The sound of an alarm echoed through the cavernous facility located on the outskirts of Appleloosa, two thestrals snapped up in their seats and looked over their control panels. It was morning on the surface, but they were deep underground by themselves. The sound of the siren was one that they had dreaded ever hearing. Their jobs were relatively simple, as Missile Command Officers they just had to be ready to launch at a moments notice. Even with the war raging, neither had imagined that they would receive the call to act. They weren’t the only ones to be surprised, as across the western coast Vulcan and B-52 bombers were being rolled out of their hangers loaded down with Thermo-Arcane warheads.

The crews of these aircraft, as well as the ground workers, were all stunned to know that they would be employing the deadliest weapons ever constructed by man in a vast quantity. Despite that, they had very little qualms with actually using them. The Caribou had started the war and tried to invade, and it was well known among the public that an invasion of the Caribou Mainland would be a costly and pointless endeavor. The Caribou would not be brought to heel by conventional means, and for those that had lost loved ones to the war, the bombs couldn’t fall soon enough. Dominic quietly sighed as he looked out over the ocean, Luna standing beside him as a flock of seagulls flew through the air.

Dominic’s anger had subsided, but the task had not. The Caribou had made their bed, and now they would have to lay in it. Hopefully the strike would serve as a warning to the Zebras and Saddle Arabians to lay down their arms and surrender. It was likely, however, that only the Saddle Arabians would heed the warning. The man watched the waves as he heard guns pounding in the distance, the pocket of New Axis Troops were dug in like ticks. It made searching for Maria impossible, and had spoiled an otherwise peaceful morning. Luna and Dominic stood there silently, watching the waves crash against the shore. Bits of wood and dead bodies had washed up on the beach for miles from the battle the night before, but despite that there was still a calmness to the ocean.

“Luna…” Dominic said quietly, the mare looked over at him. “I…” He trailed off, he didn’t know what to say. He had never dreamed he would have to give the order to actually use Thermo-Arcane weapons, he had hoped that the New Axis would’ve surrendered when their invasion force was beaten back, but that was a pipe dream. They were far more resistant than the Equestrians, perhaps even more so than the North Koreans, they only understood force. Dominic hoped that the Onorussian’s message would be very clearly conveyed. The distant sound of guns gradually was joined by another sound, a howling noise that echoed on the wind like the cry of a demon.

Dominic and Luna both turned to face the source slowly, in the sky above them were a dozen airplanes. Half of them were B-52s, the other half were Vulcan bombers. The Vulcans were the source of the screaming wail, their targets would be closest to the Caribou Coast, the B-52s would hit targets in the middle of the country, and the ICBMs would target the very far reaches of the Caribou’s territory. They would wipe any major city off of the map, including the Caribou’s capitol. At the same time, the remaining Vulcans and ICBMs would target cities in Saddle Arabia and the Zebra lands. They would each have two hours to surrender. Tombstone Diplomacy, that was what the chief’s of staff had called it, though it’s official name was ‘Operation: Icarus’. Dominic couldn’t help but feel guilty as to what would happen. At the same time, he had to think of what was best for his people, for his soldiers. Cutting the head off of the snake would at least make a land invasion of the other two Axis countries easier.

At least… That was how he justified it to himself. Dominic watched the aircraft as they gained altitude and flew further into the distance, after a few minutes their deathly cries were gone to the wind, and it seemed that even the pounding of the artillery had become quieter.

In one of the Vulcan bombers above, a young Air Force Pilot was watching his compass vigilantly, Captain Jake Hewitt couldn’t help feeling the butterflies in his chest. The man had flown all sorts of missions in his life, from evacuating the remaining British UN delegates to the US to a sortie over Manehattan during the Forty Eight Hour War. He had never carried such a deadly payload before, neither had his crew. He glanced over his shoulder into the back of the plane, towards the bomb bay. He couldn’t help thinking about the weapons that sat back there, two thirty five megaton Thermo-Arcane bombs. He would be dropping both of them on the Caribou capital city. There were two, just in case one of them malfunctioned.

The flight to their target would take five hours, a lot of time for the men of the bomber to ruminate on their mission. The bombardier, a unicorn mare, didn’t seem to have any qualms with the idea of dropping the weapons, but he supposed that was because she rarely talked unless spoken too. Captain Hewitt hadn’t quite made up his mind whether he was okay with the mission or not, but he did know he would complete it regardless of his personal feelings. The weapons themselves didn’t look very menacing, they looked like large conventional bombs, but their noses were painted bright purple for identification purposes.

Hours ticked by as the plane made its way towards the Caribou Capital, flying at an altitude that was beyond the capabilities of their primitive air force. The ocean beneath the aircraft eventually become an alpine plain, tiny villages dotted the area, and the landscape was unarguably beautiful. Hewitt couldn’t help but wish the purpose of his mission wasn’t as destructive, but at the same time he knew that that beautiful country below was being worked by a slave labor force. After witnessing what the EOL had done first hand, he couldn’t in good conscience let it continue to go on. The captain narrowed his eyes and looked over at his co-pilot, the diamond dog in the seat beside him had the same determined look in his eyes. The Caribou had occupied countless diamond dog tribes over the years, the animosity had come to a head when the war began.

Finally the call came over the radio from their navigator that they were approaching the target, Hewitt reached town to a pouch between the seats and withdrew a pair of tinted goggles. The rest of the crew followed suit and pulled them on in preparation. Ahead of them was the Caribou Capital of Donnerstal, a sprawling metropolis with spires of black smoke rising up from the numerous factories there. At the very center of it all was a massive castle with gold plated guard towers that gleamed in the bright midday sun. Hewitt looked to his watch and noted the time, then quietly gave the order to open the bomb bay doors as they got closer to the castle.

On the ground below, a deafening howl had filled the air that had never been present before, in one of Donnerstal’s numerous parks a female Caribou child looked up and watched as a dove took off from one of the trees into an otherwise clear blue sky. Her mother was standing next to her, and had seemed to take note of the new howling noise that had filled the air. The younger caribou looked up as the dove flew higher, until something else caught her attention. She pointed up and looked at her mother.

“Look, mummy! There’s an airplane up in the sky!” She said excitedly, before her mother could respond there were two blinding flashes of light. It suddenly became very hot, and then… Nothing. The child and her mother never knew what hit them, vaporized in seconds as a wave of purple arcane energy swept over the city and turned whatever it touched to ashes. The Emperor himself was on the distant edges of the city, and had turned to speak to one of his advisors. Within that brief moment of looking away, his entire castle and seven million of his citizens had been vaporized. As he turned back to watch the rising twin fireballs at the center of the city he was struck by seering heat, and once again there was nothingness.

A massive wave of air was streaking through the city. It tore houses from their foundations, hurled carriages and tanks like toys, and turned anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in its path to a bloody paste. There was a tremendous short boom, followed by a droning roar of thunder that seemed to get louder and louder. Buildings that had stood since the founding of the Empire were reduced to rubble. After fifteen hellish seconds of fire and brimstone the noise came to a halt, a haunting specter began to rise over the ruins of the city. The two warheads, each with a yield of thirty five megatons, had combined into one massive mushroom cloud that grew higher and higher into the sky, slowly blotting out the sun as it stretched miles upward into the heavens. For those that had somehow survived the ordeal, their terror was not over, as more flashes appeared on the horizon and white streaks could be seen up in the sky, streaking towards the very fringes of the Caribou mainland.

Along the Saddle Arabian border the flashes could be seen in the distance and the ground could be felt shaking for nearly a full minute, the Caribou soldiers that had been training with their Saddle Arabian comrades watched in shock as their homeland was being wiped from the map. The message from the Onorussians was more than clear to the leaders of the Saddle Arabian government, unlike their fanatic neighbors to the north and south, they had a sense of self preservation for themselves and their citizens. Hours passed before the Zebras were hearing tell of the strikes from the Saddle Arabians, and it wasn’t long before the Onorussian ultimatum arrived over the radio.

”Citizens of Saddle Arabia and the Zebra Tribal Lands. This is Imperator Dominic Occisor of the Military Republic of Onorus.” The authoritative voice echoed through every radio set in the two remaining countries, catching the attention of both populations. ”By now the news of our Thermo-Arcane Strikes against the Caribou Empire has reached you. You can avoid their fate by throwing down your arms and surrendering unconditionally to the Onorussian government. You will be treated fairly, and there will be no need for any further loss of life.” Though the tone was commanding, it was clear that the man giving the speech was very somber and sincere.

”It is the decision of this government that a conventional invasion of your nations would be costly for both sides, in both lives and resources.” The Imperator went on in his stern, authoritative voice. “I, for one, am not about to order millions of my people to die because of your obstinance. To the civilians of both your nations, I urge you to evacuate your major cities as fast as you can. To your governments… You have three hours to submit your formal response to our ultimatum, at which time if you have not surrendered… I will order every one of your major cities and military installations destroyed.” There was a long pause. ”You have seen the might of the Onorussian Bear. If you test us again, you will fail.”

There was panic in the streets of every major Saddle Arabian city as frantic civilians began to flood the streets, some were rushing home to get their families, others were on their own. Rapidly the already undermanned police force became overrun, many of their officers soon joined the fray of panicking civilians. In the castle of the Saddle Arabian kingdom’s capital, the king was sitting on his throne with a calm expression. He had been convinced that the Caribou were unstoppable, and he still held that belief. He wasn’t going to surrender, surely the Onorussian’s didn’t have the resources to use such destructive magic again.

Sitting beside the king’s throne was his daughter, Princess Dunai, she had a much more concerned expression on her face, and occasionally she looked down at her sword which hung around her waist. She watched as the numerous advisors begged and pleaded with her father to surrender, but he sent them all away. It took nearly an hour before the staff calmed down, one hour closer to annihilation. It was at that point that they heard a terrible howling noise from outside, it shook the windows of the illustrious palace.

This got the king to his hooves, he trotted to the window. Dunai, being ever curious, followed and looked out the window as well. She gasped as she saw three alien craft over the city, two Onorussian fighters and a third plane that seemed to be emitting the howling noise. They were circling over the city, Dunai watched as half a dozen triplanes rose from the distant airfield, but they were quickly dispatched by the two fighters. Flaming hulks of wood and metal slammed to the ground, and the engines seemed to howl in exaltation. Crowds of civilians stampeded through the streets below, panicked screams echoed through the city.

“Father! This is madness!” Dunai shouted, watching the planes with panicked eyes. Once again fighters rose to fight, only to be downed in flames as their comrades had been before. One of the fighters broke off and zoomed towards the airfield, it dropped two bombs from its wings which impacted the runway and left massive craters, ensuring no further planes would be able to take off. “We must surrender!”

“No!” Her father said sternly, even as he watched the alien aircraft rejoin the pack of circling sky wolves. The humans and their alien technology didn’t scare him, he wouldn’t be bullied into submission by a nation that would have him give up all his servants that he’d won in combat. “I will not have my kingdom desecrated by their emancipationist ideology.” Princess Dunai felt a pit in her stomach, her father turned to look at her with tired eyes. “If you fear death, I understand, you are a mare… Leave now, run with the stampede. I shall face my destiny here and now.”

“I will not…” Dunai said, watching the aliens circle overhead once again, then looking to a clock on the wall. There was an hour and a half left. “Father, if the Zebra’s surrender, we will be destroyed alone… Please! Surrender!” The King looked at her and walked to the nearby radio, he turned it on and tuned it to a signal broadcast out of the Zebra lands.

“If they surrender, I will consider it.” The king said, though Dunai hardly believed him. She moved towards the radio and listened hopefully, praying to the divines that the Zebra tribal council would see past their pigheadedness for once and actually surrender. It was a long shot, but Dunai hoped it would be the way to change her father’s mind. Minutes ticked by, silence continued to reign in the room, and soon an hour and a half became simply an hour. Through the crackled static of the radio, the voice of the Zebra tribal head rang clear.

”We do not fear the Bear! Strike us down, if you dare!” Dunai gasped at the response, several minutes later there was a flash of light to the south, then another, and another and another. She and her father rushed to the window and watched in awe as mushroom clouds appeared on the horizon, Dunai looked to her father with a nervous expression and pointed to the clouds.

“Don’t you see, father!? They’re more than capable!” She shouted, her father glared at her and pushed her aside.

“I will not back down!” He said through gritted teeth. “Learn your place, daughter!” Dunai glared right back at him, in her mind she had run out of options. She couldn’t let her people be destroyed because of her father’s stubborn old ways, her glare turned to a look of sorrow as a couple tears came to her eyes.

“I’m sorry for what I must do now, father!” She shouted in a hoarse voice, her father looked at her in surprise. “I challenge your right to the throne by combat!” Her father’s eyes widened as Dunai drew her sword and twirled it, the clock on the wall told her she had only forty five minutes to act. Her father went for his sword and drew it with a loud grunt, the two of them went at it, their blades clanging together as both of them fought. Each had tears running down their cheeks, each shouted loudly as they traded blows, each felt that their way of life was on the line. Dunai’s father was old by far, and not very strong, but he still fought tooth and nail. For half an hour they traded their blows, each one’s hesitance drew out the conflict, but as the clock got closer Dunai knew she had to get it over with. With a final grunt and hard shove, she broke her father’s defense. Her sword plunged through his robes and into his chest, she let go and stared in shock as her father collapsed to his knees.

Within seconds she had moved to catch him, holding him against her chest as she felt more tears running down her cheek.

“I-I am sorry, father!” She cried out as she held him, he didn’t speak and simply closed his eyes before nuzzling against her neck as if to say he forgave her… Even in death, even after their final battle, he showed her that he wasn’t all bad. “I promise you, Father… I will let this be our people’s last battlefield…” Princess Dunai, now Queen Dunai by Right of Combat, laid her father gently on the floor and cleared her throat. “Guards!” A pair of guards entered the room and stared, shocked, at the body of their dead king. “I have won the right to the throne by combat!”

“We recognize your right, your highness!” The guards said in unison, bowing their heads, even though they were still surprised by the turn of events. “We are yours to command!”

“Bring me a radio with a microphone! Hurry!” Dunai shouted, looking at the clock, there were ten minutes left. She was cutting this close. The guards nodded and rushed out of the room, shouting the news of their new leader to anyone they happened to pass.

In the air above the Saddle Arabian Capital, the crew of the Vulcan bomber checked their watches like hawks. The aircraft was painted with traditional Onorussian colors, sky blue on the underbelly and olive drab on the top. There was also a picture of a an ancient Earth Crusader, the words ‘Deus Vult!’ were painted in gothic letters beneath it. It seemed fitting considering the mission the plane was designed for, and even more ironic that it was going to be used against the Saddle Arabians. They all waited patiently, the pilot spent almost as much time flying as he did watching his watch, ten minutes became five, and then became two.

The Pilot looked to his bombardier and nodded, the sound of hydraulics echoed through the aircraft as the bomb bay doors inched open, exposing the two thirty five megaton Thermo-Arcane warheads to the ground below, their fighter escort began to bank away as the Vulcan moved onto a course with the palace. Each man on the crew continued checking their watches, they were in the final countdown.

Princess Dunai couldn’t wait any longer, in a panic she pulled down a white drape and curtain rod before she rushed out onto the balcony of the palace and began to wave the makeshift white flag as hard and high as she could, the jet was right ahead of her, flying straight towards her. She hoped that they would spot her before they dropped the bomb, or that one of the other aircraft would see her and radio it in. Her heart pounded in her chest as the howl of the engines got louder and louder, a horrifying noise that filled her ears and drowned out the panicked screams that still echoed from the city below.

“Crusader One!” Shouted the pilot of one of the F4 Phantoms to the pilot of the Vulcan, pointing out the window just as the clock reached zero. “White flag! White flag! Wave off! Wave off!” Everyone took a collective deep breath as the Vulcan rapidly jerked away, as if it had released its payload. Seconds passed, everyone in the city took a second to collect themselves, and when the Vulcan began circling around once again everyone let out a collective sigh of relief. No mushroom cloud rose, no tremendous flash of light, now loss of life… Other than the King who had fought so hard to protect the ways of old.

Unfortunately, the news of the surrender or bombings had no way of being communicated to the forces still waging war on the Onorussian mainland. One last pocket of resistance was proving to be difficult, even as it was encircled by the Onorussian military.

[♠]

Maria gritted her teeth as she fired her rifle out of the window at a squad of Caribou troops that were moving towards the cabin, the weapon kicked against her shoulder as an enemy soldier fell to the ground. She dropped to cover in order to rack another round, Scootaloo and Vincent popped up with their AKs and began peppering the enemy with suppressing fire. They had to make each shot count, as ammunition was running low. The squad of enemy troops lost two more soldiers before retreating to cover. Maria squeezed off another round on them as they ran for cover, dropping her target like a sack of potatoes. The snow around the cabin was soaked with blood from scattered dead bodies, the winter chill was running through the building and making Maria’s teeth chatter, even with adrenaline she found herself struggling to stay warm.

Off to the left she heard more clacking rifles, Onorussian AKs from the sound of them, but they were still too far away to be of much help other than keeping the pressure up on the advancing squads. Scootaloo and Vincent ducked back down, panting as they looked to Maria for strength, the woman was steady as a rock even as she battled the cold. Carlos could be heard firing from a different window of the house, it was easily defendable. They had stacked the couches in a sort of barricade over Victor, the pillows and blankets helped to keep him warm even with the freezing snow that blew in through the shattered windows.

Maria could tell that ammunition wasn’t the only thing running low, despite her calm appearance she could tell that morale was a big issue. She peeked up over the windowsill and looked out at the enemy troops, zebras could be seen moving against the snow, most likely some sort of special operation’s team or suicide squad. Maria looked to Scootaloo and the others, doing her best to think of something that could boost their spirits.

“Scootaloo! Are you scared?!” Maria shouted over the noise, Scootaloo looked at her with a raised eyebrow but nodded. “Don’t be! You hear those rifle shots!? We just need to hold out a bit longer!” Several bolts of energy flew through the window from the Zebra squad outside, Maria put her sniper rifle down and picked up Victors AK-47. “Fix bayonets!” She reached to the sheath for the bayonet and pulled the sharpened blade from within, then she affixed it to her rifle. Scootaloo and the others did so, still bearing nervous expressions. She had to think of something simple, something to repeat over and over again, and for once watching all those historical documentaries with her husband paid off in the form of an easy one. “Now! I want you to repeat after me, alright?!” The bolts continued to whiz overhead. “Gott mit uns!” The others looked at her like she was crazy. “Do it!”

“Gott mit uns!” Scootaloo and the others shouted, Maria nodded and stood up, firing a couple rounds towards the advancing zebars.

“Louder! You are Onorussians! Let them know who they’re facing!” Maria ordered as she dropped back to cover, Scootaloo and Vincent looked at one another before gaining determined expressions.

“Gott mit uns!” They shouted, their voices echoing over the field, they continued shouting loudly as they would pop up to fire at the approaching Zebras. Two of the enemy squad fell to the ground, still they charged.

“Gott mit uns! All together! Gott mit uns!” Maria bellowed, the rifle shots were getting louder, she could tell her forces were closing on their position. They just needed to hold out longer, their shouting was starting to have an effect on the Zebras. In the culture of the Zebras, warriors that yelled in such a fashion indicated that they would die before they surrendered. For the first time, a squad of Onorussian’s had earned their respect on the battlefield. Maria kept firing, dropping another one of the enemy soldiers, but two of the remaining squad reached the front door. Maria readied herself, pointing her bayonet out as the door was pushed inward. She charged forwards, shouting loudly as she buried the bayonet into the chest of the first Zebra. Vincent fired a single round at the second intruder, striking him point blank in the temple.

Maria dislodged her weapon and pushed the two bodies out the door, then closed it. She looked towards the dining area and moved over, then grabbed a chair and pulled it back to the door. She wedged it between the door and the floor, she hadn’t had time to earlier as the first attack had come quickly. The woman set the AK-47 aside and picked up her Mosin once again, she begrudgingly removed the scope and set it aside as well, the enemy was so close at this point it was more of a hinderance. The woman felt like some sort of character in a world war two film, fighting off the hordes of the axis with her trusty Mosin. Even without her scope she was still lethal, picking off any Caribou or Zebras that poked their heads out from behind the trees.

In the distance there was a sound like thunder, something that caught Maria’s attention right off the bat. She looked towards Scootaloo and the others, and pointed towards the floor. For all the other Onorussian’s knew, she and her troops could’ve been dead, they had no way of communicating or telling them where they were, that meant they were in serious danger from both sides.

“Incoming artillery! Take cover!” She ordered, the cadets hit the deck before Maria did. Outside of the house she could hear explosions, through the window she saw trees splintering and exploding as artillery shells detonated on their trunks. Chunks of dirt and rock rattled down on the roof of the cabin as the artillery punished the area in front of the building, each blast felt like it was going to knock the building off of its foundation. Everything shook, Maria kept her mouth held open to keep from biting her tongue off or blowing out her eardrums. She watched as Vincent curled up into a ball across the room, Scootaloo was looking around in a panic, and Carlos was scrambling away from the window and towards the couch barricade. A tree branch punched a hole through the roof and sent snow and wood crashing down on the dining area, causing Maria to get as small as possible. The barrage lasted for an agonizing two minutes before subsiding, replaced by the sound of shouting and hollering.

Maria poked her head up cautiously, expecting to see a flood of Caribou and Zebra’s charging their position. Her breath hitched in her throat as she saw hundreds of Onorussian soldiers of varying races charging through the snow and trees, whistles were blowing loudly and helicopters chopped the air overhead. Maria stood up quietly, lowering her rifle and moving to unblock the door. She tossed the chair aside and pulled the door open, it squealed on its hinges. The first wave of soldiers had seemed to abate, and the gunfire was ahead of her in the distance now, more whistles blew and a second wave of troops began rushing forward past the house. Maria wandered out into the snow as a squad of soldiers moved towards her, though her attention was more on the bodies strewn about the ground.

Maria quietly let her rifle drop to the ground, feeling exhaustion washing over her, the squad of soldiers stopped in front of her. They were very much stunned to find themselves standing in the presence of the Imperatrix, the woman looked to the cabin and silently gestured for the others to come out. After a couple seconds, Maria gathered her faculties enough to speak.

“We have a boy who is very sick, and these cadets need food and care…” She said tiredly to the sergeant in front of her.

“We’ll get to them, ma’am!” The soldier shouted as a helicopter began to hover overhead, a chinook by the looks of the twin rotors. On the bottom of it was a red cross, indicating it was a medical transport. The side door opened and a crewmember leaned out, hooking a metal basket to a winch before beginning to lower it. “Please, come with me! We need to get you to the command tent!”

“No, they go first!” Maria shouted back, looking to the cabin as Carlos and Vincent helped carry Victor out into the open. Snow whipped around them as the basket got lower and lower, the Sergeant looked rather apprehensive, but he wasn’t about to talk back to the Imperatrix. The basket finally reached the ground, allowing Vincent and Carlos to load Victor in. Maria moved towards the sick boy and looked him over, he had his eyes open and was looking around. Shakily he leaned up and gave a weak salute to Maria, the woman returned it with a gentle nod before the basket began to be pulled back up into the helicopter. She and the cadets had fought tooth and nail to keep him alive, by force of medicine or force of arms. There was no way to accurately describe the gratification of watching Victor get pulled into the medical helicopter.

The soldiers set up a perimeter as one by one the cadets were loaded into the helicopter via the basket, first to go was Carlos, then Vincent. Scootaloo looked at the helicopter for a couple seconds as the basket began to lower back down towards her, after a moment she looked back to Maria and slung her rifle over her back. The helicopter blades made it impossible to hear, but Maria could see the mare mouth the words ‘Thank you.’ The woman nodded back, the two of them shared a respectful salute before Scootaloo climbed into the now lowered basket. Maria watched as the mare was lifted back into the air, and eventually pulled into the helicopter. The door closed, and the helicopter began to fly away, only for a smaller huey to come in and take its place.

The clearing around the cabin left it just enough room to actually come down for a landing, it kicked up more snow and dirt as it got lower. When it finally set down, Maria saw a squad of Lunar Marines jump off and set up their own perimeter. The sergeant of the first group gestured for her to go, the woman nodded before briefly returning to the cabin to take her scope. The others had taken their own gear, and she wasn’t going to leave hers behind either. With all of her equipment in hand, the tired Imperatrix approached the helicopter and climbed inside. The Marines climbed in with her and the helicopter took off, climbing rapidly into the sky. A medic began looking her over, but her eyes stayed transfixed out the side of the aircraft as it began flying south along the coast.

Houses beneath the aircraft were in ruins, pillars of smoke and fire rose up into the sky, destroyed ships and dead bodies were washing up on the shore and corpses littered the streets below. Overhead she watched a white streak in the atmosphere, far higher than any jet could fly, it was moving towards the south part of the Zebra lands if its trajectory was anything to go by. She watched it streaking along as the helicopter continued flying south, the chilly winter air cutting against her skin. Eventually the trail faded, but several minutes later she spotted a bright flash on the distant horizon. Far to distant to be of any danger to the helicopter, but bright enough to tell her exactly the cause.

Maria looked down off of the edge of the helicopter at the destroyed houses and villages below, the helicopter passed over a medical facility with large areas set aside for the dead. They were lined up under white sheets that flapped in the wind that blew in from the coast, the Imperatrix bit her lip softly to keep her emotions in check. It wasn’t much use however, as she felt the familiar warmth of tears on her cheek. Just when she had thought the world was at peace, when it was safe to let her guard down, this great calamity had come like a bolt from beyond. What was worse, she knew that this was only the beginning. Onorus would likely invade and occupy every New Axis country or what was left of them, and unlike Equestria she doubted they would go quietly. Perhaps it was for the best though, even if the moral implications were a firm shade of grey.

At the end of the day eleven million zebras were killed, over two thirds of their population. The Caribou had lost twenty million, accounting for three quarters of their population. Usually operating under a herd mentality meant safety in numbers, but it had only clustered civilians and military personnel so closely that there was no alternative but almost complete annihilation. Compared to the projected fifty million Onorussian casualties that would’ve come from a conventional invasion, the Imperator had made good on his word to put Onorussian lives first. There was no way the Caribou or Zebra would be able to rebuild on their own, and with their military in complete disarray… They had no hope to stop the Onorussian invasion, no way to stop the foreboding force of alien technology and tactics. Every nation they had occupied was now in complete uproar as well, oppressed peoples finally rising up to overthrow the New Axis Regime… Onorus certainly had their work cut out for them.

Author's Notes:

Here you go, lovely dovelies! Another chapter just for you, fresh off the presses!

And for a little levity after such dreary subject matter, your clip of the day!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS2aEfbEi7s