Battle Scars

Janurary 16, 1943

Guadalcanal

Cpl. Cheerilee

"Some place..." said Pvt. Cloudchaser, to Cpl. Cheerilee. The Equestrian XIV Corps trotted down the narrow passage ways of the jungles and branches of the island. The misquotes buzzed all around the place, the sun beamed down from the sky. It was hot, blazingly hot. Cheerilee's work load was more than usual, carrying not only her rifle, but extra ammo for the machine guns up top.

"Yeah, some place..." she replied to Cloudchaser. She looked around at the tall trees of the island. The tropical feel of the entire place would make it seem like a nice place to vacation. She slowly trotted over branches and rocks dug down in holes and over muddy ditches. All that was heard, besides the occasional conversation was the river right next to them. The stream sounded roughly as it rapidly splashed against the rocks in the river bed. Cheerilee looked around to find nothing but dense jungles and wildlife. Birds crowed loudly as they flew off to find their mates, hidden in the trees. As they marched on, they found themselves at the base of some hill. It was big, it had little cover, and tall grasses all around it. It was a cut away from the norm, as the trees were surrounding the hill, not on the hill. It appeared to be a challenging climb, but, do able.

Cheerilee and her company crouched down, finally, some rest. Her officers gathered around to look at some map that she once hopes to understand. But, all she could do was just sit down and hope not to get shot at. She hasn't seen a whole lot of action on Guadalcanal, only the occasional mini firefight, nothing big. Her weapon has even yet to fire a single bullet. But, Cheerilee knows better than thinking it's a walk in the park. She has seen the footage of the canal, the 1st Marine division has pulled out to recuperate from heavy fighting. They looked like they've been through hell and back, so Cheerilee knew what she was getting into, the problem was, when was this gonna happen?

"Cheerilee, Flitter, Lyra, and Roseluck, move up with Lt. Silver Speed to see what's above that hill." said Captain Lightning Dust. Cheerilee got up and trotted over to the Lt's position. She was at the base of hill, anxious to move up the mountain.

"Hold your fire, until fire uponed. Cheerilee, your on point." said Silver Speed. Cheerilee nodded as she lead the way up the hill. The tall grass tickled her exposed legs and brushed up against her snout. She took no notice of this, as her nerves began to slowly creep up on her. For some reason, something was gonna happen. She could feel it. She reached the top of the hill, only to find more hills, these ones higher above the ground. Cheerilee stopped in her tracks, knowing this was a bad position. If they continued on, the changelings would catch them in a field of fire, and have an uphill advantage. Cheerilee knew this, and didn't dare to move forward. It would seem like minutes for Cheerilee to make a move, until the Lt came up next to her.

"What's the problem here Corporal?" asked Silver Speed.

"Sir, if we continue on, changeling are open to attack us, and have an uphill advantage." she replied. Silver Speed looked around the area, she saw nothing but hills and moving grass.

"Your being paranoid, corporal," she said to Cheerilee, "let's move." Cheerilee had a surprised look on her face at her Lt's decision. But, she began to trot forward once more. As she got up, the Lt, peeked her head up first, and motioned for the other members of the corp to move up. It wouldn't be long, however, for the party to begin.

"Sniper!" shouted a mare as a shot rang out over the valley. Cheerilee ducked down, to find the Lt's neck to be bleeding. As Cheerilee looked up, a barrage of machine gun fire began to pop out of the position.

"LT is down!" shouted Flitter as she opened fire down the valley. Cheerilee kept her head down as she slowly crawled on her belly to the Lt. Silver Speed struggled to breathe, but finally, she feel silent and died.

Rifle fire echoed across the hills as machine gun fire began to target the corp across the hill. They were heavily entrenched, machine guns covered the battlefield over the hills. These changelings, however, were different fighters. These were the western changeling empire, in a sense completely different in fighting when compared to the others. They didn't have advancements in weaponry, but, had brave soldiers, who were not afraid to die. They were cruel ponies, armed with the poorest quality weapons, but, the bravest of soldiers. Wave after wave, machine gun fire tore the corp on the hill.

"Everypony! Fall back!" shouted Lightning Dust, motioning for the corp to go back to the base of the hill. Everypony obliged and ran down to the base of the hill, and out of sight. Cheerilee carried the dead Lt's body. Over her shoulders, the blood dripped down her uniform as she ran out of the sight of the changelings. At the base of the hill, she put the body down by the river bed, the medics rushed in to check out her wounds. Cheerilee fell down with horror. She saw other ponies wounded by machine gun fire, body parts pouring out, and blood all over the place. Even the blood poured into the river bed, turning it from a peaceful blue, to a hellish red. Cheerilee closed her eyes and ducked her head down. She began to panic, the rushing thoughts of death began to over take her. No matter how hard she tried, the rushing thoughts couldn't stop. Her breathing became more sporadic. It was becoming louder and worse. She nearly collapsed and went almost went into a fetal position. Her head buried in her hooves and in her body. Then, she felt something touch her shoulder. Some sensation that caused her to look up. It was Cloudchaser.

"Calm down corporal, everything is gonna be fine." she said over and over again. She rocked with Cheerilee back and forth slowly. The rushing thoughts began to slow down, she looked up at Cloudchaser's eyes. They showed a sign of reassurance and passion. Cheerilee began to calm down. Her breathing returning to a normal pace. She wiped off the saliva that drooled down her mouth, and got back up on her hooves.

"You okay, corporal?" asked Lightning Dust.

"Yes sir. I'm fine." she said quietly, regaining her thoughts once more.

"Sir, may I make a suggestion?" asked Sgt. Blossomforth.

"Go ahead sergeant."

"I think we can take 'em at night time. I saw some flanking routes around the base of the hill. They won't be suspecting it by night time. We go in and take out that machine gun bunker. Once that's done, the rest of the company can advance up the hill."

"Are you sure this is possible?"

"It's the only way I can think of without losing more mares if we wait another day here." Lightning Dust pondered the thought. A night raid was hard, especially here on the canal. Night times were like being in a pitch black room with no lights, with only the moon to illuminate the way.

"Okay sarge, round up some ponies and get it done." she said.

"Yes sir, thank you sir." replied Blossomforth, as she began to trot off. Cheerilee overheard the conversation. A feeling of redemption filled her body. She wanted to go in. She grabbed her rifle, a M1903 Springfield, and trotted up to Lightning Dust.

"Sir, requesting permission to go with Sgt. Blossomforth." she said. She tried to sound as confident as she could be with it.

"Request denied corporal. You're in no condition to fight." said Lightning Dust.

"Sir, please, I need to redeem myself. I have to. If i don't, I can't call myself a soldier."

"There's no way around it corporal, you're in no good condition to fight."

"Please sir, I beg of you. Let me in." Cheerilee's face was from a confident look to a pleading look. She looked deep into the captain's eyes. She want to fight, and Lightning Dust could see it. She took a deep breathe and looked down once more.

"Fine corporal. You can go in." she said in a defeating tone.

"Thank you sir." she said and ran off to find sergeant Blossomforth. She jumped over rocks in excitement and pasted other ponies on the ground. Until she found Blossomforth, talking to her squad.

"Captain said I can join you guys on the raid." she said.

"You sure?" asked Blossomforth.

"Yes sir."

"Then, let's get moving corporal." Cheerilee nodded as she ran down the flanking path with five other ponies. She grabbed a couple of grenades and trotted down the dirt path. Dust piled up as the six pony team ran down the right side of the mountain, waiting for the perfect moment to attack.