It was just passed midnight as Red Glare sent home the bolt on his MG36. The rain drove hard on his unprotected head. He aimed his site at the advancing zebra troops. The zebras were talking and laughing as Glare had done not so long ago when he and his friends would walk home from school. Those where the days. The zebra bastards had no idea what they were walking into, or that The Warlords sat in wait silently above them until the zebras were in the kill zone. The forward most enemy solider was no more than 10 feet away now. With a wicked grin on his face, Red Glare thought,Ten feet from his death.

Just as quickly as the grin appeared, it disappeared. Glare's blood ran cold. A knot formed in his stomach. The reason was a thought that crept its way onto center stage of Red Glare's mind, one that was always present but never put into perspective. Red Glare realized that despite the differences ponies and zebras had, despite the differences in their coats and weapons and past deeds, those zebras were basically ponies. Glare would soon be killing other living beings. In another time, if things were different, the zebra now in his rifle sites could be his co-worker or neighbor or best friend.

5 feet was the difference between life and death now. Red Glare began to sweat profusely, even though the rain chilled him to the core. 4 feet. Glare's throat was dryer than a well in Appleoosa. 3 feet. Glare was shaking as he pleaded to Celestia that the zebras would just turn around and go home. 2 feet. Red Glare shuttered at the realization that the fate of someone's father or brother or son rested solely in his hoofs. 1 foot. Red Glare pondered that last thought for a moment. His mind drifted of to his own daughter, his own wife, his own parents. He remembered the fire that engulfed his home. Red Glare's rage quickly returned, as did his menacing grin. Red's hate for the zebras returned with his memory of why he joined the MPL in the first place. Glare was now ready for the tough task ahead of him. Just in time too Glare thought, as the forward most zebra stepped in front of him. Little did Red Glare know, nothing could prepare him for the horrors he was about to have a front row seat to.

At that very moment, many things happened at once. A thunder clap roared with such an intensity, Red Glare thought it would wake the dead. The thunder was quickly followed by a hail of gunfire from the ridge. Red Glare pulled the trigger on his MG tight and let six or seven rounds fly. He struck his first target in the head. Time seemed to slow down and the world around him seemed to be covered by a pillow making everything muffled as Glare stopped shooting and watched the freshly deceased zebra fall to the dirt road. The image of that zebra solider lying there with his eyes wide open as a pool of blood expanded from his head wound became burned into Red Glare's mind. Red turned his head to the group of zebras farther back. Glare saw the panic in there eyes as they scrambled in vain to find cover, only to be chopped down by the guns of The Warlords. The world still in a daze, Red Glare's eyes fell upon a younger zebra, no older than Glare himself. The young solider lay on his side trying to keep his innards from falling out of the now gaping hole in his stomach. Despite the fact everything was almost inaudible, Glare could just barely make out the fact the zebra was screaming "MAMA! MAMA! OH GOD MAMA IT HURTS! MAKE IT STOP! MAMA!" A cloud of smoke accompanied by a muffled bang drew Red's attention away from the bloody scene. Glare turned just in time to see assorted body parts flying out of the smoke cloud. After the smoke cleared, a zebra tried to crawl to safety using only his forelegs, due to the fact his hind legs had been blown off by the recent explosion. The wounded enemy didn't get far though, for another burst of gunfire finished him off.

A gunshot to Red's left snapped him out of his daze. Seven or eight zebras near the back of the column had broken off at the first shot and made their way up the ridge. Now the small squad had found The Warlord's hiding spot. The shot came from the gun of one of the zebras as he shot one of Red Glare's squad mates in the back of the head. The remaining Warlords, minus Glare because he was still recovering from shock, returned fire without missing a beat. The fire quickly ended 3 more zebra, but 4 more took their place. The squad leader screamed "Run!" before being killed by two bullets to the back and one to the head. Red Glare stood up and began to run away from the advancing zebras. He was so caught up in the moment, however, that he made a huge mistake: he left his gun behind.

Glare dove for cover behind a tree, peeking around the edge of it just in time to see another one of his squad mates fall to the ground, killed by at least five shots too his back. There were only 3 Warlords left, one of them unarmed. Glare sat curled up in a ball, his back against the tree. Red was scared. He'd seen enough combat to last him the rest of his life. Behind him, the two other living Warlords threw up a wall of fire halting the advancing zebras in their tracks. 5 of the enemy had fallen to bullets when one of the zebras threw a grenade of his own. Now, the warlords had all hid behind trees in a row. The grenade fell next to the middle Warlord and on the other side of him, away from Red Glare. The blast from the grenade wasn't close to Red Glare for him to get any shrapnel wounds, but was close enough and loud enough to cause damage to Glare's eardrum. Upon feeling a warm drop of...something...slowly running down the side of his head, Red raised a hoof to the side of his head. Touching the source of the warmth, Glare looked at his hoof: it was covered in his own blood. Glare looked across the way to survey the damage. Nothing was left of the pony who'd been right next to grenade upon detonation. Even further down was the last remaining Warlord, holding his leg in pain. The bottom half of his right rear leg had been blown off, and now lay some seven yards away. Red Glare knew that the stallion needed help and needed it now. If he could be carried to safety, maybe he would survive. Glare dove into action.

Red Glare ran to the fallen colt. Lifting the wounded stallion onto his back, Glare took off towards the town of Ponyville. The wounded Warlord called in on his radio for reinforcements. Glare ran as hard as he could. The Stallion with half a leg shot at the perusing zebras, killing two more. Only two more remained. One zebra threw another grenade that landed behind Glare. The blast sent the two Warlords tumbling forward. Red Glare felt a sharp pain in his leg he realized a piece of shrapnel buried itself deep within. Running on pure adrenaline, Red Glare began to Pull the wounded stallion by his tail. The wounded Warlord shot and killed another zebra before running out of ammunition. To hide from the last zebra, Glare made his way with the other pony down an embankment. The sun was rising now, casting a red glow across the horizon. Halfway down, Glare tripped, sending the two stallions tumbling down the hill. The wounded stallion screamed in agony as the fall had, for lack of a better word, "irritated" his half of a leg. Glare pulled the stallion and himself behind a tree, where he sat and tried in vain to silence the Warlord, screaming in his forelegs. As if on cue, the zebra came through the brush, walked up to the screaming stallion, put his pistol to the wounded pony's head and fired, silencing the screaming. A mix of blood, skull, and brain matter flew up and covered Red Glare's face. The zebra gave one look at Glare and began to walk away, detecting no threat in the survivor. Red Glare felt the rage building inside of him. Red Glare took the newly killed stallion's pistol, pushed the dead pony off of his lap, got up and pulled the trigger, aiming at the zebra. The zebra was struck five times in the back of the head and he fell to the ground. Suddenly, Glare felt dizzy. He looked around him from the dead zebra to the dead Warlord. Glare was the last one left. He fell to his knees, the pistol falling out of his hand. Glare heard the reinforcements coming threw the brush, and promptly passed out.

Red Glare awoke when the sun was low on the horizon. His eyes were on fire and every little sound was like a bull horn in his ears. Glare closed his eyes tightly and covered his head with pillow. Just wanting to go back to sleep. Through the pillow came a gasp and a muffled voice coming from a pink earth pony with a puffy mane and tail of the same color.

"Twi! Twi! He's waking up! Lookee! Lookee!"

Shit. This is gonna be real fuckin' fun Glare thought to himself. In his current state, the last thing the young stallion now in a medical cot, wanted, was attention. He tried his best to make it look like he'd just rolled over and went back to sleep, but come hell or high water, attention was what Red Glare was gonna get. Red heard movement outside of the hospital room he was in and brought himself enough strength to sit up. Just as Glare arose, the pink pony bounced back into the room and began shooting off questions in what seemed like one long, continuous breath.

"Hello there! What's your name? Mine's Pinkie Pie. Where are you from? Why are you here? Are you ok? What do you do in the MLP? Have you been in a battle before? I have, but not with guns. With apple pies. Do you like Pie? How about apples? Do you like apples?"

"PINKIE!" Screamed a lavender colored unicorn from the doorway.

"Yes Twilight?"

"I think Captain Glare here need's a little silence. Don't you?"

Captain? Red thought to himself. Since when am I a Captain?

With a sigh, the Pinkie replied, "I guess you're right Twilight. See ya later Re...I mean Captain."

Twilight Stepped aside to let Pinkie Pie out of the room. The purple unicorn then reentered the room and approached Red Glare's cot. The closer she got, the more attractive she seemed to become. By the time Twilight had reached Red's bedside, Glare was thinking to himself, sweet Celestia she's hot. Why can't all nurses be that way? Twilight levitated Glare's chart from the foot of the cot in front of her face. Red looked into Twilight's purple eyes. It was at that moment he realized he'd used the wrong word. She's not 'hot', she's beautiful.

Red Glare was long gone. He stared deep into the lavender mare's eyes. He felt his heart grow warm and his stomach do back flips. This can't be right, Red thought to himself, we just met. Just then Twilight, put down the chart to notice a yellow stallion staring at her blankly.

"Ummm...Sir? Can I help you?" said the purple nurse.

"I was just...uh...just." Glare couldn't speak. He was struck silent. Where's that switch, Glare thought, you know. The one labeled 'swag'?

"You were just what?"

"I-I...Uh..."

Glare looked around the room frantically as a steady "uh" sound flowed out of his mouth. He need a way out of the awkward conversation he was currently in. Any combat scenario was no problem for Red after the forest incident. Awkward situations on the other hand were another matter entirely. Celestia must have been smiling down on Red at that very moment though, for his prayers were answered in the form of a voice coming from the doorway.

"So this solider we have heard so much about," said a cyan mare now walking through the doorway and into Glare's room. She had a rainbow colored mane and she wore aviator sunglasses. Around her neck hung her dog tags hanging out over her bomber jacket.

"I must say, when I was told of his feats, they conjured up a vision of something...more," a second mare said as she filed in behind the first mare. This second one had a long, flowing mane. One a darker color purple than Twilight. She was dressed in a pristine white navy uniform. Glare noticed her tone of voice resembled that usually stereotyped against the high class snobby type.

A third mare entered last. This one was different though. She had a presence about her. One that actually scared Red. She was orange in color and wore a brown uniform reserved for the high echelon army officers. Upon her blonde hair sat an old brown stetson style hat. The look on that mare's face told Glare that if there was one place she didn't want to be, It was in this room.

From the moment the 3 new guests entered the room, Red Glare knew exactly who the were, despite never meeting them in person. The cyan pegasus mare with the rainbow mane was Air Marshal Dash, head of MLP air force. The white clad mare was Admiral Rarity, leader of the MLP navy. Finally, the terrifying orange mare was General Applejack, top dog of the MLP ground forces. At the first sight of the three officers, Glare snapped to attention.

"At ease solider," stated the Air Marshal.

Glare exhaled and replied with a, "Thank you, ma'am."

"Oh no no no," added Admiral Rarity, "thank YOU for your service...Commander."

"Commander?!" Glare almost shouted. He was in a total state of disbelief. He messed around with the idea in his head for awhile.

"Yes sir," responded Twilight. The sound of her voice brought Glare back to the situation at hand. The lavender nurse continued, "You must have done something pretty amazing in that forest to be promoted all the way from Private First Class right to Commander."

The mention of the forest caused the young Commander's heart to instantly sink. "Amazing...I wouldn't use that word. Nothing even close to that word happened in that damn forest," Red Glare replied as he lowered his gaze. Any sense the mares had of hearing a story filled with bravery and action was quickly dashed.

The Air Marshal then asked what everyone in the room was thinking. "Well then, what did happen in there?"

Red's mind drifted back to that faithful morning in the Everfree Forest.. "It was my first combat assignment. I'll never forget that battle...no...it wasn't a battle...it was a massacre." Glare then looked up just enough to notice the pristine nature of Admiral Rarity's uniform and that fueled his rage. "It must be easy to sit behind a desk or on a ship's bridge and send others to fight and die." Glare clenched his hooves. "You three never see it. You never see the blood thirsty monster that is war first hand. I've seen it though. I saw the blood and entrails pouring out of another living being with my own two eyes. I've heard the gunshots and screams and cries of mercy with my own two ears. The whole thing was just so...so..." Glare couldn't hold it back anymore. The vivid sight and sounds, still as fresh in his mind as though they were happening again at that very second, were too much. The young Commander leaned over the side of his bed and vomited.

After the vomit stopped flowing for good, Red's gaze met that of the four fillies at the foot of his hospital cot. He had to stifle a laugh at the disgusted expressions on their faces. His mood lightened a bit though as the lavender nurse rushed to his side. "Shit...I'm sorry ladies," Glare said as he wiped his mouth.

"It looks like you need some rest Commander," Dash said.

"I agree darling. You simply MUST be in the best possible condition for tomorrow," added Rarity.

"Hang on a second ma'am...s," Red said in a state of minor confusion, "What's happening tomorrow?"

The stone faced General finally spoke up. "Listen...since the warlords are down to just you, we need five new members for you to take command of."

Red's eyes widened. "Me?! Commander of The Warlords?!"

"Yes sir," replied the Air Marshal, "You have the best training in the MLP. There isn't anyone better. That's why you were promoted in the first place Commander."

"I just feel that..." Glare pleaded.

His pleas fell on deaf ears as Applejack interrupted. She moved away from the wall she'd been leaning on for this entire interaction and started walking toward Glare. "Ah don't give a darn what ya'll 'feel' Commander. This is a direct order. Are we clear?!" The General screamed.

Red was taken by surprise. He snapped to attention and said in a shaky voice, "Crystal ma'm."

"Good. Be on the parade grounds tomorrow at 0800 hours sharp. As you were," Applejack stated. With that, the orange General left the room, closely followed by the other two officers. This left only two ponies in the hospital room: Red Glare and Twilight Sparkle. She broke the silence.

"So Commander, you never answered my question. What were you looking at?"

'Buck. I thought she forgot.' Glare thought as he gave himself a mental facepalm. The yellow stallion's face turned red. "I...I was...uh..."

Twilight giggled, which sent the Commander's cuteness meter off the scale. "You already said that," she stated.

Just then, Red Glare found the "swag" switch located in the dustiest corner of his mind and flipped it with much vigor. "I was just lost in your beautiful eyes, Miss Sparkle."

Now it was the nurse's turn to blush. "Oh...I mean thanks!"

"No need to thank me. I'm only telling the truth."

"Well, you should get some rest. I'll be back later with your lunch Commander."

"Please, call me Glare. I just have one question before you go."

"Yes?"

"Any plans for Saturday?"

"Well, not at the moment. Why do you ask?"

"I was hoping we could both take leave this weekend and go on...ya know...a date?"

"That'd be lovely Glare."

"Great. I'll pick you up at eight?"

"Sounds good. See you then...Commander," the nurse said with a sultry grin. As she left, Glare swore she shook her hips on purpose to tease him. As he watched Twilight leave, the imaginary crowd in his head chanted "Swag! Swag! Swag! Swag!"

Red Glare awoke the next morning at around six to the ear splitting sound of reveille being played on the bugle. He rolled off his cot and put his hooves down on the floor, still chilled by the early morning breeze. Glare brushed his teeth and put on his uniform. On the sleeve showed the symbol of his new rank, which the young stallion still thought he didn't deserve. In two hours time, Glare would take command of the best soldiers in the MLP. Glare thought this as he made his way out of his cabin, another perk that came with the new rank, and made his way to the mess hall. The Warlords would come later. Now came breakfast.

Glare entered the mess hall and was instantly hit by the delectable smell of waffles. Then depression hit as Glare noticed the long line to get food. His stomach growled in anger for not getting here sooner. The debate between stomach and brain was short lived, as a poke to the side snapped Red out of his thoughts. He turned to see a familiar lavender mare before him carrying two trays covered in food, one on each side of her. 'She must have saw me coming,' Red thought.

"Out of the hospital and I'm still bringing you food," she said with a smile.

"I know," replied Glare as he took one of the trays in his magical grasp. "If the nurse thing doesn't work out you'd make an amazing waitress Ms. Sparkle."

"I'm not dure if that was a complement but thanks. And don't be so formal Commander. You can call me Twi or Twilight. Everypony else does," the lavender nurse said with a smile.

"You're welcome then...Twi."

She let out a giggle before saying, "Let's find a place to eat. Shall we?"

"Yes, we shall," Red Glare replied as he took the second tray in his magical field. "You got the breakfast. The very least I could do is carry your tray Twilight."

The mare nodded and gave a greatful smile. One that set the young Commander's heart aflutter. The pair then walked together to an empty table in the corner of the mess hall. Once seated, Twilight broke the silence.

"So, ready for the big meet and greet today?" Twi said as she took a bite of her waffle.

"Ready as I'll every be," Red said as he copied Twilight. He chewed his food and swallowed before saying, "The thing is I'm not a leader Twi. I don't know the first thing about leading...anything!"

The nurse put he hoof on Glare's foreleg before saying in a comforting voice, "Don't worry Red, I'm positive you'll do fine. All you have to do is follow your heart and do what's right to you. If you do that, there's no way you can fail."

Glare sat back and his chair and thought about what the beautiful mare sitting across from him said. He knew she was right and as a smile slowly made it's way across the young Commander's face, he thought to himself, 'Wow. Beautiful and smart.'

"Thanks Twilight...I needed that," Glare said in a soft voice uncommon for him.

"Any time, I'm always here to talk."

The rest of the meal was filled with idle chit chat and stories of the old days before the war. She told him about her friends and their adventures from the defeat of Nightmare Moon up to the wedding of her brother and one of the princesses. He told her about his adventures with his friend Atom Vortex among other silly shenanigans. Time flew past and the food gave way to open space on the trays. The two ponies sat there, talking, enjoying each other's company. But, like all good things, their time together came to an end when the nurse checked the clock on the wall.

"I'm sorry to leave you but I need to get moving," nurse Sparkle said. She continued, "and so you."

A turn to the time piece showed that glare had 5 minutes until the appointed meeting time. "Shit your're right. Thanks for breakfast Twi."

"Don't mention it," she stated with a smile that the young Commander swore cold melt even the coldest heart. Twilight continued by saying with a giggle, "You can make it up to me this weekend."

The mare's words caused Red to blush before responding, "Uh...yeah...it'll be great. See ya Twilight!" With that Red Glare rushed out of the mess hall to meet his new troops.
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Many a thought rushed into glares head as he trotted at a brisk pace towards the parade grounds.

'What are the going to be like? Did they have any training? Are they going to get along and work together? Are they even going to follow my orders?!' By now the young stallion had long ago rustled his jimmies about the meeting but he knew he needed to calm himself down. And the way he went about doing this was to think about the instructions given to him not that long ago by the lavender nurse.

"...follow your heart and do what's right to you. If you do that, there's no way you can fail."

The tactic worked, but only for awhile. You see, if you ask any stallion what they think about concerning attractive mares, you'd understand why the yellow stallion became more rustled than before. So Red had to act fast. He did the only thing he could think of on such short notice: sing a song. What song did our brave hero sing you ask? Well only the theme song to the popular filly's show "My Little Human." Glare closed his eyes to concentrate and began his melody. Half way through he was interrupted by the sound of somepony clearing their throat. The Commander opened his eyes to see himself face to face with General Applejack herself. She clearly wasn't happy either. Behind her stood Glare's new squad, all at attention, clearly trying not to laugh at the folly of their new leader. Glare's yellow face became almost as red as his mane as embarrassment overtook him. Glare mentally scolded himself, thinking, 'Wow dumbass, way to make a first impression.'