“It was such an amazing sight! To see the world from such height!” Luna smiled, adjusting her position on the cushion near the room’s fireplace. She sighed, “But nevertheless... they are a force to be reckoned with. All their machinery.... I feel that we are lucky to have them on our side.”

Celestia set her cup of tea back on the small table, next to the flat device. “Perhaps we are. All we can do now is to hope we made the right choice.”

“I very much believe you did.” The flat book lit up by itself once again, displaying the face of Admiral Becker. “Sorry to cut in, but we are all ready on this end. The only thing left is for you to tell us what part of your land you’re going to give us.” The book stopped showing the face of the Admiral, and instead displayed a map. “Just circle which area it is.”

“I see, “ Luna said, looking up at her sister. “What about the west of Ponyville, near that mountain? Dragon Mountain, I believe?”

“It is right between Manehattan and Ponyville, so they should have a clear route for their supplies.” Celestia grabbed an empty quill with her magic and brought it to the device, circling the specific area with it.

“Good. Actually, even better, our scanners show several deposits of minerals under that area,” said the Admiral. “We will start building soon, thank you.” The screen then returned to normal, displaying the words, “Connection Terminated.”

The sun peeked over the horizon, signaling the start of the day. In contrast, the moon dove into its hiding place, and the stars slowly disappeared, leaving only the blue sky and a few clouds. The chirping of birds replaced that of crickets, and the bright light from the sun provided warmth for those not in the shadows.

Near Ponyville, on the road leading to Manehattan, was a large conglomeration of carts, all ready to depart. Just a few hours ago, several flying machines had descended near the quiet town. At first, nopony was certain of what was happening, until a member of the Equestrian army reached the town and said that the village was going to take part in a caravan to supply the “Humans”.

By now, everypony had heard of them. Some told stories of being kidnapped and then tortured, or experimented on. Almost everypony was scared of them, but not Apple Bloom, nor her two friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

During the last four months they had been helping around the town, harvesting food for the ponies in the army along with the rest of the ponies that still remained in the town. At first it was exciting, thinking that perhaps they would get their cutie marks, but eventually the tasks became menial, and no cutie mark was achieved. This new task brought some refreshment from the repetitive days, and it would be interesting to see what the humans were up to.

The three fillies were strapped to an apple cart near the front of the caravan, ready to begin their journey to the west of Ponyville, following the path leading to “Dragon Mountain”.

“This is gonna be awesome!” Scootaloo said, “Maybe we’ll get to see Torres again!”

“Or Mac!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

“And mister Atlas!” Apple Bloom giggled. A whistle sounded, signaling the start of the walk. All three fillies began to drag their cart forward, just like everypony else. The three fillies could barely contain their excitement, which helped to pull the apple loaded cart faster.

The major part of the trip went by silently, the conversations of other ponies occasionally reaching the fillies’ ears. They did not talk much between each other, save for the usual remark on the landscape or complaining about how arduous the task was. They opted to focus on their current objective: Getting to the mountain.

After little less than and hour, the trees along the road became nothing but stumps, and far ahead, a large, metallic wall came into view. Watchtowers could be seen protruding from said wall, as well as several swiveling machines with tubes attached to them. The three fillies watched in awe as the wall kept getting taller with each step they took towards it.

Eventually, the whole caravan slowed to a stop, the massive wall blocking their path. Up from one of the watchtowers, a voice called out, “State your purpose!”

The head of the caravan, a grey stallion wearing golden armor, approached the wall and looked up. “We are delivering supplies for the humans!”

There was no response. Instead, the metallic wall split open, revealing that it actually had gates. Steadily, the two pieces hid inside the rest of the walls, allowing the caravan to continue their path.

After entering the human complex, the ambiance was quickly filled with the noise of heavy machinery working on metal, breaking rocks and digging. Several buildings could be seen standing amongst the building zones, every single one of them made entirely out of metal. Humans walked to and fro, holding jackhammers and saws in their hands.

“Woah...” the fillies said in unison. They detached themselves from their cart and looked around, focusing on all the machines working nearby.

Humans began to approach the carts, unloading the contents onto metallic crates, which were then packed inside their flying machines As each was filled, they took flight towards the sky only to be replaced by another dropship that returned from the same direction, ready to be filled with more supplies.

“Odd little things, ain’t ya?” a male voice said. The crusaders turned around and looked at the human that was taking the apples from their cart. He was not wearing a helmet, having a baseball cap on his head instead. His face bore many wrinkles and his facial hair was white, signaling that this particular human was rather old. His armor was blue, and his shoulder pads had a vertical stripe behind a logo with the initials “CG”.

“Uhm... Hi?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Heya,” the man said, placing the last of the apples on the metallic container. “Corporal Harkan, at your service.” He grabbed the crate full of apples and lifted it over his shoulders, barely displaying any sign that such a task was difficult. “But jus’ call me ‘Smoky’.”

“Hello mister Smoky!” the red-maned filly said. “Mah name’s Apple Bloom!”

“I’m Sweetie Belle!”

“And I’m Scootaloo!”

“Ya’ll got some interestin’ names.” He looked over in the direction of the flying machines. “Hey, wanna join me on gettin’ the supplies over to them dropships?”

“Sure!” the three fillies exclaimed, their voices filled with excitement.

The group began walking towards the dropships, with Smoky leading the way.

“Hey, what’s that building over there?” asked Scootaloo, pointing at one of the many buildings around the area.

“That’s our lil’ motor pool,” the man answered, “Got a bunch of vehicles inside.” They reached one of the dropships, and Smoky placed the crate full of apples inside. “We got diggers, and all sort of stuff ‘round here, but almost everything is gonna go underground after we finish tunneling.”

“Wow... Hey, is that thing on your shoulder your cutie mark?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Acuta-what?”

“A cutie mark!” Apple Bloom hopped over. “You know, the symbol that represents yer special talent?”

“Uh...” Smoky scratched his head. “We ain’t got any o’ those. Anyways, this thing right here’s the logo of the Colonial Guard.”

“What’s the ‘Colonial Guard’,” asked Apple Bloom.

“We’re the military of our government, the USC.” The man began walking towards the carts once again, with the three fillies following him.

“Military?” Scootaloo inquired, “You don’t have anything to do with the uhm... the war that’s going on, do you?”

“ ‘Course we do! We’re here to help y’all!” Smoky chuckled. “As far as I know, the whole reason we’re building up down here’s because we’re running outta food, so we made a deal with yer ‘Princesses’: we stop this war of yours in exchange for food.”

“Really?” Apple Bloom said, then clutched to Smoky’s leg. “Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!”

The man smiled and shook his leg lightly. “Okay, okay, no need for leg-huggin’.”

The two other fillies snickered while Apple Bloom let go of Smoky’s leg, but then looked down at the ground. “Sorry.... Ahm just worried ‘cause my sister and my brother are in the army is all. I really miss ‘em.”

“And my sister’s also there...” Sweetie Belle said.

Scootaloo sighed, “And Rainbow Dash...”

Smoky’s expression softened upon hearing the little ponies. “Don’t ya worry, we’ll handle everything...”

“All selected units are to report to the mess hall immediately,” called the voice of the Vector.

Atlas was once again sitting alone in one of the mess hall’s tables, with only a dish that used to have a pie on it and a glass of orange juice to accompany him. Conversations filled the entire area, especially since everyone was getting real food now, a simple thing that lifted everyone’s spirits. All types of dishes based on apples and all kinds of fruits, from pies to cakes and muffins. Not exactly standard, but he had to admit that everything was delicious.

“Hello there, sir.”

Atlas looked up to see Torres, Allen, and Mac sitting down by his table, placing their plates on it.

He smiled. “Was starting to think you were gonna leave me here.”

“I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, sir, but there is a huge line to get food,” Torres chuckled.

“Oh yeah,” Allen said, “you’re a full-fledged ‘DvC’ now, extra rations and everything.”

Torres snickered, “I doubt that’s enough to fill him anyways.”

Atlas gave a sarcastic laugh. “You could give me some of your food. It looks like you’ve been eating too much, anyways.”

The woman glared at him. “Don’t go there.”

“I was just returning the favour.” Atlas smiled. “Hey, where’s Morris,” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Sergeant Morrison was deployed on the planet as part of the colonisation initiative,” Mac said.

Atlas nodded and sighed, looking over the line of troopers waiting for their meals. He noticed one of them at the front, a Corporal, discussing something with the man in charge of handing out the food.

“I told you already, if you’re not selected, I can’t give you anything,” the cook said.

“Oh, come on man,” shouted the man in the front. “Just a little, please...”

“Hey, keep moving!” a few voices yelled, growing tired of having the man holding back the line.

“For the last time, move,” yelled the cook.

The man pleading for food was pushed by the trooper next to him. “Stop it, you idiot.”

“Hey what’d you just say to me?” The man assumed an aggressive stance. “Say it again!”

“Stop fucking around and get lo-” He was cut off by a fist colliding against his face. Soon, the two men began to exchange punches and kicks. All conversations died and every head turned to them, some even cheering and yelling at the two men.

Atlas stood up, placing his faceplate on the magnetic locks set on his hips. He sighed, wondering why everybody preferred to watch the two men exchange blows rather than stopping them. His friends followed him with their eyes as he walked over to the fighters.

“Alright,” he said, delivering a swift elbow to the back of one man’s head, making him fall to the floor. The other one stood confused for a moment, long enough for Atlas to raise one of his legs and kick him in the chest, sending him flying backwards. “Enough of this.” He helped the man on the floor to stand up, then moved over to where the other one landed, grabbing him by the neck and lifting him up.

“Listen here,” Atlas said, tightening his grip around the man’s neck, causing him to bring his hands up to try and pull the giant’s hand open. “You play by the rules on this ship, you got that? If you’re not selected for something, you don’t get it. If someone tells you to move when you’re doing something you’re not supposed to do, you move, right?” The man quickly nodded in response, and Atlas let him go, leaving him coughing on the floor.

“Divisional Commander Atlas,” called the deep and distorted voice of the Vector, “report to briefing chamber one.”

Atlas huffed, “Guess that’s my call.” He turned around, waving his goodbyes to his friends over by the table and heading towards the exit.

“Fucking... mutant...”

The titan stopped walking, his stoic expression slowly turning into one of anger. Every man and woman on the mess hall turned to him, expecting him to turn around and kick the man in the head, or perhaps worse. Atlas took a deep breath and sighed it out, continuing to walk.

Once out of the hall he shook his head. “Mutants...” he thought, rounding a corner. “Can’t believe I’m still haunted by that.”

The path to the tram station was uneventful. He did not come across any troopers, walked through the same dustless corridors as always, and walked into the same tram, which overviewed a few hangars and the ship’s factory before slowing to a stop, right in the area he was supposed to be in. He walked out, going through corridors that looked the same as many others, saluted by some troopers and ignored by some others. Eventually he reached the entrance to the briefing chamber, the two troopers guarding it saluting him as the set of doors slid into the walls, making way for him to walk inside, then closing.

“Welcome, Commander,” said the Admiral. “Now we can finally start.”

He took a seat by the large table, among the other Divisional Commanders, and Jack Silverback, the ship’s Infantry Commander. A few of them shot a glare at him, but most of them ignored the giant. He returned the gestures with the same amount of indifference.

“Very well... Commander Silverback, go ahead.”

Jack Silverback stood up, looking over the group of Commanders. “Now that we have established what we hope is a steady stream of supplies, now comes our turn to return the favour. As you all know, we agreed to defuse the conflict these quadrupeds caught themselves in. Our plan consists in liberating one of their cities, ‘Trottingham’, which they claim is on the far north of their territory.”

He pressed a button on the table and a holographic map began to be displayed on the center of the chamber. “We assume it’s this city right here,” he pointed at a specific spot, “Since the ‘ponies’ seem to be a species that prefers green areas with lots of vegetation, rather than the colder lands farther up north.

“The liberation will be led by the admiral, alongside Commander Feros and a single combat walker. Everything will be deployed from orbit, except for the light troops who will be entering the buildings to clear them out, while the regular troops will be handling the streets. Remember this: No lethal force unless a ‘Gryphon’ is threatening the life of a pony. Surely there will be several that will try to fly away, so Feros’ Raiders are tasked to pursue and pacify any escapees.

“Meanwhile, we will be sending several dropships loaded with supplies over to the location of a large part of the ponies’ army, which has been cut off from their supply line for several days now.” He looked over at Atlas. “This will be led by Commander Atlas and his heavies, who must be prepared to defend the ponies in case any attack is launched by part of the Gryphons, who we suspect to have their army not too far from the ponies’. Various combat medics will also assist, in order to offer medical aid.

“And lastly, I will take a dropship and a squad of troopers to the Gryphons’ capital city. I will attempt to negotiate a truce, after I show him footage of our assault on Trottingham.”

Commander Silverback placed his hands on the table. “Any objections or questions?”

“No, sir,” the other Commanders responded, including Atlas.

“Good.”

Luna and Celestia both sat by the end of a large table, inside the chamber that had been dubbed the “War Room”, due to the usual topics that were usually discussed in said area, as well as the other ponies who sat on the rest of the seats, ranking from Generals to Lieutenants.

Placed upon the table and in front of the two Princesses was the flat book, containing hundreds of years worth of knowledge while remaining the size of a piece of paper and with a similar thickness. The device in question was projecting a three dimensional, lifelike image, which the humans referred to as a “Hologram”. Said image was the figure of Admiral Becker, who stood in mid air, looking at the two alicorns.

Several hours had passed, reviewing plans and preparing for the assault the humans had suggested.

“-and what we must do,” Luna said, “is to send part of our army to this colony of yours, which is already on its way, where they will board several ‘dropships’ along with your troops, and then they will depart towards Trottingham in order to partake with the assault, while the other half will head towards the west of the city and regain contact with the isolated section of our forces.”

Celestia nodded. “Two dropships will head to Canterlot for my sister and me to board. One will take Luna and the admiral to Trottingham, and the other will take myself and Commander Atlas to the location of our army, where we will bring supplies and medical aid.”

“Meanwhile, Infantry Commander Silverback will be leading a small team into Gryphus, the capital of the Gryphon Kingdom, in order to negotiate a truce with King Audrus Winter.” Luna stood up. “Does anypony object or have any concerns about this?”

“No, my Princess,” the ponies answered in unison.

“Very well then,” Celestia said. “Admiral?”

The holographic man nodded. “Loud and clear. The two dropships are on their way to your palace, myself being aboard one. Your army has already arrived at our colony and are boarding the dropships and loading the supplies. Our drop pods are ready to launch, same with the heavies and the Raiders. The combat walker is also ready. We’re about to touch down now, see you there, Princess,” he said. The hologram then disappeared, and the two Princesses stood up, as well as the rest of the ponies in the room.

“Let us proceed,” said Luna, walking out of the room with her sister by her side. The officers followed, dispersing once they reached the exit.

Outside, a group of guards were waiting for the Princesses, one being composed fully by Luna’s Night Guards, and the other by Celestia’s Royal Guards. They set upon following the alicorns as they moved through the corridor, heading towards the castle’s courtyard.

“Remember, I shall lower the moon when Trottingham is cleared. Darkness will be our ally for this occasion,” Luna remarked.

“I will keep that in mind, sister.”

They trotted out into the courtyard, where the two dropships were waiting, ramps already lowered. Each Princess walked into a separate dropship, followed by their group of guards.

“Come on, you maggots! Haul ass or you’ll get no food tomorrow!” yelled a human sergeant, motioning for his troopers to walk into a dropship, along with various pony soldiers. Once the ship was full, he walked in. “We’re clear!” he yelled once again, and the dropships ramp began to close.

Humans and ponies ran across the half-built colony, boarding the dropships that were resting on the landing pads and loading them with supplies. The flow of both bipeds and quadrupeds gradually diminished as they took their place inside the ships, and all at once, they lit up their engines and took flight into the night’s sky.

Apple Bloom slowly walked along the empty streets of Ponyville, kicking the occasional rock while dragging her hooves along the ground. Sleep had not been an option for this night, as taking part in the supply caravan and seeing the humans’ colony had left her somewhat agitated.

Her ears flickered, picking up an odd hum coming from afar. She looked up, just in time to see a flock of dropships flying overhead, the low hum of their engines making the ground shake under her hooves.

She grinned and began to cheer, while at the same time, the few ponies that still remained in the town walked out of their houses in order to see what had woken them up. They looked at the spectacle above them and began cheering as well, watching as the ships disappeared into the darkness of the night.