Dominic tiredly wiped his eyes as he sat in the War Room, he hadn’t gone home as he had originally planned. Tensions were getting higher and higher, and he couldn’t get through to Canterlot via Radio or Luna’s telepathy. What was more, he was too scared to try and send a messenger, for all he knew they would snag him as soon as he crossed the border. They had already raised the alert status of the air force, the ground forces would be next to go on alert. So far the airship patrols hadn’t spotted anything, though there had been a few false alarms aboard the Kirov in regards to an Equestrian weather balloon.

The War Room was quiet, the ponies manning their stations were far too busy keeping an eye out for anything to make idle chit chat, Dominic meanwhile stared at the screen displaying the readings from the Arcane Sensors. If there was anything to come on the screen he would be the first to know, and the first to act. It had been agreed that in the event of an attack, he would coordinate the defensive and retaliatory measures from the bunker. He would, however, lead the army into Equestria if it came to it. His eye rested on a red button that had been installed near the table, it had a clear plastic box covering it and a pair of key slots. Dominic looked to the solitary key that he held in his possession, flipping it over and over again his his fingers. Bulwark had the other key, the button would put War Plan Pink into effect.

The man quietly looked to a clock on the wall, it was just starting to become morning on the surface, Luna and Maria probably hadn’t finished breakfast yet. They probably already knew the answer to where he was, he had had a runner leave a message on the dining room table earlier that morning. Canterlot was in the same time zone as New Liberty, meaning that Celestia had to be awake in order to raise the sun. Dominic eyed the radio seated at the table a few feet away, he stood from his chair and made his way towards it. With a tired yawn he picked up the microphone and brought it to his lips.

“Mountain Palace, this is November Lima. Respond, please.” He said in an exhausted tone. “Damn it, Celestia! Pick up the damn mic!” A couple ponies glanced at him as he raised his voice, then quickly went back to their screens. There was no response from the radio, Dominic felt a fresh patch of sweat crop up along his neck. The man began pacing back and forth, one hand on his hip while the other rubbed his chin. After a couple seconds he paused and snapped his fingers. “I need a runner.”

“Yes, sir!” A griffon corporal said from across the room as he snapped to attention. Dominic approached him with swiftly, his heart pounding from exhaustion.

“Go to my house and get Princess Luna! Ask her to see if she can get in touch with Princess Twilight Sparkle on the way here!” Dominic ordered, the griffon saluted and rushed out of the room, still not fast enough for the on edge commander. “Schnell! Schnell!” He yelled, it wasn’t like the fate of Equestrian-American peace hinged on that griffon’s speed. Except Dominic wasn’t sure if that truly was the case.

He went back to pacing, adjusting his uniform every couple minutes or so out of nervousness as his eyes flicked back and forth between the radio and the Arcane Sensor screen. Seconds felt like minutes, minutes felt like hours, and all the while he found himself sweating. There was nothing else for Dominic to do but wait, and he was too nervous to even attempt to sleep on one of the cots in the bunker that contained the War Room. It felt like the walls were closing in on him, he took several deep breaths and beat back the panic once again. His shaved, hairless head, gleamed with nervous sweat under the lights that dimly illuminated the room.

Dominic’s eyes flicked to the clock again, only seven minutes had passed since the runner had left. To his surprise he heard the sound of the elevator that descended into the bunker, the commander turned and looked to the source. When the sound came to an end the griffon emerged, looking like he’d run a marathon, while Luna was standing beside him rubbing her horn. Dominic could tell that she had used her teleportation magic hastily, the more planned her jump, the less taxing it would’ve been on her horn. Dominic quickly approached her as she stepped out of the elevator.

“Luna. I need your help.” He said as he pointed towards the map, Luna was about to speak, but hearing the urgency in his voice instead decided to walk towards the map with him. “Did you get in touch with Twilight? Did she say anything?”

“Nay, we hath not gotten in contact with her.” Luna replied, pausing as her horn glowed softly. There was a brief pop before a soft glow enveloped her. Dominic recognized it as her ‘Modern Speak’ spell, she often cast it in the morning as part of her morning ritual, that told Dominic he had grabbed her before she was ready to face the day. He shook his head, he could worry about disturbing one of his herd mates later. “Much better…” She said quickly. “I must try again, over such great distance perhaps she isn’t feeling the nudge of the spell… I don’t think she’s ever used telepathy before.”

“Please, keep trying.” Dominic said as he began pacing again, much to Luna’s concern. However, she too knew that worrying about his pacing was something for a later time, she closed her eyes and began to reach out with her spirit, searching for the tell tale signature of Twilight Sparkle’s own spirit. The swirling void of the world around her began to fade as she pushed herself deeper into a trance like state, hoping to boost the reach of her telepathic connection to her fellow alicorns. Finally she found her, just at the edge of Luna’s range she could see the familiar lavender glow. She was in Ponyville from the looks of it.

[♠]

Twilight Sparkle quietly looked over her books, desperately trying to figure out what Celestia was having her search for. She had never heard of any reference to a creature called a Snipe, she had heard of Snipers, but never a Snipe. The Princess was still very much a student in her mind, and she wasn’t about to let her princess down by not learning about the elusive Snipe. She was so tired that she was barely able to keep her eyes open, she hadn’t realized that the morning light was starting to filter in through the curtains of her treehouse home.

As she started to nod off she felt an odd sensation in her mind, she kept reading over the page in front of her over and over again, but never seemed to remember a single word. The mare quietly rubbed her eyes and leaned back on her haunches, wondering if perhaps she had pushed herself too hard. Then she heard a faint voice, Luna’s voice, but from within her own mind.

”Twilight… Please, answer me!” The voice said in her head, Twilight nervously looked around. Had she started to hallucinate. ”Twilight, it’s me, Luna! I’m speaking to you telepathically!” Twilight’s eyes widened at the revelation, unsure of how to respond, she did the first thing she could think of. Which was think of what she would say.

”Fascinating…” She mumbled internally, she sat down and tried to focus more on the odd sensation that was filling her mind. ”What’s wrong, Princess Luna? You sound worried.”

”I am worried!” Luna replied swiftly, Twilight flinched as she felt a pang of fear run through her chest. Not her fear, it was entirely alien to her, until she realized that perhaps it was Luna’s fear. ”Dearest Twilight, Dominic and I have been trying to contact Celestia for the past two days! She won’t answer by radio or telepathically! Have you any idea what’s going on?”

“No!” Twilight said aloud, pausing before she concentrated again. ”No. Princess Celestia has had me trying to research something called a ‘Snipe’ for the past couple days, I can’t seem to find any reference to it in biological texts…” Twilight trailed off as she felt a faint annoyance begin to spill over the telepathic link. “What’s going on?! Is Celestia in danger?!”

”Twilight… Please, look outside your window and tell me what you see.” Luna asked softly, Twilight nodded to herself and stood up, then shakily made her way over to the window and moved a curtain to peek outside. To her surprise there were stallions moving through the street with concern, they all seemed to be holding slips of paper.

”Hold on, Princess! There are a bunch of stallions moving through the street, they’ve got small pieces of paper, some have bags over their backs.” Twilight thought nervously, continuing to watch the stallions walking along. There was a frantic knock on her door, it surprised her so much she nearly lost her connection to Luna. ”There’s someone at the door, give me a moment!” The young princess walked away from the window and to the front door, she quickly pulled it open and was greeted by a rather distraught looking Applejack.

“Applejack? What’s wrong?!” She asked, Applejack was quiet for a few seconds as she tried to compose herself. Twilight had never seen her friend so scared or upset before, and added with the odd happenings and message from Luna, she was getting a very deep pit in her stomach.

“It’s awful, Twilight!” Applejack finally said as she walked into the library and closed the door behind her, her voice was shaking with fear. “Big Mac went to get the mail today, you know? And normally we only get mail from family, you know?” The mare began to hyperventilate, then shook her head and forced herself to remain calm. “There was this letter on the top of the pile, was all official looking! From the ‘Equestrian Department of the Army’!” Twilight gulped as she heard that, knowing full well that Big Mac wasn’t a member of the army, nor was he a reservist or even a national guard. “He’s been drafted, Twilight! Half of Ponyville has!”

“W-What?!” Twilight shrieked as she looked out the window at the nervous looking ponies. “I can fix this! I can get him out-!”

“He won’t listen! I already told him and he said he’s gotta ‘Do his duty’, but I don’t understand why it’s happened all of a sudden! It makes no sense!” Applejack began to nervously pace, the thought of her brother in harms way was enough to shake her normally confident demeanor away. “Do you have any idea why?”

”Twilight? What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Luna said through the link, Twilight nervously wiped sweat from her brow as she began thinking.

“I… I… Dear faust, no…” She mumbled as she started to rub her head, Applejack looked at her with concern. “Celestia can only institute a draft in times of war, or preparation for war…” Applejack’s face went pale, a couple seconds later there was a knock on the door, this time much more frantic than before. Twilight’s horn glowed and the door opened, this time Fluttershy burst in with a stallion poorly disguised as a bear behind her.

“Twilight! You have to help!” Fluttershy said frantically, looking at the poorly disguised pony that was standing behind her. Twilight recognized him faintly as Fluttershy’s brother, the pit in her stomach was growing deeper and deeper. “The Royal Guards are trying to catch him! You have to hide him, or tell them to leave him alone, or something! Please!”

”Twilight?! Please! Answer me!” Luna’s voice echoed through Twilight’s rapidly clouded mind, she found herself breathing even more heavily as the realization hit her. Celestia had played her like a violin, there was no such thing as a Snipe, it had been a ruse to keep her from discovering what her mentor was going to do. Celestia had known Twilight would do anything to be a good student, tirelessly working through the night to find an elusive snipe… Twilight felt her stomach tighten into knots as she heaved, clutching at her abdomen as a feeling of nausea washed over her.

”C-Celestia… She… Instituted a draft…” Twilight managed to communicate before she vomited on the floor, tears formed in her eyes as the link between her and Luna broke. There was a third knock on the door, but Twilight was too weak to look up to see who it was. Applejack, Fluttershy, and her brother all backed away when they saw just who it was though. They knew well enough to know that something serious was about to happen, standing with a solemn expression in the doorway was none other than Princess Celestia herself.

“Twilight?” She said in a pained voice, Twilight weakly looked up at her mentor as she wiped her chin. “I… I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but… This is for the best. We have to maintain the peace of our world, even if it means reining in the chaos of another-”

“Spare me…” Twilight said as her grief rapidly shifted to anger, Celestia blinked as she watched her student stand from the floor. “D-Don’t lie to me, not again.” The normally stoic princess of the sun visibly flinched as Twilight’s words cut into her, the tone she heard was one of betrayal, one that she had heard a thousand years before. When she had addressed her sister on the night of their battle, she had used that tone. “I… I trusted you, Princess… You said I had just as much a say in the country as you, or Luna, or Cadence does… But that was a lie too, wasn’t it?!”

“Twilight, I didn’t think you were ready for a conversation that was so-” Celestia began to reply, but she was cut off once again.

“Were you going to say wrong?! Immoral?! Unethical?!” Twilight shouted, Applejack and the others watched as tears began to stream down Celestia’s face. Her stoic expression was starting to crack.

“You’ll understand when you’re-”

“Get out.” Twilight said swiftly, Celestia flinched once again but lingered in the doorway. “Get out!” The lavender alicorn was crying fully now, her tone laced with anger and sadness, Celestia continued to stare at her, as if stunned. “Go away! Leave me alone! I… I hate you!” Twilight’s horn glowed, flinging a book straight from the shelf at Celestia’s head. Celestia could’ve easily caught it or deflected it, but she didn’t. It struck her muzzle with considerable force and sent a stinging pain up her face, Celestia watched her student crumple to the ground in tears. For the first time Applejack and Fluttershy were staring at her with anger in their eyes. The solar princess turned away and closed the door as she began to walk away.

Applejack moved to Twilight’s side while Fluttershy quickly moved her brother to the basement until they could find him somewhere else to hide. Twilight began sobbing into Applejack’s fur as her friend held her, a deep hole left in her heart. The commotion had gotten the attention of spike who was still asleep upstairs, the dragon descended the steps, being sure to duck his head when he got to a shorter part of the steps. Whatever was going on, he didn’t like it.

[♠]

The sound of breaking glass awoke Field Marshal Eventide from his slumber, the thestral rapidly looked around his room for the source as he hopped out of bed and grabbed a dagger he kept on his bedside table. Someone was in his apartment, they were yelling commands to someone, more than one pony. Eventide’s eyes widened and he rapidly flapped his wings, catapulting him to the ceiling where he hung in wait. The stallion didn’t need to wait long as the door to his room burst open and two Solar Elites in gold armor pushed their way in.

“Field Marshal Eventide, by order of Princess Celestia you are…” The first one trailed off as he looked around the room, then he slowly looked up towards the high ceiling. Eventide hissed at him as he dove, his dagger poised for the kill. He didn’t hesitate, the blade went clean through the older gold armor the guard was wearing and sliced his jugular. The second solar elite raised his crossbow, but Eventide grabbed the dead guard just as he fired, using the corpse as a shield. Eventide pulled the dagger from the neck of the dead guard and hurled it at the guard with the crossbow who was starting to reload instead of drawing his sword, it sliced through the chinstrap of his helmet and embedded itself in his throat.

Eventide let the body drop and moved towards the door, ready for any other attack that would come. The rest of his apartment was trashed, the window had been broken inward, but aside from that there was no one else. Not wishing to waste any time, the stallion quickly peeked out the window, there was a contingent of guards that seemed to be patrolling the sky. Eventide rolled his neck before he dove out the window, immediately catching the attention of the guards. They gave chase, but the thestral was a superior flyer to a pegasus, and he rapidly outran them.

It was as he feared, the Equestrians had turned on the thestrals, he knew that other members of his command would be realizing the same thing soon enough. As he began flying south he spotted a dark swarm beginning to take shape beneath him, not a swarm of locust or a swarm of changelings, but a swarm of frantic thestrals and Lunar guards alike. They were all making a run for the border, it seemed, even though numerous pegasi guards started trying to stop them. Eventide gritted his teeth and dove into the swarm, numerous others stayed behind to fight off the pegasus resistance. Eventide wished he could’ve joined them, but he knew that his place in that moment was at Luna’s side.

The event would later become known as ‘The Great Exodus’.

D1

Author's Notes:

It begins.

Also, just wanted thank whichever one of you guys pledged money to that tip jar thing I set up! It means a lot to me!

Here's your clip of the day!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0ba8G4jbqk