She listened intently to the chant of the marching Guardsmen. Their so called "war anvil" was being mercilessly pummeled by a pair of hammers which threw out sparks in time with the booming, metallic clangs that guided the steps of the humans. Rainbow Dash had been sitting against the same building for a few hours, carefully managing her thoughts while the sounds of the crowd of men and women proudly marching in sync fought for her attention. She could faintly hear the distant booms of the planetary defence cannons set up not only around Apex, but across all of Equestria. Her eyes were drawn upwards several times to look into the night sky, watching as the fired projectiles lit up the world, and brought down their targets.

She was cold, tense, and afraid. She had made her decision, one that could save countless lives at the cost of her own. It was only a matter of time before she was to be called on, but even then, she felt as if the battle was already drawing her in. It wanted her. It wanted her life. But she would not back away, for she knew that backing down would leave a mark on her. It would taint her consciousness and burn her soul. After all, being the avatar of loyalty had to have some drawbacks.

She sighed, looking down at the ground. The resounding blast of the war anvil, coupled with the trumpets that accompanied it, bore into her thoughts. She continued to sink, deeper and deeper into the mists of war. There was no backing out now. She had made her choice and by Celestia, she was going to stand by it. Blood would be spilled. Her wrath would be brought down upon those threatening her friends and country.

Everything felt too slow. The time needed to pass. Even the dropships, carrying their creators and natives of the planet at supersonic speeds, looked slow as they flew overhead.

The titanic steps of the humans. The clangs of the war anvil. The sound of the trumpets. She wanted to release a battle cry, one for all she cared about. It was boiling inside of her, but she saved it, for even if war was calling for her, she had yet to dive into the fray. Instead, she stood up, shaking away the fine mist that had begun to cover her bronze armor. Her stoic expression twisted into a decided frown, and she walked forth, into the stream of marching Guardsmen. They made way for her to join them, and she joined their chant in return.

She did not know how much time had passed. Her only concerns were following the chant and stomping her hooves with each step of the humans. Each of them held a weapon in their hands, and kept them tightly gripped against their chests. They exuded power, and she could feel it. It flowed into her, giving her strength and quelling her fears. Her wings, tense and strong, were flared open, making her more imposing. Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead from under her helmet.

War was calling for her.

Thirty minutes? An hour? Rainbow was not sure exactly how much time had passed. Her hooves were sore from the marching, as she had followed the humans throughout Apex. But despite that, the anvil of war still rang out and the soldier's chant had yet to lose an ounce of strength.

She stood still, looking down upon the metallic floor. All around her, Raiders, changelings, and ponies prepared for the first strike to take Trottingham back. Hooves first into hell, and chances of never coming back. She did not care, she knew it was for the best. The humans made it seem so natural. She would even go as far as saying that she envied them, but in reality she did not. Deep down in the core of her soul, she was afraid.

“Hey, Dash,” a voice came from her right. She brought her gaze away from her hooves and found herself looking up at the familiar figure of Torres: one of the first humans she had met. The woman, muscular yet not as much as a man, kneeled down and observed the mare with her brown eyes.

Rainbow looked onwards to the north, in the direction of Trottingham. Dropships flew from above, heading towards the city: a sign of the coming battle and that time was running out. She spoke up, her voice somewhat muffled by the marching, “How do you deal with it? Aren’t you scared or anything?”

Torres smirked, following the mare’s gaze. “Of course I am.” She stood up and placed her faceplate on. “But don’t dwell on it, ‘cause you’re saving lives,” she said as she turned around, then looked over her shoulder, nodding. “Feel no fear.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. Fear. Never a comfortable feeling. She silently watched as the woman walked away, joining the formation of Raiders that were to lead the way. With a deep breath, she adjusted her armor and weapon: a shoulder-mounted lance with a plasma knife on the tip. Somewhat crude, but she had been told it was effective. That finished, she walked over to the line of ponies and changelings that stood right behind the Raiders.

She knew what her objectives were, as they remained imprinted into her mind, clear as crystal. The volume of her surroundings seemed to fade out as she mentally reviewed everything that had been told to her.

“Stay behind, keep to cover, and let the Raiders fight. Meanwhile, we gather up as many citizens as we can and hold the line for evac.”

It sounded too simple, too dangerous. Risks had to be taken, she understood, but the nagging feeling of uncertainty remained. But, at the same time, she knew not to question her orders. She was Sergeant Dash now, just as she was during the Gryphon war, and as such she had to act like it. She had trained for the Gryphon war, and it was time to put her skills to the test. Even then, the current war was entirely different. Torres had explained, and there was little honor to be found, little space for the tactics she had learned, little space to think.

The leading Raider released a deafening shriek, signaling the the start of the attack. The women, set in an arrow formation in front of every single pony and changeling, flared their wings open and lit up their thrusters. Following, the quadrupeds flapped their wings. Rainbow gulped as she did so and closed her eyes. With a last battle cry from the leader of the formation, the Raiders took flight, and so did she. In just a few milliseconds, she was airborne.

She fought hard to keep up to the humans. Every creature in the formation cut through the air like butter. Every single one of them knew that this could perhaps be their last day, but they knew they had to push forward. Motivation, they each had it. Feel no fear, know your pride, for the entire planet they would fight that night.

Her tail left a multi-hued trail as she soared, the Raiders’ thrusters roared, the Changelings’ wings buzzed. It was only a matter of time before they reached above the cloud level. The air was thinner, but with that came a fulcrum between calm and fear. She felt it. For a brief moment she achieved a moment of harmony, knowing the risks and price.

Rainbow embraced the calm surrounding her, she needed the peace it provided to prepare for the chaos ahead. The moment would be short lived, she was aware of that, and as such she decided to take advantage off of it.

It seemed like very little time had passed since she had joined the Wonderbolts. After they were dissolved following the Gryphon war her life had lost its focus. Her life had revolved around joining their ranks, but looking back she could see how childish an objective it was when she considered where life had taken her. She had enjoyed it, but so much had changed already. There were more important matters to think about.

She looked down upon the earth below as the flock sped through above. Trottingham was near, and she could see the smoke rising from it. If she listened closely, she could hear the gunfire and painful screams of the battle. This was the hour.

The city burned bright with intermittent flashes as the enemy opened fire on them, lethal projectiles whizzing through the air around her. Her eyes widened as the changeling in front of her split into two pieces, soaking her in green blood. She tightly gritted her teeth and pushed downwards along with the Raiders, who released their signature battle cry. She flew through a swarm of bullets, and flared her wings open just when she was about to hit the streets. The Raiders landed loudly, crushing the pavement under their feet. Immediately, she extended the lance upon her shoulder, causing a hiss from the plasma knife, and ran towards one of the many crumbling buildings that lined the street. Charging into the door, it burst open, and she was in.

She landed with a loud thump upon the wooden floor, diving into the darkness that was only disturbed by the light from the moon and gunfire that pierced through the broken windows. Her heart was racing, her breath quickened. She stood up and shook her head, opening her eyes to see three other green sets staring at her from the dark. Her muscles tensed up, and she aimed her lance at the three, tall creatures.

One of them raised a rifle, as she could see the tip of it protrude from the darkness to be aimed at her. One of the creatures, whom she assumed were human, raised a hand and forcefully lowered the other’s weapon. “It is alright, Gamma. They are safe,” it said, its voice metallic and distorted.

The three stepped away from the darkness, revealing themselves to be robotic renditions of humans. Each of them held marks of combat, from which white fluid seeped out. Rainbow retracted her lance, looking up at them with uncertainty.

“Are you part of the evacuation force?”

Dash nodded. “Y-yeah...” She cringed as an explosion shook the deteriorating building, prompting dust to fall off of the ceiling. “Do you know if there’s anypony around? We can only hold for a bit...” her voice faded out as one of the androids stepped aside and shone light into a corner of the room, where a group of colts and fillies were huddled together, shivering in fear.

“M-Mister Alpha...?” one of the fillies choked out. “Are we... going home?”

The leading android nodded. “Yes, you are.” It turned to the two others. “We must not—cannot allow them to fall. We will provide cover as they are evacuated.” It turned back to the ponies. “... Remember us, please.”

As another distant explosion shook the building, Rainbow turned to the door, catching a glimpse of a Raider being shot in the head by a single bullet. The fillies and colts shrieked in fear, and so did she. She recognized the sound, for it was that of a sniper. She turned back to them, taking a deep breath. “Alright, stay with me! We’re gonna get you out of here!”

“Please, gather behind the mare,” one of the androids said calmly as it gestured towards Rainbow. “She will deliver you to safety. Meanwhile, we will provide cover.”

“Alright, move out!” Rainbow yelled as she moved outside, searching for the sniper. Following her were the foals and androids, who stuck to cover as she moved.

“Incoming civvies!” a Raider cried out. “Cover them!”

“Gamma, Delta, hold the line!”

“Yes, Alpha!”

Explosions surrounded them. The deep thunder of incoming fire mingled with the screams of the dying to complete the horrifying anthem of war. A projectile whizzed a few inches in front of her face, causing her to lose part of her breath as the speed of the bullet sent a shock-wave while it traveled through the air. It shot into a house to her left, as well as going through several more houses afterwards, killing anyone it made contact with. She could see a dropship in the distance, ponies being guided into it by several changelings. She had to make it.

“Incoming, brace for fire!” an android yelled just before an explosion sent Rainbow Dash to the ground.

Her world became muffled and gave up nothing more than a high pitched ringing. She opened her eyes to see two of the androids standing, one of them missing an arm, literally taking bullets as the ponies gathered behind them. Around her were the burning carcasses of the recently fallen. One of her wings hurt, she looked to the side, finding herself looking at a bloody stump instead.

Something grabbed her by the side. The shock was setting in, she could not find the power to move. “We die... so that you... may... LIVE!” She looked in fright to see a broken android picking itself up from the wreckage and lifting her up. “Delta, Gamma! Override in effect! Weapons free!”

As Rainbow was carried over to the dropship, following the remaining ponies that had made it, she watched as the other two androids reached for their weapons and began firing. Corpses littered the ground, of changelings, ponies, humans. It did not matter. Everything was being killed. Alpha made its way over to the dropship, and handed her to a Raider who placed the weakened mare onto one of the seats, along with the fillies and the colts. “Come on!” the woman yelled after the android, who had turned back to the battle. “Get in here!”

“Negative. We will hold the line... Farewell... and, remember us.”

“Fine!” the Raider called out. “Pilot! We’re clear!”

“Copy that.” The dropships engine’s fired up, and it slowly took flight. Rainbow watched with dead eyes the smoking city as the vessel flew away, how pillars of smoke rose up from the fire that lit up the entire city as if it was daytime. Dropships swarmed the area from every direction, some being taken down before they could even land. The entire display lasted only for a few seconds before the ramp closed. Her vision blurred, and the world around her faded to black.