Crimson Dawn defends Equestria from King Sombra as Princess Celestia allies with an American fleet. All of Equestria must work to prevent Sombra from ruling the world and expanding his empire into that of Earth.
Princess Luna has been assassinated. In order to revive her sister, Celestia ventures to the east of Griffonstone. After a 'minor' mishap, she allies with an American fleet to get to the Dominion of Apollo, where an answer may be had.
In her absence, Princess Twilight and Princess Cadence rule Equestria. They keep Crimson Dawn as the military commander because of his effectiveness in achieving victory on the battlefield. What happens while they work could never be expected. It is over the top, even for their enemy, King Sombra, and the Crystal Empire.
As he fights off the Crystal Empire's armies, Colonel Crimson Dawn deals with memories of past wars, past battles. And it's up to the epitomes of friendship to help him get through the flashbacks.
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All flashback chapters are denoted with a (FB) symbol.
The train pulled into Ponyville Station. It was midnight, just two days after the Crystal Empire retreated from Manehattan. The moon was out and shining down on the army as its weary soldiers slowly walked off. They were more relieved than anything.
Crimson Dawn walked over to the pink alicorn waiting in the darkness of the night. He saluted her, and she nodded acknowledgment. A purple alicorn trotted over to them, coming from the crystal tree on the outskirts of town.
“Princess Cadence. Princess Twilight. It's good to actually meet you.”
“Colonel Dawn. I must thank you for your service in the past few months. You have been central to the successful defense of Manehattan.” Cadence replied. Her mane flowed with the steady breeze just starting to pick up. Beside her, Twilight’s mane did the same.
“How are the accommodations in Everfree Castle?”
“They aren’t the best, Colonel, but they do fine. After all, we are talking about a ruin.”
“Yes. But it should be the safest place in Equestria.” Crimson smiled. “If you don’t mind, Princess Twilight, I’ll set up headquarters in your castle.”
“Go ahead. If you think that’d be best, I won’t be the pony to object.”
Crimson saluted the two and turned to organize the offloading army. He met up with his commanders: the midnight-blue Captain Midnight Shadow, the aluminum-coated Lieutenant Silver Comet, and the white-freckled Major Dazzleflash. They all enjoyed the star-filled sky and spent the night setting up the camp.
The next morning, the second of four trains arrived to unload more of the army and some prisoners of war. Among them was Major Crystal Snow, a Crystal Earth mare who had led the Crystal Empire for the majority of the Manehattan Siege. Her deep blue coat contrasted the early-morning sky quite well, and her black gemless crown sat atop her head, waiting for its spots to be filled by crystals taken by Sombra over a year ago.
The rear of the second train carried the three steam tanks from Atlantis. Their crews swung down ramps, and the steel behemoths drove off the rail car. The noise woke many Ponyville citizens, and they were shocked to see their ally’s weapons of war. Most complained to Twilight about the tanks, but the princess knew she would surely lose without them.
The third and fourth trains offloaded yet more supplies and soldiers. The logistics tents were set up, and Crimson began the process of turning the practical ragtag militia of a force into a machine designed to crank out victory after victory. He knew the determination and courage was already there; he just had to craft and shape it. To turn this defensive war back in favor of Equestria, his troops would need all the training they could get.
It was a peaceful movement of supplies. The relocation of the Equestrian army to the small town went without a hitch. Protected by a magical shield boosted by the Tree of Harmony, they were impervious to most if not all attacks by Sombra. One night two weeks later, the whole situation changed from a fairly bad one to worse.
Queen Chrysalis had grown tired of watching while King Sombra wasted his forces on northern Equestria. As she sat on the sidelines, the love for lost soldiers in both nations had skyrocketed, meaning a plentiful supply of food for years to come. And with the two opponents weakened by war, it was the perfect time to strike.
The Changeling queen decided to attack Appleloosa at some point in the campaign. The small town was just south of the current residence of the Elements of Harmony, and within striking distance of Canterlot. But first she would annex Baltimare, a bustling coastal city that had lost many ponies in the Manehattan Siege. Grievances meant love, and love meant food. It was the perfect first target for her starving army. Once they reached full strength, her soldiers would be able to take on Celestia’s army head to head.
The only problem, however, was that group of metal warships that suddenly appeared off the coast not a month ago. It was obvious that the Changelings would never be able to conquer and/or destroy it. Something had to be done in the next day or so unless Chrysalis wanted to die. The alien fleet would have to be annihilated, and Chrysalis knew just the pony to do it.
King Sombra almost laughed at the Changeling queen’s request. She wanted him to blow up steel ships that weren't even doing jack squat. But he managed not to and told her the request would be considered. If he didn't actually destroy the entire fleet in one shot, whoever the hell was left would take it as a declaration of war.
He had bigger concerns than Chrysalis’s games. She could handle a few steel monstrosities. Meanwhile, Sombra wanted to remove the remaining Equestrian princesses from office. The two that still ran Equestria were behind a magic barrier, protected from any attack. Their army was also just next to their location, taking a frontal assault out of the picture. But with the Gem…
That was certainly a possible choice. No Equestrian barrier - hell, no barrier whatsoever - could stand up to its power. And Chrysalis had asked him to use it on something he could very easily miss. What a pitiful request.
He called for his military adviser, the crystalline General Shattered Hope. When the general came forward, Sombra ordered him to power up the Gem. Equestria was going to pay dearly for its resistance.
“Sir, where shall I aim its targeting mirror?”
“The Everfree Forest. Prepare for an immediate attack on the neighboring town to begin directly after we fire.”
Shattered Hope turned to relay the orders. But before he went, Sombra had one more request. “Bring me Major Snow’s sister. She has something that may be of value to us.”
Crystal Snow, former commander of Sombra’s Eastern Imperial Army, now stood before a small trial where princesses Cadence and Twilight tried to figure out what to do. They couldn’t just hand her back, but keeping the Major was easier said than done. She was an enemy commander, so the prisoners of war would no doubt rally behind her if she asked them to.
The two finally came to a decision. “Major Snow, if we were to request that you join our own ranks as comrade, friend, and family,-” Twilight glanced at Crimson, who stood to the side- “would you be willing to accept? Considering that the ponies you and those under your command told us of Sombra’s mining operations, we are willing to make it one of our priorities in an offensive campaign to relieve the families affected by it.” Cadence asked.
The Crystal Earth pony was taken slightly aback by the offer. Becoming a turncoat? There was no honor whatsoever in a traitor’s words, no matter the situation, the assurance, the truth in their eyes. It was an issue that she swore never to come across. But, in the light of the Princess of Friendship’s eyes, Cadence’s voice, and the concern spread across her cousin’s face, she knew it would difficult, if not impossible, to make this decision.
“If you would allow me, Princesses, I would prefer a couple days to consider your offer. Changing sides is a grave matter.”
“Very well.” Twilight’s voice was almost full of relief. Relief that the mare actually took things like this seriously. “We’ll give you until this Thursday. Remember, there is no dishonor in turning down the offer.”
“Thank you, Princess. Rest assured that I will have the answer you seek by then.” Crystal Snow walked out of the Ponyville Town Hall escorted by two Equestrian soldiers. Looking sideways at their faces, she could’ve sworn these guys were the same one that originally took her prisoner.
In the building, Crimson didn’t believe she would accept. No member of the Crystal Army would turn coat if they wanted their families to live. Twilight agreed with him, and so did Cadence, but they wanted her to have the option anyway. But if Crystal Snow did join them, they would hold to their promise of bringing her family out of the Crystal Empire.
Afterwards, it was off to some pretty slice-of-life stuff, at least when compared to being under siege. Cider season was coming to a close over at Sweet Apple Acres, and Applejack had reserved quite a few barrels for the Equestrian army. She originally planned on sending them to Manehattan, but kept the cider when she learned that the army was coming to town. Applejack would hoof it over when they arrived. Also, Rainbow Dash was recruiting a few local Pegasi to be Wonderbolts. Crimson smiled when he remembered only Celestia had the authority to authorize something like that, but Rainbow was a Wonderbolt.
Among those recruited was a grey wall-eyed mare. The mailpony didn’t start with high coordination, but steadily improved over time. That made sense; practice makes perfect, and the mare, nicknamed Derpy, had joined Rainbow last week. Still, watching her be coached by the blue Pegasus proved to be quite entertaining. The successful sessions, which were next to none, gave Rainbow that glimmer of hope she needed to continue training Derpy.
Today’s training was over Sweet Apple Acres. It was quite convenient timing as well, considering Crimson and Twilight arrived right as it was beginning. The colonel resisted the urge to show off his own flying skills, acquired from battle against the Dominion. But after Twilight’s friendly teasing, he placed his saddlepack on the ground using his robotic left wing and took off.
Crimson was at Rainbow and Derpy’s height in less than six seconds. He had flapped his wings only twice, reaching the low altitude of thirty meters. His speed impressed even Rainbow, and she instantly challenged him to a race right then, from there to Twilight’s castle. Crimson accepted.
Soon, the two were in front of the barn. Crimson was still on the ground, donning his gear, which Rainbow thought was completely unnecessary. He didn’t have to make it so that she would easily. But as he finished and flew to her, just over the barn, Crimson’s eyes shot open wider than somepony who just woke up from a nightmare.
In the colonel’s mind, he was back in Atlantis, with Nautinia at his back. His cocky Pegasus sister Crystal Shard stood next to him, her azure eyes staring into his hazel ones. This was probably the last time the siblings would be able to talk normally.
Dark clouds covered the sky above their opponent. A mile away, protected by magical barriers the Atlantean Unicorns were ready to try to break, lay the Domination Army. Thousands of tents and siege equipment were sprawled across the landscape, which was itself no longer anything more than cratered hills and littered with the bodies of the dead, both Atlantean and Dominion. Four long months of artillery and trench warfare quickly created a no-mare’s-land between the city and its attackers.
But today was no ordinary part of the siege, holding back enemy forces. No, this time would be different. Today, as the Domination Army approached the trenches, Atlantis would hit it with everything they had. If they lost, so be it. Crimson and the rest of the 16th Aerostrike Regiment would rather go down with a fight.
Crystal Shard was getting restless. The 1st and 7th Aerostrike Regiments had already gone into action, taking out key ponies leading the Dominion operation. They were up next, ordered to assist the 3rd Division, comprised of five regiments: 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th. Though the 13th was the unluckiest group of bastards anypony could see, having lost all but literally seventeen ponies, they fought like hell. And the 16th Aerostrike was to keep 13 alive in five minutes.
Crimson found himself pacing the runway with his wingman, Midget Shortwit. He would have preferred to have his sister with him to keep an eye on her, the generals thought it best if the two siblings stayed separate. That way, it wasn’t as likely for both to be killed in the same battle. Midget was a great wingman, though, having willingly taken bullets and crossbow bolts for Crimson to keep the Major from dying. And Crimson returned the favor on more than one occasion as well, diving to catch Midget as the lead balls hit him instead of Crimson.
“Time’s up! Major Dawn, cover the 3rd Division!” called out the Russian-accented voice. It was Brigadier General Blue Angel, in command of Aerostrike Regiments 11-20. He was an honorable Unicorn, with his brown stub of a beard and a Stalin-like moustache, which he was extremely proud of. The Unicorn loved his soldiers very much, and would go out into battle alongside them if rank and a lack of wings didn’t stop him.
Crimson and Midget went to full gallop in the direction of the 3rd Division, carrying a crossbow, a short sword in its sheath, and a quiver of bolts. Once at the end of the runway, they spread their wings and took flight, the other two hundred pairs behind them. The weight of their weapons required the running start, but they had saved Crimson on multiple occasions. He trusted his tools and comrades with his life.
An artillery shell streaked overhead from a Dominion battery. It screamed its flight and slammed into the camp behind Crimson. Soon after, the other units in the battery began firing anti-air shells, exploding halfway to their targets and shredding Pegasi. The regiment weaved left and right to avoid a bloody death.
The Major looked below to check on 3rd Division. The Atlantean ground forces were getting wrecked as the Domination Army creeped closer to the trenches. Repeaters and crossbows were becoming useless, the ammunition rapidly depleting. Meanwhile, the Dominion had employed a Minotaur, ten feet tall and all muscle. That guy was taking a beating, with thirty bolts in his chest, six bullet holes, and still wielding that enormous battleaxe. The Minotaur waved the twelve-foot blade of death in the air at a pair of Pegasi, missing by a hair's width.
As a second pair swooped in to dive-bomb the Minotaur, he swung up and embedded the bloodstained blade into the body of the lead Pegasus. The scream of a thousand tears pierced the air, and the crystalline mare fell to the surface. It took a second for Crimson’s mind to register the voice: it was Crystal Shard.
Immediately after, Midget cried out as a Dominion anti-air fragment tore through his body and he fell to earth, dead before he hit the ground. The wingman had taken the shot instead of Crimson, who had lapsed in the heat of battle for that split second.
Crimson rolled as another fragment flew by, turning in the direction of the Minotaur and cannonballing to increase speed. He uncoiled just before hitting the ground, pulling out his crossbow with his wing and shooting the Minotaur. The muscled half-bull turned to face its newest challenger, pissed off by the sudden attack. It was standing over Crystal Shard, about to deliver the final blow when Crimson shot it.
The crystalline Pegasus was breathing heavily, warm blood oozing out the deep wound and her mouth as she coughed weakly. Her pupils were slowly dilating, the life leaving her and soaking into the soil. Her short sword lay just beside her, having fallen off as she hit the ground.
The Minotaur closed the distance between it and Crimson in less than a second, swinging its battleaxe in a warrior’s charge. The Major dodged the attack swiftly, dropping his crossbow and kicking off a Dominion pony to rebound towards his sister. His quiver spilled bolts all over the earth where he had flown over, covering the ground in sharp iron points. He pulled out his repeater and emptied its magazine on the Minotaur, enraging it even more and opening wounds in its bare, muscular chest. Red blood came from the holes, but Crimson knew it wouldn’t be enough.
Seeing their commander deadlocked against the Minotaur, other Pegasi swooped in to pelt the monster with bolts and bullets. The assault only pissed it off more, and it swung its battleaxe, taking out three more Pegasi before Crimson yelled for them to protect the trenches. They flew back worriedly.
One landed in the 15th Regiment, the one dead center and closest to the duel. He called out over the noise, “Major Dawn’s still out there! We gotta go help him! Relay the message to everypony in the line!”
Upon hearing the legendary Pegasus’s peril, the Earth ponies and Unicorns in the trenches roared. Crimson had fought at Aquarius River, nearly four years ago, and was one of the reasons this war hadn’t been lost yet. They readied their spears, swords, crossbows, and guns for one last charge - the Final Stand. Once a volley from the Domination Army whizzed overhead, they rose from the trenches and climbed over the earthenworks.
“CHARGE!!!” called a Colonel, leading the 15th Reg. into battle.
The other ponies saw their comrades charge and followed suit. Soon, the entire front line was barreling towards the enemy, firing their weapons at inconsistent intervals. Behind them, the reserves filled the trenches, ready to defend if the assault failed.
If repeaters had existed, heavy multi-barrel guns were coming and single-barreled ones were likely to be around as well. But no such luck was to be had for the Domination Army, as the nearest machine gun was on the other side of the field, being big and heavy and expensive. They counterattacked, busting heads with the Atlanteans in melee. Blood soaked into the ground as both sides took heavy losses from combat.
Crimson quickly glanced behind him to see his friends charging the enemy. But he whipped his head around and sidestepped to the right, almost too late. He felt the grazing blade cut into his flank, and something magical was torn from him. Crimson looked to his left and saw the bloody fur and skin - and almost fainted. His left cutie mark had been severed from him.
Fury sizzled within him. First his sister, now his identity. This Minotaur had to die. He unsheathed his short sword and closed in on his opponent. The duel had gotten that much more dangerous. He stabbed and sidestepped, dodged and flew, ducked and stuck his blade into the Minotaur’s nether. The thing howled in pain as Crimson cut and sank his blade farther. Then the Pegasus let go of the sword and jumped back, picking up his sister’s equipment. He took flight and landed on top of the Minotaur and pushed the sword down as it stooped to remove the other sword from its groin.
The Minotaur screeched with intense pain and Crimson pushed harder. The screech turned into a howl and yanked its arm up to bat Crimson off. But the damage was done. It staggered and dropped its battleaxe, swinging its arms above its head in a futile attempt to grab hold of the sword. Crimson dove to the side as it faceplanted the ground, dying slowly but surely. Its arms went limp, its body stopped twitching, and the enemy was finally no more.
“Uhh, Colonel, y’alright?” Applejack stood over the deep red stallion after he fell from above the barn.
Crimson’s eyes stayed wide, but he started to try to fight something. He used his wing to grab at his short sword, which had fallen out of its sheath when he fell, then acted like he was dueling. Twilight held him down with magic until he stopped moving. His pupils went back to their normal size, and he blinked a couple times.
“Why the hell am I in a bubble?”
Rainbow burst into laughter. “Because you tried to fight an invisible pony, that’s why!”
Twilight released the bubble, and Crimson glared at the blue Pegasus. “He wasn’t a pony. He was a Minotaur. And my sister was almost killed.”
“We’re the only ones ‘round here, sugar cube.”
Crimson shook his head. “Must’ve been a flashback.”
“A what now?” asked Rainbow.
“A flashback,” Twilight said, “is a psychological phenomenon in which an individual has a sudden, usually powerful, re-experiencing of a past experience or elements of a past experience. He essentially re-lived a memory. And by the looks of it, it wasn’t a nice one.”
“No, it wasn’t Princess.” Crimson stood straight. “The Final Stand of Atlantis was the most traumatizing battle I’ve fought in. It isn’t as well known as Aquarius River, but it was definitely worse.”
Twilight asked him if he could explain it in more detail. He replied that it was too hard on him to see it twice; to do it a third time would be torture. She nodded and asked instead if she could just look into his mind for the memory. “It shouldn’t hurt a bit. I’ve been practicing on Spike when he lets me.”
“Go ahead.”
Twilight closed her eyes and a magical aura appeared around her. Using the spell to mentally travel to Crimson, she entered his mind and searched for the memory. What she found was far worse than watching on the outside could ever have given her.
The freshness of blood, the dead, everything. The princess was close to just leaving, but her curiosity about why this came as a flashback pushed her on. She watched as Crimson joked with his sister in the moments before battle, paced with his wingman, and took off. Knowing she couldn’t be injured in something she never participated in, she followed the Pegasi to their allies and watched them provide air support where it was needed. One was hit by anti-air right next to her, and she burst into tears as the stallion fell, his face lifeless before he hit the ground.
Her eyes followed Crimson as he weaved through the smoke and fire with his wingman. A scream pierced the air, and she stole a glance to where it came from. Crimson’s sister had been hit by a Minotaur’s battleaxe. She looked back at the red Pegasus and saw his wingman take a hit while Crimson was distracted. The event snapped him back to the moment and he swooped to his sister’s rescue. After an intense duel, a brave but nearly suicidal charge, and hundreds more deaths, the memory faded from her mental vision and she returned to her own body.
“Twilight, that looked traumatizing.”
The princess looked around. She was in the Ponyville Hospital, her friends and family around her. “Where’s Colonel Dawn?”
“Here, ma’am. We couldn’t get more than ten feet apart while your spell was up, so I couldn’t really stray too far.”
Cadence glared at her sister-in-law. “Don’t ever try that again. You burst into tears on multiple occasions, you can’t walk for another three hours, your wings are tired beyond comprehension, you-”
“Ma’am, you need to let it go. I’ve seen worse come back with a nearly full recovery.” If Crimson shared her concern, he didn’t show it.
Cadence sighed. “Very well.” Looking at Twilight, she asked, “What happened in your mind?”
Twilight explained the whole thing to the ponies around her. As she did, she kept glancing at Crimson, who nodded assurance that what she said was true. To the other ponies, it was heartbreaking to hear just how terrible war was. Rarity began to cry before Twilight had told the part where Crimson’s regiment took flight, Pinkie Pie was quick to follow, along with Fluttershy and Rainbow. Applejack cried on the inside, like she always did. Cadence held her expression for longer than most of the others, but couldn’t resist when Crimson’s cutie mark was shaved. She realized why the scars he bore wasn’t symmetrical with the other side, and couldn’t find something to prevent tears. Losing one’s cutie mark was not only unheard of, but also terrifying. It defined so much about a pony.
To Twilight’s relief, the three hours it took to tell the story in full detail was the same amount of time before she could walk again. She got out of the hospital bed weakly and slowly made her way to the door. Her legs were weak, but she made it.
As the group walked out of the hospital, Lieutenant Silver Comet rushed up to his commander. “Colonel, we have news concerning the ships off the Baltimare coast. They wish to join our efforts, and in return, we supply them with what they need.”
“And why is this a concern?” asked Rainbow.
“Because the Changelings are staging an assault against them, that’s why. Sir, we could eliminate the Changeling threat with minimal losses.”
“Do it, Lieutenant.”
Not much could happen next. The ships still had to cement the peace treaty, and neither princess was going anywhere. Sombra’s army had invaded Canterlot the day before and the lightly defended city fell easily. Afterwards, he moved to surround Ponyville to starve out the princesses. Blocked by the Equestrian barrier, they could only cut off the north, while towns south of his target shipped in food and water for a long siege. The train blew its whistle nearly every day, bringing new arrivals for the army and supplies to match.
Crimson was glad his friend Captain Platinum Starlight had been ordered to give him a copy of the steam tank blueprint. With it, he could build more and train his ponies to use them. Equestria had a better chance at pushing Sombra from their territory. They just had to mass-produce war machines and get Cadence’s approval. Twilight would’ve done it, but she preferred to stay out of the spotlight and learn more about Crimson’s flashback.
They were on the path to ultimate victory. That is, if everything went without a problem. But as Crimson knew all too well, no plan nor weapon ever survived contact with the enemy.
Princess Cadence woke to the roar of artillery at about five in the morning. She rushed outside the Everfree Castle and saw the Equestrian army using its cannons on an unknown object in the sky. To her, it was a relief to know that Crimson was equipping his soldiers with technology, and was probably in the middle of a training session.
The flying object shattered from a cannon shot; its crew cheered to be the only one to have hit the thing after about ten rounds. Then a second object took flight and they went back to work. The battery was more accurate this time, and blasted it to pieces after only seven rounds. That apparently wasn’t enough for Crimson. He had them keep practicing until they were almost dead on with the first round.
Down in the camp, which was barely seen with the naked eye from the Everfree Castle, the Atlantean steam tanks were in a tiny wedge formation. It was clearly meant for either a blitz or to protect whoever was inside the wedge - likely a platoon of soldiers. They advanced towards the dummy enemies, pelting them with bullet holes. Training for all sorts of things had started only an hour ago, and it was going quite well.
Twilight stood down in the army’s camp, observing the progression to Atlantean weaponry and tactics. She took every session seriously, cringing at each unit in the beginning and applauding them by the end. Atlantean battle lines were just different, and more effective. She watched them charge, pull back, entrench, and retry later. Melee combat wasn’t high on the list of priorities, as every soldier already knew the basics. Ranged using rifles, however, was much more important, and it was up to Crimson to teach his army how to do it right.
“How long are we talking ‘til they’re ready to go offensive?” the princess asked Captain Midnight Shadow.
“A few weeks, maybe more, ma’am,” he replied. “Sorry, but I can’t rush through the training sessions. I got one tomorrow for the officers, myself included.”
“That’s good to hear, Captain.”
Midnight saluted her and walked to the firing range. “Come on, could you please hit the target today?” He was just exasperated from doing this at least ten times by now.
“Captain, do you mind if I take over? You should take a break.”
Midnight was about to argue with Twilight, but instead nodded and walked to his tent. He plopped down on the bed and fell asleep almost instantly.
The Princess of Friendship began as soon as the captain left. “As you were. Fire as a unit, like a line, and have somepony behind you to fire while you reload. When they get down, you fire, and repeat the process. I’d like for this to work by noon.”
“I didna know ya were one fer war stratgees, Princess.” one commented.
“I used to be a nerd on pretty much everything. Still am. So I do know a thing or two, but that knowledge is nothing compared to Colonel Dawn’s experience.”
Twilight observed a steady improvement over the next several hours. She noticed that this particular regiment seemed to be better at skirmish tactics like the one she told them to practice than standard battle lines, and put that in the back of her mind for future reference. Something like this was a good sign; it meant that these guys knew what they were doing.
As the session drew to a close, one of the rifles misfired and hit Twilight in her right foreleg. Intense pain shot up her leg and she felt on fire. She fell and struggled to get up, but saw the regiment she was training had formed a circle around her as soon as the princess had started to fall.
“My leg…” She groaned and continued to try getting up. Each time, the pain intensified, and she fell back down.
Looking at the source of her misery, she saw blood oozing from a hole in her foreleg. The hole was small, like the ones in the targets down the range. Putting two and two together, she figured that a rifle misfired and the bullet hit her.
A couple medics raced through the regiment’s protective circle and put her on a stretcher. She cried out from the pain, but otherwise stayed quiet. Addressing the regiment as she was carried away, she told them not to worry; it was only a misfire. They were dismissed to the mess until further notice. Though inside, she was quite proud of them. Everypony in the unit had dropped their current task and instantly came to her aid.
An hour later, Cadence and Crimson stood next to Twilight’s bed. The main concern was the leg. Hopefully it didn’t have to be amputated, and that seemed to be the case. But she wouldn’t be able to walk normally for two weeks, and until then, she was confined to Everfree Castle, the Equestrian fallback point.
“At least it isn’t worse. I could be stuck with a pegleg for the rest of my life.”
“Yes it could, Twilight. Your brother hasn’t received the news yet, and hopefully it’ll stay that way. He’d never forgive me for letting you go with the soldiers.” Crimson said.
“Colonel, I was relieving Captain Shadow. He’d been up all morning, and I wanted to help.”
Right then, the Captain of the Royal Guard walked in as if Crimson’s worries had summoned him. He was quite upset about his sister, but didn’t say a word to the colonel. Instead, he talked to Twilight. “Why do you always get yourself into situations like this, Twily? You could’ve been killed!”
“I’m fine. The doctor says I’ll make a full recovery.”
As the siblings conversed, Lieutenant Silver Comet zoomed in. “Colonel, Manufacturing says we’ll have the next steam tank tomorrow morning if they’ve done it right. At the current unrealistic speed, we’re talking about the other two by the end of the week.”
“Excellent. I want all of them tested and our selected teams are to begin training after trials, if the tanks pass. And only if the tanks pass. If not, back to the drawing board.”
“Yes, sir.” Silver Comet raced back out of the hospital tent as fast as he came in.
Shining Armor cocked his head at the Atlantean. “Steam tanks? How exactly will containers of hot water help us on the field of battle?”
Crimson spent the next hour explaining the concept to the Guard.
Shining Armor kept Twilight confined to the Everfree Castle and its grounds for the next two weeks. She balked at first, but felt a bit better when Cadence joined her after a similar accident. By that time, Crimson had put up better safety codes and regulations, but accidents still happened. It was curious, however, that misfires only occurred when one of the princesses was nearby, and when somepony’s rifle was pointed in her general direction, whether by accident or on purpose. They were just lucky both wounds weren’t headshots.
Cadence limped around the castle within a week; her hit only grazed her left foreleg, while Twilight’s was a full-on hole to the bone. She found that Celestia’s job of tax filing was one of incredible boredom and constant slamming of one’s head into the desk over mishaps and complete failures to fill out the form correctly. Her appreciation for the white alicorn grew considerably because of this experience. By the time her husband came in to see what was going on, she had a light bruise on her forehead and a horribly pained horn from hitting the desk so many times.
He told her to lay off the tax filing until later. She was no good working out returns and such with a massive headache and an injured horn, and she’d been working on them for the entire week. Finally, she agreed, and went out for a small walk in the courtyard. When Cadence returned to her quarters, she simply plopped on the bed and fell asleep. No wonder Celestia started so early, with her ministers helping out. This took forever.
She woke up that night at about ten after two. She crawled out of bed and went down to the kitchens, much like Celestia had a month or two earlier the night Cloudsdale was turned to expanding vapor. After getting a midnight snack from the night chef, she walked out of the castle past some sleepy guards playing cards. They didn’t notice her, which was fine. She wanted the fresh air without guards breathing down her back.
Cadence became tired eventually, but was kept awake by the coffee from her snack. That stuff was powerful. She was just about dozed off next to the forest’s edge when a rumbling sound approached her ears. It grew louder with each passing moment.
The princess couldn’t get a clear image of what could be causing the rumble until a bright beam of magic came over the northern horizon. It was an eye-torturing shade of yellow-orange, with hints of at least thirteen - no, fourteen different colors, and it was fast, probably faster than Rainbow Dash. She kept her eye on the beam until its end was in sight, but the thing just went on and on…
It streaked over Cadence by about a quarter mile and slammed into the earth. A heat wave surged from the impact site, setting half the forest on fire and singing Cadence’s mane and tail. She remembered the only major place within walking distance to the south: Everfree Castle.
Feeling a race against time, she was thrown back far, fast, and high enough to go right over Ponyville proper and keep flying to the north by an explosion from the impact. She regained control and flew as fast as her wings could allow her to the castle. Below her, townsfolk came out of their homes, bewildered by the event.
When Cadence flew within visual range of the castle, her heart sank. The castle was no more. She was about to get closer to find Twilight when she saw a fire in the cave below the castle. The Tree of Harmony was burning.
She would never be able to save it. The magical discharge from the impact had ignited the tree, which meant it was soaking up as much magic as it could. The flow of magic was too much, and the Tree was destroyed by an explosion with comparable size to the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. The shockwave sent Cadence flying to the northeast, sending her crashing into the ground halfway to Fillydelphia. She wouldn’t open her eyes for another three days.
Shining Armor and Crimson Dawn raced to the castle as soon as the first explosion had gone off. Not far behind them were Crimson’s officers, also running at full gallop. They saw a lone figure high above the forest get flung like a rag doll by the second explosion, but Shining Armor protected them with a shield that received a beating fit to send him to the hospital. Crimson and his officers ran on.
The Everfree Castle was in ruins. There was literally nothing to salvage from the gaping crater within a larger crater. The larger of the two was centered directly below the throne room, just a few hundred feet below where the Tree of Harmony was supposed to be. Fires raged in every direction, and everyone knew there would be no survivors. But Crimson was never one to give up that easily.
“Silver Comet, I want you take a squad to check out the eastern rim of the crater. Dazzleflash, you do the same on the west. Converge on the southernmost point, then come down to the center. Midnight, take two squads to the smaller crater and survey it top to bottom and back to top. I’ll take one down to the center of the bigger one. Look for both the of the Princesses!”
The group split and hurried to find anyone still alive. After three continuous days of nothing, they finally had to accept defeat. They were pulling resources from the battle that ensued two hours after the destruction of the castle, and even though the Equestrian army held pretty well on its own, it still needed to be commanded. Crimson eventually flew to lead the army, and spent the rest of the week pushing the Crystal Empire away from Ponyville.
Princess Cadence opened her eyes weakly to the sound of a passing eastbound train. Its whistle blew loud enough to blast her ears in and dozens of steel wheels clanked their complaints to the railway, which creaked its response with the same volume. The rush of air around the train did nothing to douse the sound as the train whizzed by and continued its journey to wherever it was headed.
She stood up and limped to the tracks. Her nightgown was completely wrecked if not burned to a crisp. The crown atop her head had very little glint if at all, and she could say the two shoes that remained on her hooves had seen better days. Cadence herself was a wreck, with a singed mane and tail, a horrible migraine, and that damn grazing wound in her foreleg had reopened!
She could either wait for the next train to pass by, fly to the nearest town, or walk. She took the third option, seeing that it did something while not putting too much strain on her. Now to find out which way to go…
Cadence chose left, or what she judged to be west based on Celestia’s sun. Maybe she wasn’t that far from Ponyville. She went about five hours before a second train, this time going east, like her. The conductor noticed her and asked if she’d like a ride.
“Where are you headed?”
“Princess, I’m taking this freight to Ponyville for the army. Why?”
“That’s where I need to go, so if you’re offering me a ride, I accept. How long?”
“Ponyville Station’s about twelve and a half hours away. We’ll be there about midnight, counting refueling in two hours. Welcome aboard, Princess,” the conductor said as Cadence flew into the cab. “Just hold on to something; I’ll try to push this engine’s limits to get you there faster.”
“Thank you.”
The fireman shoveled some more coal into the firebox and closed the door. As the steel door clamped shut, the orange flames licked the edges and heat warmed the cabin considerably. The fireman then opened the valves to let the cooling steam back into the boiler and a hissing sound could be heard as the fire brought the steam back above the boiling point and put the boiler under considerable pressure.
The driver blew the high-pitched whistle and opened the throttle and regulator to full. The steam engine’s wheels slipped as they grabbed the rails below them, and the driver used the sand depositor to give the engine extra traction as it lurched forward and tossed Cadence off balance. She quickly recovered, but held onto a bar in case that happened again.
Slowly but surely, the train sped to its top speed as steam went through the system and pumped the cylinders on the sides, powering the wheels and looping back to the firebox to heat up. The steel locomotive barreled through the countryside at speeds normally dangerous. Cadence watched the greenery and farmland zip by in a blur of trees and hay that stretched on for miles. It mesmerized her.
Eventually, the sun ahead of them reached the horizon. It dipped below the hills and plains with a brilliant display of reds, pinks, yellows, and oranges. The clouds reflected the colors from Celestia’s sun perfectly; no show of fireworks could ever hope to match the beauty of an Equestrian sunset. Beside the sun, the moon rose, as was typical in Equestria. It cast a deep blue on the sky, which darkened to a rich black sprinkled with white, like a batch of Pinkie Pie’s “Stargazing Party Cupcakes.”
Cadence thought of the Element bearers with respect. They saved the entire world many times, yet still kept relatively normal lives. Applejack was a farmer, Rarity a fashion designer, Rainbow a Wonderbolt, Fluttershy was a veterinarian, and Pinkie a baker. They led their lives as if not much was changed by their actions, keeping their personalities and being normal ponies. Twilight, on the other hoof… Twilight changed a lot, not just from becoming a princess, but actually making friends and learning the lessons along the way. Not many ponies could say the same.
And Twilight was most likely killed by the attack whenever Cadence was last awake. The castle had been completely obliterated, according to the train’s brown-coated driver/conductor Earth pony stallion Nimble Spirit and the fireman, the violet Unicorn mare Purple Haze, who looked like she could Twilight’s identical twin if the princess ever had one. The two train operators were siblings, from the look of rivalry but respect in their eyes.
They also told Cadence that the Crystal Empire was invading Ponyville in the hopes that the chaos from Everfree’s destruction would prevent a challengeable defense. From the sounds of things, Sombra and his army were so wrong. In fact, the defending army became infuriated, fighting harder than they had in Manehattan. Casualty count was climbing fast, mostly from the warfare, but an alarming amount of ponies died in the field hospital because medical supplies had run out on the first day. The local hospital was also dry, leaving it up to nearby towns to fill in. But they ran out as well on the second day, and the siblings were hauling a large batch from Fillydelphia to relieve the dwindled supply. As large settlements like Appleloosa had to keep some supplies for their own, help had to come from where it could be afforded.
Nimble Spirit and Purple Haze were the only train operators that weren’t busy with sending materials to Manehattan, so they volunteered to bring the train to Ponyville. The mayor of Fillydelphia and their boss, nicknamed “Forrest Grump” by pretty much everypony, agreed to send them on the mission as long as they took a number of other things like ammunition, weapons, and mail. It was fine with the siblings; they just wanted to help the war effort. They didn’t realize the request meant a forty-car train pulled by the only locomotive left. Called “Bouncing Betty” for its horrible suspension system, the engine was the least powerful in the railyard and had been ready to scrap. The siblings returned to the mayor and Grump with the idea of using the train they had built themselves. It had much more horsepower and could pull the entire train, unlike Bouncing Betty. All it needed was approval.
And approval it got. The two siblings were quite proud of the design. They had patented it sometime before the war, but nopony ever wanted to buy the rights to build it, so they built it themselves on a side track behind the engine house. This trip to Ponyville and back was the test run so that its design could be fully designated as a working engine. No problems had been encountered yet, but Nimble Spirit was always on the lookout.
As the train ventured on through the evening and into the night, Purple Haze heated some water in the burning-hot boiler, but not quite to the boiling point, and poured it through a coffee filter and into three cups. The taste was refreshing. Cadence asked if the Unicorn had any engineering experience besides the fireman on a train, and she replied that she didn’t. The idea of an onboard coffee maker was one of seven years of trial and error, and even then she almost gave up at least a couple dozen times. If not for her brother, she wouldn’t have finished. It was just in her personality to give up if it got too hard, which was why she and Nimble Spirit never left their home except for their jobs. Which was why she always worked with him. He understood her enough.
That was when Nimble Spirit announced the last pit stop before they beelined for Ponyville. Their destination was only three hours away, and this place was the last one before stopping the train could mean ambush by the Crystal Empire.
The train’s brakes activated and it coasted to a stop between the water tower and the coal tender and was refilled. Meanwhile, Cadence hopped off and stretched. Her legs had gone stiff, and another few hours without moving wouldn’t have been a good idea. She heard her bones crack as the joints repositioned by her movement. That felt so good, like that moment when one tilts their head and the crick in their neck snaps and they get a relieving feeling. Or it could be compared to those times a Griffon would mesh his claws together and push out, making that cracking sound that didn’t ever hurt.
“Ahh…” That light breeze was also quite nice, but nothing compared to the wind whipping one’s mane and tail behind them as they rode a train.
Within the hour, they were on the move again. The remainder of the trip was uneventful; they pulled into Ponyville Station at midnight, climbing off and being greeted by Crimson Dawn. although the colonel wanted to hear Cadence’s story, it was extremely late and the battle would continue in the morning. He needed to rest unless he was fine with letting Equestria down.
The train was unloaded quickly and quietly so that the Crystal army wouldn’t get wind of their activities. Wondering how bad the battle would have to be in order to completely empty several well-supplied hospitals, Cadence knew she would find out in the morning.
It was six in the morning. Celestia was halfway through swapping the sun and moon and the Ponyville defenses were already getting wrecked today. Cadence rushed to the command tent to see that Shining Armor was the only one in there. The other commanders, including Crimson, had gone out on the front lines. Shining caught his wife up on the morning’s events while the battle raged not two miles to the north.
Crimson lead the 2nd Pegasi Division, which was now dogfighting the Crystal Empire’s own Pegasi several hundred meters above the ground. Guns roared, crossbows twanged, and ponies on both sides fell to their death or died in the air. There was no room for mercy. As the anti-Pegasus cannons down on the Equestrian side of the trenches shredded the Crystal division, splattered blood rained down on top of their comrades charging the trenches.
-----------------
Below him, Major Dazzleflash charged his three-quarter-strength 4th Appleloosa Regiment into the frenzy that was the second line of trenches dug by the Equestrians. Two days earlier, the Crystal army had taken the outermost line by surprise and took it quickly. The Major was determined not to lose the second line.
As Dazzleflash and his group collided with the enemy, he fired his repeater dry and drew his sword, cutting his way into the trenches. Standing on two legs wasn’t a problem for him; it was holding and waving a weapon that gave him trouble. Luckily, whoever he was fighting had the same problem. Dazzleflash kicked the stallion in the gut and ran his sword through the retaliation. He pulled the sword out and went on to the next.
Many repeated assaults from the north ended in failure, and the line had held. Dazzleflash met up with Lieutenant Silver Comet to decide the next move.
“We need to punch a hole in them while they’re weak, Lieutenant.”
“Major, we can’t risk it. This whole operation is to keep them out of this line.”
“And what happens when they dig in more than they already have? We get a stalemate. If we can knock them out, I will. And need I pull rank on you?”
“No, sir. However, I strongly protest.”
“Lieutenant, I am leading my regiment in the charge. You are to hang back and hold the line in the event that I fail.”
They saluted each other and wished luck. Both were going to need it.
----------------
On the eastern side of the battle, Captain Midnight Shadow cut down his opponents left and right. After several hours of nonstop fighting, the Crystal battalion retreated back to friendly lines and the captain’s weary regiment was given a reprieve. He sent a messenger to ask that a reserve pull up to his position. Wiping his bloodied short sword on what was left of the grass, he remembered those long hours. Even though he had been fighting for two hours, it seemed like two eternities.
The enemy was relentless, pushing as hard as possible and throwing everything they had at him. He could only hope that the other side was having more luck than him. The day had been harrowing and deadly. Midnight himself had nearly been run through on at least seventeen occasions. Seeing his second-in-command, he rushed as fast as he could. Lieutenant Solar Flare had an open wound in his gut.
“Flare! What happened?”
“Don’t worry, sir. It was an honor and-” His voice cut off as he coughed up blood. “I’ve had worse, sir.”
A field medic placed Solar Flare on a stretcher and carried him away. The bright orange Unicorn coughed more and weakly saluted his captain. If anything, the guy’s toughness was unparalleled in the entire army.
“Sir, they’re coming again!” cried a soldier propped up against the outer edge of the trench. He cocked his repeater and took aim.
Midnight did the same and watched the horde approach. If only this war was over, then he’d go home and never kill another soul as long as he lived. Hopefully it would end soon. He took aim and waited for the battle to continue.
---------------
Dazzleflash’s bright yellow coat glimmered in the late-morning sun. He reloaded his repeater and checked the checked it for any damage. There wasn’t and he looked to his left at the dusty-ice-colored Silver Comet beside him and nodded. The lieutenant saluted and wished him luck, then ran off to ready his ponies for a spread-out defense.
“Alright boys! Two minutes!”
The ponies around him tensed. The impending assault hadn’t been sent to Crimson nor Shining Armor for approval, it was risky, and it was insane. But the hope that they would succeed kept the army going. They checked their repeaters and cleaned their swords. Every little help was better than none at all.
Time’s up. “CHAAARRRRGE!!”
The Equestrians rose from their trenches and ran at full gallop towards the enemy. The grassland blurred under the trampling of several hundred hooves and the sound was like a thundering train. As they came into range, they fired their guns in four simultaneous volleys and ran harder. They dropped the guns and drew their swords upon reaching the trenches and began slicing.
The mere surprise of the attack made for a slow Crystal response at first. Then they picked up and fought back as hard as the Equestrians. Forces poured in from the Crystal reserves and flanks as they tried to desperately hold back the advance. The smoke from the Equestrian volleys cleared, and both sides saw how intense it was getting. Only four Equestrian soldiers lie dead in the no-man’s land between the trenches, but ponies on both sides were stacking up in the Crystal-taken trenches.
Above the mess, Crimson saw the charge and swooped in to assist. Fifteen Pegasi followed him in, and they provided some air support. Soon, the 3rd Pegasi Division flew in from the reserves to take out more than could replace the Crystal line. But the colonel could see that more ground troops were needed to break the line, and flew to Silver Comet.
“Lieutenant, I need you to follow up on Dazzleflash’s charge. Without more ground forces, he either dies or retreats. Go NOW!” he yelled over the noise.
Silver Comet rushed over the earthworks with his regiment, the 5th Manehattan, and charged the Crystal lines. The hundreds of ponies yelled their battle cries and fired into the enemy with their repeaters. Dropping the guns, they drew their swords and collided with the Crystal Empire in melee combat.Soon, the two regiments were side by side, working hard to keep from being surrounded.
“Who the hell told you to come?” Dazzleflash yelled.
“The colonel did, that’s who!” came the reply. Silver Comet swung his short sword in a wide arc and lodged it in the neck of the Crystal pony right next to him. He yanked the sword free and warm, fresh blood gushed out of the dead soldier. The stallion fell and never moved again.
The charge was soon supported by a third wave, the 2nd Ponyville. This regiment of locals really wanted the Crystal Empire off their land, and would fight to the death to defend home. They slammed into the trenches with more ferocity than both commanders could have ever hoped to muster and hacked away at the defending attackers. After about five hours of intense in-trench warfare, the Equestrian army had retaken control of this section of their outermost trenches.
---------------
Captain Midnight Shadow watched the horde of Crystal ponies running at full gallop towards him. He was staring down the sights of his repeater, propped up against the earthworks. All along the trench, everypony else did the same. “Steady…”
The Crystal army was well in range, but Midnight wanted to hit them at point blank. Their heads filled his sights. He waited one more second…
“Fire!”
Several hundred bullets flew into the enemy. Puffs of red appeared here and there and a sizable number of Crystal ponies faceplanted, pools of blood forming around them. A second volley was fired, and a third, and a fourth, all with similar results. As the Equestrians reloaded, the remainder of the Crystal charge staggered back, decimated and utterly destroyed.
Midnight took the chance to assault the enemy trenches. He sounded the charge and ran as soon as most ponies had reloaded. They chased down the Crystal army, which completely went to disarray from the unexpected pursuit. The trenches were easily taken. Now the problem was holding them.
---------------
Princess Cadence watched the battle unfold from the hilltop where the Equestrian command tent was. Hundreds of ponies were killed and hundreds if not thousands more were injured, on both sides. The trenches held, but just barely. Pegasi swooped to the ground and dive-bombed their enemies, traded shots and kills in the sky, and flew in dizzying patterns to shake off tailing Pegasi. The steam tank platoon sat in the rear, waiting for orders to go into battle.
She jumped when a stray shot hit the ground directly between her feet. That was too close. Shining Armor heard the noise a burst out of the tent, sword drawn.
“Don’t worry, Shining. Just a stray shot.”
“That means you’re too close to the fight. You need to go into town.”
As if to prove his point, a Pegasus landed and charged Cadence. She dodged the initial attack and blasted him with a random spell in both surprise and self-defense. It happened to be a transformation spell, and the Pegasus turned into a turtle. She blinked a couple times to make sure she wasn’t just seeing things. Then the princess took flight and headed to town.
---------------
The commander of the steam tank platoon waited for orders. And waited. And waited. It seemed like he would never get the signal to go into battle. After the entire morning having gone by, the tension was wearing down on him.
Finally the moment arrived. Colonel Dawn had sent for reinforcements. In the form of tanks. The pudgy commander eagerly stepped on the gas. If he was needed on the front lines, it must be getting bad indeed.
The other eight tanks, all new except for the ones on his immediate right and left, hurried to follow. The three wings of three tanks each formed a spaced-out wedge with the commander’s tank slightly to the right of the formation. They rumbled over the Equestrian trenches and across the countryside. Each tank crew fired a round, and the sparse trees around the Crystal army, or rather, what was left of those trees, were knocked down and bored into by the shells. The opposing army scattered in unorganized retreat.
With the entire Crystal Empire on the run, Ponyville was given reprieve. The siege had been lifted, the battle over. The cost of this victory, however, was almost more than Cadence could bear. Half the Equestrian army was in ruins, with regiments having lost their commanders and officers without a command. Out of the seventeen regiments with varying strength, only six were still ready to fight, most of them being the reserves. Six regiments were down to tenth-strength, three had been destroyed on that first day, and two were practically in the hospital.
Crimson knew the army would survive this engagement, and would push on to its dying breath if it had to. But for now, respect had to be given for those who lost their lives.
The shattered 4th Appleloosa held vigil at one oaken coffin among the hundreds nearby. Some of the ponies welled up with tears quickly, while others resisted for a few minutes. Inside the brown wood box was Major Dazzleflash, his orange coat and ragged red uniform cleaned of most of the blood. As each member of the regiment walked up one by one, they saluted their former commander and bowed their heads. Every one of the eighty-nine ponies left felt the blow to their hearts. Dazzleflash was an exceptional leader, aggressive, adaptable. His shining personality had granted him the honorary title “Morale Officer”, even if his strict abiding to the rules and “Lone Wolf” mindset prevented many friendships.
The major had died during the charge on the Empire-held trenches. He’d valiantly led his two hundred soldiers across that field, gained a foothold, and held the enemy at bay while reinforcements arrived. Then a Crystal pony shot him in the chest with a crossbow at point blank, joined by seven others. Dazzleflash died before his head hit the ground. The loss of their commander enraged his regiment, and Crimson had to threaten them with court-martialing to keep the remaining ponies from commencing a reckless assault on the retreating enemy.
Presently, Crimson, Shining Armor, Princess Cadence, Lieutenant Silver Comet, and Captain Midnight Shadow walked to the coffin to show their respects. Cadence was even visibly crying, not unlike Dazzleflash’s loyal troops. She laid a medal on the wood surface, the newly created Equestrian Medal of Valor. It had similar qualities to the Atlantean Congressional Medal of Honor and was bestowed with the utmost care and respect.
Between the regiment and officers was Dazzleflash’s family, brought to Ponyville as soon as the battle ended and losses counted. They had more reason to mourn than any other in the gathering, and did so. The young major’s pregnant wife, Lavender Snowflake, simply cried and cried. His siblings, Silverflash and Rose Garden, tried to comfort the now-widow, with little success. The parents of the major didn’t hold up as well as their children; they were about as distraught as Lavender if not more.
“Major Dazzleflash was a good officer,” said Crimson. “He did what was right, kept spirits high. His strategies weren’t always what I expected, but he seemed to pull every one of them off. I only knew him for a month and a half, and couldn’t have asked for a better stallion to lead his ponies into battle and get a decent number home.”
Midnight Shadow and Silver Comet also said their pieces. Each told of Dazzleflash’s “Lone Wolf” attitude, despite him even considering his regiment his “extended family of sorts”. The major’s loyalty to home and his ideals made him perfect for the job.
“Because he made that charge and broke the enemy lines, we were able to follow through and win. Dazzleflash will be remembered for his courage for generations to come,” finished the lieutenant.
Everypony nodded. The official ceremony ended, and Lavender Snowflake was offered the medal her husband had received. She accepted it through teary eyes and a sobbing voice. Actually, Rose Garden spoke for her, as Lavender really didn’t want to speak at all.
All of the officers and soldiers present saluted the other coffins, which held the rest of the 4th Appleloosa lost during the battle. The regimental flag drooped from half-staff in the middle of the field, limp at the lack of wind. The families and friends of the soldiers would soon arrive, so the place was kept clear of obstacles. Seven single-shot rifles held by seven honor guards fired three times each, a twenty-one gun salute for the dead. Crimson had decided the Atlantean custom should be universally applied to those lost, and so it was. After the military funeral, the coffins would be taken to their homes by rail and buried there.
The process was repeated for the other officers and soldiers killed during the battle. Nopony wanted to do it, but at the same time, they wanted to honor their comrades. Twenty-one gun salutes for each of the regiments and half-staff for all flags was mandatory. After the funerals, the gloomy mood hung in the air like a fog. The Equestrian army would never be the same again.
“Nimble Spirit, Purple Haze, I have a job for you.” Cadence told the train operators.
They both looked up from their steam engine. Purple Haze had been filling the water tank from the tower next to the train, and Nimble Spirit was oiling the wheels and refilling the sand dispensers. The work had been slightly tedious, sure, but getting the engine back to Fillydelphia in one piece held priority. They wanted those paychecks.
“What can we do for you, Princess?” asked Purple Haze. The violet Unicorn looked sternly at the alicorn below her. “Surely you don’t need to go to Filly.”
“No, I do not. What I need is for you two to take the Equestrian army to Baltimare. There’s a Changeling threat out there, and I’m afraid an overcharged shield spell boosted by love won’t cut it. If you would allow it, I also request the designs of your locomotive for the building of military trains. Your patent will stand, compensating for any monetary losses inflicted by the factory production of your design.”
Nimble Spirit blinked. “You want our locomotive design for official military transport?”
Purple Haze hopped down from her perch on top of the engine and whispered something to her brother. He replied in a hushed shout, saying something about the patent not actually have gone completely through the bureaucracy yet. She told him to ask if it could just be approved right then, and he continued trying to argue in favor of copyright and patent laws. From Cadence’s point of view, they were doing lots of body movements to emphasize their points.
“If the patent hasn’t gone through the system yet, I can approve it now.” she called.
Nimble Spirit shook his head at his sister and turned to face the princess. “Well then, we accept. Hazy, could you get the design from the cab?”
She nodded and climbed into the locomotive’s cab. A loud clank ricocheted off the steel, and more than a few words not fit for formality flowed outside soon after. Moments later, a second clank could be heard, with Purple Haze poking her head out the window. It was obvious that she’d been injured from the look on her face.
Nimble Spirit climbed into the cab and hauled his sister out. Her left hind leg had been smacked, with a deep bruise forming where she’d been hit by whatever it was. Then Nimble climbed into the cab and came out a minute later with a blue sheet. He gave Cadence the sheet and tended to his sister, who already started up a healing spell to repair the damage. From the look of things, neither sibling wanted to mention the event.
“We’ll take your army to Baltimare, Princess. And that paper has the design specifications, developed over the last few years.” Nimble said.
Cadence said her thanks and told them to be at the station by noon to pick up the troops. The passenger and freight cars would all be lined up at the station when the time came.
A few hours later, the entire Equestrian army had loaded into the long line of cars and the engine just pulled alongside them. It was a wonky-looking locomotive to all the soldiers, but it could apparently haul the entire train in one run. With a fifteen-meter engine, two sand dispensers, a two-meter funnel, and a rather large coal tender, this steam hauler certainly didn’t look like it could pull all fifty-some cars. And the two driving it were ready to prove them wrong.
“Alright Nimble, let’s show ‘em up.”
“Fire up the secondary heaters. We’ll need them to get this line moving. I’ll sand the rails.”
The two worked as the train reversed and backed into the first car, a freight car with ammunition and tools. It made a loud clunk as the coal tender hit the coupling of the load and latched. Nimble went back there to ensure the coupling had indeed engaged, and locked it into place. “We’re good to go back here, Hazy!” he called.
“Got it.” The Unicorn shoveled some coal into the firebox and lit the fuel with a flame spell. She felt the wave of heat sweep over her and welcomed it. A brisk morning in late September had cooled the weather faster than last year, which was interesting. It never got this cold in early autumn, except for the Crystal Empire.
Nimble Spirit climbed back into the cab and pulled on the whistle. The low sound reached around the area, signaling the departure. Its second lonely blow was drowned out by the engine springing to life as water in the boiler heated up and excess steam was vented out the cylinders without pushing the pistons. Soon, enough steam was recycling itself through the system to give Purple Haze the confidence to nod completion of start-up to her brother.
A high-pitched whine let loose and the heavy steel wheels began to turn. The pistons slowly moved from the pressure of steam, pushing the rod connecting the wheels together and rotating them. Purple Haze shoveled more coal into the firebox to heat the water more quickly, and the scalding gas moved through the system even faster and harder. Nimble Spirit released the emergency brake, causing the entire train to lurch forward as it began a slow but sudden acceleration. He set off the sand dispensers, giving the driving wheels more traction along the rails. The wheels in turn grabbed the sand and slipped less. Black smoke hurled itself out of the funnel as the train worked its way down the line.
In the fifth car from the engine, Crimson and his officers talked strategy. They needed an effective way to combat the Changelings without putting too much risk into the endeavor. Any suggestion was welcome.
“Colonel, I say we use our Unicorns to scan everypony to make sure they aren’t Changelings. The standard illusion-breaking spell should do the trick just fine, and virtually everypony knows it.” said Captain Midnight Shadow.
“We should just whack them as hard as we can, and fast. If the temporary alliance with those steel warships off the coast holds, it’s one more problem we won’t be facing.” Lieutenant Silver Comet was more aggressive than last time he spoke at a strategy conference. Too aggressive.
Midnight noticed it as well, and instantly cast a spell over the lieutenant. He revealed a Changeling in disguise, who then proceeded to try to incapacitate the officers. It wasn’t successful in any regard, and the intruder was soon tied up and interrogated.
“What did you do to the Lieutenant?” Crimson growled.
“I will not say.”
Crimson dragged the Changeling to the space between the fourth and fifth cars. The other officers shrieked with horror and tried to stop the colonel, but he simply held the Changeling over the rails. The Changeling had complete terror in his eyes, but would not speak. He was as resistant as ever. Crimson was just about to throw him off the train when a familiar but far voice filled his thoughts…
“Wake up, Colonel!” Midnight shouted.
Crimson blinked a couple times and looked around. “What?”
“You kinda dozed off, sir. We were talking about how to defeat Chrysalis when you suddenly slumped over onto the table.”
Crimson’s face went sheepish and he apologized. “I must be more tired than I thought. But can we still just check if any of the officers have been replaced by Changelings?”
“Sure.” Midnight cast his Changeling detection spell, and came up negative. He looked at the colonel as if the red Pegasus was paranoid.
Outside the train, the greenish countryside whizzed by in a blur. Trees were noticeable if one followed them with their eyes, but everything else couldn’t be easily distinguished. The noonday sun beamed heat down to earth, keeping the train from freezing as the twenty-knot wind blew around it. From the look of things, the train hadn’t stopped accelerating slowly, probably crawling up to sixty miles an hour.
Staring out the window, Crimson took in the report. They were headed to Baltimare, sure. No Changelings ended up on the train, Cadence and Shining Armor were extremely worried about Twilight, which was the case before the army left, and the steel fleet had sent a message accepting the final stages of an alliance. Everything was, for once, going according to plan. They would be in Baltimare in a few days.
Crimson woke up for the second time on this trip as the brakes screamed the most high-pitched squeal to exist. They were stopping about four hours from their destination to refuel the engine. And at five hours until dawn, it was extremely inconvenient, not to mention ear-splitting. Crimson groaned and doubted he’d be able to get back to sleep before they reached Baltimare. He rolled over in his bunk and shut his eyes.
It was seven in the morning. The sun shone brightly into the tent he slept in as Crimson groggily woke next to his Atlantean comrades Platinum Starlight and the Earth pony they all called Bats. the other two snapped to attention as Sarge pulled the flap open with his Unicorn magic.
“Wakey, wakey, rise and shine! All ya pretties are gonna getcha some dirt on those shiny uniforms! Report to the Square in TEN MINUTES!” Sarge bellowed.
“Someone’s gonna get a sore throat. He yells like he’s on the high seas,” Bats grumbled.
“Sarge’s a sailor, Bats.” Crimson replied as he put on his uniform and slung the single-shot rifle around his back, easily accessible with his right wing.
The three hurried to obey Sarge’s orders. More than once the friends had been at the wrong end of the sargeant’s obedience lecture, which typically included KP duty for the next week. They weren’t the best nor the most disciplined soldiers in the Atlantean Reserve Emergency Army, but they fought like hell. AREA was the only thing between the Dominion and conquering the nearby town of Pacifica. With dwindling supplies and troops, they could never hope to completely halt the Domination Army’s advance.
As the three sped into the training grounds, known as the Square, they saw that everypony in all AREA was there. They reported to their colonel in the 2nd Coastal Regiment and stood at attention while the wait began. After waiting thirty minutes while the last stragglers came in, Sarge came on stage. He had his ragged uniform with its impressive three medals and warrior’s prestige.
“Alright shinies, ya got all day cut out fer ya. The 1st Midlands goes to the left flank…” and so it began. Crimson’s hopes that his regiment wouldn’t be called to do anything were crushed when Sarge yelled, “And the 2nd Coastal is to be transferred to the center. Don’t let us down, boys. Dismissed!”
The next few minutes were chaotic as everypony ran to grab their stuff before marching to the lines. Once inside the tent he shared with Platinum and Bats, Crimson sorted through his few items as the other two came in. He quickly shoved things he felt were nonessential, like his dress uniform, and packed more practical things, like ammo. But one thing was eluding him.
“Hey, has anyone seen my locket?”
“You mean the iron one with your sister and parents in it? Don’t know,” replied Platinum.
“It’s silver, dammit! And yes, I’m looking for that one.”
Bats picked it up from his trunk. “Sorry, thought it was mine. Here you go.” He gave Crimson the locket he so desired.
The red Pegasus wrapped it around his neck and let it hang from the shining chain. It was the one piece of home he always carried with him, and it was one that sparked constant reprimand from Sarge. But Crimson took the criticism without fear and never let the locket go. Besides, every soldier was obligated to remember those they protected.
A bugle horn sounded. “Well, that’s our signal. Let’s get to the Square and meet up with the others.” Platinum said.
When the entire regiment formed a column and moved out, they all began to sing. It was a horrible job, but the ponies sang their military anthem without much care to quality. They just did it with vigor, which was better than artsy, according to Sarge. Crimson joined in the merry crowd, hoping it would draw attention from his locket.
Where the old wind blows and na-ture crows We stand in un-i-ty! The kings of old, they all were told Of every-thing they’ve done!
We all are grateful for those who fall They serve to their last breath. In spite of all, they have prevailed So therefore we will too!
Oh, At-lan-tis, we all sing! We sing for thee, we sing for thy At-lan-tis, we will be We’ll be there for our home!
And our fair princess, known as Queen, She lives with pride and strength. She calls upon our greatest foe The Dominion, to seek a fight!
There’s nowhere that we’d rather be The Army is our home! Instead, we wish to fight as hard So that our kids see we won’t stop And always save the day!
Oh, At-lan-tis, we all sing! We sing for thee, we sing for thy At-lan-tis, we will be We’ll be there for our home!
We fight all day, and in-to the night Through blood and steel On land and sea Our home is what we all do make it And the Army is our home!
As the ponies marched by the Atlantean flag flying proudly in the Square, they all saluted it with pride, dignity, and discipline. It was their home they were defending, and they all knew it. They fought for their homes, their families, and their friends, but most of all because they loved Queen Atlanta and would come to her aid at any given moment. But nopony knew just how hard they were going to fight. They were shinies, after all, and had yet to see combat.
Crimson smiled as he remembered that day, so many years ago. It had been joyous, wonderful, and the best he’d ever get out of the army. His childhood friend Platinum stuck to him like a bodyguard, ready to keep his marefriend’s brother alive at all costs. He would do anything to make her happy, but the two broke up about four months after the war started. She decided that the wait might never end, and he agreed. But he never let something like that slide in the way of his duty to the Queen.
It was the day he first had a taste of battle. The adrenaline that coursed through his veins, only to dissipate at the end. He lost so many friends that day: Bats, the formerly retired Golden Sands, and his drill instructor, the stallion they once called Martian. Seeing them dead was devastating. But he soldiered on through the war, and knew his warrior’s resolve was close to cracking. It almost had then, and neither Chrysalis nor Sombra would let it recover, even though they didn’t know that particular secret.
“Wake up, Colonel. We’re in Baltimare.” Midnight’s voice was unmistakably tired. He had been in the bunk above Crimson before he got up and ready to unload.
Crimson grumped and pulled himself out of bed. He never was a morning pony, and the constant irregularity of a soldier’s life drained him faster than a thirsty filly in summer. But he loved it, and was always able to crawl out from under the sheets and get up without much trouble.
“Sweet Harmony,” he groaned as a crick in his neck suddenly released. “I’m so glad we got sleeper cars. That would’ve felt worse, but as it was, ohh…” He felt cricks in his spine release as he stretched beside the bunk. “That felt good.”
The two walked to the door with their stuff and off the train. As it was, the station was virtually empty, but both officers knew that would change in a few minutes. And change it did. Ponies zombied their way into the station and formed ranks to head south to the planned camp area. Some had to be half-carried, half-dragged, but they at least had all their stuff. It reminded Crimson of AREA’s 2nd Coastal, his regiment, after its first battle. Soaked, beaten, and worn down, they had just barely made it to the station themselves before Pacifica was overrun.
But this was different. This time, they weren’t running, and this time, it was just the tiredness of the dark night. There wasn’t any wounded nor panic-stricken ponies tonight.
After unloading, he swore he could hear his friends from AREA, singing the anthem in their loud, obnoxious voices. The atmosphere was right. He looked up, half-expecting the Atlantean “Stars and Seas”. But the tattered flag wasn’t there; just a starry night sky.
Always the first star that I find. Rose Thorn’s voice was clear. The mare referred to him as that during the war. If only he could see her once again… Crimson shook the thought. His wife was dead, killed by the Dominion six years ago, three long years before the war’s end. The only thing he could do for her now was find their daughter Andromeda and keep her safe.
Lieutenant Silver Comet ran up alongside him, disrupting his thoughts. “Sir, we’ll be at the campsite in half an hour at this pace. Should I order them to go faster?”
“No, this is fine. Besides, running directly after sitting for many hours isn’t too good an idea.”
“If you say so, sir.”
They continued walked side-by-side for a while. Then the lieutenant asked something Crimson had expected Princess Cadence or Twilight to ask. “Sorry if I’m intrusive or insubordinate, sir, but who are your relatives?”
“Andromeda, Crystal Shard, Mom and Dad,” he replied without looking at the junior officer. “Crystal Shard’s my younger sister. She earned a veteran’s honor and such during the Atlantis-Dominion war a decade ago. Alongside me.
“Andromeda’s my daughter. Great filly, she is. She helps take care of Cryssie so I can continue the military life. If Rose hadn’t been executed, Andromeda would have a mom. Instead, she ended up with my sister. Not to talk shit about her, but Cryssie can be a pain sometimes. You?”
“Nopony in the army, sir. I came from an astronomically-inclined family, hence my name. Not really romantically interested, either.”
Crimson let out a sharp but quiet bark of laughter. “You’re lucky, but you’re also missin’ out! A little horizontal dancing is part of it, but it’s mostly the ceremony that got me.” He looked wistful for a moment in the pale moonlight shining down on the column. “I met Rose Thorn on Day Three of the Battle of Aquarius River. Came into the field hospital on a stretcher with a bullet hole in my head and a missing left wing. After I healed, we pretty much instantly fell for the other. If only I could see her rosy coat, those green hooves that came up in little green fires up her legs, her eyes…” Crimson trailed off.
“Sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to invoke bad memories.” Silver Comet had an apologetic look about him.
“No, it’s fine. Just the things I have to deal with every day anyway.”
Ahead of them, a flat area, formerly a campground, went out for a mile in both directions. This was their army’s campsite. The clearing had a view of the Celestial Sea on the eastern edge, and farmland showed to the west. The army had come from the lightly forested north, and saw the great swamp the Changelings supposedly controlled. Putting camp this close to the front lines was asking for trouble, but Crimson had no other choice. It was either this or take up all the space in Baltimare.
It was morning before they did anything else. Fortifications were built, trenches dug, and Unicorn security guards stationed every so often to prevent Changeling intruders. To be honest, that might not happen. Chrysalis was focused on the alien ships off the coast.
Speaking of those, narrator, Crimson thought, I should be getting around to actually talking to them.
The colonel was busy with keeping the army organized. Some new recruits walked in from Fillydelphia and Baltimare, and he had to get them into the weakest regiments, bringing the regiments back up to strength. But enough came in to get him to create an entirely new regiment, which he welcomed. Training would normally take place in Ponyville, but the time it took to send them there and back was too much. However, recruits from the western cities would go through the small town and train with Shining Armor.
Late in the afternoon, a white banner on what Crimson immediately recognized as some kind of rifle bobbed over to the troops. It was carried by a biped in uniform, and below it, on the same support, was a flag with three distinct colors: red, white, and blue. He called over Captain Midnight and Lieutenant Comet.
“Captain Reynolds, commander of USS Ticonderoga, United States Navy. If you’ve seen our carrier, USS Ronald Reagan, we would be grateful.”
Reagan. That rang a bell, but the Pegasus couldn’t locate it in his mind. “Colonel Crimson Dawn, commander of the Equestrian Defense Force. We sent messengers about a possible military alliance.”
“Ah. Yes. I hope the details aren’t too extensive. I’m no diplomat.”
“Neither am I. shall we?” Crimson indicated the command tent behind him. With a quick safety confirmation from his fellow sailors, Captain Reynolds walked in, followed by Crimson and his officers.
Captain Reynolds of the United States Navy ship USS Ticonderoga stood on the bridge of his command, staring at the sheet of paper in his hands. He had just signed an official military alliance with a horse, and a crimson-coated winged one at that. And all the horse wanted in return for not attacking the country was help in defeating some race called Changelings. Whatever the hell they are.
“Sir, a third wave of bugs is coming from the south. It’s a lot bigger than the other two.” The radar operator looked nervously at his captain. “I’m not sure if we won’t lose any of the ships.”
“How many bugs you think are coming?” Reynolds asked.
The black specks came towards the steel ships of the twenty-first century at backbreaking speed. They kept low above the water in a mile-wide wedge formation. There must be more than three thousand in this wave alone.
The three destroyers closest to the bugs opened fire with several salvos of deafening booms. Their frontal turrets spun slowly to target advancing enemies and fired. Most of the shots missed, so the destroyer captains switched to the CIWS Gatling guns. Thousands if not millions of bullets streaked towards the Changeling attackers and knocked them out in droves.
“Commander Rachel, you are clear to fire the Sea Whiz!” Reynolds called to his gunnery officer.
The ancient cruiser which was Reynolds’ command engaged the Changelings with the CIWS gun mounted on her bow. Soon, the other ships in the rear of the tiny fleet opened fire. The air was alive with the overwhelming sounds of rapid fire and cries of death and pain. After a while, the Changelings pulled back and the fast attack submarine that had been underwater the whole time surfaced. Its bow flew high up and slammed into a dozen retreating Changelings, splattering their green blood on the shiny black submarine. The submarine splashed back down and wiped the Changelings off with the sheer impact.
One of the first destroyers to engage, USS Bainbridge, suddenly started acting strange. Its frontal turret spun wildly, the CIWS guns whirled around, and gunfire broke out belowdecks. Her captain reached the Radioman’s station on the bridge and sent a call for defenders. He claimed his crew was firing at itself. Something was up.
His transmission was interrupted by gunfire and many cries of pain. No other radio activity came from the destroyer afterwards. Instead, her frontal turret bore down on her sister ship, USS John Paul Jones. It fired and a hole appeared in the other destroyer. Captain Reynolds instantly knew what happened: Bainbridge had been taken by the bugs, and they were using her.
“All ships, fire on Bainbridge! She’s been taken!”
All guns that could bear on the now-hostile ship did. Less than a minute after the bugs had fired on John Paul Jones, holes were being ripped into the side of the ship. Suddenly, a geyser of seawater spewed up along the side and Bainbridge whipped around like an out-of-control merry-go-round. The geyser reached the tip of the mast and water fell on top of the deck and superstructure. The sound of creaking steel resonated through the air as the destroyer split in half and sank. Reynolds stared at the wreckage for a moment before it hit him. The submarine torpedoed her former ally in defense of the fleet.
Changelings dove over the side, flying back to land as fast as those holey wings could carry them. If Crimson Dawn hadn’t said the the only Changeling really capable of feeling emotion was Chrysalis herself, the captain would’ve sworn the ones that came closest to Ticonderoga had the look of pure terror plastered on their faces. Others remained on the doomed vessel, unable to fly or swim. They accepted their fate even as lifeboats from the other ships came to pick them up. It was apparently flee or die. No surrender.
The main magazine overheated from the fires started by the torpedo and Bainbridge became nothing more than a sinking pile of steel. She sank below the waves, never to be seen again.
-------------------
Chrysalis didn’t know what to say. Her army’s deception as part of that alien crew backfired, destroying the vessel she hoped to capture. The Equestrian army had arrived as well. They would be dealt with later. For now, these high-tech aliens had to be defeated. Unless she attacked the army and took out most of that fleet, they wouldn’t leave the area to her. She fumed. Damn creatures from another world. She figured that out after the first wave. Where else could such power come from?
Three waves, several thousand of her minions, and only one fucking ship was destroyed. The Changeling Queen sighed frustratingly, knowing that the road to victory would be a lot harder than the Canterlot wedding attack. And rumor had it there was only one princess alive in Equestria, the one she impersonated. Mi Amore Cadenza. Apparently, Celestia was to the east, and Luna and that miserable purple one - she searched her mind, then found her name - Twilight Sparkle, were dead. But the one princess left had an army and an extremely capable leader for it, not to mention these bipedal aliens to distract the Changeling advance.
Chrysalis walked outside the small house she had turned into her command post. The deep green paint was peeling, the windows and doors really needed a makeover, and the place was practically falling apart, but it was shelter, sturdier than the “borrowed” tents used by her minions. In the distance, she saw the tiny wisps of smoke that signaled the Equestrian camp. It was close; only ten miles due north. Maybe she could take out the Equestrian army. Then Baltimare would be hers, whether or not the aliens did anything. That was a start.
Crimson Dawn spoke to Princess Celestia, in her human form, several thousand miles away, about the war. He didn’t have very good news.
“Princess, we moved Cadence and Twilight to the Everfree Castle, as you know. Unfortunately, it was destroyed last week by Sombra and his weapon. Currently, rescue crews are on site; however, I don’t believe anypony could’ve survived the blast. The Tree of Harmony is, well, ash. The Tree soaked up as much magic as it could to protect the area, but it overflowed, and half the Forest exploded as a result, with fires still burning in what’s left. And the Everfree Castle is not even rubble. It’s nonexistent.”
“What about the Elements?”
“We’re missing Magic because Princess Twilight was in the castle, but that’s all. Finding both princesses is our highest priority as of now, but it is most likely that Twilight was killed.”
“Good. Keep me informed. As for Twilight, I can do nothing except mourn for her loss. Almost everything is being taken before my eyes.”
Crimson sighed after the spell ended. Giving the Princess of the Sun bad news was almost asking for some kind of problem, but it had to be done. Besides, he should’ve done this last week, but there was a battle, the chaos of losing the Everfree Castle, and then news of the Changeling invasion. He just hadn’t gotten around to it until now.
Lieutenant Silver Comet should be coming back in a few hours from his scouting expedition to the west. We really need to know where the enemy is. Again, the war effort controlled his thoughts. It was like the Atlantean-Dominion War, only he was in charge this time. Wait, that stream looked too similar to Aquarius River right before the battle. The memory hit him like a baseball bat…
--------------------
“Wake up, Crimson! We’re moving out in ten!” Platinum Starlight was next to his sleeping bag, stowing all his equipment faster than a hummingbird could flap its wings. In the already-bulging saddlebag, there was ammo, powder, and other essentials. Crimson hurried to pack up before Sarge busted in.
“What time is it, anyway?” he asked groggily. Squinting out of the tent, he commented, “Jeez. Thought it was two in the mornin’.”
“Nah. Sarge has his ways of knowin’ when we’re ready to fight. You know he gets us up only when it’s six-thirty.”
Crimson nodded and finished stowing his things. He ran out of the beige tent with Platinum into the chaos of an unprepared army. Sarge had obviously not given the greenies enough time to get ready, as the two could hear him down by the recruits’ rows, bellowing in his voice of the high seas. It was amusing, to say the least.
The ragged ponies of the half-strength 2nd Coastal Regiment staggered out of their tents quickly like a bunch of three-quarters-drunk sailors. They formed a column and munched on snacks hoofed out by a passing chef. Seeing the amount of ponies eating, Crimson knew today’s march would be a long haul indeed. He took a bag of saltine crackers and munched as quietly as he could with a painful broken tooth from the last battle that still hadn’t quite healed. At least the crackers were decent.
The march began just as the sun peeked over the flat horizon. They went on for hours, only stopping once for a lunch break. Crimson judged their direction to be west, confirmed by the sun as it made its flight to the earth, where Celestia of Equestria would pick it up with her magic and swap it with the moon. He clutched his single-shot musket with his left wing. Oh, how he wished for one of those repeating guns the Dominion had!
“Hey, Red! How much longer we gonna go?” called a recruit who obviously didn't have military discipline.
“Show me respect due my rank, boy, or by Harmony, I'll have you up on charges for insubordination!” he yelled back.
“Sorry, Red. I mean, Sergeant Red. Forgive me, sir.”
Crimson, Platinum, and a few of their buddies nearby chuckled. Rank did have its privileges.
“Crimson, when are ya’plyin’ for officer?” asked the dwarf Earth pony mare Hummingbird. “Think it'll be soon?”
“Probably in a week. Don't wanna leave all y'all behind.”
“Ya needn't worry ‘bout that,” Platinum reassured. “We'll go with you all the way. In fact, you could choose us for your NCO’s.”
“You, Starlight? An official non-commissioned officer? Please. You'd last no longer than a pile o’ shit!” That comment came from Haybale, a Unicorn farmer from a community near Platinum and Crimson’s hometown, and had been with them since the war started.
“Longer than you, I'd bet!” Everypony in the group of friends roared with laughter at the banter between fellow soldiers. It was a cheerful but long march, next to the deep blue Aquarius River’s eastern branch. At the pace they were going, they'd reach the Fork by nightfall.
“Jeez. My legs are killing me.” Hummingbird groaned as Sarge called the final stop. She plopped down onto her sleeping bag and stayed there.
“Hummy, you do realize the tents gotta be set up?” Haybale called.
“Fuck you,” came the tired reply. Hummingbird obviously wasn’t in the mood to do anything but sleep.
Crimson smirked and put his stuff down on the ground. “Haybale, Sarge said the tents won’t be pitched tonight, like, three hours ago. We have too far to go and not enough time tomorrow.” He spread his sleeping bag next to Hummingbird and crept into it, falling asleep almost instantly. The others followed his lead and took the chance to rest, knowing the morning would be hell.
“Get up, get up!” yelled Crimson. “Hummingbird, Platinum, Haybale, let’s move! We head north in ten!”
The three groaned and opened their eyes to an early-morning sun. Private Hummingbird tossed around into the sandy riverbank. She instantly shot to a standing position and raced to the hastily set up mess tent, muttering something about ice-cube water. Haybale sighed and packed his stuff, then Hummingbird’s so hers wouldn’t get soaked by the flow of the nearby Aquarius River. Platinum and Crimson packed as well, then headed for the mess.
It didn’t take long for Sarge to go ape shit at the recruits being slow again. He yelled at them like a forty-knot wind was blowing by. They scrambled to their hooves and hurried to get the last food and pack up for the march ahead. Within the hour, the entire army was headed north.
“Form ranks! Form ranks!” Crimson yelled to the others in the 2nd Coastal Regiment. They hurried to line up and shoot at their attackers, just across the river and behind some trees.
Crimson’s regiment had been ambushed. Before they knew what hit them, all the senior officers had been sniped and the NCO’s were getting picked off one by one. It quickly disintegrated into chaos when they sent somepony for reinforcements and he came back with news that they were on their own. Luckily, Crimson and Platinum could coordinate some kind of resistance, and everypony else followed their example.
Bullets slammed into the trunks of oaken saplings and trees. A grenade went off somewhere, knocking a large tree to the ground with a crash. It then rolled down the bank and into the river, taking more than one Atlantean with it.
Hummingbird cried out when a bullet zipped through her left foreleg and collapsed. She picked her gun back up and fired another shot before rolling behind a bush and glancing down at her leg. She winced and tore her uniform, tying it around her leg to put pressure on the wound. Reloading, she rolled again to take another shot. The musket fired, smoke poured out from the end of her barrel, and she was lucky to roll back behind the bush alive.
Platinum saw the mare and made hoof signals to Crimson, who had climbed the tree the Unicorn hid behind. The red Pegasus nodded and called, “Get her outta there! We gotta retreat!” Yelling louder so the entire regiment could hear him, he ordered a retreat back to the bridge near the Fork.
Almost nopony even cared at that point. Some had already dropped their weapons and bolted back the the way they came. But now it was official: the panicked run was necessary. Haybale did his best to keep it organized, but it was no use. Platinum picked up Hummingbird with his magic and carried her as fast as his tired legs could carry him. Looking back once, he saw Crimson swoop down from his tree and catch up.
The shattered regiment reached the bridge at the Fork with the entire Domination Army on their tail. Ponies were being picked off one by one from both flanks and the back. As they came to the arch, Atlantean artillery on the other side of the Aquarius River opened up. Shells flew just barely overhead, exploding into a much-welcome smoke screen. Directly after, the ground shook with round shot cannonballs.
“Over the bridge! Over the bridge! Move it, move it, move it! That’s our opportunity!” Haybale directed at the front of the retreating ponies. They didn’t need any encouragement. Crimson was the last one over the bridge ten hair-raising minutes after the regiment reached it.
“Crimson Dawn, Staff Sergeant of the Atlantean Reserve Emergency Army, I commend you on safely bringing the remnants of the 2nd Coastal Regiment back to our lines. That was an action worthy of granting your request to officer according to my books, and I was able to convince High Command. Your command will be your comrades in the 2nd Coastal. Is that acceptable?”
Crimson blinked in surprise and tried to say something, but the words couldn’t escape his mouth. Eventually, he cleared his throat and said, “Crystal, sir. I accept my position. What are my orders, Sarge?”
“Boy, you don’t answer to me no more. I’m just to relay that you report to the command tent in thirty minutes for the official ceremony. You are to bring your three picks for NCO as well.”
“Understood, sir.” Crimson saluted his former senior officer and took his hoof down when it was returned. “Thank you, sir. I won’t let you down.”
“I know you won’t, Lieutenant.” Sarge extended his hoof and Crimson shook it, tears starting to form in his eyes. The old sergeant had been his top commander for nigh on five long, bloody years. Now, it looked like the infamous Sarge would be subordinate to him.
Crimson turned and walked out of Sarge’s tent. Some nearby recruits saw the few tears on his face and thought he was dishonorably discharged. That was the worst thing that could happen in the army, with all the shame and failure that went with it.
“Looks like they’re replacin’ ye oldies with us cool new guys,” one called.
Crimson instantly whirled around to see the pony. “Whose regiment are you in?”
“Forty-fifth Indy Isles, not that it matters to you.”
“It does matter to me. Now you will give me the respect due my rank or I’ll court-martial you!”
“You’ve been discharged, though. I technically don’t have to.”
Crimson laughed aloud. “Now that is the stupidest thing I’ve heard all bucking year! I would like to inform you that I am a LIEUTENANT in the Atlantean Reserve Emergency Army, and you will show me the respect due my rank or I’ll have you up on charges for insubordination! IS THAT CLEAR?” His voice had steadily rose as he spoke.
The colt immediately regretted his voiced opinion. “Crystal, sir,” he managed to gulp.
“Good. I’ll have a word with your regiment commander later. And if you decide it’s funny to fuck with me, I’ll bring it up to the Sarge!”
“No, no. please don’t, sir. It isn’t funny.” The colt threw a hasty salute.
Crimson nodded and walked on. He reached the area of camp where his regiment rested from the previous day. When he walked into the circle of new recruits, one asked, “What did Sarge want you for?”
“Nothing. Pass the word to the others, will you? Parade uniforms at the HQ tent at 0700. And one of you, go get Starlight, Haybale, and Hummingbird. Tell them to meet me in our regimental command tent in ten.”
“Yes, sir!” the group of five chorused before galloping off to follow his orders. The tired red Pegasus smiled, as he was to command these ponies who already treated him like an officer even though he hadn’t been officially promoted yet. That was one of the perks that came with rank and experience, but Crimson knew much of it was because he got them out of yesterday’s ambush.
He walked into the tent he shared with Platinum and changed into his ceremonial uniform. He squirmed with the few awards he had, working them into their proper places with his wing. After plopping the NCO hat on his head and placing his silver necklace around his neck, he walked out and to the command tent for the 2nd Coastal. The beige canvas sagged from five years of constant use, early-morning dew, and being rolled up. Beside it waited Haybale, Platinum, and Hummingbird on crutches.
“Why the fancy stuff, Big Red?”
“Come in.” Crimson walked into the tent and the three followed him in. There he told them.
“I can’t believe it! You’re an officer! Congratulations, bro!”
“That’s not all of it. Sarge told me I get three NCO’s, and I chose you guys. You all have the experience, hard-rock attitude, and charisma we need to hold this ragtag regiment together. I hope I can trust you to actually do it right.”
They continued for a few minutes, then Crimson ordered them to change into parade uniforms and meet him at the HQ tent. The friends dispersed, and the Pegasus walked to the army’s headquarters. This beige tent wasn’t much prettier than his, but it was a helluva lot bigger. The thing was meant for meetings of every regimental commander, and Crimson had been inside as his colonel’s NCO once or twice to represent the 2nd Coastal. However, coming in to be a permanent representative of his ponies was a little overwhelming. Crimson was one to lead by example; that was why he’d even become an NCO. But his leadership strategy kept him from actually succeeding his commander - until today.
Inside the HQ tent waited the generals and other main officers, advising the Queen of Atlantis herself. She always was the one to commission officers, so it made sense why Queen Atlanta would even be this close to the battle. Crimson saluted the officers and bowed deeply to the queen, asking permission to enter.
“Granted, Sergeant Dawn. I do believe you arrived exactly seven minutes early.” answered Atlanta.
“My lady, I believe that arriving exactly at the moment required is considered late. An early arrival guarantees that what final preparations are needed get done on time.”
One of the generals, Ivory Marble, demanded, “Where are your NCO’s, Dawn?”
The tent flap opened and Platinum, Haybale, and Hummingbird walked in. They followed the same entry procedures Crimson had and told the new lieutenant that the entire regiment was outside the tent. He thanked them and nodded to the queen. She gestured for them to follow her and went out the rear flap to the stage.
“My dear Atlanteans,” she called, “if I could give all of you a higher pay grade, I wouldn’t be able to keep this army.” There were a few chuckles at that. “But there are some who I can afford to promote. They have proven themselves in the leadership position on the battlefield, giving me the opportunity to make that permanent. Staff Sergeant Crimson Dawn has done this, and it is my great pleasure and honor to accept his application for officer. Sergeant Dawn?”
He walked up to stand next to the queen, facing her. He stood as straight as he could, almost shaking from the apprehension. Using her magic to pin the symbol on his uniform, she said, “Sergeant Dawn, repeat after me. I, state your name.”
“I, Crimson Dawn.”
“Vow to serve and protect the ponies of Atlantis.” He repeated. “From all who threaten them, and will do so until my dying breath, and will serve and protect her dear ruler from harm, until circumstances prevent me from continuing my duty.”
When Crimson finished, Queen Atlanta lifted an officer’s emblem from a small table nearby and fastened it to his uniform. “Congratulations, Lieutenant,” she said. She extended her hoof and he took it cautiously. But he smiled and turned to face his regiment with the queen.
“My dear Atlanteans,” she called in that loud, carrying voice, “may I present Lieutenant Crimson Dawn of the Atlantean Reserve Emergency Army!”
Cheers erupted and the Pegasus’ face flushed slightly. He felt like he didn’t deserve this honor, but wanted to please the Queen. And the best way to do that was to accept and move on.
“Wake up, Colonel!” Captain Midnight Shadow waved his hoof in front of Crimson’s face to see if the Pegasus would respond. Crimson jerked his head back and recoiled from the perceived threat.
“Wha- I’m up, Sarge!”
“Sir?”
Crimson blinked a couple times. “Sorry. Just a flashback.”
Midnight nodded understanding. “Sir, Lieutenant Comet has checked in from his expedition to the west. He reports that no Changelings had been encountered. And before you ask, yes, we did use the detection spell on his entire troop. They all turned out okay.”
Crimson, bobbing his head distractedly, now fully woke to the present day. He immediately stopped and asked Midnight to repeat himself. The captain did, albeit annoyed, and the colonel had what he needed to know. The Celestial Sea was visible to the east from their campsite, Baltimare to the north, and nopony to the west. That left the enemy camp one location: south. And judging by the now-seen buzz of activity there, it was way too close for comfort. They’d just have to work around it.
As he walked with Midnight to the command tent, the two saw a small escort surrounding a dark blue Crystal pony least expected to be here. The crown atop her head was empty, devoid of the five crystal that powered it to give her abilities to control temperature. Her cutie mark was probably the same crown, only with its gems. The mare’s mane and tail had four colors, and seemed to cover the late-autumn grass with a fresh coat of frost as she walked. Her red eyes searched the camp for the colonel, and they rested on the crimson Pegasus. She said something, and the escort brought her to them. Upon getting to a conversational distance, she saluted.
“Colonel Dawn, I have offered Princess Mi Amore Cadenza my parole, and she has accepted. I was to report to you as soon as I arrived.”
Crimson blinked. Could Crystal Snow really have defected? Returning the salute, he said, “Well, I see no reason to keep you out of the rank you were. Therefore, I’m keeping you a major. However, the troops may see your presence differently, so be careful. Meet me in the command tent in ten. I’ll have to introduce you to the other officers.”
She saluted again and obeyed. The escort dissipated, each pony going back to his or her duties. Crimson glanced at Midnight, who simply shrugged. There wasn’t much he could do.
“Everyone, this is Crystal Snow. she’s shown competence in being an officer, so I’m keeping her rank a major. Crystal Snow, this is Captain Midnight Shadow, Lieutenant Silver Comet, and Midnight’s second-in-command, Lieutenant Solar Flare. Questions?” Crimson gestured to each of the other officers as he said their names.
“No, sir.”
“Good.” Crimson placed his hoof on the map spread out on the table in the middle of the group. “Normally, I wouldn’t trust someone until they’ve proven their worth to me, but these aren’t normal times. Now, according to my arithmetic, the Changeling camp is ten miles south of us. And we need to take it out before long. It’s either a winter war, a late-autumn war, or a spring war. As far south as we are, it’s a lot colder than it should be, most likely because of the magical imbalance or whatnot caused by the deaths of Princess Luna and Princess Twilight. So I want to avoid a winter war.”
“Well, sir, if we know where they are, we can hit them,” mused Silver Comet. “Maybe not necessarily a strategic advantage, but it’s an option.”
Crystal Snow spoke up. “A siege.”
Everypony else arched an eyebrow in question. She continued: “The Crystal Empire laid siege to dozens of cities so far, using the same generic pattern for attack. They show up with superior numbers and whittle away at the defenders. Not that it mattered once we hit the highly organized resistance in Manehattan, of course, but it works for the most part.”
“True.” Crimson moved pieces around the battlemap. “So, if we spread out here, here, and here, we can surround the Changeling camp. We can use the metal fleet to block any escape to the east.”
“Too far,” commented Midnight. “Give them a perceived alleyway of escape at this point,” he said, using his Unicorn magic to point with a stick, “and they’ll go for it. They have to.”
“You want to give them a straight road to Baltimare?”
“No, I want to make it look like there’s one. When they go for it, we swoop from behind and wipe them out.”
Silver Comet nodded. “Hmm.”
“This is a pretty old strategy, if I say so myself.” Crimson said. “I’m not sure Chrysalis’ll fall for it. But it’s worth a shot. Dismissed!”
Queen Chrysalis stared at the Equestrian encampment through a spyglass one of her spies had acquired in Baltimare. He also had news of a defected Crystal commander who arrived as the queen watched. She dismissed him and kept watching. Those steel and copper contraptions that were stationed in the northern section were being maintained, and the process was quite intriguing. The spyglass shifted against her spherical face and she cursed. This damned thing was meant for ponies with a slightly elliptical head, but was useful nonetheless. She shifted it back and continued watching.
Movement to the east caught her eye, and the queen turned to look. The steel vessels were doing something in the aft area. As she watched, a gray machine, obviously made of steel as well, wheeled out of a white door she’d initially assumed was a wall. The top unfolded into several long, thin blades which began to spin around a central box-tube… thingy. Chrysalis had no idea what the thing was. A few bipeds climbed inside the insidious creation, and Chrysalis felt a lump in her throat as she saw the long barrel sticking from the underside of the front when it lifted into the air. She had no doubt it was one of those “quick-fire-spitter” devices that decimated half her army. At first glance, she thought her drones would be protected from their magic, but the battle was a technological one, not magical.
And the bipeds could fly. Every advantage Chrysalis thought she had over the bipedal aliens diminished without a trace. She believed her army’s flight capabilities would help even the playing field, but realized they’d just been hiding their own. Damn. She could hear a thunder-like drone from her position this far away. It was low but persistent.
Chrysalis watched helplessly astonished while the steel monstrosity landed in the Equestrian encampment. Its occupants climbed out and talked with the damned red Pegasus said to have led the defense of Manehattan. If only he’d been defeated, she wouldn’t have this stalemate, with neither side willing to attack the other. Chrysalis vowed to have a word with Sombra about the competence of his soldiers when they hit organized resistance. Harmony damn it. It wasn’t her fault the Crystal Empire’s army fled with their tails between their legs every time they were defeated in a city. True, the Equestrians did it as well, and more often since they normally lost the battle, but they at least did it with dignity. The Crystal army just ran. Speaking of the bastards…
Sombra had told her via communications spell that the army defeated in Manehattan had a special treat. They were ordered to get to Neighagra Falls if they lost, and waiting for them was a group of three full regiments to arrest them for failure and suspected treason, blah, blah, blah. Their commander was given a chance to redeem himself by taking Ponyville, and the remnants were scattered into either the Gem operation or other regiments. Considering how that battle turned out, the commander was promptly executed upon his sullen arrival in the Empire. Oh well. He’d seemed like a nice guy, but being thrust into a position of command from the guy who just does the work without making every critical decision was too much.
Chrysalis stopped brooding and turned to look at the Changeling who’s just said something to her. “Repeat that, will you?”
“Yes, my queen. Since all Changelings in the Hive are subject to your will, even though they have a slightly independent mind for the purpose of generating ideas, a thought had come to my head. What if we simply asked for them to feed us love, like Queen What’s-Her-Name to the west? Wouldn’t we get more out of it than if we outright attacked them?”
“An interesting idea, however unlike us it is. We’d get what we want, but my thirst for conquest wouldn’t be satisfied,” she mumbled. Speaking louder, she said, “My cousin Queen Paradox sees no reason to go to war; however, I do. She is a pacifist, and that is a word unheard of in my kingdom. I would invade her Hive and use it for my own purposes, but she lives on the other side of the South Luna Ocean. It might take weeks out of a time that isn’t very long to begin with. So, as for your question, my answer is no. We cannot imitate our relatives who have no purpose in life other than to do nothing, and we will therefore continue with the plan. My plan.”
“Why the hell can’t anything go according to plan for once?!” Crimson cried. “At least get me an idea of the battle!”
The Equestrian camp was in chaos. Unicorns kept ranks every so often, blasting everypony within range with a Changeling detection spell. The outer area was overrun, with tents burning and ponies fighting whoever the hell they thought was the enemy, which was anypony in a five-meter radius of the frightened ponies. With no way to determine friend from foe, it was every pony for himself. Changelings constantly charged the Unicorn line around the command tent, luckily held back by the tight wall of pointy keratin horns and magic spells. But that luck wouldn’t last long. More of Chrysalis’s minions smarmed the dwindling Equestrian lines, replacing every one down with three fresh drones.
The day had gone perfectly fine before then. Crimson introduced Crystal Snow to his officers, got Captain Reynolds to blockade the coast, and was halfway through putting all the redeployments on paper. Then he was ready to call it a day as Celestia’s sun came low on the horizon. The Harmony-damned Changelings came in at that treacherous time when you couldn’t see a thing because the silhouettes of trees covered them. And they fought through the night. Hours before the sun’s light rays even begun to curl around the horizon to give the sky a warm early-morning glow, the first layer of trenches was covered in a thick, growing layer of green and red blood. Captain Shadow lasted longer because his Unicorn magic identified the others, but he eventually retreated to the second trench line. Directly in front of the tents.
Behind the captain, ponies hurriedly threw together a third line, this time earthenworks. The hastily-made glorified hump in the ground would never stand against a Changeling assault, but they had to try. If only somepony could have said something about this before it happened, not during, he wouldn’t be in this awful position.
Squinting down his sights, he saw an exposed Changeling and fired a ball of lead into its shoulder and out the other side, right through one of those Swiss cheese holes speckled all over these guys. Damn. He cocked and fired the repeater again, this time impaling the head.
A shriek pierced the air and a small amount of smoke lazily moved with the wind from a five-inch gun on the bow of USS Ticonderoga. The five surface ships under her command fired as well, slamming their high-explosive rounds into the Changeling camp and advancing troops. Chrysalis’s drones went everywhere, their bodies more limp than sliced cheese. One shell split the air at astonishing speed, but was merely flicked on a different trajectory by a green blast of magic.
Crystal Snow saw it as well and bolted to the tent. A Unicorn buzzed the spell over her, letting the officer in. “Crimson! She’s here!”
“What?” The colonel hadn’t had a clear picture of the disintegrating situation all night, and the sudden news took him surprise. “Chrysalis?”
She nodded.
“Well, fuck.” Crimson quickly regained his calm outward appearance and tried to take control of the problem. “I’ll take care of her. Have Silver Comet get a rearguard action in place so we can get the hell out of here if we need to.” A screaming shell zipped overhead, nearly taking the tent out of its stakes. “Those things are gonna be the death of me! At least he’s helping.”
Crystal Snow found the real Silver Comet after a harrowing half-hour of dodging Changeling spells and whacking fakes. She told him the plan, which he hated, but followed anyway. A few ponies went with him, blasting Changelings into pools of green blood and black chunks. Crystal turned around to find a tall black bug standing over her.
“Ah, a Crystal Pony. One who has betrayed her kind.” The queen’s electronic-raspy voice was unmistakable. “You will be a great trophy to give the King of Shadows!”
“No, she won’t.” A cold, deep voice, hardened from years of war, boomed across the battlefield. Crimson Dawn had donned his well-maintained steel Atlantean helmet, scratched from the many melee battles from the Atlantis-Dominion War. Also covering the red Pegasus was a raggedy uniform he hadn’t worn since the Final Stand of Atlantis. He held his repeater with his right wing, while his robotic left wing carried his officer’s short sword, still in its hard leather scabbard. “She will not be brought before Sombra, and neither will anypony in this army. You will fail.”
“I will fail? Your pathetic attempt at an organized force is nothing more than a bunch of kids who go running back to their mothers as soon as the fighting starts. Only some kind of magical Deus Ex Machina can save you now.”
That’s it! “Are you sure?” Crimson pulled the trigger, putting a bullet into the Changeling guard next to Chrysalis. He fired again, but her magic deflected it into Crystal Snow. She fell with a cry that brought Crimson back several years. Fear flashed in his normally calm eyes, and Chrysalis knew she hit a nerve. The mare’s fall must’ve caused a flashback. She smiled as much as her oddly-shaped mouth could let her.
-----------------------
Midnight Shadow hacked at every single Changeling he could find. He tired from the magical exertion, but never felt so alive. His every sense was heightened to an extent where he knew everything going on around him, seemingly slowing time down to fraction of its typical pace. With a maniacal laugh, Midnight whirled around and stuck his sword into a Changeling neck. Its green blood splattered all over his bloody head and body. Given a moment of reprieve, he wondered how long they’d been fighting.
The captain went back to hitting things with his sword. A Changeling body from one of the explosive shrieks hit him full in the face, and Midnight Shadow was knocked cold.
------------------------
Crystal Snow winced from the pain. A small hole went right through the side of her neck and warm, red blood oozed profusely out of it. She grabbed a rag from a dead Equestrian and wrapped it around her neck, using it as a loose tourniquet. She didn’t want to choke, just stop the bleeding. Right before she actually tied it off, her blood froze. It stopped as soon as a sub-zero wind chill hit her wound and continued when the temperature raised back a little.
My blood freezes at the first exposure to sub-zero air? It was a horribly chilling thought, to possibly freeze inside out. But she would’ve froze already if that was the case, so that left only one other thing: her crown’s jewels were only channels for the power she possessed over winter. She could use it if only she had the damned jewels! Or, if that means I’m best off during winter, I won’t have ice-queen powers, but I’ll be able to control the temperature. A much more reassuring though than the last one.
Glancing at Crimson, she saw his face still frozen in place, stuck in a time years before this. His flashback was going to get him killed if she didn’t do something. Queen Chrysalis stood there, taking her time to build up a spell that would surely kill the colonel. Her distant cousin. Crystal Snow would not - she would not - stand by while part of her family was killed off.
Noticing the movement out of the corner of her eye, Chrysalis turned to the Crystal pony. “Stop what you’re doing. I’d rather not kill you.”
“Then let me work. I’m patching a hole in my neck, no thanks to you.” Crystal retorted.
The Changeling queen rolled her eyes. At least the mare wasn’t going anywhere. With that wound, she wouldn’t even need a guard. “Take out the last of the resistance,” she hissed to a drone. Soon, she was the only one there besides the two incapacitated ponies. Chrysalis turned back to face Crimson, who had dropped his repeater and sword, staring in horror into the space.
Crystal Snow struggled to stand on her hooves. She panted heavily from the exertion, clenching her teeth together enough to prevent a scream of pain caused by moving her neck. “You will not succeed, Chrysalis.” Her voice was shaky, the queen noticed, probably from that bullet hole and being physically tired. “I told Princess Cadence I wouldn’t let some Harmony-damned asshole such as yourself walk into Baltimare if it was the last thing I do. And I intend on fulfilling that.”
Chrysalis, clearly pissed, turned once again at Crystal Snow - who timed it perfectly without even knowing. A five-inch armor-piercing round slammed into the unsuspecting queen’s face, shattering her skull and sending Changeling guts everywhere. Her decapitated body flew back at the recoil of the projectile, withering back down into the small body of a drone. The queen herself laughed hysterically behind Crystal.
“Did you really think that was going to work? I must say, you are one clever girl. But while you tied that ripped cloth around your neck, I had one of my drones replace me so that I may be safe from any antics one of you might’ve tried. My, my, my. I must say, this was a good game.” Chrysalis’s horn powered green. “However, I’m afraid you must die now.”
Crystal Snow now stood defiantly between the zoned-out Crimson and Queen Chrysalis. She picked up the repeater with her hooves, fumbling with the heavy device. How does he wield this thing with just his wing? Crystal thought as she dropped it on the ground. Chrysalis promptly flung it and the sword away with a levitation spell and a witch’s cackle. Behind the queen, a familiar-looking aluminum-coated face snuck up. He tackled the queen, bashing her head with a fair-sized boulder he’d picked up. Silver Comet!
With a final, agonizing roar, Chrysalis fired up a teleportation spell and Silver Comet jumped off before she finished it. The queen disappeared back to her camp, where a couple drones took a look at her head. The lieutenant’s boulder broke her skull in more than a couple places, fracturing it all the way down to her newly snapped collar bone. The Changeling queen would not be going into battle for a possible year if she healed properly. Time to retreat and recover. The Equestrian army would have to pay with their lives later.
Crystal Snow slumped into the hooves of her comrade. Silver Comet held the mare for a while as the field nurses tended to the more critically wounded. As he watched, the forest fires ignited by missed attack spells dwindled and died out. The red glow over the once-beautiful woods faded out with the later dawn, Celestia’s sun slowly rising to the east. Out at sea, the human warships loaded helicopters with medical supplies, flying the stuff to the battleground along with doctors and nurses. The proud flag of the Equestrian army flapped in the light southerly breeze, tattered as it was. Apparently, somepony had pulled the flag from under rubble and raised it on a makeshift flagstaff. Below it flapped the Atlantean flag, Crimson’s flag.
Crimson snapped his head around in wonder. “What the hell happened?”
“Sir, you went into a flashback of some sort. If Major Snow hadn’t stalled Chrysalis and her goons for as long as she did, you’d be dead, and we’d be prisoners. As it was, I was lucky to save her life.” replied the lieutenant.
A weary Captain Midnight Shadow limped up the low hill to the group from his position in the second trench layer. He just woke up from the Changeling slamming into him because of a high-explosive five-inch round.
“Sir,” he shakily saluted the colonel. Crimson returned the salute, then walked over to the Unicorn.
“You have no idea how relieved I am to see you alive.” For a moment, the two embraced in a friendly, brotherly way. Midnight was about to respond when he saw a certain pink Unicorn on a stretcher.
“Oh, no. Not Strawberry!” He ran to his sister as fast as his tired legs could carry his slightly-dizzy self. “Strawberry Sunrise, don’t you die on me!”
The mare looked at her brother with her right lost-in-space eye. Her left had been destroyed, and even now gunk oozed from its socket. Both of the lieutenant’s ears were lost, but still retained some functionality. Her entire body was soaked in blood, both her own and Changeling, but nurses cleaned it up as fast as they could.
“Thank, you, Midnight,” she said softly, longingly, lonely. Her hoof reached up to her brother’s worried face one last time before it fell down and her head slumped.
“No! NO! NOO!!” Midnight cried, not in agony from his many wounds, but for the loss. A nurse from Ponyville, Redheart was her name, listened for a heartbeat and found none. She looked up at Crimson, tears in her eyes, and shook her head slightly. The colonel knew then his captain’s answer.
Lieutenant Strawberry Sunrise, sister of Captain Midnight Shadow, had died. One of the beat-up stallions carried next to her body looked up to the two officers and said, “Sirs, she did a hell of a job. Her one spell alone prob’ly saved fifty of us when we retreated to the sec’nd line. Seein’ her like this now, I can only imagine the loss. Just give’r a medal, sirs. She deserves it.” He saluted and was carried on.
Crimson brought his head up to stare out to sea. Aboard Ticonderoga waved Captain Reynolds, and Crimson waved back. He then turned to fixing his army. Even Chrysalis couldn’t completely destroy it, as a few regiments here and there still had enough strength to fight, but replacing those lost would take time. Time he did not have. He carried his eyes to the north, wondering if he would ever march upon Sombra’s hold and end this war before there was nopony left to fight it. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Captain Reynolds climbed out of a helicopter loaded with more of the meager medical supplies the American fleet had. He looked around while two other officers from Ticonderoga climbed out as while. What he saw was heart-wrenching: doctors and nurses working to save the injured, those lost being covered in shrouds, and anyone who wasn’t critical was a “walking wounded,” slightly-wounded ponies doing their duties because the army had so little fit for combat. Colonel Dawn and his senior officers stood in a small circle with the fifteen ponies left in Captain Midnight Shadow’s regiment. In the center of the circle was a coffin made from the abundant nearby “swamp oak” trees. Captain Reynolds decided not to disturb what was obviously a funeral for a fallen comrade, and sat down on a burned stump, wiping sweat from his head with a rag.
“Here, sir,” said a sailor, handing the cruiser captain a water bottle. Reynolds accepted it gratefully. “It must be at least ninety out here, sir, and that just ain’t right. It’s December, and the deck was literally frozen over last night.”
“Something must’ve knocked the temperature out of whack.” He took a gulp before handing the bottle back to the sailor. “I intend on finding that out.”
As he waited for Crimson to finish the funeral, Reynolds reflected on the previous night’s events on the ship. After the Changeling attack was initiated, he waited for clear shots before giving the order to fire. The fighting had continued throughout the night, and something set the forest afire around two in the morning. Then, as the sun peeked above the light swell, his ship blasted a drone disguised as Chrysalis. The battle ended soon after, and he would’ve left earlier, but the GPS booted up and gave them a position. Reynolds spent the next hour or so speaking with the President and Admiral James Robinson on Reagan, who he thought had been lost. The relief he restrained from showing was almost too much to bear.
And now he was to tell Crimson that the world was likely to end soon. That direction of conversation won’t be likely to end well. Well, now or never. Crimson and his officers were done and heading over to him. He stood up and straightened his uniform.
“Captain Reynolds, I thank you for your generosity in medical affairs. American supplies and techniques seem to much more advanced than ours.”
“It’s my pleasure, Colonel. This army needs it more than I do right now. But that’s not the reason I came. I received a call from my carrier group - from the other side of the ocean! The GPS system is working again, but Admiral Robinson aboard USS Ronald Reagan told me that the situation is about to go to hell.”
Crimson cocked his head to the right. “Could you explain?”
“I planned on that question. My enemies from Russia and China could be crawling all over the place. It seems that both our worlds are colliding at an astonishing rate. The goons over at NASA should come with a date in a few hours, so we need to kick into high gear right now.”
Silver Comet blinked. “What’s NASA?”
“The National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It’s essentially a group of smart people paid to make stuff fly in space without killing anyone.”
“Uh… okay.”
Crimson took the news in for a minute. “So, you’re suggesting we head on north before some bipeds with your level of technology show up and start kicking our asses?”
“Yes.”
“Alright then.” The Pegasus scanned the campsite-turned-hospital and saw nothing but ponies unable to go very far. He doubted they’d be able to get back to Baltimare before dark in the shape they were in. Unless they carried the wounded in the Americans’ flying machines. “Captain, do you mind carrying our wounded into the city to the northwest? They won’t be able to make it before this wonky weather turns them to icicles.”
“Yeah. I can do that. We’ll start now.”
Reynolds whispered something in his companion’s ear, who whispered something back. They went on for a minute before Reynolds finally pulled rank on the other. Then the two turned to the group of ponies. “The most critically wounded can stay aboard our ships. They’re a lot closer than your city, and have heating equipment.”
“Go ahead. I haveta get a march to town going.”
The two species parted, moving off to their respective plans. Reynolds’ companion, Lieutenant Commander Jackson S. Johnson, was pretty skeptical about caring for pastel horses in the fleet. But, seeing as Reynolds was acting commander of the six ships and the submarine, he relented. “I’m still not sure it’s a good idea. Not that I’m arguing, sir, but I just don’t know about it.”
“Jack, sometimes we have to do something we don’t like, especially in the military. Deal with it as it comes.”
“Aye, sir.” Jack saluted and began sending stuff to the copters. Ponies were placed on stretchers to be flown to the ships, carried by either Unicorn magic or human doctors.
Crimson called out the order to move out. Most of the tents had burned down with the forest, so he was really the only one with personal belongings. It didn’t take long to pack, so the four combat-ready regiments lined up in column in less than twenty minutes, waiting for their officers. Walking wounded formed a reserve in the rear, field medics keeping with them, and held the lighter equipment.
Slowly, the weary army marched to Baltimare. They only left once everyone alive was either on a ship or in a cart pulled by the combat-strength troops. If somepony fell down, he or she was hoisted into a cart to rest or carried by their comrades. Messengers were sent ahead of them, so the citizens knew to expect their arrival and the steel ships entering the harbor. They waited for the soldiers to come with a cleared lane all the way to the central downtown area. Their defenders were first sighted as a fuzzy cloud in the twilight, then more detail was revealed as they approached.
“Steady! Steady!” Crimson’s order was echoed by his officers down the column, but almost disregarded by the enlisted ponies.
He finally let them loose. The front ranks raced towards the metropolis at full gallop, cheering their way through the streets. After the terror of a Changeling ambush, running to a safe city was the least he could let them do. The fifteen or so exaggerated faceplants was also quite amusing to watch.
Crystal Snow leaned on Silver Comet dizzily. She’d flatly refused to get in a cart, deciding to walk the whole way instead. Crimson would’ve sent her to the American fleet, but she and the lieutenant were inseparable. And Silver Comet was walking. Since he was needed in the column, the weary colonel wasn’t in the mood to argue.
A bright flash appeared near the column. When it dissipated, Princess Cadence and Shining Armor were standing there. They walked to Crimson and congratulated him on a job well done. He replied with the fact that Crystal Snow was who really did it. He’d gone into a flashback part of the way through the battle, so he didn’t want the undeserved credit. Silver Comet had bashed Chrysalis’s head in with a rock, so he and Crystal should be the ones given credit.
“I knew bringing her in was a good idea,” Cadence said. “She seems to have done extremely well. I take it Major Snow is with the rest of the wounded?”
“No, ma’am. Crystal and Lieutenant Comet are not leaving the other for a while. Probably just camaraderie. And I am not in the mood to really argue. Not after the ambush. Say, what’s the name of the forest?”
“Canned Apple-lis Forest. Run by some extension of the Apple family. According to Twilight, they’re pretty reasonable folks - most of the time.”
Crimson rolled his eyes, but not at the princess. “Hence the name,” he commented.
“You could say that. So, you said something about a flashback earlier. What was it?” Shining Armor was as interested in that kind of thing as Twilight had been.
“The Final Stand. I was over the battle in the 16th Aerostrike when I heard the cry. It chilled me to the bone, stopped my heart. My sister had gone down. When I shot at Chrysalis yesterday, she deflected a bullet into Major Snow. Her cry of pain sounded exactly like my sister’s that day.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. I saved my sister’s life. Crystal Shard, always the rogue one, the adventurous one. I was the orderly, self-sacrificing one.”
“Ironically similar names.”
“Tell that to the writer.”
Cadence smirked. “That’s Pinkie Pie’s job.”
The three chuckled. It was moments like these that ponies lived for. And the friendships that may result was what the army was willing to die for. Peaceful as the Equestrians looked to outsiders, they’d defend that with their very teeth if it came to it. Friendship, camaraderie, and brotherhood were everything to an Equestrian. When it came to it, that’s all there was. Just the bonds from fillyhood to adult life, from east to west, north to south. Stronger than the sharpest knife could cut, spanning from sea to shining sea.
Crimson opened his eyes during a blink to see the Domination Army advancing towards the Atlantean camp. Behind him, a lone artillery piece boomed defiance at the enemy, soon silenced by the guns across the river. Guns that moved without being pulled. Holy shit. Also coming up was a circle of steel barrels that flashed with rapidly escaping muzzle exhaust as if the Dominion figured out how to make a gun shoot several bullets a minute. Given their technological advantage, he didn’t doubt that was the case.
Platinum Starlight came up to him with a piece of paper, the 2nd Coastal’s orders on it. “Sir, the Sarge just relayed. We’re to get the hell outta here!”
Crimson was about to reply when he heard a shriek and ducked. Platinum did as well, and the cannonball whizzed over his head by the thickness of his mane. The two looked back at the disorganized AREA and saw a hopeless mob. Most of these boys hadn’t been in a fight before. Ammunition carriages exploded, tents burned, and stuff was flying everywhere.
“Platinum, tell Haybale to get our sticky bombs out of the storage and meet up with me! Get some yourself and have Hummingbird get the regiment out! As my first order as a lieutenant, that’s what we’re doing!”
“But-”
“Do it!”
Platinum hastily saluted and hurried to the 2nd Coastal’s section. He relayed the orders and got the same reaction from Haybale and Hummingbird. But they followed Crimson’s command for the most part. The injured Earth pony mare called her comrades and charged to assist the defense by the river, using their sharpshooters to pick off enemy troops south of the bridge.
Haybale and Platinum came up to Crimson with the bombs. He waved them on as he raced to the bridge and flew to its underside. The two friends instantly knew his plan and did their best to hoist the sticky bombs up to Crimson as he fastened them to the underside of the bridge.
“I hope this works! If it doesn’t we’re really gonna be fucked!” Haybale yelled over the noise. The shiny Unicorn beside him nodded agreement.
A dozen loud cracks were heard. Hummingbird dove as best she could with an injured leg and fired from behind a tree. Alongside her, the rest of the regiment lined up to fire from behind cover. Beyond them, the army was slowly wearing off its shock. But it wasn’t fast enough. The Domination Army was less than a mile from the base of the bridge, starting to gallop as they realized the regiment’s stand.
Crimson yelled when a bullet zipped through his left wing. He dropped the bomb held in it and nearly let go of the ledge his hoof was wrapped around. “Shit! Another bomb!”
Platinum tossed it with his magic. “Last one, boss!”
Crimson payed the comment no attention. Either that, or he hadn’t heard it it. Whatever the reason, the lieutenant fastened it nearby and started to climb back under the bridge. His left wing had fallen uselessly at his side, blood dripping from three more painful bullet holes appearing in the feathery extension. Crimson dropped, his energy finally gone, his normally stone-cold face scrunched up like a candy wrapper without the candy.
Above him, one of the bombs was hit by a bullet aimed at the Pegasus. It instantly exploded, sending shrapnel in all directions and setting off the other bombs. The stone arch shuddered and collapsed, its keystone turned to dust. It crumbled and chunks fell into the churning water below. The Unicorns in the 2nd Coastal threw protective force fields between them and the disintegrating bridge.
Underwater, Crimson closed his eyes, believing it to be the end as sharp stones ripped his left wing apart and he fell to the unconscious. A white light filled his vision…
----------------------
He woke up in a hospital bed. Where his left wing had been there was only a bloodied stump. Crimson was covered in bruises, scratches, cuts, and two bullet holes, and also had a concussion. He could feel the mother of all migraines coming in like he hit a wall.
“Oh, son of a bitch…”
A pink Unicorn field nurse heard him and came over. She used her magic to keep him from getting up, and called for someone to get some Platinum guy. The one who left came back with two Unicorn stallions and an Earth pony mare.
“Lieutenant! Thank Harmony you’re alive, sir!” The shiny metallic Unicorn was overly ecstatic. Beside him, the other two smiled and cried tears of relief.
Crimson’s memory was fuzzy, but wait… “Haybale? Hummingbird? Platinum?”
Each saluted as he said their name. They were just glad to see he hadn’t gone to another world when they fished him out of the river four hours ago.
Everyone turned to a practical scream. “Crimson!” A young Pegasus mare - Platinum recognized her to be Crystal Shard, sent to reinforce the 2nd Coastal and arriving right after the battle - ran as fast as her legs could carry her since flying was prohibited in the field hospital. She took her elder brother in a loving embrace, crying more than Celestia had when she banished Nightmare Moon. only these tears were not from sadness as much as they were from sibling love. He hugged her back, dazed and trying to remember what the hell happened.
“Your wing, Reddie! Your wing!” Crystal Shard just couldn’t stop crying - nor would she let go. Platinum finally dragged her off the Pegasus and held her back with his magic, trying to comfort her as best he could.
“You shouldn’t worry. Lieutenant Dawn’ll live. He’ll just have to get a prosthetic from the foundry,” the nurse said. Inwardly, she felt a twang of jealousy for the stallion, who had a mare to love him as much as this one did. The nurse had cared for the red Pegasus - granted, his coat color made it extremely difficult to find blood to clean off - and she’d practically fallen in love with him. Seeing him awake was the most beautiful thing she ever knew. Just the fact that Crimson was alive was a miracle!
The lieutenant saw the nurse’s badly hidden expression and said, “She’s my sister, ma’am. I haven’t seen Crystal Shard in a long time.”
With that she visibly relaxed. The nurse walked back to other patients ad continued doing her job.
“Who is she? The pink Unicorn.” Crimson looked at his friends.
“I think that’s Rose Thorn. She runs the entire field hospital, leading by example.” Platinum replied.
Just then, Queen Atlanta walked in to see the wounded. The ocean-blue alicorn stared worriedly at the sea of blood, cleaning alcohol, and groaning ponies. Her eyes rested on Crimson and she bowed her head to him in respect. He saw the gesture and attempted a salute, but his right foreleg wasn’t up for it.
“Why the hell would the Queen bow that deeply to me of all ponies? I’m a lowly officer in her army.”
“Well, sir,” Haybale replied gruffly, “it’s my belief that she sees your stunt today as an act of courage. I wouldn’t worry ‘bout it, sir.”
Crimson locked his eyes with each of his friends and sister. “Thank you for being there in the battle. I appreciate it.” His head plopped back down on the dirty pillow and he fell fast asleep.
“Colonel?” Princess Cadence waved her hoof in front of Crimson’s face. After a minute, he came back to the present.
“Sorry, ma’am. Flashback.”
“Got it.”
They walked on towards Baltimare. At one point, Shining Armor left the two to keep the docks from hitting chaos. The American fleet was sailing in. Or rather, they had already entered the harbor, but were waiting for the Equestrians to come back before actually tying up at the piers. The ships were at least 150 meters long, meaning they were larger than any Equestrian seaworthy vessel.
Crystal Snow leaned on Silver Comet more than she already had been. The mare was certainly drained. Combined with the wounds she sustained during the earlier battle, the major was prepped to crash. Midnight and Solar Flare came over and helped Silver Comet carry her on. “Only a few hundred hooves, Crystal!”
Cadence watched with a smile. She saw that Crimson didn’t even try to help, but his commanders seemed to have it under control. The Pegasus simply stared on ahead, unbothered by his cousin’s weakness. Cadence thought of it as nothing. Crimson obviously didn’t, probably because he knew his officers were going to handle it so that he could concentrate on the army as a whole. That wasn’t a failure; it was giving the ones below him freedom to do what they felt needed to be done. How this stallion became a war-hardened soldier, Cadence had no idea. What she did know was that it happened, and the stallion was a husk of his former self. The flashbacks and horrors of war must’ve taken a serious toll on him.
“So, Colonel Dawn, how’s your family back home?”
“They’re fine, ma’am. Crystal Shard is busy organizing the Hearth’s Warming Parade back home. All of us let her do it because it’s one of the few things she can still do by herself. And to be honest, she does a phenomenal job. Mom and Dad should be getting plenty of bits from their roof-repair business, with all the wacky weather. Andromeda would be playin’ with the other kids, but she was foalnapped by Sombra. To think the bastard would take fillies and bend them to his will is beyond comprehension. Which is why I plan on invading the Crystal Empire after Winter Wrap-Up.”
“Spring? I agree. However, the weather is going against the Pegasi right now, so I’m not sure there’ll even be a Winter Wrap-Up.”
“There will be one if I say there is one. And that’s what I’m saying.”
Cadence looked doubtful. “If you say so.”
They walked up to the Baltimare reserve militia commander. He saluted Crimson and bowed to Cadence, then reported the available accommodations. Crimson agreed to them, mostly because all the ponies wanted was a heater and that’s what they’d be getting. It was getting to be colder than Antarctica in daylight and the sun hadn’t fallen below the horizon quite yet.
Captain Reynolds walked out on deck of the old USS Ticonderoga into the frigid evening air. He wore only his uniform since he never thought to pack a heavy coat when he originally sortied out to sea as the now-sunk carrier USS Carl Vinson. As he looked out towards the wharf, where a white Unicorn in a scarf organized the hasty construction of a pier large enough to accommodate the 173-meter American cruiser. It jutted out into Baltimare Bay, and two ships would be able to tie up at the pier.
Someone came out with a cup of coffee for him. Reynolds accepted and drank, savoring the heat more than the flavor. Even in December, it shouldn’t be getting this cold right at nightfall, so the temperature issue was really nagging at him. According to Crimson, it had taken a few weeks to take hold, and probably happened because some Princess Twilight had been killed.
The watch bell rang and he walked back in. as he passed the bridge, he said, “Don’t worry. You have the Conn and the Deck, Jean. I’m just passing through.” His statement released the tension on the lieutenant (j.g.) visibly. As he walked out, he sipped on the coffee, getting some more of that precious heat before going belowdecks into the temperature-controlled hallways.
Reynolds walked into the ward. A couple ponies were inside, holding cups of steaming tea in their hooves. Even with the environment, they seemed to be shivering. The doctor acknowledged Reynolds and covered some with blankets, patting them and moving on. He finished and came to the captain.
“Sir, they ain’t cold, but the blankets seem to help a bit. I think it’s PTSD. They did go through a hell of a fight, if you’ll pardon the language.”
“No, it’s fine. Help them out as best you can. I’ll send some blankets to those in the bunks.”
One of the ponies looked up and said, “Thank you, sir. I think I speak for all of us when I say we’re grateful for what you’ve done for us. Harmony bless your souls, sirs.” He nodded to both humans.
Reynolds gestured to the pony and walked out. As he continued down to the mess hall, he contemplated what that might mean for the Equestrian army. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. I sure hope the cases aren’t too serious, or these poor horses won’t be around too much longer. Reynolds entered his quarters and plopped down on the bed. It was going to be a long night.
--------------------
Andromeda, alicorn daughter of Crimson Dawn, woke on the cold hard floor of Sombra’s dungeon. A few months ago, she’d been taken from her home in Atlantis to this damp, frigid, alien place. Now she was held hostage as the King of Shadows’ wild card. Andromeda had no idea what transpired outside. She hadn’t even seen Celestia’s sun in four weeks. But her father’s words after her mother was killed kept her hope alive. You need not fear, my little Stardust. I will always be there for you.
The young mare was only seven years old. She had a coat that looked like a late-evening sky and fiery blue-star eyes. Her violet mane and tail, once as beautiful as a sunset over the sea, was unkempt and messy. Not even her looks let her down, however. As her aunt Crystal Shard had once told her, “Life's more beautiful than a fashionista’s dream come true. If you can’t look pretty on the outside, have your personality make up for it.”
A familiar face to the filly now, Crystal Snow’s younger sister Lythia Rose, waved glumly from a cell across the corridor. She heard that Crystal Snow had defected to the Equestrians yesterday, relayed from Queen Chrysalis to Sombra yesterday. In response, Lythia was sent from the crystal mines to prison as another wild card.
“How do you know your father’s coming, Andromeda? Dragonspire Citadel is stronger than the entirety of Equestria’s resistance. He won’t be getting through that. Plus, I saw some weird bipeds ally with Sombra while being brought here. They had a crazy boomstick that he was extremely interested in. They also had flying machines and rolling monstrosities that make a ton of noise. Your father isn’t coming.”
“You are quite optimistic today, Lythia.” There was a hint of sarcasm in the normally soothing voice.
A Crystal guard walked up and opened Andromeda’s cell. He pulled the young alicorn to her hooves and dragged her out. She fussed, but walked once he let go. Only a small escort was needed since she had a horn lock and her wings were tied with a magical bond. Her scowl was improving; she started developing one when the Crystal Empire took her prisoner.
Sombra, King of Shadows, sat on his obsidian throne in the main hall of the Crystal Castle. He was conversing with an image of Chrysalis again, this time about the steel ships with the “stars and stripes” streaming from a mast network. Nearby, the bipeds stood, giving input when they deemed it necessary.
“These are American vessels. They no doubt come from one of the carrier groups initially sent against us. Their carrier was destroyed, and the other disappeared a few hours later. However, hacked American communication lines have given us the location of the remaining carrier. It is on course due north, far to the east.”
“I understand.” Sombra’s voice was even deeper than Crimson’s, and had a harsh tone as well. “But I see no reason to destroy this ‘carrier’ you speak of until it is within known range of the Gem. You have also claimed its escort is heavily damaged. We will destroy it with our new navy once it arrives off Equestrian shores.”
Chrysalis noticed the prisoner and her escort. “Sombra, my dear, our guest has arrived,” she said in her raspy electronic way.
“Andromeda, daughter of the Equestrian commander Crimson Dawn.”
“He’s an Atlantean, and so am I. You got a second nation against you.” Andromeda retorted.
“Ah, picky, picky. That precious father of yours has become quite the problem, hasn’t he?”
Chrysalis rubbed her still-sore head. “His officers are a pain as well. The damn silvery one pounded me with a rock.”
“Captain Platinum Starlight transferred to the Atlantean Navy,” the alicorn stated defiantly. “He doesn’t use rocks.”
“No, not whoever in hell that is,” Chrysalis snapped. She recoiled from the sudden pain. “The lieutenant from Equestria. Sombra, why have you brought a prisoner to this meeting?”
“Because. I am going to send Colonel Dawn a message. If he does not surrender before Hearth’s Warming, I will take something of his. He will not be able to resist.” Sombra cast the spell and tried to tell Crimson the ultimatum. But the reply was less than convincing.
Crimson was sitting with his officers, Cadence, Shining Armor, and Captain Reynolds. They were talking about casual things. Then the conversation drifted around for a few minutes. Shining Armor finally noticed the shimmering image of the Crystal Emperor. He gestured to it.
“So, King Sombra, have you come to negotiate your surrender?” Crimson said in quite the friendly tone. “Because we’re ready to accept.”
“No. I have a proposition for you. You recognize this youth?” Sombra dragged Andromeda into the field of view.
“Don’t listen to him, Dad! I can handle it myself!”
“You’re holding my little piece of stardust hostage. You know that’s a war crime, right?”
Sombra gave a face as if to say Does it look like I care? “Yes, in fact I do. But that is not the point of this. You are to surrender and disband your resistance by Hearth’s Warming or your daughter will no longer be a maiden.”
Cadence shot out of her seat. “You wouldn’t dare!”
“I would.”
Crimson pulled up a list. “Sorry, Sombra, but according to this, the plot cannot contain, and I quote: ‘Sexual content involving human/anthro characters under the age of 18.’ Andromeda is seven.”
“Fine. but something will be done.”
Andromeda looked at her father. “I’ll handle it. Just find a way to win.”
With that inconclusive statement, the spell ended. Sombra fumed, trying to think of a backup plan. “Take her back to her cell,” he ordered, gesturing to Andromeda.
21. The Message That Came At The Entirely Wrong Time To Give Ponies A Break
Captain Reynolds watched ponies from Baltimare bring up the gangplank. The Unicorns held the bouncy wood with their magic, while Earth ponies hauled platforms for the landward end to rest on. He smiled. The men and women of USS Ticonderoga would finally be allowed shore leave after at least a month of being stuck aboard the cruiser. Even a transit across the Pacific Ocean back on Earth took less time than that.
Across the newly-constructed pier, built to accommodate the massive American vessels, was the destroyer John Paul Jones. She’d taken surprise hits when the Changeling assault captured Bainbridge and fired on her sister ship. The high-explosive round blew a large chunk on the steel warship’s bow clean off, thankfully above the waterline. Most of the seeable damage was a burned deck and a missing portside anchor.
But most pressing of all the captain’s concerns was fuel. They had no tanker, and the Equestrians never even thought of refining the petroleum occasionally found offshore by adventurers and overzealous mining executives. It was used only in oil lamps and some experimental incendiary shells. Not that they’d work; Crimson already stated that phosphorous was much more volatile and a better substance. The two military leaders agreed that keeping the American ships running was a Baltimare civilian task but the Crystal Empire held top priority. Baltimare should be at least twenty degrees Marenheit higher than the expected high was today right now.
Reynolds carried no concern for Admiral Robinson aboard the carrier Reagan and his ability to keep his fleet running. He believed some tanker or something refilled the escorts, but unlikely as it was, the admiral had admitted to having a way to refuel his fleet. It had something to do with Atlanteans and their deal with the battleship USS Pennsylvania.
Shining Armor walked down the pier, picking his way around loose planks and ponies carrying heavy equipment. It would be a full month before either could give the other― or so they hoped. The only thing coming through from the radio was static, as if the satellite network had gone down. It was that or assume the worst.
Reynolds liked the snow-white Unicorn. The former Royal Guard’s friendly but serious personality matched his career choice quite well, as did his talent. Skill with magic shields was apparently something one could be born with and discover. Whatever the reason (out of necessity, most likely), the two shared a developing bond.
“Any news on Princess Celestia?” Shining asked as soon as he teleported aboard. Normally, walked down the pier wouldn’t make sense if one could use magic to get to the ship, but Shining liked being among working ponies. It was probably because Royal Guards didn’t seem to do much, when in fact their job required a lot more than looking nice, flying around, and casting spells. The former Captain of the Guard was tight-lipped (muzzled?) about it, so Reynolds assumed it had to do with top-secret stuff.
He was about to say something along the lines of, “Nothing yet,” but an ensign raced from the bridge.
“Captain! We received word from Reagan! They sent this,” he said, saluting the superior officers and handing a hastily-written note on a folded sheet of loose paper. If the Officer of the Deck gave the message this much importance to relay it directly to Reynolds by note instead of calling him to the bridge, it was big.
Reynolds read the note carefully. Then he read it twice more. Looking at Shining Armor, he said, “I need fuel ASAP. And Colonel Dawn should see this as well.”
Shining levitated the note and read it aloud:
Captain Charles T. Reynolds or whomever it may concern: We have made contact with the Dominion of Apollo, north of Atlantis. They have generously used their scientific equipment to discover the result of continued disruptions throughout this world. If they cannot be remedied by the nineteenth of June 1003 the Year of Our Sun (19JUN03), translated to the same day of the year two thousand seventeen (2017) in the common human era (19JUN17), the disturbances will no longer be able to be tracked. The Dominion observatory will be destroyed on that day by a rift between Earth and Equestria. The only way to prevent this disaster, and more to follow, is to destroy the magical Gem currently being excavated by King Sombra in the Crystal Empire. Doing this will allow the remaining Alicorns of the world to combine their power into resurrecting Princess Luna and Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria. In the meantime, King Flawless Ice of the Dominion of Apollo has declared war upon the Crystal Empire. His forces will arrive by land and sea in the coming months. Equestrian ports must be prepared to handle the logistics of disembarking an army of three hundred thousand elites minimum and sending them to the field of battle. Queen Atlanta of Atlantis is expected to respond to this by sending her own army of two hundred thousand strong. Princess Celestia sends her best wishes, and asks that a message reporting the status of the Alicorn filly Flurry Heart be sent so that she may alter the plan if need be. -James A. Robinson, Rear Admiral, US Navy
They stood there in stunned silence. Finally, Shining asked for a sheet of paper so he could send Celestia the report she wanted. He was pretty glad about telling his former boss about the filly. Flurry Heart was developing fine, safe and sound in Horseton. He smirked when he noticed that the year was off, according to his daughter. Few brought it up, but the calendar year put the “0” about three years after actual defeat of Nightmare Moon, so it was botched. Apparently only the nitpickers cared about it. But the filly constantly asked to see Cadence or Shining, and the two certainly would’ve come, but just one alicorn or leader in the town was bad enough. More than that, and the meager espionage-prevention net surrounding the kid would more than likely collapse.
After he gave the waiting ensign the message to relay to the Reagan Task Force, or what was left of it, Shining walked down to the pier with Reynolds. With the amount of work and probably government-offered overtime that was about to hit these poor fellas like Hurricane Sandy, both felt a tug of sympathy for the ponies. Shit was about to hit the fan. Again.
22. News Gets Around Fast Even Without the Internet
Colonel Crimson Dawn stared at Shining Armor with his mouth wider than a tsunami was tall. The white Unicorn stallion repeated himself, losing a bit of patience in his voice, and waited for the red Pegasus to calm down. Looking back in time at the Atlantean-Dominion War, that might take a while.
“I - Ah - I - agabungwafflesingerbungabanarfeklesushigabeda! The hell? Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuckadin…” He ran out of things to say. He also paused to catch his breath after that nonsensical reaction.
Taking that pause as an opportunity, Shining slowly backed away. Crimson might be a formidable opponent, but he tended to concentrate on one thing at a time when something like this happened.
Cadence walked in. Immediately hearing Crimson’s rant, her ears instantly flattened by reflex, and she glanced at her husband. “I’d rather not have this… vocabulary around our daughter, Shining. What set him off?”
“I told him what Princess Celestia sent this morning. The Dominion of Apollo is joining the war on our side. The problem is, he fought them for more than a decade.”
“Anypony else joining the war?”
“Queen Atlantis responded to the Dominion’s mobilization by declaring war against Sombra as well. Apparently not to be one-upped, she’s going to lead her army herself while her ministers keep Atlantis running. I’m told her battle armor makes her look like a sunrise over the ocean.”
“Did you tell him about Atlantis yet?”
“No. I’m waiting for him to calm down first.”
In the background, Crimson finally composed himself. He straightened his uniform and saluted the pink alicorn. “Princess.”
“At ease. Shining still hasn’t told you the rest of the news.”
“Thanks, Cadence, but I coulda just told him. Anyway, Queen Atlanta is personally leading some Atlantean Reserve Emergency Army here. She’ll pull into Manehattan port if it isn’t frozen over in two months. If it is, she comes here.”
“Milady… the Queen…? Oh, my, I… um…” Crimson had trouble with that. He kept stammering for a minute, trying to get a comprehensible sentence out of his muzzle. Eventually, he gave up, saluted, and left.
Cadence saw the look on the Pegasus’s face. It was one of fear. Not for himself, her, Shining, or even his officers, but for his queen. Shining read his wife’s thoughts and looked at her. He grimaced, showing his thoughts before he said them. She spoke first.
“I know. Queen Atlanta doesn’t have a declared heir, or a child in general. If she does, we’d know about it.”
“Not just that. Crimson’s pretty tight-lipped about it, but he told Major Snow, and she told me. Apparently, the queen has an interesting backstory, and it involves a little…” He tried to find his way around it, but Cadence nodded understanding and he moved on. “Yeah. Crimson married her illegitimate daughter. So even if she dies, he’s there if he doesn’t go down. But I don’t think he wants to consider that possibility. There’s also the part where Atlanta said the Equestrian army would be in charge even when she arrived, so I believe a lot of his trouble is possibly giving his queen an order that she’d then have to obey-”
“Only because he’s running the Equestrian army right now.” Cadence finished for him.
“Yep.”
-----------------------
Crimson sat under the insufficient shade of a wilting oak tree in the Baltimare City Park. The army had taken it to be their training ground while they prepared for the campaign ahead of them. Crimson called it Operation Princess Sunrise, referencing both his queen’s battle armor and Celestia and signifying the current union between the two military goals. Now it would have to be literal. Celestia was coming back with an entire Dominion army, with the closer Atlanta arriving three weeks earlier with an army of her own.
He sweated profusely from the heat. It seemed that without the Tree of Harmony, Element of Magic, and two alicorns, it was hotter than the sun itself during the day. By night, Pluto had more warmth. And Reynolds said that place was probably colder than a melting Popsicle of liquid nitrogen. Crimson thought that a stretch, but maybe not very far off.
Major Crystal Snow and Lieutenant Silver Comet saluted as they walked over to report. Those two were inseparable these days.
“Cousin, all surviving regiments check in mentally. They seem to have recovered from the Changeling battle,” Crystal Snow said.
“Good. We move out to Ponyville in a week. Get all the officers together. There’s two full armies coming up behind us, and we need to get out so they can file in and get to the front.”
“WHAT?!” came the simultaneous reaction from both ponies.
“That’s right. Princess Celestia successfully recruited the Dominion, which I don’t entirely agree as a good choice, and Atlantis wanted in. two months.”
“I thought Atlantis already was helping us. You’re from there,” commented Silver Comet.
“I know. What I mean is a full-on Atlantean army. The one I served with, to be exact, which is approximately two hundred thousand, plus artillery, steam tanks, and a corps of engineers. I don’t think we even want to know what the Dominion’s sending.”
---------------------
“My lord Sombra,” rasped General Shattered Hope through his developing cough, “I bring news of war. Atlantis and the Dominion of Apollo have both declared. I fear their numbers, combined with the Equestrians, will be too great a challenge, even with the Gem.”
“How so? We blast them as soon as they arrive within range.”
“No, my King. We cannot. The Gem has done something we cannot comprehend. It - it shakes the ground. The tunnels have already collapsed four times and a rift appeared in the mine, causing who-knows-what kind of damage. Dragonspire Citadel is near completion, but even it will not stand against hundreds of thousands of troops indefinitely.”
“And what of our Russian and Chinese friends? Can they not hold the enemy at bay with their monstrosities and noisemakers?”
“No, my lord, not with their American enemies assisting the Equestrians as well. They report that their war, ‘back home’ as they say, is not going well. Their flying machine transports have been destroyed, and an assault on the Chinese city Beijing is underway. Before long, the Russian city Moscow may be taken, the war an American victory.”
“See to it that Dragonspire does not fall.” Sombra practically grumbled in his volcano-earthquake voice, and that made it creepy.
In the immense fortress, Crystal ponies hauled great blocks of solid stone on rollers, lifted them with cranes, and placed them where they fit. So far, a full four thousand were devoted to construction, with another five hundred bringing the stone out of the mine. Shattered Hope felt no remorse towards using his own fellow citizens like slaves, but he did feel a pang when seeing Andromeda, daughter of Crimson Dawn and the late Rose Thorn, being forced to assist in the hauling. When she resisted, an overseer bore down the full force of his whip on her scarring, red-streaked back. The star-speckled midnight blue coat that once was so sweet held no beauty this day.
Shattered Hope walked to Andromeda and pulled her aside. He had a theory as to why she even was an alicorn, but it was but a theory. Here was a chance to test it.
“What if I told you that Queen Atlanta is personally leading an army to assist your father?”
She blinked, trying to remember. The general knew why it was so hard. Sombra’s ingenious, albeit painful both mentally and physically idea, was to brainwash her with shadow magic. It worked for the most part, but she could still recall who and what with a push in the right direction. He could see the gears spinning, Andromeda’s blank face slowly curling into a smile.
“I’d be thankful.”
“Is there a specific reason?”
“It means that Grandmare is coming. She will kick your ass back into last millennium.” It took a second for the filly to realize she shouldn’t’ve said that. Her eyes went wide with horror.
“Don’t worry; I won’t tell anypony. Back to work.”
Andromeda trudged back to her place behind the five-ton stone, pushing with all the energy she could muster. Even in the natural cold of winter in the Crystal Empire, she sweated like the end of the world. It was a sign of overexertion, but Shattered Hope had already turned away. He had what he needed.
Looking back at the last two months, the Equestrian army had been the luckiest group of motherfuckers ever to exist. And the most bored. Nothing happened for two whole months. Crimson could swear that was a signal flare for something bad. Leaving the army in the capable hooves of Captain Midnight Shadow, Lieutenant Silver Comet, and Major Crystal Snow, the colonel journeyed from Ponyville to Manehattan for a reunion.
He now stood on the largest pier on Manehattan Island, waiting for Queen Atlanta and the Atlantean Reserve Emergency Army to pull into the harbor. Glancing to the north, Crimson could see the wrecks of the Withersburg and Tartarus bridges behind the still-proud Bricklyn Bridge. He’d stayed awake all night in the harbormaster’s office with the rest of the ponies whose shift was expected to be when the ships came to port. They were less than ecstatic.
Soon, the partially-built fort several miles to the south fired a yellow flare high above the half-frozen lowlands surrounding the bustling city. In response, almost three dozen green flares shot up from just over the horizon. Below them were fifteen more flares, blue this time, signifying their homeland. Crimson recognized it as a challenge-and-reply system that must’ve been put in place by Princess Cadence while the army trained more in Ponyville. Huge clouds of smoke suddenly appeared as the Atlantean ships fired their cannons out to sea.
“Unno, a battle’s startin’ up!” cried a pony next to Crimson.
“Not a chance. The guns’re firing in salute,” he replied. “Prepare for their arrival.”
The massive transports came in first, screened by ships of the line on each side. In the center of the cluster of fifty ships was none other than a flagship. She was painted ocean blue, with golden sails and masts rivaling medium-sized buildings in height. Three not-quite-closed rows of thirty gunports each lined her hull, topped by a fourth row of twenty more on the deck. On her tallest mast streamed the Atlantean naval jack. Just below it the personal flag of the Queen was held to aft by the forward motion of the ship. On the other ships was the same configuration, but Crimson saw the slightest difference in the Queen’s flag, signifying it as the true flagship.
The flagship, which Crimson recognized as the Pearl of Iris, hove to along the pier and coasted to a stop. Her two-hundred-fifty-foot length shocked everypony who came to gawk at her. As she finally halted, her bowsprit came close to poking the harbor facilities by less than twenty feet. She wasn’t as big as Trinity, captained by Crimson’s longtime friend Platinum Starlight who stayed behind for security reasons, but Pearl of Iris was huge.
Crimson watched from the pier as a security detachment trotted down the gangplank. They all saluted and formed a semicircle around him. An ocean-blue alicorn walked gracefully down from the ship, and every Atlantean bowed deeply. Crimson stood straight again and made a gesture that told the queen he knew she was in the guard somewhere. The decoy nodded, casting a spell that showed her to be a pitch-black Unicorn.
One of the guards used her own spell to open the flaps in her armor, letting her wings reappear and spread out. She removed her sunrise-gold helmet and sighed. “You never will be fooled by my decoys, will you, Colonel?”
After bowing deeply, he replied. “Never. The only way for you to fool me would to actually be the decoy. Even then, you have a low chance, my Queen.”
“I know you are… uneasy about commanding an army led by me. I understand. Just do not worry about it.”
“Please don’t read my mind.”
She smiled. “Now where’s the fun in that?”
The two embraced in a familiar, family way. Then they walked towards the city, side by side, while the transports pulled in and unloaded their much-needed cargo. The security detachment surrounded them in a way that wouldn’t impede in Atlanta’s watching where she was going but let the guards easily protect her.
“Colonel Dawn, when may I expect to see Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?”
“A day or two, my lady. She stayed in Baltimare where the weather is less interesting. Her entourage should arrive within the week.”
Atlanta nodded. “While on my way here, I received a message from your daughter. She said something about an unstable gem, a Dragonspire Citadel, and P.O.W.s being forced to work as a labor pool. I haven’t heard anything since.”
“A labor pool. Did I hear you right?”
“I’m afraid so. Andromeda must be included in this, or she wouldn’t have been able to know.”
That night, Cadence’s train pulled into the Manehattan station. The icy tracks kept her from going very fast, but she managed. Here, the temperature difference was even more profound than in Baltimare. The pink alicorn only wished that Hearth’s Warming wouldn’t be the out of whack. Maybe next year. Not next week, sadly. She fell asleep as soon as she walked into the simple room where she would stay for a few days.
The next morning, the princess and queen met, flanked by a few guards. They were in the harbormaster’s office, which Atlanta recognized as a familiar place in a foreign country. They formally shook hooves, declared the alliance, and agreed that Sombra was plain evil. Then Crimson pointed out that good and evil were points of view, and that Sombra might consider himself on the “good” side. They told him he was overanalyzing the system. Sombra was the antagonist, and that was good enough to do something about it.
Suddenly, the roar of ten thousand manticores reached their pricking ears. Crimson raced to the door, swinging it wide open. His mouth dropped in awe as twenty aircraft swooped in from the north. They wove through the tightly packed streets, barely fifty feet off the ground, their engines blasting everything and everyone in the middle of the road behind them. Crimson watched until he realized the obvious objective: the Atlantean fleet and army anchored in the harbor.
“Sound the alarm! Get everyone off the docks! Move it, move it, move it!” he screamed, but his voice was lost over the aircraft noise.
Atlanta galloped to the door and saw why Crimson suddenly started yelling. An aircraft released a missile that sat in the air for a second before accelerating towards a ship of the line. Its crew brought out their small arms and opened fire on the obviously hostile tube. Every single shot missed its mark, and the missile collided slightly above the waterline. The high-pitched cries of the crew aboard were never heard, but the explosion that engulfed them, along with the resulting shockwave, were practically felt.
Atlanta recognized the symbol on the side of the aircraft as an “X” made from a scythe and a hammer. She didn’t know what that meant, but anything with it was an enemy. Her eyes darted to the next missile that was launched. It locked itself onto the fort to the south and took a sizable chunk off the stoneworks. On and on the attack went, destroying many of the ships in the harbor. Whoever flew the craft either didn’t know which ships had troops and supplies or didn’t care, because almost a full third of the wrecks now littering the water were civilian ferries and river barges. But the majority was composed of Atlantean ships of the line and some transports.
Cadence immediately emptied ferries and sent them to look for survivors. Neither ruler was very hopeful, but they had to try. Thousands of ponies had been on those ships. She also sent for the now-fueled American ships and asked them to send a couple to Manehattan. When he heard of the scythe-and-hammer on the planes, Captain Reynolds himself came up with Ticonderoga and another cruiser, along with the destroyer John Paul Jones, to assist, mumbling something about Russians before Shining Armor departed back to the pier.
Hope for anypony left had died by the time the American vessels sailed effortlessly into the harbor. Debris floated in the wakes of the three steel ships as they slowed from their northbound sprint to a measly (to them) five knots. They picked their way to the approximate center of the harbor and spread out, their CIWS guns and five-inches swiveling around for targets.
The next day, the airplanes returned with another full payload. Once again, they went after everything in the water.
“There they are! Feed ‘em into the computer!” Reynolds yelled.
The five-inch turrets swiveled north and opened up. High-explosive rounds were spit from their barrels with a dragon’s flame licking after them. Most missed by a fraction of a degree, and Reynolds gave the order to switch to the CIWS. The ones that found their targets sent the Russian fighters to the surface, enveloped in flames. The “Sea Whiz” fired an astonishing amount of bullets in less than a minute. More of the Russians crashed into the megacity and harbor. Mushroom fireballs plooomed into the air with each plane that was hit.
One of the now less than fifteen pilots left launched his last air-to-surface missile straight at John Paul Jones. An SM-3 was quickly launched in succession at the jet, but almost immediately redirected itself at the much-quicker missile. The sudden course change caused the missile to miss at first, but it did a 180-degree flip, still locked on, and accelerated once again to the Russian missile.
As Reynolds watched with horror, the Russian missile slammed into the destroyer’s bridge, detonating and turning the forward superstructure to blackened, twisted steel. The SM-3 had nearly caught up by then, automatically locking on the heat signature that was the American ship. It exploded in almost the exact spot its Russian target had, warping the steel even more and rocking the ship on her heels. The bow came down, crumpling from the heat and shock of two simultaneous missile strikes and folding inward like a tin can. Luckily, the destroyer still had some life left in her, and didn’t sink. But her exec, on the auxiliary conn, ordered the “abandon ship.” Lifeboats went over the side while damage control tried to put out the flames licking the central superstructure.
The remaining Russian pilots chalked it up as an American victory. They were chased off by three unexpected ships, one of which was disabled, but too close to the others to be worth that last missile. Besides, they were supposed to wreck the disembarking army, not waste weapons on things that weren’t supposed to be there. They flew back north to the Crystal Empire, hoping they hadn’t used too much fuel trying to avoid anti-air fire.
A certain pale-white human stood on Vulture’s Row overlooking the Flight Deck on the American aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. Her flowing multicolored hair was held to aft by a thirty-knot wind blowing from dead ahead. The simple T-shirt she wore was soaked in sweat, but she didn’t seem to mind the oppressive heat. Being the Princess of the Sun, she had no concern for the amount of heat delivered. As she watched, the first fighters of Reagan’s remaining air wing, led by the excellent pilots with the callsigns Railgun and Artemis, took to the sky. Out of the original ninety F/A-18 Super Hornets aboard the massive vessel, only three had survived the long voyage to the Dominion and back.
Only a few hundred miles from Manehattan, the weary Reagan Task Force, augmented with a few Atlantic Fleet ships, were getting the blips through static that meant the long-lost Ticonderoga and her small fleet was close. They just had to know where, giving the Super Hornets the mission that was probably their last. Loaded with as much fuel as they could, the jets were armed with air-to-air missiles, just in case, and the fuel storage aboard Reagan was out. The fighters were to fly over Manehattan, receive messages from Ticonderoga, then come home.
Admiral James Robinson of the United States Navy walked out to her, carrying an umbrella. He’d had it on the Bridge so he could go outside in the rain, but the sun gave him reason enough to use it. “It’s kinda sad to see them go. Railgun, Artemis, and everyone else - they saved us more times than we can count. Everyone in the original strike group deserves a promotion at minimum. And even though you showed up like a stowaway, you deserve one too.”
“Thanks, James. But I can’t go to your world. My place is here in Equestria.” Celestia replied.
Amber Hamilton, the carrier’s Air Boss and CAG, relayed a message from the fighters to the talker, who called Robinson back in. Celestia followed.
“Sir, Four-Alpha-One reports many sailing ships bearing two five zero, range twenty miles. Neither the Atlantean nor Dominion flag is present. It’s a dark grey with a solid black in the shape of a crystal, surrounded by a purplish aura.”
Celestia perked up. “I’ve seen something like that before. That aura is shadow magic.” She turned to Robinson. “This is the navy of King Sombra’s Crystal Empire.”
Robinson looked back at her. She nodded grimly, and he turned to look out to the horizon, where the wooden ships supposedly were sailing. “Sound general quarters. Prepare for surface action starboard. Give Captain Ross aboard Pennsylvania authorization to fire as soon as the enemy is in range. And we should recall the fighters. I have the Conn and the Deck.”
“Aye, sir. You have the Conn. I retain the Deck.”
Amber already knew what he had in mind. If the fighters were lost, they would lose a full third of their remaining airpower. She recalled the jets and assumed her position as Air Boss when the Super Hornets glided in, their glowing exhaust trimmed down to minimum. Within five minutes, Reagan’s three fighters landed and were stowed on the Flight Deck.
The WWII battleship USS Pennsylvania, normally the slowest ship because of her tall masts used for primary propulsion, surged ahead. The old ship’s fuel had dropped to nearly nothing over the course of the long voyage, but couldn’t be refueled at her typical pier in Nautinia because a rift tore the storage tanks wide open. Since then, she relied on the wind, tacking when necessary to keep up.
Her wooden masts had been installed when she first arrived in Equestria six years ago. They were a marvel of engineering merges, putting secure places for rigging on slick steel surfaces. She also had a contingent of Marines aboard that could be deployed using “Amphib dinghies” that were stowed in the ship’s bow. During the Battle of Stormwater Cove, the Atlantean addition to the battleship allowed her bow to swing down and deploy the troops, capturing the island and preventing more loss than already sustained.
The old battleship had proven her worth many times over. But she continued to amaze the modern U.S. Navy with her four massive fourteen-inch three-barrel turrets. With a secondary complement of fourteen five-inch turrets and twelve five-inch anti-aircraft guns, she was practically unstoppable by the ships she normally took on.
Currently, her two forward fourteens rotated to a 45-degree angle off the starboard bow. Her spinning radar array and tripod communications mast tilted to starboard as Captain Ross ordered “hard to port.” Then it came. With a massive booooom, the two turrets opened fire. Six high-explosive shells shot from her flaming guns and disappeared over the horizon.
Huge geysers of seawater rose over the tall masts of the Crystal Empire’s ships of the line. One ship was unlucky enough to be hit, and its magazine erupted in a roar and shower of debris no cannon could hope to match. The ship quickly slipped beneath the choppy waves, never to be seen again. After a lengthy reload, Pennsylvania sent three more to a watery grave in rapid succession.
Ross switched to five-inch rounds to conserve his fourteens’ ammunition. With a shorter range, he had to wait for the Crystal Empire to come to him. But they instead changed course to Manehattan. Robinson saw a chance to hit them and took it.
“All ships, go to ahead flank, bearing two eight five! Ready weapons and prepare to repel possible boarders!” Turning to Celestia, he said, “Go ahead. Celestia has the Helm. I retain the Conn and the Deck.”
The XO nodded. “Aye, sir. Princess Celestia has the Helm. You retain the Conn. I retain the Deck.”
The tired American ships lept forward from their comfortable “ahead one-third.” In the center of the group, shadowed by Reagan, the fuel tankers struggled to keep up, as did the rest of the fleet. The carrier was leaving everyone else in the dust as her screws bit into the water.
“Sir, Sonar reports submarines bearing zero zero zero! Correlates to Yuan class!”
“All engines full astern! Get us in the escort!”
The massive carrier shuddered as her screws stopped and spun in the opposite direction, slowly bringing Reagan to a halt. As soon as the escort ships were around the carrier again, she returned to “ahead two-thirds,” sending her wide wake through the water again. The escort fired torpedoes at the unforeseen submarine.
“Sir, Klakring reports torpedoes in the water! Is evading!”
Of course there’s torpe - Oh SHIT! “All engines ahead flank! Send, ‘Am evading!’ Helm, set course three six zero!”
The American fleet went into instant disarray. Some ships turned to avoid the Chinese torpedoes going directly at them. Others turned away, while others still held their course, placing themselves between the enemy and the tankers.
Klakring was nearly hit by a Chinese Yu-6 heavyweight torpedo zipping straight for the bow. Her captain’s quick thinking prevented the bow from being snapped off by slowing the frigate a tad, then continuing at “ahead flank.”
Reagan switched to her original course, going right by another Yu-6, her anxious crew looking over the side. It missed by less than three hundred yards. Robinson breathed a sigh of relief, then remembered something. The Yu-6 is a wake homer when fired in surface mode!
“Engineering, give me the RO!”
A few precious seconds passed. “RO.”
“Override reactor protection and increase to one hundred twenty percent power. I need all the speed I can get!”
“Yes, Captain!”
Below Robinson’s feet, the carrier sped up, knot by knot. Looking aft from the starboard bridge wing, he saw that the Yu-6 had indeed changed course to follow Reagan in her wake.
“Sir, impact in two minutes!”
“Helm, hard to starboard!”
Celestia spun the wheel. Below the waves, Reagan’s rudder shifted as far to the right as it could. The ship heeled to port by at least thirty degrees as she turned hard at a speed never before even considered remotely sane. As she wheeled around, Robinson saw the chaos his proud fleet now was. Ships evaded torpedoes, fired their own, and tried to focus their topside weapons on the approaching Crystal Empire ships. The only one capable of doing so, however, seemed to be Pennsylvania, every gun she had trained on the enemy fleet, oblivious to a Yu-6 coming up on her wake.
“Send to Pennsylvania: Evade torpedo! It’s right behind you!”
The Radioman nodded and spoke into the other end. On the battleship, his counterpart asked what the hell he meant.
“It’s a wake homer! Turn the ship on its own wake and try to confuse it!”
Captain Ross received the message and broke off his attack. “I have the Conn and Deck! Hard to port!”
Slowly, the old ship turned and crossed its own wake. At the same time, Robinson went back to saving his own ship. The Yu-6 hadn’t been fooled by his trick. It must still be wire-guided. Damn! He looked for an opportunity.
“There! Has Briscoe’s captain abandoned ship?”
“Yes, sir. She’s a sitting duck.”
“Make for her! I have the Helm!”
Celestia stood aside for Robinson. He took the wheel and angled the carrier towards the ancient, disabled Atlantic Fleet destroyer. He mentally ran the angles in his head and picked just the perfect course. “Everybody hold on!”
“Impact in one minute!”
Celestia saw his plan. “Are you insane?”
“Not if you like staying high and dry!”
Reagan came closer to the destroyer. The two ships collided, the carrier’s port side screeching along Briscoe’s bow. Celestia was nearly thrown to the bulkhead when a slight angle knocked her off balance. Luckily, she grabbed on to Robinson’s uniform. Then the screech of steel on steel ended, Briscoe being swallowed in Reagan’s wake. The Yu-6 locked onto the closer ship, sending a plume of water higher than Briscoe’s tallest mast. She rocked from the impact, her stern being completely ripped from the rest of her hull. She sunk in a matter of minutes.
The submarines USS Omaha and USS Scorpion sailed to the rescue. Once they had a lock on the Chinese subs, they launched their beautiful modified MK 48 torpedoes and sunk them.
With the danger gone for now, Robinson looked at his fleet. Most of the ships had survived, surprisingly. Most of the Chinese torpedoes had been targeted by the destroyers and cruisers, taking them out before they did much damage. The main exception was Briscoe, of course, but she’d merely been scraped by a Chinese submarine and her ancient hull popped open. Her captain ordered the “abandon ship,” and Robinson used her wallowing hull as a redirect, therefore saving Reagan.
“Sir, Pennsylvania reports heavy damage! They were hit by the torp. It wasn’t fooled by their fancy sailing,” the talker said.
“Understood. Ask if they can still sail. We need her!”
“Captain Ross says he can sail. The flooding is under control, but the torp took a big damn chunk outta his ship.”
“Good. Order all ships to make for Manehattan. We’ll have to slow down for Pennsylvania. All she has now is those ridiculous sails.”
“Yes, sir.”
Robinson walked out onto Vulture’s Row, where Celestia stood again. The two looked out to the west, watching the horizon for more ships. The five-inch guns spread throughout the fleet pounded the Crystal Empire’s forces, sinking the enemy ships one by one. Rescue helicopters were coming in to land with a load of survivors from Briscoe.
He smiled at her, and she smiled back. Celestia raised her hands to the sky, and lowered the sun. Once she got it moving, she stopped and watched it set ahead of her. The two took the other’s hand as the sun went down over the horizon, its warm, orange rays turning pink, then red, then blue as the world came to night. It was a beautiful sight.
Amber, above them, looked down. About damn time, she thought.
Colonel Crimson Dawn, Queen Atlanta, and Princess Cadence watched from the Manehattan naval pier as the tattered remnants of the USS Ronald Reagan Task Force began to sail into the harbor at ‘ahead one-third.’ The guided missile cruiser Ticonderoga had journeyed out to meet them as soon as communications were established. What she’d reported back was a sorry sight. A second and even a third Russian force attacked the continually slowing carrier group, claiming the lives of everyone aboard the submarines Scorpion, Omaha, and Annapolis, including the famed undersea sailor Captain Reynolds, who’d turned down a promotion to admiral in favor of ending his career at sea. They were also close to losing the old hit-tanking frigate Klakring. Ticonderoga was currently escorting the heavily damaged ship ahead of the rest of the fleet.
As they watched, Klakring heaved and pitched horribly little with all the water her bilges had yet to pump out. Several continuous arcs of water showed the amount of overwork the Americans were forced to put their machinery through. The frigate approached the pier specially built to accommodate the large American vessels, visibly shaking and audibly wheezing. As soon as she reached it, the skeleton crew aboard her (the rest taken off by Ticonderoga) began to gather on the main deck for standard procedures. Men from the tied-up destroyer John Paul Jones hurried to secure the lines cast.
In that final moment, Klakring gave up. Her overworked bilges ran out of pressure as her engine room flooded. The arcs of water died out, and the sea began spilling through holes originally high above the waterline. The hull groaned, her blackened superstructure became hit by the low waves, and she rested at a slight list to port. Her crew was picked up by small fishing boats waiting around in case.
Cadence sighed. The warship had definitely earned her many battle scars over the course of her decades of service, the princess had heard, and seeing Klakring finally give in to the sea was heartbreaking, even for someone who never knew she existed until now. She walked down the pier, past John Paul Jones, to stand beside the sunken ship.
Captain Reynolds strode to her as soon as his own ship was parked. “She was a good ship. Reagan should be here tomorrow afternoon if there’s no more delays. Before she gets here, the tankers, the last two American submarines in this world, and the rest of the surface escort’ll come in at ten hundred. Reagan and Pennsylvania arrive at thirteen hundred.”
“What’s the news for Old Pennsy’s status?” Atlanta suddenly asked.
“She’s lost her engines. Her amphibious craft took as many as they could and will arrive with the tankers. Any extra will have gone to Reagan. The old battleship’s running on less than a skeleton crew, and they’re the only ones with any experience whatsoever using sails. Problem is, they’ve lost steerage as well, and Reagan’s towing her in. And since there’s a tow cable between the two ships, Robinson can’t go as fast as he’d like.”
Cadence looked at Crimson, who walked down the pier with the rest of the princess’ guard. “How is the naval project going? I meant to ask earlier.”
“It’s fine, ma’am. Operation Soaking Steel is picking up the pace. We should have the first Stardust-class ship ready for christening and launch by fourteen hundred.” He gestured to across the bay, where an ironclad based loosely on Captain Reynolds’ references to the first United States ironclad, USS Monitor, lay in drydock. The ENS Stardust would be the first of her class, followed by Strawberry Sunrise and Dazzleflash, the latter two named for lost heroes of the war effort. The keels of Sunrise and Dazzleflash had been laid just seven hours earlier as Stardust neared the day she would be sent down the drydock into the harbor behind her. “Her maiden voyage is still a week or so away, but she can get to the fitting-out pier.”
“That’s good to hear. These Russians that Reynolds speaks of will still have quite the advantage over us, but this is a step toward closing the gap.”
--------------------
Everyone watched as the massive steel ship hove to in the harbor. Above her, a large American flag flapped in the wind, with its Equestrian counterpart beside it on a separate mast. A long, hollow blast came from her horn as she slowed to just creeping along. It was followed by a second note, just as hollow.
Behind the flat-topped vessel sailed a ship much smaller in size if not the power she displayed with her presence. The massive fourteen-inch guns, already trained to starboard, fired a loud and glorious salute to the fort with precision Equestrians could only dream of. Every gun went off at the exact same time. The carrier probably would’ve as well had she any weapons that weren’t machine guns or missile launchers. As it was, she fired a green flare that one would miss if he sailed directly beneath the flight deck.
Reagan reeled in the tow line as fishing boats and ferries took up the slack, nudging Pennsylvania to a shallow basin where her crew could do many of her repairs. The carrier sailed towards the massive American pier jutting into Twin Cantons Harbor.
Celestia looked out at the busy Manehattan Shipyard, built in an inlet past the still-proud Bricklyn Bridge and the ruined Withersburg Bridge. She saw three ironclad warships in varying stages of construction. Her heart sank. Of course Cadence would do what she believed would help them, but Equestria’s navy consisted of ages-old Marine transports for several generations. Each of these was in some form of disrepair, but Celestia knew they’d work in a pinch. The Navy was practically never needed. Now her country was moving to ships even more expensive than what they already had.
Robinson saw it too, through his binoculars. “Based on the old Monitor, I see. Just with what looks like a higher ride height and a deeper hull, probably to help prevent storms from flipping her over. Pretty deep keel. They won’t be drawing any more water than Reagan, though.”
“That’s good to hear. The bottom here isn’t very far from the keel.”
As if to prove the princess’ point, the talker called out, “Four fathoms beneath the keel!”
Robinson nodded to Celestia. “Take your place at the Helm, will you, milady?”
She smiled. “I have the Helm and direct engine control.” The princess then held the wheel still while she mentally ran the math she never thought she’d have to learn, judging the angles and distances. Her hand spun subconsciously, steering Reagan to starboard. The pier disappeared under the Flight Deck and she spun harder. As soon as her instincts told her she was perpendicular to the city, she spun the wheel back to port, cancelling the turn before letting it rest. Celestia pulled the throttle down and then reversed. The massive ship stopped, the water around it churning with little ferocity. She bumped the ground ahead of her with a loud but tiny thump, killing any motion still left.
Robinson looked at her, seeing nervous sweat streaks from her armpits all the way down to her waist. Celestia’s flowing hair had plastered itself to her face as well. She wiped it back behind her ears. “Not bad for your first time piloting her into port.”
“Thanks.” Celestia looked down. “I’m going to change my shirt.”
“Don’t worry about that. You’re home. The alicorn form should be fine.”
“I’m still changing.”
“I won’t stop you.”
She giggled and left the bridge. The normal pilot had retained a position near the wheel, and now resumed his post. The OOD (Officer of the Deck) ordered Engineering to secure all engines and shut down whichever reactor they thought needed inspection most, then switch after said inspections were done and (hopefully) showed no damage. One reactor would provide plenty of power for the time they’d be in port.
Robinson walked to the starboard bridge wing and took in the view of the sprawling cities before him. USS Ronald Reagan, CVN-76, and her escort had finally reached a place to rest.
----------------------
Celestia was on a lower deck, staring at the steel hull. Suddenly, the plating opened up to reveal the ship’s “gangplank.” on the other side waited Crimson, Cadence, and Atlanta. She bolted to them as soon as allowed.
“Thank Harmony you’re safe!” The princess’ eyes watered as she embraced her adopted niece.
Cadence returned the hug. For a moment, they just stood there with the other in reunion. Finally, Celestia released Cadence and took Atlanta in her grip, then Crimson.
“I assume the army is somewhere else?”
“Yes, Princess. We’re gearing up for an offensive outside Ponyville. After the fiasco the damn - excuse me, ma’am - the Russians dropped on us when my Queen arrived, the Domination Army is not optional; it’s required.” Crimson stopped when the sailors filed out to their first shore leave in practically forever. “I’m not sure if we can handle all of them.”
“It’s only five thousand plus survivors of other ships. Manehattan will endure.” Celestia replied.
A high-pitched whistle blew from the shipyard, causing Cadence to perk up quite a bit. “Oh, Celestia! Our first ironclad’s being launched in half an hour! You can christen her!”
“Sure.” The white alicorn glanced at Crimson and Atlanta, who only smiled at her confusion. As they headed to the drydocks, Celestia saw the queen and colonel talking about… something excitedly. “What are they up to?”
“Atlanta and Crimson just have a lot of catching up to do still. They’re also planning the campaign and trying to cope with dealing with the Dominion on our side.” Cadence smirked. “It’s amusing.”
Major Crystal Snow, formerly of the Crystal Imperial Army, stood watch in the northern line. Beside her was a four-pony squad of the Atlantean Special Operations. They weren’t the brightest of squads when it came to nicknames; the leader was Alpha, the vice-captain was Beta, then came Charlie, and Scout was the Pegasus of the group, but they knew their business. Right now, that was keeping the Major safe while she wandered the potentially dangerous line.
Crystal didn’t mind them. She just wanted to walk among her troops as they prepared for the largest offensive this world had ever seen. Some were on recon duty, others trained in the rough but currently toned-down Everfree Forest as woodland fighting, while still others ran the expanded camp spread across miles upon miles of borrowed farmland. Urban combat would be the worst, but they couldn’t practice without either using Ponyville proper, which was not done for obvious reasons, or building a set, which they didn’t have the time for. We’ll just have to wing it.
She couldn’t understand why she was so important to the Atlanteans besides the fact that she was Crimson’s distant cousin. Special Ops kept shut, as did the entire AREA force. She figured out a few months ago that Atlanta was queen and she was related through that line, but that couldn’t be it - unless being in the line meant she was it if Atlanta, Crimson, and the colonel’s daughter Andromeda were killed. But considering the probability of that…
Crystal shook the thought. Lieutenant Silver Comet was approaching. She straightened slightly and saluted. Even if she had the technically higher rank, the lieutenant was Crimson’s third-in-command, whereas she was fourth. Equestrian ranks were confusing.
“What can I do for you today?” she asked, wincing at the familiarity of the question in front of their allies. Her liking towards the Earth pony stallion appeared to be the cause. She smiled sheepishly.
The target of her affections returned the salute. “Princess Celestia has come home. She’ll be making an appearance here to see the army and such after the Dominion arrives. Captain Shadow has mentioned his plan to you, right?”
The dark blue Crystal pony nodded. “He wants to retake Canterlot before she gets here. I think we only have a week or two, though. That isn’t enough time for a full-blown siege. The damn city’s built on a mountainside!”
He placed his hoof on her cheek. “I know your concerns. But we’re trying. Our combined armies should do the trick.”
“Colonel Dawn reported that they have flying machines that can inflict heavy damage. A sizable portion of AREA was sunk because of them. Why can’t Sombra have tanks? Repeaters? After all, hoo-mens” -her normally perfect Equestrian slipped with the resentment building inside her- “with technological advancements similar to our A-mair-i-can friends are helping him.”
Silver Comet chuckled at her slip, but replied that it would be fine. Sombra was probably keeping those as a reserve, anyway. “We move out tomorrow at dawn. The Atlantean artillery has the range to hit Canterlot if we go about three-fourths up the mountain.”
----------------
It was three days into the siege, only six after they left Ponyville. Dense white smoke hung like a morning fog above the combined Equestrian and Atlantean armies. For some reason, the Atlantean Reserve Emergency Army pulled twenty-pound guns around with them, and it made sense. They were city-destroyers.
The night-blue Unicorn Captain Midnight Shadow walked outside of the command tent for a breath of fresh air. He was greeted instead by the thunderous roar of debris falling on a twenty-pounder, blasting junk and smoke everywhere. After the reflexive cough, he saw that the crew had survived. Midnight was relieved; good gun crews were hard to get.
He looked up at their target. The Crystal garrison stationed in Canterlot was acting very much like his own had back in Manehattan so long ago. On every flagstaff flew Sombra’s pitch-black cloth, defiantly streaming like Captain Reynolds commented about a Fort Sumter once did.
The once-immaculate capitol of Equestria, the seat of Princess Celestia’s power and just rule, was in tatters. Just looking at Canterlot was enough to put tears in his dried-out, irritated eyes. Though a telescope, he’d seen her grand hall collapsed in on itself from numerous shells. Luna’s watchtower had simply lost its base and come tumbling down the mountainside not four hours ago. The Archives were ablaze, but the Crystal army had done it themselves; the Atlanteans assured him their guns and ammunition could not set something on fire unless they hit stuff that would spontaneously combust with such an impact as roundshot. Many homes and shops just couldn’t withstand bombardment and were in shambles.
Several times, an overshot shell streaked above the ruined city and slammed into the cliff overlooking Equestria’s former seat of power. The hits sent large chunks of rock falling onto the marble streets as indiscriminately as the Atlanteans pounded it. Midnight was obligated to tell them to stop destroying the lives of innocent ponies, but knew they had it under control. Sombra would win if they stopped.
A huge blast echoed down the slopes. A Crystal ammo depot had been hit, rendering the guns they now had practically useless. Chunks and debris rolled, bouncing and shredding themselves on the mountain. Wait, is Canterlot getting really damn close really fast, or is it-
He didn’t have time to contemplate. The captain and perhaps three regiments’ worth of Unicorns instantly raised a shield around the army. It was immediately pounded with marble, stone, polished granite, random chunks of wood, and a couple of burning books. The thunderous roar and bone-crushing strain kept up for a full five minutes. To those under the barely-holding shield, it was a lifetime.
Already, a regiment of Pegasi were clearing the dust away with their wingbeats. Celestia’s sun finally peeked through the haze of smoke, debris, dust, and blood-red droplets from those not so lucky to have survived. Midnight squinted through it all and already was wishing he hadn’t.
Silver Comet ran to him. “Sir, what in Tartarus happened?”
“Look,” he shakily replied.
The dust-covered aluminum lieutenant peered up. “Wha… I… ah…” Midnight could see it tore up his friend.
The Canterlot Archives hadn’t been just randomly been burning. The building had been on a fuse. A bomb.
The Canterlot Archives were gone. Broken. Tumbled down the mountainside like an avalanche. The Crystal army had destroyed them with little care for anything.
“By Harmony…” Crystal Snow had joined them. “Celestia’s going to be heartbroken.”
Sometimes even shooting stars Find wishes that miss their marks. But we travel on Like the trail isn’t lost
When the night gets too dark And the road home seems too far We travel on Like the trail isn’t lost
We are the Dawn of Ponykind We travel on We keep the trail Our home may be behind us But our hearts stay on the trail
Nothing we can do Prevents war, famine, loss But there’s a way we can postpone it By using the Elements As our light Like the trail isn’t lost
The light to shine so bright Is friendship, tried and true. The green hills, the rolling plains All in harmony We keep it as a symbol Of un-i-ty Like the trail isn’t lost
We are the Dawn of Ponykind We travel on We keep the trail Our home may be behind us But our hearts stay on the trail
Our homes may be behind us But our hearts stay on the trail But our hearts stay on the trail.
Crimson stared out the window of the passenger car, remembering that song his sister wrote so many years ago. He had started to softly sing it as well, but saw the large explosion up ahead that stopped his peace in its tracks. Coming up on Canterlot, the train was bound to be stopped at some point, but the scale of the blast gave cause enough to worry.
Up ahead, the engine’s brakes screeched as the driver realized his problem. Little pieces of marble and wood were zipping through the air, tearing the Canterlot Valley Bridge to shreds. Tense moments came and time slowed to a crawl. Beside the red Pegasus was Princess Celestia herself, nervously watching the dark tunnel give way to a bright blue sky above the combined Equestrian and Atlantean armies three quarters up the mountain.
To everypony’s relief, the train stopped right as the frontmost wheels hit jagged, twisted rails and fell off the bridge. The engine jerked slightly and angled with the rails, but not enough to fall. Just to be safe, the conductor decoupled the coal tender from the engine and hopped over with the driver.
Crimson leaned out the window and watched what seemed like half the city fall. A blue shimmer appeared above the armies for a single moment before the avalanche overwhelmed the area and covered the ponies in a huge cloud of rocky dust. Tears filled his eyes and he tried to believe the dust caused it.
Celestia walked to the window, visibly attempting to prevent the waterfall of tears - and failing. She knew what had fallen. She saw what hit her subjects - her brave soldiers, fighting to keep Equestria free - and broke down. Tears building up since the beginning of the war, for those in the army blasted by Sombra’s Gem, her sister Luna, and everypony who had died while Crimson reworked her tattered resistance from the ground up just came. And came.
Cadence watched from behind. She couldn’t do anything to comfort the older alicorn, and she knew it. Her inexperience running Equestria during a crisis wasn’t to blame, nor was her virtual lack of war knowledge. Celestia had those same characteristics, aside from the times she had to use the Elements of Harmony - but now those were useless, too. Neither of the two remaining princesses had the experience necessary to run a country during a full-blown war.
Which is where they now fell back to Queen Atlanta. The ocean-blue alicorn with radiant early-morning golden armor had stayed in Manehattan while Canterlot was under siege. She preferred to be there when the offensive began, not before. Until then, the queen would get the logistics train running smooth. With the Domination Army coming from the Dominion of Apollo, personally led by King Flawless Ice, she wanted to solidify a more permanent ceasefire while the two leaders weren’t ready to instantly go at each other’s throats. All the Dominion and Atlantis currently had was a closed-border policy.
As it was, everypony was being stubborn. The armies besieging Canterlot had to resort to blasting the city with twenty-pound smoothbore artillery just to get to where they were now. It was like Manehattan all over again, only the Crystal Empire defended this time. All access points by land had been destroyed by the holed-up two thousand ponies keeping Celestia from her home.
While waiting for Celestia to finish, Crimson tapped his head with an impatiently thoughtful right hoof. He couldn’t find a way into the city, and Captain Midnight Shadow would’ve used one days ago if he knew. Judging by the looks of the mountainside through all the dust and smoke barely cleared by hard-working Pegasi, the ancient tunnels below the city from nearly four decades of gem mining had collapsed. He couldn’t know for sure until he went down there, but the large dents and sinkholes up the slope seemed to confirm his theory.
“Princess. I need you to face reality now. We can win if we just get into the city. Any secret passages or something of the sort?” he asked.
Celestia took a minute before replying, still sniffling a bit. “Yes. I spent the three hundred years after Luna became Nightmare Moon digging an escape route through the mountain to the west end. After the disaster Canterlot became during our duel, even from the distance we started, I couldn’t allow for something like that to happen again without a way to get civilians out of harm’s way.”
“The distance?”
“Yes, the distance. We began fighting over the Everfree Castle, then the duel progressed to Canterlot and I banished her to the moon when it came back to the castle with the Elements of Harmony. But the mere two hours it took to get her to follow me away from the city was more than enough to nearly send it tumbling down the cliffside.
“The entrance is easy to find. The Royal Guards know where it is, and that’s how they were able to evacuate Twilight and I when the time came,” Cadence popped in. “But the city end is right behind the throne itself. Seeing as our army has quite possibly blown it up, we may not get in.”
“That makes it worth a shot. If the remote possibility of the other end having survived so far exists, we try. If it’s collapsed, we blast it open.” Crimson had that grim determination that both scared Cadence and caused her to admire him on his face again.
-----------------
Colonel Crimson Dawn, Major Crystal Snow, and an Atlantean Special Operations squad stood beside Princess Celestia on the west end of the mountain, looking up. Before them was a massive fortress built from the stone brought up from the gemstone mines over a millennium ago, its thick walls blocking view of the sky above even the height of the Everfree Castle’s tallest tower would’ve been at. Large patches of moss covered most of the walls and spiraling watchtowers. All but the hardest of woods had rotted away in the years of lacking maintenance, the few remaining planks covered in moss and grasses.
Princess Celestia always had the citadel kept off the map for reasons of her own, with a magical barrier surrounding it to keep ponies from sighting it. She insisted that it was a final resort, with the only records of it even existing in a locked vault deep within the mines themselves. It had a grand hall that vaguely resembled ruins elsewhere in the wild Southern Forest, but without the booby traps Daring Do typically encountered. Moreover, nopony in Equestria alive today even knew Celestia had something like this, not even the descendants of those who built it.
Starfall Fortress, as Celestia called it, was a sight to behold. Built into the mountain right outside the entrance to her emergency tunnel, it sported a massive assortment of arms. Swords, spears, bows, crossbows, even ancient rust-corroded experimental guns were stowed neatly in the amazingly roofed armory. Huge stone doors hid time-wrecked ballistas behind fifteen feet of solid rock. On every tower spiraling into the sky was a proud Equestrian flag fluttering from bronze flagpoles. If Celestia had ever been paranoid about losing a war, this was when she built Starfall.
“Damn. Just damn. I have, like, no words.” Crystal commented.
“You’re talking, cousin. And I thought I was the one with last-defense paranoia,” replied Crimson. “This place looks formidable, not to mention practical.”
“Coming from you, that’s high praise.” This Special Ops squad commander was none other than Captain Hummingbird Sweetnectar, an Earth pony mare who met the Pegasus during the Atlantean-Dominion War when mares were allowed into the Atlantean Reserve Emergency Army. she’d remained after the war, as many of her friends had done and wound up founding Special Operations, becoming its first squad commander. She had a sweet spot for her old friends Crimson and Platinum Starlight, and tried to get them to spend the night when she could. It never worked.
“And you need discipline,” Celestia noticed.
Before the mare could reply, Crimson stepped in. “Princess Celestia, Hummingbird and I go way back. She’s just having fun.”
“Well, in that case, please accept my apology.” She gestured to the wall of mountain in front of them. They’d been walking through the fortress and were now at their destination. A ghost-like mirage bowed to the princess as it recognized her, and spoke.
“My lady Princess Celestia of the Sun, it has been many years since I last was honored with your presence.”
“Cut the formalities, Filian. I need you to let these ponies through the tunnel.” she curtly responded. “Though it has been much too long. What of Lancer on the other end?”
“I am sorry to report that General Lieutenant Lancer has been lost. His Anchorage Stone fell to the ground along with the Archives.”
“He did his duty. His Anchorage Stone inscription will be carved among those past Captains of the Guard we have lost in the Past Life Hall. See to it once Crimson Dawn and his colleagues are in the tunnel.”
“Yes, my lady.”
The mountain rumbled like an earthquake when a ten-foot three-ton block of solid granite opened to reveal a darkened passageway no bigger than a double door. Magical torches lit up with the inrush of fresh air, and real-enough ashes fell.
“Be careful, Crimson Dawn. The torches signifies the time before the tunnel will collapse. Under many tons of rock it has stood for a thousand years. But its magical braces are failing. You will only have a few hours before this end is shut forever as the lost braces allow the rock to collapse the tunnel. This is my only warning to you,” the mirage Filian said.
“Thank you. We’ll hurry.”
-------------------
The group reached a fork in the tunnel. They had lost track of time, going only forward and east. Winding tunnels and dead ends kept them from actually getting to their objective as quickly as they hoped, but at least Celestia stayed behind in Starfall Fortress. She had given them a map, and they read it as best they could, but even the map didn’t help much.
Crystal Snow eventually came back from her scout ahead with Hummingbird. The two mares were smiling.
“Crimson, we found it. The throne room. It’s completely empty.”
“Guide us there.”
The six ponies crept as silently as hooves on rock allowed. It took the remainder of five hours to get there. All along the way, the torches dimmed more and more, and the Special Ops Unicorn in the squad cast an illumination spell. It didn’t last long, like an aura prevented magic.
Soon, the view was blinding. Celestia’s sun was directly overhead, light streaming through a hole in the roof when they climbed out from behind the once-magnificent throne in the Canterlot Palace. Artillery shells still shrieked their fury at the city with explosive force. One such shell slammed into the Palace roof and caused the whole grand arch to fall.
“Move it!” Crimson yelled as he dragged a mentally paralyzed Crystal Snow towards a side door. She quickly gained control of herself again and ran ahead of him.
After everyone had a chance to catch their breath, Hummingbird asked, “Y’all okay?”
“Should be, Captain.” her squad chorused. Crimson and Crystal nodded their agreement.
“Remember, we’re here to find their commander and take him prisoner. If he surrenders, our army can march up and lay out a bridge to walk across. If he doesn’t, we dead.”
The six ponies hurried through the Palace corridors. Their swords made short work of the few Crystal soldiers they ran into - quite literally. It turned out that nopony even suspected a secret passage into or out of Canterlot.
Hummingbird now snuck up to the newest opponent. She had her armored hooves silenced with the squad Unicorn’s magic, getting to right behind the Crystal stallion before he knew what was happening. A clatter of metal on marble was stopped by the same Unicorn’s quick reactions to a slit in the stallion’s throat.
They continued on to the Crystal HQ, coincidentally in the vault that once kept the Elements of Harmony locked away. The great doors were now torn from their hinges by lucky hits from the bombardment, but the place remained as secure as ever.
The squad took out the four guards outside the building at the exact same time. Crimson swooped into the hall and smashed his hooves on the commander, sending the poor stallion a good five feet of flight distance. He got up and began screaming for his guards, but five shots rang out and they fell to the floor in pools of blood.
“Executed upon arrival after we failed to take the town near the forest. I was lucky enough to be spared the gift of being stuck in the mines, and have been commanding this army here in Canterlot since. Wait a cotton-picking minute!” he said as he recognized Crimson. “You’re with them? Major Snow, this is outright traitorous!”
“Noted,” she coolly replied. “But it turns out that I have two cousins on the Equestrian side of this war: Crimson here, and Celestia herself. So I decided I wasn’t going to let this tear my family apart.”
“It already has. Lythia would be ashamed of you.”
“And whose current leader foalnapped a neutral alicorn filly for no reason other than to get an edge over his enemy? Sombra’s tactics and, well, everything he’s done is downright unethical! I spent the better part of two years fighting for the Crystal Empire because it was my home! To protect my family! But apparently those on the other side of the world aren’t safe from the King of Shadows and his plans of conquest.”
Crimson butted in. “Sorry to break up this interesting but horribly timed debate, but here’s the deal: surrender, and we spare your life.”
Coffee Bean stuttered for a moment. Then he threw his hooves in the air. “Look, Major Snow, I’ve been fighting for the same reasons you did. But I like my head where it is.”
Celestia sat on a ruined, dust-covered throne. She looked extremely weary, and it wasn’t long before the others felt the same. Her attitude seemed to be most pervasive. She had a few things to attend to.
Crimson, Crystal, Midnight, and Silver Comet walked in soon enough, flanked by a few Royal Guards. There was no jostling, but Celestia knew her guards’ feelings towards armed ponies walking up to her. Last time Crimson was here, the day she met him, he had to leave his sword and rifle with the Captain of the Guard. But the princess trusted him and his colleagues enough to let it slide. After another few minutes, Cadence and Atlanta walked in, flanked also by a couple guards, Atlantean this time. It was time to address the remaining ponies of Canterlot.
Celestia walked to the balcony overlooking the palace entrance, where everypony left was gathered. She was limping slightly from an unexpected stone falling and slicing her right shoulder. But that didn’t seem to bother her as she said her short speech in a carrying voice: “My dear ponies, I am extremely grateful to be here once again. Without the help of foreign nations across the Celestial Sea and some stranded people, this would not be possible. For generations we, as Equestrians, have lived in complete peace and prosperity. Never since the banishment of Nightmare Moon have we faced such a crisis as is now laid before us. And I believe I said some of this when this long and costly war started; however, I will say it once more. We will not stand by while evil penetrates the hearts and minds of our fellow Equestrians and burrows into our lands. Equestria has stood for more than a thousand years without need to defend itself, but the time has come when we are tested for our perseverance, our strength, and our will.
“The terrible losses we have suffered up to this day, including Princess Twilight Sparkle, my sister, and so many others: Major Dazzleflash, commander of the 4th Appleloosa Regiment; Strawberry Sunrise, executive officer of the 1st Manehattan, along with many of their comrades, for example. Their honorable service shall never be forgotten.
“Today I officially authorize a second campaign into the Crystal Empire. With the assistance of Queen Atlanta of Atlantis and King Flawless Ice of the Dominion and their respective armies, I am confident we will succeed this time. We must succeed; if we fail, there will be nothing left for us to keep the King of Shadows away with. This is for all the marbles. For Twilight. For Luna. For Equestria. Harmony guide us.”
Celestia and the group around her turned and left the balcony in an orderly fashion with Canterlot’s population cheering them on. When they were in the throne chamber, referred by Crimson as the “War Room,” a map of the north was laid out on a table. Everypony gathered around it, with Atlanta and Crimson standing opposite of Flawless Ice, earlier animosity still obviously strong.
“How do we get there without losing everypony in our armies?” asked the Dominion’s king. “They have flying machines, and the ones Admiral Robinson have” -he nodded at the American- “are out of fuel and ammunition. The only air support we get will be Pegasi, which Atlanta and I have mastered the use of, and the spinning-rotor craft, uhh…”
“Helicopters,” Robinson supplied.
“Yes. Those. From the American cruisers. But they don’t have the fuel capacity to make it round trips of the distance we require.”
“So, back at square one.” Crimson pointed at Dragonspire Citadel on the map. “This place is our main obstacle. If Sombra could’ve used the Gem against us, he would’ve done so already.”
“Agreed,” Atlanta said, speaking for the first time. “Flawless Ice’s father, Jagged Edge, used quite a good strategy on us in the war. He brought in everything he could, blasted my army to pieces, and worked his way through the supply system. If it weren’t for Colonel Silvercrest, we would’ve lost in the first year.”
“Blitzkrieg.” Robinson mused. “Genius.”
“How so?” asked Celestia.
“It means ‘lightning war.’ Back in World War Two, when Captain Ross and Pennsylvania came through a rift and ended up here, blitzkrieg was used by Hitler to take Poland, Czechoslovakia, and France. It works until it runs out of steam, which happened when Stalin held him back with sheer numbers until the frigid Russian winter hit full swing.”
Everyone else was taken aback. “Woah.” This comment was followed by Crimson’s statement. “I have no idea who this Hitler and Stalin are.”
“You don’t want to know. Absolute military dictators, to put it simply. But with your tanks, blitzkrieg just might work to get us there.”
Atlanta raised an eyebrow. “We must assume they have tanks, and more than us.”
A sudden mirage appeared, with Flawless Ice’s head scientist, Lost Legacy, in it. He was quite excited. “My King,” he said, bowing, “another rift just opened up just west of Canterlot! Readings are off the charts, but there’s some kind of tank, many many soldiers, and some air support. It’s an entire army!”
“Raise the alarm,” Celestia ordered the Captain of the Guard, who hurried to evacuate the lower levels of the city. “I’ve restored the tunnel to Starfall Fortress. Come, we must see to it that they know who they’re dealing with.”
------------------
Celestia stood on the outermost battlement wall just an hour later, staring out at the massive encampment laid before her. Long-range artillery had been brought up already, poised to fire on the ruined but still formidable citadel. White tents stretched out as far as the eye could see, surrounding Starfall in an apparent siege. Tanks - there was no other word for them - rolled up to the great, wooded, rotting gates and a man poked up from one off to the right, calling for an obvious meeting between leaders.
Robinson looked at the regimental and division flags. Then turning around, he saw that the only flags flying in Starfall were Equestrian. “I know why they look ready to attack.”
“What? Those Russians or Chinese?”
“No. I’m pretty sure those are American flags. They just don’t know who we are.”
The unknown commander was allowed inside for the “house call,” and he and Robinson recognized each other immediately.
“Holy shi- this is one big load o’ bullsheissen! Jackson, how’ve you been?” the admiral cried.
“Jamie?! Last I heard, you were sailin’ your little boat!” came an incredulous response.
Jackson hopped down from his tank and jogged to Robinson. “I didn’t think I’d see you again, little bro!” He grasped his younger brother in a bear hug. “I got put in charge of trainin’ this army here, then the sky got real funky for a minute. The next thing we knew, we weren’t Kansas anymore - I mean, yeah, it actually was Kansas! Who’s this beauty?” He gestured to Celestia.
“This is Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria. Princess, this is my older brother, General Jackson. Jack, there’s Princess Cadence, Queen Atlanta, King Flawless Ice, Colonel Crimson Dawn, Major Crystal Snow, Captain Midnight Shadow, and Lieutenant Silver Comet.” James waved his hand at each as he said their names. “You know, you could help us out! We need blitzkrieg. Can ya help us out?”
The roar of internal combustion engines drowned out any hope of conversation between Crimson and the odd American Jackson. The red Pegasus was keeping up quite well with his wings, but the bulk of the galloping Equestrian, Atlantean, and Dominion armies were left in the dust, with the Americans even farther back. Behind them was all the heavy stuff - artillery, ammo carts, random kitchen supplies, the likes.
Crimson was sweating profusely and breathing heavy, however. He’d never flown at this speed for the several hundred miles they’d already gone in his entire career - not to mention life! A constant sixty miles an hour worked into his muscles, but he dared not drop to the ground, lest he willing to be trampled by the United States M1A2 Abrams tank directly behind him. He decided leaving keeping his armor on was a bad idea after all.
Eventually, the tanks slowed to a crawl and stopped for the night. Crimson’s wings gave up and he faceplanted into the soggy, snow-covered ground. That was another thing. The colder, drier air was harder on him. Jackson hopped down and helped him stand.
“We gotta wait so the fuel trucks can catch up, along with your armies. We’ll set up camp for the night, stay a day to rest, then move on. Getting to where it counts is hard when there’s only one place to strike, so we gotta move fast.”
Crimson closed his mouth on some snow that hadn’t been hit by anything and let the melted water go down his throat. The cooling sensation that followed was beautiful. “All I had before this was a hoofful of hay and a few gulps of water! Way too fast, General!”
“Sorry, Colonel, but this is lightning war. You want to strike sometime within three months, this is how you do it.”
“But we are literally a hundred miles ahead of both the supplies and support! What if we get ambushed?”
“That’s a risk I’m willing to take. Deal with it.”
“I am in charge of the operation. I don’t have to ‘deal with it.’”
“And you want to do three things: resurrect your princesses, rescue your daughter, and defeat Sombra once and for all. I’m helping you get there in time to actually do something. Besides, if what you say about this Dragonspire Citadel is true, then we need to take it out before they get smart.”
“Fine. But we will wait for the others to catch up.”
“And I don’t intend on getting far enough ahead that they won’t arrive in a reasonable time. That was the exhaust port in the Dominion’s take on blitzkrieg, was it not?” Turning to a tank driver, he ordered, “Make a circle. We camp here for the night. Double guards and pickets. And someone set up a fire! We’re freezing and hungry!”
--------------------
Crimson shot out of his sleeping bag. He looked around and saw a curious-looking ponylike creature. In the dark, it was hard to distinguish colors, but fire looked like it crept up its legs. It cocked its head to the right and cautiously stepped forward, sniffing for food. It crouched low where the fire had been hours ago and stared at Crimson, its glowing eyes begging for food.
He walked to it and sat down. Seeing it was clearly a mare, he pulled some food out of a pack and gave it to her. She gobbled it up and cursed softly. The voice was unmistakable.
“Rose? Is it you?”
“Shhh!” the mare harshly replied. “I escaped the Dominion six years ago after being captured in a raid on Summercrest, and have been on the run since. I lost their tracking wolves near the Crystal Empire three months ago, but it was even worse there. Another escape and I’m here. I’d rather not get taken back there.”
“Rose Thorn, daughter of Atlanta. Right?”
“How do you know my name? You’re an Equestrian.”
Crimson pulled up on his jacket where it concealed his scarred flank and left wing. “Aquarius River. The Final Stand.”
She looked up at him. “By Harmony! Crimson, is it really you?”
“In the flesh, my dear.”
Rose Thorn sobbed quietly and leaned into her husband’s waiting hooves. “It’s really you…”
“Shh. you’ll wake up the others.”
“But-”
“I have my own tent. You can sleep with me.”
The next morning, Jackson was sitting by a relit fire. He was cooking a sausage on the end of a metal stick for breakfast. Crimson came out of his tent and sat next to the general, munching on some hay.
“An intruder showed up last night. You don’t happen to know where or what it is, do you?” Jackson asked.
Crimson gulped down his hay and guzzled some cold water. “Nope,” he replied simply.
“I think it was a horse or pony of some kind. It must’ve flown in and landed right there.” He pointed at some hoof marks in the ground. “It also makes sense that you woke up last night, since hoof prints are leading away and to your tent.”
“Yeah, I was investigating. Wasn’t anything important. I remember stepping right in those, then turning around and going right back.”
“Alright. Atlanta should be here in an hour. Radio says. But they could be delayed somehow between now and then, so… oh, frack!” Jackson pulled his burning sausage out from the flames and blew harshly on it. “Looks good,” he mumbled. Then he dug in. “Holy shit,” he went on between bites, “this is frickin’ amazing. And I don’t cook my own food.”
“Good. I might have something to say to the Queen that only she would understand.”
“What?”
“Rose Thorn. She’s alive.”
---------------------
Atlanta trotted into the circle of tanks around the tents. She slowed down when she saw Crimson’s face beaming like the golden sun. “Colonel, what have you done this time?”
“I found her. Rose Thorn. The Dominion didn’t kill her after all.”
“Really? Where?”
“Follow me.” Crimson lead Atlanta into his tent, where a dark pink alicorn with green flames licking her legs slept peacefully for probably the first time in years. Her eyes fluttered open and she yawned with the daylight streaming through the tent flap, now closed by Crimson. She took one look at her husband, then at his companion.
“Mother?”
“Rose? You were executed by the Dominion. We saw it!”
“That was propaganda. They never actually did. It was a traitor to the Dominion that they dressed to look like me. I escaped and arrived in the Crystal Empire trailed by Dom tracker wolves three months ago.”
“During the Manehattan Siege.” Crimson put in for a time scale.
“Whatever. Thing is, I lost the wolves. Then I had to escape the Empire, which I did a few weeks ago. Lied low the whole damn time, so they probably don’t even know I’m gone. Your campfire and the smell of cooked meat drew me here, because cooked meat can mean some sort of civilization.”
“Rose, there’s something you don’t know. It’s one of the reasons I’m headed to the Empire.”
“What?”
“Our daughter. Sombra foalnapped Andromeda during the Manehattan Siege. I was in Manehattan at the time, so I couldn’t do a thing.”
“He WHAT?! Where’s that slimy son of a-”
She was interrupted by Jackson’s knocking scratching the tent door. “Crimson, Atlanta, Flawless Ice is here.”
Crimson and Atlanta walked out with Rose Thorn directly behind. Nobody seemed to notice her until she tried to charge the Dominion king. “Where’s your father? I want him so I can hang his head by a tree where it belongs! You stole me from my family, and now you ally with them? Crimson, what has the world gone to?”
A bunch of American aimed their rifles in the direction of the outburst, only to stop when they saw Atlanta holding a dark pink and green alicorn, of all things, with her magic.
“Rose Thorn, you must calm down. Without Flawless Ice and his Domination Army we would not be here. His troops give us many of the numbers we need to carry out an invasion of the Crystal Empire.” Her daughter struggled a bit less after that. “Besides, as much as I don’t want to trust him, I have to. So get used to it.” With that, she let go. Rose immediately ran to Crimson and huddled behind the red Pegasus.
Jackson ran from the campfire. “Just what the hell is going on here? The last thing we need is internal division!”
Crimson turned to face the human. “You know how last night, somepony flew into the circle without being noticed, or so you believed?” Jackson nodded. “Well, I lied. It did happen, and it was important. But I didn’t want you chasing off somepony who seriously needs our help. This is Rose Thorn, daughter of Atlanta, and my wife.”
Rose Thorn, once a fearless field medic, now acted more like a scared child than anything, hiding behind Crimson and putting her husband between her and practically everyone else. She was clearly afraid of Jackson, and the many hundreds of thousands of ponies her husband commanded were the veteran warriors from four separate nations. That alone was enough for her to worry.
Special Operations Captain Hummingbird Sweetnectar bounded up to the long-lost mare with a special bounce in her step. Closely behind her was old their old friend Haybale, now a commander himself and commanding officer of the old veteran 2nd Coastal Regiment, where he, Crimson, Hummingbird, and Platinum came from. Now that they were reformed as a cohesive unit again, Crimson had general control, but Haybale could still take over officially.
“Red, you pullin’ rabbits outta hats now? Because I see a Rose!” the captain exclaimed.
“No, not this time. She came to me. Rose, you remember Hummingbird and Haybale?”
“Yes. They were at the wedding, along with Platinum. Where is he?” she asked.
“Platinum went rogue. He's Navy now.” Haybale still clearly disagreed with his friend’s life choices.
“Well, he'll always have a home with the 2nd.” Crimson said. “And apparently, so will I.”
“Old, friends, new times,” the four chorused.
The friendly group was interrupted by Jackson. “I see you are all well. But, Colonel Dawn, I’d prefer you didn’t keep secrets from me. Such a stunt as you pulled this morning will not work in the future.”
“What do I have to hide?”
“Other ponies coming out of the blue.”
“If I expect them, I’ll let you know. When do we move on? Oh eight hundred sharp?”
“Yes. We won’t wait for you.”
The drive on was better, since Crimson hitched a ride in the open back of an armored truck rather than flying. Just over five hundred miles was left before they entered what was once the original northern border of Equestria, and a much shorter distance separated it from the Crystal Empire’s frontier. Between the two countries was a vast, empty tundra that never quite hit zero Marenheit, even at high noon. With continual subzero temperatures, the combined armies would need to slow their pace in order to make it across alive.
The American M1A2s, however, could go as fast and far as they wanted. They formed a diamond, with two precious fuel trucks in the center. It wasn’t any good against an air raid if it came, but the armored vehicles deterred almost everything on the ground away. Nobody expected the Russians to spend fuel and what air power they had left on a scouting mission that would lose whatever was sent.
Crimson took in the dead land around him. It was hard to believe this tundra had been where Celestia’s first army had once been. The column had gone from here all the way to Sombra’s doorstep ten kilometers from the Empire. Then it spread out and laid siege. Sombra fired his Gem for the first time halfway through the siege, and the four regiments farthest from the blast constituted the ragtag elements he led to victory in Manehattan. But the magic had seeped into the earth itself and infested it for hundreds of miles around, creating this tundra that acted much like the Everfree Forest had - or rather, does. A couple of months was all it took for the devastated fearsome clump of trees to spring back and reclaim its land. In much the same way, this place - Crimson heard Atlanta call it the “Snowy Badlands” - asserted itself in less than two years as the dominant biome here.
The Snowy Badlands were desolate. Not even a Timberwolf could live in this place for long; the ambient magic would rip it to shreds within minutes, and Timberwolves were made from magic. Luckily for ponies, the weird stuff only affected purely magical creatures. As long as a Unicorn didn’t use his or her magic, they’d be fine. A thick layer of permafrost was actually in the making right then, visible just below the thin topsoil the tanks kicked up with their tracks. Low-lying mosses populated the area in clumps so small and far apart it wasn’t worth the food they would normally provide ponies. Tall pine skeletons, sandblasted by constant, swirling wind, served as a reminder of the events so long ago that escalated into Sombra’s near conquest of Equestria. There was no doubt that Celestia would’ve used Starfall Fortress, situated opposite of Canterlot on the mountain, as her final holdout had Manehattan fallen, followed by the rest of the East, the West, and everything but the heart of her country. So far, it seemed that that ship had long sailed.
Rose Thorn adamantly stuck to Crimson like a bodyguard. She had no trouble directing the tank convoy in the best routes, as she’d crossed the Snowy Badlands just to get to them. It was the returning to one of the many places she ran from that spooked her. Over the loud engines that must echo their shouts for miles around, she talked to him for comfort - and to know what happened after her capture. He filled her in on everything, from the museum dedicated to the 2nd Coastal to the Manehattan Siege and the Battle of Canned Apple-lis Forest against Queen Chrysalis. Crystal Snow, who’d only met Crimson as a Crystal Imperial commander trying to take Manehattan, helped with some of it. Rose began to respect the Crystal pony when the two revealed to her their relation as cousins.
“So, is is our hope to get across this dreadful cold of a desert in a single day?” Rose yelled over the noise.
“No, because it’d be impossible unless we’re okay with getting our flanks sent back to Celestia in body bags,” came Crystal’s reply. She too was yelling. “Dragonspire Citadel sits right where the old Equestrian HQ was, and that means it’s directly between us and the Empire. Chances are the Russians and Chinese are, too. Given their obvious technological advantage, we’ll have to consolidate our forces before actually going in.”
“They might just shred as as we consolidate,” Crimson reminded. "The general plan accounts for that. It’s why we are to go around the Empire to the Quartzstone River. I believe Sombra has been building his navy there, and with the help of the Russians and Chinese, he’s been able to build all those combat-ready ships the USS Ronald Reagan Task Force ran into on their last legs here in the time that he’s had. If we can cut him off there, it will be quite the resounding victory and we can truly besiege the Crystal Empire.”
“Unless he has access to airplanes.”
“Nah. U.S. Admiral Robinson is kinda protective of his tech, and I can’t say I blame him. But it means Sombra’s friends might hold their stuff back so they don’t lose it.”
“So, is there even a place for-” Rose’s question was cut off when the truck stopped from its sixty miles an hour without any warning whatsoever. The alicorn flew into the forward wall, clunking her head and falling unconscious.
-----------------
Rose Thorn awoke to gunfire - a lot of it. She struggled to stand, and Jackson, seeing her come to, helped her up. A painful throbbing in her head increased dramatically. When she steadied, it lessened slightly. “What happened?”
“Ambush! The fuel truck ahead of you blew up as if it hit a mine, and your vehicle practically hit a brick wall. You weren’t wearing your seat belt.” Jackson accused.
“There wasn’t any there,” she retorted. “Where’s Crimson?”
“That’s the bad part. He’s out there, whirlin’ that wicked sword of his like nobody’s business, but he’s liable to tire and come back in. We just gotta hold out in our circle ‘till Queen Atlanta comes with the vanguard.”
The next few hours were harrowing: the defending Americans had hastily thrown earth around their tanks like a little fort as soon as the convoy stopped, and some kept whatever was attacking - everyone assumed it was Russians for a while - from getting close enough while the others dug in. Then the machine guns atop the tanks held the line as Crimson and the outer defenders came back in. Their position was not best, but the uncoordinated but surprising attack seemed to be held at arm’s length by the machine guns.
“Crimson! I want to help!” Rose called as her husband passed by.
“Not yet. You have a concussion. Stay put!” He ran to the south side and fired calmly into the horde of… something.
“Oh, Harmony!” Crystal Snow cried when she realized what the attackers were. “It’s the destroyed army!”
“What?! They were blown up!” Crimson yelled back. But Crystal was right. The things running mercilessly at them were ponies. Rotting-flesh, greenish, blood-oozing, magic-infested zombie ponies.
“Goddamn! Frickin’ ghouls from Fallout - only ponies!” The human elements at least knew how to deal with zombies. They blasted at the things, tearing them to pieces with bullets. “There must a hundred K out there!” “Yeah, but I don’t wanna be zombie food!” “Take this, motherfuckers!” “Holy SHIT! That was way to close!”
---------------------
Atlanta galloped along to the front of her line. The scouts reported seeing flashes of light in the darkness that was a night in the Snowy Badlands. It apparently looked like gunfire, the way it rapidly pulsed in a dome. There were also a few sounds as well, like the blasts of grenades and the lower booms of tank cannons.
Donning her bright-orange sunsteel helmet, she called for the mobile spotlights to shine directly in front of them. They revealed a virtual sea of zombies held together by the magic that had infested the earth. These things were nearly fallen apart, as if they were the ones to actually have been closest to the Gem’s impact point. With a shudder, Atlanta realized this was Celestia’s first army - blown to pieces by Sombra and forced to wander the magical tundra lest they wish to fall apart.
“Volley fire on my command!” She waited a few seconds for the columned regiment, already deploying, to string out three ranks deep. “FIRE!”
A thunderous roar broke out as a thousand repeaters fired their magazines empty before the front rank crouched down and the second rank took up the slack. As the first two reloaded, the third opened up. The result was a total massacre of zombie ponies. The crackle of gunfire continued when the remaining things turned and came at them instead of the tank circle they had been closing in on.
“Independent fire!” Atlanta called, her order repeated down the line by many officers. Behind this regiment, the rest of the vanguard deployed into a large square formation in preparation for an onslaught. The zombies came with a blood-curdling cry, and Atlanta hoped Jackson’s tank group still lived in this mess. If they were, she’d have a talk about getting some ‘ray-dee-oh’ for instantaneous communication.
--------------------
The line of tanks held, surprisingly, but with quite a cost. They were down seven precious men, and everyone was wounded in some way. Rose Thorn even had to pick up an American rifle at some point and shoot into the mob. They were just too strung out, but pressure to the south eased right after Crimson observed spotlight beams sweep the ground a few miles away. On this hill they’d been so fortunate to be stopped on - or not? - the beams were easy to see. Six of them swathed over an entire ocean of the damned zombies.
“Crystal, how big was the Princess’s first army?” Jackson called.
“Two hundred thousand strong,” she replied. “All but five thousand were-”
“I get it! Just wanted the numbers.” Jackson moved his nervous gaze to the Crystal pony. “Stick to the group and you’ll be fine.”
The continual zombie attack hit its peak just before dawn. It was as if the things didn’t want them to survive long enough to see the sun again. With an overcast sky, it seemed doubtful, but the warm rays of Celestia’s sun curled over the horizon and the zombies were immediately set ablaze. They burned up and fell to the ground, which absorbed them like an ooze.
Jackson stood on top of a tank. He looked around at the suddenly clean tundra terrain, then rested his eyes on a tired Crimson. “We’ll wait for Atlanta. Then we figure out what in fucking hell happened.”
“There’s only one explanation. That was Celestia’s first army. The blast from Sombra’s Gem should have incinerated them two years ago.” Crimson was shaking slightly, and not from the cold.
“But how? They’re dead,” Atlanta asked.
Jackson seemed quite thoughtful, stroking his stubble of a beard. “Fallout. That’s how.”
“Enlighten us, if you will.”
“In the Fallout games, many people were irradiated to an extreme extent when the nuclear apocalypse that caused the Wasteland occurred. They became ghouls. Feral ghouls, to be exact. Based on the fact that this army you speak of was hit by some kind of magical explosion with considerable power, the same thing happened to them. They are feral ghouls irradiated by magic.”
Rose Thorn shuddered. Her fear easily affected those around her, and soon, they all shivered. The giant bonfire next to them didn’t alleviate it at all.
It was going to be a long day. Jackson wanted to reach the northern edge of the Snowy Badlands and leave the cursed place before they spent more than four days in it. He assumed that each night would only bring more of the damned “Tundra Ghouls” (leave it to Atlanta to name shit) and take many of the ponies and humans needed to haul Sombra off his crystal throne. But at the same time, he knew a good spot for a fort would be the hill they defended the night before, referred by his troops as Tank Top Hill - dammit, Atlanta! As good a place as it was, he’d be damned if his protective checkpoint was to be called “Fort Tank Top.”
But his pleas were to no avail. The supply checkpoint had a name he couldn’t shake from the minds of his people. The Americans got to work piling earthen mounds and digging in with machine gun nests in the pentagon-shaped Fort Tank Top. The process would take a full month to do properly, leaving the ponies of the Domination, Atlantean, and Equestrian armies to move on. They appreciated the move, but hoped for a few tanks. Jackson remained adamant that United States technology should be used for the purposes he felt he’d be ordered to. Securing supply lines across a hostile magic-radiation tundra was the part he was willing to play.
“Could you at least supply us with ‘ray-dee-oh’ so we can remain in contact?” Atlanta asked as she and Jackson walked through the dust of shoveled dirt and sweat.
“I do believe your race has developed a magical equivalent, but I see your point. Without magic or radio, contact would take much longer. Alright, I concede this one time. Take this.” He handed her a walkie-talkie. “Press this button to talk, this one to listen.”
“I have hooves. I can’t without extreme difficulty.”
“Right. Just do your best. You should be fine.”
She nodded and pressed her hoof on the ‘talk’ button. “Testing.”
On the other end of the signal, Jackson took his own out and replied. “Hello, this is the American Army Hotline. Press One to call for supplies. Press Two for reinforcements.”
Atlanta practically recoiled from the unexpected response. “The hell?!” She looked up and saw Jackson on his knees laughing. A bunch of the guys digging up trenches were as well.
“That’s what you get for calling this ‘Tank Top Hill!’” the general wheezed when his uncontrolled humor moment ended. “Now you got my troops callin’ it that!” He gestured at the walkie-talkie. “Don’t worry, it works.”
Atlanta straightened and turned to go back to her tent.
----------------------
“It’s slower than those M-Ones, but it’ll do,” Flawless Ice, king of the Dominion of Apollo, commented. He was walking alongside Queen Atlanta as they led their armies behind the deployed Equestrians. Both of them knew that they only had about three months before a rift tore the Dominion’s ‘supercalculator’ into a million pieces spread across who knew how many worlds. Atlanta had her reservations about the thing, but figured that anything that worried her kingdom’s rival ought to do the same to her. Atlantis had been hit by several rifts itself within the past four weeks, taking out fuel depots, naval shipyards, and causing the quite mysterious disappearance of hundreds of ponies. From the… privileged experience of the Atlantean-Dominion War they had the patience to wait as their armies marched. Even if it was Flawless Ice’s father who led the Dominion, the former prince did have to deal with the frustrations.
Fort Tank Top was a good five miles behind them. The quiet night was something to behold, but it was immediately followed by a dawn attack by the Tundra Ghouls and a delayed march. Luckily, they hadn’t taken many losses. An American flag fluttered with low-altitude winds above the already-impressive fortifications. Even so, it was invisible against the dismal sky and distance to anything worth visiting. Tundra Ghoul corpses lay everywhere as if they respawned constantly.
Crimson and Captain Midnight Shadow walked among Midnight’s veteran 1st Manehattan, lead by Solar Flare, the Unicorn’s “exec.” The were on the center, with the old “Dazzleflash Rangers,” formed from the remnants of the First through Fifth Appleloosa Regiments and named for the late commander of the Fourth they were so proud to have served with on the left. Silver Comet’s 4th Manehattan was marching deployed to the right, led by Crystal Snow while the dusty-metallic Earth pony moved to intercept Crimson.
“What is it this time, Lieutenant?” the red Pegasus asked before Silver Comet had even reached him.
“Nothing. I just wanted to make sure you saw this.” Silver replied. He pulled out a photograph from one of his recon squads that had just returned. It was of Dragonspire Citadel, only seventy miles ahead. The massive walls rose to an excess of fifty feet and an interesting orange moat encircled the fortress. A tall archery tower covered every point in the place, and there were a ton of points. It didn’t just signify dominance; it portrayed in such a fashion as to ward off even consideration of an assault.
“What’s the moat made of?” Midnight asked. He too saw it peculiar that it be orange.
“We don’t know exactly. One of my guys got close enough for a sample and we’re still trying to identify the sh… stuff,” Silver said, catching himself for Rose Thorn’s benefit. “I personally think it’s molten rock. It did almost burn a hole straight through the sampling container.”
Crimson nodded and ordered them to quicken their pace. The 4th Manehattan was now the vanguard of the vanguard. If they could gain a foothold near the citadel, the rest of the army wouldn’t have to. The lieutenant saluted and was off to his regiment as quickly as he could.
------------------
“I feel something I haven’t felt since before my deployment to Manehattan,” Crystal Snow said thoughtfully.
“What?” Silver Comet practically blurted out.
“The gems for my empty crown. Sombra took them when he rose to power, but I can sense their presence. One pink, one blue, one yellow, and two violet. It’s… weak, but there.”
“Weak?”
“The sense. Their presence kinda has a feel, and it gets weaker the farther away I am. Wait - they’re saying something. Seventeen alicorns. One gem. Six hundred thousand. I don’t get it. That’s never happened.”
“Your crown crystals that I’ve never seen have never told you stuff? I wouldn’t believe them.”
They crested the hill ahead of their regiment to look upon the Crystal Empire. Lush green fields contrasted sharply with the icy wasteland around it, with a sprawling crystalline city dead center. Roads zigzagged throughout the city in a snowflake pattern. Off to the western side sat an enormous mirror that must’ve been at least a hundred meters wide and just as tall. It was supported by stone struts aiming it to reflect something in the direction of Equestria. But the place in their vision was not the Empire, nor the top of the Gem mine, not even the deepwater river port just barely seen over the horizon. It was Dragonspire Citadel, built to house, train, and support an obvious minimum of two hundred thousand effectives.
“The scouts weren’t lying. Holy shit that place is huge!” Silver exclaimed. He pulled a telescope out of his saddlepack and adjusted the focus. “I see a shit-ton of workers building a third inner wall. Gimme a sec… wait, there’s an honest-to-Harmony motherfucking alicorn working in there! Late-evening coat, violet mane and tail. Looks young as hell. Could you go tell the Colonel, Major Snow?”
“Sure.” The mare hurried back down the slope in a hard gallop to reach the slower main army before nightfall.
“I’ll be damned,” Silver murmured. He looked through the telescope for a few more minutes. Then a small puff of dirt reminded him that the Russians and Chinese could hit him with sniper rifles if he could see Dragonspire. He backed back down the hill and joined his regiment in setting up for the night. Guards were posted all around the perimeter in shifts while everypony else slept. They were so close to reaching the goal set for them by Princess Celestia. Hopefully, the armies would not fail her.
Crimson Dawn looked up from behind his desk in the Equestrian encampment. The command tent was over his head, but that didn’t stop the pelting rain from occasionally seeping through leaks. It was a sudden storm of amazing proportion, probably stirred up by the magical wasteland that was the Snowy Badlands. Looking at it now, it didn’t make much sense for it to be raining in early March or April or whichever month it was, being as far north as they were. It wasn’t June yet, and that was all that mattered. But at the rate the original plan was deteriorating, it might be by the time they get around to it.
Crystal Snow stood just outside the tent flap, getting drenched by the torrential rain - no, it was more like sleet. Her normally lustrous deep blue coat was marked with many soaking streaks and hung like a wet dog’s. Those sparkling eyes of hers flickered of worry today, but they always did. It had to be fear. Fear of failure.
“Come in,” he called. She entered, and he gestured to a seat in front of him. “Please, sit.” She did. Purple creases showed under her eyes from a harrowing night of running from Tundra Ghouls. “So, what seems to be the issue, Major?”
“Sir, it’s about Dragonspire. The photos don’t have enough of the whole picture. Based on my own sighting, I assume that the place supports at least two hundred thousand. More than the entire combined forces during the Manehattan Siege,” she replied.
“And four times as many compared to the Equestrian vanguard at that bare minimum,” Crimson finished. “It looks as if we must wait for Atlanta to arrive before we even have their numbers. Flawless Ice’ll tip that scale for sure when he gets here, but Sombra’s defenses around that fortress would prevent us from using that advantage decisively!” He fumed. “I was hoping this wouldn’t happen. But that’s not how the stories go. There’s always the impenetrable fortress that will fall despite heavy losses.”
“Dragonspire Citadel has never been tested in combat. But they already have two walls, an outer wall and an inner wall, and are building a second inner wall. All the stone used came from the mine trying to excavate the Gem. My best guess is that the Gem is unstable as hell. Either that, or Sombra’s only got one more shot before it’s outta juice.”
“You’ve been hanging around the A-mare-i-cans too much. And speaking of them, Admiral Robinson actually commended Captain Reynolds since they finally got around to doing that sort of thing. They also have fuel; it’s shitty, but it works. Robinson says he’s taking the combined, repaired fleet up the Crystal Mountains River - the damn thing is apparently deep enough - and taking out the Crystal Empire’s port. But he doesn’t know how far to go upriver.”
“All the way. The port was just barely visible through the stone haze and half-blizzard about two miles east of the city. Robinson may have his hooves - I mean hands - full.”
“Yeah. Damn. And I know there’s something else on your mind. A certain colonel I once knew - a mix between a Pegasus and a Unicorn bitten by a werewolf, if you can believe it - Moonshine Silvercrest, that’s who! She taught me how. It ain’t hard.”
“One of the ponies being forced to work her tail off. She didn’t even look like she was older than ten! Late-evening coat, violet mane and tail, no cutie mark - Sombra’s making fillies haul three-ton rocks!”
Crimson raised an eyebrow. “Wings and horn?”
“Yes, the poor filly was an alicorn. Why?”
“SON OF A MOTHERFUCKING BITCH!!!” Crimson roared at the top of his lungs. In his anger, he bolted up and flipped the desk with his forelegs. The desk almost hit Crystal, but she backed off in time. She took one look into his eyes and saw a fury Queen Chrysalis would’ve had a hard time matching. The Pegasus practically seethed with anger. It was almost tangible, radiating off him in waves. “HARMONY DAMN IT!”
Crystal immediately backed outside the tent and into the lightening rain. The two guards, surprised at the outburst, looked at her, unsure of what to do. She motioned for them to keep away from the tent. “I’ve never seen a pony so upset. Just let him cool off. And one of you get Rose Thorn.” They nodded, content with doing that. One trotted towards the small makeshift hospital and inwardly smiled at his luck to talk to her. She was an alicorn, for goodness’ sake!
“Ma’am, Major Snow would like to speak with you,” he said when came close enough.
“It'd better be about Crimson. Typically I let go off like this, but he's quite a bit louder than his normal temper flares.” She followed the soldier to the command tent. When they arrived, she had to fly over a growing crowd to reach Crystal. “What happened?”
“I don't know. I described an alicorn that Sombra had enslaved and it set him off. He won’t let anyone in.”
“An alicorn? Elaborate.”
“Late-evening coat, violet mane and tail. No cutie mark.” the Crystal pony immediately replied.
“I see.” Rose Thorn took in a deep breath, then exhaled slowly, as if forcing down a thunderous rage. “That’s Andromeda. Our daughter. I’ll try to cool him off.” She opened the tent flap and strode in. when it closed again, she stared directly into her husband’s furious eyes. “Calm down. We can’t help Andromeda unless you let out that steam.”
“How can I? You were gone, Crystal Shard lost her dreams, and I didn’t go home. I stayed in the army. Andromeda was raised not by us, but by her grandparents! She hardly knew me! She’s never known you! Everything I tried so hard to protect is gone! With Atlanta herself adamantly sticking to the front line, you presumed dead, and her as Sombra’s slave, who do we have back home to rule if all of us die? I’d never be king; I wouldn’t do good enough,” he shot back. “We’ve lost.”
“That isn’t the Crimson I knew. The one I knew, know, would fight on despite the odds. He’d only ever give up when that was the only thing left. But he’d rather die than surrender.” She placed her hoof on his angry red cheek. “We’re all counting on you. Be the pony you are. Lead. Defeat Sombra. And bring our daughter home. You will, because if you don’t, you’ll die trying.” His eyes were lost in some alternate world, she could see, not even registering her voice. “Come back,” she whispered, and kissed him lightly on the muzzle.
It took him a moment to bring his mind back to the present. “Sorry. I don’t know what happened. I - I just overreacted.”
“No, you did exactly what I almost did. It’s natural to ‘flare up’ when somepony you love is in trouble. Especially if it’s your kid.”
In that moment, Crimson finally broke down. His rage had cooled into tears that dripped down his face and left wet streaks. He leaned and sobbed in Rose’s side. “I can’t. I don’t know how,” he said over and over.
“Of course you don’t,” she softly replied. “That’s why you plan. Now go do something about it.”
The American Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan sailed into a brisk six-knot wind blowing from the north. Sailing alongside as an escort were the cruisers USS Lake Erie and USS Ticonderoga, the partially repaired destroyer USS John Paul Jones, and every other American surface ship still combat-capable. The nuclear-powered Virginia-class submarine USS Texas was their only underwater escort. Admiral Robinson would've preferred bringing the battleship Pennsylvania as well, but she was too heavily damaged to be anything more than target practice right now.
Robinson walked out of the bridge and onto the port wing overlooking the Flight Deck. Princess Celestia was there on her own volition, not really wanting to file taxes and deal with politics. She sighed and he knew why. The entire deck below them was bristling with Atlantean one-hundred-pound cannons recovered from sunken ships of the line in Manehattan harbor, crewed by the professionals. The elevators down to the Hangar Deck and as many portholes as possible were as well. Reagan had transformed from a carrier to a flat-topped battleship. She still retained some of her original technological edge; the ESSM and Rolling Airframe missiles and the “Sea Whiz” Gatling guns (CIWS) stayed operable. But her main armament now consisted of over five hundred hundred-pounders instead of the three remaining F/A-18 Super Hornets.
“Are you sure it’ll work?” Celestia asked as he approached. “My magic may not hold her together if we do this. After all, it's been mathematically proven: either the chain breaks, or the bow rips off. The stress is too great in the short time force is applied.”
“It worked in Pirates of the Caribbean,” he replied. “Besides, we need the broadside in order to clear a path upriver.”
“You showed me that, so I know what you’re talking about. But this isn’t a brig going six miles per hour. This will be a carrier. Going fifty. We’ll be a sitting duck as soon as it happens. You've said yourself that enemy submarines may still lurk. Turning the ship won't solve everything.”
“No, it won't. But we'll look badass doing it.”
------------------
The escorts were being left in the dust as Reagan surged at ‘ahead flank’ speed. The only one keeping pace was Texas, but only barely. Sailing directly westward now after a northeast direction, Reagan had stayed outside any possible radar nets until she could slip in at top speed, getting in close before the enemy knew they were there.
Robinson saw the mouth of the Crystal Mountains River, clogged with ship after ship, all made of wood and anchored in the bay. He smiled. The vast majority of Sombra’s navy had yet to be cast into the cauldron of battle. “Celestia, cast your spell. XO, sound GQ.”
The Princess of the Sun, in her human form, sat in a chair and closed her eyes. A bright yellow glow came over the carrier for a split second before its color morphed to hide Celestia’s integrity spell. Meanwhile, the XO sounded “General Quarters.” Crewmembers raced to their battle stations and checked in. Robinson heard it over a two-knot wind.
“Bridge, Eng. Ready to answer all bells.” “Ammo checking in. Hauling powder.” “Bridge, CDC. Coordinating with submarine Texas.” And so on.
“I have the Deck and Conn. RO, violate reactor safety and increase shafts to one-twenty percent power. Hard to port.” Robinson called.
“Sir, I’m not sure this is safe in any way,” the RO replied over the comm.
“We did it that one day Celestia showed up. We can do it again.”
The massive carrier listed by at least thirty degrees to starboard as her rudders dug into the water. Her wake churned when the port screw lashed the surface lightly, then dipped back below. The speed built up as well, bringing Reagan to more than forty knots.
“Rudder amidships,” the admiral called. The list came back down to a perpendicular angle to the water and Robinson walked to the shipwide circuit and talked into it. “All starboard gun crews will fire in volley on my command.” Seeing their angle to the Crystal fleet and their speed, he mentally ran the calculations again. He moved to the starboard bridge wing and stared out to forward, holding a megaphone. “Drop port anchor.”
His bridge crew, surprised as it was with the order, complied immediately. The splash couldn’t be heard over the wind, but Robinson knew the heavy metal was on its way to the bottom, several hundred feet below. A loud thunk reverberated through the ship moments later, signifying that the anchor had indeed hit bottom. Now it had to catch.
Robinson looked at the enemy fleet again. It was much closer now, almost in range of his Flight Deck cannons. Is everyone holding on? Will Celestia’s magic hold? Will this actually work? Hopefully we don’t hit Texas ahead of us, with her crew recording our ship with their cell phones. All these thoughts raced through his head.
He was shaken when the entire carrier suddenly jerked to port and the entire starboard side came above the waves down to the waterline. Then a huge wall of water built up along the raised starboard side, cresting onto the elevators and sloshing into the Hangar Deck. Robinson could feel that he was going sideways instead of forward. Looking to the enemy fleet, he saw that they were almost perpendicular to his ship.
The bow creaked and groaned louder than seventy snoring motorcycles. He feared it would rip right off, but Celestia’s sun-like magic grew in density and held. Cracks appeared in it, the Flight Deck practically ruptured like a volcano, and the stress on the anchor chain came close to simply overcoming the princess’ power, but the ship didn’t tear itself apart. But the emergency diesel engine forward rumbled to life, telling everyone that the reactors had SCRAMed. Robinson took one more look at the Crystal Empire. Holding up his microphone, he noticed that the ship’s motion had practically stopped.
The Gunnery Officer stared through his binoculars. “Let’s drop some lead on those mother-”
“FIRE!” Robinson yelled into the microphone. “Release the anchor chain!”
Reagan shook with the simultaneous firing of two hundred fifty-seven hundred-pound cannons. White smoke obscured their vision, but the Atlantean gunners knew the range and reloaded. Then came another order: “Independent fire!” They fired again whenever they could see the enemy, concentrating multiple guns on a single ship. Meanwhile, the port anchor chain rumbled out and splashed into the sea.
“Gunno, fire the RAM!”
The Gunnery Officer hit a couple buttons on the console in front of him. The Rolling Airframe activated and began launching missiles. They found their targets quickly, sinking ten Crystal Imperial brigs and “battlewagons” in less than five minutes.
Aboard the Crystal Imperial Navy ships, it was a terror of the seven seas unleashed upon them. A massive gray ship drifted and sent hundreds of round metal balls into their helpless vessels. Even now it sent more ponies into the sea with its “flying fire tubes” and “fire-spitters.” The great Navy, built over the last couple years, could do nothing as the ship with a white “76” painted on its single tower lay waste. Moreover, a black tube emerged from the water and bipeds stood on top, watching the spectacle. An occasional flash, green trail, and subsequent exploding Crystal Imperial ship of the line showed that this too was hostile and had plenty of teeth.
Crystal ponies dove overboard and abandoned ship rather quickly. They got the idea after everypony who jumped off before a ship of the line exploded survived and began swimming ashore. The officers tried to stop them, but to no avail. Those who stayed lost their lives in a sudden fire that engulfed the entire ship.
“All engines ahead flank! Hard to starboard!” Robinson ordered. “Sail into those wrecks and get us upriver!”
“Sir, Reactor One has a meltdown! The core shielding ruptured in the maneuver! We’ve lost all power from Reactor Two as well! RO says Two SCRAMed but didn’t initially break. Until Engineering checks over the shielding, we’re on emergency power,” the talker called.
“Tell the RO to fire up Two if there’s no damage. And get Damage Control on One! Let’s refrain from becoming a mushroom cloud, if you don’t mind!”
“Sir, DCA says he’s already on it. He also reports that we have several fires in the Hangar Deck, along with extreme heat and water in the engine room. Steam lines must’ve ruptured.”
“Keep me informed.” Robinson crossed his arms and strode to Celestia, who was sitting the Captain’s chair. “You okay?”
She nodded. Having just released her magic from the carrier, she looked even more worn out than ever. Even swapping the Sun and Moon didn’t do this to her. He helped her gain her feet again.
“We’ll live, right?” she asked. “I heard that about the reactors."
“I got the best DCA and RO in the world. We’ll be fine.” He wrapped his arms around her slim body and held her close. She did the same to his and they stared at the carnage through the dissipating smoke. “I hope, Celestia. I hope.”
34. The Seventeen (Battle of the Crystal Empire Part 1)
“General Jackson has relayed via ray-dee-oh that Celestia and Robinson have destroyed the greater portion of Sombra’s fleet. However, there’s no way of telling if he actually doesn’t have a navy anymore. But for now, the A-mare-i-cans control the high seas.” Atlanta said. She knew how the last two days had affected her best officer, and hoped the news would cheer him up at least slightly.
“Mm-hmm,” Crimson mumbled. Ever since Rose Thorn had cooled his fiery rage over their daughter’s enslavement, he’d gone from confident soldier to caved-in colt. His life’s work seemed to disappear before him, no longer applicable but instead pointless. Six years of protecting his family, and he failed. The former Nurse Lieutenant tried her best to console him, as they needed his best for the actual assault. With Dragonspire Citadel literally a mile away, time was short - dangerously so.
King Flawless Ice of the Dominion stared sideways at Atlanta through the corner of his eyes. It was odd enough fighting alongside her, but he just now noticed how her turquoise mane flowed around her ears and out the bright orange sunsteel helmet. Her luxurious ocean-blue coat, those dazzling eyes… He shook his head. Now he was falling in love with her? Flawless Ice decided not to talk about it until later, lest it distract both of them from their job.
Rose Thorn’s eyes trained on her mother. “Thank you. I’ll continue trying to get it through this big lug’s thick skull that the only thing we can do now is press on. He lost some of his childhood friends during the Atlantean-Dominion War, so I don’t understand why he broke down now. It might be the whole father-daughter thing, which I can get, being the mother, but since I never knew Andromeda, my instincts are different. My motherly love just never fully blossomed.”
Crimson’s head lulled to the left. He was sleeping now; it was probably a catnap. His wife tapped him lightly on the shoulder and his eyes shot open. “Who? Wha? I’m awake!”
“Crimson, you need to figure out a way to break into Dragonspire Citadel. We must move quickly if we are to defeat Sombra for good at the same time. With the A-mare-i-can fleet moving upriver, the time to strike is now!” Rose said urgently.
“And save Andromeda.”
“Yes. And save Andromeda. Win.”
“Well, I might as well get on with it. I’ve been throwing this around for quite a while now…” He began to lay out his battle strategy on the map of the Crystal Empire. The others stared at it as he worked, glad to have him back. It was like a switch: either one way or the other. Hopefully this was the final time it’d be thrown.
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“... And the Dazzleflash Rangers, led by Colonel Flintstone, will infiltrate the city itself and stage an assault on the northwest corner from within. If we can blow a hole wide open and exploit it, King Ice will be able to send the bulk of his army around their lines and surround them. The Domination Army also is responsible for clearing a friendly landing zone for Robinson’s A-mare-i-can Marines. Understood?”
“Yes, sir,” chorused Atlanta, Flawless Ice, Rose Thorn, Midnight Shadow, Silver Comet, Crystal Snow, Hummingbird Sweetnectar, and Haybale.
“Sir, my regiment wants in,” Midnight continued. “We’re itching to kick some flank here in the First Manehattan. Might we go with the Dazzleflash Rangers and help them hold that hole open if it opens?”
“Yeah. Go ahead. Remember, everypony, that this plan is all in. there will be no reserves, no holding back regiments. When we attack, we either win or die trying. I expect to see all of you on the other side of that fortress, tasting that sweet victory and an end to the war.” He eyed each of them one by one. “It was an honor to serve with each one of you.”
“And you, sir,” Silver Comet said.
“It was more than that, sir.” Midnight replied.
“You will always be remembered throughout history,” Atlanta nodded.
“As will you, my Queen,” Crimson stated.
Flawless Ice trained his gaze on the red Pegasus. “You were a worthy adversary, my father said. You make an excellent ally as well.”
“Cousin, I’ll see you on the other side,” Crystal Snow stated.
Hummingbird and Haybale simply shed a tear each.
Crimson saluted them all collectively, and they returned it. “May Harmony guide us all.” He then walked out of the tent to get the ancient, veteran Second Coastal Regiment of AREA for its last combat action as a unit. The others dispersed as well, with Hummingbird going to Special Operations; Haybale to the Seventh Tideless, his original regiment before transferring to the Second Coastal so long ago; Atlanta to her Tampa Guard and most of AREA; Flawless Ice to the Domination Army; Silver Comet to the 4th Manehattan; and Midnight headed to the 1st Manehattan and the Dazzleflash Rangers. Crystal Snow was given her own command, the 7th Los Pegasus, to which she headed to for the impending move. Rose stayed where she was. As a former Nurse Lieutenant in AREA, she had more experience in the medical field than anypony else.
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Colonel Flintstone, his graphite coat and coal-black mane and tail flowing in the wind, squatted as low as he could. He and Captain - no, Major now - Midnight Shadow were scouting out the best possible entrance into the city. At the moment, nothing much was coming up as feasible, as as much as ninety percent of Crystal City was surrounded by a tall, menacing earthen wall littered with cannons and covered in barbed wire, land mines, and Russian/Chinese sensor grids. There were only two exceptions: the gate between the city and Dragonspire, and the anti-snow practical causeway between the sprawling city and its port on the Crystal Mountains River.
The Causeway, as Midnight dubbed it, was twelve ponies tall and three miles long. A wide plain stretched beside it for two miles on either direction before any rocks big enough to hide behind even appeared. No large-scale assault would break in without a diversion big enough to possible take Dragonspire Citadel to the west. Even so, the American threat sailing upriver would keep most of the guards there. Three layers of snow-choked barbed wire (cleaned on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) blanketed the steep slopes, with construction ponies working to lay mines around to block this avenue of attack.
Several Crystal pickets sneaking about camp had been captured and sent back to their leaders in catapulted body bags. With the Dazzleflash Rangers and 1st Manehattan having the bust-in duty, they had no artillery and therefore made do by “borrowing” some catapults from a poor Crystal pony lichen farmer’s barnful of equipment. But the Crystal Imperial Army obviously felt that the two understrength but veteran regiments were of no concern, focusing their efforts on the Domination Army encircling the Gem mine.
“Looks like a real storm’s brewin’, sir.” Flintstone commented, gesturing to the sudden smoke from Atlantean twenty-pound smoothbore cannons. The smaller twelve-pounders scattered on the Crystal wall around Dragonspire Citadel fired back, their higher position and cover giving them a fair advantage. A mine between the two opponents exploded violently when a low shot slammed into it, and shrapnel went everywhere and set off more.
“And so it begins.” Midnight said quietly.
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King Flawless Ice of the Dominion of Apollo stood with his commanders of the Domination Army. They were halfway to the Gem mine and already got bogged down in a slugfest. It just so happened that the Russians and Chinese used the mine as their base of operations, and getting past the rapid-firing machine guns proved to be quite the challenge. The king was inclined to win with the least loss of life on his side.
Glancing up from his soldiers to the mine top and mirror setup, he saw the thing was aimed straight as his army! One cry of alarm was all that was needed for the officers to notice and come close to panic. As they watched, the mirror refined its targeting solution and a solid white light, brighter than the Sun at high noon, brighter than anything ever known, enveloped Flawless’s vision. Searing pain shot through his entire body, causing him to convulse violently and shake uncontrollably. He never saw or heard anything again.
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Deep within the mine that had uncovered much of the magical Gem containing the spirits of seventeen alicorns, a crack had appeared in the great crystal and gone unnoticed. As the magic swirled and fired upwards, reflected into the Domination Army, the crack expanded rapidly and became a mini chasm. The tiniest speck of alicorn magic was reflected by the mirror wrong, being shot back down into the Gem faster than sound. The resulting sonic boom hit the Gem with the full force of sound waves, shattering it into a billion pieces. Smoke and magical green flames shot out of the top hole, consuming the mirror apparatus in an instant. Sparks flew in all directions, giving the wide mound on the surface the appearance of an erupting volcano.
The overpressure of the explosion was awesome. Both sides stopped whatever they were doing to watch seventeen colors - magenta, midnight blue, bright pink, blood red, violet, yellow-orange, pitch black, twilight white, grassy green, sky blue, cloudy gray, turquoise, chocolate, golden brown, tan, indigo, and blue-green - spiral over the smoke and ash and debris. Each coalesced into a single mare about as tall as Princess Celestia but built like a normal pony. The seventeen unexpected spectators unfurled their wings and took flight, casting their magic spells to clear the cloud the remains of the Gem mine still spewed out. Alicorns! The fifteen rulers that came before the Tribes of Earth ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns and two more, the latter familiar to the Equestrian army, watched the paused battle in horror.
It was a sight to behold for the Princess of the Night. The last time her eyes had been opened, a large hole in her had been bleeding her lifeblood away. She’d been in Manehattan during the siege. Princess Luna saw Twilight Sparkle as well, flying precariously to avoid falling several hundred feet.
“Twilight Sparkle. I did not expect to see you here. However, it must have been quite the time between my death and the now.”
“Princess Luna! I don’t know where to begin! The Tree of Harmony may still be alive, but I doubt it. I’m pretty sure the Everfree Castle is gone as well, seeing as I was hit by a blinding light and my soul ended up in heaven a second later.” she replied. “Do you see Cadence or Celestia?”
“No, Twilight, I do not. However, there is an ocean-blue alicorn down there leading an army. If she is to be trust- ah!” The two, along with the other fifteen alicorns, were pulled towards the Crystal Castle, where the King of Shadows waited for this very moment. His magic was much too strong for the resurrection-weakened flyers, and they were immediately put under a horn lock and a wing bind.
Twilight looked around worriedly and stopped her head when she saw one of the few ponies she hoped never to encounter again: King Sombra.
She shivered when the shadow-black Unicorn spoke with the knives of a thousand words in little more than one sentence: “Well, well, well. Seventeen alicorns, one of them the Element of Magic, another the Princess of the Moon. I’ve hit the jackpot.”
35. One Last Time (Battle of the Crystal Empire Part 2)
“What do you want with us, Sombra?” Twilight asked. She, Luna, and the other fifteen alicorns whose souls had been trapped within the Gem, had horn locks and wings binds in place as soon as they’d been pulled into the castle. Twilight, being a feisty prisoner, also had three Crystal guards holding her in place with heavy iron chains. Pulling against the guards, she was the most defiant of all the alicorns there. “You have lost.”
“Twilight Midnight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, if I recall. The Element of Magic as well. Even after death and revival, you are still as resistant as ever. Oblivious, too.” Sombra replied in his cold voice. It sent a chill down the violet-coated pony before him.
“My second name is of no concern to you.”
“As you wish, my dear.” Sombra’s eyes flickered from hers to the great crystal door behind her. They opened so slowly a snail could’ve gone faster. Beyond it was a single object covered in dark crystals. The King of Shadows lifted it over to him. “Princess Twilight, I have watched every mare who has ever lived after my banishment to the Frozen North. Luna was quite the tempting choice, as were Queen Atlanta, Rose Thorn, Sunset Shimmer, and even your own pupil, to name a few. However, my observations have led me to conclude that you are the perfect choice for my queen.”
“Your what?” Twilight sputtered. “I don’t plan on marrying anypony for at least a few years!” Then it struck. “This long, bloody war, the destruction of the Tree of Harmony, the A-mare-i-can ships coming through rifts - you caused all of it? All because you wanted me for your bride?!”
“The war, yes. Everything else was a mere side effect of it. I did not pull the ships bearing a star-spangled banner into our world. In fact, I had not even planned for it. The only rift I ‘meddled with’ was the one that sent your dear Princess Celestia to a magic-barren world. Her resolve and ability to make allies was something I considered not. As for the Tree, I did not expect it to explode. I was about to call an end to the war when I felt your presence in the Gem! It was invigorating; not a day went by when I did not visit the Gem, basking in your magical aura.”
“That’s creepy.”
“You don’t understand! It was not Mi Amore Cadenza that I wished for when you first came to this land, nor was it any of your friends - or even a simple pony in my own kingdom - that attracted me to accelerate my plans. It was you! I have fallen, and you are the only mare who can not only bring me back up again, but prevent the loss of those you love!”
Twilight was at a loss for words. “I need to think about this.”
“Granted. You have until the Sun reaches its peak.”
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Crimson Dawn still stared at the gaping crater where the proud Domination Army had been not an hour ago. All that was left of King Flawless Ice and his three hundred thousand brave ponies, charging towards technologically advanced enemies, were four ragged, half-strength regiments. These still took up their flags and crossed the smoldering remains of their comrades, rallying to the sole surviving officer, a blueberry-colored thestral in night-black steel armor. As he watched, the torn banners flew high above their respective troops.
The thestral looked familiar, kind of like his old friend Bats, lost to battle in the Atlantean-Dominion War. Like his identical twin. But the way he carried himself was different. Either way, he still instilled in his brethren a will to succeed. The ponies nearby hollered their battle cries into the mid-morning sky, still dark with ash from the Gem’s unexpected destruction.
He turned to his regiment. The Second Coastal was old, it was veteran, but most importantly, it was family. Crimson had been through so much with them in wars past, each one of them was the dearest friend he could ask for. Faces he knew were still there: the Unicorn Nightfall, the Earth pony mare Mango, the Pegasus Clockwork. All of them were here now, ready for one last charge.
A familiar voice drifted into Crimson’s ears. “It’s a nice day out. A good day to be with friends.”
“Platinum Starlight? What are you doing here?” he asked, startled.
“You seriously think I’d stay out at sea when my regiment, my family, are going into the fray? No, brother, if we go, we go together. With our comrades.” Looking back at the familiar faces they knew from battles past, so many years ago, he smiled. “Red, I think we need a speech.”
Crimson was about to reply when a sudden orange fireball shot up into the sky directly above the Crystal wall. It was followed by five more just like it as hot shrapnel fell onto open ammunition boxes and exploded. More earth flew in all directions, splattering ponies and covering the barbed wire. Some slammed into the minefield, which set off more explosions and concussions and overpressured reports.
“Unfurl the battle flags,” Crimson called. “We’ve been hiding behind this hill long enough.”
The Atlantean battle flags were raised noisily up the wooded flagstaffs. The colors of the Second Coastal Regiment, Atlantean Reserve Emergency Army, finally became seen by all sides above the low hills and through holes in the white smoke. They fluttered in the three-knot wind fifty pony-heights above the terrain.
Turning to face his troops once again, Crimson spoke. “I know you all want a speech, so here goes: I have no more right than anypony in this universe, not even our beloved Queen Atlanta herself, to ask any more from you. But I’m asking. I ask that you make this final charge on this final battle, this final day. We’ll go down in history; it’s already happened. But, one last time, I ask you to follow me on the field of battle. For your brothers, your sisters, your friends! For your sweethearts! For your spouses!” He paused for effect. “For home!”
The cheer, building for years of patient waiting for him to rally them in speech instead of actions, finally burst its bubble. They yelled their triumph, their battle cries, their joys. They waved their repeaters in the air; they swung the great, tattered regimental flags. They were louder than the distant twenty-pound cannons. Then five hundred of the bravest ponies in history stepped into hell, charging behind Crimson and Platinum at full gallop across the open field, clear of mines and wire, and onto the sloping earthen wall where the enemy lay.
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“Look, sir! They’re pulling to our left! Those explosions must’ve opened a damn big hole in their line!” Colonel Flintstone said.
Major Midnight Shadow stared through his binoculars. “You’re right. Sound the preparations. We charge in ten!”
Two small bugle horns sounded their low notes, shaking in the frozen air. The Dazzleflash Rangers and 1st Manehattan hurried from their watch posts and into three ranks of uniformed, determined ponies, separated by two feet of space where one regiment stopped and the other began.
“Wedge formation!” Midnight called.
The ranks on the edges pulled back, using a domino-like effect to pull those beside them into an angled line. The point was in the extreme center of the two regiments, creating a single arrowhead tipped with cold steel.
“Wait for it…. Wait for it…. Now!” Flintstone whispered to Midnight. “An honor, sir.”
“You as well.” The officers walked over the low hill two miles from the Causeway. The center of the wedge, they represented the core. “Charge!”
Seven hundred ponies galloped across the field. They glided over the bumps where mines lay and dove over the snow-choked barbed wire. The charge up the slippery slopes began, the surprised Crystal ponies frantically trying to choose staying or fighting. With only snow on the hill instead of yesterday’s hard-packed ice (shattered by cannon roundshot), the two understrength regiments quickly gained the top and hoisted each other up while keeping a resistance from completely organizing. They’d truck right where the link was weakest; the poor ponies first hit by the virtual wall of Equestrians had just been transferred from the hard-hit area near the most action not half an hour ago.
Swords clashed, bullets zipped, and arrows flew through the utter chaos that the Causeway had become. The weariest Crystal regiments had been placed here for relief, not to suppress a charge. Add in the fact that many Crystal ponies had family who were held prisoner to keep them in check, and most simply surrendered while others tried to rally each other. It was virtually hopeless.
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Atlanta watched the Second Coastal charge into the fray. She envied their bravery and only hoped she could match it on this day. Looking back at the one hundred thousand behind her, half of AREA going to assist the remnants of the Domination Army, she saw only the raw courage every pony only needed to unlock to do great things. She only required them to tap it one more time.
Without a word, she turned to Dragonspire Citadel, its fear-instilling walls silent while the twelve-pound cannons reloaded. She waited for the next volley to fire overhead, then yelled: “Have at ‘em!”
Her bold cry and charge sent the army scrambling after her. They soon caught up and passed her, slamming into the great stone and wood gates with bullets, arrows, crossbow bolts, and low-firing artillery shells. Bursting through the smoldering wood, they formed a protective circle and advanced. Their practiced hooves and quick volleys slashed at the Crystal ponies between the walls. Even with only half the numbers compared to the enemy, the experienced Atlanteans pounded bullet after bullet and pushed their foes closer and closer to the second wall.
Atlanta climbed over the ruined gates and stared at the carnage. Several hundred ponies had already perished, and the close-in battle only began twenty minutes ago. A supply wagon burned brightly in the thick, black smoke of its own fire and those around it. This smoke combined with that from the gunfire and cannons to create a swirling gray overcast of death. She drew her own sword, made of sunsteel, and galloped towards the front lines.
Twilight Sparkle, with only a partial horn lock now, stood at the top of Sombra’s castle, up all those damned stairs. She saw the multi-pronged attack, one on the mine, another between the city and the port, a third in a blown-open hole in the line, and a last one blasting the fortress open and continuing on in. She could feel the death of each fallen pony like an arrow piercing her chest.
A screech from the east drew her attention. She turned to find its source, but instantly ducked. A four-inch steel projectile missed her by less than three feet. Bringing her eyes back up, she saw a massive American ship hovering above the river port! A closer inspection revealed a distinctive yellow magic surrounding the vessel. Celestia had picked up a cruiser with the white number “47” on its bow. Searching her memory, she remembered that the captain of a certain USS Ticonderoga, CG-47, wanted to talk about an alliance before she died. That had to be it.
A missile launched from its foredeck and curved down, slamming into the innermost wall of Dragonspire Citadel and sending up an orange mushroom cloud that could be seen for miles. Beyond the cruiser, a large gray thing sat in the river harbor with “turning-wing sky boats” coming on and off it. White smoke drifted lazily from the several hundred cannons along the side. Twilight cast a spell to zoom in on the structure sticking up from its starboard side. A white number read “76.”
Princess Celestia told me that she was on some ship called Reagan. Its hull number was apparently “76.” Wait a second - that’s the A-mare-i-can fleet! Twilight practically jumped to her hooves in excitement. Celestia had come!
Another high shot from the flying cruiser’s forward weapon smashed into the Crystal Castle, shaking the entire building to its core. Unlike the last shot, this one didn’t explode, causing Twilight to believe the Americans had multiple types of projectiles.
Replies immediately came from the Russian/Chinese encampment on the north side of the city in the form of missiles. A quick response from other ships out in the harbor saved the flying cruiser’s bacon, and was followed by an attempted retaliation missile strike. Russian jets fired up and escaped the missiles that did get through, and flew towards the Americans. The CIWS guns opened up. It sounded like muffled popcorn from the princess’s vantage point, but a lot quicker. Explosions quickly resulted.
Twilight used her magic to see inside the flying cruiser. No living being was there, not even in the apparent command center. She let the spell dissipate and stared hard at the ship. It turned to port (towards the castle) until it was bow-on pointed at Crystal City. Then it got a whole lot bigger as if Celestia had thrown it like a javelin. Twilight’s eyes widened when she realized that was exactly what happened.
Ticonderoga flew and fell like an arrow. Her bow slammed into the Crystal gate separating the city from the Causeway. Sparks flew and the front of the ship practically disintegrated from the impact. But momentum carried it on into the military supply area containing a literal shit-ton of ammunition. Needless to say, the resulting explosion destroyed what was left of the cruiser, knocked an enormous hole in the wall, and nearly sent Twilight off the castle with its shockwave. Twilight looked beyond the flaming supply depot towards the American fleet, where Celestia was. She had no idea how insane her former mentor could be at times. All Twilight could do was stand there with her mouth agape.
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Aboard Reagan, Princess Celestia stood on the starboard bridge wing, shaking almost uncontrollably. She hadn’t originally planned to throw Ticonderoga; it just happened. The stunt had cost her most of her magic and physical strength. Luckily, the cruiser’s crew was aboard a different ship of the same class while Robinson shuffled his crews around to fill gaps, so Celestia had complete control over the ship when she lifted it into the sky.
Robinson walked to stand beside her. “Was that planned?”
“No,” she replied wearily. Her knees collapsed and Robinson moved to catch her before her head hit the rail. “Sound GQ and initiate self-defense! You have the Deck, OOD!” he called as he carried Celestia to the medical ward.
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“GET DOWN!” Midnight cried as the massive 173-meter ship flew overhead like an arrow. It slammed into the western end of the Causeway with a massive amount of momentum and skidded for a few seconds before crashing into the gates. An explosion seemed to rip the very fabric of air when the cruiser hit what was probably a supply depot and set off practically all the ammo this side of the city. The overpressure was excruciating, as it blasted everypony’s eardrums to pieces.
The Crystal troops saw only one way out: around the enemy. They ran away from the ruined gates through the two paths left by the writhing Equestrians, not caring what happened next. The ponies just wanted out.
Midnight struggled to his hooves and lit his horn. His eardrums quickly repaired themselves with the simple healing spell he cast. After fixing his own ears, he moved on to the other Unicorns so they could help him get the two regiments back on track. It took half an hour, but they were ready and the Crystal remnants weren’t doing anything. In fact, most of the Crystal ponies surrendered just to get their ears fixed.
“Flintstone! You alright?” Midnight called.
“I’m fine! My ears have seen better days, though.”
“I think we can all say that.” Midnight cleared his throat. “Look, I’m going on to the city. We have too many prisoners to just leave them. I’ll give you what troops I can spare, but it won’t be many.”
“Sir, the Crystal ponies want to fight Sombra. Their leader told me how he keeps ‘em in line: by holding their families hostage. They’re rarin’ to kick some shadow ass here, and I didn’t sign up for guard duty. We go in, we go in together,” Flintstone replied.
“Well, that simplifies everything.”
“Yes, it does. Let’s move!”
Midnight shrugged and turned to face the smoldering wreck that was a grand pair of gates literally an hour ago. “We need a Plan B. Otherwise, we ain’t gettin’ in the city.”
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Crimson had dropped his repeater a while ago. He hacked and slashed at everything that bore the mark of the Crystal Empire, becoming a whirlwind of pure death. Instead of wielding his short sword in his mouth like most ponies, he was trained by the late Colonel Silvercrest to use his wings as well. This gave him a distinct advantage, as he didn’t need to swing his head at the enemy to attack or defend. At one point, Platinum was at his back; the next, somepony else.
Eventually, the solid line of Crystal ponies before him slackened as the enemy pulled back. They clearly had something more important than a single regiment to worry about. Taking that break, Crimson looked to the east, seeing a black pall of smoke where twisted steel and warped buildings marked the location of a supply depot. He then turned to his comrades. Out of the five hundred that charged up the slope, only fifty remained, and everypony was wounded to some degree. Most of Crimson’s wounds were superficial, but he quickly realized that wasn’t the case for all his friends.
“Platinum! What happened, buddy?” he cried, racing to a bloodstained body.
“Oh, hi, Red. Damn idiot guy over there hit me with a Heavyweight. Got him, though.” He coughed up blood. “I - I - I can’t go on.” He coughed some more. “Just tell your sister. Tell her I-” The silvery Unicorn went into a spastic fit and Crimson backed away for a second. “I… I love…” His head dropped to the ground and never moved again.
“No! Not you! Stay with me, Platinum, stay with me!” Crimson let his head fall into his friend’s and cried. At the same time, the forty-eight ponies left took their hats off in salute to the adventurous stallion who’d been one of the most likable guys in the regiment.
“Sir, we must move on. The longer we stay here, the more prepared Sombra will be,” the sole surviving NCO said.
Crimson nodded, tears in his eyes. Platinum had been like family to him, like one of the two brothers he had but never met. He’d filled that spot, just like Bats had done before the Battle of Pacifica so many years ago. Now he was gone. Crimson stood and turned his gaze to the Crystal Castle, its single towering spire piercing the hazy sky. “Let’s go take out that son of a bitch,” he hissed.
-----------------------
Atlanta wasn’t expecting an American missile to destroy the enemy reserves within Dragonspire. She though she’d have to fight every last pony in the damned fortress. All the same, her job didn’t change. Dragonspire was in the way, and she had to clear it.
She felt her magic return to her as she stepped outside the blast area that was Celestia’s first army. It was invigorating; she felt like taking on the whole Harmony-damned Crystal Empire by herself for a split second. Then she regained control and calmed. Her ocean-blue horn glowed red with the magic of a powerful spell building up. Then she released half her reserve of alicorn magic in shattering the magic locks of the second Dragonspire gate and then the doors themselves. The explosion sent the gatehouse crumbling in on itself and falling onto the smoldering heap. She smiled. A day when you could blow shit up was a good day.
Atlanta charged headfirst into the space between the second wall and the partially-built third wall. This was it. If her ragged troops could pour through this gate, the fortress was done for. She sweated under her sunsteel helmet despite the overwhelming cold that was the Frozen North.
Her single pant was all the line of Russian machine gunners needed. They opened fire from behind the white smoke of the Crystal rifleponies, decimating the ground and sending hundreds of bullets in Atlanta’s direction. Her quick reflexes saved her; the responsive shield slowed the bullets down enough to only wound her with a bunch of punctures.
She gasped for air, breathing in smoke instead. Her ragged, labored gulps of the surrounding field of death pointed her location out to the one pony who was quite interested in finishing her off.
General Shattered Hope walked over the wreckage, sidestepped Atlantean weapons fire by the slightest margin, and stopped to stare down at the queen. He pulled out his longsword and carefully inspected for any imperfections. “This blade was passed down to me from my father, and his father before him. My family has always believed alicorns were the scourge of Equestria. I will particularly enjoy this.” He thrust the sword blade down into the base of her neck. Red blood seeped out through the wound and he turned it to point at her heart.
Atlanta couldn’t even scream in pain; Shattered Hope had severed her trachea. The only thing she could do was choke on her own blood as he rammed his sword through her collarbone, down her chest, and into her heart. Her head instantly slumped to the ground.
Shattered Hope knew he could try to live up to his name. He threw Atlanta’s limp, dead body over the second wall and into her own troops. The reaction was mixed; some seemed ready to run, while others only glared at the imposing wall. All the Crystal general did was piss them off.
He realized this fact too late. Instead of running, most of the Atlanteans surged into the wall and laddered up each other to the top. Some burst through the door and dove among the cover, taking snipe shots at the machine guns waiting for a lovely target. It took less than ten minutes for the situation to go from seemingly controllable to FUBAR. Fifteen minutes after Atlanta’s death, her troops had taken the wall and were decimating the Russian morale with pure recklessness and courage. Shattered Hope tried to run, but the angry mob of veteran soldiers reached him and quickly tore him to shreds with bullet after bullet.
Above the keep, the grand flag of the Crystal Empire was ripped from its post and replaced with the Atlantean battle flag. Dragonspire Citadel had fallen.
Sombra’s guards escorted Princess Twilight back down from the top of the castle. She now stood still while he circled her. He came close; enough for a brush against her coat, but she growled in response and he backed off slightly. “Have you come to a decision, Princess? Celestia’s Sun has reached the apex of its skyward journey.”
“Yes. I-” She glanced at Luna, who’d been confined to a cage by the wall- “I will not accept your offer. As tempting as it may be, it will only delay the inevitable and cause the deaths of more ponies than need die today.”
It was Sombra’s turn to growl. This was not out of personal space issues, but contempt for his would-be bride's stubbornness. Twilight held her ground, standing defiantly as he circled her once more.
“What if I were to take the life of a young alicorn-”
“You wouldn’t dare!”
“And you did not allow me to finish. It is not the young Flurry Heart, whose whereabouts I do not have the knowledge of. I speak instead of a seven-year-old, one with whom I can end this war with or without your assistance. Her name is Andromeda.”
“Colonel Dawn’s daughter.”
“Yes, my dear, you are correct. Colonel Crimson Challenger Dawn’s young daughter is quite resistant to anything I can conceive of, except for shadow magic. If I wished, I could use shadow magic and you would be bound to obey my every order. However, even I value the right to choose on occasion.”
A single messenger came racing through the great crystal doors. “My lord, General Shattered Hope has fallen in battle! Dragonspire Citadel is lost! We must retreat to the north while we are still able if we are to survive.”
“And why have you left your post on the field of battle?” The King of Shadows had an icy edge to his normally calm but menacing voice.
“I am just a messenger, my lord. I was ordered from the gates between Dragonspire and the city to deliver this message to you.”
“Then we have little time. Guards! Bring young Andromeda to my throne. I shall await my foe here with his most precious daughter as my hostage. As for Princess Twilight, she is of no further use as of now. Put her in the dungeon.” Sombra turned to ascend his throne.
Two castle guards walked to escort Twilight to the dungeon. But she had had enough. As soon as they came close, she dove to the side and smacked one in the little gap under his helmet. He gasped for air and she faced the other. Her self-defense reflexes kicked in and she whirled around, bucking him in the lower neck. She tried to run but was stopped by a levitation spell halfway across the room.
“You are feisty, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Perhaps you will require me to teleport you to your cell?” Sombra asked. He cast his spell and Twilight opened her eyes to the musty dungeons below the shuddering ground where the Crystal Imperial Army desperately tried to stem the offensive.
---------------------
The American Marines stepped off their boats to docks controlled by Midnight Shadow and Flintstone. Even though the humans only had conjured up two hundred fifty troops, they still outnumbered the remains of the First Manehattan. Midnight had fought his way to the docks, securing them minutes before the Americans were in effective range of the Crystal muskets.
“Move it, move it! You ladies got three miles before you get to the action! Get off the goddamn boats and get a move on!” a particularly insulting Marine sergeant shouted. Controversial to most Equestrian logic, the Americans hurried, more motivated than before. They jogged west into the fray, followed by Midnight’s tired regiment.
----------------------
Forty-nine ponies in tattered blue uniforms ran through the snowflake maze of the city. The Second Coastal had abandoned their regimental flags to stand with lost comrades in favor of a more secretive approach to the castle. Dozens of barricades had popped up throughout the roadways during the battle, causing them to turn and find a way around. It was getting tiresome; the group had nearly circumnavigated half of Crystal City.
“I’m done with this shit. Next barricade, we send them skyward.” Crimson fumed. The others agreed quietly.
It didn’t take long to reach the next barricade. Crimson crept closer, explosives in his saddlebag. He sat behind a building. His wing delicately picked up the gunpowder-filled ball, already primed. Without a second thought, he threw it overhead and into the tiny wall of crystals, wood, and random junk. Its impact knocked a large hole in the loosely piled stuff with a loud bang and a small puff of smoke.
Forty-eight ponies charged into the barricade while Crimson closed his saddlebag and slung his repeater, which he’d found after taking the city wall. One died rather quickly; the Crystal Empire still knew how to inflict casualties, even when taken by complete and utter surprise. In the end of the brief fight, the Crystal ponies here were dead.
“Colonel! That building down the street looks good. We should plan our next move deeper into the city there,” a Lieutenant said. She gestured to a rather large construction about a hundred pony-lengths closer to the towering castle. By the looks of it, the place was likely to be a library.
“Excellent. Regroup there. I have something I need to do,” Crimson replied, nodding towards their fallen comrade.
She saluted. He returned it and knelt over the limp Earth pony’s body. Holding it in is hooves, he took a single locket from around the dead stallion’s neck. The Atlantean version of American dog tags, it let the officials back home identify those they lost. A single light kiss of gratitude, and Crimson headed to the library.
The building itself wasn’t very impressive on the outside. It had the standard crystalline structure and two damn big wooden doors that were, for some reason, left wide open by his comrades. Probably so they can let me know where to go, he thought. Several windows had been shut for some time, again, for a reason that deluded itself. Then again, the raging battle less than a mile away would tell the ponies to close down everything.
The inside, however unimpressive the outer shell was, had almost no words to describe it. The entire place had miraculously survived the ongoing Atlantean artillery bombardment, considering its size. At least three hundred pony-lengths of five separate floors were lined with bookshelves. The shelves were placed at least ten pony-lengths apart, connected at intervals by a bridge. There were two entire floors dedicated to fiction; a third, history; a fourth, science; with the center, ground floor being the reference section. Encyclopedias similar in size to dressers were positioned neatly side by side. It was a bookworm’s paradise.
“May I help you ponies?” the old librarian mare asked.
“Yes, as a matter of fact,” a Sergeant replied. “We need a map of the city.”
“Reference floor, section seven, shelf thirty-nine. Hope you find what you’re looking for.”
“Thanks.” The Sergeant walked to the location and cried. “She wasn’t kidding! There’s a whole tourist attraction map back here!”
The rest hurried over. “Damn.” “Owe me on, Skip.” “Holy guacamole.” “And I thought our library had a big map.”
“Quiet, all of you!” Crimson snapped. “Now, this is convenient. We go north through this road here, snake around the likely barricade here, and viola!”
He bumped the map in his contained excitement, flipping some kind of lever. The forty-odd ponies immediately heard the whir of machinery echo throughout the building and pulled out their repeaters, fanning out to avoid getting caught in clumps.
Then, below them, the floor sank into a ramp. Fifteen of Sombra’s personal guards came through silently and stood in the shadows beneath the “lower level” balcony. They sneaked up the stairs and walked right into an Atlantean who’d spontaneously decided to check that stairwell. Both sides were just as startled as the other.
“Hooves up!” the Atlantean yelled. Immediately, his friends lined up to take aim at the fifteen.
Surprisingly, they complied. “Up here!” Soon, all fifteen stood shaking before an entire line of forty-eight angry ponies. The ones in the guard gear were taller than the average pony, and it looked like the armor almost didn’t even fit their slim shape.
One of them, the youngest by the looks of it, took off her helmet. She had an indigo mane that matched her weak, horn-blocked magic. She’d evidently used brute force to cast the levitation spell, and it was excruciatingly hard. “If you could release these horn locks, we would greatly appreciate it.”
The other fourteen removed their helmets with their hooves. All had horns about as long as Celestia’s, in odd colors, with matching magic trying to unconsciously bust through the locks. They then removed the guard armor to reveal beaten, bruised backs and rope-tied wings.
“I am Princess Indigo. I assisted Starswirl the Bearded train his apprentice Clover,” the youngest one said. “Might we ask an important question?”
“Go ahead.”
“What year is it?”
-----------------------
“Let me get this straight. You all are the fifteen alicorns who lived - and died - before the Tribes of Earth ponies, Unicorns, and Pegasi? And for the last fifteen hundred to three thousand years, your souls have been trapped in the Gem? I thought they were all pulled into Sombra’s palace.” Crimson said.
“We were being transferred to the dungeon. Then Indigo starts kicking and fighting, so we joined in. Storm found the secret passageway out of the place and we hurried through it,” the one who looked like a skinny roasted marshmallow said. Her name was, unsurprisingly, Smore.
Indigo tried to get back up onto her tired legs and failed. One of the Atlanteans brought her a pillow. “I saw the King of Shadows. He wants your Princess Twilight in marriage. Problem is for him, she sees right through his plan to keep Equestria pinned if he gets aggressive. There’s also Luna, my old friend from when we were fillies.” She snorted. “Doubt she remembers me. It’s been sixteen hundred years.” An artillery shot whizzed over the roof, screaming its path. “Anyway, I’ve been here before, and the Crystal Empire is not how I remember it. So I need the story.”
Crimson sighed. “Lieutenant Nightfall, you can do it. I have a job to do.”
“Yes, sir.” Nightfall began telling how the war even started. Meanwhile, Crimson and four others headed down the stairs. Reaching the still-open trapdoor, they quickly hopped down the hole and clopped into the floor. The sound echoed for what seemed like miles.
“Alright, you know what to do. Get through the tunnel, split into pairs and distract them. I go into the throne room alone. Sombra and I have some unfinished business.”
“Yes, sir,” came the quiet chorus of replies.
-------------------
A loud cry of terror and pain sounded through the three-pony-wide hall. Crimson and three others whirled around to see the fourth dangling from a shadow upside down. His eyes had already lulled, his pulse dead. They had only gone about halfway through the tunnel and they were already down one. Their small group huddled together for support and to suppress their fears. Crimson removed the locket and they carried on.
Luckily, that seemed to be the only trap. But as they exited the tunnel into the dungeon, the pony in front was pulled to the side. The three remaining raced out and saw him impaled in a wall of spikes. His blood oozed to the floor, soaking into the dimly lit wood and spreading across the wet planks. Crimson stepped to him carefully and removed the locket.
“What do we do, sir? We just lost Top Hat.”
“We have no choice but to keep going.” Crimson’s mouth formed a grim line.
They crouched low and near the walls. Then came the well-lit stairwell to the next level. Four guards stood watch sleepily, completely oblivious to the battle going on at the surface above them. One of them actually had his eyes closed and his head drooping. Another held a chunk of cheese in her hoof, edging it slowly towards her half-asleep face.
The guards lasted less than ten seconds.
As Crimson poked his head up to peek across the dungeon hall, ears still ringing from the echoing gunshots, an arrow whizzed overhead and clattered against the grey crystal wall. “I think we woke them up,” he whispered. He raised his gun to aim at the single guard this end of a sharp right turn. BAM! A few seconds later, his ears cleared enough for him to proceed.
“Who are you?” a prisoner asked from her cell through the iron bars.
“Colonel Dawn?” she asked weakly. “Please - I need food. As much as the King of Shadows wants me to wed him, he forgets to feed me.”
Crimson turned to look into the cell. Sure enough, a thin purple alicorn - having one’s soul in the Gem doesn’t really feed you - with a star on her flank was staring up at him. She lay in the far end of the cell, pitifully starving. “Princess Twilight Sparkle? I thought you’d be in the throne room with Sombra.”
“No. He sent me down here. I honestly never thought five hours without food could do this to me. I feel like I haven’t eaten in months.”
“You died, like, four months ago.”
“That explains it.”
Crimson nodded. He gestured to the Unicorn in the group. “Bear Trap, take care of the princess. Clockwork and I will head on to the throne room and possibly beat him.”
“Yes, sir."
The Pegasus Clockwork nodded. “I’ll take point, sir.” Then the two ponies were around the corner, moving to the next stairwell as quickly as possible.
“My lord! Intruders in the castle!” a guard cried, running into the throne room.
“Explain.” Sombra glared.
“Those sudden bangs, sir. Guards from the dungeon say they heard gunshots, and some of them have bleeding ears. Others - well, my lord, they haven’t come up to the surface.” He trembled.
“Go and keep them from breaching the upper levels. I shall overlook the battle from the top of the spire, and I will bring young Andromeda with me.” Sombra cast his teleportation spell and vanished from the chamber with Andromeda.
No sooner had he done so did several gunshots rang out down the hall. The terrified guard quickly ran to the great double doors and began pushing hard against them. Four others hurried to help him while the rest in the room stood transfixed to their spots in fear. The massive entrance shut slowly, the doors closing to form a wall of two-foot-thick crystal-infused wood.
Crimson and Clockwork saw the virtual wall that should be the entrance to the throne room. Along their path lay a dozen scattered Crystal Guards, all with bullet holes in their skulls. A thirteenth still oozed blood from against the crystalline corridor. Even more came in trickles, backing the two Pegasi to the doors. They emptied their repeaters, covering the other’s flank.
“Clockwork, part of your training back home was demolitions, right?” Crimson asked.
“Yeah. It was mostly not making bombs out of everyday shit, but I know how. I mean, it’s mandatory, isn’t it?”
“Forgot. You build the bomb, I’ll cover your ass. Get it done quickly.”
“Sir, couldn’t we plant some of your frag grenades on the door and set them off?”
“No. The explosion may be small, but I’d rather not risk a piece of metal slicing my head off.”
“Yes, sir.” Clockwork unslung his saddlebag and poured out its contents: some table sugar, gunpowder, plywood, sparks, ignition plugs, and adhesive. He built a box from the plywood and carefully eyeballed the measurements of sugar and powder. It was an odd explosive he liked to make; it had quite a kick, but was ridiculously easy to make if you did it right. He mixed the two powders into a single pile in the box, making sure to leave just the tiniest bit of air in it before sealing the box shut and configuring the ignitor, placing the entire apparatus up against the doors. He trailed the thin rope to a covering corner and signaled for Crimson to do the same. “Fire in the hole!” he screamed.
His lit latch set the rope ablaze, causing the fire to eat away at it down the trail its fuel set for it. The fire reached the ignition and set it off. A fairly loud BOOM echoed off the sound-reflecting crystal corridor, increasing its magnitude threefold. The great crystal-infused wood doors shook violently, but stayed on their hinges. The bottom of said doors was charred and a shallow dent showed the site of the explosion.
“Damn,” Crimson commented. Then he fluttered his wings. “Oh, shit! I completely neglected our wings! We’ll just fly around them!”
They took flight and flew through a shattered stained-glass window, turning around immediately and going through another that lead into the throne room. Each fired off a shot each as they landed, Crimson facing the throne and Clockwork watching the door. They rolled and skidded a foot when they hit the floor and fired more rounds into the guards.
“I don’t see Sombra, sir.” Clockwork said unnecessarily.
“Where is he?” Crimson growled. “The coward should be here!”
Clockwork looked up. “Sir, I think I know what that lever back in the library did. There’s a message on the ceiling.”
Crimson followed his comrade’s gaze, reading the magical inscription:
For those who run, for those who flee Face every eventuality.
We stand as one, our home long gone Or far across the sea.
With hero’s call and Royal Creed, We charged and fought for each other in the war to last thee.
The end of the line, the top of the mount It means nothing but the finale.
In our absence we create the Gem To house our rulers for eternity.
But in the end, the top is it We hit the peak and win.
“What do you think it means, sir?” the junior Pegasus asked.
“It’s a riddle. A final task puzzle. For those who flee… I don’t get it. Sombra, maybe? Our home long gone… The Dominion used to be here. As for across the sea, our home is Atlantis. The other side of the Celestial Sea. With hero’s call and Royal Creed? All of our armies, perhaps? We charged and fought for each other in the war to last thee. Royal voice uses ‘thee,’ and the war must be this one or one before it. The end of the line, the top of the mount means nothing but the finale. The final battle at the top of the heap. In our absence we create the Gem to house our rulers for eternity - the Dominion! But in the end, the top is it; we hit the peak and win. All this points to the Dominion except the ‘top,’” Crimson mused. A flash of shadow magic flashed before them, shaking the floor and blasting a hole in it. “The peak! The top of the castle! Of course!” Crimson cried, the blast having given him an epiphany.
“I’ll go, sir. I might be able to drive him down here.” Clockwork suggested.
Crimson nodded his consent. The younger Pegasus, his shiny bronze coat glimmering in the mid-afternoon light, took off and zipped to the top of the castle. Going past his target, he was able to get an impressive view of the surrounding battle. Most of Crystal City was ablaze from Atlantean incendiary shot, with the rest either in ruins like the southern side or smoking from the incoming armies. He saw that the American Marines were coming in now, streaming through the tiny gap Colonel Flintstone’s Dazzleflash Rangers had made, followed by Midnight Shadow’s 1st Manehattan. The 4th Manehattan and 7th Los Pegasus, led by Silver Comet and Crystal Snow, respectively, weaved their way around the fiery north end of the city. His own AREA and the Domination Army remnants were bowling balls, with the Crystal Imperials the pins and the streets their lane.
Clockwork held a grenade in one hoof, popping it right at Sombra’s hooves and pulling the pin. The King of Shadows noticed this at the last second and, without contemplating his target, teleported back to the throne room, dragging Andromeda with him. At the same time, he released almost enough shadow magic to literally shred a pony. It slammed into Clockwork and took his wings from him. As he fell to his death, he reflected on his life and knew it was his time.
----------------------
“Sombra, King of Shadows. I have been waiting to to do this for a damn long time,” Crimson announced. “Too long has your tyrannical rule threatened Equestria and the rest of the known world. I’ve seen pretty bad in the Dominion, but you are downright evil.”
“Colonel Crimson Sunsteel Dawn, Second Coastal Regiment, Atlantean Reserve Emergency Army. You have fought valiantly for both your country and Celestia’s. Had you not joined Celestia’s pitiful resistance, this confrontation would never have happened. Needless numbers of ponies have died, and for what purpose? Princess Celestia believes in an Equestria that can never exist in this world, nor any world. Her sister embraces this as well, and she has poisoned the minds of her citizens with a false hope that war, pain, and famine are things found only in fantasy.” Sombra held his calm with an evil grace. His voice never rose as he continued: “My only wish is to open the eyes of Celestia and her little ponies to the real world. In doing so, this wasteful war erupted and here we are.”
“You want to just open her already seeing eyes?” Crimson asked. He held his own as well. “Trust me, they’re open. They’ve been open. She wants to keep her citizens from experiencing the pain. That I can understand. Yes, she has failed in that regard. Yes, she could have done better. But she did what she could to prevent the very thing you have brought to this part of the world.
“Princess Celestia knew that she could never possibly keep war from Equestria forever, yet she tried - and for more than a thousand years, she succeeded! That in itself is accomplishment.”
“Your precious Princess is nothing more than a pony who is no longer able to wield the Elements of Harmony. She allowed them to collect dust for a millennium, and when the time came for them to be used, she was powerless and had to rely on her subjects to protect Equestria for her. Celestia is a coward; that much is clearly seen.”
“Says the Unicorn who hid from a Pegasus wandering through his own halls. Celestia is my cousin by marriage many times removed. You’ll do well to remember that next time you decide to pick a fight with Equestria.” Crimson held his repeater with his right wing. He aimed down the barrel and fired a single round.
Sombra pulled Andromeda between them at the same moment Crimson pulled the trigger. She cried as the bullet pierced her chest and burrowed itself in her sternum. The bone splintered lightly and its pieces caused secondary wounds in her upper chest, with one cutting into one of her bronchial tubes. Sombra dropped her and she collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily and grasping at her throat. Her eyes were open wider than Reagan was long, her cut throat already affecting her.
Crimson let the repeater fall to the floor. That wasn’t supposed to happen. He drew his short sword and his hazel eyes seemed to burn pure rage into Sombra’s soul. The jet-black mane with its single blue stripe atop the Pegasus’s head frizzled slightly; so much energy was radiating off the Atlantean. “One on one. No spells. Just swords.”
Sombra immediately accepted the challenge without a word, not that one was necessary. He pulled a razor-sharp, jagged-edge longsword made of nightsteel out of a night-black shadow and charged.
Crimson raised his sword with his right wing and clashed against Sombra’s blade. The grating of steel on nightsteel screeched with higher pitch than a train’s brakes. Fire burned brightly in both opponent’s eyes. Crimson switched to his left and spun into Sombra’s exposed side. The sword dug into his gut, slicing all the way to the spine before coming back out. Sombra healed himself quickly, which raised the Atlantean’s eyebrows. The Unicorn swung his own blade, its jagged edge slicing Crimson’s back like a whip. The Pegasus ducked as it shaved part of his mane and barely touched the fur on his head.
Crimson dodged a second attack and parried Sombra’s blows. Since the King of Shadows used his magic to wield the weapon, Crimson would only wear himself down. The red Pegasus knew this and dove over his repeater, picking it up with his robotic left wing. Without a second thought, he fired it into Sombra’s horn, shattering it. Sombra dropped the longsword and Crimson fired again, this time hitting the king’s flank. The King of Shadows was not done yet, however. He pulled five small gems of four colors - pink, purple, yellow, and sky blue. He threw them with his hoof into Crimson, blinding his adversary in the right eye, slicing a metal feather, and burying them in his side. Crimson fired the last round in his repeater into Sombra’s face. The bullet penetrated the brain, and Sombra instantly fell dead.
Crimson limped wearily to his choking daughter. She still clung to life, albeit barely, using her alicorn magic to hang on just enough.
“Andromeda, take my hoof.”
She did. “Dad, don’t leave me. You’ll be fine.” She coughed up blood. “Keep Aunt Crystal Shard safe.”
“No,” Crimson replied. He took off his silver locket, the one that had been around his neck since he joined the Atlantean army. He unclasped the lock and placed it into his daughter’s hooves. “I’ve lived my time. Now it’s your turn.” As Andromeda took the locket, tears in her dying eyes, a magical aura enveloped them both. It was a deep crimson color, the same color that was Crimson’s coat. The aura spiraled into Andromeda and her wounds healed enough to cease her choking and blood loss.
“Dad!” She held Crimson’s head in her hooves.
“Your mother enchanted that locket. She placed my life force in it so that I could not die lest it be removed from me. It’s yours now.” He coughed weakly and his eyes looked on to infinity. “I… love… y…” His eyes lulled back and his head went limp. The neck muscles relaxed. Andromeda checked for a pulse and found none. She tilted her head back and wailed loudly into the mid-afternoon battle smoke now reaching the castle.
“No, Dad, no…” She leaned on her father’s dead body and cried, waiting for the armies to finally reach the castle and enter.
--------------------
Crystal Snow and Silver Comet broke into the throne room first. They had led their regiments through the flames faster than the American Marines did the ruins of the eastern city. Silver Comet looked around and saw Sombra lying dead near the center of the chamber. A young late-evening alicorn was over the body of a red Pegasus, his left wing replaced by a torn robotic counterpart. Several deep gashes showed his wounds in gory detail. Five crystals had been pulled out of his wounds, which Crystal Snow immediately recognized. She hurried to pick up the gems, but stopped as she realized who the Pegasus was.
“Colonel!” she cried. Silver Comet also galloped to the filly’s side.
“No, don’t go, don’t go, Father…” the filly whispered.
“Andromeda.” The dusty-ice Earth pony sat next to the alicorn. “He’s gone.”
“Princess Celestia!” Twilight Sparkle rose to meet her former mentor, even in the half-starved state she was in.
“My prize pupil.” Celestia looked around until her gaze rested on Luna. “Sister!”
“Yes, Tia, it is me. I am back from the dead.”
The reunion took place just outside the castle. All around them, smoke billowed from flames still burning brightly in the early evening. They were soon joined by the Americans Admiral Robinson and Commander Amber Hamilton; Atlanteans Special Ops Captain Hummingbird Sweetnectar and Commander Haybale; and the Equestrians Major Midnight Shadow, Colonel Flintstone, Major Crystal Snow, and Lieutenant Silver Comet. Everypony but Crystal Snow and Silver Comet had come from the surrounding city, whereas the two had reached the castle first and therefore walked out of it.
“Where is Queen Atlanta?” Celestia asked the two Atlanteans.
“She’s gone, Princess.” Hummingbird replied after an uncomfortable silence. “Lost during the battle for Dragonspire.” Her head bowed low; her ears drooped. Haybale nodded agreement.
Lieutenant Nightfall, acting commander of the Second Coastal Regiment, walked from the direction of the library, which had somehow miraculously survived the entire battle without so much as a scratch. He was followed by forty-three Atlanteans and fifteen alicorns. Noticing the Unicorn Bear Trap, the sole survivor of Crimson’s five-pony troop, standing alone, he broke into a gallop and slammed into the pony’s side. “Thank Harmony! I feared the worst!”
“Brother, we lost him.”
The rest of the 2nd Coastal caught up. They were just as confused as Nightfall to hear the generic sentence for a few seconds. Then it clicked. “No… Not the Colonel… Not him…” Nightfall stuttered. “He can’t be gone, can he?”
“’Fraid so, sir. His kid had his locket. He was on the ground not breathing. Lieutenant Comet confirmed it.”
“Crystal Shard lost her coltfriend and now her own brother. I don’t know how she’ll react to the news. And the Colonel’s parents… I don’t know. May he rest in peace.” Nightfall said. The other remaining ponies in the regiment bow their heads.
“What do you think Rose’ll do?”
“She’s dead. Has been for seven years.”
“No, actually, she’s coming up behind you.” Bear Trap pointed.
Nightfall turned. “Oh, no. It can’t be! We saw… He saw… What?”
Rose Thorn walked to them in her usual graceful gait. Her eyes continually scanned the group for Crimson until she saw Andromeda come down the stairs to the forty-odd ponies in uniform. Noticing Hummingbird, she saluted and asked one simple yet horribly complicated question: “Where’s Crimson?”
Hummingbird looked to Haybale, who turned to Nightfall, to Bear Trap, and the line continued on throughout the regiment. That was all the field nurse needed. “He’s gone, isn’t he?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Celestia watched the proceedings curiously. She stole a glance at her student, whose face told it all. The mood quickly spread to Midnight, Flintstone, Robinson, and Amber. They all lowered their heads for the lost stallion. The proper services would be done in due time; for now, they had to clean up.
-----------------
Three months later. Marelington National Cemetery, 1 mile east of the Atlantean capital city Nautinia.
More three thousand ponies came to the cemetery for the occasion. The crowd consisted of the entire Summercrest population, the remnants of the 2nd Coastal, Special Operations, and three delegations: Equestrian, Dominion, and American. Celestia, Cadence, Midnight Shadow, Crystal Snow, and Silver Comet represented Equestria; Robinson and Amber for the Americans; and King Flawless Ice’s young ten-year old son stood for the Dominion. As for the Atlanteans, Crimson’s family and the infamous Sarge were there.
Out at sea sailed the American fleet surrounded by Atlantean ships of the line, all poised to fire their salutes. The battleship Pennsylvania had been repaired enough to make the trip, and the sunken frigate Klakring was hoisted out of Manehattan harbor and made seaworthy in record time. The carrier Reagan had no guns to shoot, so they borrowed some from Atlantis again. Also with the American vessels the WWII heavy cruiser Indianapolis, finally rebuilt after almost twenty years of hard work and refurbishing in the Summercrest Shipyards, floated in the low waves, her fuel bunkers full and her lost crew replaced by some from Pennsylvania. A Dominion fleet anchored offshore as well, being the transport for their lost king’s son. In its own section, Equestria’s ironclad vessels Stardust, Strawberry Sunrise, and Dazzleflash, along with the wooden Marine transports, drifted nearby.
The tattered flag of the 2nd Coastal Regiment flew at half-staff. Beside it, on other flagpoles, the Atlantean, Equestrian, Dominion, and American flags did the same.
The body of Crimson Dawn, with an anti-deterioration spell cast on it, was carried to the six-foot-deep rectangular hole farther east in a simple coffin. The upper half of his body, face-up, was still visible to the open air and his family. His younger sister, Crystal Shard, disregarded her crippling spinal injury and struggled to stand out of her wheelchair, supported by their mother. She shakily saluted her brother with a half-responsive right leg as he was carried by.
Atlanta’s body, also with an anti-deterioration spell, was carried in the same somber fashion as Crimson. Her ocean-blue coat still glowed radiantly like the cloudless sky. The glorious golden crown that once sat atop her head, now lain across her chest, reflected the light from Celestia’s Sun softly, dust from the queen’s final battle left untouched. The eyes of both were shut.
Robinson snapped a sharp salute to both as they passed by him. Amber did likewise. Behind them, an ensign in full dress uniform played ‘Taps’ as the two were lain down in the burial sites.
A single American had been given permission to record the day on camera by the ponies and his fellow crewmen for remembrance. He used not his cell phone but a news camera found in Reagan’s hold for some odd reason. He never actually let the focus see the two out of respect, since he was to record the moment and not anything else. But he trained the camera out to sea to watch the combined navies. As everyone and everypony turned as well, the American ships each shot twenty-one blank rounds from Atlantean cannon (so the shots could be confirmed). This action was followed by the Atlantean ships, then Equestria, and finally the Dominion.
Rose Thorn tried her best throughout the entire ceremony to keep tears from her eyes. Her daughter Andromeda wanted to comfort her, but didn’t really know how, nor could she, as she struggled with the same issue. Afterwards, however, both completely broke down. Crystal Shard sat back in her wheelchair and joined them, mourning the loss.
“Rose, you need to speak. You’re his family.” Crimson’s sister said.
The pink alicorn nodded jerkily. The she stood. “Like many of you gathered here today, I did not know Crimson as well as I should have. Being presumed dead myself for the last seven years, I’d thought he moved on. But he stayed. Crimson stuck adamantly to his oath, and not just to me, but his to country, to his people, and to his family. I owe him that.
“Some of us knew Crimson as fillies, or played with our late queen when she was one of us. I personally did not, but they both had a personality that attracted us. They lead by example. Neither would send others into a situation that they themselves would not go into.” She swallowed. “May both rest in peace.” Rose Thorn walked back to Crystal Shard, Andromeda, and the rest of the family. Then Crystal Snow walked to them.
“Nurse Lieutenant Thorn? I just wanted to say that, in the time I knew Crimson, he was fairly kind. He treated me better than he should have when I was a P.O.W. after forgetting the flag of truce. Then after I defected, for my sister’s sake, he kept me with my rank. And if that hadn’t happened, I don’t know where I’d be. Not knowing my cousin’s family, of course, but other things I can’t quite pin.” she said.
“Major Snow.” Rose Thorn gestured to the others. “Crimson told me. Welcome to the family.” They all looked out to sea, where the smoke from the many salutes still drifted lazily downwind. “Both Atlanta and Crimson’ll be there for us, in here.” The alicorn patted her chest over her heart. “And they’ll live on for eternity.”