“You can wipe out an entire generation, you can burn their homes to the ground and somehow they'll still find their way back. But if you destroy their history, you destroy their achievements and it's as if they never existed. That's what Hitler wants and that's exactly what we are fighting for.”
- Frank Stokes, The Monuments Men

“It’s not the end of the world, but you can see it from here.”

-Eliza Cassan, Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Now that had been a long drive.

When he had been a celebrity, Yon-Soo had seen many different places, flying and driving through forests, fields, and mountains, but he hadn’t been prepared for quite the level of emptiness that he’d found in Russia. It had been mile after mile of nothing, through seemingly endless forests, through towns that had been abandoned in a hurry, past men and women struggling into overstuffed cars and trucks, desperately trying to outrun the inevitable. A great many people, though, seemed to be forcing themselves to live normal lives as the Barrier inched across the Earth.

They’d found a plane at a small-town airport, which took them to a larger one. After a complicated series of deals, this lead to them setting them down at Yekaterinburg. The pilot had been skeptical about how long he’d be able to keep flying. He’d heard bad things at the airport, about pilots being harassed by pegasi midair, or just leaving and simply never coming back.

Melnik had spent the journey bitter, drunk, and angry over the loss of his arm, though hopeful he could get back into the fight soon, some way or another.

Porter wasn’t really paying attention when, as he tried to find a station on the radio, the dullness of the trip all but taking the steam out of him.

“...The Economy of the Barrier,” read a voice over the radio as he finally found a station that wasn’t nothing but static. “Far too long have we seen it. As the Barrier inches towards cities, eating our lives, our histories, our souls, humans flock to the settlements over the horizon. Always running. Always moving. The settlements swell - cars, abandoned buildings, the unused spaces of a city, all become apartments and shops, run by desperate people who do not have or soon will not have a country. Guns are traded for defense, the new refugees buy up all that they can. Then, in the span of a day, perhaps even a week, it vanishes. They have all moved on somewhere else, driving other cities and towns to unprecedented heights before they are wiped off the face of the Earth. When shall it end? Will we reach a dead end on the coast or the Pacific, reduced to claiming we once owned this world, while the Empire smugly erases us, claiming that there's no evidence we were ever here, so we have no right? My friends... We are in need of a miracle. But if we don't get one, I don't care if you leave the light on. Won't matter much anyway.”

"Turn that crap off," Melnik mumbled. "It’s bad enough we have these two with us, this just makes the trip worse."

Porter switched the channel, luckily finding another radio station as soothing orchestra music started to play, right when they got to the edge of town.

“No more Biting Elbows?” Aitmatov sighed.

“Dammit!” Blizzard agreed.

“Well, don’t worry, we’re finally coming in on civilization,” Sergei pointed out.

Not too far off in the horizon was their destination. The city of Yekaterinberg.

“Ah, Yekaterinberg…” Sergei marveled. “Haven’t been here in a long time.”

“Didn’t you say this was your hometown?” Melnik asked him.

“Indeed it is!” Sergei answered with a smile. “Beautiful place, isn’t it?”

He was right, Yon-Soo had to admit. Yekaterinberg was a beautiful city. Between historic landmarks and the metropolitan sprawl, there was a giant river running through the city, a clear life blood to the first inhabitants of this region. It wasn’t quite as congested with refugees as Nizhny Novogorod had been, but it was clear the war hadn’t been kind to it. Military personnel were at every corner, patrolling the area; there were even soldiers at the tops of taller buildings with anti-aircraft guns to watch out for enemy pegasi.

“What’s the plan of action now?” Hyong-Jin asked.

“Simple - we drop those two off to the authorities,” Porter said, pointing to Sokolow and the woman in the back, “and then we drop Melnik, Aquamarine and Comet off to the hospital.”

“Sounds good,” Aquamarine admitted. Adequate rest and getting to eat some rations had helped her and Comet feel somewhat better. She could walk on her own without support at least.

Police officers were very easy to find in this place. As they patrolled most street corners alongside the official military, directing traffic and generally keeping order in the city, they gave a nod to the group of soldiers, a few running up to them to help out.

“Those mercenaries?” a cop asked in Russian.

“Yes, fresh off the Human Liberation Front,” Aitmatov answered as Porter and Sergei handed Sokolow and the woman off to the authorities.

“Alright, that’s good news for us,” said the police officer. “The less of those bastards around, the better and easier things will be for those of us just trying to live.”

“I take it you’ve had problems with them before?” Yon-soo asked, curious.

He sighed. “I have. There’s been anti-pony graffiti everywhere, especially where some refugee ponies live. Stores broken into, looting… And a riot’s only a matter of time. Idiots. You know why?”

They all looked at him. Clearly, he was expecting to answer his own question.

“First, there’s enough of the world left that they’re nowhere near right,” he said. “Second? Damn near none of what they’ve done has helped the people of this city. Killed ponies, yes… but that doesn’t help anyone.”

The radio nearby crackled.

“Goddamn children,” he muttered. “Thinking they can just go nuts, the world’s not over yet…” he picked it up. “Hello? Semyonovich? No, sorry. I can’t come. I have to transport some HLF to the station. With luck, they’ll reveal something important.”

Another crackle.

“Agreed.” he set it down. “You guys take care of yourselves. It’s getting a lot worse out there.”

The soldiers grimly nodded and went off with a goodbye and good luck to each other, and set off to the nearest major hospital.

“You weren’t kidding at all; these are delicious!” Aquamarine beamed as she picked up another cheese pastry. She and Comet had both been famished since their rescue from the HLF compound and the way they were inhaling their meals was evidence of that.

“Way better than grass and leaves!” Comet added as she ate some blini filled with fruit jam.

Yon-Soo smiled, glad that they were doing very well after everything they’d gone through. They weren’t too seriously hurt, which was good news too. It seemed like they had regained some glow to them thanks to the rest, treatment and food they were getting.

Porter was glad too, seeing some good things in the midst of the darkness of the war. Every brutal thing he and his fellow soldiers were going through, for a moment, were forgotten as these two innocent civilians they rescued from a horrible fate recovered their health. Still, there were a lot of things about those two that he and his friends didn’t know.

"So, if you don’t mind us asking, how did you two get to Earth?" Yon-Soo asked.

Aquamarine abruptly stopped chewing her food, the look on her face stoic and uncomfortable. Comet became fidgety, her lips pursing into a thin line. Yon-Soo quickly said, “Oh crap, I’m sorry! I shouldn't have asked that so suddenly!”

“No,” Aquamarine cut in, “I suppose now is as good a time as any to tell you mine and my daughter’s story.”

Blizzard frowned and asked, “Are you sure?”

“Yes. It actually goes back to the war with Sombra. You see,” Aquamarine began, “my husband, Gale, was in the pegasus division of the Royal Guards. Hence, why Comet is a pegasus. Anyway, he went to the Crystal Empire to fight alongside his fellow soldiers. Oh, how naive I was to think that the worst was behind us when he came back home!”

Porter noted, “And that was about the same time Equestria came to Earth, right?”

“Yep,” Comet answered. “When Daddy came back home, he seemed… different somehow. Like the… fun and happiness was taken out of him. Or at least, there was just something missing. And coming to Earth was another layer of weird.”

“It happens to anyone returning home after a war,” Aitmatov noted, as Porter, Sergei and Melnik all nodded in agreement. “PTSD. You ponies never really had to deal with that kind of thing for much of your history, right?”

“Not really,” Blizzard admitted. “Our research on war and psychology is very far behind yours. A few months ago, Khan did take me to a university library to read some books on that stuff because I was wondering what happened to my cousin.”

“And not a damn thing could explain what happened to him,” Aitmatov added. “I know PTSD. Or shellshock or whatever, and there’s a lot of things it just doesn’t cover here.”

“Exactly!” Blizzard continued. “But the war with Sombra… no pony really knows how it happened.”

Firebrand added, “I personally always thought it was kinda fishy that the Elements of Harmony failed to stop him.”

“Indeed,” Aquamarine nodded before she continued. “But anyway, I had hoped life would go back to normal with Gale back home and the war over. I just thought the way he was acting distant around me and Comet was just him carrying some baggage from the war. He did have a few bad dreams here and there too.”

“What kinds of bad dreams?” Firebrand asked.

“He never said,” Aquamarine answered. “He’d just wake up screaming and crying, or breathing heavily, his eyes darting around the room. And during the morning he’d jump at shadows, and his eyes would be kind of glazed.”

The other soldiers could understand that well.

“When we were allowed to explore Earth, I actually did arrange a family vacation to go to Italy to get our minds off what was happening. I thought he’d like to relax…”

“Italy was very fun!” Comet beamed. “I loved going to Venice especially! And the vegetable dishes were delicious too! It is amazing what you can do with pasta and mushrooms...”

Aquamarine had a sad little smile on her face, nodding with her daughter as she said, “I had a lot of fun too, especially looking at the art and history of the country. It’s a real tragedy that the country got wiped off the map thanks to that barrier. I really just don’t even understand it… and honestly, I don’t think I really want to.”

Everyone hung their heads, knowing all too well what she meant. She said the word barrier with a special venomous anger that was shocking to hear out of a normally gentle mannered pony, but she had every right to be embittered.

“But Daddy just kept acting weird through the whole vacation,” Comet recounted. “He never really liked looking at anything made by humans. Not even the art! Or the cool inventions! And he always seemed to act kinda mean to the humans too.”

Aquamarine growled, “Let me tell you, it was often embarrassing to see. He would shoot judgmental looks at humans that ate meat, and acted like even the big city was like a slum. And it only got worse when the newfoals began coming into Equestria. There were so many of them too, and Gale welcomed them completely like they were his own children. But they just didn’t sit right with me.”

Both Blizzard and Firebrand shivered, the looks on their faces making them seem as if they both came down with a severe case of food poisoning.

“I know what you mean,” Blizzard admitted, a dark scowl forming on her features. “Every other pony saying we’re helping the humans by giving them a potion that transforms them into mindless zombies that just smile constantly and have no hopes and dreams, and act like Equestria is a perfect little paradise where nothing bad ever happens.”

Firebrand rather exuberantly added, “And don’t forget those weirdos at the PETN either! They act like being a newfoal is totally normal, even though they’re basically wind-up toys with limp noodles for brains!”

“PETN?” Hyong-Jin asked.

“Ponies for the Ethical Treatment of Newfoals,” Aquamarine answered. “They say they’re an activist group that tries to make other ponies treat newfoals well. I suppose they mean well, but then again, they never even seem to realize that maybe there’s something wrong with the potion itself. So close… and yet so far,” she sighed.

Comet was equally unnerved as she said, “I met a few newfoal kids at my old school a few weeks before Mommy and I escaped Equestria. They were just so… creepy and weird! And they always smile! And it’s like their faces are stuck that way. One time, I was playing with my friends and I accidentally kicked a ball at a newfoal's face, and he didn’t even get mad or tell me to watch where I was kicking. He just said sorry for being in the way! He just kept smiling, even though I think it gave him a black eye.”

Aquamarine became even more agitated as she went on, saying, “What happened next was… I don’t know if it was coincidence or luck, but about a day before Celestia was going to that press conference to address the barrier’s expansion, I told Gale that the newfoals didn’t sit right with me, but he just told me I was being paranoid. But I couldn’t let it go. I tried to make him listen, and brought up his attitude during our Italy vacation, and he began to…”

Tears began to spring from her eyes and she sobbed, Comet joining along. This drew some attention from a few doctors outside the hospital room, but a quick look from both Aitmatov and Porter told them not to meddle and the situation was under control… for now at least.

Aquamarine choked out, “He began screaming at me, asking me if I was questioning Queen Celestia’s wisdom, if I was turning into a meat-eating talking ape, and other horrible things. And then, he just jumped from that to accusing me of cheating on him with a human! I kept telling him no to all of those, but he wouldn’t listen to reason! He threatened to divorce me and take Comet away. It was just terrifying! He was…. he was like a completely different pony, just screaming, ranting, and raving. He was… I don’t know if he would have hurt me, but it wouldn’t have surprised me.”

“Oh my goodness, that’s horrible!” Blizzard gasped, taking Aquamarine’s hoof into hers. “What did you do?”

Aquamarine replied, “It was a spur of the moment, but I couldn’t help it… I shot a sleeping spell at him, stuffed a couple bags with as much as I could before the spell wore off, took Comet out of school early and got out of Canterlot. We didn’t take trains or public transportation. That’s the first thing Gale would have looked at. I just didn’t feel safe in Equestria anymore, and when I saw what Celestia did to those reporters at the press conference, I was completely horrified! I wondered, just what was happening to Equestria? And why was Celestia doing such a terrible thing? I didn’t want my daughter to grow up in an Equestria like that! So we escaped with a few other ponies that didn’t agree with Celestia and went to earth.”

Aquamarine sighed as she looked at the group. "It wasn’t much better. We tried looking for friendly groups, but we just kept getting chased by the angry humans. I couldn’t be mad at them either because of what Celestia did to your people. We just lived out in the wilds, eating what we could and getting fresh water or supplies whenever possible."

“And then you found yourselves in the clutches of the HLF?” Porter said.

“Well, we had only been with them for a few days. But between escaping Equestria and getting rescued by you, it hadn’t been easy. We were scared, paranoid and stuck in the wilderness. We had to graze to try surviving, and the unpredictable weather didn’t help. But those weren’t the worst we had to face.”

“HLF crazies?” Firebrand asked.

“Not just them,” Aquamarine replied. “There were also newfoals and those ‘Ponification for Earth’s Rebirth’ people. They actually managed to nab one of the ponies in our group and a few newfoals were able to drag her back to Equestria to bring her to something called a mind healer; they said they would cleanse her of humanity’s corrupting influence, or some such garbage like that. That poor mare; she was screaming and kicking and crying the whole way...”

Hyong-Jin flinched, which wasn’t lost to Yon-Soo; it was common knowledge what the old North Korean regime did to any defectors. And the Solar Empire wasn’t being any kinder towards its defectors. Though information from the other side was still a bit sparse, it was clear that Equestria was far from the paradise it liked to paint itself up as. More and more defectors came forward with stories of spies watching over the citizens to make sure there were no human collaborators in their midst, as well as harsh prison sentences for anyone suspected of being in cahoots with the PHL or any other ‘betrayers’. One pony member of the PHL talked about being sent to a work camp where he had been forced to mine for crystals all day everyday because he expressed a dislike for the newfoals; he barely managed to escape from that gulag with his life and body intact. Other refugees had told terrible stories of “therapies” to “cure them of human taint,” which reduced disaffected ponies to little more than newfoals with cutie marks, who would protest that they were fine. Even though they clearly weren’t.

“In other words, they were going to reeducate her for her insubordinance,” Porter snarled.

“That wouldn’t surprise me, anyone not on board with ponification is getting brainwashed by Queen Celestia,” admitted Firebrand. “The way the guards are going around doing all this with smiles on their faces…”

Blizzard added, “Or the fact that Celestia’s even doing this at all. Normally, she always strove for peaceful relations with all of the other nations and races on Equus. But it’s like she takes one look at humans and instantly says they’re unworthy of existing without even trying to understand them. I know most of you won’t believe us, and if this war goes on… I won’t believe me either,” she sighed. “But this is so completely unexpected that it might as well be another pony doing it.”

“Brainwashing could explain why Daddy was acting weird too,” Comet said angrily. “My Daddy was an awesome and loving stallion, and then he just turned all… all… mean and cold to me and Mommy.”

“Oh, Aquamarine, Comet! I’m so sorry to hear what happened to you two!” Blizzard said to them, barely holding back her rage, sadness, and a torrent of other emotions. She really didn’t know what else to say to them. Everyone else was just as saddened to hear this. Yon-Soo knew this war would have inevitably torn many families apart, and to see it in person, how it affected the people on an individual level, was truly heartbreaking.

"This whole war doesn't make any sense at all!" Aquamarine growled angrily, stomping a hoof onto the table. "I just want my family back! I want our lives back! And I want those newfoals gone too! I wish things could be normal again."

"Trust us, we all do," Yon-Soo replied sullenly.

"Amen to that," Porter grumbled.

Suddenly, Aquamarine declared in a determined tone, "I want you to teach me how to fight. I can't just sit on the sidelines and do nothing. Equestria, and Queen Celestia, took everything from me and Comet, and I want to make them pay! They can't get away with this! Please, will you help me?"

Hyong-Jin looked to the others and said, “I don’t think that’s a bad idea. We need all the help we can get.”

Porter noted, “She did save my life with that shield spell of hers earlier. We need some magical backup anyway. We can only get so far on our tech alone.”

“Me too!” Comet called out, standing up with determination. “I want to help too! You guys saved me an’ Mommy, so I want to help you too!”

“Comet!” Aquamarine gasped, “You cannot seriously be thinking about fighting! You’re still a filly, and you still haven’t found your special talent yet either!”

“So? Equestria, and Celestia, took Daddy away from me too! And my friends too! Plus it’s taking away the humans’ home and stuff from them! And I don’t like the newfoals either; I want them gone just as much as you do, Mommy!”

Aquamarine tried to protest, but Comet cut her off, saying, “If you’re going to fight, then I want to be with you and help! Where would I go anyway? I know they’ll be there to help and protect us, and we’ll do the same!”

“She does bring up a good point,” Blizzard admitted forlornly. “There’s been a lot of orphans left behind due to this war, pony and human alike. They have nowhere to go, and they’re both equally vulnerable to the empire’s campaign. The pony foals will be dragged back to Equestria and Luna only knows what kind of fate awaits them.”

“I would rather not think about that, thank you very much,” Aitmatov shuddered.

“And human children are a favorite target for the PER. It might actually be better that Comet at least accompany us and help out in some way,” Blizzard continued.

“See! I can help!” Comet added.

“Kid…” Melnik sighed. “I’ve seen child soldiers before. Lord knows there’s going to be a lot of them in this war. I don’t like it, but Blizzard’s right about Equestria and the PER.”

"I want to say that we can leave her with the PHL; Miss Cheerilee will want to take her in. She does that with every child, pony and human," Firebrand added, recounting his brief meeting with her. "She’ll do anything to protect them too - she managed to fight off hordes of newfoals in a school in Paris and she was near death when we found her, but she protected an entire classroom full of children all on her own. She seems like a good choice."

"NO!" Comet yelled, her eyes brimming with tears. “I don’t want to go anywhere else! I’ve already lost Daddy, and we don’t even know if he’s still alive or not! I don’t want to lose you too, Mommy!”

Everyone grimaced as Comet began to wail out loud. "When we were hiding from the HLF and PER, we sometimes saw a bunch of dead newfoals. I saw Royal Guards with them when we walked around the battlefields. Any one of them can be my Daddy! My Daddy could be dead, killed because he was trying to ponify people! And it would be Celestia’s fault that he died!"

Aquamarine reached over and hugged her daughter as she broke down, crying into her mother's chest as she blubbered out that she wished her father could come back to them.

To be a family again.

Yon-Soo looked away from the mother and daughter, thinking of his own family. He swallowed as he thought what they would be doing right now. He could easily see his mother praying for his safety every day, and his father checking and rechecking the news every other minute, trying to stay updated on the latest bits of information on the war.

His aunts, uncles and cousins, and all of his friends from back home, all spending sleepless nights wondering if he was okay as they made their own contributions to the war effort.

His grandparents would be sitting outside their house, far away from the city and watching the stars. He could see his grandmother hum an old folk song softly and holding a picture of Yon-Soo and his cousins when they were little, while his grandfather was carrying his old Smith & Wesson close by as he listened to her hum. Hal-abouji was ready to defend Hal-meoni with his life, just as he did during the Korean War.

This wasn’t an easy choice, and he didn’t like it, but he had to admit, there really were no other options.

"If we try to send Comet away, she will try to fly her way back to us," Yon-Soo said quietly, Porter nodding in solemn agreement.

"He's right. As much as I hate to admit, it’s better that we keep her with us. I also heard reports of child soldiers being used." Hyong-Jin opened his mouth to retort that they just spent several months training said children until Porter finished, "On the front line, not back in the safe zones."

They fell silent at that. The only sound made was by Comet, sniffing softly as she hugged her mother. Firebrand stared at her for a long moment before speaking.

“I can teach her Neighponese fighting techniques. How to fly and fight at the same time,” Firebrand proposed.

“I can help her too,” added Blizzard. “How good is she at flying?”

Aquamarine stammered, "Pretty well for her age."

“We can work with that,” Blizzard nodded. “But it won’t be easy. Fighting will take a lot out of you. And going out in an actual battle is incredibly dangerous. Even these guys, highly trained soldiers with battlefield experience, will tell you that it never truly gets easier no matter how long you’ve been doing it. Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?”

“Yes,” Comet answered with determination, sniffing back her tears. “I don’t care how hard it is, I’ll do whatever it takes!”

Aquamarine nodded and said, “I’m on board too. I can’t just sit idly by when all this is happening. I promise to give everything I have.”

Blizzard tried to smile with encouragement, even though she was still apprehensive. “Alright, as soon as we can, we’ll help you start. But like I said, it’s not going to be easy. They put stallions and mares through this regimen, and some of them drop out.”

“Don’t worry, though,” Aitmatov added. “She won’t do anything evil. Destroying the mind and body of a cadet fell out of favor years ago.” He leaned over to Firebrand. “They… they don’t do that in Equestria, right?”

“Well, no, but now that the most psychotic seem get higher positions…” Firebrand said thoughtfully.

“Goddammit, she’s just having pegasi piss on everyone and calling it rain,” Aitmatov sighed. “It’s like she’s trying to make us hate her.”

“And yet she passes herself off as some kind of righteous savior,” Hyong-Jin bitterly added.

Just then, Porter’s phone rang. He picked it up immediately.

“Apparently we’re required at the nearest military base,” he sighed, as soon as he was done. “Debriefing.”

The Russian military had taken over the old Volga-Urals Military District Headquarters, sprawling out of its rooms into other nearby buildings, commandeering every room (except the bathrooms, for obvious reasons) for coordinating the military effort.

Which was why Porter, Yon-Soo, Sergei, Hyong-Jin, Aquamarine, and Comet Tail found themselves answering questions in a dusty old attic, standing before an old ex-Soviet colonel named Demichev, who was using an ancient beaten up desk. Aitmatov and Blizzard had left for the hospital after lunch, both guarding it from newfoals and seeing their friend through the loss of his arm.

“And you say they had military hardware?” Demichev asked for the third time.

“Yes,” Porter said. “It’s not exactly hard to find. RPGs, rifles…”

“No, I’m not worried about those,” Demichev said dismissively. “Those are easy enough to get. No, your friend Aitmatov claimed that they had guns we simply don’t throw to the public. Several AN94s, one of which he is giving to his friend Melnik, a VSS Vintorez. A damn BMP, even. I don’t like it.”

“What, specifically?” Sergei asked.

“How did they get them?” Demichev asked simply. “We have Spetsnaz in the wilderness, training others to fight, but that’s not the only thing that worries me. There were…” he pushed his glasses back up his nose, “some people in our government who did not approve of Ambassador Heartstrings’ visit. It was a damn miracle she didn’t face any assassination attempts when she came to St. Petersburg. It feels as if that mare walks between life and death somehow, attempts that should have killed her and she walks away without a scratch. Rumors are spreading about her, and it is causing the HLF to target her even more fiercely. Anyway - there are those who believe we should have thrown in our lot with the HLF instead of, and I quote, ‘Throwing ourselves to the goddamn merry-go-round toys.’ Their position, of course, would do more harm than good.”

“...Please tell me these people in your government know what the HLF are like now,” Hyong-Jin sighed.

“They do,” Demichev said. “And that’s the problem. I’m convinced that they’d be willing to turn parts of Russia into their own personal fiefdoms under the pretense of security. And they’re funneling the arms - or just so happening to forget them - to the HLF.”

Yon-Soo then said, “Wait, I read something about this! Wasn’t there some American senator that recently got arrested for personally funding an HLF compound?”

“Yes,” Demichev said. “Senator Patrick Goleman.” The venom in his voice was clear, sending a chill up their spines.

“How the hell did he get elected?” Porter muttered.

“It’s a good question, really,” the Colonel said. “Anyway. I’m assuming that most of you don’t know this story.”

The looks on their faces told him more than they ever could.

“Right. He sunk every penny he had into building a compound for the HLF. Appealed to every survivalist, gun nut, apocalypse prepper, and zombie apocalypse fan he could, brought them all to the camp. He’d bought a large area of land somewhere in Alaska and they built a small community. Armed themselves to the teeth, and lined the walls with cannons and miniguns while he railed against newfoals. I think he lost his mind out there.”

“...What happened to him?” Aquamarine asked.

“He was arrested, but somehow, half the compound’s members managed to get out. They’re still in the American HLF, serving as leaders and consultants,” Demichev replied. “At this point, anyone with a lick of sense in them would just want to stuff cyanide into both the HLF and PER’s food to make them just shut up.”

“Why do I have the feeling that the HLF is just gonna get more and more annoying as this war goes on?” Firebrand groaned.

“And for the matter, the PER might become more and more extreme too,” Aquamarine added, still unable to shake that memory of the newfoals dragging that poor young mare back to Equestria. She’d looked like she was being dragged to hell, a fate worse than death itself.

Demichev finally noticed the two and asked, “Are they refugees?”

“Yes,” Yon-Soo answered. “They want to help out in the war effort and get training.”

"The men won't like it," Demichev sighed. "But I'll accept it. Even if we sent them back somewhere that the barrier hasn't eaten, they'll have to fight anyway."

"So, can we use the facilities on the site?" Porter asked, watching as the man got up and looked out the window.

Demichev nodded his head, giving a tired sigh. "Of course. Let me inform my troops of your stay."

Two Months Later

"Alright, you ready Aquamarine?" Porter asked as the mare stared at the dummies. She gave a short nod as her horn glowed and a light blue shield popped into existence. "Yon-Soo, Hyong-Jin, Sergei; open fire!"

Aquamarine's ears flattened under the roar of various Kalashnikovs firing, her shield flaring as the bullets broke apart or ricochet off the shield.

Two months ago, she wouldn’t have dreamed of anything like this. Porter requested someone from the PHL to find a way to build up her magical strength. The techniques were surprisingly easy for her to learn...

At least from what they told him.

Performing it was a whole different matter.

For the first three weeks, Aquamarine would go to bed sore and exhausted. She had to strengthen her magic, one such exercise being when she had to carry a dozen tennis balls with her levitation abilities. It was easy enough at first, until she reached the fifth hour where she learned first hoof the meaning of magical exhaustion. Then she had to perform physical exercise, running for two miles, barrel crunches (where she learned she had quite the tummy, much to her embarrassment), and leg stretches. To end the day, she had to perform the shield spell and let Porter and Yon-Soo hit her shields with two-by-fours and baseball bats.

However, by the fourth week, there was clearly a large difference from before. She was able to carry a dozen five pound weights with little issue, able to run five miles without losing her breath and she’d slimmed down a lot, Comet testifying to her much more toned figure one day.

"Wow Mommy." Comet gazed at her mother as she finished her five mile run, her wings fluttering as her mother took a deep breath. "You got really fast!"

"Thank you honey." Aquamarine smiled at her daughter. Her daughter gave a small smile, a playful look on her face.

"Daddy won't be able to take his eyes off..." Comet trailed off, suddenly realizing the topic of her comment. She scowled and whispered, “Ah fuck…”

Aquamarine’s eyes widened, first from Comet’s accidental blurb about Gale, and then her shock at the language her daughter was using. She shot an angry glare at the soldiers, who were watching her run the track.

"Melnik!" Aquamarine shouted in anger, the soldiers' eyes widened and they parted, revealing the one-armed Russian drinking a bottle of vodka. His eyes widened as the mare stormed up to him, her horn glowing brightly as a shield appeared around him and the unicorn.

Comet and the soldiers watched on as the mare appeared to begin yelling at him, but not a sound could be heard from within. Melnik shrank away as the mother unicorn continued to berate him for several minutes before canceling the spell.

"-and if she so much says another curse word, I will personally shove that bottle where the sun doesn't shine! Ugh!" Aquamarine growled as she stormed away. Comet guiltily walked up to him, rubbing her leg with her hoof.

"Sorry Uncle Ivan, I didn't mean to get you in trouble," Comet whimpered out, only to find herself picked up by the one armed man.

"It’s no issue. If I don't get yelled at by a woman at least once a week, I am not doing a good job." Melnik laughed, only for Comet to stare at him in confusion.

"Huh?" she said as her eyes widened in bewilderment.

Aquamarine’s training kicked up a notch as the second month of training started, as she was taught several spells to help her in the future. It was the PHL’s belief that for ponies who wanted nothing to do with the new Solar Empire, there was no such thing as a civilian. Or at least, there wouldn’t be such a thing in the future. There were simply too many factions gunning for them. As a result, valuable PHL unicorns were to be trained in a wide variety of spells, and not just those that fit as their special talents.

Aquamarine had done well at learning various shield spells to protect from offensive spells, minor healing spells, even an offensive concussive spell to help lay down covering fire for the others, and defend herself from newfoals at close range.

But she prided herself on the shield spells under her belt, always ready to improve her chances of survival.

Unlike the Royal Guards, who were unused to human tactics, simply used the shield to try weather the firing from the human weapons, Aquamarine was taught to use the shield sparingly and find cover as quick as possible.

And there was another clear difference between a Royal Guard and Aquamarine.

Aquamarine had the chance to experience weapon fire in a safe environment, whereas the Royal Guards were thrown into the grinder.

The shield held under the withering fire, bullets flattening themselves into almost mushroom-shaped lumps against it, until Sergei pulled out 'his' 6G30 grenade launcher and took aim.

*whump-BOOM*

Aquamarine gave a small gasp, and staggered back a couple feet, her head shaking with a dull, throbbing ache, her hooves skidding against the ground. Her magic had dropped in power so quickly that it had felt almost like a slap in the face... But, as the smoke cleared, her shield remained.

Cracked and barely holding together for sure, but it was still there and still standing. The dummies were whole and undamaged, marking a passing grade for the boot camp in the PHL.

She felt Porter rub her head, sitting down and giving a tired smile at him. "I passed..."

"You sure did." Porter smiled as he gave a thumbs up to the three on the firing range as they walked back to them.

"You did it, Mommy!" Comet cried out, hovering over the ground as she tackle-hugged her mother, whatever compliments she could give slowly turned into adorable squeaks and squeals, and joyful nuzzling.

“It never stops being adorable, does it?” Yon-Soo asked.

“Nope,” Aitmatov said, a smile on his face, Blizzard smiling as well as she looked at Comet with pride.

"Best student I ever had," Blizzard sniffed as she held herself with an air of superiority, only to grunt as Firebrand elbowed her.

"Only student you mean. And I deserve some credit too," Firebrand chided, smiling as the mother and daughter swelled with pride.

"The good news for everyone keeps on coming." Melnik said with a smile as he looked down at his tablet, "my arm arrived this morning! I having a fitting later today, and some physical therapy scheduled."

"Looks like a good day today, huh Porter?" Yon-soo said, Porter smiling as the group began to talk excitedly to one another.

"Yeah. Today is a good day." Porter said quietly.

"LIEUTENANT!"

Porter and the group turned to watched as a Russian soldier rushed up to them, the look of panic on his face.

"What's wrong? Are we under attack?"

"No... not yet..." the soldier heaved as he grabbed his breath. "But something terrible has happened. Colonel Demichev wants you at headquarters right now!”

"Mommy, what do you think is happening?" Comet looked up to her mother with worry.

"It’s okay, honey. Maybe it’s nothing," Aquamarine said with a strained smile.

And yet, the feeling of dread only sank further in her gut.

"One week ago, the Empire’s forces invaded Reykjavik, Iceland in record numbers while the military and civilians were still in the process of evacuating. Our brave troops of various countries and the PHL held back the Tyrant’s forces until the last ships were clear, but at a great cost."

"Lyra Heartstrings was captured and dragged back to Equestria."

No one could breathe as they heard the news, it was as if the earth had been yanked out from under them. As if suddenly, the point of light at the end had vanished, leaving them stranded. And, for several moments, the ragtag group of humans and ponies stared at each other in abject horror, jaws dropped as far as physically possible, shivering in shock and horror.

It wasn’t. It couldn’t have been. And yet it was.

Firebrand looked like he had mentally shut down. “Ambassador Lyra was… captured?” he choked, in a small, weak, wavering tone that didn’t sound like his own voice. “No, no no no! Not her!”

An image replayed through the respective minds of Blizzard, Aquamarine, and Comet. A pony found by newfoals in the human world, dragged into the pink void of the Barrier, screaming for help, looking for all the world like she was being dragged to hell. To imagine that in conjunction with Lyra was too terrifying to contemplate.

“I don’t even want to think about what the Queen Bitch is going to do,” a nearby soldier remarked, her voice jittering with disgust.

And yet the images of the early Solar Empire kept on flickering through Blizzard’s head. Her once-beloved leader had ordered the mass extermination of every changeling they could find, instituted the mind healers, used the Totem-Prole network to seek out and squash dissent. She remembered a protest in Cloudsdale about the growing militarization of Equestria, the repurposing of skyliners into potioneer ships and battleships, and the embargo on human culture…. it was a rather general expression of discontent with the current state of affairs.

Celestia had sent in Royal Guards, who suppressed the protest without mercy, creating stinging hail to drive pegasi away, manipulated clouds to shoot lightning and electrocute pegasi, and generally using their weather manipulation to smash through the protest. Anypony in the protest was damned if they did, damned if they didn’t, though Blizzard hadn’t known that at the moment. Ponies that turned themselves in didn’t come out the same, ponies that resisted were hit even harder, and even running away didn’t seem all that safe.

If Celestia responded that way to a peaceful protest, she shuddered to think how she’d react to Lyra’s very existence. Queen Celestia’s twisted definition of harmony was that everyone held the same opinions as her, and judging by just how much Lyra had disagreed… Blizzard stopped. That line of thought wouldn’t go anywhere pleasant.

"Well... maybe they are trying to save her!" Firebrand exclaimed, hope rising that the PHL save their leader.

“Nyet," Demichev said solemnly as he looked away.

"We tried... so hard to save her. Many died in the attempt but we failed."

"On this day of March 15th, Lyra Heartstrings has been wrongly convicted in a false court already determined to find her guilty, set to stone and destroyed."

The silence that time felt like it took an eternity.

"No!" Firebrand screamed, looking at the others for help. "Its a trick! A lie! That bitch is using the PER to broadcast this!"

"Firebrand..." Aquamarine whimpered as the pegasus seemingly lost himself in his rage. Comet stepped back, her ears down in the telltale expression of depression, tears in her eyes and a worried look on her face as she looked at Firebrand.

"No! She can't be dead! Marcus wouldn't allow it! Nopony would allow it! I shouldn’t have left her! I could’ve saved her or something! She.... she..." Hyong-Jin managed to wrap his arms around the distraught pegasus, holding him as he broke down. The others helped him, wrapping Firebrand in their hold as he burst into tears, crying at the loss of his close friend. “Where would we go from here?! What’s the PHL without her?!” Firebrand screamed with a mixture of utter heartbreak and rage.

Yon-Soo swallowed a lump in his throat, but he really didn’t know how to respond to that. He remembered how kind and gracious Lyra had been when he and his friends met her. How she seemed so small, yet carried herself with the grace and dignity of a leader.

As if by cue, the news shifted to footage of Marcus Renee at a podium.

"As of today, I, Colonel Marcus Renee, will temporarily take over the PHL until another is fit to lead. We will continue our fight against the Tyrant. Lyra sacrificed herself to save thousands, and we will not let it be in vain."

"We will not fall... we will rise and win. All units affiliated with PHL will continue to do their duties, let no one tell you otherwise. Its time to step up and make Lyra proud of us."

"Et spem futuri saeculi Amicitia."

The news on the TV continued on but no one paid much attention to it. It felt like a kick to the gut, several soldiers almost crying. What few other military officials were in the room were aghast, their faces (aged by decades in the previous months) gray and colorless.

It seemed impossible. Like a nightmare, a drill, or some horrible excuse of a prank. It had to be something that was faked, this couldn’t be real!

And yet it was. Lyra, the founder of the PHL, the mare that helped ponies integrate into the human military, the mare that had been one of the first to say something was wrong with Equestria, the mare that had denounced the newfoals and survived countless assassination attempts as she inspired two worlds to fight, the mare that had publicly denounced Celestia, the once-humble musician that had started a revolution which shook Equestria to its very core, the mare that had...

It was futile to try and describe it. No words seemed able to fully describe what Lyra was or her importance.

And now, she was gone.

Aquamarine whispered, “Oh dear… what could happen now?”

“Yeah,” Firebrand cut in, his tears shifting from sadness to rage. “What’s the PHL without Lyra?!”

“Well,” Aitmatov said. “I read a book awhile back. It was something about online gold farmers and trade unions… I forget the title. But there was this one quote I remember, as the bold union organizer was trapped in a burning building. Her final words were, ‘I’m not magic. You all lead yourselves.’”

“You… do realize she was a unicorn, right?” Blizzard Flurry asked. “This metaphor is kind of breaking down…”

“Well, yeah, but that’s beside the point,” Aitmatov replied, rubbing his temples. “The point is, we don’t need Lyra to lead us to be the PHL. We don’t need her to inspire us to fight, or resist being turned into zombies. We can do that ourselves. Even if she’s gone, even if the PHL get downsized into oblivion, we still remember her. We still remember what she wanted us to do, and we can still fight alongside ponies that have decided a hopeless war is still better than the fascist shithole that is their home. Being PHL isn’t about Lyra, or anything like that - it’s about what she’d want us to do. It’s about what she believed in. It’s about standing up for that, for ponies and humans alike.”

Firebrand was still grief-stricken however. He tried to sniff back his tears as he choked out, “I don’t know… I mean, I’ve helped to protect her from a bunch of things… horrible things. She was just… she was more than just a leader, you know what I mean? She was like, an inspiration to all of us! Seeing her defection gave many of us the drive to leave Equestria and say “fuck you” to Celestia and the newfoals and the propaganda.”

"I couldn't have left without her either," Blizzard added. "Even after the Cloudsdale riots, it was Lyra who pointed out to me and my friends that that something had gone wrong with our world, and with us that so many accepted it." She extended a wing over Firebrand's barrel.

Aquamarine sighed and said, “I’ll admit, Comet and I hadn’t seen much of her work earlier in the war. But the fact that everypony called her such horrible things while they were calling for converting humans into those shells called newfoals… I guess it wasn’t very comfortable to them for her to expose their hypocrisy.”

“Agreed,” Blizzard said. “You’re okay with destroying an entire culture so thoroughly it could never come back…. but not someone disagreeing with you? I just never got that.”

“She was definitely the bravest pony I’ve seen,” Comet remarked, looking at the TV again as the news covered Lyra’s memorial. Curiously, there were mentions of some HLF members expressing sorrow for Lyra’s execution.

"Just stand for what Equestria once stood for, like how Lyra always described it. And you don't have to do it alone, Firebrand." Hyong-Jin gave him a warm smile, "We got your back."

"All for one and one for all!" Melnik cheered, waving his bottle around.

"Seriously, where are you getting those?" Yon-Soo asked.

"Why? Want some?" Melnik grinned at Yon-Soo's scowling face, causing the group to laugh at the antics.

"Lieutenant Stanley," Colonel Demichev called out, gaining Porter's attention. "I'm sorry to break up your group's moment, but new orders came in for you."

"Already?!" Porter blinked in surprise and felt dread rising in his chest. "It’s from my chain of command, isn’t it?"

"Of sorts," Demichev said as he handed him a twin set of silver bars. "Congratulations, Captain Stanley, you’ve been promoted."

"Wait, what?!" Porter stared at the rank in confusion.

"These are not orders for you to return, but one of protection detail. You are not going home Captain nor is your unit being disbanded." Demichev gave him a smirk, "I doubt your government will take Ms. Heartstrings’ death laying down."

Porter didn't understand at first until Demichev walked over to the satellite comms and raised the volume.

"All units, advance! Take down those November foxtrot!"

"Potioneer ships and aerostats coming out of the barrier. Let’s give them a warm American welcome with our F-22s - show ‘em why zeps went out of style!.

"Let’s show those bastards why our enemies are afraid of the name 'Delta Force'. They take one of ours, we take a whole lot more!"

"We’re taking back the Pacific. I'm tired of playing defense,and abandoning a place I fought for with tooth and claw just months ago! Tired of seeing them snuff out innocents! Everyone! Are you ready for this?! Are you ready to save everything that makes us human, and turn that PER island into smoke on the water?!”

Roars and shouts of approval rang out.

“Then… let’s take back this island! Arm the tomahawk missiles the PHL brought - I can think of no better place to test it than actual combat!”

Porter looked on before a grin morphed on his face at the next call.

"That bitch's wind up soldiers are taking up residence of my future parking lot. I find that offensive! We are 1st Battalion 10th Marines! What is our job, Havoc?!"

"Artillery, sir! Oorah!"

"What do we do, Diamond?"

"Rain fire and hell, sir! Oorah!"

"What is our name that the enemy whisper in fear, Darkhorse?"

"Nightmares, sir! Oorah!"

"I want my parking lot, gentlemen! Make it happen!"

"Oorah!"

Demichev lowered the volume, raising an eyebrow at Porter. "They lack radio etiquette."

"Sorry Colonel." Porter couldn’t wipe the grin on his face. “It wasn’t in basic.”

"For once, I approve of the American bravado. Seeing us taking down her troops before they could spread the news of Ms. Heartstrings of their own doing." Demichev took a seat and looked to Porter. "Commander Renee made the right choice in relaying the news himself instead of letting us find out through the Tyrant. This gives us a chance to steel ourselves instead of finding out through her and taking us down through our shock."

"I... I see."

"Your orders," Demichev slid the pack to Porter, watching as he open and read his orders. Demichev eyes trained on movement near the door and saw Aitmatov hovering near the door. He gave him a small nod and waved him inside. "Come, Khan. You have a question."

"Yes sir!" Aitmatov stood before the two before looking to Porter, "Requesting to join Lieutenant Stanley on his mission."

"Captain now..." Porter muttered as he continued to read. Aitmatov smiled before looking back to Demichev.

"Hmm... I will allow it. Can't let the Americans have all the fun."

"I'm going too!" Melnik yelled out, a smile on his face. "Where this bastard goes, I go."

"You're missing an arm," Demichev pointed out.

“I got a new one in the mail,” Melnik said, giving a one-armed shrug. “Don’t worry about it.”

“And where these two go, I’m following,” Blizzard said. “Especially Khan,” she added as she looked up at him, a smile on her face.

“And I’m going with Uncle Ivan and Uncle Yon-Soo too,” Comet said. “If Mommy will let me, anyway.”

“Oh, I don’t worry. I will,” Aquamarine said. “Because I’m going with you too. They need somepony to keep shields up...”

“And, let’s be honest, a filly needs a daddy,” Sergei said, blinked a bit at his words when he noticed mother of said filly, blushing brightly at him. “I, uh… I’m not sure I do that, but can you settle for a big brother?” he looked down at Comet, who nodded happily. “Besides, someone needs to explode newfoals.”

“I thought I was doing that,” Aitmatov said.

“Well, the more the merrier,” Sergei said. “What about you, Hyong-Jin?”

“You know how my home was,” Hyong-Jin said. “It was all… all about what you had to do for the state, even as it starved you, and disappeared families. Every waking moment was about what you could do, every bit of entertainment was propaganda… And for the record, Squirrel and Hedgehog was terrible.”

“That did kind of backfire with America,” Porter said.

“Right. But now, I have something I can believe in. I’ve seen what the war does, I’ve seen what it’s destroyed, and I’m not gonna stand by, or stand without my friends as the Barrier wipes us off our planet,” he continued. “Yon-Soo? Firebrand?”

“Absolutely,” Yon-Soo said with determination. “I’ve fought with you guys for over a year; you’ve all had my back, and I’ve had yours. I can safely say that I trust you all with my life. I’m staying with all of you to the end.”

Firebrand looked up, something vaguely approaching hope on his face. “For Lyra,” he said. “For everything I believed in… you’re all right. I’m not letting two worlds sink into whatever madness corrupted my home. And I’m doing it alongside all of you. Luna knows I wouldn’t trust anyone or anypony else. No offense, colonel, but I doubt that a lot of your men would be as accepting as these people.”

“None taken,” Colonel Demichev said. “It’s understandable, but it annoys me. So - you’re all with Captain Stanley, then?”

“Yes sir!” they replied, saluting.

“Good. Because orders are for all of you since you are attaching yourselves to Yon-Soo, Hyong-Jin, and Sergei." Demichev then waved a hand to Porter. "Captain, if you will."

Porter nodded his head before lower his orders. "Okay, everyone, let's head to our quarters and not take up the good Colonel's offices."

20 minutes later

"Alright guys," Porter stood in middle of the room, Melnik sat on the desk along with Firebrand, pouring the pegasus a shot of vodka with a grin, Yon-Soo giving the two a scowl as he rubbed Comet’s head, Blizzard and Aquamarine standing and looking at Porter attentively, and Sergei and Aitmatov quietly finishing their discussion on explosive usage.

"Alright. We have HVC-"

"Question!" Aquamarine raised her hoof, startling Porter before nodding to her. "What's a HVC?"

"Ha!" Melnik laughed as he gave gave the unicorn a smile. "It means a High Value Cargo, gerla."

"Right. It’s coming by train in a few days and we have to be on that train when it comes in for refueling." Porter explained, pulling out several Xerox copies of a map and passing them around. "There are hundreds of priceless relics and historical artifacts on this train. Famous things, stuff that should be in museums like the Louvre, if the Louvre wasn’t atomized. And it’s our duty to defend it."

"Why?" Blizzard asked.

"Because the areas we are passing through, the southern Ural Federal District and Siberian Federal District, are being contested between the PER and the HLF. They have been stopping trains passing through, either for supplies or bodies." Porter said, a scowl on his face. "The Chinese, Russians, Kazakhstani, and Mongolians are trying to clear it, but not with much success so far."

"So... we are going into a death trap?" Sergei gaped.

"The train is well armored and we will have PHL personnel on board with us. But we have to protect the cargo at all cost. We were also scheduled to receive new equipment for everyone when they learned we were in the area." Porter then looked to Firebrand and Blizzard. "They have something called assault yokes on hand, looks like its for pegasi units. Looks like you’re getting your guns, Firebrand.”

“Finally!” Firebrand sighed. “Won’t be easy to aim, though… still better than being without a ranged weapon.”

"Alright people," Porter said as placed the papers on the table next to Firebrand. "We have four days to prepare. Get your stuff together, familiarize yourself with the new equipment as best you can. Melnik - I know that a new arm might be hard to get used to. Along with the various… functions that it has.”

“I asked specifically for a drill, a knife, and a shotgun,” Melnik said. “So far, I’ve just skimmed the manual. But it does have those.”

“Right. Imperial forces like to mob you up close and personal, so those will come in handy. And HLF?"

“It kind of varies. But they like to fill targets with lead,” Sergei added.

"Good thing we have better armor now," Yon-Soo noted. "Heard they have light shields and they help strengthen the user."

"Yup." Firebrand smiled, "A PER defector put himself through hell to get Royal Guard equipment to the PHL, as penance for what he’d done. New PHL equipment has Standard Royal Guard enchantments, rumors have it that there is something even stronger in the works. Lyra... had all kinds of designs and plans for new weapons and no one’s gonna let that go to waste."

“Big guns?” Aitmatov asked, the tone of his voice and the smile on his face not unlike the kind one would see on a kid in a candy store.

“A lot of them,” Porter said. “We might even be getting a few on the train. Though there’s a catch.”

“And that is?” Aitmatov asked.

“It’s untested. Probably very dangerous, thanks to the magic,” Porter continued. “We’re meant to be field-testing them, though.”

“But we’re testing it on PER,” Aitmatov pointed.

“And HLF,” Blizzard added.

“Well, yes,” Porter said.

At that moment, in response, Aitmatov and Blizzard looked at each other, and shrugged, saying something to the effect of “Worth it.” Blizzard was surprised at the malice in her own voice, disturbed to find herself so ready to inflict pain on anyone (or anypony), particularly her old homeland.

And yet… she’d seen what both factions had done while trying to “help” humanity in their own ways. Both doing more harm than good. She’d seen how some of her old friends back in Cloudsdale had lowered themselves to help the empire. She’d seen what the HLF had done to those poor ponies they’d found in the abandoned school. So fuck ‘em.

“Bastards are going to regret ever crossing us,” she said, welcoming that venom in her voice. Aitmatov looked down at her, almost approvingly. Maybe a little worried.

“Don’t get carried away, though,” Aitmatov said to her. “A big enough gun and enough anger can make a man feel like he’s invincible. But they don’t. It’s how you use those things,” he said. “I could use the SVN-2015 I have like some huge assault rifle. But then… I’d be dead. You have to keep calm during all this.”

“Right,” Blizzard said, taking a deep breath. “I can do that.”

"Anyway, let’s hope that stuff comes out soon," Porter said. “Let’s get ourselves ready then.”

Porter watched at the group filed out, his thoughts on each person and what they brought.

Yon-Soo and Hyong-Jin he knew right off the bat as the most well rounded of the group, training them personally for several months. They dabbled in all weapons but preferred mid-range fighting. The two worked with the rest of the group well enough, Yon-Soo worked extremely well with him while Hyong-Jin was able shift his fighting style to whatever was necessary to work with.

Firebrand was their scouter and heavy assault, able to get into areas quickly and take down enemies with ease with his flying. Now he had to reevaluate him to add in 'incendiary' specialist thanks to his own brand of magic dealing with fire.

Blizzard also acted as a scouter but as a spotter as well, helping Aitmatov spot targets for him. He had yet to see her own brand of magic beside cooling a cloud, but she probably had her own tricks to use that she felt weren’t necessary to pull out.

Melnik was his close combat specialist, listening in to his tales of past missions he obviously preferred to get in your face rather than stay from a distance. His new arm was no doubt based off Lyra’s own design. She had possibly designed it herself before she was taken, given what Melnik wanted on it. This only gave him a dangerous edge.

Aitmatov was their designated sniper, Sergei was an okay back up and a decent aim, but Aitmatov made it look like an art form. That man showed his talent sniping the HLF, somehow having managed to shoot a rocket out of the air with a heavy revolver. He’d also shown a particular fondness for light machine guns.

Sergei was an interesting soldier to work with. The man breathed explosives and knew how to handle a wide variety of them. He was also well rounded in close combat and sniping, and proven himself able to handle an enormous and unfamiliar sniper rifle. A good backup in case the primary roles were down.

The only real worries he had were with Aquamarine and Comet. True, Aquamarine had passed the basic boot camp for PHL ponies, but now they were thrusting her to the front line, expecting her to perform under pressure. He’d known men in his own boot camp that had been excellent shots, but they’d been unable to cope with the pressure of actual combat. Comet was even more worrisome; besides her young age and small size, he was worried about just how well she would handle the horrors of the battlefield. She was certainly a brave little filly, so hopefully she’d be able to pull her own weight...

"Porter?" He turned to see Yon-Soo next to him. Yon-Soo’s expression was curious, a mixture of hopeful optimism and slight fear. "Everything will be fine,” he said as reassuringly as he could. “We'll protect them.”

"Yeah..." Porter watched as Comet flew around Sergei and Aquamarine, displaying some fighting techniques Firebrand taught her with a wide smile on her face. "Got to keep morale up. Protect not only the cargo, but each other."

Yon-Soo smiled and said, “Exactly! We’ll get through this!” He then walked over and joined Comet and Sergei’s conversation on martial arts, unaware of the brewing thoughts.

Porter reached into his pocket and took out a picture of happier and less complicated times. It was from a couple months before Equestria manifested, when he and and Eun-Hee had gone on a trip to Hallasan National Park in Jeju-do. It was taken from a camera phone, but the picture was still as clear as the day it had been taken.

It had been a beautiful day. The sun had been shining, the skies were blue, it had seemed almost perfect. He personally would give anything to have those happier days back...

He was more than certain he wasn’t the only one. The friends, family members and any other loved ones of the other reporters at that press conference were likely still in mourning too, in a similar position as him.

"Protect what you have..." Porter murmured to himself as he watched Melnik ran out cackling as Aquamarine chased after him, her face flushed in embarrassment. "Because you'll never know when they will be gone."

Author's Notes:

Hey guys and gals, Kizuna here and back to post this!

Well, writing Aquamarine and Comet's bit was honestly the easiest part. Hopefully Lyra's death was filled with enough feels, because I wanted to make it a huge feels trip.

Discord: "You're trying to pad out your section of the TV Tropes page, aren't you?"

Me: "Maybe~" :D

Coming up next will be the beginning of the China arc, a few cameos from Doctor Fluffy's characters, and blowing stuff up (especially newfoals). I would say that this story's about... halfway done now! So excited for this!