As the sun was setting on the horizon, a squad of Equestrian soldiers were patrolling the half-empty streets of Stonehill. They had liberated the mining town earlier today, but the locals were still reluctant to go outside, even after the commander had declared the town safe.

Applejack remained vigilant, however. According to the townsponies, the enemy had about three hundred griffons in Stonehill — most of them fighters. While they had lost a few dozen of their own in a futile attack on the Luminous, the rest had evacuated from the town just before the Equestrian army had showed up.

“The locals sure don’t seem too happy to see us,” somepony muttered, but Applejack caught it.

The sergeant’s ear flickered, but he stayed quiet — there was no point in denying the obvious. As the soldiers walked through the dusky streets, the few ponies they met hastily scattered out of their way, throwing wary glances from some distance. Applejack’s eyes met a mare’s on the opposite side of the street, but the pony lowered her gaze with a small shudder.

Applejack frowned.

She had a hard time understanding those ponies. If her own village had suffered under barbaric monsters like the griffons for years as this town had, Applejack and her family would have welcomed their liberators with open hooves. These ponies, however…

Her eyes snapped at a disheveled stallion, who stumbled from behind the corner. His muzzle was bloodied and his ears were flat against his skull.

“Please help me!” the stallion yelled, noticing the soldiers.

The squad stopped, exchanging confused looks between themselves. Some ponies even reached for their swords before the sergeant gestured for them to relax. Stepping forward, he addressed the pony himself.

“What do you want?” Sergeant Sharp asked evenly, eyeing the pony with suspicion.

Applejack’s first instinct would be to lend her hoof to the stallion in distress, but unfortunately, she wasn’t in charge. The decision was in her sergeant’s cold hooves.

After taking a moment to catch his breath, the stallion blurted out, “Those bastards attacked my father! They want to burn down our workshop!”

“What?” the sergeant raised his eyebrows in confusion, but drew his sword nonetheless. The rest of the squad eagerly followed his example. “Who attacked you? The griffons?”

The pony backpedaled, staring at the swords in near panic, and shook his head.

“No, not the griffons! Please follow me!”

Having said that, the pony ran back into the alley he had come from.

“That stinks like a trap, sir,” Flare said.

Applejack furrowed her eyebrows as she considered her friend’s words. The town had been swept clean of griffons hours ago. Who else would dare to attack a full squad of soldiers? No, that couldn’t be a trap, she decided.

Sergeant Sharp seemed to agree with Applejack’s inner conclusions as he commanded everypony to follow the stranger. Giving the reluctant Flare a reassuring pat on her back, Applejack followed the sergeant’s order. Unleashing her sword, Flare trotted behind the rest.

They didn’t have to go far. The stallion was jittering on his hooves on the other end of the alley, biting his lower lip. As the soldiers approached, he pointed at the large two-storey house beside him.

Applejack glanced at it. It was notably bigger than its neighbors, looking similar to the smithy back in Applejack’s own village. Its walls, darkened by age and smoke, had a lot of small cracks in its stony surface. The place had likely been built by the first settlers hundreds of years ago.

“This is our workshop,” the pony said with a hint of pride in his voice. “They’re there.”

A large wooden gate built into the wall was cracked open. Applejack flickered her ear as a sound of splintering wood from the inside reached it.

“Open them,” the sergeant ordered to the stallion, gesturing the squad to take positions beside him.

The pony nodded and, gripping the ring handle in his mouth, pulled hard.

Contrary to its battered outlook, the gate opened without a creak, revealing a big room that took up most of the first floor. A group of ponies who were busy smashing everything on their way froze, turning their attention to the soldiers as one.

“What in bloody Tartarus are you up to?” Sergeant Sharp asked, entering the workshop as if he owned the place.

The vandals backpedaled, but one of the ponies remained standing where he was, staring at the sergeant with an unreadable expression. Suddenly, he threw a sharp salute.

“We’re doing Equestria a service here, sir,” the apparent ringleader said proudly, spreading his foreleg over the whole mess. “They’d been making weapons for those thrice accursed griffons. Weapons that could be used against our brothers and sisters! The smith and his son deserve what they’re getting,” he finished hotly, spitting on the floor in disgust.

The soldiers muttered, suddenly unsure of what to do, but Applejack already knew what had to be done. Whether the vandal’s accusations were true or not, she couldn’t just let them abuse the weak and destroy all their hard work. At the very least, the army could use it for themselves.

“Those griffon taillickers should have run with them while they had the chance!” the ringleader continued, gesturing wildly.

While he was speaking, his pals had gathered behind him, throwing nervous looks at the soldiers. None of them had any weapons or protection, save for a few impromptu clubs — pieces of broken furniture — some of which had been picked up just now.

“Father!” a stallion, apparently the smith’s son, rushed to the corner of the room.

Applejack continued his path with her eyes, finding a pony lying on his side. His coat was covered with a mix of blood and dirt, while half of his face was badly swollen. She couldn’t say if he was alive at all, until he stirred when his son touched him.

“Listen here, bub,” the sergeant said in a low voice, taking a step towards the vandals. “I couldn’t care less if they were sucking the griffon’s king dick every morning as long as they’re serving Equestria again.”

“C’mon, soldier! They’ve already betrayed Equestria!” he exclaimed, swinging his hoof at the two ponies in the corner. “They should be happy I’m not killing them on spot.”

Sergeant Sharp shook his head in disgust. “The army needs smiths more than idiots like you. Squad, arrest—”

“Wait!” the leader raised his hoof. “I know for a fact that the griffons were paying him in gold. Let’s split it fifty-fifty with you and your guys once we find it.”

The sergeant fell silent. Applejack tensed up, noticing his calculating look. If he accepted that bastard’s offer... She would have to grit her teeth but go along with it. There wasn’t anything she could do that wouldn’t end in disaster for both of them.

“Don’t make another mistake you’ll regret, sir,” Applejack said quietly, but in the stillness of the workshop everypony easily picked up on her words.

All eyes fell on her, but she focused her attention solely on the sergeant. Anger flashed on his face at first, but then his shoulders slumped and he sighed. Giving Applejack a tiny nod, Sergeant Sharp straightened again.

“Arrest them,” he snapped the order.

Having said that, the sergeant advanced towards the vandals himself. Their leader bellowed in rage and threw himself at him, but the sergeant sidestepped effortlessly, tripping the psycho and finishing him with an aimed buck to his head.

With their leader knocked out, the rest of his band gave up without further struggle. Applejack snorted humorlessly — beating up a smith and his son wasn’t the same as fighting armed and armored soldiers, however poorly trained they may be.

The smith’s son jumped on his hooves, approaching the sergeant with a wide smile.

“Thank you, sir!” he exclaimed, taking his hoof and shaking it madly. “If it weren’t for you…”

The sergeant nodded curtly, freeing his hoof from the pony’s grip. “Sod off, boy. I just did my job.”

The stallion stepped back, his face flashing red. “Sorry.”

“Were you really working for the griffons though?” Flare asked.

“Well, yes,” the stallion admitted, lowering his gaze. “But it wasn’t just me and my dad — everypony in Stonehill has done something for the griffons one way or another in the last five years. Even those bastards were working in the mine. We had no choice after the army abandoned us here five years ago,” the pony stomped his hoof and then flinched. “Sorry, I don’t blame you, of course. But if it weren’t for the griffons, we wouldn’t have lasted a year. ”

Applejack was taken aback by these words. It went against everything she had heard about the griffons before. In the stories, they had been savage monsters of the sky, hunting ponies for food. But now that she thought about that, it sounded a bit silly. They wouldn’t really be a threat to Equestria if they were just a bunch of two-bit monsters.

“Whatever you say, boy,” the sergeant said, waving his hoof. “Just get your father fixed up. The army may need his skills in the future.”

Having said that, he turned around and trotted out of the gate. The rest of the squad followed behind, escorting their prisoners into the alley. By that time the sun had almost set, making it difficult to see until the moon lit up the sky.

“Are we taking them to our camp, sir?” somepony asked.

“Shut up, private, I’m thinking.”

The soldier — Plowed Field — nodded, taking a step back. Everypony was used to the sergeant’s harshness by now and had learned not to take it personally. Soon Sergeant Sharp nodded to himself, having finally decided something and gestured his troops to follow him.

Soon, Applejack noticed that they weren’t going to the base. The Town Hall’s high spire could be spotted from almost anywhere in Stonehill and it was getting further and further away. Multiple guesses were spinning in her head, but she couldn’t say for certain.

“We should have taken the money deal,” Flare whispered so only Applejack could hear her. “Why’d you talk the sarge out of it?”

Applejack gave Flare a surprised look.

“I mean, those guys were making weapons for the enemy,” Flare explained herself, wilting slightly under Applejack’s heavy gaze. “Don’t look at me like that. They admitted it.”

“I don’t think they had a choice, Flare,” Applejack said with a bit of anger. “If I was in their horseshoes, I would do anything to protect my family too.”

Flare winced.

“Damn you, Jackie. You make it all complicated…”

Somepony snickered behind them.

“What are you whispering about, lovebirds?” Plowed Field’s voice said.

Both mares twitched, turning their burning gazes at the poor stallion. His smile disappeared as he hid behind the other squadmates. Applejack and Flare exchanged glances, barely suppressing a laugh.

“Fine, I guess you’re right,” Flare admitted as they calmed down. “I guess if the choice was between death and working for the griffons, I would choose the latter too. Still, I could have used some gold...”

Applejack shook her head in frustration.

Soon, Sergeant Sharp finally stopped in an empty alley near the edge of Stonehill, ordering the release their prisoners. The soldiers were surprised, but orders were orders.

“Go to your homes,” the sergeant said to the vandals. “We don’t have time to waste on fools like you, so you’d better not cause any trouble again, got it?”

One by one, the ponies nodded in visible relief and scattered away as if they feared the sergeant would suddenly change his mind. The only one left was their leader, who was still unconscious.

“What about this guy?” the soldier carrying him asked, dropping him onto the ground.

“This guy…” Sergeant Sharp repeated thoughtfully, approaching the leader. He looked down at him. “Well, we can’t waste our time on him either.”

Having said that, the sergeant drew his sword in one swift movement, piercing his body where the heart was. The body jerked as blood poured from the wound onto the dirty road, making a small puddle. Everypony, including Applejack, stared at the sergeant in shock.

“Nopony will miss him,” the sergeant stated calmly, giving each soldier a sharp look. “The last thing we need is some loon stirring up trouble again. Such ponies are a threat that must be eliminated.”

Everypony nodded rapidly, avoiding their sergeant’s piercing eyes.

Applejack knew that Sergeant Sharp was harsh, but she hadn’t imagined he was able to kill a pony in cold blood, even if the pony in question was a first-rate bastard. She lowered her eyes at his bleeding corpse and shivered, feeling slightly sick.

She briefly wondered why the sergeant hadn’t decided to get rid of her that way after their fallout back at the training camp, rather than agreeing to her proposed deal. Was it because he knew the blame was on him or because it would have been harder to hide the fact?

Applejack wasn’t sure.

“Let’s get this body into some abandoned house and return to the base,” Sergeant Sharp said, bringing Applejack back to the present. “It’s almost night, so our patrol is over.”

Nopony had volunteered for the grim duty, so the sergeant picked the two closest ones to do the job. After it was over, the soldiers formed a column and trotted out of the alley, leaving a puddle of blood on the road as the only testament to what had happened.

Their “base” had gone through some changes while they had been out on patrol.

The soldiers had been busy, setting up dozens of tents in the square — each large enough for a whole squad — to serve as a temporary housing for their force. Bright crystals placed on the Town Hall’s roof illuminated the whole place as if it was still daytime. A lot of activity was going on despite the late hour.

Applejack’s stomach growled as the smell of stew hit her nostrils.

“One of those tents is yours, troops,” the sergeant said.

The common soldiers had to share the space with their comrades and the sergeants were no different, sharing their tent with their counterparts from the other squads. As soon as the squad had claimed an empty one for themselves, the sergeant finally left them to their own devices.

When he did, the dam of silence burst as everypony started talking at once.

“Killing that pony was way too harsh,” Flare said, swishing her tail in agitation. “The sergeant is out of his sunburned mind.”

Applejack nodded, slumping onto her bedroll. “That wasn’t right, I’ll give ya that,” the mare agreed. “But I won’t grieve over that bastard’s death, that’s for sure.”

Flare grunted unhappily.

“He may have overreacted,” she continued, “But I understand his anger. Making weapons for those griffons… I have a hard time forgiving them, no matter what their reasons were.”

Applejack turned to give her friend a hard look which Flare met with one of her own. She was a good pony at heart — as much as Applejack could judge, having known the mare for less than a month — but she had no family of her own. She wouldn’t really understand.

That didn’t stop Applejack from trying, though.

“Those reasons are pretty damn important, Flare,” she said firmly. “You heard the pony — everyone in this town had to work for the griffons one way or another to survive. What else were they supposed to do if Equestria couldn’t help them?”

“I know, I know,” Flare waved her hoof, rolling her eyes. “I’m just saying that I understand where that guy was coming from. I don’t think he deserved to die like that.”

“Maybe not,” Applejack shrugged. “But there’s no point in crying over spilt milk. What’s done is done.”

Flare nodded unhappily.

After that, the two ventured outside to find something to eat, while discussing the rest of the day’s events. Applejack shared her suspicions about the ease with which they had taken Stonehill. While some ponies were happy at such an easy victory, Applejack and Flare agreed that it seemed strange.

“What about that pegasus, Rainbow Flash?” Flare asked when they had returned to the tent. “Weren’t you supposed to meet with her on the Luminous?”

“Oh, yes,” Applejack said, slapping her forehead. “It had slipped my mind.” The mare thought for a second and shrugged. “But it’s not like I can get on board right now even if I wanted to. Doubt the airship would land just for me.”

“Yeah. What’s up with that mare anyway? She looked like somepony put a stick up her ass.”

“She’s just mad I beat her, I guess,” Applejack said. “But I admit, it was more luck than skill. I’d like to have a fair fight to see which one of us would do better myself.”

Flare’s eyes flashed wide.

“I can take bets on the outcome,” she smiled.

Applejack sighed. “If ya want…”

They chatted for some more, but eventually the exhaustion of the day took its toll. One by one, the other squad members fell asleep and soon Flare herself had dozed off. Applejack wasn’t far behind.

Applejack woke up much sooner than she had expected. The first thing she felt was a jolt of pain that pierced her foreleg when somepony’s hoof stomped on it. Yelping, she tucked her poor limb closer to her body and opened her eyes to scream at the clumsy fool, but froze with her jaw dropping.

Everypony seemed to have gone off their rocker, running around the tent with no regard for those who by some miracle were still asleep. Applejack’s eyes widened as soon as she saw the reason — the damn tent was on fire!

The flames were rapidly spreading on its walls. The whole construction was shaking violently as the ponies struggled to escape through the only exit, getting into each other’s way. If the burning fabric of the tent collapsed on their heads…

Cursing loudly, Applejack jumped onto her hooves.

“Quit moving, ya dumb blighters!” she roared hoarsely, shocking everypony enough for them to stop. “Grab your belongings and leave one by one. We still have time.”

As the evacuation went more smoothly, Applejack turned to Flare. The mare was stirring on her bedroll, but still asleep — she had always been a heavy sleeper. Reaching out, Applejack gave the mare a harsh shake.

“Gimme five more minutes…” she muttered, waving her hoof, but Applejack was having none of it. She continued to shake her until Flare finally snapped her eyes open. “Stop it! Oh…”

Her angry expression quickly changed to shocked confusion and then near panic when she noticed the burning walls of the tent around them.

“We’re on fire!” Flare exclaimed, jumping onto her hooves.

By now, everypony else was already out. Applejack’s coat on her back was curling from the heat as she grabbed her equipment that was lying by her bedroll.

“Damn right we are,” Applejack said. “Grab your things and let’s go!”

Flare didn’t need to be told twice. As she took her belongings in her magic, the two rushed out of the tent, leaving it moments before its burning remains finally collapsed. Her tail caught fire, but she promptly stomped on it.

The situation outside wasn’t much better, though. Agonizing screams assaulted her ears from every direction. A pony with his coat aflame galloped in front of her before somepony else stopped him, spilling a bucket of water on him to extinguish the fire. Applejack stared at the chaos and panic around her with a shocked expression — the whole camp was burning!

“What in Tartarus…” Flare muttered, being just as shocked as her friend.

At this point, Sergeant Sharp showed up, quickly grabbing the squad’s attention.

“This was sabotage,” he announced. “The enemy assault should follow soon. Get ready!”

His words sent the squad into a frenzy of activity. While armoring up, Applejack threw a quick glance at the sergeant. He was already wearing the armor, with the helmet covering most of his face, but Applejack could see a shadow of fear on his face. Or it could have been the play of lights from the fires.

“What’s happening, sir?” Plowed Field asked.

“An attack, you idiot!” the sergeant snapped.

As if proving his words, a piercing shriek sounded from the sky. It reminded Applejack of a hawk, but way more furious.

“There they are!” the sergeant exclaimed, pointing his hoof up. “Form around me!”

But they had no time — the griffons were upon them.

Applejack snarled as she stood on her hind legs, swinging her sword from below. The griffon released a shriek of pain as the sword cut deep into his stomach and crashed into Applejack, sending them both down.

Applejack got back up slightly dazzled, leaving her opponent writhing on the ground. All around her the fight was raging, but no one else was attacking her for the moment, so she quickly located Flare to make sure she was okay. As Applejack watched, her friend sent her opponent reeling with a well-timed spell and finished him off with a stab to his chest.

Unseen by her, another griffon was charging at her from the sky.

“Flare, move!” Applejack screamed, her heart skipping a bit.

Glancing up, the mare turned to the side in time to avoid the griffon’s spear. Turning around, she grabbed her attacker out of the air with her magic as Applejack rushed to help. She held the griffon in place, allowing Applejack to hack his head off in one swift movement.

“Thanks.”

The two stood side by side, fighting the enemy for what seemed like an eternity. It was impossible to see which side was winning in all the chaos. Broken bodies of ponies and griffons alike were lying on the ground around them. Applejack recognized some of her squad members among them, but had no time to really care for the moment.

At some point they had rejoined the sergeant, who was fighting along with the surviving members of the squad. His magic was flaring like there was no tomorrow, striking down those griffons who tried to approach from the air, while his sword finished off those on the ground.

“They’re breaking!” Plowed Field exclaimed.

As soon as he said that, a pony next to him fell as a spear thrown from the distance went below his chest plate. The griffon who had done that flapped his wings, propelling himself at the stallion, with five of his friends following right behind.

The sergeant took down one of them, but the others engaged with the squad at close distance, using their talons and beaks as much as their long spears. Applejack had been hit with one to her chest, but her plate held. Grabbing the spear, she pulled it to herself along with the griffon, raising her sword for a finishing blow.

Before she could land it though, the griffon let the spear go and flapped his wings, getting out of her reach. As Applejack cursed in frustration, an ear-piercing shriek sounded from above, making her flatten her ears.

Standing in defensive posture, Applejack searched for another enemy to fight, but found none around her. Raising her head up, she saw the griffons in full retreat, with the descending Luminous targeting them with its crossbows. Most of the shots missed their mark, but some scored a hit, dropping the wounded from the sky.

“I can’t believe I’m alive…” Plowed Field muttered, stumbling past Applejack. His armor was covered with blood and dented in some places, but he seemed unharmed otherwise.

Applejack’s heart dropped to her hooves. In the heat of the battle she had lost track of Flare! Her head spun around wildly, but she couldn’t locate her among the standing troops. With a sense of impending dread, she searched the ground.

“Flare!” she yelled, checking her surroundings. “Has somepony seen Flare?”

Sergeant Sharp touched Applejack’s shoulder. “I saw her fall,” he said simply, pointing to the side.

Gasping, Applejack turned to that direction, fearing the worst, and finally saw her. A bloodied form of her friend was lying on the ground, her eyes closed. She had lost her helmet at some point, having three deep scratches across her whole face. Somepony was taking her armor off and Applejack rushed to help.

“Is she…” she trailed off, unable to finish the question.

“She’s alive,” the pony assured her. Applejack felt like a mountain had fallen off her shoulders. “At least for now.” Applejack tensed up again.

Together, they assessed the condition Flare was in. Luckily, her injuries, while numerous, weren’t life-threatening. The most serious damage beside the face scratches was a blow to the head that had probably rendered her unconscious in the first place. Applejack began disinfecting the scratches first, while the mare who was helping her moved on to those who needed it more.

Flare hissed in pain as her eyes burst open. Her horn glowed bright and a pulse of magic threw Applejack on her back.

“Whoa there, girl, calm down,” Applejack said soothingly, getting back on her hooves. “It’s just me.”

Recognizing her friend, Flare slumped, extinguishing her horn.

“Sorry, Jackie.” She looked around, wincing at the carnage everywhere. “Did we win?”

Applejack swept her eyes through their devastated base, feeling her body shaking. The fires were dying down, but the light of the moon combined with the magic crystals allowed her to see everything clearly. A lot of ponies and griffons alike were down on the ground, the survivors helping the wounded. It seemed like a victory, but how many of their own had fallen?

The mare sighed. “We won, Flare. Just stay down. You got banged on the head pretty bad.”

Flare touched her head, cringing in pain.

“I’ve had worse,” she said without much conviction as she tried to stand up, despite Applejack’s words.

“No doubt,” Applejack forced her back and flickered a smile “At least let me finish.”

Grudgingly, Flare allowed her friend to disinfect the rest of the various scratches on her body and apply a bandage to the worst of them. By the time she had finished, Applejack’s hooves were shaking wildly and she felt pain all over her body.

With Flare’s help, she examined herself, but except for a cracked hoof and a lot of bruises, she had gotten out of this battle unscathed.

“How did they sneak up on us?” Flare asked. “Where were those damn pegasi?”

Applejack simply shrugged. It wasn’t a question she could answer for the moment, even though she had a pretty good guess about the fate of the patrols.

“We’ll find out soon enough.”

Nopony got any sleep for the reminder of the night as the base was recovering from the attack.

To help with the recovery efforts, the airships had temporarily unloaded all the troops on board, leaving themselves with only a skeleton crew. Two of them were hanging low over the square now, giving the soldiers some sense of security.

But Applejack still felt ill at ease. Even though the airships had saved them from certain defeat earlier, she couldn’t spot the third one anywhere in the sky. Nopony she asked could tell her anything either — not even those who had been on other airships — so her worry only grew.

Her job didn’t make her feel any easier.

Along with a few dozen other ponies, Applejack was dragging the dead to the cart to get them off the base before they started to rot. Some ponies were already digging some graves at the edge of the town to bury them properly.

Applejack had seen death before, but wasn’t used to seeing so much. She felt sick in the stomach when she saw the mutilated bodies of ponies just like her. The rumors said they’d lost almost half of their numbers on the ground in the brutal attack.

Her own squad had only lost four, but most of the survivors had been wounded, though fortunately only one of them heavily. While Applejack didn’t know any of them well enough to really grieve over them, their deaths hit close to home. Any of them could have been her or Flare if things had turned out differently.

“We shouldn’t have taken them as prisoners,” somepony growled, receiving supporting nods from the other soldiers nearby. “Why would we bother keeping those beasts alive? Long Tail is too soft.”

Applejack glared at the bloodthirsty fool. She had no love for griffons herself, especially after tonight, but they could have let the whole town die when they had captured it years ago. At the very least, they deserved the same courtesy. Before Applejack could say anything, however, Sergeant Sharp smacked the pony in the head.

“Don’t speak about the commander that way,” he said angrily. “If I hear something like that again, I’ll have you whipped for insubordination.”

The pony shot an angry stare at the sergeant, but returned to his grim work.

The sun was already up by the time they had finished. The sergeant dismissed them, allowing them to take a few hours of rest, so Applejack and Flare went looking for a good spot. Since their tent had been destroyed, along with everypony else’s, they had to eventually settle right on the ground. Luckily, they had managed to get some spare bedrolls, so it wasn’t too bad.

“I hate those griffons so much,” Flare said five minutes later as Applejack was just dozing off. “I’ll kill them. All of them.”

Applejack opened her eyes, staring at her friend in surprise.

“All of them?” she asked carefully. “That sure is harsh. You wouldn’t even spare their little ones and those who have nothing to do with fighting?”

Flare blinked a couple of times.

“Well,” the mare said, lowering her gaze. “Maybe not… But look at how many ponies they slaughtered. Have you seen their talons? They’re damn predators. They would eat us all if they won.”

“I don’t know about that, sugarcube,” Applejack shook her head. “I admit, we had some blood-curdling tales about griffons back in my village. But talking with ponies in this town… If the griffons are so bad, wouldn’t the townsfolk be happier if we rescued them?”

Flare frowned. She opened her mouth to answer, then closed it again.

“Maybe they’re not inherently evil,” she agreed eventually. “But I don’t like them anyway.”

The next couple of days weren’t easy for anypony in Stonehill.

As it turned out, the griffons hadn’t gone far this time. Their numerous groups were roaming around town, stopping anypony from venturing outside. It was a full blockade.

What made the situation worse was that the griffon saboteurs had managed to torch the warehouses where most of the town’s food supplies had been stored. With winter approaching, the individual households were supposed to have some in their cellars to last for a while, but the army only had enough left for three weeks.

“It’s getting smaller and smaller each day,” Flare complained, staring at her minuscule portion.

The pony in charge of the food shrugged. “Tell me something I don’t know… Now shoo, you’re holding up the line.”

Applejack tugged her friend along before she could voice any more complaints. Reluctantly, Flare allowed to be dragged away.

“How are we supposed to fight without food?” Flare whined into Applejack’s ear instead. “My magic is not even fully restored from the last battle.”

Applejack nodded, flickering her eyes to Flare’s face. The scratches didn’t look as bad now, but it was still disturbing to see three red lines going across her cheek to her muzzle. It was a miracle her eye hadn’t been damaged.

“The griffons don’t have the strength left to fight us directly,” Applejack said as the two got to their bedrolls. “And if they do, we won’t be taken by surprise this time.”

“The way it goes, they won’t have to,” Flare chuckled grimly. “They can just wait until we all starve to death.”

A deep line crossed Applejack’s forehead, but she couldn’t deny the truth in her friend’s words. The griffons may not have the strength to retake the town anymore, but they still had some fight left in them.

They had proved it yesterday by ambushing a forage party that had gone to collect the hay from the nearby fields. They had one of the two surviving airships accompanying them, but the griffons had attacked it by using its blind spots. They had caused a lot of damage to the party before the airship’s crossbows had been able to get into position to target them properly.

According to the rumors Applejack had heard, the captain of that ship had been demoted.

“The townsponies should help us fight,” Flare stated. “It’s in their own interests that we win.”

Applejack shook her head. “I don’t think they care much about our victory,” she explained. “Most of the ponies just want to have food and a peaceful life, no matter who’s in charge.”

Wincing, Flare nodded slowly.

“I guess so,” the mare admitted. “Still, it would end faster if they helped us win. Besides, despite all its flaws, Equestria would be better for them.”

“I don’t know what it’s like in the big cities, Flare, but life is pretty damn bad in the small villages,” Applejack said with a shrug. “Just ask around in our own squad — most of the soldiers lived in one before conscription. So, no, I don’t think Equestria would be as good as you think for the ponies here.”

Flare finished her food in silence as she mulled over Applejack’s words.

“Isn’t it better to have your fellow ponies in charge?”

“What difference does it make if ya serve some fancy noble or a griffon master?” Applejack answered with her own question.

“Are you saying we should have left those lands in the griffon’s claws?” Flare asked, raising her eyebrows.

“I don’t know, Flare. But I do know that us coming here has caused a whole lot of trouble for the simple ponies.”

They had finished their meals a while ago, but they continued talking for much longer. Their argument wasn’t heated, but the two just couldn’t see eye-to-eye. While Applejack had initially supported the war, for fear of another attack by the griffons, she wasn’t so sure after seeing the consequences with her own eyes.

She knew one thing for certain — the war was bad for simple ponies, no matter who had started it.

Applejack let out a heavy sigh as she thought about that. She could have been home with her family right now if not for this war. It was late fall now, so harvest would already be over. She’d have plenty of time to spend with her brother and sister…

A light thud interrupted her thoughts.

Applejack twitched in surprise, turning to a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane that had just landed near them, recognizing her immediately. It was hard not to with her unique mane.

“Sup,” Rainbow Dash nodded, grimacing in pain as she rubbed her wing. “Applequack, right?”

The mare frowned slightly. “Applejack. Are you here about our sparring? If so, I’m sorry I didn’t—”

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” the pegasus waved her hoof. “I just saw you and came to say that I don’t care anymore. That duel was a stupid idea in the first place.”

Applejack’s eyebrows arched slightly.

Rainbow Dash had seemed so determined before and now she was just giving up? It didn’t seem right. Something must have happened in those couple of days to change her mind so drastically. Applejack had a pretty good guess.

The griffon’s surprise attack had cost a lot to the company of pegasi that had been assigned to their squadron. Most of those who had been on the sky patrol had been lost and even more fell while protecting the airships. And with them fighting so high up, a wound serious enough to knock you out would also kill you once you hit the ground.

“I knew you were chicken,” Flare chuckled, causing both mares to look at her — one with annoyance and the other with rage. “What?”

“Shut up, Flare,” Applejack snarled, throwing an apologetic glance at Rainbow Dash. “Don’t mind that fool. She’s been hit in the head.”

The pegasus flared her nostrils, barely containing her emotions, but then nodded curtly.

“You’re lucky I’m not in the mood, hornhead,” she dropped, before turning around and trotting away on hoof.

Widening her eyes, Applejack tapped Flare’s horn to disrupt the spell she was about to cast. The unicorn winced. Rubbing her horn, Flare scowled at Applejack, but the earth pony met her eyes with a hard gaze.

“Don’t be stupid,” Applejack warned her friend.

“I was just going to cut off her tail,” she grinned wickedly. “It’s only for her own benefit. She could use some stallion’s attention to unwind.”

Applejack furrowed her eyebrows.

“Fine, fine, I won’t do anything,” Flare drooped her ears, looking like Applejack had stolen her toy. “But you’re not fun.”

“I don’t think she would have appreciated it, Flare,” Applejack said. “When will you learn not to poke at ponies like that?”

The mare grinned, taking Applejack’s own tail in her magic and pulling it. “Never!”

As the days dragged on, more and more soldiers began to lose hope. With the food getting scarce, the townsponies growing increasingly unfriendly and the griffons lurking outside the town, it wasn’t easy to remain optimistic.

“Get up, troops,” Sergeant Sharp said as he approached the squad. “We’ve got a job to do.”

Applejack raised her tired eyes to the sergeant, groans of frustration sounding around her. The ponies were exhausted, having just returned from a long patrol of the streets. The sergeant himself had walked there along with his soldiers, so he should know it better than anypony.

“But we just got back, sir,” Flare complained, struggling back on her hooves. “Can’t somepony else do that job of yours?”

The sergeant shook his head.

“They need everypony for this particular job,” he explained without even reprimanding her. “Commander Long Tail’s wise orders,” he added with venom in his voice.

The squad members stared at the sergeant in near shock. He had never allowed himself to criticize the higher officers — even in such a small way — and would have sent whoever had done that to clean the waste ditches or worse.

“What are you waiting for, an invitation? Get up and let’s go.”

The ponies grunted, but did as the sergeant had ordered. All around the camp the other ponies were getting ready for something as well. Whatever the commander had been planning, it was going to be large and – based on the sergeant’s reaction – stupid.

While Sergeant Sharp wasn’t the nicest pony by a long shot, Applejack trusted his judgment. At least while he was sober — she winced, remembering his foolish attempt to force himself upon her just after she had been conscripted.

“We’ll run out of food within a few weeks,” the sergeant stated, leading the squad out of the camp, along with the others. “So the commander has decided that the townsfolk should share some with us.”

Applejack furrowed her brows as the rest of the squad ponies muttered something in confusion and outrage. The sergeant ignored them all. Approaching the nearest house, he stopped at the front door and eyed his troops.

“We’re going to carry out our orders,” he said as if daring anypony to disagree. Nopony did. “Good. Then let’s get to it.”

Having said that, Sergeant Sharp knocked heavily, making the door shake slightly. Soon, a young stallion opened it, staring at the gathered soldiers. His ears lowered slightly and his eyes widened in fear, but he managed to force out a little smile.

“How can I help you?”

“By Commander Long Tail’s orders, you are to give a third of your food supplies to the army,” the sergeant said unemotionally.

The poor excuse for a smile was gone from the stallion’s face in an instant. His ears flattened against his skull as he narrowed his eyes.

“N-no, I can’t,” he blurted out rapidly, shaking his head. “I don’t really have much at all!”

Drawing his sword, the sergeant stepped forward, causing the stallion to lurch backwards in panic. “Okay, fine, just don’t kill me!”

The pony scrambled back onto his hooves and disappeared into the house.

Blood rushed to Applejack’s face. They were supposed to save the local ponies from griffons, not steal the last bits of food from them! Noticing her hoof lying on the sword grip, she slowly lowered it back to the ground before the sergeant would notice.

Flare sighed in disappointment, lowering her own hoof as well.

“I don’t like the bastard,” she whispered, answering Applejack’s silent question.

It didn’t take long for the house’s owner to return, carrying a bag with him. The sergeant nodded, taking it in his magic and dropping it off onto a soldier’s back. The stallion glared at the sergeant and the soldiers behind him with barely concealed hate. Applejack turned away when their eyes met.

“Thank you,” the sergeant said.

When the stallion shut the door in his face, he magically burned a mark of a cross on its surface.

“It’ll be a long bucking day,” Sergeant Sharp said, spitting on the ground.

And it really was.

While most of the squad members were following the sergeant with sullen expressions, Applejack was still fuming inside even hours later. The only thing that had prevented her from taking action was the fact that it wouldn’t really change anything. With Flare’s help, she might have taken down the sergeant, but he wasn’t the root of the problem.

He was just carrying out orders like the rest of them.

So they continued to go from house to house, from street to street, “borrowing” food from their dwellers. They were rightfully outraged, but no one was foolish enough to resist when they were face-to-face with Sergeant Sharp. He might not have liked his orders, but he knew how to carry them out.

Some other squads, however, were less lucky.

Once, returning to unload the collected supplies to the base, Applejack witnessed a squad breaking down a house’s door. The ponies inside had probably refused to give up their food voluntarily. She didn’t see how it ended, but she remembered the soldiers’ faces well.

They would have a good talk later…

“What’s this?” somepony asked, pointing at a billow of smoke coming from nearby.

“None of our concern,” the sergeant answered coldly.

It was getting dark when the sergeant ordered to head back to the base. The soldiers could barely stand on all fours by that point. Huddling close together, they made their way through the streets, getting a lot of hostile stares along the way. There was an unusual amount of activity for such a late hour, Applejack noted.

Her ear swiveled, catching a metal clank behind her. Before she could look back to check, something hit her armor as well. Somepony was throwing rocks at them!

“Stop it!” a soldier behind her yelled, drawing his sword. “You think we’re happy to do it?”

“Then give back our food!” somepony from a large group of townsponies — no less than two dozen — yelled back. He emphasized his point by throwing another rock, missing this time.

“Put your weapon back, you fool,” Sergeant Sharp growled, approaching the soldier.

“It’s your bucking fault!” the soldier exclaimed suddenly, swinging his sword at the sergeant.

Blocking his blow with an armored foreleg, the sergeant grabbed the weapon from his attacker and punched him on his face, sending him stumbling backwards. He was protected from the worst by his helmet, but he was clearly dazed. Luckily for him, the sergeant stopped.

“I’ll ignore it this one time,” he said calmly. “Now let’s go before they—” he nodded at the group of enraged ponies, “—grow bold.”

The soldier nodded curtly and reached out for his sword, but the sergeant shook his head. “I’ll keep it with me for the time being.”

They trotted away as more rocks continued to hit their armor harmlessly. The sergeant had showed a great deal of restraint by not responding. With the mood those ponies were in, it would only make things worse – and he knew it.

Thankfully, soon they had returned to the safety of the base. Mounted crossbows from a damaged airship had been placed on the roofs around the square, discouraging the mob from wandering too close. Newly raised barricades on the streets adjacent to the base would stop those who would try.

Applejack felt like she had eaten a rotten apple.

A little more than a month ago, she had been on the other side of the fence when the soldiers had come to her village to conscript ponies, breaking the old agreement. Applejack had been enraged at the soldiers too back then, but now she was extorting hard-earned food from the simple ponies, which was even worse.

At least, thanks to her, Big Mac had been spared from doing that. It would have broken his heart.

“I don’t like it,” Flare said as soon as the sergeant had left them alone. “I didn’t join the army to go from a thief to a robber.”

“I don’t like it myself, sugarcube,” Applejack sighed, dropping heavily onto her bedroll. “I knew the army wouldn’t be easy, but I had no idea I’d end up doing something like this.”

“This whole war is going downhill,” Flare nodded. “I think we need to leave.”

Applejack glanced at her friend in confusion. “Leave? You mean like… deserting?”

“Exactly,” the mare smiled briefly, but her expression turned sour again. “I wanted to do something good in my life. Saving poor ponies from savage griffons seemed like a great way to accomplish that… But now they’re doing even worse because of us!”

“Well, I can’t argue with that,” Applejack said. “But if we were to leave, where would we go? It’s days on hoof to Stalliongrad and I don’t think they’ll welcome two deserters there. Besides, I can’t just leave, ya know. It would put my whole family at risk once they find out.”

Flare’s ears drooped. “Ah, yes, I suppose you’re right…” the mare punched the ground in frustration. “Damn. I don’t want to leave without you.”

“Sorry, Flare,” Applejack said. “But I won’t risk my family like that.”

“I know,” Flare said, falling backwards onto her bedroll. “Rotten luck. Well, it’s not like I can leave anyway right now…”

Two days later, however, Flare got her opportunity. With the situation getting out of hoof, Commander Long Tail had made a decision to send the Luminous to break through the griffon’s blockade and request some reinforcements from Stalliongrad if they had any to spare.

“This is my chance, Applejack,” Flare said. “I’ll sneak out when the ship reaches the city. I don’t think they’ll look too hard for one lost soldier.”

Applejack’s eyes shot nervously around the decks to make sure nopony had heard that. “Be quiet, ya fool. Ya don’t want the sergeant to hear it.”

The two were standing near the rails on the Luminous’s decks as the airship prepared to leave. Only a skeleton crew, a small number of best soldiers and some heavily wounded ponies who couldn’t fight were going on this trip, while the bulk of the forces had remained in Stonehill. The commander reckoned the Luminous was intimidating enough to keep the griffons from attacking the lonely ship.

“Sorry, I got too excited,” Flare shrugged, flickering a smile, “I can’t wait to leave this bucking town. I just wish you’d go with me…”

“I’ll be with you ‘till Stalliongrad, but ya know I can’t really leave.”

“Yeah.”

“Ya don’t have to leave either, ya know,” Applejack said, feeling a pang in her heart. “It’s a real mess in here, but maybe once they send in the reinforcements, it’ll be better.”

Flare shook her head. “Do you really believe it?”

“No.” Applejack wished to say differently, but she didn’t want to lie. She just didn’t want Flare to leave.

Flare seemed to understand her silent thoughts. “I don’t want to leave you either,” she said, drooping her ears. “But I don’t want to be in the army anymore. I was a fool to join in the first place.”

Applejack’s shoulders slumped, but she nodded in understanding. It wasn’t like she wanted to be a soldier. She would have given anything to be able to follow Flare in her daring escape. Anything but her family’s safety.

Soon, the last troops had boarded and the Luminous gently rose into the air. After they had reached a high enough altitude, the crew raised the sails and the ship moved forward, picking up speed.

Everypony who could fight had taken their position on the decks, ready for a possible attack as the airship left the town and flew over the open fields. The enemy, however, wasn’t foolish enough to take on the flying fortress the Luminous was.

Some griffons were following the ship at a distance, but there were too few of them to pose a threat.

As the Luminous soared through the sky, leaving Stonehill far behind it, the soldiers relaxed. Most of them stayed on the decks, though, not wishing to be confined to the airship’s tight interior. Applejack and Flare were chatting about trivial topics, simply enjoying each other’s company in the time they had left.

“They’re coming!” Rainbow Dash yelled, startling everypony as she appeared from below the ship. A dozen of other pegasi were following behind her. “Get ready for an aerial attack!”

Applejack and Flare jumped on their hooves simultaneously, drawing their swords. Loud yells and orders filled the decks around them as everypony tried to organize themselves to defend the ship. A bell rang, signaling the attack for those inside.

“You two, keep close to me,” Sergeant Sharp ordered to the mares. He had been given temporary command of a newly assembled squad for this trip. “Give these griffons hell.”

The griffons poured onto the decks in droves, climbing over the board. They must have approached from the blind spot below the ship to avoid the crossbows, Applejack guessed, looking at them in frustration. Those things were useless right now!

Screams of wounded ponies and griffons filled the air as the soldiers rushed to meet them in close quarters. Applejack and Flare fought for their very survival side by side with the sergeant, being at the tip of the charge.

A griffon’s claws scratched Applejack’s foreleg, but she barely felt any pain, striking back with her sword. It easily went through the griffon’s open chest, leaving a gaping hole when she pulled back the bloodied weapon.

The griffon fell – gasping for air – as Applejack turned to another one charging at her with a spear. I can’t avoid it! — a desperate thought flashed in her head. But mere inches from her body, the spear stopped, glowing in Flare’s magic. Screaming in rage, she sent a surge of energy through it, shocking the attacker. Using that moment, the sergeant finished him off for good.

“You’re okay?” Flare threw at Applejack, blocking a new attack.

Gripping her sword tightly, Applejack jumped to the opponent Flare was fighting with, stabbing him in his back. “Yes.”

The battle went on.

Despite their fierce resistance, the ponies were losing ground. A soldier near Applejack got his armor torn off by a griffon’s talon and was torn apart moments later before she could help. Another pony to her left gurgled blood when a spear pierced his chest plate.

They were slowly retreating to the staircase below — something they should have done from the beginning — when a loud explosion shook the ship, throwing everyone onto the decks. Another explosion sounded just a moment later.

Dazed, Applejack jumped onto her hooves before the griffons could take advantage of it, but the enemy was taking off in full retreat. She stared at their backs in confusion. Some ponies around her cheered, standing back up.

Quickly finding Flare among them, Applejack helped her, checking her for injuries. She sighed in relief, having found nothing serious.

“The ship is doomed, troops,” the sergeant announced, wiping off the blood from his face. He had lost his helmet at some point and half of his ear was missing along with it. “It was one hell of a fight, but we’ve lost.”

As soon as he said that, Applejack noticed that the airship was tilted forward and accelerating towards the ground. Her blood rushed away from her face. At the altitude they were on…

“Oh for Sun’s sake…” Flare muttered, realizing the same thing.

The rest of the ponies burst into panic, hectically running around the decks, but there was nothing they could do. A few remaining pegasi – including Rainbow Dash –were grabbing seemingly random ponies and rushing towards the ground with them, but Applejack knew they wouldn’t be able to save everypony in time.

“We’re not doomed!” Flare exclaimed. “We can stop the ship from crashing if we use our magic. We need every unicorn we have for this!”

Applejack raised her eyes at her with hope.

The sergeant’s drooped ear perked up. “It wouldn’t hurt to try.” Taking a deep breath, the sergeant bellowed. “Unicorns, get in here!”

Not waiting until everyone had heard him, he and Flare embraced the airship with their magic, struggling to slow it down. Grunting from the strain, they managed to lessen its acceleration towards the ground, but the ship was still falling.

Applejack’s hope was dwindling. She desperately wished she could help in any way, but all she could do was helplessly watch.

More unicorns joined their efforts, but there weren’t a lot of them on the airship to begin with and even fewer had survived the battle. Though the ship was slowing down somewhat, the ground was rapidly approaching. Applejack wasn’t a mathematician, but she could see they wouldn’t be able to stop it in time.

Closing her eyes, she recalled Apple Bloom in her mind. Then Big Mac and Granny Smith. If she was going to die, she wanted to die seeing them, not the carnage around her. Too bad she wouldn’t see them again for real.

“I’ve got you,” a familiar voice over her ear startled her.

Applejack opened her eyes wide in shock. Below her, the airship was still rapidly falling, but she was following it at a much slower pace as somepony’s forelegs were gripping her tightly around her barrel. The other pegasi were grabbing some ponies from the decks, but to Applejack’s horror, none of them had picked her friend.

“Flare!”

The mare raised her head and their eyes met. Flare grinned and her horn flashed brightly, momentarily blinding the earth pony. A horrible sound of crashing followed a second later. When Applejack opened her eyes again, her heart clenched at the sight of the broken and burning remains of the Luminous on the ground.

A moment later, it blew up in a fiery explosion.

New chapter in two weeks, just like I promised. I hope you enjoyed it.
Say what you think in the comments.