Dominic paced back and forth as he looked over the unconscious alicorn laying on the ground in front of him, a mix between anger and worry was building to dangerous levels. On top of being stuck on the other side for six months, now he’d have to worry about keeping an eye on a princess and getting her supplies. Maria had never seen her friend look so upset, and Colonel Baxter was somewhat impressed at the stream of obscenities that had been leaving Dominic’s mouth for the past five minutes.

After a few more minutes of pacing he came to a halt and took several deep breaths, his facial expression relaxed, as did his posture. Maria, Baxter, and Jen all stared at him for a few minutes as the other soldiers were rapidly moving to secure their new supplies. It was just after twelve in the afternoon, and the midday sun had started to melt the snow that had fallen the night before. It had always amazed Dominic how fast it could go from blistering cold to mild and warm in Colorado, and it was that beautiful transformation that had helped to calm him down. Things happened, he couldn’t stop that, there wasn’t any sense getting upset over small things.

“Okay…” Dominic mumbled as he knelt down and hefted the alicorn over his shoulder, saddlebags and all. “It’s not the end of the world, she’s mainly an herbivore after all, I’m sure there’s a couple farms around here that have hay or something. We can supplement our supplies with that, right?” He turned to Baxter and Maria, after a couple seconds the Colonel nodded.

“Yes, there’s that farm down by the crossroads, it should have a supply of hay, though if it’s any good is another question.” Baxter said, Dominic nodded and let out a calm deep breath. Maria was honestly surprised to see her friend so relaxed after what normally would have sent him into a very vocal swearing fit, at least, one that was far worse than the one she’d seen. She supposed being a commander meant he had to handle crisis a bit differently now.

“Alright, we can take a tank down there tomorrow and get as much as we can.” Dominic concluded as he adjusted the unconscious pony over his shoulder, he let out a stressed sigh and looked at Colonel Baxter. “For now though, I think it would be prudent for us to hunker down, that flash of light probably got someone’s attention.”

“I’ll have more guards posted on the barricade, for now though, I suspect you want to take care of your little friend there?” Baxter gestured to Twilight Sparkle.

“She’s my friend, but she’s also a Princess from one of our supporters on the other side.” Dominic replied, he took note of some of the contents that had spilled out of the saddle bag. “So, yeah, I’d say we should get her some place warm.” Baxter nodded once again as he ran a hand over his bushy mustache.

“Alright, you and Major Valova can handle that. There are a couple things I’d like to go over with Captain Poplawski.” Baxter said as he turned to Jen. “Do you think you could train a couple troops to drive that open tank we’ve got now?” Jen nodded and the two of them began walking off towards the barricade, leaving Dominic and Maria to look at each other with a pair of awkward smiles.

“Well, let’s go, I’m sure she’s gonna want to meet you when she wakes up.” Dominic said as he began walking towards the train station, Maria silently rushed to catch up with him as she adjusted the rifle in her grip. “It’s weird, you know? Sometimes the portal knocks people out, other times it keeps people awake.”

“I wouldn’t be able to tell you.” Maria said with a shrug as the two of them walked through the somewhat quieter station to the cog train. Dominic set Twilight down on a bench inside the train before the operator began moving the train back up the mountain, occasionally the soldier would stop and look at the strange new alien pony, but his main focus was the train. Meanwhile, Maria and Dominic were sitting silently across from one another. It had been an eventful day already, with numerous survivors evacuated, a near death experience with a machete wielding old man, and now a pony princess. A moment of silence was what the two of them needed.

Dominic turned in his seat and looked out the window as the train began to pass numerous trees and bushes, the snow was starting to melt once again, but at the same time Dominic worried it would get rapidly cold. If that happened there would be skids of ice all over the place, including on the train tracks. Even if it was driven by locking cogs, there was a good chance something bad could happen. At the same time, the bright sunlight and melting snow sent a bit of nostalgic ache through his chest, it was a beautiful scene from his childhood that he’d missed for many years.

The next six months would prove to be some of the most difficult ones in his life, but Dominic had Maria, Jen, and all manner of other allies behind him. He had done it alone for three years, he could do six months standing on his head. At the same time he was looking out over the landscape, Maria was looking at him with a bit of curiosity. She could tell he was thinking about something mainly by the looks on his face, he was very poor at hiding them, and from what she saw it was quite a doozy of a conundrum he was working on in that brain of his. Perhaps what shook her the most was the occasional expressions of worry that crossed his face.

“Hey.” Maria called out as the train continued up the mountain, Dominic paused and looked at her with a somewhat stoic expression. “Come here.” The man raised an eyebrow before he silently stood up and walked over to her, Maria patted the seat beside her. “Come on, ya big lug, sit with me.” Dominic faintly smiled and took a seat beside her. “Whatcha thinkin’ about?”

“Just… Working out some stuff in my head.” Dominic admitted as he unstrapped the AK-47 from his back and set it on the seat beside him. “I’m not sure I have what it takes to do this, no matter how many times I tell myself in my head.” The man put his head in his hands and sighed, Maria put a comforting hand on his back and rubbed up and down his back. “And I worry about us, I mean, everything’s alright now, but four years is a long time and what if we end up hating each other? I don’t want that to happen, not after everything-” Maria put a finger on his lips as the man began to speak frantically fast.

“Calm down, sweetie.” Maria said quietly, Dominic looked at her for a few seconds. “You’re getting all worked up when you need to be calm.” She pulled the man up against her side, she was certainly much stronger than Dominic remembered. “It’s okay if we’ve changed a little, because I know deep down you’re still the same paranoid dork I came to love.” Dominic looked at Maria with a slight smile, his eyes watered and he quickly wiped them. The two of them lapsed into a comfortable silence, the two of them leaning against each other and watching the trees and landscape pass by.

“Hey, Maria?” Dominic asked, breaking the silence and looking at the woman beside him. “What was it you wanted to talk about earlier in the tank?” Maria’s expression shifted for a moment into one of slight worry, she looked Dominic in the eyes before looking to the floor.

“Do you think Luna would like me?” Maria asked in a quiet voice, Dominic raised an eyebrow at her. “I… I don’t know how to say it exactly, I’m worried how you’ll take it.” Dominic gave Maria a gentle squeeze and kissed her on the forehead.

“Maria, please… Just tell me.” Dominic said faintly, Maria took a deep breath.

“I dunno, it’s just, you said she had feelings for you, and I kinda feel like I got in the way of things.” Maria admitted, Dominic’s eyes widened and he pulled the woman into a bit of a tight hug. “I don’t want her to hate me, and in turn hate you, especially after all-”

“Shh…” Dominic said as he rocked her back and forth. “It’s your turn to calm down, because you shouldn’t worry about that.” Maria looked him in the eyes, the man could see that beneath her normal facade of confidence was a fear of loss so deep it could utterly destroy her. “Regardless of what happens between her and I, it isn’t your fault for feeling the way you feel.” The man obviously had a bit of emotion in his voice, he couldn’t stand to see that hurt in Maria’s eyes. “I know Luna well enough to know she won’t hate me or you, she’s far beyond letting jealousy get to her like that anymore.” Maria quietly rested her head on Dominic’s shoulder and a frown began to spread across her face.

“I’m sorry…” She whispered, Dominic squeezed her once again.

“Stop that. You don’t have anything to be sorry about.” Dominic said with a light sternness to his tone, it was agony to see her feel so upset, especially when there was no reason for it. For that reason alone, he decided that he would do something he hadn’t done in a while. “Would you feel better if I sang that little song you like?” Maria perked up a bit and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“But you hate that song.” Maria said with a bit of surprise, Dominic just nodded and a small smile crept across his face.

“But I know you love it, and it’s been a long time since I sang on a train to someone I cared about. Almost half a year.” The man said simply as he stood up and grabbed his rifle, then he took his helmet off his head. “Here, look, I’ll even do the whole act. You’re gonna have to bear with me though, I haven’t done this in five odd years.” Maria teared up a little as she smiled and wiped her eyes. “No tears, come on.” Dominic cleared his throat and pounded on his chest for a moment.

“You’re such a goof…” Maria said quietly.

“And now, performing for your viewing pleasure, live from the illustrious Cog Car Casino in Bumblefuck Colorado!” Dominic began speaking in an over the top vaudeville announcer’s voice as he held his rifle like a cane and his helmet like a top hat. “The One Man Paluka Choir will be singing a timeless classic, straight from the Public Domain! I’m a yankee doodle dandy!” Maria began to giggle as the normally stone faced commander descended into a bit of silliness she hadn’t seen in four years. “But first, let’s get to know our audience folks! What about you miss? Where are you from?” Dominic pointed at the still unconscious Twilight Sparkle, unsurprisingly she didn’t say much of anything. “Huh, I heard they have nice weather out there.”

“Come on, Dominic, you don’t have to do this.” Maria said as she couldn’t help but smile now, Dominic looked at her and smiled warmly.

“Oh, you know I do.” He said simply. “The show must go on!” Maria put her hands on her face. “Say, you there sir, I haven’t seen you in a while. Where’ve you been?” Dominic was talking to the empty space right next to him, a few seconds later he had filled that space himself and responded to his own question. “I’ve been abroad!”

“I always had my suspicions, but now there’s no doubt…” The car operator cut in, Dominic looked at him with a bit of an over the top annoyed expression while Maria began giggling.

“You’re both jerks.” Maria said good naturedly as she continued laughing, Dominic just shrugged it off and tapped his ‘cane’ against the floor. She remembered the first time that she’d made him sing this song, it was for a school talent show and she needed help doing a duet. Dominic had begrudgingly offered to help her, and it wasn’t that he had a bad singing voice, it was just that he wasn’t used to singing on stage. The performance had gone fine, all things considered, but Dominic had sworn he’d never do that dance number again.

“Well, it seems it’s time for the main attraction! The One Man Paluka Choir will now sing that timeless classic, straight from the public domain, I’m a yankee doodle dandy!” Maria held up a hand, she’d already been cheered up enough, but Dominic wasn’t satisfied. He began singing and using his rifle like some sort of cane. “I’m a yankee doodle dandy! Yankee doodle do or die!” The noise was certainly enough to start to stir the unconscious alicorn from her slumber, she blearily opened her eyes to see Dominic was up and dancing about. “A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam! Born on the fourth of July!”

“You’ve got a yankee doodle sweetheart!” Maria suddenly joined in as she sat on the sidelines.

“She’s my yankee doodle joy!” Dominic finished, smiling and pointing at Maria. Meanwhile Twilight Sparkle was very confused, and she didn’t dare move for fear of interrupting some sort of bizarre human ritual. “Yankee Doodle came to town, just to ride the ponies!”

“He is that yankee doodle boy!” Maria finished before Dominic hummed and whistled the tune. “Got a yankee doodle sweetheart! He’s my yankee doodle joy!” Dominic reached out and pulled Maria to her feet. “Yankee doodle came to town, just to ride the ponies!”

“I am that yankee doodle boy!” Dominic finished, before he set his rifle and helmet down on the bench and grabbed Maria in a very big hug, the woman returned it for several moments before they both separated with a couple of big smiles on their faces. “Feel better?”

“A little…” Maria said with a fake frown, Dominic leaned down and kissed her. When he’d pulled away the woman was smiling a lot wider. “Okay, I feel better.” It was at this point they noticed the train had stopped moving and there was giggling from across the car, both of them turned to see the train’s operator was doing his best not to break out into all out guffaws. Maria glared at him for a moment but a comforting hand on her shoulder from Dominic told her to just relax. “Why’d the train stop, Private?”

“We’ve been at the station for the past couple minutes or so, I just didn’t want to interrupt your little moment.” The operator said with a shrug, Maria and Dominic began to giggle at that as they stepped back from one another to grab their items. The commander turned towards Twilight Sparkle, expecting her to be fully unconscious. To his surprise, the mare was staring at him and Maria with somewhat wide eyes.

“Hey, look who’s up.” Dominic said as he slung his rifle over his shoulder and set his helmet on his head. “That’s good, I was worried I’d have to carry you all the way. Twilight groggily got to her hooves and rubbed her head, she looked around and shivered as she realized it was certainly a lot chillier than she’d been expecting. Maria was still a bit surprised at seeing the alicorn for the first time, mainly because she hadn’t expected the mare to be so gosh darn adorable.

“You’re a lot less angry than I thought you’d be.” Twilight said as she caught her balance and looked up at the man. “I had a whole speech ready and everything.” Dominic just patted her on the head.

“Oh, I was angry, but you were unconscious for that bit.” He said before pausing and gesturing to Maria. “Twilight Sparkle, this is Maria Valova. Maria, you know who this is.” Maria smiled faintly as Twilight looked at her, her eyes going a bit wide. The mare supposed that explained the kissing. She smiled at the woman and offered her hoof in a greeting, to her surprise Maria seemed to smile even wider before she reached out with a hoof and bumped it against Twilight’s.

“Nice to meet you!” Twilight said with a bit of a friendly smile as the group disembarked from the train and out onto the impromptu train station, Maria was staring at her hand for a moment as she seemed to fidget back and forth on her feet, a big smile growing across her face. “Uh… Dominic?”

“She’s just fangirling, give her a minute.” Dominic said casually as the group began walking through the shanty town, Twilight looked around with a bit of surprise at just how small and rickety it looked. She had imagined it would look slightly better than this, but now she truly realized just how hard many of them had had it. Many of the buildings had been abandoned, their doors left open and giving a clear view of the discarded items inside, Dominic was also looking about the evacuated town with a neutral expression. “You okay now, Maria?” He asked over his shoulder.

“Yeah…” Maria replied as she looked at Twilight and waved at her. “Hi, nice to meet you, really sorry about that. It’s just, I’m kind of a fan.” Twilight just nodded and smiled, it was odd to know she had fans in an entirely different plain of existence. With her introduction completed, Maria took a moment to look around the town. “Jeez… It’s really a ghost town now.” The silence of the area was broken by the occasional creaky door hinge or the bang of wooden shutters against a corrugated wall.

“At least it’s empty for a good reason.” Dominic said as he walked towards one of the abandoned houses and peeked inside, it was a one room shack with a sleeping bag, a workbench that doubled as a table, and what looked like a door to an area behind it. “Do you think the Colonel will mind if I took possession of this shack? It’d open up some more space in the barracks.”

“You’d end up freezing out here by yourself, you’d need someone to stay with you for warmth.” Maria replied as she ran a hand up the corrugated metal. “That’s alright though, I don’t mind bunking with you.” She smiled at him as Dominic blushed a bit and looked at the floor. “Actually, the Colonel had offered me a shack a while ago, since I was the only female officer in the barracks. I’m sure he won’t mind if you share with me.” Twilight was a bit surprised at just how forwards both of them were being.

The princess had never known Dominic to be so open about things, and on top of it, the display on the train car was still fresh in her mind. Perhaps he was better off with Maria, they seemed to feed off of each other’s positive emotions. In fact Twilight had never seen a smile on Dominic’s face that many times in the span of an hour before.

“Well, if you want to, I mean…” Dominic said as he rubbed the back of his neck and stepped out of the shack. “We should get Twilight situated though, I’m sure she’s a bit tired from the whole portal experience.”

“I’ll help her get to her bunk, why don’t you go chat with Baxter. He gets a bit testy around this time of day.” Maria said, Dominic paused and just nodded. He’d dealt with testier people than a Colonel, and he didn’t want Maria had to do it.

“Alright, see you in a bit then.” He said with a smile before he started wandering back to the train station. “Just… Gonna go back to the train. That I just got off. And go back down the mountain…” Maria just chuckled at him as he played off an air of phony annoyance, Twilight was a bit surprised at that, and a bit nervous. She didn’t know Maria like she knew Dominic, but she supposed that anyone that could capture the man’s heart was someone worth talking to. “All by myself! Completely alone!” He called as he got further away.

“Just go, silly willy!” Maria called out, Dominic chuckled and turned to get back on the train. Maria smiled faintly before she looked down at Twilight. “So, let me show you where you’ll be sleeping.” Twilight shivered a bit as she walked through the cold snow on the ground, it wasn’t melting as quickly on the mountain as it was on the lower hills.

“Thank you…” Twilight said a little awkwardly, she looked at the train was just starting to depart the station before following behind Maria. “He’s certainly a lot happier than I remember him, a lot calmer too.”

“Who, Dom?” Maria asked as she continued walking through the shanty town, Twilight nodded. “Yeah, he was a bit intense back in the day too. If it weren’t for me, he’d probably have ended up like one of the ‘Colorado Kids’.”

“The what?” Twilight asked.

“Basically gun slinging hill folk that shoot EOL troops for sport, they’re kind of like cowboys, hence the name ‘Colorado Kid’.” Maria explained, Twilight just nodded before looking at the departing train again. “He was always paranoid growing up, about all sorts of stuff. Nuclear weapons, Russian invasion, chemical wars, industrial accidents, hell that jacket he wears is something he bought in case there was ever a dirty bomb. Said ‘It would help minimize skin contact’.”

“Really? He said you’d given it to him.” Twilight replied, Maria shook her head.

“I gave him the patch on the shoulder, one that ought to look familiar to you.” The woman adjusted her rifle and pulled down the hood from her head, revealing she was wearing a wool cap. “It feels weird talking about him without him here, wanna talk about something else… Like, where you’re from?”

“You know where I’m from.” Twilight said as they got closer to a couple temporary looking buildings. “Canterlot’s a pretty nice city, or it was until the riots, it still sort of smells like tear gas.” The mare adjusted her saddlebags with a bit of a grunt, the air was a bit thinner than she was used to. “But there’s a big library, stores, restaurants, oh and my favorite place to go is the museum!”

“No kidding?” Maria said with a smirk. “I liked the museum myself, Dominic always dragged me with him whenever he went, it was fun seeing all the ancient artifacts and the exhibit on space flight was cool too.”

“I wish I could’ve seen it.” Twilight remarked as they continued to walk, Maria sighed quietly and looked at the ground.

“It’s probably been burned down, unfortunately, along with the libraries. EOL hates anything that doesn’t support their agenda.” She said, Twilight stopped mid step. “What’s wrong, you hurt or something?”

“No… I just… I can’t believe someone would burn down a library or a museum because it disagreed with them.” Twilight said as she began walking again, already her hopes of finding some sort of human literature were falling. “What is it the EOL even stands for, anyway?”

“They want everyone that ever disagreed with them on the internet to suffer, yet they say they stand for supporting equality and happiness.” Maria said with a bit of a bitter tone. “For instance they denounce torture and abuse of women, and yet I’ve liberated EOL captives that endured those same acts because they were seen as inferior.” Twilight began to open her mouth. “The hypocrisy isn’t lost on any of us, but there’s not a helluva lot we can do right now.”

“Why don’t their own people stop them?” Twilight asked, Maria sighed as they stopped just outside the Temp buildings.

“For all of Empress Night Raven’s idiocy, she is a master manipulator when it comes to the disenfranchised.” Maria explained, she looked at Twilight as if she were some sort of teacher. “She tells people that they can be whatever they want without fear of judgement, they begin to believe they’re werewolves, vampires, some even think they’re ponies in human form.” Twilight felt a bit disturbed by that, that there could be someone out there impersonating her, doing horrible unspeakable things to someone, it made her want to vomit. “It’s an ingenious way of keeping people in line. Tearing her down would destroy their identity, a form of metaphorical suicide.” Maria paused. “At least, that’s my opinion on it.”

“I see…” Twilight said as she levitated a quill and some paper from her bag and began to scribble what she’d heard so far. She noted that on Earth it took a bit more magic to do a normal task, as if her magic became weaker than it actually was. “Is this where I’m staying?”

“Yeah. It’s a lot warmer than the rest of the other places, we mostly put our troops in here because they need to be ready for combat as best they can.” Maria said with a bit of a shrug. “We would’ve put the civilians in here, but they wouldn’t all be able to fit. Twilight nodded and walked towards the door with Maria behind her. “You want me to come in with you or are you good on your own?”

“I’m alright, thanks for the chat!” Twilight said with a bit of a smile, Maria nodded and turned to walk towards the other temp building. She was going to grab her personal belongings in preparation, she knew that Baxter would say yes, he always did when it came to requests like that. Especially now that most of the women had been evacuated. Maria knew that her boys wouldn’t do anything to her, but Baxter was always cautious about that nonetheless. The woman silently opened the door to the second barracks and stepped inside, Smalls and his compatriots Corporal’s Kowalski and O’Keefe were seated at the rickety card table. When they saw her enter they quickly snapped to attention.

“At ease, boys.” Maria said as she walked towards her bunk and knelt down in front of her foot locker. The woman set her rifle on the floor and pulled off her cloak, leaving her in just her fatigues. Maria popped open the latch on her foot locker and looked inside, what greeted her first was just some run of the mill junk. She sifted through it until her fingers brushed up against a rather thick booklet, the woman picked up the booklet and looked it over. A smile formed on her face as she recognized it as a photo album, her photo album.

She’d put it in a fireproof box for safe keeping, and on one of her journeys to Evergreen she had stumbled upon the charred remains of her home, of course she found the box as well. Maria sighed and opened the album, smiling faintly at the first picture. It was of her mother and father, standing at the edge of the Evergreen lake. Her dad had a funny looking mustache, both of them were wearing sunglasses, and both of them were waving at the camera.

Maria flipped to the next page and her smile remained, though her eyes began to water. The picture was of a lot of people at a picnic table, in the back she could see her parents again, across from them were Dominic’s parents. In the foreground she could see Dominic sitting with a very small smile while his sister was making a goofy face. Maria remembered that day well, the last day of summer vacation, she’d taken that picture because she knew that Dominic would join the military some day, and she wanted to have some sort of reminder of him, incase she never got his picture again.

As she flipped through the rest of the pages she was greeted by a numerous other pictures of the big lug, a couple made her giggle. For instance, the photo of Dominic dressed as Uncle Sam for the talent show, or the one where he’d ripped his pants while working on his dirt bike, the look of surprise on his face was priceless. Maria’s smile faded a bit as she looked through a couple other pictures, these were ones that she’d taken when Dominic wasn’t looking. One was of the man looking out over the lake, that same look of contemplation on his face. She remembered that day as well.

Dominic had been working in one of his shop classes on something for his mom’s birthday, but at the last minute a couple of jocks had come in and smashed it to pieces, they’d called him names, and Dominic insisted that he was fine. Maria could see in that picture though, despite the stoic exterior, the man was doubting himself and his self worth. Maria had taken the picture, as well as the others, because she felt that it was good to remember someone’s lows as well as their highs. Looking through the album though, she had started to notice there seemed to be more lows than highs.

Maria took a deep breath and shook her head, subduing her emotions and setting the album down in the foot locker. She looked through several more items before closing the locker and standing up, the woman turned to face the men at the card table. A couple of them glanced at her for a moment before going back to their cards.

“I’m going to be moving out of here.” She said as she took a seat on her bunk, the soldiers turned and looked at her with raised eyebrows.

“You are?” Smalls asked, Maria nodded. “Is this because of that guy? Did he do something to piss you off? Because, we’ll kick his ass if he did!”

“Yeah!” O’Keefe said, Maria shook her head before she stood off her bunk and walked over to the table. The woman put her hands on her hips and looked them over quietly.

“Actually he’s moving out with me.” Maria admitted, the troops continued to look at her quietly. “I figure it’s about time we let some of the guys down the mountain have a chance up here, you know? On actual beds.” The woman took at look at Smalls’ cards for a moment, then faintly shook her head and went back to standing there. “Corporal Kowalski.” The woman turned and looked at the man. “Before you make any remarks regarding why Dominic and I are ‘really’ moving out, let me remind you of who’s in charge of the promotion board.”

“Understood, ma’am.” The soldier said nervously, he’d learned his lesson from messing with Captain Poplawski. There was a faint knock on the door, seconds later the door had opened and Dominic walked in with a bit of a bashful expression.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Maria said after turning and seeing him, the man silently gestured for her to come over and she did.

“He said sure, as long as we don’t keep him up at night…” Dominic said, rubbing the back of his neck quietly, Maria chuckled and looked at the floor.

“He’s a funny guy, isn’t he? Crude, but funny.” She hummed before looking over her shoulder over at the foot locker, Dominic caught sight of it as well and cracked his knuckles. “I’m capable of carrying my own foot locker, Dominic.”

“I know, but I want to do it anyway.” Dominic said as he walked past her and knelt down, grabbing the locker by the handles on the side and lifting it with a grunt. “You already climbed a big shelf and pushed a crate of sleeping bags today.” Smalls and the others raised an eyebrow at the conversation, some of them taking note that the man now had an AK-47 over his back. Dominic walked to the door as Maria crossed her arms across her chest and gave him a look that was a mix between annoyance and appreciation. “You could get the door though, that would be helpful.”

Maria smiled and opened the door to the temp building and Dominic stepped outside with her foot locker in hand. The woman walked back to her bunk and threw on her cloak, then picked up her rifle and looked at Smalls and the others.

“I’ll see you guys later.” She said with a slight wave, they nodded before going back to their card game. Maria sighed as she walked to the door and closed it behind her with a gentle thud. It was proving to be a very busy day, but at least she was going through it in good company.

[♠]

Mike chewed quietly on a bit of beef jerky as he peered through his binoculars down at the road coming into Evergreen, he and Mark had set up in a different hunting ground in anticipation of the Empress’ armored units. They had moved more onto the outskirts and both of them had taken to using the Remington rifles, beside Mike were two radios. A CB to listen in on EOL radio chatter, and a regular radio, which was currently playing a bit of techno music.

“Do you think she ever gets tired of that stuff?” Mark asked as sat against a tree and sifted through the personal effects of several dead EOL soldiers for anything of interest. Mike shrugged and lowered his binoculars, adjusting his hat and letting his binoculars hang on their strap.

“Andie hates this stuff, but she also knows that the Empress hates this stuff.” Mike replied simply, Mark nodded quietly. “Besides, it kind of grows on you after a while.” The two men had been sitting on the ridge overlooking the main highway into the town, they were in clear view of an old supermarket, a gas station, and off in the distance as a church. “You ever met her?”

“Who? Andreina?” Mark asked, Mike nodded and chewed on some more beef jerky. “Once, after we killed that lady that insisted she was an ancient Nordic battle maiden.” The man pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. “You know, for the bounty?”

“Oh, yeah…” Mike responded as he thought back to the kill in question. “Was she hot?” Mark gave Mike an annoyed look before he nodded. “Did ya fuck her?” Mark took a few seconds to think, then held up a finger. “Holy shit, you did!”

“Well… That’s how she pays her bounties…” Mark said with a shrug, Mike’s eyes bulged and he looked at his friend.

“She pays her bounties in sex and you’re just telling me this now!?” The man practically roared, Mark slowly nodded. “Fuck, man, if I’d known that before we would’ve won the war by now.” Mike grunted and looked back towards the road, shaking his head and putting his binoculars up to his eyes. “That’s a dick thing to do man, I’ve been looking at the same Playboy mags for three years and you go off to fuck the hot radio queen.”

“It’s not a normal thing, Mike.” Mark defended himself as he took a drag on his cigarette and discarded another stupid ‘letter from home’ in his pile of personal effects. “It’s not like I take weekly trips out to her station for a quickie while you’re out gathering supplies.”

“You saying that makes me think that’s exactly what happens.” Mike said as he continued scanning the road. “Whatever man, just be considerate next time, alright?”

“You’re taking this far better than I’d expected.” Mark mused as he exhaled a puff of smoke, Mike shrugged quietly.

“After all the shit I make you put up with, I can take a little shit now and then.” Mike said before his eyes froze on something on the horizon, Mark didn’t seem to notice his friend’s sudden freeze and instead began to recite one of the letters in a wimpy sounding tone.

“Dear Death Slayer, we’re so glad you’ll be coming home soon, Empress knows you-”

“Shut up.” Mike said abruptly as he reached over and turned off the radio, then got into a prone position and picked up his rifle. Mark looked at him with a bit of surprise, a wicked smile was starting to form on the young man’s face. “Oh baby… That is a beautiful thing. Mark. Mark Mark Mark!”

“What?” Mark said as he looked off towards the horizon.

“Fuckin’ convoy, man! Three pick ups, no armor on the cabs either!” Mike readied his rifle as he put his cross hairs on the driver of the lead truck in the convoy rolling down the road. Mark quickly set his items down and grabbed his rifle, he crawled up next to Mike and looked through his scope. Sure enough three pickup trucks loaded down with troops and supplies were rolling down the highway, passing by the occasional destroyed car or overturned bus. “You hit the last truck, I’ll hit the first one. The middle guy will be stuck long enough for you to tack him.”

“Look at you being all tactical.” Mark mused as he took aim at the last truck in the convoy, the driver was looking off to the passenger side, conversing with another soldier. “You know, these guys probably thought they wouldn’t have to worry about us until they got into town. What’s left of it, that is.”

“Almost feel bad for them.” Mike said as he lined up his own shot and started to slow down his breathing, he was still chewing slowly on the beef jerky, it helped to calm his nerves as he began to hear his heart in his ears. “Here we go…” Mike’s finger flexed over the trigger and he slowly squeezed the trigger. The rifle kicked against his shoulder and a bang resonated over the area, almost instantly the man could see the cab of the first truck was painted red. The driver slumped over the wheel with his foot on the gas, sending the truck careening into a wrecked car and tossing the soldiers in the back out like rag dolls onto the hard pavement.

Mark pulled the trigger a moment later, opening a bloody chest wound in the driver of the third truck. For a few moments the soldier in question maintained control of his vehicle, but ended up slamming into the back of middle vehicle. The supplies in the third truck spilled out onto the road while the soldiers in the second truck hopped out to try and aid their wounded comrades.

“It’s a good ol’ fashion turkey shoot.” Mark mused as he began picking off those that were trying to aid their comrades, Mike meanwhile took a moment to look around them. It was just a reflex he’d developed, even in winter the infected could still be out there, and it was easy for them to sneak up on snipers. Sure enough the area was clear, and with that notion the man went back to his scope and chuckled as he watched the EOL troops scramble for cover.

“What’re you so scared for! I’m sure you werewolves and vampires can take out two lowly snipers!” Mike called in a mocking tone before he pulled the trigger once again, watching with glee as one of the EOL troop’s head exploded into a cloud of red mist. Mark paused for a moment and looked over at his compatriot, the expression of hatred on Mike’s face scared him. More and more Mike had become crueler and crueler to the EOL, to the point it was starting to worry Mark. “Not so fun now when someone puts the fear of god into you, huh!”

By this point a contingent of twenty five or so soldiers had been reduced to ten and the survivors were starting to turn tail, Mark stopped firing as the EOL troops turned their backs, but Mike didn’t, he continued to reload and fire away. He shot them in the back, he shot them as they threw down their weapons in surrender, all he could see was red. He hated them. Every last one of them. He could hear screaming in his head, a woman’s screams, each time the rifle kicked against his shoulder they seemed to get louder and louder. Someone crying out to him, pleading for him to save her.

“No good!” Mike muttered as he fired and another fell. “Rapist!” And another. “BASTARDS!” The weapon clicked empty, and Mike found himself watching the last of the group running away. The man reached over for Mark’s gun, but his compatriot pulled it away just as the EOL survivor disappeared from view over the horizon. “You let him get away!”

“Mike!” Mark yelled, Mike was panting heavily as he looked down at his own rifle and the brass scattered about him. “Get ahold of yourself, goddamn it! You’re losing focus!”

“Fuck… I…” Mike mumbled, somewhat shocked at himself as he stood up. “I’ll be back…” The man left his rifle on the ground as he quietly walked off into the woods, Mark watched him with concern as he disappeared in the trees. As he walked along Mike could still hear the screaming and pleading, no matter how much he tried to shut it out. The man descended the ridge and began walking towards the ruined vehicles and dead EOL troops, he know that Mark could see him from the hill.

As he walked Mike removed his stetson and surveyed the damage, there were bodies strewn about the area. Some of them twisted in odd poses from the truck crash while others were clutching at wounds or laying flat with a hole in their head. Blood and tissue were splattered along the ground and forming into one large pool of red, the pool was running off the side of the road into the snow, staining the pure white with the horrors of war.

Mike continued walking along and picked up a discarded AK-47, occasionally he would nudge one of the bodies with his boot, but nothing would happen. He stopped at the crashed trucks, the middle one and the rear one. The man pulled open the cab door on the middle one, expecting to find it empty. Instead he found an EOL soldier hiding low in the seat, staring at him with terrified eyes. Mike raised his AK-47 and took aim, watching his mortal foe close her eyes in fearful anticipation. Mike’s finger moved over the trigger and he started to squeeze, but his grip began to shake.

Mike quietly lowered the AK-47 leaving the soldier to stare at him in confusion, without a word they looked each other in the eyes. The man put his stetson back on his head and walked away, leaving an absolutely terrified EOL troop in his wake. Said soldier didn’t dare get out of the truck, she wanted to wait until the ‘Colorado Kids’ had left the area before that. She’d been left with a bit of surprise, everything she’d been told about them said they were ruthless merciless killers, and yet there she was. Alive.

Mike walked to the last truck, the one containing the supplies. The boxes had fallen out onto the ground after the truck had crashed, the man could see it was most ammunition, but there were also the customary rations and various other things. Mike knelt down quietly and picked up one of the ration packs, examining it for a few seconds. Moments later he heard a bang off in the distance, a stinging pain opened up in his left shoulder as he fell to the ground.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” Mike yelled as he pushed himself under the truck, several more bangs echoed through the area, bullets kicked up asphalt and cement. “Mark! Sniper!” He put as much pressure as he could on his wound, hissing in pain as blood oozed through his fingers. “Clever sons of bitches… I stepped right into that one.” He could tell the bullet had passed clean through, as made evident by the exit wound in his shoulder that he was currently clutching at.

There was another bang, this one was far closer, Mike could tell it was Mark just by that alone. He began crawling under the truck towards the ridge, only for a bullet to wing one of the tires on the truck. It deflated with a hiss and pinned Mike’s leg, the pain wasn’t as bad as he’d expected it would be, but adrenaline was coursing through his body. It was in that moment that he truly began to doubt his chances of surviving, he closed his eyes and started to pray for some sort of miracle. He doubted that god would listen though, Mike had done numerous horrendous things, and he was most likely on the big man’s ‘Do not call’ list.

“Hey!” A voice called out in front of him, it was warm and had the slightest of Polish accents. Mike looked up and saw the EOL soldier he’d spared minutes before, only it seemed she’d pulled off her mask and was reaching out to him. “Come on! Before he get’s you!”

“Leg’s pinned!” Mike yelled back as he struggled, the woman looked a bit surprised. “Get out of here before my partner takes a shot at you!” She shook her head before rushing off, with a bit of a nervous huff she ran towards the damaged second truck, bullets were flying from both sides of the sniper battle so she had to be fast.

Her name was Wiktoria, she’d come to America two years before the outbreak, and in all the confusion she’d been swept up into the EOL. It was either fight for them or be turned into one of their thralls, and after a while she’d started to believe what the Empress was screaming. However, a very recent run in with an AK-47 had changed that outlook, and as such she began to rifle through the truck for tire repair kit. A bullet struck the passenger window sending glass flying into the vehicle, she did her best to ignore it and finally managed to find the tire jack.

With the jack in hand she ran back towards the collapsed truck and looked beneath, sure enough Mike was still there and he was starting to look pale.

“I will lift the truck! When I do you have to get out!” She yelled, Mike started to yell at her but she didn’t listen and rushed around to the other side of the truck, an open target for the EOL sniper. At first her actions went unnoticed and she managed to slip the jack beneath the truck, still Mike was yelling at her but she couldn’t understand his muffled words. When she began cranking the jack the EOL sniper took note, Wiktoria let out a yelp of fear as a bullet hit the ground beside her, still she continued to crank the jack. “Almost there!”

“Just leave! Run god damn it! I didn’t let you live so you could die here!” Mike finally made his voice heard under the truck, but Wiktoria ignored it. A bullet impacted the truck, inches from her head. Her heart was pounding heavily in her chest as she gave two last cranks of the jack, Mike was able to scramble out from underneath. Wiktoria turned to face the sniper, taking gulps of air and closing her eyes, knowing full well that it was the end.

In the distance she heard a bang, several seconds passed. She opened her eyes as she heard limping footsteps, she turned to her right and saw the Colorado Kid from under the truck, holding a wound in his shoulder and barely standing on what was probably a sprained ankle. Wordlessly he gestured for her to come over with his head, she nervously stood up and walked towards him, in the distance she could see another man walking down from a ridge with a rifle in hand.

“Let me do the talking… I’m Mike, by the way.” Mike said tiredly as he began to limp towards his compatriot, Wiktoria looked at him curiously before following him. As far as she knew the EOL probably would know what she’d done, so there wasn’t any real chance of her going back. Even if she could, she didn’t want to, her eyes had been opened. Mike continued limping along with her lagging behind him, until finally the two of them were standing across from the sniper. “Hey, Mark.”

“‘Hey, Mark?’?” Mark said as he walked forwards and examined the wound in his friend’s shoulder. “You’re a fucking piece of work, you know that?” Mike shrugged, only to wince a few seconds later. “Welp, looks like you’re gonna need a doctor for this one.”

“Yeah, I figured.” Mike winced as Mark ripped a bit of his jacket off and tied it over the wound in a makeshift tourniquet. “That lady with me saved my ass…” Mark cast a quick glance over to Wiktora who was shifting around nervously, then he went back looking at the wound. “We need a doc, I don’t suppose you have one in your back pocket, do you?”

“Nope, but I know someone that can patch you up.” Mark replied, only to pause and look at Wiktoria again. “Thing is, I don’t think she’ll take kindly to us bringing an EOL trooper with us.”

“Ex EOL.” Wiktoria corrected as she started to pull off her black uniform jacket. “This man spared my life, I want to help him.” She cast a look over her shoulder at the hills where the sniper had been. “Besides, I have a feeling after what I’ve done I won’t be welcome in the ranks.” Mark looked her over for a moment, then back at Mike.

“Twenty minutes ago you were killing EOL left and right, now you want to take one with us.” Mark muttered, Mike opened his mouth to protest bug Mark held up a hand. “Whatever, as long as you keep an eye on her, I don’t care. I think you really are going nuckin’ futs though.” Mark turned and looked at Wiktoria, then pointed to the only truck that hadn’t been totally destroyed or damaged beyond repair. The middle one. “You can drive that truck, right?” She nodded. “Great, get in, I’ll tell you where to go.”

Mike warily watched the woman as she walked to the truck with Mark, he didn’t trust her much, but running out into the path of a sniper counted for something in his book. Even if she was EOL, Mike had had enough of killing for that day. As he climbed into the somewhat cramped cab of the truck with the others he found himself feeling lightheaded, before long he’d passed out.

[♠]

Moonbeam stepped off the truck trailer as it came to a halt outside of the gate to the EOL’s camp just on the outskirts of CNG territory, the building was a sight to behold, a true marvel of the EOL’s ingenuity. At least, that was what the Empress called it. More accurately it was just a large warehouse complex that the EOL had surrounded with a wall of destroyed cars, sandbags, and barbed wire. Three hundred and fifty soldiers were currently stationed there, as well as the tanks that had just arrived.

The ‘princess’ took in the sight with a slight smirk, the base was certainly much stronger than she’d imagined it would be. It would only be a matter of time before they would crush the CNG forces through superior forces, at least, if her mission was successful. Moonbeam intended to use her feminine wiles to seduce the man known as ‘Night Eagle’, then she would use that leverage to force him to turn on his allies. If that failed she would instead gather as much information as she could, perhaps even steal one of the tanks.

For now though, Moonbeam was concerned with actually infiltrating the CNG lines. Getting there would be simple enough, but she needed a convincing disguise. Already she had discarded her gown, wings, and horn in favor of more common attire. A denim jacket and sweater, some cargo pants, and worn out sneakers. Along the way she had pulled them from an old abandoned house when the truck had stopped for some minor repairs. Despite her mundane attire, she knew that she would come off as too clean if she went as is. They’d spot her as an infiltrator quickly, and she didn’t want to think what would happen.

Moonbeam decided her best course of action would be to get dirty,but not too dirty. She didn’t want to look like she was trying to hard either, she just needed the perfect mix of dirt and clean to sell that she was a mundane survivor and not the beautiful princess of the night she knew she was. As the truck continued on through the gate, Moonbeam removed the Polaroid camera she wore on a strap over her shoulder and set it on the ground, followed by a sword she’d commandeered off of one of the troops on the truck.

The woman knelt down and reached into the melting snow until she felt the cold mud beneath it, with a slight grimace she took a handful of it and smeared it on her pants, as well as a small amount on her jacket, and for good measure she begrudgingly smudged some on her face. She was sure now that she looked like a survivor, and a quick self portrait with the Polaroid removed any remaining doubt. With that she cast a quick look at the gate guards, both of whom were staring at her with raised eyebrows. After a while they shrugged and went back to standing guard. Moonbeam sighed and knelt down to pick up her camera and her sword, attaching each a bit lopsided before she began walking down the road towards the mountain in the distance.

It would be a somewhat long walk, perhaps an hour or so, before she’d arrive there. As she strolled along she had more time to think about what she had done once she’d infiltrated the CNG lines. The Empress had only said to learn more about Night Eagle, beyond that she hadn’t given instructions, so Moonbeam assumed she’d be going for a long, deep cover. She had yet to come up with an alias, her true name would give her away in an instant, so she needed something simple and boring. She settled on Melissa, her old name. Easy to remember, easy to answer to, and she had a decent cover story.

Her sneakers crunched the snow beneath them, and she started to shiver as her feet became wet. The base got further and further behind her as she walked deeper into the wooded area that surrounded the road, she could hear the faint sound of woodpeckers in the distance, as well as the occasional deer. It was peaceful and calm, and it reminded her of the time before the infection had ravaged the land, when she had walked through her backyard. Melissa paused and shook her head. It wasn’t her backyard, it was the backyard of a human that she was trapped inside.

The more she told herself that, the more she felt better about herself. Melissa had been insecure and scared, but Empress Raven had helped her see that she wasn’t really Melissa. She was a princess, a princess that could move the moon and stars themselves, what did she have to be scared of? Moonbeam sighed quietly as she thought back to the days before the infection, it was just to get into character, at least that was what she told herself. She had been rather popular in school, got good grades, but she was always worried that people only saw her for her looks rather than her brain. Being a princess allowed her to have both smarts and looks, because there had never been an ugly princess.

Moonbeam paused as she thought back to one of the mundanes she’d been friends with before the fall, the two of them had been girl scouts in the same troop and gone hiking in the mountains, and Moonbeam could still remember how they’d stick their heads out of car windows and scream the lyrics to the songs on the radio. Moonbeam stopped in her tracks as she felt her throat tighten up, she had to stop thinking of herself as a pony princess if only for the mission’s sake, and that meant letting in the pain. For the foreseeable future, she would have to be Melissa.

The woman stopped as she reached a crossroads, she could see tank tracks in the snow on a couple of the roads, the sound of a rumbling engine in the distance got her attention. She began walking down that road, close and closer to the mountain. Melissa could see the shanty town on the side of the landmass and she had to admit it reminded her a bit of Canterlot, if Canterlot was built by hobos instead of the obviously superior ponies.

Melissa shook her head, she had to remind herself that she had to act like a mundane now that she was so close to the mission’s start. Her feet felt numb and the jacket wasn’t doing much against the cold, she could see her breath as the sky began to darken. The clouds were rolling in again, and she knew soon it would begin to snow.

The rumble of the engine was even closer now, so close in fact she was expecting to see a tank rolling down the road at any second. Melissa shoved her hands into her jacket pockets, it wouldn’t be long until she reached the CNG gate, the incline on the side of the road was increasing and there were some familiar destroyed cars she recognized from previous reconnaissance pictures. Her numb feet carried her onward through the now miserably cold snow, she regretted that she only had sneakers as opposed to boots, but she hadn’t had much choice in the way of footwear.

Melissa buckled down and continued walking onward, gritting her teeth as she pushed through the growing feeling of cold pain in her skin. The wet mud she’d smeared on her clothes had rapidly accelerated the cold, and her pants were absolutely soaked. Finally she caught sight of the tank as she rounded a final corner, it was bigger than she’d expected. Dark grey, like a German tank, and yet it looked American in design. There were a couple soldiers riding on the sides as a woman seemed to be directing it from the turret.

Melissa stopped in the cold snow to watch the tank as it drove through the fields surrounding the CNG gate, a picture of martial strength that put fear in the woman’s heart. There was no way the Empire could stand up to such a weapon, and if Night Eagle had a way to get more of them… She didn’t want to think about that, but visions of tanks rolling through Denver as the EOL fell to National Guard forces blooded her mind nonetheless. It took her a couple moments to compose herself before she began walking towards the gate again, doing her best to ignore the military hardware that seemed to be getting a good exercise.

She could see there was another tank parked outside the gate with its hatches open, but she couldn’t see the crew try as she might. Melissa came to a stop just in front of the gate, by now the guards there had taken note of her and become far more alert. She drew upon the well of fear and sadness within her and tears came to her eyes, then she sunk to her knees. The gate began to slide open and five national guardsmen stepped out with rifles in hand.

“Everything alright, ma’am?” One of them asked as they got closer to her, by now the tank was moving closer to the gate, most likely to park in a spot that very obviously belonged to it. Melissa looked at the soldier and reached out towards him.

“I… Is it safe here?” She asked, the soldiers walked closer and the lead man took a knee in front of her. “I… I was out there with my friend, and this group of infected just came out of nowhere, and… and…” She started crying again, the story she told was no lie, she had seen her friends swept away in a tide of grey flesh on more than one occasion.

“You’re safe here, ma’am.” The soldier said as he offered her his hand. “You’re lucky you found us before an EOL slave party did, come on, let’s get you inside and warmed up.” Melissa mentally raised an eyebrow at the term ‘slave party’, she assumed that the soldier was referring to the thralls, but the Empress had assured her that they were just infected people that had yet to turn. The Empress continued to say they were volunteers for the Empire, and Melissa was sure that was the case, the soldier must’ve been told lies.

“Th-Thank you…” Melissa said as she was helped up, the soldier smiled at her faintly before he turned and towards the parked tank with the hatches open.

“Major Draco!” He shouted, Melissa turned her head towards the tank. What she saw pop out of the turret sent her scampering back across the ground.

“Ja, Herr Small’s!” A thestral, a real live bat pony. It stared at her for a few moments as the soldier she’d been talking to, Smalls, reached out to her again.

“Please, don’t freak out, they’re not here to hurt you!” He said, Melissa’s heart was racing. A mysterious tank commander was one thing, but ponies in tanks was another thing entirely. She took deep breaths, but seeing the look of sincerity on the soldier’s face seemed to put her at ease. Melissa often found herself wondering why the CNG and the EOL couldn’t get along, these soldiers seemed like nice enough people. “They’re a little odd I know, but, well, we have a guy that can explain it pretty well. Come inside, you can meet with a couple of them, talk to the guy. You have my word, they won’t hurt you.”

“O-Okay…” Melissa said as she took Smalls hand again and stood up straight, the thestral was watching her with an expression. She couldn’t quite place it, but it almost looked like pity.

“As I was saying, Major Draco, would you kindly send word up the mountain there’s a new arrival.” Smalls said, Major Draco gave a quick salute before disappearing back into the tank. Melissa stared at the vehicle the entire way as she was lead inside by the soldiers, she froze once again as she caught sight of a couple ponies and even a griffon working on a tank alongside other thestrals. A few of them looked at her for a moment, then shrugged and went back to their work. Their conversation was muffled by distance alone, but she could tell the discussion was about her.

The soldiers walked Melissa towards a train station, she was familiar with the outside of the building, but not the inside. Many times the Empress had said controlling it would be the key to ending the war with the CNG, but the cost of capturing it and holding it always seemed to be too great. Yet here she was, being lead inside one of the best defended buildings in the state like she owned the place.

Melissa looked around in slight awe at the inside, there were bunks and a couple fires, and it seemed generally cozy. It wasn’t like her apartment, obviously, but she could see herself staying there if need be. It was nowhere near what the Empress had told it would look like, there weren’t hanging animal carcasses or drugs or anything. Then again, the Empress hadn’t seen inside of it herself, it was okay for her to make a mistake.

“So, Smalls, I hear the Major is moving out of the barracks. Is it because of the new guy?” Asked one of the soldiers walking Melissa along, Smalls looked over his shoulder and gave a slight nod. “Did he say something to her to piss her off that much?”

“Nah man, you saw how they were making out last night, she’s moving out WITH him.” Smalls said as they led Melissa onto the cog train where a waiting operator was standing by to begin taking them up the mountain. “Personally I’m kinda glad she’s getting a place of her own, and not just because that means the nudie mag ban is lifted.”

“Yeah, she has a bit of a temper.” Mumbled another one of the soldiers, Smalls shook his head.

“You see, she had a temper because she didn’t have new guy for three or four years.” He explained as he let his weapon hang on its strap and turned towards his compatriots, meanwhile Melissa took a seat on a bench and watched them as the train began up the mountain. “It’s like some Shakespearean shit or something, man. This guy saves her life and she doesn’t get to say thanks, then all of a sudden four years later he comes rolling in on a tank and says ‘I promised I’d come back, didn’t I?’.” Smalls adjusted his gloves as Melissa’s eyes went wide, was it possible the major they were talking about knew Night Eagle, it seemed likely. “I’m glad for her because in all those years did any of you see her smile? Even once?”

“Come to think of it…” A couple of them hummed, there were four in total, and the furthest back of the group had removed his helmet to scratch his head.

“Let’s just hope the EOL doesn’t fuck it up.” The man said bitterly, getting a couple nods from his compatriots. “You hear those fucks hit an NC supply train last night? Dragged off at least eight or nine women and kids to Golden.”

“Fuckin’ vultures.” Smalls spat, Melissa suddenly didn’t feel so good. She had known that her nation was disliked by the CNG, but to her it sounded like they downright reviled everything she stood for. “How many sex slaves and meat laborers are enough for them? I swear man, they’re fuckin’ Nazis, just pencil a little Hitler mustache on Raven’s lip.”

“Heh, you don’t even need to use a pencil I bet, bitch probably has to have that lip of hers waxed daily.” The soldier furthers back added, getting a couple laughs from the rest of the soldiers. Melissa looked quietly at the ground and an awkward silence settled over the train car. Smalls sighed and sat down beside the woman, looking at her with a somewhat apologetic look.

“Sorry about that, ma’am. We didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, but you know how things are out there.” He said, Melissa looked at him with a bit of nervousness. The revelation that there were ponies on Earth, not to mention those ponies seemed to be lead by the mysterious Night Eagle, and that the CNG’s real hatred of her faction ran deeper than she imagined, was all proving to be a bit much for the young woman.

“I thought I did…” She mumbled, a cloud of doubt was starting to form over her head. Melissa took a moment to remember who she really was, she was a princess, she could handle the stress just fine. The CNG were just misguided, the Empress surely couldn’t be as evil as the soldiers in front of her seemed to think. “My feet hurt…” Smalls looked down at her soaking wet sneakers, there was ice starting to form on them. Without a word the man knelt down and untied his boots, then untied her shoes and pulled them off, followed by her soaking wet socks.

“Sorry if this is a bit uncomfortable, but at least they’ll be warm and dry.” Smalls said as he stepped out of his boots and slipped them onto Melissa’s feet, she stared at him with a bit of confusion. “Frostbite is a danger up here, ma’am.” The boots were warm, and dry, and Melissa was already starting to be able to feel her toes again.

“What about you?” She asked, Smalls shrugged and looked down at his sock covered feet.

“I got you, Smalls.” Said one of the soldiers, Smalls nodded as the train reached the station for the shanty town. The soldier in question walked over and hefted Smalls up over his shoulder as if he were wounded.

“Thank you.” Melissa said, Smalls gave a thumbs up as he was carried out of the train. Melissa followed after them and out onto the makeshift platform. A cold wind blew against her cheek, and she froze as she saw two people standing there, the soldiers saluting as they walked past them. Smalls briefly told his comrade to stop, then she saw him say a couple hushed things to the two of them before he was carried off again.The first one, a woman with short brunette hair and a brown camouflage cloak, she didn’t recognize. However, the man she saw was a completely different story.

The very picture of a conqueror, he loomed over Melissa’s petite form. There was a confident smile on his face as he adjusted his peaked cap, a sword hung from his belt and there were several patches on his jacket that Melissa recognized. There was no doubt in her mind, she was looking upon the face of Night Eagle. He and the dark haired woman looked at each other for a moment, then she whispered a few words into his ear. He nodded and let his arms relax at his sides, meanwhile the woman walked towards Melissa and smiled faintly.

“Hello.” She said, Melissa looked at her with uncertainty. The cloak she was wearing reminded her of some of the pictures she’d seen of the hill folk snipers, Melissa didn’t think this woman was one of them, but it still unsettled her. “My name is Maria, this is my good friend Dominic, we’re here to get you settled in.”

“Oh, uh… Thank you.” Melissa said, the spy was genuinely confused with what was going on, how could a man like Night Eagle stand a mundane name like Dominic. She mentally shook herself back into the conversation and smiled at Maria. “I’m Melissa.” She looked around nervously, somewhat wondering what they were going to do with her.

“Well, come on, let’s get out of the cold.” Maria said said with a warm smile before putting a hand on Melissa’s shoulder. The woman’s hand was gentle and calming, and the spy felt genuinely safe in her care. The group of three departed through the shanty town, eventually they ended up at a small shack, Maria and Dominic’s shack to be exact. The man was surprisingly quiet, but the thoughtful look in his eye said that something was stirring in that brain of his. Melissa was a bit surprised that she was invited in with open arms, she’d never thought the CNG was so accepting.

The woman shook herself once again, she had to remember the CNG was the enemy.

“So, you hungry?” Dominic finally spoke up, she was a bit surprised at just how deep his voice was. Melissa looked at him and raised an eyebrow, somewhat worried he was going to make some sort of bullheaded demand. “We just got fresh rations, you’re welcome to mine.”

“Are you kidding?” Maria suddenly said, looking at him with a bit of concern. “You can’t just go without eating, the only thing you had today was stale cheese crackers.” Dominic put up a hand and shook his head resolutely.

“Maria, I’ve gone longer without food. She’s gonna be our guest, it’s not right that she goes hungry.” The man said with a firm tone, Maria started to open her mouth again. “And no, I won’t take your food either. You guys are the ones who need it more than me.” Melissa and Maria stared at him with a bit of shock. Maria couldn’t believe how he could do something like that, sure Melissa was a survivor, but she didn’t look like she was starving to death. Melissa was just as stunned, but perhaps more because of how selfless Dominic seemed.

“Fine…” Maria said with a bit of a sigh. “Go out back and try that stove thing you found, I hate cold spam.” Dominic just smiled and gave the woman a quick kiss on the cheek as he walked through a door in the back of the shack, stopping to grab a couple boxes from a makeshift shelf and leaving Melissa and Maria alone. “I can’t believe it, still as stubborn as ever…” Maria mumbled before she looked at Melissa with a faint smile. “Sorry if it’s a bit messy here, we only just moved in an hour or so ago.” The woman began to tidy up, picking up a couple pits of paper that had been scattered on the floor.

“It’s fine.” Melissa said as she helped to pick up the paper, Maria took it from her and set it in a small bag near the back door. “I’m not really worried about dirt…” Melissa briefly looked out the window, taking note that a couple ponies were talking outside, both of them wore odd uniforms that seemed to match Dominic’s attire. “I’m more worried about the ponies…”

“Don’t be.” Maria said as she pulled a workbench away from the wall out into the center of the room, followed by three of the four chairs that had been pushed up around it. “They’re actually Dominic’s soldiers, part of the evacuation mission.”

“Evacuation?” Melissa asked, Maria nodded as she took note of Melissa’s dirty clothes. She briefly hummed as she tried to think of a way to get the poor girl a set of fresh clothes.

“You actually missed it by a couple hours. We opened a portal to Equestria and sent a hundred or so of our civilian survivors through, as well as a couple of troops.” Maria said as she took a seat at the bench turned table, Melissa took that as her cue to also sit down. “Sorry about that, you could’ve gotten out of here.” Melissa shook her head as she adjusted the sword on her belt, it was a bit uncomfortable and so she unhooked it and set it on the floor, followed by her Polaroid camera. “He’s got a whole country on the other side, clean water, warm beds…”

“What’s he want in return?” Melissa asked, looking towards the back door where she could hear a faint sound, almost like singing. “Servitude? Soldiers…? Women?” Maria actually chuckled and shook her head, much to Melissa’s surprise.

“He just wants to help.” Maria said simply as she leaned back in her seat. “He’s seen some shit, on this side of the portal and on the other. In some ways it’s a bit worse than here, because he feels responsible for stuff on the other side that honestly… He had no control over.” She sighed and looked back to the door. “Don’t let his rough exterior fool you, he’s actually a pretty gentle guy. As long as you don’t piss him off.”

“Well, if they all evacuated, why are you still here?” Melissa asked, Maria crossed her arms and glanced briefly towards the sword on the ground. It was very obviously an EOL sword, the simple design and somewhat rough finish made it clear. Melissa’s heart froze, had she been found out?

“We’re still here because of swords like that.” Maria said as she pointed at the blade. “Swords created in abhorrent work conditions to serve a freedom hating bitch that would see you, me and every other woman under our banner turned into concubines.” Melissa turned in her seat again as she heard the faint singing from outside, she waited for a few moments before shrugging and turning back to the table.

“But I heard the EOL only had volunteers working those jobs…” Melissa said, the question wasn’t concerned with the mission, but she was curious what the CNG believed what was going on. Maria’s expression shifted to one of pity as she shook her head, Melissa grew confused.

“Don’t believe everything you hear, Melissa.” Maria said simply, she briefly paused to remove her cloak and drape it over the back of her seat. Melissa was a bit surprised by just how much the cloth had had hidden, for the first time in years she felt threatened by the looks of another woman. Then again, she had always been a bit self conscious. “In fact, don’t even take my word for it. If you want definitive proof you should talk to some of the folks we’ve liberated, that is, if they were still here. They were the first ones through the gate. Then again, they wander in from time to time as well.”

Melissa nodded as she looked at the table and contemplated what her next move would be, realistically it wouldn’t be a good idea to go and start snapping pictures of the tanks just yet. On top of that, she’d only just got there and she wanted to learn more about Dominic and Maria. The man in question was still outside cooking the rations, she could hear him still humming.

“Tell me more about the ponies…” Melissa hoped to change the subject, and it seemed that Maria was all to happy to oblige. “I was kind of a fan of a show awhile back, and they look sort of like them… Are they the same?” Maria nodded and leaned back in her seat once more, the old bit of furniture creaked.

“Pretty much.” Maria said simply, she looked over her shoulder at the door once again, it was clear that Dominic was somewhat enjoying his role of cooking. Perhaps it was because the previous owners had left behind a rather nice rocket stove constructed from cinder blocks and things like that always seemed to appeal to him. Maria brought her thoughts back to the conversation at hand. “Dom’s probably the one you’d want to talk to about it though, he’s the one that lived there the longest.”

“Really?” Melissa asked. “Did he meet the princesses?” Maria nodded as she looked back to her guest with a smile.

“Yup, all four of ‘em.” The woman’s smirk shrunk for a moment. “Almost ended up dating one of them too. To be honest, I’m not so sure how I feel about that…” She shook her head and leaned forwards on the table. “From what I heard things are pretty harsh there too, there was a war with the changelings, a war between zebras and minotaurs, there was a communist town that was basically a death camp.” Maria paused and looked back at the door again, then to the table, then the door. “To be honest, way he described that last bit, almost seems like he was fighting the EOL. Minus all that ‘vampire and werewolf’ stuff.”

Melissa was beyond surprised to hear there was war and death in the world of the ponies, her assumption had been that all was right with the world there. Yet hours ago she had seen ponies driving tanks and wearing uniforms, now she heard that there had been a faction like the EOL in Equestria… And they were the bad guys. Maria grew a bit concerned as she saw a look of panic starting to wash over Melissa’s face, the mud covered woman brought a hand to her chest as she breathed heavily.

“Calm down, deary…” Maria said as she stood up and walked over to Melissa, she knelt down beside her and started to rub her shoulders. “At this altitude breathing like that will put you out like a light. Come on now. Slow deep breaths.” The soothing calming tone helped to put Melissa off the verge of a nervous breakdown, it did nothing to quell the feelings of uncertainty in her gut. Deep down inside her, somewhere, a small part was screaming at her that there was something incredibly, inescapably wrong. In a matter of hours everything she had believed seemed to be unraveling. She shook herself and breathed deeply and slowly. She couldn’t take Maria’s word for it, the short haired woman had said so herself, she’d have to talk to Dominic about it. “Better?”

“Better…” Melissa replied quietly as she rubbed her temples. “It’s just… A lot to take in, is all.” Maria stood up and walked back to her seat, looking at the woman in front of her with warm caring eyes. “Finding out we aren’t alone in the universe, trudging for hours in the snow, hearing that things are all screwy with the aliens that, oh by the way, are from a kids show….”

“A real mind fuck, isn’t it?” A familiar baritone voice said from the doorway, both Maria and Melissa turned their gaze to Dominic who was walking in with two sandwiches on paper plates. They were hot and steam rose off the melted cheese, pan fried spam, and toasted bread, Melissa had to admit that for mundane food it smelled very good. The man set both plates down on the table before closing the back door and taking a seat among the women. “You’ll get used to it after about a month or so.”

Dominic removed his cap and set it on the table as he watched Melissa and Maria with a good natured smile, Melissa quickly began to dig into her sandwich while Maria looked at hers quietly. After a few seconds she ripped it in half and handed one of the halves to Dominic, he prepared to protest but Maria just gave him a look. Reluctantly he took the sandwich and took a bite, almost against his will he wolfed it down as his hungry stomach took over.

“I was just telling her about Equestria, you know?” Maria said as she ate her half of the sandwich, Dominic looked at Melissa with a raised eyebrow. “We were on the topic of the Glimmer Village and how it was sort of like the EOL.” Melissa couldn’t believe what she saw at the mention of those words, the towering pillar of martial strength known as Dominic shuddered. A haunted look entered his eyes and his gaze rapidly moved to the table.

“Oh…” He said quietly, his fingers nervously drummed against the wood. “I suppose they’re kind of similar, I guess.” Melissa had seen that look countless times before, on the faces of some of her friends in the EOL when they discussed The Fall, or the loss of their family. Yet there was something more to it. “I haven’t seen what the EOL does first hand yet, but if it’s anything like the Glimmer Village…” There was another shudder before he looked at Maria. “You remember those videos we watched in world history? About the Nuremberg trials? The part where they showed that camp with all the bodies lined up outside it?”

Dominic took a deep breath and shook his head as Melissa tried to contemplate what he was talking about, Maria watched the man close his eyes for a few seconds before he stood up from his chair.

“I’m gonna go see if there’s anything to do out there, you guys want me to grab anything?” He asked, Melissa and Maria shook their heads. They silently watched the man grab his hat and walk out of the shack, the silence lingered for a few minutes as they pondered just what had happened.

“Way to go, Maria…” Maria muttered to herself, she rubbed her temples and let out an annoyed breath. “Sorry about that, I shouldn’t have brought that up with him, it’s still a bit of a sore subject.” Melissa silently nodded as she watched the door for a few more minutes, the next couple hours passed with some small talk and a couple laughs, and Melissa found herself coming to like Maria more and more. Her original mission was on the back burner, for now she was enjoying an actual conversation where she didn’t have to worry about preferred pronouns or offending some high elf with her pony-ness.

After a while it grew dark and Melissa found herself somewhat sleepy, she decided that since she was the guest she would sleep off to the side and allow Maria and Dominic more access to the sleeping bags. At first she fell asleep easily, but after what could’ve been hours she awoke to the sensation of Maria laying down on the bags, followed by the sound of Dominic laying down as well. She could hear some hushed talk between the two of them, talk she chose to ignore despite her being a spy.

As the night went on she awoke once again to whimpering, she opened her eyes and risked raising her head to see who it was. She didn’t know what she expected to see, but it certainly wasn’t Dominic curled up in a ball beside Maria with the woman doing her best to keep him calm. She shushed him and ran her hand over his back until eventually he seemed to calm down, after that Maria went to sleep again, but Melissa didn’t. She turned onto her back and stared up at the ceiling, everything felt numb as she tried to process what she had heard and seen during the day.

She wasn’t a professional spy, she hadn’t been trained to put her mission against her personal feelings, she’d been chosen as head spy for purely political reasons. As such, she was struggling to cope with two realities. One, her ideal world where she believed herself to be from existed and it was just as screwed up as Earth had been. Two, whatever Glimmer’s Village was, it was apparently similar to the EOL and it had reduced a six foot four warrior to tears. Her faith had been shaken, but being ever the persevering soul she was, she decided she would continue trying to find out more. Not for the EOL or the Empress, but for herself.

She just prayed that no matter how it turned out, she could still call herself a good person in the end.

Author's Notes:

So... Many... Words.... *collapses on the desk and slides the clip of the day forwards*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD6JVGk2ay8

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