The sound of tank engines echoed through the trees, the rumble was enough to scare off roosting birds and shake the morning dew from the pine needles. The sky was red as the sun crested the mountainous horizon, wispy clouds extended in numerous directions and bore silent witness to the grey stream of armor that was winding its way through the deserted roadways. At the head of the column was the familiar ‘Red Maiden’, named so for the scantily clad woman painted on the front, her only covering being a Mosin sniper rifle and some crimson ribbons.

Dominic adjusted his helmet as they rolled further into EOL territory, the time had come for the fight to be taken to the enemy once and for all. As the trees thinned out, Dominic found himself looking at more and more abandoned houses from his seat in the turret. Some of them had been ransacked, some had been burned to cinders, and some had barricades over the doors and windows. A couple of the roofs had stones and other objects spelling out ‘SOS’ to helicopters that would never come.

The green forest land was rapidly being replaced with red dirt and clay, and Dominic found himself reading faded road signs indicating they were driving near the Garden of the Gods. He had visited the area once when he was younger, on a class field trip, even at his young age he had been awed by the sheer natural beauty. To some extent it was still present, even when markers of desolation literally passed by him on both sides. Red rocks reminded him of New Liberty, and as his tank rolled past an abandoned public pool he found himself longing for the days simpler things. That was, of course, until a bullet pinged off the turret and forced him to duck down.

“Sniper! All tanks, halt!” He called out over the radio, the column came to a stop as Dominic caught his breath quietly. The column couldn’t make a move until the sniper was dealt with, as he fully intended to march troops through this area. A sniper would make that a far more difficult task. “Major Valova, see if you can take out that sniper. You read me?”

”Loud and clear, sir.” Maria’s voice replied over the radio, she was riding on the third tank in the column. ”I didn’t get a chance to see a muzzle flash, I’m scanning over the buildings now.” The woman quietly looked through her scope at the buildings with a clear line of sight towards the tank, they were adobe like structures painted to match the surrounding red rockfaces. However, near the pool, there was an old looking RV. The front windshield was missing and the inside of it was rather dark.

Maria quietly adjusted the scope of her sniper rifle, using the turret of the tank she was riding on as cover for most of her body. Her breaths were slow and measured as she continued focussing on the RV, she could hear her heart beating in her chest over the sound of rumbling engines. There was a sudden muzzle flash as a bullet pinged off the turret, Maria squeezed the trigger and fired a round back. She quickly took cover as more bullets plinked off the turret, breathing heavily as she felt her heart racing.

“Load high explosive! Bring the gun around to two-five-zero, depression four degrees.” Dominic ordered to Sergeant Avos as he watched the exchange between the RV and the third tank. As it stood, he was closest to the target, Avos nodded as she slipped a round into the tank’s main gun. The tank’s turret whined as it spun around to take aim at the RV, the sniper must’ve noticed this as Dominic spotted the door on the side burst open. To his surprise though he didn’t see an EOL soldier run out. “Hold fire! Hold fire!”

There was a woman and two children fleeing the RV towards a house in the distance, Dominic spotted a man in the doorway of the RV staring at the tank with a nervous expression. He held an old hunting rifle in his hands, though he quickly tossed it to the ground and raised his hands over his head. Dominic stood up in the turret and adjusted his helmet, looking towards the man with an unsure expression of his own. The man was older, most likely forty or so, and he had a scraggly beard. His clothes were baggy and dirty, indicating to Dominic he probably hadn’t eaten properly in some time.

The young man quietly shook his head and looked down into the turret, he just shook his head at Avos and the griffon returned the turret to its normal position with the same quiet whine. Dominic quietly sighed as he sat back down in the tank.

“Drive on.” He ordered, Gear Grinder nodded and the tank began moving down the road again. The column started up again as well and began rolling behind the lead tank, as they did so a couple more people emerged from houses in the surrounding area and approached the older man. They watched quietly as the tanks rolled by, unsure of what was happening. As it continued to roll, one of the tanks in the column happened to have the American flag flying from a small pole on the back. The survivors started walking towards the column, Dominic hated that he couldn’t stop to help them himself. “The last two tanks in the column stop here until proper evacuation can take place.”

He received a pair of rogers over the radio as his tank kept driving through the small town, passing by several more buildings before he spotted a gas station off on the side of the road. Cars were crammed into it, many of them were burned out hulks, as the gas station was little more than a charred skeleton. The smell of burnt plastic and gasoline still hung in the air, even though the fire had been so long ago. Beyond the gas station Dominic spotted an onramp to a highway, I-25, it would be a straight shot on that to Denver.

The man sat down in his tank and sighed quietly, then smirked faintly to himself. They were on the road to victory, he’d laid out the plans already, things were starting to look up. He left the hatch open, allowing him to feel a cool breeze as the tank started rolling up the onramp. The man looked down into the tank and spotted Scribs, the someone quiet reporter that never seemed to stop looking up from his notebook.

“Hey! Scribs!” He said loudly, the reporter looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “How’s your report coming along? I saw you shipped at least ten notebooks back last night.” The stallion lowered his notepad and rubbed the back of his neck as he thought quietly.

“Well, as far as facts are concerned, pretty good. As far as reader reception… I’m not so sure.” Scribs replied as he looked out his own vision hatch. “I’m getting more pressure from Canterlot to find something that paints you as a diabolical war monger.”

“Joy.” Dominic said flatly as he continued leaning back against the turret wall, he paused for a moment and reached into his uniform pocket to withdraw a piece of paper. It was a sealed letter from General Bulwark in New Liberty, he hadn’t opened it since it wasn’t marked urgent, but now that he was in for a long ride he figured it was as good a time as any. “Let’s see… What’s going on in Equestria today?” The man opened the seal and read over it, his eyes widened about half way down. “Hey, we’re ahead of schedule with the T-34s! We’re going to be the first combat unit to get an upgrade.”

“Fucking finally!” Gear grinder announced from the driver’s seat. “I was starting to get tired of this tin can.”

“It also means we’re getting two new crew members.” Dominic reminded him as he continued reading over the letter. “Machine gunner and a loader, hasn’t told me who they are yet.” Dominic’s eyes scanned further down the page, it was generally a normal situation report and nothing really seemed out of place. That was until he got to the bottom line. “Son of a bitch.”

“What?” Avos asked, she looked at her commander with a raised eyebrow as Dominic gained an annoyed grin, it was one of his ways of hiding anger. The man took a couple seconds to respond as he slipped the paper back into his jacket, then he looked at Avos with that same annoyed smirk.

“Princess Celestia is coming through the portal to meet with me… Tomorrow.” Dominic said with a bit of an incredulous tone. “That’s on me for not reading the letter sooner, but fuck… Talk about entitlement. Didn’t even check if it was okay, just going to waltz through the portal like a jackass.” Gear Grinder sighed quietly in the front seat as Scribs began writing more down in his notebook.

“You gotta learn to let that shit go, sir. She can’t help her sister got the brains and the looks.” Gear said over the intercom, Dominic shrugged silently as he kept looking over the paper, there weren’t anymore bombshells hiding in it, but he knew that dealing with Celestia while trying to win a war was going to be a pain.

“Whatever, it’s not like I’m going to send her a car.” Dominic replied cheekily as he leaned back in his seat, that smirk still plastered across his face. “She wants to talk so damn much she can fly her ass here herself.” That got a couple grunts of approval from the crew, and Scribs. “Let’s keep on our toes, now… Never know what they have waiting out here for us.”

[♠]

Lord Oxford of the high elf special guard qiuetly stood vigil atop a ruined car, his trenchcoat flapping in the wind as he looked down the highway for any sign of the enemy. Behind him was the might of his special guard, eighty of his best trained elves supported by two bulldozer tanks. They had forced their thralls to arrange ruined cars in an interspaced pattern on the highway, it would force the enemy tanks to move slower in order to navigate them. Meanwhile he had set up a defensive line behind a couple more ruined cars, each of them weighted down by sandbags.

It would finally prove the supremacy of elves over humans, and then perhaps even Empress Night Raven would convert herself. Oxford smiled faintly as he continued scanning the road ahead, the red rocks of the landscape were fitting considering the blood that would soon be spilled. As he continued scanning the hills he paused, four horsemen were watching from a ridge above. They wore black masks as they looked down on the elven lines, Oxford lowered his binoculars and blinked. They were there, and seconds later they took off on their horses, galloping in a random direction, letting out loud war cries that indicated they were soldiers of the Native Confederacy. He didn’t bother having his soldiers fire at them, they would only be wasting ammunition at such a range.

Lord Oxford returned his attention to the coming battle, further down the road he could see the occasional puff of black smoke, he could hear the echo of squeaking steel tracks as they rumbled down the highway. He turned and whistled loudly, getting the attention of his soldiers who were ready with their rifles, molotovs, and swords.

“My fellow elves, the enemy approaches! Today we will win for the Empire and our race, we will drive these mundanes back to their holes!” He announced as he drew his sword from its scabbard and held it above his head, the soldiers cheered loudly and raised their own weapons in triumph. “Now take your positions, my blade hungers for blood!” The soldiers nodded and rushed to their positions in the defensive line, the area grew silent as they waited for the enemy to come into view. The bulldozer tanks revved their engines as their gun crews readied their crude cannons and mounted machineguns.

Oxford gulped quietly as the noise grew louder and louder, and then he spotted the first one. A tank with a scantily clad, objectified woman on the front. He felt a fire stir up in his belly at the sight, the mundanes had no respect for women. The elf could see the commander of the first tank in the turret, watching the area ahead quietly as he adjusted his helmet. The tank suddenly came to a stop and the man disappeared into the turret, the turret rotated for a couple seconds before the gun lowered. Oxford watched the angle, then looked behind him, they had spotted the bulldozer tanks.

“GET DOW-” He started shouting to the crew, the enemy tank fired before he could speak. The bulldozer erupted in flames as the crew scrambled to get away. “Attack! Attack! Attack!” Oxford ordered before standing up and taking aim with his rifle at the tank, his soldiers began firing at the tank with predictable results. The tank rotated its turret again and fired, this time eliminating the second bulldozer tank in a similar gout of flame.

The tank began rolling forwards, crushing the car that had been meant to slow its advance, allowing a second tank to come into view. This one was armed to the gills, the numbers ‘666’ painted on the turret. The tank’s machine guns began to roar, taking out at least five of Oxfords troops.

“Molotovs ready!” Oxford shouted over the noise to three of the soldiers beside him, the elves nodded dutifully and readied their molotovs. The cloth burned menacingly as Oxford took a moment to wait, the machine guns died down in order to reload. “Now!” The elves stood up and tossed their molotovs at the enemy tanks, the first molotov struck the ground in front of the first tank, as did the second. The third managed to get near the tank’s track, but it quickly rolled forwards and the flames burned themselves out. “First wave! Swords ready! They can’t take us all down!”

Oxford drew his sword as he watched the third and fourth tank in the column bust down the concrete divider that had one kept cars from crashing into oncoming traffic, Oxford had anticipated this as his defensive line extended across the entire highway, however there was a lot more open ground on that side. The elf commander had no other recourse but to go ahead with his plan and hope he somehow managed to take out or take control of one of the enemy tanks.

“Charge!” He ordered as he stood up, twenty other soldiers stood with him, swords ready as they started running headlong into the teeth of the American war machine. The machineguns started up again, bullets kicking up concrete and asphalt as they tore up the ground around the charging elves. Ten of them fell in the first fifteen feet, Oxford didn’t have time to think about them though, as he leveled his sword towards the first tank. As he got closer the tank fired, he could feel the gust of wind from the shell as it sored over his head and hit the defensive line.

The elf reached the tank alive somehow and clambered up the hull towards the turret, as he got to the top the turret hatch popped open and the commander emerged. Oxford groaned as he was hit in the face by a punch, he then heard the sound of a sword being drawn. He looked at the commander and spotted him holding a blade of his own, he was a tall muscular fellow with brilliant green eyes. As the battle raged Oxford jumped down onto the ground, the commander followed him, sword still at the ready.

“You’re a brave one… I’ll give you that. Toss down that sword, I don’t want to kill you.” The commander said as he held his sword in a ready position, Oxford shook his head and took a swing. The commander parried the blow and shoved Oxford back with a grunt, Oxford was surprised at his opponents skill. The two of them went at one another again, their blades clashing loudly as bullets whizzed past from both sides. Sparks flew as one particularly hard strike caught Oxfords sword. “Skilled too, that’s a nice change.”

“Champion fencer.” Oxford replied at the compliment before taking another swing at the commander, every move he made was parried or blocked with ease, as if his opponent could read his tiniest of movements. The commander suddenly growled and went on the offensive, Oxford felt himself tiring as the man forced him to use every ounce of skill he had. He’d never had a bout last so long, an unrelenting force had met an immovable object. The strikes grew harsher and harsher, until finally something gave way. Oxford flinched as his blade shattered, it hadn’t been forged properly, the brittle steel flying away in shards.

He looked down at the hilt of his blade for a moment before tossing it to the ground, his opponents sword was placed at his neck as the bullets continued to blow past them. Oxford looked at the commander with a bit of surprise, the bright green eyes stared back at him with a serious expression.

“Yield.” The enemy ordered, Oxford knew that he had been beaten, but he still had his duty to the Empress.

“I am a warrior of my nation, I cannot.” Oxford said softly, the enemy commander stared at him for a couple seconds, Oxford closed his eyes as the sword was drawn back. To his surprise he found himself hit hard in the face again, he saw stars and fell to the ground unconscious.

Dominic looked at his foe quietly and dragged him behind the tank where a couple infantrymen were taking cover, he wordlessly left the enemy with them before climbing back up into his tank. By now his forces were outflanking the enemy defenders, and unknown to Dominic, a good portion of them had seen their commander defeated. Demoralized, outgunned, and outnumbered they began to withdraw. Unlike before, they were quiet measured in their retreat, firing all the while as the moved to their escape vehicles. They had been encircled before they could reach them however. Despite the odds the enemy continued fighting.

“Roll forwards!” Dominic ordered as he settled back into his tank commanding roll, his sword now resting on his belt where it belonged. “They won’t surrender.” The tank continued rolling forwards as the enemy gradually was chipped away at, their bullets pinging harmlessly off the tank’s armor. Their charge had failed the first time, and now Dominic could see all of them preparing for a final one. “Load grapeshot!”

“Loading grapeshot!” Avos replied as she slipped a new shell into the tank’s gun, she locked down the breach and looked through the gunsight. “Gun ready!” There was a loud yell as the elves began running towards the tanks, swords raised and screaming.

“Fire!” Dominic shouted, the gun boomed and sprayed its deadly payload on the nearest enemies, the rest of the tanks followed suit, and the charge ended as one would expect. The guns went quiet as the pained groans of wounded enemy soldiers began to echo over the field, Dominic sighed quietly and opened the hatch of his tank. He saw a squad of infantry approaching the eleven defenses, the man sighed quietly and sunk back down into the turret. A couple minutes later he started hearing gunshots, singular ones, coupled with a couple yells.

The wounded that couldn’t move on their own would take too much time to treat and move off the battlefield, it was a decision Dominic regretted having to make, but for the sake of winning the war he made it. When the shots died down Dominic pushed the hatch open again, he watched the squad of infantry marching ten wounded elves past the tank. With that out of the way he adjusted his headset and cleared his throat.

“We’ll continue taking up both sides on the highway until we get to something that could really divide our forces.” Dominic ordered as his tank started rolling forwards over the battlements and past the burning bulldozer tanks. “Everyone get a list of what ammunition you need ready. Let’s keep moving.” There was a chorus of affirmatives from the other tanks and they began driving along once again, rolling over or around abandoned cars when they could. They stopped only to bust open a bus that was being used to hold EOL slaves, but even then they didn’t stick around for long. They had a war to win.

[♠]

Luna quietly looked around her as she walked through the darkened, dingy cave, green bioluminescent mushrooms were her only source of illumination as her ears swiveled cautiously. Ahead of her was a large stone throne, the sound of dripping water echoed above. The princess’ breaths were slow, her fur on end, until finally she heard something. A soft buzz of magic, her eyes glowed as she summoned her own spell and a staff of energy appeared. There was a flash of light as a green staff crashed into her indigo one, she grunted and the two staffs began to clash and deflect off of one another.

Her wings opened and she pushed herself away with a gust of air, staff floating out in front of her. Another sound caught her ear and she brought the staff around to her side as a second green staff appeared. Luna gritted her teeth as the ethereal staffs of magic clashed, using all of her skill and strength to keep from being struck. After several hard clashes the second green staff evaporated, Luna grunted and put all of her force into a strike on the remaining staff, as did her opponent. There was a massive flash of light as both staffs disappeared. Silence reigned for a couple seconds before Luna started chuckling.

“Another draw.” She said as she watched the shadows, from within two changelings emerged. Chrysalis and Mizu. Chrysalis had a smirk of her own, whilst Mizu had a small frown. “Mizu, don’t frown, your skills are improving. Give the endurance time.”

“I’ve been telling her that. There are few that could last so long against an alicorn.” Chrysalis said as she approached Luna, the two of them shared an almost sisterly hug. “What brings you here, Luna? Not that I’m saying I don’t want you here, but it’s a bit ahead of schedule. Our tea date isn’t for another week.”

“My sister is coming to New Liberty, from there she is going through the portal to speak with the President.” Luna said, she looked around the room quietly as the group began walking towards the large stone throne. “I will be accompanying her, if only to keep Dominic from saying something rash. However, there is a slight… Problem.”

“You mean other than the two of them meeting in a warzone?” Mizu asked sarcastically, Chrysalis gave her a slight bop on the back of the head.

“My sister has dispatched her ever so wonderful interlopers, they will attempt to steal military secrets.” Luna explained, Chrysalis raised an eyebrow at her as she sat quietly down on her throne. “I’ve alerted the American military to it, but should news of the espionage team be made public…”

“Our world will have its first actual war in centuries.” Chrysalis said quietly, Luna nodded. “What can I do to help?” The lunar princess quietly looked around the room for a moment debating on what to ask, then she steeled her nerves.

“At the moment… Nothing.” Luna said quietly, Chrysalis and Mizu raised an eyebrow at her again. “I came here to warn you because if things take a turn for the worse, there’s a good chance a large number of American’s are going to be running for your borders. Not just civilians, soldiers too.”

“You have the kingdom’s support.” Chrysalis said with a nod, she sighed lightly as she contemplated her own position on Equestrian-American relations. “Negotiations with Equestria have been bogged down anyway, I doubt their ambassadors care to hear my grievances anymore. Or that anything will be done about them if they did.” Luna watched her friend look over at her daughter, Chrysalis patted the young heir in training on the head. “You wished to see how we do business with the American, Mizu? Princess Luna is a perfect example of an American, she has no time for, as they are fond of saying, bullshit.”

“She’s right you know…” Luna replied with a slight chuckle, she smiled warmly at Chrysalis. The stress of the entire situation was not lost on her, but she figured that getting worried over it wouldn’t help stop it. She had another idea for that. “Care to push that tea date up?” The queen raised an eyebrow at her, a small smile crossing over her lips.

“That depends, did you bring the ‘tea’?” Chrysalis asked, Luna’s horn glowed once again. There was a flash of light and seconds later there was a bottle of red wine floating in Luna’s magic. Mizu blinked at it quietly, unsure of what was going on, Chrysalis licked her lips however. “It’s nice to have friends that bring me wine.”

“It’s nice to have friends to share it with.” Luna replied with an equally happy smile. “What about Mizu?” She gestured to the young heir, Chrysalis paused for a moment, then looked down at her daughter.

“I think she can stand one glass.”

[♠]

Rainbow Dash sat at attention in Spitfire’s office, her eyes locked forwards at the window as her commanding officer paced back and forth in front of her. The prismatic pegasus had been summoned for disciplinary action, her offense? Refusing to accept orders that would make her fly a mission into America with the intentions of stealing military secrets. She was ready to face any punishment, even if it meant losing her chances at joining the wonderbolts, she wouldn’t betray the ponies she had fought and killed for.

“Insubordination… Disrespecting a senior officer of the Princesses’ staff… Conduct unbecoming of a wonderbolt recruit…” Spitfire read aloud as she looked over the list of charges filed against her admittedly most talented pupil, Rainbow Dash continued staring ahead of her. Spitfire quietly paused to brush a bit of her mane out of her eyes, part of her protest against the Americans. She could tell by Rainbow Dash’s mane and the charges against her where she stood on the issue, Rainbow Dash’s mane was nearly non-existent in its shortness. “What do you have to say for yourself, Recruit Dash?”

“I will not betray my brothers in arms, ma’am.” Rainbow Dash said firmly, Spitfire set her clipboard down on her desk and approached the student with a slight scowl.

“We are your brothers in arms, don’t you remember that?” She said just as firmly, Rainbow Dash remained silent. “What I want to know is why you insist on supporting a nation that hates our own, we’ll get back to the possibility of court martial in a moment.”

“Permission to speak freely, ma’am?” Rainbow Dash asked, Spitfire nodded. “You have no fucking idea what you’re talking about.” The mare turned and looked at Spitfire with a cold expression, one that caused the wonderbolt commander to take a step back. “I haven’t killed for you, you haven’t killed for me. My true brothers in arms are in America, ma’am. Court martial me if you must, I will not compromise my loyalty to them.”

“You’d toss your whole future away for them?” Spitfire retorted, doing her best to get into Rainbow Dash’s face.

“I was prepared to die for them, ma’am!” The pegasus shouted back, Spitfire backed off again as she saw a rather fear inducing fire in Rainbow Dash’s eyes. The mare returned to her attention stance, waiting for Spitfire to say something to her, anything. She had often wondered why she was so loyal to an entirely different country, but she had come to realize that it wasn’t the country she was fond of, it was the people there. She had friends in Equestria, but she had brothers and sisters in America.

“I’ll have someone clear out your locker.” Spitfire said quietly as she returned to her desk, Rainbow Dash remained silent. “You aren’t being court martialed.” The commander sighed and looked down at her paperwork. “I tell all of my students stay true to themselves, you’re doing that, I respect it… But I can’t continue to teach you here anymore. Your expelled. Dismissed.” Rainbow Dash saluted quietly before standing up and turning to walk outside, as she opened the door she was greeted by two royal guards.

“Miss Dash.” One of them said. “You need to come with us.” Rainbow Dash looked over her shoulder at Spitfire, the mare was quietly looking down at her desk. Rainbow looked back at the two guards and quietly began walking out with them. “We’re relocating you for the next two weeks, it would be best if you complied…” Rainbow Dash understood why instantly, she knew about the mission, they thought she would fly off to warn the Americans. They weren’t wrong.

A plan began to form in her head as she continued walking with the guards towards the door, her eyes briefly scanning over them. They weren’t armed, they wore old gold armor, so they were encumbered by weight. She had no doubt, however, there was something waiting for her as soon as they got outside. Her time was rapidly beginning to run short, as she passed by a display case of trophies she paused. The guards stopped and looked at her with scowls as she quietly leaned forwards and pretended to squint at one of the trophies.

“Hey, what’s that say? I can’t read it…” She said quietly, one of the guards out of force of habit leaned closer to read what she was reading. That was when she made her move, with a grunt she grabbed hold of the back of his head and slammed it into the glass, shattering it and causing him to yell in pain. The other guard turned and tried to punch her, but Rainbow Dash quickly ducked low. She had speed and agility on him, and she used it to her advantage, delivering a series of quick jabs to his chest and neck. The guard fell over unconscious as she unintentionally hit a pressure point. Rainbow Dash had a brief second to look over what she had done, and in that second, channeled her hero Daring Doo. “Pretty sure it said gullible.”

With that witty one liner out of the way she opened her wings while the guard with glass in his face started to get up, then she heard Spitfire’s office door open. She didn’t wait to hear any command to halt, her wings gave a mighty flap and she was hurtling towards the doors of the wondercolt academy administration building. The sudden boost created a shockwave in its wake, shattering more glass as she burst out the front door and started flying full throttle towards the edge of the school grounds that lead to a steep cliff face. Altitude was not her friend here, the wonderbolts were good flyers at altitude, but they were very poor at dodging obstacles like trees and buildings. She had no doubt her former teachers would soon join the pursuit.

Sure enough there was a squad of guards waiting for her, they gave chase as soon as they shook off their shock. Rainbow Dash dodged students and instructors as she zoomed through the training area, two of the guards ended up slamming into training equipment while the remaining three managed to keep pace. Rainbow Dash kept up the speed as she got closer and closer to the edge of the cliff, already she could see Soarin and another instructor starting to give chase in her peripherals.

Rainbow closed her eyes for a brief seconds, thinking of all the people that were relying on her, for all she knew she could be the difference between peace and an all out war. Her eyes opened, her pupils focussed, she could practically feel the air around her. Suddenly the green grass vanished and she nosed forwards, hugging the rock face of the cliff, her wings barely open save only to offer minute course adjustments. She could feel her heart beating in her chest, the wind was blowing her short mane like mad.

At the last second she opened her wings, she groaned in exertion at the sudden drag on her wings as she pulled out of the dive, inches from the ground. She chanced a brief look over her shoulder, the royal guards were all but specks in the sky, but three streaks of blue told her she was being pursued by the true threat. Rainbow Dash spotted a road ahead, she banked onto it and flew just a few feet off the ground. There were trees on either side of her, she was threading a needle. Overhead she heard two pairs of wings, while a third was daring enough to follow her into the tunnel of trees.

Ahead of her she saw a pony pulling a carriage along, her eyes narrowed as she realized she’d have to either fly over him or to the left. In a split second she folded her wings to her sides and buzzed over his head with only forward speed, she immediately opened her wings and began flapping again. Her pursuer slowed as they didn’t have the guts to imitate her stunt and had to slow down to go around the carriage.

The adrenaline was coursing through her veins, acting as an afterburner as she continued building speed. She could feel the air getting harder and harder to push against, nonetheless she pushed onwards. As the trees started to thin out she broke off the road and turned south, towards her ultimate destination. She gradually began to gain altitude, she was sensing the familiar barrier that she had broken twice before. The three pursuers were gaining on her, she looked over her shoulder at them to see who they were. Soarin, Fleetfoot, and Blaze. They were good high speed flyers, she’d have to be better if she wanted to beat them.

Rainbow Dash angled herself upwards a little, she was going to use her trajectory to her advantage. A familiar glowing cone began to form in front of her, her wings continued flapping with all their might as her pursuers got even closer. She could feel the burn in her wings, even though the adrenaline, normally she had to practice before even attempting what she was about to do. The mare gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes against the fierce winds, she could feel the three of them getting closer and closer.

The mare closed her eyes again, summoning all of her faith and courage, repeating to herself over and over again that she could do it. Her heart pounded even harder, time felt like it was slowing down, and then with one mighty flap of her wings it happened. There was a tremendous boom as she was catapulted forwards at ludicrous speed, folding her wings against her as she flew threw the air at her angled trajectory. Like an artillery shell she soared through the air, leaving a massive shockwave of sound and energy in her wake.

She managed to open her eyes as she continued coasting on her speed, watching the ground flying past her at insane velocity. As she arched higher and higher she caught sight of Canterlot, even at that speed she could make out dots of ponies in the sky and on the ground before she passed into the clouds. The higher she went the more airspeed she bled off, until finally she was forced to open her aching wings once more. At that speed she glided for tens of miles before starting to lose altitude, eventually catching glimpses of the ground below her.

Rainbow Dash took a couple seconds to collect her thoughts as she soared through the air, in the last hour she had been expelled from her dream school and most likely been put on some sort of watch list after beating two guards and evading several more. Part of her wondered if it was really worth it, but the other part of her knew it was too late to go back. Rainbow shook her head quietly as she looked down at Ponyville passing below her while she continued flying at her lofty altitude. A gleam of gold on the outskirts told her the guards were already at her house, she frowned slightly.

“Sorry Tank… I know they’ll find someone to take care of you…” She mumbled as a couple tears rolled down her face, the mare wiped her eyes quickly and turned her gaze southward. Thoughts of her pet Tank ran through her mind, he was the only one she told her deepest secrets too, and it hurt to leave him behind. However as the wind picked up and aided in her glide she knew what she had to do, her first actions had been spur of the moment, based on what her heart told her to do. Now she had to follow up those actions appropriately, her eyes narrowed as her resolve stiffened.

The sun continued to move overhead as she flew further and further south at her high altitude, no guard could reach her at that height in armor. It was for that reason she was surprised as she looked over her shoulder and spotted four white specks rising from below her, she looked down and realized there was a guard outpost below her as she flew even further south. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes once more, she was running on fumes as it was, but she had to dig even deeper. The guards were unarmored and fresh with endurance, she had to outlast them though, somehow.

Rainbow began flapping again as the guards closed in on her, then dropped down into the clouds, leaving a small furrow for them to follow. They remained above the clouds watching the furrow continue along, and then suddenly it stopped. The guards dove down through the clouds, expecting to find Rainbow Dash flying below them. To their surprise she was nowhere to be seen, they looked below them at the now rather arid ground, but none could spot the bright mane and coat.

The guards flew back towards where they had emerged, expecting to find the mare hiding there, but to their surprise she wasn’t there either. The guards flew in a wide loop, unaware that their target was far above them. Rainbow Dash did her best to breathe deeply, the oxygen was very thin at that altitude. She was using the sun against her back as camouflage, the guards below never suspected a thing.

She knew that she’d need to make her move soon before she succumb to the lack of oxygen, with a quiet grunt of determination Rainbow Dash nosed over into another dive. The circling guards didn’t catch sight of her until she had flown right through them, they immediately gave chase. Rainbow found herself flying close to the deck once more, arid shrubs and the occasional cactus replacing the green grass she was so familiar with. She was getting closer and closer to her destination, she had been flying for hours on end, and the sun was starting to set.

Rainbow gritted her teeth as she looked over her shoulder, the guards were closing on her in a V formation. If Rainbow had been at her normal condition she could’ve outrun them no problem, but she was running on fumes. Despite that she did her best to dodge them as best she could, her lung heaving as she left a cloud of dust in her wake. Ahead of her she could see apple trees, it wouldn’t be long before she came upon the American border. Of course, however, that meant there were more guards waiting for her.

The guards on her tail backed off, it was clear to her they were only the hounds to drive her towards the hunters. The real fight was up ahead of her, Rainbow Dash did her best to become ready for anything that could be thrown her way. The apple trees grew even closer, and with them came the guards patrolling them. She could see Appleloosa off to her left as she flew over the desert landscape, in the sky she could specks of gold as the Equestrian guards prepared their trap.

The mare poured on what little speed she could muster, fighting back tears of pain as her wings ached under the strain. Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth in preparation for more pain to come, the apple trees were now starting to pass under her. The Equestrian guards began firing at her with blue bolts of magic, stun bolts if what she remembered of her weapons training was accurate. The mare dodged them as best she could, banking and weaving as she got closer and closer to a wall of armored individuals waiting to catch her. She had to take a gamble, that they were expecting her to stop before she crashed into them. They didn’t know Rainbow Dash if that was the case.

Rainbow Dash grit her teeth so hard she feared she’d break a tooth as she dug as deep as she could, gaining as much speed as possible. The line of hovering guards was getting closer and closer, bolts flew faster and faster past her. At the last second she was able to see the eyes of the guard directly in in front of her, they went wide as he realized she wasn’t going to stop. Pain greeted Rainbow Dash as her shoulder met the metal armor, barreling through the line of guards like a freight train. She lost control of her flight, tumbling through the air like a ricocheted slug until she slammed into the sand. She rolled several yards before coming to a stop, laying on the ground and groaning in pain as she looked up weakly.

She smiled faintly as she spotted her tail laying inches beyond an American border post, already American forces were moving to shoo the Equestrian forces away while a squad approached Rainbow with their weapons ready. She raised her hooves quietly, wincing as she realized one of her hooves didn’t move. She looked down and saw that her right hoof was limp, her shoulder was swelling like a beach ball.

“What do you think you’re doing!?” One of the soldiers, a diamond dog, shouted at her with a rifle pointed at her.

“D-Defecting…” Rainbow Dash said weakly, the American’s eyes widened as she laid down on the ground. The sun was just starting to set, she could hear the diamond dog literally barking orders for a medic. The tired mare closed her eyes, nearly succumbing to her exhaustion. She felt herself being moved onto a stretcher, with that she passed out.

[♠]

Dominic sat quietly in front of a fireplace in an abandoned house, the column had come to a stop in an abandoned gated community and the crews were making themselves at home in the houses. Maria was off gathering something to eat that wasn’t spam, leaving Dominic to quietly watch the fire burn on its own. He adjusted his stance and sat cross legged, resting both his hands firmly on his knees. The man closed his eyes and let out a slow breath, something he had done before in his training with Luna. The man felt the world slipping away from him, wiping his slate clean of worries for the time being.

The minutes ticked by as the fire continued to crackle and pop, Dominic found himself stuck on the battle the day had held. It had certainly been a hairy one, especially with the sword fight. The commander had no doubt that he would need all the new tanks he could get. The EOL was getting sporty in its tactics, it was getting to the point he would need scouting reports far more often than he was getting them now. That left him three options, increase the amount of scout teams and snipers he sent ahead of the the column, sent vehicles in their stead and lose the element of surprise, or watch from the air. Of course, his air force wasn’t ready yet, he wouldn’t risk any of his five pilots and he was unsure of sending thestrals or other ponies. That left Putin and his satellites.

Dominic was hesitant to trust him, as he continued to sit in silence he found himself growing wary of the Russian president. Putin was a relic of the Cold War, a KGB operative, even if he had turned over a new left Dominic wasn’t ready to believe him. His thoughts paused as he heard a wood board creak behind him, the man opened his eyes and looked over his shoulder. Maria was standing there with a curious look on her face.

“Did I interrupt something?” She asked, Dominic shook his head quickly and stood up to walk towards her.

“No, I was just thinking.” He said quietly as he reached the woman and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Any luck finding something?” Maria shook her head with a slight frown, but Dominic shrugged it off. “Spam’s alright, and when the new supply shipment comes tomorrow they’ll be sending some better stuff.”

“I did find something you’d like though.” Maria said with a slight smile, she reached into her jacket and withdrew an odd metal case. “One of the houses had tons of old movies in it, and since we’re getting closer to having sustained power, I snagged this for when we can actually use a DVD player.” She handed it to Dominic, he looked it over for a moment as his eyes widened and a smile crossed his lips.

“Hogan’s Heroes had a box set?” He asked with a bit of a smirk, Maria nodded and soon found herself in a very tight hug. The woman returned it quietly before the two of them relaxed and let go of one another, Maria grabbed a can of spam and a nearby mess tin before walking towards the fireplace. “You know tomorrow we’re getting a visitor, right?”

“Hmm? Who?” Maria asked as she began to heat the Spam in the pan, Dominic wandered over to her and sat beside her. His rather high frame eclipsed hers but she didn’t mind looking up up him, her eyes sparkled with curiosity.

“Princess Celestia, as far as my latest report has told me.” Dominic said, he watched the flames dancing as Maria continued to cook their meal for the night. The woman’s eyebrow raised in curiosity, she had only heard stories from the other ponies about Celestia. However, she was one for finding out about people for herself, she was actually looking forwards to meeting the princess. “I’m gonna have her fly herself here, I can’t spare any vehicles to carry her.”

“Why not have her ride along on one of the new tanks you told me about?” Maria suggested, Dominic looked at her with a bit of a smirk. “It never entered your mind did it?”

“This is why you were in all those honors classes and I was in remedial.” Dominic said as he reached into his pocket and withdrew a notebook to begin drafting a new set of orders. Maria chuckled quietly and leaned against him, listening to the sizzling spam in the pan.

“You just never applied yourself.” Maria said with a snarky tone. “If you spent half the time you spent on over analyzing movies as you did on school you’d have gone to West Point. That is… If not for obvious reasons.” Dominic hummed quietly and looked at the flames with a small smile. “Try to be civil, okay? I’m sure she’s just as worried about a war as you are.”

“Yes, dear.” Dominic said in a sarcastic tone, Maria punched him in the arm. “Maybe you should come, I’m sure you’d be good at mediating for us. Plus a little added security wouldn’t hurt.” The woman raised an eyebrow at him at the mention of security, she had assumed that the meeting would be held in the gated community the column was residing in at the moment. “We’re going to be shelling that EOL pillbox we saw on the captured maps tomorrow, I was gonna meet with her on the ridge overlooking the place.”

“You sure that’s a good idea? It might not send the right message.” Maria suggested, Dominic shrugged quietly and looked at her with a neutral expression.

“The key to our advance comes down to three words. Tempo. Tempo. Tempo. The faster we move the less time we give the enemy to think of a way to stop us. We can’t afford to stop, even for a day.” He explained, Maria nodded slowly as his words made some amount of sense to her. She pulled the spam from the fire and began preparing a couple sandwiches for them. “I’ll explain why to her, don’t worry… For now we should eat and get to sleep, big day tomorrow.”

“Yeah.” Maria replied quietly, she paused for a moment and fidgeted. “I’m still upset at you, by the way.” Dominic raised an eyebrow at her. “My insides still feel like mushy pasta.” The man suddenly blushed fiercely and looked to the side, effectively reined in by Maria’s comment. The ate their sandwiches in silence and eventually fell asleep on a mattress they had pulled onto the floor. The fire died down in the fireplace, offering a warm glow to the two sleeping warriors.

[♠]

Eugene quietly looked through his binoculars down at the gated community, Lady Nocturne resting beside him with a curious expression. There were a couple campfires lit, and at least five tanks out in the open, the rest were hidden too well for him to spot at night. The hill afforded him and the lady a nice vantage point, the man was glad that Colorado had such hilly terrain. As he continued watching the encampment below he felt Lady Nocturne shiver against him.

“Look at all those tanks…” She mumbled quietly at the five tanks she could see, as well as the soldiers patrolling back and forth. “Are those things even human?” Eugene quietly adjusted the binoculars and zoomed in on a pair of odd looking bipeds. He gulped audibly, they looked like anthropomorphic dogs. Unlike the otherkin that identified and dressed that way, they looked real, and as he continued looking he saw winged bat ponies and even insect creatures. “Eugene…?”

“I don’t know what they are… Maybe you could tell me.” Eugene handed the binoculars to Nocturne and adjusted his balaclava, the woman put the binoculars up to her eyes and looked over the camp below. Her jaw dropped in shock, she knew exactly what she was looking at, but she was unable to speak. All she could do was make a fearful mewling tone, Eugene shook her before she became to loud.

“Th-Th-Those are thestrals…” She said finally, Eugene looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Bat ponies, from an old show. I knew people identified as them, but… These are really real. We need to be careful.” The woman lowered the binoculars and handed them back to Eugene. “They’re supposed to have really good hearing, and night vision.” Eugene was inclined to believe Nocturne, she knew more about them than he did. He tucked the binoculars into his backpack and stood up into a crouched position.

“Let’s get out of here. Quickly.” He said in a low tone, Nocturne nodded and got up as quietly as she could. The two of them were adorned in EOL attire, if caught they’d most likely be shot on sight. The two of them stuck to the darkest parts of the grassy hillside that they could find, moving with slow and measured steps. They eventually managed to get a mile away under the cover of darkness, only then did they relax enough to stand up and talk at a normal volume. “Tell me more about what you saw…” Eugene stated firmly.

“Creatures that shouldn’t exist on this world, or any world.” Nocturne said cryptically, Eugene glowered at her. “It’s true! They’re fictional! Cartoon characters!” The man quietly looked over his shoulder at the distant glow of campfires, then back at Nocturne, his features once again hidden from her view by his balaclava. “We should alert the Empress!”

“No.” Eugene countered, the woman looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “It took us days to get this far, it will take even longer to get back and convince them.” The man actually was more curious about the creatures and their mysterious commander than the Empire’s intelligence. “We should shadow them as long as we can, it’s riskier, but we’ll be much more informed.” The man quietly began walking down the road towards where they had hidden their transportation that doubled as a shelter. A black utility van with a mattress and other supplies in the back, Nocturne followed him quietly. True, she was the ranking officer, but Eugene seemed far more intelligent on what to do.

“What’s our next move?” She asked as they got closer to the bushes where they had hidden the van, Eugene quietly hummed in thought before replying.

“We won’t be able to infiltrate them, they’re a combat unit, if we posed as civilians they would most likely evacuate us to their forward operating base.” Eugene said as he approached the driver’s side door. “We’ll have to camouflage ourselves and watch from the sidelines, which means we’ve got some driving to do. There’s an EOL outpost not far from here, they’ll have proper camouflage.” Eugene started the engine of the van as Nocturne strapped herself in, the assassin actually felt nervous. She was used to the mission being over by that point, but it seemed she was in for a long haul.

The van pulled out onto the road and made its way back to the highway, Eugene had to use the light of the moon to guide him, as he didn’t dare turn on his headlights. He was even hesitant to use the brakes, as he feared the red glow would catch the eye of an American spotter. The atmosphere didn’t really necessitate conversation, but Nocturne was far too curious to let the matter go.

“Eugene… You know a lot about this sort of thing… More than most regular soldiers. How come?” Nocturne asked, Eugene didn’t take his eyes off the road, and he remained silently. The woman looked out the window quietly, watching the landscape illuminated by the moonlight.

“What I tell you stays between us.” Eugene said quietly, Nocturne looked at him with a curious expression. “Before I became a part of the EOL… I was one of those people the Empire has dubbed ‘The Colorado Kids’.” Nocturne quietly gaped at him, unsure of what to say. “I was the reason the EOL could never get close to Vail or the continental divide. Lots of mining up that way, lots of dynamite, lots of avalanches.”

“B-But, if you were anti-EOL why’d you join?” Nocturne asked, more shocked than anything else. Eugene scowled quietly, though it was hidden by his mask, and took his left hand off the wheel. He slipped it into his pocket and withdrew a photograph, it was old and faded, and he quietly handed it to Nocturne. The woman looked it over and blinked in surprise, there was a tall young man whose face had been blacked out standing next to a young woman who was smiling at the camera, both of them were posing next to a dead twelve point buck.

“That’s my sister Elise…” Eugene said quietly as he kept his eyes on the road. “An EOL ‘recruiter’ found our house and put a gun to her head, told me either I came with him or he blew her brains out.” Nocturne blinked quietly as she stared at the picture, unsure of what to say. “I axed him off about two miles down the highway, but I still had to go. If I didn’t they’d send a death squad.” Nocturne looked at his hands, they were tightly gripping the steering wheel as his eyes were locked on the road. “I guess it didn’t matter in the end though, because a slave, I’m sorry, thrall capturing party found the house a month later.”

“Did they…?” Nocturne asked, to her surprise Eugene shook his head.

“They’re buried under fourteen feet of snow and ice.” He said grimly as he looked over at Nocturne, she could see there was a deep hatred in his eyes. “If you tell anyone what I told you, you’ll join them.” Nocturne gulped silently and nodded, quickly looking back out the window at the passing dark scenery. Her attraction to Eugene remained, oddly enough, even after learning of his past and how he most likely felt about her. There had to be some portion of him that trusted her enough to the point he would tell her all this, she just hat to show him that she cared. “Go get some rest.”

The woman nodded quietly and got out of her seat, pausing to return Eugene’s picture, before moving into the back of the van and laying down on the mattress. She pulled up the sparse blanketing they had been provided and snuggled into it, and eventually she had passed on into the land of dreams. After a couple minutes Eugene began humming to himself, eventually breaking out into low monotone singing.

“Oh I’m a good ‘ol rebel, now that’s just what I am. An’ for the Lighty nation I do not give a damn, I’m glad I fight against her, I know the war’ll be won. My freedom won’t be taken, and neither will my gun…”

Author's Notes:

Well here's another one for you wonderful people out there in the vast expanse of the internet, I'm surprised I've managed to get this done as fast as I did, because of a little game called Stellaris. I tried playing around with a bit of a faster pace here, because let's face it, the war should be over by Christmas... Right? Riiiight?

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this one, it's a bit more action oriented than plot oriented, but I figured it would be a good way to shake things up.

And now, your daily clip of the day, straight from the Department of Redundancy Department.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQFKtI6gn9Y