"Today is the new end and a new beginning. The end of dark, violent times. The beginning of an era of unbreakable peace and happiness.

“Remember this day, dear citizens. June the thirteenth shall be remembered, for eternity!"

I gently set my glass of bourbon down on the table.

Exactly two years had passed since that day. That video would probably be back in a year‘s time, too. It was the speech of Council Drozdeck, those senile fools of earth ponies. It was their pitiful attempt to put end to the long, lingering civil wars that still dragged the country down.

They weren’t alone, of course.

First, there were two other Councils, one each for the pegasi and the unicorns. Their names escaped me for the moment.

Second… Well, I should probably start at the beginning for that.

My name is Stihl. I was once a fighter so elite I could have ripped a pony apart in seven different ways in the time they could read this sentence. The Council had thought it wise to find a use for ponies of my…ability, and squads of us were set up. Mine was commissioned about five years after the Second Civil War, as a ‘precaution‘. We were called out less than two years later.

Drozdeck kept their hoof on the pulse; they had called it ‘dark times‘. Nopony trusted anypony else, and Celestia forbid you were from the wrong faction.

How did this all start, you may ask?

Simple. Twenty years ago, we earth ponies, aided by a hoof-ful of unicorn allies, made the biggest breakthrough since the yoke plough. Implants. Little fragments infused with magic, that in turn aided those they were imbedded in with improvements. Reflexes honed. Muscles bulged. Minds sharpened. Some ponies would go even further to muddy the line between the races, instilling themselves with psychic abilities, and even magical ones.

It was this last part that caused the problem, as the unicorns teetered dangerously close to rioting. But it wasn’t only them who were outraged. After all, 'special' ponies, the ones born with their wings or their horn, were afraid. Afraid that they'd be jobless, having been robbed of their unique controls over the weather, the sun, the moon, and the stars. All Civil Wars ended with white peace.

All, except the last one.

Again, you may probably ask why. (But I wouldn’t be able to tell you.)

Three months before June thirteenth, I lost my position in the force after an...'accident'.

It was a hostage crisis, and I fumbled. I couldn’t rescue the target; I could only watch as three Magic First thugs bundled the wailing pony away, finally silencing their screams with a fallen brick. Those scum were still causing havoc in several districts of the city.

But few days after my ‘resignation‘, I received a new proposition from somepony looking to utilise my talents. It was to be a mediator and spokes-pony for a new, neutral organisation, producing medicines for ponies with implants. My new employers also had dealings with Hares Inc., the firm that had cornered the market on implants in the first place.

At first, my mind raced over the offer. Why in Equestria they needed ex-soldier as mediator?

But it was more than obvious. They needed a war hero. They needed a face that the public could rally around, so long as they didn’t find out about my…accident, and a veteran that could handle himself when things went wrong. And now, things could go very, very wrong.

I may have left in disgrace, but the organisation did their formidable best to bury the news. They needed me; if negotiations would go wrong, I was also their last stand.

At first, it all seemed pointless. I struggled to keep my voice and my tongue under the wraps of civility, and the other factions made rods of their backs. But, somehow, someway, a little bit at a time, we managed to weave our way towards an agreement.

Pegasi and unicorns would halt their thinly-veiled sabotage, through ludicrous laws and ‘disappearances‘, of Hares Inc., and half of staff which controls weather and sun can be earth ponies with implants. Those were the terms we agreed to, but something seemed off. Weeks with hardly a whisper of concession, then on June thirteen both leaders of unicorns and pegasi suddenly expressed their sincerest wishes for a compromise.

Call me crazy or idiotic, but I couldn't work for that organisation anymore. There was something that smelt foul about such a concession after twenty years of fighting.

I took my huge payment and secreted myself into the shadows, keeping myself ticking over with medicines which grew more and more expensive each month.

Blasted things.

I took few pills and glass of bourbon, holding them aloft with my aura.

Yes. That's true.

Once in the force, we got some...improvements. But was still suspicious about all of this. Good thing the burn of alcohol was on hand to take those feelings away.

Suddenly, a little glass screen flickered and whirred next to me. The Communicator.

"Hello...?"

"Stihl? We've got situation here!" - situation? It had been more than two years since I‘d heard those words spoken by that voice.

"Captain Rif-" it was obvious. He was the only pony who still had respect for me.

"Captain Rif, sir! Listen, 'Magic First' struck again. We need your-"

I cut him off. I had my own plans.

"Listen…Captain. You're not my superior anymore. You‘ve been calling me every two months for years, now. And every time you raise my payment ten percent, but I still hang up. And you know what?"

As always, I flicked off communicator. Good joke.

But I was glad that he called. Somepony wasn't doing their job.

I quickly called Tania. Ever since the whole mess of my ‘resignation‘, she’d been my guru of hacking and providing through it all. After few seconds, her yellow face swam into view.

"Tania, Rif just called about a situation. Anything I should know?" I asked, keeping my tone casual. She was good. Very good. But sometimes forgetful, especially when it came doing her job in the heat of the moment.

Fortunately, she wasn't stressed. For now.

“Cupcakes Twelfth, about twenty blocks from you. My trackers says that you're too drunk for this mission,” she said absently, before her eyes widened. “Captain called you? You agreed this time?"

"We both know I'm not a mercenary. Besides, I can't work for the government. I just need to have some answers.”

Tania smirked softly. Ten months since we worked together, but even now she still wasn't used to my behavior.

"We’ll keep in contact,” I continued. “I'll be there soon. Send me map of place and the info as usual. And tell me if Geminine is with them.”

I ended the call. Geminine, what a laugh. Elusive in past; now she prowled the night like some sort of comic book villain.

A mad pony, but still I wanted answers. I stood up and went into the hallway, glancing at the mirror as I passed. One 'cyborg' leg, a mechanical horn and these...black glasses, filled with all sorts of gizmos.

I didn't choose all of that. But somehow…I needed them.

"Let’s stop this crap."

Edited by Arbarano