The Sun rose over the tired land of the bulls, chasing away shadows and moving far too quickly. Another bomb? There was no trail of smoke behind this one, and bombs were not usually so bright, even if they shed rainbows.

Oh, it stopped. "Citizens of the Council," boomed a voice that could be heard for miles around herself. "Present your leader and none other will be harmed." A sudden lively jingle began to play from within her.

Celestia blinked softly as she magiced out the cellphone tucked in her pocket. It read 'Sunburst' on it and she quickly willed the answer button. "Sunburst! I hope you are alright after that madness?" Her initial burst of his name was booming, but quickly fell down to regular conversational tones.

"Hello, Your Highness," replied a voice that was not Sunburst. Male, middle aged? "He wanted me to call you."

Celestia felt coldness sweep through her. There weren't many reasons she could think of, that were good, that would have him having someone else call her. "Oh?"

Not that she could know it, but the only reason they could talk at all was due to the help of Minuette and Moon Dancer, helping drag satellites over the minotaur's land.

"I'm alright," came a sudden call from a distance, Sunburst shouting across the room.

"He can't hear," corrected the first male. "He's in one piece, but his hearing's shot. He's also--"

Celestia lowered the phone away, trembling. Yet more pain and suffering visited upon her subjects. She suddenly yanked it back up. "Did they do this?" she demanded in an angry snarl, teeth displayed a moment.

"Uh, not exactly." The other male laughed nervously. "He was defending himself, and us, and he wasn't wearing the right protection while he did it. He kinda did it to himself. He's a hero."

Celestia blinked away a few tears, trying to put that together. "I... see... Tell him I am very proud of him, and wish him a speedy recovery. I must... finish some business, but will call back."

"You should text," advised the male. "He can read just fine."

"Yes, of course... Thank you." She slipped the phone away, clearing her throat as she resumed the royal tones. "Where is your leader? Bring forth Commander Force!"

Something approached her. A rock. It didn't even make it halfway up before arcing back towards the ground. She peered at it and scanned for its source. There was a young calf of a bull, reaching for another.

She sank towards him, feeling little fear from the young bull. With her voice lowered, she addressed him, "Are you the defenses of your people?"

He chucked a fresh rock, but she caught it easily. "Go away! Stop hurting people!" shouted the young bull, already reaching for another.

"I would only share words with one specific person. Young foal, where is your leader?" She caught the next one he threw, adding it to the magic grip with the first one. "I will not harm any others if I can just speak with him."

"Give my dad back first!" screamed the youth so loudly his voice threatened to give out in the emotional outburst.

Celestia's left ear sagged a little. "Was he hurt? I am sorry. Too many people have been hurt."

"He isn't hurt, not anymore..." The fourth rock just hung limply in a hand without the strength to hurl it at that moment. "No one can hurt him anymore."

Celestia drew a slow breathe, imagining all her ponies that had been forced to early ends. "In this... we share a pain. This war, it has persisted for too long, if ever there were an acceptable amount of it to begin."

"What do you know?! You sided with the humans. They did this! They started this." He brought up an arm, the rock falling to the ground. He wiped his teary eyes with the arm, sniffing once.

Celestia did not rise to the invitation to argue. "Let us end this. We both want that, don't we?"

She woke with a start. The first bit of surprise being that she didn't feel as terrible as usual, and she was breathing. "Starlight?" She slid down from the bed and saw Starlight slumped against a corner, passed out. Twilight smiled gently at her loyal friend. "Thank you..."

"Mmm?" It had been enough to stir her. "Twilight!" She bounced down and proceeded to flop, her hooves lacking in grace. "You're awake, and moving!"

Twilight helped her friend up with a glowing horn. "I am both of those things, thanks to you and I vaguely remember a doctor being involved?"

"Yeah, good guy." She sat on her haunches in front of Twilight, smiling a bit lopsidedly. "It's so good to see you coherent and able again."

"What happened, to the war? Is it over?"

"As if..." Starlight deflated with a sigh. "They officially sent us home though."

"We can't go home." She started for the door, staggering once on the way but picking herself up quickly into an even trot. "We have to end this."

"About that..." Starlight put a hoof behind her head, glancing to the side.

"What?" Twilight looked over her shoulder. "You know something. What's going on?"

"I might have told Celestia what's going on, and she's... kinda... involved?"

"How is she involved?" Her eyes widened at the thought. "Tell me she isn't fighting!"

"I don't... think so? Either way, I vote we go home."

"Your vote has been noted, thank you." She shook her head firmly. "Now I'm going back." She thrust a hoof northwards. "Not to home, but where I'm needed, even more than before."

Starlight put a hoof over her face. "And I'm following you, because I don't want anything... more... to happen to you. How about we avoid even wanting to do anymore blood transfusions, alright?"

"I'll do my best."

He walked up to the front door of the research lab, his brightly-colored plates on display. He knocked on the door lightly and waited a moment.

"Can I help you?" asked a bored secretary.

"Yes, hello. I'm supposed to be a test subject in there." He pointed past the blackened glass door. "Reporting for duty."

A guard and a few scientists were out shortly to retrieve their changeling, all about as equally surprised. "We thought you might have gotten hurt in all that, but we couldn't find any hint of you," noted a scientist.

"I thought you ran off. I would have." The guard shrugged softly.

John smiled faintly. "I made a promise, for the good of America, and I don't plan to change that." They headed back inside. Not that he was officially a prisoner or anything, but John knew better, and the guard clearly did as well. "I apologize for leaving, it was for your sake."

"Our sake?"

So he explained what happened.

John heard the chaos approaching. His room wasn't that far from the exit, and the TSDI forces were anything but quiet. Explosions and screams were the hint, and he went to investigate on cautious hooves. Peeking out through the one-way mirror that was the black door, he could see the enemy approaching.

They would surely destroy the building, and kill everyone inside, as he could see them doing that on the way there. The screams of innocents ringing in his ears.

He had to do something. He became a bull in a matching military outfit, wearing fake armor and wielding a fake gun. He pushed out into the street and waved wildly at the chaotic group.

They came, as he hoped, asking him why he wasn't torching everything.

"This is not a good place. We should avoid it." He gestured at the building. "Fire would only hurt us."

"Chemicals?!" blurted out another, assuming. "Good catch, Brother. Leave this one alone. You, you, you, you, you, and you, go inside and clear out anyone hiding in there. The rest of you, with me!"

John was not one of the ones selected, and had to go with them, or blow his cover. Six soldiers poured into the building, but it was better than all of them, or them simply setting the place ablaze, or setting off explosives. At least he had managed that much.

The various creatures he was with were eager to swim back into battle, which suited him well. The instant they charged around a corner, so did he down another, emerging as a raven that took flight away from it all, but never far. He circled high above the chaos, trying to see what was going on, desperate to help somehow.

He saw a lone man, stunned and lost. There was a bull approaching. They'd meet shortly, likely with a poor end for the human. John dove at him with an angry squawk, beating at the man with wings and scaring the poor bastard half to death. The man fled away, and John felt sure that half to death was better than all the way. He did what he could to dampen the toll on the city.

When the reserves arrived, he sprang up among them, emerging from an alleyway in the proper attire and appearance. He knew where the TSDI forces were, and he told them where to look, and what to expect. Oh, no, he couldn't stay. He had to get back to his squad or he'd be chewed out. You know how it is... He never outstayed his welcome, to avoid any uncomfortable questions before they could be raised.

It had become a very long day for him, working from the shadows to protect the country he had once been the most powerful citizen of.

"And I came back here when it seemed to be completely over."

One of the scientists raised a long finger. "What was that about most powerful citizen?"

John tensed. Had he said that? "Sorry, wishful thinking on my part. I wish I could be more like John Rason..." He would never again be John, not really... "How did things go in here? I... tried to get them to go away, but six still came in. Anyone hurt?" He was more surprised that anyone was not hurt, but there they were.

The guard grunted. "Lost Hank." That was another guard.

"Four dead, two injured. One of those injuries is... unfortunate, and self-inflicted."

John lifted an ear at that. "Huh? Someone hurt themselves?"

"Not intentionally," corrected the scientist. "Sunburst went Rambo on them, blew them away, and his own hearing while he was at it."

John winced at the news. "He deserves a medal..." The way he saw it, he not only protected the lives of his fellow scientists, but priceless research and research materials that could have been lost. Heck, if... "If the TSDI had gotten that gun..."

Faces paled a little, considering that possibility. "Excuse me a moment." The guard left them to their conversation.

He pulled out his phone as he went, calling a number most of the people there didn't have. "Yeah, Chris Thomson here. The subject is found. Uh huh. No. He did leave, but he also came back. He says he spent the whole day saving people."

Chris frowned faintly. "Starting with making sure only six of them came in here. ... Not sure. It was a little out there, but he looks legit." He glanced back to see that he was still alone. "I know one thing though, he could have flown the coop, and we wouldn't have ever found him again. Yeah? Roger that." He hung up.

"Hey!" Sunburst sat up with a smile, seeing the changeling walk in. "You weren't hurt!"

Words appeared on John's chestplate, "Hello. I was told you can't hear."

"Yeah... I can still talk at least." Sunburst rubbed behind his head. "The worst part is the ringing, hooves down... You alright?"

"I'm fine," was printed cleanly on John as he approached. "You were very brave. I am sorry I couldn't have spared you the need to be."

Sunburst perked an ear at that. "Hey, we, uh... do what we can, right?"

So they hung out a little, going over the day's events.

Author's Notes:

Celestia arrives... and chats with a calf. Easily distracted princess is easily distracted. John is found, yay! Twilight wants to get back to work! Things, they are happening. If you didn't read my blog post, updates this month are 3/week instead of 6/week, though this opened a horse prophet tier.

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