Pain. The world was dark, and cold. With nothing but the sound of her breathing to shatter the silence. Her thoughts echoed through the darkness, as if she were calling out. She was in a void. Trapped in a never ending expanse of solitude where her thoughts were the only substance, and with only her thoughts and memories to keep her company she relived the last moments of her life.

“Get down!”

“Incoming, brace for impact!”

“Aaaughhh!!!”

“We die... so that you... may... LIVE!”

She had experienced pain, she had felt the explosions, and she had heard the agonizing cries of the injured and dying. The androids that had saved her life were gone. No more than blurry images. No more than memories. Foals, screaming in fear, their faces twisted in terror as they ran for their lives. No more. Her thoughts felt like they had a mind of their own, automatically aiming towards the question of whether or not she was still alive.

Chances, little chances.

“Wake up, mare. This is no time for dying!”

Limbs, one by one, sent signals to her mind. Some were burnt, some were broken, and one was gone. Building up, a high-pitched hiss began to consume her thoughts. Overwhelming. The breathing was gone; she felt a stabbing pain in her chest. Her limbs grew numb, and a blinding light, seen far into the darkness, called for her, growing ever brighter.

Returning, awareness broke through once again. She could breathe, pain in chest gone. No more. She tried to open her eyes. Blur. Light once again, yet less overwhelming. Sounds. A constant beeping coming from her right. Senses returning, alive, but weak. She blinked, adjusting to the light. No more darkness, no more fears, yet the pain remained within—efforts to win, all in vain. Her head, moving side to side, looking around to find no dread. She was safe, alive, but unable to know her place in the world around. Her existence of a simple mare coming back to her, in the mind of dark, she felt the pain. No more pain; a wish that slayed every other thought in her head. Her eyes, open for once, saw the surroundings that consumed her world of dark.

Gone was the confusion, making way for thoughts for ones not of illusion. She was in a tent, seeing familiar figures that calmed the fear within. Ponies, changelings, humans, walking to and fro, waking her up to see the world for what it was. A machine next to her, beeping constantly, monitored her life to make sure she fell not to the embrace of the gods that surely sought to take her soul to make a feast, or allow her to ascend to an existence above. But no more.

Beds all around, serving as homes to those from war. Injured, moribund, seemingly endless. She observed a few of the nearby patients, knowing deep inside, that a great number of them wished, even if it was on the back of their minds, that they had perished already. Nurses and doctors: human, changeling, pony, gryphon, worked together to aid them, or lessen the suffering before the inevitable demise.

A whisper, “So they got you, too...”

Groggily, head turned to the left, eyes meeting with those of a minty green, unicorn mare. “You’re Rainbow Dash, right? Element of Loyalty?” she asked, receiving a weak nod in return.

“W-who... who are you?”

“Name’s Lyra,” the pony said, rubbing her bandages and sighing as she touched the tip of her broken horn. “We’ve talked a bit before, but I don’t know if you remember me.”

“Where am I? What happened?”

Lyra chuckled. “You’re in the triage camp next to Apex, where all the injured from Trottingham are brought to get mediocre medical treatment.” She huffed. “Ever seen what the common gauss rifle can do? Most are brought here to die with no pain.” The mare looked to the side. “As for what happened to you... Well, I watched as you and several others were brought here a few hours ago. To say the least, most didn’t make it alive. You’re lucky you only lost your wing.”

“My... w-what?” Rainbow made a pitiful attempt to look at her right wing, only managing to feel pain in her neck as she did so.

“Yeah, yeah...” Lyra shook her head. “Don’t make a show about it, ‘cause I don’t want to hear about it. I know you were a flier and all, but you can still walk. I saw half of a changeling brought in... poor thing’s still alive. Be grateful for what you still have.”

Loss of a wing. She asked herself why she was not panicking. Lyra may be right. Looking around she could see many in worse conditions, many of them clearly beyond survival, many of them, breathing corpses with no chance of living past a few hours. The air smelled like blood, a mixture of that and other substances, mostly produced by human medications, or the combination of the fluids coming from the wounds of the different species in the camp. Families, gathering all around, mourning the loss of those loved or preparing to do so, spending their time with them before they died.

Rainbow looked back at Lyra. “And... what happened to you?”

The unicorn’s eyes froze, looking deeply into the void, absence, nothing, her face twisting into a frown. “It’s not about what they did to me,” she said, unmoving. “It’s about what they did to my friend, and everypony else... I saw her get burned alive while impaled on a dropship, and I couldn’t do anything... Damn humans.”

“I’m sorry...”

“No,” Lyra muttered. “No you’re not. The only ones who should be sorry are them. They took away your wing, they took away my friend, and have taken the lives of hundreds of others. Why do you think we have this camp in the first place? Their own facilities are already full.” She sighed. “I can’t stay in here for much longer. I’m not gonna rest until I get these bastards off of our planet... I think Silverback’s got the right idea, after all.” Rainbow Dash silently looked on as Lyra got off of her bed and limped away, shooting angry glances at the nearby humans.

With a sigh, the pegasus looked upwards, closing her eyes for just a moment.

“Help me- AGH!”

She gasped. Pain and suffering back to consciousness. She wished for the feelings to go back to the depths within her mind. Once she opened her eyes, she found herself staring at a caretaking woman, who looked on empathetically as she monitored the beats of her heart, and gingerly placed on her bruised head a pack full of ice. “I think you’ve got visitors,” she said, motioning to the end of the tent, where a group full of foals and a few androids walked in heading directly for her. The woman smiled and stood upright, nodding to the group before moving on to make sure the other patients were each alright, that or just making sure that those terminally injured could live their last moments without as much pain.

“Miss Rainbow!” the foals called, galloping or limping towards her while the androids continued to walk calmly behind them. She smiled with compassion at the foals whose faces told of joy, none of them paying her missing wing any attention. The androids moved on closer, steadily as ever, gripping their rifles with utmost strength, looking down at her with eyes green as as leaves, yet glowing as fire. The colts and fillies each jumped onto her bed, happily hugging her despite the pain she felt, though she only gave a wince and hugged each of them back.

“Thank you, Rainbow!”

“You saved us!”

Rainbow Dash chuckled and coughed, looking up at the androids whose cold eyes stared on. One of the foals, perhaps the smallest one, looked up at them and asked, “Uhm... What happened to misters Alpha, Omega, and Delta?”

Without hesitation, the metallic man kneeled down, Rainbow Dash suspecting a moment of confession. “So long as you remember them, they will always live.” The foals fell silent, understanding the message, yet each of them knowing that it was both true and false.

One never dies, as long as they are remembered, be it by family and friends, or etched in steel for the ages.

“You’re listening to ‘Equestria At Large’, your source of news from all around the globe!” the voice of the male announcer called out. “Today we have news from Zebrica, where the main tribes have peacefully united the entire continent in order to form a large diplomatic party that is set to arrive in Equestria a few days from now! Our sources suggest that they are looking to establish communications with the humans at Apex. More will be revealed in a few moments!

“Tauria reveals a collective fear, and even curiosity, regarding the humans! The minotaurs seem to be pondering their similarity with the large bipeds, and some have taken it even further, forming the ‘Clan of Mankind’ that is rapidly spreading across the planet!

“The ‘School Evolutis’ of the New Changeling Republic has now spread across their entire nation, and is even reaching Equestria in hopes of teaching every willing pony about the values of being unique!

“And before we get onto the next segment, we remind you to join the war effort! Every coin helps!

“Now, we have a direct feed from the triage camp outside of Apex! News Flash, you have the go!”

“This is News Flash, right outside of Apex!” the mare said, her voice compensating for the cacophony of sounds coming from the camp. Equipment being moved, marching soldiers, conversations. “It is early in the day and the sun is soon to rise! The situation, though, is a little grim. We have a lot of injured here: ponies, changelings, gryphons, and humans! I don’t know how many of them are going to make it!

“Excuse me, sir!”

“Yes?” the deep voice of a man sounded through the radio.

“What are your thoughts on the war, and how has working in the camp been treating you?”

“Well... When I became a guardsman, I vowed to protect those who needed it, and by no means does that not apply here. Even then, what Silverback and his men want is to go home, but they just can’t step on you just to do that. Most of us want to go home as well, but we’ve accepted the fact that we’ll put that on the back-burner if it means keeping you safe.”

“I bet that this will be something very comforting for the ears of some ponies!”

“As for the camp... I’ve been working hard on aiding as many as I possibly can, and it helps keep my mind focused as well. Me and some fellow guardsmen have sometimes received less-than-friendly responses from some of the injured, but we understand. We take the full blame for what Silverback is doing, and we know that some of you will never forgive us, but we just ask for empathy... We already lost everything.”

“True words, guardsman, and thank you for your time!”

“Anytime, little pony.”

“I swear, I can smell the blood of every species...” News Flash muttered. “Let’s check on the main tent and see how the injured are doing...

“I have now entered the tent. I can see dozens of beds with... Oh my... Members of every species are here, some even placed on the same beds due to lack of space, I... I can tell already that many of them are not going to make it. These injuries are horrendous. I knew that human weaponry was capable of doing extreme damage, but this is just...” She gagged. “We... we have to be glad that at least half of the humans are with us. I do not believe we would survive this war without them...

“Is that... It seems like Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty, is here!

“Miss Dash, would it be okay if I asked you a few questions?”

“S-sure...” another mare muttered.

“Excellent! Why are you here? It’s surprising that you decided to take part in the war.”

“I was uhm... part of the first strike. We were in charge of evacuating civilians with the help of some Raiders and androids.”

“How is it like? I mean, could you tell us about your experience?”

“I... It’s horrifying. All I could hear was just gunfire, screams, and explosions. I managed to save a group of foals with the help of a few androids but... I couldn’t get them all out.”

“I see...”

“I lost one of my wings during all this... But some others lost much more than that. I’m lucky I made it out alive... I can’t say the same for the androids.”

“What do you mean?”

“They’re sacrificing themselves by the hundreds. They may be machines, but I know... I know that they’re more than just that.

I may have lost my wing, some lost their lives, but we are sacrificing ourselves for everypony, and everyone else!” she coughed out.

News Flash bid her goodbyes and moved on, leaving Rainbow all alone. The foals and androids had done the same, the former to rest, the latter to deploy. Images of the battlefield fluttered around the inside of her mind like butterflies. The mist of war remained within, never leaving, always taunting. Each image was blurred, yet at the same time the feeling inspired within her was clear. Marked forever in her soul, the experience she had lived through would never fade away. She could not save them all, she knew, but a pang of guilt crossed her heart regardless, a newfound realization. Such was the product of the war that tainted one’s memories, as if making grim art.

Born to go into harm’s way, yet no more as before. Life changed forever, no longer carefree, such childish obsessions sent to a session of eternal damnation. Yet she would have to move on, for a second chance must be taken to the heart as if waken to a newfound world awaiting for her to enjoy, for her to not waste. One wing may be lost, but her life was not, she would find a way, build a life from dust, take the chance to change, take the chance to make right in a world filled with life. So long as the resistance kept pushing every instance, the world would not die, the world would be free.

She groggily relaxed her head down onto the pillow, now resting. She closed her eyes, exhausted already, and focused on listening to the sounds of the cannons firing from Apex into the heavens, where the humans broke through and brought both unity and chaos. Once nightmares, transformed into both ally and foe. Their marching feet brought fear into the souls of those near, who would pray to their guardians so that none were the odds that they stood in their path, or considered enemies for the mighty guardsmen.

A single thought, bringing light to her mind: the war would be won, not by peace, but by the might of mankind.