The Stories of a Dreamlander

Chapter 18: Wrath

Part 1: Smiles

TIME: 10:33 ERST
DATE: War Day 124/8 Octavius 1002, C.S.
LOCATION: Ponyville

It had been almost a month since I'd been back to Ponyville, between my time in Fillydelphia and Canterlot before that. Sea Swirl and Deep Blue were busy getting their new ship in order according to a lengthy schematic I drew up. Modifications would take a month and change, but when they were done, Alarm would be one nimble sea devil.

The night aboard Alarm, heading back to port, Katrina had been unconscious. She'd nearly OD'ed on Witchweed. Rep had given her a stupendously large dose of the stuff before he got away. Luna was going to take her to Zecora, and I promised I'd check in on her. Luna also assigned her Personal Guards to watch Katrina, just in case she got unruly. We needed her for information..

I walked up to the Barn at Sweet Apple Acres. I couldn't see my fiancee - my Leading Mare - or Apple Bloom anywhere. I guessed they were inside. So, I went into the barn and started getting undressed. Trenchcoat off and hung on a rack that Applejack had installed. I re-slung the Sherman over my back as I walked over to the back of the barn, where my table and weapons rack sat. I was halfway into pulling my Custer out and setting it on the pistol rack, when the rear door opened.

AJ: "Honeybun!?" She gasped.

K: "Your one and only." I smiled. I hadn't seen her in a while.. it felt like centuries.

She ran over and hugged me, standing on her hind legs. Custer in my hand, I returned the hug. At first, with only one arm. I held her like this for a moment, feeling her strong arms around my torso, her gentle breathing into my chest.. the smell of her hair.. the crisp breeze coming in from outside..

..sliding over to the table, I set my Custer on it and hit the sling release detent on the stock, pulling my Sherman off, through her tight grip, the feel of the strap sliding between us, placing the Sherman flat on the table. I then picked her up in my arms, hugged her tightly, and pulled her over to my cot. We didn't kiss, not at first. We just held each other, her on top of me, as I laid back on my cot.

This went on for an hour. No talking, no making out, no sex, just.. holding each other. We dozed off a little, even.

Mac: "Eyy, sis! OH!" He stuck his head in, and looked a little surprised to see me.

K: "Not gonna try and take my head off this time, are you?" I smirked.

Mac walked over, and.. even he hugged me. Though it wasn't so much out of some deep passion as it was a brother welcoming his brother home.

Mac: "We missed ya. Sis was really-"

AJ: "HESH! You jus' never mind what Sis was doin, ya'hear?" She still hugged on him, though.

Hugs all around.

I went into detail with Mac and AJ about everything I'd experienced on the Bellerophon. About Starlight Mint, Rep, Katrina, the slave operation.. all of it.

Mac: "Hmpf.. war's gettin' worse an' worse.." He plopped down, propped against the wall, chewing on a piece of wheat.

K: "This is why I want to create a mobile strike force, consisting of Rangers and other hand-picked personnel. Why I want you - you're a damn good fighter and Squad Leader. I'm Equestria's General, and I need a General Staff, people that I can bring with me to each battle that know what's going on, and how everything works, no matter what situation we find ourselves in - and the Ranger-trained personnel as a special operations team, for numbers." I shrugged.

Mac: "Eeyup.." He smirked.

AJ: "So, who'd you all be gettin' fer this?" She asked, nuzzling against my chest.

K: "You and the Girls.. I want you to be my personal Headquarters Squad. I need a professional staff, and you all know me.. probably better than anyone. After that, Mac, I want you commanding a Squad of Ranger-trained ponies, your personal choices." I nodded to him.

Mac: "Hm.. well.." He thought about this. "..I want Ace, for one. He's'a good Corporal. Come ta think of it, I want my old squad, ac'shully.." He nodded.

K: "Done. After that, I need to grab up a few more ponies to fill out the rest of a full Platoon. I want to draw mainly from Ponyville's Militia." I wanted Sunshine in this, he was good at his job. Though I wondered if Sunshine would leave Luna's guards..

The three of us sat there and shot the breeze about what I'd missed while I was gone. It was mostly the usual - they'd been tending the farm, training the Ponyville Militia, which had expanded, and trained some Model Soldiers and Model Officers from other parts of Equestria that showed up and asked to be trained by the most combat experienced teams in the kingdom.


TIME: 13:47 ERST

K: "Alright, I gotta go to Zecora's and talk to her about Katrina. She was in a pretty bad way when we got her off the ship." I looked at my darling Applejack. "Wanna come?"

AJ: "Why not? 'Bout time we got to doin' somethin' together. Mac? You cook tonight!"

Mac: "Sure." He shrugged, and as I got off my cot, he hugged me again. "I meant it, yanno.. yer my brother, 'far as I'm concerned."

How could I resist hugging back? It was like hugging my brother.. my bestest bro, M{REDACTED}. Only.. redder.. and more country..

AJ and I got covered up - she put on her Militia uniform, and as she did, I dug out a set of Staff Officer's shoulder boards, and affixed them to her shirt. No rank pin. She was an Element of Harmony - their own rank. Superior in many ways to the rest of the military. Especially when it came to certain enemies. I would have Rarity jewelcraft custom rank insigna for the girls, later - a rainbow or something, perhaps.

We got out into town, and there was Pinkie.. chatting with Lemon Hearts, Norfy, Lyra and Gaze (of all ponies). I was in a good mood, so..

K: "PINKIE!" I shouted across the square.

Pinkie: "K!!!!" She hopped over.

K: "Hang on, Pinkie!" I held out my hand, biting my lower lip in a goofy, barely-retained grin. I saw Octavia and Concerto over at the cafe having iced tea, with Vinyl. Okay, I was in a SILLY mood. I ran over to them both, and dragged them away from their table. "'Tavi, Vy, 'Certo.." *Whispering*

AJ: "Whut in tarnation are you doin?!"

Concerto: "You're not serious?" He cocked a brow at me.

K: "Come on, man! We all need it!" I shrugged.

Octavia: "Let's do it, 'Certo. Come on, Vy. Start up your table." It worked by magic, of course - they didn't have electricity everywhere yet. As I said once before, a mix of late 19th century to the 1920's.

AJ: "Table!?"

Vinyl Scratch: "Thought you'd never ask!"

She pulled her Table out, as Concerto and Octavia un-cased their instruments. Pinkie looked at us funny. I just shot her a devilish look.



Smile-smile-smile (Tombstone Remix)


AJ: "Oh, sweet Celestia.."

K: "Come on! Do it!"

Pinkie: *Squuuuueeeeeeeee!!*  My name is Pinkie Pie.. 

K: "And K!"

Pinkie:  And I am here to say.. 

K: "-and me, too!"

Pinkie:  I'm gonna make you smile- 

K:  -and I will brighten up your day 

Pinkie:  It doesn't matter now.. 

K: "What's that?"

Pinkie:  If you are sad or blue.. 

K: "Really!"

Pinkie:  Cuz cheering up our friends- 

K:  Is just what we are here to do! 

Pinkie:  Cuz we love to make you smile, smiiile, smiiiile! 

K: "Yes we do!"

Pinkie:  It fills our heart with sunshine all the while! 

K: "Yes it does!"

Pinkie:  Cuz all we really need's a smile, smile, smile.. 

K:  From these new friends of mine! 


Musical interlude


AJ: "ARE YOU SERIOUS!?"

K: "Sure am!"

AJ: "Ah thawt you hated singin'!"

K: "What ever gave you that idea!?" *Joyous laugh*

AJ: "Now yer gettin' everyone goin'!"


Next verse begins


Gaze:  We'd like to see you grin. 

K: "Awesome!"

Pinkie:  I'd love to see you beam. 

Lyra: "Rock on!"

Pinkie:  The corners of your mouth turned up, is always Pinkie's dream! 

K: "Hoof-bump!"

Pinkie:  But if you're kind of worried, and your face has made a frown, I'll work real hard and do my best to turn that sad frown upside down! 

K:  Cuz we love to make you grin, grin, grin! 

Lemon HearTwilight: "Yes we do!"

Pinkie:  Bust it out from ear to ear! Let it begin! 

Golden Harvest:  Just give us a joyful grin, grin, grin! And ya feel us with good cheer! 

Norfy:  It's true, some days are dark and lonely. And maybe I feel sad? 

Pinkie:  But Pinkie will be there to show you that it isn't that bad! 

All:  There is one thing that makes us happy, and makes our whole life worthwhile! And that's when we talk to our friends and get them to smile! 

Pinkie:  I really am so happy. 

K:  Your smile fills me with glee. 

Gaze:  I give a smile, I get a smile. 

Lyra:  And that's so special to me. 

K:  Cuz we love to see you beam, beam, beam! 

Octavia:  Yes I do! 

Pinkie:  Tell me what more can I say to make you see, that I do!? 

Concerto:  It makes me happy when you beam, beam, beam! 

Vinyl Scratch:  Yes it always makes my day! 
-ay-ay



Pinkie:   Come on everypony
Smile, smile, smile!
Fill my heart up with sunshine, Sunshine!
All I really need's a smile, smile, smile!
From these happy friends of mine! 

All:  Come on everypony
Smile, smile, smile!
Fill our hearts up with sunshine, Sunshine!
All we really need's a smile, smile, smile!
From these happy friends of ours! 

Pinkie:  Yes the perfect gift for me! Is a smile as wide as a mile! To make me happy as can be! Yes the perfect gift for me! Is a smile as wide as a mile! To make me happy as can be! 

All:   Smile!
Smile!
Smile!
Smile!
Smile!
Come on and Smile!
Come on and Smile!  


 Song ends


When the song ended, everyone in the square was around us, beaming grins on their faces. Pinkie tackled me into a hay cart and hugged me.

Pinkie: "K! THAT WAS SOOO AWESOME! I CAN'T believe YOU DID THAT!" *Biosterous laughter* "THANK YOU SO MUCH! That really-really-really made my day."

I got up out of the hay, and rubbed her cotton candy hair. Now, I understood why my wife's friend J----- loved Pinkie so much. I was happy from my toes to my hair, I had a spring in my step that wasn't there before. The Element of Laughter had truly graced my day. And I started strutting over towards the far side of the square. AJ finally caught up with me.

AJ: *Condesceding* "Ah can't believe you jes did that.."

K: "What? It was a happy song!" I beamed a grin.

AJ: *Scowl* "Ah don't even know you, sir!" She was giving me the 'false butthurt' look.

K: "Awww!" I pouted at her.

AJ: "An' no sex ta-night!" She teased.

K: "Awwwwwww!" I tugged at her tail. "Not even a little? I've been gone so long..!" I returned the tease.

She gave me a warm look, and pushed me up against a building. The kiss was warm, deep, and her hooves moved right for my waist, her tongue down my throat. Being mushed up against this building, by the new love of my life, with her warm body all over mine.. oh, yeah..

Gaze: "OI! That ye are, su-hu-huh.. oh!" He stammered upon seeing us. "Ah sorry, suh! I di'int know ye was gettin' time wi' yer Lass!"

Norfy: "Really, Gaze, your timing is horrible." He peeked his head out from around the corner. He was smiling, too.

K: "It's okay, guys." I waved them over.

AJ: "Yeah, jes' means he's gettin' it werse later.." She winked. Gaze blushed.

Gaze and Norfy were in their Miltia uniforms. Norfy looked a hundred percent better than the last time I saw him. He was back to his old self again, minus the introverted, almost robotic attitude he once had.

K: "Norfy! You're looking better." I shrugged.

Norfy: "I went through a tight spot.. I think you humans would call it.. Schizophrenia? Twilight and I discussed it, and the things you talked to her about, regarding my condition." He shrugged.

K: "It's.. kinda like a form of Acquired Schizophrenia, yes, I suppose. But in the human world, actually acknowledging past lives is seen as a fringe thing. People don't talk about it. It's seen as.. well.. crazy. And you did go crazy. All the barriers that are usually there, came falling down all at once." I gave him a one-armed hug. "I'm just glad to see you're in a better place now."

Norfy: "Gaze has helped.. though he has gotten on my nerves just as often." He shot Gaze a look.

Gaze: *Ah-heh-heh* He blushed.

Norfy: "I've discovered.. I wasn't just a Flutter Pony.. I was an Earth Pony, once, as well. And my mating there didn't end nearly as tragically." He shrugged a little.

K: "Really?" I leaned against the building, glad that AJ leaning against me hid my rock hard stiffness - though she was gently running her hoof along my ass - so well.

Norfy: "Yes. And it all happened when we got our Engineer Squad in. All the officers helped train them in Basic, and I met the most fantastic girl.." He trailed off, lowering his head, his cheeks a bright rose.

Gaze: "Aye! She's a looker! Name's Campanula. 'Nother Earth Pony. Nice lass."

K: "Bellflower.." I paused, remembering my one week of Italian that I took in an online course.

Norfy: "What's that, sir?" He tilted his head.

K: "Campanula means Bellflower in Italian." I shrugged.

Gaze: "Eye-talian? Ehh.. I think ye mean Roaman, suh." He nodded to me.

K: "Ah.. Roaman. Anyway. The very fact that everyone here speaks English was a shock in and of itself. Either that, or Discord deliberately made me speak your language and none of us can tell the difference." I shrugged to them.

Norfy: "Interesting thought, sir. Would you care to meet her?" He asked, with a bright grin.

K: "Sure! You guys are my friends, after all." And I meant that.

Norfy: "CAMPA! GENERAL K WANTS TO MEET YOU!" He called around the corner.

A gorgeous chestnut mare with an interesting frosted grey mane came trotting around the corner. She was taller than Norfy - she had that 'supermodel' look that a few ponies had.

Cpl. Campanula: "Buona giornata, General K." Even her accent was Italian! Er.. Roaman.

She was about as tall as Princess Luna, when Luna wasn't powered up. Just a bit shorter. She wore the shoulder device of an Engineer Corporal, and the armband of the Detrot Militia.

K: "Buona giornata, Caporale Campanula. Ingegnere di formazione di base vi Š piaciuto?" My accent was an impeccable northern Italian.

One of my under-used gifts here was my gift of vocal minicry. My impressions of specific people were parody-quality, but my real gift was my ability to adapt to the accents heard in different languages. I'd had a Jewish-Italian teacher in High School named L------- who'd emigrated to the United States as a teenager, and English was technically her second language. I would listen to her speak in Italian some times - and she came from Northern Italy originally, so, I picked up her accent for the little Italian I could actually speak.

And I'd exhausted my Italian right then and there. I wasn't even certain I got the syntax right. I just stitched the words together - Did you enjoy Engineer Basic Training?

Cpl. Campanula: *Giggle* "Si, Graze!" She bowed her head.

K: "Well, I'm glad. Say, we're on our way to visit Zecora - she has a Prisoner of War we captured on Carousel Island at her place. Would you all care to join us?" I gestured.

AJ: "More the merrier!" She pulled her hoof away from my ass and beamed with her forelegs on her hips.

Gaze: "Soun' leik a fein idea!" He looked to Lyra. "Whae ye think?"

Lyra: "Sounds fein ta me! Sure!" She was wearing a standard Militia uniform, pistol belt on over it, and her Ranger Beret.

K: "Alright, let's go." I smiled, leading the way.

I had no idea what intel Katrina could give us - or if she'd even be willing to - but I knew how to make people talk, if I had to. I just hoped that her addiction hadn't left her unable to tell us anything. If nothing else, we needed to know where Tirek was manufacturing his Sherman copies, and shut it down.

[End of Part 1]


Part 2: Feline, Canine, and Equine

TIME: 14:47 ERST
DATE: War Day 124
LOCATION: Zecora's Cabin, Everfree Forest

We were about three kilometers from the Battle of the Everfree Forest site, on the far side of the Everfree Forest. Zecora hadn't been bothered by the Raptorians, apparently. In fact, besides coming into town once a month to shop, she didn't really bother with the goings-on of the war. Once we got to the clearning, I could see Luna's Carriage - Astral and Silver were hitched to it. The rest of 1st Squad was in a scattered guarding formation as we approached.

K: "Sunshine!" I called to him from his position in a tree. "Stay put, okay? I want a word with you later about your military career."

Sgt. Sunshine: "Uh.. okay, sir." He shrugged.

Waxing Moonlight held the door open for us as we approached the Cabin. Inside was Luna, Zecora, and Katrina. Katrina was bereft of clothing, and actually tied to a bed. She wasn't conscious at the moment. Once in, Gaze got the door for us.

K: "Miss Zecora, I'm sorry, I've been here for such a long time, and we've spoken.. like.. once?" I shrugged.

Zecora: "It is just Zecora, please. Now sit, let my put your mind at ease." She whipped out a tea set with extra cups and set them on the table.

K: "Still, I feel bad - I'm sure you must be curious about me, and I've barely given you the time of day. I didn't want you to think I didn't like Zebras or something.." I sat - awkwardly - but I did sit. On the floor. The chairs were worse than Kindergarten chairs.

Zecora: "Your absence indeed has left many answers in need." She paced over by Katrina. "Witchweed - the foul plant, and the bodies it wrecks. My people have long had issues with its horrible effects."

K: "..okay, do you talk like that all the time, or is that just to entertain guests?" I cocked a brow at her. "I mean, it's endearing and all, but you couldn't seriously have learned English only in verse. Talking like that is it's own kind of curse." I blinked. "And now you have me doing it." I began chanting "Orange.. Orange.. orange.. orange.."

Zecora: "The word you chant in time, has no easy rhyme.." She cocked a brow back at me.

K: "Exactly. That's why I'm chanting it - in my head right now - to keep me from picking up your speech patterns." I gave Gaze a look. "It's bad enough I start talking in an accent after being around him long enough." Then to Lyra. "And her."

Lyra: "S'not'a accent, K! Is's how I talk!" She crossed her forelegs - and yes, she was sitting like I would. Like a human. Gaze tried, but he slid on his side anyway.

K: "To me, it's an accent.." *Ahem* "..now, see, ya start talkin' like me, an' this is She-cah-goh, here, see? It's what I got raised with, yanno? I'c'n slip inna this any time, worse over on da north side. D'en 'dere's Da Bears.. Da Bulls.. Da Cubs.. Da Sox.." Chicago Sports Teams.

I wondered if the Cubs managed to get a World Series while I was gone? Or if them getting a World Series was needed to bring me back? If that was the case, I'd be here forever. I would literally be here until the end of Time itself. Because any Cubs fan knows, it'll never happen, we just enjoy the ride anyway. It's like playing an unbeatable video game who's only goal is the high score. That's how Cubs fans approach each season - how high a score can we get, and are we going to win the Crosstown Classic that year?

(Little did I know what 2016 had in store for me)

Gaze: "Nevah hurd that'un before, suh.." He gave me a sort of shocked look. "Is tha' how ye really talk?"

K: *Still with accent* "Yeh! It's how I talk. 'S'apartta She-cah-go, yannowhatI'msayin?" *Ahem* "But, over the years, I usually spoke like this. The accent is still stored in memory, but it's not part of my active speech patterns unless I'm actually there, and talking to other Chicagoans." I shrugged. "Soooo... Zecora, what's with the Rhyme?"

Zecora: "If truly you must know, it was how we spoke in days of old." She shrugged a little.

K: "Soo.. the natural Zebra language is constructed in rhyme?" I tilted my head.

Zecora: "Actually, you're not wrong. We did not talk, but spoke in song." She gave me a grin. Like, I'd managed to get it.

K: "..."

All I could do was blink and think about HOW RACIST IS THIS BULLSHIT!? THE OBVIOUS AFRICAN-AMERICAN ANALOGUES IN THE SHOW, ARE FUCKING RAPPERS IN THEIR OWN LANGUAGE!? WHAT. THE. FUCK.

K: "You realise that in my world, this would be the lowest form of racism. The Gods must be Crazy." I shook my head.

Oh, wait, that was a racist movie, too. It depicted the Africans without a shred of real respect, they were tribal, and stupid. The only redeeming quality was that the white bad guys were even dumber. Not that I was criticing Ms. Keating, who actually made Zecora talk in verse - she was told to make Zecora special, and inadvertently, made my curse that much worse. Oh, dear God, even my inner thoughts are rhyming now.. Orange.. Orange.. Orange.. and I shot Norfy a very symapthetic look. He seemed to understand, and gave me one back, with a weak grin.

Zecora: "Crazy or not, my speech is not something to mock." She cocked a brow at me.

K: "I'm not mocking you.. it's just.. whatever I ended up in.. however this happened.. you talking in rhyme was an accidental oops that's come to affect me as I am now. Differences between our worlds aside, can you give me a prognosis on Katrina? How badly is she messed up? Did the Witchweed fry her brain or something? Is this even the same Katrina and not a decendant? If it's the same, how did she live a thousand-plus years?" I gestured to the naked neko.

Zecora: "The answers are simple, but also complex. The inner workings of her addiction are like a hex." She said, proudly.

K: *Sharp inhale* "This is going to take too long if you keep talking like that, Zecora. And I hate to be insistant, but the time we waste here, is time Tirek has to strengthen his defenses, and I need to know what she knows. Quickly. So I can form a plan and destroy his installations where ever they are. Before more people get hurt. And your rhyming is not only unclear to me and the rest of us, but you'll spend thrice as much time trying to have it make sense." I was pinching my fingers over the bridge of my nose.

Zecora: *North Jersey Accent* "Well, fine, ya wannna thow out my shpiel? Fine! I kinna like the flair for the dramatic, but fine!" *Huff/snort*

Gaze: "Holy Celestia! She CAN talk normal!" His eyes went wide.

Zecora: "Ya wanna make somethin' of it, Sweet Cakes?" She gave him a one-eye sharp stare.

K: "..somehow, this is almost worse. I hate New Jersey." I shrugged, both palms up in the air.

Zecora: "Hey! The mystery shaman stuff with the rhymin' an' the potions an' the herbs is one hell of a Shtick. I had all'ya'all fooled!" She pointed right at Lyra. "Yeah, you, I saw you in your shop, cowering like a little filly, back before Twilight showed me around."

Lyra: "Aye, an' ahm truly sorry - I already 'pologised once, yanno." She shrugged.

K: "Sometimes, insults like that can cut deeper than any knife. This whole world is just chock full of racism in some form or another - even ponies used to be racist against the different types. It really shocked me, seeing how bad it really was, if you know what to look for." *Heavy sigh*

Racism was something I was far too familiar with. Perhaps not personally, but I could look back in my family's history to my great-great-grandfather. A textile mill manager in Ireland, when he came over here, his first job was shovelling horse shit, and he was making half the wage of an African-American. The last job he had before he couldn't work anymore, was as a glorified janitor at a stock yard. He still had to shovel shit, just not as much. A man with a far-above-average education for his day, he completed the equivalent of secondary school, and a complete apprenticeship. He could read, write, do math, manage finances.. and when he came to America, no one wanted to hire him for anything more than shovelling shit. Just because he was Irish and Catholic. I kept that memory in my head every day, reminding myself how it must feel to be on the receiving end of that. And never in my life, did I ever treat any person differently based on their race, faith, or gender.

It's one of the reasons I felt so bad for Gilda. Or why Mac's initial hatred of me, hurt so much.

Zecora: "Da guy's right. Ya can't know what's like to get kicked in da flank like dat." She gave me a little smirk. "Alright, you want the straight dope? Here it is. Katrina is Katrina - the one from all that time ago. But here's the thing, see, she was turned to stone. She reformed alright, but she got mixed up wit' the wrong crowd, got me? They turned her to stone, to seal her away."

K: "Who?" I shrugged.

Zecora: "Zebras!" She nodded firmly.

K: "..really?" I cocked a brow as Luna slid next to me, on the other side from Applejack.

Zecora: "Bet'cher'flank. A group'a shamans didn't like her muscling in on their turf - especially 'cuz back then, we was dealin' in Witchweed. Heck, a'cordin' to some stories, we're the ones that got her hooked in the first place. So, she starts tryin' to get everyone to give the stuff up, right? All preachy about how it'll mess you up - 'course, some of us knew, just di'int care, yeah?" She waved a hoof.

K: "I follow. In drug-heavy areas where I'm from, it's not unusual that anti-drug and anti-gang youth centers become a target for the gangs - or the people running them. It takes a lot of courage to do that - it's why most of them are men and women of Faith." It's true, I knew of one case firsthand.

Zecora: "Yeah, so, one of them pretended to turn, right? Slipped her a potion, see? Said it'd give her youth back, make her young again, so she could continue her work.. only hitch was, it turned you to stone." She up-ended a hoof, and idly scratched her mohawk. "So, turns out, they did it to Rep, too. Rep was their agent on the inside - he was gettin' the people she turned away from Witchweed, hooked on other crap."

K: "So, your people were basially mystical herbal drug dealers?" I cocked a brow and tilted my head.

Zecora: "Not all'a us. Heck, not even most'a us. Just enough that they hurt our rep real bad. It's why ponies get so scared of Zebras. We're supposedly totally evil.." She looked at Luna.

Luna: "I was treated the same way." She looked down. "Time heals, but it also obscures the truth." She looked at me.

Zecora: "Yeah. We kicked the habits.. stopped takin' herbs an' stuff to grant us magic an' bump our magic power, an' started workin' with 'em to.. well, help. Most Zebras that do Magic stuff now, they're like me, see? Herbalists. We're healers now." She nodded.

K: "I understand. So, what's her prognosis? Was it Witchweed or something worse?" I shrugged.

Zecora: "It was Witchweed alright. Strong stuff, too. I ain't seen nothin' like it, stuff's supposed to be extinct." She snorted.

K: "I bet Tirek had a hand in this." I scowled. "Is she fried for good?"

Zecora: "Nah.. gonna take her a while to come outta her coma, though. Even after that, she'll be needin' time to get the crap outta her system real good." She shrugged.

K: "Time frame? Or a guess?"

Zecora: "Week? Two?" She shrugged. "By Fall, definite, but that's all I can say for absolute-sure."

K: *Sigh* "Great. Well, that's alright, I suppose. Bellerophon will need at least a month to re-mount her broken mast, Alarm will need about that long to get modified, and the Princess of the Moon will be in drydock at least that long, just to make her fully seaworthy." I shrugged. "Never mind the time needed to re-arm her for cannons we can actually provide ammo for. Or modify her to work properly. It might actually be easier to just do a full modification and re-commission her." I looked at Luna.

Luna: "Oh, please, do. Captain Saletine's gesture was quite romantic and all, but.." She shrugged a little. "..I'm flattered, for sure, but.."

K: "I get it, you don't want that kind of attention. Or that kind of a romantic gesture from someone you have no intention of dating." I shrugged. "Plus, our own HMS Canterlot won't be done until next month." I turned in my seat to face Norfy and Gaze. "Think about this. Lieutenant Spirit of the Bellerophon's Marine Detachment and Lieutenant Dex of the Paddock County Militia put forth a theory that Tirek has a homeland a long distance from here, and he basically brought just one huge force of scrap troops here before the war began - some time before the Battle of Lonehoof Ridge - and just dropped them in our laps. With himself in command. And gathering up other confederates along the way, like Trixie. They think that what we've been fighting is basically just what Tirek brought here all in one go. And you guys'll admit that Equestria would have been crushed by what they brought - I mean, they sent about a hundred of them to capture the Elements.." I looked at Applejack.

AJ: "I'll be honest.. we would'a been up a creek without a paddle, if it wasn't for K and his shootin' irons." She shrugged.

K: "..and they had several hundreds more that were scattered away just by the Wonderbolts. Basically, he brought troops that had never seen battle before. Greenhorns. But he brought a shitload for what he thought was going to be a cakewalk invasion with a possibly costly occupation. It makes sense not to bring your elite troops for something like that, right?" I gestured to them.

Norfy: "Yes! Yes, it does!" He nodded. "If they're right, General, then the forces that were defeated at Canternooga Springs was probably the bulk of his remaining troops. I mean, after all the battles before that - Everfree Forest, Operation: Royal Oak, Lone Hoof Ridge.. we broke their brain trust. We defeated all of Tirek's best leadership - either persons he brought with him, or got hold of here. Then whatever was left, was under command of whomever was the toughest bird in the flock." He rubbed his chin.

K: "Which explains their crap strategy. They broke up into smaller and smaller units - no cohesion without a unified leadership. Which seems to explain the Gem Mining Operation on Carousel Island. If Rep was Tirek's last senior officer, then.. he was in charge of the most important operation left in Equestria from his initial unopposed invasion - acquiring funds to hire local forces. Dragons, Griffons, whatver he could get that would take gems in exchange for fighting. Mercenaries. Until he could come back with something bigger, badder, and his actual elite troops. Which explains why Carousel Island was only guarded by a Ship-of-the-Line and a Pinnace - the Ship-of-the-Line was also being used to transport gems and supplies, in between raids. The raids weren't piracy for money, they were to gather slave labor, maybe get together some small craft for an improvised naval force. Which would explain why two of the yachts looked like someone was trying to cut gun ports in them."

Gaze: "An' if tha's right, suh, then he's gone back home to get his right proper army." He nodded firmly.

K: "And we need to prepare for an invasion. A proper one. Not a big-bad-badass who's ego is telling him this will be a cake walk. And what about the Shermans? Guaranteed he took copies back with him to his homeland, but he's producing them locally somewhere.." I looked at Katrina. "..which is why we needed her. She might know where the factory is located. If we can hit the factory before his invasion force gets here, we'll deprive him of whatever that factory had stocked. Arms, ammo.. probably more of those mortars and his magic bombs, too. I mean, if he's smart, he'll cram as many troops in his ships as he can, and at least partially rely on the factory to arm and equip his forces. He can maximize the number of soldiers he brings over, that way, and just arm and equip.. whatever forces he left unequipped, when he gets here - and that would depend on the output level of the factory. If its a huge operation, he could leave his troops only partially equipped, and just arm up when he gets here. If it's not very big, then he'll have all his elite troops fully armed, and leave the cannon fodder virtually unarmed."

Lyra: "S'how many you figure?" She put in.

Campanula: "And how do you'a think they would'a be organized?" She queried.

Luna: "And what of his fleet?" She asked, calmly.

Zecora: "And what mooks'd he hire for Merc work?" She up-nodded to me.

K: "I don't know.. I'm not sure.. I have no idea but probably fifty sail or better.. and your guess is as good as mine." I gestured to each of them in turn.

Gaze: "If ye'll permit me, suh?" He tilted his head and nodded to me.

K: "Go for it."

Gaze: "Well.. I grew up kinda rough, ya see? I knew a few others that wasn't ponies, so.." He looked at Zecora. "I's how I knew you was just pullin' an act. The Zebras I knew, di'int talk li' that. But they were right rough buggers. Tough. Had themselves a gang." He looked back at Norfy. "They used ta beat us up fer our lunch bits, back in school."

K: "So, there's a possibility they could hire Zebra mercenaries?" I leaned on my arm.

Gaze: "Aye, suh." He looked at Zecora.

Zecora: "What'cha lookin' at me for?" She cocked a brow.

K: "I don't think Captain Gaze fully trusts you." I shrugged with my free shoulder.

Zecora: "Look, I'm done wit' my tribe. There's a reason I live out here." She said, defensively.

K: "Exile?" I said, with a small frown.

Zecora: "Not exactly.. more like, I didn't want nothin' to do with them no more. My tribe.. my group'a Zebras, we used to be farmers, see? Then we had a couple real bad harvests, and a drought, an' instead of givin' in and goin' an' livin' in a village or town, they took to bein' thugs an' thieves. Couple'a the herbalists, started doin' magic tricks fer tourists 'n stuff, then others'd pickpocket 'em. Or we'd set up games an' stuff, but they'd be all crooked, like, impossible to win."

K: "Your tribe became cheating showmen." I thought about the reputation Gypsies had for doing things like this.

Zecora: "Yeah! Exactly." She frowned. "My moms.. she didn't get her hooves dirty wi' that. She told fortunes an' did a few magic tricks 'n stuff. Nothin' serious - she did stuff in a way that'd be like.. up to the sucker to interpret an' take how they wanted. She was real good at readin' people, too." She sat and crossed her hooves. "Then.. well.. times got tough. She folded, see? Got her hooves dirty.. went back on her morals an' all. Last one who did, too. I called her a sucker, a cheat.. a traitor.. and I left."

K: "So.. you became an herbalist.. and you turned your back on them?" I leaned forwards a bit.

Zecora: "Oh, yeah. I had regular customers, too, see? I made real stuff - herbal remedies, special seasonings, things like that, yeah? So.. my customers kinda came with me." She shrugged with both hooves in the air.

K: "Certianly explains how you've made your living." I scratched my chin. "You're an Alternative Medicinist."

Zecora: "Yah!" She nodded at me. "But.. before I left, I kinda pissed everyone off, too. I exposed 'em for the cheats an' liars they were, when we were at the edge of Griffon territory. They ran one way, I ran the other." She held her hooves out. "I figured, they ever find me, I'm through."

K: "Or they don't care at all, and wouldn't make the effort." I wagged a finger at her.

Zecora: "Yeah, but what really bugged me was some'a the Stallions doing thug work. Beat'n folks up for debts, actin' as muscle.." She shrugged. "I didn't want no part'a that.."

K: "Makes sense." I frowned. "Was this a group decision?"

Zecora: "Nah.. our Alpha Stallion made that choice for us. We're a tribal culture, dig? One leader." She nodded slowly.

K: "And you never fully agreed." I tilted my head.

Zecora: "Naw! I didn't wanna spend my life cheatin' people." She shook hers, almost ashamed.

K: "Look after Katrina, Zecora, please? I'll see you're compensated for it." I nodded slowly to her.

Zecora: *Resumes lyric voice* "Watch over her, I shall, with great care. Though mine is not a cheap fare. And if you admit I do not always speak in verse, then I shall fill your ears with a terrible stream of curse." She smirked at me.

K: "Oh, of course." I looked at Luna. "I think we're done here, Princess. Send a Royal Army Squad here to guard Katrina. Just in case Rep realizes that he might have let a major intelligence asset slip by, and tries to do something about it."

Luna: "Of course. I will be certain to inform my dear sister, and Princess Cadence of this development." She nodded in agreement.

K: "Sounds good. Come on, guys, we're done here. Let's stop off at Rose's for some cocoa, huh? My treat." I said, getting up, and resting a hand on Applejack as she got up.

Gaze: "Ach, yer twistin' me arm, sir." He smirked.

Whatever intelligence Katrina might give us, we wouldn't have for some time. And we had no idea what the time frame was before Tirek would arrive with whatever forces he could muster. I wasn't sure, but I hoped we had enough time to refine our military and get our Navy on line - enough of one to oppose any landing he might attempt. And most vital - find his factory and destroy it, before he could make use of anything it could produce.

...darn it Zecora!

[End of Part 2]

Part 3: Death's Crop

TIME: 16:33 ERST
DATE: War Day 140/24 Octavius, 1002 C.S.
LOCATION: Sweet Apple Acres, Back Field

K: "HANG!"

Mac: "Hanging.."

K: "DROP!"

*THOOK!*

I watched as the mortar shell arced over the tree line and landed in the rock field behind the farm, making notes on a notepad. I was developing my latest Force Multiplier - the Napoleon Mortar. Napoleon Bonaparte was a great lover of artillery, and there had been artillery pieces named for the man already - what was one more? The Mortar was a 60mm diameter tube, 1 meter long, with a one-piece base plate that was permanently fixed to the tube. It was styled after the M6C Commando Mortar produced by an Austrian company named Hirtenburger. I scaled it down for pony use - and it worked pretty well. Range adjustment settings would be printed on a plumb that affixed to the stock. Very basic stuff. Max range was a kilometer.

I had already perfected and begun fielding the Knox Grenade Launcher. This piece of hand artillery was named for none other than General Henry Knox, a rather famous artillery commader during the American Revolution. It was a 40mm caliber weapon, roughly equal to the old M79 Grenade Launcher used by the U.S. and several other militaries. The primary shells were high explosive with an impact fuse with no arming delay. I also incorporated flare shells, for signalling, and smoke grenades for concealment. One Pony in each Rifle Squad carried a Knox and a Zhukov, the rest carried Shermans.

I was moving ahead with bolstering my team - Sunshine agreed to transfer over, and I got everyone on my list that I wanted. No real objections were had, though a couple - like Ace - wanted to stay local, they agreed they'd rather be with their friends. That was something.. I could understand, and understood better now. Friendship was a very powerful and highly regarded thing here.

Derpy was all over the idea of creating an official Ranger Company within the Royal Army, consisting of the hand-picked Ponies I wanted - she wanted this war to end just as badly as the rest of us. And even though she was pregnant, she still attended all the training sessions, even if I wouldn't let her participate. I promoted her to Captain - the highest-ranked Ranger in the entire Equestrian Armed Forces - and Cheerilee became a Lieutenant. As she would be in command of a whole Company, this fit.

We had structured the Army to work on a simple "triangle" sort of system. Six Ponies in two Fireteams of 3 to a Squad, 2 Squads (12 Ponies) to a Platoon, 5 Platoons to a Company. 6 Companies made a Regiment of 360 Ponies.

The Royal Army currently consisted of 4 Regiments of trained Ponies, but I planned to expand this to at least ten. That would be something like a Brigade worth of troops, but I hadn't any officers I trusted with a command that high, so, they were stuck operating as independent Regiments until I could get some managerial talent.

The First Royal Rangers were three instead of five Platoons, to start with. This was six squads, plus I would be attached quite often, so, they effectively had seven. Once I made my mind up about this, I moved Mac to commanding 3rd Platoon, and 3rd in over all command - I also promoted him to Quartermaster Sergeant.

The Girls were all trained now - my General's Staff. Applejack was "in charge" as she was my Aide-de-Camp. Rainbow Dash was my Air Force Liasion, Rarity became my Naval Liasion (purely for the fashion - it gave her an excuse to make a cape to match her mane), Twilight was my Royal Army and Guard Liasion (an excuse to see more of her brother and Celestia). Pinkie was in charge of Logistics, and Fluttershy was in charge of Medical, Evacuation and Relocation - the Safety Liasion.

Rarity: "So, K.. the other three Frigates are in service now.." She started as I came back to the picnic table I'd set up, with all manner of gadgetry and tools on it.

K: "Yes?" I asked, as I picked up a 60mm shell and screwed the fuse in - it was a training shell with a small smoke payload. I passed it to Spike, who took it to Mac.

The girls were all here today, minus Fluttershy. Fluttershy was going to the forest's edge to check on some of the winter animals, to make sure they were doing okay. We'd had a bit of a blizzard a couple days ago, and she was concerned for some of them. As usual.

Rarity: "Do you think it'd be a good idea to have them search manually?" She asked, going over a map of the sea. "They might find the facility by pure luck - there are hundreds of islands to check, but they may get lucky anyway."

K: "You know, that's a good point. And in the meantime, it'll give the crews experience, and help us figure out where best to site coaling stations." I nodded as I picked up the sighting unit of a Knox. "Make it happen." I nodded.

Dash: "You know something you haven't done?" She said, sipping on an ice cold apple juice.

K: "What's that?"

Dash: "Ships to carry air squadrons." She pointed out, tipping her drink at me. "Ships made specifically to carry Pegasus Ponies and let them take off in big waves."

K: "An Aircraft Carrier! How did I manage to overlook that one? No matter. It'd be a simple enough design - we can use the hull form of a standard grain carrier like the one we liberated last month. They'll have to be coal-fired only, there'd be no way to have sails on those. Lop off the masts, and make the main deck flat." I set the sight unit down and made a quick sketch.

Rarity: "Hm.. we could simply purchase the Grain Carrier itself and make the modifications.. it doesn't seem to be that much work.." She mused as she watched me sketch it.

K: "Good idea, Rarity." I nodded. "That would.. we might be able to get her out to sea in a month or so. We'll have to have a dedicated air wing from the Air Force on board."

This was similar to the Canadian Forces - they had a unified military command with, essentially, one service branch and multiple duties. They re-diversified later, but the structure was still somewhat the same - the Air Force itself had sole responsibility for anything that flew. This made perfect sense.

Twilight: "Good job, you two." She giggled a little.

Spike: "Well.. I suppose we're almost a real military now, aren't we?" He smiled.

K: "We're getting there. We're getting there. When Tirek arrives, he's going to be in for a huge surprise." I smirked.

Twilight: "Should we do something about the Crystal Kingdom, though?"

K: "The whole King Sombra thing.. yeah.. you know, I don't know. That's your brother's call - if he wants the Equestrian Army there, he can ask me for it any time, and I'll launch a campaign. Sombra might, for all we know, be working for Tirek." I shrugged.

Twilight: "There's so much we don't know." She shook her head.

K: "Yeah, and Cadence isn't being forthcoming about it. Which bothers me." I frowned.

Applejack: "How so, honeybun?"

K: "Well, considering that Equestria is now the mightiest military force on the planet that we know of - short of perhaps Tirek if he has superior numbers - and she is technically an ally.. I would have expected her to drop the problem in our lap already and ask for help. If I was in her position, I'd at least ask for arms, equipment and trained soldiers to help create my own army." I shugged.

Twilight: "Do you trust her?" She asked me.. with an air of expectation.

K: "That's the thing, I don't know. I know her.." I shrugged. "..about as well as I know Applejack's other cousins in Appleloosa. I'm too paranoid to really trust anyone but the people I'm closest to. So, I can't say I'd trust her to have my back, but.. I suppose she's doing the right thing - she might have her own reason for not getting us involved. Sombra might be something completely different - he might be something only Crystal Ponies can deal with."

Twilight: "And what about what Luna said all that time ago, after Gloom Mountain..?" She asked, with a bit of a frown.

K: "Oh, about the Elements? I pinned her down about it.." I looked at Applejack. "..she apparently remembers that the Rainbow of Light was involved somehow, but while she was on the moon, she went through a Regeneration Cycle.. she.. tried to kill herself after Selene died. She doesn't remember all of the details, but she does remember that the Rainbow of Light is still around somewhere."

Twilight: "The Rainbow of Light..?" She looked at me quizzically.

K: "It was a fixture in.. well, in what would be your ancient history, I guess. It was an incredibly powerful.. thing.. that was made of absolutely positive magic. Much like the Elements once brought together, but in a locket, and wieldable by anyone." I shrugged. "If it's still around, it's still powerful. The Rainbow apparently draws energy from its environment - and if it's linked to the Elements, it's drawing power directly from the magic of your Friendships." I pet Pinkie's cotton candy hair. She was making.. something.. looked like a cookie cutter.

Pinkie: "It's DONE!" She held it up.

K: "Okay, what is it?"

Pinkie: "I have absolutely no idea, but it's pretty, isn't it?" It was shaped like a set of linked stars and snowflakes.

K: "Okay, you got me there." I shrugged. "Cookie cutter?"

Pinkie: "Great idea! Winter Cookies!" She giggled.

Twilight: "Pinkie, it's summer." She blinked.

Pinkie: "Save it for later, then!" She beamed a grin.

K: "Anyhow.." I picked up the Knox on the table, and fidgeted with the hinge a little. "..I hope we can have a peaceful summer."

Pinkie started.. vibrating. Hair, tail, left front hoof, and right eye.

K: "Pinkie?" I blinked, and cocked a brow.

Pinkie: "..something bad's going to happen.." She got all somber on us. Instantly. "..someone's going to die."

K: "Not if we can help it. Anything specific?" I gently pet her mane, reassuringly.

Pinkie: "I don't know.." She got a hard thinking look on her face. "..I want to say it has something to do with plants, but that's not right.. plants are usually my right knee.."

Golden Harvest came galloping up, with Written Script and Vigilance.

K: "Report, Major." I turned to her - I just knew it had something to do with Pinkie's sense.

Golden Harvest: "Just.. come with us, Sir. We have Ranger Second Squad mustered already - Mac? Get Third Platoon - Cheerilee says bring an extra Knox and some Flare Shells."

K: "Let's go."

I picked up my Sherman from the rifle rack attached to the barn as we walked past it - I was in uniform again today. As much a uniform as I ever wear. Black button-down shirt, black cargo slacks, black boots.. and I grabbed my Field Jacket from the hook inside the barn as we walked by it. My rank insigna and shoudler boards were on it. Not that I had problems with people not knowing my rank.

The girls followed. We ran (they galloped) to the far edge of town, all the way to near Fluttershy's house. Angel met us, hopping up and down like a maniac - Dr. Allcome and an ambulance were just pulling up. An ambulance?

K: "What happened!?" I said, sharply.

Nurse Redheart: "BACK HERE, K!"

I ran around to the rear.. and there was Fluttershy. Beaten within an inch of her life.. horribly. She was curled up in the grass, sobbing quietly to herself. Her eye was blackened, her snout was broken and bleeding, her fur matted, her tail caked with mud, blood, and other sticky half-dried fluids. Her left foreleg looked like it was broken, there was a chunk of her coat missing near her neck, which was slightly bleeding.. and I started twitching uncontrollably.

K: "..who did this to you..?" I asked, barely able to contain my rage.

Fluttershy: "..g-g-goat.." Was all she could squeak out. Redheart and Allcome were getting her on a stretcher, and just as they lifted her, she looked right at me, her eyes as wide as dinner plates. "IT RAPED ME!" The tears flowed from her eyes.

All I could feel was Rainbow Dash's shockwave as she took off.

Twilight and Rarity reacted with shock, squealing. Spike looked ready to cry.

Pinkie's hair went instantly flat.

I could hear Applejack grinding her teeth.

K: "Spike, stay with Fluttershy. Harv, I want everything. I mean EVERYTHING. Call out the entire City Militia, recall the Wonderbolts, get me Gilda, advise Luna, and muster the rest of the Rangers. I want EVERYTHING..!!"

Golden Harvest: "You'll have it, General." She galloped off. Not moments later, I could hear the Muster Alarm going off.

K: "Mac, stay here. Wait for Cheerilee and the rest to muster up. Split into Squads, I want those woods searched. We're going on ahead." I nodded to him, and exchanged my Sherman for his Chaffee. "And draw another weapon. I want.." I bit my lip a little. "I'm going to make whoever did this, hurt."

Angel came hopping up, wearing a little uniform.. and carrying Fluttershy's bayonet, the sheath like a sword scabbard on his back.

K: "Alright, Angel. I get it. You feel responsible." I bent down and picked him up, setting him on my shoulder. "Let's go, girls."

AJ: "If.. I git.. hold'a.. RHHH.." She kicked a rock, and it shattered.

We were pissed. Angered beyond comprehension. We marched through the tall grass, following her tracks. Her limping little tracks.. with the odd blood stain, or puddle of muddied tears. Something had.. done the unthinkable to Fluttershy. It was going to die. It was going to suffer first, but it was going to die sooner or later.

About five minutes into the walk, there came a large flash off to our left. Celestia and Luna were both standing there - Celestia was wearing a chestplate of gold and jewels, and had a sword I'd never seen before, crossed over her back.

Celestia: *Royal Canterlot Voice, With Rage* "WHAT VILE FIEND DARES VIOLATE ONE OF MY LITTLE PONIES!?"

Luna: *Grimly* "I will make them pay.." She said. She had her custom Sherman with her, over her back.

K: "You know what, at the rate we're going? I think it's Grogar." I shrugged, the idea just hitting me.

Celestia and Luna: "GROGAR!?"

K: "Okay! Now we're getting somewhere - a fiend you two actually remember." I pointed at them.

Luna: "Grogar was responsible for many crimes over the centuries. We have time and again banished him to the Shadow Realm-"

Celestia & K: "Tirek controlls shadow magic!" I looked at her.

Celestia: "Tirek must have freed him to buy himself time for whatever vile plan he has in mind." She snorted FIRE from her nostrils.

K: "It's a guess - Fluttershy said it was a goat that raped her." I shrugged.

Celestia & Luna: *Royal Canterlot Voices, Rage Over 9000* "RAPED HER!?!"

K: "You weren't told that part." I shook my head. "I'm sorry. But we need to find Grogar and stop him. For good this time."

Pinkamena: "Wanna roll a dice to see who gets to CUT off his NUTS?!" She shriekily laughed. "I wanna CRUSH them.."

K: "Yes, yes, yes, castration will be a part of the festivities.."

I was.. in an odd place. When I get too angry, I get calm. Very calm. Very controlled. It happened once before, over Starlight's parents. When I get like this, I get almost jovial towards my comrades.. and unspeakably cruel to the target of my rage.

K: "..but we need to find the fucknut before we can slowly torture him to death." *Ahem* "I want his meat as intact as possible - I've had Goat before, it's really good. And his pelt would make a fantastic cape.."

Rarity: "Oh, but, I must skin it from him.. WHILE HE'S STILL ALIVE!!" She shrieked.

K: "Okay, I get it, we want blood. Lots of blood. Let's FOCUS here, so we can get our target, alright? Being mad and acting without thinking is just going to get us to make mistakes and get hurt. What if this is a trap?"

*Sonic Rainboom*

It came from the forest. Level flight - the rings radiated laterally, across the horizon. The streak came towards us, and I had barely a moment to get out of the way.

As she flew past, she screamed at us..

Dash: "IT'S A TRAAAAAAAAAAAP!"

..and coming our way, out of the forest, were husks of dead animals of all kinds. And Timberwolves. And other things I couldn't rightly identify. Dash crashed into a thick bush to our rear.

K: "..well, fuck, that took the rage right out of my sails." I said matter-of-factually. "Shall we run?"

Luna: "A strategic advance to the rear is most advised." She had a grin of disbelief on her face.

Twilight: "Yeah. RUN!!!"

We galloped (or in my case, ran) like little bitches, as fast as our legs would carry us, right back towards town. We got there just as the military forces I asked for, were assembling.

K: "DEFENSIVE POSITIONS! EVERYONE TAKE COVER, PREPARE TO DEFEND THIS AREA! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!" I dove over a cart, kicked it on its side, and whipped back around. "I WANT MACHINE GUNS DEPLOYED - NOW!! GET IT SPREAD OUT, GET MOVING! GO-GO-GO! HARV, GET WORD TO MANEHATTAN, DETROT, AND BALTIMARE, WE NEED SUPPORT!"

Golden Harvest: "What's - OH, SWEET CELESTIA!" She saw the advancing hordes, and ran to her command position.

K: "WONDERBOLTS, GET UP THERE, GIVE ME A BOMBING AND STRAFING RUN. EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT, RIGHT ACROSS THE FRONT OF THEM! RANGERS, TAKE THE RIGHT FLANK, GIVE ME FIRE VOLUME!"

Mac: "By Luna's MANE!" He mustered his platoon and moved to the right flank with them.

Spitfire: "ON IT! LET'S GO, WONDERBOLTS!" She shot into the sky with her whole squadron, and started a head-on bombing and strafing run.

K: "GILDA! ARM WITH BOMBS, I WANT COVERAGE! CLOSE AS POSSIBLE! BOMB THEM BACK TO DUST!"

Gilda: "ON IT!" She mustered her Scouts, and manually grabbed bombs from the bomb carts.

Celestia: "I could never have imagined..!" She blinked, her voice actually shaking.

K: "It makes sense, doesn't it? Tirek needs to keep us busy - Grogar is a Necromancer, and probably the most powerful of them all. He sent Grogar into the Everfree Forest to raise an army from the dead, and attack Ponyville. If he wins here, he could easily take Canterlot." I shrugged. "MAC! THIRD SQUAD! OFF THE LINE AND FORM UP, I NEED YOU!" I looked at Luna. "Take charge. I think there's something else going on here."

Luna: "Of course, My General." She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

AJ: "Oh, no ya don't! You ain't goin' nowhere without us! You made us yer staff, didn't'cha?" Applejack and the girls were assembled already, and they were already grabbing additional armaments from the Armoury Wagon.

K: "You got me. MAC! BELAY THAT! GET BACK TO THE LINE AND RE-KILL THEM THINGS!"

Mac: "Man, first one order, then another.. MAKE UP MY MIND!" He huffed with a grin and moved back to manning his Pershing. He had a Knox next to it.

K: "Let's go, Girls. We have to get to Zecora's cabin."

I moved off with them as Ponies began moving in. Magical bolts of energy started streaking across the battlefield, coming from the enemy force. When they impacted, they made little magical explosions. We started having to dodge the incoming fire as more ponies began arriving with anything they could carry to build defensive positions along the road across from Fluttershy's cabin.

It seemed as if all of Equestria's worst enemies were coming out of the woodwork. Tirek's desire to destroy us, as fierce as it was, was a mystery. I could only begin to imagine how he was pulling this off, and it worried me that he was able to seemingly flex his evil muscle at will. Even if we did repel him time and again, it was still a shock every time he pulled something new out of his saddlebags.

As we rushed to Zecora's cabin, I could only pray that she was alright.

[End of Part 3]


Part 4: Fire on the Mountain (Run Girls, Run)

TIME: 17:44 ERST
DATE: War Day 140
LOCATION: 500m from Zecora's Cabin, Everfree Forest (South-West)

As we approached the forest zone near Zecora's cabin, we knew something was wrong. I held up my hand and skidded to a stop, throwing myself behind a log. Chaffee came out, and I motioned for the girls to get to cover. Applejack was wielding a Knox, Rarity had her personal Sniper Sherman, Twilight had a Zhukov, Dash had her Mitchell Carbine, and Pinkamena was hip-wielding a Pershing. Yes, she was Pinkamena right now. I think Fluttershy's admission that (what I assumed was Grogar) she was sexually assaulted, broke a little something in her. I wasn't worried about it at the moment - not to say her mental state wasn't important to me, but we had other concerns just as bad, right now.

PDP: "..I smell birds." She stated, flatly.

K: "Squad advace.. keep your intervals, watch your sectors."

I moved up front, my eyes wide open to everything around me. I was waiting for something to happen - anything - that would tell me if Tirek or whomever, had sent forces here. We crept forwards, our pace slowed to a crawl to remain silent and, hopefully, get the drop on whatever was out there..

..it didn't take us long to find what we were looking for. Two platoons of Raptorians, ALL armed with Shermans and what looked like full ammo loads, and they had a male Zebra with them. HE was new.. I didn't recall any male Zebras in Generation 1. And to make matters worse, he was armed. Some odd tribal axe of some kind. I motioned for the girls to lay low - I wanted to follow him. I was guessing he was headed for Zecora's cabin - either he was paid to escort them, or Tirek managed to find yet another discontented soul around here to help him with his evil plans. If we could follow them all the way to the cabin, we could catch them in a crossfire between us and the Royal Army squad already deployed there for security.. against just this sort of situation.

We followed them silently for over 400 meters, staying on a ridge above them the entire time, and back off their right flank. If we had to shoot, we'd be shooting straight down. About 100 meters from her cabin, the male Zebra stopped.

Male Zebra: *Jersey Shore Accent* "Hey, you's mooks. Hold th' buck up a minute."

He pulled a vial of some kind from his kit and tossed it on the ground. A green snake made of.. it looked like magical energy - or some kind of illusionary cloud - formed up and slithered ahead. The male zebra sat cross-legged, and concentrated. He levitated slightly off the ground, and his eyes glowed a bright purple-red.

Twilight: *Very silent whisper* "I have no idea what he's doing."

K: *Also, very silent whisper* "Makes you wish you paid more attention to Zecora, huh?"

Dash: *Likewise, very silent whisper* "What do we do?"

K: *Still, very silent whisper* "Wait."

In the road down below, the Zebra finally stood up, brushing off his flanks before going back on all fours.

Male Zebra: "Jus's's we wuz told. They's got guards up there." He shrugged. "Looks like five 'a 'dem. They ain't 'spectin' nothin'. Move up quiet-like. Youse bird-brains know what quiet is, don'cha?" He huffed.

Lead Raptorian: *Sqwawk!* "Yeshh! We know what QUIET means, hoof-borne!"

They, to note, seem to have some kind of "old world" accent. Like what would happen if a Shakesperian-vocabularied English-accented actor were to try to talk with a French accent. But, it seems they do know the common language. Hoof-borne? Was that an insult?

Male Zebra: "Yeh-yeh-yeh, faghettaboutit." He waved with one hoof. "Look, see? Youse mugs get the cat chick, but Zecora's mine, savvy?" He poked the lead Raptorian in the chest. "Remembah what Rep told's youse mugs! I'm in charge here, see?" He snorted again. "Move up, fan out, stay quiet. I ain't been huntin' my whole life fer nothin'. Take 'em by surprise, git da chick, got it?"

Lead Raptorian: "Yesshh, Hoof-Borne." He, likewise, snorted.

We continued following them. Another eighty meters, and they started to fan out. I could just barely see the scope of one of the Guards, in a tree, about twenty meters away. The gold trim gave it away.

K: *Murmur* "Jackie, Parachute Flare. Pink, base of fire, that log, second the flare goes up. Rarity, sniper position, rock, three meters left. Twi, Dash, with me. Go."

Applejack: "Right." She loaded a parachute flare into her Knox, aimed it up, and.."

K: "ENEMY CONTACT FRONT RIGHT! ROYAL ARMY, GET TO COVER AND OPEN FIRE!" I shouted as loud as I could before ducking down.

*PA-chouf!* *Flare fizzles in the trees*

The area was lit up perfecty. Pinkie let loose with her Pershing, cackling like a madwoman as Raptorians took hits and fell. Rarity banged away with her Sniper Sherman, picking off Raptorians with head and gut shots. The male Zebra vanished by the time I poked my head back up and mag dumped into all the Raptorians my sight bead could come across. I ducked down to reload.

Twilight: "BEHIND US!" She screamed, and opened up with her Zhukov.

Fifty.. FIFTY Raptorians were charging up our rear.

K: "Fuckinghell.. ON ME, MOVE-MOVE-MOVE!"

I rolled off of the embankment, and down to the same level as the Raptorians. I hadn't time to reload, so I dropped the Chaffee on its sling, and charged forwards with my PA-63, shooting anything I saw once, in center-of-mass or best I could get to it, at ranges under ten feet. The girls were behind me, charging with me, as we broke THROUGH the line of advancing Raptorians..

K: "AHEAD AT THE CABIN, CEASE FIRE, FRIENDLIES COMING IN!" Obediently, the Royal Army Squad stopped shooting as we punched through the remains of the two Platoons, and dove for the small clearing around the cabin. "GET TO COVER! SPREAD IT OUT!" I waved frantically. "OPEN FIRE, OPEN FIRE!" I pointed ahead, as I got off my side and ran into Zecora's cabin. "ZECORA!"

Zecora: "K! What'da BUCK is goin' on out'dere!?" She was on the floor, having pulled Katrina down off the bed, and sticking her behind a pile of those native carved masks.

K: "We're under attack! Just as I was afraid of!" I said, flipping over the bed that Katrina was on just a bit ago. "And a Zebra is leading them!"

Zecora: "WHA?!" She was shocked. "What? Who!? Who-da-buck-"

From her root cellar, I could hear the door being kicked in. I whirled around just in time for an axe to narrowly miss me. I rolled back to the rear of the room, putting myself between the male Zebra and Zecora.

K: "STAY BACK!"

Zecora: "ZORIN!"

Zorin: "Sistah!" He tapped the axe on his fetlock. "Been yeahrs!" He stalked forwards. "Now c'mere 'n let me cut'cha, bitch!"

He charged, I brought my Chaffee up defensively, and his axe embedded itself in the action, cutting through the metal. I kicked him in the nuts. Hard. His eyes went red as he yelled. I shoved him back.

Zecora: "YOU BUCKIN' ASS!" She screamed, and produced a short spear-like weapon that looked like an Assegai. "MOMMA TOLD YOU TO LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Zorin: "Mamma's dead, bitch! BEEN DEAD THREE YEARS!"

He whipped a foreleg at her, and I completely missed the dagger that he'd thrown in the snapping motion - but she didn't. Zecora expertly deflected it.

Zorin: "AN' YAH DI'IN'T HA' DA RESSPEC' TO COME SEE HER!" He swung the axe at me, and I barely had time to pitch my body out of the way and avoid it. "YOU BUCKIN' BITCH! MAMMA DIED BEGGIN' FER YOU'TA' COM'N' SEE HER!"

Zecora: "Momma KNEW I'd never come! She KNEW how I felt!" Zecora lunged at him, but Zorin easily blocked her spear, and countered with a headbutt, cracking Zecora's snout. "You're a buckin' ASS, comin' heah! YOU BUCKIN' ASS! SIDIN' WIT' TIREK!" She screamed, and whipped her left foreleg out towards him - he dodged, I dodged out of instinct, and a vial hit the ground, filling the cabin with smoke.

Zecora: *Echo From the Smoke, 'Normal' Voice* "You who side with my foe, are not one that I know. For making evil your ally in life, you shall pay the ultimate price! Family of mine, you are no longer - we shall bear arms and, letting live, only the one who is stronger!"

Zorin: *Rhythmic Voice, Baritone* "Sister of mine, who's kin you've left abandoned so long a time, you will die this day, for I shall bring fatal justice for your great crime!"

I could hear weapons hitting weapons.. the clash of arms. Grunts, hits.. I couldn't see anything, so I crawled to where Katrina was hidden. She was smaller than me. Still nude, as her night sweats made clothing her impractical, I hefted her up into my arms, and threw myself over the railing that led to Zecora's root cellar.

K: "KICK HIS ASS, ZECORA!" I called. "YOU'RE MY FRIEND! NEVER FORGET THAT!" I yelled as I ducked into the root cellar, and climbed through it, to the hole that Zorin had dug in the rear.

Katrina: *Groan* "What.."

K: "Hush, Katrina.. my name is K----. I'm a human, and I'm here to help you." Bad time to regain consciousness.

I pulled her through the hole, and found that the light fog that had been moving in all afternoon, was nearly pea soup quality. More Raptorians all around.. I had to get her out of here - I knew they'd just as soon kill her as take her back alive. I had to drag her - she weighed perhaps a hundred pounds - through the woods, angling away from the battle.. and pray that the Girls could pull off a victory.


TIME: 00:05 ERST
DATE: War Day 141

Well, I learned one thing about the Everfree Forest - it's easy to get lost. And that's exactly what happened to Katrina and me. Hours of walking - some of it heavily assisted by me - with Katrina in a daze, and trying to circle back around to the cabin, proved fruitless. We were good and lost - I couldn't even hear gun fire any more, and I knew the Militia and the Girls were all fighting for their lives out there, somewhere.

Finally, I was simply too exhausted to continue. I found a small cave, and pulled Katrina inside. The very cool evening outside wasn't helping her any - despite her fur. It was simply too fine to keep the heat in like it needed to. I dragged her into the back of the cave, and wrapped her up in my coat as best I could. I should have worn my trench coat or pea coat, not the field jacket. Oh, well.

At least I had my Survival-in-a-Tin. It was something I threw together for just this sort of emergency. It had a few matches, my lighter, and some other things in it. The cave had all kinds of roots hanging down into it, so I used my Sherman Bayonet - which I now carried no matter what - to cut and break as many of them as I could, and assembled a fire circle of dirt. It took me a bit, but I managed to start the fire with some scrap paper from my notepad. Katrina was curled up in my jacket.. in and out of consciousness.

Finally, about ten minutes after I got the fire going, she sat bolt upright. Then, looking shocked, she covered her breasts.

Katrina: "Why am I nude?!"

K: "Okay, listen very carefully, because I have no idea what your mental state is. It's been several thousand years since you were turned to stone by the Zebras, as punishment for trying to break the Witchweed Cartels. Rep has turned against you, he's working for a Bull Centaur named Tirek, a master of shadow magic. We rescued you from Carousel Island, where Rep was using you to intimidate Diamond Dogs into helping Tirek gather gems for some unknown reason. We brought you back to what used to be Dream Valley, to a healer's who specializes in herbs, for you to recover from a massive overdose of Witchweed that Rep gave you, to try to kill you. But, the cabin was attacked by Tirek's forces - we've been wandering around the forest for hours, lost." I shrugged. "Oh, and it's summer."

Katrina: "I.. see. And you.. you.. I.. You're K----? Aren't you? Where is Megan? And Daniel?" She implored.

K: "Yes, I told you that before. And.. you know what? I have no idea if they're even still alive. From my perspective in the Human world, it's been almost thirty years. Thirty years. Anything can happen in that time.. cancer, accidents.. we've been in a couple wars.. natural disasters.." I shrugged, helplessly.

Katrina: "I.. I see.." She curled up with my jacket, scooting closer to the fire. She suddenly started cleaning herself with her tongue. Feline stress response.

K: "I know this is a lot to take in.." I sighed. "..do you remember anything?"

Katrina: "N.. no.. not really. Every time I try to remember anything, all I can see is Rep.. with a potion in his hand.. and the taste of witchweed in my mouth." She curled up into a ball. "Thousands of years.." She said, distantly. "And now, I have no one. I am again feared as a tyrant and an enemy.. all I ever wanted was to see people happy.. and not end up like me."

K: "I'm going to regret this.." I said to myself as I curled up behind her, and held her close to me. "You're going to freeze, otherwise, it's cold tonight."

Katrina: "You wear a.. uniform." She touched it a bit.

K: "I'm the Commanding General of the Royal Equestrian Army of Princesses Celestia of the Sun and Luna of the Moon." That.. was my full official title.

Katrina: "I don't know those names." She shrugged, getting as close to me as possible. "I.. recall Megan once saying you had.. much smaller cats in your world. Do they still exist?" She asked, idly.

K: "Yes.. actually, my human wife and I had several. I've.. I've been trapped here for nearly a year. From my perspective, I arrived here in September of the year 2012. It's now about August 2014. The way our calendar goes, after August, there's September, then October." I started idly petting her - I knew that's what she wanted. She was almost nuzzling, and when my cats do that, they want to be petted.

Katrina: *Mmm* "It does feel.. reassuring.. to have gentle hands on my fur once more. Hands I can trust.. I can trust you, can't I?" She asked, almost in a daze.

K: "I suppose." I shrugged. "You've admitted you have no intelligence that can help us, and I haven't skinned you alive for meat and a fur coat, have I?" I mused.

Katrina: *Soft chuckle* "I suppose not." She turned her head slightly. "They do this, in your world?"

K: "Only to larger breeds of felines. Tigers, lions.. they can grow to several times my size." I sighed. "And as a result, they're in danger of extinction." Another thing I wasn't proud of.

Katrina: "I see." She rolled over, and put her arms around me. "You don't seem like you'd ever harm an animal."

Awwww.... FUCK.. NOT THIS SHIT AGAIN!! WHY IN THE FUCK DO I ALWAYS SEEM TO CHARM THE HURT, VULNERABLE WOMEN!?

K: "Uh. Never." I said, pulling my head back just a little. "Katrina, I should point out that I'm engaged to one pony and have another in my stable as it is. I'm rather thoroughly spoken fo-" She kissed me. ARGH! FFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU! WHY THE FUCK!?

Katrina: "You haven't any of your own species here, nor anything bipedal.." She said, softly. "..and I so desperately need.." She rolled over on me. "..need a reassuring touch. A male's touch. I've never had it.. and as you speak of my life, I've nearly seen death many times.." She ran her hand-paws through my hair.

What the shit - Okay, I have to say this just to defend myself here. I'm not a Furry. Now, I have no problem with Furries, just as I have no problem with people of other religions - I figure, you know, it's a right to think, worship and feel how you want, as long as you're not shoving it up other people's noses, right? Well, I really don't have a special attraction to Furry/Anthro characters..

..then again, before several months ago, I never thought I'd get date raped by Princess Luna..

..but, the point is, I don't get attracted to physical forms, I react to personalities. The entity within. That which you would see if you were blind. And the reason I was rock hard right then had everything to do with the fact that Katrina was rubbing herself over my hips, and nothing at all to do with the fact that she had fur. She was being seductive, and despite my many attempts at celibacy, I'm still very virile. And I have a very hard time saying 'no' when women force themselves on me.. or if I fall in love with them.. yeah.

K: "You're a virgin?" I asked, incredulously.

Kat: "Not for much longer, and please... call me Kat." *Seductive purr*

She seemed to know what my pants did.. she was quite good at removing them. She was also quite good at playing with my bits.. gently running the pads of her paws over the length.. despite me silently cursing what was happening, I allowed it to happen.

Sometimes, I'm far too nice for my own good. But, I suppose, sharing lust is its own form of affection. And being with something bipedal was, indeed, something I missed. So, I let her pull my shaft into position, and slide herself down over it.. and let her bite her finger as I stretched her out.

I let her ride me for a while, trying to get used to the stretch that my.. likely MUCH larger-than-feline shaft was giving her. Before I'd had enough and pulled her close to me, rolling over on top of her, and plowing her kitty ass into the dirt. Letting her yowl and yip as I pounded her. Letting her claws run across my back - they weren't sharp enough, or her grip too weak to go through the tough material that Rarity made my shirts from..

..I let it happen. But I deliberately brought her pleasure - from my guess, more than five times, before I finsihed. Ashamed, much? By this point, I was beginning to accept the idea that I was going to end up the object of affection to every vulnerable female that had never been with a man, or hadn't in some time. Like Luna, or Applejack.. or, in Celestia's case, because a Goddess decided that turn about was fair play, and she could claim anything her sister did.

Was I a toy? An object that fate could play with? My sexuality merely a joke? I didn't know anymore. And like the guilt I felt over the whole war, I decided right then and there, that I was going to bury it along with the guilt. If I was going to be whored out like a cheap trick, then so be it. I was sure I was going to hell as it was - but I'd make sure my firey crash into the Abyss was marked with saving as many lives and souls as I possibly could.

If both my Faith and my Life were to be pilloried for the amusement of others, I would take the abuse, if only it meant saving those I cared about.

[End of Part 4]


Part 5: Command

TIME: 06:04 ERST
DATE: War Day 141/25 Octavius, 1002 C.S.
LOCATION: Everfree Forest.. somewhere

Waking up to your future wife seeing yet another of your infidelities is one thing. Seeing a perverted grin on her face while she does it, is quite another.

Yet, this is exactly the situation I was in. Applejack was standing over me, looking into the cave, seeing me curled up, half naked, with Katrina. It was only too obvious that we'd screwed last night - like wild bunnies, in fact. Like teenaged wild bunnies, to be precise.

Applejack: "Y'all look like you had some fun last night." She smirked at me.

Katrina: "Oh, dear.." She lifted her furry head from my chest, seeing Applejack. "..you must be the Leading Mare he spoke of." A half-grin of fear, disbelief and guilt followed.

K: "Hello, honey. It happened again." Was all I said, barely looking up at her, the tone of my voice a tad frustrated.

Applejack: "Yer rackin' up points, Mister. That's all." She leaned in and kissed me.. passionately.. on the lips. "..and if'n yer new girl is as kinky as a certain princess, then ah most cert'in'ly approve." *Seductive growl*

Oh, great, I corrupted Applejack into a country-fried kink queen. As if my life couldn't get worse? I scrambled to get my pants on - at least she left me in my boxers while we did the nasty - it was damned cold out there, summer or no summer! Once I was fully dressed, I managed to speak up.

K: "Casualty report." I started in on business as I crawled out of the hole. "And how did you find us?"

Applejack: "The Royal Guard squad was almost destroyed - one survivor. Twi got herself banged up, Dash's got a gash on her wing, Pinkie's... she hasn't gone back.. Rarity's fine, I'm fine.."

K: "Zecora?" I asked, fearfully.

Applejack: "Alive. Barely. She kill't her brother, though." She shrugged. "Helluva fight - she boiled his head in her stewpot afterwards." Applejack shrugged a little.

K: "Then she was at risk for nothing. Katrina can't recall much.. she's.. her memories were all but washed away by the Witchweed Potion. She's got no intelligence information that she can recall, that was anywhere near worth the risk we took to save her and heal her. She is on our side, though - and every life does have meaning." I shrugged. "Still didn't answer how you found me."

Zecora: *Grunt* "It's cuz' I stuck a trackin' potion in her!" She pointed.. she was using her spear as a crutch, her back right leg bandaged, her face half bandaged, and her right foreleg likewise.

K: "Zecora! I'm so relieved!" I went to hug her, but thought better of it. "We need to get back to Ponyville." I saw the remaining guard - Corporal Dawn Earlylight - and nodded to her. She shook her head.

Cpl. Dawn: "It was bad, sir. But we got them all. Over a hundred." She shrugged a little. "My unit, though.."

K: "..will be avenged, but for right now, we have to get back to our own lines." I said, marching, then stopping.. "..uh, which way is home?"

Zecora: *Groan* "Dis way! Jeeze.. can't navigate one lil' forest.." *Mutter*


TIME: 08:33 ERST
LOCATION: Edge of Everfree Forest, Near Ponyville Militia Headquarters

We came out of the wood not far from the old battle site. The Headquarters was jumping with activity - the Detrot Militia had just arrived, led by Major Scarlet Heart. Norfy and Gaze were busy shouting orders - their teams were getting ready to move, and both of them were fully immersed in preparing to move.

K: "HARV!?" I called, as I climbed over the fence. "WE GOT WOUNDED - NEED A MEDIC OVER HERE!" I shouted, seeing Dr. Stat Stabler and Nurse Crackbones of all people, coming over to help.

She was wearing a Detrot Militia armband. She saw me, and blushed, bowing her head as she got to her business. I walked over and gently pet her mane.

K: "No hard feelings, okay?" I said as I walked past.

I could hear her sigh with relief. Script and Harv were in the barn, and Scarlet was just getting inside. The sand table told me what I needed to know - our defensive lines were broken completely. The fighting was taking place INSIDE Ponyville.

K: "Status report. Where are the Princesses?" I asked, moving in, an throwing what remained of my Chaffee in a pile of broken weapons.

Harv: "Bad. They hit us with Treants around midnight. They broke our lines, drove us back into the town. We've been holding them at the edge of town, to about a block in. Evacuation procedures started as soon as you left - Luna called for them. She, Celestia, and their personal guards escorted everyone out of town that wasn't vital, to Canterlot and Manehattan. Manehattan Militia was called in - they'll be here in an hour. Luna also sent a call for the Paddock County Militia and any spare naval personnel to turn out as Naval Infantry. We'll have over three hundred ponies here by noon."

K: "Left you in charge?"

Harv: "Yes, General.. I-I hope I'm doing this right.." She swayed into Script's forelegs, and he hugged her.

K: "You're doing fine, Harv. Everything I expected out of a Militia Commander and more." I looked at Scarlet. "Take over strategic operational control for a few hours - Harv? Get some sleep - I'm taking your militia in to relieve Ponyville. Harv? Casualties?"

Scarlet: "Yes, General." A nod.

Harv: "Dozens wounded.." She shrugged. "..a few dead." Shaking her head, she looked at me. "I did my best, General."

K: "You did fine. Come, now, go get some rest." I pointed to the main farm house. "Script? Get her into bed, and you get some rest, too."

Script: "Yes, General." He nodded and carried her off.

I went outside, and met Gaze and Norfy - they seemed to know what I was planning and had everything ready to go. Gaze.. had a wierd look on his face.

K: "Norfy, Gaze.." I nodded. "..time to do the job."

Gaze: *Sternly* "Is it true, suh?"

K: "Is what true, Captain?" I tilted my head.

Gaze: "That.. Miss Fluttershy.. was.. violated.. suh." He choked that out.

K: "Yes, Captain, it's true - but I expect you to handle this battle like a God-Damned Professional, you understand me? You fly off the hook, put your men in danger for a lust for revenge, and I will replace you. Understand?" I looked at Norfy. "Same with you, Captain Loconscole."

Norfy: "I understand, General.. trust me, I have no intention of letting this affect my judgement." He checked his Zhukov as he spoke.

Gaze: "..." He was fuming. Fluttershy was a friend of his, now. "Right. Clear head. Gotch'ye." He spat out. "Y'think this were done tae buck wit' 'ur heads?"

K: "Probably.. it's a hell of a way to do it, and it's only effective if the other side has morals." I shrugged. "It all depends on who's willing to go that far.. and who isn't."

Gaze: "We're not, suh. Nevah!"

Cosmic Plane: "YOU GOT THAT RIGHT!" Came the shout from the main road. "BALTIMARE BATTERY, ASSEMBLE ON THAT FIELD - I WANT THE GUNS UNLOADED FROM LIMBERS AND PREPARED TO FIRE IN THREE MINUTES. MOVE YOUR FLANKS, SOLDIERS!" He came trotting up to us, looking quite disturbed. "News of what's happened has reached Baltimare, General - they know the enemy has done something beyond forgiveness." He bowed to me, slightly. "Norfy, Gaze."

Gaze: "Coz! Goot! We gots'er'selfs expert 'tillery ta cover our advance." He hoof-pawed the ground happily.

Forest Spirit: "THAT ISN'T ALL - MARINES, PREPARE FOR ACTION. FINAL WEAPONS CHECK - DRAW SUPPLIES AND ADDITIONAL AMMO FROM THE ARMORY WAGONS!" Lieutenant Forest Spirit, and not just Bellerophon's Marines, but Marines from the HMS Canterlot, HMS Pegasus, HMS Terra and HMS Unicorn - plus the bulk of HMS Bellerophon's crew, as well as HMS Alarm's, led by Master Sea Swirl.

Dex Runner: "RANGERS! FALL IN AND PREPARE TO ADVANCE ON THE GENERAL-DUDE'S ORDERS!" And there was Dex Runner, his Rangers at the front of the ENTIRE Paddock County Militia - five companies Infantry, three companies Cavalry, and one Rangers.

And over the sound of fife and drum, marched in the Manehattan Militia - the Cavalry company of the Capital District Milita, as well as two additional Infantry companies to add to Ponyville's one. I could see Clement at the lead of the formation, he nodded, and switched from trot to gallop, moving over to where all the officers were gathering.

The officers from all the Militia assembled right there in front of the barn.. around me. I was on stage - and I couldn't afford to show either weakness or bloodlust, no matter how much I wanted to go Human Wave on those monsters, crush them, find Grogar and perform unspeakable acts to him, for Fluttershy's amusement and revenge. No, I had to show restraint. Intelligence. Proper leadership.

And I understood then, why being a general was so difficult. How I had to stow my personal feelings, so I put off the right aura of authority - control, over chaos.

Was this what the mysterious astral pony wanted from me?

K: "GENTLEMEN AND LADIES! LISTEN UP!" I held up my hands to get everyone's attention. "Ponyville is under siege - Paddock County, Marines and Naval Infantry, move out to the hill near Sweet Apple Acres, advance STRAIGHT through town, one big charge, once you see a GREEN flare."

Forest Spirit: "AYE-AYE, SIR! MARINES-"

K: "And Forest Spirit?"

Forest Spirit: "Yes, General?"

K: "Consider yourself a Captain of Marines. You have command of the Marine Detachment. Get going." I pointed.

Forest Spirit: "AYE-AYE! MARINES! MOVE OUT, DOUBLE QUICK!" Off they trotted, weapons ready.

K: "Detrot, Manehattan and Baltimare - on ME! We will advance from the WEST side of town, over the hills, and move up through the enemy controlled buildings, meeting up with our forces from the SOUTH and pushing them EAST back towards our original defensive line. We will then TAKE that line, and hold them THERE." I looked at Barnstormer. "Take command of the Detrot and Baltimare formations - Scarlet Rose has assumed temporary operational command."

Major Barnstormer: "YES, SIR! BALTIMARE AND DETROT! PREPARE TO MOVE!"

K: "Alright everyone.. let's make it happen! Artillery barrages JUST like Gloom Mountain, no changes! LET'S GO!" I led the way, watching and looking to my side every so often, to see if the Marine Detachment was in position.

Once they were, I got on the horn.

K: "Thunder Leader Actual, this is Alpha Leader Actual - Come in, over."

Cosmic: C> "Read you loud and clear, Alpha Leader Actual. Go ahead."

I looked at the hill by Sweet Apple Acres, from our position on the small hills right outside town. I could see the enemy forces, and the buildings they occupied very clearly - I could also see the Battery from here.. this would be like shooting fish in a barrel. I could only hope, as I wrote out the exact measurements from the battery to the buildings, that this would be as fast and painless as possible..

K: C> "FIRE MISSION! ENEMY INFANTRY IN BUILDING COVER! I AM DIALING YOU IN MANUALLY! DIRECTION IS TWO-TWO DEGREES, THREE MINUTES! RANGE FIVE HUNDRED! THIRTY ROUNDS, AYCH-EE! FIRE AT WILL, FIRE FOR EFFECT!"

{End of Chapter 18}