Logan found himself drinking the cider Applejack brought on the camping trip much slower than usual, and much to his discomfort, the six ponies around him noticed the somber mood surrounding him.

“You okay Logan? You seem to be depressed.” Twilight observed.

“Yeah… I’m fine.” he lied easily.

Applejack scoffed loudly “Horseapples you are honey. Ah know your upset. If it aint too much trouble, would ya mind telling us what happened durrin’ this ‘War’?”

With a light sigh, he swallowed the last third of the cider bottle in 3 large swallows. “Fine. But only if ya got more liquor. This is hard to talk about. And I mean HARD.”

With a brief rummage through her saddlebags, Applejack pulled out a pair of bottles. One of Rum, and the other of Bourbon. “Whatcha prefer?”

“Rum please.” Logan smiled as a shot glass was passed to him. “Thanks. Now… I gotta start a few years prior to the war to understand why I became such a target. So… in the year 2008, we had inaugurated a new president into our country. I was only 12 then, so Politics were far from interesting at the time. But as time went by, and I grew older, I began to see that this new president was such a mistake. He lied through the teeth every time he gave a speech, et cetera, et cetera.”

Swallowing the shot, he continued, seeing everypony present listening intently. “for civilians in my country, we are legally allowed to own any form of weapon we choose. Be it simple handgun, rifle, for hunting, competition, or fighting, or shotgun. Our newest president however felt otherwise. He felt it necessary to ban ALL kinds of weapons, healthcare was to be united under one logo, religion was to be banned-”

“Religion?” Rainbow asked interrupting, receiving a sharp elbow from Twilight.

“Don’t interrupt! although… I am curious too.”

“It would take too long to explain. Maybe some other time. Anywho… the day I turned 16, my pop came home with a gift. I found it was pieces for a gun.” he said holding up his AK. “I spent 4 months putting this thing together. Of course it was legal, as long as it was built to spec, which varied state to state. My home state said you had to have a lock on the mag release, and ten rounds max. Me? I obviously just blew it off and didn’t bother. I spent several hundred on various other weapons. Now for us, my family was conservative. Others however, weren’t. Gun owners were more often than not conservative. Those who didn’t want guns were liberals. Several years of political chaos, tension, and whatnot eventually took it’s toll. I would now and then build more guns, making and spending money.”

“Because of our political tension, eventually things reached a breaking point. A government agency called the Bureau of Land Management, BLM for short, now nobody truly knows why they did this, but they attempted to seize a farmers land. They claimed it was because he refused to pay a fee, others say it was the BLM trying to protect a turtle, nobody knows. Their first attempt failed miserably. They tried again to another farmer in another state, Texas, I didn’t get to find out what happened there. It was their second hit at the first rancher in a small town called Bunkerville, that started it all.”

“So a rouge government agency snapped the tension?” Twilight asked gently.

“I wouldn‘t say rouge. I think they were under orders. I wasn’t there the first time, nor in Texas. couldn’t afford it. The second time however, Myself as well as the rest of my family was there with hundreds of others in support for the Rancher.” Sipping his rum with a sigh, Logan breathed to catch his breath. “The crowd came from all over the country. People as far away as the east coast had shown up.

“Nobody knew who started it there. I didn’t see who fired. But when I reviewed the footage, I saw a new recruit, shaky n everything. Practically pissing himself, get twitchy and fire into the crowd of unarmed protesters. Damned kid panicked, thinking he saw someone with a gun in the crowd? I don’t know. He was dead when I found him.”

“So… your own government tried to take land from a farmer, and you, being against big government, disagreed, along with a great amount if not majority of your nation‘s civilians, and both sides resorted to armed confrontation?” Pinkie asked with a slight shake.

“Yep. They knew we’d resist, but once they saw we were armed, they just assumed. I guess. Nobody really knows the truth.”

“Why were you armed however dear? that’s what I’d like to know.” Rarity inquired gently.

“Because it was supposed to be a show of force. If armed guys show up to take your business from you, and you’ve already gone through the legal rollercoaster, but they still try to take over, what do you do?”

“Makes sense I’d put up a fight if someone tried to take something that never belonged to them in the first place.” The lavender alicorn implied.

“Exactly. Anywho, the fight lasted for about, half an hour. They pushed us back at first, but we outnumbered them 3 to 1. Once we finally got our bearings, we shoved them. that’s when it started…”

______________

Logan Mason,

June 25th, 2015.

The Nevada desert outside Bunkerville

11:22 Hours

The winds gust through the desert like a bat out of hell, adding a nice breeze to the sweltering desert heat. I reveled in the cool breeze, as my recently watered down Remington ball cap had just warmed up. Taking a sip of water from my canteen, I eyed the crowds below. They seemed to be getting more agitated.

Reaching down to pick up my custom AR, I flipped the scope half of its hybrid sight into view, allowing me to take a slightly closer look at the crowd below. Within moments, I found two civilians I had been looking for. My mother, Svedka, and my sister Savannah.

By the looks of things, our mother had just shooed Savannah to their car, parked near the bridge where Pop and I were perched.

Clicking the talk button on my radio I called “Savannah, what’s going on down their?”

“The crowd’s getting hella antsy. I told mom to get back up here the moment something even feels off.” she said as she waved.

Within minutes, she was sitting on their trucks tailgate, nursing a grape soda, next to our father who was happily munching down on his home made sub sandwich. Myself however, while hungry, decided to stay put.

Within moments of a particularly large yawn, a burst of automatic fire rang out along with the screams of women and children. Flicking the safety off, I was the first to return fire. Others on the bridge however had hesitated. I couldn’t help but wonder, and be scared as to how I could so easily pull the trigger against another human.

Quickly pushing the thought from my mind, I continued to fire. Screams permeated the air, the smell of blood, concrete dust, and burned cordite flooded my nose. Carefully, I aimed and fired.

Sight alignment, sight picture, trigger control, recoil mitigation. Repeat. Aim, squeeze, repeat. Others around the bridge and on the ground were firing much more panicky, and some even fired up into the sky. Looking up, I snuck a glimpse of a small black helicopter shot full of holes, smoking and spinning wildly out of control. Shaking my head, I returned fire back down to the ground.

Within 30 minutes, the BLM(or what remained alive) fell back and ran. Vehicles were shot to hell, a small helicopter was turned into swiss cheese, and left in a shattered, burning wreck. The wind didn’t help in the visibility stand point. Looking around, I saw hy sister, holding her Kriss Vector carbine, barely holding back wails of emotional pain, and pop, visibly shaken. The concrete safety barriers were also shot to hell, but the angle fortunately is what saved most everybody on the bridge.

I watched as the dust settled, revealing a score of scattered bodies, blood stained the desert sands. Slowly I walked down the hill to look for survivors. Coming up to one of the bloodied bodies, I rolled the body over. Right in front of me, mother’s eyes, while lifeless, stared in panic. Underneath her body lay another, younger body. A child, probably only 11 at best, shot, her face frozen in agony and fear.

I tried my best to not break down at mother shot dead while protecting another’s child, I closed their eyes, and choked on a prayer for them to be watched over in the afterlife.

_____________________________

Logan chuckled, taking another shot of rum. “That’s when it all started. Afterwards we joined the local militia. In another protest incident on the other side of the country, the national guard was called in. Damned idiots got the order to fire, and… they did. Then they found out they were tools in the government’s oppression machine. Within a week, about two thirds of our military sided against the government which we grew to nickname ‘The Federation.’ In the following months, we began to gain the edge. That didn’t last. It soon became a stalemate… neither side backing down… I don’t know how many I killed. I lost all care after the third in Bunkerville.”

“Darling… We knew something was troubling you, but… we didn’t know it was so bad.” Rarity sympathetically said, patting his back with a hoof.

“Oh it got much worse. The Federation called in help from two other superpower nations. China, and Russia. Within a week, it was one army against two. Out numbered militaristically, by 5 to 1. By a body count, it was almost dead even. Of course my sis was a reservist until she turned 18. Pops gave her that .45 carbine as an early present.”

__________________________

Logan Mason,

October 12th, 2015

09:45 Hours

Just outside Yuba City, California

“What’s the situation sir!?” I shout trying to be heard over the roar of helicopters and large vehicles.

“We got refugees being hiding in a local shopping center. We need your team to get them out, and to safety in Reno.” the sergeant replied.

“Just my team alone, sir? We don’t have that kind of firepower to escort civvies from here to Reno on our own. Especially by car sir.”

“I’m well aware of that. But your not going by ground transport.” he said cryptically.

“Sir?”

All the sergeant said from there was just a finger pointing up, showing three Chinook helicopters.

Gobsmacked, all I could think to shout was “Holy hell! Sir why wasn’t I told we had Helo transport!?”

“I found out about 5 minutes ago. They flew in from Las Vegas not two hours ago. They were a part of a bigger convoy meant for San Francisco, L.A, San Diego, and Sacramento. I managed to get you a few of them to make your life easier son. don’t break anything!” and with that, he walked off.

So, I went to go gather my team, and get them ready for a civilian extraction. We drove in, and we were to pop off smoke on the roof when we had the refugees. The sounds of gunfire grew more and more evident the closer we got, so we sped up. Sure enough, the Federation  had begun to round up more and more people. Slowly clearing the building, looking for collaborators of the ‘domestic terrorists’ as they called us.

If you knew a resistance member, or had a family member who was in the resistance, you were either shot on sight, or held prisoner. Guilty by association basically.

_________________

“Hold on dear… the government of your home country, was rounding up, imprisoning, and even executing members of your resistance? Not only that but family members and friends as well?!” Rarity half shouted, trying not to wake the sleeping Crusaders behind her.

“Yup. That’s what happens when your government goes power mad and doesn’t want to loose its power just because of an election.” Logan hissed gently. “Please tell me someone packed s’mores ingredients.”

“OOH! S’mores! I love s’mores!” Pinkie quietly shouted excitedly as she unpacked the marshmallows, chocolate and crackers.

“We’ve gone from telling a war story, to s’mores? How the hay-” Applejack started to ask out of annoyance.

‘AJ, I haven’t had a good s’more in years, and in times of desperation, you gotta enjoy the little things. It’s a law of life.” Logan smiled.

“I agree. It’s just like presents on Hearths warming. It’s the thought that counts.” Fluttershy added.

“Not the analogy I would have used but okay. I‘m not even sure it would work as an analogy, but same principle.”

Logan smiled like a kid as his marshmallow started to turn golden brown. As he placed the golden brown cylinder of sugar on top of the thin brick of chocolate, he felt at peace. Genuine peace for the first time since the war in his world began.

He began to tear up as he and the other six mares bit into their sugary treats. As he ate, he decided to return to his story.

“So anyway, we got down to trying to stop the persecution/execution…

_____________________________________

So we flew down the hills. The big M2 machine guns on the roof start firing on those in The Federation, refugees running as fast as their feet could carry them back into the store.

The hummer I was in managed to slow down enough for myself and 3 others to jump out and book it into the store. Anyone wearing a ‘Federation’ pin or colors, we shot em. By then I had become desensitized so shooting and killing hardly affected me as much as it did when everything started,

I made my way as fast as possible to the shop, and burst inside, yelling for everyone inside, men, women, and children, to follow me to the roof, where the helos were waiting.

“Logan!? Oh my god is that really you!?” I hear a voice yell.

“Cadence!?” I couldn’t believe it. I thought my High School sweetheart had moved to Reno… but here she was.

“Oh my god, LOGAN!” before I knew it I was tackled and held in a tight hug. “Oh I am so glad your ok! When I heard they were coming around to take people away I thought-”

“Shush. I’m fine. I’m not hurt. But right now, we need to get you guys to safety. I’m here with a group of Helicopters to fly all of you to Reno. It’s the nearest safe zone, Federation free. Now if you’ll all, calmly, follow me to the roof…” I assured.

Climbing up to the roof was rather tricky I admit, but we made it with only a few extra scrapes and cuts. What I didn’t account for was a hidden sniper on the top of the Wal-Mart. He pulled out his cute little PDW(Personal Defense Weapon), and started to aim it at us. Just as I’m about to dive and shove someone out of the way, there’s a loud ‘TECRACK!’ that missed me by inches, but nailed him square in the chest.

Only then my radio crackled to life. “You owe me one Brother.”

“Savannah!? What the hell are you doing!?”

“Uh, I think I just saved your life. Would you prefer it if I put a bullet in your chest instead?” she snarked.

“Ugh. never mind. We’ll discuss this-”

“Speaking of, Dad wants to have a few words with you about this whole ‘Resistance’ mess.”

“Later. Keep me covered.” I snide irritably.

“Sister in the Resistance too?” Cadence chuckled playfully.

“For all I know so is the rest of my family. We all joined separately.” I growl as we push the refugees into the giant, dual rotor Chinhooks. As I climbed in we started to fly towards Reno.

We got there thankfully without incident. Weren’t fired at or anything. Of course since I was Militia, I had to keep watch. Make sure everybody got what they needed, within reason of course.

____________________________________

“Now as I explained earlier, I built guns as a hobby, and as a way to make money, despite the government declaring that doing so was a federal crime, punishable by a hefty fine, and almost twenty years in prison.” he explained.

“Your mare friend-”

“Girlfriend in human terms Pinkie.” Logan corrected.

“Right. Girlfriend. Her name was Cadence? that’s Twilight’s sister-in-law’s name!” the bubble gum mare bounced.

“Cadence was a common name back home so I’m hardly surprised. Besides, I’ve met her. Cool girl.” Logan smiled, remembering the first time he met the sweet Princess of the Crystal Empire. That smile however quickly turned to a dark frown. One mixed with both sorrow, and rage.

“Anywho, It was about 3 weeks into our stay at the Casino haven in Reno, I had just finished unloading a shipment of food and clothes donated by others loyal to our cause of a genuinely true, free America, when what sounded like thunder rocked the entire building. So, I ran in as fast as I could to find that a bomb had gone off. People everywhere were screaming in pain, fear, and anguish.”

It became clear to the six mares what had happened before Logan got the chance to say. They each wanted him to stop, but none found the words to do so. “Then came the thing I dreaded more than having to live through a war. The one person I genuinely loved… I found her, my Cadence, laying against a roulette table… a six inch long piece of plate steel stuck out of her chest.”  

“I looked over the damage as best I could. I promised her I’d help. That she’d live, and so that we could both grow old… just as I promised that I’d make sure she’d survive, a second explosion rocked the casino. This time from outside, and the blast was much larger. I picked Cadence up, and carried her outside as best I could. Just as we past the doors into the parking lot, part of the building collapsed. I don’t know what the death toll was… I just know Cadence was one of them. She died, in my arms. Not 3 days before our 5 year anniversary.” as Logan cried, he reached into his back pocket, and pulled out his wallet, showing a picture.

“Darling… I’m so sorry… to loose your one true love… I cant even begin to imagine…” Rarity tried to comfort.

“That’s just… so sad…” Fluttershy added, as Pinkie wept as quietly as she could.

Rainbow did her best to hold back the tears, thinking about how she would act if her crush were to be killed in front of her.

Twilight and Applejack however, kept calm, but let their tears fall. Rarity took the wallet in her magic and examined the picture. It showed a khaki tan young adult woman, her long brown hair wrapped in a bun, her blue-ish green eyes radiating happiness

“Ever since… I literally lost all forms of patience. I didn’t talk for a solid month. I went off on my own. I felt nothing but hatred, and rage. So I hunted down the terrorists who did that to her, to us. I’m ashamed to say I didn’t kill them quickly. When I returned home, everyone said they heard what happened.” Logan sniffed quietly.

“That’s when I noticed something off. Our militia at the start of the year had well over 342 members strong. Varying in jobs. From cooks, to medics. Scouts to snipers. By the time I came back…we had only 72 remaining… myself included. Even with military help, we still got our asses kicked.”

“Darling… I’m sorry to ask this but… did Cadence ever… tell you anything? Before she passed away I mean.” Rarity asked, carefully.

“Rarity, aint that a might personal?” Applejack hissed.

“She said… ’thanks for all the love, and adventures. You’ve been my hero… go be… someone else’s… hero.’ As she said ‘hero‘ her last breath left her.” he sniffed.  

Applejack was the first to wrap Logan in a hug. Quickly followed by Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rarity. Twilight hesitated, but gave a hug at the same time as Rainbow.

“Why don’t you get some rest? You’ve told us an awful lot and its almost midnight.” Fluttershy suggested gently.

With a yawn that quickly spread to everypony, Applejack added “Ah agree. Ah think it’s time we all get some sleep.”

The six mares and one human each made their way to their tents. Pinkie fell asleep almost as soon as she was in her sleeping bag. As was Applejack, Twilight, and Fluttershy.

Rainbow and Rarity both however found it difficult to sleep. Each wondering what they would do if their love interests met an untimely demise. Their thoughts were interrupted however, by Logan’s gentle whisper in his hammock.

“Enough power for one more song… this one’s for you Cadence. For all of you.”

Rarity and Rainbow both snuck up and poked their heads out of their tents, curiously, as slow music started.

“I… I wish I could swim.

Like dolphins, like dolphins could swim.

Though nothing, will keep us together…

We can beat them, forever and ever

Oh we can be heroes… just for one day.

Oh we can be heroes… just for one day.

I… I would be king.

And you… you would be queen.

Though nothing… will drive us away…

Oh we can be heroes… just for one day

Oh we can be us… just for one day…

I… I can remember…

Standing… standing by the wall.

And the guns… shot above our heads.

And we kissed, as though nothing could fall

And the shame… the shames on the other side.

Oh we can beat them. Forever and ever

And we can be heroes… just for one day…”

“Inspiring, isn’t it?” Rarity whispered, seeing Rainbow awake, across from herself. They both got out and then walked towards the embers of the camp fire.

“Cant sleep either huh?” Rainbow inquired.

“I’m afraid not darling… too much on my mind.”

“Wanna talk about it?” Rainbow offered as she sat on her haunches by the embers.

“Well… I was just thinking about what I would do if I were to loose my special somepony…” she started.

“Applejack you mean?” Rainbow chuckled.

“Don’t start with me dear. You were thinking the same about Twilight.” the fashionista growled aggressively.

“Yeah… I was. I don’t know what I’d do without her…” the Pegasus confessed.

“I don’t think either of us do… lets try and get some sleep. Else we wont be able to think properly in the morning. Though, I must admit I am a bit annoyed with you Rainbow Dash. Why didn’t you tell me you were crushing on Twilight?”

“I-I-I...” she stammered quickly.

“You can tell me tomorrow dear. For now, lets get some rest.”

“Yeah…” Rainbow chuckled weakly. “Goodnight Rarity.”

“Good night, Rainbow Dash.”

Unbeknownst to Rainbow, Twilight had awoken just as Rainbow had left the tent… and heard every word.