecting a hopeful expression akin to a puppy's eyes. "It’s called ‘water’, and you should drink it instead of alcohol."

Rainbow Dash’s ears drooped. Fluttershy patted her head with her wing, causing her to hiss.

"That’s strange," Rarity said, after they had walked few more miles, "I don’t remember the Everfree being so calm. No manticores, no fabulous sea serpents…"

"Let sleeping diamond dogs lie, sugarcube," Applejack said. "We’re almost there."

"Good morning," said a bat pony, who suddenly appeared in front of them, hanging upside-down from the branch. Rarity jumped away, charging her horn to attack.

"I told ya not to scare dem," said another bat pony, who was sitting on a tree.

"Who are you?" Twilight asked.

"We are Princess Luna’s Royal Guards," said the first one with a melodic accent. "My name is Gwyfyn, and this is Tyluan. We’re sorry to inform ya that ya cannot pass. Have a nice day."

"Why can’t we pass?" Twilight asked.

"Restricted military area, filly," said Tyluan. “Princess Luna’s orders were clear: nopony can enter the area within a one-mile radius from her old castle.”

"How about–"

"Especially alicorns."

"Umm… maybe we should go, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.

"No way!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, wincing and gritting her teeth when her head started to ache again. "How about kicking–"

"No, Dash." Rarity approached the bat ponies. "We were officially sent by Princess Celestia to negotiate with her sister. We are unarmed, and we won’t try any tricks during our stay here. Lead us to the Princess please."

"I don’t know…” Gwyfyn rubbed his chin. "What do you think?"

"They’re unarmed mares. One of them looks as if she wants to run away from here, and one of them is clearly sick. You know what they taught me back in Cymru?" Tyluan asked his companion.

“What, mate?”

“Treat everypony, especially the injured, sick, unarmed and cowardly like they had a cannon on some spring-loaded contraption that shoots out of their flanks.”

“Wise rule.” Gwyfyn nodded. “So, we’ll have to take a look?”

Tyluan shook his head and turned to Twilight.

“Your saddlebags please.”

Twilight obeyed, levitating her saddlebags to him. Meanwhile, Gwyfyn moved to Pinkie, looking conspicuously at her mane.

“Are you jewellery vendors?” Tyluan asked, fishing the Element of Magic out of the saddlebags.

“No, we want to talk to Princess Luna. She’ll know what this is.” Twilight sighed.

“What the–” they heard Gwyfyn’s surprised gasp.

“Did ya find something?” Tyluan asked.

“A toothless alligator, five balloons, and, surprisingly, a cannon. But it only shoots confetti.”

Tyluan facehoofed.

Further search revealed only Applejack’s lasso and a couple of gems Rarity kept in her purse, along with a spare needle.

“We’ll take care of that,” Tyluan said, “and we’ll show this trumpery to the Princess.”

When the two bat ponies took off to escort them to the castle, Pinkie leaned closer to Rarity and whispered, "Do you have any plan or are we just going to go fully Rainbow Dash on this?"

"We’ll see," Rarity replied, ignoring Rainbow Dash’s weak protests.

"Ah don’t like it," Applejack said quietly. "They seem… normal. Don’t y’all think that if Princess Luna was Nightmare Moon, they’d attack us?"

"Definitely," Twilight muttered. “But it only makes everything easier. It’ll be diplomatic mission.”

They reached the large clearing, filled with numerous bat ponies who were cutting the trees down. Some of them were smaller, appearing similar to Gwyffyn and Tyluan. Others were much bulkier and often covered in scars. They wore navy blue flying suits and goggles.

"What are they doing?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well, there goes diplomacy. An airport in the middle of the Everfree," Rainbow Dash replied, pointing to a black, cigar-shaped balloon standing in the middle of the clearing. "It’s a blimp. They produce them in Manehattan, along with bigger airships."

"A blimp?" Pinkie asked.

"Non-rigid airship," Twilight explained.

"Yeah, what she said," Rainbow Dash nodded.

Pinkie was still eyeing the airship curiously. "It’s like a party balloon," she said, "For a really big party…"

***

"Twilight Sparkle!" Princess Luna trotted towards them from across the hallway of the old castle. "What are you doing here?"

"Your sister sent us to talk with you," said Twilight, deciding to go on with Rarity’s excuse, despite Applejack’s cautionary hissing. She noticed that the Princess looked fairly normal: she had no armour, and her coat was its usual dark blue colour. Another good sign.

"Why didn’t she come to us herself?" Luna asked. "There are a lot of things we would want to discuss with her…"

"Like all those bat ponies behind the window?" Rainbow Dash snapped, taking off and flying to Luna, “What are they doing here? Preparing for an invasion?"

"They’re here to protect the ponies. It’s just a precaution."

"Protect them from what?"

"Thou might be loyal to our sister, my little pony,” Luna said, “But you let the loyalty blind you – in Cloudsdale, a group of aggressive pegasi claiming to be Celestia’s faithful subjects massacred the innocent ponies fighting for their jobs.”

“Strange,” Rainbow Dash muttered, “I heard something different…”

“And in Fillydelphia Royal Guards are attacking unarmed ponies… We had to do something! Either my sister can’t control her guards anymore or she really ordered them to do that."

“Princess, your ‘innocent ponies’ wanted to kill me last week!” Twilight exclaimed, at the verge of bursting into tears. “You two should support each other instead of gathering armies…”

"We only do that to protect our subjects from my sister, who, apparently became a tool in the hooves of the nobles who’d still reach for bits even after Equestria becomes a lifeless wasteland in the process! We’ll protect them even if it means war!"

"War isn’t the solution! It will only bring more suffering!" To everypony’s shock, the outburst came from Fluttershy. She blushed, drooping her head.

"Thou are actually right," Luna calmly admitted, “but we have been informed that my sister has just sent another thousand of Royal Guards to Fillydelphia. ‘Tis not I who wants war here."

"Princess Celestia doesn’t want it either,” said Twilight. “That’s why she sent us here."

“With the Elements of Harmony?” Luna asked, staring at her coldly. “As you expected, we recognized them immediately. Really, my sister thinks we’re Nightmare Moon again?”

“Told ya,” Applejack whispered to Twilight, who gulped, stepping forward.

“Actually, it was my theory…” she said quietly.

"TREASON!" Luna shouted. Twilight lifted her head to see that they were now surrounded by at least a hundred gun-wielding bat ponies, all separating them from Princess Luna. Applejack was trying to cover Fluttershy, who was cowering on the ground and hiding her face in her hooves.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie were standing close to the bat ponies, ready to fight. Rarity, paler than usual, was also looking at the enemies with an expression of pure contempt.

"Thou…" Luna’s voice was shaking with rage, "Thou really thought we were Nightmare Moon again? Twilight Sparkle, thou truly are my sister’s most faithful student… Her obedient, lacking-in-will pet!" she spat the words with disdain.

“I didn’t… I was only trying to help…”

“We’ve never expected thee to think so low of me,” Luna said, a bit calmer. “We are also trying to help.” She turned to her guards. “Escort them to the edge of the Everfree forest. Then you can give them the Elements back.”

Her eyes again met Twilight’s. "We are sorry Twilight, but we can’t just sit back and idly watch our sister lead Equestria to annihilation."

***

The group of friends barely spoke on the way back to Ponyville. As soon as the guards departed, Fluttershy had rushed to her cottage. Rainbow Dash muttered something about the hair of the dog, but eventually decided to go to Sugarcube Corner with Pinkie.

"I think I’ll write a letter to Princess Celestia,” Twilight said to Applejack and Rarity.

The fashionista nodded, while Applejack said, "Ah’ve been trying to tell ya this wouldn’t end well."

She shook her head and headed back to Sweet Apple Acres.

***

When she came back to the library she collapsed on her bed. Twilight suddenly understood Rainbow Dash’s tendency to drown her sorrows. After the last attempt at diplomacy and the ultimate failure, she could only look at her reflection in the mirror and admit her defeat. Her gazed drifted to the drawer where she kept a bottle of wine. A tipple was tempting her, but she decided to call Spike instead, and began dictating to him a letter.

Dear Princess Celestia,

We just came back from Luna’s castle. We were trying to talk to her, but unfortunately only made matters worse in doing so.

There is a large group of armed bat ponies in the Everfree, and your sister will probably send them to Detrot, Manehattan and Fillydelphia to, as she said, “protect her subjects from you.”
She also has access to at least one airship, and I’m afraid that she’s determined to fight with you, no matter what the consequences of her actions may be.

I'm sorry Princess, it looks like I have failed you yet again.

Your Faithful Student,
Twilight Sparkle

She finished the letter and watched her assistant sending it. The reply was almost immediate.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I want you and your friends to come to Canterlot as soon as possible. If what you’re saying is true, we have to prepare for the worst.

~Princess Celestia

Twilight sighed, and rushed from the library to find the rest of the Elements. It wasn’t a long trip; all of them, except for Applejack, were sitting in the Sugarcube Corner, looking almost as defeated as Twilight felt. The other patrons were also grim. Ponyville was close to Luna’s headquarters, and the Mayor considered evacuating the whole town.

"I’ve received a letter from the Princess," said Twilight. Several ponies turned their heads to her. She spotted Lyra Heartstrings, trembling visibly, ready to burst into tears at any moment.

"We have to find Applejack and get to Canterlot."

"Great!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “I guess we’ll have to kick some flanks, instead of all that magic and diplomacy–"

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight scolded. "Remember that they’re ponies too, and, even if Luna’s means are wrong, she is at least partially right."

"What? She called you ‘Celestia’s pet’, and you think she’s right?"

"Partially right," Twilight clarified. "Now go and find Applejack."

"Yes, ma’am." Rainbow Dash mockingly saluted and flew out of the window.

"I don’t want to go," Fluttershy said silently. "What will happen to my animals? And I don’t want to hurt any other ponies."

"Don’t worry, none of us want it to end that way," said Twilight. "I still hope that we’ll be able to solve it quickly."

"What if we won’t?" asked Rarity. "We already tried. She’s not Nightmare Moon, magic won’t help here…"

"We’ll see," said Twilight, gritting her teeth. After Rarity’s fateful lie about a diplomatic mission, and considering the fact that she was indirectly working for the Equestrian Army, she had a hard time believing in her peaceful intentions.

Pinkie trotted to them, bringing a tray of cupcakes.

"Let’s not go to Canterlot, ‘tis a silly place," she said. "We are needed here, to help the ponies in Ponyville. And what can we do about Nightmare Moon when she’s not Nightmare Moon, but good old Princess Luna, who went cuckoo and now wants to drop some bombs on her sister’s head?"

Twilight decided not to think about that too hard.

***

“So, you’re trying to say that bringing the Elements was wrong, but gathering a fucking army is okay?” Rainbow Dash waved her hoof at Applejack.

“No, Ah think it’s all wrong. We should try to talk with her one more time, this time without the Elements, without Twi trying to help, just the Princesses…” Applejack rolled her eyes.

“It’s too late!” Rainbow Dash snapped, “Detrot, Manehattan, and Fillydelphia are against us! Cloudsdale… I have friends there, some of them might be dead… Somepony has to pay for that!”

"Dash! Applejack!" Twilight hissed. They were standing in front of the large carved door leading to the throne hall. The argument between the pegasus and farm pony was getting a bit too loud, and was attracting the Royal Guards.

The door finally opened.

"Welcome, Twilight," Princess Celestia greeted her when they met in the throne hall. She stood on a balcony, staring up at the sky with a melancholy look on her face.

There was something wrong about it – when they were on the train to Canterlot, the sun had already been setting, and the moon was visible. It should have already been night when they arrived, but nothing had changed; the sky was still red, and the capital of Equestria was bathing in the rays of the sun, reflecting off of the shiny copper slates.

"It stopped," remarked Celestia casually, turning her gaze at Twilight and her friends.

Twilight cleared her throat, not sure what to say about that."What stopped, Princess?" she asked.

"The Moon. Just like a thousand years ago. I guess my sister is trying to tell me that she’s not joking. It’s partially boasting, partially saving her magical powers."

"Can you do something about that?”

"I have no power over the Moon," Celestia replied. "The only thing I could do was to also stop the Sun, leaving the world in state of…"

"…Permanent twilight!" Pinkie interrupted her. Twilight blushed furiously, hearing her friend’s laughter, soon followed by Rainbow Dash’s cackling. Celestia furrowed her brow, causing both ponies to stop abruptly.

"I gathered you here," said the Princess, her tone a bit higher, "because you’re the only ponies I can trust now, as my sister and many of my officers have betrayed me. Yes, even the army in Detrot, Manehattan, and Fillydelphia joined my sister. Twilight, when you said you had read every book in both Canterlot and Ponyville’s libraries, you weren’t exaggerating?"

"Of course not," said Twilight.

"Have you also read the books on strategy?"

"Yes, I’ve read The Art of War,” Twilight started to speak very quickly, “Unicorns In Modern Warfare, The Most Popular Battle Spells, The Pegasi Guide to Aerial Combat…"

"That’s enough,” Celestia interrupted her student, "I, therefore, declare you a Commander in Chief of the newly formed Army of the Sun.”

“M-me? But I have no experience and–”

“Fear not, my faithful student. My advisors will be there to help you. I also need to contact your brother – he’s an experienced warrior, and the Crystal Empire is close to the towns controlled by Luna."

Twilight stood there, her mouth agape. Meanwhile, Celestia turned to Applejack and Rarity.

"Congratulations on those projects of new uniforms, Rarity," she said. The unicorn stared at her, shocked, but then she remembered that, as a ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia had to know about the contract. "Taking yours and Applejack’s skills in gathering resources into consideration, I’ll make you my quartermasters."

"Ah…" Applejack stammered. Rarity couldn’t waste that chance.

"It’ll be a honour for us," she said.

"Fluttershy…" Celestia began.

"I don’t want to fight," said the yellow pegasus. It was so quiet that only the hall’s good acoustics allowed Princess to hear that.

"Oh, I don’t want to make you fight," the alicorn replied, “I want you to organize–"

"I don’t want to organize anything either…" said Fluttershy a bit louder, though she still looked as if she wanted to hide in a gap between the tiles on the palace’s floor. "If… if there’s war and m-many p-ponies can be wounded or k-killed, I want to help them. If I have to take part in the war, I want to work in a field hospital."

"Oh… If that’s what you want..." said Celestia. She then turned to Rainbow Dash.

"I want to fight," said the cyan pegasus immediately.

"I hadn’t expected any other answer from you. The pegasi from Cloudsdale are still loyal to me. Some of them even requested for me to make you their leader," Celestia explained, to which Rainbow Dash smiled.

"And you, Pinkie Pie…" the Princess looked at the party pony, who was standing at attention. “Twilight told me about your… unusual skills in predicting the fate of other ponies. I think it might be useful for us."

"Oh yeah! The Pinkie Sense never goes wrong! I have different combos for something fast is coming, wounds, burns, being thrown into the meat grinder, mutilated and baked into cupcakes…"

"Enough!" Celestia exclaimed, definitely not wanting to know how Pinkie learned about those combinations in the first place.

"So, Princess,” said Twilight, when Pinkie had calmed down, "Does it have to end like this? There’s no other way?"

"I’m afraid so, my student," said Celestia, again staring up at the sky from the balcony. "I'm afraid so..."

2. Vinyl Scratch

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There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions.
Joseph Heller, Catch 22

A chair hit the wall, splintering into pieces of wood that scattered onto the floor among other bits of garbage. For a moment Vinyl stared at the gash it left on the dull white surface, making some quick calculations. She then took another sip from the bottle in front of her, and levitated another chair sending it flying into the wall. This one seemed a bit more solid: only one leg snapped, while the rest of it fell to the ground intact.

Vinyl smirked and tried to lift the table, but her levitation spell failed. She shrugged, drank the rest of vodka from her bottle, and threw it out the window (the pane was already smashed by the TV, which had left the room in much the same way two or three days ago).

“Aaargh! I’m gonna stick this bottle up your ass so deep that ponies will start to ask why your eyes are so glassy, you fuck!” shouted somepony outside.

“Good luck with that one, loser!” she shouted back. She knew she was safe. The bat-like guards didn’t let anypony into the Manehattan hotel.

Too bad they also didn’t let anypony outside.

At least they weren’t checking what the imprisoned guests were doing in their rooms. This had its good and bad sides.

The good side was that they left Vinyl the impressive collection of alcohols she acquired after her Nightmare Night show, just a few hours before the civil war was officially declared.

They didn’t disturb her when she threw the TV outside the window, or when she tried to light her bed on fire (fortunately, it was nonflammable because the first thing she’d done after being put in house arrest was disable the fire alarm).

She had also smashed all the chairs against the wall, and carved the big, inch-deep graffiti on the opposite wall, saying “I’M THE BEST PRINCESS, AND THE REST CAN GO FUCK THEMSELVES”. She was quite proud of it; it took her a whole day of work. Several smaller scribbles, about making love instead of war, or making love to war, surrounded it.

The bad side was that the pony living near her, a young, sensible poet who couldn’t stand being locked in his room for the whole day, threw a hairdryer (which he had borrowed from Vinyl) into the bathtub while taking a bath. It broke the electricity in the hotel for two days and spoiled Vinyl’s mood for one day which she later spent drinking and contemplating the fragility of a pony’s life, instead of just drinking.

She was just thinking about some things, which were important in her current state; who’d win the war, when they’d release her from the hotel, which wall would be the best to paint a picture of Octavia on it, and if it was safe to use a chair’s leg to pleasure herself, when the door opened and two black unicorns in Moon Army uniforms came in, wincing at the makeover she’d made.

“Sweet Luna…” said one of them, “What’s that smell?”

“No need to call me sweet,” she said. “Well, the food in the fridge rotted when that poet decided to go south and the power went out. Also, this stuff the mattress is made of smells terrible when burned, and, if I were you, I wouldn’t touch this bottle in the corner. I had an emergency and one of your fellow buckers didn’t want to let me go to the little filly’s room in the middle of the night.”

The guard groaned with disgust, while his companion was carefully observing the scribbles on the wall, probably looking for any sign of offence against Princess Luna.

“I guess it’s just your way of coping with imprisonment, Ms. Scratch,” he deadpanned. “We came here to announce to you that our intelligence said that, definitely, you’re too dumb to be an agent in Princess Celestia’s secret service, and you’re now allowed to leave this place.”

“Great. I was running out of vodka and started to have quite explicit dreams about my marefriend. Where can I catch a train to Canterlot?”

Both soldiers smirked.

“There are no trains to Canterlot. There’s a front line between Manehattan and the capital,” explained the one with a better sense of smell.

“Crap. I knew there was a catch.”

“We wish you good luck, Ms. Scratch. We hope that you’ll enjoy your stay in Manehattan,” the other soldier said and they both left.

Vinyl sighed and decided to clean the room a bit before leaving. She simply threw all the empty and not-so-empty bottles scattered around through the window. She had no idea what happened to the trash bin. It was somehow connected to the moment when she was told that she couldn’t leave the hotel, and a fit of creative anger that ensued later. She shoved the remnants of the chairs under her bed, and covered the burnt part of the mattress with a dirty blanket. For a moment she thought about the chair’s leg, but then she noticed some nasty-looking splinters and tossed it aside.

Leaving the room, she tried to lock the door, only to find that the lock was literally torn out of it. She shrugged and left the hotel, leaving the key to another team of soldiers who were pretending to be receptionists. They didn’t even thank her, too busy shooting nervous glances around, acting as if they were expecting Princess Celestia coming to punish them at any moment.

Most of the shops were closed, their show windows boarded, and the whole street was a bit dark, courtesy of Princesses playing with celestial bodies. She had no watch, so it was difficult for her to tell the hour. After about twenty minutes of wandering around the shady neighbourhood, she eventually found the shop she was looking for. She bought a bottle of beer - she knew that a hangover after four days of binge drinking would hit her sooner or later, but she wanted to delay it for at least few hours - and some cigarettes from a scared salespony, reluctant to let her in unless she showed him that she was unarmed. She then lit a cigarette and headed to the pub where her last gig had taken place.

The pub was also closed, so she raised her hoof and banged against the door. Nopony replied. She banged louder, causing the metal door to ring, but again without results. She sighed, drank her beer in one go, smashed a bottle against a nearby wall, and began focusing the bits of magical energy scattered around her body.

The spell fired loudly, obliterating the door. Several soldiers ran down the streets shouting something about attack. Lighting another cigarette with her magic, Vinyl entered the pub.

“Bootleg? Where the hell are you?” she called, tripping over the pieces of furniture invisible in the darkness.

“Here,” she heard a weak, raspy voice from behind the counter.

“Bootleg? What have they done to you?” she asked, rushing to him.

“They threatened to commandeer all my alcohol, so I decided to hide it…” he hiccuped.

“In your own system, you friggin’ drunk?” She shook him brutally. “Where’s my equipment?”

“What equipment?”

“Turntables, speakers… I left them here after the show, four days ago if you don’t remember!”

“Aah, those. Stolen.”

“Stolen? Bootleg, you impossible plonker, you have… had a metal door here three inches thick! How the actual fuck did you let somepony steal my equipment?”

“I don’t know… It’s all blurry here…” he explained.

“Blurry? Your arse will be blurry after I’m finished with you…” Vinyl shouted. “I spent four days locked in some friggin’ dirty hotel, without my turntables, cigarettes, books, TV, unfucked beyond belief, and you’re telling me that you let somepony steal my equipment?”

“Ask the Moon Army. They’re in charge of enforcing law in the town now,” he explained.

“Enforcing, my flank…” she muttered, and began pouring a torrent of abuse and accusations on poor Bootleg, not even noticing that the pub’s owner fell asleep halfway through. When she eventually ran out of profanities, she lit yet another cigarette and quickly searched through the shelves behind the bar, taking a small bottle of applejack “in case of an emergency”. She then left the pub, deciding to go to the Moon Army headquarters.

To be precise, there was no such thing as a headquarters in Manehattan. Instead, the officers were working on the fourth floor of the grim-looking, concrete city hall. Vinyl had to use the stairs, as the lift wasn’t working (shortage of electricity, caused by Celestia’s forces attacking the power plant, as the janitor explained to Vinyl).

There was only one office open, and she promptly came in.

“Good morning, sir,” she said to the bald, pale yellow pony in a dark blue uniform sitting behind the desk. Behind him, a large map of Equestria was hanging on the wall with blue and yellow pins tacked to it. A large, red pin was placed on Cloudsdale.

“Well, good evening, actually, Ms…”

“Scratch. Vinyl Scratch,” she said, noticing the uninterested look of the pony in front of her. “I won’t take much of your time. I just want to leave this town and not disturb you while you’re fighting a war, and I wanted to ask one thing: would you be so kind as to give me a lift?”

“A lift?” he looked at her carefully. Vinyl suddenly realized, that her toothbrush had gone missing during the “artistic” period of her stay in the hotel room, and that her breath now smelled of combination of old cheese and vodka.

“Ya know… You have all those airships and stuff, and ya fly to bomb Canterlot all the time, so why don’t you, like, give me a ride, and parachute me over south Canterlot...”

A yellow pony, whose name was Road Ahead, was a major in Equestrian Army before his compassion to the working class ponies caused him to switch sides, and twenty years of military life had imprinted itself in his brain permanently. All he heard from Vinyl’s speech was “airships” and “bomb Canterlot”.

“So, you want to enlist, right?” he asked.

“Enlist? By Discord’s beard, no!”

“It’s the only way to fly the airships,” Major Road Ahead explained.

Suddenly, a great idea came to Vinyl’s mind.

“Ok, I want to enlist,” she said, “but only if you let me–”

“Great!” He interrupted her. “Good to see such an example of patriotism!”

“Yeah, I’m amazed myself,” she deadpanned. Like many ponies who had spent their whole childhood on the streets in those parts of Canterlot (which are not usually depicted on postcards), she considered the law as a tall pole: she couldn’t jump above it, but she could easily trot around it.

“What do I have to do to enroll?” she asked. Major Ahead took a form from the drawer of his desk.

“What’s your full name and birthdate?” he asked.

“Vinyl Agatha Scratch,” she said. “Born November 2nd, 980 years after Luna’s banishment.” When she said that she noticed that the second day of her involuntary stay in the hotel was her 25th birthday.

“Occupation?”

“Musician. Hey, maybe you’ll make me a part of the orchestra?”

“Any previous military experience?”

“No, unless you count the fact that I used to wear a griffon uniform when I was a teenage punk.”

From the look of his face she could clearly see that Major Ahead failed to notice any of her remarks that were beyond his form and military training he had received.

“Ok… so, Private. Or aircraftsmare, as they call it in Air Force. What’s your blood type?”

“Alco… err… no idea.”

“Don’t worry, there’s a doctor next door, you’ll have it checked, Private.”

She nodded. The Major gave her some more papers, which she read carefully before signing them. Then she went to a doctor’s office.

The doctor was an old, gray-maned unicorn with moustache.

“Did you have any infectious diseases?” he asked.

“Many, when I was a kid. Living in a cardboard box for six months isn’t well for one’s health.”

He wrote in the form something that looked like “good physical condition”, and took three small bottles and a strange-looking plastic device from the cupboard. He poured some fluid from each of the bottles to the separate wells on a plastic plate and asked her to lift her forehoof. He then levitated a device to it.

“Hey, doc? You do realize that I’m scared of… ouch!” she hissed when he used his magic to push the button on one end of the device. The needle protruded from the other side, puncturing her skin. The doctor collected some drops of her blood and poured them into the wells of a plate. In the first one nothing happened, but in the other two the blood clotted almost immediately.

“B Rh+ then,” he said casually. Vinyl then trotted to the barber (“Touch my mane and surgeons will teach their students about you!”). Then she visited some shady old pony with glasses who, using a machine, which looked like an offspring of a typewriter and a steam engine, made a dog tag for her. She looked at it, reading her name and blood type.

“Keep it,” the pony said. “When they find it near your body they’ll know what to write on a tombstone.”

“Umm… thanks?” she replied.

After accomplishing all the formalities, Vinyl was finally transported to the military base near the Manehattan airport. There were several hangars with airships there, as well as smaller buildings for the crewmen. The whole place was surrounded by a metal fence with barbed wire on top. She was welcomed by a tall pegasus in his thirties, who introduced himself simply as Sergeant.

“What’s yer name, Private?” he asked, shouting loudly.

“Vinyl Scratch… sir.”

“What’s your attachment, Private Scratch?”

“I don’t know… I wanted to play some music to entertain soldiers, but my equipment was stolen…”

“Don’t worry, Private, we’ll find ya some equipment, and ya’ll play for those solar scumbags, so they’ll remember it even in Tartarus!”

He led her to the armory and gave her a pair of large, dark blue saddlebags.

“We call it ‘the starter kit’, Private,” he explained. “There are two uniforms, coat, helmet, spoon, fork, knife, bowl, revolver, toothbrush, and goggles in there.”

“Hmm, that’s not exactly the equipment I thought about…” she said.

“Don’t worry, the heavy machine gun is mounted on a turret in the airship, Private Scratch. You wouldn’t believe how few ponies want to be gunners…”

“I still don’t follow, sir…”

“You said yourself that you want to ‘play some music’! That’s what the gunners do!”

“Oh… ok. May I ask you a question, sir?”

“Sure, Private!”

“If somepony… hypothetically… tried to leave the airport or abandon the flying airship… Would there be any consequences?”

“Of course!” Sergeant grinned widely. “Going AWOL is punishable by death! But I know that such a patriotic pony like you wouldn’t do such a thing…”

“Yeah, exactly.” She nodded quickly, taking the equipment and going to her room. As there were very few female soldiers, she didn’t have to share it with anypony. Two beds, a table and two chairs were all the furniture inside. The dull white walls reminded her of the hotel room she’d left only few hours ago. She unpacked all the stuff, carefully taking the bullets out of the revolver and, to increase safety, put the gun and ammo in separate corners of the room.

She laid on a bed, staring at the ceiling while thinking about Octavia. The cellist was probably worrying herself to death in Canterlot, but she hoped that she’d meet her soon. Then she thought about the Sergeant who, while showing her the base, mentioned something about the battle drill that would start tomorrow at 6 AM. According to him “they had no time for a full training”. She’d only get some shooting lessons, one or two test flights, before being sent on her first mission in a few days.

Searching through her belongings she found the small bottle of applejack she’d taken from the pub and put it in the pocket of her uniform. She thought this time tomorrow she’d probably be three miles above the ground in a wooden gondola attached to a balloon filled with hydrogen, learning how to become cannon fodder for armed-to-the-teeth pegasi.

“Oh shit…” she whispered upon that realization.

3. Rainbow Dash

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We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.
Winston Churchill

There was only one thing Vinyl Scratch and Rainbow Dash currently had in common: they couldn’t fall asleep thinking about war. And while the DJ was currently shivering in her bed, the cyan pegasus was walking around her headquarters, excited, checking every single piece of her newly acquired equipment.

When she saw the armours for the first time, Rarity and Applejack almost had to drag her away from them. The suits consisted of three main elements. The first one was an ordinary flying suit, just like the one Wonderbolts used. Its main purpose was to keep the pegasi warm and protect their bodies from being rubbed by the plates of the armour.

The plates themselves were the state of the art in armour designing. Covering most of the user’s body, they were capable of stopping even the 20 mm bullets, but only if they were fired from a large distance. Of course, as Rainbow Dash and her brothers and sisters in arms were constantly told, it wasn’t the best idea to trust them completely – the energy of the bullet still could bruise them, or even break their bones.

The armours weren’t slowing down the pegasi wearing them too much, and had many practical straps and pockets allowing to mount various equipment on it including, among the others, a battle saddle, or two small bombs for ground-attack missions. Most of the ponies in Rainbow Dash’s squadron chose a 20 mm cannon to be mounted in the battle saddle. It wasn’t very practical against small targets, such as bat ponies, but it was ideal to shoot down the airships.

As their backup weapon, most of them chose the standard assault rifle of the Equestrian Army. Wielded in hooves, they were lighter and more manoeuvrable than the cannons. At close range, the 7.62 mm bullets could pierce the bat ponies’ armour (a bit older model than the one Rainbow Dash and her squadron received).
The sole exception was Flitter: instead of a rifle she wielded a slightly tuned pump-action shotgun, even though Rainbow Dash told her that, with a small rate of fire and almost no possibility of reloading it in mid-air, it didn’t make any sense in aerial combat.

“Why not?” she asked. “When we meet bat ponies, we’ll have to shoot at the unarmoured parts of the body, like wings. It’s easier to hit ‘em with buckshot, I think.”

Dash only shrugged although it was worrying her too. It was impossible to put any sort of armour on the wings, making them the most vulnerable hit area. High speed and good agility were vital, and not everypony in her squadron possessed those abilities.

As a squadron leader, she could choose anypony except the Wonderbolts (who formed their own squadron) to fight alongside her. Flitter and Cloudchaser, who had taken a prominent role in protecting Cloudsdale from being captured by Luna’s followers, were her first choice. Then Thunderlane and Snowflake joined them, the latter being an issue, when Applejack found out that there was no armour in his size in the whole armoury. Rarity eventually solved it by stitching the parts of two suits together and adding more straps to allow him to carry additional armament: although his flying skills were rather average, he was able to lift many more bombs than any other pony in the squadron.

Another two ponies who joined the squadron were Cloudchaser and Flitter’s cousin, Cloud Kicker, and then there was a stallion named Star Hunter, whom, as Rainbow Dash remembered, lived in Ponyville, and had participated in creating a tornado to lift the water to Cloudsdale. Even though he wasn’t a skilled marksman, with his impressive wingpower, he was able to approach the enemy and disappear quick enough to avoid being shot in process.

There was, however, one problem left: there were seven ponies in the squadron, and Rainbow Dash still had no pair. This changed the second day after they were moved to the Canterlot Airfield to do some training before being sent to action.

They just came back from the “afternoon” training (they still called it “afternoon”, but their biological clocks were already going a bit crazy from living in a constant dusk - Nurse Redheart, who was responsible for keeping them healthy, still complained about its influence), when Rainbow Dash spotted a familiar, amber-maned mare standing near the gate leading to the airstrip.

“Lightning Dust? What are you doing here?” she asked, landing near her.

“Hello, Dash. I heard you were looking for some pegasi that can fly and are reckless enough to make themselves a target for bullets,” said Lightning Dust, smiling.

“Yeah, but I’m also looking for somepony who’s not a danger to anypony around.”

“More dangerous than a bat pony carrying a ton of guns with him? Please. You’re overestimating my ability to create havoc.” Lightning Dust laughed. “Besides, where will you find a wingpony who can fly as fast as you?”

Dash thought for a minute.

“Fine,” she said eventually, “but one crazy stunt, and you’re out.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Lightning Dust saluted mockingly.

***

Today was the day. The sky was almost cloudless - most of the pegasi were now in the army, and the Weather Factory in Cloudsdale was, according to Cloudchaser, “temporarily defunct” so the weather was sometimes a bit random, with sudden temperature changes and rainstorms out of nowhere. There was almost no wind, and when Rainbow Dash went out of the building and headed to the briefing room, she could see both Ponyville and Cloudsdale in the distance. She met other members of her squadron in front of the meeting building, chewing the remains of breakfast quickly, almost not talking to each other.

They waited for the Wonderbolts to come, and both squadrons entered the briefing room, where Twilight Sparkle was awaiting them.

“Good morning, everypony,” she said. “As you may know, our intelligence spotted three enemy airships from Manehattan flying toward us, escorted by at least thirty bat ponies. They’ll be here in an hour. We have to intercept them before that. Spitfire’s squadron will fight with the escort, while Rainbow’s squadron will try to shoot the airships down.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. Every evening, after the training, they were studying the blueprints of the zeppelins produced in Manehattan.

Most of them were rigid airships, large machines with a crew consisting of ten ponies: two pilots, bombardier, mechanic/stoker, and six gunners: four waist gunners (two near the pilots’ cabin and two in the back, near the engines), tail gunner, and one sitting in the ball turret below the gondola. Older airships were powered by steam turbines, while the newer ones had two rotary engines (which sometimes tended to spontaneously lose cylinders in mid-air). Although they were slow and not very agile, they were also very durable: they could fly even after losing a quarter of their gas, and it wasn’t so easy to set them on fire. They also carried an impressive amount of bombs.
The briefing was over, and all the pegasi went to the changing rooms to put on their armours and weapons.

“Remember guys,” Rainbow Dash said, putting on her goggles. Rarity said that they can withstand a point-blank shot, but nopony in the squadron dared to check that yet. “Don’t fly too close to them, change directions often, attack while you have the sun behind your back, and try not to down them at all cost.”

“Why not?” Cloud Kicker asked. She was now checking belts with ammo fastened to her armour.

“We’d use all our ammo on one airship, while the rest would fly safely,” Rainbow Dash explained, “Besides, if they send the airships here and none of them come back, it will teach them nothing,” she lowered her voice, “No matter what Twilight and Princess Celestia say, aim at the crew – if they come back to Manehattan with the dead gunners, and pilots spitting their guts out, they’ll think twice before sending another batch here.”

***

Vinyl Scratch unbuttoned her uniform and wiped sweat of off her face.

“Remind me, Roo, why we were given this old piece of junk?” she asked the tail gunner, a brown pegasus with red mane and a crocodile in a crosshair as his cutie mark, trying to speak louder than two steam turbines working just behind the thin wall.

“It’s simple – we’re all expendable volunteers, so they gave us the oldest airship they had to minimize losses when we eventually crash it, hopefully against Princess Celestia’s palace or some important factory or airport. And it’ll be easier to explain if we accidentally destroy some place inhabited by civilians.”

“It’s a bit unfair, don’t you think?”

“Putting somepony who learned how to properly mount a belt in a machine gun just yesterday in something that has a stove next to the balloon with hydrogen? No, totally not,” a black earth pony called Black Cat, who was left waist gunner deadpanned.

“Not to mention that this gal, who’s a pilot, flew only blimps so far…” said Roo.

“Great. Can’t we talk about something more uplifting?” Vinyl asked. “Like, get to know each other a bit, before we die?”

“Good idea,” said Roo. “My name’s Roo, Ah’m 35, and since Ah was a little colt Ah was hunting crocodiles in a place where everything tries to kill ya. Then, Princess Celestia forbade hunting, so Ah travelled to Manehattan, Ah met some nice mare, we drank a bit too much–” he smiled sheepishly and took a photo out of his pocket, “–and this is the result.”

“Don’t show us that photo!” Black Cat shouted with panic in his voice.

“Why not?”

“It brings bad luck – when a soldiah shows a photo of his family to anothah soldiah, he dies!”

“Oh, now Ah know who you are, Kitty. You’re this guy who refused to learn to shoot the machine gun, because the stars’ position wasn’t appropriate. I’m not superstitious,” he gave Vinyl a photo, which depicted a filly about 15-years-old. She was also brown, like her father, with a pink mane and smiled impishly at the camera.

“Her name is Babs.”

“Tell me, Roo,” Vinyl said, “If you have a family, why did you enlist?”

Roo’s proud smile quickly faded.

“My wife left me, and took Babs with her. Ah lost everything Ah had in mah life, so Ah thought ‘why not’?“

“That sucks, dude,” said Vinyl, not even trying to fake any emotions, “And how about you, Kitty?”

“My name’s Black Cat if you don’t remembah. I’m a clairvoyant, and I joined the army because the cards told me to do so.”

“Well, that’s as good a reason as any othah… other, I mean,” said Vinyl, raising her brow.

“A clairvoyant, huh?” Roo smiled again. “Good addition to a former hunter and a DJ… We gonna kill them with laughter… By the way, what are your predictions regarding our fate?”

“Well, I’d have to know your exact birth date, and...”

“Enemy ahead!” shouted one of the pilots through the intercom.

“Guess we’ll have to talk about it later,” said Roo, crawling into the rear turret, placed between the engines. It was even hotter than in the back of the gondola there. Vinyl stood in her position, behind the right waist machine gun, and Black Cat stood behind her, operating the left gun.

***

The escort was dragged away by the Wonderbolts, who attacked the bat ponies from above, having the Sun behind their backs, and thus surprising them completely.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash’s squadron, using the sparse clouds as a cover, approached the three airships unseen.

“Dust and I will take the leader, together with Kicker and Hunter,” said Rainbow Dash. “Lane and Snow will take care of the one on the right, and Flitter and ‘Chaser will attack that guy on the left.” she pointed at the airship which was a bit slower than the other two, and had a balloon consisting mostly of patches. “As we’re approaching from the front, don’t fly too low – a second pilot has, like, four guns to play. Use a balloon as your cover.”

Her fellow soldiers saluted, and they dove, intercepting the airships. Rainbow Dash, spreading her wings like an attacking eagle, opened fire at the balloon of the leading one, soon followed by three other ponies. A burst of tracer rounds tore several holes in the fabric, but the crew seemed not to worry about that.

“Dive and shoot the engines!” Dash ordered in the middle of a somersault. Behind her, Star Hunter simply landed on the top of the balloon, and, being in the gunners’ blind spot, started to methodically empty the magazines of his cannon into the rudders. The airship suddenly entered the left turn, despite its pilot’s best attempts to keep the previous tack.

Lighting Dust overtook Rainbow, closing her wings for a moment to avoid a stream of bullets from the tail gun. She recovered quickly, and aimed at the engine gondola with surgical precision, tearing the fuselage open and cutting off one of the blades of the propeller. Soon, the unbalanced prop fell apart, its remnants almost severing Rainbow Dash’s tail.

“Watch out!” Dash yelled to the microphone.

Meanwhile, on the deck of the left airship, Vinyl Scratch couldn’t believe her eyes. Their leader, a new airship with internal combustion engines in separate gondolas, was in trouble, while their vehicle was standing still against the attacks. She noticed a pony destroying the rudders and, pointing the gun upwards to its mount’s limits, tried to aim at him.

“Cloud Kicker! Where’s your wingpony?” Rainbow Dash shouted when they met briefly, circling the damaged airship.

“No idea! I–” Suddenly two tracer bullets from the other zeppelin hit her with a sickening crunch, fortunately not piercing the armour, but throwing her out of balance.

Struggling to catch her breath, she was unable to recover, so Rainbow Dash darted forward to catch her.

***

“Nice shot, Vinyl!” Black Cat, who turned his head back for a moment commented.

“Nice shot, my ass,” Vinyl muttered to herself, trying to figure out what was worse: her aiming skills or the crosshair of her gun.

Suddenly, they both heard a series of blasts. Vinyl quickly ducked, when a sudden explosion changed a massive timber supporting the gondola into a cloud of splinters. She caught a glimpse of a blue pony passing behind the window and pointing a gun at her. Then something warm and sticky sprayed all over her, and she fell to the ground, closing her eyes.

Behind her airship, at a safe distance from the tail gunner shooting at them furiously, Flitter and Cloudchaser met.

“My gunner is dead,” said Cloudchaser emotionlessly. “How about you, sis?”

“I screwed up.” Flitter blushed. “My cannon jammed, so I used a shotgun, but it only scratched the surface.”

“Don’t worry. Next time, we’ll finish them off,” said Cloudchaser, checking her guns.

***

“Vinyl! Black Cat! Are you okay?”

All she heard was hissing of a steam, which was filling the whole room.

“How are your sphincters, Vinyl?”

“Okay, I hope,” she finally said. “I think I have Black Cat’s brain in my mane.” The calmness in her voice surprised her.

“Can you see him?” Roo asked.

“No, there’s steam everywhere!”

“The pipe was hit and our engines stopped working. We must close the valve and open the one on a backup pipe!”

“Where’s that fucking valve?” Vinyl asked. She had been shown the interior and mechanisms of the airship back in Manehattan, but Roo was a much better observer than her.

“Yellow one on the floor! The pipe runs through the middle of the gondola.”

Vinyl started to crawl on the floor of the gondola, slippery from Black Cat’s blood.

Adrenaline rushed through her veins, her senses sharper than they ever were before. She couldn’t see anything, but finally she scrabbled the valve and turned it. The steam stopped flowing from the hole in the pipe, and slowly started to dissipate.

“What now?” she shouted in Roo’s general direction.

“There’s a backup pipe on the ceiling. The valve should be directly above you.”

Vinyl stood on her hind legs, and found the copper pipe.

“Watch out! They’re coming back!” Roo screamed. She quickly turned the valve and fell into the puddle of Black Cat’s blood, hearing the bullets whistle few inches above her head. A piece of board hit her back, followed by some fragments of allegedly bulletproof glass, and suddenly everything became silent again.

“Luna damn it, I think I shot one of them,” said Roo. “And I think our engines are working again!”

“Yeah… great…” said Vinyl, suddenly void of all her strength. She sat on her haunches, feeling dizzy, and threw up some bile on her already ruined uniform.

“We’re flying home!” exclaimed Roo happily, when their damaged airship entered a quick turn.

***

“Thunderlane said that the rest got rid of their bombs and are running away!” Rainbow Dash shouted to Lightning Dust. They were now chasing the last airship, which, although crippled, was still able to change direction and head to Ponyville.

“How are they?” her wingmare asked.

“Lane and Snow are ok, Kicker probably has broken ribs, and I need to seriously talk with her and Hunter after we get home, and Cloudchaser was shot in the leg.”

The airship they were following had only one engine left, and it was losing gas, flying so low that its gear was almost brushing the trees. The tail gunner’s innards were sprayed all over his turret, waist gunners were also either severely wounded or dead, but the pilot was still determined to attack – if not the capital, then at least the town the Elements of Harmony were living in.

Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust aimed carefully at the remaining engine, and pulled the triggers. All they heard were four clicks.

“Oh, come on!” Lightning Dust groaned. “What should we do now?”

“Get our knives and try to board?” Rainbow Dash proposed, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “There are only six or seven of them, so…”

“Wait! I have an idea! An airship is basically a big bucking balloon, huh?”

“Wow, Dust, you just discovered Zebrica,” Dash smirked.

“Remember the Academy?”

“Yes… no!” Rainbow Dash grabbed her wingmare’s arm. “Do you want to kill them?”

“It’s strange to hear that question from Rainbow “aim at the crew” Dash.” Lightning Dust grinned maliciously. “Besides, they’re flying to Ponyville, remember? And the kids from Ponyville are to be evacuated tomorrow…”

“We’ll do it,” said Rainbow Dash in a defeated tone. They sped up their flight, catching up with the damaged airship, and started to circle around it. For a moment she caught a glimpse of the pilot, a purple unicorn with an orange mane, watching their manoeuvres with his mouth hanging low. They were flying faster and faster, amber and rainbow-coloured trails mixing together. The air around them started forming the tornado.

A gust of wind hit the airship, spinning it around. The aircraft’s rear part started to lift, and soon it was flying almost vertically. Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust flew away, deciding that it’d be better to watch from a safe distance.

With a terrible sound of tearing fabric, an engine gondola fell off and got thrown at them by the tornado, missing them by only a few yards. Stunned, Rainbow Dash saw a pony trying to parachute himself, but he also got sucked by the cyclone they created and hit the trees with an audible crunch. Eventually, the main gondola and remains of the balloon, now a messy mix of shattered wood and fabric, crashed against the ground.

“Party’s over, time to go home,” said Lightning Dust.

“Maybe we should help…”

“Help who? You saw that guy, no one could survive that.”

***

Rainbow Dash couldn’t sleep. She was lying in her bed, hearing Lightning Dust’s steady breath, afraid to close her eyes.

All of her nightmares were similar. She was flying behind the airship, seeing a tail gunner in his turret aim at her with a focused expression. She quickly bolted to the left to avoid his bullets and shoot back, only to see that Scootaloo was now sitting behind the gun. She darted forward, chasing the bullets, trying to stop them, and then seeing how they pierce through the glass, changing filly’s body into a small lump of feathers, bones, and gore.

There was also another dream. Scootaloo, jumping from the airship, spinning in a vicious tornado, spreading her wings to fight the wind, but failing. She was trying to catch her, but the filly’s last, desperate flap of the wings caused her to change direction slightly, and instead of landing safely in Rainbow’s arms, she hit the tree and fell to the ground. When Dash landed, she saw Scootaloo, her limbs bent in weird angles, and her face stiffened in an expression of pure hatred.

She took a glass from her nightstand and poured herself some water from the jug. Drinking, she looked through the window at the moon hanging above the airstrip.

“Luna, if that’s your work, I’m gonna find you and kick your immortal flank,” she said.

“It’s not us, it’s you, Rainbow Dash.” She froze upon hearing those words. “And only you can stop that. You’re not a bad pony. Stop helping our sister and go back home, to that filly who needs you…”

“GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HEAD!” Dash yelled. “AND DON’T BRING SCOOTALOO INTO THAT!”

“Dash?” Lightning Dust said groggily. Rainbow Dash felt pain, and saw that she had crushed a glass in her hoof. She wiped out the blood, and decided to fly to the hospital wing, to have the pieces of glass removed.

The only ponies there were Cloud Kicker and Cloudchaser, both of them sleeping, and Nurse Redheart, looking after them.

“Hi,” said Rainbow Dash. “Is Fluttershy here?”

“No, she now works in the field hospital in Ponyville,” said Nurse Redheart. “What happened with your hoof?”

“I had a little accident. Can you take a look?”

“I’m a bit worried,” said Nurse Redheart when she removed the last piece of glass from Rainbow Dash’s hoof. “I heard that the Moon Army is quite close to Ponyville, and they can soon capture it. Then they’d have a clear road to Canterlot.”

“Don’t worry, we won’t let them pass. Tomorrow we’re going to bomb them. Or maybe it’s today? I’m a bit lost.”

“It’s 2 AM,” said Nurse Redheart. “Do you have trouble falling asleep?”

“Yeah… but it’s nothing,” Rainbow Dash replied. “It’s just the Sun.”

“Someone needs to talk to Princess Celestia about that. Sleep deprivation, indigestion, somepony can soon get crazy…”

“Don’t worry, Nurse.” Rainbow Dash smiled faintly, but soon winced when Nurse Redheart started to stitch her wounds. “I’ll keep an eye on the guys…”

***

Flying with shrapnel bombs attached to her armour was harder than Rainbow Dash thought. She left her cannon at home, hoping that they wouldn’t meet any airships on their way. Lightning Dust was flying by her side, four other ponies behind them.

“Ok, remember the rules of dive bombing?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Position yourself vertically, and make only slight wing movements to correct your aim. Drop the bombs at the altitude of 1600 feet, and fly like Tartarus before they’ll be able to shoot. And remember to arm the bombs before dropping them.”

When they were flying above the place where they had downed the airship yesterday, she carefully avoided looking at the ground. They quickly reached Ponyville and flew further, to where a large group of Sun Army soldiers were waiting in the trenches for the Moon’s Army to come. Luna’s soldiers, however, weren’t eager to attack, and instead they were hidden in their own trenches, shooting only occasionally.

“I wonder what they’re waiting for…” said Flitter, who was now flying as Star Hunter’s wingpony.

“Artillery, probably,” Thunderlane replied.

“Ok, we’re approaching them. Stop talking and dive!” Rainbow Dash ordered. She took a deep breath, focusing completely on her target – a group of tents behind the trenches’ line, masked with tree branches. She folded her wings almost completely, falling to the ground. Her vision started to blur when the g-force drove her blood out of her head. The weight of her armour and bombs was making it hard for her to breathe. She spread the wings to slow down - a sudden blackout and she’d change into a red smudge on the ground.

Suddenly she heard shots, and a tracer bullet whistled near her.

“Shit!” she screamed. “They have flak!”

“Aaargh!”

She saw a dark blue silhouette falling to the ground in an absolutely uncontrolled way. Star Hunter hit the bottom of the trench, the ponies inside running away from him. Then the bombs attached to his body exploded, killing and injuring many of them with a torrent of shrapnel.

Dash dodged bullets instinctively, but suddenly she felt a pain in her chest. Once again she thanked Rarity and Applejack for the armours – a nasty bruise was nothing, compared to the gaping hole in the lung. Deciding not to tempt fate, she dropped her bombs at a bit higher altitude, and turned sharply.

“Dust, get the buck outta here! Dust?” she saw that her wingmare wasn’t at her side. She quickly looked around, and saw Lightning Dust flying away awkwardly, at dangerously low altitude. She flapped her wings harder, and caught up with her.

“Dust, are you… oh crap,” she cursed, seeing a large hole, surrounded with the bits of skin and damaged feathers in Lightning’s right wing. Some pieces of bone were protruding from torn muscles, and it was painfully clear that she wouldn’t be able to fly like this for long, even with the tourniquet she’d taken from her first aid kit to stop the bleeding.

“I… can… make it,” Lightning Dust muttered through gritted teeth.

“Do you have your morphine?”

“Already… injected…”

“Here, have mine,” said Rainbow Dash, reaching to her pocket. She gave the syringe to Lightning Dust, who gave herself another dose of an anaesthetic, and began flapping her wings a bit faster.

They were now above the road between Ponyville and Canterlot, when Rainbow Dash, who was still telling Lightning Dust to carry on, noticed something.

“Why are you still carry your bombs?” she asked Lightning Dust.

“What… Ah, yes…” she armed her bombs and pulled the strap connecting them with her armour. With an ear-piercing whistle, they fell to the ground, and one of them exploded among the trees near the road.

“Hey, it was an emergency drop, why did you arm them?”

“Some… kid… could… find… them…” Lightning Dust panted, being at the verge of passing out. The second bomb exploded, throwing some yellowed leaves and pieces of wood up in the air.

“Right. Let me help you, there’s a field hospital nearby…” said Rainbow Dash and grabbed her injured wingpony, flying with her to the large clearing with some tents where Fluttershy and other volunteers were waiting to help any wounded pony.

She landed on a clearing, carefully lying Lightning Dust on the ground.

“Fluttershy!” she cried. “Anypony help me!”

She sighed with relief, seeing her friend running out of the biggest tent in the middle of the clearing, followed by Doctor Stable.

“Dashie! Are you ok?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yes… It’s Dust.”

Doctor Stable cursed, seeing Lightning Dust’s wound. He quickly levitated her on a stretcher, and rushed to the tent with her.

“Umm… I have to go,” said Fluttershy. “We’ll talk later, ok?”

“Ok. Tell the doc that she already had two shots of morphine.” Rainbow Dash nodded, and watched her friend going back to the provisional operating theatre. The surroundings were calm again as some birds sang in the background, and a light breeze flowed through her mane.

For a moment she was waiting for someone to come out and tell her how was Lightning Dust doing, but then she remembered about the other members of her squadron, so she took off to fly back to Canterlot. She waited until she was far from the clearing, and then started to cry loudly, yelling insults at the Princesses, soldiers, and the whole world.

4. Fluttershy

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There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.
Howard Zinn

It was a busy day for Fluttershy. The battle hadn’t started for real yet, but there were already some injured ponies to take care of; she hoped that four doctors and about a dozen nurses will be enough to take care of all of them, but she knew that it wouldn’t be easy.

The first patient was a Royal Guard, brought by his colleagues. It was a stupid accident: his companion’s gun fired when he dropped it on the ground, hitting his leg, luckily missing the bone, and only scratching the muscle. Doctor Stable dressed the wound quickly and gave the soldier antibiotics to prevent infection.

Then, with the first explosions that could be heard from Ponyville, all Tartarus broke loose.

Seven ponies were brought to them, after some Moon Army soldier managed to throw a grenade directly into the trench. Fluttershy was running from one wounded pony to another, helping doctors save them by delivering tools and medicine.

“Scalpel! 15A scalpel!”

“Forceps! Quick, we need to pull this out!”

“Fluttershy! Blood, group A Rh-!”

She searched through the magically-powered refrigerator and took the bag out of it.

“I have one!” she shouted, running to the operating table.

“Shit…” Doctor Stable muttered, “Put it back…” he said, defeated, throwing his tools on a cart. The nurse tried to levitate the body of his patient off of the table, but another nurse bumped into her, falling on the ground and spilling tools all over the floor.

“Help me! I’m dying!” another patient cried, holding his injured leg.

“If ya can talk, ya’re not dying!” A unicorn doctor, who had said that he was from Trottingham, shouted at him, before turning to Fluttershy. “My dear, give me a bone saw and some anaesthetics for this gentlecolt.”

Fluttershy saw the gentlecolt’s face becoming pale before he lay limply on the table.

“Umm… he passed out.”

“Good. Now forget about the bone saw, and give me surgical thread. He’ll have a nice scar, something perfect to show ladies, bragging how brave he was, but he’ll still have all the limbs.”

“Another grenade!” Two ponies with stretchers rushed into the tent, interrupting the doctor’s tirade.

“How many wounded?”

“Only this one – he jumped on the grenade when it fell into their trench.”

“Let me see,” said Doctor Stable, whose previous patient was just transported away to the tent they used as a morgue, “Sweet Celestia, how is he even alive?”

“Umm… Is it that bad?” Fluttershy, who just bandaged the previous grenade victim’s head, asked.

“Well, a grenade exploded directly below his stomach, it now looks like something griffons would eat...” he said with a sigh. “Nothing for us to do, he’ll die soon, and will be given an Order of the Sun posthumously.”

“What?” Fluttershy exclaimed. “We should at least try to save him!”

“There are dozens of ponies who may die because we were trying to save somepony, who’s already three hooves in a grave,” Doctor Stable explained. Seeing her tear stained face, he added, “It’s a hard choice, but…”

“Fluttershy! Anypony help me!”

“Dash?” she ran out of the tent, followed by Doctor Stable.

“Dashie! Are you ok?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yes… It’s Dust.”

“Oh crap,” Doctor Stable muttered, seeing the injured pegasus’ wing. He quickly levitated her onto a stretcher and ran inside the tent.

“Single penetrating wound of the wing, we need to stop the haemorrhage! And, for Faust’s sake, remove that armour off her!”

“She already had two shots of morphine!” Dash shouted. For a moment their eyes met and Fluttershy saw that her friend was at the verge of tears.

“Fluttershy!” Doctor Stable shouted.

She rushed to him and quickly gave him a new set of tools, and he started to sew the vessels of the wing.

“It’s most important to save her now,” he panted. “My mentor, Doctor Tulp would kill me for treating wings with such carelessness.”

“Carelessness?” Fluttershy asked.

“You know, all those nerves… She’ll live, but it may take years of rehabilitation to make her fly again… As I said before, choices and priorities… And don’t stand like this, give me some B positive blood for her,” he said, staring at Lightning Dust’s dog tag. Fluttershy rushed to the refrigerator, took a bag from it, and came back to the table.

A young paramedic entered the tent, panting from exhaustion.

“The battle started!” he shouted, “We have at least twenty wounded, not to mention those kids!”

Fluttershy froze. Suddenly the whole hospital got really quiet.

“What kids?” the doctor from Trottingham asked.

“Some sick fuck dropped a shrapnel at the kids that were travelling to that refugee camp near Canterlot!”

“Bring them. The worst injuries first!” Doctor Stable ordered. He quickly dressed Lightning Dust’s now-sewn wound and levitated her on the stretchers. She was ready to be brought to another tent full of camp beds that they were half-seriously calling “ward”.

The first patients were brought to the operating theatre, a violet mare with a large shrapnel wound on her side among them.

“It’s their teacher, I think her name is Cheerilee...” The paramedic said to Doctor Stable, who checked the violet mare’s pulse and breathing.

“We’re too late. She’s dead,” he said flatly, almost unheard due to the filly screaming on the table next to him.

“Mom! Dad! Rarity!”

Fluttershy almost dropped the bandages she was carrying. She rushed to the filly, bumping into the paramedic transporting Lightning Dust away. The stretcher waved in their magic field, and the pegasus lifted her head for a moment before passing out again.

“Bring me a bone saw, this time for real,” said the Trottingham doctor, trying to keep struggling Sweetie Belle on his table.

“Rarity!!!” A white unicorn cried hysterically at the top of her lungs. Fluttershy tried not to look at her hind legs, now a mess of fractured bones and torn muscles.

“Sweetie!” she shouted. “Where are Apple Bloom and Scootaloo?”

“She can’t hear you, her eardrums are ruptured,” The doctor explained, using his magic to calm Sweetie down. Fluttershy ran outside and saw Apple Bloom sitting on the ground in front of the tent next to some less injured soldiers and foals. She was trembling, holding a bloodied bandage on her left ear, but except that she looked quite good.

“Where’s Scootaloo?” Fluttershy asked, panicked.

“She can’t hear you,” said an unicorn colt sitting next to her, Snips, if Fluttershy recalled his name correctly, “She was close to the bomb, but one of the guards shielded her and Sweetie.”

“H-how about the o-others?” Fluttershy asked him. He shivered.

“Dunno, t-they l-left the dead ones…” He fell on his haunches, his voice shaking, “Snails, Featherweight, Diamond Tiara…”

“A-and where is S-scootaloo?”

He only shrugged. Fluttershy, trying not to cry, took him and Apple Bloom to the ward.

***

Lightning Dust slowly opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry and dark, and she still couldn’t get her bearings. A faint thought that she had been presumed dead and was now lying in a body bag ran through her brain, but then she noticed an i.v. rack above her and several other injured soldiers in the beds similar to the one she was lying in. She tried to move her wings, but she couldn’t feel them.

“Sweet Celestia, I hope it’s because I’m high on morphine,” she said. Or rather tried to say, because all she heard was some incoherent mumbling.

“Lightning Dust?”

She blinked, and tried to raise her head. After few failed attempts to do so, she saw a yellow pegasus and two kids, a colt with a black eye, and a filly, whose ear was torn off.

“Where… am I… wings… water…”

“You’re in a field hospital,” said the yellow pegasus. “Umm… I can bring you some water in a minute.”

She left the tent, leaving Lightning Dust with the foals. The wounded pegasus lifted her head, trying to see more of her surroundings. The air smelled of fabric, disinfectants, and dried blood. The whole interior of the tent was dim and blurred, possibly due to her blood loss. Finally, she looked at the two foals sitting next to her.

“What… are you doing here?” she asked, panting. She started to feel a dull pain in her chest and occasional twinges from her wing.

“We heard bombs and our teacher told us to hide in the woods,” the colt explained. “Then somepony dropped a bomb on us…”

“Woods?” The pain in her wing intensified, followed by a pounding headache. “What… bomb?”

“Dunno,” said the colt. “The one that explodes throwing the small pieces around…”

“Shrapnel…” she muttered. Suddenly, the world around her grew darker, as if she was falling into bottomless pit.

“Yes, I think so,” the colt said. “Hey, Mrs Pegasus, are you ok? Fluttershy!”

***

“Fluttershy, where have you been?” Doctor Stable scolded. The nurses were now carrying Sweetie Belle, her hind legs now two bandaged stumps, to the other tent.

“Umm… I was checking on the other patients,” she replied. “Lightning Dust regained consciousness, but quickly lost it again.”

“That’s bad,” he said. “We need to take her to Canterlot. She might have suffered some other injuries.”

“H-how are the others?” Fluttershy asked. Doctor’s expression became solemn.

“Well, you’ve seen that poor filly. There’s also another little unicorn. I think she’s the mailmare’s daughter. Her spine’s broken, but I managed to save her. Ventricle, Atrium and Henry also did lots of good work,” he pointed at Henry, the doctor from Trottingham, who was now trying to remove a piece of shrapnel from a Moon Guard’s chest, at the same time explaining to the nurse that he cared more about his life than his uniform. The youngest doctor, Ventricle, was sewing a wound on some other soldier’s head, and Atrium, gray-maned unicorn with a beard, was helping his patient, a brown colt with a propeller beanie, to go to the ward.

“And how about the other foals?”

“The paramedics said that there’s nopony left alive there.”

Fluttershy drooped her head. Doctor Stable felt awkward. Through the years of his medical career, he had to tell countless ponies that, despite his best efforts, their loved ones passed away, but now he couldn’t find words to comfort her. One of the nurses, who were outside checking on the patients with lighter wounds, stepped inside.

“Doctor, there are three bat ponies flying here!” she shouted

“What? What do they want?”

“We don’t know, but the patient who noticed them says that they’re armed, and they seem to be going to bomb us!”

“Just great…” he sighed, “as if we didn’t have enough problems…”

“Umm…” Fluttershy muttered, “I can fly to them and explain that it’s a field hospital.”

“Are you sure? It is said that they’re crazy, bloodthirsty creatures…”

“Oh, come on!” Fluttershy yelled so loudly that it surprised even her. She continued quietly, “Bloodthirsty or not, they might simply have mistaken our hospital for a military object…”

“Do what you want. We’ll prepare for evacuation,” said Doctor Stable.

***

“So, this is their headquarters,” said the bat pony leader to his wingponies. “Wonder how they’ll like it…”

“Keine Ahnung. But they bombed our colts with shrapnel today, so I guess the napalm will do for them…” The left wingpony laughed.

“Are ya sure this is it?” asked the last one.

“Definitely. Look, they even sent a pegasus to intercept us.”

“Only one? Sweet Luna, unsere Flugabwehrkanonen had to give it to them…”

“Probably. Too bad this guy exploded in a trench. I had die Kameraden there!” said the right wingpony and took his weapon – a long-distance sniper rifle. For a moment he was staring into the telescopic sight. “They really ran out of pegasi, this filly looks like some Lunadamn hippie… Are you sure we need to do this?”

“You’ve heard the orders – destroy the base and everyone trying to intercept us.”

“Hmm, works for me. All those guys who died today… Sie müssen gerächt werden…”

He aimed more carefully and pulled the trigger.

“Nice,” he muttered, lowering the gun. “A pink mist in a setting Sun…”

***

Fluttershy was approaching the bat ponies, determined to either talk to them or, if they wouldn’t listen, use The Stare at them, when she felt a hot wave spreading from her stomach all over her body. Her wings, suddenly losing a connection with the brain, became numb. She felt a gust cold wind around her, falling back to the clearing she had taken off from just a few minutes earlier.

She hit the biggest tent, which collapsed under her weight. Stunned from the fall and the injury, she looked around, trying to figure out what happened and saw Doctor Stable trotting to her, followed by Doctor Ventricle.

“Oh Celestia, Fluttershy!” Doctor Stable cried. “Are you ok?”

“Yes, I’m completely fine, I just…” she stared at her stomach, and froze mid-sentence. Her yellow fur was stained with blood, dripping from a small bullet wound. As adrenaline started to drain from her body, she felt an acute pain in her back. A worried expression of the doctors told her that the bullet exit looked much worse.

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy, I’ll fix you,” said Doctor Stable, trying to levitate the tools that were still slipping from his magic grasp. Behind him, a group of nurses, along with less injured patients, were bringing the heavily wounded out of the ward tent. She looked at them and made the decision.

“No… Leave me here…” she whispered.

“I can’t leave you!”

“No… They’re coming… Priorities, remember?” She smiled. “It… it looks like something a griffon would eat… it won’t take much…”

“I…”

“Run!” she shouted, spilling blood from her mouth, and stared at him, as if he was a stubborn animal, causing him to jump backwards. “Save… the… kids…”

Just when she said this, they heard the ominous fluttering of the black wings. Everypony in the hospital started to run away in panic. Fluttershy turned her head to see Apple Bloom, carrying Sweetie Belle on her back. She tried to get up to help them, but her hooves didn’t listen, and she only rolled off the fabric, landing in the dirt with her hooves spread in weird angles.

The first bomb fell on the ground a few feet from her, engulfing everything in flames. She looked around, but there was no way out. The fire was everywhere, consuming the tents, abandoned medical equipment, and everything it found on its way. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were nowhere to be seen. Fluttershy closed her eyes, her body shaking in another fit of coughing. Feeling the strength draining from her rapidly, she started to sing an old lullaby her mother used to sing to her when she was a foal. Her voice was quiet and raspy, but for her it seemed louder than the roaring of the fire around her.

Blow the wind, blow;
Swift and low;
Blow the wind o'er the ocean.

The fire engulfed the trees, setting the forest ablaze. Fluttershy, still singing, looked at the other side of the clearing to see a small silhouette of a filly carrying her friend on her back.

Breakers rolling to the coastline;
Bringing ships to harbour;
Gulls against the morning sunlight;
Flying off to freedom!

As she finished the song, another bomb hit the ground covering everything in flammable fluid, but Fluttershy couldn’t see it, her spirit flying off, freed from the crippled body.

***

Twilight was exhausted. In the morning, Princess Celestia had told her to replace her during the audiences. Now, after ten hours of explaining to everypony that the Princess is too worried about her sister and her subjects to show up in public, listening to Prince Blueblood rambling about the lack of money for building new tanks, and rather unpleasant meeting with a griffon ambassador, who threatened that if the celestial bodies wouldn’t start to move again soon, his government would have to take action. She wanted only to lay down in bed and do nothing till the end of the war.

She was just heading to her chamber, when Pinkie Pie bumped into her, slithering on the castle floor.

“Twilight!” she shouted. “Something wrong happened!”

“What? How do you–”

“Pinkie Sense! I had that twitch that says “fire”!”

Twilight rushed to the window, looking for the faintest trace of smoke, but there was none – in fact, Canterlot looked calm. It was long after the curfew, and all the lights were out – even though the enemy airships were defeated, the citizens were still afraid of bombing. Twilight thought that the blackout made no sense, since the crews of the airship were able to see the town in the light of the Sun and the Moon, but the ponies from Canterlot apparently knew better.

“Are you sure, Pinkie? There’s no fire here,” she said, trying to remain calm.

“Pinkie Sense never goes wrong!”

A horrible thought ran through Twilight’s mind. She took off into the air, and flew through the window to the tower, where the Elements of Harmony were now kept. She landed deftly, and trotted to them.

They looked normal – five gem studded necklaces, each gem shaped like its owner’s cutie mark, and what she sometimes called “a big, crown thingy” – her own tiara, the Element of Magic. They all looked the same as usual – all except…

“No…” Twilight whispered, collapsing on her haunches, seeing that Element of Kindness turned to the stone orb, just like when they’d found it.

“Fluttershy…”

5. Scootaloo

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If we survive danger it steels our courage more than anything else.
Reinhold Niebuhr

“Click!”

“Smile, Sweetie,” Featherweight said. “When we arrive at Canterlot, I’ll bring these photos to Equestria Daily, and maybe one of them will even become an Equestria Press Photo?”

“Then don’t tell me to smile,” Sweetie said. “I saw some photos which won earlier, and none of the ponies there smile.”

Featherweight said nothing, instead taking a photo of Scootaloo, who was lost in her thoughts and glared at him angrily upon hearing the snapshot.

“I wonder, why are we heading to the refugee camp?” he said eventually. “My brother said that there wouldn’t be a place for me in the military base, but, for example, Rumble’s brother took him to Canterlot. And your sisters live in the palace…”

“Applejack said that it wouldn’t be safe, the palace will probably be bombed first,” Apple Bloom explained. Sweetie Belle nodded.

“And how about you, Scoots? I totally thought that Rainbow Dash would take you with her…”

“Eat shit, featherbrain,” Scootaloo muttered.

“Scootaloo!” Cheerilee, who was walking behind them, scolded.

“I’m sorry, Miss Cheerilee,” the pegasus filly recited. “I promise this will never happen again.”

“It’s simple,” Diamond Tiara whispered theatrically, “No one, even her so-called sister, would want to have this pathetic, non-flying blank flank around… Aargh!” she screamed, when Scootaloo pinned her to the ground.

“Scootaloo!” Cheerilee shouted furiously, “What happened to you today? You’ll walk with me till we get to the camp.”

Scootaloo stood up and, muttering something under her breath, trotted to the back of the group, where Cheerilee was chatting with several Royal Guards who were escorting them. She then followed the rest, staring at the path in the middle of the forest, not looking at what was happening around her, when someone near her exclaimed happily:

“Hi, Thcooth!”

“Oh, hello Twist…” Scootaloo kicked a stone lying on the road. It missed Diamond Tiara, and hit Silver Spoon’s hind leg. The grey filly looked back, frowning.

“Are you ok, Thcootaloo?” Twist asked, leaning closer to her.

“Geez, Twist, have you ever heard about personal space? I don’t feel like talking, right?”

“Oh, thorry. Do you want a peppermint candy?”

Scootaloo sighed.

“Yes, please.”

For a while, they were walking silently, Scootaloo munching the candies (Twist’s saddlebags were full of them). The weather was warm, a gentle breeze moving the yellow leaves on the trees surrounding the dirt road between Ponyville and Canterlot. One of the Royal Guards was whistling some marching tune. Twist started to walk like a soldier during the review, not caring about the fact that she quickly lost the rhythm. Dinky Hooves, who was also walking next to Cheerilee, also started to jump, reminding Scootaloo of Pinkie Pie.

Poor filly, she thought. Her mother now serves as a mail mare in the army, and her stepfather is a captain of the same detachment Big Macintosh is in, but she doesn’t seem to care. Maybe if I were eight, I wouldn’t care about Dash leaving me too?

A distant roar of explosions almost caused her to choke on the candy. Her classmates and other foals evacuated from Ponyville - about thirty of them, aged from eight to fifteen - started to look around in panic.

“What was that?” Cheerilee asked the Royal Guard, a young black unicorn wearing a camouflage uniform.

“It’s from Ponyville,” he explained, looking nervously in the town’s direction. His voice quivered slightly and Cheerilee couldn’t help but notice that he wasn’t much older than some of her students. “I guess they’ve just started bombing.”

“Is it safe for us?”

“Yeah, we’re, like, two miles from the town. Soon we’ll met some guys with carts, and we’ll drive to Canterlot.”

“Why couldn’t we just take a train?” Scootaloo asked.

“We were afraid that the Moon Army could use it to get to Canterlot, so we bombed the railway, just in case,” another guard explained.

There were no further explosions, so they continued to walk, fillies and colts talking happily, as if they were on a field trip.

“Can you tell me, what trees we have here?” Cheerilee asked.

“Beecheth,” Twist replied, “Their leaveth thtay on the treeth during the winter and fall in the Thpring.”

“Good answer.” Cheerilee smiled. Diamond Tiara muttered something incomprehensible.

“Miss Cheerilee!” Dinky shouted, “There are some pegasi flying behind us!”

Cheerilee turned around to see two dark silhouettes on the sky, flying very low with the Sun behind their backs, so she couldn’t see them more clearly.

“Are they our pegasi?” she asked the guard.

“No idea. We’d better hide and wait till they’re gone.”

A group rushed to the side of the road, hiding beneath the beeches. Their yellow leaves provided a good cover for them.

Scootaloo realised that she was still far away from her friends. She looked at Cheerilee, who was now calming some of her classmates down, and decided to walk to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, when she heard a voice from the sky, a voice she recognized immediately.

“Carry on, Dust… There’s a field hospital nearby… We’re close…”

“Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo shouted. Not caring about anything, she ran back on the road, waving her hooves. “Hey, Rainbow Dash, I’m here!”

“Thcootaloo, come back!” Twist shouted, following her. “Mith Cheerilee thaid that it’th not thafe to…”

“Rainbow Dash!”

“Why are you still carrying your bombs?” Rainbow Dash’s voice echoed.

The reply of the other pony was lost in an acute jeer of falling bombs, which soon disappeared beneath the trees and exploded on the ground, sending a lethal volley of shrapnel around. A sudden shockwave hit Scootaloo and Twist, overturning them and sending them into the ditch on the other side of the road. The pegasus filly recovered quickly and helped her classmate to get up.

“What… It’s impossible,” she muttered, getting out of the ditch, “Apple Bloom! Sweetie Belle!” she screamed, running towards the trees.

The view was horrible: as Scootaloo entered the forest, she almost tripped over Featherweight, who was trying to get up even though his wing was almost torn off. She ran further, slithering on the ground, wet from the blood. The Royal Guard she had talked to was lying dead on a pile of last year’s leaves. Her friends were nowhere to be seen. Cheerilee was resting against the tree, panting heavily and holding her hoof on a large wound on her side.

“Mith Cheerilee!” Twist screamed when she saw her.

“Run, children,” Cheerilee gasped when she saw them.

“Apple Bloom! Sweetie! Where are you?” Scootaloo cried, her voice echoing through the forest.

“Thcootaloo, look!”

“What… oh shit!” Scootaloo cursed, looking at the direction Twist was pointing. She saw Silver Spoon, apparently intact, sitting next to Diamond Tiara, lying in a pool of blood. Her limbs were twitching violently - a piece of shrapnel hit her in her right flank, in the place where her cutie mark used to be, and penetrated through her innards, eviscerating her and leaving a large, bloody hole in her abdomen. The fact that another piece of the bomb blew almost half of her head off could be almost considered a coup de grâce.

Three yards from them, another bomb was resting on the ground - a grey, menacing silhouette, ready to explode at any moment. Scootaloo, trying not to pay attention to the fact that the peppermint candies were now trying to leave her stomach, rushed to them.

“C’mon, Silver, we’re getting outta here!” she screamed. The grey filly embraced her dead friend’s body tighter, weeping loudly.

“Twist, HELP ME!” Scootaloo shouted, grabbing Silver Spoon’s tail in her mouth, trying to drag her away.

“No!” Silver Spoon kicked her in the face, stunning her for a moment. A black eye started to form on Scootaloo’s face. For a moment she considered leaving the grey filly and running away with Twist, but then she imagined Silver Spoon’s body, cut in half, lying next to Diamond Tiara.

I can’t leave her like this.

“She’s moving, I can help her!” Silver Spoon cried, embracing her friend.

“She’s dead! It’s just death throes! And you’ll be dead too, if we won’t hurry.” Scootaloo and Twist caught her firmly, dragging her, screaming and kicking from Diamond Tiara. When they reached the road, Silver Spoon stopped resisting. She galloped with them, crossing the road, and jumped into the ditch on the other side of it.

Another explosion tore through the air, sending a wave of shrapnel, splinters and leaves flying above their heads. Then the forest went silent.

“Let’s get out of here,” said Scootaloo. All three fillies ran into the forest, not watching where they were going. Low branches were hitting them, tangling into their manes, and scratching their faces.

“Girlth, wait!” Twist shouted, tripping over a branch. She collapsed, losing her glasses, and started to scrabble for them frantically. Scootaloo and Silver Spoon stopped in their tracks. Scootaloo went back to Twist, passing her glasses to her.

“So, what are we going to do now?” Silver Spoon asked. The traces of tears were still visible on her face, but the colours came back on it. Scootaloo looked around: nothing in the forest looked familiar to her. They were in some distant part of it, located at the bottom of a river that had probably dried up long before the Princesses were born.

“I don’t know,” she said helplessly, sinking on the groundcover.

“What? You were so eager to run, so I thought that you had some plan!” Silver Spoon shouted. Twist made a move as if she wanted to say something, but Silver only glared at her, and continued, “We could stay there and wait till somepony saved us, but no! You made us run into the forest, where we are lost, cold, hungry…”

“Yeah, it would be a good idea to stay,” said Scootaloo, standing up and walking closer to her classmate, standing almost nose-to-nose with her, and flapping her wings furiously. “Or to leave you there with your pathetic dead friend, so you could join her in Tartarus!”

“Don’t you dare talk like that about Diamond, blank flank!” Silver Spoon screamed at the top of her lungs, pushing Scootaloo away. “Not to mention that it was your friend who dropped the bomb on us!”

For a moment Scootaloo stood silently, as if Silver Spoon had punched her. She then screamed and darted forward, with bloodlust clearly written in her eyes. Twist caught her hoof before she could hit Silver and dragged the raging and scrambling pegasus away.

“I see you still love her,” Silver Spoon mocked. “You didn’t even stop to look for those two blank flanks you called friends!”

Scootaloo finally freed herself from Twist’s grasp and tackled Silver Spoon, knocking her glasses off her nose and tearing some hair from her braid. The grey filly hit back, kicking Scootaloo in the stomach, sending her flying into the nearby bush.

“You still reek of her piss, filthy mud pony!” Scootaloo yelled, recovering.

“Thilver! Thcootaloo! Thtop!” Twist shouted, standing between them.

“Oh, shut up, retard!” Silver Spoon said, putting her glasses back on her nose.

The forest suddenly grew so quiet that they could hear a pin drop. For a moment Twist was staring at Silver Spoon, her mouth agape, then she turned back and ran deeper into the forest, sobbing loudly.

“See what have you done?” Scootaloo approached Silver Spoon, who was now sitting on the ground with the same surprised expression as Twist seconds earlier. “You’ll go to her and apologize. Now,” she said in a tone that would make Cheerilee proud.

“I… I just don’t know…” Suddenly Silver Spoon bursted into tears, embracing Scootaloo in an awkward hug. “It’s just… Diamond…”

“Ok, Silver, be a grown filly…” Scootaloo sighed, patting her head. “Let’s go and look for Twist. It’s not the Everfree but still there can be bears, wild boars, and drunk lumberjacks here, so we’d better find her. And stop hugging me. You're still covered in Diamond bits, you know.”

They didn’t have to walk for long. Twist was sitting by a pond in the middle of the forest staring at the surface of the water.

“Umm… Twist,” Silver Spoon started weakly. Scootaloo gave her an encouraging look. “I… I want to apologize for calling you ‘retard’…”

Twist said nothing, instead continuing to stare into the water.

“Listen, Twist, I’m really sorry, it was just…”

“Yeah, and we’re not fighting each other…” Scootaloo added. Twist turned to her, her eyes piercing her like two daggers. The orange filly backpedalled, not expecting such a look from her normally timid classmate.

“She might be thorry,” she said, “But thtill, I am a filthy mud pony to you, Thcootaloo…”

“Hey, I didn’t mean you. I meant…” she paused, rethinking her quarrel with Silver Spoon. “Oh, I’m sorry Twist… and Silver. I just… I don’t usually consider myself better just because I have wings, I–”

“Don’t worry, Scootaloo. Apology accepted,” said Silver Spoon dryly.

“Ok, I’m glad we have this matter settled,” said Scootaloo. “But still we’re in the middle of the forest, it’s probably night, and I’m getting a bit hungry.”

“And it’s all your fault,” Silver Spoon added.

“Don’t get me started again!”

Twist stood up, again piercing Scootaloo and Silver Spoon with her gaze.

“Lithten girlth!” she said, “Before you thtarted your… foalish brawl, I wanted to tell you that Canterlot is eatht from Ponyville, right? And when the Princetheth stopped the thelethtial bodieth–” she stopped, and started to speak slower to control her lisp “–the Sun stuck permanently in the west, and the Moon to the eatht. When we ran away, we went thouth, tho we have to go north-east to get to Canterlot.”

Scootaloo and Silver Spoon were listening to her with their jaws dropped. Finally Scootaloo said, “So, to go east, we have to go, like, to the Moon?”

“To the Moon!” Twist laughed for the first time since they ran away from the bombs.

“Let’s go, then,” Silver Spoon said. She washed Diamond Tiara’s blood off of herself in the pond and was now shivering. “It’s getting cold here.”

Indeed, it was getting cold. Even though the sun was still visible above the horizon, it was Autumn, and the clouds left unattended by pegasi started to gather above them, covering the sky. There was a glow in the distance, as if something was burning, but the forest was dark and Scootaloo couldn’t get rid of a feeling that they were circling around it.

“Thtrange,” said Twist, “Another fallen tree.”

“Congratulations, you just discovered Zebrica,” Silver Spoon deadpanned. “A fallen tree. In a forest.”

“But there are too many of them, ath if there wath a tornado here.”

“So?” Scootaloo asked. “I’m so tired that I wouldn’t see a tree even if it fell on me. No offence, Twist, but I don’t give a… I don’t care about your tornadoes.”

She trotted a few steps, and laid down on the ground resting her head against a large piece of metal that was lying there, half-burrowed in the ground.

“Hey, Thcooth, what’th this?” Twist asked. Scootaloo looked at the thing she’d just tried to use as a pillow. It looked to her like a starfish made of metal, but with nine arms instead of five. Each of the arms, connected with copper pipes, had cooling fins on them, and there were the remains of a wooden propeller on one of the ends of the machine.

“It looks like one of those rotary engines that are used in the airships,” said Scootaloo. “I’ve read about them in the ‘Wonderbolts’ Magazine’.”

“How is it going to help us?” asked Silver Spoon. “Maybe you’re used to sleeping outside with a chunk of metal as a pillow, Scoots, but some of us are used to more comfortable conditions…”

“Why does everypony think I’m homeless? The foster home sucks sometimes, but it’s not like I live on the street,” Scootaloo said with a sigh. “Besides, silly filly, if there’s an engine, then the rest of the airship is probably also somewhere here. And that means the crew survival kit: tents, food, warm clothes…”

“Or the crew already took it with them,” said Silver Spoon.

They started to search the forest, looking for any sign of an airship, but all they found were some pieces of fabric hanging from the trees.

“Hey, there’s something here!” Silver Spoon shouted, pointing at the large pile of the boards, glass, and metal pipes.

“Looks like a rear part of the gondola,” said Scootaloo. She came closer to it, but suddenly backpedalled, fighting with nausea.

“Smells like a rotting corpse!” she gasped, feeling the taste of bile in her mouth. She spat it out, groaning with disgust.

“Where should that thurvival kit be?” asked Twist, who was checking the wheel of the airship – a large part of its gear was literally torn off from the gondola.

“Dunno, in the middle I think,” said Scootaloo, carefully bypassing the rear part of the fuselage, and searching through the scattered equipment, hoping that she wouldn’t find any body parts. She was tripping and falling constantly – she started to sneeze, her eyelids were closing, and the grumbling in her stomach was making her think about finding a gun and ending her suffering.

At least I’d see Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle again, she thought, watching the similarly exhausted Silver Spoon, with a dishevelled mane and a black eye, who fell on the ground, falling asleep in the middle of the walk. A brief thought about her friends opened a gate to the feeling she’d been repressing for the whole day: most of her classmates were dead, killed by Rainbow Dash and her wingpony, because the Princesses decided that their matters can’t be solved in any other way than war. A part of her wanted to curl into a ball and cry till death, while the other part wanted to go to Canterlot, and slit Celestia’s throat with a jagged piece of metal from the airship.

“I found it! I found it!” Twist’s voice sounded as if she was behind a thick wall. Scootaloo, feeling a new wave of energy, stood up and trotted to her.

A tent, large enough to provide shelter for five adult ponies, and small enough to be carried by a filly. Hard tacks, chocolate, and canned food. Two knives: a Griffonian Kampfmesser and a bigger one, with a curved blade, capable of cutting down small trees. A primus and a lighter. Sleeping bag and a set of blankets made of thick wool. Scootaloo and Twist were watching these items in awe. The former tore the hard tacks’ package with her teeth and began munching on them, while Twist went to wake Silver Spoon up.

Setting the tent up was more difficult than they had thought.

“Oh, come on!” Scootaloo groaned, trying to hammer the peg into the ground with her hoof. “It’s not fair that none of us can use magic…”

“Don’t start with ‘worthless mud ponies’ again, chicken,” Silver Spoon grinned, eating tomatoes from a can she had opened with the Kampfmesser. “Apparently, setting up tents isn’t something your cutie mark is telling you. Oh wait…” she ducked, and a peg flew over her head.

“Thilver Thpoon!” Twist scolded, “Come here and help uth inthtead of pigging out!”

“What did you say? I’m sorry, I can’t understand you.”

“Girls, stop!” Scootaloo shouted, seeing that the colour of Twist’s face now matched her mane. “Really, now I have to be a mature one?”

Without saying a word, Silver Spoon put the can of tomatoes on the ground, and trotted to the tent. She then pulled one of the ropes with her teeth, while Scootaloo pulled the another one, raising the tent. Twist found the peg Scootaloo had thrown at Silver Spoon, and hammered it into the ground, attaching the rope. Then they backed away, watching their deed.

“Well, it’th a bit off, but for me it’ll do,” Twist commented.

“Yeah, it’s not a fancy manor,” Scootaloo prodded Silver Spoon who gave her a nasty glare, “but at least it has a roof, and we have some food.” She picked a can of tomatoes, and fished out one piece from it. Twist crawled into the tent, took off her glasses, and wrapped herself into a sleeping bag and one of the blankets.

“You’re right, Twist,” said Scootaloo. “Time to hit the hay, and tomorrow we’re gonna think about what to do next.” She gave an empty can to Silver Spoon and took a sleeping bag with her. Soon she fell into a deep sleep, without any dreams, not feeling or hearing anything.

Not even Silver Spoon’s quiet sobbing.

6. Rainbow Dash

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A friend who dies, it's something of you who dies.
Gustave Flaubert

Rainbow Dash was walking slowly down the corridor of the hospital wing in her squadron’s base. According to the clock it was almost morning. The events of that day made problems with falling asleep worse – every time she managed to fall into a shallow slumber, she had been woken up by a nightmare in which her wing was wounded in the same way as Lightning Dust’s – and she decided to ask Nurse Redheart for some sleeping pills.

“Hi Rainbow Dash!”

She lifted her head to see Flitter, who was standing by the wall, holding some strange-looking gun, and examining it carefully.

“Hello,” she said. “What are you doing here? And what’s this?”

“I’m waiting for my sister. She’s gonna be discharged from the hospital today. You know, they put a metal screw in her thigh, but said that she wants to be discharged at her own risk. And this is my Jackhammer.”

“Jackhammer?”

“Yeah, it’s a prototype of an automatic shotgun.” She whisked the dust off from a barrel, and shown Dash the cylinder-shaped magazine. Its outer surface resembled a gear wheel, meant to be pushed by the action rod during every shot, rotating the cylinder. “I felt that I needed to upgrade my old weapon. Now I can shoot ten rounds quickly, and change magazines easier.”

Rainbow Dash remained unfazed, not sure about the reliability of the prototype. Instead, she was wondering what happened to Flitter, whom she knew as a fun-loving young pegasus, over the course of the last few days.

“Listen, Flitter…” she said. “What exactly happened in Cloudsdale? I heard about the riots but without any details.”

“Well, there were some workers in the Weather Factory, who were showing much support for Princess Luna… It all started after the group layoffs, they fired Parasol... We decided to form a militia, just in case. You know, groups of five to ten pegasi, walking around the streets, watching everyone who seemed shady. They also started to gather in similar groups, often accompanied by a bat pony or two.”

“Really? Bat ponies were involved in that?”

“Well…” Flitter paused, trying to recall these events. “I’ve never actually seen one, but Crafty said that there were smuggling weapons to Cloudsdale… Ironically, they shot him first, when they started to occupy the city hall.”

“They started the riots?”

“Seriously, I have no idea. Maybe ‘Chaser would know something more. Many of them were unarmed, but there were also the others that seemed to have a military training.”

“So you shot them all?”

“They were threatening the stability of Equestria! Imagine what would happen if Cloudsdale was in Luna’s hooves too!”

Rainbow Dash wanted to say something, but suddenly the door opened, and several ponies wearing white lab coats entered the building, carrying wounded patients. She recognized Doctor Stable who was levitating a stretcher with Lightning Dust lying on it.

“What happened, Doctor?” she asked, seeing the bags under his eyes and a slightly charred mane. She looked at the rest of the group – tired faces, dirty clothes and the solemn expressions. To her surprise, she saw a small, maybe eight or nine-year-old unicorn filly carried by one of the nurses. Her lower body was covered in bandages, her hind legs hung limply, but in spite of that, she was sleeping peacefully.

“Sweet Celestia, Dinky…” she muttered, looking at her closer and realising that she knew her almost from the day she’d been born.

“Our field hospital was attacked,” Doctor Stable said. “We managed to evacuate most of the patients…”

“And where’s Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash asked, not seeing her friend among the ponies.

Doctor Stable looked away from Rainbow Dash for a moment, not wanting to meet her concerned gaze. He stared down at his hooves as he struggled to find the right words to say.

All he could think of were two. “I’m sorry…”

***

The door to Twilight’s chamber bursted open as Rainbow Dash flew in, landing clumsily on the floor. To her surprise, she saw that all her friends were gathered there, watching her without a word. Twilight was sitting behind the desk, examining a stone orb lying in front of her.

“Fluttershy…” Rainbow Dash gasped.

“We know,” said Twilight, her face looking as if it was carved in stone. “Her Element changed at night.”

Rainbow Dash’s ears drooped, and she sat down on the floor, swallowing her tears.

“That… that’s not all…” she muttered. “Applejack… Rarity…” she sobbed, and continued in an emotionless voice, “Before Fluttershy died, somepony bombed the convoy with children who were going to the refugee camp.”

She couldn’t look at their faces, hearing only a loud thud, when Rarity passed out. Applejack approached her, putting her hooves on her shoulders.

“How?” she asked. “How did it happen?”

“Scootaloo was first,” Rainbow Dash continued in the same flat tone. “They haven’t transported her to the hospital, so she probably died on the spot. And after the hospital was burned, they… they couldn’t find Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.”

Applejack hugged her, but Rainbow Dash backed away. She had decided to spare her friends the details Doctor Stable had told her, like Sweetie’s amputated legs, or Apple Bloom’s torn-off ear. And, above all, she had decided not to tell them about Lightning Dust.

***

“Dust, are you okay?” Rainbow Dash asked. Lightning half-opened her eyes, trying to focus on her.

“Try to guess,” she said slowly, gritting her teeth.

“Wing?”

“It hurts like fuck, but that’s not the thing,” her voice started to tremble. “Rainbow Dash… I killed them…”

“Who?” asked Rainbow Dash, feeling her brain protesting against hearing yet another bad news.

“All of them… Remember that colt and that paralysed filly they brought here with me?”

“Yeah, I was wondering what they were doing here…”

“There were more…” Lightning Dust was now sobbing openly. “That deaf filly… that small white unicorn who was calling for her sister before they had to cut her legs off… Snowflake’s brother…”

“Dust, what are you talking about?” asked Rainbow Dash, feeling cold despite the high temperature in the room.

“They were hiding in the forest when my shrapnel bombs hit them,” Lightning Dust whispered, and suddenly hit her head against the bed’s frame.

“Dust!” Rainbow Dash shouted, trying to contain her, but Lightning Dust pushed her away, tearing the port from her foreleg. She raised from the bed, but the she staggered and fell on the floor, panting heavily and trying to get on her hooves.

“Doctor Stable!”

***

Applejack almost never cried. Rainbow Dash knew that she had only cried once, after her parents had died – but even then she recovered quickly. Hard work helped her forget about the pain.

Today there was a second time. When Rarity regained consciousness, it got even worse. Of course, she saw Rarity crying many times, but this time it wasn’t her usual, over-the-top wailing, but honest tears shed for Sweetie Belle, whose life ended in such a violent way.

Finally, Applejack and Rarity both withdrew to their rooms to mourn their sisters and a friend in solitude. Rainbow Dash wanted to follow them, but to her dismay, she realised that she felt empty. The death of Scootaloo and Fluttershy didn’t make her sad – all she felt was an anger and a will to take revenge. The subject of it wasn’t important yet – this could be Luna, some random bat pony, or even poor, mutilated Lightning Dust.

Lightning Dust – Rainbow Dash couldn’t get the image of her sleeping after Doctor Stable’s tranquilizer injection out of her head. Another victim of the civil war. In her current state, Rainbow Dash thought, killing her would be a mercy.

After Rarity and Applejack’s departure, she said to Twilight and Pinkie that she had to go back to the pegasi’s base – she couldn’t even look them in their eyes, or stay with them at this time. She needed to get out of here, lest her anger cause more problems for her friends.

After leaving the castle, she didn’t fly straight to the air base. If she recalled correctly, there was a small pub near it, and she thought that a glass or two of something that could be used either as a drink or a bleach would help her to clear her mind.

The pub was indeed there – the sign above the door, being a variation of Quills and Sofas’ logo and its name Booze and Coffins attracted Rainbow Dash’s attention. The interior wasn’t very welcoming; it was filled with smoke from numerous cigarettes smoked by the patrons. It was also crowded, hot and dirty. In the corner, an old pony wearing a creased hat and a denim jacket was playing a sad piano tune, accompanied by a similar-looking saxophonist and a gray, earth pony mare with big, sad eyes, playing double bass. When Rainbow Dash entered the pub, the pianist started to sing with a raspy, worn-out voice, which, surprisingly had some charm. She noticed a large silhouette of a pegasus at one of the tables.

“Hi, Snowflake,” she said, sitting next to him.

For a moment she considered asking what brought him there, but she remembered that his brother also perished in the bombing. A large glass of some orange-tinted drink stood in front of him, and by the look of his face she guessed that it wasn’t the first one.

“Life sucks, huh?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“Wait a minute, I’ll pick my poison.”

“Yeah.” Snowflake’s expression remained indifferent.

Rainbow Dash shrugged and trotted through the crowd. It was hard to do – some of the patrons were too drunk to notice her and before she reached the bar, she got prodded and poked several times. One particularly atrocious stallion tried to put his hoof on her flank, but she saw that in time. Her expression and a few words about what she’d do to him managed to scare him off.

Finally, she got to the bar. The counter was dirty, just like the rest of the pub; the dry remains of spilt beer created an interesting abstract picture on it, but she didn’t have time to watch it closer.

The only thing she wanted at the moment was to get drunk and forget about everything.

The bartender was a bit more talkative than Snowflake, but it didn’t mean he was more bearable.

“We don’t have any whisky or cider,” he explained. “War shortages.”

“Already?” she groaned. “What do you have then?”

“A mandrake booze,” he lowered his voice to a whisper.

“Ain’t it ille– actually nevermind. Give me the whole bottle.”

“Bad day?” he nodded his head understandingly.

“Understatement of the century,” she sighed, dropping the bits on the counter.

“Soldier?” the bartender asked, pointing at the dog tag still hanging from her neck.

“Yeah…” she said absent-mindedly, devouring the bottle in front of her with her eyes.

“I have a special discount for the soldiers…”

“Colour me interested.” She smiled half-heartedly at the bartender, who levitated a tape-measure.

“Oak or pine?” he asked. “Unfortunately we don’t have metal ones in stock…”

“What?” she gasped in shock. “Thanks for caring, but I’m not making so detailed plans at the moment…”

“Are you sure? It’s never too early to think about the future...”

“No, thanks, just the booze for me,” she said, taking a bottle of an orange-tinted liquid and a shot glass with her, and going back to the table. Meanwhile, the pianist took a guitar from behind his piano and started to sing another song. Its lyrics, if she heard them correctly, spoke about drinking and a pegasus whose house was on fire.

She opened the bottle and poured herself a glass of the mandrake booze.

“Goodbye, brain cells,” she muttered, raising a glass and drank it in one go. The mandrake booze almost melted her throat and stomach, causing her to choke. Snowflake only shrugged seeing her coughing, and downed his much larger glass.

“Was that a challenge?” she glared at him from underneath her eyebrows, pouring herself another glass. This time it went much smoother, as her oesophagus was still numb after the first one and her taste buds were probably permanently damaged.

After another three glasses, she suddenly found that although Snowflake wasn’t very talkative, he made a great listener and they spent some time reminiscing their lost siblings, getting increasingly louder. Even the old pianist stopped playing and started to listen, apparently gathering ideas for a new song. A gray mare from his band went even further: she ordered a glass of wine, and sat with them, introducing herself as Octavia. Rainbow Dash didn’t acknowledge that.

“Aaand… then I a-asked ‘What were you doing out here in the middle of the night?!’ And she said… like… that she wanted to hang out with me… and ssshhe wanted me to see how c-cool she was… Aaaand that Prin… cess… Oh fuck it!” she banged her hoof against the table, and downed another glass of the shady-looking alcohol. Octavia was wiping her eyes with a napkin.

“Actually, my partner went missing in Manehattan…” she said. “And, as many ponies from Canterlot Orchestra went to war, I have to sit there… alone… playing double bass, because nopony needs a cellist…”

“Yeah,” Snowflake nodded his head, and made an attempt to pat her head, but reconsidered it.

“Octy, sweetheart,” said Rainbow Dash, for a moment focusing her vision on Octavia. “D-do you know w-why this here son of a skunk and a jackal t-tried to sell me a coffin?” She pointed in general direction of the bar.

“He says that alcohol and coffins sell well during the war,” Octavia explained. “And I’m afraid he’s right…” she blew her nose.

“Yeah,” Snowflake muttered philosophically. Rainbow Dash only took a sip from her glass.

***

“D-don’t you thhhhink that it’s fu-funny that there’s ‘cess’ in ‘Princess’?” Rainbow Dash asked them after another drink. She had stopped counting them long before, but she felt that she almost reached the bottom of the bottle. Most of the other patrons had already left the pub, leaving only the three of them and a bartender who was sitting by the counter, apparently enjoying the show.

“Never thought about it,” Octavia said, “Although I’m sure Vinyl came up with that at least once.”

“I’ve… never… like… told her… stuff… you know, that stuff I should’ve told her…” Rainbow Dash mumbled.

“Me neither,” Snowflake added solemnly, and raised his glass. “The last thing I told Featherweight was that there’s no place for him in our base.”

“And I…” Octavia sobbed, “Well, nevermind…”

“D-don’t worrrry…” Rainbow Dash pulled her into an awkward hug, almost knocking her down with her breath. “You’re among… like… friends… and stuff. Y-you c-can tell usss…” suddenly her voice was reduced to incoherent mumbling, and she fell off her chair, for a moment hanging with her hooves around Octavia’s neck, before they went limp, and she finally landed on the floor. Snowflake stood up, seemingly unaffected by the mandrake liquor.

“I’m sorry for her,” he said, lifting Rainbow Dash effortlessly and placing her on his back.

“Don’t worry, I have some experience in curing drunks,” Octavia replied. “If you need any help with her…”

“Thanks, but I need to take her to the base, and they don’t allow civilians to go there,” he said.

“Okay… see you then,” Octavia replied, as he left the pub, carefully avoiding hitting Rainbow Dash’s head against the door frame. She then sighed and went to pack her double bass.

***

Cloudchaser was a skilled pony not only when it came to flying or shooting, but also when it came to saving fallen comrades. In this case, one particular comrade. After the late arrival to the barracks, Rainbow Dash was seated on a chair, her gaze wandering unfocused from one element of the scenery to another.

“Opens eyes, four points,” Cloudchaser muttered to herself, “How many feathers do you see?”

“whtrfthrs?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Two points then… Can you lift your hoof to your nose?”

Rainbow Dash made a wide movement, hitting her forehead, and almost falling from the chair.

“Close enough… Obeys commands, six points. That makes twelve points together. Not bad, but also not good. Ok, now it’s time to remove the undigested alcohol from the system. Flitter, bring me a bucket.”

“Why don’t we just take her to Nurse Redheart?” Flitter asked.

“She’d have to write a report, and Dash would be in trouble.”

After a few minutes which Rainbow Dash spent watching the comeback of the mandrake booze mixed with some remains of her lunch, she was again seated in a chair, and given a cup of tea by Flitter, while Cloudchaser was washing the saliva off her hoof.

“Ok, I think we’ll just wash her and put her on her bed in a recovery position. I’ll stay here to look after her,” she said, “Flitts, take the bucket out.”

“Why do I have to do all the dirty work?” Flitter asked, groaning with disgust, upon seeing the bucket’s contents.

“You weren’t so reluctant about getting your hooves dirty in Cloudsdale, Flitts…” a shadow of threat could be heard in Cloudchaser’s voice.

“You’re gonna hold that over my head till the end of my life, sis?”

“No, only till you’d learn your lesson…” said Cloudchaser and took Dash to the showers, ignoring the pain in her leg.

Rainbow Dash didn’t object while being taken care of, and soon promptly fell asleep in the middle of the shower. Cloudchaser didn’t want to overexert her injured hoof and made Flitter carry her back to the room.

After her sister left them, Cloudchaser closed the blinds and lay on Lightning Dust’s bed. She put a bottle of orange juice on the nightstand in case Dash wanted something to drink, and opened her copy of Story of a Real Pony – while their base’s library consisted mostly of flying guides or biographies of the famous pegasi, Story was probably the only novel it had in stock.

While reading about Maresyev learning to walk on prosthetic limbs, she subconsciously looked at her bandaged hind leg. Well, having two pieces of bone connected together with a surgical screw wasn’t exactly the same thing as losing a leg, but she still felt that she had something in common with the protagonist. Walking was still difficult from her, so she preferred to fly instead, proud that she was the first pony in their squadron wounded in action.

Next to her, Rainbow Dash started to toss and turn in her bed. She opened her eyes, gazing into the dark corner of the room, where something was moving in the shadows.

“Who are you?” she muttered.

“You don’t recognize me?” a small pegasus appeared in a circle of light from Cloudchaser’s bedside lamp, causing Rainbow Dash to jump away in horror.

Scootaloo seemed not to pay attention to the fact that her left wing was completely torn off, leaving a bloody stump. A large wound was covering her left flank, the charred remnants of her tail covered in clotted blood. She was smiling menacingly at her, most of her teeth visible through a gash in her cheek. Although her left eye socket was empty, and there was a hyphema in her right eye, Rainbow Dash had a feeling that Scootaloo saw her perfectly well.

“Look, Dash,” she smiled even wider, causing her wounds to tear further, “Why are you hiding from me? I’m your sister, and sisters occasionally give one another a makeover, right?”

“M-makeover?”

“Yeah, makeover. You don’t like it? Well, usually they don’t do that with a shrapnel bomb, but I guess you had a reason, sis…”

“It wasn’t me!” Dash shouted, “It was Dust…”

“But who told her to drop the bomb? You’ve never thought that somepony could be there… You know? I have a feeling that you’ve never loved me, sister…”

“What? Of course I loved you!”

“Yeah… this whole taking under the wing thing? Please.” Scootaloo gave a little laugh, spraying blood on her chest and spitting the broken tooth out. “A week later, you went to the Wonderbolts’ Academy, not even inviting me to visit you. Thunderlane took his brother to Canterlot when the war started. Why didn’t you?” she jumped on the bed, losing some feathers, and causing her damaged hind leg to snap in half.

“If you love me so much, why don’t you hug me, sis?” she asked mockingly, when Rainbow Dash dodged her. “Or maybe we’ll just sit together and wait for Fluttershy?”

“STOP IT!” Rainbow Dash shouted, “You’re not real! It’s just mandrake…”

“Umm… hi, Dash.”

Rainbow Dash turned her head to see Fluttershy. Or rather a charred skeleton that was once her friend, standing behind her.

“You’d attacked them, so they came to attack us,” she said. “It’s all your fault, Dashie…”

“What? No!”

“When you kick an anthill, the ants fight back, you should know that…” Although Rainbow Dash knew it was impossible, she could swear that Fluttershy smiled at her.

“You know, Fluttershy, ants having sniper rifles and napalm make as much sense as makeovers with a bomb, but, as you can see, my sister is fond of both of them,” said Scootaloo. “Hmm, maybe I’d get my cutie mark in making pointless analogies?” she looked at her flank.

“Well, either your cutie mark looks like a pelvis, or you’re missing your superficial gluteal muscle…” Fluttershy commented. Rainbow Dash hid under her bed, only to find out that Scootaloo was already there. She wrapped her hooves around her neck and kissed her, smearing blood all over her face. Dash jumped back, hitting her head against the bed frame.

“Hey, Scootaloo!” Fluttershy shouted. Scootaloo didn’t hear her, she was too busy trying to reach Dash. “Maybe your friends will join us too? We’d make a nice little sleepover with Dashie, telling stories about how our life was before she killed us?”

“I didn’t kill you!” Rainbow Dash cried, “It’s not my fault!”

“It is yer fault!” another voice called. Rainbow Dash turned back to see a badly burned, hairless filly, whose skin was peeling off her, revealing the roasted muscles. Only her accent and a red bow on the top of her skull allowed Rainbow Dash to identify her as Apple Bloom.

“It’s your fault!” somepony called from her bed. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and put her hooves on her ears, cowering on the floor. She immediately felt tiny hooves grabbing her, high-pitched voices shouting “it’s your fault!” repeatedly.

“Stop it!”

“No, Dash.” Fluttershy’s voice was cold, much colder than when she was alive. “You’ll pay for what you did to us. You’ll go with us and spend the eternity in our company...”

“NO! STOP!” Rainbow Dash yelled, jumping off the bed and bucking blindly, hoping to crush the skeletal caricature of her dead friend.

A sound of breaking glass and somepony’s surprised scream brought her back to consciousness. She looked around to see shards of broken bottle lying in the puddle of orange juice, and Cloudchaser rubbing a quickly forming bruise on her chest.

“What happened to you, Dash?” she asked.

“I don’t know…” she said, alcohol still buzzing in her veins. “I guess it’s just a mandrake trip…”

Cloudchaser shook her head.

“I’m worried about you, Dash,” she said. “Do you want to talk?”

“No, thanks. I’m just a bit down.”

“Are you sure? I thought you’d wake up everypony with your screams…”

“Listen, ‘Chaser…” Rainbow Dash waved her hoof dismissively. “In one day, I lost a friend and a sister. I guess you’d act similar if… if something happened to Flitter. And now excuse me, I have to visit the little filly’s room,” she said, and marched out of the room, staggering slightly.

When she closed the bathroom door behind her, she rested herself against the sink, looking at her reflection in the mirror. With a pale face, dishevelled, greasy mane and bags under her eyes, she looked at least thirty years older, and felt much the same way. Her own smell, a mixture of sweat and alcohol, was making her sick. She washed her face and drank some water from the tap. A dull pain in the back of her head and series of shivers running through her body from time to time were the first symptoms of incoming hangover. She examined her face in the mirror once more, and for a moment she caught a glimpse of an orange filly behind her.

“You’re not real,” she said flatly. “Dead ponies can’t talk with living ponies, it’s a simple logic.”

“How do you know you’re alive?” Scootaloo whispered. “You can’t talk with Cloudchaser without thinking of me… You’re trying to scorch your feelings with booze, all you want is to lie somewhere, numb… Dead...”

“I’m gonna show you.” Rainbow Dash glared at her angrily. “I’m gonna show you how alive I am, squirt…” She opened a cupboard under the sink, and took a small box from it.

“You said I don’t want to feel anything?” She fished the paper package from the box, and tore it open, watching Scootaloo, who sat on her haunches in the corner of the bathroom. “Then how do you like that?”

She took a razor blade from the package, and slashed it through the stitches Nurse Redheart had applied her after she’d crushed a glass with her hoof. Then she cut through the half-healed wounds several times. The pain awoke her, she felt like a large weight was lifted from her heart, allowing her to breathe freely. For a moment she watched the drops of her blood dripping into the sink.

“Now I feel I’m alive!” her shout echoed from the bathroom walls. She waved her hoof, spraying red drops on the floor and the mirror. “What will you tell me now?”

Scootaloo said nothing. When Rainbow Dash examined the bathroom, she found no trace of her. She threw the razor blade at the wall, watching it bounce and fall on the floor, disappearing in an uncovered drain hole. She began jumping around the bathroom and waving her wounded hoof, laughing, like a hyperactive foal who was given a new toy, before she fell on all fours, panting and weeping.

7. Apple Bloom

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Someday, and that day may never come, I'll call upon you to do a service for me.
The Godfather

An ant was crawling slowly through the layer of dry leaves, completely unaware of a small filly lying on the ground in front of it. Apple Bloom was panting heavily, watching the ant carrying a pine needle. Somehow, its indifference toward the surrounding world impressed her. For a moment, she considered staying there and watching the ants for a few minutes.

Which, in her case, basically meant “for the rest of her life.”

Around them, the flames were roaring, engulfing the remains of the tents, the trees and bushes, slowly cutting off all the escape routes. Apple Bloom was sweating, trying to get back on her hooves, with Sweetie moving frantically on her back, trying to shield herself from the sparks. She was screaming, obviously, but Apple Bloom, her eardrums shattered after the bombs had exploded only few feet from her, couldn’t hear that. Once more she looked at the ant, carrying its load peacefully, and an image of Applejack appeared in her mind.

Letting out a powerful scream, she raised, and darted forward, Sweetie holding her with her remaining hooves. She ran through the wall of fire and collapsed on the ground again, smell of a scorched fur filling her nostrils. Next to her, Sweetie rolled on the ground, trying to quench her mane. Apple Bloom looked at her – where her hind legs once were, two wounds reopened, she was also covering one of her eyes with a hoof. Scratches and burn marks were all over her body, and Apple Bloom suspected that she looked much the same – her mane was sticky from the blood from her severed ear, her hooves were trembling, and she felt dizzy. Limping, she approached her friend and tried to lift her on her back.

“Don’t worry, Sweetie, we’ll make it,” she whispered, dragging her away from the fire. Somewhere behind them, a tree fell, forming another obstacle for them. Apple Bloom started to look around, but there was nopony there to help them. Sweetie caught her hoof, her lips moving, tear forming in her good eye.

“We’ll make it…” Apple Bloom repeated, collapsing on the ground. She could barely breathe, fits of coughing shaking her small body.

“We’ll make it… Ah’ll just… gather some strength…”

She looked around. Flames were spreading everywhere, a wave of hot air, almost devoid of oxygen, reached her, drying the blood and sweat. Her throat also went dry and she had to close her eyes when they started to itch.

There was no way of escape other than running through another wall of fire and then run away from the spreading blaze, hurt, exhausted, with Sweetie on her back. She buried her face in leaves, swallowing her tears.

“Ah can’t give up now… Ah must run…” she whispered, barely hearing her own voice. She crawled to Sweetie, who was trying to get on her front hooves, dragging her body behind her. After making only a few steps she collapsed, face first, in a pile of leaves. The flames were slowly crawling to her, but Sweetie made no attempt to move or defend herself.

“HELP!” Apple Bloom shouted, “Anypony!” she started to cough, her throat dry and aching. Her vision started to blur, she could no longer see Sweetie, only the orange haze of flames, and a tall, dark silhouette in the distance.

“Is there anypony out there?” her voice was quiet and raspy. A mysterious creature approached them, walking through the flames as if they weren’t there. Apple Bloom blinked rapidly to get rid of tears, and saw a pair of mismatched legs in front of her.

“D-discord?” she exclaimed, looking up. She could see his lips moving, but couldn’t hear anything. Discord made an understanding expression, and snapped his fingers.

Apple Bloom’s ears started to itch, something growing in them. She looked on her hooves to see small scratches and burn marks disappearing.

“I guess this’ll make conversation easier,” Discord said, snapping his fingers once more. Flames moved back, forming a circle around them.

“Ah… Ah can hear ya… how…”

“Oh, Apple Bloom, that was easy. The cells in your body divide constantly, my job was only to poke them. She, however…” she looked at Sweetie Belle, who was lying lifelessly in a puddle of blood from the remains of her hind legs. Only occasional, shallow breaths were indicating that she was still alive.

“Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom shouted, running to her. She tried to lift her, only to find out that her body was limp. She turned back to Discord:

“Do something!” she shouted, “Ya’re the spirit of chaos, y’all surely can do something! Or can ya only bring chaos?”

Suddenly his expression changed to solemn, which made him look much older.

“As you can see, my little Apple Bloom, we’re in a world where a spirit of chaos is no longer needed,” he said, pointing around with his paw. “The ponies became quite good in creating chaos themselves.”

“But ya can at least try to save her!” She bursted into tears.

“Apple Bloom, Apple Bloom…” he sighed. “It doesn’t work this way. I saved you from the fire, gave you back your hearing, even recreated your ear, all for free. Don’t you read fairy tales? Ponies in them always have to pay for favours…” For a moment he hid his face in the shadow. “And I don’t think you know how to bring Fluttershy back to life.”

“F-fluttershy?” Apple Bloom stammered.

"She's dead now! Haven’t you seen that?” Discord snapped. “No more friends for me, yay. What, is that tears? Is that possible, my little Apple Bloom? A chaos god crying because of a dead pony?"

“Ah don’t know,” Apple Bloom said.

“Death…” Discord rested his chin on his claw. “So chaotic in its nature… the young ones, the old ones, all have to watch their bodies fall apart… Have you heard about entropy, Apple Bloom?”

“No,” Apple Bloom stated simply, looking at Sweetie Belle, who was trying desperately to catch another breath. Large patches of her white fur were missing, one of her eyes was closed, but by the burns around it she could guess that it didn’t look well.

“What do they teach you in school?” Discord rolled his eyes, suddenly appearing on the other side of her, whispering into her ear.

“This is entropy,” he said, poking Sweetie Belle. “Harmony of a living thing slowly turning into a chaos… Maybe I should leave it that way… During my long life I learned many things about loss. You should also get used to it…”

“Please!” Apple Bloom cried, “Ah’ve already seen too many ponies dying today. Ah don’t want Sweetie to…”

“Oh, Apple Bloom, Apple Bloom…” He shook his head. “Just like your sister, so hard, yet so easy to break… So fragile…” He disappeared and appeared in front of her again.

“Tell me, filly… Would you do anything to save your friend’s life?”

“Yes,” said Apple Bloom, looking directly in his eyes.

“A quick answer for such a young pony… Would you jump into the Ghastly Gorge if I asked you to do that as a payback? Would you kill Princess Celestia? Or your sister?”

“Ah’d do anything to save mah friend,” said Apple Bloom, her voice cold and emotionless. She stood up firmly, with a determined look on her face.

“Well then, I guess we made a deal. Let’s see what can I do…”

He took Sweetie Belle from Apple Bloom’s hooves and put her carefully on the ground, examining her wounds. She sighed and opened her good eye, looking at him. When he snapped his fingers, a golden halo engulfed her body, lifting her into the air.

“What’s happening?” Apple Bloom asked, watching in fear, as the shape of the halo started to change. She heard some moans and cries of pain from it, as well as an unpleasant sound of snapping bones.

“I don’t know exactly,” said Discord, “Chaos magic is often capricious – you tell it what to do and it finds its own way.”

An orb of light landed gently on the ground and dissipated, revealing Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom’s jaw dropped, while Discord’s curious expression soon changed into a wide grin.

“Well, if you’re going to go somewhere, I’d rather advise not to show up too much with her,” he said.

“Yeah… Ah think ya are right…” Apple Bloom nodded, watching her friend.

Sweetie Belle’s amputated hind legs were replaced by prosthetic limbs made of metal, powered by hydraulic cylinders. Most of her body was covered in silvery plating, exceptions being her front hooves and head. Some wires were visible between the elements of the plating. There were also solar panels on her back. She was making small movements, as if she was trying her new body out. When she turned to Apple Bloom, she noticed that her burned eye was replaced with an electronic one, its green iris resembling a diaphragm of a camera.

“Hello, world,” she said, her voice sounding a bit artificial.

“Oh, Sweetie…” Apple Bloom exclaimed, hugging her. “What happened to you?”

“As you can see, my formerly organic body had been damaged beyond repair, and thus was replaced with a better, cybernetic form.”

“Don’t ask, it’s not me…” said Discord quickly, noticing Apple Bloom’s stare.

“By your reaction I assume that question you asked was rhetoric,” Sweetie Belle explained, her artificial voice carrying some trace of shame.

“Don’t worry, Sweetie…” said Apple Bloom, “Ya are alive, it’s the most important…”

“Affirmative. I’m functioning, and waiting for your orders.”

“O-orders? Whaddya mean? Ya are mah friend, Ah can’t give ya orders…”

“I must follow the laws of robotics. One: a robot may not injure a pony, or through inaction–”

“I’d suggest a zeroth law,” Discord interrupted her, sitting on a trunk of a fallen tree and conjuring a bag of popcorn. Something clicked underneath Sweetie’s plating.

“Zeroth law implemented: a robot may not harm ponykind, or, by inaction, allow ponykind to come to harm. Actualising remaining laws in progress…” she said.

“What should Ah do with her?” Apple Bloom asked, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Well, I’m sorry to interrupt your cute reunion, my little Apple Bloom, but now it’s time for your part of the deal…” he smiled maliciously, looking at her.

“What am Ah suppos’d to do?”

“Well, Apple Bloom, sorry to say that…” he said slowly, watching as she trembled in fear, “I don’t know yet. Don’t worry, one day I’ll find you and you’ll be able to pay me back… Who knows, maybe it’ll be something useful…” He stood up, gave her a bag of popcorn and disappeared.

“Wait!” Apple Bloom shouted. “Where did he go?”

“My scanners can’t find him,” said Sweetie Belle emotionlessly. “But if you want, I can run a more detailed search and…”

“Oh, come on! That was a… ya know, that ‘question Ah don’t want an answer to’ kinda question.”

“A rhetoric question.”

“What are you, a dictionary?” Apple Bloom started to look for any tree to hit her head against. She noticed that the fire stopped to escalate, leaving them in the middle of a scorched clearing.

“I have a built-in dictionary, and I’m fluent in over six million forms of communication…”

“Sweet Celestia! Ah wish Scootaloo was here…”

“Should I scan the surroundings for Scootaloo?”

“No. Ah know where she is…” her voice trembled.

“Your eyes are leaking…” said Sweetie Belle.

“B-because… she’s dead… they’re all dead… and you…” Apple Bloom, unable to hold emotions for any longer, collapsed on the ground. A green light in Sweetie’s artificial eye faded slightly.

“I’m sorry,” she said, trying to copy Apple Bloom’s hug from earlier. “As far as my new body possess the ability to feel something, I feel regret because of Scootaloo’s deacti… death.”

“Oh, Sweetie…” Apple Bloom wiped her tears and sat down, an idea appearing in her head. “Can yer fancy scanner find our sisters?”

“Wait a minute. Processing request. Localizing Rarity. Canterlot, Equestria, sixteen miles to the east. Considering the terrain and my current battery level, four hours of walking.”

“How about considering me? Ah’ve been bombed twice and had to make a deal with Discord today…”

This time processing was a bit longer.

“Six hours of sleeping and then ten hours of walking.”

“How about food?”

“We have popcorn here, and logically, you don’t have to eat now. After we find Applejack and Rarity, we’ll have food.”

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes.

“With yer fancy logic, Ah’m gonna starve to death halfway through…”

“Impossible. An average pony can survive up to two weeks without eating if there’s a fresh water source… But, if you really must…” Sweetie’s mechanisms started to buzz when she noticed Apple Bloom’s expression. Apple Bloom only sighed and started to walk.

“We need to find some safe, warm place to have a rest,” she said. “Can ya think of any?”

“Well, that clearing was warm… but not safe. My sensors however say that there’s a small, abandoned hut nearby.”

The hut was indeed abandoned, at least a hundred years ago. A thatched roof decomposed, and wooden walls were almost completely eaten by bugs, but it still stood, leaning slightly to one side.

“Who lived here?” Apple Bloom asked, entering it. The remains of the furniture, along with some more modern items, like empty cans, were scattered around the floor. The air had a faint scent of decay.

“No information found.”

“How am Ah suppos’d to sleep here?”

“There are fallen leaves everywhere, and my new body is rather warm. I guess it takes a dual radiator to cool all those mechanisms,” said Sweetie, lying on the pile of leaves she had gathered.

“Well… Ah guess ya wouldn’t mind?” Apple Bloom asked, resting her head on her friend’s back. The metal plating was indeed surprisingly warm.

“Of course not. Entering power-save mode,” said Sweetie. Apple Bloom, trying to ignore rumbling in her stomach, closed her eyes.

Soon, an image of Scootaloo appeared in her mind. She was looking for something frantically, but soon she changed into Applejack, walking through some deserted wasteland covering her face with her hat, then Rarity, staring at her reflection in a dirty window, and finally into Twilight Sparkle, lost in her thoughts over a big map. Suddenly, everything erupted into flames. Apple Bloom jumped back, but then she saw that Twilight changed into Princess Luna.

“Fear not, Apple Bloom,” she said, standing in front of her looking at her, as if she wanted to stare into her soul.

“W-what was that?”

“We don’t know exactly. Maybe past, maybe future. Maybe just a dream.”

“That’s all ya haveta say, Princess?” Apple Bloom asked, feeling blood rushing in her veins. “One of mah friends is dead, the other is some Discord-damn robot, and now Ah’m havin’ some weird dreams about Applejack and others… And it’s all your fault!”

“Don’t judge too hastily, Apple Bloom. If you trust me, we can always change the future together…”

“Change it to yer liking? Or maybe ya just want me to do ya a favour, like Discord?”

“I am not Discord, and despite what my sister says, I am not evil,” said Luna, “Think about it, and, if you ever want to help me, just contact me in your dreams.”

The dream faded, and before it disappeared, Apple Bloom saw another scene: an unknown white mare lying in a hospital bed.

She opened her eyes to see the sky and trees above her, along with the hut’s rotten walls and a barrel of a gun held close to her head.

“What the–”

“G’d mo’nin,” said somepony with a high-pitched voice.

“Wrench, leave her, don’t you viddy, that she’s only a lost, unarmed devotchka?” said much lower voice.

“Yeah, seen such ‘devotchkas’ kickin’ flank o’ stallions yer size,” said Wrench, sounding as if she was about to throw a tantrum.

“This pooshka doesn’t work anyway,” said Wrench’s companion calmly. Wrench sighed and lowered a gun, turning to Apple Bloom.

“Ok, let’s make a deal: we’ll take dat piece o’ junk ya’r sleepin’ at and leave ya ‘lone, right?”

Apple Bloom sat down, watching the perpetrators. Wrench was a skinny, pale yellowish filly, not much older than her. Her coat and mane were covered in grease, and her half-closed eyes made her look slightly annoyed. Her companion was a large, brown donkey, watching the world with the constant, bored expression. He was wearing something resembling a dirty and ragged uniform of the Moon Army.

“Who are ya?” Apple Bloom asked.

“We’re scavengers,” said the donkey. “Ya won’t believe how dorogoy is metal these times. Army malchiks destroy each other’s toys and leave lots of it here. By the way, name’s Scrap Yard, and this here ptitsa is called Wicked Wrench.”

“Your parents had a sick sense of humour.”

Everypony, including Apple Bloom, turned to Sweetie, who just woke up, and was observing the duo of scavengers, apparently scanning them with her cybernetic eye.

“It… it talks…” Scrap Yard gasped.

“I am a lady, darling, and it is not necessary to point out the obvious things.”

“Sweetie, why are ya talking like yer sister?” Apple Bloom whispered.

“While I was deactivated, the organic part of my brain started to affect the cybernetic part. Soon I’ll probably have more traits of my old personality.”

“What da fuck is dat?” asked Wrench, listening to Sweetie, confounded.

“Dat’s some kind of military technology, they ran away from old Celly’s labs…” Scrap Yard whispered, leaning closer to Sweetie and examining her carefully. “Maybe she shoots lasers from her glazzs…”

“Ya know? Fuck it, an’ let’s go back to Cant’lot, Firefly’s probably waiting for us…” said Wrench, and they both went outside, to a large cart, filled with various pieces of destroyed machinery.

“Wait!” Apple Bloom exclaimed running after them. “Are y’all going to Canterlot?”

“Umm…”

“Can ya take us with ya?”

They said nothing, looking at each other unsurely. Meanwhile Sweetie ran to their cart and jumped on it, hitting the large radial engine block and knocking it off.

“C’n we keep ‘er?” Wrench asked.

“Ah don’t think so,” said Apple Bloom, and noticing their disgruntled stares, she added, “But we can help ya with yer loot…”

8. Rarity

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True friends stab you in the front.
Oscar Wilde

“Have you seen that? That’s really outrageous,” said Fancy Pants, standing in front of a show window of one of his boutiques in western Canterlot. The glass was broken, and on the wall near it, somepony wrote with a red spray “FOAL MURDERERS”.

“Who would do that?” Rarity asked. She was wearing something that could be described as more elegant version of the Sun Army uniform, with a black veil pinned to the hat.

“There are some groups of them even here, in Canterlot,” said Fancy Pants angrily, “The Fireflies, The Lunatics, Moonshine Colts… Some of them openly support Luna, some of them say that they are apolitical, some even say that it is possible to rule without the Princesses!” he rolled his eyes, “But all of them apparently decided that the best way to manifest their beliefs is to demolish other ponies’ property.”

“Well, the fact that Luna’s forces are getting closer to the capital isn’t helping…” Rarity said, “We’re doing what we can, but even the best equipment won’t help without ponies who want to use it.”

“What? There’s not enough Royal Guards? Even Blueblood’s nephew decided to join the army…”

“Yes, but Twilight says that it’s difficult to give youth an example, when Princess Celestia calls in sick at least three times a week. The posters are not enough,” Rarity said, pointing at the propaganda poster on a nearby wall. Somepony had drawn a moustache and a beard on Celestia’s photo.

“The Princess is simply worried by her sister’s deeds and her subjects’ suffering. You should know it well,” said Fancy Pants, eyeing the veil partially covering Rarity’s face. “But we should at least have Royal Guards to protect us from those hooligans, especially after what happened to Fleur…”

“What happened to her?” Rarity asked. “I haven’t seen her around recently.”

“She was attacked by one of those groups, The Fireflies, I guess. They poured red paint over her, calling her a murderer. Since then she stays at home.”

“I guess it wasn’t her best idea to admit openly that she co-owns the bomb factory…” Rarity muttered, staring at her reflection in the remains of the window.

“Unfortunately, we live in times where patriotism is something one should be ashamed of. They can protest openly, the location of their headquarters is commonly known, and nopony does anything about it, while ponies like Fleur have to hide,” said Fancy Pants. “But I will never stop supporting Celestia. I even gave my money for making those motivational movies…”

“Propaganda movies,” Rarity corrected. “Frankly, I don’t think bat ponies are such bloodthirsty creatures–”

“What are you talking about, Rarity?” Fancy Pants looked appalled. “Those monstrosities killed your sister… Oh, sorry, I didn’t want to…” he added when Rarity sobbed, covering her face with a veil.

“It’s okay…” she said. “I think I’ll go back to the palace…”

***

The throne room was empty, save for a few Royal Guards. Rarity’s hoofsteps echoed through the chamber. The presence of the guards was unsettling; she felt their eyes scanning her and chills ran down her spine. She walked through the throne hall to the small door on the other side. She opened it and saw Spike sitting on a chair in a corridor, reading a newspaper.

“Hi, Spikey-Wikey,” she said.

“Hello.” He smiled. “Twilight is a bit busy at the moment, so if you want to stay with me and wait–”

“Is that Rarity?” Twilight asked from her office. “Let her in.”

“Yes, Twi…” Spike’s expression showed pure disappointment. Rarity entered the office to see her alicorn friend sitting in front of a large, oaken desk with several large stacks of parchment on it. Twilight’s mane was unkempt, and, with horror, Rarity noticed a quill tangled in it, staining her hair with black ink. She was levitating another quill and a cup of coffee.

“Sorry for that,” she said, yawning. “The Princess is sick again, so I’m trying to categorise all this stuff…”

“What is this exactly?” Rarity asked.

“Well, this will go to your department, two large orders for tanks, a project of new airship and apparently we’re buying lots of ammo…” she replied, levitating a binder, and putting some pieces of parchment into it. “This is the letter from Shining Armor – his forces are going to attack Detrot soon. He’ll arrive with two thousand crystal ponies to defend Canterlot in no time. We also got another letter from the Griffonian ambassador, I need to talk with the Princess about the sun, even the ponies are freaking out…”

“Exactly, I can’t sleep because of it,” Rarity said, watching Twilight with a horrified expression. She had bags under her eyes, looked much thinner than when she last time saw her, and her wings practically begged for preening.

“And this is pretty funny…” Twilight gave a little laugh, but her eyes remained emotionless. “Ponies started to send letters to the Princess…” she cleared her throat and started to read. “Dear Princess Celestia, my neighbour keeps tearing the motivational posters off the walls of his house. I suspect that he is Luna’s agent, or Dear Princess Celestia, today I heard the group of drunk mules planning to hire a changeling assassin…”

“Changeling assassin?” Rarity asked. “That sounds pretty serious…”

“I don’t think they’ll find one in Canterlot. Besides, our intelligence checks every information we get. Have you noticed the guards? They’re there because of that letter.”

“I wouldn’t say that they’re doing well, darling.” Rarity sighed. “They didn’t even ask me who I am…”

“They maintain a changeling-detecting spell. If you were one, you’d already be in the castle dungeon.” A faint shadow of a smirk appeared on Twilight’s face. “Look, this one is interesting…” she levitated another piece of parchment to Rarity, who read:

Dear Princess Celestia,

I want to inform you that my squadron leader, Rainbow Dash, came to the base drunk yesterday night, became aggressive and beat my wingpony when she was trying to help her. Then she demolished the bathroom door by kicking it out of its frame and destroyed the portrait of You hanging in the corridor.

Your faithful subject and soldier.

Rarity frowned.

“Who would write that? And what happened to Dash?”

“You know what Dash said, some pegasi are freaks…” said Twilight. “A propos, I wanted to ask you… I was supposed to visit the wounded pegasi in a hospital today, but as you can see, I have to deal with this… Can you go there for me?”

“But… what am I supposed to tell them?”

“Something that will look good in the news. Ask them about their wounds, they love to tell stories. And check on Dash. I barely see her since Fl– Since it all began...”

“If you want, darling…” Rarity said and left the room. Spike was already waiting for her.

“Don’t you think that she’s a bit weird?” she whispered to him.

“She always liked to work hard, but since Fluttershy’s death she leaves that room only to talk to the Princess,” he replied, putting the newspaper on the floor.

“And about the Princess… Listen Spike, have you seen her recently?”

“No, her guards don’t let anypony except Twilight go to her chamber. They say that she mourns all the fallen ponies and that causes her illness.” He shrugged, and looked at Rarity with hope in his eyes, but she trotted down the corridor and soon left the palace.

In the garden, she saw Applejack and Pinkie, examining one of the new tanks with some Royal Guards.

“Now careful,” said Applejack to a guard who crawled inside a large vehicle. “We don’t want any accidents… Pinkie, is that safe?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Pinkie put a helmet on her head and saluted.

“Ya don’t have to salute, Pinkie…” said Applejack, when the guard started the engine.

“Hi, darling,” said Rarity. “How are you doing?”

“Can’t hear ya!” Applejack shouted, but her voice also drowned in engine’s roar. She waved at the guards and they turned it off.

“I asked how were you doing...”

“Somepony in the factory had a great idea to deliver it directly here,” said Applejack. “We’ll have to drive it to the headquarters…”

“Can you give me a lift?” asked Rarity, seeing Pinkie disappearing in the tank’s interior.

“Bad idea, it ain’t the most comfortable vehicle in the world.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Also, Pinkie Sense sometimes warns us about suffocation when we’re inside, so Ah guess there’s somethin’ wrong with its exhaust pipe. We’re working to fix this, but so far we have to drive it with an open hatch.”

“So, how can I get to the Air Base?”

“There’s a cart waiting for ya,” said Applejack. “With some guards and a photographer.”

Rarity followed her gaze and saw the vehicle in question.

“Thanks,” she said. “Good luck with this.”

“Yeah, Ah’ll need it – when Pinkie saw it, she wanted to try shooting…”

“Hey, Applejack! There’s no ammo here!” Pinkie shouted from the inside.

“See?” said Applejack, shaking her head, and climbing on the caterpillar. Rarity went to the cart.

The road to the hospital was rather short. Most of the ponies from Canterlot were sitting in their homes – although Moon Army’s airships were aiming mainly at the factories, they were still afraid of bombings. The shop windows were boarded, walls covered in posters and graffiti. Rarity saw some groups of aggressive young colts walking down the streets and disappearing quickly in the nooks upon seeing the guarded vehicle.

The gates of the Canterlot Air Base were closed and guarded by at least a dozen of ponies, including snipers sitting on the top of a tower. Rarity, her guards and Photo Finish, who, after the war had started, became the official photographer of the Sun Army were scanned with a spell by one of the soldiers, a young unicorn.

“We’re checking if you’re not changelings,” he explained.

“Yes, I’ve heard about this… new policy.”

Walking to the hospital wing, Rarity saw some pegasi clearing the sky above the airstrip. She looked at them closer, but Rainbow Dash wasn’t there. However, when her small escort reached the hospital, she saw her friend walking out of it.

“Hi,” Dash said emotionlessly, waving the bandaged hoof at her.

“Hello, darling,” Rarity replied. “What happened to your hoof?”

“It’s an old wound,” said Rainbow Dash after a short pause. “It got dirty and I had an infection, but don’t worry, Redheart fixed everything.”

“Yeah… I think she has a lot of work,” said Rarity, seeing that Dash’s other legs were also covered with plasters, arranged in peculiar patterns. Dash noticed her stare.

“No, it’s just… I put them there because my armour rubs me, and I don’t wanna have blisters,” she explained quickly.

“Oh… I’ll come to you when I’ll be done with the injured ponies and I’ll help you fit it.”

“No, you don’t have to, it’s okay,” Rainbow Dash muttered, “It’s better when it’s tight, it’s more aerodynamic…”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes! I’ll go and help the rest – since no weather team works now, we have to clean the sky for ourselves. See you!” she said and took off. Rarity shrugged and proceeded into the building, where Nurse Redheart was awaiting them. They both put on their best professional smiles when Photo Finish took some photos of them.

“I’m glad that you’re taking care of our brave soldiers,” said Rarity officially, seeing that the former fashion photographer noted their every word.

“Well, at the moment there are only two of them here,” Nurse Redheart smiled even more, making Rarity shudder. It wasn’t a pleasant smile, but rather a sardonic grimace.

“So, it’s good to hear that they get better quickly.”

“Yeah, because the rest of them were either only slightly injured or dead,” Nurse Readheart deadpanned, still smiling at the camera. Photo Finish, however, wasn’t taking any more photos of them, too busy noting. Rarity sighed.

“Can’t you cooperate?” she whispered. “Say something optimistic…”

“What? ‘Thanks to our efforts, only one pegasus will probably be disabled for life, and only half of the crew take sleeping pills, antidepressants or stimulants’? Why should I even bother? You can come up with some random bullshit…”

“Can we talk in private for a moment?” asked Rarity, glaring at her guards and Photo Finish. They quickly left the room. She thought that they probably stood behind the door, eavesdropping. She didn’t like the look Photo Finish gave her before leaving.

“You should watch out, darling,” she said. “There’s somepony in the base who likes to inform Princess Celestia about what everypony here says…”

“Honestly? I don’t give a fuck,” said Nurse Redheart. The profanity surprised Rarity; the nurse usually maintained the professional attitude. “We’re not in the Griffon Empire, I can say what I want. If Princess Celestia’s going to put me in jail for talking, then I can understand all those ponies who support Princess Luna...”

She wasn’t smiling anymore. Rarity looked at her but didn’t find any good reply. Nurse Redheart continued.

“Listen, I watched all that propaganda crap sponsored by Fancy Pants. You know, happy little ponies, bloodthirsty beasts with fangs, good Sun, bad Moon, such shit. I know some good bat ponies and I know some bad ponies. If somepony wants to make me to join the choir of ponies mindlessly praising Celestia, I’m sorry, but I just have to stand against, you know.”

Rarity murmured something. Nurse Redheart smiled, this time it was a natural, heart-warming smile.

“I’m sorry, I just… You know, I had to get that out.”

“It’s okay, darling,” Rarity replied. “I sometimes think that Blueblood, Fancy Pants and the rest of the nobles got crazy since the war started.”

“Let’s not talk about that, okay?”

Rarity nodded. Another question popped in her brain.

“How’s Dash? I’ve heard her wound got infected…”

“What? I’ve never heard of that! She was here just before you arrived, but she only asked me for some sleeping pills.”

“That’s strange,” said Rarity, but before she could ask another question, her guards came back.

“Photo Finish is now taking pics of the soldiers,” said one of them. “Can you talk to them?”

“Yes, I’ll be there soon.” Rarity followed him to the ward.

One of the pegasi in the room, a violet mare with a blonde mane was sitting on her bed with a bored expression. Her bandages were removed, showing an old bruise.

“What’s your name?” Rarity asked.

“Cloud Kicker. I got hit by a bullet, but my armour saved me and thanks to the good care here I’ll soon be able to go back into service…”

Rarity let Cloud Kicker talk, barely listening to her, knowing that the specialists from Celestia’s propaganda office would soon create an uplifting article in Equestria Daily, illustrated with her photos. She looked at the other pony, an aquamarine mare with an amber mane, lying lifelessly in her bed, staring at the ceiling. One of her wings was spread and covered almost completely in bandages.

“Lightning Dust?” she asked.

“Who are you? If you’re somepony important, tell them to let me die.” Her voice was emotionless, and Rarity noticed that it resembled Rainbow Dash a bit.

“What happened to her?” she asked Cloud Kicker.

“Dunno, she’s like this since they brought her here, high on painkillers and antidepressants,” the mare said in a slightly annoyed tone. “She told Dash about something, and my cousin said that Dash went nuts…”

Rarity nodded and trotted to Lightning Dust’s bed.

“Hello… My name is Rarity, Rainbow Dash’s friend.”

Lightning Dust lifted her head so quickly that Rarity jumped backwards, startled.

“Rarity… I heard that name before…” she said weakly.

“Where?”

“That kid… She was calling her parents and somepony called Rarity before… before they cut her legs off…”

Rarity felt her heart skipping a beat. She had to force herself to breathe.

“Sweetie?”

“I don’t know…”

“Small, white unicorn…” Rarity sobbed.

“Yeah, that one…” Lightning Dust continued monotonously, “They couldn’t find her after the fire… I was telling them to leave me and go and find her…” she waved her hoof, tearing the needle of the i.v. rack from it. “It’s all my fault…”

“It’s not your fault, you were wounded…” said Rarity quickly, while Cloud Kicker was calling Nurse Redheart.

“It’s all my fucking fault!” Lightning Dust snapped, trying to get up from her bed. “I dropped a fucking bomb on those kids!”

Rarity felt as if the blood froze in her veins. She didn’t even notice when Nurse Redheart bumped into her, rushing to give Lightning Dust an injection. Next thing she remembered was when the guards carried her out of the building. She slowly inhaled the fresh air and felt that she could get back on her hooves.

“Leave me alone…” she whispered. “I must find Dash…”

“What’s going on?” somepony asked. Rarity saw a familiar black stallion in front of her.

“Thunderlane, right? Is Dash somewhere here?” she asked, straightening her mane and trying to keep her voice steady.

“She’s helping us clear the sky, I can get her in a minute.” He smiled at her and took off.

It took even less than a minute before Rainbow Dash landed in front of her and looked at her unsurely.

“Can we talk for a moment in private, darling?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah, I think so…” Dash said and lead her to a small building near the airstrip where their briefings usually took place. The room was a bit dusty, but Rarity had no time to complain.

“I just talked to one of your colleagues,” she started. Rainbow Dash cowered in her chair.

“I… I think I know what is this about.” Dash’s voice was devoid of any trace of emotion. Unable to look at Rarity, she was staring blankly into the wall.

“You knew?” Rarity stood up, resting her forehooves on a table. Her voice was quavering with concealed fury. “Your wingpony dropped a bomb on a group of foals and you haven’t told anypony about this?”

“I didn’t know at first… Only when Dust came back from the hospital…”

“And even then you haven’t told Applejack and I who sent our sisters to a hospital where they were burned? Or that, quoting Dust, Sweetie was calling my name before they cut her legs off?”

“I… I wanted to spare you the details…”

“Sorry, Dash, but the fact that you and that reckless idiot basically killed Sweetie and Apple Bloom is not a detail! What were you thinking?”

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash snapped, taking off. The chair fell on the ground. “Do you think I’m not asking myself that question? I think about this every day, and I don’t know! I thought Dust was dying, told her to drop the bombs…” She landed on the table staring into Rarity’s eyes.

“I can understand that you were worried about her…” Rarity said a bit calmer. “But still, why didn’t you tell us? Why did you lie?”

“I… I didn’t want you to suffer…”

“No, you didn’t want us to blame you! Rainbow Dash, you were simply saving your flank! You’re all the same, using Celestia’s name to justify everything!”

“Do you think I’m happy with that?” Dash shouted, leaning closer to her. “Did you forget that Scoots also died?” In one swift move she torn the bandage off her hoof, exposing freshly cicatrized cuts and causing Rarity to back away.

“Look…” she said. “Do you know why I did this to myself?”

“You’re sick!” Rarity shouted, charging her horn, and firing at Dash, who dodged it a bit too late. The spell left a long cut on her cheek and burned some of her hair.

The door bursted open and Cloudchaser, Snowflake, and Thunderlane entered the room.

“It’s okay,” said Rainbow Dash. “We were only talking…”

“Quite loudly,” Cloudchaser deadpanned.

“Yeah…” Dash smiled sheepishly, hiding her hoof behind her back. “But it’s okay, Rarity’s leaving now, right?”

“Indeed, darling,” said Rarity coldly, jumping off her chair. She walked to the door, not even looking at any of the pegasi and went to her cart. A guard saluted when she sat in the vehicle.

“Should we drive back to the palace, Ms. Rarity?” he asked.

“Not now. I have to visit one more place…”

***

Lies. Nothing but lies. Even Rainbow Dash… I wonder if Twilight knows. Well, darling, when everypony is lying, you have to look for the truth by yourself.

Rarity always imagined the headquarters of an group of plotters as some smelly, ruined building, inhabited by dozens of ponies, sleeping on pulicous mattresses scattered on the dirty floor. However, the flat where The Fireflies were holding their meetings looked quite clean for the district it was in. The door was open, and when Rarity entered the flat, a light blue earth pony approached her.

“Hello sister,” he said. “My name is Noteworthy.”

“Umm… hello. May I talk to your boss?”

“There’s no ‘boss’ here, only brothers and sisters.”

“Right… But, there’s somepony who is, umm… in charge? A leader or something?”

“Firefly is now meditating,” Noteworthy explained. “But she should be free soon. Take a seat and make yourself comfortable.”

Rarity went to the kitchen and sat on a chair, watching the flat and its inhabitants carefully. Another pony gave her a cup of tea. No one asked her anything, they treated her as if she always was there. She recognized one of the ponies as Roseluck, a flower vendor from Ponyville.

“Hi Rarity,” she said. “So, you also think the end is near?”

“What are you talking about, darling?” she asked. Roseluck frowned, but Rarity quickly added, “I mean… I haven’t found my way yet. I need to talk with Firefly first.”

Noteworthy appeared in the kitchen door.

“Firefly wants to meet you,” he announced. “Follow me.”

The room was almost empty, except for a mat lying on the floor. Several joss sticks placed on a windowsill were burning, filling it with exotic smell. A pink pegasus with a blue mane was sitting on the mat with her eyes closed. Rarity took a quick glance at her cutie mark. Two blue lightnings weren’t something she’d expect from the self-proclaimed prophet.

“Welcome, sister,” she said.

“Hello,” said Rarity unsurely, and sat on the floor.

“Something’s troubling you, sister,” Firefly stated.

“Yes,” Rarity nodded, “I… I started to doubt whether Princess Celestia is right…”

“Everypony doubts. Despite the propaganda telling us that questioning the authority is a bad thing, a bit of doubt is always, I’d say, refreshing.”

“And I’ve heard that you support Princess Luna. I… I want to join her. I can provide information… Crystal ponies…”

Firefly opened her violet eyes, piercing Rarity with her gaze.

“I’m sorry sister, but you’re at the wrong address,” she said in a surprisingly cold voice. “We don’t support Luna, Celestia or anypony else. Try Moonshine Colts.”

“But…” Rarity looked at her, unsure what to say. “But I thought you want to end the war…”

“Of course we do. But we believe that by using violence to end the war, we’d end up being like the princesses. Violence is not a solution, Rarity. You know about it well.”

“Then how do you want to end it?” Rarity asked.

“We’ll just wait,” Firefly replied. Her voice was again soft and ethereal. “One day Princesses and the nobility will be gone and ponykind would be able to live in peace, not ruled by anypony.”

“That’s insane!” Rarity exclaimed. “The Princesses have been around for thousands of years! They won’t just go away!”

“What else can we do?” There was pain in Firefly’s voice. She lowered her wings and looked into Rarity’s eyes. “For years, pegasi, the most impatient of ponies, were known as great warriors. I was supposed to be a warrior, but I chose to live at peace and wait patiently, while my former classmates... Do you want to know what happened to them?”

She raised her hoof, silencing Rarity.

“Surprise… she became a Wonderbolt and few days ago was shot down over Ponyville. Fluttershy and Derpy… one of them is dead, and the other is here, taking care of her paralysed daughter… Another innocent victim. Rainbow Dash…”

“I just talked to her,” Rarity interrupted. “She killed my sister.”

Firefly’s head drooped. She placed her hoof on her chest, as if she was checking her heartbeat.

“No…” she muttered, dropping her ethereal manner of speaking. “She would never hurt a child…”

“She did,” said Rarity coldly, but, seeing the pegasus’s expression, she added, “But I saw her and I think she regrets it…”

“This can destroy her… Just like it almost destroyed me, when she… she helped me after…” Firefly said to herself, closing her eyes again and taking a deep breath, while rubbing her temples. When she spoke again, there was so much pain in her voice that for a moment Rarity thought that something wrong happened to her.

“I’m sorry, Rarity, but I can’t talk with you now… Take care of yourself. And of Dash too…”

When Rarity left the room where Firefly started to meditate again, she almost bumped into a small, blonde unicorn filly sitting in a wheelchair.

“Good afternoon, Ms. Rarity,” the filly said, looking upwards at her. “How’s Sweetie?”

“Dinky! Who are you talking to?” A grey pegasus mare stood in the door to one of the rooms, looking at her daughter.

“There was Ms. Rarity here, but she had to go,” said Dinky cheerfully, pointing at the door, closing after Rarity who’d left the flat in hurry.

9. Applejack

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Let us cultivate our garden.
Voltaire, Candide

A projectile hit the wooden target, obliterating it, and sending a torrent of splinters in all the directions. Applejack climbed out of the trench and smiled upon seeing the results.

“Thank ya, Pinkie,” she said when the pink mare’s head appeared in the hatch of the tank. “Ah guess we’ll be able to deploy them soon. Now drive it back to the magazine.”

Pinkie saluted and closed the hatch. The engine roared and soon Applejack stayed alone in a cloud of fumes.

She sighed and trotted to the changing room – a small lean-to next to the hangar with some old, battered blimps. She had a hard time convincing Pinkie to not take one of them for a spin – they had no engines and weapons anyway and were used only by pegasi as target airships.

She took off her uniform, folded it and put it in her locker. She then took her hat and saddlebags and left the proving ground.

A letter in her saddlebags wasn’t very heavy, but she felt as if it was made of lead. Near the gate, she met a group of soldiers, coming back from the training.

“Howdy, sis.”

“Hi Big Mac,” she said, looking at him absent-mindedly, barely noticing her cousin Braeburn, also wearing a Sun Army uniform. Their rifles were hanging from their backs, next to the saddlebags with some spare magazines.

“Are ya okay?” he asked. “Ah’m really sorry for little Apple Bloom… Ah’ve already told Big Mac that if we get the bastard who did it…”

“Ah won’t let y’all go to the frontline!” Applejack exclaimed. “Y’all are volunteers and ya should stay here, in Canterlot.”

“Tell that to our commander…” said Big Macintosh, pointing at the white unicorn, walking around the field. “He’s a rich kid who was given a Major’s uniform and thinks he’s gonna defeat Luna himself.”

“But he at least was a Royal Guard before the war! And y’all only enlisted a few days ago.”

“It doesn’t matter, Ah’m pretty good with guns, ya know,” said Braeburn.

“Eeyup.”

Applejack rolled her eyes.

“By the way, have y’all heard the news?” Braeburn asked. “Do ya remember that dippy pegasus, aunt Apple Seed’s ex-husband? Babs’ father?”

“Eeyup.”

“Can y’all believe he’s in the Moon Army?” Braeburn waved his gun. “Ah’d want to meet him… Ah’d be like ‘Hello, uncle…’” He pointed the barrel at the nearby wall. “To think that Granny liked him at first…”

He paused, seeing that his cousins exchanged worried looks.

“What’s going on?” Braeburn asked.

“It’s about Granny Smith,” said Applejack.

***

Applejack finished gathering her belongings and put them on the cart. There wasn’t much of it – she knew that she’d get her own room in the Princess Celestia’s palace, so she only needed a few things. She looked at the apple trees and sighed, wondering how much time would pass before she’d see them again. She went back to the house and saw Granny Smith sitting at the kitchen table.

“We’ll be ready to go soon,” Applejack said.

“Ah’m not going.”

Applejack stopped in her tracks and sat next to her grandmother.

“Ya can’t stay here! The Moon Army can walk out of the forest at any time.”

“Here’s mah place. Ah wouldn’t feel good in Canterlot. And somepony has to take care of Apple Bloom…”

“Ah need to talk to her too.” Applejack shook her head. Her sister had refused to go to Canterlot with her, opting to stay with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, at least till the foals would be evacuated from Ponyville.

“She won’t change her mind. She’s as stubborn as ya…”

“What? Ah’m not stubborn, Granny!”

“Then why are ya keep tellin’ me that Ah should go to Canterlot?”

Applejack sighed.

“Ah guess it runs in the family…”

“Eeyup,” Big Macintosh agreed, entering the kitchen. At first Applejack didn’t notice Fluttershy walking behind him, and was surprised when she whispered her name.

“What’s going on, Fluttershy?” she asked. She saw that Fluttershy was already wearing her uniform – a bit different than the ones wore by the soldiers, a simple shirt with a camouflage pattern. It was a bit too big; Applejack immediately imagined what Rarity would say if she saw this.

“Umm… Twilight says that we have to go,” Fluttershy replied. “I’m going to meet Dr. Stable soon, we’re going to stay in the forest in case of any battle.” She leaned closer to Applejack and whispered, “I’m so afraid…”

“Don’t worry,” Applejack said, walking outside with her and Big Macintosh, “everything will be all right…”

***

“Don’t worry, AJ, Granny is strong. She’ll be okay,” said Braeburn. “’Sides, who’d want to attack a farm?”

“Yes, but they already attacked the convoy with foals… And a hospital...” Applejack stared at the pavement blankly, covering her face with the brim of her hat. “Ah have to go to the palace,” she said eventually.

“Hi, Applejack!” She heard somepony next to her. She rose her head and saw a minty green unicorn mare sporting a uniform similar to the one Big Macintosh was wearing. She was carrying a pair of saddlebags with a radio in one of them, and a gun in the other. Unlike Big Mac’s and Braeburn’s weapons, it wasn’t an assault rifle, but rather a submachine gun with a wooden stock and a drum magazine.

“Lyra? What are ya doing here?”

“The Signal Corps were looking for ponies who can maintain the radio. You know, I used to work in EBC Radio… I wanted to do something so I enlisted.”

“Are ya crazy? Ah can understand Big Mac, but ya can’t even shoot…”

“I’m learning...” said Lyra quietly, lowering her gaze. Applejack knew why. According to the specification she’d received, the submachine gun Lyra had could fire about nine hundred rounds per minute, which meant emptying 71-bullets magazine in less than 5 seconds. Applejack could hardly imagine Lyra firing even one bullet at another pony, not to mention seventy one.

“Don’t worry, AJ, we’ll take care of her,” said Braeburn. “She’ll never be in a direct fight.”

“And who’ll take care of y’all? Lyra, did ya think of Bon Bon?”

“Bonnie’s okay with that…” Lyra muttered, her cheeks red. “She understands my decision.”

“Well, Ah don’t think so! Ya shouldn’t leave yer loved ones… Ever…”

A tear ran down Applejack’s face. Lyra trotted to her and hugged her tightly. The gun rattled in her saddlebags when she took a step backwards, surprised by her own audacity.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I promise we’ll find the ponies who killed Apple Bloom…”

“No,” Applejack replied. “Don’t put yerself in danger trying to find ‘em. Besides, the crystal ponies will arrive here soon… Yer detachment won’t even leave Canterlot, Ah hope.”

Lyra said nothing, turning her gaze away. Applejack decided that it was time for her to go.

“See ya later. Take care of yerself,” she said and trotted away.

Walking through the streets of Canterlot, she suddenly saw a burned-down remains of some large building, and several ponies searching through them, while a team of fireponies was pouring water on the still-smoking planks.

Applejack suddenly felt her vision darkening. She felt that she had to sit down or she’d collapse. Thoughts about the napalm bombs and Apple Bloom overwhelmed her. She took a few deep breaths before getting up.

“What in tarnation is going on here?” she asked one of the ponies watching the debris with an expression of pure despair.

“My warehouse!” he shouted, pointing at the ruins. “Damned pegasi!”

“There was an air raid?” she asked. Despite her initial thoughts, she didn’t believe it’d be possible. Luna’s air force was trying to aim rather at the factories and mines on Canterlot outskirts, the only load they were dropping on the town being the propaganda leaflets.

But they killed Apple Bloom and all those foals. And then they killed Fluttershy… a nasty voice in her head reminded her.

“No! The pegasi clear the sky only above their airport, and the weather here goes crazy! Lightning hit it out of the blue, and burned all my food supplies! How are we going to survive now, when Luna’s forces captured Ponyville and–”

“What?” Applejack exclaimed. “Ponyville got captured?”

“Yes, I just got a message from my cousin… Hey, where are you going?”

***

Applejack stormed the door of the throne hall, stopping dead in her tracks, when she saw Princess Celestia sitting on her throne, discussing with Twilight and Spike over a large map of Equestria.

“H-how…” she panted, not even bothering to bow before the Princess.

“Air support, artillery…” said Twilight grimly, looking at a bat pony statue standing on a spot labelled “Ponyville”. “They have a clear road to Canterlot now…”

“How about your brother, Twilight?” Princess Celestia asked. When Applejack looked at her, she saw some wrinkles around her eyes that weren’t there before. Her mane was also different, hanging miserably instead of flowing. Applejack never considered Celestia being “old”, but now she just couldn’t repress that thought.

“His ship should arrive tomorrow, but I’m afraid we don’t have so much time. We’ll have to send the volunteers to fight–”

“Wait!” Applejack exclaimed. “Ah have an idea. There are lots of storm clouds from the Everfree nopony cares about,” she said, recalling the burned warehouse. “How about gathering ‘em above the roads and causing a big storm?”

“That… that might actually work…” Twilight looked at her, her eyes wide.

“The infantry would still get through, but at least we would stop the artillery…” said Celestia.

“Yeah, they’d get stuck in swamp, and we’d bomb them!” Spike exclaimed. “You should really help us with strategy more, AJ…”

“Yeah, maybe…” Applejack smiled faintly. “Ah haveta go…” She turned back and headed to the door leading to their chambers.

“Twilight, if you will excuse me for a moment,” said Celestia, following Applejack. “Send a message to Rainbow Dash and Spitfire, we will need their help.”

“Something worries you, my little pony,” she said to Applejack when the door closed behind them.

“Well, Ah’m not the only one, Princess.”

“True words,” Celestia stated. “I know how it feels to lose a sister. And now, I am losing her again.”

“But at least she’s alive!” Applejack banged her hoof against the tiles. “And ya knew that she might come back one day. Ah don’t even have a body to mourn… They… they found some bones, probably Fluttershy’s… but those fillies had no chance…” she sobbed, dropping her hat on the floor.

“I did not know that there would be ponies able to reform her,” said Celestia. “And now, without Fluttershy…” She embraced Applejack with her wing. “I really wish I could talk to Luna now, but all I see in my dreams is death and suffering of my subjects… Luna sends them to all of us, but I am able to repel them… Only to see them myself.”

“Ah… Ah’m sorry, your Highness,” Applejack said, seeing that Princess Celestia herself was about to cry in her arm. Celestia suddenly realised what she was doing and released her from her grasp.

“I think I will go back to Twilight…” she said. “Take care, Applejack.”

When she disappeared, Applejack shrugged and continued to go upstairs to her room. When she was walking next to Rarity’s chamber she noticed that the door was open, and she smelled something strange in the air.

“What the hay are ya doin’, sugarcube?” she asked, entering the room and seeing her friend sitting on a bed sheet lying on the floor with her eyes closed, breathing deeply. Several joss sticks were surrounding her, filling the chamber with an unusual, yet refreshing scent.

“I’m trying to empty my mind,” said Rarity calmly, and took another deep breath, inhaling air for exactly ten seconds, holding it in her lungs for a while, and then exhaling it for another ten seconds.

“Well, Ah have cider if ya want…” Applejack felt that she could use some mind-emptying too.

Rarity opened her eyes, piercing her with her gaze.

“Well, darling, while a glass of cider would be enjoyable, I’d rather stick to meditation. It really works!”

Applejack put her hoof on Rarity’s forehead unsurely. It wasn’t hotter than it should be, so fever was out of question.

“Really, I’m okay, darling,” said the unicorn. “I think I’m starting to slowly accept what fate brings to us…”

“Ah don’t think so.” Applejack sighed.

“You should try it too,” Rarity stood up, leaving her some place on a sheet. “I almost don’t want to kill Dash anymore…”

“What? Why’d ya want to kill Dash in the first place?”

“Oh, so she didn’t tell you either…” Rarity’s voice started to quiver. She took another deep breath, but with no results. “Our dear friend, Rainbow ‘I don’t want you to suffer’ Dash told her hare-brained wingpony to drop the fucking shrapnel bombs on the place the foals from Ponyville were hiding!”

Applejack felt as if the chamber suddenly collapsed on her head. Her saddlebags suddenly became heavier again, depriving her of breath and crushing her ribs.

“Are ya sure?”

“She told me,” Rarity said flatly, wiping her eyes with the sheet. “And then I met Derpy’s daughter… I… I just couldn’t look in that poor kid’s eyes… They all are d-dead or hurt because Dash...” She bursted into sobs.

“What’s wrong with y’all today…” Applejack muttered, patting Rarity’s head. “Shh, it’s okay, sugarcube…”

She noticed that the sky started to grow darker, the sun and the moon obscured by a large patch of dark, stormy clouds. She looked through the window, hoping to see a rainbow-coloured trail around them, but the pegasi were too far to be visible.

“Will you stay with me?” asked Rarity, tossing the joss sticks aside. Applejack froze. She didn’t want to lie to her friend, and that meant either revealing her plan to her or…

“Of course, sugarcube,” she said, looking through the window once more, this time watching the garden below them. She dropped her saddlebags on the floor. “Ah have some work to do anyway, so if ya can’t sleep, just tell me.”

She opened one of her saddlebags, and took the envelope out of it. She needed only to write a few more words, and had a hard time explaining to herself that she didn’t just lie.

In fact, she had some work to do.

While she was writing, Rarity washed the pitiful remains of her make-up off and put rollers in her mane. Applejack barely heard her “goodnight”, and responded only with some muttering. She waited some time until Rarity finally stopped tossing and turning in her bed and put her letter back in the envelope which she placed on unicorn’s nightstand, hoping that her friends would understand.

After a short pondering she decided to go back to her room – she didn’t want to traumatise Rarity further by making her think that she could stop her. Of course, she didn’t also want her to suddenly wake up, and (she smiled at that thought) upset the apple cart. It was her decision, and nopony was able to change it. She checked for guards in the corridor, and seeing that there were none, she carefully closed the door behind her and headed to her chamber.

Back in it, she opened the window, propping it carefully with a plant pot – even though the storm was far from Canterlot, there was strong wind blowing, and she didn’t want the window to suddenly close. She put her saddlebags on the floor, opened one, and quickly found what she was looking for. She examined it, looking for any rips – trusting the damaged rope with her weight could leave her paralysed, something she wouldn’t wish anypony. Finding that the rope was intact, she smiled, and began tying a knot on her bed’s leg.

***

Rarity slowly opened her eyes. The distant roaring of the thunderstorm and the fact that her room was darker than it used to be since she moved there helped her in falling asleep. Or maybe it was the presence of Applejack that fought the nightmares. She lifted her head, looking around the room groggily.

“Applejack?” she called, but nopony answered. When she was trying to get her bearings, she saw an envelope on her nightstand. She remembered that Applejack had been writing a letter before she’d fallen asleep, but she had no idea why she’d left it in her room. Yawning, Rarity levitated the envelope to her eyes and saw her name, along with Twilight’s, Pinkie’s and Rainbow Dash’s written on it with Applejack’s messy hoofwriting.

Frantically, she tore the envelope open, and levitated a letter from it.

My dear friends,

I’m really sorry to leave you but…

The letter fell out of Rarity’s magic grasp. She jumped out of her bed and rushed to Applejack’s room. It was very similar to hers, but now it was littered with pieces of parchment, scattered by the wind. The window was open, and Applejack’s bed was empty. When Rarity trotted closer to examine it, she noticed the rope tied to one of its legs. It was hanging over the windowsill, its other end somewhere outside the castle.

“Applejack?” she shouted, looking through the window. “Applejack!”

10. Princess Celestia

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I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be.
Thomas Jefferson

“Guards!” Rarity shouted, galloping down the corridor, her hoofsteps echoing through the castle. “Twilight! Anypony!”

She could hardly believe in what had happened at night. Her breath was short, her heart was pounding against her ribs, as if it was trying to break free. Despite that, she was still running.

A black unicorn royal guard stood in her way, causing her to stop in her tracks to avoid bumping into him. He took a bow and, unfazed by neither an early hour, nor rollers in Rarity’s mane and her pink gown, said, “Good morning, ma’am.” His voice was deep and calm. “Is everything all right?”

“I… it’s Applejack… she…”

“What is going on in here?”

Rarity looked up and saw Princess Celestia walking down the stairs. She stopped in front of her and the guard, who took a bow again. Rarity followed him. She noticed that the Princess looked tired – her mane was still hanging limply and her eyes were half-closed. Her expression was indifferent at first, though a spark appeared in her eyes when she first heard shouts. Rarity levitated a letter from a pocket of her gown.

“It’s from Applejack,” she explained. Princess Celestia took the piece of parchment and read aloud:

My dear friends,

I’m really sorry to leave you, but I can’t stand it anymore. Apple Bloom is dead and I can’t do anything about this, but I can still save the rest of my family. I’m going back to the Sweet Apple Acres – I just can’t stand the thought about Granny, sitting there alone while Ponyville is under attack. Once again, I’m really sorry for leaving you like that, and I hope you’ll understand.

Forever yours,
Applejack

PS. Twilight, no matter what Big Mac and Braeburn say, keep them away from the frontline. I don’t want to lose the rest of my family too.

“She ran away through the window,” Rarity said when Celestia stopped reading. “Maybe we’ll be able to find her…”

Lightning struck somewhere near the palace, soon followed by thunder. It seemed that the storm created by the pegasi grew a bit out of control.

“As you can see, my little pony, Applejack did everything to hide her plans from you,” Celestia said. “Maybe we should just let her go…”

“What?” Rarity shouted, approaching the Princess. The guard tried to calm her down, but she sent him a cautionary look and continued. “Just like you let Luna go?”

Princess Celestia winced, but quickly returned to her usual expression. However, her voice was a bit shaky when she said, “I let Luna go, and I regret it, but it is a different situation. Ponies should not leave their families…”

“But they shouldn’t also leave their friends,” Rarity replied. “I’m going to look for her, Princess, no matter what you think about it.”

She went back to her room, slamming the door.

“Should I stop her?” asked the guard. He was shocked – for the first time in his life he heard somepony yelling at the Princess. It was also the first time he saw her so indifferent. He exactly remembered her from before the war – she’d never let it go, no matter what the weather would be. The reply to his question only added to his confusion.

“Just do whatever you want,” said Celestia flatly and teleported away.

***

For Twilight, the storm was a salvation.

Since the war started, a “permanent twilight”, as Pinkie had called it, was depriving her of her sleep; no blinds or curtains could help her fight the insomnia. Now, with the sky covered with a thick layer of clouds, she could finally use some rest. She had no dreams; her brain, too tired to produce any visions, just let her sleep calmly.

Somepony banged at her door. She woke up in complete darkness and tried to get her bearings, looking around.

“Come in,” she muttered, yawning. The door opened, and a wave of light from the corridor, although dim, caused her to close her eyes and turn her head away.

“Good morning, Twilight.”

“Princess?” Twilight awoke quickly, lighting her horn. Even the purple light was hurting her eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“Look at this,” Celestia levitated the Applejack’s letter to her. Twilight read it frantically, despite her brain protesting against acknowledging more bad news. She gasped in shock and threw her head backwards on the pillow.

“May I ask you a question?” Celestia asked when Twilight finished reading and was now pondering about the implications.

“Sure, Princess.” Twilight put the letter on the nightstand, trying to focus. She still wanted to sleep.

“Am I bad?”

“What?” Twilight looked at her, confused.

“I sent my own sister to the Moon, and despite my best intentions, she now rebels against me again. I forgot about all of my subjects, instead focusing on the small group of rich nobles. Hundreds of ponies die every day because of me. Now Applejack left me. She is the Element of Honesty and she can spot any trace of malice. Twilight Sparkle, I am asking you: am I a bad pony?”

“No, of course not!” Twilight replied, causing Spike to snore a little louder. “You didn’t start the war; it’s just defence against Luna…”

“But do I really need to defend myself?” Celestia asked. “Luna is younger and gets on with ponies much better than me. Maybe I should just give up and let her rule over Equestria?”

“Her guards killed Fluttershy,” Twilight’s voice quivered. She sat on her bed. “They bomb innocent ponies, and you think about giving up?”

“Well, I feel I just cannot stand it anymore,” Celestia said. “When you live for thousands of years, there comes a moment when all you see are your failures.”

Twilight looked at her, her eyes wide. She didn’t know what to say. After she freed herself from the blankets she shivered. It wasn’t only a matter of draught.

“You’ve defeated Discord,” she stated eventually.

“Yes, but Luna was by my side back then. And after that, I kept ignoring her, more focused on establishing our rule over Equestria. Maybe if I talked to her more, we would be able to avoid my biggest failure – Nightmare Moon…”

“Don’t worry, Princess,” said Twilight. “I’m sure we’ll find some way to fix this.”

Spike grumbled something in his sleep and opened one eye.

“Good morning, Princess,” he muttered. “Hi Twilight. Did I miss something?”

“No, I was just leaving,” said Celestia and turned back to Twilight. “Your brother should arrive soon, and you should really catch some sleep. This war drains us all physically and emotionally, and I am certainly not helping you…”

“It doesn’t matter, Princess,” Twilight replied. “You taught me well, and I can handle this.”

“I never doubted in you, Twilight,” said Celestia, and teleported from the room with a golden flash of magic. Spike crawled out of his basket and stretched himself, yawning.

“Did I hear correctly?” he asked. “The Princess wants to abdicate?”

“Of course not!” Twilight exclaimed, covering herself back with the blanket. “It’s just a hard time for her, but she’ll surely get better once it’s over.”

“What if she won’t? Would Luna take her place?” Suddenly a smile appeared on his face. “Or maybe you’d become a new ruler of Equestria!”

“What?” Twilight chuckled. “No, Spike, this’ll never happen. Cadance is older than me, and if something hypothetically happened to the princesses, she’s not even the first in line…”

“Then who is?” Spike asked.

“Blueblood…” Twilight sighed. “Besides, I doubt Cadance would leave the Crystal Empire…”

“You’d be much better ruler than him, ” Spike said, lying back in his basket.

“Me? No, that’s not even–” she heard Spike’s snoring. “Well, nevermind…” she muttered, falling into a shallow slumber, with an image of Fluttershy before her eyes.

***

Celestia sat alone at the top of the tower, watching the moon, as it emerged from behind the veil of storm clouds. Her crown was resting on a nightstand, where she’d tossed it carelessly after she’d teleported to her chamber. It didn’t matter. Nothing really mattered now, except maybe one pony...

“Sister,” she whispered. Nopony replied. Far away from the castle, the clouds slowly started to dissipate, revealing the sun, still placed firmly on the western part of the sky.

“Please, sister,” she sobbed. “Luna… Just give me a sign… I can move the sun and we will be together again…”

For a moment she thought about giving the power to her sister. They’d be together again, healing the war wounds and making Equestria a better place… Celestia shuddered when she remembered what Luna had told her about the dream she had when she last was in the Crystal Empire. She thought how easy it was for her to shrug it off – a meeting with Fancy Pants was more important for her than what her own sister had to say about the suffering of the fillies in Detrot.

She remembered what Twilight had told her about the Griffons – if she moved the sun, they’d stop threatening to invade… Maybe she should really give up?

Then she thought about the thousands of Royal Guards, and what would happen if they were told that their sacrifice wasn’t worth anything. She thought about ambitious nobles like her nephew, Prince Blueblood. How far would he go to take her place? She then thought about Twilight Sparkle, her faithful student… Just how faithful was she really?

She shook her head, trying to get rid of that thought. Twilight would never do such a thing.

Still, there’s Blueblood, the pegasi from Cloudsdale and the overly ambitious officers… Some day one of them will betray me...

Somepony knocked at her door. She quickly put her crown on and opened them to see one of the guards.

“Prince Shining Armor has just arrived,” he said, bowing before her.

They are all the same. Affable and dutiful, but if I show only the smallest sign of weakness, they’ll all turn to vultures… She shuddered upon that thought and only after a moment she realised what the guard just said.

“Contact the commanders of the Sun Army; we are going to meet in the throne room,” she ordered, feeling a new energy filling her body. She rushed through the staircase, and flew to the hall of the castle to meet Shining Armor.

He stood there with some of his soldiers, crystal ponies wearing camouflage uniforms and equipped with assault rifles, instead of traditional armours and spears they were using during parades. Celestia looked at them, wondering how the proximity of the Griffon Empire influenced the development of military technique in the Crystal Empire – many of the Equestrian Army units, especially volunteer ones, were using only pistols, shotguns and submachine guns. Pegasi were the first to discover the advantages of the modern assault rifles. Tanks and heavy artillery were still a rarity, though it was changing quickly.

“Welcome, Princess,” said Shining Armor bowing before her. “My soldiers are ready to fight at any moment.”

“They will not have to wait long, I’m afraid,” Celestia replied. They both went to the throne room, where the Element Bearers were awaiting them.

Twilight looked much better after catching a few hours of sleep, and when she flew to give her brother a welcoming hug, Celestia again saw her as a happy, innocent filly she was not so long time ago. Rarity, as always, looked perfect. She’d gotten rid of her gown and rollers, but she was still shooting nervous glances around, as if she was looking for Applejack. Rainbow Dash, who just arrived to the palace with Spitfire, Soarin, and a violet pony with a white and blue mane, whom Celestia didn’t know, was staring blankly into the wall. Only Pinkie Pie looked truly happy, wearing a tankpony’s helmet and watching the Shining Armor’s guards in awe.

When they sit at the table to discuss the strategy, the door to the throne room opened, and they saw Prince Blueblood, accompanied by a younger stallion, also a white unicorn. His dark orange mane was cropped short. He was wearing a vest with a camouflage pattern, an assault rifle placed on his back. It wasn’t one of the Sun Army’s standard rifles, but a griffonian weapon – built in a bullpup configuration, with a small trigger that could be pulled only by a unicorn or a griffon.

“Good morning, auntie,” he said. He and his companion sat on Celestia’s right side. “I think you know my nephew, Hot Blood.”

“Yes… how could I forget him…” she deadpanned. She remembered Hot Blood – son of Equestria’s ambassador in Neighway. He had to come back to Equestria after some minor scandal he’d caused there, and which was quickly hushed up. Celestia had some spies among the nobles’ servants – she’d never rule for so long if she hadn’t – but even they were only able to inform her that Hot Blood had an affair with some mare in Neighway, with no other details. Later, he became a soldier and, not without his uncle’s help, became a Major – probably the youngest one in the Equestrian Army. He spent some time in Changelings’ Territory but his unit was soon moved back to Canterlot.

When Hot Blood sat next to his uncle, Celestia turned to Rainbow Dash and her pegasi companions, who were sneezing constantly – a side effect of creating a storm large enough to cause local floods in only a few hours.

“This is my second-in-command, Cloudchaser,” she introduced the violet pegasus, who, as Celestia noticed, was limping slightly.

“A battle wound?” she asked, pointing at her bandaged hind leg.

“Yes, Princess,” Cloudchaser replied nervously. “But it heals quickly thanks to–”

Celestia sighed. While she agreed with Fancypants that some propaganda is needed, she didn’t like the influence it had on her subjects.

“Stop talking like one of those ponies in motivational movies,” she whispered. “That’s an order.”

“Y-yes, Princess,” Cloudchaser looked shocked, but after she sat next to Rainbow Dash, she smiled faintly.

“We gathered here to welcome Prince Shining Armor and present our current situation to him,” Celestia announced. Shining, sitting between the two colonels from his army, Tungsten Heart and Lanthanum, stood up.

“Welcome, Princess,” he said. “As we speak, my soldiers are attacking Detrot. It’s being captured as we speak. However, recapturing Ponyville will be important – it’ll allow us to besiege Luna’s old castle in the Everfree. How does the situation look now?”

“We just came back from the patrol,” said Spitfire. “Their artillery is stuck in swamp and the road to Canterlot is largely flooded, so they instead focused on building field fortifications in Ponyville.”

“We’ll have to attack them soon then, before they’ll make it a fortress…” said Shining Armor.

“But how?” Twilight asked. “We flooded the roads, but it means that we also can’t get through…”

Cloudchaser whispered something to Rainbow Dash’s ear. Dash replied quickly, and, aware that everypony at the table were staring at them, said loudly, “Cloudchaser has an idea. C’mon, ‘Chaser, tell them…”

Cloudchaser cleared her throat and said, “I think we should develop Applejack’s idea further – it’s November, and there are already many snow clouds in the mountains. We can bring them here and make Canterlot a second Stalliongrad. With their featherless wings, bat ponies would be unable to fly in such harsh conditions…”

“Yeah, most of the bat ponies are from Pferdreich, they should remember Stalliongrad…” Soarin agreed.

“It’s Germaney now, and it was over sixty years ago…” Spitfire hissed, rolling her eyes. Soarin looked at her and rose his eyebrows. She sighed and shook her head.

“Never mind,” said Shining Armor. “It’s a good idea; but while my soldiers are used to the low temperatures, we’d still have problem with transporting the equipment to Ponyville.”

“Maybe we won’t have to bother with this…” said Prince Blueblood, smiling maliciously. “If you can bring snow clouds over Ponyville, why can’t you produce some clouds that’d rain, for example, sulphuric acid?”

Everypony went silent. Rainbow Dash rose to say something nasty, but stopped in her tracks, when Cloudchaser put her hoof on her arm.

“It’s impossible,” she said. “We don’t have any acid in the Weather Factory, and even if we had…” she hesitated a bit, before finishing quietly, “The factory isn’t working… We…”

“Why is it not working?” Celestia asked.

She heard rumours before, and now she felt regret that she didn’t examine that case earlier. Cloudchaser looked like a good pony, but something about the official version of what happened in Cloudsdale didn’t feel right. The guards’ reports were often contradicting one another. The version prepared by Cloudchaser’s pegasi was messy and not very convincing. There were also confessions of the arrested Princess Luna’s followers, who were now staying in the dungeons of Celestia’s castle. A large binder of reports from their interrogations was still lying, unopened, on Celestia’s desk.

“Umm… Princess… that’s something I’d rather not discuss here,” said Cloudchaser, staring at the floor.

“What have you done?” Twilight Sparkle asked, leaving her seat and flying to Cloudchaser. “Dash, do you know something about that?”

“Twilight Sparkle!” Celestia decided that it’s time to remind the ponies who is their leader. She stood up, her mane flowing, and her eyes burning like the sun itself. Rarity made a move suggesting that she wanted to hide under the table, and even Shining Armor jumped back from her.

“I want to talk with Cloudchaser in private,” Celestia said, calming down.

“Umm… she flew away, Princess,” said Pinkie, pointing at the window. It was open, and when Celestia looked through it, she saw a silhouette of a pegasus, disappearing in the distance.

“Really, is that a new tradition? Everypony leaves this castle through the window?” Celestia muttered to herself.

“I’m sorry, Princess, she’s a bit weird recently,” Rainbow Dash said quickly. She rubbed her bandaged hoof.

“Should we chase after her, Your Highness?” Soarin asked.

“Later,” said Celestia, “Cloudsdale can wait – first we have to think about Ponyville. Rarity, as my quartermaster, do you have any idea how to transport Shining Armor’s army there quickly?”

“Well…” Rarity thought for a moment, “Applejack was mostly dealing with machines, while I was responsible for equipping the soldiers, so–”

“And what happened to her?” Blueblood asked. “If I recall correctly, Applejack is that earth pony with an incomprehensible accent? Where’s she?”

“She had to resolve a family matter,” said Celestia quickly. Twilight sighed with relief.

“Family matter…” Blueblood smiled. “Is her family more important than Equestria then? My own nephew, a common pony–” he pointed at Hot Blood, who snickered. “–decided to enlist, because he knows that a country is more important, while she, being the Element Bearer–”

“Enough, Blueblood,” Celestia hissed. “This is not the time and place to discuss patriotism. Do you have any ideas?”

“I have one!” Pinkie jumped out of her seat, waving her hoof. Seeing that everypony’s gaze was focused on her, she sat back again, and said, “When we were testing that super-duper tank with Applejack. She told me that they have some old tiny balloons pegasi use as targets while training, because they’re similar to airships, just smaller…”

“Assault blimps?” Rainbow Dash, who spent last few minutes staring at Cloudchaser’s empty seat, livened up. “Pinkie, you’re a genius!”

“What are those assault blimps?” Twilight asked.

“Small airships with a single gondola,” Rainbow Dash explained. “They have no engines, because they’re meant to be pulled by two pegasi on a low altitude. Shining, if your soldiers are used to hardships, we can fit about twenty of them on each, and drop them over Ponyville.”

“Yeah, but how many of them do we have?” Spitfire asked. “We’ve already torn some of them to shreds while training…”

“Exactly twenty five!” Pinkie answered, smiling.

“So, we can transport five hundred soldiers at once, then they’ll have to engage Luna’s forces till the reinforcements arrive,” Shining Armor concluded, “all while dealing with flak, snow, and at least two thousand bat ponies.”

“So, what do you think, brother?” Twilight asked.

“That’s crazy… But I’ve heard about crazier things that worked.”

“So, let’s prepare them for battle!” Rarity exclaimed, trying to cover her dismay because of the fact that Pinkie came up with a solution before her.

“Not so fast,” said Shining Armor. “My soldiers don’t know Ponyville, so we’ll need some locals to guide us.”

“My company will be glad to volunteer,” said Hot Blood, smiling proudly. “Some of them are even from Ponyville…”

11. Big Macintosh

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In modern war... you will die like a dog for no good reason.
Ernest Hemingway

“So, why exactly are we here?” Lyra asked. “After all that ‘you’re not gonna be sent into fight’ and ‘crystal ponies came to save the day’ talk?” She shuddered and wrapped herself in her cloak in a futile attempt to protect herself from the wind.

“Y’all should ask that fancy dude who’s our commander...” said another soldier, a yellow stallion with an orange mane, barely visible from under his helmet. They were crowded in a gondola of a small airship with seventeen other soldiers, flying to Ponyville. Twenty four similar airships were flying behind them through the blizzard, the pegasi pulling them barely seeing anything.

Above them, the battle had already started. When pegasi from Canterlot had created a storm, they had managed to catch bat ponies off-guard, but this time they weren’t so lucky. Trying to protect the snow clouds from the Moon Air Force squadron was a dangerous and ungrateful task, and Lyra Heartstrings thanked all the gods ponies, griffons and zebras worshipped, for not creating her a pegasus.

“We’re close,” Captain Time Turner, a brown earth pony muttered. “Braeburn, Heartstrings, Big Mac, keep an eye on–” He rolled his eyes. “–Major Hot Blood.”

“Eeyup,” Big Macintosh agreed, and looked at the white unicorn standing on the other side of the gondola.

“Yes sir.” Lyra tried to salute, but resigned, seeing that she’d have to hit at least two other soldiers to do that. “Losing a commander would be…”

“Commander, my flank,” Time Turner whispered. “He’s not much older than you, filly, but his uncle is a big fish in Canterlot. He plays a soldier, while I’m in charge. You know, if they kill him, I’m fucked; if he screws something up, I’m fucked too…” he paused when they heard several shots fired in the distance.

“Welcoming committee!” Braeburn exclaimed. Two of the soldiers jumped to the cannons, mounted provisionally on each side of the small airship, ready to shoot at anypony wearing Moon Army uniforms.

Something exploded close to them, causing the gondola to rock back and forth. Soon, a series of smaller explosions followed it, flames visible in the blizzard. Time Turner, who was standing next to Big Macintosh, was first to see the red signalling flare thrown out of one of the airships.

“Clean!” he shouted. “Get out of the airship, ready to attack!”

When the gondola almost touched the ground, they opened the door, and began jumping out of the vehicle, aiming their guns at the dark silhouettes of the houses. Behind them, ponies from the other airships did the same, lying on the ground just after getting out of them, afraid of the enemy hiding somewhere near.

“It’s too silent…” said Braeburn. Big Macintosh didn’t even have time to agree with his cousin, when they saw a projectile, fired from between the nearby buildings. A HEAT warhead flew above their heads, leaving an igneous trail, and hit one of the assault blimps, which wasn’t yet completely left by its passengers. An explosion tore the sky, throwing the pegasi pulling the vehicle on the ground, and crushing them with the burning remains. A series of flashes blinded Big Macintosh for a moment when they started to fire at the place where the projectile came from. Someone screamed, and they saw a bat pony, trying to take off clumsily, when a burst from their guns nearly cut him in half.

“Forward!” the brown pony ordered, and Big Macintosh stopped thinking about going back to the deck of an assault blimp, which was now flying back to Canterlot to bring reinforcements. Five hundred soldiers ran down the street, taking cover behind the walls of abandoned houses.

“I know that place,” said Lyra when they hide with Big Macintosh and Braeburn in some backyard. Her voice almost drowned in blasts of explosions and gunfire. “There’s the Carousel Boutique nearby.”

“Ah can see a barricade from there,” said Braeburn, looking behind a corner. “Ah wonder if our shiny friends have some idea how to deal with that…”

Big Macintosh saw some crystal ponies on the other side of the street, gesturing towards them.

“Cover me, cousin,” he said, and, keeping his head low, he ran to them. He saw some movement with the corner of his eye, but then heard a sound of Braeburn’s gun, followed by some others.

“They’re somewhere close,” said the crystal pony when Big Macintosh joined them. “Is there any other way to get there?” he asked, pointing at the barricade near Carousel Boutique.

“Eeyup. We can approach them from their right. It’s a wide street, difficult to defend, and the nooks are good to hide,” Big Macintosh said.

“Good. Topaz.” He turned to the pony carrying a radio. “Tell the company Bravo to attack from the right, we’ll then join them from here. How much time did the pegasi give us?”

“Thirty minutes, before they’ll run out of ammo and will have to leave the clouds unprotected,” said Topaz, and turned on the radio, forwarding the orders.

“So, we don’t have much time…” the crystal pony muttered. Somewhere in front of them mortars started to fire, rounds exploding near the barricade guarded by bat ponies.

“It’s Bravo!” he shouted. “Let’s go!”

Big Macintosh followed the crystal ponies, soon joined by Braeburn and Lyra, the latter wielding her submachine gun with her magic, ready to shot anypony in sight. They ducked behind an abandoned cart.

“Where’s the captain?” Lyra asked. She was panting heavily, throwing nervous glances around. Even though it was cold, she was sweating. Braeburn looked around, and spotted Time Turner, hiding with Hot Blood behind the corner of a nearby house.

“Let’s go to them,” Big Macintosh said, trying to overcome the sounds of firing shots. “Ah’d rather not stay here till somepony throws a grenade at our cart.”

“Eeyup,” Braeburn muttered, leaning from behind the vehicle, and firing in barricade’s general direction. “Cover us, Heartstrings.”

A distance between the house and a cart was short, but for Big Macintosh, galloping through the snow was one of the longest moments of that day. They barely jumped from behind their cover, when several bullets hit the snow and ricocheted of the house wall a few inches from them. Lyra shot back, and followed them, covered by Braeburn. She was only a few feet from their new hideout when another dark silhouette emerged from the shadows and tackled her, revealing two retractable blades attached to the hooves.

Her scream echoed through the battlefield. Lyra thrashed, causing the bat pony to miss the first hit, blade stabbing the snowy ground.

Seeing that, Hot Blood jumped forward, and before their new opponent could react, he casted a spell, restraining him – for about half of a second, but it was enough for Lyra to recover, get her gun and shoot automatically.

With a high-pitched shriek, a bat pony, pierced by at least ten bullets, fell to the ground, thrashing and twitching in a growing crimson puddle. Lyra watched it, her face pale like a snow surrounding them. Then she switched her gun to semi-auto, raised it once again and fired with her eyes closed. The pony immediately stopped thrashing, and went limp on the ground, with half of the skull crushed by the bullet, covered only by remains of a maroon-coloured mane, one yellow eye still staring at the sky.

“A mare…” said Lyra, when she joined them. Even in darkness, they could see her expression of disbelief. “It was a mare…”

“That’s a weird way of saying ‘thanks for saving my life, Major’,” Hot Blood muttered, standing in front of Lyra, as if he expected that she’d kiss him.

“It was a mare…” Lyra rolled on the ground, making a gagging sound and spat some bile on the snow.

“You shouldn’t have shot her then,” said Hot Blood. “Those crystal ponies are doing a good job, we could play a bit. I heard you like fillies...” He looked at the body once more, not noticing the disgusted looks of his companions.

“So, what are we doing now? Sitting here and waiting till our shiny friends capture the barricade?” asked Braeburn.

“Works for me,” said Time Turner. “They don’t need us at the moment…”

Suddenly, he was interrupted by the loud blast, when the top of the house they were hiding behind exploded. They fell to the ground, covering their heads with front hooves, when a rain of bricks and dust fell on them.

“I… I think they know we’re here,” said Lyra, when everything went silent.

“You don’t say!” Hot Blood exclaimed rising from the ground and trying to get rid of the snow in his helmet. “Captain, I order to attack before they kill us here!”

“At your service, Major,” Time Turner muttered, rolling his eyes. “We should circle the house. I think there’s a narrow street there… I think I found my stepdaughter there once… If they forgot about it, we can catch them off-guard.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Braeburn, and looked at Big Macintosh, who confirmed his words. Carefully, they crawled to the opposite wall of the building, spotting at least a dozen bat ponies standing in the street behind the corner, and shooting at the incoming crystal ponies.

“How many grenades do you have, Heartstrings?” asked Time Turner.

“Only three left,” she replied.

“That’ll be enough. Everypony ready?”

“Eeyup.”

“Ok, on three then… One… two…”

When he said “three”, Lyra removed the pin from one of the grenades and threw it at the bat ponies.

“Granate!”

“Achtung!“

Shouts of bat ponies drowned in an explosion, throwing the shrapnel and the snow around. Big Macintosh galloped from behind the wall, shooting into the blizzard. The barricade, hit by crystal ponies’ mortar, exploded and started to burn, flames soon engulfing the Carousel Boutique.

“Crystal Empire!”

“Celestia!”

“Stop shooting, Big Mac,” said Time Turner. “I think we won.”

Several crystal ponies, including their commander and the radio operator called Topaz, emerged from the smoke.

“Hot Blood! You here?” the commander asked.

“Yes sir,” said Hot Blood. “It was my idea to choose this way.”

“Good job soldier.” The crystal pony looked at the burning buildings. “I’m afraid that we woke up everypony in town. In weather like this, they’re mostly a bunch of sitting ducks, but they’re still dangerous.”

“How are the pegasi?” Time Turner asked.

“They had to leave,” said Topaz, looking up. Some dark silhouettes were visible between the clouds, trying to dissolve them. The crystal ponies regrouped, counting the dead and injured. The rest of Big Macintosh’s company joined his little group.

“Where should we go now?” asked the crystal ponies’ commander, looking on the plan of Ponyville.

“Town hall is there,” said Time Turner, pointing at one of the streets. “But the pegasi reconnaissance shown that it’s heavily guarded. Heavy machine guns and mortars everywhere, not to mention that those guys we just fried probably had many friends.”

“So what should we do? We can’t just wait for the reinforcements here!”

“Excuse me, Captain Turner, but I’d like to remind you that I’m a Major here,” said Hot Blood, levitating the map and looking at the marked positions of Moon Army. “I think we should advance further. Their morale seemed to be rather low, with some luck, they’ll surrender when they’ll see us.”

“Yeah, especially that one who tried to kill Lyra,” Big Macintosh whispered to Braeburn. “Her morale was really low…”

“Stop muttering!” the commander called. “We’ll advance further towards the Golden Oak Library. According to our data, there’s a similar outpost there. We’ll try to make a clear road for the second group.”

The crystal ponies saluted quickly and started to march, carefully observing the surroundings. About half of them took the alternate road in order to flank the enemy. The first rays of the Sun started to pierce through the clouds.

“So silent. Ah don’t like this,” said Braeburn, looking nervously on Lyra, who was walking near them, her face pale and her eyes focused on one point, somewhere in the distance. She was barely paying attention to her surroundings.

Hiding behind abandoned carts and some pieces of plundered furniture lying on the street, they slowly approached the Golden Oak Library. Its windows were smashed, but it looked like the Moon Army hadn’t devastated it.

“It seems there’s nopony home,” said Topaz, emerging from the shadowy street. “Maybe they ran a–”

A single shot fired from the building, piercing through his helmet as if it was made of paper, and obliterating his skull. His body fell to the ground like a puppet with cut strings, giving only a few final twitches. At the same moment, some crystal ponies started to fire at the library, trying to avenge their fallen companion. Another bullet fired, hitting Lyra’s saddlebags and destroying the radio inside. The unicorn screamed, collapsing on the ground.

“Lyra!” Big Macintosh shouted. Braeburn darted to her and dragged her behind the corner of the nearby building.

“I’m fine,” Lyra panted, coughing. When they removed her saddlebags, they saw a nasty bruise on her side; but she soon stood up, grasping her gun firmly with her magic.

“Cease fire!” Tungsten Heart, the commander of the crystal ponies ordered. “It’s no use,” he added when the soldiers followed his order. “We can’t reach this motherfucker from there…”

One of the crystal ponies started to advance towards Topaz’s body.

“Wanna be next, Realgar?” the commander asked.

“Our only working radio is there, Colonel,” Realgar said, pointing at the body. “Don’t you think we should warn the second group?”

Another shot fired and somepony screamed in the distance.

“Seems they already know,” said the colonel. “Cordite!”

“Yes, sir?” One of the ponies, carrying a large tube on his back, stood in attention.

“Take that sniper down.”

“Yes, sir!” Cordite exclaimed, and moved forward, taking the tube from his back, and, with Realgar’s help, loading a round into it. As the cloud cover was now almost destroyed by the bat ponies, the sky coming back to its dim colour, they had no trouble spotting the bat pony sitting on the top of the library, and watching the other group through the telescopic sight.

“A bit to the left…” Realgar muttered, looking into the reflex sight. Cordite moved, awaiting for an order to fire.

“Now.”

Cordite pulled the trigger of his launcher. The flames exploded from the rear end, and a projectile flew out of the barrel. The sniper heard the blast and looked at them just before the rocket hit one of the branches near him, exploding. Some branches fell off the tree, along with unrecognizable carmine chunks.

“Nice,” the commander said casually. “Realgar, take Topaz’s radio and let’s go!”

Trying to remain in the shadows of the buildings, they got past the Golden Oak Library, heading to the City Hall.

“Hey, Big Mac,” Braeburn whispered. “Look at this…” He pointed at the snow in the middle of the road, which now, in the sunlight, had a faint orange tint. Big Macintosh followed his gaze to see the characteristic trail imprinted on it.

“Caterpillars… Ah don’t like it… Lyra!”

The unicorn stopped, followed by Time Turner and Hot Blood.

“Shit,” she muttered when they showed her the marks. “We’d better warn Colonel whatshisname…”

“Tungsten Heart, if I recall correctly,” said Time Turner. “Colonel!”

The crystal pony stopped the soldiers and approached them. His reaction upon seeing the trail was as phlegmatic as usual.

“Cordite, keep your launcher ready. Be quiet. Remember that they can hear us better than we can hear them…” he said, and went back to his soldiers.

Lyra looked at the road one more time, and said to Big Macintosh, “Tungsten Heart… sounds like that nurse who gave us a check-up back in Canterlot. You know, the one who gave your cousin her photo before we left…”

“Eeyup,” said Big Macintosh absentmindedly, focused on bat ponies and their tanks.

“Her name was Atom Heart, Lyra,” said Braeburn. “Besides, we promised Bon Bon that we’ll bring ya back alive, and it’s hard when y’all tempt fate by talkin’ ‘bout yer loved ones… Not to mention that Bon Bon wouldn’t like ya talkin’ about sexy nurses...”

“Oh, come on...” Hot Blood rolled his eyes “You earth ponies still believe all those superstitions?” He shook his head.

“Some of them really work,” Time Turner deadpanned. “For example, the one which says that soldiers who annoy their brothers in arms tend to die quickly.”

“Thinking about some friendly fire, Captain?” Hot Blood asked, giving him a nasty look.

“Shut up, all of you!” Colonel Tungsten Heart hissed. “I hear something…”

Soon they also heard it – the low-pitched burr in the distance, accompanied by caterpillar tracks clattering.

“It’s here! On the left!” one of the crystal ponies shouted.

“Another one!”

Big Mac looked to his left, and saw a tank – it wasn’t as modern as the ones used by Sun Army, for it was lacking a turret and its cannon was instead mounted on a sponson on the front, but it still looked impressive – an enormous mountain made of grey iron, crawling slowly to them.

“Get down!” he shouted just before the cannon fired, the round missing his group by inches, and exploding in a crowd of crystal ponies. Smoke and snow obscured the view. He got up quickly, galloping to the nearest building to hide. Both tanks started to fire their machine guns, catching the crystal ponies in the crossfire.

“Braeburn, where are ya?” Big Macintosh shouted, trying frantically to see something through the smoke.

“Here, cousin!” He heard Braeburn’s voice near him, and soon saw him running out of the cloud of smoke with Lyra and Hot Blood.

“Where’s the captain?” asked Big Macintosh.

“Running away with the crystal ponies,” said Braeburn. “They want to regroup near the Golden Oak Library, Ah think.”

“Tungsten Heart?”

“Wounded, but he fled too,” Lyra said, hyperventilating. “Cordite… He managed to immobilise one of the tanks, b- but I’m afraid they massacred him…”

The tanks stopped firing, but they heard roaring of an engine close to them. Big Macintosh looked behind the corner and saw the bodies of at least thirty ponies lying in the middle of the street, the snow around them turning red. One of the tanks stood there with a broken caterpillar, abandoned by its crew.

The other tank was slowly advancing towards the group of crystal ponies, running away in a disorganised group, shooting at them mercilessly with its machine guns.

“We need to save them!” shouted Hot Blood, attempting to run behind the tank. Braeburn stopped him.

“Not so fast, Mr. Fancy,” he said. “We need a plan.”

Checking carefully if there was no bat ponies around, they went on the street.

“Lyra, take his radio,” said Braeburn, pointing at Realgar’s ridden-down body lying in front of them. Somehow the saddlebags with the radio were intact.

“I don’t like it,” said Lyra, putting them on. She winced when the blood-stained fabric touched her back. “Radio guys seem to die pretty fast today…”

“Yeah, but we’d like to know what’s going on,” said Hot Blood. They started to run behind the tank, hoping that none of the crew members would see them.

“Ok, it has to take the right turn now,” Braeburn muttered. “Let’s take a shortcut. Behind this building…”

“It’s Sugarcube Corner,” said Big Macintosh, when they stood in the backyard. The back door was closed, but he shot through the lock and they entered the abandoned bakery.

“Second floor,” Braeburn ordered. They rushed upstairs and stopped by the window. Below them, the tank was slowly crawling through the street.

“Lyra, ya still have two grenades, right?”

“Yeah, sure,” Lyra replied absentmindedly.

“Great,” Braeburn concluded. “Give me one, I’ll go first.”

“No time,” Hot Blood replied, watching the tank. “She needs to go…”

“What?”

“Come on! Before it passes the window!”

Lyra closed his eyes, and jumped out of the window, landing on the top of the tank. Big Macintosh followed her, leaving his cousin and Hot Blood behind.

The sound of their hooves clopping against the metal surface alarmed somepony inside, but they only waited for it. When the hatch opened, Big Macintosh quickly shot at the pony who appeared in it. The soldier didn’t have time to make any sound, when his headless body fell off the ladder. Before any of his companions could react, Lyra levitated a grenade and threw it inside, closing her eyes and muttering something that sounded like “sorry”.

The tank shook from an inner explosion, followed by the screams. However, it didn’t even slow down. Big Macintosh and Lyra looked at each other and jumped inside.

The interior was dark and smelled of fumes, blood and excrements. Upon landing, they slipped on the floor. Lyra lit her horn, but soon regretted it – when she saw the crew, she threw up on the tank’s floor.

Most of them were killed in an explosion, the sole exception being a dark brown mule lying in front of them. One of his hind legs was torn off, and he had a large wound in his stomach, but somehow he was still breathing.

“They’re not bat ponies…” Lyra whispered, shocked. “And I killed them…” She looked into the eyes of mortally wounded mule in front of her.

“They’re not bat ponies, but ya saw what they did…” said Big Macintosh, recalling the crystal ponies’ bodies lying in the snow. “Don’t look, Lyra.” He lifted his gun and shot at the mule, ending his suffering. Seeing his dead body, he started to think about his life.

Before the war, his life was so simple. A family, friends, days of hard work… Cheerilee and Fluttershy... Back in these days, his biggest problem was to overcome his shyness and ask one of them out.

But then, everything changed when the Moon Army attacked. They solved his problem once and for all, with bombs and napalm. Fluttershy, Cheerilee and his beloved sister, Apple Bloom were dead, Applejack was missing, he was standing over the body of some mule he didn’t even know, and his only friend now was a young unicorn, who was just having another attack of nausea.

He sighed, and rushed to the driver’s seat. A dead earth pony with a large wound in his back was hanging on the tank’s acceleration levers. Big Macintosh pushed him off his seat, only to realize that one of the levers was jammed in “forward” position, and the tank suddenly turned left, throwing him out of balance. He recovered quickly and hit the lever, which moved back to its starting position. The tank started to lose speed, but when Big Macintosh looked out of the small window in front of him, he saw a rapidly approaching brick wall.

“Watch out, Lyra!” he shouted, throwing himself on the floor, next to the driver’s body.

With a terrible sound of crushed bricks and torn metal, the tank hit the wall, demolishing it, and drove into the house. The floor was too weak to withstand thirty-two tons of iron – it collapsed and the tank fell into the basement.

“Big Mac! Lyra! Are y’all okay?” they heard a worried voice somewhere above them.

“Eeyup,” said Big Macintosh, emerging from the cloud of dust. He was soon followed by Lyra, still wearing the crystal ponies’ radio on her back. The saddlebags were ragged, but the device, except of some scratches on its casing, seemed intact.

“Turn it on,” said Hot Blood. Lyra didn’t react; instead she collapsed on the snow, hyperventilating.

“What the fuck is wrong with her?” the Major asked, poking Lyra with his hoof.

“Look into the tank,” Big Macintosh replied. “That’s what’s wrong.”

Braeburn took a paper bag he’d put in his saddlebags before they were boarded and gave it to Lyra. After inhaling and exhaling into it for a few times, she calmed down a bit, but when she stood up, her legs still were wobbly. When she tried to levitate her gun, her magic faltered and died down.

“Oh, come on…” Hot Blood groaned. He levitated a small, white pill out of the pocket of his uniform. “Take this.”

Lyra took the pill automatically and swallowed it. She drank some water from her canteen and when she finally got up, she looked much better, even though her face was still pale.

“Turn on the radio, let’s see what’s going on,” Hot Blood ordered.

Lyra pushed the switch, and the crystals inside of the radio lit with a dim green light. She turned the knob with his magic, but all they heard was a heavy static.

“Where are they…” she muttered.

“We’re under attack!” some voice emerged from the static. “It’s Liquid Crystal from Bravo company! We’re in Golden Oak…” The signal disappeared. Lyra turned the knob, but all she got was faint echo of bat ponies calling:

“Vorwarts! Feuer frei!”

“We need to help them,” Hot Blood decided.

“Just the four of us? That’s suicide!” Lyra shouted.

“Ah’m almost out of bullets,” said Braeburn, lifting his gun. “We have a tank, but Ah don’t think it’ll ever go somewhere…”

“Earth ponies with their narrow minds and limited imagination…” Hot Blood sighed. “Bullets! We have two unicorns here, we can do whatever we want with them…”

“Don’t look at me, sir. I almost failed the Magic Kindergarten.” Lyra’s voice was hollow. “I don’t know any useful spells...”

Hot Blood slammed his hoof against his forehead.

“Now I know why are we losing this war,” he finally said. “What do you want to do now? Surrender? Crawl into some hole and wait for the reinforcements?”

“Not a bad idea, Mr. Fancy,” Braeburn deadpanned. “At least it’s better than chargin’ at them…”

“Scheisse!” a voice from the Lyra’s radio was filled with panic. Somewhere in the background the shots could be heard through the static.

“Seems that at least they are not giving up,” Hot Blood commented. Suddenly, an idea struck Big Macintosh’s mind.

“Lyra, can ya talk to ‘em with this?” he asked.

“I think so, if you really want to chat with them…”

Big Macintosh turned to Hot Blood.

“How’s ‘retreat’ in Pferdisch?”

The white unicorn smiled mischievously.

“You’re quite wise for an earth pony, soldier. Heartstrings, give me the radio. You still have their frequency?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good.” He pressed the button on the radio and shouted, imitating the bat ponies’ accent, “Alle Verbanden zurück! Sie attackieren das Rathaus! Ich wiederhole: alle Verbanden zurück!“

The ether became flooded with the voices repeating his orders, and soon they heard clopping of hundreds of hooves, echoing through the streets of Ponyville.

“Seems that they still can’t fly,” Braeburn observed.

“Eeyup,” said Big Macintosh. “If ya had no fur, ya also couldn’t walk when it’s so cold.”

Another group of the crystal ponies was running through the nearby street, stopping from time to time to shoot at their retreating enemies.

“Big Mac? You here?” they heard a familiar voice. Time Turner, along with some crystal ponies, galloped to them, his rifle hanging from his neck. “They surrounded us near the library, but then something happened and they started to run away!”

“I pulled a little stunt with the radio,” said Hot Blood before Big Macintosh could reply. “Now, chase them before they find out!”

They ran after the bat ponies, Lyra and Hot Blood taking advantage from the fact that, being unicorns, they could shoot and run at the same time. Somewhere in front of them, another grenade exploded. They saw the group of their enemies splitting, one part of it turning around to face them.

“Get down!” Time Turner shouted. The first volley of bullets flew above their heads. They quickly retreated to the side streets, shooting back at the bat ponies and mules who also were in that group. Some stray round hit the radio on Lyra’s back, scratching the casing, but leaving the crystals inside undamaged.

“I’m okay!” she shouted when Big Macintosh ran to check on her. She looked much happier than a few minutes before, courtesy of the pill she had been given. She prodded the radio with her hoof.

“Much better than my old radio… After the war, I’m gonna go to the Crystal Empire and thank the guy who made it…”

“What now?” Braeburn asked when they hid behind the corner, firing his last rounds at the enemies. “They’ll find out that we tricked ‘em, and they’ll come back…”

“Don’t worry,” said Time Turner, pointing at the sky. Between the sun and the moon, they saw a rainbow trail. It quickly descended, and they saw the silhouettes of six pegasi, wearing black outfits fitted with a gun and two bombs strapped to them. Another group, consisting of twelve pegasi wearing blue and yellow armours, was flying behind them.

“Air support!” Lyra shouted. “Our reinforcements are close!”

With a loud whistle, a bomb fell on the detachment of Moon Army defending the street, sending a torrent of shrapnel around. Some of them tried to escape, but one of the pegasi, wearing a black armour with three dragonflies on it, flied behind them, firing at them from the weird-shaped weapon shooting buckshot in rapid series. Some bat pony took off, trying to attack her from behind, but another pegasus fell on him, pinning him to the ground. A quick swing of a knife and the bat pony stopped thrashing.

The pegasus’ helmet fell when she tore the knife out of his body and for a moment Big Macintosh saw her long, blonde mane and narrow eyes of a madpony. He didn’t have time to watch her closer, as Hot Blood ordered them to advance further.

The Wonderbolts chased the Moon Army from the other side, advancing towards the city hall. Assault blimps, now covered in scratches and holes, landed on the empty street, a new detachment of crystal ponies emerging from them.

“Where’s Tungsten Heart?” their commander asked.

“In the Golden Oak Library,” said Time Turner. “They shot him, but he seemed okay last time I saw him.”

“He’s a tough guy, soon he’ll be on his hooves again,” the commander smiled. “Now, let’s get this City Hall before our brave pegasi finish them off!”

Several crystal ponies gave Big Macintosh and his companions new magazines, and they marched to the City Hall. The building, surrounded by barricades and heavy machine guns, was burning, hit with the bombs. The Moon Army, however, didn’t want to give up: one of the Wonderbolts, a blue mare with a white mane, was lying in the mud, her armour pierced with numerous bullets. Her companions were circling above her body, shooting at anypony who showed up, trying to get to the guns. Big Macintosh noticed a blonde mare flying among them. She’d smeared the dead bat pony’s blood on her face and chest plate of her armour.

Big Macintosh turned to Lyra to draw her attention to that, but then he noticed the unicorn’s stare. Her pupils were shrunk to pinpricks and her expression looked much the same as the crazy pegasus’.

“Seems that it’s over,” said Hot Blood. “We can wait for them to fry inside, or–”

Another Moon Army soldier left the burning town hall. The Wonderbolts immediately aimed their guns at him, but Spitfire, seeing that he was waving a piece of white cloth frantically, stopped them.

“We surrender!” he shouted, dropping his gun. About forty soldiers, who also emerged from the ruins – bat ponies, earth ponies, mules, donkeys, even some unicorns – followed him, dropping the guns and sitting on the ground. Crystal ponies ran to them, surrounding them.

On the outskirts, the fight continued, the fresh detachment of crystal ponies chasing the Moon Army to the Everfree. Bombed by the pegasi and shot by the infantry, Luna’s soldiers ran away in shame, to bring the princess the news about their failure.

***

“What will we do with ‘em?” Big Macintosh asked. Rainbow Dash’s squadron just brought to them another group of soldiers who had surrendered, and the total number of the POWs, sitting in the place where the town hall used to be, guarded by him and his brothers in arms, was now about two hundred.

Surprisingly, only a few of them were bat ponies. Their group was sitting together, in some distance from the other prisoners, who were looking at them askew. Scared, with their wings chained together, they looked pitiful, nothing like bloodthirsty creatures from the propaganda posters.

“Most of ‘em will probably stay here,” said Braeburn. “Let’s see what they’ll say.” He pointed at the small building, where the commanders of all the detachments which took part in the battle met. Even though Time Turner’s rank was lower than Hot Blood’s, he was asked to join Spitfire, Rainbow Dash, Tungsten Heart and Colonel Lanthanum, the commander of the reinforcement. The Major, affronted by such a lack of respect, was trotting around the square, glaring at the prisoners angrily. He was soon joined by another pony from Big Macintosh’s detachment, a white, elegant unicorn with a black mane called Black Marble, who, according to Time Turner, spent most of the battle hidden in the library.

“Ah’d watch out for ‘em,” said Big Macintosh. “Lyra, what do y’all, unicorns, usually do when pissed off?”

Lyra didn’t answer, resting against the saddlebags with the battered radio and staring in the distance. She was like this since the battle finished, and Big Macintosh, who at first thought that his companion fell asleep, started to worry.

“Lyra?”

“Yes?” she asked groggily. “I’m okay, don’t worry.”

“Are ya sure?” Braeburn asked, still watching Hot Blood and White Marble carefully. The unicorns now approached the group of bat ponies, talking with them. Lyra didn’t answer, instead she took her gun, and started to clean it automatically.

The conversation with bat ponies grew louder, some of them yelling at Hot Blood and Black Marble, who tried to separate one of them from the group.

“Ah think Ah know what’s goin’ on…” Braeburn muttered and rushed to them. Big Macintosh followed him. They got past the blonde pegasus mare – she was nodding off, still smeared in blood. She didn’t seem to care about the other mare, with a whimsical, white and blue mane and a shooting star painted on the armour, who was yelling insults at her.

“Kicker, I got used to you being a fucking junkie…” she muttered when they trotted next to her. ”But that’s just sick!”

“Yeah, sure…” Kicker replied groggily. Big Macintosh heard the bat ponies’ screams growing louder and began to trot faster.

There was a single mare among the bat ponies – similarly to the one who had attacked Lyra, she was an assassin, armed with the retractable blades attached to her front hooves. In the final part of the battle she tried to kill Spitfire who landed on the ground to protect the Fleetfoot’s body. Luckily, Soarin was there to watch her back and together they knocked the assassin out. Now she was screaming angrily, trying to hit Hot Blood with her hoof.

“What are y’all doing?” Braeburn asked angrily.

“Chill out, cowpony,” said Black Marble. “Major and I only want to play a bit.”

“Then play with yourself, pricks!” another voice called. They all turned back to see Spitfire, who just left the house which served as a temporary headquarters of the Sun Army.

“Major Hot Blood!” she shouted, taking off to be on an equal eye level with him. “An officer… A noble… What a disgrace…”

“What’s going on, Group Captain?” asked Tungsten Heart. He emerged from the building, limping slightly, supported by Lanthanium.

“They were trying to rape one of the POWs!”

Tungsten Heart wasn’t a very emotional pony. As a colonel, he knew the names of all of his soldiers, and it was probably the biggest sign of attachment in his life. There were only few things that could make him drop his usually calm demeanour and rape was one of them. When he spoke, his voice was ice cold, “Major Hot Blood, you’ll be immediately sent back to Canterlot, together with your friend,” he stared at Black Marble, who gulped. “Princess Celestia herself will be informed about your behaviour.”

“A propos Canterlot,” said Spitfire. “We got a message from Princess Twilight Sparkle. She ordered us to send two soldiers, named Braeburn and Big Macintosh, back to the capital.”

“Why?” Big Macintosh asked.

“She didn’t say. Who are we to question the Princess’ wisdom?” Spitfire sighed, rolling her eyes.

“Ah guess it has somethin’ to do with Applejack,” said Braeburn. “By the way, colonel, we’d like to ask ya to send another soldier with us. Name’s Lyra Heartstrings.”

“That one over there?” Lanthanium asked. Lyra was trying to attach a new magazine to her gun, but her magic was failing her. “She doesn’t look well…”

“Yeah, that’s why she shouldn’t stay here, sir.”

“I don’t know…”

“We need someone to escort those bat ponies to Canterlot anyway,” said Tungsten Heart. “Rest of the POWs will stay here, but Princess Celestia would be glad to interrogate her sister’s elite soldiers… You can go with Heartstrings and those two…” he muttered silently something that sounded like “bastards”.

“And she’ll stay here too,” Spitfire added, pointing at the bat mare, who was staring at them with a dull look on her face. The officers called several crystal ponies to guard Hot Blood and Black Marble, and went back to the headquarters.

Big Macintosh sighed.

“Ah’ve been there for so long and didn’t even visit Sweet Apple Acres… Who knows, maybe Applejack’s there?”

“Sweet Apple Acres? Is it that farm near the Everfree?” one of the crystal ponies asked.

“Eeyup.”

“Why are y’all asking?” Braeburn asked, but seeing the crystal pony’s grim expression, he didn’t expect any good news.

“There’s nothing there now,” the soldier said. “They burned it down.”

Big Macintosh collapsed on his haunches.

“D-did ya find somepony there?”

“Only this,” another crystal pony took a Stetson hat out of his saddlebags, “It was lying in front of the ruins.”

“Applejack…” Big Macintosh whispered, taking the hat from him.

***

Getting out of Palace was the most difficult part of her plan, but luckily she managed to accomplish this. Carefully avoiding the guards patrolling the garden, she finally made it to the street. She looked at the building once more and went to the army magazines.

Although it wasn’t raining in Canterlot, the sky was dark, something the citizens of the capital hadn’t experienced since the day the war had started. Most of them was at their homes, sleeping peacefully, something Applejack was glad of. Seeing the Elements of Honesty weaving through the streets would be something no witness would forget. She was trying to avoid the darker parts of the town – she didn’t want to meet the members of any infamous underground group of Luna’s followers. Their activity was usually limited to random acts of vandalism, but she heard that some members of The Lunatics (or maybe The Fireflies?) recently murdered somepony in broad daylight.

She sighed with relief when she finally got to the magazine. There was a single pony guarding the gate, but he didn’t even bother with talking to her – as a quartermaster, she had the right to visit them twenty four hours a day – and let her in.

She didn’t have to search through the magazine for long. The vehicle was standing in the middle of the hall, covered with a piece of cloth. She removed it to watch the machine in its full grace.

Although the internal combustion engines were invented some time ago, they were still expensive, and most ponies, including Applejack, didn’t trust them. Tonight, however, she had no choice – since the railroad between Canterlot and Ponyville was bombed, the fastest way to get there was an automobile.

It was another prototype, built of wood. It resembled rather a carriage fitted with an engine than an elegant machine some rich ponies like Fancy Pants or Prince Blueblood owned, but when they’d tested it with Pinkie, it proved to be capable of driving about 20 miles per hour, and Applejack, to her surprise, found out that she was a decent driver.

There was still some fuel in the tank, and she hoped it’d be enough to get to Ponyville. She dropped her saddlebags in the back and sat behind the handlebars and started the engine, waiting for it to warm up. A guard showed up in the gate to the magazine.

“Ms. Applejack! What are you doing?” he asked.

“Ah’m just takin’ it for a little test!” she said, hoping that he didn’t see her wince. “I don’t want ponies to see it, that’s why I’m doing that at night.”

“Okay then,” he said, going back to the entry. “Have a nice ride.”

Come on, she thought, It wasn’t a lie. It’s really a test drive.

She pulled the handle, switching to the first of the two gears, and the vehicle moved forward. She was steering it carefully – she didn’t trust the brakes, and last thing she wanted was to run somepony down or hit a cart someone had left on the street. The wheels rumbled against the cobblestone, she felt wind whistling in her ears, and had to hold her hat to avoid losing it.

Finally, she left the Canterlot outskirts behind. The cobblestone street changed into dirt road. She was driving slowly, about ten miles per hour – the road was slippery, and the wooden wheels didn’t help in handling the vehicle.

“It’s not normal,” she muttered. “A pony drivin’ such a thing…”

Several times she had to brake hard, seeing a rabbit standing in the middle of the road, scared by the lights of her automobile. Each time, watching the rabbit running away, she was thinking of Fluttershy.

She died somewhere nearby. Who knows, maybe the forest animals still visit that place?

A lightning tore through the sky. She slowed down even more, steering through the puddles of water getting harder and harder. She couldn’t see anything through the rain, and the lights weren’t any help. Eventually, with a loud splash, she drove into some hole. The vehicle leaned to one side when the leaf spring broke, and Applejack almost fell out of it. She braked hard and stopped the engine. The automobile was damaged beyond repair, but she left it without regrets – she planned to abandon it anyway, as Moon Army would probably ask many questions if she tried to drive with it through Ponyville.

She took her saddlebags from the back of the carriage, and, not caring about the rain, she started to walk through the forest. She decided to circle the town and, hoping that there weren’t any guards there, approach Sweet Apple Acres from the north, from the Everfree.

As she was walking through the fields the rain clouds slowly started to dissipate. The sun pierced through them, bathing everything in an orange light. She looked at the faraway silhouette of the farm, glad to see her home. But when her eyes accustomed to the light, she suddenly screamed and started to gallop towards the house.

At first she thought that it was a cloud obscuring the view, but when the wind brought the smell of burnt wood to her, she realized her mistake. When she was approaching the farm, she noticed more horrifying details: a large stakes of cut down and half-burnt trunks, piles of wet ashes and a scorched ground beneath her hooves caused her heart to pound wildly against her chest.

She stopped by the still smoking ruins of her house and collapsed on the ground, not caring about getting her coat dirty. She curled into the foetal position, sobbing loudly and banging her hooves against the ground. She called her grandma, only to hear the distant echo of her own voice. Not caring about the soldiers who could hear her, she started to curse them, the Princesses, her friends and herself.

She banged her foreleg against the ground so strong, that the hoof broke. She didn’t even feel the pain; she only realised that she was hurt when she saw drops of blood dripping on the ground.

Finally, when she couldn’t shout and cry anymore, she got up, panting, and searched her saddlebags, now dirty and squished. She found a piece of rope there and, relying completely on a muscle memory, tied it into a noose.

She looked around and collapsed on the charred grass again, this time laughing hysterically: there wasn’t a single tree left anywhere in sight, every single of them was cut down by the soldiers who’d burned the farm down. She threw the rope away and dropped her hat on the ground.

She regretted that she hadn’t taken a gun. It didn’t matter whether it’d be an assault rifle or one of the deadly SMGs. Any would do. Well, even a knife would do. She looked around, but she knew she didn’t take a knife with her. There wasn’t even a single stone in sight. For a brief moment, she thought about biting through her veins, but then she got a better idea.

Slowly, she stood up and headed to the Everfree Forest. Her breath was heavy, as if something was squishing her lungs. Her coat was covered in ground and ash. The broken hoof was sending the jolts of pain to her brain, but she ignored it. Her eyes lost their shine; she was barely able to see her surroundings when she walked into the forest. The green veil engulfed her, muffling all the sounds.

“Ah can’t even kill mahself,” she muttered, swallowing her tears. “Let the wild animals or Luna’s soldiers do that for me…”

***

“We’ll mourn ‘em later, cousin,” said Braeburn grimly. “Now we must go.”

Big Macintosh slowly rose from the ground, putting Applejack’s hat in his saddlebags. Fiddle was standing next to him, still pale, but looking a bit better since he was told that he was going home. Hot Blood and Black Marble weren’t so happy, standing next to the group of about thirty bat pony POWs, barely covering the expressions of pure disgust.

“Five soldiers to guard them? Don’t you think it’s too few?” Spitfire asked Tungsten Heart.

“We need every soldier here in case of a counterattack. Don’t worry, they’re chained together, they pose no threat. I’m more worried about those two…” he looked at Black Marble. “Especially this one,” he whispered. “Hot Blood’s uncle will probably get him out of trouble, but he has nothing left to lose…”

“I’ll tell Big Macintosh to keep an eye on him,” said Spitfire and flew away.

***

“Sweet Celestia, is it really only twenty miles to Canterlot?” Black Marble groaned. They were walking through the snow, leading a group of their prisoners only for an hour, and they already had enough of it, especially Lyra, who stayed somewhere in the back and they had to stop, allowing her to catch up.

“If y’all weren’t so horny, ya’d be now sitting in a warm room hitting on our air support,” Braeburn laughed. “But of course ya’re the kind of ponies who want everything now…”

“I’d like to remind you that you speak to your major,” said Hot Blood coldly.

“Yeah… how long ya’ll be a major after this stunt ya pulled? In Appleloosa we have one way of dealing with such ponies like ya… Ya take a hammer and a nail…”

“Braeburn, stop,” Big Macintosh muttered. “Blueblood will talk to the Princess and he’ll still be a Major…”

“…and then we give him a knife, possibly a blunt one, and say ‘either ya’ll cut yerself off or…’” Braeburn sighed. “Can’t Ah dream, cousin?”

“Yer dreams will get us into trouble,” Big Macintosh said, still lost in his thoughts. Applejack’s hat in his saddlebags grew heavier with every step.

“Couldn’t they give us one of those airships? Or a tank?” Black Marble asked, hitting one of the bat ponies with the butt of his rifle.

“Most of them were losing hydrogen, and they need them to attack Luna’s castle,” said Lyra, who just joined them, “And both of their tanks were destroyed…” She suddenly paused and stared into the distance.

“Eeyup,” Braeburn confirmed. “And don’t be cruel to ‘em, Marble, or else…”

“They were trying to kill us!” Marble shouted, hitting the bat pony, who screamed and tried to reach him with his hoof, but with no results.

“But we shouldn’t be like ‘em!” Braeburn jumped to him, ready to grab his rifle.

“Shut up!” Big Macintosh exclaimed suddenly. “Ya too, cousin. Marble, go with Lyra, Ah’ll look at ‘em.”

Not talking to each other, they reached the boundary of the forest and started to walk through the fields. Soon they were completely lost in a mist – a side effect of the recent tampering with the weather. Unable to see anything, they were forced to stop again. Black Marble took an opportunity to sneak to Lyra and put his hoof on her flank. Too bad for him, even though she barely said a word since they had walked from Ponyville, she reacted instinctively: she kicked him and levitated the gun out of her saddlebags, aiming it at him. Braeburn immediately galloped to them.

“Leave him, Lyra…” he said. “He’s not worth it…”

He shuddered when she looked at him. Definitely, the unicorn in front of him wasn’t the same cheerful mare he’d met a few days ago. He thought about Big Macintosh’s friend called Bon Bon – he only saw her once when she’d come to visit Lyra, but he felt that she wouldn’t be grateful for how they’d protected her marefriend.

Lyra finally lowered her gun.

“She’s not worth me…” Black Marble muttered. “Dirty fillyfooler…”

“Should I leave her with ya?” Braeburn asked politely. “Ah wouldn’t piss her off, if Ah were ya…”

“I think we’re lost,” said Hot Blood.

“Eeyup,” Big Macintosh replied.

“Stop doing that! I think there’s a hill somewhere nearby, we should go there and take a look.”

“With ‘em?” Braeburn asked, pointing at the bat ponies, who, as soon as they stopped, collapsed on the ground, panting heavily.

“Not necessarily,” Hot Blood said. “Black Marble and I will go.”

“Yeah… and we’ll never see ya again…” Braeburn smiled.

“You earth ponies are sometimes really dumb…” Hot Blood shook his head. “Where would we escape? We could either go to Canterlot alone and be caught by the Princess, or go back to Ponyville, where Tungsten Heart and that crazy pegasus only wait to pour the boiling oil on our balls…”

“Not a bad idea,” Braeburn deadpanned.

“I think they should go and check the way,” said Lyra. “I don’t want to freeze to death.”

Braeburn sighed.

“Ok, y’all can go. But if ya won’t come back, ya’ll see how bad the earth ponies can be…”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be back in an hour or so.” Black Marble smiled and both unicorns disappeared in the fog. Braeburn took a blanket out of his saddlebags and gave it to Lyra, while Big Macintosh went to check on their prisoners.

“Hey, you!”

Big Macintosh looked at the pony who called him. Like many bat ponies, his coat was dark grey, but his mane was navy blue with a dark red stripe, something unusual for them.

“May I ask ya summfin’?” he asked.

“Eeyup.”

“Can ya release me?”

“What?” Big Macintosh looked at him in disbelief, but a bat pony was completely serious.

“Release me. Yer commanders don’t know how many of us ya have here anyway, and if they learn what I did, they’ll hang me.” His face now wore the solemn expression.

“Don’t worry, we don’t hang the POWs,” said Braeburn, who joined them with Lyra. She looked much better since Hot Blood and Black Marble went away, but she still was pale and Big Macintosh was sure that it wasn’t the low temperature’s fault.

“I know, but… war criminals…” his head drooped. For a moment the only sound they could hear from him was sobbing.

“Ya’re a war criminal? What have ya done?” Big Macintosh asked.

“They told us it was a Sun Army’s Hauptquartier…” the bat pony said. “I don’t know, maybe we lost the way or maybe Militärgeheimdienst was wrong but… They later told us that we’d bombed the hospital…”

Suddenly, before Braeburn could react, Big Macintosh jumped forward, pinning the bat pony to the ground. Other bat ponies were trying to escape, but being chained to their companion, they didn’t have many possibilities to move.

“Mah sister was there!” he muttered to the thrashing bat pony through gritted teeth. “She was only fifteen… She was there because ya first dropped bombs on her and her friends and then… then burned her…”

“Enough, Big Mac!” Braeburn grabbed his tail in his mouth and, aided by Lyra’s magic, dragged him away.

“She had nothing to do with the war!” Big Macintosh shouted.

“I… I’m sorry,” said the bat pony, breathing deeply and rubbing his neck. “It was an accident…”

“An accident? An unarmed pegasus mare flew to ya to explain… and y’all shot her!”

“Do you think I can live with that?” the bat pony shouted. “I still have nightmares… that hospital… that farm they made us burn… There was somepony there… An old mare… They made us lock the door and–”

When Big Macintosh tried later to recall what exactly happened, he couldn’t remember the moment of pulling the gun out. The only thing he remembered were the eyes of the bat pony, wide in shock, as he was staring at the two holes in his chest. Blood stained his coat and dripped on the snow as he collapsed on the ground. Big Macintosh looked at Braeburn, who was also holding his gun, aiming it at the rest of the bat ponies.

***

“You heard that?” Black Marble asked Hot Blood when they were threading their way through the knee-deep snow. The shots were still echoing through the fields.

“Seems that our friends are in trouble.” Hot Blood smiled maliciously.

“Are we going back?”

“No, Marble, I have a much better idea…” said the noble unicorn, watching the three small silhouettes trying to climb up the hill, about three hundred yards from them.

***

“What have we done…” Big Macintosh cried, lying on his back and panting. His gun, with no ammo left, was resting next to him. Braeburn was sitting on his other side, turning his face away from the field, where the bodies of their prisoners, still chained to each other, were now lying on the crimson snow, shot mercilessly in a futile attempt of escape. Lyra was walking among them, staggering and laughing hysterically.

“They killed Apple Bloom… Applejack… and Granny…” Braeburn panted.

“Yes, but…” Big Macintosh looked at the closest body, which was almost cut in half by the bullets. Another bat pony had been trying to shield his companion with his own body, when a round, fired at point blank range, blew his head almost completely out.

“Ya started it, cousin…”

Big Macintosh said nothing, instead turning to Lyra, who now sat next to the bat pony, who took so many bullets that his body was almost unrecognizable, and was muttering something to him. He wasn’t sure if it was an apology, farewell or just a casual talk. During those two minutes, Lyra hadn’t fired a single shot; she hadn’t even made a sound. However, when Big Macintosh looked into her eyes, he knew that the unicorn he knew was gone.

“What’ll we tell Bon Bon…”

“Ah’d rather think what’ll we tell Celestia…”

“Definitely not that…” Big Macintosh said, looking around. “Bon Bon… She also shouldn’t hear about that. Ever. Lyra! Are you okay?”

“Of course… I’m okay…” said the unicorn, grinning at them. Big Macintosh shuddered – even the blonde pegasus mare who’d smeared the blood of the fallen enemy on her face looked saner than her. “I’ll be even better soon!”

She levitated her gun, switching it to full auto, and before they could stand up and react, she put the barrel in her mouth and pulled the trigger.

12. Cloudchaser

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A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down.
Arnold H. Glasow

Cloudchaser yawned. She was standing with Flitter, Cloud Kicker and the rest of their squadron in the changing room of the Canterlot Air Base, putting their equipment back into the lockers. They came back from Ponyville only recently and Cloudchaser had problems with getting out of her armour. She considered sleeping in it, but then she imagined tossing and turning in bed with a 20 mm autocannon under her right wing and the assault rifle dangling from the neck.

With the help of her cousin, she uncoupled the battle saddle and took off the black armour. She sighed, seeing her coat – the inner layer of the suit was worn thin and the bulletproof metal elements were scratching her body. She checked the safety locks of her guns, removed the magazines from them and carefully put everything on the shelves. Then she went to the shower, once again explaining Thunderlane that he and Snowflake had separate bathroom.

“Time to hit the hay, sis.” said Flitter, yawning, when Cloudchaser finished wrapping the towel around her mane. “Equestria won’t fall if we sleep for a while…”

“Later. I need to check something.” Cloudchaser replied, watching Rainbow Dash, who just left the shower and headed to her room quickly, without saying anything to them.

“Chill out, ‘Chaser. You don’t have to control everything,” said Cloud Kicker.

“If I didn’t, you two would be hanging in the dungeon of Princess’ castle. Do you know how they hang a pegasus? First they break the wings so you can’t fly away,” Cloudchaser snapped. Before they could react, she turned back and followed Rainbow Dash.

“Geez… She’s still pissed about Cloudsdale?” Cloud Kicker shook her head. They walked down the corridor to their bedroom.

“Maybe,” Flitter replied. “Well, you didn’t exactly improve her mood with that little stunt you pulled today…”

“What? I killed a guy who tried to shoot you in the back! She hates you or what?”

“No, it’s about what you did later… On a side note, there’s still some of his blood on your face…”

“Oh, fuck me…” Cloud Kicker rolled her eyes. “She’s, like, buried in the books about pegasi tradition and she doesn’t know about that custom? Our great-grandfather was a berserker too…”

“Oh, she knows about it well,” Flitter said. “It just creeps her out. To be honest, I also think it was creepy.”

“Come on!” Cloud Kicker snapped. “On her first flight she blew a dude’s head off and she thinks I’m creepy?” She reached to the pocket of her uniform. The pills rattled in the package.

“Chill out, Kicker. She’s worried about you. She knows about it…” Flitter pointed at the pills in her cousin’s hoof. Cloud Kicker put them back in her pocket.

“Oh, so that’s what’s going on… You can tell her that she’s not my mom and that I can control it. I never take more than two…”

“Cloud Kicker…” Flitter stared into her cousin’s eyes. “You took two before we left the base… Then one more when we were fighting. And then another one when we got back to the base to get ammo. After we landed in Ponyville you were almost unconscious… I barely could wake you up.”

“So? I was stressed because of the bat ponies trying to kill me!” Cloud Kicker yawned. When Flitter opened the door to their room, she trotted to her bed staggeringly and threw herself on it.

“I’m tired…” she said. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow… But you can be sure – Cloudchaser and you have nothing to worry about…”

***

Cloudchaser cursed her injured leg. The corridor was too low for her to fly and the place where two pieces of bone were joined with the screw was now aching with every change of the weather. Even with the painkillers Nurse Redheart had given her, walking was a nightmare. She finally get to the Rainbow Dash’s room and knocked the door.
Nopony answered, even though she heard that somepony was inside. She pushed the knob and opened the door.

Lightning Dust’s bed was neatly done since its owner had landed in the hospital, but the rest of the room was in a mess. Rainbow Dash’s towel was lying on her bed; the closet contents were scattered all over the floor. The sole inmate of the room was sitting on the floor with a bottle of some orange-tinted liquid and a package of sleeping pills in front of her. Her mane was still wet after the shower and her eyes were red and swollen.

“Breakfast of champions, huh?” Cloudchaser deadpanned.

“Supper of champions,” said Rainbow Dash, not rising her head. “I guess you won’t just go for a walk for, like, twenty minutes, go back here, open the door, panic and call Nurse Redheart?”

“No.”

“Shit. A vice of being a squadron leader: even when you’re considering killing yourself, somepony keeps pestering you.”

Cloudchaser sighed. “May I ask you something, Dash?” Her tone resembled a parent who just saw their foal playing with a grenade. “What. The. Fuck. Are. You. Doing?”

“I quit.” said Rainbow Dash quickly, “Fluttershy, Scootaloo, Applejack, and now, Fleetfoot.” Her voice cracked, tears running down her face. “And when we were flying above Ponyville, I saw Sweet Apple Acres… I… I can’t live like this anymore…”

“Rainbow Dash,” Cloudchaser said, her tone serious. She trotted to Dash and embraced her with her wing. “I know it’s hard, but you can’t just give up.”

“You don’t understand!” Rainbow Dash snapped. She freed herself from Cloudchaser’s embrace and lay down on her bed.

“Dash, I know that you’ve been through a lot of shit since the war started, but, for Celestia’s sake, stop behaving like my sister when she was thirteen,” said Cloudchaser, throwing the sleeping pills into the trash can and putting the bottle back in the closet. “Just tell me what’s bothering you, and I’ll help you, okay?”

Dash muttered something incomprehensible, sinking her face into a pillow. Cloudchaser stood up, wincing at the jolt of pain in her hind leg, and sat on the bed next to Rainbow Dash, who sighed and turned her head to her.

“Right,” she said, her voice quivering. “Have you talked to Lightning Dust recently?”

“I tried, but she’s constantly high on meds,” Cloudchaser replied. “I really think they should stop drugging her like that.”

“It’s because every time they wear off she… she…” Rainbow Dash lifted her hoof and Cloudchaser saw the freshly healed cuts on it. “You see… We… we killed those foals…”

She started to cry again. Cloudchaser hugged her and began stroking her mane.

“I see them… Every time I close my eyes, I see Scootaloo… and Fluttershy… I can’t sleep, can’t eat… All because of a stupid accident…”

“Shh, it’s okay…” Cloudchaser cooed, rocking back and forth with Rainbow Dash in her arms. “It wasn’t your fault, Dash. You didn’t know that they were hiding there…”

“Yes, but… We were supposed to protect ponies, not to kill them!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “What happened to us, Cloudchaser?”

“Honestly, Dash, I have no idea,” said Cloudchaser, running her hoof down Rainbow Dash’s wings. “It’s all fucked up. Just like Cloudsdale.”

“Cloudsdale was simple,” said Rainbow Dash. “You on the one side, and Luna’s followers on the other side. That’s it, no civilians, no politics…”

“Oh, Dash...” Cloudchaser shook her head. “Cloudsdale wasn’t simple… It was as far away from simple as possible.”

“What exactly happened there?” Dash asked, yawning. “Or no, don’t tell me. I had enough for today…” She covered herself with a blanket and rested her head on a pillow.

“Sometimes I don’t get it myself,” Cloudchaser said. “It’s like…” She paused, seeing that Rainbow Dash fell asleep, muttering something that sounded like “Don’t leave me.”

“Of course I won’t leave you.” Cloudchaser wrapped her forearms around her and fell asleep immediately.

***

She woke up few hours later, trying to remember the dream she had, about walking aimlessly around the weather factory. The rays of the sun were shining on her face through the half-open blinds. The dull pain in her hind leg grew stronger; her muscles were stiff after sleeping with Rainbow Dash in a bed that was apparently dedicated for a one, wingless pony. She stood up, stretching her body and, limping, went to the window to close the blinds. Rainbow Dash turned on her bed.

“Mom?” she asked groggily.

“Sleep, Dashie, I’m with you,” said Cloudchaser, stroking the rainbow-coloured mane. Then she went to the Lightning Dust’s empty bed, hoping that it’d be more comfortable. When she lay down on it, Rainbow Dash started to talk again.

“’Chaser… If something happens to me, I want you to become a commander of the squadron…”

“Shh, don’t say that,” Cloudchaser whispered. “You’re the best flier of us; you’ll outlive us all…”

“Yeah, but… Just in case... I want somepony responsible to be in charge…” Rainbow Dash explained and fell asleep again.

“Yeah… responsible Cloudchaser… Everypony wants to put her in charge…” Cloudchaser muttered to herself. A memory of the evening in Cloudsdale, not a long time ago, appeared in her mind.

***

“Sis, I’m going out,” said Flitter, leaving her room with her saddlebags on. Cloudchaser lifted her head from the book she was reading.

“Date again? Really, my little Flitty is growing up…”

“Yeah, a date…” said Flitter quickly, and took off. Cloudchaser was about to lie down on a couch again, when she noticed something.

“Really, sis, there are better ways to tell a stallion that you prefer, well… bigger calibers,” she laughed, pointing at the barrel of their grandfather’s old shotgun protruding from one of her sister’s saddlebags.

“It’s not safe in the streets,” Flitter explained. “I want them to see that it’s not safe to fuck with me…”

“Flitter…”

“Yes, sis.” Flitter sighed, took a one bit coin from her saddlebags and put it in a jar standing on a bookshelf. A colourful label, resembling the Equestrian Army’s propaganda posters, saying “Bring a new book home sooner - drop F-bombs” was attached to it.

“And by the way,” Flitter said, “What are those ways you were talking about?”

“No way, lady, you’re far too young for that!” Cloudchaser laughed.

“I’m nineteen, sis! You were younger when you were dating Snowflake…”

“There were exactly two dates, unless you count those three times when we went to the gym. Not to mention that, no matter what they say…” Cloudchaser lowered her voice to a whisper. “…it’s all in the wings size.”

Flitter giggled and flew away. Cloudchaser sighed and went back to reading her book.

Unlike earth ponies, who always relied on cooperation in small groups, often tied by family bonds, and unicorns, who were born individualists, pegasi tribes were usually ruled by one leader, usually the fastest, strongest and the most aggressive individual. This often led to fights, especially because of the tribes consisting of few families, each with their own leader. As many pegasi before the Founding of Equestria were following the law called Hakmarrja (blood feud), the death of a leader usually resulted in bloodshed between his family and family of his killer.

After Equestria was founded, pegasi decided to bring an end to this law, but they weren’t able to eradicate it instantly – it took almost ten generations before the last followers of Hakmarrja were outlawed by Princess Celestia.

An attempt to combat the primitive instincts led to the formulation of the set of rules known as “The Pegasi Code” in…

Cloudchaser stopped reading. She didn’t have to read about the Code, she knew it well, just like all the young pegasi who happened to be in elementary school. But, unlike the other young pegasi, she was actually following it.

She remembered the day when it all started. It was a cold winter, two days before the Hearth’s Warming Eve. Even though it never snowed in Cloudsdale, the cold winds discouraged anypony from flying through the streets.

Her mother was just trying to persuade Flitter to go to sleep, when somepony knocked at the door.

“Can you open the door, Cloudy?” asked her mother, grabbing a laughing ten-years-old filly and flying with her upstairs.

“Yes, mom,” Cloudchaser said. She put the newest Daring Do novel on the couch and flew to the hall.

Behind the door there was a dark, grim looking stallion, wearing a khaki-coloured uniform. He was sneezing from time to time, his mane and feathers were ruffled by the wind.

“Good evening, young lady,” he said. “Is your mommy home?”

Cloudchaser sighed. She was fifteen, but her mane styled in two braids and braces on her teeth were making her look like a foal. She called her mother, who flew to the hall and froze upon seeing the stallion.

“Cloudy, go upstairs and check on Flitty,” she said, inviting their guest to the living room. Cloudchaser flew upstairs, but didn’t go to her sister’s room, instead staying on the stairs, hidden behind the railing.

Her mother offered the stallion a tea, but he refused, telling her to sit down.

“Mrs. Cloudscape, I’m deeply sorry to inform you that your husband, Storm Chaser was killed in action yesterday over Changeling Territories…”

Cloudchaser didn’t hear what he said next. She rushed to her room and threw herself on her bed, crying in a pillow.

Her father was dead. Killed during war somewhere far away, just like her grandfather and great-grandfather – both during the Griffon Wars – and uncle, who was killed by Zebrican separatists during the battle of El-Alamane. All members of her family were either soldiers or Royal Guards, and, even though he didn’t show it, Storm Chaser was a bit disappointed when his second foal also turned out to be a daughter. During those short moments when he was at home, he was treating Cloudchaser as if she was his son, teaching her to fly and telling her about the principle of The Pegasi Code he followed: physical development, constant training to become ready to defend the motherland.

She’d read the Code herself only recently, and was surprised, seeing that her father was wrong: training wasn’t the way of preparing to fight, but rather to channel the pegasi’s inner aggression in more peaceful way. She also discovered other principles: temperance and constant searching for the ways of development of both body and mind. Her father, just like the other members of her family, used the Code only to justify him being a soldier. She decided to follow it and become a better pony.

Now, nine years later she smiled at her first attempts of following the Code. She was already interested in both reading and flying, but temperance was much more difficult to achieve. Cloudchaser never felt an urge to drink alcohol or do drugs, and didn’t care about the peers laughing at her and calling her prude or teetotaller. However, as she hit puberty, she realised that sexual abstinence wasn’t for her and after a long battle with her conscience, she resigned from this part of the Code.

Not that she had time for dates. Three years after her father’s death, her mother died of leukaemia, and Cloudchaser had to take care of her sister. With a help of her aunt, Cloud Kicker’s mother, she somehow managed to graduate from school while bringing Flitter up. It wasn’t easy – she remembered numerous quarrels with her growing sister, even a fight when sixteen-years-old Flitter came back home at 2 AM, completely intoxicated. Yet, she somehow achieved success. She even managed to become the Wonderbolts’ trainee – at first she was repulsed by this idea, knowing that the Wonderbolts were a branch of the military, but then she decided that there’s the only way to improve herself further.

Now she was again sitting on the same couch, reading another book, and thinking about her life. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, but at least she had home, job at the weather factory, friends and a loving, although sometimes a bit annoying sister. Other ponies, like those protesting in the streets of Cloudsdale, to whom Flitter referred scornfully as “they”, had nothing. It was a week since they started to occupy the city hall, but so far they didn’t achieve anything. They were also divided – most of them opted for continuing the protest, but there was also a more radical wing, consisting mainly of adolescent stallions wandering aimlessly around the town and provoking brawls. They’d even tried to rape somepony and that was why she didn’t tell Flitter to leave the shotgun at home – even a very horny pegasus would think twice, seeing a mare who could shoot his family jewels off.

Cloudchaser went to the kitchen to make herself a tea, and spent another few hours reading about the habits of ancient pegasi.

When she woke up, the room was dark. She realised that she had fallen asleep on the couch while reading. The remains of a cold tea were still in her cup. She looked at the clock – it was almost 3 AM and she decided to go to bed.

Upstairs, she decided to go to Flitter’s room to check on her, as she was doing every night. She often scolded herself for that habit – her sister was no longer a little filly and it wasn’t necessary to mother her, but she still was doing that. She quietly opened the door and looked at her sister’s bed.

She gasped in horror. Flitter wasn’t there; her bed was still neatly done, just like when she’d left it in the morning. Her saddlebags were missing; Cloudchaser remembered her taking them when she was going on a date. Instantly, somnolence left her. She rushed downstairs, trying not to think what could happen to her little sister. She had taken a shotgun with her, but did she know how to use it? Or maybe the stallion she was with raped her, when she’d put the weapon somewhere, thinking that she was safe?

Cloudchaser flew out of the house and headed to the centre of Cloudsdale. Even though it was late, there were many ponies there. A large crowd was surrounding city hall; some of the protesters were sleeping in the tents; some gathered on the streets singing songs. The sleep-deprived ponies living in the nearby houses were shouting at them, occasionally throwing various heavy objects at the crowd. Cloudchaser almost got hit by a flower pot that flew near her wing and smashed itself on the cloudcrete.

“Flitter! Where are you?” Her calling quickly drowned in the noise of the protesting pegasi. Suddenly they stopped chanting, instead turning their heads to the side street. Cloudchaser followed their gaze and saw another group of pegasi approaching them. They were quiet, some of them walking, some of them flying, and seemingly they were no different from the group occupying the town hall. But there was something else – while the protesters were mostly harmless, the approaching group was much more dangerous – some of them were drunk, some of them were drugged, but all of them were armed – mostly baseball bats, lead pipes and knives, but some of them also wielded guns. They went to the square and stopped, merely few feet away from Cloudchaser, who was looking at them, shocked. Among the hostile crowd, she found some familiar faces.

“Cloudchaser? What are you doing here?” Flitter asked. She smelled of sweat, tobacco, and vodka and was hovering above the street with the shotgun in her hooves. Cloud Kicker was standing next to her, smoking a cigarette.

“No, Flitts. What are you doing here?” Cloudchaser spread her wings and jumped to her sister, causing her to lose balance and fall on the cloud. “Do you know what time is it? I was worrying sick about you…” She turned to Cloud Kicker. “And you! What the fuck are you two doing?”

Cloud Kicker blew a puff of smoke in Cloudchaser’s face. A pungent, herbal smell made her nauseous, but somehow she managed not to wince.

“Easy, ‘Chaser,” her cousin said. “We’re only going to clean this mess.” She pointed at the square. Several ponies gathered around them. Cloudchaser recognized her colleagues, recently fired from the weather factory, Crescent Moon and Parasol, and two currently unemployed construction workers, Rivet and Jack Hammer.

“Parasol? You’re also with them?” Flitter shouted.

“What can I do?” Parasol cried. “I have no job, no money…”

“Go home, Parasol,” said Cloud Kicker. “We don’t want ya to get hurt…”

“What’s going on here?” another voice called. Cloudchaser turned back and saw the leader of the protesting ponies. She knew her well – it was Firefly.

When Cloudchaser was eight, she wanted to be like Firefly. Well, everypony who, like her, was born in early Eighties, wanted to be like her. The youngest winner of The Best Young Flyer Competition, one of the fastest pegasi ever, and future hope of the Wonderbolts, Firefly had everything that a fourteen years old filly could have – money, fame and, despite young age, a quickly growing group of fans. The citizens of Cloudsdale were surprised when one day she’d simply disappeared. She stopped to participate in competitions and left school; her family refused to give any explanations.

There were many theories. It was suspected that one of her stunts went wrong, leaving her paralysed or in a coma. Some ponies claimed that she died of a heart attack, caused by the stimulants she was allegedly taking – Cloudchaser herself knew at least two ponies who claimed that they had taken photos of Firefly suddenly losing consciousness mid-flight and falling to the ground – each of them on a different day and in a different place. The others were saying that she was murdered by her parents, her coach or one of her envious opponents. But soon she was forgotten, when young Rainbow Dash took her place as an idol of every aspiring sportspony in town.

The pegasi were even more surprised when, four years after her disappearance, Firefly again shown up. Speculations that she’d soon become Rainbow Dash’s greatest rival were quickly cut – physically, Firefly was all right, but something about her changed – it seemed that she didn’t care about flying anymore. As she had missed a few classes, she became Rainbow Dash’s classmate and, to Cloudchaser’s surprise, they soon became close friends. It seemed that Rainbow Dash stayed in touch with Firefly even during her absence. Cloudchaser tried to ask her about that once, but the cyan pegasus, usually the first one to gossip, remained tight-lipped. Cloudchaser, who used to be an adventurous filly, wanted to investigate it further, but then her father died and she had enough of her own problems.

“We came to get rid of you,” said one of the Flitter’s companions, a scruffy brown stallion called Crafty Crate.

“Why? We’re not doing anything bad,” said Firefly, calming Crescent Moon and Parasol down.

“We just don’t like ya sitting there,” said Crafty Crate. “And that ya’re plotting with the bloodsuckers…”

“They’re Princess Luna’s guards. If she trusts them, you should too!” Parasol exclaimed. Flitter flew to her, with a shotgun in her hooves.

“Yeah, but who knows what Luna plots…” she hissed, aiming at her.

“Flitter!” Cloudchaser shouted. Crescent Moon flew to her sister and grabbed her shotgun, trying to disarm her.

“Don’t play with this, filly,” he said. “You can shoot your curvy flank off…”

“Fuck you,” she muttered through gritted teeth, and tried to punch him. He blocked it with ease, and hit her with his head, causing her to drop the gun.

Cloudchaser reacted instinctively. When he took the shotgun and aimed it at Flitter, she tackled him, but he still didn’t drop the weapon when he fell to the ground.

A single shot echoed through the street. Cloudchaser looked around and saw Crafty Crate collapsing on the cloudcrete with surprised expression. Crescent Moon caught her off guard, hitting her. Her vision blurred and she fell to her knees.

“They’re shooting at us!” Cloud Kicker bellowed at her comrades. The pegasi rushed forward, several of them tackling Crescent Moon. Cloudchaser, still trying to get her bearings, heard his shrieks as they overwhelmed him. Firefly and Parasol started to run away, but the latter had no luck – one of the chasing pegasi hit her with a crowbar when she tried to take off.

“Stop it!” Cloudchaser shouted, pushing her way through the angry mob. She shielded Parasol with her own body and went with her to the side of the street, hiding between two houses.

“Are you all right, Parasol?” she asked, watching her spitting blood and pieces of broken teeth.

“Why…” Parasol cried. “We came at peace…” Cloudchaser hugged her, letting her weep in her coat for a few minutes. She still felt dizzy and when she put her hoof on her head she felt a goose egg.

“Parasol, you must go,” she said finally. “Hide somewhere, I dunno, leave the town…”

“Yes…” Parasol sobbed. “You’re probably right…”

“Don’t show up too much. Who knows what they’re up to. Now I have to find those two idiots before they do something they’ll regret.”

Parasol nodded. “Take care, ‘Chaser,” she said.

“Take care, Parasol,” Cloudchaser hugged her one last time and watched her fly away, before going back to the main street.

Most of the pegasi were now on the town square, which, for Cloudchaser, looked now like one of the circles of Tartarus. Some of the tents were burning; clouds around them hissing as they started to evaporate. Several ponies were lying on the ground, trampled or shot. A group of pegasi surrounded the protesters, pushing them off of the square. Cloudchaser could still hear shots, now mostly coming from the small group of pegasi Royal Guards, who were shooting rubber bullets at the crowd – Cloudchaser almost tripped over a mare who was lying on the ground, pushing her hoof to her eye. Ponies who were trying to fly away, were mercilessly chased and pinned down to the ground.

“Flitter! Cloud Kicker! Where are you?”

“Right here, sis!” Flitter shouted. She had a black eye and dishevelled mane, but was otherwise unscratched. She threw Cloudchaser a revolver.

“Got it from one of them,” she explained. “Come on, sis, we’re gonna finish ‘em off!”

“Sweet Celestia, Flitter what the fuck are you doing? Listen to yourself!” Cloudchaser snapped, seeing her sister hitting the fleeing pegasi with a butt of her shotgun. Their group, beaten and bruised, was slowly retreating to the weather factory.

“We must stop ‘em!” Flitter shouted back. “They’re planning to overthrow Celestia and make Luna rule us, together with griffons and bloodsuckers!”

“Who told you this crap?” Cloudchaser asked, suddenly remembering all those “dates” here sister was having recently.

“Watch out, sis!” Flitter shouted. Cloudchaser ducked quickly, and saw Rivet’s hoof missing her head only by few inches. She somersaulted in the air and kicked him in the ribs with her hind legs, causing him to fall back into the crowd of ponies trying to run away, trampling each other. Somewhere in front of them, the gates of the factory were smashed open, and the protesters were pushed inside.

And those dirty cowards doesn’t intervene, Cloudchaser thought, seeing the Royal Guards watching everything from the safe distance. Either they are afraid of the drunk mob, or they believe these sick gossip themselves.

“Where’s Cloud Kicker?” she asked, searching for her cousin frantically.

“Fuck me if I know,” said Flitter, smiling sheepishly. “Somewhere inside, probably.”

“Language, Flitts…”

“It’s not time for that… ‘Sides, you’re swearing too…”

Because I learned that my little sister is a pawn in hooves of some bunch of sick fucks, sponsored by Prince Blueblood. But she’s right, there’s no time for a discussion.

She followed her sister and soon they disappeared in the interior of the weather factory. The protesting ponies, some of them beaten unconscious, were gathered in the empty rainbow pool, surrounded from every side, including air. Cloudchaser saw her cousin among her comrades, taking some pill from her saddlebags and swallowing it.

“Hello, girls,” Cloud Kicker said, trying to focus her gaze on them. Her pupils were dilated and she was hyperventilating. “Flitts, Meadow and Stormfeather are in the control room, they want to see ya. They’re planning something totally awesome for these fucks…” She pointed at the empty pool and laughed. For a moment Cloudchaser wanted to hit her, just to stop her silly guffaw.

Flitter flew upwards, on the second level of the factory. Cloudchaser followed her, but they were stopped by the grayish mare, who just emerged from the side corridor, filled with something that looked like a blue mist.

“I’m sorry, but if ya can’t go down this corridor,” she said. “One of those drunk idiots shot at the pipes and now he’s a nice pile of bones dipping in the concentrated rainbow essence. The whole corridor is contaminated and we had to turn on the neutraliser.”

“Don’t worry, Dust Devil, we only wanna get to the control room,” said Flitter.

“Okay,” said Dust Devil. “Meadow Song and Stormfeather are already there. After Crafty was killed, they’re in charge.”

The control room was full of different machines, blinking with numerous lights. The wall on the left was littered with various valves and levers, and in the middle of the room there was a monitor showing the current parameters of the factory’s main reactor. Cloudchaser understood most of them – since she started to work in the weather factory, she was a frequent visitor in that room and she often was maintaining the equipment by herself. Behind the machinery, a large window was providing a view of the factory’s main hall.

“What are we gonna do?” Flitter asked the two stallions sitting in front of the monitor. One of them was blonde, with brick-coloured coat and the guitar cutie mark. The other one was also blonde, his coat grayish blue, even darker than Cloudchaser’s.

“We’re afraid that if we leave the factory, they’ll escape and join the bloodsuckers,” said the red stallion, Meadow Song. “Since they’re in that pool, we can drown ‘em in the rainbow concentrate.”

“Are you crazy?” Cloudchaser exclaimed. “That’s genocide!”

“I’d rather call it ‘carefulness’...” Stormfeather replied. He probably wanted to sound ruthless, but he was sweating heavily under Cloudchaser’s stare and didn’t look like somepony who’d pull the lever. Actually, he didn’t have to.

“If we won’t do something about them, they’ll escape and tell everypony what happened here!” Flitter shouted, trotting slowly to the wall with the levers.

Cloudchaser sighed. “Sis, I really hope you talk so stupid because you’re drunk. There wouldn’t be anything to tell about, if you didn’t start to fight with them! Besides, those Royal Guards outside will soon get reinforcements and storm the factory. For causing riots, you’ll be imprisoned, but for genocide you all will be hanged – you, those two imbeciles, Cloud Kicker–”

“We need to do this. Princess Celestia will thank us…”

“Celestia or Blueblood?” asked Cloudchaser, but she could clearly see that she was losing this battle – Flitter put her hoof on one of the levers, ready to pull it. Stormfeather and Meadow Song stood behind Cloudchaser’s back, ready to attack her if she made even the smallest move.

Most aggressive, you say? Cloudchaser thought. Before the stallions could react, she jumped forward, raised the revolver Flitter had given her and aimed it at her sister. Stormfeather and Meadow Song took the knives, but it was a lost cause – she could easily shoot all of them before they’d get to her.

“Move that lever, sis and those two gentlecolts will have to wipe your brain off of it…” she said coldly, staring into Flitter’s eyes.

A change was almost magical – Flitter’s betrayed look quickly faded, replaced by the expression of absolute obedience. For a moment, she looked like an innocent thirteen years old filly, who was just said that her sister would now take care of her. She put her hoof back on the ground and trotted away from the lever, joining the two stallions.

“Thank you, Flitts,” said Cloudchaser. She went to the console, still aiming at them, and pushed a few buttons on it. The system asked her for a password, and she typed it quickly. Deep inside the factory’s interior, a main reactor entered the procedure of shutting itself down.

“Just in case any of you get ideas,” she said. She knew that the rainbow concentrate gathered in the pipes would soon cool down and solidify, destroying the reactor and clogging the whole system, but she was ready to pay that price. She then turned on the microphone and said to the pegasi gathered downstairs, “My name’s Cloudchaser and I’m now in charge here.”

The pegasi guarding the group imprisoned in an empty pool looked upwards, some of them, less drunk or stoned than the others, trying to recall who Cloudchaser was.

“No shit,” Cloud Kicker muttered. “Saint ‘Chaser in charge…”

“I’m gonna rip apart everypony who’d try to hurt the prisoners, starting with feathers,” Cloudchaser continued, knowing that the factory speakers were slightly damaged and everypony trying to talk to the microphone appeared ominous and emotionless, like a voice of an ancient, cruel deity. The pegasi downstairs, although still holding their hostages at the gunpoint, calmed down a bit. The fact that they were tired and hammered also played a role in that.

“Now, you two.” Cloudchaser turned the microphone off and turned to Meadow Song and Stormfeather, her wings spread, and fire raging in her eyes. "Get your sorry flanks outta here. Dust Devil seemed bored, go and ask her out... Or try to discover the joys of coltcuddling, I don’t care. But if I see any of you around the hostages, you’ll spend the last moments of your pathetic life contemplating the pros and cons of having a piece of lead in the stomach. Understood?”

“Understood,” said Stormfeather, and they both left the control room.

“Now you, Flitts…”

Flitter cowered on the floor, seeing her sister with the revolver in her hoof. But soon Cloudchaser lowered the gun and sighed, tucking her wings by her sides.

“I’m disappointed,” she said in a dejected tone, sitting by Flitter’s side. She now looked old and tired. “Don’t worry, sis, I’m not gonna punish you. As I said, the guards will soon be here. I’m gonna turn myself in and tell them that you did nothing wrong.”

“W-what?” Flitter exclaimed. “You can’t do that, sis!”

Cloudchaser sat by her sister’s side, her voice calm. However, she couldn’t bring herself to stare into Flitter’s eyes.

“I promised mom that I’ll protect you.”

“They won’t punish us! You want to tell ‘em that you saved Cloudsdale herself!”

At first Cloudchaser didn’t realise what she had done. Only after she saw Flitter lying on the floor, pressing her hooves to her faces, she realised that she just punched her sister.

“I can’t believe that you can be so stupid, Flitter.” She spat with disdain. “Your Cloudsdale saviours literally tore Crescent Moon to shreds and mauled Parasol. You call the massacre of innocent ponies ‘saving Cloudsdale’?”

She stopped in her tracks, seeing her sister whimpering. She sat back by her side.
“I’m sorry, sis… You must understand…”

“Leave me alone!” Flitter shouted and ran out of the room. Cloudchaser wanted at first to chase her, but something told her that it wouldn’t be a good idea. She went back to the window, checking on the ponies gathered downstairs. Luckily they were still too afraid of her to even get close to their prisoners. Some of them decided to go to sleep, some of them took the bottles from their saddlebags and started to drink; she even spotted a pair of ponies cuddling each other while flying into some darker and more intimate corner of the factory. Cloudchaser shook her head and curled on the floor, sure that the next occasion to sleep would be probably in some dark, moist and rat-infested dungeon.

She was woken up by somepony’s faint voice. She looked at the clock and realised that she slept for at least six hours. Above her there was an old radio. It was turned on, and somepony was trying to connect with her, fighting with the heavy static. She quickly glanced through the window to find most of the pegasi in the main hall still asleep. She also looked outside of the control room to see Stormfeather and Dust Devil sleeping on the floor by the door in tight embrace. She sniffed the air and retreated to the room, wincing.

I’m sure as Tartarus I’m gonna become a beloved aunt of the foals of the revolution, she thought.

Reassured, she turned a knob of the radio and the voice in the speaker became much clearer.

“Cloudsdale! Cloudsdale! Where are you?”

“Cloudsdale here,” she said. “We’re in the same place as usual, you know.”

“Thank Celestia!” the pony on the other side sighed with relief. “We were trying to get to you since those journalists found the bodies on the streets… How’s your situation?”

“SNAFU, by now,” said Cloudchaser. She looked at the door once again. “Well, some of us more ‘F’ than the others. It was FUBAR here yesterday, and I’m afraid that it can get nasty again, when this whole mob wakes up. I’m sitting in the control room of the weather factory, some Celestia-supporting militia holds at least a hundred of ponies hostage, so send the cavalry quick–”

“Wait… The Sun Army is controlling Cloudsdale?”

“What the fuck is the Sun Army?” Cloudchaser was usually very patient, but that idiot was testing her boundaries. Some group was already trying to commit genocide once and he was talking about some sun armies or whatever it was.

“Haven’t you heard?” the pony asked, “When the riots in Cloudsdale started, pegasus’ manure hit the windmill. No offence. Princess Luna got pissed, when I tried to call Manehattan, they told me to fuck off, same with Detrot and Fillydelphia! Then, of course, Princess Twilight Sparkle happened, and now we’re officially at war,” the pony sounded as if he was at the verge of tears. Cloudchaser sighed.

That’s what they call TARFU, she thought. When they get to us, we’ll be totally and royally fucked up.

The pony, however, continued. “You can’t believe how happy I am, seeing Cloudsdale still in our hooves. Tell your ponies to open the gates of the factory, the guards will be there soon, they’ll take the POWs to Canterlot.”

Wait… MY ponies?

“By the way, those lunatics from Moon Army somehow got to our airships. If you have some strong pegasi under your command, you can tell them to enlist. We’ll need every pair of wings…”

***

Cloudchaser sighed, stretching her limbs on the bed. At first she wanted to keep Flitter away from war at all costs, but soon her sister heard that the famous Rainbow Dash looked for the ponies who could become the members of her squadron, and went completely crazy about it. Knowing that there was no way to talk her out of it, Cloudchaser, who, despite their strained relationship, still wanted to protect her, eventually joined the squadron too.

“It’s all pretty ironic, isn’t it?” she said aloud.

“What’s ironic?” Dash asked. She had almost fallen asleep while Cloudchaser was daydreaming, and now opened one eye again.

“I’ve never wanted to be a soldier and it seems that I’m good at it.”

“Yeah… I wanted to fight and now I’m a wreck… Now that’s ironic.”

“You’re not a wreck, Dash.”

“I am,” Rainbow Dash rolled on her back, staring at the ceiling. “I feel… empty, that’s a good word. Nothing makes me happy anymore, except maybe cutting myself. Can you believe this?”

“No, I can’t,” said Cloudchaser, feeling that she didn’t want to sleep anymore. “You’re Rainbow Fucking Dash, there’s surely something that makes you happy!”

“No,” Dash sighed, “That’s why I wanted to kill myself…”

“How about flying?”

“I’m flying all the time, we just came back from Ponyville, remember? Still, nothing. Not even flying.”

“But I don’t mean flying in that heavy piece of junk we have to wear,” said Cloudchaser, rising from her bed and opening the window. “Come on, Dash, we’re gonna fly!”

“’Chaser… it’s 4 AM…”

“Who gives a fuck? The sun is still up anyway. C’mon, take your goggles and follow me!”

She flew out of the room, waving her wing quickly and waiting for Dash to get her bearings. Soon she joined her, hanging in the air like a clumsy pegasus foal, hiding her cut hoof behind her back.

“Let’s fly to the sea, there shouldn’t be anypony there,” Cloudchaser commanded. They flapped their wings, gaining altitude and soon the building below them disappeared, replaced at first by grey and brown fields, and then by the endless, blue ocean.

Cloudchaser somersaulted and made a double barrel roll. Rainbow Dash copied her moves catching up with her – unlike Cloudchaser, who was slightly bigger, her body more suitable for endurance than fast flying, she was small, slender and extremely agile. She could pull off every sharp turn with ease, but Cloudchaser didn’t want to give up to her.

Cloudchaser made a series of quick loops, ending it with a chandelle and closing one of her wings, when she lost the speed almost completely. She started to freefall, entering a spin, and recovered just above the surface of the water. She started to gain altitude again, ramming into a nearby cloud and obliterating it.

“Nice one,” Rainbow Dash said. “Now look at this…”

She started to fly straight, making a half roll as she passed near Cloudchaser. Then, flying on her back, she quickly entered a half loop, pulling a perfect split S. A rainbow-coloured trail appeared behind her. She looked back to see Cloudchaser flying behind her, seemingly not affected by the turbulences. She spread her wings to slow down, pulling up almost vertically – a manoeuvre invented in Hooviet Union and known as “Cobra”.

Cloudchaser, caught off guard by Dash’s sudden loss of velocity, flew below her, trying to slow down. Rainbow Dash fell back to the horizontal position, chasing her friend, but they quickly parted, when she turned right and made a slow roll, before turning sharply. Cloudchaser, who had turned left, now made a split S and, gaining altitude, tried to intercept Dash, who dove to meet her. For a moment Cloudchaser thought that they were going to crash and moved her wings slightly to dodge her friend, but then Rainbow Dash tackled her in mid-air and, still holding her in her hooves, performed a stunt known as Coltban Eight – a rapid, double loop with two half-rolls, each in the highest point of the loop.

“Dash, stop it!” Cloudchaser shouted, seeing how the sky and the ocean swap positions. Dash finished the second loop and landed on a large cloud, releasing her.

“That was awesome!” she exclaimed. Cloudchaser was lying on her back, panting heavily, her wings spread and twitching. It was much easier for her to fly without her armour, but still, trying to keep up with Dash was difficult – her fur was now soaked with sweat and although the cloud was cooling her body, she had a feeling that her muscles wouldn’t stop aching for at least a week. In spite of that, she smiled.

“Welcome back, Dash,” she said.

“Thanks, ‘Chaser. For everything.” Rainbow Dash didn’t look even a bit tired. The sadness in her voice disappeared and her eyes were burning with passion. She ran a hoof down her windswept mane and took off in the air.

“I’m gonna show you something you’ve never seen before…” She laughed and started to gain altitude, soon becoming only a small point on the sky. Cloudchaser watched her diving, rainbow-coloured trail forming behind her, as she was almost free-falling, gaining speed, making only small adjustments with her wings. A Mach cone started to form around her, and soon the sky exploded with an eerie of colours. Small waves appeared on the surface of the ocean, as Rainbow Dash flew just above it. A blastwave tore the cloud Cloudchaser was sitting on; she had to take off, watching Dash skidding to a halt, her hooves almost touching the water. She then flew up, joining Cloudchaser, who, to her surprise, saw tears in her eyes.

“It’s nothing,” said Rainbow Dash, wiping them. “I just thought that Scoots would be glad to see it…”

“It’s okay, Dash…” Cloudchaser flew to her and wrapped her forelegs around her, “It’ll be okay...”

“I know,” Rainbow Dash muttered. “I just need some time… But as long as I’m flying, everything is okay.”

“Nice to hear that,” Cloudchaser said. “Let’s go back home before they notice…” She looked at the rainbow behind her, which was now connecting the sun and the moon. “Or maybe let’s just go back home.”

The Canterlot Air Base already woke up when they came back there. When they landed they saw the new recruits on their first training, carried out by Flitter and Cloud Kicker.

“Not so close, Blossomforth! Do you wanna shot it or bang it?” Cloud Kicker shouted at the white mare, who just fired at the levitating, pegasus-shaped mannequin at point-blank range and almost got hit by ricocheting bullets. She blushed, and flew away, making place for Cloudchaser’s friend from the weather factory, Dust Devil. She quickly aimed her rifle at the mannequin, hitting it several times, but then the recoil threw her off balance, and, after a failed attempt to recover, she crash-landed in front of them.

“Could be worse,” Thunderlane, who just approached them with his brother Rumble, said. “At first Flitter wanted to give them cannons and try to teach them to shoot at the airships…”

“Now you, Cloud Break!” Flitter shouted to the stallion, who was Stormfeather’s twin brother. He approached the mannequin with ease, and shot its head clean off. Its pieces fell on the ground, almost hitting Rumble and Dust Devil.

“Watch out, she’s your sister-in-law!” Cloudchaser laughed, before turning to Rainbow Dash. “Another Cloud?” she shrugged, “We should make him Kicker’s wingpony, at least they’d fly together if called…”

“Don’t think so,” said Dash. “No offence, ‘Chaser, but your cousin’s special talent is apparently losing her wingpony.”

“None taken. Thunderlane, how many recruits we got?”

“Six,” he said. “Three girls, Blossomforth, Dust Devil and Cinnamon Swirl, and three guys, Cloud Break, Stormfeather and Cerulean Sky.”

“I only know Blossomforth,” said Rainbow Dash. “Are they any good?”

“As you can see. I’m not sure how they’ll perform with the armours, but I’m afraid some of them might not be strong enough.”

“I think Snowflake will help them with that,” Rainbow Dash smiled. “How about shooting skills?”

“Well, so far they didn’t shoot one another…”

Suddenly they heard a loud stream of abuse, quite shocking, as they were delivered by a short, innocent looking red mare with a green mane – Cinnamon Swirl, as Thunderlane called her. Her tail was slightly charred and that was probably the reason why she was yelling at the light blue stallion, known as Cerulean Sky, who was trying to apologise to her.

“Well, that was close…” Rainbow Dash deadpanned.

“Yeah,” Cloudchaser said. “We have to learn them about the gun safety. And about the birds and the bees, unless you want to make a kindergarten here.”

“May I try shooting too?” Rumble asked.

“No, Rumble, you’re too young…” Thunderlane sighed. Rainbow Dash looked at them. She knew that letting a civilian live in the military base was illegal and, as a squadron leader, she should react, but she didn’t do that. In fact, she regretted that she hadn’t done the same with Scootaloo when she had a chance.

The last shots were fired, and the remains of the mannequin were dropped on the ground. Flitter landed in front of them.

“I’d say they’re… promising. They can fly; before they got there, somepony already shown them where’s the barrel of a gun, we only need to give ‘em armours, cannons and they’ll learn the rest by flying with us,” she said, saluting to Dash before turning to Cloudchaser and wincing when she sensed sweat. “Where were you, sis?”

“Morning training,” Cloudchaser explained, smiling sheepishly. “I guess Dash and I could use a shower…”

“Yeah, training…” Flitter smirked, and, seeing Snowflake who just landed with a set of armours on his back, went back to the group of new members of their squadron. They immediately stopped chatting.

“Seems that Flight Sergeant Flitter is in her element,” Rainbow Dash said. “Come on, ‘Chaser, let’s go, before they accidentally shoot us.”

Cloudchaser nodded, and they both flew to the showers. A hot water was all she wanted after the exhausting flight. For a few minutes she just stood under the shower, enjoying the streams running through her fur, loosening her sore muscles.

“You know what we should do next?” Rainbow Dash asked, splashing the water around. Cloudchaser could barely see her through the steam, only a part of the chromatic mane, now covered in shampoo.

“Well, few things come to my mind…” Cloudchaser smirked, flapping her wings to dissolve the steam.

“We should go and visit Dust. She lies there all alone, no wonder why she loses marbles…”

“You’re right,” Cloudchaser said, looking at Rainbow Dash, who was now washing the shampoo off of her mane. Weeks of wearing an armour toned her muscles up a bit and, as Cloudchaser had noted when they were flying, she was in the top form, her blue fur clean and shiny. The scars on her hoof were almost invisible. Cloudchaser suddenly realised that she was staring at Rainbow’s flank and quickly turned her gaze away. She hit the water tap angrily with her hoof, and poured cold water all over her wings. After she was done, Rainbow Dash gave her a towel and they left the showers.

Outside the building a bursts of cannon fire and Flitter and Cloud Kicker’s yelling could be still heard, so they decided to go upstairs to pick up a book for Lightning Dust from Cloudchaser’s room. Then they left the building through the window.

The hospital wing was empty – the Wonderbolts were now stationed in Ponyville and the only pegasus who needed to be hospitalized was Lightning Dust. Dr Stable visited her twice a day to check on her and she was constantly guarded by Nurse Redheart.

“Hi, Nurse,” said Rainbow Dash when they landed in hospital wing’s hall. “How’s Dust?”

“Better,” Nurse Redheart muttered. “Her wing heals well, and she only tried to tear the needle off of her hoof once today.”

“Umm… good to hear that?”

“If you say so,” said Nurse Redheart, rising from her chair and leading them to Lightning Dust’s room. “She still refuses to eat. When we tried to force-feed her, she provoked vomiting, so we had to switch her to parenteral nutrition. It’s not that bad, since she doesn’t want to move from her bed and it’s less dirty when I have to wipe… nevermind. Frankly, I think they should take her to a loony bin.”

“I can tell Twilight,” said Rainbow Dash. “If the problem is with her head, she shouldn’t be here.” She waved her hoof at the window – the shooting could still be heard from the outside.

“I’d be glad,” said Nurse Redheart and opened the door at the end of the corridor. “You have guests, Dust.”

The room was dark, all the curtains were closed. Lightning Dust was lying on her side, staring at some point on the floor. Her right wing wasn’t wrapped in bandages anymore; there was only a dressing over the wound. Her mane was messy and greasy and, although her body was covered with a blanket, they could see that she was much skinnier than before – her cheeks were sunken, eyes devoid of any sparks of emotion and only the fact that she was breathing steadily was indicating that she was alive.

“I don’t think she’ll be very talkative after all those meds we pump into her, but have a fun time,” Nurse Redheart whispered and left the room.

“Hello, Dust,” said Rainbow Dash. “It’s me, Dash… I brought Cloudchaser with me.”

Lightning Dust muttered something incomprehensible and covered her face with her wing.

“We managed to get rid of Luna’s soldiers from Ponyville. Crystal ponies are attacking Detrot. The war will be over soon.”

Lightning Dust gave out something between a sigh and a grunt.

“Lightning… speak to me, please…”

“Leave me alone,” said Lightning Dust in a monotonous voice.

“Dust, you can’t just lie here like that,” Cloudchaser said. “Your wing will soon heal, you should start a rehabilitation.”

“Why? I’m a foal killer and I should be put to sleep, like a sick animal.”

“Dust… it was an accident, you were wounded…”

Lightning Dust said nothing, turning away from them and moaning when she accidentally squished her wing.

“Get out,” she said emotionlessly. Cloudchaser put the book – “A Tale of a True Pony” – on her nightstand.

“I’ll leave it for you, in case you get bored,” she said.

“Get out.”

“We really don’t think you’re a foal killer, Dust.”

Lightning Dust only grunted.

“I think it’s enough for today,” Rainbow Dash whispered. They turned to leave the room, when they heard Lightning Dust muttering to herself.

“Accidents… The Academy… Everywhere I go, I bring only death…”

“It wasn’t your fault, Dust,” said Rainbow Dash. “Really… I told you to drop these bombs…”

Lightning Dust was still muttering something to herself, not paying attention to them.

“See you tomorrow, Dust.” Rainbow Dash closed the door and wiped sweat from her forehead.

“She really needs professional help,” Cloudchaser concluded as they walked down the corridor. “We can visit her every day for the next few years, and she’ll get no better.”

“Yeah… I sometimes think that she has it worse than all those ponies who died… I know how she feels, you saw that yourself yesterday... But I can at least go flying when I want to forget about everything.”

Cloudchaser nodded. They took a turn and saw somepony sitting on the floor. At first they thought it was Nurse Redheart, but then they saw that the mare had green mane and wore an armour, a bit too big for her. Rainbow Dash immediately recognised her as one of the new recruits, the one whose tail had been charred during the shooting training. When she saw them, she stood up, making a move as if she wanted to run away.

“Don’t worry,” said Rainbow Dash. “We don’t bite. Cinnamon Swirl, right?”

The mare nodded, slowly backing away.

“Is everything all right?” Cloudchaser asked. “Did you get hurt?”

“No, I just–” Cinnamon Swirl whispered anxiously.

“Did somepony get hurt?”

“No, it’s–” for a moment she stood there, looking for the right words, but finally closed her mouth without saying anything.

“C’mon, soldier, tell me what’s wrong,” said Rainbow Dash, leaning closer to her. Cinnamon Swirl, whose face was now even more red than usual, resembled Fluttershy to her, not to mention that she looked very juvenile, almost like Scootaloo.

“I- I can’t shoot the cannon… It’s too heavy and I can’t compensate the recoil…”

“Don’t worry, Swirl, it’s nothing wrong.” Rainbow Dash patted the mare’s head.

“B- but now I won’t be able to fight… M-maybe there are some pills for that? Sergeant Kicker said–“

“No,” said Cloudchaser quickly. “Don’t take any pills Sergeant Kicker offers you.”

“But I really have to fight! A-after all I’ve done to enlist…”

Cloudchaser looked at her carefully. Cinnamon Swirl leaned against the wall as if she wanted to go through it.

“What have you done to enlist?” Cloudchaser asked.

Cinnamon Swirl was at the verge of tears. “N- nothing!”

“Oh, come on, I brought my sister up, I can see when someone’s lying…” Cloudchaser paused when she remembered the riots in Cloudsdale.

“I promise we won’t be mad,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Okay…” Cinnamon Swirl’s head drooped. She reached to the pocket of her armour, took her ID and gave it to Cloudchaser.

At first sight it looked normal – photo, description of her cutie mark (“abstract, spiral-like symbol”), date of birth – August 24th, 986 year after Discord, which made her more or less Flitter’s peer. Cloudchaser looked at it more carefully and noticed something – the “6” in year of Cinnamon Swirl’s birth looked more like a partially scratched “8”.

“So… you’re 17?” Cloudchaser asked. Cinnamon Swirl nodded.

“Just great…” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “All we needed was a filly with bogus papers… I’m sorry, Swirl, but that’s just–”

The sound of somepony’s hooves clopping against the floor made them raise their heads. They saw Flitter who stopped in her tracks and said, “Here you are! I just got a message that Luna’s airships are flying to Ponyville! The Wonderbolts intercepted ‘em, but they won’t stop all of ‘em.”

“Shit,” Rainbow Dash muttered. “C’mon, Swirl, you’re going with us, but we’ll talk about it later…”

They quickly flew to the changing room where they put on their armours, attached weapons to them and put additional magazines into their pockets.

“Don’t take it,” said Rainbow Dash, seeing Cinnamon Swirl looking at the cannon. “Can you fly with a bomb?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“Take a rifle and a bomb, we may try to drop it on the airship. Cloud Kicker...” She turned to the mare who, seeing this, hid the package with pills in her pocket. “You’ll fly with Dust Devil today; Cinnamon will fly with me. And don’t look at me like that, we have to protect the rookies.”

Cloud Kicker saluted and went to finish her preparations. Which included popping two pills when she thought nopony was watching. Cloudchaser only sighed and shook her head.

“Stay with me, Swirl, and don’t fly too close to them,” Rainbow Dash told her new wingpony. Cinnamon Swirl nodded and they went out of the changing room, accompanied by the rhythmic clicking of their armours and equipment. She looked at the sky and for the first time in her life she felt fear seeing it. Yet, the silhouette of Rainbow Dash by her side was calming her down. She exhaled and flapped her wings for a few times, bracing herself.

When they all were outside, Cloudchaser looked at their squadron – finally they had a complete line-up, twelve pegasi in six pairs. Rainbow Dash with Cinnamon Swirl, Cloudchaser and Flitter, Thunderlane and Snowflake, Cloud Kicker and Dust Devil, Blossomforth and Cerulean Sky, Stormfeather and Cloud Break; they all took off into the orange sky, heading to Ponyville.

On the airstrip Rumble was sitting, watching their formation as it disappeared behind the horizon.

13. Vinyl Scratch

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The best weapon against an enemy is another enemy.
Friedrich Nietzsche

“Excuse me,” said a green unicorn mare with dark brown mane. “Where is the room 12?”

“Right at the end of that corridor,” a brown pegasus replied. “By the way, mah name is Roo.”

“Emerald Clover,” the mare introduced herself. She had a proper Canterlot accent. Roo wondered what she was doing in the sordid, half-ruined building on the outskirts of Manehattan known as “The headquarters of the Moon Army’s 1st Bomber Wing”. The wing itself consisted currently of only three big airships, but at least it sounded good.

“I am a new waist gunner appointed to the airship called–” She winced. “–Heart-Shaped Coffin.”

Roo smirked. The flagship of their small fleet was, of course, called Princess Luna, and its twin ship, bought in the Griffon Empire long before the war was known under its Pferdisch name Die Schwiegermutter. Roo didn’t know exactly what it meant, but he suspected that it had something to do with the caricature of an old griffoness wielding a rolling pin painted on the engine gondola. The name of their airship, only recently built to replace the one destroyed during the first bombing of Canterlot and their old, steam-powered vehicle which had to be written off, was, however a completely different story.

It was Vinyl, who, after seeing Die Schwiegermutter decided that their new zeppelin needs a “badass” name and a gondola art. One “night”, she stole the cans of red and blue paint from the magazine and, before anypony noticed, painted the anatomically proper hearts on both engine gondolas of the airship, along with the name Heart-Shaped Coffin written with large, red and blue letters on its side. At first Roo, along with some officers, objected, saying that the aircraft didn’t resemble a heart, but then Vinyl, with her inborn straightforwardness, told them which body part was, according to her, the most similar to the balloon. They all sighed with relief.

For some reason, no one, not even the officers, by definition devoid of any sense of humour, cared about the “coffin”.

“Seems that we’ll serve on one airship,” he said. “Standard question: why did ya enlist?”

“You will laugh,” Emerald Clover said, smiling. “I am a philosopher and I was tired of all those theories why the wars start, so I decided to see one myself.”

“Well, normally Ah’d ask ya why did they even let ya enlist,” Roo replied. “But on my first mission, Ah was flying with a former DJ and a former clairvoyant.”

“And what happened to them?”

“The DJ is still alive and kickin’, but the clairvoyant somehow didn’t predict a bullet which hit his head. Then we spent half of a day wiping his brain from the floor and walls before they told us that we’re getting a new airship.”

“Poor guy…” Emerald’s head drooped. Roo thought that she looked really cute when she was sad.

“Could be worse. By the way, if ya want to know more about war, yer best bet is Scratch, the other waist gunner, and yer new roommate. She’s, like, livin’, breathin’ ‘too much information’…”

From behind the door near them they heard a sound of a flushing toilet, and soon the door opened, revealing a white unicorn with red eyes and an electric blue mane, who smirked, seeing them.

“Don’t go there,” she said, closing the door and taking few deep breaths. “The food actually smells better after passing the system, but it’s still not good enough to sit there…”

“Ms. Scratch, I suppose?”

“The one and only, Vinyl Scratch, at your service,” Vinyl said, leaning closer to Emerald – a bit too close for comfort. Roo chuckled.

“This is Emerald Clover, our new waist gunner,” he said. “She wants to know what war is.”

“Hoo, honey…” Vinyl embraced Emerald, who backpedalled, trying to shake her hoof off of her. “Ya really wanna know that?” she asked in a tone of an experienced veteran. “So, I will tell ya. Before the war I had money, fame, fans, vodka, more vodka, cigarettes, weed, and, screw the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’, copious amounts of lesbian sex. Now all I have are shitty food, ponies shooting at me, and my own hooves, if ya know what I mean.”

“Told ya.” Roo smiled.

“Umm… we will be roommates, right?” Emerald asked.

“Yeah, but, although ya’re sweet, I’m taken, so sorry honey. ‘Sides, ya’re not in my type, I prefer earth ponies…”

“Me? I do not…” Emerald exclaimed, blushing heavily. Vinyl, however, didn’t notice that, smiling at her memories.

“I’m telling ya, there’s nothing like an earth pony cellist hooves…” she said in a languorous voice.

“I’ve met one cellist when I was in Canterlot…” said Emerald, desperately trying to hide in a rift between the floor tiles.

“Was her name Octavia?” Vinyl asked, leaning closer to Emerald, who couldn’t stand it any longer. She disappeared in a flash of a green light and appeared again next to Roo.

“Sorry, I do not usually teleport like that, but I am not very used to, umm… such outpourings. And yes, her name was Octavia.”

“Really, the world is a small place…” Vinyl said, “Octavia is my marefriend.”

“Oh… I guess many things changed since I moved to Detrot. How is she?”

“Good, I hope. Haven’t seen her since the war started.” Vinyl’s ears drooped. “I miss her so much… D’ya know we wanted to adopt a foal? I even started to learn how to stop the little unicorn’s magic outburst when it goes crazy...”

“Umm… She’s very nice, doesn’t she?”

“Oh yeah…” Vinyl moaned. “Well, Octavia is like…” she waved her hoof in the air, trying to find the right words. “She’s like Rafaello – at first we have coconut, ya know, all that fancy envelope, shy, proper accent, something like ya, but more Trottingham than Canterlot, ya know. Then, when we got to know better, I discovered a milk cream – sweet and lovely, like… like... well, like a milk cream. And then, when we first… ya know… I discovered that beneath all these layers there’s a nut.”

“A nut?” Emerald asked. “I thought it was an almond?”

“Hey, don’t ruin my perfect analogy! I meant, after few drinks she goes nuts, and she has really flexible hooves and crazy ideas, like that one time at the band camp…” Vinyl paused. “You know, I have to go my room for a while. Be right back.”

She quickly trotted down the corridor.

“Umm…” Emerald was still blushing. “I guess I shouldn’t go there now?”

“No,” said Roo, trying his best to contain laughter. “But don’t worry, it’ll only take about ten minutes…” He saw her confused expression and added, “Thin walls.”

“Yes. Thin walls. Right,” Emerald muttered absent-mindedly, lowering her gaze.

“Ya’ve never went past the coconut, haven’t ya?” he asked.

“No, and I really wish I would not have learned about things beneath it…” Emerald said slowly, regaining her composure, “I see that life here is very interesting.”

“Hoo, honey…” said Roo, mimicking Vinyl’s voice. “Ya can’t believe how bored we were when we were waiting for a new airship…”

***

With a quiet “puff!” a bullet hit the sand, leaving a small crater in it.

“Fifty four seconds,” said Vinyl, turning the stop watch off. “That’s an academy record!”

“Yeah, Ah’m on fire, it’s the third one today,” said Roo, reloading his sniper rifle. “Yer turn,” he added, giving her the rifle. Vinyl gave him a stop watch and levitated the gun, aiming at the sky.

“Remember, when Mr. Safety Catch is not on, Mr. Rifle is not your friend.”

“Sure thing,” she muttered and pulled the trigger.

“Aaaargh!” somepony above them screamed. Vinyl quickly released the rifle from her magic grasp and looked around with an innocent expression.

A bat pony landed next to them, picking up the rifle. He then turned to Roo.

“Friendly fire? One more stunt like dat and I’m gonna shove it down yer throat and fire, Dummkopf!” he shouted and flew away, leaving them dumbstruck.

With a quiet “puff!” a bullet hit the sand, leaving a small crater in it.

“Fifty six seconds,” Roo deadpanned.

***

Vinyl was sitting on a windowsill, the bottle of applejack in her magic grasp. She took a long swig and turned to Roo.

“So, how this song goes?” she asked.

“Which one?” Roo asked. His sniper rifle was stripped down, the parts lying on the desk in front of him, while he was cleaning its barrel.

“The one ya named your gun after. I’m in the mood for singing, ya know…”

Roo sighed and put the barrel on the desk.

“Matilda’s not a gun, it’s a sniper rifle…”

“Okay, nevermind.” Vinyl took another swig from the bottle. “How the song goes?”

“Once a jolly swagmare camped by a billabong–”

“Swagmare? Like those kids nowadays?”

“No, swag is a word for saddlebags where Ah live.” He sighed again, knowing that he was going to explain a lots of things.

“It sounds like a cool place. Except of the alligators.”

“Crocodiles.”

“Nevermind. What is a billabong? Some kind of bong?” Vinyl smiled upon the thought of weed. Too bad, it was even more illegal than drinking alcohol in the base.

“It’s a pond.” Roo began to assemble his gun. He felt that it was going to be a long night.

***

The sound of a trumpet woke Roo up from his daydream.

“What is going on?” Emerald asked.

“Meeting with the commander,” he explained. “Hope Vinyl won’t be late…”

Vinyl joined them shortly after they stood in line next to the airships.

“Did I miss something important?” she asked.

“No, it didn’t start yet.”

The commander – Vinyl’s old friend, Major Road Ahead – cleared his throat.

“We just got dire news,” he said. “The Sun Army, along with the traitors from the Crystal Empire recaptured Ponyville and is preparing to attack the Princess’ castle in the Everfree Forest.”

“Dire news, my flank,” Vinyl whispered to Emerald. “He tells us such a bullshit since the day we came here. Wanna hear a joke? ‘A family act goes in to see a talent agent…’“

“As you know, our brothers and sisters in Detrot are still defending themselves against the ruthless killers and warmongers from the Crystal Empire–”

“–and the agent said: ‘No, get out with that family act, they’re always so cute that I wanna throw up when I only think of one–’”

“–our duty is to protect the citizens of Equestria, no matter what the costs are. Fortunately, our beloved Princess Luna, in her infinite wisdom, found a solution–”

“–So, the agent said: ‘Okay, show me what you got here.’ And then, the father started to–”

“A powerful ally will send his forces to defend the city of Detrot, harassed by those filthy criminalists, led by so-called Princess of Love. They’ll also help us reclaim Ponyville and eventually get rid of that old warmonger, Princess Celestia–”

“–and then the mother and her daughters started to dance, covered in–”

“–I want to introduce you the commander of a squadron of griffons who volunteered to support us in our fight, Mr. Red Baron!”

The crowd of soldiers immediately went silent, seeing a tall, middle-aged griffon, who went out of Die Schwiegermutter. He was followed by his eleven compatriots, all wearing red and yellow armours, with two cannons attached to battle saddles. Each of them was carrying a helmet in their claws. They stood in line behind their leader and saluted.

“–and then the shocked agent asked: ‘How is that disgusting… thing called?’” Vinyl snickered. “The father smiled proudly and said ‘The Aristocrats!’” She finished and laughed, while Emerald was trying to hide behind Roo, her face bright red.

“Well, I see that anti-nobility spirit is strong in you,” Red Baron deadpanned. He had no trace of any foreign accent. When Vinyl stopped laughing, he cleared his throat and spoke: “You don’t have to worry about the Crystal Empire any more. Today in the morning, our forces attacked it. It was almost devoid of soldiers, although it took some time before the griffons were able to defeat and capture the alicorn princess who was living there. We cut all the communication between the Empire and Canterlot, so they don’t know yet. However, we must be quick. Any questions?” he asked, seeing that Roo rose his hoof.

“Does it mean that the Griffon Empire is now officially involved in the civil war?” Roo asked.

“Don’t worry, soldier,” said Red Baron. “The Emperor and the Princes-Electors know nothing about us. We’re mercenaries, hired by Princess Luna.”

“Mercenaries, yeah…” Roo muttered to Vinyl. “Have ya seen their equipment? It’s better than this junk the Sun Army’s wearing, not to mention our poor Luftwaffe. And some of them didn’t even bother to remove the Empire’s coat of arms from the chest plate…”

“So?” Vinyl asked. “You know I’m not good with politics when I’m sober.”

“If we win, griffons will probably stay in Equestria for a little longer. If we lose, we can already book tickets for the next flight to the Moon…”

Vinyl cursed under her breath.

“So, before Celestia gets to know what’s going on, you’re going to attack and bomb Ponyville, destroying as much of the Crystal Empire forces gathered there as possible. If what I heard is correct, there are several smaller airships stationing in the Everfree; they’ll serve as a bait to attract their elite squadrons which we’ll destroy,” Red Baron said. “We’ll set out tomorrow at 5 AM.”

The briefing was dismissed and most of the soldiers went back to their quarters, discussing the details of the tomorrow mission. Vinyl, however, stayed on the airstrip, watching the griffons. Their armours had some sort of crystals attached beneath each of the cannons; she also noticed, that, unlike the pegasi from the squadrons protecting Canterlot, they were using retractable wing blades. One of the griffons noticed that she was staring on them and went closer to her, glaring at her angrily.

“Umm… Guten Tag,” said Vinyl, smiling sheepishly. “Kann ich eine Frage haben?”

“I can frag you in a minute, punk,” the griffon said. Vinyl thought that although she didn’t know much about griffons, she was sure of one things: her interlocutor was female.

“Seriously, what is with ponies thinking that all the griffons speak Pferdisch? I don’t even know it.”

“Sorry, honey. I only wanted to ask…”

“I’m not into mares. And ponies in general.”

“Is it true that the male griffon is called a cock?”

The griffon’s claw connected with her forehead. For a moment they just stood there in awkward silence, before the griffon finally said “No, it’s called tiercel.”

“Oh… thanks,” Vinyl bowed and walked away.

“What a dweeb…” the griffon muttered, rolling her eyes.

***

A steady sound of the two engines was soothing Vinyl’s emotions. She looked through the scope of her cannon and sat on the floor, taking a cigarette from the package put behind the strap of her goggles. She lit it with her magic and exhaled the smoke with a blissful expression.

“Isn’t smoking forbidden here?” Emerald asked, turning away from her gun and looking at Vinyl condescendingly.

“Honey, when we were grounded in the base, I smoked cigarettes next to our hydrogen generator and nothing blew up.” She had a long puff and suddenly started to cough.

“What do they put in them?” she muttered staring at the cigarette. “Dust from the floor?”

“A propos, remember when Major caught ya smoking?” Roo asked.

“Yeah, that’s why I’m talking about dusting the floors… I’m a gunner, not a friggin’ maid…”

“Chill out, Vinyl,” said Roo. “By the way, do any of you know what beautiful place will we visit today?”

“Either Ponyville, or, if we will not be able to get through, the nearby water dam,” Emerald explained. “Seriously, am I the only one actually listening during the briefings?”

“So, that important griffon subscribes to ‘if ya can’t bomb ‘em, let’s drown ‘em?’ theory?” Roo smiled.

“It figures. By the way, those smaller airships from the Princess’ castle already engaged one of their squadrons. The second one was informed that we are flying to them and is on the way,” said Emerald.

“How d’ya know?” Roo asked.

“That mule who is an engineer officer came here to tell me the news when you were in the rear turret checking who can spit further. Apparently they can catch their frequencies on our radio.”

“Amateurs.” Vinyl spat with disdain. “They should use some kind of code… Dunno, maybe a bat ponies’ language?”

“Pferdisch? No way, too many ponies know it. Heck, even you know it…”

“Yeah, ich heiße Vinyl und ich bin dreizehn Jahre alt, Leck mir den Arsch recht schon,“ Vinyl said with a horrible accent. “But I meant the language of that other bat ponies’ tribe, ya know, remember that guy called Ystlum? The one who told me how to regulate the crosshair?”

“Merlyn? That would be interesting, though it is quite difficult,” said Emerald.

“Of course ya tried to learn it?” Vinyl asked, “Well, after few drinks with Ystlum I was almost able to understand him…”

“I do not drink,” Emerald muttered. Vinyl wanted to quote the old saying that all teetotallers were snitches, but she was interrupted by a signal from the airship’s intercom.

“We’re being approached by a squadron of pegasi. Everypony go to their stands,” the pilot said.

“Mind your head, Emerald,” said Vinyl, looking through the crosshair. From her stand she could see Princess Luna and Die Schwiegermutter flying in formation. The squadron of griffons, hiding on the deck of the second airship, took off in the air, gaining altitude to attack the incoming pegasi from the sun.

“Let’s play,” she muttered, gritting her teeth.

***

“They left nothing for us,” said Rainbow Dash, seeing the Wonderbolts flying around the four blimps which flew from the Everfree Forest. One of them was burning; the other one, devoid of its crew was slowly falling to the ground, where the remains of its another companion were scattered. The fourth airship was fleeing to the forest, attacked viciously by the pegasi in blue armours.

“Don’t worry, Dash,” she heard Spitfire’s voice in her headphones. “There comes the big fish!”

Rainbow Dash raised her head and saw three larger airships approaching from the north. She immediately checked her guns and tuned her radio to her squadron’s frequency.

“Three bandits on three o’clock, split and attack in claw-four formation,” she said. “Swirl, stay with me.”

She flapped her wings, gaining altitude. Cinnamon Swirl, Flitter, and Cloudchaser flew by her side.

“Let’s take the leader,” Rainbow Dash muttered through gritted teeth.

“Watch out!” somepony shouted in her headphones, deafening her temporarily. Few bullets whistled past them and when she made a half roll to see what was above her, she noticed that the sun was obscured by a silhouette of a griffon. As he flew past her, she heard a distinctive sound of Flitter’s Jackhammer.

“Fuck!” Flitter shouted when the futuristic weapon jammed after only two shots. She removed the drum magazine from the gun and threw it at the griffon, who was turning to attack them once more. It bounced off his helmet without hurting him, but it stunned him for a split second, allowing Rainbow Dash and Cloudchaser to fire at him.

“Crap!” Dash cursed, seeing the 7.62 mm bullets bouncing off the griffon’s armour. She saw some blood on his wing and thought that at least Flitter’s buckshot-firing gadget scratched him.

“Dash, watch out!” Cinnamon Swirl shouted. Instinctively, she dodged a stream of 20 mm bullets from behind and watched them hitting the griffon who had just attacked them, piercing his armour and sending him plummeting to the ground. She turned back to see an incoming griffon, who, seeing that he just accidentally killed his brother in arms, stopped shooting and did nothing to defend himself. Dash hit him with the butt of her gun, knocking his helmet off.

“Dash?” the griffon looked at her with a surprised expression. She lowered her gun, staring at her.

“Gilda?” Rainbow Dash was stunned. Suddenly, a burst of shots shook her awake. She saw Gilda’s face becoming pale, blood dripping from the gap between the plates of her armour. Behind her, Cinnamon Swirl was hovering with her rifle, ready to fire once again. Gilda turned her head back and their eyes met.

“So lame…” she whispered, struggling to keep herself in the air. “Killed by a dweeb…”

She stopped flapping her wings and closed her eyes. Rainbow Dash dived forward, catching her.

“Dash!” Flitter shouted, pointing at the place where there rest of pegasi from their squadron were fighting more griffons. “Are you going to fuck her? Leave her and let’s help ‘em!”

“Yes, right…” she said, releasing Gilda and quickly turning her head away. “Umm… thank you, Swirl.”

They darted forward, trying to catch up with the fighters.

“Airships!” Dash shouted to the radio. “Try to lose them, the airships are more important!”

“How?” the voice, which she recognised as belonging to Cerulean Sky, cried. “Those fucks just massacred Blossomforth… three guys with cannons… They’re after me… Aaargh!”

Rainbow Dash cursed, checking her cannon. Their rifles were too weak to pierce the griffons’ armours, and although hitting a quickly moving target with a heavy autocannon was more difficult, she knew that there was the only way.

She practically rammed into the first griffon, firing at him at point-blank range, and leaving him with her armour covered in his blood. Behind her, Cloudchaser shoot another griffon’s hind leg off, and left him to be finished off by Stormfeather and Cloud Break. Rest of the formation dove to lose them and regroup.

“To the airships!” Dash commanded, wiping sweat from her forehead. “Four griffons down… Report losses.”

“Blossomforth and Sky are dead,” said Stormfeather. “They were in our formation.”

“Snowflake is slightly wounded, but it’s nothing serious,” said Thunderlane. “And we don’t know where are Kicker and Devil…”

“What?” Cloudchaser exclaimed. “They weren’t with you?”

“Last time I saw ‘em, they were attacking that airship on the right,” Snowflake said.

Cloudchaser flapped her wings harder.

***

“Griffons!” Cloud Kicker exclaimed, taking a pill from her pocket and swallowing it. “This fucking whore of a princess hired griffons to fight us!”

“We shouldn’t have left them behind…” Dust Devil said. Her radio was hit by a bullet and she barely heard what Cloud Kicker was saying.

“Fuck ‘em – airships are more important!” Cloud Kicker shouted, pointing at the large picture of a griffon on an engine gondola of the nearest airship. She saw a tail gunner preparing to shoot at her and spread her wings to slow down, watching as few tracers flew before her. She then darted to the right, leaving Dust Devil behind, and positioned herself in front of the gunner.

“See you in Tartarus!” she shouted, pulling the trigger of her cannon. The bullets pierced through the plexiglas, hitting the earth pony operating the rear gun and throwing him backwards. Cloud Kicker laughed and looked at Dust Devil, who landed on the engine gondola, trying to open it by hitting the boards with her gun.

“Leave it! I have a better idea!” She grinned maliciously and flew upwards, followed by Dust Devil. Soon they were over the balloon of the airship. Dust Devil, seeing that they weren’t within the reach of any gun, started to shoot holes in its surface.

“Don’t do that, you’ll destroy it!” Cloud Kicker prodded her.

“I thought it’s what we’re supposed to do?” Dust Devil muttered. Cloud Kicker didn’t hear her, flying above the balloon with a determined look on her face. She overtook the airship and tucked her wings, making a somersault and grabbing the triggers of her guns. She started falling but soon she spread her wings, firing at the windshield.

The plexiglas was more reliable than she thought, bullets only leaving dents in it. The co-pilot, suddenly seeing a fast approaching pony in front of him, pulled the trigger of the aircraft’s forward-facing guns.

Before any bullet could reach her, Cloud Kicker smashed into the windshield, hooves first, crushing it and knocking the co-pilot down. She recovered quickly, pulled the combat knife from the sheath in her armour and stabbed him in the neck, severing the carotid artery. In one swift move she pulled the knife out and threw it at the pilot. The co-pilot’s blood squirted in her face, but she managed to see that her throw missed: pilot only got hit with the handle.

She rolled on the floor, dodging the pilot’s kick. A bullet ricocheted from the boards next to her; the front waist gunners pulled out their revolvers and were trying to shoot her.

She got up, her vision getting blurry from the pain from collision with the windshield and, seeing that her cannon was still attached to the right side of her battle saddle, fired it at one of the waist gunners.

The effect of 20 mm bullets on unarmoured pony’s body was certainly interesting, but she had no time to watch it – another bullet from the second waist gunner’s revolver bounced off her armour with the sound of her recently healed ribs cracking again. She took her assault rifle – unlike cannon, it wasn’t attached to the battle saddle but was hanging from her neck, making aiming easier – and fired at him, only to hear the silent click of the firing pin. Before she could reload, the pilot rammed into her side, pushing her at the wall. Somepony kicked her in the face, breaking her goggles and throwing her back, on the airship’s dashboard.

Cloud Kicker yelled and darted forward blindly. A revolver bullet deflected off her chest; another one tore the tip of her wing off. She tackled the pilot, grabbing his head in her hooves and hitting it against the waist gun mount. The gunner jumped to help his comrade, but suddenly, two shots fired and he fell to the ground, inches from Cloud Kicker.

Dust Devil flew into the cockpit, landing on the floor next to the co-pilot’s body.

“Couldn’t ya hurry?” Cloud Kicker panted, grabbing the pilot’s mane and hitting his head against the mount several times, till she heard a wet crunch. She then rolled off his body, breathing heavily on the floor.

“Are you allright?” Dust Devil asked, looking at the bodies and trying to contain nausea.

“Nothing I can’t fix in a minute,” said Cloud Kicker, spitting blood and pieces of her teeth. She disconnected the cannon from her armour and took the battle off, hissing when the metal-enforced belts touched her injured wing. Then she took off all the parts of her armour. Her flying suit was torn and drenched in blood. She tried to take it off, but hissed in pain when she realized that the fabric sticked to her wounds.

“Tear it off…” she said to Dust Devil. “I can’t do it myself…”

“Are you sure?” Dust Devil asked. “I don’t wanna mess something up…”

“I said tear it off!” Cloud Kicker shouted. Dust Devil carefully cut the flying suit with her knife and pulled its remains off of her. Cloud Kicker groaned through gritted teeth.

Dust Devil winced, seeing Cloud Kicker’s body badly bruised; her fur was soaked with blood, hers and co-pilot’s.

Cloud Kicker slowly stood up and went, limping, to the cockpit’s door, locking it. She then proceeded to take various items from the pockets of her battle saddle: an unlabelled bottle of pills, a bottle of water and a syringe with morphine.

“Hold the rudder, Devil,” she muttered. She took two pills from the bottle, drank some water and injected morphine in her thigh. For a moment she was sitting on the floor waiting for the medications to kick in. When she finally spoke, her voice was a bit slurred but much stronger than few minutes before.

“So, now we have an airship with, like, six tons of bombs…” She went to the rudder and took it in her hooves, struggling to stand on her hind legs. She smiled at Dust Devil menacingly.

“What if we flew it to the Everfree and see how Luna takes our load up–” She laughed goofily. “–the dark side of the moon?”

“Remember that there’s a crew on the back…” Dust Devil quickly counted. “Two waist gunners in the rear gondola, bombardier, mechanic and a ball turret gunner are still alive.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll get rid of them…” Cloud Kicker muttered, pushing the throttle levers forward. The engines started to roar louder, their airship slowly overtaking the leader.

Suddenly, they heard a silent hum from the intercom, followed by a voice.

“Guys? Carpet Bomb here. Are you okay? We’re accelerating!”

“Shit,” Cloud Kicker whispered and passed the radio to Dust Devil. “Talk to him.”

“Uh…” Dust Devil cleared her throat. “Everything's under control. Situation normal.”

“What happened?”

Dust Devil started to think really quick. “Uh, we had a slight weapons malfunction, but uh... everything's perfectly all right now. We're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you?”

“I’ll come to you,” said Carpet Bomb.

“Negative, negative. We had a fuel leak here now. Give us a few minutes to lock it down. Large leak, very dangerous.”

“Fuel tanks aren’t here, idiot!” Cloud Kicker whispered theatrically.

“I’ll send a mechanic…” Carpet Bomb insisted.

Dust Devil had enough. She took her rifle and shot at the intercom, earning an annoyed glare from Cloud Kicker. She shrugged, reloaded her gun and switched it to the automatic mode, aiming it at the door.

“We’re so screwed…” she muttered.

“There’s a trapdoor in the floor if you chicken out…” said Cloud Kicker condescendingly. Her body was shivering slightly, when she was trying to keep the airship under her control.

“Me? Never!”

“Good,” Cloud Kicker smirked and suddenly turned the rudder left. The whole airship leaned to the side, knocking Dust Devil off balance and sending her flying to the wall, next to the body of a waist gunner shot with a cannon.

“What the fuck are you doing?” she screamed.

“Turning,” Cloud Kicker stated calmly. When she turned her face to Dust Devil she saw that her pupils were dilated and that she was still smiling, showing the missing teeth.

“Turning where?” Dust Devil looked through the remains of the windshield and saw the leading airship getting closer to them. “Oh fuck!”

“Don’t worry, Dusty, we’re gonna get medals from Princess Celestia herself for that…” Cloud Kicker giggled.

“Posthumously?”

“Oh, you, of a little faith…” Cloud Kicker waved her hoof around the cockpit, pointing at the bodies, “I crashed into a windshield, they were trying to shoot me and beat me to death, and they didn’t! You know why? Because I’m FUCKING UNSTOPPABLE!”

“Kicker, stop it!” Dust Devil cried, trying to push her away from the rudder, but Cloud Kicker slapped her, knocking her down. She then pushed the throttle levers forward, until they snapped, shards of metal cutting her skin.

“See you in Canterlot soon, Dusty!” she shouted.

***

“Sweet fucking baby Woona…” Vinyl muttered, seeing Die Schwiegermutter ramming into Princess Luna’s side, the latter’s gondola snapping in half like a piece of dry wood. Both airships caught fire and soon exploded, sending a wave of debris around. Vinyl’s airship shook violently, hit by a blastwave, sending her flying.

“Ouch!” Emerald cried when Vinyl landed on her.

“Sorry, honey,” Vinyl muttered, trying to get up. Their pilot managed to get the airship back in control and the shaking slowly died down.

“What the fuck was that?” Roo, who had just emerged from his turret, asked.

“Two thirds of our brave fleet just evaporated…” said Vinyl in the same calm tone she’d used when Black Cat was shot. Adrenaline was slowly wearing off and she started to feel the first signs of panic.

“It figures that we will be the dessert,” Emerald added when the airship turned slightly.

“We’re heading to the dam,” the pilot said through the intercom. “There’s no use bombing the town with only one airship.”

***

“Cloud Kicker!” Cloudchaser shouted, watching the burning remains of two airships falling to the ground.

“She… she wasn’t there, was she?” Flitter asked, tears in her eyes.

“We’ll find her later, now we have to take care of this!” Rainbow Dash commanded, pointing at the last airship, which turned slightly. On the horizon, they could see the dam. The water in the reservoir was enough to flood Ponyville.

They quickly formed two claw four formations and started to chase the airship. Rainbow Dash checked the ammo – she had only one magazine left. She was also worried about the griffons who had disappeared mysteriously after they’d killed four of them. Next to her, Flitter put another ammo cassette to her Jackhammer, shaking it and checking the action bolt.

“On 9 o’clock, Dash!” Cinnamon Swirl shouted. Rainbow Dash looked left and saw a small point on the sky, slightly above them, quickly approaching them and gradually changing into eight silhouettes.

“Save the cannons for the airship,” she muttered. “Aim at their wings.”

They accelerated, hoping to use the zeppelin as their cover. Rainbow Dash, aimed her cannon at the right engine gondola and fired, followed by Cloudchaser. Some splinters fell off it, but the engine was still working when they had to dodge the tracers fired by the tail gunner and right waist gunner.

“Griffons!” Cinnamon Swirl shouted, aiming her rifle upwards and firing. A bullet missed her only by an inch, flying further and scratching Flitter’s leg. They dived, hoping that the griffons would start to chase them.

“Fire!” Thunderlane yelled, when his formation, consisting of him, Snowflake, Stormfeather and Cloud Break fell on their opponents. The griffons all turned right, to face them, one of them breaking away from the group, after his wing was hit by Stormfeather’s bullet. Also Rainbow Dash’s formation turned back to attack them from behind.

Thunderlane spotted a large, muscular griffon in the middle of the formation, immediately recognizing him as the one who had mercilessly shot Blossomforth just few minutes earlier. He flew straight at him, when the griffon suddenly turned his head at him.

“No way you can turn those cannons so quickly, birdie,” Thunderlane muttered to himself, pulling the trigger.

The griffon made a rapid dodge, series of bullets flying past him. Thunderlane also overtook him, somersaulting in mid-air to shoot while upside-down.

A bullet hit him, piercing his armour and shattering his shoulder. He was still flying towards the airship, somersaulting without any control.

“H-how…” he whispered, seeing a bloody mess above his right leg. He struggled to regain control; he managed to dodge the propeller, but suddenly he hit the engine gondola and bounced off it, unconscious.

As he was falling down, a series of bullets, fired by the airship’s left waist gunner hit him, penetrating through his flank, side, and, finally, his head. His wings twitched, tugging themselves by his sides, and he plummeted to the ground.

***

Red Baron, the leader of the griffon’s squadron, smiled seeing another pegasus going down. He turned back and saw a violet mare, aiming a weird-looking weapon at his wings. He opened his beak to shout, but when she pulled the trigger, nothing happened. She looked at it, her mouth opening to form a swear, when another griffon, Jasta, tackled her, revealing his wing blades.

Red Baron aimed his cannons at them, but he didn’t decide to fire, not sure whom he’d hit. He had to admit that the mare was good: she dodged the wing blade, but Jasta managed to scratch her face with his claws – if it wasn’t for her goggles, she’d lose her eye.

Red Baron darted forward, ramming into the mare. Even without the radio he heard somepony above him shouting “Flitter!”, when he stabbed her through the gap between the plates of her armour with his wing blade.

The metal snapped, a shard of it still protruding from the mare’s side. She was, however, unfazed – she hit him with the butt of her jammed gun, pushing him away, and put its barrel between the plates of Jasta’s armour, pulling the trigger.

Red Baron saw, to his surprise, that the weapon worked this time, emptying the magazine in Jasta’s stomach. Ten cartridges of buckshot blew a large hole in the griffon’s body, blood and gore forming the red cloud behind him. As Red Baron was watching that, another pony, much heavier than any pegasus in the squadron they faced, rammed into him, knocking his helmet off his head and wrapping his foreleg around his neck.

“What the–” Red Baron exclaimed, turning to see the large, white pegasus.

“Yeah…” the pegasus muttered, catching his wing with his hooves, tearing the damaged wing blade off. Red Baron started to fight for his breath, but the pegasus was too strong. He caught his wing with the other hoof and twisted it rapidly, snapping the delicate bones. Red Baron tried to yell, but the white pony kept strangling him, still pulling his broken wing. Around them, the rest of pegasi were keeping his griffons away from him, his close-tongued opponent and the wounded mare.

With a sickening sound, his skin finally gave up, and his torn off wing fell to the ground. Only years of military training prevented Red Baron from passing out.

“That was for Thunderlane…” the pony muttered, grabbing his neck with the other hoof and catching his right wing.

“Snowflake!” a cyan mare with rainbow-coloured mane stopped in her tracks, hovering in front of Red Baron. “Stop it!”

“Yeah,” Snowflake said. “That’s for Featherweight.”

He caught Red Baron’s beak and pulled it to the side. With a crunch of snapping vertebras, the griffon’s body went limp and plummeted to the ground when Snowflake released it.

Beaten and horrified by death of their commander, the griffons ran away. Rainbow Dash looked at her squadron, now consisting only of Cinnamon Swirl, Cloudchaser, Flitter (who was barely able to keep herself in the air), Snowflake, Stormfeather, and Cloud Break.

“Where’s the airship?” she asked, looking around. She finally spotted it, slowly approaching the dam.

“What will we do?” Cloud Break asked. “Even if we get to it, we won’t down it before it reaches the dam…”

“There’s only one way…” Rainbow Dash said. “Swirl, you still have that bomb, right?”

“Yes,” Cinnamon Swirl nodded.

“Give it to me, and help Flitter, she needs to see a doctor,” Rainbow Dash ordered.

Cinnamon Swirl disconnected the bomb from her armour and gave it to her. Then she caught Flitter, trying not to move a broken piece of wing blade in her wound, and they flew away.

“Snowflake, go to Ponyville and warn the crystal ponies. If we don’t make it, they have to evacuate.”

“Yeah,” Snowflake saluted.

“Ok, here’s the plan,” said Rainbow Dash to the remaining pegasi. “Storm and Break will fly to the airship and fire a single, large hole in the balloon. Then I’ll fly there and throw the bomb into it. Cloudchaser will watch my back.”

They darted forward quickly. The airships weren’t very fast, but they had to hurry anyway.

“We’ll approach from the right,” said Stormfeather. “The right waist gunner seems to be a blind idiot.”

***

“Right in yer ass, gelding!” Vinyl shouted, pointing her gun upwards and trying to hit the two approaching pegasi. “Shit!”

“Vinyl, if you want to hit the moving target, you cannot fire directly at it!” Emerald wanted to add something, but was interrupted by the sound of cannons firing. Vinyl quickly ducked behind her gun’s mount, but nothing happened; the pegasi stopped firing, and the only sound they could hear was a hissing of the hydrogen.

“It seems that we are losing gas,” said Emerald, leaving her stand and standing by Vinyl’s side.

“Thanks for that very useful observation…” Vinyl muttered, watching the sky. A silhouette of another pegasus appeared above them, approaching them rapidly, leaving a rainbow-coloured trail behind. She watched it, dumbstruck, despite Emerald poking her.

“Come on, Vinyl, fire!”

“I can’t! It’s Rainbow Dash; I can’t simply shoot an Element Bearer!”

A green aura engulfed her gun, busting it out of her hooves, raising it upwards and pulling the trigger. Above them, somepony screamed and they heard something heavy hitting the balloon. Upon hearing that, Roo left his turret again and joined them.

“Now, to the dam,” said Emerald calmly, releasing the gun from her magic grasp and leaving Vinyl watching cyan feathers, some of them with red drops on them, slowly floating down.

“What have ya done…” Vinyl finally muttered, feeling tears coming to her eyes.

“Either she or us,” Emerald’s soft voice rang in her ears. “She had a bomb.”

Suddenly, they heard another, scratching sound, as if somepony was trying to climb on the surface of the balloon.

“Shit,” Roo muttered. “Ya said she had a bomb?”

“You know what?” Something changed in Emerald’s voice. She still sounded like a little filly, but this time it was a filly that was going to prank somepony. “I think I have seen enough of war. Goodbye, guys.”

She disappeared in a green flash. Vinyl ran to the place Emerald stood just a split second ago, but she couldn’t catch her.

“Ya little, annoying, fancy-speaking cunt!” she shouted. “You bloody, arse-fucked whore of a philosopher!”

“Vinyl, if ya could teleport, ya’d do the same long time ago…” Roo commented, but Vinyl continued, her, quite impressive, stream of abuse, suddenly lapsing into Trottingham accent.

“Vinyl,” he continued, hearing that the pegasus above them was still climbing. “Ah think we should leave too. The wounded crocodile is the most dangerous one. The same applies to ponies.”

“Not before I fully express my hatred towards that diamond dog’s bastard, who deserves to suck dicks of all the homeless stallions in Canterlot to the end of her life…”

“Can ya express it on the ground, not in the place that can blow up at any moment?” Roo asked, taking a parachute from the small locker next to the rear turret and throwing it to Vinyl. She caught it in her magic grasp and put it on. Roo opened the emergency exit – a trapdoor in the floor, placed between the waist gunners’ stands. Vinyl approached it and looked down.

“Umm… Roo?” she muttered. “D’ya know that I’m scared of heights?”

“No shit! You’re a gunner on an airship, for fuck’s sake!”

“Yeah, but... ya know, I’m not scared of heights when I can’t see the ground…”

“Sorry, Vinyl,” Roo said.

“Sorry? For what?” she asked.

“That!” Roo exclaimed and pushed her off of the airship with his wing. “We’ll meet on the ground!” he shouted, jumping behind her.

***

Rainbow Dash was flying toward the airship, her hoof on a strap releasing the bomb. She was trying to focus on the hole torn in the balloon by Stormfeather and Cloud Break, but she couldn’t get the images of the dead and wounded ponies and griffons out of her head.

Gilda, Cloud Kicker, Blossomforth, Flitter… Dash gritted her teeth.

“Come on, Dash, get yourself together…” she muttered to herself. “As long as I’m flying, everything is okay…”

She was almost there. She spread her wings to slow down, her gaze fixated on her target.

“Aaargh!” she screamed, feeling a jolt of sharp pain in her left wing. Her vision darkened, and she lost control of her flight, colliding with the balloon, sliding off the surface. Instinctively, she reached with her hoof and caught the rope attaching the gondola to the balloon.

She was panting heavily, her heart pounding in her chest against the bomb attached to the armour. The whole left side of her body was numb. The sensation was slowly coming back, but, as an athlete who knew everything about the wing’s anatomy, she understood what it meant – the bullet went through the large nerve at the base of her wing, severing it. Even if she wouldn’t have the remains of the wing amputated, she would never be able to move it again.

“As long as I’m flying, everything is okay…” she whispered. “Yeah, I found something that makes me happy, Cloudchaser…”

She looked right. The dam was only half of a mile away; the reservoir full of water after the rain and snowfall they had created. She gritted her teeth, ignoring the pain and twitching of the torn muscles in her injured wing, and started to climb up the rope. She threw away her rifle and cannon – her task was hard enough without additional 30 kilograms of equipment. Now the only thing that mattered was the bomb.

She started to breathe deeply, trying to steady the accelerated heartbeat. Her left hoof was still a bit stiff, almost causing her to fall off the balloon. The airship was approaching the dam, the doors of its bomb bay opened. Rainbow Dash gave out a scream of frustration and climbed the last few feet upwards, catching the rant of the rift in the surface. Panting heavily, she disconnected the bomb from her armour and lifted it to her face.

“Hope there’s enough oxygen in the balloon now,” she muttered, setting the delay on only three seconds. She pushed the switch arming the bomb and threw it inside the balloon. She then pushed herself backwards, closing her eyes and putting her hooves on her ears.

The bomb exploded inside the airship, tearing a large hole in the bottom part of the balloon, and setting the mix of hydrogen and air on fire. Another explosion followed, tearing the whole aircraft apart, debris flying around. Some of it hit Dash – at first only small splinters and metal shards, but then a large piece of wood collided with her side, breaking her injured wing further and knocking the air out of her lungs. A shockwave swept her away like a kite during the storm. Another piece of debris hit her, knocking her unconscious. She didn’t even feel when somepony caught her just above the ground.

***

The remains of the airship fell to the ground, the bombs and fuel exploding in a safe distance from the dam. Vinyl, her parachute also caught by the shockwave, was desperately trying to regain control over it.

Finally, after a long struggle with ropes, she saw quickly approaching thatched roof and then the world around her became dark.

When she woke up, she was hanging from the ropes of her parachute, which had gotten stuck on the roof of some house at the outskirts of Ponyville. She cursed under her breath, cut the ropes with her magic, and fell to the ground.

Fuck this war, I’m leaving, she thought, standing up and wiping the mud and ash from herself. I’m gonna get rid that uniform, go to the crystal ponies, tell them that I’m a civilian, go to Canterlot and shag Tavi like there’s no tomorrow. She looked at the orange sky. Well, quite literally.

“Hey, you!” somepony behind her shouted. She turned back and saw a violet pegasus mare with white and blue mane above her. She was wearing a black armour and, although she had dropped her weapons somewhere, Vinyl stepped back.

“Help me!” the mare cried, landing next to her. Vinyl saw that she was carrying another pegasus on her back. Even though her mane was charred, Vinyl recognized her immediately.

“Where should I carry her?” she asked, levitating Rainbow Dash gently. The pegasus regained her senses for a moment, moaning loudly.

“There,” said the mare who brought her, pointing at the side street. They carried Rainbow Dash together and carefully put her on the ground.

“Dash, can you hear me?” the mare asked, sitting next to her and resting her head on her laps. Rainbow Dash’s breath was shallow and slow. Her companion reached the straps joining her armour together and pulled them, taking the suit off. Vinyl winced, seeing her body – the left wing was only a bloody stump with some remaining feathers, tied with a tourniquet. Rainbow Dash’s whole left side was a single large bruise with darker places over the ribs. The violet mare touched it.

“Acute abdomen, she might have an internal haemorrhage,” she said. “I’ll call help.”

She turned on the radio, trying to contact somepony, but all she got was static. Vinyl looked at Rainbow Dash helplessly and noticed that she opened her eyes, looking around groggily.

“Cloud… chaser…” she whispered.

“Don’t worry, Dash, I’m gonna call somepony to help you.”

“Too… late…” Rainbow Dash’s breath was short and shallow. “Did I… make it?”

“Yes, you did, Dash,” said Cloudchaser, tears flowing from her eyes.

“Good,” Rainbow Dash smiled faintly. “I’m… tired… See you, ‘Chaser.”

“What? No Dash… You’ll live. I won’t let you die… I can’t let you die!” Cloudchaser shouted.

Rainbow Dash exhaled loudly. She closed her eyes and her head hung limply in her hooves. Cloudchaser put her carefully on the ground. She then put her hoof on Dash’s chest, checking for pulse and breathing.

“Shit…” she muttered, sobbing. She opened Rainbow Dash’s mouth, checking for any foreign objects, then she began the series of thirty chest compressions, followed by two breaths.

After a few repetitions of the procedure, Vinyl slowly started to feel that it was too late; when she touched Rainbow Dash, she felt that her body was cold and began to stiffen. Her half-opened eyelids revealed widened pupils, devoid of shine.

Finally, Cloudchaser gave up. She wept, hugging Rainbow Dash’s body and rocking back and forth with her. Vinyl also felt tears coming to her eyes. After all, she’d also met Dash on several occasions and always admired her, as well as the rest of the Element Bearers. She trotted to Cloudchaser to console her, when she slowly raised her head.

Upon seeing the rose eyes, piercing her with a cold, emotionless expression, Vinyl realised one thing: wearing the Moon Army uniform in front of a pegasus who just lost her friend could be the biggest mistake of her life.

She turned back and started to run, but she knew it was a lost cause. Cloudchaser could fly much faster than she could gallop, and soon the pegasus tackled her, pinning her to the ground. Vinyl thrashed when she grabbed her horn with one hoof, preventing her from casting any spell. Her other hoof was squeezing Vinyl’s throat, strangling her. The unicorn tried desperately to catch some air, her hooves bouncing off Cloudchaser’s armour when she was bucking wildly to free herself. Her vision started to blur and she felt a hot wave spreading through her abdomen when her bladder gave up.

“No hard feelings,” Cloudchaser panted. “Just primitive instincts…”

Vinyl, gathering the remains of her strength, bucked one more time, hitting Cloudchaser’s hind leg. The pegasus hissed, loosening her grip on her throat. Vinyl thrashed, freeing herself, and kicked Cloudchaser in the stomach. She screamed when one of her short pasterns snapped upon contacting with the armour, but Cloudchaser also felt that hit – she fell on her back, trying to recover. Vinyl, staggering on three legs, aimed her horn at her. She didn’t knew many spells that would be useful in such situation, except maybe a demolition spell which she’d used in Manehattan to open the door of the Bootleg’s pub but she started to charge her horn.

“C’mon, do that,” Cloudchaser said in a dejected tone. Her eyes lost all the fire and she was now looking sad and tired, covered in sweat and dust. “You already killed Dash, one more pegasus doesn’t make a difference…”

“I… didn’t…” Vinyl whispered, her voice quiet and raspy. She coughed, her lungs and throat still burning. “It was… Emerald… Clover…”

Cloudchaser looked behind her, a spark appearing in her eyes. Vinyl thought it was a trick to distract her, but suddenly she felt a touch of metal on the back of her head.

“Horn up, or I’ll blow your skull to pieces, you bag of piss…”

Vinyl lifted her horn slowly and turned back to see at least ten crystal ponies aiming their guns at her. They surrounded her, one of them helping Cloudchaser to get up, another trotting to the side street to take Rainbow Dash’s body.

“Vinyl, duck!” somepony above her shouted. A bullet hit the head of a crystal pony who was holding her at gunpoint. His companions aimed their guns in the air, when Vinyl fired a spell at them, sending some of them flying.

“Run, Vinyl!” Roo shouted, firing Matilda, his sniper rifle, at another crystal pony. Vinyl darted forward, but screamed and fell down when her injured hoof contacted the ground.

“I can’t run…” her voice was still only a raspy whisper. Roo cursed under his breath and grabbed Vinyl, flying away with her, only few feet above the street.

A bullet flew past them, hitting the wall of a nearby house. Vinyl looked back and saw that Cloudchaser was following them, wielding two rifles in her hooves.

“Watch out!” her scream immediately degrading into another fit of coughing. Her stomach ached and she felt that she was going to throw up. Roo made a sharp turn to the left, one of the bullets flying through his tail, scorching the hair.

“Ya killed her coltfriend or what?” he asked Vinyl. Her only answer was a gagging sound when his shaky flight finally caused the motion sickness.

They quickly flew into some side alley, hiding behind the houses. Roo released Vinyl and landed next to her.

“We need to hide inside, there will be more of ‘em…” he said, watching Vinyl, even paler than usual, slowly getting up. He opened the door of the nearest house and they entered it.

“Stay away from windows,” he said, ducking behind the sofa. The living room looked nice and cozy, though it could be seen that somepony left it in a hurry.

“We need to go upstairs. Ah’ll have a better position to shoot there.”

They trotted on the first floor, hiding in the bedroom – Vinyl noticed empty closets, large, comfortable bed and a photo of a nice, minty green unicorn mare standing on the nightstand. Roo looked at the bed and smirked.

“Don’t even think about ‘one last time before we die’, daddy,” Vinyl said. “I told ya I don’t swing that way.”

“Vinyl, Ah don’t mean to be rude, but ya don’t look very sexy at the– Get down!”

They ducked behind the bed, its mattress getting pierced by the bullets. Roo quickly took his rifle and fired back, destroying the only remaining pane of glass in the window.

“It’s that crazy pegasus,” he muttered.

“Cloudchaser! Get down here!” one of the soldiers outside shouted. “Or you’ll get hit by debris!”

“Ah’ll go to the window, maybe Ah’ll shoot some of them,” said Roo and crawled to the window slowly, carefully avoiding the shards of glass. He lifted his gun and fired outside, missing. Several soldiers fired back at the window, but he managed to duck in time.

“Why don’t they storm the house?” Vinyl asked. “And did he say ‘debris’?”

“They’re waiting till we surrender or commit ritual suicide, like the ancient pegasi in Neighpon,” said Roo. “Can ya do that spell once more? Ya’d demolish the wall and we’d fly away before they’d get what’s going on.”

“Sorry, I can only cast it once an hour. I guess we don’t have so much time?” Vinyl muttered, resting herself against the bed frame and rubbing her swollen hind leg.

Suddenly they heard a sound of an engine coming from the street, followed by rattling of the caterpillars. Roo looked outside and darted forward, hiding behind the bed.

The wall behind them exploded, pieces of bricks flying in the air. A photo of the house’s previous inhabitant hit Vinyl’s back when she was running to the corridor, gritting her teeth when she stood on her broken hoof. Roo caught her, flying with her downstairs, when another explosion shook the house, demolishing a part of the roof. They landed on the floor, crawling to the kitchen and hiding under the table.

“Will you go out or do we have to tear that house to pieces?” they heard somepony speaking over the megaphone.

“Go and fuck yourself with the tank’s cannon!” Vinyl shouted. They didn’t have to wait long for the reply – the tank rammed into the wall, scattering the debris all over the living room. The floor gave a warning crunch, so the vehicle retreated, allowing the crystal ponies to go inside and search the house, taking cover behind the remains of the furniture.

“We’re fucked…” Roo stated simply, lowering his sniper rifle.

“Ya aren’t,” said Vinyl, her voice a bit louder, but still trembling, “Ya can still fly away if ya don’t have anypony to slow ya down…”

“Vinyl, what are ya…”

“Fly away, I’ll stop them,” she muttered. “Go back to… to Babs and tell her all that crap fathers usually say to their daughters. With my leg I wouldn’t be able to keep up with ya anyway…”

“Ah can’t leave you like that… What about Octavia?”

If they get me alive, they’ll take me to Canterlot anyway… Vinyl thought.

“She’ll understand.”

“No, she won’t! If Ah were her, Ah wouldn’t understand why my marefriend decided to sacrifice her life like that…”

“Will your daughter understand that?”

Roo said nothing. He got lost in his thoughts for a moment before finally taking his sniper rifle and giving it to Vinyl. Then he trotted to the window, checking if there was nopony outside.

“Ah guess ya’ll need Matilda more than Ah… See ya, Vinyl,” he said, not looking at her and flew away.

Finally, she thought. He thinks it’s Where Griffons Dare or other war novel?

“I’m here!” she shouted, dropping Roo’s rifle on the floor “I sur–”

A series of bullets flew over her head, tearing holes in the kitchen table. She rolled on the floor, splinters tangling into her fur. Few soldiers entered the kitchen, aiming their guns at her.

“Don’t shoot!” she cried. Most of the soldiers heard her and took their hooves off the triggers. One of them, however, a young crystal pony private deafened by the previous shots, aimed at her and fired. She felt a sharp pain in the back of her head. Then the world exploded around her and everything faded to black.

***

First thing she felt was a jolt of pain in her ribs.

“What’s this?” She heard a raspy, low-pitched voice. “Can I bring a body bag for her or you guys are not done fucking her yet? I see all the crystal ponies prefer their fillies cold…”

Somepony kicked her once again.

“We didn’t fuck her, Tungsten Heart would rip our balls off for that,” another voice, a bit higher than the previous one, said. “And she’s not dead. One of our boys shot her, but this cunt was apparently born with a silver spoon in her mouth. The bullet missed, ricocheted from the fridge and hit her.”

“Yeah, right… Then why is she lying here? You should take her to a doctor, or, for fuck’s sake, at least wash her!”

“It was the doctor who told us not to move her. He said that she may have a spinal injury and went to get a stretcher. So, can you, please, stop kicking her and get the fuck out?”

“No, until I get to know who of you, morons, had a brilliant idea of demolishing a house to get one prisoner.”

Vinyl tried to lift her head, but everything went blurry and again she was embraced by the darkness.

***

“Vinyl?” a soft voice called.

“Tavi?” she asked, raising from the bed. The walls and bedclothes were snow white, Vinyl also noticed an i.v. rack above her. Her head and hind leg were bandaged.

“Oh, Vinyl, what have you done?” there was some sadness in Octavia’s voice. Vinyl looked at her and saw tears in her big, violet eyes.

“Don’t worry, Tavi, I’m with ya. Everything will be all right.”

Octavia was still crying, not paying attention to what Vinyl was saying. Suddenly she rose from her seat and sat on the bed, hugging her.

“It’s ok, Tavi, I’m–“ Vinyl paused, seeing that Octavia was, indeed, hugging her, but, at the same time, she was watching that scene, standing in the corner of the hospital room.

“That sucks, huh?” somepony next to her said. She looked right and saw a familiar pegasus mare sitting on the floor. She ran her hoof through her rainbow mane.

“What? You’re–” Vinyl felt that the temperature in the room suddenly dropped.

“Rainbow Dash. Also yes, we’re dead. Or at least I am dead. Not sure how about you.”

“I’m sorry…” Vinyl muttered.

“Don’t be sorry, I don’t care anymore. At least I’ll see Scootaloo again…”

Her voice drifted off, and the vision blurred into nothingness.

***

A stream of ice-cold water woke her up. She shook her head, muttering curses under her breath. She was trying to recall what had happened to her, but all she saw was some blurry pictures: two soldiers talking about how she was shot; the doctor, bandaging her hoof and looking at her with worried expression; a small airship, so called “assault blimp” crystal ponies were using to transport the bodies of the dead soldiers, and which they used to transport her to Canterlot; a strange vision of Octavia crying over her dead body.

“Stand up, punk!” a royal guard, who just poured the water from garden hose all over her, shouted. She stood up, feeling dizzy, and almost fell down again, her hind leg too weak to support her weight.

“Don’t even try to throw up, or we’ll have to shower you once more…” There was a threat in the guard’s voice.

Vinyl looked around. The room she was in was a tall, dark chamber, walls made of stone, the only source of light being the torches. She tried to light up her horn, only to find out that the anti-magic ring was put on it.

“Welcome to the Royal Dungeon.” The guard laughed. “Have a nice stay…”

14. Scootaloo

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Self-defence is Nature's eldest law.
John Dryden

The birds were chirping loudly when Scootaloo woke up. The sleeping bag was warm and cozy and she didn’t want to get up yet, so she closed her eyes, turning over and burying her face in a mass of red, curly hair. Twist muttered something in her sleep and smacked her with her hoof, finally awakening her. Scootaloo crawled out of her sleeping bag and saw that Silver Spoon wasn’t there. She went out of the tent, stretching her wings, and looked around, but saw no trace of her.

“Silver? Where are you?” she called, but nopony replied; all she heard was singing of the birds and a gentle breeze flowing through the tops of the trees. “Silver!”

“I’m here.” Silver Spoon emerged from between the trees. The whites of her eyes were bloodshot and her mane was hanging freely, instead of being braided as usual.

“You shouldn’t go into the woods alone,” said Scootaloo. “Who knows what’s there.”

“I’m sorry, but there are some things I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing with you around,” Silver Spoon replied, rolling her eyes. “Besides, I know how to defend myself.” She shown Scootaloo a scabbard with a griffonian Kampfmesser, almost as long as her foreleg, put behind a scrunchie she was wearing on her leg.

“You’d better put it back in the saddlebag, before you cut yourself. I don’t plan to fight anypony in the nearby future and we’ll need it to open the cans with food,” Scootaloo said.

“Don’t worry about that, I’ll lend it to you.” Silver Spoon moved the knife so it was hidden behind her foreleg and went into the tent, coming back with a saddlebag full of food. “I woke Freak up, she’ll soon join us,” she said.

“Don’t call her that! We need to leave as soon as possible if we want to get to Canterlot quickly,” Scootaloo said, taking a can of baked beans and a primus to heat them. She felt the breeze getting colder and started to regret that she didn’t take a blanket to wrap herself in – most of the clothes they’d found in a wreck of an airship were too big for them, and the best idea she could think of was making a provisional cloak.

“Hi girlth,” said Twist, crawling out of the tent. Her mane was messy but she looked relaxed and fresh. She stretched herself and started to search through the saddlebag with food. Silver Spoon gave her a disapproving look. Scootaloo said nothing, her thoughts focused on the baked beans in front of her. Twist also took a can of some vegetables and for a moment they all were eating in silence.

“Tho, what are we going to do?” Twist asked when she finished eating. She looked at the Moon – it hadn’t moved since yesterday, still showing them the direction.

“I want to go to the refugee camp and find my mother,” said Silver Spoon. “She’s probably worried sick…”

“My parenth wanted to flee to Prance.” Twist suddenly shuddered. “But now they probably went without me…”

“Why? I think they’d wait for you…” Scootaloo’s eyes widened in horror, when she understood what Twist meant.

“Yes, blank flank.” Silver Spoon smirked, but her eyes remained ice cold. “We weren’t found on the place where bomb exploded. Technically, we’re dead. No one, not even your sister, cares about us. Well, if she ever cared for you.”

Scootaloo said nothing, staring at the ground under her hooves. Although she knew that something like this should have happened, it struck her only when Silver Spoon said that aloud. Next to her, Twist was sitting in a similar position, lost in her thoughts. Scootaloo understood her well. Even if they got to Canterlot in a few days, her parents probably wouldn’t be there.

Just yesterday, as Scootaloo recalled, Twist was the one to cope with the death of their classmates the best. She didn’t even pay much attention to it – everypony in their class knew that Twist was that weird filly with lisp who had no friends, except maybe miss Cheerilee. Why would she care about them? With parents, however it was different matter.

Scootaloo knew exactly what Twist felt now. She’d never met her own parents, and although the foster home wasn’t a bad place, she always felt abandoned, till Rainbow Dash took her under her wing.

And now, Rainbow Dash had also left her.

“Can you stop sitting here like two crybabies and help me with the tent?” Silver Spoon asked. Scootaloo rushed to pick up the primus and the saddlebags, while Twist rose mechanically and started taking the pegs off the ground. Soon the tent was folded and put in a bag, and they started to walk through the forest.

The wind intensified, and soon Scootaloo took a blanket from her saddlebag, wrapping herself in it. Silver Spoon followed her, only Twist didn’t seem to care. They were wandering through the thick layer of leaves, tripping over branches and roots protruding from the ground. Scootaloo let Silver choose the way, stopping her only when she saw Twist slowing down, lost in her thoughts.

They were walking for about two hours, when Silver Spoon suddenly stopped.

“What’s going on?” Scootaloo asked, nearly bumping into her.

“Look by yourself,” Silver Spoon muttered. Scootaloo stood by her side and saw a gorge in front of them. It was about fifty feet deep and thirty feet wide. Scootaloo looked into it and saw a small creek flowing on the bottom.

“So, since the only pegasus here can’t fly, we can either climb or try to find the road. There should be some kind of a bridge there.”

We can also push you down, Scootaloo thought, but she shook it off. She knew that they could survive only by sticking together. There was also a simpler reason – it was Silver Spoon’s turn to carry the tent.

“Yeah…” Scootaloo muttered, still looking at the bottom of the gorge. “We should look for a bridge. How do you think, Twist?”

Twist, who just joined them, said nothing.

“Twist?”

“Do what you want,” Twist murmured. Silver Spoon looked around.

“So, where the road should be?” she asked.

“Dunno, somewhere on the left?” Scootaloo dropped her saddlebags on the ground and searched through them, finding a map of the Canterlot and its surroundings that used to belong to the airship’s crew.

“Hmm, there’s no gorge here,” she muttered, her hoof wandering through the map. “It’s just forest, that’s all.”

“Crap… You said it should be somewhere on the left?” Silver Spoon asked.

“Dunno, just guessing. But we can’t be far from the road I think. We can go left and, if we don’t find anything, go back.”

Silver Spoon nodded her head. They turned left and started to walk, but then Scootaloo noticed something.

“Twist! Come on!” she shouted to the filly who was still sitting on the edge of the gorge, staring into the depth. Twist raised her head, as if she just woke up and trotted behind them.

***

“Does this gorge ever end?” Silver Spoon muttered angrily. They were walking for almost an hour, but they still couldn’t see the end of the obstacle. There was, however, a bright side – it got a bit shallower, and it seemed that soon they’d be able to cross it. There was also a small clearing there, and Scootaloo sat on the ground on its edge.

“How about a small break?” she asked. “I think it’s time for a dinner.”

They sat on the clearing, taking food out of the saddlebags.

“I think we’re only losing time trying to get to the road,” said Scootaloo, munching a hard tack. “We can go to the bottom of the gorge and climb up on the other side here.”

“What if one of us breaks a leg?” Silver Spoon asked. “We’d have to leave–”

“I wouldn’t leave anypony,” Scootaloo interrupted her. “Even you.”

“Really? Am I your friend now, or what? It may be very chivalrous, but then we’d all die.”

“Listen, Silver...” Scootaloo sighed. “I’m saving your sorry flank since yesterday and all I’m getting is you picking on me…”

“Thcootaloo, thtop. Don’t thtart it again,” said Twist suddenly.

“Oh!” Silver Spoon exclaimed. “You’re talking again. What will you say about my new best friend’s idea?”

“You should thtop too, Thilver. It’th about Diamond, right? We all lotht friendth yethterday, but we should get out alive firtht…”

“What do you know about friends? You don’t even have friends!” Silver Spoon shouted, “I’ve never asked you to save me. Diamond… she...” She paused, took her glasses off and wiped her eyes.

“Twist is right,” said Scootaloo. “We have to get out alive…”

Silver Spoon was still sobbing, so Scootaloo sat by her side, embracing her with her wing. The grey filly glared at her angrily and shook it off of her back.

“Let’s go,” she said finally and trotted to the edge of the gorge. “What’s up?” she asked, turning back to Scootaloo. “It was your idea.”

Carefully, they went down the sheer wall of the gorge. It was only twenty feet tall in that place, but it still was a scary trip. Scootaloo, being a pegasus, wasn’t scared of heights, but seeing Silver Spoon and Twist stepping cautiously, catching the small bushes and grass growing between the rocks made her heart skip a beat several times. Finally, they stood on the bottom of the gorge, cooling their hooves in the creek.

“So, now we only have to go up,” Scootaloo muttered. Luckily, the opposite wall wasn’t as sheer as the other one, and soon they climbed on it. For a moment, they were just lying on their backs, panting heavily.

“Let’s go,” Scootaloo said, standing up and wiping sweat from her forehead.

“Can’t we call it a day?” Silver Spoon asked. “I’m tired.”

“Already? It’s not even–” Scootaloo looked at the sky, but its orange colour and the celestial bodies hanging low above the horizon on the opposite sides of it made her unable to guess the time of day.

“3 PM,” said Twist, taking a watch from her saddlebags – it was a small masterpiece, showing not only the time and date, but also lunar phases – though now they were a bit off. It came to Scootaloo as no surprise that Twist took it when they were searching through the remains of the airship.

“November 9th, 1005 yearth after Dithcord.”

“Too bad it doesn’t show where we are,” Scootaloo concluded. “I’ve heard that they’re trying to make something like that in the Crystal Empire.”

Silver Spoon muttered something under her breath and got on her hooves, trying to wipe the dust off her back.

“Enough of a rest?” Scootaloo asked her. “Because I want to walk for a few more miles before we hit the hay.”

“Right…” Silver Spoon groaned and followed Scootaloo.

They didn’t even walk a mile from the gorge, when they heard a sound of wings flapping somewhere above them. Scootaloo looked up and saw four ponies flying above them. Being a fan of the Wonderbolts and their magazine where they often described various tricks and tactics, she immediately recognised the “claw-four” formation – two pairs, covering each other’s backs, that could easily split and fight independently.

“Let’s hide,” she said, crawling under a large bush near them.

“Are they our pegasi?” Silver Spoon asked. Scootaloo looked at the formation more carefully.

“Their armours are a bit different,” she concluded.

“Great. First we get bombed, and now we have to hide from bat ponies…”

“Girlth, look!” Twist shouted, pointing at the sky.

Two silhouettes in blue armours flew from behind a large cloud, charging at the formation. The wingpony of the lead pair saw them, and turned at them, followed by the rest of the bat ponies. The pair of pegasi fired a short burst at them and dodged the bullets, reuniting after passing the formation of their enemies. Bat ponies turned to face them, but the Wonderbolts – even from the distance, Scootaloo was sure that they were them – were too fast. One of the bat ponies got hit during the turn and was now gliding to the ground.

The fight continued, Luna’s soldiers trying to take advantage from the fact that they were more agile than the pegasi, but Scootaloo didn’t watch – a wounded pony was flying towards them, scratching the branches of the trees. Now she could see exactly his bleeding wing and frightened expression as he was trying to slow down. His armour was in fact just a regular flying suit, designed to help its owner in carrying small items and protect them from cold rather than the bullets. Just when Scootaloo thought that he was going to crash into the bush they were hiding under, he hit the trunk of a nearby tree and hit the ground with a loud thud.

“Did he die?” Twist asked in the silence.

“Doesn’t matter,” said Silver Spoon. “It seems that we’re winning!”

“We?” Scootaloo grunted, but Silver Spoon didn’t listen.

“You know?” she said, looking at the body of the bat pony. “I’d feel much safer if I could put my hooves on his rifle…”

“I wouldn’t. You already have a knife…”

Silver Spoon trotted towards the bat pony slowly, hiding behind the trees. Just when she was only few yards from him, he suddenly groaned and opened his eyes.

“Donnerwetter…” he muttered, getting on his hooves and examining his wing – luckily for him, the bullet didn’t tear any of the main veins of it; it also missed the fragile bones. Silver Spoon, upon hearing him, backpedalled automatically, snapping a twig with her hoof.

“Wer da?” the flier shouted, rising his gun and aiming it at the trees, “Who’s zere?”

Scootaloo gulped, when the barrel moved to the bush Twist and her were hiding behind. After an agonizingly long few seconds the bat pony hissed and winced, lowering the rifle and looking at his injured wing. He searched through the pockets of his flying suit and took a small bottle from it. He opened it, took a sip, wincing at the taste, and poured some of the liquid on his wound. Then he looked at the sky and, seeing no trace of his companions, opened his mouth to shout. Or at least Scootaloo thought so, because her ears didn’t register his voice – maybe some additional wave in the air, but nothing more.

Soon, a black silhouette appeared on the sky, and another bat pony landed next to his companion. He was shorter than the injured pony, but a bit bulkier and with smaller fangs. Scootaloo thought that he was probably a member of another bat pony tribe.

“Are ya ok, Flugschreiber?” he asked, looking at his companion with care.

“More or less,” Flugschreiber replied. “How’s ze rest?”

“Those guys ran away, Tyluan and Strahltriebwerk are going back home. Can ya fly?”

“Nein.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll carry ya.”

Just when they were going to fly away, Twist, who was trying to hold her breath for all this time, suddenly sneezed. Flugschreiber rose his gun again, aiming at the bushes. Scootaloo uttered several curses and saw Silver Spoon doing the same behind her tree.

“Zere’s somepony zere!” the injured bat pony shouted. His companion looked at the bushes, as if he was trying to pierce the leaves with his gaze. Scootaloo held her breath. For a moment her and bat pony’s eyes locked and she could swear that he winked at her.

“There’s no one there, Flugsie,” he finally said. Flugschreiber, although still looking at the bushes askew, lowered his gun. The other bat pony took him on his back and they both flew away. Scootaloo waited for a few minutes before they finally disappeared behind the horizon, and sighed with relief.

“That was close,” said Silver Spoon, approaching them. “Twist, couldn’t you hold on? They could kill us all…”

“It was your idea to steal his gun,” Scootaloo opposed, standing between her and Twist.

“I’m not talking to you.”

“But it wasn’t Twist’s fault!”

“It’th okay, Thcootaloo,” said Twist, seeing that Silver Spoon suddenly shifted her position, hiding her right foreleg behind the left one, playing with the scrunchie on it.

“It’s not okay! She has to understand that she can’t put us at risk–“

“Stop whining, blank flank!” Silver Spoon shouted, stepping closer to her, “You said yourself that the most important thing is to survive. We survived!”

Scootaloo sighed. “But we won’t survive for long if you keep on pulling stunts like that! If you want to join Diamond, I won’t object, but stop risking Twist’s and my life!”

“Don’t you dare talking about Diamond!” Silver Spoon shouted, suddenly rising her right foreleg. The steel clattered.

“No!” Twist cried, catching her hoof and tackling her. Scootaloo jumped backwards, her wings spread, ready to jump back into the fight, to contain the fillies. Suddenly, her eyes widened in horror.

The brawl died down. Twist was cowering on the ground, wailing in pain, while Silver Spoon was pacing around her nervously.

“I’m sorry, Twist… I’m so sorry…” she was muttering constantly.

The griffonian Kampfmesser was lying on the ground next to Twist, its blade red.

“What have I done…” Silver Spoon fell on her haunches. Scootaloo galloped to Twist, trying to examine the thrashing filly.

The cut on her foreleg was long, but fortunately not very deep, though blood staining her coat made it look far worse. Twist looked at it and stopped crying, gritting her teeth. Scootaloo took her saddlebags, searching for the bandages and water.

“I’m okay,” said Twist. “You don’t have to…”

“Listen, I crashed my scooter too many times to not know about cuts and how they can get infected.” Scootaloo sighed, pouring water all over the wound. “If we had something to disinfect it…”

“There’s some alcohol in that primus,” said Silver Spoon, her voice empty, pointing at the portable stove protruding from one of their saddlebags.

“But we won’t be able to cook anything...” Twist protested.

“Don’t worry, we’ll light a bonfire.” Scootaloo opened the stove’s tank and poured it on the cut. Twist hissed, but when Scootaloo wrapped her foreleg in bandages, she smiled and tried to get up.

“I guess we’ll have to stay here for a night,” Scootaloo said, watching her companions. Silver Spoon was still sitting on the ground, watching the knife in front of her. Twist was walking around wincing while supporting her weight on injured foreleg. “Silver, can you help me with the tent? Silver?”

“Yes?” Silver Spoon slowly raised her head.

“I asked if you could help me with the tent. No, Twist, you should rest.”

Silver Spoon trotted to the tent and together with Scootaloo they set it up. Just after that, she crawled inside.

“I think I’ll hit the hay,” she muttered. “I’m really sorry, Twist…”

“What’s wrong with her?” Scootaloo whispered to Twist when Silver fell asleep. She was now gathering branches to light a bonfire.

“I gueth she’th a bit lotht…”

“A bit lost? Nightmare Moon was ‘a bit lost’ thousand years ago! She could have killed you…”

“I’m worried about her…” Twist continued, trying to use the lenses of her glasses to focus the sunrays on a pile of dry leaves which Scootaloo had put under the wood. “She getth crazy, she can try to hurt herthelf...”

“Herself? She can kill us both in our sleep.”

“Shh…” Twist raised her hoof. “Can you hear?”

“Hear what again?” Scootaloo’s ears twitched. The leaves lit on fire which started to slowly spread on the twigs.

“She’s crying. Just like the latht night.”

“Fine…” Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “You can go there and console her; maybe she’ll even shed a tear while slicing our throats.”

“Really, Thcooth… You should at leatht try to be nithe for her…”

“I’ll start to be nice for her when she’ll start to be nice for me, instead of waving a knife before my face. Really, Twist, she cut your leg with a knife and you don’t give a shit?”

“Of courthe I give! But we’re in thith foretht together and we have to take care of her inthtead of pushing her further…”

Scootaloo only rolled her eyes.

“I’m going to thleep,” said Twist, opening the tent. “Goodnight, Thcooth…”

For a moment Scootaloo was staring into the flames, listening to the muted sound of Twist and Silver Spoon talking inside of the tent. She took a twig, snapped it in half and tossed it into the bonfire.

“Oh, Apple Bloom…” she muttered, “I wish Sweetie and you were here…”

***

The next day wasn’t any better. It was even colder, wind ruffling Scootaloo’s feathers in both literal and metaphorical meaning. What was more, she and Silver Spoon had to carry most of their stuff, since Twist, with her wounded foreleg, barely could keep up with them.

For the whole day, Silver Spoon didn’t tell a word to her. When they were walking, she was simply staring at the path in front of them with blank expression, occasionally playing with the scrunchie on her foreleg. Scootaloo tried not to look at that, but chill went down her spine when she saw that the knife was still there.

During the stops, Scootaloo noticed that Silver Spoon was talking with Twist quietly, frequently pointing at her foreleg. Even though she almost let her dinner go cold trying to figure what they were chatting about, she heard nothing.

After the noon, their stops became more frequent. Few times, the formations of pegasi flew through the sky, causing them to hide. Although Scootaloo was looking at them with hope, she couldn’t recognise any of them as Rainbow Dash.

The sky grew darker, for a moment they thought that the war ended and, after a very long day, the night finally fell. Soon, however, first raindrops started to fall on them.

“Just great,” Scootaloo muttered, feeling the blanket on her back soaking almost immediately.

“I think the forest gets thinner there,” said Silver Spoon. “Maybe we reached its end.”

“I think it’th the road.” Twist wiped her glasses and was trying to pierce the torrents of rain with her gaze.

“I see a light there,” Scootaloo pointed forward.

“A house?” Silver Spoon perked up.

“No,” Scootaloo suddenly shivered. “More like ponies with torches.”

“Maybe it’s our army.”

“We’re not going there,” Scootaloo said quickly.

“Oh, come on! Maybe they’ll save us!”

Before Scootaloo could reply, Silver Spoon was creeping to the road. At least she doesn’t run there like an idiot, the pegasus filly thought, following her.

In the middle of the road stood, sunk in the swamp to the axes, a large platform with a cannon on its top. Two ponies were pacing nervously around it, kicking the wheels from time to time and trying to dig in the mud with the shovels, without much enthusiasm.

They both were quite muscular, even for the earth ponies, their coats were dust grey, except of legs which were almost black. They had submachine guns hanging from their necks – a model commonly used by Equestrian Army before the war – and were wearing navy blue uniforms of Moon Army, with a badge depicting the Moon and two golden hammers on it.

“Combat engineers,” Scootaloo muttered. “Are they going to attack Canterlot?”

“It seems that the weather doesn’t help them.” Silver Spoon grinned.

“Pierdolę, nie robię…” one of the engineers grunted, dropping the shovel on the ground, and switched something on his submachine gun. Scootaloo furrowed her brow, trying to comprehend his words, but nothing came to her mind. It wasn’t Equine, Pferdisch or any language she’d ever heard. The engineer continued, “Chuj, jak tu przylezie ten debil, to mu powiem, żeby sobie wsadził to działo, jak ma taki kaprys…”

“What did you say?”

The two earth ponies silenced immediately when a bat pony landed behind them. Unlike the one Scootaloo had seen the previous day, he had an actual armour – a bit older type than the one used by Princess Celestia’s pegasi, but still it looked impressive, with a battle saddle (though without a cannon) and an assault rifle.

“He said that, if you like, you can put yourself that cannon where the Sun doesn’t shine.” The second engineer snickered.

“What?” the bat pony’s face became red. He stood on his hind legs, grabbing his gun and aiming it at the engineers. “You’re going to pull that cannon to Canterlot, no matter if you like it or not!”

“Make us,” said the first engineer, rising his gun and firing few bullets at him. Scootaloo jumped back, deafened by a sudden roar. She started to run back to Twist, hoping that Silver Spoon followed her and that the fighting ponies wouldn’t hear her hoofsteps. She jumped behind the trees, skidding to a halt on wet leaves, when Silver Spoon bumped into her. They turned around to see the bat pony sitting in the middle of the road and firing behind the fleeing engineers; his armour stopped most of the bullets, but they probably gave it to him anyway – he was panting heavily, holding the hoof on his chest.

“We’d better keep as far away from the road as possible,” Scootaloo said, her voice trembling. Her heart was pounding in her chest as if it wanted to get outside. “Twist, can you walk?”

Twist nodded. Not caring about the rain, they went further into the forest, until they found a small clearing. Quickly, they set up the tent and crawled inside, trying to warm themselves up despite the wet blankets.

“You know,” Silver Spoon said when they finally were in their sleeping bags. “If the whole Luna’s army looks like that, we’re gonna win that war easily.”

“I gueth Celethtia’th army ithn’t any better,” Twist replied. “Ponieth hadn’t been at war for ageth…”

“And how do you think, Scootaloo?” Silver Spoon asked.

“Frankly, I don’t care,” Scootaloo muttered. The echo of the shots was still ringing in her ears. She closed her eyes and turned back from Silver Spoon.

“I wonder what Princess Celestia will do to her sister,” Silver said. She lifted her head in excitement. “Maybe she’ll banish her to the Moon again…”

“No, she wouldn’t do that.” Twist yawned. She took her glasses off and rested her head on a pillow. “I think they’ll thomehow make it up…”

“After everything that happened? Don’t be naïve. Too many ponies have died; someone has to be punished for that.”

Twist only shook her head. Scootaloo fell into a shallow slumber, hearing their voices as if they were far away from her. Her mind started to wander off; she was barely realising Twist and Silver Spoon’s presence.

The sound of a thunder filled her ears. She saw a large pile of the dark clouds and the blurred silhouettes of several pegasi dragging them forward through the sky. She looked around, confused. Some of the ponies were wearing the blue and yellow armours of the Wonderbolts, while another group’s suits were of a plain, black colour.

“Come on!” she heard a raspy voice. “We need to get with this to Ponyville before morning!”

“Rainbow Dash?” she turned her head, looking for the source of the voice.

Rainbow Dash was hovering in front of the clouds. Although most of her face was obscured by goggles and helmet, Scootaloo noticed that she had bags under her eyes and she was constantly sniffing. She was also wearing a black armour and carried a rifle in her hooves, ready to fire at any moment. Scootaloo looked behind her and saw another pony, fast approaching the group.

“Rainbow Dash, watch out!” she shouted and heard, that someone else was also shouting with her. Rainbow Dash spun quickly, barely avoiding the stream of bullets. A pegasus clad in blue and yellow armour dove forward, shooting the bat pony off her tail.

“Thanks, Spitfire!” she shouted.

More ponies crowded around Scootaloo, trying to protect the clouds from the attackers. One of them, a violet mare whose white mane was flowing, protruding from under the helmet, flew directly through her, not changing her cold, indifferent expression for a single moment.

“What the–“

“It’s the future, Scootaloo,” an ethereal voice filled her ears. Scootaloo’s gaze drifted away from the dogfight, to see Princess Luna sitting on the cloud.

“What? When?”

“I don’t know, but I think it’s not very distant.”

Behind them, the ponies were fighting, slowly dragging their opponents away, shots echoing through the sky. Some of them went back to the clouds, pushing them towards the town in the distance.

“Why am I seeing this?” Scootaloo asked. Before Luna could answer, she glared at the Princess angrily.

“You’re showing me this! You want me to join you? Or make Rainbow Dash join you?”

For a moment, Luna looked at her, startled. Scootaloo sat back, intimidated.

“We are not the cause of this vision,” the Princess finally spoke. “We are here only because it’s your dream. I know nothing about why you and Apple Bloom can see the future.”

“What? Apple Bloom is alive? How about Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo, for the first time since she left Ponyville, felt a spark of happiness.

“Indeed. I saw her in her dreams last night. She wasn’t pleased to see me. And I couldn’t find a trace of Sweetie Belle’s dreams.”

“Well, I’m not pleased either!” Scootaloo stood up, her wings spread. “Half of my class got killed because of you! And, judging by this vision, it won’t stop!”

“I can’t deny that it’s my fault.” There was a deep sadness in Luna’s voice. “But I can’t stop this. There is some kind of magic surrounding my sister, and I can’t overcome it. I guess she just doesn’t want to talk with me…”

As she was speaking, the vision around them disappeared. Now they were in some dark void, filled by distant echo of somepony’s cries.

“Interesting,” Luna said.

“Is- is that another vision?”

“No, it’s a normal dream. But it’s not yours,” Luna pointed her hoof at something on Scootaloo’s left. The filly looked there and saw Silver Spoon sitting in front of something that looked like an enormous pane of thick glass. Tears were running down her face as she was trying to smash the window with her hoof.

“You know what it’s all about, don’t you?” Luna asked.

“I think so.” Scootaloo looked at the scene in front of her and felt tears flowing to her eyes.

On the other side of the pane Diamond Tiara was sitting, watching Silver Spoon with an absent expression, not even acknowledging that her friend was there.

“Can’t you help her somehow?” Scootaloo asked.

“I can’t, unless you will help me.” Princess Luna smiled half-heartedly.

“I’ll try...” Scootaloo’s voice quivered. She was still looking at Silver Spoon.

“I am sure you will, Scootaloo. There’s one more thing I want to ask you, but… After everything I did, I am not sure if I can ask you for a favour anymore…”

“If it means ending a war…” Scootaloo muttered unsurely.

“Go to Canterlot and tell my sister that I want to talk with her.” A single tear ran down Luna’s face.

“I’ll do that, Princess,” Scootaloo said. Luna smiled and suddenly disappeared, leaving Scootaloo with Silver Spoon still trying to destroy the barrier between Diamond Tiara and her.

Scootaloo slowly opened her eyes. The vision faded, but she still heard Silver Spoon’s sobbing. Sealed in her sleeping bag, she crawled closer to her, calling her name quietly.

“Yes?” Silver Spoon whispered, wiping her eyes quickly.

“Umm… I only wanted to say that… I-I know what you’re through and… I’m really sorry for… for everything,” Scootaloo said, avoiding her gaze.

“What?” Silver Spoon looked at her unsurely, her eyes red from crying and sleep deprivation. “Thanks… I think.”

“Do you want to talk?”

Silence. Silver Spoon stared at the corner of the tent, her face hidden in the shadows. The raindrops were still banging against the fabric, making Scootaloo wonder about its waterproofness. After a long pause, Silver Spoon sighed.

“Maybe later,” she said, her tone flat. Scootaloo tried to say something more, but the grey filly wrapped herself in the blanket and turned back from her. Scootaloo groaned.

“This is gonna be a long way…”

***

They didn’t walk for long the next day. It was still raining in torrents, changing the ground into a knee-deep mud. The old river beds across the way, which Twist described as formed by the glaciers long time ago, were now filled with water, making it almost impossible to cross them. After two hours spent on trying to get through a particularly wide one, when first Scootaloo and then Twist almost drowned, they decided to find some drier spot and set up their tent, waiting for the weather to improve.

Scootaloo looked at the sky, thinking what Luna had told her and what she had seen in her dreams. “Hmm, I think someone controls that rain,” she said.

“What do you mean?” Twist asked. Silver Spoon just finished changing the bandages on her foreleg and sat down next to her, wrapping her hoof around her to keep warm.

“You saw these guys yesterday… Don’t you think that the rain came in handy to stop them?”

“You may be right… I’ve heard that during the war between Northern and Thouthern Zebrica they uthed the weather control ath a weapon quite often,” Twist said. “They even invented the acid cloud, but it wath too impractical.”

“’Too impractical’? Not ‘drowning ponies in acid is too cruel, let’s not do that’?” Scootaloo asked.

“It thimply taketh too much acid to burn through the buildingth.”

“How can zebras even control the weather?” Silver Spoon asked. “They can’t fly!”

“They didn’t have to, our pegathi were thent to Thouthern Zebrica to help them.”

“Oh, I remember that history lesson,” said Scootaloo. “Princess Celestia send them to free them from that evil guy who ruled on the North, whatshisname…”

“Daddy loves to talk about this war,” Silver Spoon interrupted her. “He made his fortune on importing a cheap silver from United Republic of Zebrica after it ended.”

Scootaloo groaned. She, as every citizen of Ponyville, heard the story of Silver Chain, a pony from Manehattan who first earned a large sum of money as a tradespony, and later got married with a humble waitress called Greasy Spoon. She heard about fifty versions of it, including the particularly nasty and not exactly romantic one, told by Rarity when she thought that Sweetie was asleep.

All of them were making her feel like throwing up.

They continued to talk about various things, like what could the presence of the Moon Army so close to Canterlot mean and what else the Celestia’s pegasi had in stock. Scootaloo felt that she knew the answer exactly and shuddered, looking at the fabric of their tent. It wasn’t in the perfect shape when they’d found it, and now it was even more damaged after all the rain that had poured on it. Hoping that it wouldn’t suddenly collapse on their heads, she fell asleep.

***

“You’ve gotta be kidding me…” Scootaloo muttered, when she opened her eyes. The tent was a bit smaller than she remembered from the previous day, as if something heavy stomped on it while they were asleep. She unzipped it and found that the entrance is blocked by snow.

“Well, at least it doesn’t rain anymore,” Silver Spoon deadpanned. They slowly crawled out of the tent to find out that the layer of snow is at least three feet thick and reliable enough for them to walk without caving in it.

“What will we do with the tent?” Twist asked. She took one of the sweaters they were carrying in the saddlebags and put it on, despite it being way too big for her.

“We have to take it or we’ll freeze,” Scootaloo replied.

It took them an hour to fish all the parts of the tent out of the snow. Scootaloo and Silver Spoon followed Twist’s example and put on all the clothes they had. However, as they walked, they were gradually taking them off – the weather was now warmer, and the layer of the snow was getting thinner, but also more difficult to walk. Especially Twist had difficulties breaking through the melting swamp.

There was also the bright side – somewhere around noon, they finally stood at the edge of the forest. Few miles in front of them, on the other side of a large plateau, they could see Canterlot and the refugee camp, a small city of tents, located on the foothills below the capital.

“Not bad.” Scootaloo smiled weakly. “Maybe we’ll get there by the evening. There’s almost no snow behind that hill there.”

“Yeah, but I don’t like that fog,” Twist said, pointing to the left. She hissed, when her injured hind leg had to support her whole weight. “We’d better go.”

“Are you sure you’re gonna make it?” Silver Spoon asked. Scootaloo was surprised, hearing a small trace of care in her voice. Twist only shrugged. They started to trot through the plateau. The straps of the saddlebags fretted Scootaloo’s back, but she didn’t slow down. The fog soon overwhelmed them, obscuring both the Sun and the Moon.

“I think we lost the way…” Silver Spoon panted.

“Impossible, we have to simply go straight, right, Twist? Twist? Twist!”

“I’m here!” they heard Twist’s voice behind them. Soon, the filly joined them, collapsing in the snow. “I’m okay,” she muttered, getting up slowly and rubbing her wound. “Let’s go…”

“Is it our trail?” Scootaloo asked a minute later, pointing at the path in the snow.

“I told you,” Silver Spoon sighed. “We’re walking in circles.”

“There’s thomepony there!” Twist shouted, looking to the left.

Scootaloo followed her gaze and saw the blurred silhouettes of two ponies trotting towards them. “Shit,” she muttered. “We’d better hide…”

“Where?” Silver Spoon asked. “There’s nothing here!”

“Let’s go up this hill. Maybe we’ll see something from the top.”

They started to climb. Scootaloo saw a small group of bushes on the top, emerging from the fog. They couldn’t provide much cover, but it was better than nothing.

“Come on, Twist!” Silver Spoon shouted, seeing that their companion was staying in the back again.

“I’m… trying…” Twist panted. Just when Scootaloo and Silver Spoon reached the top of the hill, she placed her hoof on the frozen stone, hidden in the snow. She didn’t even have time to scream – she just collapsed and rolled to the bottom, losing her saddlebags and almost bumping into the two unicorn stallions who just stood in the place the fillies were only a minute ago.

“They are our soldiers,” Silver Spoon whispered, seeing the grey uniforms they were wearing – good for fighting in the city, but not very useful in the snow. She stood up, but Scootaloo stopped her.

“Hey, Black Marble, look what we have here!” a taller unicorn, with a short, reddish mane exclaimed. “Hello there, filly!”

“Oh, hi,” Black Marble, slightly shorter and bulkier stallion with black mane smiled at Twist. “Are you lost, kid?”

“A bit…” said Twist unsurely.

“And where are your friends?” the taller unicorn asked.

“What friends? I’m here alone,” Twist replied quickly, shuddering when he placed his hoof on her shoulder.

“Yeah… Do we believe her, Hot Blood?” Black Marble grinned maliciously. “Listen, filly, do you know what happens to kids who lie?”

“I’m telling the truth… I got lotht and I’m thcared and–“

“Shut up!” Hot Blood yelled, “I’m not here to talking to you, my little lotht filly…”

“Yeah,” Black Marble agreed. “I guess no one will cry after her…”

“Shit, we need to help her…” Scootaloo whispered.

“How? We have to run away as fast as possible!” Silver Spoon’s voice was filled with panic. “There’s no chance to save her… And they’ll catch us too!”

“I thought you two were friends! Do you want to leave her with them?”

“Of course not… But… but you said that the most important thing is to survive! We have to go!”

“Survive,” Scootaloo muttered through the gritted teeth. “Yeah, you can go if she means nothing to you! But I’ll at least try to save her!”

Silver Spoon shook her head and turned back. Scootaloo sighed, dropped her saddlebags on the ground, and started to run down the hill, focusing on Twist and two soldiers completely.

It looked that Twist wasn’t as scared as she had told them. She managed to slip from their hooves and temporarily blind Hot Blood by throwing a hoofful of snow in his eyes, but then Black Marble caught her with her magic and levitated her to himself.

“Now, kid…” he muttered, dropping her on the ground and spreading her hind legs with his magic. “We’ll play…”

Scootaloo accelerated, spreading her wings. She knew that she wouldn’t suddenly start flying, but she jumped, gliding just above the ground. Screaming at the top of her lungs, she rammed into Black Marble’s side, throwing him on the ground. Before he understood what was going on, Twist got up on all four and bucked him in the head.

With a loud snap, Black Marble’s horn broke. He screamed like a mortally wounded animal, cowering on the ground in foetal position and rising his hooves to his forehead.

“Run, Twist!” Scootaloo shouted, recovering. She took a step forward, and suddenly the world around her exploded. She fell on the snow, dazed. Her head started to ache, she felt something warm and sticky flowing down her cheek.

“So, she has friends, after all…” Hot Blood muttered, staring at her from the above. He kicked her one more time, sending her flying and caught Twist with his magic, causing her to trip. Scootaloo sat on the snow and spat the crushed remains of her teeth – at least two of them.

“Hmm…” Scootaloo felt a warm wave of magic embracing her. “You know, filly? I’ve never had a blank flank before…”

“Fuck you!” she cried.

“Language, filly, language! Though, I have to say, it’s quite accurate…” He levitated her, playing with her like a toy. “Unfortunately, you, pegasi are all sluts… But don’t worry, I guess there’s a hole in your body that haven’t been used before…”

Scootaloo thrashed against her restraints when he put her on the ground and lifted her tail.

“Don’t worry, if you behave, I’ll make it quick… I think your friend should watch this. After what she did to poor Black Marble… Then, after I’ll be done with you, I’ll take her to the rest of the guys… The cowpony is probably a faggot, but I guess the farmer will be glad… Not to mention that Lyra likes fillies...”

He ran his hoof through Scootaloo’s hindquarters, poking her rump few times.

“No…” she cried, when he placed his hooves on the base of her wings, his hips slowly approaching her exposed parts.

“Oh, yes…” he smiled, poking her buttocks. “Normally I’d say that I’d be gentle, but since you and your friends weren’t gentle for Black Marble…” He licked his hoof and started to rub her anus with it. “Well I guess you won’t be enjoying this for long… You think you’re badass, trying to save your friend… Badass, oh, how ironic… How long can Little Miss Badass survive with torn guts?”

“Not your fucking business…”

“Wrong answer!” he spanked her. “I liked it more when you were crying. Come on, beg for mercy… Or maybe there’s somepony else to help you?”

Scootaloo said nothing, squishing her eyes shut and trying not to cry.

“Just what I thought…” Hot Blood chuckled. “Okay, it was nice to talk to you, but I don’t want to spent the whole day freezing my balls off. Good advice, honey: if you relax, it’ll hurt less.”

“No!” Scootaloo screamed, clenching her muscles, thinking about only one thing: to not give this bastard any satisfaction. She shrieked, feeling the touch of the tip of his penis on her buttocks, when suddenly the magic aura around her loosened, and she fell, face first, on the snow. She gasped and darted forward, deciding that thinking about the cause of Hot Blood’s sudden change of mind would be a bad idea. After few steps she stopped in her tracks and turned back.

The stallion was lying on the ground, panting heavily. To her horror, Scootaloo saw a knife handle protruding from his back, throbbing slightly in the same rhythm as his heartbeat. She immediately recognised the knife.

She immediately recognised the pony standing behind Hot Blood.

“Silver Spoon… why…”

Silver Spoon was panting heavily, her face pale and her eyes cold and lifeless. Twist, released from the magic aura started to gallop blindly, not caring where she was going.

“Leave nopony behind,” she said and turned the knife handle. Hot Blood jerked violently when she pulled it out of the wound. Scootaloo closed her eyes, but still she heard his final scream and felt his blood spraying on her.

“Are you okay?” Silver Spoon asked after a while.

“I… I… Is Twist okay?” Scootaloo panted.

“She seems fine,” said Silver Spoon, seeing that the filly in question stopped running away and sat in the middle of the field, looking at them from the distance. “How are you?”

“F-fine…” suddenly Scootaloo shuddered, inhaled deeply, and threw up on the ground. Silver Spoon wrapped her hoof gently around her. It took some time before Scootaloo vomited all the contents of her stomach, retching and spitting the bile.

“It’s okay…” Silver Spoon cooed. “Are you hurt?”

“N-no, I think,” Scootaloo replied, getting on her hooves. She immediately felt dizzy again. During her struggle with Hot Blood she almost forgot that she had been kicked by him twice, but now the throbbing pain in her head and two broken teeth were reminding her that with every step.

“What will we do with him?” she asked, seeing that Black Marble was still lying on the ground, holding his broken horn with his hooves and moaning in pain.

“Frankly? I don’t give a fuck about him,” Silver Spoon replied. They walked past him in silence and trotted further, Silver Spoon picking their saddlebags.

When they approached Twist, she was cowering on the ground, sobbing. She looked at them and screamed, backpedalling. Scootaloo looked at Silver Spoon and immediately understood why – her companion’s fur and mane were soaked in blood of the dead soldier. Scootaloo thought that she probably didn’t look any better; probably even worse, with two black eyes and lots of bruises and cuts. She started to wonder why she hadn’t noticed that earlier.

“It’s okay, Twist,” Silver Spoon said. “They’re gone.”

She took a hoofful of snow and rubbed it into her fur, trying to clean it. Scootaloo followed her, the coldness soothing the pain.

“Thcootaloo, what’th that?” Twist whispered, pointing at her flank. Scootaloo turned to look, at it, expecting another bloody stain.

“No shit…” she muttered. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That you’re good at getting into trouble?” Silver Spoon looked confused.

“It looks a bit like Shining Armor’s one…” Scootaloo took a closer look. The shield was a bit different than Twilight brother’s, and it seemed that there was somepony hiding behind it.

“It meanth that your thpecial talent ith protecting other ponies!”

“Yeah...” Scootaloo sighed. “I’m afraid that Silver is right… Getting into trouble is my special talent.”

For a while they were just sitting in silence, another gust of cold wind running through their manes. Silver Spoon helped Twist to get up and they looked around. The fog was still covering everything, they couldn’t even see the bodies of the soldiers who had attacked them.

“Just great…” Scootaloo groaned and lay down on the ground, “I got my cutie mark, I almost got raped; time to fucking freeze to death, few miles from Canterlot…”

“You’re giving up?” Silver Spoon asked. “Come on!”

“I can’t…” Twist panted, collapsing near Scootaloo. “Thorry, Thilver, I’m jutht tired…”

So that’s how it ends… Scootaloo thought. Suddenly, she felt another gust of wind, blowing the mist away and causing the snow to melt. She looked around – the fog was quickly disappearing, swept away by the rainbow-coloured waves. Scootaloo stood up and saw Canterlot in the distance. Above it, there was a rainbow, connecting the Sun and the Moon. Heat was radiating from it, even though it was far away, somewhere above the sea. Scootaloo heard Twist laughing for the first time in days. Even Silver Spoon resigned from her usual smirk and smiled.

“Let’s go!” Scootaloo exclaimed, pointing at the refugee camp that was maybe a mile from them. “Rainbow Dash, here I come…”

15. Firefly

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Undermine their pompous authority, reject their moral standards, make anarchy and disorder your trademarks. Cause as much chaos and disruption as possible but don't let them take you ALIVE.
Sid Vicious

With every day, the crowd grew bigger. At first it was consisting of only a few ponies, mostly the pegasi who managed to get out of Cloudsdale. Now it was the majority of the Ponyville dwellers, exiled from their houses by the incoming Moon Army. There was almost nopony who wouldn’t lose a relative when the bombs fell on the schoolchildren – The Foals of Ponyville, as they were now called.

Firefly climbed on an empty crate and looked around. There weren’t any guards in sight. She smiled faintly; as long as she didn’t say anything showing support towards Princess Luna, she was safe, but she just didn’t like the guards wandering around the refugee camp, a small town of tents that grew recently under the mountain of Canterlot. They reminded her of Cloudsdale – how they’d just ignored the fact that her companions were attacked by an angry mob and how they later started to shoot at the fighting crowd.

She doubted that she’d be arrested, even if she suddenly proposed to Princess Luna. The guards, seeing her white cloak and dishevelled mane, were automatically considering her a harmless madpony who, taking advantage of the war, ran away from the nut house. She almost chuckled: few years ago they wouldn’t be far from truth.

She looked at the crowd one more time, locking her gaze on the newcomers: two earth pony fillies, one of them with her foreleg covered in a bloodied bandage, were supporting the third one, an orange pegasus who looked like she had a short quarrel with a freight train; she was covered in bruises and scratches, but despite that, her eyes were burning with some sort of an inner force.

Firefly cleared her throat. The crowd immediately silenced.

“Dire times are upon us, brothers and sisters,” she finally spoke. “But fear not, as even after the longest night...” She threw her head back, looking at the orange sky accusingly. “There will be the day. There will be the day! The day, when the immortal sisters will disappear. The day, when the war will end and the ponykind will be free! The ponies will finally live at peace, no matter if you have wings or horn! There will be the day, when we’ll all rule by ourselves! No nobles! No princesses! No guards! No bat ponies, earth ponies, unicorns, alicorns and pegasi; just ponies! That day is close. This war will bring an end to all the wars, but only when we stop and realise what we have done! When we’ll just come to the other pony and say that we forgive them!”

“I’ll forgive them,” the yellow mare in the crowd shouted. “After I get this motherfucker who killed those kids and piss on his dead body!”

Firefly opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly noticed that one of the fillies whom she saw earlier parted from her friends and walked through the crowd to the mare.

“Bon Bon!” she shouted. They knew each other well – Bon Bon and Shimmy Shake, Twist’s mother were friends, and she was a frequent guest in her house. She was the pony who taught Twist how to make candies.

“Twist? You’re alive!” Bon Bon ran to her and hugged her. “What happened to you?”

Firefly smiled. She didn’t have to talk anymore. Seeing the ponies around her being happy was more than anything she could tell. She looked through the crowd and for a moment her gaze locked with the pegasus filly’s. A jolt of pain ran through her body. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. When she opened her eyes again, the fillies were gone.

***

Scootaloo hissed when Bon Bon disinfected her wounds. She gritted her teeth. After all she was through, these few cuts couldn’t stop her in getting to Canterlot to meet Rainbow Dash.

“You should have that checked, sweetheart,” said Bon Bon, pointing at her teeth. Scootaloo put her tongue in the empty place where two of them used to be. Some other molars around it were moving. “Minuette is also here, you know.”

They were sitting in a large tent, provided by the army after Ponyville had been evacuated. There was almost no furniture, except of a detachable table, bunk beds, and a few chairs. Scootaloo noticed the lyre lying on an empty crate, but Lyra was nowhere to be found. Her absence was almost palpable – there was something about Bon Bon; how she avoided looking at the instrument. None of the fillies dared to ask her about her marefriend.

“Maybe later,” Scootaloo replied. “I have to get to Canterlot.”

“Well, definitely you’re not going there today.” Bon Bon sighed. “Have you seen yourself in the mirror? What happened to you?”

“I fell off the cliff…”

Bon Bon looked at her. For a moment, Scootaloo froze, but then the mare’s gaze drifted to Twist.

“Now, let’s see your leg, Twisty… Shimmy will get crazy when she hears that you’re alive…”

“My parents are in Prance, right?” Twist asked glumly.

“Yeah. They just couldn’t stay here after… you know. I can write to them soon, but I don’t know when they’ll get the letter. Oh Celestia…”

She unwrapped Twist’s bandages to see a badly swollen cut. She put her hoof on Twist’s forehead.

“How did you look after her?” Bon Bon scolded. “She has a fever, her wound is infected…”

“We had more important things to do,” said Silver Spoon in a droning voice. “Cliffs and shit…”

Bon Bon winced upon hearing that and pierced her with her gaze.

“Silver Spoon, right?” she asked. “Where’s that friend of yours, whatshername…”

Scootaloo froze.

“Dead,” Silver Spoon said blankly.

“Oh…” Bon Bon went to her and hugged her. “I’m sorry…”

Silver Spoon rolled her eyes and pushed her gently away. “It’s okay,” she muttered. “You’d better take care of Twist.”

“Well, I can’t do much without some antibiotics. We’ll need to go to the field hospital and ask Atom Heart for them...”

She looked at Scootaloo once again. The filly noticed bags under her eyes. Her mane was slightly dishevelled, there were also some dirty spots on her fur.

“You’ll go with us, somepony should take a look at you…” Bon Bon said.

“Hey, I’m okay!” Scootaloo exclaimed.

Bon Bon looked at her from underneath her eyebrows – a look usually reserved for dealing with Lyra’s antics. Nopony could resist it for long. With the help of Silver Spoon, Twist was placed on Bon Bon’s back and they left the tent.

Scootaloo looked around the camp. She knew most of the ponies from Ponyville, but the atmosphere was completely different. None of them was laughing and every conversation seemed unnatural and was quickly dying down.

“What’s going on here?” Scootaloo asked.

“Ponyville was captured,” Bon Bon explained. “Shining Armor sent his soldiers to get it back, but we still have no news, only rumours. Some ponies say that we won, but the town is ruined. I’m still waiting for Lyra to come back, but I’m afraid that something could happen to her…”

“What? Lyra’s in army?” Scootaloo asked.

“Yeah… Stupid of her, if you ask me… She’s in the communication. Last time I got any message from her, she was sent with her detachment to Ponyville.”

Scootaloo froze. She was sure that she heard the Lyra’s name quite recently, in rather grim circumstances. Now she staggered, as the memory resurfaced.

“Are you okay, Scootaloo?”

“Yes, I just… You know, I realised that I have no idea what’s happening around here. Do you have any news about Rainbow Dash?”

“We don’t know, since most of the information about army is classified. She’s in Canterlot, with her squadron–“ Bon Bon paused when she noticed ponies around them, pointing at the sky. A dozen of pegasi was flying somewhere in formation, clad in the black armours and armed to the teeth.

“It’s Rainbow Dash’s squadron,” Bon Bon said. “Or, as they sometimes call themselves, The Black Widows.”

Scootaloo watched the pegasi till they disappeared somewhere above Ponyville. She then turned to Bon Bon.

“So, what else happened?”

Bon Bon’s expression faded. She raised her hoof and wiped her eyes. Scootaloo’s eyes widened – she’d always considered her a tough pony, but now, without Lyra at her side, she seemed helpless.

“Fluttershy was killed. On the same day when you were bombed. They actually wrote about that in the paper, she got shot by the bat ponies who attacked the field hospital.”

Scootaloo cursed loudly. Several ponies stared at her.

“I cried for the whole night when I’ve read about it. And that’s not everything.” Bon Bon shuddered. “Firefly says that Applejack is also missing, but no one confirmed this.”

“Who is Firefly?” Scootaloo asked.

“We’ve met during her speech.”

“Aha,” Scootaloo muttered. “That crazy pegasus wearing a bed sheet? How does she know that?”

“She lives in Canterlot and helps ponies in need. It’s said that she gets news from somepony on Princess Celestia’s court. She was the first to tell us that Ponyville was attacked, before Twilight Sparkle confirmed that.”

They trotted down the city of tents, when suddenly Scootaloo heard somepony calling her name. She turned to see Snips, standing in front of a dark green tent, next to a board with scissors drawn crudely on it.

“Friend of yours?” Bon Bon asked.

“Kinda,” Scootaloo replied. She went to Snips, who attempted to hug her, but she dodged him quickly.

“I thought you were dead!” he exclaimed, jumping up and down in excitement.

“Yeah, ponies tell me that all the time. Silver Spoon and Twist are also with me,” Scootaloo muttered.

“Great! You know, just yesterday I’ve seen Apple Bloom. I thought she died too, after those bat ponies attacked the hospital and–“

“Wait a minute,” she interrupted him. “Apple Bloom is somewhere here?”

So, Luna told me the truth, she thought.

“No, she went to Canterlot with Firefly,” Snips replied.

“And how about Sweetie Belle? Was she there too?”

“No. And Apple Bloom didn’t tell me anything about her. Sweetie… she was wounded when they brought her to the hospital. I’m afraid that she…”

Scootaloo’s head drooped, but soon she looked back at him. “You said that Apple Bloom was with Firefly. Where can I find her?”

“I don’t know,” Snips replied. “She sometimes eats in the canteen. It’s in the centre.”

“Thanks. I have to go now,” said Scootaloo, looking at Bon Bon who was observing them impatiently.

“See you. If you’d like a haircut, come to me,” Snips replied, pointing at the board.

Scootaloo immediately felt that her mane is a bit longer than she was used to. It was already too long when she’d left Ponyville, but she had no time to fix that. “Maybe later,” she said and trotted back to Bon Bon. Then they walked to the field hospital.

It was similar to the one Fluttershy had been working in: a large tent with beds next to the few smaller ones, housing the doctors’ offices and an operating theatre. Bon Bon asked for the nurse Atom Heart, but she was told that she was now performing some examinations, so they decided to visit the dentist first. Minuette – or Colgate, as foals in Ponyville used to call her – frowned upon seeing Scootaloo’s broken teeth and immediately put the temporary crowns on them, telling the filly to come later to have the permanent crowns fitted.

When Scootaloo left the dentist’s office, Bon Bon told her that Doctor Ventricle was ready to see her. Twist got off her back and was now sitting on the ground, sweating and shivering slightly.

Doctor Ventricle was a young, blue unicorn with chestnut-coloured mane, wearing thick-rimmed glasses. His cutie mark was an anatomically proper heart. He looked into Scootaloo’s eyes and muttered something that sounded like “four points”.

“What’s your name?” he asked. When Scootaloo introduced herself, he asked her more questions: how old she was, what was the date, did she know where she was and so on.

“I’m fifteen. Today is 13th November, 1005 years after Discord was defeated. I’m in the hospital, at the refugee camp near Canterlot. I’m here because I fell off the cliff on my way from Ponyville.” She answered to every of his question in the same, mechanical tone.

“Do you remember everything what happened? Did you pass out?”

“No, I remember everything,” Scootaloo said. “I– I only threw up after I fell, and my head hurts.”

“Are you sure? You know, for me it doesn’t look like you fell off the cliff…”

“I really did. There were stones on the bottom–”

He shook his head. “–which looked exactly like somepony’s hooves. Someone attacked you?”

Scootaloo’s head drooped. For a moment she was just sitting there, silent.

“Yes,” she finally spoke. “It was a soldier.”

Dr. Ventricle sat next to her, speaking as softly and carefully as possible. “Did he… hurt you?”

“No,” she replied. “Listen, I don’t want my friend to be in trouble because of me…”

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anypony,” Dr. Ventricle said.

“She killed him.”

Now it was time for Dr. Ventricle to sit in silence. “Hmm…” he muttered, looking at her carefully. “It doesn’t seem like a concussion, but you should lie in bed for a couple of days, in case you had hematoma… You know, bleeding in the brain,” he explained, seeing that she didn’t understand the term. “Unfortunately, we don’t have much place here. About the other thing… She did that to save you, I think. It’s not your fault.”

“Okay,” she said. “Bon Bon will take care of me. Thank you, Doctor.”

She left his tent and went to Bon Bon, who was talking to Atom Heart – a yellow earth mare with a short, blue mane, whose cutie mark was a radioactivity symbol and a stethoscope. Twist looked a bit better with a fresh bandages on her hoof.

“How’s Lyra?” Atom Heart asked. She was packing some pills in Bon Bon’s saddlebags.

“I don’t have any news from her,” Bon Bon said with a sigh.

“Too bad. She’s a good pony…”

Bon Bon noticed Scootaloo standing next to them. She put her saddlebags on and tried to put Twist on her back again, but the filly decided that she’d walk by herself.

“Seems that we have to go,” Bon Bon said. “Thanks for the antibiotics, Atom.”

When they were trotting back to Bon Bon’s tent, Scootaloo stopped by the Snips’ place. When he had brought her attention to her mane, it started to annoy her. She started to wonder how she could bear with the fringe almost covering her eyes.

“I’ll be home later,” she said. “I need to talk to somepony.”

“You were supposed to stay in bed,” Bon Bon replied.

“I made it to the camp; nothing will happen to me if I go to get a haircut.” Scootaloo made the sweetest expression she could muster.

“Okay, but come back quickly,” Bon Bon said and went to her tent with Twist.

Scootaloo nodded and trotted to the Snips’ tent.

Even though she’d always considered her classmate annoying, she had to admit that he was good with scissors. Her manestyle wasn’t too complicated and it only needed to be shortened so he finished quickly.

Their conversation, however, was longer. Snips told her about their classmates who died, and about the burning of the field hospital; he mentioned Dinky Hooves, who, as he heard, was paralysed, and was now living with her mother in Canterlot. He told her about Snails, who was killed, when a piece shrapnel hit him in the neck.

“By the way,” Snips said, when she was about to leave his tent. “Firefly was here.”

“Did she say something about Apple Bloom?”

“No, she only wanted to have her mane shortened. But she said that she was gonna go and eat something.”

“So, she’s in that canteen you told me about?” Scootaloo asked.

“Yeah, there’s a ‘Greasy Spoon’, two tents from here.”

Scootaloo thanked him and left his tent. When she reached the bar he was talking about, she immediately noticed a black and white photo of Silver Spoon standing on the counter. She wasn’t surprised – even though the bar was housed in the battered tent, it belonged to the chain of restaurants Silver’s mother set up after she married her husband. Scootaloo noticed Firefly sitting at one of the tables, or rather old crates used as tables. However, she went to the counter first.

“Good morning,” she said to the young, magenta unicorn mare wearing a characteristic ‘Greasy Spoon’ apron. It wasn’t as new and clean as it should be, but there was a silver badge with the name ‘Sparkler’ attached to it. “Is your boss here?”

“No,” Sparkler said with a bored expression. “She decided to go to Appleloosa after–” she leaned closer to Scootaloo, lowering her voice to a whisper. “–after that little bastard of hers kicked the bucket.”

She looked at the Silver Spoon’s photo, briefly making a solemn expression again. Then she turned back to Scootaloo and asked impatiently, “So, are you gonna order something or what?”

“Hmm, I think I’ll take a hot chocolate.”

“Two bits. Share and enjoy.”

“Thank you,” said Scootaloo and went to Firefly’s table.

“If you plan to stay here for longer, you’d better not piss her off. She has a nasty habit of spitting into the food of ponies she doesn’t like,” the pegasus said. “You wanted to talk about something…” It wasn’t a question, just a simple statement.

“I… umm…”

“There’s plenty of tables here and you went to mine. What bothers you, my little pony?” Firefly asked in a motherly voice.

“I’ve heard that you know about my friends, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo said.

For a moment, Firefly was staring at her in silence. Scootaloo felt uncomfortable under that piercing gaze.

“Friends…” she finally spoke. “War caused many friendships to fall apart. Loyalty isn’t much valued these days, except maybe a blind loyalty to the ruler. But you’re different, squirt. Beaten, battered, tired, but all you care about are your friends. I can assure you that they’re safe. Even though you could be a little surprised upon seeing Sweetie Belle.”

“Wait, how did you call me? And what happened to Sweetie Belle? I heard she died…”

“Well, I think it’ll be better for her to tell you about it herself. And you remind me of one of my friends whom I used to call ‘squirt’. You probably heard about Rainbow Dash…”

“Of course!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “She’s my sister. I mean, we’re not related, but she’s like a sister to me…”

Suddenly, Firefly did something weird. She closed her eyes, and scrunched her face as if she was in a great pain. She rubbed her temples. Scootaloo watched her unsurely, before she finally opened her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “This happens sometimes, since I… Well, I guess you’re not in the mood to listen to the stories from the times before you were born?”

“I need to get home soon, but I can listen…” said Scootaloo, taking a sip of her hot chocolate.

“When I was at your age, I was pretty famous,” Firefly said, smiling sheepishly. “The fastest pony in Equestria, that’s how they used to call me. Yes, Rainbow Dash wasn’t the first to be called that,” she added, seeing Scootaloo’s expression. “I thought I had everything: money, fame, friends…”

“And what happened?” Scootaloo asked.

“It was sixteen years ago,” Firefly said. Her voice lost its usual ethereal note and Scootaloo found it surprising that she sounded a bit like Rainbow Dash. “I just won another competition in Las Pegasus and we had a small party. I was fourteen, I drank too much, and there were some stallions there…” she sighed, her ears drooping when she recalled these events. “I don’t know if I should tell you that…”

“Oh, come on,” Scootaloo replied. “I know where foals come from…”

“Yeah, foals…” There was a sour note in Firefly’s voice. “You may guess what happened next. My parents weren’t happy, as you may guess. One day their daughter was a future hope of the Wonderbolts and the next day, a pregnant teenager with suicidal tendencies… I spent the whole pregnancy at home, not leaving even for a single moment.”

“What happened to the foal?” Scootaloo asked.

“I’ve never even seen him… or her. It died just after it was born.” Firefly’s voice was devoid of any trace of emotion, but for a split second one of her facial muscles twitched. Scootaloo focused on a cup of hot chocolate in front of her.

“It… it was the worst four years of my life. Soon after I gave birth, I… I decided that I had enough and overdosed my sleeping pills. I was in a coma for a week. My parents even wanted to pull out the plug when the doctor told them that I’m not gonna fly again… I woke up, but since then I have these headaches.” She rubbed her temples again, before continuing.

“My parents did everything to keep the fact that I was in a hospital in secret. Separated room, a bribed doctor… They were rich enough to afford that. But one day I met an eleven years old filly, who got lost in a hospital and wandered to my room… She recognised me immediately.”

“Who was she?”

“It was Rainbow Dash. Actually, my parents were glad that I made a friend. Maybe they hoped that I’d start to compete with her…” Firefly shook her head. “Well, it took her three years to make me go out of my room…” she wiped a tear from her eyes and smiled faintly. “I was a stubborn little mule… But finally, I made it. I started to talk with other ponies again, I finished school… And then, one day I left Cloudsdale. I flew to Neighpon, then to Trotbet, where I spent ten years in the mountains, in a company of the ponies who live there, trying to learn to control the ancient forms of magic. I only came back two years ago, when I learned that my parents died. Since then I live in Canterlot, using the money I inherited to help other ponies. I hope I didn’t bore you to death, did I?”

“No, of course not,” said Scootaloo quickly. She started to wonder how much time had passed. “I want to go to Canterlot…”

She stood up and immediately rested her foreleg on a table, when dizziness overcame her.

“Take some rest first,” Firefly said. “Your friends are safe with me.”

“Right,” Scootaloo replied. Her bruises started to ache and she briefly thought about Firefly’s headaches. “See you.”

“I’ll be here again in three days,” Firefly said before Scootaloo left the bar.

***

Twist, after being given an antibiotic, fell into a shallow slumber on a bunk bed. Silver Spoon sat by her side, lost in her thoughts. She was yawning from time to time, but she was unable to fall asleep. Bon Bon was sitting outside, waiting for Scootaloo to come back.

Twist’s calm expression was something unthinkable for her. After all they were through, after the adrenaline evaporated from her system, the whole Silver Spoon’s body wanted to scream.

The images from their journey were flashing before her eyes. Two ponies dragging her away from Diamond Tiara’s mutilated body. A long cut on Twist’s foreleg. Snow stained with blood. Spark of determination in Scootaloo’s eyes, when she decided to go back to save Twist. Scootaloo, bruised, limping slowly through the foggy plateau. Each image was like a punch in the gut, or like a stab in the heart.

Silver Spoon sighed, her body shook violently.

“Thilver?”

She rose her head and saw that Twist opened her eyes and was looking at her curiously.

“Thilver, are you okay?”

“Yes,” Silver Spoon replied flatly, turning her face away from Twist.

“I don’t think tho.”

“What do you know about how I feel?” Silver Spoon snapped. “I lost my only friend! And you… you don’t even have friends!”

“I have you and Thcootaloo,” Twist said, unfazed by Silver’s sudden outburst. She sat on her bed, leaning closer to her.

“W-what? You think I am your–”

“You thaved our liveth. If that’th not what friendth do, then I really know nothing about friendship,” Twist interrupted her, pulling her into an awkward hug.

“Oh, come on!” Silver Spoon pushed her away gently. “I did it, because… because…” Now she was hugging Twist, sinking her face in her coat.

“It’th okay…” Twist ran her hoof through Silver Spoon’s mane. Her fur was now soaking with weeping filly’s tears, but she didn’t care about that. Slowly, Silver Spoon rose her head, her face inches from Twist.

“I’m sorry, I just…”

“I know…”

Before Silver Spoon could ask what exactly Twist knew, their lips suddenly met. Her first thought was to jump back in fear and run away, but something was holding her in place. Her nostrils were filled with the scent of the peppermint, soothing her nerves and making the memories of their journey fade. She relaxed, wrapping her hooves around Twist and continuing kissing her, feeling blood rushing to her face, not wanting anything, except of being there with her forever.

“Hi girls, I just met Firefly and in three– Ugh!”

They quickly parted and sat on the opposite sides of the bed, staring at Scootaloo, who stood in the tent entrance, her wings spread, and her face expressing a mix of disgust and confusion.

“Get yourself a room!”

Interlude – Against The Sun

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A tall, almost black griffon landed on a balcony of the palace in the middle of Everfree Forest. He took off his helmet and wiped some ashes from the front of his armour. Clicking the buttons on a piece of metal covering his foreleg, he disabled the crystals below the weapon mounts and felt the weight of the two cannons. He smiled at the irony of the situation – the technology that was first developed in the Crystal Empire now served his kind in defeating the ponies. Or at least those of them that weren’t currently busy fighting each other.

He pushed the balcony door open and entered the chamber. The two bat ponies guards recognised him immediately and led him to the throne on the other side of the room. Below ancient tapestries, the pony sitting on the throne looked small, but he knew that she could soon become the most important pony in Equestria. And, of course, she will remember who helped her to accomplish that.

Walking through the throne hall, he remembered the fight. Exploding airships, tracers whistling past him, fallen comrades…

Gilda. He saw her dying and he tried his best to avenge her, yet the pony who’d killed her got away unscratched. Gods damn her crazy friend – he was about to pull the trigger, when a wave of buckshot from below almost changed his armour into a sieve.

At least he managed to kill one of them – a blue stallion, who spent the last moments of his life calling for help. Seconds earlier he helped Red Baron to finish off the stallion’s wingpony. Actually, he felt that it wasn’t a clean fight, but rather a slaughter – their bullets pierced the mare’s armour as if it was made of paper, and tore her in half before she could even react. No wonder the stallion decided to flee instead of facing them.

“Ragnarok,” Princess Luna addressed him. “Where is Red Baron?”

“He’s dead, Your Highness,” he replied. “I’m now in charge of the squadron.”

“Rather the rest of it,” Luna said dryly. How did you manage to fail despite all these crystals in thy armour?”

“I wouldn’t call it ‘failure’, Your Highness,” he said, blushing underneath the black feathers. “We managed to engage the enemy squadron and kill many of the pegasi.”

“Yet, you’ve lost three airships and half of your griffons!” Luna shouted, “The crystal ponies are still in Ponyville…”

“Not for long!” he interrupted her. “Our forces already captured the Crystal Empire. Prince Shining Armor will surely go there to save his wife…”

Luna shuddered, but quickly calmed down. She didn’t want him to see how that news shocked her. She exactly remembered the last time she was in the Crystal Empire. Oh, how wrong she was back then...

***

Cadance wandered through the corridor of her castle. Even though the night was dark, the dim light of the crystals was helping her find the way. She turned left and went onto a balcony.

“It looks so calm, doesn’t it?” Luna said, looking at the town beneath them. A couple of crystal ponies were still on the streets, walking somewhere or talking. Cadance looked at Luna and, to her surprise, she noticed the traces of tears on her face.

“What happened?” she asked. Luna only sighed, lowering her head.

“It was something I saw in a dream…” she said, her voice cracking. Cadance looked at her unsurely. She was able to feel the ponies’ emotions towards each other, but Luna’s ability to actually see their dreams always fascinated her.

“Was that some kind of nightmare?” Cadance asked. “Does something threaten Equestria?”

“Yes and no,” Luna replied. She looked at the town again, then she turned to Cadance. “I found myself in a dream… There were tables full of food there… Not just tables, there were whole rooms of apples, oats, cakes… But then everything suddenly darkened. It did not stopped or changed, the dream just disappeared.”

Cadance raised her eyebrows. She wasn’t sure how the end of the dream would differ from its disappearance, but Luna probably knew what she was saying.

“I decided to check it,” Luna said. “I teleported to the place where I had seen that dream – the town of Detrot.” She lowered her head and wept. “There… there were ten foals – dirty, skinny foals – sleeping together under some bridge… Well, except of one filly, maybe eight years old… She… she was dead.”

Cadance didn’t know what to say. She could clearly feel Luna’s emotions. Deep under the compassion and sadness, she found something unsettling – a faint shade of anger.

“What’s the point of that?” Luna asked. “We are the immortal rulers of Equestria… We defeated so many dangers… And yet, in one of the biggest towns of the country children are dying of hunger and we do nothing about that…”

“I’m sure Celestia does something about them,” Cadance replied. “She surely cares about every her subject…”

“Cares?” Luna asked bitterly. “Every time I see her recently, I see her with Blueblood, Fancy Pants or some other noble. I have never seen her with starving foals… She rarely leaves Canterlot at all, and even when she does, she does not visit Detrot or Manehattan...”

“I’m sure that if she knew… Maybe if you tell her about it…” Cadance shuddered. She could feel anger in Luna growing stronger. But then it disappeared. Or rather, was hidden from her.

“Maybe,” Luna said emotionlessly. “Maybe if I show it to her… You know, after I saw that filly, I took a walk around the town, unseen for the ponies. They do not praise the princesses there. All I heard were cries, calls for help… Or for any change. Equestria is a barrel of gunpowder that can blow up at any minute...”

“What will happen then?” Cadance asked. “If they rebel…”

“They will not stand for a week,” Luna replied. “Blueblood’s private army will obliterate them before the Royal Guard arrive there. They will need somepony who would guide and protect them… Who would channel their energy to change Equestria in the peaceful way…”

“What if it’s too late?” Cadance asked. She realised that she too was rarely outside the castles in Canterlot or Crystal Empire. All she knew about Detrot was that it was close to her kingdom and that there were lots of factories there, providing the tools and machines for the rest of Equestria.

“It is never too late…” Luna said, staring in the distance. “Somepony will only have to show them the way and protect them from the nobles…”

“Protection can quickly change into bloodshed,” Cadance observed.

“If it happens, the poor ponies will not be the ones who caused it,” Luna replied. “Unless we will not do anything about that…” She turned away from the balcony and headed to the inside of the castle. “Soon, Cadance, we will have to make a choice…”

***

“Who knows? What you would choose if you were him?” Luna asked. “Cadance or the whole Equestria?”

Ragnarok furrowed his brow, thinking that if he had to choose Gilda or Griffon Empire, he wouldn’t hesitate for long and go with Gilda somewhere far away from the falling country. Unlike many griffons, he wasn’t a very patriotic individual.

Luckily for the Griffon Empire, recent events turned this ponderings obsolete. The crushed body of his only love was now lying on the ground somewhere around Ponyville.

“Fortunately, I have another plan,” Luna said. She waved her hoof at the door hidden in the shadows on the far left corner of the throne chamber. It creaked open and somepony stood in it. “Let me introduce somepony to you. She might not have such a marvellous armour, but I assure you she is far more powerful than you and your army of griffons.”

Ragnar froze. From what Red Baron told him about Princess Luna, he concluded that she wasn’t more insane than any other pony. However the only creature more dangerous than a detachment of his compatriots he could think of, was a mysterious changeling queen. He shuddered, remembering the captured and tortured drone, calling her name before a bullet to the head put him out of his misery. Would Luna go that far?

The pony who stepped out of the shadows looked normal, but Ragnarok was still alert. She – it was definitely a mare – was an ordinary yellow pegasus with purple mane and orange eyes. Ragnar didn’t know much about the ponies’ preferences when it came to mares, but for him she looked nice. However, a closer look revealed some imperfections – there was a faint trace of a bruise on her face, and when she opened her mouth to speak, he noticed some missing teeth. Her eyes weren’t shining, instead she was piercing him with cold gaze.

“My name is Parasol. I come from Cloudsdale.”

Cloudsdale… Ragnar remembered that name. As soon as they heard about the riots, his squadron was moved to the border, waiting for the escalation of the conflict and the best moment to strike. Then, to his surprise, they got news that Luna looked for mercenaries, followed by a secret order from the Emperor himself.

“Parasol was in the group of my followers, when they were attacked,” Luna explained. “She survived and ran away to my castle. Later, she became my spy in Cloudsdale.”

“How? Don’t they know that she isn’t one of them?”

“Illusion spell. The same my sister uses to make all the Royal Guards look the same.” She aimed her horn at Parasol. A magic aura engulfed her for a split second. When it disappeared, only her eyes looked the same, her coat was now light blue and her mane was violet.

“Meet Opal Water. The real one is somewhere around, right, Parasol?”

“In the dungeon.” Parasol shuddered visibly upon mentioning Opal Water, but Luna didn’t seem to notice that.

“As you said, crystal ponies are still in Ponyville, thinking that it’s the only way we can attack Canterlot. Meanwhile, Cloudsdale is, as Parasol found out, protected only by small forces of Royal Guards. Apparently they think that my army was obliterated in the battle…”

Ragnarok’s eyes widened. He knew exactly that whoever possessed Cloudsdale, could easily conquer the whole Equestria.

I wish I had more griffons here…

“The army in Cloudsdale consists of two hundred Royal Guards and about a hundred of pegasi forming a militia. The latter shouldn’t be a problem – they’re poorly armed and insubordinate; the Royal Guards mostly contain them from killing each other,” Parasol explained.

“What guns do they use?”

“The Royal Guards have standard equestrian assault rifles, they also have some 20 mm and 88 mm anti-aircraft cannons. The militia has everything they could find: rifles, shotguns, pistols…”

Ragnar heard about the equestrian assault rifles. Due to the long period of peace, not many ponies knew how to shoot. When the princesses finally decided to do something about that, they issued a rifle that would be reliable and easy to maintain. They finally found one in Hooviet Union – using the 7.62 x 39 mm cartridge, was able to shoot in any circumstances, even after being sunk in a swamp. Some Ragnar’s friends would give everything to get one, even though the griffonian bullpup rifles were smaller and lighter. Also the trigger, designed to make shooting with hooves easier wasn’t very practical for them. Finally, it wasn’t easy to get 7.62 x 39 mm ammo in the Griffon Empire, where every assault rifle was designed to utilize 5.56 x 45 mm intermediate cartridge.

Still, only some units used the assault rifles. Many ponies, especially volunteers, were armed with submachine guns. They were also pretty reliable – they didn’t have to be cleaned for months and still were able to shoot about a thousand rounds per minute. Even though the drum magazine wasn’t very comfortable to carry around, it could store 71 bullets – an amount every griffon warrior would find impressive.

“I’m worried about those cannons,” he said to Parasol, whose disguise already faded. “Have you ever seen how the direct hit from 88 mm flak gun looks like?”

“I can imagine that,” she replied simply.“But don’t worry, with the pieces of information I gathered we can get through without even seeing them.”

***

Ragnarok looked at his gun and started to recite a prayer to the griffonian gods. Two hundred of bat ponies – everything Luna could give him – were divided into the groups of forty, each commanded by one of his friends from the squadron. They were wearing no armour, except a flying suit. He heard that bat ponies relied on their dexterity more than the shield, but even for him it seemed insane.

He, of course, was wearing his armour. It was still smelling of fresh paint, after he’d decided to get rid of the distinctive red and yellow plates colouring. Now his armour was navy blue, making him harder to spot on the sky. He left the battle saddle with cannons at the castle, knowing that they wouldn’t be useful in the indoor fight. Parasol, wearing a similar armour, was flying by his side. She refused to take a griffonian rifle, and was carrying an Equestrian submachine gun. She wasn’t supposed to take part in the fight, but as their opponents were to be amateurs, everything could happen.

“We’re close,” Parasol said, pointing forward, at the town above them. They were flying only few feet above the ground, unseen by the Royal Guards, expecting them to attack from the above. When they reached Cloudsdale, they flew upwards, approaching it from the bottom.

“There’s a passage between the clouds that allows to enter the lowest level of the Weather Factory,” Parasol’s voice from the briefing echoed in his ears. “The militia is guarding the factory, and if we manage to surprise them, everything will start to resemble a brothel on fire.”

They found the passage and one by one, the first group of forty bat ponies started to crawl into it. The rest of them stayed below the town, waiting for the right moment to attack. Ragnar followed the infiltrating group, commanded by another of his compatriots, a light-blue griffoness called Pluen.

“Sorry for the smell,” Parasol muttered. “Basically, these are sewers.”

“You know, I grew up in a town like this,” Ragnarok said, checking his rifle for an umpteenth time. “I know how it works.”

“Right… We are now directly below the factory…”

She flew to the cloud above them and kicked it. It was one of the enforced clouds, used to build the foundations of Cloudsdale, but after few hits it fell apart.

“Now silent…” he whispered. They all had headphones built into their helmets, so it wasn’t necessary to shout orders. “Halten sie die Klappe!”

“We’re Merlyn bat ponies,” the pony next to him hissed. “Gau i fyny, and you can halt your Klappe yourself.”

No respect for the authority… No wonder why this country looks like that, Ragnarok thought. Once we get more of the griffons here, we’ll show them what does order mean...

The hall they were in wasn’t probably used for ages. Everything was covered in a layer of vapour debris coming from slowly evaporating clouds. Some rusty machinery was standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by a jungle of pipes and old wires.

Suddenly, they heard wings flapping. Hidden in the darkness they saw a pegasus who landed on the hall’s floor. He looked around, stood on hind legs, resting himself against the machinery and started to urinate on it, humming some merry tune. Ragnar decided that it was enough, and took his pistol – it had a silencer, so he didn’t have to worry about the noise.

The pegasus fell to the ground, not even having time to notice what hit him. The group began to advance forward. Ragnarok hid his pistol in a holster and took the assault rifle, using his wings to steady himself.

“No need to be stealthy, I think,” Parasol whispered. “They like to pose as tough guys but they’ll probably run away in panic upon hearing a gunshot…”

“Well, we’ll find out very soon,” he replied. “But you’d better stay here; this armour can withstand only a limited amount of hits.”

Parasol nodded. They were in front of the large, closed gate.

“You,” Pluen said to one of the bat ponies in her command. “Can you hear somepony there?”

His large ears perked, trying to catch the echo of hoofsteps and voices.

“About thirty,” he said after a while. “Some of them sleeping.”

Pluen called another two of the bat ponies, who approached it and began planting explosives on the wickets. Ragnarok prepared the smoke grenades.

“In three…” he whispered. “Two… one…”

The gate exploded, falling apart. Ragnar darted forward, throwing the grenades into the hall, and began firing his assault rifle. Soon he was followed by Pluen, giving the griffonian war cry. Bat ponies, who didn’t need to see their enemies to sense their presence, moved forward.

Despite Parasol’s reassurance, the pegasi fought back. Of course, some of them either got shot or fled, startled by the explosion, but soon they dived at the attacking group, firing blindly at them. Ragnar flew upwards and hid behind some machinery, hoping that a chunk of metal and wires would be bulletproof enough to protect him till the situation got clearer.

Damn ponies and their war! Many of the volunteers protecting the factory were armed with the Sun Army rifles, which also happened to be the main weapon of Ragnarok’s bat-like allies, making it impossible to guess who was who. Distinctive sound of griffonian guns soon drowned in a thunder of gun fire.

The smoke started to dissipate, he could see Pluen, unable to reload her gun, fighting with some pegasi with her bare claws. Many ponies were lying on the floor, either dead or wounded. He leaned from behind his concealment and shot a few rounds, killing one of the pegasi attacking his companion. A group of bat ponies was already flying to the roof, where the anti-aircraft guns were located, the rest of them chasing the remains of the detachment guarding the factory.

Pluen gave out an ear-tearing shriek, stabbing another pegasus’ stomach with her knife. The remaining two darted upwards, allowing her to finally reload her rifle, while Ragnarok was shooting at them from behind the machinery till they disappeared, trying to join their comrades in some other part of the factory.

Encased in a griffonian armour, Parasol emerged from the basement. Ragnarok saw her walking through the battlefield like some cruel griffonian goddess of war, not looking at the bodies of the fallen ponies. There were about fifteen of them, along with ten bat ponies, scattered around the room, blood soaking the clouds the floor was made of.

Suddenly, somepony groaned. A pony stabbed by Pluen moved, his hoof on his stomach in a desperate attempt to keep his entrails inside. His other hoof was reached towards the yellow pegasus.

“Parasol…” he whispered. “Help…”

She stared at him, her eyes devoid of any shade of emotion. “I remember you,” she stated simply. “You didn’t help me when I was begging you to leave me…” she smiled, revealing her missing teeth. Ragnarok saw the dying pony freezing in horror.

“Luckily for you, I’m much better pony than you’ll ever be…” Parasol said. In one swift motion, she took a revolver from the holster, pointed it at the pegasus’ temple and pulled the trigger.

Ragnarok turned his gaze away, but felt some drops of the pony’s brain hitting his face. He shuddered. He remembered that Gilda used to poke fun at him for being “too delicate” to be a soldier.

Well, Gilda was now as alive as the headless pegasus in front of him.

His radio beeped. He took the communicator and said something quickly in Griffonian. Parasol looked at him.

“The guards noticed our little party,” he said to Parasol. “They’re flying here. I told the rest of the bat ponies to attack them from behind.”

“So, the battle begins…” Pluen muttered. Above them, the anti-aircraft artillery started to pump the endless stream of lead at the guards. They could easily differ the quick bursts from 20 and 40 mm cannons, and louder, deeper sound of the heavy guns.

“Battle?” Ragnarok asked. “Rather massacre…”

16. Twilight Sparkle

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Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.
Friedrich Nietzsche

Her hoofsteps were echoing through the hangar, interrupting the deathly silence of the building’s interior. Never before the golden tiara she was wearing seemed so heavy. She was walking slowly, often stopping to examine something closer.

The sky wore a deep shade of crimson. Twilight looked at the assault blimp standing in front of the hangar. Its gondola was scorched and full of holes; the balloon patched in many places. But the most horrific thing about it was its load, now lying on the floor of the hangar surrounded by the guards.

Twilight looked at the first body in a long row, wrapped in a plastic bag. A crystal pony, his body horribly mutilated by an explosion. His skin lost all its shine, turning into a plain violet fur; his eyes were open, staring at her, piercing her soul to the core. She shuddered and turned her gaze away. It didn’t help her – bodies of ponies, burned, shot, stabbed by the bat pony assassins or ran down by tanks were everywhere. The silence and the aura of death overwhelmed her.

She noticed another pony, sitting on the floor in the other corner of the hangar. She recognised her immediately; black armour and white and blue mane were too distinctive to confuse her with somepony else.

“Your Highness.” Cloudchaser bowed when Twilight approached her. Twilight noticed that her armour was far from the perfect state – battered, covered in stale blood and mud, with missing part of the hind legs cover.

“Just call me Twilight,” the alicorn said, looking around grimly. “We’re all equal here…”

Cloudchaser stood up. Her mane, as Twilight noticed, was dirty and greasy; her face was covered in ash, except of two trails made by tears, running from her eyes. She probably had no time to wash or take off her armour since the battle the day before, and didn’t have a proper sleep in at least two days. She was barely able to stand, her hind leg not supporting her weight fully.

“It’s her, right?” Twilight asked, pointing at the body bag. She knew the answer – a part of the rainbow mane was visible underneath the foil.

Cloudchaser nodded. “I couldn’t save her…” she said, all emotions burned out of her voice. “Griffons were there… We lost a half of our squadron…” She shuddered.

The rest of the squadron was now slowly getting back from Ponyville. Against Cloudchaser’s orders, Stormfeather and Cloud Break had made a reconnaissance flight after the fight was over, and found Dust Devil, who crash-landed in the woods. She was badly burned and her ribs were cracked, but she was alive.

This was, however, another blow for the new squadron leader – according to Dust Devil, Cloud Kicker “went fucking bonkers” before she died in an airship crash. That, and the fact that Flitter was wounded, made Cloudchaser feel even worse.

“It’s not your fault,” Twilight said, looking at Rainbow Dash, lying in front of her. Her body was stiff, dirty and covered in bruises. One of her wings was nearly torn off, but apart from that, she looked like she was asleep – somepony, probably Cloudchaser, had closed her eyes and wiped some blood from her fur.

“We need to take her from there, organise a funeral,” said Twilight grimly, swallowing her tears. “She can’t lie here like that…”

She walked out of the hangar slowly, calling her guards and giving them orders. Cloudchaser followed her, her head hanging low.

“How many ponies know about… that?” Twilight asked. She couldn’t bring herself to say it aloud, to admit that Rainbow Dash was dead.

“Guys from the squadron… some crystal ponies…”

“Tell them not to talk about that too much. Two weeks, and we already lost three Element Bearers… Ponies can’t know. Not yet.”

Cloudchaser nodded. Suddenly, she remembered something. “There’s one more thing, Your… Twilight. Before Dash died, we talked about Lightning Dust…” She told Twilight about the wounded pegasus and the state she was in. By the end of the story, she saw a tear in her eye.

“Yes, she needs help,” Twilight said. “I’ll do what I can to provide it. Take care, Cloudchaser.”

Cloudchaser sat on the airstrip, watching the princess walking away. At first, she didn’t notice a young colt walking towards her.

“Where’s Thunderlane?” Rumble asked, “I’ve been asking everywhere, but nopony knows that…”

Cloudchaser looked at him and started to weep loudly, embracing him with her wing.

***

When Twilight went back to the palace, the first thing she noticed were three stallions waiting for her in the hall. Big Macintosh and Braeburn, still in their blood-covered uniforms, were wearing grim expressions, while Prince Blueblood, standing between them, looked simply devastated. When he saw her, he trotted to her, shouting, “My nephew! They killed him!”

“Who?” she asked, alarmed, trying to keep him away from herself. Even though Princess Celestia trusted him completely, Twilight still wasn’t sure about his intentions. The rumours surrounding him were too alarming to be ignored.

She scolded herself for that. Blueblood was a manipulative jerk, but he wasn’t stupid. He’d never attack the princess of Equestria in front of two soldiers. Not to mention that they were Applejack’s brother and cousin.

Applejack… Twilight felt another jolt of pain in her heart.

“The POWs we were escorting got a bit… out of control,” Braeburn explained. “One of them shot Lyra Heartstrings with her own gun, they snapped Black Marble’s horn… He’s in the hospital now… And then they stabbed Hot Blood before we were able to shoot them.”

“Y-you shoot them all?” she asked, feeling dizzy.

“Eeyup,” Big Macintosh replied. Twilight wasn’t sure, but he seemed even less talkative than usual.

“I want you to punish Colonel Tungsten Heart!” Blueblood demanded. “He shouldn’t have sent only five soldiers with twenty bat ponies!”

“Tungsten Heart is now in Ponyville,” said Twilight coldly, regaining her composure. “And we have no time for investigations.”

“B-but…”

“No buts, Blueblood!” she shouted. It wasn’t as impressive as Royal Canterlot Voice, but it was enough for Blueblood to stand in silence, his mouth open. “I’m going to talk with Princess Celestia now.”

She turned back, and teleported to her chamber, where she collapsed on her bed, sobbing openly. She took off her tiara and tossed it into the corner of the room. It bounced off the wall and fell on the floor next to the trash bin.

She wasn’t lying there for more than ten minutes, when somepony knocked at the door.

“Get out!” she shouted.

“It’s me, Twiley!” she heard Shining Armor’s voice. Something about it made her freeze.

“Come in…” she said, unlocking the door with her magic. Her brother’s grim expression made her want to teleport somewhere far away from the castle. It took her some time before she noticed that he was accompanied by a pegasus guard, whose armour was destroyed in a way similar to Cloudchaser’s suit.

“Cloudsdale was captured by Luna’s forces,” Shining Armor said. “And I got the news from my army in the north that Crystal Empire was attacked by the griffons. They… they got Cadance…”

“H-how?” Twilight asked, her eyes wide in shock.

“Griffons and bat ponies, Your Highness,” the pegasus guard explained. “Somepony had to tell them about the hidden passage. They sneaked to the Weather Factory and attacked the militia guarding it. When we found out, we were attacked by our own anti-aircraft cannons from one side, and another group of bat ponies from the other. That… that was a nightmare… I barely survived…”

“I’m going to call the commanders of the army,” Shining Armor broke the long silence. “We need to prepare the new strategy…”

“I’ll tell the Princess,” Twilight said.

***

Celestia’s chamber was almost completely dark. Twilight could barely see her lying on her bed, her hooves and wings spread wide, as if she was dead. Her breath was shallow and uneven, greasy mane was hanging, devoid of its magic.

“Princess…” Twilight called.

Celestia moved slightly and opened her eyes. “I know what you are asking for, Twilight,” she spoke, raising her head. “I have seen the image of Cloudsdale in my dreams. I saw every detail of Fluttershy’s and Rainbow Dash’s deaths, as well as Applejack’s fall into madness. My sister did not forget to feed me with the image of burning Ponyville, and death of every single soldier, mine and hers…”

“Princess, we need to–”

“No, Twilight. It is the end. I am going to announce my abdication, and surrender Canterlot to the Moon Army.”

“No!” Twilight flew to Celestia’s bed, and leaned to her. Their gazes met and she saw her own reflection in the magenta eyes, now almost devoid of life. “We can’t let her win… After what she did… After she killed my friends… We can’t give up!”

“Fight will only lead to more suffering…” Celestia replied. “You still have Pinkie and Rarity…”

“But what about Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash? What about all the soldiers? Their sacrifice means nothing to you? And how about the foals who died? No one will pay for that?” Twilight didn’t care that she was shouting at the Princess of the Sun herself. All the feelings that welled in her now found a way to get out of her system.

“I am the one responsible for their death,” said Celestia calmly. “And if somepony needs to be punished for that, then it should be me.”

Twilight sighed, looking at the floor beneath her hooves. “You did nothing wrong, Princess,” she finally spoke. “It’s Luna who started the war…”

“But she started it because of my own stubbornness. I thought that after thousands of years of ruling Equestria I knew everything… I was wrong. Now these images keep haunting me...”

“It’s Luna who causes it!” Twilight shouted. She was now inches from Celestia’s face, shivering slightly. “She wants you to think that!”

“No, Twilight…” Celestia shook her head. “I can’t stand it anymore. Luna showed me how bad ruler I became recently… I need to give up…”

She rested her head on the pillow, looking so weak and vulnerable that for a moment Twilight wanted to admit that she was right. Right, as she always was, for thousands of years.

A strange spark appeared in Twilight’s eyes. She licked her lips slowly, and spoke, “You are right… You need to give up…”

***

“Princess Celestia gave me full control over the military operations against Princess Luna,” Twilight announced, storming into the chamber where Shining Armor, Spike, Rarity, Pinkie and Cloudchaser were sitting around the table with the map of Equestria. On another table stood the radio – they were in contact with Tungsten Heart and Spitfire in Ponyville.

“Why?” Spike asked. “Something happened to her?”

“She needs to focus all her magic forces to protect ponies from Luna sending nightmares to plague them,” Twilight explained. She rubbed her hoof and for a brief moment rested her gaze on Rarity.

“Luna wants to fight us with nightmares?” Pinkie exclaimed. “She totally flipped! I mean, not like thousand years ago, because then the Elements would’ve worked and we wouldn’t be at war and Fl–“ she suddenly silenced, her mane straightening a bit. Now Twilight was looking at her. After what she witnessed in Celestia’s room, she could imagine what Pinkie was feeling – during the major battles, her Pinkie Sense was causing her body to twitch constantly in various ways, as if she had a seizure. Each twitch meant one death.

Pinkie Pie, who was the happiest pony in the whole Equestria just two weeks ago, was now a wreck. An empty shell, desensitized to anything. Now Twilight could say that she understood that feeling. Celestia’s surrender burned a similar hole in her psyche.

“As long as the Princess is able to fight her back, I don’t worry about it,” Shining Armor said. His magic was faltering slightly when he was moving the markers on the map. “I can see only one way to win this…”

He started to speak louder, so Tungsten Heart could hear him clearly.

“We have to retreat from Ponyville and gather all our forces here, in Canterlot. I’ll conjure the shield around the town and we’ll wait for Luna’s forces to bleed out while trying to overcome it. The forces attacking Detrot must also retreat and try to regain control of the Crystal Empire.”

“Retreat?” Tungsten Heart’s voice was clear, despite the static. “After we fought so hard to reclaim it?”

“Yes, Colonel,” Shining replied, putting an emphasis on Tungsten Heart’s rank. “We’ll need every soldier here, and since they got Cloudsdale, it doesn’t matter if they get to Canterlot from there or from Ponyville.”

“What about the civilians living in the refugee camp?” Cloudchaser asked. As Twilight noticed, she had finally taken a shower after their conversation, and got rid of her battered armour, wearing an Equestrian Air Force uniform instead.

“We need to evacuate them to Appleloosa…” said Twilight, casting a nervous glance at Rarity. “By now, we have to cut all the connections between the camp and Canterlot – I had an information about Luna’s spies living in it…”

“What spies?” Spike asked. “You’ve never told me–“

“I have my sources,” Twilight replied. “You will take care of this, Spike. Seeing my personal assistant preparing an evacuation should raise their morale. We want to avoid panic, after all.”

“Twilight, darling, I can do that too…” Rarity said.

“No, Rarity. After everything what happened, I’d rather keep you and Pinkie here. It’s too dangerous…”

“Well, thank you!” Spike exclaimed, glaring at Twilight angrily.

“Don’t worry, Spike,” Twilight said. “Cloudchaser’s squadron will help you, while the Wonderbolts will take care of Canterlot till they are back.”

“Squadron…” Cloudchaser muttered, shaking her head. “Nice name for the seven ponies, of whom two are too wounded to fly…”

“Five will be enough,” said Twilight. “They won’t chase the civilians, they’ll focus on the city…”

Spike nodded and left the room, followed by Cloudchaser. Shining Armor was now discussing the details of evacuation from Ponyville with Tungsten Heart and Spitfire.

“Rarity, can I talk to you in private?” Twilight asked.

“Of course, darling,” Rarity said. Twilight looked at her closer. She wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination or she really seemed happier than she should be in such a situation. Of course, she looked depressed – they both cried upon hearing the news about Rainbow Dash’s death. There was, however, something about her that differed her from, for example, Pinkie Pie. Twilight couldn’t exactly put her hoof on it. She looked into Rarity’s eyes.

“Are you okay, Twilight?” Rarity asked. They were now walking upstairs, to her chamber.

“What? Yes, of course I’m okay. I’m just… You know, the responsibility… The fate of Equestria is in my hooves, and I’m a bit lost, and…”

“Definitely, you should take a rest,” Rarity said, flipping her mane. Their gazes locked again, and, for a split second, Twilight saw it.

The spark in those blue eyes. Just like… Just like before everything. When they were living happily in Ponyville, before Princess Luna rebelled against her sister. When Sweetie Belle was alive.

They went to Rarity’s room. Twilight lit her horn and locked the door, simultaneously conjuring a soundproof barrier around the chamber.

Things can get loud, she thought. She sat on the armchair next to the desk and said, "I was wondering, who could tell Luna about that passage to the Weather Factory…”

“Probably some pegasus from Cloudsdale…” Rarity replied. “Somepony who knows the town well.”

“Exactly…” Twilight glared at her. “But even that pegasus couldn’t know that, due to the small amount of pegasi in our ranks, the factory was guarded by, to put it bluntly, a bunch of useful, trigger-happy idiots.”

“I don’t exactly follow…”

“Well, Rarity, you probably heard about a group of ponies calling themselves ‘The Fireflies’?”

Yes, that was it. Rarity was avoiding her gaze, grabbing the armrests of her armchair with her hooves.

“I haven’t heard much about them,” she said. “I’ve heard that they help the refugees in the camp. They provide food for them, and–“

“They spy for Luna.” Twilight looked at Rarity coldly, licking her lips. “And their leader is a pegasus…”

“Firefly?” Rarity chuckled nervously. “That’s impossible. I heard one of her speeches; she’s clearly missing a few marbles.”

“Yet, you liked it so much that you’re visiting her at least twice a week…” Twilight replied, piercing her with her gaze. Seeing Rarity’s surprised look, she continued, “Really, Rarity, I thought you were wiser. Using a chariot pulled by the Royal Guards to get to Firefly’s place? Please…”

“I… I can explain!” Rarity exclaimed, seeing that Twilight was now aiming her horn at her.

“Better make it good, friend…” Twilight said. She was smirking, but there was no happiness in her voice.

Rarity could swear that her lavender fur darkened a bit. Ignoring her dry throat, she spoke, “F-firefly helped me deal with… with everything. She… you don’t know what she’s been through…”

“I guess it’s quite an interesting story, but it still doesn’t explain, why you decided to share with her the secret of our army…” Twilight replied. There was almost no emotions in her voice, except of barely concealed fury.

“I didn’t, for Celestia’s sake!” Rarity snapped. “She’s not interested in that… The only thing she ever said about war is that–”

“–she’s waiting for the Princesses to kill each other,” Twilight interrupted. “Yes, I heard that too, and I can’t really believe it. Who’d like to wait for so long? Why not help them a bit?”

“No, she’s not like that! I’d say that she’s above such things. And I visit her so often, because Sweetie Belle is with her and…” she paused, seeing that Twilight’s angry expression softened a bit.

“Sweetie’s with her?” Twilight asked, suddenly sitting next to Rarity’s armchair and gently wrapping her hoof around her. “Oh Rarity, I’m sorry. It seems that you didn’t betray us because you wanted to do so, but simply because you became crazy with grief after your sister’s death…”

“Sweetie’s alive!” Rarity shouted. “They’re with Apple Bloom in Firefly’s place.”

“Yeah, right…” Twilight muttered. “Listen, Rarity as much as I hate to say it, Sweetie and Apple Bloom are dead. Don’t you remember what Lightning Dust told you?”

“Of course I remember…” Rarity said with a sigh. “But they survived!”

Twilight shook her head. Rarity felt her hoof tightening around her neck.

“I know it’s hard for you…” It was that kind of monotone voice Twilight was often lapsing into recently. “But I’ll have to take care of you. Not only for our cause, though it would be bad if you started telling everypony about our secrets… But for your own good…”

Rarity saw Twilight lighting up her horn just in time to slip out of her grasp, falling backwards with her armchair. A magic beam flew inches from her mane, leaving a scorched mark on the wall. Rarity rolled on the floor, standing on all fours and quickly firing two beams at Twilight.

Two small explosions rang in her ears when the alicorn conjured a magic shield which absorbed Rarity’s beams as if they were nothing more than sparks.

Twilight’s next attack left Rarity no time to dodge. She only managed to create a shield which weakened the spell a bit, but it still felt as if she was hit with a brick. She staggered and leaned against her bed.

“Stop it, Rarity,” Twilight panted. “I don’t want to hurt you, I only want to help…”

“I don’t need your help!” Rarity shouted, grabbing a blanket from her bed and throwing it at her. Twilight fired a spell automatically, setting it on fire, but the contents of Rarity’s box with sewing tools, levitated by the fashionista, were already flying in her direction, followed by the box itself.

Rarity knew that she was no match for Twilight in duelling. Levitation, however, was something completely different. The burning blanket fell on the floor, revealing Twilight lying limply, knocked down by the heavy, wooden case. Apparently, her shield could be penetrated by physical objects.

“Nice try,” said Twilight weakly, getting up on her hooves. She shook her mane off of her face and to her horror, Rarity saw that one of the needles pierced Twilight’s right eye, its end protruding from the pupil. When Twilight tried to blink, spraying blood and vitreous fluid all over her muzzle, Rarity felt the contents of her stomach slowly moving upwards.

“As I said, nice try,” Twilight said a bit louder, unfazed by her injury. “Treason, attempted regicide… You should pray to Celestia that the judges would consider you insane, or else…” In one swift motion, she pulled the needle out of her eye, and threw it at Rarity. It bounced harmlessly off her leg and fell on the floor.

“Celestia will forgive me when she learns about what you did, d–darling!” Rarity shouted, trying to contain retching, when she looked in her friend’s eyes.

“I wouldn’t be so sure…” Twilight smiled widely. The pupil of her good eye shrunk to pin prick, while the other one stayed widened. This was too much for Rarity, who shook violently and threw up on the floor. Twilight waited patiently till she was done, and continued, “I don’t know if you noticed, but Princess Celestia is no longer in charge here…”

“She’s not in charge of the war…” Rarity panted. “But she’ll surely have something to say about her faithful student getting insane!”

“Insane?” Twilight smiled even wider. Smaller cuts on her face almost disappeared; her eyeball was also regenerating, though it still couldn’t move. “No, Rarity. You’re insane. You live in a delusional world where your sister is still alive, some crazy pegasus called Firefly has good intentions and I am a psychopath trying to get you. Now, be a grown mare and let me help you…”

Rarity was ready. When Twilight said her last word, she fired another magic beam at her. It collided in mid-air with a magenta ray and exploded, scorching the floor below. Rarity jumped on her bed, when another spell burned some hair in her tail and left another mark on the wall. She levitated a desk, but Twilight was too smart to fall into the same trick twice; she grasped the desk with her own magic, trying to push it at Rarity.

For some time, they were struggling, trying to gain control over the desk. Finally, another bolt of Twilight’s magic sent it flying across the room, where it hit the door and fell apart. Twilight followed it with her gaze, surprised, and Rarity saw her chance.

She jumped off of the bed, tackling Twilight, and punched her in the still regenerating eye. She shuddered when she felt vitreous fluid on her hoof, but punched Twilight once more, in the base of her horn. Then she hit her again, and again. Twilight spat some blood, mixed with the shards of teeth, before another punch broke her nose. After a few more blows, her jaw gave up. Twilight gave out an undecipherable groan and went silent.

“How do you like that, darling…” Rarity panted, when Twilight hung limply in her hooves.

“More than you think…” she heard Twilight’s raspy voice. Then, a powerful kick to the stomach sent her flying into the puddle of her own vomit. She groaned, holding her stomach with her forelegs, and threw up again, almost choking.

Twilight stood up slowly, her face bruised, covered in blood, saliva and vitreous fluid. When she smiled, Rarity saw that her jaw was already in one piece, and her teeth were regenerating.

“And now, Rarity, time to sleep…” she muttered, aiming her horn at her, her moves still uncoordinated after the generous beating she’d received.

“No!” Rarity screamed, prompting her body to make one last attempt to escape. A magic beam hit her hind leg, leaving it numb, but she managed to jump to the door, firing a spell at it in mid-air. Luckily, the door had been already damaged by the desk, and Rarity managed to burst through it like a bullet, chased by magenta beams. She skid to a halt on the corridor and began running away, limping.

“Not so fast!” Twilight shouted, landing in front of her. Rarity thought, a bit too late, that she should have broken her wings when she had a chance. Beaten, tired, with a numb leg, she knew that she had no choice but to fight. She lowered her head and charged her horn. Twilight did the same.

Suddenly, Rarity saw somepony walking behind Twilight’s back.

“Rarity? Twilight? What are you doing here?” they heard Pinkie Pie’s voice. “My Pinkie sense just went crazy again, it was terrible, I’m telling you, terrible! Burns, going blind, getting beaten, I’m afraid that something could happen to…”

Twilight didn’t listen to her, but suddenly fired a spell at Rarity, who answered with another bolt of blue magic.

“…and then I thought that there could be some spy or a changeling trying to kill one of you, and I was scared because I couldn’t hear anything from your rooms, and…”

The two bolts collided in mid-air, melting into one. To Twilight’s surprise, Rarity’s beam was stronger, sending the joined spells in her direction. She quickly darted to the left…

“…so I went up there to check on you two, but I’m glad to see you both… Oh!”

Pinkie’s eyes went wide when the bolt hit her chest. She backpedalled slowly, her mane deflating, and sat on the floor. She looked at Twilight and Rarity, opening her mouth to say something, but suddenly she caught her chest and collapsed on the floor, her body shaken by violent shivers.

“No!” Twilight and Rarity screamed simultaneously, and ran to her.

“She’s alive!” Rarity exclaimed, placing her hoof on Pinkie’s chest. The heartbeat was slow and uneven, but it was there. Twilight examined her friend with an alarmed look on her face.

“She might have had a heart attack…” she muttered. “What spell did you use?”

“Just something to knock you out…” Rarity replied.

“Shit…” Twilight aimed her horn at Pinkie’s chest, scanning it with a spell. “Hope we didn’t do much damage, but we need to act quick!”

“I’ll call the guards, she needs a doctor…”

“One more thing, Rarity…” Twilight raised her head and looked at her.

“Yes, darling?”

Suddenly, Rarity felt something heavy hitting her in the back of the head. She collapsed on her knees, next to Pinkie Pie.

“You didn’t think I’ll let you go, did you?” she heard Twilight’s voice whispering into her ear.

Another hit, and everything around Rarity disappeared in darkness.

***

When she opened her eyes, darkness was still around her. Unable to see, she focused on other senses.

Her whole body was in pain. She could feel her numb leg again, but it wasn’t a pleasant feeling – as if a large group of ants was crawling under her skin. Her head was aching, as well as her stomach. There was also a dull pain in her horn – she thought that it could the effect of overexertion. Fighting insane alicorns wasn’t something she was doing on a daily basis.

She winced at the smell. She could feel that her fur was sticky from the sweat and dry vomit. Her throat was dry, the stomach was rumbling, and she needed to relieve her bladder badly. She was lying on something cold, possibly a metal table. Her hooves were spread, she could feel something metallic around them.

She tried to move. The chains clinked, but they were firmly attached to something, leaving her almost no freedom. She tried to use her magic, but it only made the headache worse. The pressure in her bladder rose.

“Twilight!” she shouted. Her voice, weak and raspy, echoed through the room, but nopony replied. She called again, with the same results.

“Twilight, please…” she whispered, lying her head on the table helplessly and closing her eyes. She thought of Sweetie Belle – even though she was now trapped in a robotic body, every time she managed to get out of the palace to spend some time with her was like a piece of normalcy in the crazy world around her. She started to recall them, then the happy times she spent with her friends before the war.

An hour passed. She clenched her muscles in a desperate attempt to maintain the rest of her dignity. Hadn’t it been for the chains, she’d cross her legs, or make some kind of a potty dance – she almost laughed at that idea, even though her perspectives were rather grim. This was apparently the castle dungeon, Twilight probably went insane, Pinkie could be dead…

And, what was even worse, she could soon be dead too.

More time passed. She quickly lost the track of it, overwhelmed by darkness. She tried to fall asleep, waiting for Twilight to come, but she couldn’t. What if she was just left there to die of dehydration or starvation? She sobbed, but soon stopped. She decided to stay strong, she didn’t want to give Twilight satisfaction.

After spending what she felt like about five hours lying on the table, her bladder suddenly gave up. She didn’t feel it at first, thinking about random things, just to occupy her mind. Then she felt her tail soaking, urine dripping from the table. She only sighed, partially with surprise, partially with relief. She knew it’d happen sooner or later. In her current state it didn’t matter that much.

“Hello, Rarity,” she heard a voice above her.

“Twilight? How’s Pinkie?” she asked in a panicked tone.

“Currently, everypony in the palace are talking about how she shielded me from my poor friend, who sadly went crazy and tried to kill me. This friend is now officially in the psychiatric ward of the Canterlot General Hospital, together with a pegasus called Lightning Dust. Pinkie is still unconscious, but she’ll get better.”

The bright light blinded her. When she dared to open her eyes, she saw that Twilight’s wounds disappeared completely. Her right eye, however, was still a bit lazy, and Rarity smirked, seeing that she managed to at least scratch her. Twilight trotted to some device standing in the corner, turned on the monitor, and levitated a syringe, a small, electric drill, and a long piece of optical fibre.

“Too bad, I can’t say the same thing about you…”

17. Twist

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Grief is the price we pay for love.
Queen Elizabeth II

“I don’t like it…” Twist said, watching a slightly glowing magenta dome surrounding Canterlot.

“Don’t worry, it’s just like during Princess Cadance’s wedding,” Scootaloo replied. After the three days they’d spent in a refugee camp, she looked much better, courtesy of pegasi’s rapid regeneration. Twist's wound stopped to hurt, allowing her to walk. Sure, she wasn’t in the shape to compete in Running of the Leaves, but it was good enough to cover a few miles without opening again. Silver Spoon was walking by her side, shooting occasional glances at her.

Over the last three days, many things had changed. First, they learned that Cloudsdale was captured by Luna’s forces, and nopony was allowed to leave Canterlot, as the whole town was preparing to repel them. A large detachment of the Royal Guards came to the refugee camp, giving them a day to prepare to evacuate to Appleloosa.

“Can I go to Canterlot?” Scootaloo asked one of them as soon as they were informed about that.

“No, kid,” he replied. “We only evacuate you because we’re afraid of strife missiles or bombs. Why would you want to go to the place those bombs will be aimed at?”

Even though Scootaloo shared her reasons with Twist and Silver Spoon, she didn’t tell about them to the guard. Instead, she asked him how Rainbow Dash was doing.

“Cannot tell,” the guard said and left, leaving them alone. Scootaloo retreated to the tent, not wanting to talk with Twist and Silver Spoon.

Twist could partially understand her. Over the last three days, Scootaloo caught them kissing or cuddling way too many times for her liking. Their relations were a bit strained, but soon a new tragedy brought them together.

When the guards were in the refugee camp, one of them went to their tent.

“Ms. Bon Bon?” he asked. His tone was solemn, but his expression was indifferent. Upon hearing him, Bon Bon shuddered and a glass fell out of her hoof.

“I’m deeply–” he didn’t manage to tell the whole information, when Bon Bon suddenly collapsed in front of him, wailing loudly.

“Please… don’t tell me she… she…” Bon Bon’s whole body twitched. The guard was confused by her sudden outburst.

“I… I wanted to inform…”

“NO!” Bon Bon screamed. “Don’t tell me about that! I don’t want to know!”

The guards stood there for a few minutes waiting for her to calm down, before he finally went away, assuming that he had given her the information.

Seeing the whole scene, Twist was shuddering upon the thought that something could happen to her parents, Bon Bon… or Silver Spoon.

Silver Spoon probably changed the most. When Bon Bon passed out after the guard brought her the news, it was Silver Spoon who helped her get back into the tent. She was also sitting there with them till the mare fell asleep, too tired to even sob.

Twist didn’t know much about other ponies and the feeling of love was something new to her. Silver Spoon wanted to spent every moment with her, savour every minute, especially since they learned that Luna’s forces were approaching them. Kisses, hugs, long talks in the middle of the night, when Scootaloo was sleeping with the pillow on her head, and hooves covering her ears. They were talking about everything: their lives, their families, their happiest memories. There was only one taboo: everything that happened when the bombs fell down on the group of foals was greeted by Silver with bitter silence, occasionally interrupted by tears.

Now, they were trotting up the mountain, the capital of Equestria only two miles from them. They had sneaked out of the camp when Bon Bon was still sleeping, and were slowly approaching the magenta barrier. Twist didn’t like the fact that they’d left Bon Bon like that, but Scootaloo wanted to get to Canterlot as fast as she could. However, she still wasn’t sure what to do when they’d reach the barrier. She hoped that if she told them that Rainbow Dash was her sister, the guards would let them in. Silver Spoon thought otherwise.

“You know, they probably have dozens of ponies every day, trying to convince them that they’re Celestia’s lost sisters,” she said when they stopped for a moment. Twist sat next to her, wrapping her hoof around her.

Scootaloo groaned. “Then I’ll tell them to bring her. She’ll be happy to see me alive…”

“Yeah, right…” Silver Spoon muttered under her breath.

“Twist, can you tell your fillyfriend to stop being a whiny ass?”

“Tell her yourthelf.”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “Silver, don’t be a whiny ass, okay? We’re so close to Canterlot…”

“…where you’ll be able to stay with Rainbow Dash, till some bat pony drops a bomb on your head. End of story.”

“Thilver, don’t be tho mean…” Twist looked into Silver’s eyes.

“For you I can stop being mean, Twisty…” Silver Spoon kissed her cheek.

Scootaloo groaned again, this time much louder. “Before you two start making out, you’d better remember where we are. The bat ponies can be here at any moment…”

“Exactly, where are they? They’re afraid of that shield?” Silver Spoon asked.

“I have no idea.” Scootaloo looked at the sky, but saw nothing but the immobile celestial bodies. She thought about the rainbow she’d seen between them three days ago and about hope it brought into her heart. Rainbow Dash had to be somewhere there, waiting for her.

They started to walk further, hiding among the rocks. As they proceeded up the mountain, the wind was growing chilly. They quickly put the blankets on their backs again, before putting on the old saddlebags they’d scavenged from the destroyed airship. It was a few days ago, but for Twist, it felt like years.

They were only a mile from Canterlot, when suddenly they heard wings flapping somewhere above them.

Scootaloo looked up and her eyes widened in horror. “Watch out!” she shouted, diving under a nearby rock. Twist followed her, as fast as her hoof let her. When she was hiding behind the rock, she looked back and saw Silver Spoon collapsing, after she stepped on the edge of her blanket. Three bat ponies were diving towards her.

“I’m okay!” she shouted to them, recovering. She jumped forward, for a moment standing on her hind legs.

A single round hit her back, piercing through the spine, and leaving a large exit wound in her stomach. A crimson stain started to spread on her blanket. Twist saw her fillyfriend’s lips moving and her pupils shrinking to pin pricks, before Silver Spoon slowly collapsed on the ground, lying motionless in the quickly growing puddle of her own blood.

“NO!” Twist screamed, leaving Scootaloo behind the rock and running towards the Silver. She kneeled next to her and overturned her.

The stench was terrible – the bullet pierced through Silver’s intestines, blowing large parts of them on the ground. She was hyperventilating, her muscles twitching in violent spasms – shock from sudden blood loss rendered her unconscious almost immediately. When Twist embraced her, she felt that her hooves were getting cold quickly – the death was imminent.

“Twist, run!” Scootaloo shouted. “You can’t help her!”

Twist knew that it was true. Nopony could survive with such wound for long; she knew that well. Yet, it didn’t feel right. She didn’t want to leave Silver Spoon like that.

“Twist! Come on!” Scootaloo screamed, pointing at the sky. The bat ponies were circling, flying back at them. Silver Spoon’s breath became shorter and more laboured.

Twist wept, holding Silver Spoon’s body in a tight embrace. Scootaloo ran to her, trying desperately to drag her away. Twist smacked her with her hoof. With Silver Spoon’s death, she also lost the will to live.

“Twist, for fuck’s sake! They’ll kill us all because of you and your–”

A bullet whistled past them and Twist froze, feeling something hot and sticky showering her. She heard the sound of Scootaloo’s body hitting the ground limply behind her. The bullet which killed her was followed by the others, all now aimed at Twist.

“Silver Spoon…” she muttered, feeling them tearing her body apart.

***

“Thilver! Noooo!” Twist screamed, her eyes shooting open. She got up, looking frantically around, her vision blurry. Her glasses were lying next to her on an empty crate, serving as a nightstand.

“What’s going on?” Silver Spoon asked groggily.

“Thilver! Thankth Celethtia, you’re alive!” Twist hugged her frantically, staining her coat with tears.

“Of course I am, why would I be dead?”

“Can you two shut the fuck up, please?” Scootaloo groaned, waking up. “We’re leaving to Canterlot in the morning, if you don’t remember.”

Canterlot. Chill ran down Twist’s spine when she heard that name. Memories of the dream she had appeared before her eyes. She felt the taste of bile in her mouth.

“Can you explain me what’s going on?” Scootaloo asked, watching Silver Spoon running her hoof down Twist’s mane. “Because if you want to, umm… spend some time together, I can, like, go for an early walk. Just tell how long you’re going to, umm… you know… and I’ll–“

“I don’t want to go to Canterlot,” Twist said, interrupting her. Scootaloo stared at her blankly.

“What?”

“I’m afraid that… that something can happen to uth…” Twist stammered. Her head drooped. “There are bat ponieth there, and… I think Thilver and I will be thafer in Applelootha…”

To her surprise, Scootaloo nodded. Yet, even without her glasses, Twist could see the disappointed look on her face.

“I think you’re right…” Scootaloo said. “It’s me who needs to get to Canterlot to find Apple Bloom, Sweetie… and Rainbow Dash. You’ve already found Bon Bon… well, and Silver. You don’t have to risk your lives for me anymore.”

Twist muttered something under her breath, putting her glasses on.

“What happened?” Bon Bon’s head poked from behind the screen they’d used to divide the tent into two bedrooms. Her mane was messy and her eyes were red and poofy. “I heard screams…”

“Twist had a nightmare,” said Silver Spoon. “But she’s okay now…”

“Oh dear…” Bon Bon trotted to them and sat on the bed next to her. “Are you three still going to Canterlot?”

“Yes,” Scootaloo replied.

“No,” Silver Spoon said casually, still brushing Twist’s mane.

Twist said nothing, avoiding eye contact with Scootaloo.

***

The pegasi arrived to the camp in the early morning, waking its inhabitants up. Most of the ponies were already packed, so they only needed to get their tents and gather together. Scootaloo, already wearing her saddlebags, hid between two stacks of crates, watching two pegasi stallions, wearing armours (their battle saddles disconnected) as they walked next to her. She was about to leave her hiding, when she saw that they were still standing next to the crates, lighting cigarettes.

“It’s fucked up, bro,” said one of them. Scootaloo wasn’t sure since their armours were covering most of their bodies, but they probably were twins. “This whole shield can stop the bat ponies, but it’ll surely lure Luna herself here…”

“Maybe that’s old Celly’s idea,” said the second stallion, blowing out the smoke. “You know, abdication and shit, Sparkle’s in charge, Luna comes here, then bang! She’s on the Moon, thinking what went wrong. The Moon Army won’t withstand long without its leader; just look what happened to our squadron after the boss kicked the bucket.”

“Meh. ‘Chaser somehow keeps us together. Who knows, maybe there are similar motherfuckers in the Moon Army. Those griffons, for example. You think they’ll stop in Crystal Empire? Soon, there’ll be the whole army here…”

“Fuck griffons. Have you heard about what Cadance did?”

“Apart of being imprisoned and raped by half of the Griffon Empire?” The pegasus chuckled. Scootaloo felt the urge to jump out of her cover and punch him in the face.

“I don’t think she got raped. I heard a rumour that she used some kind of love magic on the guards and ran away from her prison. Apparently they found her guard trying to gather his guts from the floor with one claw, while jacking himself off with the other. She flew out of the Crystal Empire, then teleported and is now in Canterlot.”

“I call bullshit, brother. They’d already tell those peasants about that, instead of keeping it secret like the fact that the boss died. Or that Rarity is now in the loony bin.”

“Rarity is in the loony bin?” The pegasus raised his eyebrow. “Not surprising, actually. And, just between you and me, Cloudchaser is next in line. ‘Chaser and cannons is a massacre waiting to happen…”

“Yeah, she was trying to kill Sparkle, or something like that. Almost killed that little pink junkie. For me, they can even fuck each other to death. I have more important things to worry about.”

“Yeah… rutting Dust Devil, I guess. Stormfeather in love, that’s new to me, bro.”

“Get off me! It’s not that…” Stormfeather snapped.

“Yeah, right. You managed to sell ‘Chaser that ‘leave nopony behind’ bullshit, but you can’t shit me, brother. I saw your face when we found her in those bushes. You do love her…”

Stormfeather rolled his eyes. “If you really need to know, brother… I think I knocked her up that night in the factory. I told her many times that she shouldn’t be here, but you know how stubborn she is. We–”

His voice drowned in his brother’s guffaw. Scootaloo leaned closer and suddenly heard another voice.

“Stormfeather! Cloud Break! What are you doing here? Go and help Cloudchaser!”

Scootaloo’s heart started to beat faster. She recognised that voice. The pegasi unfurled their wings and flew away. The filly walked from behind the crates.

“Spike!” she called.

The dragon turned back and looked at her, his eyes widening. “Scootaloo?” he asked, “Scootaloo, you’re alive!” he ran to her and embraced her. It wasn’t long before she started asking him questions.

“Yes, Cadance is in Canterlot,” Spike said, “She arrived just yesterday. I was really worried of Twilight, especially since Rarity…” For a moment, he avoided Scootaloo’s gaze. “But she got better when Cadance joined us.”

“Are you really waiting for Luna to attack?”

“I don’t know what Twilight’s going to do,” he explained. “Since that attack, she barely talks about her plans. Well, she barely talks at all.”

Scootaloo cursed under her breath. “I need to get to Canterlot,” she said. “I heard that Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle are there…” She saw his expression and added, “I know that they were presumed dead, but Firefly told me that they’re with her.”

“What? Firefly is Luna’s spy. Two days ago, Royal Guards were trying to arrest her, but her place was empty. Strange, it was usually full of ponies…”

Scootaloo sighed. Once again, her friends disappeared without a trace.

“And I don’t think they could survive that fire… I’m sorry, Scootaloo.”

There was only one hope.

“How… how about Rainbow Dash? I want to see her!”

Spike gave her a long look. His frown made her shudder, as if a needle made of ice pierced through her heart.

“Scootaloo,” his voice was silent, defeated. “Rainbow Dash is dead.”

***

It wasn’t supposed to be a long walk. Three miles from the refugee camp there was an undamaged train route to Appleloosa, and even though there weren’t any steam engines available, there were ponies who’d pull the carriages to the town.

Twist was walking by Silver Spoon’s side, looking at the ground beneath her hooves. Bon Bon was trotting before them, silent, still grieving her marefriend.

Would I be like that if something happened to Silver? Twist thought. She shuddered, remembering the nightmare she had, and looked at the sky unsurely. The sun wore a deep crimson tint, but there were no trace of the bat ponies around, only armoured pegasi sent from Canterlot to protect them and make sure they’d all get on the train safely.

Before they went, Twist saw them on the ground. The commander, a violet mare with a striking, white and blue mane, and big, sad eyes. A large, white stallion, glaring at everypony angrily. Twins, one of them smirking constantly, and the other lost in his thoughts. And finally, a young red mare with green mane, who was now circling directly above their heads.

Of all the pegasi, Twist spent most time looking at her. She wasn’t much older than her; her battered armour was a bit too big. A gun was hanging from her neck dangling between her forelegs. When they were in the camp, she stared back at Twist at some point, and their eyes locked for a moment.

There was something about her, something Twist had also observed in Silver Spoon’s and Scootaloo’s eyes, and what she also felt about herself. They all grew older quickly, exposed to the horrors of war. They weren’t innocent little fillies anymore. They had all witnessed death and suffering. Twist thought about Silver Spoon, and how she had reacted when their conversation almost drifted to the soldier she’d killed. Her expression suddenly changed and for a moment Twist thought she’d kill her too.

She shuddered again. She was trying to purge that thought from her mind, but she could be the killer as well. They didn’t know what happened to that unicorn they’d left in the snow, his horn snapped in half.

They were trying to rape and kill us, she thought. They weren’t ponies, they were monsters.

She remembered that it was exactly what she’d told Silver Spoon. It didn’t really help. Maybe because Twist had a hard time believing in it too.

“Twist, wait!” she heard a voice behind her. It was raspy and tired, but she recognised it immediately.

“Thcootaloo?” she asked, turning back. Scootaloo’s wings were hanging limply by her sides, her eyes were red and swollen, and she was walking slowly, barely catching with the group.

“Thcootaloo, what happened?” Twist asked. “Aren’t you going to Canterlot?”

“Why?” Scootaloo’s voice was a barely audible whimper. “It’s all over. Rainbow Dash is dead, Firefly is missing… I’ll be better off in Appleloosa…”

“Oh, don’t thay that. I’m thure Apple Bloom and Thweetie Belle are thomewhere there…” Twist said, ignoring Silver Spoon’s grunt.

“Where? They might be already dead. Fuck, maybe they were dead all the time and Luna was tricking me!”

“Yeah, tell everypony around that you have direct connection with the public enemy number one,” Silver Spoon muttered.

“Everything’s okay, filly?” a pegasus asked, landing next to them. Twist recognised her. It was that young, red mare.

“Yeah, it’s nothing… Totally fucking nothing…” Scootaloo whispered.

“Don’t worry, everything will be all right,” said the pegasus half-heartedly. “Nice cutie mark, by the way.”

“Oh, fuck it… Since I got it, my life is even more shitty than it used to be. Shield… Yeah, that’s appropriate… Shield gets all the hits, so its owner doesn’t get any…”

Twist wanted to say something, but Scootaloo raised her hoof, silencing her. She took a breath to continue her rant, but the pegasus interrupted her.

“I’d like to have such cutie mark. Mine is… well, I don’t know exactly what it’s supposed to mean. You know that your talent is protecting your friends. Something Rainbow Dash was doing, even in the last moments of her life.”

“You know… knew Rainbow Dash?”

“Yes. And I saw her sacrificing her life for her friends…”

“Yeah, maybe my life would at least have some sense…” Scootaloo groaned. “But how can I protect them if I can’t find them?”

They were almost at the makeshift railway station, carriages waiting for the refugees.

“We can help you,” Twist said. “Canterlot ithn’t tho big after all…”

“What now?” Silver Spoon snapped. “You can’t leave me!”

“Who thaid that I’m leaving you? You can go with uth.”

Silver Spoon looked as if she was about to blow up. “Fine,” she said finally. “But now explain that to her…” she pointed at Bon Bon who was standing helplessly in front of the carriage.

“Are you going to Canterlot again?” she asked, turning to them.

“Excuse me,” said the red pegasus. “My name is Cinnamon Swirl and I recognised one of this fillies as Rainbow Dash’s relative she’s been looking for. We have orders to bring her to Canterlot. They’ll live in Princess Celestia’s palace.”

“Take her if you want, but why do you need my Twisty? I already lost one pony I loved...” Bon Bon asked, glaring at Cinnamon Swirl askew.

“Thilver ith going too and I don’t want to leave her…” said Twist, making puppy eyes. “I… I think nopony should leave their loved ones…”

It was a low blow and she knew that. But deep inside she felt that Bon Bon would manage without her. She was a strong, grown mare after all. Scootaloo, on the other hoof…

“Yeah, I just love Scoots so much that I can’t imagine my life without her…” Silver Spoon deadpanned.

Bon Bon sighed, looking at the almost full carriages, all the ponies looking back at her.

“Fine,” she said. “But don’t get yourself killed, or your mother will tear me to shreds with bare hooves.”

“Don’t worry. Thee you, Bonnie.”

“Goodbye, Twist.” Bon Bon trotted into the carriage, and the train started to move. Cinnamon Swirl took off.

“Too bad, it’s all I could do for you,” she said. “Take care, girls.”

They thanked her and turned back, heading to Canterlot.

Up in the sky, Cinnamon Swirl joined the rest of her squadron. She earned a nasty glare from Cloudchaser, but Cloud Break approached her, smirking.

“Nice job, kid,” he said. “I’ve been listening to them all the time. If Firefly wants to find them as much as they want to find her, soon we’ll have them all in the dungeon… And if it’s true that this kid talked to Luna… Well, Twilight Sparkle surely has ways to get from her what they were talking about…”

“Yeah…” Cinnamon Swirl sighed. Her head drooped; her gaze remained focused on the ground as they flew back to the base.

18. Silver Spoon

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Journeys end in lovers meeting.
William Shakespeare

“I don’t like it…” Twist said, watching a slightly glowing magenta dome surrounding Canterlot.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to die anytime soon,” Silver Spoon said, embracing her. She glared at Scootaloo – the pegasus filly didn’t notice them, lost in her thoughts. Her eyes were fixed on magical obstacle in front of them, her expression as grim as the weather – grey clouds were hanging low above the capital, possibly gathered by the pegasi as some kind of cover.

“Way to go, Scoots,” Silver Spoon muttered. “Who knows, maybe you’ll be able to pierce it with your gaze…”

Scootaloo turned to her, but said nothing. She took a quick look at Twist before turning to Silver again.

“May I talk to you in private for a moment?” she asked.

“We can talk here. Twist and I have no secrets… Nor should have you.”

Scootaloo sighed. “That’s what I want to talk about. Silver, if you’re with Twist only to piss me off, stop it.”

Silver Spoon rolled her eyes, leaning closer to Twist. “Listen, if I were with her only to piss you off, I’d be on the train to Appleloosa now. I don’t like this whole trip, but if Twisty wants to go with you, I’m with her. Even if it means going to the place that soon can be burned to the ground.”

“I didn’t ask for that,” Scootaloo replied.

“But I jutht couldn’t leave you alone,” Twist said. “That’th what friendth are for.”

“Yeah, you’re just too kind…” Scootaloo deadpanned. “Okay, let’s settle this matter: I don’t care about you two being together, but if you hurt Twist…” She stood in front of Silver Spoon, almost nose-to-nose. “…I’ll make your life miserable. Understood?”

“Understood,” Silver Spoon said.

“Good. Now, let’s go.” Scootaloo trotted up the mountain.

They were maybe half of a mile from the dome, when suddenly Silver Spoon heard flapping of the wings somewhere above them. Twist heard it too – she froze in place in the middle of the path, till Silver Spoon pulled her to Scootaloo, hidden behind a large stone. It was a rather poor cover against aerial attacks, but still, it was better than nothing.

A flight of bat ponies – six of them, armed with two 12.7 mm machine guns mounted on their battle saddles – flew above them, turning back in front of the dome. Silver Spoon heard a muffled sound of 40 mm anti-aircraft cannon shooting at them – apparently the bullets fired inside of the magic bubble could leave it, but it was impenetrable from the outside. The flight broke into three pairs, one of them flying directly at them.

Silver Spoon saw Scootaloo shifting her position, shielding Twist and her with her body. The leadpony noticed them, pointing at them to his companion.

Suddenly, they heard a burst of shots and just before Silver Spoon closed her eyes, she saw a blue tracer hitting the bat pony’s neck and leaving on the other side, with large chunks of flesh it tore from it.

Silver Spoon gritted her teeth, suddenly remembering the red puddle on the snow, a bloodied knife in her hoof and the feeling she’d had when she’d killed the soldier – a mix of disgust and twisted fascination, maybe even…

Pleasure?

“Run to the town, kids!” somepony shouted above them. Silver Spoon recognised that voice – it was that pegasus mare they’d met, Cinnamon Swirl. She opened her eyes and looked upwards. Cinnamon Swirl was floating above them, while the violet mare, distinctions on her armour indicating that she was a squadron leader, was chasing the second bat pony. The other four were flying towards them, chased viciously by the bullets from the anti-aircraft cannons.

Silver Spoon darted forward, making sure that Twist was by her side. Scootaloo was running in front of them, spreading her wings as if she wanted to fly. The barrier was only a few yards from them – they could see the guards behind it, ready to open a passage for them.

Few bullets hit the rocks inches from them, ricocheting. Somepony in Canterlot decided to bring on the heavier guns – an 88 mm shell exploded above them, throwing a wave of shrapnel around. Last thing Silver Spoon heard before they ran through the magic shield, was a shriek of a dying bat pony. She turned back to see his body, almost severed in half, hitting the ground.

She collapsed on the ground next to sobbing Twist, panting heavily. A ricocheting bullet had hit her flank, fortunately leaving only a nasty bruise. Scootaloo was the only one standing. However, she also sat, watching the battle behind the dome.

The two pegasi were now chasing the last bat pony, his companions lying on the ground in crimson puddles. Silver Spoon caught herself staring at one of them, who was still twitching violently, despite having a severed wing and a bloody mess of broken bones and torn ligaments in place where his hind leg should be. The squadron leader, flying back after an unsuccessful chase, positioned herself directly above him and fired a quick burst in his head, splashing pieces of his brain and skull around. Only then Silver Spoon turned her gaze away.

She wasn’t sure if it was because of the dome or her injury, but everything around seemed to be bathed in a red haze. She blinked several times, but it only got worse.

The guards who had opened the way for them were now talking to a violet pegasus with a blonde mane, wearing an armour, but with removed battle saddle. He looked at the three fillies and nodded. The guards approached them, levitating their guns.

“Who are you?” one of them asked.

“My name’s Scootaloo, this is Silver Spoon and this is Twist,” said Scootaloo. “We’re from Ponyville and–“

“Shouldn’t you be in Appleloosa?”

“We wanted to stay with our friends here, in Canterlot–“

“Yeah, right… We know your ‘friends’… You came here to spy, huh?” The guard levitated his gun, aiming at Scootaloo’s head.

“Hey!” Twist snapped. “They were shooting at uth!”

“So? Hell, if I wanted to put a spy in Canterlot, I’d do exactly the same – send a reconnaissance group to ‘shoot at the fillies’ and watch them infiltrate the town…”

“We’re not spies!” Scootaloo shouted, spreading her wings. “We want to meet Twilight Sparkle, she knows us.”

“Yeah… You think we’ll take you to her? After that last assassination attempt? You can talk to her in the dungeon if she’d be so kind to go there…”

Silver Spoon approached the guards, smiling a bit nervously. “I’m sure there’s a way to at least let us in the town…” she started. The guard looked at her closer.

“Maybe,” he said reluctantly and pointed at her necklace. “Are these real pearls?”

“Yes,” she said without a shade of doubt in her voice.

“Okay, here’s the deal,” the guard lowered his gun, but she suddenly felt his magical aura around her neck. “You give us the pearls and we’ve never seen you here.”

The pegasus suddenly became strangely interested in his two companions coming back from the fight.

“How about him?” Silver Spoon asked, seeing that Scootaloo was trying to bring her attention to the pegasus, poking her discreetly.

“Don’t worry, he can keep secrets too.”

Silver Spoon undid the chain of her necklace and let the guard levitate it away.

“Have a nice stay,” he said. They trotted away, stopping behind a nearby building.

“I know this guy,” said Scootaloo. “He was in the camp with his brother.”

“So?” Silver Spoon asked. Even after they walked some distance from the magic barrier, her vision was still red-tinted.

“Dunno, I just don’t like it…” Scootaloo leaned from behind the corner, to make sure if the guards weren’t following them.

“It went too eathy…” Twist muttered. She was eyeing the bruise on Silver Spoon’s flank, just below her cutie mark. It wasn’t worse from the other ones she’d acquired during their walk to Canterlot, but Twist shuddered anyway.

“What do you mean?” Silver asked. “I gave them my pearls, they let us go free. That’s how business works.”

“Yeah, but they could arrest us and steal them anyway,” Scootaloo said. “We’re spies for them after all.”

“Exactly.” Twist nodded, looking around. “They might be following uth…”

“Yeah, maybe.” Silver Spoon rolled her eyes. “And what’d they find? We’re not spies.”

Twist and Scootaloo had no answer for that, so they trotted down the street, to Princess Celestia’s palace. The town was almost devoid of life – only sometimes a pony or two would poke their heads from the nooks, only to hide behind the door of some house or shop. Most of the windows were boarded, papers and other trash were scattered on the street.

They stopped again, seeing the group of soldiers in front of some large house with anti-aircraft guns (a big cannon, surrounded by few smaller ones) placed on the roof.

“We’d better choose another way,” Scootaloo said.

They turned right, hiding in the shadow of arcades. The columns and the walls were covered in posters, mostly depicting Princess Celestia either standing proudly, calling ponies to arms, or shielding little fillies from the attacking bat ponies. There were few newer posters and Scootaloo gave out a surprised shout upon seeing them.

The poster consisted mostly of the picture of Rainbow Dash, clad in a black armour similar to those they’d seen worn by the Celestia’s pegasi. In the background there were two exploding airships above a dam. A one word, written with black capitals, was written on the top of the poster:

REMEMBER.

Scootaloo’s head drooped. Even Silver Spoon felt a jolt of pain in her heart upon seeing that. Her vision became redder.

“So, everypony knows now,” she said. “Apparently, the nation needs a hero…”

Scootaloo said nothing, but after a while she rose her head and trotted forward. Silver Spoon and Twist followed her, unsure what she was going to do. They went down the large, marble stairs and turned left, heading to the one of the main streets of Canterlot. It was blocked with abandoned carts, demolished stands and other rubbish. As they were passing through it, four pegasi flew over their heads.

“Do you think it’th another battle?” Twist asked, watching them as they flew higher, yet still staying under the dome. Their armours were blue and yellow – the Wonderbolts’ colours.

“No, they’re unarmed,” Scootaloo observed. “I think I know what’s going on…” She pointed at the crossing in front of them. It was crowded with ponies marching somewhere, most of them wearing solemn expression. Scootaloo galloped to join them.

“If you know what’s going on, could you explain that to us?” Silver Spoon asked. “Not everypony reads The Wonderbolts Magazine…”

“It’s a funeral…” said Scootaloo, tears in her eyes.

The ponies were crowded around a cart, pulled by a large, white pegasus, and one of the twins Scootaloo remembered from the refugee camp. His brother was walking behind the cart, next to a limping, dust-coloured pegasus mare, covered in bandages. Behind them walked the rest of the squadron – Cinnamon Swirl, Cloudchaser and another wounded mare, very similar to the squadron leader.

On the cart, on a layer of pine branches, lay an oaken coffin – simple but well-crafted, with silver ornaments. Twist embraced Scootaloo who wept upon seeing it. She knew that Rainbow Dash was dead, but seeing this was still a heavy blow for her. Silver Spoon fought not to burst into tears. She thought about another dead pony, who was probably buried quickly, somewhere in the forest, before Luna’s army galloped over her grave.

“Diamond Tiara…” she whispered. Her vision blurred. She remembered the coldness of a knife in her hoof. Too bad she’d left it next to the body. Now she wanted to step up and kill everypony around, till her hunger of vengeance would be satisfied. She felt Twist’s hoof touching her and blinked several times, shaking that feeling off.

Confused, she looked at the crowd and saw another pony walking next to the squadron members. A grey pegasus colt with black mane, was trotting behind Cloudchaser, hiding his face in her shadow.

On the other side of the street, surrounded by a dozen of guards, stood Twilight Sparkle. None of her friends was with her. Silver Spoon looked at her, expecting to see the princess crying, but instead noticed her determined, stiff expression. She started to wonder if she looked the same.

The Wonderbolts flew just above the crowd in a claw four formation. When they passed the cart with a coffin, one of them departed from the formation, flying into the sunset. Silver Spoon wanted to ask Scootaloo if it was another of the pegasi’s customs, but then she noticed that the orange filly wasn’t with them. She looked around and cursed under her breath.

Scootaloo was breaking through the crowd, trying to get to the cart. She was halfway through, when suddenly some hooded pony caught her, pulling her to the nearby nook.

“Twist!” Silver Spoon hissed. “Seems that we’ll have to save her flank again…”

They ran through the crowd, bumping into ponies who started to yell at them. Silver Spoon didn’t care. Her vision started to redden again; she was ready to fight, no matter who the opponent would be.

“Leave her alone, you motherfu–“ she yelled, jumping from behind the corner. She froze and then fell down when Twist bumped into her.

“Silver? Twist? What are y’all doin’ here?” Apple Bloom asked.

“I was just trying to tell you…” Scootaloo said, her forelegs wrapped around her friend’s neck. She was jumping up and down around Apple Bloom, soon joined by Twist. Silver Spoon got up, wiped her glasses and stared at them with a bitter expression.

“What happened to ya?” Apple Bloom asked. “When Firefly told us that ya’re alive, Sweetie and Ah almost went crazy…”

“It doesn’t matter, what happened to you? And where’s Sweetie? And why didn’t you go to Twilight?”

“Well, Sweetie is… how to say that… Well, y’all have to see it yerself. She can’t really show up in public, ya know.”

Scootaloo nodded.

“And about Twilight…” Apple Bloom looked around and whispered, “Ya know, it’s not the best place. We’d better go to our hideout.”

“Now?” There was a sadness in Scootaloo’s voice. She looked at Apple Bloom, then at the crowd. The cart with Rainbow Dash’s body was almost gone.

“Ya’d better go now,” said Apple Bloom. “It ain’t safe here…”

“What do you mean?”

“Ah’ll tell y’all later.” Apple Bloom trotted to the dead end, behind the trash bin. Scootaloo took a final glance at the crowd, sighed and turned her head away.

“Wait,” Silver Spoon said, when they caught up with her. “It’s a sewer!”

“Don’t worry, it’s only a cover,” Apple Bloom explained, lifting the hatch and walking down the iron ladder. Scootaloo and Twist followed her reluctantly. Silver Spoon took a deep breath and went down, wincing at the smell.

When they all were down, Apple Bloom took her cloak off, revealing that she also got a cutie mark when they were apart. It was a spanner crossed with a hammer. Scootaloo opened her mouth to ask, but Apple Bloom looked at her, silencing her.

“Now to the left…” she ordered. For some time they were walking in almost complete darkness, guided by the filly’s voice. Soon they left the sewers – the foul smell disappeared and they could feel that the walls weren’t made of bricks anymore, but rather of solid, a bit moist rock. Soon they could see something more, courtesy of the crystals in the walls, shining with a pale, inner light.

Their hoofsteps echoed through the large cave. Apple Bloom guided them through a narrow passage and stopped in front of the wall.

“So, what now?” Scootaloo asked, “It’s a dead end.”

Apple Bloom said nothing, instead taking some small crystal from the pocket of her cloak and placing it on the wall. They heard the rattling of the sprockets behind the wall and soon the rock moved to the side. Behind it, sat a brown donkey smoking a cigarette.

“Hello, devotchka,” he said to Apple Bloom. Then he looked at Scootaloo, Silver Spoon and Twist.

“Yer droogs?” he asked.

“Yes. Girls, this is Scrap Yard. He helped me to get to Canterlot. Scrap Yard, where’s Sweetie?”

“On the level two, with Wrench and bolnoy little devotchka.”

Suddenly, Apple Bloom cursed under her breath.

“Derpy’s gonna kill us…” she muttered, rushing into the cave. Scootaloo and her companions looked at the donkey dumbfounded.

“What’s going on?” Silver Spoon asked.

“Derpy had to fly with a message to Manehattan,” Scrap Yard explained, “And she left her malenky devotchka here with Apple Bloom, who doesn’t think ptitsa like Wrench is a good companion for a filly…”

“Why?” Twist asked.

“Ya’ll see…” Scrap Yard laughed.

They trotted down the corridor.

“What is this place?” Scootaloo asked, looking around. There were numerous caves there, often fully furnished, complete with doors, beds, and carpets on the floors.

“Dunno, some kind of bunker?” Silver Spoon also looked around. “I don’t like it…”

“They’re thpieth…” Twist muttered.

“Why do you think so, Twisty?”

“They thent Derpy with a methage to Manehattan. Firefly ith probably thomewhere here, preparing to let the Moon Army into the town through thothe caveth.”

Chill ran down Scootaloo’s spine. Since the meeting with the Sun Army’s soldiers she’d lost any delusions about both Luna and Celestia’s intentions, but still it all felt wrong. And Apple Bloom was apparently helping them…

Lost in their thoughts, they entered another chamber. Suddenly, they were almost deafened by a high-pitched voice.

“…and den I told ‘em to take dat pipe and shove ‘t right up–“

“Wrench, what I told ya about telling stories to Dinky?” Apple Bloom asked, piercing a skinny, pale-yellowish filly with her gaze.

Wrench rolled her eyes. “Nuffin’ ‘bout stealin’,” she recited, “Nuffin’ ‘bout war. Nuffin’ ‘bout fu–“

Apple Bloom cleared her throat. Silver Spoon’s gaze focused on a laughing filly sitting next to them.

“Oh, Dinky…” Twist exclaimed.

Dinky Hooves was sitting in a wheelchair, her hind legs hanging limply from it. Her lower body was still covered in bandages, but despite that she was laughing at the story Wrench was telling. Silver Spoon shivered, her vision becoming a bit red around the edges. Whoever did that to that filly deserved to die.

Suddenly, Silver Spoon almost chuckled. She knew exactly when it happened. The day the bombs, dropped by the two pegasi fell on them, killing Ms. Cheerilee and many of their classmates.

The day Diamond Tiara died, shielding Silver Spoon with her own body.

The most ironic thing was that they just attended the funeral of one of those pegasi. Scootaloo looked at Silver Spoon unsurely, seeing her shaking her head.

“Hello,” Dinky said to them. “How are you?”

“Fine,” Silver Spoon muttered through gritted teeth.

“I’m sorry, but could somepony explain me what’s this place and what’s going on?” Scootaloo asked.

“Dat’s da Sanctuary,” Wrench said, “A shelter for as many ponies as possible. Firefly built it, waitin’ for da battle dat’ll end Equestria as we know ‘t. And, since der’s a fuckin’ shitstorm up dere–”

“Language, Wrench…” Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “Dinky already started to pick that up from ya…”

“Because Wrench is funny!” Dinky exclaimed. “She told me a story about funny mushrooms and rats–“

“Ya know, ya’d bett’r not tell AB ‘bout it…” Wrench said quickly.

“I still don’t get it.” Scootaloo waved her hoof. “You’re, like, sitting here in those caves, waiting for the end of the world?”

“That’s the purpose, even though the end of the world is unlikely,” she heard the voice behind her back. Even though it sounded artificial, there was something familiar about it.

Scootaloo spun and suddenly froze upon seeing the filly who’d entered the room. “What the fuck?” she asked flatly, ignoring Apple Bloom’s hissing.

“It is the second most common reaction of ponies seeing me for the first time, preceded only by ‘Oh, Sweetie, what happened to you?’.” Sweetie Belle stated, her artificial eye focusing on Scootaloo. “Judging by your expression, the answer ‘Discord did it’ won’t be satisfactory.”

Scootaloo opened her mouth, only to close it a second later. Sweetie Belle approached her, pneumatic actuators in her hind legs hissing and clanking. Scootaloo noticed that she was now the only of them without a cutie mark.

“Glad to see you alive.” Her voice didn’t exactly convey emotions, yet Scootaloo couldn’t help but hug her, tears falling from her eyes. The metallic casing was surprisingly warm and Scootaloo had nothing against staying there with her forever.

“So, you’re finally here.” Yet again, the similarity between Rainbow Dash and Firefly’s voices hit Scootaloo, causing her to hug Sweetie Belle tighter, crying for all the things she’d been through.

“So, you’re Firefly, right?” Silver Spoon asked, staring at the pegasus coldly. Firefly’s expression remained calm.

“I guess you have lots of questions,” she spoke, sitting among them. Apple Bloom and Wicked Wrench sat on both sides of Dinky’s wheelchair like two guards protecting somepony important. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle sat on next to Apple Bloom, while Silver Spoon, still eyeing Firefly like an entrapped animal looks at the hunters, sat as far away from Wrench as she could, next to Twist who didn’t seem to care about her friend’s nervousness, staring at Firefly with an interested expression.

“What is this place?” Silver Spoon asked.

“It’s a part of the large system of caves beneath the Canterlot. There used to be a gems mine here, owned by my father, but now it’s my sanctuary.” Firefly’s voice changed into the more ephemeric tone she used when speaking in public.

“Sanctuary?” Silver Spoon asked. “Like, it’s some kind of sect? You’re going to gas everypony here, like these guys in Neighpon?”

Wicked Wrench looked at Silver Spoon with disdain, but Firefly was still calm.

“It’s not a sect. I created it to protect ponies when the time comes. As you can see,” she pointed at the ceiling, “The time almost came.”

“Tho, you’re not princeth Luna’th thpy?” Twist asked.

“Of course not!” Firefly exclaimed, “Though, many ponies get that impression. Even Princess Celestia herself thinks so, and that’s why we all had to move here already. You see, we maintain contact with our brothers and sisters in Manehattan, and that’s probably the cause.”

“Yeah…” Silver Spoon muttered.

“Celestia sent guards to arrest me, but I was warned by one of the ponies living in her palace and managed to move everypony here.” Firefly continued. “There’s enough place for everypony to live, we have food, water from underground river, we even have a library, thanks to our little librarian…”

Dinky’s eyes lit when she smiled. Once more Silver Spoon looked at her and thought about what she’d do to ponies who hurt her.

“How long are you going to stay here?” Scootaloo asked.

“Till the battle is over and the princesses will be gone,” Firefly stated firmly.

“What if there’ll be no battle? And why do you think they’ll be gone?”

“If they’ll still rule, we’ll leave this place anyway. We waited for so long, we can wait some more.”

“So, that’s your plan?” Scootaloo snapped, standing up. “Just wait and see what happens?”

“It’s the only right thing to do, Scootaloo. Something bad is happening in Princess Celestia’s palace.”

Sweetie Belle’s artificial eye faded slightly, her head drooped. If somepony wondered whether she had any feelings beneath her cybernetic form, they’d get rid of doubts immediately.

“Rarity disappeared,” she said, her voice sounding like something in the machinery keeping her alive was broken. “They said that she went crazy and tried to kill Twilight.”

Firefly nodded. “Rarity was often a guest in my house.” she said. “She was really happy when she found out that Sweetie is alive. It was her who told me about Celestia trying to arrest me.”

“And you, of course, had nothing to do with that?” Silver Spoon asked. “She just conveniently went nuts and tried to kill her friend, without any help?”

Sweetie Belle stood up and approached her, her both eyes, normal and cybernetic, burning with rage.

“Don’t you dare talking like that about my sister!” she shouted, aiming her horn at her.

“Chill out, Sweetie…” Apple Bloom muttered, pulling her away. Twist caught Silver Spoon, who made a move as if she wanted to tackle Sweetie.

“I’m thorry for her.” She said. “Thilver ith jutht tired, she doethn’t think clearly…”

“I know when I think clearly!” Silver Spoon snapped.

Firefly shook her head. She looked in Scootaloo’s eyes and noticed that they were filled with tears. The filly was sitting in the middle of the room, not caring about her friends’ argument.

“I guess we all could use some rest.” Firefly said finally. “Wrench, why don’t you show our new guests their rooms?”

“Sure thing!” Wrench saluted. They trotted out of the room and went through the narrow corridor with doors on the both sides. Fluorescent crystals were the only source of light, their dim light enlarging their shadows, creating an eerie atmosphere.

“So, I guess ya two’d like to live together, huh?” Wrench asked Silver Spoon and Twist when they stopped in front of one of the doors. Seeing their confused look, she smirked. “Oh, c’mon… My coltfriend is a donkey; I haveta be good’t recognizin’ feelings…”

Twist’s face was now of the same colour as her mane. Silver Spoon also felt that she was blushing. Her vision was still red-tinted. The feelings overcoming her found a new target – the skinny, pale-yellow mare covered in engine grease. If she had a knife… She looked at Twist and calmed down a bit.

“I guess we’ll live together…” she said quietly and opened the door. When Twist and her trotted inside, she slammed it a bit stronger that she should, causing the crystals’ light to flicker.

“Blimey… Where did ya get dat obnoxious ‘lil fuck?” Wrench blinked in confusion.

“Well, that obnoxious little fuck saved my life,” Scootaloo replied, ignoring Apple Bloom who made a move as if she wanted to cover Dinky’s ears.

“What she did? She beat somepony with dat stick she carries ‘round in ‘er ass?”

Scootaloo sighed. “I’d rather not talk about that. Ask Twist or Silver.”

“Well, as ya wish…”

They walked down the corridor.

***

The room was small but comfortable. They almost couldn’t notice that they were in an underground cave. There was even a shower on the opposite side of the corridor, so they jumped into an occasion to take a bath. There was hot water there, heated by geothermal energy, but Silver Spoon spent most of the time cooling herself with ice-cold shower, till the last trace of red disappeared from her vision.

Now they were back in the room, Twist lying down on a sofa, while Silver Spoon sat on the floor next to it, brushing her mane.

“Can you help me?” she asked. “I haven’t braided my mane for ages…”

“Of courthe, Thilver.” Twist sat down and separated her friend’s hair into three strands.

“Silver. Not that I’m mocking you, but…” She waved her hoof around. “With everything that’s happening we may not have time for anything…” She pointed a bruise on her flank. If a bat pony aimed a little better, she’d be dead, just like in Twist’s dreams.

“Don’t worry, Silver, everything will be all right… We’re thafe here.” Twist replied half-heartedly. She was now halfway through Silver’s mane.

“Yeah, maybe… But what’ll happen later? I’m having… dunno how to say it…”

“Dreamth?” Twist shuddered and almost released Silver Spoon’s mane from her grasp.

“Worse. Since they were shooting at us… Like something possessed me. I… I just wanted to get a knife and… and kill everypony. Guards, Firefly, even that dirty bag of bones who apparently is our nanny.”

Twist fastened Silver Spoon’s braid with a scrunchie. She decided to let her friend talk.

“I… I can only calm down when I look at you…” Silver’s voice was emotionless, but it faltered suddenly. She sat on a sofa next to Twist. “But what if it stops working? What if I hurt you?”

Twist hugged her. “Oh, Silver…” she whispered. “I know you’d… you’d never hurt me.”

“See? You’re hesitating. I’m controlling myself now… B-but what if I lose control? I already killed once… And it’s like something wanted me to do that again…”

“But you were thaving Thcootaloo’th life… And I… I could kill that other guy too…” Twist shivered, embracing Silver Spoon closer.

“Yes, but… You weren’t enjoying it. You just kicked him, right? And you regret it. I… I stabbed the guy in the back with cold blood, and I was happy to see him dying, to see the light fading in his eyes… I don’t feel guilty. Just… hungry for more…”

She freed herself from Twist’s embrace. “I’m sorry, but we can’t be together… I’m too dangerous and… honestly… I don’t deserve to be with you. I’ll go back to Canterlot and–”

“Oh, come on, Silver… You’re not going anywhere. We’ll th… survive this together.”

Silver Spoon froze when Twist hugged her again, but soon she relaxed. She sunk her face in the mass of red, curly hair, smelling of peppermint. She closed her eyes, trying to forget. There was no war, no soldiers, just the two of them, in this room, on this sofa, two fillies lost in the cruel world, but still having each other. Their lips locked. Silver Spoon looked into Twist’s eyes and saw a long unseen spark. Shining among the memories of their march to Canterlot, it was there – a glint of hope.

Silver Spoon smiled faintly. Still holding one another in tight embrace, they lay down on the sofa. Their lips parted and she saw a sheepish smile on Twist’s face. Her glasses were a little off and she was blushing heavily. The cause of it became obvious when Silver felt her hoof on the inner side of her thigh.

“Oh, you…” she laughed, leaning to kiss her again.

19. Apple Bloom

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Every class struggle is a political struggle.
Karl Marx

Even though their room was warm, Scootaloo felt the chill running down her spine. She gave Apple Bloom a shocked look. The filly had just told her about how Sweetie Belle had almost died on her hooves, and how they were rescued from the fire by Discord.

“And I thought our journey was awful…” Scootaloo said. For a moment they sat in silence, interrupted only by humming of some mechanisms inside of Sweetie Belle. Dinky was sleeping in her room, located next to Apple Bloom’s. The filly was checking on her from time to time, despite Wicked Wrench’s occasional remarks about being overprotective.

“Give ‘er a break, AB. Ya’re not ‘er mom…”

“But Derpy told me to take care of her, and she’ll kill me when she finds out that Dinky learned all these words from ya…”

“Are they constantly like that?” Scootaloo asked Sweetie Belle.

“Well, not constantly. Ruling out the time when they eat, sleep or they’re just not interacting with each other, I’d assume that they’re like that for 21.07% of the time, which makes a bit over 5 hours a day.”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. There were times where she could almost see the past Sweetie Belle beneath the metal casing. For the most of the time, however, she was… well, Scootaloo wasn’t exactly sure what she was.

Apple Bloom and Wicked Wrench stopped arguing, though they were still shooting nasty glares at one another.

“So, where was Ah?”

“Best part,” Wrench replied, “Da one where ya meet us…”

***

“I useta work in a factory in Manehattan.” Scrap Yard said. “Ya know, it was horrorshow at first, when we took over and locked dat bratchny who was our boss in da basement. But den bat ponies came and told us dat we’ll be needed on the front, repairing tanks and cannons... So I ran away when I had a chance. Ya know, I’m not good with pooshkas. When they gave me Pepeshka, I immediately broke da firing pin.”

“And what about Wrench?” Apple Bloom asked. Her new companions seemed weird at first, but they cheered up when they found out that Sweetie, despite her rather small frame, was incredibly strong. She was now helping the donkey pull the cart full of scrap metal. Wicked Wrench was walking in front of them, the rusty gun hanging from her back.

“Well, Wrench is a different story. She’s a prestoopnik.” Seeing that Apple Bloom didn’t understand, he explained. “A criminal. Ya know, I met her some time before the war, we had some in-out-in-out, but when da war started, she was in jail.”

“Oh, gimme a break…” Wrench rolled her eyes. “Dat was a fail-safe plan…”

“Yeah, right. Crastin’ bits from some old bugaty baboochka, who immediately called the millicents? Yeah, dat’s a fail-safe plan…”

“I was fucking hungry, okay? Ya at least had a job.”

“See? Too proud to beg. Or to ask for help.”

Wicked Wrench grunted. Apple Bloom said nothing. For most of her life she had everything. Hunger was never an issue, she could hardly imagine a situation when she’d have to rob somepony to survive. But seeing the pony in front of her – still a filly, only two years older than Apple Bloom – extremely skinny, with her coat permanently covered in engine grease, she couldn’t help but shudder.

“Anyway, when the whole town went bonkers, I went to jail and freed her. Nopony gave a fuck, ya know, anypony who was good with machines was needed, prestoopnik or not. Then our company went to Ponyville, but we went AWOL after maybe two days…”

“And how did you meet Firefly?” Sweetie Belle asked. Scrap Yard looked at her unsurely. He still felt a bit uncanny because of her unusual appearance.

“Well, first we met oth’r scavengers. They told us about a pony who collects scrap metal and sells it to help poor ponies, and is not connected to da revolution. Ya know, when da bat ponies appeared, I had enough of dat. Wrench, what did ya tell ‘em first?”

“Ya mean ‘dat a biggest pile of fuckin’ horseapples I ev’r heard ‘bout’?” Wicked Wrench snickered.

“Yeah, dat. So, as ya c’n see, we had a little bitva ov’r dat, but we finally joined ‘em.”

“Dey had food.” Wrench explained.

“Ya only think ‘bout pishcha…” Scrap Yard sighed. “And dat’s how me and Wrench went to Canterlot.”

“Wrench and I,” Sweetie Belle corrected. Scrap Yard shot her a nasty glare.

“So, where exactly did ya get this robotic devotchka?” he asked Apple Bloom.

“Her name is Sweetie Belle and she’s mah friend,” Apple Bloom replied.

Scrap Yard thought for a moment, looking at Sweetie Belle.

“Was she always like dat?” he asked.

“Of course not!”

“Okay, I get it. Ya’re one of those ptitsas who don’t like to govoreet about themselves.”

Suddenly, Wrench stopped.

“Shut up, ya two,” she muttered, sitting on her haunches and taking her weapon – an old submachine gun with a drum magazine. She aimed it at the bushes in front of her.

“I told ya this Pepeshka doesn’t work. The firing pin’s broken and ya’ve no ammo.”

Wrench muttered something highly offensive. She caught the gun’s barrel with her hooves, ready to use it as a mace. She slowly leaned from behind the bushes and quickly hid back.

“Five guys,” she whispered, “A sentry.”

“Sun or Moon?”

“Moon. Yer kind.”

Scrap Yard smirked and smartened himself up. His uniform was far from the perfect state, but he had a plan.

“Sweetie, hide on the cart.” he said. “Wrench, gimme the pooshka.”

Armed, he went out of the bushes. The five donkeys raised their submachine guns – the same kind as their “pooshka”, but newer and cleaner. Seeing his uniform, they lowered them.

“Privyet, droogs,” Scrap Yard said. “Can ya tell me where are our forces? They sent me to gather the parts of a shot-down airship, but we got lost…”

“Yeah, got lost,” one of the donkeys said, eyeing Wicked Wrench and Apple Bloom. “Ya decided to have a short break with the ladies?”

“Ladies?” another one asked. “That little one doesn’t even have a cutie mark yet…”

“I found ‘em nearby.” Scrap Yard replied. “They’re refugees or somethin’.”

“Refugees, huh?” The first donkey looked at Apple Bloom closer. She knew nothing about insignia, but he seemed more important than the rest. “Poor, homeless sisters?”

He stared into her eyes, as if he was awaiting reply. Apple Bloom felt that it was some kind of test.

“We’re not sisters…” she muttered, “but we’re homeless…”

“Yeah, right. Ya look too well-fed to be homeless. Who are ya, kid? A lost daughter of some noble?”

“Oh, c’mon!” Wrench exclaimed, suddenly embracing Apple Bloom and patting her forehead. “Does she look like a noble? D’ya see a horn ‘ere, Captain?”

“Sergeant.” He corrected automatically.

“Nev’r mind. We’re poor earth ponies repressed by an unjust system! Dat’s why da whole war’s ‘bout, right? To make dis fuckin’ world a bett’r place to live for fillies like ‘er.”

“See?” Scrap Yard asked. “She’s not right in the gulliver. Clearly a trauma or somethin’.”

“Yeah… I guess so…” said the Sergeant. “But ya, soldier… What happened to yer gun?”

“I had a small bitva with Sun Army’s patrol and I ran outta ammo. Then, da firing pin broke. D’ya have a spare one?”

“I guess there are some in the camp.”

“Ya have a camp somewhere here, Sergeant?”

“Yes, soldier. While ya were gathering this trash and meeting the ladies, we captured Ponyville and now we’re advancing towards Canterlot.”

Apple Bloom cursed under her breath. Wrench gave her a cautionary look.

The donkeys got up and trotted to the camp. Scrap Yard stayed in the back and whispered:

“AB, play a poor filly. Wrench, play dumb, ya’re good at it.”

“Fuck yerself with a spanner.”

“I love ya too.”

They followed the group of donkeys to the camp. It was located on a small clearing near the road – several tents, a small group of bored earth ponies, and two bat ponies, apparently officers. In the middle of it stood a tank. The engine covering was removed – one of the ponies was looking inside with a worried expression.

“Where have you been?” One of the officers asked.

“We found a lost soldier, sir.” Sergeant explained, pointing at Scrap Yard. “He’s carrying the parts of an airship we lost three days ago.”

“He could’ve brought them to Ponyville. We don’t need this junk here.” Suddenly, the bat pony saw Apple Bloom and Wicked Wrench.

“Who are they?” he asked Scrap Yard.

“Civilians, sir. I found them wandering in the forest.”

“Yeah…” The officer looked at Wrench, wincing at the engine grease she was covered with. Apple Bloom suddenly noticed a patch of missing fur on her back – a side effect of carrying a submachine gun with a large and heavy drum magazine. It was obvious that she carried a gun more often than Scrap Yard. Fortunately, the officer didn’t notice that, instead focused on the mare’s cutie mark.

“Are you good with machines, civilian?” He asked. “Our tank broke down and none of my technicians can repair it.”

“I c’n check ‘t out,” Wrench replied.

“If she screws something up, you can shoot her.” The officer said to one of the earth ponies sitting next to the tank.

“That’d be a waste, sir…” he muttered, his eyes fixed on Wrench’s flank. She noticed it.

“If ya touch me, I’ll beat yer brain outta yer thick skull…” she whispered to him.

“And how about that filly?” The bat pony officer asked, looking at Apple Bloom.

“She’s bezoomy, sir,” Scrap Yard explained.

“She’s what?”

“She’s a few sandwiches short of a picnic. Trauma after the bombing, I think.”

“You’re not for thinking here, soldier. She’s not gonna slit our throats when we’re asleep, I suppose?”

“No way, sir. She’s calm, barely govoreet… I wanted to take ‘er to the field hospital.”

Apple Bloom froze, upon hearing the words “field hospital”. The events from two days ago were still fresh in her memory. Although her wounds were healed, any thought of Scootaloo was painful for her. She stared briefly at Sweetie Belle, lying on Scrap Yard’s cart and pretending to be a piece of scrap metal.

“There are no field hospitals here yet,” the bat pony said, “but she can stay here for a while.”

Apple Bloom sighed with relief. She preferred it that way – less occasions to talk meant less occasions to lie. She felt that Applejack would be proud of her.

The officer called one of his soldiers and ordered him to walk Apple Bloom to a tent. When she crawled inside, she saw that he stayed before the door, guarding her. She wasn’t sure whether the officer didn’t trust her or his soldiers. Probably both.

She thought of Sweetie Belle, who had to stay outside. She wasn’t sure if she felt cold; probably not, given the amount of heat her life-supporting mechanisms produced. Then she thought of Scootaloo, Applejack, Big Macintosh and the rest of ponies from Ponyville. What were they doing? Was Scootaloo alive or did she die when the bombs fell on them? Apple Bloom fell asleep with her friend’s image before her eyes.

When she woke up, the interior of the tent was dark. It surprised her – since the war started she got so used to the orange tint of permanent twilight, that she simply couldn’t imagine the celestial bodies move again. She looked around groggily and saw Wicked Wrench, her fur soaked with water, sitting next to her.

“Ya’d rath’r not go outside.” She said. “Da rain’s an ol’ Celly’s trick, ‘t seems. Also, anoth’r bat pony flew ‘ere while ya were asleep, angry like a butch’r. Two koniks tried to shoot ‘im before goin’ AWOL.”

“Koniks? Who are they?”

“Guys from Ponyland. They oft’n serve as engineers ‘n Moon Army.”

Apple Bloom nodded.

Wrench continued, “Anyway, it’s all fuck’d up. Dat tank I tried t’ repair needs new valves and cylinders. Like, all of ‘em. Some fuck’r kept ignorin’ da timin’ belt an’ finally manure hit da fan. An’ it doesn’t matt’r anymore, it can’t move in dat rain anyway.”

Apple Bloom winced slightly. She remembered her constant bickering with Scootaloo over the pegasus filly’s swearing. Applejack had taught her to not curse, but Wrench was rather liberal with that.

She noticed Apple Bloom’s expression. “Sorry, but ya know how ‘t is… Usually I calm down when I repair somethin’, but when I see engin’s mishandled like dat…”

“It’s okay.” Apple Bloom looked at the roof of the tent. “Ah’m more worried about Sweetie… She lies there in the rain…”

“Well, I check’d on ‘er, she hid und’r dat airship engine. Ya know, ‘er white casing is quite… distinctive.”

Apple Bloom nodded. Wrench reached to the inner pocket of her green vest and took some metal part from it. She put it on the floor in front of her and grinned proudly.

“What’s that?” Apple Bloom asked.

“A new bolt for our pepeshka. Now I gotta wait for Scrap Yard to give ‘t to me an’ I can repair it. Or maybe ya wanna try?”

“Where did ya get it? And why isn’t Scrap Yard with us?”

“He needs t’ pretend to be a soldier. An’ I took ‘t from one of dem sleeping guys. He didn’t object…” She smiled sheepishly.

“What? Ya stole it?”

“Yup. Hey, don’t look at me like dat. Ya do realise dat we’ll haveta get da fuck outta here soon? It’s better not to ‘ave those guys shootin’ at us… So I also took those…”

She reached to the inner pocket on the other side of her vest and took two box magazines out of it. She then took the duct tape from one of the countless outer pockets and taped them together.

“Jungle fuckin’ style…” She giggled. “Finally, dat ol’ drum thingy made a hole in my back so deep I can feel da wind on my spine… 35 rounds each… Dat makes 70. ‘Nuff to get to Cant’lot.”

“Do ya really think they won’t let us go?”

Wrench looked at Apple Bloom as if she suddenly went crazy.

“Girl, dunno if ya noticed, but dere’s a war ‘round ‘ere. We can’t just tell ‘em dat we’re goin’ to Cant’lot, they’ll eith’r shoot us at dawn as spies, or ask us how ‘xactly we’re gonna get past da guards.”

“Ah– Ah know it’s war…” Apple Bloom replied, tears forming in her eyes. “Just before we met ya, we…”

She told Wrench how Sweetie and her were almost killed and how they were rescued by Discord. During her story the skinny filly cursed loudly several times, and when Apple Bloom got to the moment when they were surrounded by the fire, with Sweetie dying, she wrapped her hoof around her.

“I’d say it’s a bullshit, but I heard ‘bout dat Discord… And it’s da only way to ‘xplain yer friend’s appearance. Dat technology doesn’t even exist…”

“What doesn’t exist?” they heard Scrap Yard’s voice. He entered the tent and put his gun, its drum magazine discarded, on the floor.

“Sweetie Belle,” Apple Bloom replied.

“Yeah, da robotic little devotchka. She’s lookin’ after a crate of ammo I nicked when I was ‘guarding’ the camp. Pretty nice for somepony who doesn’t exist.”

“I’m afraid ‘bout her…” Wrench said. “I hope ya don’t mind dat I took a look at ‘er when we were walkin’… She’s, like, yer age?”

“Yes,” Apple Bloom replied. She shuddered. What Wrench saw that made her worry about Sweetie Belle?

“Shit. I noticed dat some parts of ‘er body, like front hooves and part of da head are organic… Dat means they can grow while da rest – hind legs, casing and whatever’s under it – can’t… If dat Discord wants ya to do somethin’ for ‘im, he’ll ask for it soon…”

“So… she’ll die?”

“Dunno. Maybe there’s some magic behind dat… But I’m not sure…”

Apple Bloom lowered her head. For a moment they were sitting in silence.

“Don’t ya have any happier topic?” Scrap Yard asked.

“D’ya have any plan how to lose our little company?” Wrench asked.

“As soon as da rain stops, they’ll continue da march to Canterlot. Their route’s next to one of da caves.”

“Caves?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Da whole und’rground system of ‘em. Firefly uses ‘em as magazines and bunk’rs in case of apocalypse.” Wrench laughed and made a circling gesture around her ear.

Apple Bloom remembered about the system of caves and old mines below the capital of Equestria. She’d first learned about them after Princess Cadance’s wedding, but didn’t pay much attention to them. The fact that they were spreading far away from the mountain Canterlot was located on, was new to her.

“Yeah, we’re gonna use ‘em to depart from da group. One of those caves is big ‘nuff to hide a cart in it,” Scrap Yard said.

Apple Bloom nodded. Wicked Wrench took the submachine gun and gave it to her.

“What d’ya want me to do with it?” the filly asked.

“I told ya I usually calm down when I repair somethin’. Think ya should try too…”

“Yeah, maybe…” Apple Bloom looked at the gun unsurely. She knew that it couldn’t fire – there were no bullets inside and it needed a new bolt – but still she had no idea what to do with it.

“’Here, ‘ave dis.” Wrench gave her a screwdriver. “Ya know, ya can strip it down usin’ an empty shell, but since I’ve tools…”

Apple Bloom took the screwdriver and began unscrewing the parts of the gun. She carefully put each of them on a blanket. Wrench was right – the work was monotonous, but soon she calmed down a bit, trying to focus on each, even the smallest of the springs. The older filly helped her in cleaning them. Together, they removed rust from the metal surfaces and greased the moving parts. Finally, she mounted a new bolt in place and pulled it backwards to check if it ran smoothly. Then she reached for the magazines.

“Bett’r not,” Wrench said. “I don’t wanna sleep with a loaded gun next to my head, ya know… These op’n bolt guns can fire when dropped…”

Apple Bloom nodded and put the gun back. Automatically, she looked at her flank. Normally, she’d be disappointed to see the lack of cutie mark, but this time she sighed with relief. While stripping the gun and putting it back together fascinated her, she didn’t want it to be her special talent.

Wrench yawned and curled into a ball.

“I think I’m gonna hit da hay too,” said Scrap Yard looking at her. Soon they were both wrapped in the sleeping bags. Wrench was snoring loudly.

Apple Bloom was fully awake. She already slept some time before Wrench woke her up. For a while she was just lying there, listening to the drops drumming against the canvas. Then she decided to go and visit Sweetie.

She got up on her hooves and quietly walked out of the tent. The first wave of rain immediately soaked her fur, cold wind freezing her to the bone. She began to regret that she didn’t take any clothes with her.

She trotted to the Scrap Yard’s cart. Her hooves were sinking in the mud, causing her to wince. She noticed that the damaged tank was also slowly sinking in a quickly softening ground.

“Wer da?” Somepony shouted at her. She heard a double click of an assault rifle set to the semi-automatic fire. She immediately held her breath, trying to be as quiet as possible.

The bat pony emerged from the darkness. It was the one she’d seen before, the commander of the camp.

“Oh, it’s you,” he said, lowering his gun. “What are you doing here, crazy filly?”

“Ah need to pee,” she replied in a tone suggesting that she was desperate.

“You should’ve done that behind your tent. You can get cold walking in the rain…”

She only shrugged.

“Oh yeah, I heard you’re a silent type. Okay, I’m not stopping you any longer.”

He pulled the fire selector upwards and went in other direction. Apple Bloom sighed with relief and went to the cart.

“Sweetie?” she asked.

It took a while before she heard her friend’s voice. It was a bit muffled as if she was buried under something heavy. “Hi, Apple Bloom. Nice to meet you. I’m currently in energy-saving mode – there’s no sun to charge my batteries.”

“Oh… Ah’ll go then. Ah don’t want ya to run outta energy…”

“No, stay with me. I’ve been only sitting here and listening to the soldiers, so I’ll manage. You know, two donkeys came here and one of them said something like ‘Luna stole our revolution’ and some nasty things about those bat ponies…”

“Luna stole their revolution? What did he mean?”

“I don’t know. The other one said that without Luna there’d be no revolution, just their guts smeared on the pavement in Detrot.” Her voice slightly faltered when she said those words. “Then the first one said that even if they win, it’ll be all the same and–“

“Okay, nevermind,” Apple Bloom interrupted her. She didn’t understand much about politics and Sweetie, though able to exactly memorize the whole conversation, couldn’t explain that to her. “Did they say something about us?”

“Well, some jokes about Scrap Yard and his two fuck toys. Do you want me to quote them?”

“No, thanks…” Apple Bloom decided not to delve into this topic.

“Anyway, they both hope they’ll be send to escort us to Ponyville… Though one of them said that this rain means that it soon can get hot in there… I think he didn’t mean the weather.”

“Yeah, Ah guess so…”

“Then the bat ponies came. You know, the commander of this group here and that new one. The one with battered armour. He’s suspicious…”

“Suspicious? What d’ya mean?”

“He said that one of those fillies Scrap Yard had brought with him looks like the dead sister of one of the Element Bearers.”

Apple Bloom didn’t swear too often. This time, however, she just had to. Especially because just as she did, she heard, for the second time that night, a click of a gun’s safety being switched to semi-auto mode.

“Just like I thought…” the bat pony muttered. “I knew I saw you before, kid… I don’t know if you realise that the photo of your class is on every propaganda paper Celestia’s pegasi drop on our soldiers… Along with the messages from their living relatives… Not wise, since some of the dead Foals of Ponyville apparently still are alive and kicking… And I didn’t forget Applejack’s name…”

Apple Bloom heard some commotion behind her, soon punctuated with Wrench’s high-pitched voice shouting insults at the soldiers.

“Don’t worry, we’re not going to kill you… Actually, I’m equally interested in you and in that peculiar filly you were talking to…”

“Let me guess: you think I’m a lost piece of military technology? So original.” Sweetie deadpanned.

“Hmm…” For a split second he aimed his rifle at her, before turning it back at Apple Bloom. “Metal casing, artificial voice, hydraulic limbs, laser eye, and ill-fated attempts at sarcasm. If that’s not a military technology, then I don’t know what it is.”

“If it was a laser eye, you’d be now a batch of Estufa de morcego…”

Apple Bloom had no idea what Estufa de morcego was, but she suspected that Discord had something to do with that. The bat pony didn’t know that either, but from what he heard about lasers, if Sweetie had one, she could fry him in a split second. Luckily for him, several donkeys came to him, carrying restrained Wicked Wrench, whose colourful slurs quickly let him forget about the lasers. “Bastard son of a rat and an umbrella” had a certain ring to it.

“Judging by your language, you’re not a kin of somepony important?” he deadpanned.

“Of course I am! I’m Celestia’s long lost daught’r! Can’t ya see dat aura of divinity radiating from my arse?”

“Certainly I can. You’re just brimming with it.”

Apple Bloom saw that the soldier who was poking Wrench with his gun was actually Scrap Yard. He noticed her gaze and blinked at her before aiming the recently cleaned submachine at the bat pony. Apple Bloom gulped. Wrench had told her that Scrap Yard couldn’t shoot well, and she was certain that she was in the line of fire.

“Zerstörer? What are you doing there?”

It was the second bat pony, the one that had talked to Apple Bloom earlier. He stepped into the circle of light.

“Since when are you in charge of my detachment?” he asked. Some donkeys lowered their guns. However, they were still holding Wrench firmly.

“Have you seen what they have on that cart?” Zerstörer asked, poking Sweetie Belle. “It just screams ‘military technology’! That’s what I’m in charge of here!”

“I’m not ‘it’ and I don’t scream!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed angrily.

“After your own engineers tried to shoot you, you’re still in charge of technology?” The bat pony commander laughed. Zerstörer glared at him angrily and aimed his gun at him.

Before he could pull the trigger, a pair of hydraulically-powered hind legs contacted with his temple. The rifle fell out of his hooves and he collapsed on the ground next to it without making a sound. Before he could get up, one of the donkeys hit him with the butt of his gun, rendering him unconscious.

Apple Bloom’s jaw dropped. It took her some time before she muttered something that sounded like “thank you” to him.

“Oh, don’t thank me…” he said. “Just because I don’t want old Zerstörer to put his hooves on this interesting machine, doesn’t mean that I don’t want to have a look at her…”

Apple Bloom froze. The soldiers looked at their commander, waiting for the orders. Wrench glared at them angrily, ready to fight them with her teeth and bare hooves if she had to.

“Unlike him, however, I’m not a foalnapper and a blackmailer. You three are free to go,” the bat pony said. “Yes, Mr. Scrap Yard, I know you’re travelling with them. Since you arrived, I’ve been watching you and trust me, you don’t look like a soldier. This skinny filly carried your gun more often than you…”

Scrap Yard cursed under his breath. One of the donkeys approached him and took his gun with ease. Sweetie Belle jumped off the cart, slithering on the mud next to unconscious Zerstörer.

“I’m afraid you didn’t ask me if I want to stay with you,” she said.

“Who cares? I could ask that tank over here the same thing…”

Sweetie Belle’s artificial eye started to glow stronger.

“Bad idea, mate…” Wrench whispered theatrically. The bat pony aimed his gun at Sweetie. She lowered her head, aiming her horn at him. For a moment they stood there, glaring at each other angrily.

Then, Sweetie’s hind legs gave up and she collapsed in the mud.

“Low battery level…” she whispered.

“No!” Apple Bloom shouted, shielding her friend with her body.

“It’s okay,” said Sweetie Belle calmly. “I’m 99% sure my casing is completely bulletproof.”

“Get out of here, filly,” the bat pony muttered, but Apple Bloom was still trying to help Sweetie get up. “Get out, now! Or I’ll shoot her!”

“My casing is–“ Sweetie paused when she saw that he was no longer aiming at her. Instead, he turned his gun to Wrench, whose smirk faded. For the first time since they’d met, Apple Bloom saw her shaking in fear of her life.

“Let it go, AB,” Sweetie whispered. “I’ll take care of myself…”

Apple Bloom sighed heavily. She didn’t want to leave her friend, but Sweetie Belle was right. She could survive being shot. Wrench couldn’t.

Apple Bloom walked away, her legs wobbly. Seeing this, the bat pony lowered his gun.

“Good,” he concluded. “You three are free to go. Of course, you’ll leave your cart, gun, and that filly here.”

Apple Bloom, barely containing tears, trotted to Wrench who gave her a reassuring hug. Scrap Yard stood next to them, silent. The soldiers now surrounded Sweetie. Apple Bloom trotted to them; she wanted to see her friend again, just one more time.

“What are you still doing here?” The bat pony shouted. “Get out!”

***

Scootaloo looked at Sweetie as if she was checking if her fellow Crusader was really there. Sweetie Belle only smiled impishly and sat next to Apple Bloom.

“Well, I guess it’s time for my part of the story…”

***

The electricity from the tank’s accumulator was something she needed much. Especially because something weird happened to the weather – the rain didn’t even stop to pour when the heavy snow replaced it. Sweetie blessed the stove in the tent – she could still feel cold underneath her casing, not to mention that it wasn’t good for the electronics, even if it was made by Discord’s magic.

Too bad, the bat pony commander, whose name was Schwert, wasn’t a host she’d want to visit. She was currently tied, sitting next to similarly restrained Zerstörer. He was still unconscious after what she did to him.

“So, filly,” Schwert said, leaning to her and watching her carefully. “Who are you and how can you help the Moon Army?”

“My name’s Sweetie Belle and I’m from Ponyville. My friends and I are looking for our cutie marks. That’s why we call ourselves The Cutie Mark Crusaders.”

“Your friends? There’s more of you?” His eyes shone as he thought about his own army of robots.

“Umm… my friends are actually more organic. Apple Bloom is one of them, there’s also Scootaloo, who’s dead but I guess she’s also looking for her cutie mark... She wouldn’t give up like that.”

“Wait… Can robots have cutie marks?” Schwert decided not to delve into the topic of Scootaloo, whoever she was. Having an army of the machines sounded more appealing to him than the army of undead fillies.

“Can’t I dream? Last night I dreamt that my cutie mark was an electric sheep.”

“Hmm…” Schwert scratched his chin. “Of course you can… Well, I assume that you’re partially organic… How did you get those, umm… unusual enhancements? And, for Luna’s sake, why did you need them?”

“I had a small accident with the safety matches. Or maybe it was bat ponies with a napalm bomb? No hard feelings, by the way.” Sweetie shifted her position. “Can you loosen these ropes a bit? You can’t imagine how stiff my organic muscles are…”

“Yeah, and you’ll buck me like you did with Zerstörer…” He poked the pony in question, who groaned. “You know, that’s why I’m asking you for these enhancements… If my soldiers were equipped with them…”

“Well, getting them is easy. Just wait till Discord passes by–”

“Discord? The chaos god?” he asked. That explained many things. For example why Sweetie was giving him a headache.

“Hmm, old, tall, looks like something a drunk taxidermist would create? Yeah, that’s your draconequus. And he’s not a god, technically he’s a spirit. Becoming a robot is easy, you just need to cut your legs off, do him a favour and hope for the best.”

He looked into the filly’s eyes, trying to find out if she was joking. Soon he regretted – staring contest with a pony whose one eye had an iris diaphragm instead of a pupil was quite unsettling.

“Can it be done without cutting off the legs?” Schwert asked.

“I don’t know. Never tried.”

Schwert groaned. He thought that he shouldn’t have released Sweetie’s friends. Even though blackmailing wasn’t his thing, it’d make interrogating the filly easier. On a second thought, he wasn’t sure if it’d work. If she was truly the creation of Discord, she’d probably still chat with him like that, even if he skinned that little Apple Bloom in front of her.

He yawned. Like all the bat ponies he was nocturnal which meant that since the beginning of the war he had to stay awake for part of the day despite the constant sunlight. Even though it was dark now, he wanted to sleep.

“We’ll talk again tomorrow…” A shadow of threat was present in his voice. He thought that if everything else failed, he’d try to torture Sweetie. She had some organic parts after all. Or maybe he’d deprive her of batteries. When he closed his eyes, he immediately started to dream about more ways of accomplishing the task.

Sweetie Belle didn’t have time to dream. In fact, she had some work to do.

She didn’t lie when she said that she didn’t have a laser in her eye. Yet, the sharp parts of her hind legs were even more than it was needed to cut the ropes. After she was done with her restraints, she stretched herself and headed to the exit.

“Not so fast, filly,” Zerstörer muttered. He just regained consciousness and he was now looking at her, completely capable of seeing her, despite the darkness around. “Either you’ll untie me, or I’m gonna shout…”

“Then you’ll never get me for yourself,” Sweetie Belle replied. “Schwert will just wake up while I’ll run away.”

“I can assure you he’s a light sleeper… Besides, this guy is a psycho! Do you know what he’ll do to you? Tomorrow you’ll beg this little life-sustaining device of yours to give up…”

“As if you were any better…” Sweetie got on her hooves and trotted to the tent’s entrance.

“Please, help me…” Zerstörer crawled to her. “You’ll never get past the guards without me…”

“Last time I checked, one of them hit you with a butt of his gun. Besides, there’s a heavy snow outside. There are no guards…”

Zerstörer cursed under his breath. His head started to ache again. But suddenly, an idea appeared in his mind.

“You won’t make it through the snow,” he said. “The cold will suck your batteries dry in no time, not to mention the grease in your limbs. Before the sun pierces through the clouds to power all those devices, you’ll be dead.”

Sweetie stopped in her tracks. She knew that any longer deactivation of the cybernetic parts could be fatal for her.

“I can help you…”

“And what’ll you want for that? I know you want to put your hooves on me just like Schwert…”

“Well, who wouldn’t? If I’d be able to understand that… unusual technology, we’d be unstoppable… Equestria… the Griffon Empire… Everything will be ours…”

“Why would I need the Griffon Empire?”

Zerstörer sighed. Never before he encountered a pony who wasn’t interested in conquering the world. But he didn’t encounter a cyborg either. He shot a panicked look at the sleeping Schwert and decided to change the tactic. “If he wakes up and doesn’t find you, I’ll be dead…” he said.

Sweetie began to process that. According to the Zeroth Law, both Zerstörer and Schwert could be a threat for the ponykind, but only if she helped them. The First Law was also in effect – she couldn’t, through inaction, allow a pony to come to harm.

She raised her hoof and effortlessly tore the ropes restraining Zerstörer. Schwert snored a little louder.

“Let’s go,” Zerstörer said.

They barely could go outside the tent. It was snowing; the strong wind was blowing, chilling Sweetie to the bone. The radiators immediately shut down, allowing the life-support system to heat the body underneath the casing and the machinery. However, some parts of her body, like her head and parts of her forelegs were still exposed.

Zerstörer tried to flap his wings only to find out that they didn’t really want to support his weight. He cursed in Pferdisch.

“We’ll have to go by hoof,” he muttered.

Luckily for them, the soldiers guarding the camp assumed that their enemies would be crazy to attack them in such a weather and hid in their tents. Sneaking out of the camp was easy. Before they disappeared between the trees, Sweetie went to their cart, now half-buried under the snow, and took a gun, wrapped in a piece of cloth, from it. Zerstörer wasn’t happy about that.

“Are you going to kill me?”

“Of course not,” she said and put the gun on her back. “It belongs to my friend.”

Zerstörer remembered the skinny yellow filly wearing a green vest. He hoped that she’d never put her hooves on that gun again. It’d thwart with his plans – something he didn’t want to allow for.

It was hard to walk through the knee-deep snow. Her artificial legs were strong, but they were also prone to low temperatures. The bat pony didn’t feel much better – he was unable to fly and his uniform was barely protecting him from cold.

For Sweetie it felt like hours before they reached the boundary of the forest. The snow got between the mechanisms of her legs, short circuiting some of the wires – the limbs were twitching occasionally. Zerstörer was lagging behind. Suddenly, Sweetie stopped, startled by a message that flashed before her eyes.

A robot may not harm a pony, or, by inaction, allow a pony to come to harm.

“What the–” she muttered. She looked around and saw Zerstörer lying on his back and panting heavily. “Oh no…” she whispered.

She ran to him as fast as she could, tripping in the snow. He was barely able to fix her gaze upon her. Underneath her casing, Sweetie shuddered, seeing how pale he was.

“Goodbye, filly…” he whispered.

“No… I can’t let you die…” Sweetie said, covering him from the snow with her body. Her life-supporting systems were producing enough warmth to keep him alive, but she was running out of energy quickly. She entered power-save mode, just to last a little longer.

***

“I still don’t know how did they find me,” Sweetie said. “The odds were–”

“Never tell me the odds,” Apple Bloom interrupted her. “We were hiding in the forest, waiting for the weather to improve. When it finally did, we found ya maybe a hundred yards from us…”

“I guess my positioning device automatically localised you and guided me to you…” Sweetie said.

“Yeah, positioning device…” Apple Bloom muttered. “Or maybe something else? Like, dunno, Celestia watching after us…”

“Yeah, right…” Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “Where was Celestia when Rainbow Dash dropped a bomb at us? Or when… when I…” she looked at her hooves and said nothing. Wrench wrapped her hoof around her.

“So, what happened to that guy?” Scootaloo asked when she calmed down a bit.

“Oh, he survived…” Wrench replied.

***

“Dat cave should be somewhere ‘ere,” said Scrap Yard, digging through the snow. Sweetie Belle and Zerstörer were lying on the cart, unconscious, guarded by Apple Bloom. Wrench had given her the submachine gun, but Apple Bloom put it on the floor of the cart – she doubted that the bat pony would wake up, and even then she didn’t want to hurt him.

She was more concerned with Sweetie Belle’s injuries… or maybe they were damages? Some screws in her hind legs were loose; there were also some stones stuck between the artificial joints. Apple Bloom looked through the scattered tools and found a spanner and a hammer. She used the hammer to remove the stones and just started to turn the screws when she heard a moan.

“Was ist los?” Zerstörer groaned. Apple Bloom looked at him unsurely, but he only tried to turn on his hooves.

“Stay calm,” she said. “Ah don’t wanna hurt ya, but…” She lifted the gun.

The bat pony nodded, so Apple Bloom continued her work, looking at him from time to time. She finished repairing Sweetie’s legs and prodded her gently, but nothing happened.

“Low battery?” Zerstörer asked.

“It seems so…” Apple Bloom muttered. She hugged Sweetie and shuddered, feeling how cold her body was. Tears welled in her eyes.

“She saved my life…” Zerstörer muttered, trying to get up and approach them. Apple Bloom aimed the gun at him. “Hey!” he exclaimed. “I’m not gonna do anything to ya…”

“I believe him.”

Apple Bloom almost dropped the gun when she heard Sweetie Belle’s voice. The unicorn slowly got up on her hooves and stretched them.

“You look different than the last time I’ve seen you…” Sweetie Belle said.

“What do you–?” Apple Bloom looked at her flank and her jaw dropped. It was now adorned with a cutie mark – a spanner crossed with a hammer.

“I found da cave,” Scrap Yard said, approaching them. “I see dat ya’re back to jeezny… Horrorshow… Firefly will see ya soon.”

***

“So, where’s he now?” Scootaloo asked, looking around as if she expected to see a bat pony in the caves.

“Firefly sent him back to his companions in Cloudsdale,” Sweetie Belle replied. “She told him to ‘wait for the right time’...”

Scootaloo sighed. “Yet another of her games… I don’t get it...”

“It’s all a part of a plan,” Sweetie Belle replied. Her head drooped. “But since we lost Rarity… Who knows what happened to her...”

“Yeah…” Scootaloo muttered. “I think I’ll go to my room… Really, all I want to do is to lie in bed…”

“Don’t worry, Scoots,” Apple Bloom said. “It’ll sure get better…”

Scootaloo only shook her head and left the room, followed by Apple Bloom. They trotted down the tunnel and saw a little filly sitting on a wheelchair next to a stack of books.

“Hi, Dinky,” Scootaloo said. “How are you?”

“Great!” Dinky replied. “But you look a bit under the weather… Maybe because we’re underground?”

Scootaloo smirked. “Well, that was a little below your usual level…” she said and looked around the dark tunnel. “Though I appreciate your attempts to lighten up the mood.”

“I simply don’t like when ponies are sad…” Dinky replied and pointed at her wheelchair. “I’d say that I can’t stand it…”

Scootaloo froze. For a moment she’d almost forgotten what had happened to Dinky and now it hit her again. Next to her, Apple Bloom made a sound that sounded like something between a chuckle and a sob.

“Oh…” Dinky looked at them unsurely. “I know, most ponies don’t find it humerus when I joke about my legs… But what can I do? Cry because of them?”

“No…” Scootaloo muttered. “It’s okay, Dinky, we just… Nevermind…”

“Okay.” Dinky reached to the stack of the books. “Do you want to borrow some?” she asked.

“Maybe I’ll take something for Silver Spoon…” Scootaloo said. “From what I know, she likes her books like she likes her fillies… plot twists, Twist’s plot…”

“Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom hissed.

Dinky ignored her. She laughed and levitated a book from the stack. Scootaloo took it and trotted down the tunnel, to Silver Spoon and Twist’s room.

She knocked at the door. She heard some strange noises from the inside before someone trotted to the door and opened it.

“Hi, Scootaloo,” Silver Spoon said, smiling nervously. “Twist and I were kinda… busy…”

“Umm… I can see…” Scootaloo muttered, backpedalling. “Umm… Silver? You do realise that you’re wearing Twist’s glasses?”

“Whoops…” Silver Spoon chuckled. “I guess we have a very similar lenses…” She retreated to the room where Twist was sleeping on the couch and lifted her glasses from the floor. Scootaloo took a look at them and noticed that they were covered in something icky. She sniffed the air and something clicked in her head. She realised what was on Silver Spoon’s glasses and felt that the contents of her stomach started to travel upwards.

“I have a book for you,” Scootaloo said quickly and placed the book on the floor next to the door. “I’ll come, umm… later. See you!” She closed the door and quickly ran away.

***

It’d been a week since Scootaloo, Twist and Silver Spoon arrived to Canterlot. Scootaloo was walking with Apple Bloom through the dark nooks of the capital – just like many pegasi, she preferred open spaces and caves were making her claustrophobic. Not to mention that she’d decided to avoid Twist and Silver Spoon.

They climbed on the top of an abandoned barricade. Many of them had been built, blocking most of the streets of Canterlot. Shining Armor’s shield rendered them unneeded, but Scootaloo thought that they’d come in handy if the Moon Army ever stormed the town.

It seemed that they were close. The whole town was surrounded by soldiers. From time to time they could hear a muffled sound of cannon and a projectile exploding on the shield. Sometimes a detachment from Canterlot would try to shoot at the attackers, either from their rifles or light cannons.

Suddenly, everything silenced. Scootaloo looked at Apple Bloom unsurely. “Do you think they’re preparing something big?” she asked.

“We’d better hide,” Apple Bloom replied. “If they’re gonna break the shield, Ah’d rather not be here…”

Scootaloo nodded and they hid behind the barricade. An unpleasant thought struck her – in case of any attack, they’d be on the first line.

“Citizens of Canterlot!” The voice almost deafened them.

“Is that…” Scootaloo looked at Apple Bloom unsurely.

“Luna,” Apple Bloom muttered. “Ah wonder what’s goin’ on…”

“I mean no harm to you,” Luna said, her voice echoing through the street. “I only want to talk to my sister.”

The town was silent. When Luna spoke again, her voice was trembling. “Celestia, please… Speak to me… Don’t make me do that…”

“Do what?” Scootaloo asked, looking for some place to hide.

Luna’s tone changed. The trembling disappeared; it was now dry and emotionless. “I’ll give you 48 hours,” she said. “Then we’ll have to attack…”

20. Cadance

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When it comes to politics today, the devils' not in the details; the devil's in the big picture, more often than not just hiding in plain sight.
Marianne Williamson

“48 hours,” Cadance said with a sigh. “We need to tell Celestia…”

“She’s heard that,” Twilight replied quickly. “I doubt there’s someone here who didn’t…”

“Then why she didn’t answer?” Cadance began to pace nervously around the throne chamber. “I have to check on her.”

“It’s not necessary.” Twilight’s voice was dull and mechanical. Cadance looked at her unsurely. “I’ve already talked with her. We’ll wait.”

Cadance furrowed her eyebrows. She looked at Twilight more carefully, trying to guess her feelings. Twilight’s expression remained unchanged. She had bags under her eyes – Cadance didn’t remember when she’d last seen her sleeping – and her fur seemed darker that last time they’d met.

Cadance closed her eyes, focusing her magic on Twilight. A picture started to slowly unveil under her eyelids…

Cold floor. A sound of a drop of water falling from the ceiling. Three seconds and another drop fell, waking Cadance up. She tried to stretch her wings, only to find out that she was tightly bound. Her hooves were numb, blood flow cut off by the ropes. Her head was throbbing with pain; she didn’t remember exactly what had happened, but she remembered well the dozens of griffons trying to seize her.

She remembered firing her horn and watching how her magic changed the stomach of one of them into a carmine cloud. She remembered her own scream when she saw that, as well as smirks of the other griffons who realised how unfamiliar with the killing she was.

They’d even remembered about putting a ring on her horn. She only hoped that they didn’t know that she didn’t have to use it to influence the others.

“Guard!” she called. “Anyone here?”

“Shut up!” she heard a raspy voice behind the massive wooden door.

“I want to talk to your leader,” she said, trying to sound as calm and noble as it was possible in her situation.

“What if he doesn’t want to talk to you?”

“He has to. It’s called ‘politics’,” Cadance explained. “You doesn’t simply invade a country just to lock its leader in some cell. You have to have some other aims…”

“Well, I don’t know much about politics,” her guard replied. “I know only war. This one was short and unsatisfactory…” A brief pause. Two drops of water later, the griffon continued, “I wonder if the same would apply to the prize…”

Cadance frowned. She heard the clicking of the lock and screeching of the wickets. She rolled on her stomach and saw a limping griffon with a large scar on his face. Some of his feathers were missing; some of them were scorched.

“Well, your army at least tried to fight…” the griffon said. “I wonder if the same applies to you…”

“You can try…” Cadance replied, focusing her gaze on him and trying to tune her voice in a way best influencing his mind. “You’ve never had a princess, haven’t you?”

The griffon smirked and approached her. “There always have to be the first time...”

A minute later, Cadance was unchained. Two minutes later, the griffon was dead.

“There always have to be the first time.”

Cadance looked at the blood on her hooves. She didn’t suspect that her spell would tear such a large gash in his body. She shuddered and threw up into the puddle of the griffon’s blood.

She barely remembered teleporting to the mountains surrounding the Crystal Empire. The first stretch of her wings. She was never a good flyer, but she had to get to Canterlot, even though she’d never taken such a long road.

There always had to be the first time.

Cadance shook her head, blinking. What was that? she thought. Seems that Twilight got better in hiding her thoughts than Luna, not to mention Celestia…

“Are you okay, Cadance?” Twilight asked. “You don’t look well…”

“I was just thinking…” Cadance said. “Maybe we should at least try to convince Celestia…”

“I’ve tried,” Twilight replied. “She won’t change her mind. And now excuse me, I have to talk with the guards…”

Cadance watched her teleporting away and sighed. She was about to leave the throne room, when she felt that somepony was watching her. She lowered her head and lit up her horn, looking for the nearest source of strong emotions. It was hard – Twilight and Pinkie Pie were quite emotional as of late, not to mention the constant droning buzz coming from the dungeon. Cadance, however, managed to localise the eavesdropper. She teleported, appearing right behind his back.

“Spying on us, Blueblood?” Cadance asked the white unicorn hiding behind the door leading to the eastern tower of the castle. She tried to read his emotion – it was easy even without her magic. Prince Blueblood’s mane was disheveled; his eyes were bloodshot and he seemed to be lankier than Cadance remembered him.

“Someone has to, your highness,” Blueblood muttered. “And before you say something about me plotting, I think you’d better look at your sister-in-law first...”

“I’ve never said that you were plotting something,” said Cadance dryly. “Though standing here while we talk certainly doesn’t improve my opinion about you.”

Prince Blueblood rolled his eyes. “Your opinion doesn’t matter, your highness,” he said. “What really matters is what the future generations will say about us. How do you think, who’ll be remembered better? Two princesses, who are only concerned with what will happen in the next 48 hours or a pony who already thinks about what’ll happen after that time?”

“What do you mean?” Cadance asked, looking at him unsurely.

“Have you wondered how Equestria will look like after this pathetic brawl?” Blueblood asked, leaning closer to her. “I dare to say that Celestia won’t matter anything anymore... If she’s still alive. Young Sparkle has been behaving weird recently...”

“She lost almost all of her friends... And have you just suggested that she committed regicide?” Cadance asked, glaring at him angrily. “And what do you mean by saying that Princess Celestia won’t matter anymore?”

Blueblood clicked his tongue. “You see, ponies definitely won’t forget who started all that. Even if Luna wins, her reign won’t be all sunshine and rainbows. I give our subjects a year before they start to fight again. And, as much as I hate to admit it, same applies to Celestia.”

“Yeah, and I think I know who’ll be the leader of the rebellion...” Cadance muttered.

Blueblood shook his head. “I’d rather avoid it. You may think differently, but I’m also deeply concerned with Equestria’s fate. Do you think griffons will waste such an occasion? Last thing we need is another rebellion. Also, I don’t need to rebel. I’m the heir to Equestria’s throne, but I’m aware of... an opinion I have among the simpleton.”

“So, what do you propose?” Cadance asked.

“Equestria needs a new princess,” Blueblood said. “Somepony who also lost their home during the war. Somepony who wasn’t involved in starting the war. Somepony strong, not like Sparkle, who, in my humble opinion, should be with Ms. Rarity in a hospital now. Somepony like you, Cadance.”

“Do you want me to take over Equestria?” Cadance asked. “That’s... That’s ridiculous!”

“It’s the only way,” Blueblood replied. “You know well, how quickly griffons attacked the Crystal Empire... And now, some of them are in Cloudsdale... Soon, it won’t be just a local conflict caused by a princess who wanted to help the poor... And then, we’ll be just another province of the Griffon Empire...”

Cadance scratched her mane. “But what can I do?” she asked. “I can’t just overthrow Celestia...”

“It’s simple...” Blueblood trotted closer to her. “Just let Sparkle play the princess. From what I’ve seen, she wants a confrontation...”

“She doesn’t,” Cadance replied, backpedalling. “She said that we’d wait.”

“Do you really think she’s telling the truth?” Blueblood shook his head. “You, the Princess of Love? You, who can read other ponies’ minds like open books? She’ll wait, of course. And then she’ll defeat Luna... or die trying.”

“That’d be insane,” Cadance said. “Twilight isn’t like that.”

“She wasn’t like that...” Blueblood sighed. “Ponies change, my dear Cadance. I lost my nephew and look at me. And Twilight? Three of her friends are dead, one is in the nuthouse and one in the hospital wing. This is a dirty, insane war... Ponies snap like twigs. Only few, like you and me, get stronger and it’s up to them to support the nation. A kingdom can’t be divided or it’ll fall. Remember that, Cadance.” He went past Cadance and walked away.

Cadance walked back to the throne room. She sighed, looking at the empty throne in the middle of it. She tried to imagine herself sitting there, but she couldn’t. For her, it’d always belonged to Celestia.

“It looks so empty, doesn’t it?”

Cadance shivered, startled and turned around. Spike stood behind her, also looking at Celestia’s throne. “Pinkie Pie feels better,” he said. “Also, I’ve seen Blueblood on my way here. What did he want?”

At first, Cadance wanted to tell him. But then, she thought that Twilight would surely hear about that. The vision she had was still playing in her head. “Oh, the usual...” she muttered. “He says that we shouldn’t listen to Luna and continue to fight.”

“Well, Twilight would agree with him,” Spike said. “She’s sending a detachment of guards somewhere.”

“What?” Cadance asked. “Where are they going? Behind the barrier?”

“I don’t think so,” Spike replied. “The one I talked to mentioned something about the caves. Also, she was looking for ones trained in using sleep spells.”

“It’s good that she doesn’t want to kill anypony...” Cadance said. “But still, she’s preparing attacks on her own? I don’t know much about strategy, but I think she should talk to Shining Armor first...”

“Maybe she did.” Spike shrugged. “I’m not sure about her. It’s like she’s hiding something...”

Since when we all agree with Blueblood? Cadance thought. “Well, the death of her friends surely hit her. The feelings I can detect...”

“What’s with them?” Spike asked.

Cadance sighed, fighting the urge to check the aura of feelings above Canterlot. Since the war had started, it was getting increasingly worse. One of her last attempts to get to Luna ended in her passing out. “It’s like a dark cloud,” she said. “Most of the ponies lost someone in the battle and even those who live are devastated.”

Spike nodded. “I still hope that there’ll be no battle...” He looked through the window, at the barrier and Luna’s forces behind it. “Maybe when the ponies see each other, they’ll just refuse to fight...”

“If it was so simple...” Cadance thought about what Tungsten Heart had told her about the battle of Ponyville. Ponies there definitely weren’t in the mood for going AWOL.

“Yeah...” Spike sighed. “I’m gonna check on Pinkie...”

“Good idea...” Cadance said. “I have to talk to the guards...”

She teleported away.

***

Sleepwalker stretched her hooves and charged her horn to check if her spell was working. The blue bolt shot into the air.

“Watch out, Sleepwalker,” The guard next to her laughed. “None of us wants to sleep through the whole action...”

“Don’t worry, Sandy,” Sleepwalker replied. ”I’d be more afraid of that thing dangling from your neck...”

Unlike Sleepwalker, Sandy was an earth pony. He looked at his dart launcher; each of the darts could paralyse a pony for an hour. “Don’t worry, it’s safe. Why are we even going to those caves? I thought our enemies are on the surface.”

“Princess Twilight is afraid that they may use the caves to get to the town. Apparently, there are some spies who live there, preparing the way for them.”

“As if we didn’t have enough problems...”

A bright flash of magic blinded them temporarily. Sandy lifted his launcher, but lowered it, seeing a pink alicorn who appeared in front of them.

“Princess Cadance!” Sleepwalker bowed. “What have we done to be blessed with a visit from you, your highness?”

Cadance searched the guard’s feeling, looking for any trace of sarcasm, but she found none. Just another thing about being a princess... Ponies talk to you like idiots, not because you want it, but because they’re used to it. This will change once I will... She paused and scolded herself. “I wanted to see my sister-in-law,” she said, not even trying to sound regal. “Do you know where she is?”

“She teleported right after the briefing, your highness, Sandy replied. “We were just going to leave.”

“I’ve heard about it,” Cadance replied. “Does my husband know about your mission?”

“He’s currently with the soldiers,” Sleepwalker muttered, looking around unsurely. “But Princess Twilight said that she told him.”

Cadance was still looking into Sleepwalker’s mind, trying to spot a lie. She didn’t find one, but still the results were interesting. The guard didn’t lie; but she didn’t believe her own words either. Cadance realised that Sleepwalker told her something she wanted to believe in.

“We have to go, your highness,” Sleepwalker muttered, avoiding eye contact. “Duty calls.”

Cadance nodded. “Take care of yourself, soldier,” she said. “We’ll need more ponies like you.”

Sleepwalker and Sandy saluted and walked away. Cadance was looking at them till they disappeared, joining the rest of their group. Or rather, Blueblood will need more of you... she thought.

21. Scootaloo

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There will be no prison which can hold our movement down.
Huey Newton

The ponies were galloping through the caves. Scootaloo, who’d just woken up, ran out of her room and saw Silver Spoon and Twist approaching her. “What’s going on?” she asked.

“We… we’re under attack!” Silver Spoon panted. Somewhere in the distance they heard shots.

“Attack? Who? The Moon Army?”

“No idea!” Twist shouted. “There’th thome gath everywhere!”

“Gas?” Scootaloo looked around. Indeed, there was some kind of vapour hanging in the corridor behind them and approaching them slowly. “We need to get out of there,” Scootaloo said. “Where’s the rest?”

“I saw Apple Bloom with Dinky…” Silver Spoon replied. They started to run down the corridor, trying to get as far from the gas as possible. “Sweetie was with Wrench…”

They heard an explosion somewhere behind them. Scootaloo cursed under her breath and hid behind the corner. Silver Spoon and Twist followed her, almost bumping into Roseluck, another of the caves’ dwellers.

“What’s going on?” Scootaloo asked her. There was another explosion, a bit closer than the last one.

“Royal Guards!” Roseluck shouted. “They’re everywhere…”

“Royal Guards? Like, Celestia’s guards?” Silver Spoon asked. “But–”

A beam of magic hit the wall near them, exploding and throwing some debris on them. They got up and started to gallop, their hoofsteps echoing through the caves.

“There’s an exit somewhere this way…” Roseluck panted. “We’ll be safe there…”

Silver Spoon saw that Scootaloo slowed down a bit and looked behind. “Don’t even think about looking for the rest!” she shouted. “They’ll only kill us all!”

To her surprise, Scootaloo nodded and caught up with them. They turned left; the corridor there was running upwards, to the surface. They only managed to run for a few yards, before Roseluck stopped suddenly.

“Guards! We have to–” A blue magic beam hit her chest. Roseluck’s voice immediately died down; she staggered and collapsed.

“No!” Scootaloo shouted, running towards her. “Please, Roseluck, don’t be dead…”

“She’th breathing…” Twist said, watching the fallen mare. “It’th not a killing thpell…”

Another beam missed Scootaloo only by a few inches. She looked forward and saw several silhouettes approaching them.

“Let’s get out of here…” Silver Spoon’s voice woke her up from the trance. They turned around and ran away, chased by the magic beams.

Scootaloo was surprised how well Twist knew the corridors after spending only a week underground. She was running few steps before them, helping them to avoid gas and groups of the guards.

“Not good… Not good…” Twist muttered, stopping suddenly.

“What’s up?” Silver Spoon asked, looking at her with care. She shuddered visibly; when Roseluck had fallen, she’d seen a faint trace of redness on the edge of her vision.

“I’m afraid we’re thurrounded… The only way leadth through that gath…”

“Crap…” Scootaloo muttered. “What are we gonna do now?”

“We can try to get through… I don’t think it’th lethal…”

“How do you know? I’d rather not become a guinea pig to find out,” Silver Spoon said.

“Have you heard any shots here? They don’t shoot at uth and the magic they uthe only knockth ponieth down. They want to take uth alive…”

“Well, thanks for the good news!” Scootaloo said with a sigh. They were now approaching the cloud of silvery gas blocking the corridor.

“Hold your breath and go fatht…”

“What if it works through the skin?” Scootaloo asked, watching the vapour unsurely. She thought that she’d heard way too much scary stories in her life. “I’d rather not become a burnt skeleton…”

“It doesn’t…” Silver Spoon said.

“How do you– Shit!” Scootaloo saw several silhouettes of guards wearing the gas masks walking to them through the cloud. They started to run again.

A beam of magic destroyed a piece of wall above them. They were near the rooms of the bunker’s inhabitants when suddenly, another beam hit Twist’s back.

“No!” Silver Spoon screamed, seeing her fillyfriend collapsing. Now, not only the edges of her vision were red; she felt as if she was watching the world through the glass tank full of strawberry juice. She rubbed her hoof, where she used to carry the Kampfmesser, hidden behind the scrunchie.

“Let’s hide…” Scootaloo whispered, dragging her to the room near them. In the distance, they heard the hoofsteps and voices of the assailants.

The room they were in was in a mess; apparently the ponies had left it in hurry, not even bothering with taking anything with them. Silver Spoon searched through the scattered items and found a large, rusty nail.

“What are you… No!” Scootaloo shouted, seeing that she was now holding it, looking at the door carefully.

“And I thought protecting other ponies was your special talent…” Silver Spoon said emotionlessly.

“But not by killing the others! How will you explain that to her?” Scootaloo asked. Through the ajar door they could see three guards with gas masks approaching unconscious Twist.

“If I don’t do that, there won’t be anypony to explain that to…” Silver Spoon stood next to the door, holding the nail firmly in her hoof. She was watching the guards carefully, noting their positions, height and location of the weak points of their armours. She smirked when she saw that each of them had a knife in a scabbard attached to the barding. One of them had also some weird-looking weapon; it looked like a revolver with an oversized magazine.

“Take her, and I’ll get the other two,” said the first guard, removing the gas mask. It was a white unicorn mare. Her eyes wore the same shade of blue as the spell that’d hit Twist. She approached the door.

“Come out, fillies,” she said calmly. It wasn’t an order, it sounded more like a request. She pushed the door open. “We are not gonna hurt you…”

“But we are!” Silver Spoon shouted at the top of her lungs. She tackled the mare, who suddenly screamed, lifting her hoof to her face.

“Sleepwalker!” The other guard called. He released Twist from his magic grasp and faced the quickly approaching grey blur.

Silver Spoon was too close to aim her properly with magic. She slid under his hoof when he tried to hit her, and stabbed him in the chest with Sleepwalker’s knife.

“Silver, stop it!” Scootaloo screamed. She watched in horror as Sleepwalker tried to get up, the nail still protruding from one of her eyes. Then she noticed that the third guard was aiming his strange weapon at Silver Spoon, who was now trying to get out from under his companion’s body. Scootaloo’s body reacted instinctively.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry...” she whispered, jumping over Sleepwalker, who muttered something incomprehensible.

The guard noticed another opponent approaching and quickly turned right, firing his weapon. It didn’t make much noise; it was more like a snap. It was a quick move, but it was enough for Silver Spoon who attacked him viciously, aiming her knife at his carotid artery.

Scootaloo didn’t feel any pain, just a pinprick in her right wing. She tried to reach Silver Spoon, who was now stabbing the guard furiously, but it seemed as if she was miles away. Scootaloo’s right wing was numb; the feeling was slowly spreading on her legs and the whole body. She tried to lift her hoof, attract Silver’s attention, but she only collapsed next to Twist, unable to move.

A feeling of panic overwhelmed her; she wasn’t claustrophobic, but, as many pegasi, she preferred open spaces. Being trapped in her own body was, however, too much for her. She wanted to scream, but she couldn’t; she could barely breathe and she felt like she was suffocating. Her vision was slowly darkening. She could only watch Silver Spoon, who wiped blood from her forehead and looked around, noticing Sleepwalker, who was trying to crawl away.

“Not so fast…” she said. Scootaloo heard her voice as if it was coming from the great distance.

“Please… Don’t do that…” Sleepwalker cried, seeing that Silver was approaching her with a knife in her hoof.

“Now you’re begging me?” Silver Spoon laughed. “You and your friends killed Diamond, but I almost forgave you that… You were trying to rape us and kill us, but I don’t mind. You know, I’m actually quite kind… But I can’t forgive you for what you did to Dinky Hooves… Maybe you saw her… She’s paralysed because of you.”

“Please! I didn’t do anything of that! I… I only came here b-because I’m specialised in sleeping spells and–”

“Oh, I guess it’s interesting…” Silver Spoon chuckled. Scootaloo desperately wanted to stop her, but she was slowly passing out. “But it also means that you attacked the only filly who kept me from killing ponies like you… And that’s why you will die…” Silver Spoon rose her hoof.

A beam of magic hit her. It wasn’t Sleepwalker’s sleeping spell, but rather a strong, golden projectile that sent her flying against the wall. She recovered and tried to get her knife, before three new guards surrounded her. Scootaloo almost started to cheer, when she felt that she was levitated by one of them. It reminded her of Hot Blood.

Silver Spoon, her glasses knocked off her nose was thrashing, but without the element of surprise, she had no chances against the new opponents. Just when she was hit with a sleeping spell, Scootaloo finally passed out.

***

Beating of a hoof against the bars echoed through the dungeon. Most of the guards had gotten used to that – all of them knew that the sole inmate of the cell at the end of the corridor was insane and it was no use in persuading her not to make any noise. Of course they tried; they’d asked her nicely at first, then one of them kicked her in the stomach. As soon as she was able to move again, she crawled to the bars and began banging against it with her hoof again.

Actually, it wasn’t the worst thing she had in store. From time to time, she was singing various songs, some of them well-known hits, some of them rather vulgar renditions of traditional music. She was probably coming up with the lyrics by herself. The guards weren’t surprised. Her cutie mark was obscured by a layer of dry mud and dirt, but they’d noticed that it was a musical note. What was a musician doing in the dungeon, they didn’t know. It was Twilight Sparkle’s order, and they learned quickly not to question them.

The guards had more problems than an insane prisoner. A recent raid at the spies’ hideout left them with many new inmates and the dungeon was slowly getting full. Now, some of them were lying on the corridor, still unconscious, while the commander was examining them.

“What the hell is that?” he shouted at the younger guard, poking one of them brutally. “I told you to get them all alive!”

“She’s alive…” the guard replied. The grey filly in front of him groaned and spat some blood on the floor.

“By now, idiot! She’s a filly, what did she do to you?”

“She killed Nursery Rhyme and Sandy… Poor Sleepwalker lost an eye... We had to stop her…” He paused seeing the commander’s gaze piercing him furiously.

“A filly!” he shouted. “A fifteen years old filly killed two experienced guards! No wonder we’re losing this war…” He took a flask from his saddlebags and poured some liquid into the filly’s mouth. She coughed but then opened one eye and looked at them unconsciously.

“You’d better hope she doesn’t kick the bucket, or I’ll feed your balls to that shitbag…” he pointed at the cell of the insane pony.

“What should we do with them?” the guard asked. “They can’t stay here and we don’t have any free cells…”

“Hmm… If I recall correctly, shitbag is alone in a rather large cell…”

***

The iron door opened for a moment. A ray of faint light entered Vinyl’s cell, almost blinding her.

She didn’t know exactly how long she’d been there. Her head was still aching when she tried to remember what had happened to her. It had to be a long time; her broken hoof had almost healed. Her throat, injured by Cloudchaser also would be better, if she hadn’t strained it by yelling and singing songs.

Her cell was rather big; unfortunately, it was also moist. There was a foot-deep puddle in the middle of the floor, filled with stinky water. There was no source of light, not even a single lamp. Vinyl was a bit happy about that – at least she couldn’t see the rats that, according to the guards she could sometimes hear talking next to her door, were as big as kittens.

“We brought you some friends, shitbag!” the guard shouted. Vinyl looked at the new inmates.

The first of them was a small, orange pegasus, who walked staggeringly. Just after she entered Vinyl’s cell, she collapsed on the ground and threw up into the puddle. Her companion, a yellow earth filly, trotted to her and began stroking her mane.

At first Vinyl thought that the third filly was dead. Her fur was covered with blood; another filly, with curly red mane, had to almost carry her inside. The only indication that she was alive was her shallow breath. She was also muttering something quietly. For Vinyl it sounded awfully similar to “what have I done…”. It reminded her of Emerald. The red-maned filly put her on the ground carefully and put a pair of glasses on her nose.

Just before the door closed, Vinyl saw another filly, who just jumped off the yellow one’s back. Well, ‘jumped’ wasn’t the best word. She slid off her back and landed clumsily on the floor, her hind legs in weird positions. Before Vinyl could look at her once more, the door closed and they were in darkness again.

“Umm… hello,” Vinyl said. “Are you okay?”

“Try to fucking guess…” she heard a weak voice from the place where she’d last seen the orange pegasus.

“Scootaloo! What did Ah tell ya about swearing when Dinky can hear ya?”

“Don’t you have other problems? I got a paralysing dart to my wing and had to watch Silver going nuts; can’t I say what I think about it?”

“And I don’t mind!” Dinky exclaimed. Wrench always says that it’s okay to say fu–”

“Dinky!”

“I’m with Thcooth on that one… They almotht killed Silver… And where’th Thweetie?”

“Ah don’t know...” The voice with a country accent was shaking. “She and Wrench ran away… Ah was hit with a spell…”

“Don’t worry, Twist, I’m not dying…” This voice seemed a bit annoyed. “Whatever that guy gave me, it helped…”

“Umm…” Vinyl muttered, “I don’t wanna interrupt you, but… You know, I didn’t have occasion to talk to other ponies for… for… What day is today?”

“24th November,” said one of the fillies, the one with lisp.

“24th… 24th… Oh shit…” Vinyl muttered.

“You too?” The voice with a country accent scolded.

“I’m sorry, young lady, but I just realized that I’ve been out for a week! Last day I remember was 13th, then I remember four meals, so I thought it was 17th today… A week… I partied too hard many times in my life, but a week?”

“I’d go to a party,” said the youngest filly. “But my mommy says that I’m too small… By the way, what’s your name?”

“Vinyl… Vinyl Scratch.” It was like a breath of fresh air. During the time she’d spent in the dungeon, she’d almost forgotten her name. All the guards were calling her ‘shitbag’.

“And my name’s Dinky Hooves,” the filly said. Her companions also decided that it was time to introduce themselves.

“Scootaloo.”

“Apple Bloom.”

“Twitht.”

“Silver Spoon.”

Vinyl nodded her head. As a musician, she had a good musical memory and could easily match the voice with the pony. Even in complete darkness, she could tell every filly apart from the others.

“Okay, so if we know each other, how did you get there?”

“I don’t exactly remember…” Twist said. “They thomehow knew where we were…”

“Not ‘somehow’...” Silver Spoon muttered and groaned with pain. “Someone had to tell them…”

“Ah… Ah’m afraid it could be Rarity…” Apple Bloom said. “Who knows what they did to her…”

“Don’t worry, Rarity’s Twilight Sparkle’s friend, right?” Vinyl tried to approach the fillies, but she wasn’t exactly sure of the position of the puddle. She’d rather not walk into it – Scootaloo’s vomit definitely wasn’t the first thing to make the water in it dirty.

“We’re not sure anymore…” Apple Bloom replied.

“To be honest, I saw Twilight Sparkle here once…” Vinyl rubbed her temples. Trying to recall any event caused a pounding headache. It got even worse, if the event she tried to recall had happened before the 13th November. “I didn’t like what I saw… She talked something about t-tortures and sensory depravation or something like that…”

“Deprivation,” Twist corrected. “That’d explain why it’th tho dark here. But they thcrewed it up – we should be floating in warm, thalty water, unable to talk to each other…”

Vinyl tried to give her a worried look, but for obvious reasons it didn’t work. “You know, girls?” she said to the rest of her fellow inmates. “Try not to die… Ever. This filly is like Twilight Sparkle – one dead friend away from torturing ponies…”

“I jutht like to read much…” Twist explained. She probably blushed and smiled sheepishly, Vinyl was almost sure of that.

“Don’t worry, some of us don’t want to die…” Scootaloo said. Her voice was a bit stronger, the last remains of the poison being washed off from her system.

“Give me a break…” Silver Spoon groaned. “When I saw Twist falling, I lost it only a bit…”

“What did you lose?” Dinky asked. “Twist? She’s here…”

“Well, that’s something even I don’t want you to hear about…” Scootaloo said. Apple Bloom gave her a nasty look, but only Vinyl saw that due to her senses sharpening after spending eleven days underground.

“It was a self-defense.” Silver Spoon said in a monotone.

“Self-defense? You’re fucked up!” Scootaloo shouted, ignoring Apple Bloom’s cautionary hissing.

“May I interrupt?” Vinyl asked. “We’re all on the same boat now and, from what I’ve heard, it’s not wise to argue in such a situation…”

“That’s what Ah’m telling ‘em since Scootaloo woke up…” Apple Bloom’s tone reminded Vinyl of Octavia. She was usually rolling her eyes while using it.

“And it doesn’t work…” Dinky chirped. “Scootaloo and Silver argue since Scootaloo caught Silver and Twist making a baby…”

“What?” Vinyl exclaimed. She bursted into a fit of laughter. “And the guards say I’m insane…”

“Yeah, I don’t know what’s that all fuss about. Everypony can make a baby, right? Wrench wanted to tell me how they’re made, but Apple Bloom–”

“Dinky, please…” Apple Bloom sighed.

“Yeah, tell her that adults are talking…” Vinyl chuckled. “Well, nevermind. I guess it’s not about babies, right?”

“I don’t know…” Twist said. “Thcootaloo didn’t want to tell me…”

“Because I think she should tell you herself…” Scootaloo’s voice was a bit stronger but still sounded angry. “Besides, as Apple Bloom constantly reminds us, Dinky is here…”

“It’s some war stuff?” Dinky asked. “Mommy always says that when I ask her where she’s going with those letters…”

“Yes,” Silver Spoon’s voice sounded empty. “It’s a war stuff… Twist… I think Scootaloo’s right… I… I shouldn’t be with you… This can happen again...”

“Oh, come on…” Twist tried to make her voice sound reassuring, but it faltered. Vinyl wasn’t sure what dark secrets those two fillies had, but she didn’t want to delve into it. “I… You thaid it yourthelf… I’m the only pony who keepth these thoughts away… Without me you… you may…”

“I may… And I did,” Silver Spoon sobbed. Her voice sounded muffled; it seemed that she and Twist were hugging.

“H-how many?” Twist’s voice was shaking.

“Two… maybe three…”

“Are they always like that?” Vinyl whispered theatrically.

“Mostly,” Dinky whispered back. It was even louder. Vinyl waited for any of her new friends to say something more, but she was greeted with silence. It seemed that Scootaloo threw up again; or maybe she was just faking it to make Twist and Silver stop crying in each other’s coats.

“Well, while you’re fixing your relationships, I’ll resume my main activity here…” she finally said and started to bang her hoof against the bars again. “Can ya help me? I need to came up with some song, but I’m all out of rhymes…”

“Why are ya doing this? Apple Bloom asked while Dinky was cheerfully offering Vinyl help.

“To fight off that sensory-whatever-thingy,” Vinyl replied. “Ya know, I want to keep my head and hooves occupied…”

“I know some methods…” Scootaloo giggled. “Since we’re in the darkness anyway…”

“Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom’s voice sounded outraged.

“What? I talked about pen spinning…”

“Well, there are no pens here, if I recall correctly,” Vinyl sighed. “About the activities Apple Bloom has in mind, I got bored of them after maybe a half of a day…”

“Too bad,” Dinky said. “If you exercised more, maybe you’d be able to bend the bars…”

“Yeah, I’m sure of that…” Vinyl deadpanned. “Then we’d only have to get out of the dungeon full of guards… Easy thing, kid.”

“Don’t worry, Silver knows how to deal with the guards…” Scootaloo muttered.

“Thcooth, thtop it! We shouldn’t argue…” Twist scolded.

“And what will happen then? Magic of friendship will save us?”

“Interesting thing you mention that…” Another voice called.

The door opened. The light on the corridor was dim, but it was still enough to hurt Vinyl’s eyes. She’d lost her sunglasses on the airship long time ago. Her red eyes were never any good when it came to being exposed to the bright light; two weeks underground only made it worse.

“How dare you talking about friendship?” the voice asked angrily. Vinyl recognised it. For years, this voice was giving Equestria hope, even in darker times. This time, however, chill ran down Vinyl’s spine when she heard it.

“Twilight!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “It’s me, Scootaloo! We were caught by the guards and–”

“Shut up!” Twilight Sparkle shouted. “Scootaloo is dead! You’re just a little impostor! Luna’s spy!”

“No, Twilight… It’s me… Your friend...” Scootaloo was at the verge of tears.

“Shut up, you little brat! How dare you talking about friendship? After you and your princess killed all my friends?” Fluttershy… Applejack… Rainbow Dash… Then Rarity joined you and almost killed Pinkie…” Twilight pushed Scootaloo away. The rest of the fillies moved away, Apple Bloom covering Dinky with her own body.

“Luna’s going to pay…” Twilight muttered. She was shooting nervous glances around, like a predator choosing a victim. It reminded Scootaloo of Silver Spoon. “And you’ll help me… Oh yes, you’ll help me… whether you like it or not…” She shifted her position and looked into their eyes. “You know, I could kill all of you on the spot… But that’d be no use. From what I’ve heard, she can talk to you… I’d do everything to know what she’s going to do… And by ‘everything’ I mean…”

Her eyes focused on Dinky.

“Yes, you’ll be a good first subject… A kid... You don’t feel pain in those legs, right? Well, after I’m done with you, you will feel pain everywhere… Unless you start to talk… Then I’ll make it quick.”

“She knows nothing!” Apple Bloom shouted. “Luna speaks only to me and Scootaloo!”

“Thank you…” Scootaloo muttered under her breath. Twilight disappeared in a flash of magenta light and appeared again in front of her.

“Is that true?” she asked. “You’re given orders from Luna? Some hints?”

Scootaloo looked into Twilight’s eyes. They were bloodshot; pupils were the size of pinpricks; one of them was a bit lazy in comparison to another.

“Yes, I do,” she said. “But I’d rather die than tell it to you… She… she’s much better than Celestia and you! She doesn’t keep fillies in prison! She doesn’t send soldiers to… to rape them! She doesn’t tortu–”

“Shut up!” Twilight shouted. She smacked Scootaloo with her hoof. It seemed that whatever was happening to her affected also her strength; Scootaloo fell to the ground and spat out one of the replacement teeth she’d been given by Minuette.

“You’re tough, Scootaloo… or whatever you’re really called. But I can assure you that you will talk… Everypony talks in the end… Even Rarity…”

“I’d rather die!” Scootaloo shouted.

“Me too!” Apple Bloom stood up and stood by Scootaloo’s side.

“Well, maybe I’ll try a different approach…” Twilight turned to Silver Spoon who was embracing Twist protectively. “I’ve heard what you did to those guards… We’re a bit similar, don’t you think? We both have friends we want to avenge...”

“I’m nothing like you!” Silver Spoon shouted. Her voice faltered when she looked into Twilight’s eyes, but she stood still.

“But I can assure you, you will be…” A wave of magenta magic embraced Silver Spoon and Twist, lifting them off the ground effortlessly. They started to thrash, trying to reach her, but they were too far. Twilight turned to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.

“Soon I’ll be back…” she said. “With the bloodied remains of one of those fillies and the other one mad after what she’ll witness… I think you know well what she does when she’s like that…”

“NO!” Scootaloo shouted. “Take me instead!”

“Why would I?” Twilight asked. “You told me yourself that you’d rather die than tell me anything… And I’ve found a different way to break you...” She giggled. “See you soon, filly…”

She left their cell and locked the door. Scootaloo ran to it, but only bounced of off it. “Fuck!” She groaned in frustration, banging her hoof against the door.

Apple Bloom didn’t say anything about that.

22. Sweetie Belle

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Robots do not hold on to life. They can't. They have nothing to hold on with - no soul, no instinct. Grass has more will to live than they do.
Karel Capek

A spark of electricity woke her up. She had gotten used to it; she could hardly imagine waking up without it. She looked around, trying to get her bearings. The programs managing the complicated machinery that was keeping her alive were starting to work; the messages were flashing before her eyes, but she only skimmed through them. It was dark around her, but she didn’t light her horn or switch into infra-red vision. She still wanted to sleep; in fact, she wanted to sleep almost all the time, but her systems had a different opinion about that.

Suddenly, something under her casing buzzed loudly. Sweetie Belle got up on her hooves and looked at the door. A new message appeared, red letters flashing in her mind. When she read it, a gasp escaped her lips.

Attention: hostile objects detected. Proceed in accordance with the Laws of Robotics.

Hostile objects? she thought. What does it mean?

Instead of a reply, she saw a map of the bunker. Several red spots were shown next to its southern entrance. There were also much more green spots scattered all over the map, including two in the room she was in. She switched to infra-red vision and saw Apple Bloom and Dinky sleeping calmly in their beds.

“Wake up!” Sweetie Belle shouted, lighting up her horn – she remembered that none of her friends could see in the darkness.

Apple Bloom opened her eyes and looked around groggily. “What’s going on?” she asked. “Those electric thingies don’t let ya sleep again?”

“It says that there are hostile objects here…” Sweetie replied. “I don’t know what does it mean, but I think we should find Firefly…”

“Hostile what?!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “We’d better stay here… What if they find us before we find Firefly? Ah can’t leave Dinky...”

They heard an explosion in the distance. Dinky woke up and looked at Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. “Fireworks?” she asked.

Apple Bloom went to her and sat on the bed next to her. “We afraid not… But don’t worry, Ah guess somepony will explain that soon…”

“I’d better lock the door…” Sweetie’s artificial eye turned blue for a moment and the lock turned with an audible click. She also doused her horn; now the only source of light was her eye.

“Do ya know where are they?” Apple Bloom asked. Sweetie Belle skimmed over the map. Since she’d last looked at it, more red spots appeared there; the green ones were slowly moving to the centre of the bunker. Some of them were surrounded by the red ones. Suddenly, Sweetie Belle saw one of the green spots moving quickly towards them.

They heard shots on the corridor – a rapid series of bursts, which Apple Bloom recognised immediately.

“It’s Wrench…” she whispered. They heard quick hoofsteps, then somepony tried to open the door to their room.

“Apple Bloom!” They heard Wrench’s voice. It was even higher than usual. “Open it for fuck’s sake!”

Sweetie Belle unlocked the door. Wrench darted inside and fell on the floor, panting heavily. Then she lifted her gun, changed the magazine and pulled the bolt backwards.

“What’s goin’ on?” Apple Bloom asked when Wrench went to the door and looked into the corridor carefully.

“Put yer hooves on dat kid’s ears, ‘cause I’m not gonna beat ‘round da bush…” Wrench panted. “Some fuckin’ guards came ‘ere and are killin’ da guys… They use magic an’ some fuckin’ gas...”

Apple Bloom gasped. She grabbed Dinky and put her on her back. “We need to get out of here…” she said. “Where should we go?”

“Not now…” Sweetie Belle replied, looking at the map. “There are two guards approaching us from the south…”

“From where?” Wrench asked, sticking her head out of the room and looking at the both sides of the corridor.

“From the right!”

“Thanks,” Wrench replied and fired a short burst in that direction. They heard somepony’s scream. Sweetie Belle felt an electric shock running through her body. A robot may not injure a pony or, through inaction, allow a pony to come to harm.

Wrench went back to them. “Dat’ll stop ‘em for a moment… How about da left side?”

“Clean… For now,” Sweetie replied.

“Let’s go,” Wrench ordered. “I’ll cover ya… Dat room is a trap…”

They run out of the room and began galloping down the corridor. Behind them, Wrench began to fire at anypony who tried to poke from behind the corner.

“Weeee!” Dinky shouted, when Apple Bloom hid behind the large rock. The corridor was narrowing there; it used to be a part of some old mine – there were even some remains of the rail on the floor.

Wrench joined them after a minute. She removed the magazine from her gun and spat on the ground.

“I’m outta ammo… But I sent two of ‘em to Tartarus, I think...” she muttered. “How’s our way, Sweetie?”

“We can go left, there’s an old exit there… But we must be quick. There’s more of them.”

“Shit… Apple Bloom, I can carry Dinky if ya want…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll manage…” Apple Bloom replied, gritting her teeth. “I carried Sweetie away from the fire…”

“Are ya sure? Ya know, I don’t look like, but I’m strong too…”

“Four guards are walking toward us!” Sweetie Belle shouted. “Let’s go!”

They ran forward. The corridor was going deeper and deeper. That exit was actually somewhere outside Canterlot, which meant that they wouldn’t have any buildings to hide in once they got out. However, it didn’t bother Sweetie much at the moment; she was more concerned with getting out of the caves.

They left the corridor and entered the large cave the Fireflies were using as a storage. Apple Bloom collapsed on the ground, panting. Dinky rolled off her back, laughing. Wrench began to search through the crates.

“Back to da drum magazine, I think…” she muttered, getting the magazine from the crate and attaching it to her gun.

“Apple Bloom, are you okay?” Sweetie asked.

“Yes…” Apple Bloom replied. “Ah can carry Dinky…”

“Honestly, you don’t look like you can…” Sweetie Belle shook her head.

“Okay, Ah can’t!” Apple Bloom shouted. She got up on her hooves shakily and wiped sweat from her forehead. “But Ah will if Ah need to… Ah won’t leave her!”

“Nopony asks you to leave her! Wrench or I can carry her…”

“But… Ah told Derpy that Ah’ll take care of her…”

“We can help ya too,” Wrench said, standing next to her. “Take my gun, I’ll take da kid…”

Apple Bloom said nothing. She took the gun – it felt heavy and uncomfortable to carry. She watched Wrench putting Dinky on her back. Even though she was skinny, she had no trouble lifting her.

“Hey, there’s somepony there…” Dinky chirped, pointing at the stack of crates. Apple Bloom lifted the gun immediately; her hooves were shaking, but she tried to look like she knew what she was doing.

“Get out of there!” she shouted.

“She’s not hostile,” Sweetie Belle said, looking at the map.

“Don’t worry, it’s only me,” said the pink pegasus, emerging from behind the crates. When Apple Bloom saw her, she immediately lowered the gun. She didn’t trust that thing in the slightest.

“Firefly!” Wrench exclaimed. “What are ya doin’ here?”

“What I can do best, I’m afraid…” Firefly replied. “Running away…”

“Well, we all do…” Wrench said. “Ya know, boss, pegasus’ manure hit da windmill, time to pack da saddlebags and start from da scratch…”

“Yes, but… It was I who brought those ponies here… And now I’m running away while they suffer… Just like I did in Cloudsdale…”

“Oh, c’mon, boss…” Wrench rolled her eyes.

“Excuse me, but I think that arguing over that while we’re still being chased wouldn’t be wise,” said Sweetie in her best robotic voice. While she could make her speech at least partially normal, she often chose to use a bit more artificial way of speaking. For some reason it was making ponies listen to what she was saying.

“She’s right,” Wrench said. “‘Sides, boss, I’m not da best pony to discuss such stuff… Let’s go.”

They trotted down the cave. Firefly moved some crates that were obscuring the passage to an old crystal mine. They entered it and looked around unsurely.

“It seems that we’re safe…” Apple Bloom said. Her voice echoed through the corridor, roughly dug in the hard rock. “Ah don’t think they know about that part…”

“I wouldn’t be so sure…” Firefly replied. “After Princess Cadance’s wedding the guards searched those caves quite well… In fact, that’s what gave me an idea to build a hideout here – a friend of mine is a guard and he told me about them…” She sat on the ground and rubbed her temples. “And now it’s a trap for all those ponies…” she whispered.

“Don’t be sad, Firefly,” Dinky said, looking at her from Wrench’s back. “Everything will be okay…”

Firefly stared back at her, but said nothing. Sweetie Belle helped her get up and they trotted up the stony path. Sweetie had to move carefully – while her artificial hind legs were good for almost every kind of terrain, she was sliding hopelessly on the rocks. Eventually she turned the map off, focusing completely on keeping the balance. Soon they reached a more even part of the caves. Some crystals were still on the walls, its faint light helping them find the way.

“D’ya think da guards really killed ‘em?” Wrench broke the silence. “B-because dat’d mean dat… dat Scrap Yard was first in line…”

“Ah don’t know… Princess Celestia wouldn’t like that…” Apple Bloom said. She snuffled, thinking of Scootaloo; shortly after they’d found each other, she disappeared again.

“I no longer know what Celestia approves of…” Firefly said with a sigh. “And Luna is no better…” She rubbed her temples again. “For the last few years I was preparing for the time when the princesses finally clash, hoping that I’d save as many ponies as I can… And when it came, I couldn’t safe any!” She banged her hoof against the ground.

“You still have us…” Dinky said. “And mommy is in Manehattan…”

“Yes, but you managed to save themselves… And you, Dinky… You’re more brave than I’ll ever be…”

“Thank you.” Dinky smiled. “But you’re brave too, Firefly. You–”

Suddenly, a magic bolt hit her. Her body immediately went limp and she rolled off Wrench’s back.

“Run!” Sweetie shouted. Her “hostile objects” alarm went off again. Wrench caught Dinky and tried to put her on her back again, when another beam of magic hit her in the chest. She collapsed next to Dinky, her eyes wide open.

“Run! Ah’ll stop ‘em!” Apple Bloom shouted, pointing the gun at the five guards running towards them. Firefly and Sweetie Belle reluctantly listened to her.

She sat on the ground, aiming the gun carefully. Her hooves were shaking, but the guards were only a couple of yards from her; it was impossible to miss.

Four of the guards run away when they saw her, trying to hide behind the rocks, but the fifth one was still galloping towards her. She could see every detail of his uniform, including the gas mask dangling from the straps. She closed her eyes and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened. The guard stopped only a yard before her, smirked and used his magic to levitate the gun out of her hooves.

“That’s how you do it,” he said, pulling the bolt backwards. “And now, say goodnight…” He released the gun from his grasp and aimed his horn at her. Before Apple Bloom could make any move, something hot hit her chest and her vision immediately faded.

***

“We must go back!” Firefly shouted. She was flying a few feet above the ground, carefully avoiding the stalactites.

“They’ll only get us too!” Sweetie replied. Part of her mind also wanted to go back and check what happened to Apple Bloom, but another part – the one that became quite vocal since she’d become a cyborg – was telling her that getting out of the caves was more important. The laws of robotics were flashing before her eyes. Of course, the first one, about not allowing a pony to come to harm, was more important than the third, about protecting herself. But above them all stood the zeroth law – and whoever wanted to catch her, could and wanted to use her to harm ponykind.

“These spells… they weren’t lethal…” Firefly gasped. “They’re gonna throw them into the dungeon! We must go back!”

“They’ll imprison us too! We’re close to the surface… When we’re free, we’ll be able to help them...”

Firefly sighed. She had to admit that Sweetie was right – a blind charge at the guards could only bring more harm. Now she needed to be careful, hide somewhere and think about the plan to get her friends out of the dungeon.

Several spells hit the walls and stalagmites behind them. Sweetie began to run faster, trying to keep up with Firefly, but her hind legs were sliding. Suddenly, she saw the light at the end of the tunnel, only two hundred yards from them.

A spell hit her, leaving a burn mark on her casing. She collapsed heavily on the ground. Firefly didn’t notice that; she remembered how fast she used to fly when she was young and she was making a good use of her wings.

Sweetie’s vision started to darken, but she was still conscious. The guards appeared in front of her.

“What do we have here…” one of them said.

She could barely see him. Part of her vision that wasn’t covered in darkness was obscured by the zeroth law.

A robot may not harm ponykind, or, by inaction, allow ponykind to come to harm.

Again, she felt a spark of electricity. It jolted her body awake; she could see everything clearly again. She got up and before any of the guards could react, she bucked one of them in the chest.

Sweetie Belle screamed at the top of her lungs. A lightning shot out of her horn, knocking down another guard. A beam of magic hit her, but she didn’t feel that, too focused on trying to reach the guards.

She heard a shot. One of the guards was levitating Wrench’s submachine gun and aiming it at her. She ran towards him and spun, trying to kick him with her hind legs. Just when she heard the sound of his jaw snapping, she felt an electric shock in her hind legs. She collapsed on the ground.

Warning: hind legs damaged.

“No!” she shouted, trying to get back on her hooves. Hydraulic cylinders in one of her legs got shot before she reached the guards and now she couldn’t stand properly.

“Demolition spell! Quick!” One of the guards shouted.

The spell sent her flying against the wall. She looked around, confused. The messages were flashing before her eyes.

Warning: Cooling damaged.

Casing integrity: 64%

Overheating: shutting the secondary systems down.

She tried to get up, but she collapsed again. She remembered the sharp pain in her legs that continued even when they were gone. She remembered the fire. Then she thought about Dinky Hooves and that Firefly was right about her: she was much more brave than any other pony she knew, including herself.

She aimed her horn at the guards. The last lightning depleted her energy, but she still could shoot another one.

“Rarity!” she screamed, hitting the closest guard with her magic, before she collapsed again. Last messages appeared in her mind.

Overheating. Shutting the systems down.

Energy low. Entering the power save mode.

***

Firefly was crying openly. Again, she managed to escape, leaving everypony that trusted her behind. Even Sweetie Belle didn’t make it. She circled Canterlot and landed on a cloud just below the magic dome protecting the capital against Luna’s forces.

“That’s just not right…” she said to herself. “Kids are dying and being tortured while I’m still alive… I left them… All of them… even her… even my baby… Again...”

Suddenly, she heard the sound of the gun cocking, somewhere above her. She slowly turned back to see two armour-clad pegasi aiming their guns at her.

“It’s you, ‘Chaser… I’d never say you’d end up in the army...” she said. Although Cloudchaser was no longer that curious filly with braces she’d remembered from her foalhood, she recognised her immediately.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Cloudchaser replied. “Interesting how life screws us all...”

“What will you do now? Take me to the dungeon so Celestia can tear my guts out? Or maybe send me to the moon? No big deal… The guards on the ground already took those kids, I shouldn’t be a problem...”

“Kids…” Cloudchaser muttered. “It’s always the kids…” She pointed at her companion. “Even her. She’s seventeen, we keep her only because there’s so few of us… Tells much about Celestia, Sparkle and the rest of the company…”

“Does it change something? She’s able to shoot me as well as you… Come on, do that. I won’t stand being locked in your dungeons… Shoot me here or make that kid do it. It’s just one more wasted childhood…”

“No one will die today, Firefly,” said Cloudchaser calmly. Her wingpony was looking unsurely at her.

“So, you’re gonna imprison me? Kill me silently later, so Celestia wouldn’t have to deal with the martyr? Fine. But I still wonder what happened to you, ‘Chaser… I would never say you’d become Celestia’s–”

“I said no one will die today, Firefly…” Cloudchaser said with a sigh. “Do you have any hideout here?”

“Several… It doesn’t matter now, I can even tell you where they are…”

“Hide there and wait. From what I’ve heard, it won’t take much longer. I’ll take care of your kid…”

“What? You’re letting me go?”

“The fact that I work for Celestia doesn’t mean I agree with her… And certainly I don’t agree with Sparkle’s recent orders. Now, go away before I change my mind.”

Firefly took off and disappeared between the buildings below them. Cloudchaser lowered her gun and looked at her wingpony.

“Swirl…”

“Yes?”

“In case somepony asks: we encountered the second fastest pony in Equestria, who ran away to Manehattan. We had no chance, since the armours additionally slowed us down. Understood?”

“Understood.” Cinnamon Swirl nodded.

***

Reloading systems…

Evaluating damage…

Cooling damage: safe mode enabled.

Hind legs damaged.

Casing integrity: 55%

The messages were flashing before Sweetie’s eyes. The sensors in her left side were telling her that she was lying on something hard and cold. The right side was warmer; when she opened her eyes, she realised that a shaft of sunlight from a small window in the cell’s wall was falling on her solar panel, powering her systems.

She tried to get up. Her hind legs weren’t supporting her and she collapsed on the stony floor again. She gave out a small grunt of frustration and looked at her body. The casing was charred. There was a large hole in it, just below the left solar panel; she could see some wires and pipes through it, as well as her own hairless skin. She tried to get up again, with much the same results as before.

“What am I supposed to do?” she asked nopony in particular.

Hind legs damaged.

“Well, thank you!” She groaned. She wished Apple Bloom was there with her. She started to wonder what she’d do if she was in her place.

“Definitely, she wouldn’t give up…” Sweetie muttered to herself. After a few attempts, she managed to sit down and looked around her cell. It had a small window and a massive, iron door. It was clean and dry, except of something that looked like a pile of wet fabric stacked in one of the corners.

She crawled to the door and banged her foreleg against it. She waited for a few minutes, but nopony replied. Then she tried one more time.

Suddenly, she froze. Slowly, she looked to her right, at the pile of wet fabric. She couldn’t put her hoof on it, but she could swear that she heard a groan coming from it.

“Who’s there?” she asked. Her ears perked in attention.

Another moan. Something moved under the mouldy blankets.

“S-sweetie…” It was a raspy whisper, but she recognised the voice immediately. Deep underneath all the mechanisms, she felt her stomach twitch. As quick as she could, she crawled to the pile, grabbed the blanket with her teeth and pulled it.

“Rarity!” she screamed, seeing who was hidden underneath the blankets. She shuddered; the life-supporting system started to work faster, the damaged cooling started to give out warning sounds.

“Sweetie… Belle…” Rarity whispered. She tried to reach her hoof to touch her, but she couldn’t. “I’m… sorry… She… made me… tell...”

“Oh Rarity, you don’t have to be sorry!” Sweetie hugged her sister tightly. She wanted to cry, but she couldn’t. “It’s not important now…”

“I… tried…” Rarity took a few laboured breaths before continuing. “She… too strong… Not her… self…”

“Who?” Sweetie asked. “Who’s not herself? Princess Celestia?” She struggled to find the right words to describe what she was feeling seeing Rarity in such a state. “She did... that to you?”

“Celestia?” Rarity coughed. Several drops of blood stained her already dirty coat. “No… She’s… she’s… Twilight…”

“Twilight?” Sweetie asked. Her voice was quivering. She felt the mechanisms going into overdrive, but she didn’t care about that. “Does she know that you are here?”

“She… did… that. Find… Luna… she… can… stop…” Rarity coughed again. Dirty bandages around her forehead were soaked with fresh blood. “No… time… S-sweetie… I… love… you… stay… with me...”

“I love you too, sis…” Sweetie replied. She embraced Rarity, whose body was shivering and twitching uncontrollably. “I won’t leave you…”

Rarity sighed. Her body went limp in Sweetie’s hooves. Despite her mechanisms overheating, Sweetie felt cold. She went quiet, desperately listening for the faintest breath, the weakest trace of the heartbeat. It took a while before she looked into Rarity’s remaining eye, and realised that her sister was gone.

A warning message flashed before her eyes, but she ignored it. Few green sparks shot from her horn when she lifted her head. All she wanted to do was to scream.

She screamed at the top of her lungs. She felt something breaking inside of her chest; the edges of her vision filled with red letters, but soon they disappeared. Her eyes started to glow white. The delicate sensors and pieces of metal her artificial eye was consisting of ceased to exist in a split second; however, the sorry remains of the cells at the bottom of her eye socket suddenly got hit by a magical spark that caused them to divide rapidly.

A magic wave didn’t stop there; it went down from her horn, spreading on her whole body. Every device created by the chaos magic couldn’t stand a chance against it; one after one, they broke into single atoms that were thrown out of her system. Now her organism went into overdrive – scars and burn marks on her skin disappeared, and the skin soon was covered with a layer of thick, white fur. Her damaged lungs healed.

The healing wave of her magic reached the hind legs. Mangled remains of prosthetic implants got smashed into pieces. Old wounds opened, pierced by two shards of bone, quickly forming a pair of femurs. Sweetie gritted her teeth and levitated herself with magic. When the femurs were complete, other appendices popped out of them. Patellas, tibias, fibulas, cannon bones, pastern bones, tarsi, tali and coffin bones formed from them. Soon, they were covered with a layer of muscles. Sweetie screamed in pain, when the nerve endings in the stumps of her legs started to expand, connecting her new limbs with the brain. Soon they were followed by veins and arteries making its way through the flesh.

Finally, a layer of new skin grew on her hind legs. She fell on all fours, panting heavily. The magic, however, was still flowing through her veins, looking for a way to release.

Sweetie Belle looked at the solid, metal door and thick walls of her cell. She aimed her horn at them and fired a powerful magic beam, tearing a large hole in the wall effortlessly. The guards, alarmed by the noise, ran to her, but just one look into her glowing eyes was enough for them to run away.

Sweetie Belle smiled. She was basking in magic, drunk with it. She took a few steps forward and trotted down the corridor. Another wall fell under her spell.

Rarity… she thought before her mind drowned in the raw power of her magic.

23. Silver Spoon

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The healthy man does not torture others - generally it is the tortured who turn into torturers.
Carl Jung

Silver Spoon thought that all the suffering she’d endured and witnessed made her immune to pain, both physical and emotional. When she was being levitated through the dungeon and, what was worse, saw Twist being levitated next to her, she realised how much Twilight Sparkle wanted to prove her wrong.

The corridor was dark; the only source of light being the almost burned-out torches and Twilight’s magic. Silver Spoon saw Twist shuddering and sobbing. Her vision was still red – not as red as when she’d attacked the guards, but still she felt that she’d kill Twilight with her bare hooves if she had a chance. And it’d be her second kill she wouldn’t regret.

“Do you want to say something?” Twilight Sparkle asked, looking into Silver’s eyes. “You’d better hurry – I don’t think you’d be able to speak coherently once we arrive to the chamber…”

Silver Spoon only gritted her teeth and said nothing. She didn’t want to show Twilight how scared she was.

“And how about you?” Twilight asked Twist. “Well, assuming that you’re able to speak coherently in the first place… Maybe I should let you go? Take somepony else instead?”

“I won’t beg you…” Twist said in a weak but determined voice. Silver Spoon looked at her with admiration.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, filly,” Twilight replied coldly. She walked up the narrow staircase. Silver Spoon started to count the stairs, just to keep her mind occupied. Yet, she couldn’t help but think about her parents, who probably had long come to terms with the fact that she was dead. She started to wonder what they’d do if they learned that she survived only to be slaughtered by the insane princess of Equestria in some dark basement. Would they start to mourn her again? Or maybe they wouldn’t care?

In fact, Silver Spoon didn’t believe they’d ever heard about her fate. Now, when they ended up in the dungeon, she understood what had happened to Rarity, who, according to Twilight was in the asylum. She shuddered when she thought about the implications. They’d never be heard of again, just like the ponies in scary stories told around the campfire. Except that, unlike those stories, this was real.

They finally stopped in front of another large metal door. The walls there weren’t as moist as on the level their cell was. The corridor was a bit lighter and Silver Spoon thought that they were probably close to the surface. Maybe Celestia was somewhere near, not knowing what her student was doing? Or maybe there was somepony else there? Silver Spoon looked at Twilight, who was examining the locks, and an idea came to her mind.

She inhaled as much air as she could and shouted. Or rather tried to. Twilight’s magic around her darkened, choking her immediately. Then she was thrown at the wall. The impact knocked the wind out of her. She slid off of Twilight’s magical grasp and fell down a few stairs.

With a groan, she raised her head and looked around. Everything was blurry; her glasses were lying a bit below her, one of the lenses cracked. She felt blood flowing from her nose. Some of her teeth were moving.

“One more stunt like that, and I’ll throw you down the staircase,” Twilight said. Her magic engulfed Silver Spoon again and put her glasses on her nose forcingly. “You’ll need them,” Twilight said. “You don’t want to miss anything, do you?”

Twilight opened the door with her magic and levitated Twist and Silver Spoon inside. The room was brightly illuminated and it took them a while before they got used to it.

Not that it made things much better. In the middle of the room stood two metal tables with straps, surrounded by various devices. Silver Spoon, who expected saws, knives or hoofscrews, was a bit disappointed by what she saw. The devices looked inconspicuous; they were just machines in metal or plastic casings, with some tubes or sensors protruding from them. She was about to comment on that, when she saw Twist’s terrified expression. She started to wonder if her friend knew some of them.

“Please, make yourself comfortable,” Twilight said, levitating them on the tables. The straps wrapped themselves around their hooves.

“You know, your highness, it’s kinda hard to get comfortable on that cold table…” Silver Spoon replied. She laughed, but it quickly died down when Twilight looked into her eyes.

“Defiant to the end…” Twilight muttered. “Or just tries to play it cool… We’ll see…” She turned to Twist. “How about you? Still too proud to beg?”

“What would it change?” Twist asked. “You’ll kill uth anyway…”

“Wrong, my little pony.” Twilight shook her head. “I’ll give you a chance. Say one word, and I’ll let you go… But you’ll never see your sassy fillyfriend again… You’re a clever pony, I know that… I guess you’ll agree it’s a fair trade.”

Twist said nothing, looking at the machines around her. She was sweating profusely and began hyperventilating.

“Don’t believe her!” Silver Spoon shouted. Twilight disappeared in a flash of magenta light, appeared next to her and smacked her with her hoof. Silver felt blood running down her cheek.

“Did I ask you something?” Twilight grinned at her. “It seems that your little friend is too afraid of me to think straight… Too bad. So, maybe you’ll accept my offer?”

“I won’t leave her with you…” Silver Spoon muttered through the gritted teeth.

“Oh no…” Twilight cooed, shaking her head. “That was my offer to her. For you, I have a different one… Well, technically, it’s not an offer. Offer would mean that you have some possibilities to choose from.”

“Give me a break… your highness,” Silver Spoon replied. Her vision was getting dangerously red; yet she felt some kind of an inner force preventing her from losing herself in insanity. Just a minute before, she was at the verge of panic. Now, once she was carried inside, everything changed. She checked her restraints, but they were holding her firmly in place. “Just tell me your not-an-offer instead of trying to talk me to death…”

Twilight sat between her and Twist and levitated a scalpel to her. It stopped only a few inches from her hoof.

“There are two paths, leading, in fact, to the same place,” she said in a lecturing tone. “Path one: I’ll untie you and give you that scalpel… No, don’t even think about killing me… I’m giving you an opportunity to end your friend’s suffering quickly. Don’t look at me like that, I saw what you did to those guards… I know you’re good with knives… Even your cutie marks suggests that playing with cutlery is your thing…” Twilight chuckled.

“So, you want me to kill Twist? I’m sorry, your highness, but that’s fu–” She was interrupted by another teleportation and a wave of pain when the scalpel pierced her ear.

“Language, filly, language!” Twilight scolded. “I’d advise you to think about my offer, because the second path involves you watching me using my equipment on her…” She looked at Silver Spoon closer. “Or maybe you’d actually like to see that? I knew it. Do you remember Sleepwalker?”

“Who?” Silver Spoon asked. She shuddered, feeling that blood from her ear was staining her mane, dripping down her ruined braid.

“White unicorn, blonde mane, blue eyes. One eye, in fact. Rings a bell? She told me how you attacked her when she hit your little friend with a sleep spell. From her story, I deduced–” She leaned closer to Silver Spoon, their noses were now almost touching. “–that you’re just like me…”

“I’m nothing like you!” Silver Spoon shouted.

“Oh really?” Twilight asked. “Both you and me would do absolutely everything to save our friends… or to avenge them. I can see what’s going on in this little head of yours… You’re planning how to get out of there… Catch me off guard and stab me in the back like you always do…”

“Shut up! I’m not like you! And I’ll never be!” Silver Spoon’s scream echoed through the room. She closed her eyes and began muttering “I’m not like you” over and over, before another punch brought her back to consciousness. She coughed and spat some blood mixed with saliva.

“I’m afraid you’re leaving me no choice…” Twilight said. “But… Oh, I forgot…”

“Forgot about what?” Silver Spoon asked, her voice faint and shaky. She was watching Twilight as she spun around, waving her hoof at the devices surrounding her.

“Informed consent!” she shouted. “Judging by her behaviour, your friend obviously knows about those machines and what they do… But you don’t, do you?”

Silver Spoon said nothing. At first she wanted to tell Twilight that their definitions of consent weren’t exactly the same, but she didn’t want to upset her more. Meanwhile, Twilight disappeared again and appeared next to something that looked like a normal microscope, but with a monitor and a black box attached to it. A long piece of optical fibre was attached to the box.

“This one is my favourite,” Twilight explained. “It was only recently invented and it’s too expensive for anypony in Equestria to have… It’s called two-photon microscope. See this fibre? Well, we can put it anywhere, but the best thing about it is that we can put it into the brain, while the subject is alive… Who knows how many discoveries we’ll make with it? Just a small hole in the skull...” She levitated a drill and put it a few inches from Twist’s head. “You know, there’s only one problem… If the subject move too much, or if the operator’s magic falters, it can reduce a normal pony to a bumbling idiot… assuming that your friend isn’t one…”

“Don’t you dare talking about her like that!” Silver shouted. She tried to break her restraints, but they only tightened, almost cutting the blood flow in her hooves.

“Oh, don’t worry,” Twilight rolled her eyes. “She’d still be alive, after all. And some ponies like changing diapers, though I guess it doesn’t float your boat…” She levitated the drill back to its place. Twist sighed with relief, but froze again when Twilight looked at her.

“I guess you’re curious what else I have here for you…” she said.

Twist’s lips moved for a moment before she finally spoke. “I… I wanna go home…”

“Really?” Twilight smiled widely at her. “Such an intelligent little filly? I guess you’re excited to see it all…”

Twist shook her head. Twilight approached her with an annoyed expression.

“Then you don’t have to see anything!” she shouted. In one swift motion, she took off Twist’s glasses, threw them on the floor and crushed them with her hoof. Then she levitated a pair of scissors and a forceps.

“You know, I was in a lab once…” she whispered. “There was a worker there, who could remove a dead mouse’s eye and clean it without damaging it in less than five minutes. Using only the scissors and forceps, mind you. It’s important to be quick, especially when you remove the remains of the muscles from the eye – when it dries, it’s prone to damage. But if you’re not careful, you can accidentally cut off the nerve… It’s important to leave at least a piece of it, so you know how to cut the eyeball later, after you process it…”

“No!” Twist screamed, seeing the scissors hanging millimetres from her eye. Twilight’s magic forced it to open wide, holding her head in place. “Pleathe! I’ll do anything!”

“Anything?” Twilight asked. She released Twist from her magic grasp and watched her as her breath steadied. “Well, my offer still stands… with a small change.” She levitated another machine, a kind of pump with a pipe ending with a needle, and placed it next to Silver Spoon.

“What… what does it do?” Silver Spoon asked. Her throat went dry and her voice was now raspy.

“Oh, it just replaces blood in your system with formaldehyde,” Twilight replied casually. “It’s used to preserve bodies, though it can be used on a living pony, you know. Usually it’s connected to the carotid artery, but I think I’ll do that the less popular way… Twist, sweetheart, do you know how liver looks like?”

Twist nodded, too horrified to say something. When their gazes met, Silver Spoon saw tears in her eyes and her lips whispering “I’m sorry.” To her surprise, she realised that she was crying too.

Twilight didn’t notice that. “So, as you know, the liver is usually dark red. That’s because there’s always lots of blood in it,” she said, again in the same tone, resembling a teacher showing their students something really interesting. “Soon, I’ll cut your friend open and connect the pump directly to her heart, so you could see an interesting thing… When the blood in the organism is replaced with formaldehyde, the liver actually turns white…”

Silver Spoon froze. She looked at the needle in front of her and her eyes widened in fear. She thought about the ponies she’d killed. How curiously she looked into their eyes, watching as the last spark of life left them. How she observed their chests, trying to catch their final breaths. She thought about Sleepwalker and how she taunted her before attempting to kill her.

Now, she was going to die too, with Twist and Twilight Sparkle watching her liver slowly turning white; her heart beating slower and slower, not realising that the liquid it was pumping through her body was no longer transporting oxygen to the tissues, but rather drip into the cells, killing and preserving them. It wasn’t, however, the worst thing. Silver Spoon wasn’t afraid of death; in fact, since she first saw a pony dying, she came up to terms with her own mortality. She was ready to embrace death anytime.

The fact that was petrifying her was that Twilight Sparkle was right: they were both the same.

She looked at Twist who was so pale that probably only Twilight’s magic was keeping her from passing out. Silver Spoon knew that Twilight wouldn’t kill her afterwards; she’d rather let her live knowing that it was her lack of courage that’d caused Silver Spoon’s death. Maybe she’d even bring the rest of their friends there, killing them one by one and making Twist watch.

Silver Spoon shuddered, thinking that it was exactly what she’d do to some ponies, if she had a chance.

The scalpel hung above her chest. She could see the reflex of light on the blade as it lowered slowly. She tensed her muscles and gritted her teeth – she didn’t want even the quietest sound escape her lips. She looked at screaming Twist for the last time and closed her eyes.

An explosion echoed through the chamber. Silver Spoon felt dust falling upon her. Twilight released the scalpel from her magic grasp – it hit Silver Spoon’s chest, leaving a small scratch.

Something exploded again, this time a bit further from them. Silver Spoon hear some frantic hoofsteps outside of the chamber before someone knocked at the door.

“Your highness!” It was a deep male voice. “Are you here? Luna just broke Shining Armor’s shield! We’re under attack!”

Twilight cursed under her breath. “Don’t go anywhere, girls,” she said to them. “I’ll be right back.”

She teleported away from the chamber. They heard her muffled talk with the guard outside. Suddenly, the sound drowned in another explosion and they heard some ponies outside running away. Then everything went silent.

Silver Spoon sighed with relief. She tried to free herself again, but the restraints held her firmly in place. Her hooves were getting numb and her back started to ache.

She heard a loud cry. She raised her head and saw Twist, her eyes closed, thrashing against her restraints, but with no effect.

“Twist!” Silver Spoon called. Twist didn’t hear her; she was whimpering, trying to catch her breath. Silver Spoon called her again, this time a bit louder. Twist stopped thrashing and looked at her, hyperventilating. Her pupils were shrunk to pinpricks and she was avoiding eye contact with Silver Spoon, throwing nervous glances at the door.

“Twist, honey…” Silver Spoon said in the calmest and softest tone she could muster. “I’m with you… Everything will be all right…” She could hardly believe her own words. Her throat was dry and her heart was trying to break her ribs. She still felt dizzy from the beating she had received from the guards trying to capture her and Twilight’s punches.

Finally, Twist spoke. “Silver Spoon…” Her voice was a faint whisper. “I’m tho thorry… She… she almotht k-killed you b-because I–”

“Don’t worry about that,” Silver Spoon interrupted her. “It’s not your fault… Everypony would be afraid in your place.”

“I’m utheleth…” Twist hung her head down. “You… You’re not afraid of her. And I freaked out when I saw scissors…”

“Twist… The princess of Equestria just tried to bleed me out to death… I’m scared as hell. I’d be as crazy as her if I weren’t.” She paused to catch her breath. Her voice was unnaturally high-pitched and fast. “You… you’re not useless. You’re the reason I keep it together. Without you, I’d be dead long ago…”

Their eyes met. Twist’s breath was now slower and calmer. She was still shivering and her coat was drenched with sweat, but she seemed to regain her composure.

“But I’m not ath brave ath you…” she said.

“You’re far more brave… I’m only resisting because you’re here, Twist… Without you, I’d already be a hysterical mess...”

Twist looked at her unsurely. They heard an echo of a distant explosion and somepony’s slow hoofsteps on the corridor.

“She’th back…” Twist said in a high-pitched voice. Her muscles tensed, she was trying desperately not to move. Silver Spoon gulped. There was no saliva in her mouth, but she felt that she was going to throw up and she didn’t want Twilight to see this.

The hoofsteps were getting louder. They looked at the door, then at each other. Finally the steps stopped when the pony stood in front of the chamber entrance.

“Twist,” Silver Spoon said, trying to keep her voice still. The unpleasant cold feeling was spreading from her stomach, radiating on the whole body. “This may sound melodramatic, but… I want you to know that I love you. And I’ll always do.”

They heard the rattling of the key in the lock and the door was pushed open.

Silver Spoon closed her eyes, unable to look at the pony who came in.

24. Pinkie Pie

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Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.
Kurt Vonnegut

The door opened and Silver Spoon heard hoofsteps getting louder as the pony entered the chamber. She clenched her eyelids shut; after her short moment of hope, she couldn’t bring herself to look into Twilight Sparkle’s eyes again.

“Twist? Silver Spoon? What are you doing here?”

Silver Spoon felt her blood running faster through her veins. The voice didn’t belong to Twilight Sparkle.

“Pinkie Pie!” Twist exclaimed. Silver Spoon opened her eyes.

Pinkie Pie looked a bit thinner than they remembered her from Ponyville. Her mane was half-deflated and dirty. She was shooting nervous glances around, at the fillies strapped to the tables and the pieces of equipment scattered around. She put a hoof on her chest, panting heavily.

“Can you free us?” Silver Spoon asked. Her hooves were getting numb because of the restraints. Pinkie looked at her absent-mindedly and trotted to the table to loosen the straps. Then she went to Twist to do the same.

They jumped off the tables and hugged each other. Silver Spoon stopped caring about Pinkie being there; her lips locked with Twist’s when she buried her face in the mass of her red curly hair.

“What are you two doing here?” Pinkie asked, unfazed by what they were doing. “It doesn’t look like a place for little fillies...”

Twist shuddered. “It wath Twilight! She wanted to kill uth…”

“Silly filly, Twilight would never hurt anypony!” Suddenly Pinkie felt a jolt of pain in her chest. She’d felt it before and she wasn’t sure if it was some kind of new manifestation of Pinkie Sense or just a side effect of the spell that had hit her.

“Are you okay?” Twist asked, looking at her unsurely.

“Y-yes,” Pinkie replied. She rubbed her chest and grinned and them half-heartedly.

“How did you find us?” Silver Spoon asked.

“I was walking nearby, looking for Twilight,” Pinkie chirped. “I wanted to tell her that Princess Luna herself is attacking Canterlot and that we have to do something about that. Then I felt a twitch in my right hind leg, and itch in my left side, which means ‘fillies in danger’. So, I went here and found you, my little fillies in danger!”

“Well…” Silver Spoon muttered. “We’re a bit less in danger now, but we’d rather not meet Twilight… Can you help us get out of there?” Before Pinkie could reply, Twist poked Silver, her eyes widened in horror.

“We need to help our friendth!” she exclaimed. “They’re still locked in the cell…”

They heard explosion somewhere below them. Pinkie Pie’s right hind leg twitched. Then she scratched her left side.

“Fillies in danger!” she exclaimed jumping and landing next to Silver Spoon. Then she began to pace nervously. “Quick! Do you know where they are?”

“I don’t…” Silver Spoon looked at Twist unsurely.

“I… I think I remember the way…” Twist said. She furrowed her eyebrows, staring into the distance. “Thith way!” she exclaimed, running down the dark corridor.

***

“What’s going on with these explosions?” Scootaloo shouted. Their cell was shaking. They were lying on the floor, too afraid to breathe. Apple Bloom was covering Dinky with her own body.

“It seems that Luna will soon come and rescue us…” Vinyl said, her voice quivering. “Or maybe she’ll drop the whole castle on our heads…”

Another explosion, close to them, nearly deafened them. Whatever was the cause, it was approaching them. Several bricks fell from the ceiling, shattering on the floor. Vinyl looked at the wall, which suddenly started to move in the way no wall should move.

The wall exploded, burying them in debris. Scootaloo was first to get up. Ignoring the fresh set of bruises and cuts she had just acquired, she looked at the pony in front of her.

“Sweetie Belle?!” she exclaimed, her eyes wide.

Sweetie Belle screamed. Scootaloo looked into her eyes and saw that they were white, burning with pure energy. The green halo was surrounding her. Her body was twitching from time to time; she aimed her horn at the nearby wall and fired a magic beam that obliterated it.

“She can’t control it!” Vinyl exclaimed, when Sweetie Belle ran away through the hole she’d created. Apple Bloom got up and helped Dinky sit on her back.

“What will we do?” she asked. “We can’t leave her like that…”

“I… I think I know how to stop it,” Vinyl said, feeling her throat dry. “I mean, this trick’s dedicated for stopping foals who levitate frying pans, not the ones who bring down the buildings, but I think it can work…”

Another explosion followed, destroying a part of the ceiling. Vinyl cursed under her breath and ran forward, trying to avoid the falling debris. She saw a filly in front of her. Her body twitched violently. A fountain of golden and green spark erupted from her horn. She gave out an ear-piercing shriek and ran forward.

“Stop!” Vinyl shouted. It was hard for her to catch up with Sweetie Belle. Her injured leg was aching. With each step her vision was almost blacking out from pain. She gritted her teeth and ran, seeing that Sweetie Belle stopped again.

Vinyl licked her hoof. She knew exactly what she had to do – to stop the uncontrolled magic she had to make her own body act as an earthing system. All the books about unicorn foals she’d read mentioned that it could mean a small electric shock.

In this case the shock could be much bigger.

Vinyl darted forward, tackling Sweetie Belle. The filly thrashed. She was surprisingly strong, while Vinyl was sick and malnourished. Vinyl screamed and almost let her go, when Sweetie Belle kicked her injured hoof.

“Vinyl, what the fuck are you doing…” she muttered to herself. She gave out a powerful yell and placed her hoof on Sweetie’s horn.

The flash almost blinded Scootaloo and Apple Bloom when they were running to Vinyl and Sweetie. They skid to a halt, turning their heads away.

They heard a thud when something heavy hit the ground. Everything went silent. The only source of light was a hole in the ceiling.

“Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom shouted, seeing her friend lying unconscious in front of them. She ran to her and sat next to her. Dinky slid off her back and looked at her enquiringly.

“Sweetie!” Apple Bloom poked her. Sweetie groaned. She opened one eye, looked around groggily and suddenly gave out a scream.

“Are ya okay?” Apple Bloom asked. Sweetie Belle embraced her tightly, weeping in her coat.

“L-last thing I… I remember is the… the fire…” she stammered. “And then… Rarity…”

Dinky crawled to her and also hugged her.

Suddenly, Apple Bloom noticed that somepony was missing. “Scootaloo?” she asked.

“I’m here,” she heard Scootaloo’s voice behind her. There was something weird in it. Apple Bloom turned around and saw Scootaloo sitting next to Vinyl Scratch.

Vinyl’s hoof was badly burned – the fur was missing, the skin was white and cracked. She was lying in unnatural position, her legs spread in weird angles. Her coat was still smoking after the shock.

“Vinyl…” Scootaloo whispered, swallowing her tears. She put her hoof on Vinyl’s chest hesitatingly.

“Is she alive?” Apple Bloom asked. She was still holding Sweetie in her hooves.

“I’m not sure…” Scootaloo replied. “I think I can sense a heartbeat, but… I don’t know!” She banged her hoof against the ground.

Vinyl coughed and groaned. Her hooves twitched. She slowly stretched them and muttered something incomprehensible.

“Vinyl!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “Are you okay?”

Vinyl muttered something again, rubbing her burned hoof.

“I don’t understand…” Scootaloo rose her eyebrows. She lowered her ear to Vinyl, hoping to hear her.

“My arse hurts…” Vinyl whispered raspily. “Ohh… fuck me. Every… thing hurts…”

“Shit…” Scootaloo muttered. She turned back to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. “Can you help me?”

Sweetie Belle turned her tear-stained face to them and gasped. She ran to Vinyl and looked at her burned hoof. Apple Bloom lifted Dinky on her back and joined them.

“Leave… me… run…” Vinyl groaned. She rolled on her back. A violent fit of coughing shook her body.

“Never!” Scootaloo exclaimed, trying to lift her. The only result was Vinyl’s scream of pain. Scootaloo released her from her grasp.

“I… I think I can fix this…” Sweetie Belle muttered, examining Vinyl who was panting heavily, holding her injured hoof.

“Are ya sure?” Apple Bloom asked.

“We must try…” Sweetie Belle replied. “I… I don’t want anypony else to die because of me…” She closed her eyes and focused, aiming her horn at Vinyl’s injured hoof.

A green halo engulfed Vinyl’s foreleg. She moaned in pain, but soon her breath became more even. She stopped thrashing and relaxed. When halo disappeared, they saw that her burns were now covered with a layer of fresh skin.

Sweetie Belle opened her eyes. “That’s all I could do,” she said. “It’s not only her hoof, it’s also heart, lungs… Well, everything…” Her voice quivered. “I think it shouldn’t get worse, but we need to get her out of here…”

“H-how did you do that?” Scootaloo asked.

“I don’t know…” Sweetie replied. “I just… I feel more sure about my magic since… since…”

“Hey, look at that!” Dinky exclaimed, pointing at Sweetie Belle’s flank. They all looked at it to see a cutie mark: a green cross surrounded by sparks.

Scootaloo didn’t know what to say. On one hoof, they all had their cutie marks now. But on the other, she didn’t imagine it to look like that. They were supposed to get their marks while crusading together, not in that dark dungeon… Or in the snow-clad fields somewhere between Ponyville and Canterlot.

She looked at Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, but they were also lost in their thoughts. Finally, Apple Bloom broke the silence.

“We need to get her out of here,” she said, pointing at Vinyl.

“How?” Scootaloo asked. “She’s heavier than Dinky…”

“I can help you…” Sweetie Belle approached Vinyl and lit her horn, levitating her few inches above the ground. Her magic flickered and she almost let Vinyl slip out of her grasp. Scootaloo caught the DJ’s left hoof and wrapped it around her neck. Half-levitating, half-dragging her, they began to walk down the corridor, looking for the way out.

“That’s hopeless…” Apple Bloom said when they reached the stairs. “We’ll never get out…”

“Wait! I can hear something…” Scootaloo muttered. Now Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle heard that too: a faint hoofsteps and somepony’s voices.

“Here they are!” Twist exclaimed when she saw them.

“Twist! You’re alive!” Scootaloo shouted. She saw that Silver Spoon and Twist, although dirty and limping, were okay. She also noticed Pinkie Pie who trotted to Vinyl, her mane deflating slowly.

“What happened to her?” Pinkie asked, lifting Vinyl effortlessly and placing her on her back.

“It was me,” Sweetie Belle replied, her voice shaky. “My magic went a bit mad…”

“It wasn’t yer fault,” Apple Bloom said.

“That’s not important at the moment!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “We need to get outta here!”

They ran forward as fast as they could while carrying Vinyl and Dinky. Twist was running first, choosing the way through the seemingly identical, narrow corridors. The floor was shaking from time to time, moved by the explosions above them, echoing through the whole dungeon.

Finally, Twist stopped in front of the staircase.

“It’th here,” she said. “We need to go upthtairth and we’ll be free…”

“Yeah… but what will we do then?” Scootaloo asked.

“I know a safe place,” Pinkie Pie said, stopping to catch a breath. “We’ll wait here till everything ends…” She winced and put her hoof on her chest.

They ran up the stairs. When they were halfway through, Vinyl groaned and tried to say something.

“Chill out,” Silver Spoon, who was trotting next to Pinkie, said. “We’re almost there…”

Vinyl sighed loudly and shuddered.

Suddenly, the light blinded them. Scootaloo blinked and saw that it wasn’t the sunlight – it was coming from the numerous explosions somewhere in Canterlot.

“I don’t like it…” Sweetie Belle said. “Pinkie, where should we go now?”

Pinkie was already trotting through the garden. “Here!” she exclaimed. “There’s a bunker not far away from here…”

They saw a couple of pegasi flying above a small group of ponies running away. When one of the pegasi saw them, she departed from the formation and landed in front of Pinkie.

“Cloudchaser!” Pinkie exclaimed. “What’s going on?”

“It’s all fucked up,” Cloudchaser panted. Suddenly she saw a group of foals behind Pinkie and blushed. “I mean… Twilight and Luna… We’re not fighting anymore. We need to evacuate the civilians.”

“Great!” Pinkie exclaimed. “I have some civilians to evacuate!”

Suddenly, Cloudchaser frowned, seeing half-conscious Vinyl on Pinkie’s back. She also noticed that one of the civilians, a grey mare with black mane, trotted to them. “Come back to the group,” she said. “We need to stay together... You saw what happened to that stallion...”

“I’m sorry, but it’s my marefriend,” the mare replied and trotted to Pinkie Pie. “Vinyl? Sweet Celestia, Vinyl, what have you done again?”

“Tavi?” Vinyl whispered. “We… must run… She’s… gonna kill me…”

“Who?” Octavia asked.

“I’m not gonna kill you,” Cloudchaser replied, trying to make her voice sound soft, but her frown was spoiling the effect. “I only need that name…”

“What… name?” Vinyl asked, trying to focus her gaze on Cloudchaser.

“The one you said when I… when we last met… The mare who killed Rainbow Dash.”

“Ah, this…” Vinyl shuddered. Scootaloo looked at her, opening her mouth to say something. “Emerald… Emerald Clover…”

“Thanks.” Cloudchaser smiled bitterly. “Tavi, or whatever your name is, help Pinkie carry her. She needs to see a doctor. You, kids, should go with us too...”

They joined the crowd of ponies running away from the battle as far as they could. There were no time to stop and talk. Some stray spell hit the nearby building, throwing debris around. The pegasi were flying above them in pairs, looking for the bat ponies.

“What’th going on there?” Twist muttered, pointing at the street near the city gates. A large ball of magical energy was hovering between the buildings. From time to time, a lightning was shooting out of it.

“I don’t know, but I’d rather not go there to check that...” Scootaloo muttered, following Twist’s gaze.

“Let’s go.” Pinkie Pie grabbed Vinyl’s hooves and carried her with Octavia. Cloudchaser and a couple of other pegasi were watching the sky. Apple Bloom was walking slowly with Dinky on her back.

“Watch out!” Cloudchaser exclaimed, pointing at the group of bat ponies diving at them. She flapped her wings and aimed her gun at the leader of the formation. He spread his wings to slow down when the bullet hit the bomb he was carrying.

The explosion deafened Scootaloo. She ran away blindly, barely hearing Apple Bloom’s muffled voice calling her name.

Suddenly, she felt that she was falling. She spread her wings to slow down, but it didn’t help her much. The collision with the ground knocked the wind out of her lungs. She opened her eyes and found herself on the bottom of some ditch. Pinkie Pie was standing next to her, panting heavily. Before Scootaloo could say anything, Pinkie grabbed her and helped her up.

“Where’s the rest?” Scootaloo blurted out, trying to pierce the cloud of dust with her gaze.

“We’re here!” Apple Bloom shouted. Sweetie Belle was standing next to her, with Dinky on her back. Twist, her mane slightly charred, was supporting limping Silver Spoon, who was blinking, trying to see anything. Twist took off Silver’s glasses and gave them to her, but Silver only shook her head.

“Quick!” Pinkie exclaimed, pointing at the sky, where Cloudchaser was fighting with several bat ponies. “We have to hide somewhere!”

“But where?” Twist asked. “Silver can’t climb out of that ditch...”

“Let’s go here.” Apple Bloom pointed at the hole in the wall of the ditch – the explosion had reached the sewers. “We can even find Firefly’s base.”

One by one, they pushed themselves through the narrow hole, to the sewer. Pinkie was trotting behind them slowly, resting herself against the walls. From time to time, her body was twitching; once or twice she fell down and Scootaloo had to help her get on her hooves again.

“Twilight...” Pinkie whispered. “No good... No good at all...”

“We noticed,” Silver Spoon deadpanned. “I really hope Luna will buck her to the moon...”

Pinkie twitched again. “Luna!” Her voice echoed through the sewer. “Danger... Octavia and Vinyl... Safe... Spitfire...” She coughed.

“What’s going on?” Apple Bloom asked, watching Pinkie, who started to shiver, muttering something barely comprehensible – a long list of names and horrible fates waiting for their owners.

“Pinkie sense.” Scootaloo felt that her voice was hollow, but she couldn’t do anything to bring more life to ir.

Sweetie Belle trotted to Pinkie and aimed her horn at her. Before she could cast a spell, Pinkie opened her eyes and looked at Dinky, who smiled at her.

“Are you okay?” Pinkie asked.

“Y-yes...” Dinky replied, sliding off Sweetie’s back and crawling closer to Pinkie. “And how are you?” she asked, hugging her.

“Doesn’t matter...” Pinkie sighed. “You’re okay and it’s all that matters. I can see...” She rolled on her back, panting heavily. “It’s wonderful...” she whispered.

“What’s wonderful?” Dinky asked. “Not this sewer, I think...” She looked around. “I’m not very pumped at the thought of walking through it...”

“Sometimes you have to go underground...” Pinkie muttered, raising her head.

“That was deep...” Dinky laughed. Pinkie laughed with her, coughing from time to time. Scootaloo smiled. Even though they were in the middle of the dark, dirty tunnel under the town torn by a fratricidal battle, she started to believe that one day it’d get better. The ponykind would leave at peace again, honest, loyal, kind, and generous; laughing, joined together by a magic of friendship.

She looked at the faces of the others. Even Silver Spoon was smiling. Scootaloo realised that together, they could do anything... End the war, heal the wounds, fill the world with hope.

Only after a while, they noticed that Pinkie stopped laughing. She looked at her and saw that her body was lying limply, one of her hooves reaching towards Dinky. Her eyes were closed and she was smiling, but they could see that she wasn’t going to wake up.

“No!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. She aimed her horn at Pinkie and cast some spell, but nothing happened. She tried again, her magic bathing the whole sewer in green light, but Pinkie didn’t move.

“It’s no use,” Apple Bloom said, placing her hoof on Sweetie’s shoulder. “We have to go...”

“B-but...” Twist wiped her eyes. “What are we going to do now?”

“We’ll do what she told us,” Dinky replied, looking into the darkness.

“What?” Silver Spoon asked, approaching Dinky. “Admire how wonderful is the other side and exchange crappy puns till we die?” She sat on the ground, shuddering.

“We can always ask him.” Dinky looked into the darkness.

“Ask who?” Apple Bloom asked, staring at Dinky unsurely.

“I don’t know. He’s standing there,” Dinky replied, remaining motionless. “He looks funny...”

“Oh no...” Apple Bloom whispered.

“Good morning Apple Bloom!” Discord exclaimed, suddenly appearing next to them. “Hello, Sweetie Belle. I’m glad to see that you got much better since we’ve last seen each other.”

Sweetie Belle could swear that Discord’s eyes widened when he looked at her. “What do you want from us?” she asked.

Discord disappeared and appeared again inches from her. “From you? Nothing.” He laughed and disappeared again, this time next to Apple Bloom. “It’s our dear Apple Bloom I want to talk to...” A book appeared in his paw. He opened it and read, “Ah’d do anything to save mah friend. Isn’t it what you said when we last met?”

“Whaddya want?” Apple Bloom asked. “Ah have no time for your games, Discord. We need to get outta here!”

“Oh no, you’re not getting out of here...” Discord smiled. “At least not before you do a teeny tiny thing for me... Just a little thing to pay for saving Sweetie Belle’s life.”

“I told ya somethin’...” Apple Bloom sighed. “What do ya want?”

“Oh, it’s easy.” Discord produced a large, golden watch out of nowhere and looked at it. “If I didn’t forget to wind it up, right at this moment one immortal alicorn princess is tearing the other one to shreds. The names are not important. Your task is easy.” He looked at Apple Bloom and smirked. “Defeat the remaining one.”

“What?” Apple Bloom asked, staggering. “H-how? Can’t ya do that yerself?”

“Oh, no,” Discord replied. “I’m the spirit of Chaos, but I’m not insane. Also, that’s not how the payment works, don’t you think?”

“But how is she supposed to do that?” Silver Spoon trotted to Discord. “They are, like, immortal alicorns...”

Discord patted Silver Spoon’s mane and smiled. “You all felt it when poor Ms. Pie passed away and yet, you don’t know...” He shook his head. “There’s six of you. Think about it, Silver Spoon...” He winked and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Before it dissipated she heard Discord saying, “You know where they are...”

“There’s six of us!” Silver Spoon exclaimed. “You don’t say, you old creep!” She sighed and looked at Apple Bloom. To her surprise, she was standing with a determined expression.

“What’s going on?” Silver Spoon asked.

“We have to go,” Apple Bloom replied, turning away from Pinkie’s body and trotting forward.

“Go? Where?”

“There’s six of us.” Apple Bloom replied, still walking forward. “And we know where they are...”

25. Twilight Sparkle

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Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
Confucius

Spitfire cursed, hitting the nearest enemy with the butt of her empty gun. Another bat pony tackled her, falling with her to the ground. She kicked him and reached for her knife, stabbing the opponent between the plates of his armour.

The bat pony screeched, rolling on his back. Spitfire stood up, panting, and saw Soarin firing at two others. He was also grounded – one of his wings was hanging limply.

“I’m out of ammo!” he exclaimed. “How about you?”

“Me too,” Spitfire replied, looking around. Among the bodies of dead enemies, she saw Blaze and Fire Streak – both of them fought to the end. Spitfire approached them, thinking of a different day, almost ten years before, in the Badlands. The day when she and Fleetfoot had to leave their dead friends behind.

And now, Fleetfoot was dead too. Killed when they retook Ponyville, which they had to leave just few days later.

Spitfire sighed. Blaze and Fire Streak only had two clips of ammo left with them. She took one and gave the other to Soarin. “Seems that we lost the rest,” she muttered, looking at the sky. Even the bat mare she’d saved back in Ponyville disappeared somewhere.

“Watch out!” Soarin exclaimed. Spitfire turned immediately, firing at the incoming bat ponies. She took off, gritting her teeth and cursing her injured wing. The first bat pony didn’t see it coming; she tried to dodge Spitfire, but the bullet, fired and point-blank range, pierced her wing, and a powerful kick to the face sent her to the ground, unconscious.

The next bat pony was ready. The shot deafened Spitfire, who felt something like a powerful kick to the helmet. She dived under the opponent, stabbing him with her knife.

Her vision was blurry. She dodged another bat pony, but suddenly, a pile of debris appeared right in front of her. She crashed into it and rolled on the street, losing her damaged helmet and her gun.

“Soarin? Where are you?” she muttered, getting up. Bat ponies were circling above her. She reached for her gun, but suddenly, a bullet hit her hoof. Spitfire screamed and collapsed again, her vision getting red. Her foreleg went numb. She pushed her other hoof to it to stop the bleeding. Cursing, she looked at the sky and saw a brown pegasus among the bat ponies, holding a sniper rifle.

“C’mon...” Spitfire panted, holding her wounded hoof. “Finish me, fucker...”

The bat ponies probably wanted the sniper to do the same, as they were pointing at her, talking with the sniper. Spitfire saw him looking at her and shaking his head.

“Come on!” she shouted, trying to get up. “You can’t shoot me?”

The pegasus flew higher. Bat ponies, however, landed on the street and the pile of debris, surrounding Spitfire. They raised their guns and knives, barring their fangs and smirking at her. Spitfire grabbed her knife with her good hoof, licking her lips and staring back at her enemies.

Suddenly, a screech tore the air. Spitfire looked at the top of the pile of debris and saw a young bat mare she’d saved in Ponyville. Since then, the bat mare was following her everywhere, never saying a word.

Now, she was talking to the bat ponies, pointing at Spitfire, who sat in the middle of the circle, wondering what was going on. Two bat ponies approached her. Their guns were hanging harmlessly from their necks, but Spitfire was still observing them carefully.

“She told us you saved her, even though she killed lots of your friends,” the closest bat pony said. “So she wants to save you too.”

Spitfire stood up, wincing, and looked at the mare. “Thank you...” she said. “I still don’t know your name...”

“Nachtmahr,” the mare replied.

The brown pegasus landed in front of Spitfire, taking the first aid kit from his saddlebags. “Sorry for that,” he muttered to Spitfire, pointing at her hoof. “We’d better go and find some doctor, ya know... I’m Roo, by the way...”

“Am I a POW?” Spitfire asked, hissing when one of the bat ponies disinfected her wound.

“Prisoner of war? What war?” Roo asked. “I’ve seen Twilight Sparkle walkin’ to Luna. Screw war. Let them talk about it themselves.”

***

Luna walked down the empty street, surrounded by ruined houses. Bat ponies and pegasi were fighting above her, but she didn’t care. Stray bullets were whistling past her, ricocheting off her shield.

She saw a small, violet silhouette on the other end of the street and stopped.

“Twilight Sparkle!” she exclaimed. “Does my sister fear to look into my eyes? She doesn’t want to see me, so she sent you?”

Twilight said nothing, instead walking to Luna slowly.

“Twilight Sparkle!” Luna shouted. “We need to end this. Lead me to my sister.”

“You started it and you want me to end this?” Twilight asked. “After the deaths of Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and so many others?”

Luna lowered her head. “I made a mistake, I know...” she said. “But we can still fix this. Just tell Celestia to come here and talk with me!”

“Oh, you will see her soon,” Twilight replied with a smirk. “Sooner than you think...” Her eye twitched.

“What do you mean?” Luna asked, shuddering. There was something off about Twilight. Her mane was dishevelled and she was staring at Luna with her eyes motionless. At first, Luna thought that it was a result of walking through the battlefield, but she could sense something else. It was strangely familiar.

“Oh, don’t you know already?” Twilight asked. “I thought you’d sense this. You see, I killed her.”

Luna’s eyes widened when she looked at Twilight, who smiled at her. Suddenly, a vision appeared in her mind.

“Fight will only lead to more suffering…” Celestia said. “You still have Pinkie and Rarity…”

“I am the one responsible for their death,” said Celestia calmly. “And if somepony needs to be punished for that, then it should be me.”

Twilight sighed, looking at the floor beneath her hooves. “You did nothing wrong, Princess,” she finally spoke. “It’s Luna who started the war…”

“But she started it because of my own stubbornness. I thought that after thousands of years of ruling Equestria I knew everything… I was wrong. Now these images keep haunting me...”

“It’s Luna who causes it!” Twilight shouted. She was now inches from Celestia’s face, shivering slightly. “She wants you to think that!”

“No, Twilight…” Celestia shook her head. “I can’t stand it anymore. Luna showed me how bad ruler I became recently… I need to give up…”

She rested her head on the pillow, looking so weak and vulnerable that for a moment Twilight wanted to admit that she was right. Right, as she always was, for thousands of years.

A strange spark appeared in Twilight’s eyes. She licked her lips slowly, and spoke, “You are right… You need to give up…”

A knife appeared in her hoof. Celestia closed her eyes. She didn’t make a slightest move when the knife, guided by Twilight’s magic, pierced her throat. Twilight retreated it, watching as Celestia’s body twitched on the bed.

“I’ll tell them that you gave me the full command over the army,” Twilight said to the princess, who was choking on her own blood. “I’ll make Luna pay...”

Celestia’s body went limp. An orb of golden magic shot from her horn. Twilight automatically caught it with her magic and stood, surprised, as the orb dissolved in the purple ray. She looked down at her hooves. Her coat got slightly darker, but she also felt a new strength entering her body. Everything in the room got smaller – or maybe it was her who grew bigger?

Twilight smirked and aimed her horn at the nightstand, lighting it on fire. Another spell, and the nightstand was intact, as if it had never been touched by flames. Twilight smiled.

“Thanks for that,” she muttered. She levitated a blanket and covered Celestia’s body with it. “Rest, Princess. You’re too sick to rule, after all. And now, I need to talk to Rarity...

“No!” Luna exclaimed, shaking her head.

“I have your sister’s magic now,” Twilight said, conjuring a magical shield around herself. “Give up, Luna. I’ll give you mercy... maybe. Go with me to the palace and–” She was interrupted by a powerful ray of Luna’s magic that pierced her shield as if it was made of thin air, and threw her backwards. Her body pierced the wall of the nearby building and disappeared inside.

“It takes more than my sister’s magic to defeat me...” Luna muttered. She fired another bolt at the building, which staggered and collapsed into a pile of debris. “War is over, Twilight Sparkle. You were its last victim.”

“Nice try, Luna...” Twilight hissed, emerging from the ruins. Luna shuddered, seeing her. Her broken bones were regenerating quickly, crushed muscles growing back and getting covered in fresh skin. “It takes much more than that to defeat me...”

“Let’s see...” Luna muttered. She levitated a large piece of debris and threw it at Twilight, who grabbed it with her magic and threw it aside, smashing it against the wall of the nearby building. She then disappeared in a flash of light.

Luna turned around, just in time to see Twilight appearing in front of her and firing a spell. It hit Luna’s shield and erupted into sparks.

“Teleportation?” Luna asked. “You tried the same thing with Nightmare Moon, Twilight.” Another Twilight’s spell bounced off her shield. “You need to learn new tricks.” She fired a spell at Twilight. The air around them grew hotter when a ray of blue magic exploded on Twilight’s shield. The windows of nearby houses exploded, littering the street with shards of glass.

“New tricks? How do you like this?!” Twilight exclaimed, firing another spell at Luna. It was struck in mid-air by another bolt of the princess’ magic. Thrown off-course, it hit an abandoned cart.

The cart didn’t explode, nor it was set on fire. The spell caused the wood to evaporate, changing the vehicle into a vapour of steam. Twilight looked at it, surprised, and barely managed to dodge an avalanche of debris Luna threw at her. Some of the bricks, however, bounced of her shield, which cracked and blinked.

“Something I learned from Rarity,” Twilight muttered through gritted teeth, levitating the bricks and throwing them back at Luna. “A good shield must deflect solid objects...”

“Deflect this!” Luna shouted, levitating several guns she’d picked from fallen soldiers around her. Most of the bullets bounced off Twilight’s shield, but some of them pierced it. Twilight screamed, when one of them struck her leg, changing the fetlock into a bloody mess of broken bones and torn muscles. Twilight collapsed when two other bullets hit her chest.

“Don’t think I’ll let you regenerate...” Luna muttered, levitating a large piece of roof of the destroyed building and dropping it on cowering Twilight. The ground shook when the roof broke in two. Luna raised the bigger part and threw it at the ground again, turning it a few times for a good measure.

A flash of Twilight’s magic exploded under the roof. Luna looked around unsurely. Suddenly, a large boulder hit her side, knocking the wind out of her lungs. Without thinking what happened, she teleported a few feet away, avoiding getting hit by another, much larger stone.

Luna took off, seeing a lavender, vaguely pony-shaped silhouette standing on the roof. “Why don’t you just die?!” she exclaimed.

“Equestria needs me,” Twilight replied. Her body was still regenerating and it didn’t look quite right. Luna noticed that her legs were bent in unnatural ways and her spine seemed broken.

“You killed my sister,” Luna said. “Why do you think Equestria needs you?”

“You both failed,” Twilight replied. “Look at this.” She waved her hoof, pointing at the desolated town. “Why would I let you rule after this?”

“And, thanks to you, it only got worse!” Luna exclaimed. “You killed my sister... and you think you can rule?” She noticed that Twilight’s regeneration was progressing slowly and saw her chance. If Twilight’s magic was running low...

The bolt of Luna’s magic collided in mid-air with a stream of lavender energy coming from Twilight’s horn. Sparks shot from the place where they connected, forming an orb, snapping and smelling of ozone.

“Give up and I’ll let you live...” Twilight spat through gritted teeth, trying to maintain the connection.

“Never!” Luna shouted, lowering her head. The orb, propelled by Twilight’s magic, flew past her and hit the building behind them.

An explosion caused the sky to darken. Luna screamed when several brick hit her. She dived, turning sharply to avoid Twilight’s another spell.

No spell struck her. Luna turned her head and saw that Twilight was still at the roof, shielding herself from flying debris. Dodging a charred board, Luna aimed her horn at the building Twilight was standing on, closed her eyes, and fired a spell.

The sound of collapsing walls filled her ears. She looked upwards and saw that Twilight had to lower her shield when the roof suddenly disappeared from beneath her hooves. She was now flying a bit above Luna, staring at her menacingly.

“Even now you’re destroying everything!” Twilight exclaimed, firing a spell which exploded on Luna’s shield, blinding her. She blinked and saw the bricks from the collapsed house flying towards her. Her shield snapped, barely able to stop them.

Luna teleported, appearing behind Twilight and firing a spell at her. Twilight blocked it effortlessly, but it was still there – a magical blade pushing at the bubble protecting the younger alicorn.

Twilight’s magic joined Luna’s. The air around them was shining, forming a large orb around them. The ruins and scattered wood started to evaporate, hissing loudly.

The sun turned red and the moon started to shine brighter. The ponies who were still fighting stopped, looking at the place where Twilight and Luna were. Some of them ran away together, getting rid of their weapons and uniforms.

Near the palace, Prince Blueblood stopped, staring at the orb of hot air in the middle of the town. He, Cadance, and Shining Armor managed to get out of the palace, fighting with the bat ponies using nothing but their magic.

“We need to stop them,” Blueblood said, panting. “Soon, they will destroy the whole town...”

“How?” Shining Armor asked. “I barely can protect you and myself from bullets. We’ll fry there...”

“We have another alicorn here, don’t we?” Blueblood turned to Cadance, who was checking if the bat pony she knocked down was alive. “Princess, try to reason with them before they kill one another!”

“I will...” Cadance turned to Blueblood who shuddered seeing her face. She took off and flew towards the sphere of Twilight’s and Luna’s magic, leaving her husband and cousin behind.

The air around her grew hotter. Cadance gritted her teeth, trying to get closer to the fighting alicorns, but it was like flying through the sea of syrup. No matter how hard she was flapping her wings, it seemed that she wasn’t getting any closer.

Cadance stopped and looked around. The sky wore a deep shade of orange. The orb in front of her was sending sparks around, almost hitting her. A few of nearby buildings were staggering, pushed by the force of arcane magic affecting them.

Cadance blinked, trying to see Luna and Twilight standing in the middle of the ruined street. Both of them were sweating, trying to pierce each other’s shields with their magic. The stones around them were melting, hissing loudly.

“Luna!” Cadance shouted. “Twilight!” She aimed her horn at the orb and fired a spell, hoping to pierce it, gaining the fighting alicorns’ attention.

The orb lit brighter, blinding Cadance for a moment. A spark went through her body. Cadance screamed when her wings gave up, and plummeted to the ground.

***

“Give up, Twilight,” Luna hissed. “We can’t fight like that forever...”

“Why not?” Twilight asked. “Why not burn the whole town? That’s what you do best! Just ask Fluttershy.”

“Twilight, stop it!” Luna exclaimed. “I came here to put an end to this, but you...” She fired another spell, hoping to surprise Twilight, but it bounced off her shield, changing a few nearby stones into dust.

“It went too far,” Twilight said in an emotionless voice. “Someone needs to be punished!” She aimed her horn at Luna and fired a spell.

Luna laughed when the spell hit her shield. She thought that Twilight was getting weaker – her previous spells were almost making Luna pass out anytime one of them hit her shield, but this one only scratched it. Suddenly, her eyes met with Twilight’s and, seeing her smirk, Luna realised something.

The spell wasn’t supposed to disable her shield. Its purpose was to check Luna’s magic signature and find the way to jam her magical protection. As Luna realised it, another spell hit her, throwing her backwards and sending her rolling on the hot ground.

Luna hissed in pain. Am I still alive? she thought, trying to get up. The buildings around her got bigger... So did Twilight, who approached Luna and poked her with her hoof.

“Age spell,” Twilight explained, levitating the blue alicorn foal and staring into her eyes. Luna thrashed and a few sparks shot from her horn. “Guess you’re still somewhere there, trapped in this body...”

Luna tried to fire another spell. A spark left a black mark on Twilight’s chest.

“No...” Twilight smiled even wider, showing broken teeth. “My magic ensures that you’ll stay that way...” She twisted Luna’s wing with her magic. Something snapped loudly and the filly started to cry.

“I’ve heard you’re concerned with dead fillies...” Twilight muttered, lifting Luna by her wing and staring into her eyes. “Time to think a bit about yourself.”

Luna thrashed again, freeing herself from Twilight’s grasp. She spread her wings, but it didn’t help – she hit the ground and rolled on her back, staring at Twilight, who approached her and raised her hoof.

“Goodbye, Luna,” Twilight said. “Soon, you’ll talk to your sister...” She lowered her hoof rapidly, smashing Luna’s skull. She shuddered, feeling the fur on her leg getting wet, and wiped it against the ground. An aura of blue magic lifted from Luna’s body and entered Twilight.

Twilight took a deep breath and looked around. “War is over...” she muttered to herself, feeling that she was getting bigger. “Time to clean it up...”

“No!”

Twilight looked around and saw Cadance running towards her. Her fur was dirty and one of her wings was hanging limply.

“You killed her...” Cadance panted, tears flowing down her face.

“I did,” Twilight replied. “Look, Cadance, I ended the war!” She laughed. “We can heal Equestria together...”

Cadance backpedalled. “Twilight... You... What happened to you? I’m not going to–”

“Do I have to kill you too?” Twilight asked, approaching Cadance. “I... I don’t want to do that, but... Are you still supporting the pony who wanted to destroy Equestria and who I just defeated? Do you want to waste everything my friends died for?”

Cadance shuddered, looking into Twilight’s eyes. “No,” she replied. “Their deaths were unneeded, just like killing Luna and Celestia.” Cadance sighed. “I’m sorry Twilight, but this war could have been ended much earlier... I... I have a feeling that it was you who kept it going...”

“What?” Twilight exclaimed, lighting her horn. Her body was surrounded by a flash of light, forming an armour and helmet. “I’d never keep the war going! I just wanted to end it! And you...” Her eyes started to glow white. “You want to kill me and rule Equestria by yourself!”

Cadance teleported just in time to avoid the spell that hit the ground behind her, changing it into steam. When she appeared again, she saw that Twilight was standing next to her, aiming her horn at her.

“It’s even easier than Luna...” Twilight muttered, panting. She charged her horn.

“Stop it!”

“What the...” Cadance muttered. They both looked at the empty street and saw six small silhouettes approaching them.

“Stop it?” Twilight smirked. “Like you could really do that...”

26. Sweetie Belle

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Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.
Henry Ford

“We need to get there as fast as we can,” Sweetie Belle muttered, watching the castle. The sky turned red. The hot wind was drying their throats, making their voices raspy.

They walked out of the dungeon and darted forward, sprinting through the empty streets of Canterlot. Silver Spoon was carrying Dinky on her back, while Apple Bloom was trying to catch a breath.

“Watch out!” Twist exclaimed. Sweetie Belle turned her head to see a house exploding right next to them. She lit her horn, slowing down the flying debris, which fell to the ground harmlessly.

“I didn’t know you could do that,” Scootaloo muttered.

“Me neither,” Sweetie Belle replied. “It happens since I, you know... changed myself back.”

Scootaloo decided that there was no time to discuss that. They ran forward, hiding in a nook. In the distance they could still hear shots and magic. The air smelled of cordite and ozone.

“There are some bat ponies circling above us,” Silver Spoon muttered. “We need to hide.”

“Where?” Apple Bloom asked. “We need to get to the palace.”

A stream of bullets hit the wall of the building above them, dropping a rain of paint and concrete crumbs on them. Before any of them could react, they saw a series of tracers flying from the nook on the opposite side of the street. One of the bat ponies twitched and fell to the ground, hitting the roof of the nearby house and ramming into the pavement. The other two ran away higher.

“What was that?” Scootaloo asked. Before any of her friends replied, she saw a cart rolling towards them.

It was the strangest vehicle they’d seen so far – it looked like a flower vendor’s cart with a twin anti-pegasus cannon standing on it. There was a pegasus behind it – large parts of her dust-coloured fur were burned off, showing scar-covered skin. Another pegasus, wearing a red bandana, was next to her, holding the ammunition belt. Her side was wrapped in bandages.

The pegasus pulling the cart looked relatively unharmed, except of a large scar on her wing. It also looked much less muscular than her other wing, as if she didn’t use it for a long time. However, she was shivering, staring nervously at the sky.

“You okay there, girls?” the bandaged pegasus asked. “Did you get lost?” She jumped of the cart and approached them. “Name’s Flitter.”

“What happened to you?” Dinky asked. “You don’t look well...”

“We ran away from the hospital when they attacked our air base,” Flitter replied. “We got to the magazine and made them a little wash and go with that baby.” She patted the cannon and pointed at the burn-covered mare. “Don’t be scared of Dust Devil. She ran away from an exploding airship and she’s apparently pregnant. And Lightning Dust is slightly nuts.”

“We all are...” Dust Devil muttered, staring at the red sky.

Scootaloo didn’t listen to her, staring at Lightning Dust.

“Carry on, Dust… There’s a field hospital nearby… We’re close…”

“Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo shouted. Not caring about anything, she ran back on the road, waving her hooves. “Hey, Rainbow Dash, I’m here!”

“Thcootaloo, come back!” Twist shouted, following her. “Mith Cheerilee thaid that it’th not thafe to…”

“Rainbow Dash!”

“Why are you still carrying your bombs?” Rainbow Dash’s voice echoed.

Scootaloo shuddered, remembering the explosion. She looked at the scar on Lightning Dust’s wing and thought of what Apple Bloom had told her about the field hospital.

“We’d better go,” Dust Devil said. “Where do you want us to drop you?”

“The palace,” Sweetie Belle replied.

The three pegasi looked at her unsurely. “Are you crazy, filly?” Flitter asked. “I’m not gonna go back there.” She dived under the cannon mount and grabbed a shotgun. “We’re armed, but there’s more of them there. Also, the palace is empty.”

“But we really have to go there,” Sweetie Belle replied. “The fate of the whole Equestria depends on this.”

“The fate of the whole Equestria depends on you getting yourselves killed?” Dust Devil shrugged. “That’s some insane shit right there.”

An explosion could be heard somewhere behind them. Lightning Dust fell on the ground, shuddering. Sweetie Belle rushed to her, but Lightning Dust got up and smiled sheepishly.

“We’d better get out of here,” Flitter said. “What is in that palace that makes you want to go there so much?”

“The Elements of Harmony,” Apple Bloom replied.

Flitter and Dust Devil laughed. “The Elements of Harmony!” Flitter exclaimed. “The Bearers are dead, if you haven’t heard about it. Do you think that you and your friends can replace them?”

“Yes.” Apple Bloom stared into Flitter’s eyes.

“You know? Fuck it,” Flitter said. “If we are to die, let’s do something insane. Lightning, lead us to the palace.”

The fillies sat on the cart and Lightning Dust galloped through the streets of Canterlot. Dust Devil turned the cannon and fired into some nook, the recoil almost overturning the vehicle.

“It may be a bit shaky,” Flitter muttered, firing her shotgun at the bat pony standing on the roof. “What the–” She jumped back, seeing that Sweetie Belle conjured a shield that stopped a few bullets inches from her.

“We’d better watch out,” Sweetie Belle muttered. “I’ve never tried stopping anything bigger and faster and–” She was interrupted as the larger round pierced through her shield and flew right above Scootaloo’s head. Silver Spoon cowered behind the cannon, holding Twist in her hooves.

The cart took a sharp turn, Dust Devil still shooting at the unseen enemy. Bullets were ricocheting around them. Flitter reloaded her shotgun and fired. Somepony in the street screamed.

“Do you have something else?” Silver Spoon asked, looking at Flitter’s shotgun.

“Not for you,” Flitter replied. “Fillies shouldn’t–”

“We’re in the battlefield,” Silver Spoon muttered when Flitter shot at somepony behind the cloud of smoke. “I’d rather be armed, you know.” She pointed at Sweetie Belle, who fired her magic at the enemy.

“Don’t worry,” Dust Devil muttered. “I managed to make this baby fire at the ground targets too.” She patted the mount of the cannon and stood behind it.

Scootaloo barely avoided a stream of hot cases when the tracers shot at the enemy. Some of them were incendiary bullets – they saw a small explosion and flames. The ponies on the other side of the street stopped firing.

“Hey, you!” somepony shouted. “Stop shooting at me!”

“Commander Spitfire?” Flitter exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

“Stop shooting, idiot, and let me get to you!”

“Yes, ma’am!” Flitter lowered her gun. Dust Devil turned the safety catch of the cannon on.

Several ponies emerged from the smoke. Seeing them, Flitter raised her gun quickly, but Twist saw it, and pushed the barrel to the side. Buckshot ricocheted from the wall harmlessly.

“Spitfire?” Flitter asked, trying to get her shotgun back. “What are you doing... with them?”

“Consider it a truce,” Spitfire replied, approaching Flitter in a company of bat ponies. Soarin was also with them, holding a blood-soaked bandage over his eye. A brown pegasus was flying above them with a sniper gun.

“Uncle Roo?” Apple Bloom asked, staring at him. “Ya also here? How’s Babs?”

“Okay, Ah hope,” Roo replied, landing next to them. “What are ya doing here?”

“We have a mission,” Apple Bloom said. “We need to get to the palace, get the Elements of Harmony and–”

“Hold yer horses, kid,” Roo muttered. “What Elements of Harmony? Shouldn’t ya be far away from here?”

“And what are you three doing here?” Spitfire asked Flitter. “Weren’t you wounded or something?”

“We ran away,” Dust Devil muttered. “We wanted to kill as many bloodsu– I mean, bat ponies as possible.”

One of the bat ponies gave her a nasty look.

“We’re ending this war,” Spitfire said. “No more fights, no more killing. You’ll help me evacuate those civilians from here and then we’ll start peace talks.”

“Who will start peace talks?” Dust Devil asked. “Princesses are missing...”

Sweetie Belle cleared her throat. “Luna and Twilight are fighting,” she said, pointing at the large orb of magic above the town. “We need the Elements of Harmony to stop them...”

Spitfire sighed and scratched her mane. “You know, kid, that most of the Element Bearers are dead, don’t you? How do you want to use them?”

“There’s six of us,” Apple Bloom muttered.

“That’s not enough,” Spitfire said. “There’s some magic needed, from what I know. Sorry, but I doubt you–”

Nachtmahr cleared her throat. “For me that sounds better than flying to them ourselves and telling them to stop.” She shrugged. “Let them go there. At least we’ll have more time to run away.”

“I agree,” Scootaloo said.

“Me too,” Twist added.

Spitfire shook her head. “You do realise that it was the most cynical argument I’ve ever heard? I’m not running away. Nor will my soldiers.”

“Noble, but insane,” Nachtmahr said. “Those kids may have a chance.”

“Who’d say? I’m agreeing with a bl– bat pony,” Flitter said. “Those kids stayed on the battlefield, trying to get to the palace. Even though one of them can’t even walk. They’re either insane or have a plan.”

“We’re all insane,” Lightning Dust muttered, staring at Scootaloo and shuddering. “Let’s do that.”

Nachtmahr looked into the sky. “Somepony is flying towards us,” she said. “I think it’s Zerstörer’s detachment.”

“Do they know about our truce?” Spitfire asked.

“I can contact them,” Nachtmahr replied.

“It won’t be necessary, I think.” Scootaloo stared at the incoming bat ponies and seeing a pink pegasus among them. “Firefly!”

“Hello,” Firefly said, landing next to them. “I see that Nachtmahr is already with you... And someone would like to thank you for saving his life.” She pointed at the tall bat pony who nodded.

“Zerstörer, right?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Yeah,” Zerstörer replied. “On our way here, we saw some powerful magic. Not the good kind.”

“We want to end this,” Sweetie Belle said. “Can you help us get to the palace?”

“Sure,” Firefly said. “Do you have a plan?”

“Not really.” Sweetie Belle lowered her head. “But it’s the only thing we can do.”

Dust Devil patted the autocannon. “Lightning and I will protect you from the ground. We can’t really fly anyway...”

Spitfire shrugged. “Okay... Get on our backs then, kids. We’ll be in the palace in no time.” She sat on the ground. Apple Bloom helped Dinky climb on her back and walked to Flitter.

“Come on, squirt.” Firefly smiled at Scootaloo. “We’ll fly together.”

Scootaloo sat on Firefly’s back and watched Sweetie, Silver Spoon, and Twist taking their places. Zerstörer, Nachtmahr, and Roo joined Spitfire, Firefly, and Flitter and the group took off, escorted by the rest of pegasi and bat ponies.

“Can y’all see that?” Apple Bloom shouted, pointing at the buildings, collapsing slowly as they were pushed by a large magic shield. Its glowing was almost blinding them.

“Are you sure you wanna go there?” Flitter asked, flapping her wings to get above the clouds.

“There’s no other way,” Apple Bloom replied. Even from there, they could feel the heat radiating from the shimmering orb. The sky was red; a massive silhouette of the castle could be easily visible in the distance.

“Do you think the Elementh are thtill there?” Twist asked.

“I hope so,” Silver Spoon replied. “If not, we’re done.”

“If it fails, we’ll carry you as far from here as possible,” Nachtmahr said. “We’ll hide in the Badlands...”

“They’ll get us there,” Spitfire muttered. “Luna or Twilight, it doesn’t matter.”

“We’ll fight back,” Firefly said. “There must be a way...”

“How do you want to fight against that?” Spitfire asked. “We barely could fight changelings in the Badlands... How do you want to fight such a powerful magic?”

“Don’t worry,” Dinky said, holding Spitfire tighter. “Apple Bloom will find a way.”

“I hope so...” Spitfire started to descend towards the castle’s tower. The others followed her, landing on the balcony. Scootaloo jumped off Firefly’s back and ran inside of the tower.

“Is there anypony here?” she asked. The castle seemed empty – it was dark inside, furniture was scattered on the floor, and some walls had large holes in them.

“I don’t like it,” Twist said. “Where are the Elementh?”

“I don’t know,” Silver Spoon said. She was carrying Dinky; both of them were looking around curiously.

“Ah guess we’ll just have to search the castle for them,” Apple Bloom muttered. They trotted out of the chamber and through the corridor, the pegasi and bat ponies following them.

“Where can they be?” Sweetie Belle asked. “I always thought they keep them in some tower...”

“I guess it’s not this one,” Scootaloo said, walking towards the stairs. “Unless they keep them under the–” Her ears perked up. “I heard something,” she said. “Be quiet for a moment!”

Everypony silenced. Now they could also hear that – a long cry or a wail coming from downstairs.

“Let’s see what’s that,” Scootaloo muttered.

“Don’t you think it may be a bit dangerouth?” Twist asked. “I’d rather not get killed...”

“Don’t worry, you’re safe with me,” Silver Spoon said. “Also, Spitfire is with us.”

Scootaloo was already trotting down the stairs. The rest of the ponies followed her, walking through the desolated castle. It seemed that it had been hit by artillery a few times; however some of the damage was done from the inside – as if somepony levitated the furniture and threw it at the wall.

They heard wailing again. Scootaloo rushed through the chamber and looked behind the throne, broken and abandoned in the corner.

“Spike!” she exclaimed. “What happened?”

Spike looked at her absent-mindedly. “Princess Celestia... She’s dead. Twilight... She killed her.”

“What?” Scootaloo’s eyes widened. “H-how did it happen?”

“It must’ve happened a while ago,” Spike replied. “Twilight... changed.”

Silver Spoon rolled her eyes. “We already know that. She was trying to gouge Twist’s eyes. If it wasn’t for Pinkie...”

Spike became pale. “Where’s Pinkie?”

“She’s dead,” Apple Bloom replied. “Listen Spike, we have no time. We need to stop Twilight...”

“Cadance went to stop her,” Spike said. “With Shining Armor and Prince Blueblood. With Luna’s help...”

Apple Bloom thought of what Discord told them and shuddered. “If Luna defeats Twilight, she may also turn against us. We need to go there.”

“And get yourself killed?” Spike asked. “Your sisters already died. You have to hide–”

“That’s what we all tried to tell them,” Spitfire said. “They keep talking about the plan they have.”

“Listen, Spike.” Sweetie Belle leaned closer to the dragon. “We need to know where are the Elements of Harmony. This is the only way to stop that.”

Spike stood up and looked at her unsurely. “You think you possess the power to wield the Elements of Harmony?” he asked. “Are you sure?”

“No,” Sweetie Belle replied. “There’s only one way to check that.”

“That’s insane,” Spike said, watching Sweetie lowering her head. “But if you say so...” He walked through the chamber. They followed him through several staircases, to the northern tower of the castle.

“Here,” Spike said, walking to the table and opening a chest standing on it. “They all turned to stone when... when they died...”

The fillies trotted to the box. Five of the Elements turned into the orbs, but the Element of Magic was still a golden crown. The star in the middle of it, however, was black, as if there was dark smoke inside of it. Sweetie Belle looked at it unsurely.

“Do you think it’th thafe?” Twist asked.

“There’s only one way to be sure...” Sweetie Belle muttered. “We need to take them.” She grabbed the Element of Magic and put it on her head.

”This doesn’t belong to you!” the voice echoed through the room. Sweetie Belle looked around but she couldn’t see her friends. She was in the middle of a dark void, filled with thunder-like echoes of many voices, screaming in pain.

“Why do you think it belongs to you?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Killing so many ponies... Is that what you call ‘harmony’?”

“Don’t you understand?” the voice whispered into her ear. Images of fire and lightnings flashed before Sweetie’s eyes, causing her to shudder. “The princesses were a threat to harmony. The war they started killed almost all the bearers! And now I killed them both, bringing back peace!”

“No!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “You’re not Twilight I know! She’d never do such a thing!”

“Oh really?” A dark silhouette appeared in front of Sweetie. “Believe me, after witnessing so many senseless deaths, it took only a little push to make Twilight what she is now...”

“You’re not her!” Sweetie Belle gritted her teeth, aiming her horn at the silhouette. “The Elements will find new wielders – the true embodiments of harmony!”

“And you think you will be one of them?” The dark silhouette in front of Sweetie became sharper, as if a thick layer of fog between them disappeared. “Did you really believe that draconequus? I have a surprise to you, filly – even if you stop me from killing Cadance and defeat me, all your friends will die, while I’ll be here. And you, my filly, will die first... You practically killed yourself today...”

“No!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, charging her horn. She felt the weight of the Element of Magic on her head. A new energy was entering her body. She closed her eyes and fired a spell at the dark mass in front of her...

The whole chamber started to glow. Five fillies turned their eyes away from Sweetie, who was thrashing on the floor, and looked at five floating orbs. Each of them flew above their heads, changing into a golden necklace.

Scootaloo suddenly remembered the moment when she went back to save Twist, even though she knew what danger was awaiting her. The red gem flashed before her eyes when Element of Loyalty landed on her neck.

Apple Bloom remembered how her honesty caused Zerstörer to help them and how they later saved his life. She looked at the Element of Honesty on her neck and smiled, remembering Applejack.

Silver Spoon looked at the gem in front of her, surprised. She’d never thought herself to be an Element Bearer. Then she remembered how she gave her pearls to the guards who let them into Canterlot; and how she gave her love to Twist. The purple gem of the Element of Generosity shone brightly on her neck.

Twist thought of all those moments she shared with Silver Spoon and how she was always kind for her, even though Silver wasn’t always as good towards her. She remembered how she was stopping the arguments between Silver and Scootaloo. She looked down, staring at the Element of Kindness.

Dinky smiled, remembering all those moments when, even in darkest times, her laugh was helping the others survive. Even though she couldn’t walk, she was always there for her friends, cheering them up. The Element of Laughter rested itself on her neck, shimmering brightly.

“Are you okay, Sweetie?” Scootaloo asked, helping Sweetie up.

“Y-yes,” Sweetie muttered. “We need to be quick! She wants to kill Cadance!”

“So, it worked?” Spitfire asked. “We can carry you there... If we don’t fry on our way...”

“It seems that the magic disappeared...” Spike muttered, looking through the window. “And the sun started to move...”

The fillies took their places on the pegasi and bat ponies’ backs and the group took off, descending towards the ruined part of Canterlot. It was slowly getting darker – the night, first one since the war had started, was taking over.

“There she is!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, pointing at two silhouettes in the middle of the desolated street. “Faster!”

They could now easily see Twilight aiming her horn at Cadance. “It’s even easier than Luna...” she muttered, panting.

“Stop it!” Scootaloo exclaimed, jumping off Firefly’s back and running towards Twilight.

“Stop it?” Twilight smirked, watching the fillies approaching her. “Like you could really do that...”

“I already did, back in the tower,” Sweetie Belle said. “Whatever you are, leave Twilight alone, or else...”

“Or what?” Twilight chuckled. “Just like I told you, Sweetie Belle... You’ve already killed yourself today.”

“Then I’ll take you with me.” Sweetie Belle panted. “Girls! Prepare the Elements!”

“This will never work!” Twilight exclaimed, teleporting out of Sweetie’s way. “You aren’t even half as strong as me and my–” Before she could finish, a rainbow-coloured beam engulfed her, throwing her into the air. Cadance gasped, staring at Twilight’s silhouette, twisting and thrashing in the wave of powerful magic. The air around them went hotter. The six fillies were lifted into the air, rainbow beam connecting them with Twilight.

Finally, they were lowered on the ground. The dark clouds above them dissolved, showing the sky full of stars.

“Twilight!” Cadance exclaimed, running towards the body lying limply in the dirt.

Twilight moved slightly, her ears perking up. She was smaller than before and her coat went back to its original colour. When Cadance stood above her, she opened her eyes and screamed.

“Twilight, dear...” Cadance embraced Twilight. “Is... Is everything okay?”

“No!” Twilight exclaimed. “I... I killed the Princesses... and so many other ponies...” She looked at Twist and Silver Spoon walking towards her along with the rest of their friends. “I wanted to kill you...”

“Something was possessing you,” Sweetie Belle said. “It wasn’t your fault...”

“It was my fault!” Twilight cried, shuddering. “I let this thing possess me! I... I thought I’d be able to end the war... To stop that...”

“We stopped that,” Apple Bloom said. “We will rebuild Equestria...”

“We’re happy that you’re back,” Dinky added.

“No... no...” Twilight sighed. “You will rebuild Equestria, I’m sure... But I... I need some time to think... You may forgive me, but I can’t forgive myself...” She spread her wings and took off.

“Twilight, wait!” Cadance exclaimed. Firefly took off, chasing Twilight, but she came back after a while.

“She teleported,” Firefly said. “She turned to me and said something about looking for a friend that may be still alive...”

Apple Bloom raised her head and turned to Nachtmahr. “While in the Everfree... Have y’all seen any trace of mah sister?”

“We haven’t seen any ponies there,” Nachtmahr replied. “Of course, I was taken prisoner during the battle of Ponyville...”

Zerstörer raised his wing. “There weren’t any ponies there... The ones we know about. We only found an abandoned shack, but I think it was belonging to a zebra. There was a lot of ash on the floor there and guys thought it was some kind of a charm...”

Apple Bloom sighed. “Who knows... Maybe Applejack is somewhere with Zecora...”

“I doubt it...” Nachtmahr muttered. “But of course, there’s a chance...”

“We have bigger worries,” Spitfire said, listing to the radio she was carrying in her battle saddle. “The griffons are still in Cloudsdale... And I’ve received a message than two hundred of them crossed the border and are heading there too...”

“What can we do?” Scootaloo asked. “The army is tired and ponies are probably still fighting each other somewhere...”

“Exactly. And who has Cloudsdale owns the key to the whole Equestria...”

Cadance looked at Spitfire’s radio. “What is its range?”

“I can easily catch Manehattan from here,” Spitfire replied. “Though if we find a large antenna, we can send a message to the whole country...”

“Half of it will be enough for now,” Cadance said. She took a microphone from Spitfire and cleared her throat. “Dear friends... This is Princess Cadance speaking...”

Interlude: Guns of Cloudsdale

View Online

As you know, for over a month, Equestria was in a state of pointless civil war. Today, the war ended tragically – Princesses Celestia and Luna are dead and half of Canterlot was destroyed in the final battle. A battle which nopony won; we all lost.

However, even at the darkest moment, there’s still hope: the new Element Bearers were found and they’ll hopefully lead the country to rise from the ashes.

Unfortunately, the war is far from over. Cloudsdale is still in the claws of enemy and the Crystal Empire had been lost to griffons long time ago. Even though the Emperor didn’t declare war on Equestria, he’s sending his troops to ensure his rule over it.

I know that you are tired. I know that many of you are still mourning their dead. I know that many of you still hate your neighbours who chose the other side of the conflict that almost destroyed Equestria. But I, Princess Cadance, beg you – rise for the last time and fight the enemy.

Please. You’re our only hope.

“Damn,” Pluen muttered. “Are you sure none of them heard that?”

“I told Parasol to confiscate all the radios,” Ragnarok replied. The griffons were sitting in the control room of the weather factory, staring at each other. All eight of them were wearing body armours, just in case. “Once our guys come, we need to lock all those ponies in the basement.”

“I’d shoot them all,” Pluen said. “They will be no longer useful. Also, I wouldn’t trust Parasol. She’s a pony... And she’s already shown that she can be a traitor...”

“What have I done...” Parasol whispered to herself. She was lying on the floor on the lower level of the weather factory, in front of the radio. She’d hidden it when Ragnarok told her to confiscate them.

Tyluan walked to her, stretching his bat-like wings. “Well, it seems that the war is over. It also seems that we’ve won, though I have an unpleasant feeling that sooner or later we’ll get screwed over.” He shrugged. “I’ll tell you how it’ll look like: once the guys in Canterlot are able to find their own ass in the mess they created, they’ll come here, shoot the whole town out of the sky and hang us by our balls as an example for the kids...” He looked at Parasol and scratched his mane. “That is, they’ll hang me... They’ll find something else for you.”

“Don’t you get it?” Parasol asked. “The reinforcements from the Griffon Empire will be here at any moment. They won’t need us anymore. With all the cannons Cloudsdale has, they can defend themselves here for years. I practically gave Equestria to them...”

“Oh.” Tyluan shook his head. “Well, I can see two ways for you now. A honourable way...” He produced a gun from the pocket of his uniform and took all the bullets but one from it. “For you.” He gave Parasol the gun. “Same goes for the rest of the ponies here. We’ll show griffons that we don’t agree with their politics and we’ll achieve a moral victory. How does that sound to you?”

“You can take your honour and stick it up your ass,” Parasol replied, swallowing her tears. “What is the other way?”

“The other way should appeal to the heart of such a dirty little traitor as you...” Tyluan smirked.

“I just got a message,” one of the griffons said. “Adler should be here in two hours.”

“Good,” Ragnarok said. “Tell the crews of the anti-air cannons to hide in the factory. We’ll lock them there.”

“I still think we have to kill them,” Pluen said. “There won’t be enough food supplies for everybody.”

“We’ll see,” Ragnarok replied, tapping his claws against the table.

There was a knock on the door. The eight griffons immediately reached to their weapons, but Ragnarok raised his claw. “Pluen, look who is that,” he ordered.

Pluen walked to the door and looked through the peephole. “It’s Parasol,” she muttered and opened the door. “What do you–”

The first shot deafened everyone in the room. Ragnarok dived under the table, feeling something warm spraying on the walls and his face as Pluen’s body fell limply on the floor. The other griffons raised, but couldn’t do anything to stop bullets aiming at any place not covered by an armour. Screams and cries filled the air, when a group of pegasi and bat ponies ran inside of the room, shooting at the griffons at point-blank range.

Ragnarok gasped when the bullets hit his armour. The energy of impact threw him on the wall. More bullets followed; even though the couldn’t pierce the reinforced plates, they could easily break his ribs underneath them. He coughed up blood and rolled on the floor, struggling to catch a breath.

Time slowed down to a crawl. He was staring at the ceiling; the clouds had now a reddish tint. He heard somepony walking to him and saw Parasol, aiming a gun at his head.

He smirked and coughed. “Do you... shoot everybody... who considers you their friend... in the head?” he asked.

“No,” Parasol deadpanned and pulled the trigger. She threw the gun on his body and turned back to Tyluan and his bat ponies. “Get to the cannons,” she said, her face pale. “We need to welcome our allies...”

Adler, the commander of the two hundred griffons flying above Equestria smirked, seeing his target. Cloudsdale looked quite impressive even for the griffons whose motherland was famous for its cloud cities. He knew from Ragnarok about its impressive anti-air defences and good strategic position – almost in the middle of Equestria, making it a perfect base. Especially now, when they had the Crystal Empire.

“Prepare to land!” he ordered. The first group of ten griffons lowered their flight, heading towards the city.

Suddenly, the air was torn by an explosion. Adler stopped in mid-air watching as shrapnel from a large-caliber cannon round tore a few griffons from the first group to shreds. One of them, missing half of his wing, fell towards the town, straight at the smaller cannons. His armour couldn’t stand a chance against them.

Adler flapped his wings harder as another rounds were fired at them, killing and injuring the griffons. One after one, the explosions were sending waves of shrapnel around, followed by smaller, deadly tracers. Some of the griffons, courageous or insane, were still trying to reach the town, while their companions were running away in panic.

“Retreat!” Adler screamed, feeling a piece of debris hitting his armour. The remains of the avantgarde were already far away from the town. “Retreat outside of their range and regroup!”

The griffons followed his orders, crashing into each other in the air and flying in all the directions. Adler watched in disbelief as over a quarter of his army perished in a battle that only lasted for about two minutes. The rest was slowly gathering around him.

“We should be safe here...” one of the soldiers muttered. At the same moment, a shell exploded above them, sending a rain of lead on their heads. Then the fire ceased.

“Give me the radio!” Adler exclaimed, flying to his adjutant. He grabbed the microphone. “Ragnarok, what the fuck? Why are you shooting at us?”

“Ragnarok is currently not on the radio,” a voice replied. “That is, there may be his brain in here, but I’m not sure...”

“Who are you?” Adler shouted.

“Tyluan,” the voice replied. “Equestrian Air Force.”

“What?” Adler almost crushed the microphone with his claws. “What are you doing there?”

“It’s simple,” Tyluan replied. “Equestria’s territory. Equestrian town. Equestrian Air Force. You clearly came here armed, with intention to attack the town. From what I know, your Emperor doesn’t know shit about your mission. Even better, he says that he’ll gladly make a peace treaty with Equestria, if we give him the Crystal Empire. We accept that... For now.”

Adler felt that his throat was dry. “How about Ragnarok? And the others?”

“We’ll send them back to you,” Tyluan said. “Along with those guys here. We’ll even put the wounded in our hospitals till the get better.”

For a moment, Adler was considering another charge on Cloudsdale. Then he looked at his soldiers – tired after a long flight and scared after witnessing so many of their companions die a sudden death.

“Fine,” he said and threw the microphone away as if it was burning his claws.

“What now?” the adjutant asked.

“We’re going back to the Crystal Empire,” Adler replied.

“How about the Emperor?”

“You’ve heard him...” Adler muttered. “Emperor doesn’t have to know shit...”

“They’re flying away!” Tyluan exclaimed, watching the griffonian formation through the window. He took off in the air and made a somersault. War was truly over now. Even though the Crystal Empire was still ruled by griffons, he was sure that they’d find a way to get it back.

“Parasol!” Tyluan exclaimed. “Where are you? They’re flying away!” He flew down the factory, above the heads of the ponies – some of them cheering, some of them picking up the bodies of dead griffons. “Have any of you seen Parasol?” Tyluan asked.

“She went to the sick bay,” one of the ponies replied. Tyluan rushed there immediately.

He found her, sitting on the hospital bed, staring at the wall with motionless eyes. Tyluan landed on the floor and slowly walked to her, knowing well that it was over. On the nightstand, along with a few empty boxes of sedatives, there was a piece of paper. Tyluan picked it up.

I will always be a traitor.

“No, you won’t...” Tyluan muttered, dropping the paper and embracing Parasol’s cold hoof.

Epilogue

View Online

Canterlot, 3rd May 1010 after Discord.

“So, that’s why I think a war such as the one five years ago will not happen again,” the green mare said to the audience. “Thank you for your attention. Any questions?”

Of course there were questions. Emerald was answering to them quickly. Before the lecture she was very stressed and, in fact, forgot to use the toilet. Now it was getting to her.

Trying not to think about it, she focused on the audience. It consisted mostly of young philosophy student who decided to attend the conference for some unknown reason. There were also a few older ponies. Emerald knew some of them from the university. Professors and their boring theories about war. She didn’t tell anypony about that, but she’d experienced it first-hoof and she liked it.

There was a pony in the audience who stood out among the others. Emerald couldn’t help but look at her. It was a violet pegasus mare with blue and white mane, styled in some crazy fashion. She was wearing a khaki shirt and sunglasses. It bugged Emerald – for some reason she didn’t like ponies who wore sunglasses indoors, unless they were blind. The mare, however, didn’t look like she was blind. She was staring back at Emerald, her expression seemingly indifferent. Her muscles, however, were tense, as if she was readying herself to fly away.

Emerald finally answered to the last question. She thanked the audience one more time and quickly left the lecture hall.

She left her notes in the back-up and trotted to the bathroom. Just when she entered it, a strange pegasus walked behind her.

“Excuse me,” she said, “I wanted to ask a question…”

“You had time after the lecture. I’m sorry, but I really need to…” She went to the stall and closed the door behind her.

When she finished and left the stall, the strange pegasus was still waiting for her. Her expression was no longer indifferent. Instead, she was smirking at Emerald. It wasn’t a pleasant smirk and for a moment Emerald thought about teleporting out of the bathroom. Before she could do that, the mare spoke.

“You seem to know a lot about the causes of wars…” she said.

“Years of studying.” Emerald wanted to trot to the door but the mare was blocking them.

“Well, I have no doubts, Emerald…”

“How do you know my name?” Emerald asked, annoyed. “You could at least take these glasses off, if you really need to talk with me so badly…”

“I’d say we have some friends in common. Perhaps you know Vinyl Scratch…”

“Who?” Emerald suddenly froze. That name certainly rang a bell, but she couldn’t put her hoof on it. She didn’t like the tone the mare used when she mentioned it.

“You don’t remember her? Too bad. I’d say she’s hard to forget. But she’s not the only pony we both know…”

Emerald suddenly felt a sharp pain in her ears. Two loud explosion echoed through the bathroom, deafening her. Too focused on it, she didn’t notice the warm wave spreading in her chest, soon followed by coldness.

“Rainbow Dash sends greetings…” the mare said. She was holding a gun in her hoof. The air smelled of cordite.

Emerald looked down on her chest. To her surprise, she saw two burned holes in her white shirt. For a moment she felt angry – she bought it only recently, after she learned that she’d make a lecture during that conference.

After a second, she realised that the shirt was the least of her problems. Blood was dripping from the wounds, staining the floor red. Emerald didn’t feel pain. The feeling was unpleasant, but she felt strangely calm. She rose her eyes and saw that the mare was now aiming her gun at her head.

“No hard feelings,” she said. “Just primitive instincts…”

Another shot. The bullet left a small hole just below Emerald’s horn. It pierced through her brain with ease, smashing her skull and blowing its contents on the wall behind her. At the last moment of her life she understood everything. The last thing she saw were cyan feathers, some of them stained red, falling down on the ground.

Emerald closed her eyes, ignoring the desperate attempts her mind was making to maintain integrity. She gave up, knowing that it was no use. Before she collapsed on the floor, she was dead.

Cloudchaser sighed, watching the body in front of her. The red puddle was almost reaching her hooves. She thought about Rainbow Dash, who could now sleep in peace, knowing that she was avenged. Cloudchaser tried to smile, but she failed to do so. She just took other pony’s life. It wasn’t something she’d brag about.

The door to the bathroom opened. Cloudchaser spun quickly, aiming her gun at a light pink mare who just entered. She froze upon seeing the dead body of Emerald spread on the tiles. Then she saw the gun and opened her mouth in a silent plea, too paralysed by fear to scream.

Cloudchaser looked deep into the pink mare’s eyes. She could see her reflection in them – a hard-boiled veteran wearing a blood-stained khaki shirt. The sunglasses were obscuring half of her face; the gun in her hoof was ready to fire. She only needed to push the trigger to shut those beautiful eyes forever.

Cloudchaser sighed, thinking about all the murderers she’d read about. Then, still looking into the mare’s eyes, she slowly put the gun down.

“What are you waiting for?” she asked the mare, who backpedalled unsurely. “Call the guards.”

Appleloosa, 5th July 1010 after Discord

It was a warm and sunny day. Little Strongheart was walking to the City Hall to discuss some important matter with Sheriff Silverstar, when suddenly she saw a cream-coloured mare looking around helplessly.

She immediately recognized her. Five years ago, she was among the ponies who arrived to Appleloosa from the refugee camp in Canterlot. She didn’t talk much at that time – as one of the ponies had explained to Little Strongheart, she had been mourning her friend who got killed in a battle. Little Strongheart never asked for the details. During the war, buffalos decided to remain neutral. Of course they provided help for the refugees, but they never bonded with them too much.

Well, the war was over now.

“Excuse me,” Little Strongheart said, “Are you looking for something?”

The cream mare looked at her, startled. “Well, actually I’m looking for someone.” There was sadness in her voice; it seemed that she’d never stopped grieving since the night Little Strongheart saw her first, five years ago. “Do you know a pony called Braeburn?”

Little Strongheart winced. “Of course I know him. Or at least I thought I knew him…”

She was greeted with a blank stare. Apparently the mare was one of those practical, earth pony mares, who preferred to go straight to the point, without unnecessary poetics or beating around the bush.

“Well, Braeburn is now in the same place as always – ‘The Salt Block’.” Little Strongheart pointed at the saloon. The mare looked at it and nodded her head.

“Thanks,” she said and walked away. Little Strongheart only shrugged and trotted to the City Hall.

***

The saloon was almost empty at that time of day, save from the bartender and a bright yellow stallion sitting in the corner with the bottle of whisky. His face was obscured by a Stetson hat. His long mane was dirty and his fur was covered in dust. He seemed to lose a lot of weight recently; ribs were showing underneath his skin and he looked like a strong wind could overturn him.

When the mare entered the saloon, he didn’t even raise his head. She trotted to the bartender.

“Excuse me, is Braeburn here?” she asked.

“He’s there,” the bartender replied without looking at her. He pointed at the corner and went back to polishing the tankards. The mare trotted to the only occupied table in the saloon.

“Good morning,” she said. “My name is Bon Bon. Are you Mr. Braeburn?”

“Don’t mister me, ma’am,” he replied absent-mindedly and drank some whisky from the glass in front of him. “Ah don’t deserve it.”

“I wanted to ask you something…” Bon Bon said unsurely. “I’m from Ponyville and–”

“Haven’t been there in a while,” Braeburn replied. “How it looks like now?”

“Well, almost everything was rebuilt… Only the Carousel Boutique is still in ruins. That poor Sweetie Belle doesn’t want to sell it, and she can’t afford to rebuild it.”

“Who’d say…” Braeburn muttered. “The new Element of Magic doesn’t have money… What happened to this world…” He downed his glass of whisky and poured himself another one.

“Well, I wanted to talk about something else… During the war, you served in one detachment with my marefriend…” Bon Bon paused and blew her nose. “Her name was Lyra Heartstrings…”

For the first time during that conversation, Braeburn looked directly at her. She froze upon seeing his bloodshot, green eyes.

“She’s dead,” he stated simply and took a sip of his whisky.

“Yes, but… I never learned how she died… Did… did she suffer… Did she… did she say something about me…”

“Ask my cousin,” Braeburn replied. “He was there too, he should know better.”

“I already did. He didn’t want to tell me anything. Apple Bloom said that he doesn’t speak since the war ended. Not that he was very talkative before, but–”

“Yeah, I know Big Mac. How about Black Marble?”

“That unicorn? He committed suicide soon after the war. Please… I want to know… I need to know.”

“Trust me: you don’t. Some things are better left unknown… Ah learned that the hard way…” He downed his whisky and looked at the now empty bottle.

“B-but… Did she do something bad before she died?” Bon Bon was now sobbing openly. Braeburn watched her for a few minutes and shook his head.

“No, it’s not her… It’s us. We protected her with all our might… But we failed. We couldn’t save her...”

“It’s not your fault… There was a battle, and she was only a radio operator…”

“Oh, Bon Bon… If only ya knew…”

“But I want to know! And I don’t know only because you don’t want to tell me!” Bon Bon shouted. The bartender looked at them, seemingly uninterested.

“Well, Ah can only tell ya that she died happy…” Braeburn said, carefully choosing every word. An image of that day, almost five years ago appeared in his memory. Bon Bon couldn’t hear that story. Even he didn’t want to know it. “Her last words were that she was okay… And soon she’d be even better… when she’d get to ya. Ah can tell ya, wherever Lyra is now, she surely feels better.”

Bon Bon wiped her tears. She was shivering slightly.

“Thank you,” she whispered. She slowly walked out of the saloon. Braeburn looked through the window watching as she went to the train station, barely containing herself from crying loud. He sighed, recalling the exact circumstances of Lyra’s death. Her empty eyes and unnaturally high-pitched voice. The bodies scattered on the snow. The gun wrapped in her magic. They all were the last things he wanted Bon Bon to know.

He stood up, trotted to the bar and ordered another bottle of whisky.

Zebrica, 3rd July 1015 after Discord

She was exhausted. Her lungs were burning and her stomach was twisting after spending a few days in the desert. The supply of water kept getting smaller and she had no big hopes. Her wings were useless – during her travel, she spent more time hiding them than using them to fly. She had never been good at it. All she had were her hooves, her magic, and hope.

Hope. She'd heard the legends. In the markets of Saddle Arabia she found apples of a familiar taste. She heard about a famous zebra shaman who came back to her village after spending years in foreign countries.

In the markets of Saddle Arabia, she first heard about a village in Zebrica where, against the harsh weather, a single pony among the zebras was growing her small apple orchard.

Hope. It was the only thing that mattered.

Through the desert. Step by step through the dunes.

Where the apples were growing.

Ponyville, 13th November 1015 after Discord

A bat filly jumped from the apple tree. She hovered for a few yards before landing on the grass. Apple Bloom watched her for a moment before she trotted to another tree and bucked it hard. The filly immediately ran to her, laughing.

“Silver! Can ya tell her not to run here? Ah don’t want her to be hit with an apple…”

“Diamond! Come here! No! No flying… Just come here…” Silver Spoon shouted. The filly ignored her, instead flapped her wings and hovered few inches above the ground.

“Let her fly, Silver…” Twist, who was sitting in the shadow of an apple tree reading a book, said. “She’s learning so quickly…”

“Yeah, at that pace we’ll need a leash soon…” Silver replied. Apple Bloom collected the apples and walked to them, wiping sweat from her forehead. She looked around and saw Wrench walking from the other side of the orchard, together with her two foals. Both of them, a filly called Joy and a colt called Spanner, were mules. They soon joined Diamond in the attempts to reach apples hanging from the tree.

“Hi girls,” Wrench said. “Scrap Yard said dat he’s gonna finish applebucking in da west orchard soon. And I fixed yer cider-making thingy.”

“Yeah, Ah saw it,” Apple Bloom replied. “Are ya sure ya ain’t Flim and Flam’s family? It now looks similar…”

“Never heard of ‘em. It’s my own design.”

The foals started to laugh; Diamond managed to take off the ground and was now flying clumsily around the tree, chased by Joy and Spanner. Twist and Silver Spoon got up and trotted to her.

“Good for her she found a lovin’ family,” Apple Bloom said. “Though, to be honest, Ah don’t feel comfortable with a bat pony here…” She waved her hoof around, pointing at the new orchard and the rebuilt house on the top of the hill. In the distance, Big Macintosh was still bucking the trees silently.

“Diamond’s only three years old… She has nothing to do with the ponies who did this…” Twist said.

“C’mon, Apple Bloom…” Wrench patted her back. “Mules were involved in dat too, and ya have nothin’ ‘gainst my kids…”

Apple Bloom nodded. She cracked a small smile looking at the filly who was now sitting on the branch and throwing apples to Wrench’s children.

“Who knows, maybe soon we’ll ask Scootaloo to give her a few flying lessons…” Silver Spoon said. “She already knows the basics…”

“By the way, where’s she?” Twist asked. Apple Bloom didn’t reply at first, watching the path leading to that part of the orchard.

“Ah think Ah see Sweetie and Dinky,” she said. Indeed a few minutes later the two unicorns joined them. Dinky, the youngest of them, waved at them cheerfully. She was getting better in using her magic to power her wheelchair and even levitating herself. When Apple Bloom last visited her in the Golden Oaks Library, she was surprised with her magic prowess.

Sweetie, on the other hand, sat on the grass next to Twist saying nothing. She was also living in the library, helping Dinky. Apple Bloom knew what it was about – every time she had to walk next to the burned remains of Carousel Boutique, chill was running down her spine. Luckily, recently Sweetie had it demolished and was preparing to rebuild it.

“So, it seems that almost all of us are here…” said Dinky. “But where’s Scootaloo?”

“I just asked Apple Bloom the same thing,” Twist said. Apple Bloom sighed.

“She’s in Canterlot. You know, it’s an anniversary today…”

Everypony nodded in silence. Ten years before, Rainbow Dash died attacking an airship that was going to destroy the dam and flood Ponyville. In a cruel twist of fate, it was the same day when Scootaloo got her cutie mark.

“I barely see her in Ponyville…” Dinky said. “It’s like she almost moved to Canterlot…”

“You know, she’s doing what her cutie mark tells her…” Silver Spoon explained. She didn’t sit with them, too busy trying to catch Diamond, who was running away from her, laughing.

“Scootaloo decided to become a soldier,” Apple Bloom said. “She wants to join the same squadron Rainbow Dash was in.”

“Not the best idea of her, if you ask me,” Silver Spoon muttered. “I know Equestria lives at peace since Cadance rules, but it can change soon…”

“Crystal Empire…” Sweetie whispered. She shuddered visibly.

“Once Cadance feels we’re strong enough, she may want to reclaim it…” Twist said. Again, they went silent for a few minutes.

“And we all know Scootaloo is not the type who’d sit at home when others are fighting…” Apple Bloom said. “Ah’d say she thinks she’s Rainbow Dash or something…”

“It could’ve gotten worse…” Dinky observed. “At least she found Rumble…”

“Yeah, and they enlisted together… They’re both the same – you know, Rumble’s brother also died in that battle…” Apple Bloom said. Silver Spoon joined them with Diamond, who sat on the grass next to her, eating an apple. Even Apple Bloom couldn’t help but smile seeing that. Meanwhile, Wrench got up to play tag with Joy and Spanner.

“You know, I keep telling Sweetie that she should find herself a coltfriend,” Dinky chuckled. “Really Sweetie, you’re so stressed recently…”

“Oh, don’t worry about me,” Sweetie replied. “I’m okay. I’m just a little sick.”

“Yeah, you didn’t tell me what the doctor told you yesterday.” Dinky poked her. Sweetie rubbed her hind leg unconsciously.

“I’ll get better soon,” she replied. “Really, it’s nothing serious.”

“Well, Ah hope ya will,” Apple Bloom said. “Ya really scared us last time…”

“Don’t worry, Apple Bloom…” Sweetie smiled. “I guess even the Apples sometimes break a leg while trying to buck trees…”

“Yes, but your buck wasn’t that strong… No offence. And when ya passed out…” Apple Bloom shuddered. She didn’t tell anypony, but when she saw unconscious Sweetie lying on her bed, it instantly reminded her the vision she had when she was a filly, soon after Princess Luna spoke to her.

“It’s nothing. The doctor said that I have anemia, but I changed my diet, so I should get better…”

“Well, good thing that you managed to heal your leg…” Dinky laughed. “One pony who can’t walk is enough…”

“Yeah, sure…” Sweetie’s head drooped. Twist began to cheer her up, as she usually did, but she didn’t listen. Her friends soon changed topic, talking about little Diamond’s recent progresses, applebucking, jewellery trade, all those aspects of their everyday life. Sweetie Belle, however, remained silent.

She just couldn’t tell them what the doctor said.

Ponyville, 12th October 1015 after Discord

“Good morning, Ms. Belle,” Doctor Stable said. “How are you feeling today?”

“Still not the best. I felt so weak in the morning that I couldn’t get out of bed. And the vision in my left eye is still blurry…” She sat on the chair in front of the doctor’s desk and rubbed her hind leg. She’d used illusion to cover the shaven patch of fur in the place where she had a biopsy. She didn’t know exactly why she did this. Maybe it was because she felt that her friends were already too worried about her.

“Well, I checked the results of the examinations we’d performed. First, your blood test results shown pancytopenia. It means that the level of all the blood cells is lowered. You may have passed out because of anaemia…”

“So, it’s just anaemia?” Sweetie asked. “That explains why I’m so weak… I need to eat more iron, I guess…”

“Well, Ms. Belle, I’m afraid it’s not so simple,” Dr. Stable replied. He looked worried and Sweetie Belle suddenly felt cold. Such a look never meant good news. “Not only the level of your red blood cells is lowered, white blood cells and platelets too. I’m afraid it’s an aplastic anaemia.”

“So… it has nothing to do with the iron?” Sweetie shuddered.

“Well, it usually happens when the bone marrow stops to produce the cells for some reason.”

“Was that also why my leg broke?” Sweetie asked. “The bone snapped like a twig and I fainted when I tried to regenerate it…”

Doctor Stable looked grim. Over the last ten years his mane went grey; now he was yanking it with his hoof.

“I guess the results of the muscle biopsy will explain that,” he said. “They’re… unusual, that’s the best word I think. Most of the cells in your hind leg are dying…”

“What?” Sweetie’s eyes widened in horror. She looked at her hind legs – they looked normal, just how they looked since the day the powerful wave of her own magic caused them to regrow.

You practically killed yourself today...

“Patients with muscular dystrophy usually have similar cells,” he explained. “It’s like they’re shutting themselves down – they stop dividing and then die.”

“Do you know why does it happen?” Sweetie asked. Her voice cracked and she had to wipe her eyes.

“Well… I have a theory… Ms. Belle, I’m not sure if I should continue…”

“Tell me everything.” Suddenly her voice hardened. “I want to know what’s going on…”

“Well, I’d have to start with a little lecture about cell biology,” he said. “At the end of the DNA of every cell there are sequences called telomeres. With each division they shorten a bit and when they’re gone, the cell can’t divide anymore. Usually, they last for the whole life.”

Sweetie gasped. Suddenly, she understood everything.

“So when I regenerated my legs and eye…”

“I’m afraid you accidentally depleted your cells’ natural ability to divide and now it’s taking its toll… That’d explain your weakness and vision problems. We’d have to perform an OCT of your retina, but I think I know what it’ll show… That’s, however, not all… Some of your cells started to produce telomerase – an enzyme that elongates telomeres after each division.”

“So, I’ll get better?” Sweetie asked unsurely. Doctor Stable looked deeply into her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “They can still divide, but it’s an uncontrollable process… I’m afraid you have cancer… Sarcoma, to be more precise… And probably a similar thing happens in your bones – that’s why you broke your leg…”

Sweetie listened to that calmly. “How much time do I have?” she asked. “How long before...”

“Well, if sarcoma didn’t start to metastasize, we can still cure you… But it won’t be easy. We’ll probably have to amputate your legs, then start chemotherapy and radiotherapy… And we’ll have to make a bone marrow transplantation to cure aplastic anaemia…”

Sweetie didn’t reply at first. She thought about the long and probably painful therapy she’d have to endure. Then she thought what would her friends say. Then, the image of Dinky and her motionless legs appeared in her mind.

“What if… What if I didn’t want that… If I’d want to just… just spend some time with my friends…”

“Well, I usually don’t estimate…” Doctor Stable saw her expression and decided to continue. “I’d say a few months… And, I won’t beat around the bush, it’ll get painful…”

“Don’t worry about that,” Sweetie said. “When it happens, I’ll know what to do…”

He was surprised by the determination in her voice. For some reason, it reminded him of Fluttershy. The Element Bearers, he thought. When death is imminent, they just embrace it.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t make such decision now. You should go home, talk about it with your friends…”

“I don’t think I’ll change my mind, but thank you,” she replied. “Goodbye, doctor…” She stood up and left the office.

When she got back to the library, Dinky and Spike were reshelving books. Sweetie Belle looked at them and smiled faintly. With the help of her magic, Dinky could easily move every object she wanted – her disability was never an obstacle. For a moment she thought about what Doctor Stable told her, but then she shook her head; she’d already lost her legs once and didn’t want to experience that again.

“So, what the doctor said?” Dinky asked.

“He said that I’m okay,” Sweetie replied, avoiding eye contact with her. “Did somepony ask for me when I was gone?”

“Apple Bloom dropped in,” Spike said. “She invited us to the Sweet Apple Acres tomorrow. And Scootaloo was here. She’s going to Canterlot…”

“Canterlot?” Sweetie asked. “I wonder what she’s doing there…”

Canterlot, 13th November 1015 after Discord

The inscription on the tombstone was almost completely obscured by the fresh flowers. Scootaloo didn’t have to read it – she knew it by heart. “Rainbow Dash, born 17th July 979, died 13th November 1005. A loyal friend, daughter and sister” was all it read. Scootaloo sat by the grave.

“Well, Rumble and I are now getting used to fly in those new armours,” she said. “It’s a bit weird when you don’t feel the weight of the cannon, but these crystals are really cool. There’s even one that protects from bullets… Too bad, I’m still not as good in flying as Rumble… Not to mention you… But I’m really trying…”

“She’d be proud of you, kid,” she heard a voice above her. When she looked up, she saw two pegasi mares. She knew them both.

After her sister was arrested, Flitter became the leader of the squadron. She was wearing her ceremonial uniform and had a bunch of flowers in her hoof.

The other mare was flying a bit clumsily, but no one in the Canterlot Air Base ever dared to laugh at her. Her amber mane started to go grey prematurely, but it only made her appearance more august. Lightning Dust landed next to Scootaloo and tucked her wings. There was a large scar on the left one.

After the war, Lightning Dust spent almost a year recovering from her mental problems. It came as a surprise to many when she decided that she wanted to go back to the army. She passed all the psychological tests, but didn’t become a fighter again – her wing was too weak.

Luckily for her, General Tungsten Heart, the head of the Equestrian Army, decided that her experience and knowledge would still be beneficial for the new recruits. When Lightning Dust was offered the position of the instructor, she didn’t have to think twice.

“I saw you flying today,” she said. “Dash would really be proud.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Scootaloo replied, her cheeks red.

In fact, she was a bit sick of comparisons with Rainbow Dash. Everypony who was in squadron since the Permanent Twilight War – Flitter, Snowflake, Stormfeather, Cloud Break and Cinnamon Swirl – was making them since the day she’d joined the army. Same with Spitfire, who’d become the marshal of the Air Force. “Squirt” became her callsign, even though she insisted on being called “Scoots”. Deep inside, she knew that she’d never be as good as Rainbow Dash.

Her confusion didn’t go unnoticed.

“I kinda know what you feel,” Flitter said. “Everypony compares me to my sister…”

“How’s she, by the way?” Lightning Dust asked. “I was really shocked when she… You know, she always seemed so reasonable…”

“Yeah…” Flitter nodded. She shot a nervous glance at Rainbow Dash’s grave. “Cloud Kicker also seemed reasonable, till she crashed those airships… Cloudchaser is okay, but I think soon she’ll get worse...”

“What do you mean?” Scootaloo asked. “You know, I thought about what she did… I think that if I knew, I’d do the same thing…”

“She’d tell you that it’s in every pegasus’ DNA or something…” Flitter rolled her eyes. “Primitive instincts or something like that… Well, even she succumbed to them…”

“Well, not all the pegasi are killers…” Lightning Dust said. “Dust Devil, for example… She and Stormfeather have a foal…” Her voice faltered a bit and she looked at Scootaloo.

Scootaloo knew what it was about. When she’d joined the air force, Lightning Dust still had some minor freakouts when remembering that she was among the foals accidentally bombed by her. After the first day of training they met and Scootaloo forgave her.

“You were wounded. It wasn’t your fault,” she’d told her.

“That’s exactly what Rainbow Dash told me…” Lightning Dust had replied.

That’s probably why they started to compare us… Scootaloo thought. That reminded her of something. “You said that Cloudchaser will soon get worse…” she said to Flitter. “What did you mean?”

“Don’t you know?” Flitter asked. “All appeals were exhausted. They’re gonna kill her tonight…”

Canterlot, 14th November 1015

It was still dark when Cloudchaser was waked up. She looked around groggily when the light of the torch was directed on her face. She felt grumbling in her stomach – she’d decided to go crazy with her last meal and ordered a traditional griffonian dish – a spicy tripe soup, known among griffons to be the perfect cure against hangover.

Princess Cadance cared well about her subjects, even those who were about to be executed; Cloudchaser was given the tripe soup, and ate it in no time. The taste was certainly interesting. Cloudchaser didn’t know about its effectiveness against hangover, as well as about the effect of the dish on her system. She didn’t think she’d ever learn about it. She knew that after the bullets pierced her body, she’d lose control over her bowels regardless of what she’d eaten before.

Cloudchaser got up slowly and walked out of her cell. She thought about all the efforts Flitter made to delay her execution.

First she protested against hanging. Cloudchaser actually supported that protest – that method was especially cruel for pegasi, as it involved breaking or restraining wings. The judges also agreed, but hanging was only one of the options they had in store.

Whoever came up with that questionnaire, had a peculiar sense of humour, Cloudchaser thought. One day, she was simply given a piece of parchment with listed options, such as decapitation, gas chamber, or being killed by magic. For a while, she’d considered the last one. It was said to be the most reliable and least painful. However, she’d finally decided that she wanted to be executed by a firing squad.

She started to walk down the corridor, surrounded by four guards. Maybe I chose it because I used to be a soldier… Or maybe it just feels right – I shot Emerald, now they’re going to shoot me… she thought. She knew how it felt to be shot – even after ten years, her leg was still aching from time to time. Sure, the bullet deflected off the armour, breaking her bone, but still it counted. Cloudchaser smirked; in her life she’d avoided many bullets. Now it was time to face them.

When all the other attempts failed, Flitter wanted Cloudchaser to plead insanity. Cloudchaser protested against that. Killing Emerald was her own decision, which she made herself, being fully aware of the consequences. Definitely, she wasn’t insane. If she was, all the pegasi were.

The Code. She broke it twice in her life, and each time it was connected with the will to take revenge. First time, ten years before, when she tried to strangle that poor Vinyl Scratch. And then, five years later when she’d gone to the Equestrian Philosophers’ Association conference with only one aim – to find and kill Emerald Clover, the pony who’d killed Rainbow Dash.

Now it was time to pay for that. Cloudchaser got to the end of the corridor, where a group of ponies was awaiting her. She held her head high when she greeted the prison governor and a couple of witnesses. When she’d last met Flitter, she’d told her not to come, but she was surprised to find out that her sister wasn’t there. Apparently, none of the Emerald’s family members appeared either. Behind the witnesses, she saw five ponies wielding rifles – the firing squad.

It was interesting that in the last moments of her life she was able to remember every detail of their appearance. Three unicorns and two earth ponies; one of the unicorns was light blue, two others were of different shades of brown; the first earth pony was green, of almost the same shade as Emerald; the other was white. Their cutie marks were connected with guns; a crosshair, a couple of bullets, a rifle, a target board and a pistol. She started to wonder how did they got them. Then she started to think if they had families; and if they had, did they had to explain to their foals what they were doing for a living.

They’re probably paid extra for that… Who knows, maybe one of them will buy something nice for their kid…

The prison governor, an overweight, brown earth pony wearing a fancy suit, approached her.

“Ms. Cloudchaser,” he said, avoiding eye contact with her. “I… umm… if you want, we can give you some sedatives, so it’d be… umm… easier for you.”

“No, thanks,” she replied. “I’m being punished here, right? You could’ve just shoot me in my cell when I was asleep, if you didn’t want me to suffer.”

“Okay then…” he said. He lifted a black hood and gave it to her.

So much for looking into the eyes of the firing squad…

“Please, put it on…”

She did as he said. She couldn’t see anything when she was led to the chamber, but she knew how it looked like. There was a layer of sandbags behind her, to prevent any ricochets. Each of the rifles was loaded by the prison official before the members of the squad could take them. There was a blank cartridge in one of the rifles, so they could feel better about killing her. Cloudchaser smirked under her hood when she heard the hoofsteps of the squad.

“Any last words?” The prison governor asked.

Cloudchaser heard about some convicts who prepared lengthy speeches. Some of them were still quoted in the death row of the Canterlot Correction Facility. She didn’t want to be like them. At first she wanted to say something like “I regret nothing”, but she knew it wasn’t true. She regretted many things. She regretted that she couldn’t take better care of Flitter when their mother died; she regretted that she didn’t notice when Cloud Kicker slid down the path of drugs and Prince Blueblood’s propaganda, which eventually killed her; she regretted almost killing Vinyl Scratch, who was just the first pony wearing the Moon Army uniform she’d seen after Rainbow Dash died; she regretted not flying to destroy the airship instead of her.

She wanted something simple that’d fully express all her feelings. She thought about all her friends and relatives who died in various wars. Zebrica, Changeling Territories, civil war... Her father, uncle, grandfather, cousin… She thought about the late Princesses, who did everything to protect their subjects from suffering… And about those who died helping them.

“Thank you, Equestria,” she said, trying not to laugh hysterically. “Thank you for making me what I am today…”

She stood straight, waiting for the bullets to tear her body apart. She waited for almost a minute before she realised that something was wrong.

“Excuse me, Ms. Cloudchaser,” the prison governor said. If it was possible, he was even more embarrassed than before. “There’s somepony here, who wants to talk with you…”

“Flitter, for fuck’s sake…” she muttered when her hood was lifted.

The pony in front of her wasn’t Flitter. It wasn’t even a pegasus.

“Prince Shining Armor,” Cloudchaser said. “Do you chat with every pony sentenced to death, or should I feel flattered?”

“Well, that’s what I wanted to talk about,” Shining Armor replied. “Can we get out of here?”

They walked out of the chamber and Cloudchaser was seated on a chair next to a small coffee table. There was even coffee on it. Apparently, the witnesses of the execution needed something to drink while watching a pony being shot.

“So, what’s this all about?” Cloudchaser asked. She couldn’t believe that she was actually annoyed that she wasn’t dead yet.

“Ms. Cloudchaser, as you may know, Equestria is at the edge of war again… My wife and I think that it’s time to reclaim the Crystal Empire we lost to griffons ten years ago. We’ll need every experienced soldier… Even the ones who should now be dead.”

“So that’s what you propose?” Cloudchaser shouted. She didn’t care that he was a prince; the blood rushed in her veins when she continued. “You’ve probably heard my last words and you still want me to take part in the first war with the Griffon Empire that ponies are going to start? Well, if such things happen in Equestria, I’d rather be shot. Thank you for your offer, but I have to refuse. Guards! Lead me back to the chamber.”

Shining Armor’s expression remained indifferent. For a moment he just looked at Cloudchaser silently. She already stood up and let the guards put the hood on her head again.

“You know, your sister already said that she’ll fight for us, no matter how dangerous task we’ll give to her squadron…”

Cloudchaser stopped in her tracks. So, it’d come to this. The prince of Equestria and brother of Twilight Sparkle came there to blackmail her. She felt sick and it had nothing to do with the tripe soup.

If that’s how Equestria is supposed to be like, I’d really rather be dead than live to see this. But Flitter… I told mom that I’ll protect her…

“Ms. Cloudchaser?” the guard asked. “Should we…”

Cloudchaser didn’t reply. Thoughts were racing through her mind, but she couldn’t decide.

Deep inside, she wasn’t sure if any of the choices would be good.

A Kingdom Divided

by Samey90

1. Intro - Twilight Sparkle

2. Vinyl Scratch

3. Rainbow Dash

4. Fluttershy

5. Scootaloo

6. Rainbow Dash

7. Apple Bloom

8. Rarity

9. Applejack

10. Princess Celestia

11. Big Macintosh

12. Cloudchaser

13. Vinyl Scratch

14. Scootaloo

15. Firefly

Interlude – Against The Sun

16. Twilight Sparkle

17. Twist

18. Silver Spoon

19. Apple Bloom

20. Cadance

21. Scootaloo

22. Sweetie Belle

23. Silver Spoon

24. Pinkie Pie

25. Twilight Sparkle

26. Sweetie Belle

Interlude: Guns of Cloudsdale

Epilogue