Maria softly exhaled as she looked down from her perch in the sandy desert hills, she was laying under a soft tan cloth that she had stitched a fake shrub and some other foliage into. She held her mosin gently as she looked through the scope, keeping her breath slow and calm. The woman had taken up a new job now that the war had ended, aiding the border patrol. In the days since Dominic had received the mysterious report she had noticed a notable uptick in orders that dealt with ranged weaponry and guerilla tactics. Many of the soldiers on the border had been recalled for training, Maria and others like her had volunteered to take their place.

As she lay out in the desert sun with only her thoughts to keep her company she decided to pull her gun into her small burrow and instead resort to simply watching the horizon with just her eyes. The fabric did a nice job of keeping her cool from the sun and concealing her position, not that anyone was looking for her. Maria sighed softly, adjusting her new tan fatigues that matched the sand very accurately. Thoughts about Dominic and Luna rattled around her brain. She knew that Luna liked her, if her actions a couple nights ago were anything to go by, however Maria feared the princess of dreams still only did that for Dominic’s sake.

Truth be told, Maria wasn’t sure it was a bad thing either. What had the woman so out of her element was the conversation that she and Dominic had shared the same day that the odd report had peeked his interest in guerilla tactics. She had always toyed with the thought of having a family one day, and hearing that Dominic shared that sentiment was good, but it also opened up a new line of thinking. As she had thought on the subject more and more she found herself fearing that perhaps that dream was something of the past, that she wasn’t fit to be a mother given all the things she had done.

After all, Maria was the second most deadly female sniper in human history, according to the UN records and Vladimir Putin’s personal knowledge. She was second only to a Soviet Sniper, Lyudmila Pavilchenko. Pavilchenko had three hundred and nine kills to her name, Maria had three hundred and eight. She assumed that Palivchenko had lived a normal life after the second world war, but Maria didn’t think that was possible for a survivor like her. She feared that her colder traits would be passed down, that she would poison her child with her own murderous genes.

”Queen of Spades, are you receiving? You missed your check in, over.” The soft buzz of Maria’s radio pulled her out of her darker thoughts, she quickly pulled the radio from her belt and brought it to her lips.

“Sorry, control. I didn’t check my watch… Over. It’s all clear, as usual.” Maria said into the radio before putting it back on her belt and looking back out over the sandy dunes in the distance, lying just beyond the border marking posts. The wind gusted past her, causing her fabric covering to flutter ever so slightly, she didn’t pay it much mind as her thoughts drifted back to her deeper fears. What scared her most of all was all the pressure that would possibly be placed on her child, having to prominent war heroes and the leader of the country as a parent would leave them with big shoes to fill.

Maria stopped herself quietly when she noticed that her breathing had accelerated past acceptable levels. She sighed, doing her best to compartmentalize the fears and doubts before tucking them away into the back of her mind. To put them truly behind her she decided to focus more on the dusty desert that she lay in, quietly she watched the wind blow small clouds of sand over the dunes. More than a little of it was starting to come into her small burrow, still she remained motionless and watched the dunes in the distance. For a brief second she thought she’d spotted something and readied her rifle, peering down range at the source. The sand was empty as it had been before, no tracks of visible signs of life.

As she peered through her scope she found herself inundated with memories, Maria forced her eyes shut and pulled herself back into the burrow. The quickness she had moved with reminded her just how her career as a sniper had started, and who her first kills were. She could remember the kick of the rifle against her shoulder, the smell of the smoke and the taste of copper, over the wind of the desert she could hear the screaming and yelling of her parents. The only bits that weren’t a memory were the tears running down her cheeks. Maria had always thought that she would break down under fire, and yet there she was bawling like a child in the calm desert.

She stayed like that for a couple minutes before she managed to rein in her tears, she wiped her eyes before any sand could stick to her cheeks. Maria turned to look back out of her burrow, the border post in the distance sat unaccosted as usual. The woman sighed quietly, wishing that she was back with Dominic and Luna, even though she knew that she had to stay. She wasn’t about to quit because she was lonely, and part of her knew that Luna and Dominic were having their own problems. The war crime tribunals were being convened that day, and Dominic and the other leaders of the factions that fought against the EOL were likely to be busy for a long time.

Maria scowled quietly at the thought of the war criminals, in her mind they didn’t deserve a trial, then again she supposed that not all of the EOL troops had partaken in the acts. Melissa was an excellent example of that, the tribunals were why Maria was sitting alone at the moment. She was a key witness, but Maria knew that once the trials were over her sister in arms would be back on her side. Maria softly smiled as she thought of Melissa, she’d come a long way in her training, and she was the only one that could manage to keep up with Maria when she was in a rush.

Maria reached to her backpack, resting near her feet in the burrow, and withdrew a canteen of water. She took a couple sips before going back to watching the area ahead of her, she’d wait there for another hour or so before packing up and moving to another spot in her area of patrol. Briefly she closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth of the desert, it was a luxury she had come to adore after spending so many years on a chilly mountain peek. When she opened her eyes again she looked to the post in the distance, watching the sand dance around once again. She couldn’t help but wonder what it was like at the tribunals, knowing Dominic, he was probably just about ready to stand up and start shooting. Maria sighed and settled in for another hour of sand watching, something she could certainly get used to.

[♠]

The court had been set up in an empty building in the POW camp, it minimized the risk of prisoners escaping. The room was lit brightly, at the back of it was the desks of the tribunal holders, the heads of state from the UN, the Native Confederacy, the New United States, and a representative of the freed slaves. Sitting in front of them was a table with the surviving inner circle members seated at it, next to them was another table with the prosecutors. The furniture was dingy and old, the walls were bare wood with only a coat of brown paint, and papers littered the tables and desks.

The inner circle members, including the Empress, were all shackled tightly and wearing striped jumpsuits as a pair of MPs stood behind them with rifles at the ready. Their earlier objections and grandstanding had faded away, without their army of followers in the room they had no one to back them up. Gradually they were losing support, as most of the die hard supporters of their regime had been killed in the suicide charge against American tanks. The papers that were lying about consisted of photographs of the conditions the EOL had kept slaves in, brutal and torturous ‘punishments’, and mass graves filled with young boys that were deemed ‘too white’ by the EOL. Some of them were little more than infants, and their discovery had only come after the war had ended.

There was very little doubt in anyone’s mind about the guilt of the defendants, but it was important that all of the evidence be entered into the record. Every sickening detail, ever gruesome image, it was all being catalogued and in the process it was building up more and more hate towards the EOL. Vladimir Putin had gone from his normal stoic demeanor to one of absolute disgusted rage, as had the remaining leaders of the UN. Chief Watchful Bear had shut his eyes halfway through, as if attempting to put himself in some sort of trance, and all the while Dominic sat there quietly, glaring hatefully at the defendant's as the other leaders conversed in hushed whispers.

“The last of the physical evidence has been presented, sirs.” Stated the prosecutor, a thestral in a suit and tie. “If it would please the court, may I bring in our chief witness?” There was a collective nod before the prosecutor walked to the door that lead to an outer room and poked his head outside. A couple hushed words were spoken before he returned, with a young woman in tow. Melissa, just Melissa, as she had taken it as a mononym. To many of the UN leaders she was the protege of the most lethal sniper of the conflict and a former member of the inner circle, but Dominic knew her a bit more personally, he knew she’d give the full story, especially since she had already been granted immunity for her efforts during the Battle of Denver.

She quietly approached a chair set up near the tribunal, adjusting her New American uniform quietly. It was tan, as many of the other uniforms were being set aside for more desert appropriate attire. Melissa stood in front of it quietly as one of the MPs approached her.

“Raise your right hand.” The MP said quietly, Melissa complied. “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

“I do.” Melissa said in a serious tone, the MP nodded and walked back to his post behind the defendants, leaving Melissa to take her seat on the witness stand. The inner circle members looked at her, each of them gaining angry expressions.

“Melissa, you were affiliated with the EOL’s government, correct?” Putin asked quietly, Melissa nodded with a look of shame crossing her face. “The defendants here are charged with attempting a mass murder of hundreds of innocent civilians, was such an act commonly discussed?”

“It was, there were at least three other occasions where a purge was initiated against the slaves in Denver, it was generally used to quell dissent. However, it was proposed at least fourteen times during my time. Empress Night Raven dismissed them all.” The sound of The three I mentioned were instituted in the early days of the Empire, our leaders couldn’t keep up basic food supplies.” Melissa said quietly, looking towards the defendants with defiance in her eyes. “It also gave them reason to round up more slaves.”

There were several quiet and angry grumbles from the defendants, but they were ignored as Melissa continued telling the tribunal about every sickening detail she could recall. There had been times when the Empire had wanted to mutilate young boys, times when so called vampires would kill slaves at random to drink their blood, and yet they never would drink any of it, it was only a meaningless slaughter. Perhaps the most disturbing was the EOL’s treatment of women that they captured, they were either forced to be soldiers or to serve in the forced brothels that littered EOL territory. Every word was substantiated by the documents and pictures that had already been submitted. All the hypocrisy had been exposed over the course of two hours, by then it had come time for the ruling. Of course it was unsurprisingly guilty, leaving only the sentence to be handed down.

“Before we make our sentencing decision, I would like to say something for the record.” Putin said quietly as he looked at the defendants with an expression of stoic anger. “There’s perhaps one crime that we cannot convict you of… That is what you did to the English language, or all language in general. Words like correctness and justice became weapons of your regime because your perverted them with words like ‘Political’ and ‘Social’.” Putin quietly adjusted his tie as the defendants stared at him quietly, defiant to the end. “These words will be seen as evil for generations because of your actions… Because of that, you have harmed our culture irreparably. That’s all I have to say…” Putin looked to the others. “I vote death… By firing squad.”

“There are many methods my people could use… But they would be too good for these dogs…” Chief Watchful Bear said with a scowl, the old man had lost any semblance of leniency after viewing all that the EOL had done to his people. “I second your vote, Mister Putin.” There were several nods from the other delegates, all eyes fell on Dominic, the man quietly adjusted his uniform and cleared his throat.

“I abhor the death penalty… The last time I witnessed an execution I nearly lost my mind…” Dominic said quietly before he looked to the defendants, he bore a stony expression of cold anger, as if he was doing his best to hold back from leaping across the table and throttling the guilty with his bare hands. “That being said, it is the judgement of this tribunal that you are guilty, and that the crimes you are guilty of are so deranged we have no choice but to remove you from the realm of the living.” The commander looked to one of the MPs standing in the room. “Convene a firing squad.”

“Ja, herr commander!” The MP said, Dominic watched him walk out of the room as the other MP stood the prisoners up onto their feet. The other tribunal members stood up as well, Dominic stood with them, putting on his peaked cap. The inner circle members looked stunned, they had assumed they would have some time in their cells to prepare, but they had shown no mercy in their rule, and they would receive none during their execution. Melissa stood up quietly as she watched the tribunal funnel out of the room, she soon joined them as they stepped outside into the sun. The other prisoners of the camp were gathered outside, being held back by guards with assault rifles and machines trained on them.

It took all of five minutes for the soldiers to convene a firing squad, every member of the eight man group was a former slave under the EOL. The prisoners were marched to a concrete wall that had been constructed as part of a planned concrete bunker, the project had been abandoned when the compound became a POW, but the wall remained. The tribunal members stopped and watched as the convicted criminals were marched out in front of the wall and turned towards the firing squad. Normally they would’ve been offered blindfolds, that was, if they hadn’t been convicted as the worst war criminals since the Nuremberg trials.
Dominic sighed quietly as he adjusted the tan dress uniform he wore, his boots sinking slightly into the sand as he stood in line with the other tribunal members, knowing full well that this was the only execution he would have to walk. After this tribunal ended they would put the duty of judging war criminals in the hands of someone else, someone with a stronger stomach and less of a bias. Everyone knew the trial of the inner circle was going to be short and that the intricate details of future trials would need to be gone over by better lawyers.

The man pulled his peaked cap down over his eyes, hiding his view from the prisoners, letting him only see the firing squad as they took up a position in front of the concrete wall. Dominic took a deep breath, feeling a familiar heaviness on his chest. The faint memory of ringing bells and marching boots echoed through his mind, but he forced himself to stand strong, he couldn’t afford to show himself being weak at the sight of judgement, no matter how much he hated it. Part of him wished that Luna and Maria were with him, at the same time he knew that he didn’t want them to see an execution, they had seen their own share of death.

“Ready!” Shouted the leader of the firing squad, the soldiers readied their rifles and stood to wait for more orders. “Aim!” The firing squad took aim, Dominic readied himself for the bangs that would come soon, he could hear a couple whimpers from the defendants. In that moment however, he found himself filling with hate. He remembered whimpers like that from children that he had liberated from the EOL’s grasp, almost without his own knowledge he reached up and pushed his peaked cap back, giving him a good view of the prisoner’s fearful faces. “Fire!”

The guns barked loudly as the members of the firing squad unloaded, emptying entire magazines into the remnants of a regime that had tormented and tortured them for four long and bloody years. Dominic remained stone faced as the prisoners were perforated with round after round, some of the blood spurted very far. Flecks of the red liquid landed on Dominic’s cheek as the corpses crumpled to the ground, he stared for a couple seconds, the hate that had overtaken him before rapidly fading, leaving him with only a hollow feeling in his chest. Once again the world became a blur, he didn’t stick around to talk to the other delegates, he didn’t stop to examine the bodies or take photographs, he just walked out of the camp with his hands tucked in his pockets.

Making his way down the very long road back to New Liberty, it gave him a lot of time to reflect on the day, and what a day it had been.

[♠]

Luna’s day had been rather slow, she had done some paperwork in the morning but it had slowed down to a crawl after lunch time had come, leaving her time to wander the streets of New Liberty as she saw fit. She was infatuated with the American culture, both old and new, as she had never seen such a mixture of ideas and architectures in her long life. Where once her room had been filled with star charts, she now had a new hobby of decorating it with whatever interesting trinket she happened across.

Many of the citizens were inside as the day had been declared a day of mourning while the tribunal was being held, but there were still a couple stragglers that wandered around almost just as aimlessly as Luna. A soft desert wind blew through her mane, putting a bit of sand in her fur, something she had grown accustomed to over her time in the odd city-state. Luna’s hooves clicked against the sidewalk, another thing that she found rather odd. In Equestria sidewalks were generally cobblestone, but in America they were concrete, much smoother for her to walk on. Infact many of the old dirt and cobblestone roads were being replaced by asphalt and concrete, with the exception of those leading out of the city to the small communities that were sprouting up further away, one of the many reports she had read over during the day.

Luna sighed as she shook her head, tired of thinking about work and the numerous paperwork items she had worked on. After a couple more minutes of walking she found herself coming to a stop outside of an odd looking bookstore. It was definitely of human origin, Luna could tell by the signage and window dressings. Ever the scholar, Luna pushed open the door and stepped inside. She looked around for a moment, realizing that many of the books had pictures on the cover rather than normal leatherbound items.

Luna’s understanding of human language was good, but still she had some trouble understanding a couple of the titles. However, from what she recalled of Equestria’s own culture, the books were likely ‘Comic books’. She had never really gotten into the craze, and even as she spotted a couple comics with ponies on the cover she didn’t find herself very appealed. She wandered down one of the small aisles the store had to offer, looking at all the artwork in the warm light provided by the sun outside. The smell of old paper and ink mixing with new was something that Luna had only smelled in Canterlot’s massive library, and it made her heart ache to be in Equestria again, if only to see her sister and the few friends she had there.

Her thinking on home came to a screeching halt as she spotted a familiar face on one of the comic books, though it was drawn rather oddly, with large expressive eyes and odd line work, far different from the other comic books. The face she saw was that of Maria, adorned in sniper clothing and standing in the desert. With a bit of curiosity Luna used her magic to lift the odd book, that told her it had been printed on the American side of the portal. She examined the tile quietly, scrunching up her muzzle in concentration as she tried to read the title. It suddenly clicked as to what the name was, though she still thought it was rather odd. ‘The Queen of Death’.

Curiously she opened the cover and looked over the comic panels, they were rather odd in that she had to read them in the opposite direction for them to make any sense. It was about a character known as ‘The Queen of Death’, a sniper in the desert who was unsubtly based off of Maria. As she read on it seemed that the sniper had spotted a pony on the other side of the border, they were always too far away to talk, but they still seemed to be able to communicate with signal mirrors.

Luna hummed quietly and walked to the store counter with the book still in her grasp, she spotted a rather big man sitting at the counter with tired eyes. He had a shaved head, as many humans did, and though he looked young he still had plenty of visible wrinkles. His belly jiggled slightly as he turned in his seat to look at Luna, his grey t-shirt stained with ink. His eyes bulged at the sight of the princess and quickly he moved to hide something under the counter, a book that he seemed to be reading. It was out of sight before Luna could get a look at it, but she was more interested in the comic she had found.

“May I ask who wrote this?” She asked as she set the comic down on the counter, the man paused and picked it up, looking it over for a couple seconds before setting it down and looking over his shoulder.

“Hey! Jed! Who wrote Queen of Death!?” His voice was gravelly with just a bit of a nasally tone, in fact it sounded rather goofy. A couple seconds later a door behind the counter opened and a man poked his head out, he wore big glasses and had a scruffy beard.

“Uh… I wanna say that UN chick. Naomi! Yeah, she was really big on that sniper lady.” The scruffy man adjusted his glasses as he spotted an indigo blur near the store counter. “Then again, a lot of people are… Why?”

“Someone asked!” The man behind the counter replied before looking at Luna again. “It’s actually a pretty big seller, which is odd, because a lot of people don’t really like the japanese style… EOL was real big on it back in the day.” The man looked over the comic book again, then at Luna. “You wanna buy it?”

“It’s a good story, I mean, up until the end when the Equestrians bomb-” The scruffy man started before the larger man chucked a pen at him. The scruffy man just grumbled quietly and slunk back into the back room, adjusting his glasses as he did so.

“I’d like to purchase this copy… If that’s alright?” Luna asked, doing her best to ignore what the other guy had said. The large man behind the counter cleared his throat quietly as he sat up and pulled a metal box from under the counter. Luna noted that the price on book was actually rather reasonable, with her magic she summoned several gold coins from her purse that she had left on her desk. The man took them and looked them over, smirking quietly as he took them and put them in the metal box. “If I may ask… Are there any stores here about D- President Occisor?”

“Officially? Not really… But, there’s been tons of fan submitted stuff that Jed illustrates, like this.” The man said as he slid the comic forward to Luna. “You might enjoy some of the stuff Jed does, he puts a lot of work into it.”

“I’ll keep it in mind, Mister…?” Luna said, the man just gave a shrug and leaned back in his seat.

“Name’s not important.” The man paused as he heard a brief ding from the backroom. “But lunch is… Would you mind flipping the sign on your way out?” Luna shrugged quietly, somewhat surprised by the man’s apparent apathy. She turned and started walking out as the man stood up and stretched, scratching his belly and walking towards the back room. Luna stepped out of the store, stopping to flip the sign as she had been asked before starting to walk down the street again.

Luna began wandering through the streets again, only occasionally seeing citizens wandering the streets. The MP patrols were probably the most active of them all, but even they seemed to be off in their own thoughts. Luna could see that there were also Equestrian tourists, many of them seemed annoyed that so many of the shops were closed. The princess quickly tucked her wings to her side and ignited her horn, in a brief burst of light she had hidden her wings from view. Her mane lost its starry texture and became light indigo, she hoped it would be enough to hide her from the less attentive ponies. She then returned her attention to hovering the comic she had purchased as she continued walking, Luna had a feeling that it would be rare to see the streets so calm and quiet, and because of that she made sure to take in the sights and sounds.

After a couple more minutes of wandering Luna decided that it would be prudent to head home and perhaps have a glass of iced tea, the sun was proving to be rather hot. She hoped that Maria was alright, knowing that the woman was out in the desert gave Luna a bit of worry. As the princess started walking down a familiar street she couldn’t help but have her thoughts on Maria, the woman had certainly captured Luna’s attention, and she could see why Dominic was so infatuated. Luna blushed faintly as she recalled that she too found herself becoming more attracted to the sniper, more than a few dreams often contained Dominic and Maria.

Luna continued wandering down the streets she normally took to get home, her attention occasionally turning back to the comic she held in her magic. It seemed that the citizens of New Liberty saw Maria as a heroine, and Luna was glad to see her getting some sort of recognition from the people. In Luna’s time, such acts would have been worthy of a bard’s song and numerous tapestries. In fact, Luna felt that she should take it upon herself to commission such a tapestry. She then stopped herself, knowing that Maria wasn’t one to celebrate all that much, especially the things she had done during the war.

As the wind picked up from the north Luna found herself looking out into the vast sandy wastes, wondering softly just what sort of things Maria was facing on her own.

[♠]

Twilight Sparkle sighed softly as she watched a troop formation from her balloon, she had come to the southern border as part of her duties. Celestia had put her in front of military logistics, and while her organizational skills had certainly improved supply lines she couldn’t get used to being addressed as some sort of battle princess. As she oversaw the formation on the ground she found herself struggling to ignore the very real reason that she had been called to the south. The southern guard units were at the most risk and their supply lines would be critical in the event of a war with America.

Dominic had spoke of human tactics before, they included strategic bombing. Twilight hated using what he had told her against him, but at the same time, she knew that he was all for duty and commitment to one’s country. He would likely do the same if in the same position. Twilight knew that if the war broke out, the first few hours would be critical. It was likely the United States aircraft would start by bombing strategic targets, those targets were likely to be military supply depots and barracks.

As the wind blew through Twilight’s face she realized that she was starting to drift over the formation, giving her a good view of the troops below marched and readied themselves in different defensive stances. Twilight had warned the generals of the dangers of such formations, knowing full well that large clustered groups made American Artillery spotters giddy. There was a small crowd that had formed in a set of bleachers below, as it turned out that the formation below was a graduating class of recruits.

The guard base had a name, though Twilight only recalled it as ‘Installation Seven’. It had several small barracks, an armored chariot and carriage motor pool, and for the most part the walls were constructed out of brick and mortar. There wasn’t anything that set it apart from the other seven bases built along the border, as Twilight turned away from the formation she used her magic to adjust the air balloon’s course. As it stood it was starting to get close to the American border, that was just how close the base had been built to the southern neighbors.

Twilight would’ve used her wings, that is, if she weren’t still getting used to flying and magic. On earth her power had been reduced, and doing things there required more effort. It seemed that using magic was similar to training a muscle, as Twilight had noted her magic was much stronger than it had been when she’d left. The princess knew that there were plenty of unicorns in the American army that had served and were still serving on Earth, that meant there was likely to be more powerful unicorns than Equestria could scrape together.

Perhaps, Twilight thought, that the fears of the Equestrian Generals and citizens in general were not totally unfounded. Being so closely tied to Equestria’s recent military modernization efforts had given Twilight a very deep look into just how prepared the country was for war. If the United States declared war the Equestrian military would be nearly powerless to stop them from marching on Canterlot, but if Equestria declared war first…

Twilight shook her head, the thought was sickening to her, she had been spending far too much time with the generals. As she floated there above the base, so very close to the border, she could see small dots off in the distance American sky. They were far too big to be pegasi, so she deduced they were likely airplanes on patrol. She envied the pilots more than she cared to admit, being able to work with technology far beyond Equestrian understanding was her goal, and she was being kept from it by a simple line in the sand.

Twilight watched the dots dance around in the sky for a few more minutes, pretending to look over the military base as she did so. As she was turning away she spotted a rainbow descending from one of the dots, but knowing how unlikely it would be for a rainbow to form naturally in a desert, that meant that….

“Rainbow Dash…?” Twilight said quietly, feeling a nostalgic loneliness in her heart. She levitated a pair of binoculars to her eyes from her bag in the basket and looked towards the rainbow, sure enough, she spotted a pegasus with a rainbow tail. It was extremely short however, a far cry from its normal length. Twilight couldn’t see their face, it was hidden by a helmet and facemask, and their fur was hidden by a tan uniform. The princess could also see and odd contraption on the mare’s side, but despite all that she knew it had to be her friend.

She watched as Rainbow and several other specks came closer to the border, a pair of thestrals and a griffon hovered with them. The griffon raised a pair of binoculars, staring back at Twilight’s balloon for a couple seconds before handing the binoculars over to Rainbow Dash. Twilight waved instinctively, the pegasus waved back, albeit slightly reluctantly. The two parties stared at eachother for a couple minutes before Twilight saw Rainbow hand the binoculars back to the griffon.

They turned back towards one of the aircraft, Twilight watched them get further and further away, until all she could see was the tell tale trail of Rainbow’s tail. Twilight sighed quietly, wishing that she could at least say hello to one of her most loyal friends. Part of her wondered if there was something else at play, if something had brought the two of them so close to each other, and yet kept them so far away.

The sun was starting to set, casting a beautiful display of pinks and reds off in the distance. Twilight watched the two aircraft circle a couple times before one began descending towards the ground. She grew worried it was going to crash, but it leveled off and came in under control, bouncing along the mostly flat desert soil. Twilight watched it for a couple seconds, then spotted a figure on the ground walking towards it. The princess amplified her binoculars range with her magic, she could hear the lenses groan under the new pressure. She could see a human female walking up to the aircraft, which had an open seat in the back, the woman had a rifle strapped over her shoulder.

The woman climbed up into the empty seat, she wore a bit of tan fabric around her, hiding her from the heat and prying eyes. At least, until she pushed back the fabric covering her head. Twilight found herself staring at Maria, better known in Equestria as The Queen of Death, as there was already a rather popular comic series spreading like wildfire. The woman seemed more tired than Twilight remembered, but then she realized that perhaps the woman had been out in the sun all day… Watching the border. Twilight froze, wondering just how many snipers the American’s had watching their borders.

As the aircraft took to the sky again Twilight found herself forced to put down her binoculars, they were likely going to break considering how much magical strain she had put them under. The princess of friendship felt pretty useless with all things considered, as she moved to look back out of balloon basket she found herself looking at the formation. They had all arranged themselves into a message she could see from the air, welcoming her to their base. She was touched by that, the mare compartelized her inner turmoil as best she could as she waved back at the eager crowd below.

[♠]

It was dark by the time that Maria approached the door to the house, her feet ached and her skin still felt hot. The heat of the sun had been so harsh that when her patrol time had reached an end she had needed to call for a plane to get her rather than walk to the normal meeting point. She had all of her gear in a bach hoisted over her shoulder, though she was otherwise dressed only in her sweat stained tank top and dusty fatigue pants. She tiredly turned the handle to the door and pushed it inward, the downstairs was dark and only illuminated by the moonlight shining through the windows.

She set her pack down near the door before kicking the sand off of her boots and closing the door behind her, as quietly as she could she walked through the downstairs towards the kitchen. She passed by the couch and a couple recliners facing the window, pausing when she spotted someone’s chest rising and falling on the couch. She slowly approached and knelt down beside them, she quickly realised that it was Dominic, his dress uniform jacket was unbuttoned while an empty glass sat on the table beside the couch that smelled of scotch.

She silently leaned down and planted a soft kiss on his forehead, patting him softly before standing back up and quietly walking to the kitchen. She pulled open the fridge, wincing slightly at the bright light that emanated from within. She pulled a small plate of leftover lasagna from inside, it looked like there was a note next to it as well. She picked up the note as she set her plate on the counter, then used the light of the fridge to read it.

‘Luna and I ate without you… Sorry. I made sure to put extra ricotta cheese in yours, I know you like that. -Dominic’

Maria quietly wiped her eyes and set the note on the counter, honestly she felt rather bad that she had missed a meal with her herd mates. A bit more doubt crept into her mind, all the thoughts that she had repressed in the field were starting to return as she closed the fridge and took a fork from one of the drawers. She sat down at the dining room table, lit only by the moon coming through the window, and began to eat the cold dish by herself. After a couple minutes she heard the creaking of the wood floor behind her, then a hand rested softly on her shoulder.

“Hey…” Dominic said groggily, Maria looked up at him and could tell even in the dimly lit room that he was smiling. “Want me to heat that up for you?”

“No… It’s alright… Go back to bed.” Maria replied, the man stared for a couple seconds before he crouched down and wrapped her in a tight hug. The woman was a bit surprised at first, but returned it just as tightly. After a couple seconds the two let go and Dominic returned to his usual height.

“I’ll try to wait for you upstairs…” Dominic said, still resting his hand on her shoulder, as if he feared letting go would cause her to disappear. He wasn’t going to admit it, but she could tell that he had been worried sick about her, and likely a great deal of other things that the day had held. “I love you, Mary Berry…”

“Pet names now?” Maria asked, hoping to lighten the mood. She saw Dominic’s smile widen for a flicker of a second. “I love you too… Shit… Nothing really rhymes with Dominic…” Dominic quietly chuckled and turned, walking off into the darkness and leaving Maria once again by herself. Her own smile faded as she continued eating her dinner by the light of the moon, knowing that she had put Dominic in such a worried state felt like a knife to the gut. She resolved that perhaps border duty wasn’t for her anymore, but she still wasn’t about to give it up. She’d stick it out until the normal troops could resume their duties, she owed them that much.

Maria set her finished plate in the sink when she was finished, then made her way upstairs to the bedroom that all three herd mates shared. She entered, stopping in the doorway as she heard a pair of snores echoing through the room. It seemed Dominic hadn’t been able to stay awake, not that Maria minded. She quickly undressed down to her undergarments, then crawled into bed on the right side, putting Dominic between her and Luna. The woman turned onto her side, looking out the window at the stars above, so crisp and clear without the glare of city lights to pollute them. A shooting star passed by, as it did she closed her eyes and made a wish. She wished so hard that she felt her eyes tearing up, wishing with all her might that there would be some hope in the future, that her hopes and dreams wouldn’t be dashed as they had been before. She wished that god would show her some sort of sign, even a small one, that her wishes and prayers had been heard.

Seconds later she felt Dominic put his arm around her waist and hug her tightly, still sleeping away. Maria smiled quietly and turned to face him, putting her own arms around him and holding him close as she felt sleep gradually begin to overtake her.

“Thank you…” She whispered softly before finally passing into the realm of dreams.

Author's Notes:

And another one's up! These have all been waiting in my files, I'm glad to finally put them up! I think after this I have one more I'm gonna put up, then there's gonna be a bit of a lull while I get a couple more chapters done.

Here's another clip of the day. Again, I can't remember if I've put this up before, but it's a pretty cool music video. I actually thought it was pretty funny too. It's one of the songs I listen to while I write.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wga5A6R9BJg