“What if you don’t come back? This is not how ah wanna see my cousin for the last time!”

Kazooie stood in the small bedroom of the wooden house, begging Pearl for the last hour not to leave. The white stallion had already made up his mind, and was packing the very few things he owned in a small saddle pack.

“You take care of Annabelle and Bonnie, okay?” He placed one last scarf inside and flipped the top closed. “Yer’ lucky the guards decided you are needed here more than out there, but I don’t have a choice. I served in the army, and have to serve again when they need me to.”

He threw the saddlebag over his back and cantered out, walking past Kazooie.

“Pearl . . .”

The white pony turned and found himself trapped in a tight hug. “You be safe, all right? Don’t do nothin’ stupid.”

“I won’t cuz, I won’t . . .”

And so, Pearl broke in a gallop towards Ponyville’s rail station, not looking back at all. Inside, however, the seasoned captain felt a great pain clutch at his heart. A bit over a year after the unexpected reunion with his cousin and he was yet again forced to leave him, unsure whether another meeting was in his future.

Reaching the station just minutes later, the sorrowful white stallion got on a busy train that was just about to head out to Canterlot.

The platform was packed with ponies, all saying their last goodbyes to their loved ones. Guards stood watching as the train was boarded; mothers hugged their sons, almost all of them young stallions that had never held a weapon before.

Pearl stared out the window wide-eyed, slowly beginning to understand the gravity of the situation. He, like all those that were about to embark that train, had received a visit from guards in the early morning of that day, telling them that Equestria was in danger and that they were needed. The news came down on everyone like a hammer, smashing to pieces the common vision all ponies had about the calm society they’ve lived in their entire lives.

None of them have ever been in a war, most had never even studied such ancient history. For them, war was an abstract concept, the kind of event you would find in bedtime stories and legends.

Pearl kept watching the platform as the guards rushed the stallions to hurry up, albeit with heavy heart. His breath held up as he saw an old mare hold her tears while a very young one couldn’t, sobbing at the neck of a red stallion. Pearl recognized them to be the Apple family by their cutie marks, yet Applejack, the only Apple member he had met personally, was not there at all.

Outside on the platform, the last ponies were boarding the train, steam shooting wildly from the exhaust pipes. A white mare pressed herself deeper into a kiss with an earth pony, her hooves wrapped tight around his neck.

“I’ll be fine, okay? Don’t worry about me,” the stallion managed between the hurried kisses.

He stepped onto the train, his hoof holding hers tightly in its grasp.

“Promise me you’ll be safe!”

The train jolted forwards, the wheels starting to drag the heavy train down the platform. She cantered along with it, holding his hoof the whole time.

“I will, I promise! See you soon, Red!”

He let go. She stopped on the platform, staring at him with puffy eyes. The train kept going, leaving a heavy trail of steam and tears behind.

The small compartment’s door slid open. Silver walked in, taking a seat without even looking at the other stallion inside. He rested his head against the window, gazing on the passing landscape, his thoughts stuck somewhere back in Ponyville.

“Wisp?”

The guard turned towards the other stallion in the compartment, ears perking up at the mention of his name. His face dropped.

“Pearl?”

“Ha, it is you, ya’ bloody slack!” The white stallion jumped at his neck, slapping his hoof against Silver’s back.

“Pearl, I can’t believe you’re here! I thought I would never see you after you left the fleet!”

“Water nor air can hold me back as long as I’m in a ship!” he said, laughing loudly.

“Wow, so you really got yourself a vessel and didn’t get killed in all these years. How long has it been?”

“Too long, Silver, too long. But ah still remember da’ day I had you coming on muh zep’ as a greenhorn. Those were the days!” he said with a sigh hiding in his melancholic words.

Old memories of long expeditions came rushing back to Silver and Pearl, memories of their time spent aboard the fleet’s flagship zeppelin, all filled with perils shrouded in the unknown.

“So, why come back from the ocean? Did the war-call tug on your soft strings, captain?”

“Naah, I’ve been in Ponyville for a while now; it’s a much bigger story than that actually . . .”

Silver took a glance out on the window. The capital was still far away and the loaded train was chucking heavy clouds of steam just to keep up with the slopes that lead to the mountain-based city.

“We got time, captain.”

Pearl cracked a smile. “All righty’ then. Well, here I was, over a year ago, back in good ol’ Issac’s Port . . . I was getting ready for a shipping run over to tha’ gryphon’s lands when this unicorn and his dragon friend come to me on the docks . . .”

Heavy iron doors swung open. Lights went on in rows in the large hall that housed the Royal Armory. Princess Luna walked inside, her steps echoing loudly in the otherwise silent facility.

Blink’s shades faded off as he took a good look around, disappointment quickly replacing his excitement. Behind them, several guards and a unicorn wearing blacksmith clothing followed in their steps.

“Here is where we keep our main inventory. We have another hall across the city by the police barracks, but we use this one for guard and army supply storing,” the blacksmith said as he tried to keep up with Luna and Blink.

“It is very much as it was before my . . . time away,” Luna spoke, eyeing a nearby rack stacked with long swords.

“In fact your highness,” he said, levitating a sword to him, “these are new, carbide-steel issue swords. The blade has been magically treated to toughen the carbide so it won’t shatter easily; it also has a black diamond tip,” he added, his eyes gleaming in appreciation of the weapon.

“Swords and spears! In over a thousand years all you’ve done was toughen up the blade?” Blink finally voiced his thoughts, head turning around and spotting the same weapons everywhere. “Is that everything we have for our armies?”

The blacksmith froze, nervously gulping as he noticed the unicorn’s armor. He figured out his rank in an instant, having seen a similar design, but in gold, on Shining Armor.

“We have something else too, if you’ll follow me sir; and your highness.”

He led them further down the deposit, where he rushed towards a rack, floating back to them several new pieces. “Standard issued ranged weapons, sir,” he said, presenting a bow, a crossbow and what seemed like a spear but with short barrel at the end of it.

“You must be kidding me-”

“If you allow me, Captain,” Luna intervened before Blink could say another word. “Do you happen to have the items we’ve sent you this morning?”

The blacksmith unicorn nodded. “I’ll bring them right away!”

As he left, Blink floated the crossbow over to himself, studying it. “I can’t believe we’ll have to use these ancient things against them,” he huffed, throwing the weapon back on the rack it came from.

“Fret not, Midnight Blink. Thine worries will fade off quickly.”

As Luna spoke, the blacksmith returned in a hurried gallop, several weapons on his back. He placed them on the floor between the ponies, and stepped back to allow them to study the items.

“These are samples of what our enemies have, namely the gryphons. As you can see, Captain Blink, they make extensive use of spears and swords as well.”

“What about this thing?” he picked up a long rifle-looking gun from the stack of weapons and studied it closely. “Looks like a musket.”

“Uhh, yes sir; that is indeed a long range musket.”

“So you do know what things like these are, don’t you?” he asked, floating his magnum out of the holster underneath his armor, dangling it in front of the blacksmith.

“Well, we do have something like these muskets,” he said, pointing his hoof at the long handle with a half barrel on its end. “They are most effectively used by unicorns, but non-magic ponies can use them as well.”

Blink brought the odd looking weapon to his eye level, staring down the half barrel, to the blacksmith’s rather uncomfortable cringe.

“Please don’t do that sir; that one is enchanted and ready to use. You need to aim it and just think about triggering it, the spell cast on it does the rest.”

Blink quickly pointed it away from his face, slightly embarrassed by what was normally a very huge rookie mistake. He looked around, and for lack of a better target, he simply lowered the weapon and frowned, wishing for something to happen. The next thing he knew, a green blast fired from the tip of the short barrel, ending up in wooden rack of swords nearby. The shot was powerful enough to blast the rack into pieces, sending the weapons scattering across the floor and leaving patches of burnt wood, sizzling a dark-green smoke.

“This is somewhat better,” Blink stated, genuinely impressed by the force of the oddly looking gun. “We need these; lots and lots of these. At least one for every unicorn, what about ammunition? How does this thing actually work?”

“Magic charcoal,” Luna spoke after a lengthy period of silence from her part.

Her magic engulfed the weapon, taking it from Blink’s grasp. She removed the thin handle, and slowly peeled apart the rather sturdy barrel, much to the blacksmith’s amazement. What was left when she discarded the torn metal was a soft glowing, dark rock. “A rare kind of charcoal that can absorb magic energy. I remember these when they were used to light up underground rooms,” the Princess said, her thoughts drifting away into the past.

Blink raised an eyebrow. “Underground?”

“No smoke,” she said flatly.

“Aha . . . so, how many shots like those can this thing pack?” he asked the blacksmith.

“Each piece can do about five discharges, sir. You can replace the piece inside rather easily. The barrel is the one enchanted to trigger a reaction from the stone inside.”

“Good; don’t need me to tell you that we need all the magic charcoal we can get, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Stop calling me that . . .” Blink muttered, his brow dropping slightly.

“Call you what, sir?” the Blacksmith retorted, rather confused.

Luna turned her head towards the newly instated Captain, equally curious as to what made Blink uncomfortable by being addressed appropriately, given his rank.

“Nothing . . . one more thing though; have you ever heard of a machine gun?”

“A- what, sir?”

Blink sighed.

As night fell across the land, Shining Armor could find no sleep for himself. The stallion stared at the ceiling, as he had been doing for the past hours. Twilight’s old room’s ceiling was still decorated with stars and nebulae, some of them fading in an out with a peaceful, soft glow. Their parents hadn’t done anything to the room ever since his sister left for Ponyville all those years ago.

Shining’s thoughts however were too many, too fast, and too dark for his liking. He turned his head to the left, catching in the dark the shape of his wife and son sleeping peacefully. Cadence’s wing was draped around Emerald, holding him close in her motherly grasp.

The stallion got up from the bed, careful as to not wake up any of them. He went to the balcony and simply stared out into the night. His eyes fell on the castle in the distance. He knew his sister and her friends were safe, but he didn’t know for how long. He could hear patrols running through the otherwise peaceful streets, and he could spot the sentries that were assigned to guard the most important pony in Equestria after the Princess.

Shining returned inside and went to the bed, gazing upon his sleeping son and wife. He leaned forward, gently placing a kiss on Cadence’s head. He then nuzzled Emerald softly, wishing that he would never leave their side. Alas, his mind was set. The stallion left the room, taking one more glance at his beloved family, before gently closing the door behind him.

A lightning grazed the skies, momentarily drowning the sound of the falling rain with a loud, shattering thunder. The flash of light revealed a spec of white in the eternal barren, an alicorn standing lost in the middle of the wilderness.

Celestia raised her head, waiting for another lightning strike to get a glimpse of the distant horizon. A flash revealed distant hills and mountains, and a nearby forest. After days of walking she finally made it, but the cost was to match that feat. Her horn glow dimmed more and more as she tried to keep the zebra warm with her magic. She could no longer feel her wings, desperately trying to hold them parallel to her back as to not let the rain fall on the one she vowed to save.

Still, there was no sign of relief for the former Princess. Although the never-ending sand dunes were behind her, it could be another few days until she reached a settlement in Southern Equestria. A glimmer of hope sparked in Celestia’s heart as she spotted a lone light near the nearby forest.

When she reached the summit of the hill, a small house revealed itself, right at the edge of a young forest. The light she noticed before was coming through the windows, most likely a chimney fire with a family around it. Celestia knocked on the door, rain still falling as the skies wept across the land. Slow hoofsteps behind the door sent her a beam of hope. “It’s going to be fine, little one . . . we’re almost there,” she whispered to her sick passenger.

The door opened, revealing a rather old earth stallion. He stood there for a moment, before Celestia found her words. The pony’s ear flickered as soon as he heard the Princess’s voice.

“Apologies for disturbing you, but we are in need of shelter-”

“Say no more; come in, please, come in,” he invited her inside, opening the door wide.

Celestia hurried inside, where she was met with a desolating view. There was only one other room other than the main one, which held a simple table and a makeshift chair. The chimney was small and in desperate need of repair and care, the fire struggling to survive in the small space it had.

“I’m sorry if the place looks bad, it’s been some time since I had any visitors,” the stallion said, a sad hint in his voice. “You said you and someone else needed shelter, where is he?”

Celestia turned towards the pony, settling her wings down against her body and revealing the young zebra. The old pony however kept staring absently towards them. And then Celestia realised . . . “You’re-”

“Yes, dear lady, I’m blind; but now I can hear your friend you’re carrying over there and she doesn’t sound so good. I’ll make you two some herbal tea and fetch something to eat.”

Before Celestia could say anything, the pony went to the other room, returning after a minute with several torn blankets. He placed them in front of the fire place, where the Princess was working on releasing the harness so she could rest the zebra by the fire.

“Thank you, thank you very much,” she said, taking the blankets from the stallion’s hooves as he held them in front of him. She then removed the zebra from her harness with the little magic she had left, placing her gently on the wooden floor near the chimney, over the rags.

“I’m sorry, but this is all I have,” he said, dragging a sack over to them. “Please, help yourselves . . .”

Celestia opened the bag. Inside, some apples rested on top of a stack of dry hay. She grabbed an apple and crushed it with her magic, then slowly fed the small pieces into Early Shimmer’s mouth. To her relief, the semi-conscious zebra had enough strength to start chewing on the sweet apple mush as soon as she felt it.

“Is your daughter all right?” the stallion asked.

“She . . . is not my daughter.”

“She must be someone important for you to carry through this weather, not to mention these lands.”

Celestia quietly watched over the zebra, holding her hooves over the small fire, drying herself off. “She is important for someone.”

"Dear stranger, if I may ask, what is your name? And how did you end up in these parts?" the stallion asked, while dumping an old pot in a barrel of water and then placing it over the fire, stirring the flames.

“My name is . . . Celly,” she answered after a moment of reluctance. “We’ve been traveling through the great deserts for a few days now. The young one’s name is Early Shimmer, and she’s very sick; I must reach a hospital in Canterlot as soon as possible otherwise she won’t make it.”

“You’re in luck then, Miss Celly. There’s a small town several miles north,” the pony said, stuffing several herbs in the boiling pot, spilling some of the water in the process.

“Please, allow me.” Celestia straightened the pot over the fire and stirred the herbs inside.

“You’re a unicorn, right? Haven’t heard the sound of magic in a long time. Never thought I would miss it . . . I’m Bright Hope by the way. I know it sounds a bit ironic, but life is filled with irony, isn’t it?”

Silence settled as they stood by the fire, the two ponies and zebra listening to the calm sound of the rain’s dance over the rooftop.

“Bright Hope, is there no one else here living with you?”

“I’m afraid not, miss; just me and mother nature. Once every few years, a weary traveler or two knock on my door, just as you did tonight. We exchange stories and then part ways; in fact, you are the first pony I’ve talked to in over three years.”

“May I ask, how did you end up alone out here?”

“Well, I could tell you the whole story, Miss Celly, but the main reason is that, well, I’ve made mistakes; and I never took the opportunity to fix them. Instead, I spent the last twenty odd years of my life at the edge of the kingdom. Eventually I lost my sight after I got struck with an illness, and ever since then I never found the courage to go back.”

Lone sparks flew from the fire, dying off into the air. Celestia took the pot off the flames, and continued stirring the herbs inside quietly.

“I too ran away from my mistakes,” she eventually spoke. “I still don’t think I could fix them in any way . . .”

“There’s always a way to fix the past, Miss Celly. I was once a young stallion with bold dreams and aspirations, now I’m waiting for the seasons to come and go, wondering which one will be my last. I feel bad . . . not for myself, but for the ones I left behind.”

“Then why don’t you go back? Why is it too late for you to fix your past?” Celestia asked.

“I’m afraid there’s nothing for me to go back to. I’ve simply waited too long,” he said, his eyes letting a tear down his face.

The alicorn looked at the stallion, and saw the disappointment on his face, sensed the sadness in his heart. By her side stood a pony that came to terms with his misfortune, a pony that made peace with his regrets, but never managed to move on.

From the very few words of the old, blind stallion, Celestia understood more than she did from the months of senseless roaming across barren lands. A simple lesson, all but forgotten, eclipsed by centuries of watching over an entire nation. A true ruler simply does not run from responsibilities, nor mistakes. With all the things left unsolved back home, Ascending suddenly felt like a coward’s way out, a path Celestia never thought she would ever consider.

The two alicorns stood in the middle of an endless field, jagged, hot mountains painted over the horizon. The clouds were restless and the ground beneath still seemed warm after millions of years of natural terraforming. Two silhouettes stood before them, one donning a long, pure white robe, the other, a pitch black veil of darkness.

The white alicorn was the one to speak first. “We, Celestia and Luna, vow to watch upon this world, live among its creatures, and keep harmony using the Elements bestowed upon us. These elements: kindness, generosity, honesty, laughter, loyalty and magic, are to be the defining qualities of this world. No harm shall be done from our part to any creatures that might arise in this world, and we will respect their free-will no matter our involvement in their lives. We vow to watch upon this world, come the day when the last being shall part from its mortal form.”

“My sister hath spoken thy truth. These be our commitments . . .”

“Very well, Celestia and Luna. We wish you the best of luck as Watchers of this world. Remember your responsibilities and your limits. Always stay true to your virtues, as they will weave the fate of those that are to inhabit these lands until the very last day the sun will set upon them.”

With that, Life turned and walked away, his shape slowly fading into the sun’s shimmering rays. Death lingered for a few more moments, its cold stare eyeing up the two alicorns.

“You may Ascend at any point of your immortal lives, and continue watching over from above. Be wary, you would become deity, but never be able to return back from the skies.”

He too turned away and left, never to be seen again for centuries.

Celestia and Luna looked at each other for a fleeting moment, then down at the ground in front of them. A young sapling stood shyly above the fertile ground, leaves swaying gently in the calm breeze.

A dry heave cough brought Celestia back to the present, into the small wooden house at the edge of her kingdom. She placed a gentle hoof on the stallion’s shoulder next to her.

“Thank you, Bright Hope; for everything. I have to leave now however, she must see a doctor as soon as possible,” Celestia said, filling up a canteen with the hot tea and preparing the zebra for transport.

“No worries, Miss Celly. I’m glad I had someone to talk, and I hope your little friend gets well.”

Celestia floated Early Shimmer over her back, strapping her in, carefully tightening the various belts. She then made her way towards the door, the old stallion following in her wake.

“Keep going north along the small pathway, the town is a couple of hours trotting distance,” he advised, standing in the door. “And remember, there are no mistakes that can’t be undone.”

“I will remember it; and I also promise to come back one day for a visit. I feel that there are a lot of things we could talk about, Bright Hope.”

“That would be nice, Miss Celly,” he said, his face forming a genuine smile.

Celestia’s steps faded away into the night, and Bright Hope closed the door of his house. His smile faded as the harsh reality settled in: he was alone again. But as he walked towards the fire, he felt something odd under a hoof. He carefully grasped the light object with the tip of his forehooves and ran his nose across it.

The long, white feather tickled him slightly. His smile returned to him.

*** *** ***

“They told me Luna is responsible for it, ah wanna talk to her right this instance!” Applejack yelled at one of the large elite guards. “Blink! There ya are!” She yelled after the blue stallion walking by in the castle corridors, flanked by several ponies.

“I’ll be there with you in a minute guys,” he excused himself. “AJ, why-”

A hoof collided with his helmet, almost sending it flying off his head. The impact was powerful, but Blink knew it was only a warning one, coming from the apple-bucking mare. “Applejack, what the hell?” He asked, while quickly dismissing the guards that were about to intervene with a wave of the hoof.

“Don’t you cuss on me, mister fancy army stallion! Twilight’s worried sick for you, you haven’t talked to her in almost two days since that attack. And now ah’ find out muh brother got called in this war of yers? What gives?”

Blink’s eyes widened, and he raised a hoof to get a chance to retort; also, to prevent any further attacks from the angry farm pony. “No! I remember clearly mentioning Princess Luna to have any relatives or close friends of ours not included on the drafting lists. I checked those lists myself, your farm didn’t get visited by any guards.”

“Then why did ah see him passing by the castle court and headin’ towards Celestia-knows-where with so many other ponies?”

“AJ I don’t- ughhh, you,” he gestured towards a nearby guard, “please escort her to whoever is managing and training the newly drafted stallions. On my orders, her brother is free of serving duty.”

“Yes, sir,” the guard snapped to attention, joining Applejack’s side, waiting for her.

“AJ, I’m sorry, but I don’t have more time. I hope this helps,” Blink said, rushing back on his way towards the blacksmith.

As he took a corner, a hoof grabbed him by the shoulder. He turned his head, but found himself in an entirely different place that he was a mere moment ago. Luna was standing right by his side, staring up into the night sky.

“Is this- where did you-”

“This Midnight Blink, is the Observer. I use it to see the night sky even when it is sun outside.”

The stallion turned his head around, taking in the stunning sight. The lines of the top of the room were almost unnoticeable, as if they were actually under the midnight sky.

“Why is it that you fear responsibility?” Luna simply asked, taking a few slow steps towards the center of the room.

“What do you mean? I’m not afraid of responsibility,” he said, but his voice betrayed the fact that he was having a rather hard time convincing himself.

“You loath being called by your new rank, you hesitate when we speak our minds in the War Room, and you ask those under your command to do thinks as if you were asking for a favor.”

“I don’t want to have anyone depend on me,” Blink admitted after a short pause. “I was just a guard a few days ago; I’m not a captain . . . I can’t lead anyone.”

“Yet you are wearing one’s armor.”

“You gave it to me, I didn’t ask for it.”

“I did so because I believed you can bear it. War is at our doorsteps, Midnight Blink, I cannot waste time bringing out the leader in you. It is something only you can muster.”

Blink took a silent, deep breath. “All right, Princess. I’ll try to act my rank.”

“The blacksmith, was it not?” Luna asked, staring at the Observer’s dome while her horn started glowing.

“Huh?”

The room seemed to tilt, and as the stallion staggered on his hind hooves, he found himself passing through a dark shadow on a wall. He immediately felt intense heat against his back, and found himself in a busy hall filled with steam and work stallions.

His mind still joggled Luna’s words when his ears picked up on the most unexpected of voices. “Ohh darling, you’re here!”

Rarity was nearby, close to an assembly bank. The production managers he had been talking to previously were next to her.

“Rarity, what are you doing here?”

The pearl-white unicorn floated a handkerchief to her brow, wiping it with utmost of grace and finesse. It all came as a great contrast to the full-grain leather apron and metal hoof protectors.

“I just couldn’t sit there in the castle, knowing what’s about to happen. I thought I might be of help here, so I did just that.”

“She’s a natural, sir. Fixed several hundred sets this morning alone,” one of the chief blacksmiths nearby said to Blink.

He raised an eyebrow. “Fixed?”

“Well you see Blink, there isn’t much I can do about making armor look . . . fashionable, but why shouldn’t it be worn comfortably? All those straps were placed in the most inconvenient of places!”

“Rarity, that’s great, I guess, but don’t you think this places is a little too . . . dirty?”

“Nonsense! Why shouldn’t I do my best to help everyone I can? Pinkie has been helping out in the canteen for the new recruits and Rainbow Dash is in Cloudsdale by now, preparing for the worst,” she said, her voice becoming tainted with sorrow as she talked. “We’re all trying to help somehow . . . Speaking of which,” she suddenly remembered, her face lighting up a bit, “your armor is ready!”

“My armor?” Blink looked down on his Captain set, the one worn by Shining Armor before him.

“Yes, your battle armor.”

It was Blink’s turn to have some interest sparked in his eyes. He approached the bench and took note of all the laid-out pieces. It was a dark, heavier version of his former night guard armor, and seemed much more resistant; and heavy.

“It was already made, I simply adjusted it for your size. Hope it fits well for tomorrow, I heard you will have quite a training session.”

“Ahh, that. Thank you, Rarity. And thanks for all the help with the armors, I’ll pick mine later tonight.”

“No worries, darling, take care.”

The fashionista then resumed her work on several pieces, while Blink made his way to the furnaces further down the vast, royal blacksmith halls. He stopped in front of a casting line, where several stallion were hard at work, hammering at several long barrels taken right off their dies.

“Iron Melt?” Blink asked, addressing all the ponies there which were wearing full face and body protection.

“Yes, sir!” one of them approached him, taking off his heat mask.

“How’s it looking? Think you can get some of them done by tomorrow?”

“We’ll try, sir; but I’m afraid we won’t be able to make more than four of these, five if we’re lucky. We just don’t have enough ponies assigned on it, everyone’s swamped.”

“How about ammo?” Blink asked, studying the long, red-hot barrels from a safe distance.

“We re-assigned that task to a small factory that used to deal with casting. It’s a mile away from here, near the central industrial part of the capital.”

“What did they produce before this?”

“Door hinges.”

Blink’s face dropped.

“Don’t worry sir, some of the ponies that used to produce rounds for hoofguns like your magnum oversee the production, they said they can do it.”

“I hope they can. You can return to your work then . . .”

With that, Blink left the production halls, checking the output on his way out. Thousands of armor sets, rows upon rows of stacked arrows and racks filled with magic muskets were leaving the lines, hundreds of stallions -and even some mares- swarming around in the hot, smoke-filled mess. Once he got outside, he gulped for fresh air, squirming his eyes to protect them from the light.

The sun was high on the sky, signaling that it was about noon. He focused, horn glowing stronger and stronger until a flash of blue engulfed him completely. A moment later he appeared in an inner court inside the guard training campus near the barracks.

“If it isn’t our beloved Captain of the Royal Guard. Late as usual, I see . . .”

Blink turned to his right, noticing General Dark Shine throwing him a rather spiteful look. Luna was to his left, attempting to hide a smirk.

“Well hello to you too, Dark,” he said, not even glancing at him as he made his way to the line of stallions in front of them, trying his best to ignore the grumpy old Archmage.

“These are our special magic units,” the Princess spoke, approaching Blink.

“Why are their horns so . . . long?” the stallion asked, somewhat uncomfortable staring at the slightly longer horns of all the ponies standing at attention in front of him.

A chuckle escaped the Princess’s lips. “They were born like that. They are highly skilled in the art of precision magic,” she explained.

“Well, let’s see what all the fuss is about, then.” Blink nodded towards one of them, and he saluted, albeit somewhat awkwardly.

“Most of them are not from a military background,” the Princess explained. “But their talent make them essential for this war.”

Everyone backed away, leaving the pony Blink instructed alone, facing a distant target. He opened a sealed, metal box next to him, and floated a very small capsule-like object next to him. His horn started glowing, and his body was engulfed in a thin, protective magic layer. The capsule floating in front of him opened up, revealing a minuscule pebble of some sorts. Blink squinted his eyes, trying to figure out what it could be, but it only seemed to be an ordinary rock.

The stallion’s horn kept glowing brighter and brighter, a white, translucent hemisphere forming from its tip, aimed at the target dummy a couple hundred feet away. The tiny rock-like object was no longer visible, as waves of pure magic emanated from the very ground the pony stood on, spinning and twirling around the unicorn.

A sudden explosion of light almost blinded Blink, his eardrums ringing painfully from the cracking sound. He covered his eyes with a hoof, having forgotten to cast a pair of protective shades for himself. The pillar of flames that erupted from the tip of the stallion’s horn was as bright as the sun and the entire beam was aimed with the help of the magical hemisphere.

When the infernal sound stopped a few seconds later, Blink raised his eyes warily. The distant target was no longer there, and a dark line of burnt ground went all the way from the long-horned stallion and beyond the place where the target used to be. It seemed to have went into a large tunnel, from where smoke was already emanating.

“Impressive, is it not?” Luna asked.

Blink shook his head, trying to get rid of the ringing in his ears. “What . . . exactly was that thing?”

The pony that demonstrated the spell floated the same rock he had brought up back into its capsule, and into the metal box next to him. The shield that was acting like a second skin faded away as well.

“Molecular-precision grade magic,” said a light blue stallion wearing a pair of glasses which standing next to them. “All of us here have a particular talent. We can work on an extremely small scale with our magic. Most of us are in fact scientists, some even doctors.”

“That didn’t look small scale to me,” Blink said, approaching the one standing by the metal box. He turned to them, a sly grin on his face.

“Most big things start out small,” he said, picking up on the conversation. “We make use of a rare material, Grenium 241. We cast a spell on it, increasing heat and pressure to trigger a fission reaction, of which output we control and direct using a dome-shaped energy field.”

“You’re blowing up nuclear bombs at the tip of your heads,” Blink said, jaw hanging from the realization. “How are you still alive?”

“Uhh, we’re not really blowing up anything sir, it’s just a controlled chain reaction with directed output. Albeit, it’s dangerous and often fatal if proper shielding is not used, but under appropriate protocols, this sort of spell is used to create tunnels or melt tougher materials.”

“This is great! How long can you maintain the spell though?”

“Ten second continuous burst, maybe a bit more. But then we require a cooldown of at least five minutes. The nature of our precise magic application causes our horns to . . . well, overheat. Not talking about a magic burnout, the cartilage itself actually overheats when casting that spell due to the passing of accelerated parti-”

“-I see, I see. Lots of damage, slow reload,” Blink muttered while staring at the other unicorns, doing some mental calculations.

“Did he just compare us to weapons?” one of them asked a friend in a hushed voice.

“That’s not enough!” Blink declared, more to himself, having finished his calculations. He then faced the stallion he interrupted. “You seem smart. Nitrogen; liquid nitrogen. I’m sure you’ve heard of it, right?”

The unicorn’s ears dropped, and he took a big gulp. “Uhh . . . yes?”

*** *** ***

“Next!” shouted a unicorn, standing at a makeshift table, holding a quill in his magic grasp.

Canterlot’s train station was filled with steaming trains and hundreds of ponies from the nearest cities and villages. Long lines of stallions were waiting for registration at the few tables manned by army officers, waiting to be told where to report to. Silver took a step forward, saluting the superior.

“Private Silver Wisp, 22 West Capital guard battalion, day shift. Was on a leave to Ponyville, took this train here.”

“Report to your barracks, dismissed! Next!”

As he left, Wisp turned his head, nodding at the white stallion behind him.

“Captain Pearl, Exploration Division veteran.”

The officer looked at him from under his brow. “The Zepp Force?”

“Yes, long time ago.”

“Report to the Iron Hangars. Don’t get your hopes up, though; don’t know if there’s any more room there.”

With a salute and a smile on his face, the white earth stallion left as well, squirming through the packed Central Station. Large chariots pulled by sets of six littered the streets nearby, carrying the new recruits to their designated barracks. Pearl climbed into one of them which had a sign that wrote “Mountain Base” and joined other ponies on a bench. Most of them seemed to be workers and all of them were earth stallions or unicorns. A jolt rocked the carriage, prompting Pearl to hold on to the bench beneath him.

The carriage sped through the busy streets, eventually entering a tunnel that looked recently re-opened. Pearl immediately recognized the service road to the Iron Hangars and all the trips he made through there back when he was part of the Equestrian army corps.

Minutes later, the vehicle halted and everyone jumped out. A powerful wind hit Pearl straight in the face as soon as his hoof hit the stone platform overseeing the docks. Everything looked the same way it did over a decade before: a dangerously narrow pathway clinging on the mountain, leading to a row of five huge iron doors dug deep into the mountain. The Iron Hangars rested on the opposite side of the mountain the capital did, and could hold ten zeppelins in the five hangars. Four of the huge iron doors were open, a zeppelin peeking out of every one of them.

“Captain Pearl? Well I’ll be damned!” The white stallion turned to face the one that called him by his former rank, and found quite a familiar face.

“Dust!” Pearl exclaimed, recognizing the old earth stallion with a long beard. “Don’t tell me you’re still Dock Master!”

“Sure am! What happened to you? Came back from the seas to save our asses?”

“Now that’s a long story and ah’m not sure I have the time for it. But I can say I’m glad to be back.”

Another carriage stopped behind them, several stallions carrying equipment out in a rush.

“Busy times with the war and everything Pearl, but I heard some good news: they want to put back yer’ old ship.”

Pear’s face dropped. “O’rlly? Well bugger me, is she still in one piece?”

“Like the day you left, mate; she hasn’t flown ever since.”

Out in the distance, a large group of pegasi, all wearing blue uniforms, approached the landing platforms near the four hangar bays which were open. They all landed in perfect formation, and marched inside the hangars.

“Who are the blue princesses?” Pearl asked with a mocking grin.

“They’re the crews of them four zepps. But don’t ya worry though, you’ll get your own in no time, if Spits approves it.”

“If I approve what, exactly?” came the voice that made Dust freeze in place. He turned and saluted the newly instated Pegasus General, who slowly approached the two of them. “Ma’am, this is a former captain of one of the exploratory zeppelins. I know him from way back in the days.”

As he spoke, another chariot stopped nearby, and a new wave of earth and unicorn ponies stepped out. They, however, were not workers, nor dock personnel.

Meanwhile, Spitfire inched closer to the white captain, who gave her a rather lazy salute. She stared at his only eye, and puffed out: “An earth pony? Captain in the Royal Zepp Force? Sounds absurd! Yet somewhat familiar . . .”

“He was the best in the entire force, ma’am,” the Dock Master said without any hesitation.

“Hmm . . .” Her eyes caught something that left her almost speechless. “Well then captain, you can have your old ship back . . .” She paused, eyes scanning all the faces in front of her. “So you’re the famous non-pegasi fliers. I hope you’re all ready to fight for this kingdom, we need all the help we can get. Dismissed.”

A set of hooves standing at ease stomped behind Pearl. He turned around and almost could not believe his eyes. Several earth and unicorn stallions were lined up behind him, looks glimmering in the light of the falling sun. Silver Wisp himself was there, a wide smirk plastering his face.

“Well, it seems your ol’ crew is here as well now,” Dust said, elbowing Pearl.

“You boys . . . you bloody boys came back?” Pearl’s voice began to crack slightly.

“Once a zepper, always a zepper, captain!” shouted one of them, drawing the rest into a joyful frenzy as they celebrated their reunion. Their voices and shouts echoed across the mountain hangars, just as they did so many years before.

Author's Notes:

Pt.2 coming soon! (within a week, maybe earlier)