Insanity

Luck. You either believe in it, or don’t. During war you may find it as the only thing that keeps you alive. Personally, I never did consider myself lucky, not after I found this world, not after dating Dash, and certainly not after a few bullets just barely missed my skull.  I had always felt I earned what I got, but war tends to change your view of things. I couldn’t have deserved such misery, could I? Surely these people never did anything that would deem them worthy of death and destruction. Luck just might be more real and a bigger pain in the ass than I thought.

I guess if I was starting to believe in luck, then I sure as hell wasn’t lucky. A few more weeks of war and the changes in soldier moral and thought process, and it was apparent that this war wasn’t going to end soon. The soldiers, like me, became grimmer with each death. We were beginning to actually adapt to death. Something that was a sure sign of how much we were changing for the worse. Each corpse was beginning to be just that, another corpse and not a soldier who used to be somebody. Deaths became numbers, not people. New attacks took effectiveness into consideration and not the lives lost. Every new recruit and battle-scarred veteran began to become grim faced, their innocence and mercy fading away like their happiness and morality.

I personally felt like I was becoming bitterer with each attack. I found myself needing to use my photo for comfort less and less, and I now had to rely on will to keep my sanity in place. The war was changing everyone and everything quickly. Dog's words didn’t go unnoticed by me, and soon the rows of muskets were replaced with rifles that excelled even mine in performance and function. With The Administration of Technology and Armament Innovation's help, the number of deaths skyrocketed. It looked like a good idea at first, the savages were losing a lot of ground, but soon their own advancements led to our destruction. It was an arms race, and in my opinion, no matter how much either side excelled the other in technology, we both lost. It wasn’t long until the Solar Empire's forces started to resemble my faded memories of soldiers and harbingers of death and destruction.

I had become a hardened soldier, gaining respect and a few more ranks quickly. It was not something I was proud of, but I was glad that I could manage a few lives properly, prioritizing my men over the objective. The fighting itself had been going terribly for both sides. The western front, where I had been stationed, was doing well. Under the leadership of a few good captains who were former royal guards, and myself, we made good advancements that solidified our position in savage territory. The war on the southern front was what had worried me. Major spikes in death counts and huge savage progression took its toll on moral. Rumors had it that they even began to advance into some of the local villages, destroying prisons in hopes of gaining new recruits, and attacking civilians.

I was worried sick about Dash and Applejack, both had been involved in the fighting and chances are might even have taken direct fire. It wasn’t long before my squad and I had been drafted into the Lunar Ops to help with the fighting. We were stationed at Tall Tale city where an Aerial Transport Vehicle would come to get us to the southern front.

"E.T.A 5 minuets! Pack your gear and move! You will be de-briefed in the chopper!" Announced the base communicator.

My grim faced team got to work quickly, our actions more mechanical than actually thought out. We had all bonded quiet well over the weeks, and it wasn’t long before we didn’t need to communicate to get things done right. We had been in combat most of the time stationed here and we were all tired, but the idea to help our soldiers back home was motivation enough.

"You fellas the ones who are being drafted to the Lunar Ops, right?" Asked a military mail man, he wore a pleasant smile and his badge had seven bubbles, proof of his mail man profession.

"That's us." I answered, curious as to what we could be getting at a time like this.

The mail service was started by a nice mail women at the start of the war. Her goal was to get important letters from loved ones to soldiers to help remind them that they were loved back home. She started off alone at first, delivering only a few letters and supplies despite the dangers of war, but soon she had gained enough love and support to start a whole system that delivered arms, mail, and supplies to those on the front.

"The D.M.A, A.T.A.I, and M.I.I.C send their warmest regards." He answered, dropping off 3 large duffle bags and leaving to fulfill his duties elsewhere.

I returned the skeptical looks I had from my squad mates, and proceeded to inspect the contents of the surprise mail. Upon opening them it was clear that my friends hadn't forgotten about me.

"HELL YEA, DIBS ON THE MACHINE GUN!" Cinderblock shouted upon me pulling out the large assortment of specialized weaponry. Each of them at the official A.T.A.I logo, a six pointed star surrounded by 5 sparkles.

"That's pretty cool of them, I'd love to grab the assault rifle if you guys don’t mind." Supported Ghost.

"Guess you have been holding out on us huh Artyom?" joked Patches, reaching for the submachine gun himself.

I remained silent, overtaken by the kind gestures. God I missed my friends. Throughout the war I decided to stick to Artyom's Boomstick since it provided me comfort and did a decent job of defending me, but seeing the nice .44 revolver that had been made for me, and whose production had probably been overseen by Twilight herself, I couldn’t resist. I opened the next bag and once more the room was filled with astonishment as I pulled out the new black combat gear. Now we were well equipped and looked the part. Each of us wore a black combat vest with magically enhanced ballistic plates, a combat helmet, and combat pants. Mine and Patches gear had been designed to accompany our guard armor, and now our gold pieces had black strips running through them.

The last duffle bag had been the one that hit me the most. For my squad mates it was just a bag filled with actual edible food, medical supplies designed to fit out gear, and an envelope. To me it was a painful reminded of the amazing friends I had. I let my squad enjoy their little portions as I took a seat in the corner of the room and opened the envelope, nearly being brought to tears. Inside were written messages from my friends.

Dear Artyom, Dash and Applejack are safe, so don't worry. I hope these weapons will keep you safe too. - I miss you, Twilight.

Darling, I hope I these threads will get you looking as fabulous as the commander you are. - Stay safe and stylish, Rarity.

It's nice see you and your squad are doing well. I hope my measly supplies will help you end this war. - Stay safe and kind, Flutters.

I just sat in the corner for a moment, lost in my own little world.

"E.T.A TWO MINUTES!" reminded the communications women.

I re-read the letter a few more times, absorbing all the words before finally folding it and placing it into my vest pocket, close to my heart. I inspected the envelope to find two patches. One of them had three apples, a mark of the Apple Rangers, and the other had a red, yellow, and blue lightning bolt coming out of a cloud, the Wonderbolts emblem. I was once more caught in a wave of emotions, but soon it was time for us to move out and I grabbed my gear. My rifle accompanied by a few clips, my new revolver, a combat knife, and an magically enhanced medical pack that used magic to clot blood faster and numb pain made up my gear.

We were quickly loaded onto the Aerial Transport Vehicle, designed by the A.T.A.I to enable winged residents to carry other non-winged soldiers and supplies via a large wagon. It remained lightweight via a magical core on the bottom of the wagon. We were on our way to Dodge City, home to the Royal prison, and a few hundred civilians. It had currently been overrun by a small force of savages, and our task was to clear the town of any convicts and enemy soldiers without giving them the chance to hurt any civilians.

"You alright there Artyom? Are you sick?" Asked Patches.

Ghost and Cinderblock eyed me as well. I sighed, shifting my gaze from the floor to the outside of the vehicle.

"Just remembering all the nice places I knew before all of this. For me it was this little park near my village." I answered, smiling as I remembered the little park where I met my friends and spent a lot of time with them, Dash in particular. "You guys ever had a place like that?" I added, turning to face my friends.

"There's this apple tree that sits right on top of a hill. The view is simply breathtaking. Hell, when this is over that will be the first place I go." said Patches. He also smiled and looked down, remembering his own little place of bliss.

"Brother and I had this nice little bar we would always go to and eye the pretty chicks that walked by. Good times." Ghost chuckled a bit and continued more to remember than to share. "All the crazy things he used to do to get attention. This one time he had the corniest of pickup lines and walked up to this chick. Needless to say, he ended up with a hell of a slap and her number."

We all got a good laugh and looked toward Cinderblock. Someone as manly and scary as him must have had a good spot of his own.

"The hell all of you staring at me for?" he asked, looking around the carriage and shifting closer to his corner.

"Come on Cinderblock, you got to have someplace that you really miss." Patches pressed. Ghost and I put our two bits in as well.

"You guys should mind your own business." He answered.

"What do you have to hide? We all lived with each other long enough to not care about small stupid things, common out with it. That's an order." I said.

"Permission to ignore request, sir." he asked.

"Permission denied."

He sighed and shifted his weight. "Gram gram's house was always the best. As a boy she would always cook the greatest food for me, and we would hang out in the nearby lake. I could always unwind there." he admitted, looking away shamefully.

Ghost had his helmet pulled down and looked away from Cinderblock, a visible smile on his face. Patches had brought an arm to his face, apparently finding his nose extremely itchy. I had a sudden, unexplainable coughing fit. It was silent for a moment, but I calmed down faster than the other two and stated:

"Sounds." I stopped, catching the high pitch in my voice. "Sounds nice Cinderblock. Honestly, it's cool you have a place where family cares for you."

He smirked, apparently not taking my comment sincerely.

"Hope you guys aren't getting comfortable in there, we're here." Announced our flier, a former Lunar guard.

It was night time now and we had landed not too far from the village. We disembarked the A.T.V, our expressions serious. A simple nod to the flier and he was off. We were alone. Four men hidden in darkness.  We were beta squad, tasked with taking the western part of the town while Alpha squad took the eastern front. We were to meet at the town hall in the center.

I moved out onto the edges of the little patch of swamps we landed in, and took a quick look at the town. A few lights shone as armed guards patrolled the streets and rooftops.

"Sniper, third house to the left, 2nd story, right window." I said.

"Targeting." Ghost whispered, aiming his silenced assault rifle at the guards head.

"Two guards on the streets below, one block apart. Cinderblock, move up close to the one on the right. When the other one gets shot, drop him."

"Yes sir." He told me, sneaking out of cover and beginning to inch toward his target.

"Patches, give me some silence." I ordered, lying down and targeting the other guard with my rifle. Patches' horn glowed for a moment and I felt the change in my gun. He was magically silencing it since I couldn’t fit a suppressor on it.

"Good to go." he notified.

Cinderblock was in position, knife out, and crouching behind the wall of his unsuspecting target. I took a breath, adjusted for windage and elevation, and focused.

"Drop em." I ordered.

Three bodies hit the floor underneath them.

"Clear." said Ghost.

"Regroup on Cinderblock."

We met up shortly and progressed through the town, stopping a few times to dispose of a few savages, and even worse, convicts, our own. It wasn’t long until we were at our objective, and we had stopped at a house so I could give orders.

"Cinderblock get on the roof and get ready to give us some suppressive fire if we need it." He nodded, turning to take the stairs.

"You two, clear out the center hall. Be careful, reports say we might have a few hostages in there. Watch your shots. As for the enemy. Make it quick and quiet. I'll regroup with both of you once I cleared the outside perimeter."

They nodded and moved past me, cautiously opening the front door and moving out to complete their objective. Dam I loved these guys. They were like a well-oiled machine. I escaped out the back door and proceeded to slide across the wall. I stopped short of the corner as a guard was standing in my direction. Ghost and Patches forced their way into the back of Town Hall and my guard turned, distracted and curious.

The first time I had done this I couldn’t wash the blood off my hands for days. Now I just quietly held the savage's mouth as my cold knife quickly slid out of his warm throat, painting the street and his clothes crimson. As his eyes rolled back into his head, I dragged him into the alley way nearby, discretely disposing of the body. The rustling behind be didn’t go unnoticed and I swiftly turned, pointing my new .44 down the alley, toward a short brick wall. The bright chrome reflected the moonlight in the dark, dim alleyway as a soldier quickly vaulted over the wall with the help of another. He stopped and raised his gun as well. None of us shot.

"You guys sure work fast. Just tell me you still saved some of these bastards for us." He said.

"Thanks for the complement, but I'm afraid not. My boys are taking the hall now."

He helped his other 4 squad mates vault over the wall and we stacked up on the wall, I was in the lead. With Alpha squad's help we disposed of another few guards, these were convicts, and Alpha squad found it hard to hide their disgust with them.

We regrouped in town hall, past the few piled up bodies in the corner. Each had a hole in their head or neck, and was taking a nice, long nap. A few colors mixed with the usual bland black and white.

"Nice work." I commented, nodding at the both of them.

"Hostages are free and in the kitchen. Don’t worry, they're glad we're here and will stay silent. Should have no problems with them." Patches notified.

"Ok then. Alpha squad, you guys are leading this. Where do you want us?" I asked.

The leader, Iron Hide, cleared his throat.

"The town is mostly taken over, but it isn't long until they start noticing the lack of patrol. We can take care of the rest of the guards throughout the town, but here's the problem. A good number of these bastards had found a good hiding spot in case we were to launch a larger scale attack. That's where you guys come in. We will need you to infiltrate and clear the -"

Our radios buzzed to life, interrupting him. It was Cinderblock.

"Guys, it's looking real messy out here. We got a patrol heading our way. Eight soldiers and a dog. Looks like a search party. They know we are here."

"Just our luck." I muttered. We all moved to the back door and waited for a moment.

"What do you want me to do sir?" Cinderblock questioned.

I looked at Iron Hide and he returned my nod.

"Open fire when I give the order."

"Thought you'd never ask." Cinderblock responded. The sound of metal grinding against metal was heard as he pulled back the bolt on his machine gun.

We tensed, waiting. A few rays of light shone through some of the windows in the front of the building and a dog barked.

"NOW!" I ordered, screaming into the radio.

Soon the quiet night erupted into gunfire and screaming as the patrol was liquefied on the streets and the rest of the town was awoken. We burst out of the back doors, guns up, and disposed of any guards in our way.

"This way, we'll take you to your objective. MOVE!" Iron Hide commanded.

We continued down the street, shooting, never stopping. We finally fought our way to an alleyway. Iron Hide shouldered his weapon and propped up the man-hole leading to the sewers.

"Infiltrate and clear. Watch out for explosives. The dam bastards rigged some of it to blow."

Normally I would have shouted at him, verbally abused him, maybe even punched him in the face, but I was a soldier. And like any good soldier I obeyed, shouldering my weapon and climbing down first. Ghost and Patches followed, and once we were on our feet Iron Hide closed our last source of light.

The smell was horrible. The three of us coughed and gasped for a bit. It felt like we were thrown into a pool of shit, blood, urine, and god knows what else. We manned up after a while, and turned on our flashlights, moving slowly. Lady Luck's a cruel bitch. I thought, making a disgusted face as my boots stepped in some unholy sewage. It was quiet, only the rhythmic dripping of some run-off water could be heard. We continued until the pathway had become submerged under murky water. I stopped, looking back at my squad mates. They both just looked at me for support. I rolled my eyes, shrugged my shoulders, grit my teeth, and started wadding into the sewage. I prayed Rarity would not find out how we were treating her new threads.

My squad mates grudgingly followed, and the three of us silently waded through. It was unsettlingly quiet. Our radios buzzed for a moment and everything went to hell. The convicts and savages in the sewers had been silently waiting for us around the corners, and the radio just gave away our position. The sewers were filled with ear shattering explosions as the sound of gunfire was amplified by the closed surroundings. Miraculously we fought our way to some ground without any injuries and held it.

"Something's not right. There are too many of them to not move up on us." Ghost commented, reloading his gun.

"Are… are they RUNNING!?" Patches shouted, frustration and fear in his voice.

"Oh, SHIT!" I yelled, noticing the few wires along the section of wall we were hiding behind.

I pushed Ghost toward Patches and jumped the other way. The wall between us exploded, throwing me and my gear further into sewage. I got up onto my knees, eyes shut and covering my ears. Everything was ringing and every bone in my body felt broken.  I regained enough sense to wade through the water and get my rifle. I walked up to the rubble and leaned against it in pain.

"PATCHES! GHOST!" I shouted, distressed.

To my relief I heard coughing.

"We're alright. Thanks…*cough* for the save. What the hell do we do now?" Ghost replied.

I jammed one of my med-kit's needles into my arm, letting the cooling magic soothe my burning pain.

"Shit, regroup with Alpha Squad and Cinderblock! There's no way the enemy can get back into the town now! It's too dangerous, just go back!" I yelled, the cooling feeling of numbness coursing through my veins.

"What about you!?" Ghost asked.

"Yea, we sure as hell aren't leaving you down here, especially not when you are on the only side the savages can escape through." Patches added, coughing loudly.

"I'll find my way out of here. You can't get to me now anyway. Alpha squad might need the help. I'll find a way up top and regroup with you there." I answered, pushing myself off the wall and stumbling a bit.

I was disoriented, in pain, alone, and for once, scared. I could hear Ghost and Patches move out, and set off to fulfill my own task. Every corner threatened to hide the end of me. I grasped my damp rifle tightly, checking each corner with a new fear. The worst part was there was never anything there. Like a game, the sewers toyed with my mind. Everything was silent now, no gunshots, no footsteps, nothing. Dead silence that made me question my own living existence.

I finally caught my break when I found the sewer exit. A few savages were climbing up the ladders and I decided to wait. If I gave away my position now, I might just die here and add to the rotting smell of death. Once they were clear, I sprinted, blinded by my desire for salvation. There was one corner left for me to pass. The light was so close.

I received a hard smack to the face and was knocked backwards, my rifle sliding across the pavement. The last corner was what brought me my downfall. I looked up, my vision darkening around the edges. It was the devil himself.

"Well, well, well. Welcome back to hell recruit." laughed Red Eyes.

One thought escaped my mind as he struck me across the face with the butt of his rifle again.

Just my,

Luck.