Battle Scars

"That was the day I got promoted to sergeant. And the day I left Guadalcanal," Cheerilee said, "after recuperating in Canterlot, I requested to fight in the eastern changelings, hoping for a different kind of battle."

"And did you get it?" asked Fluttershy.

"Yes...yes it did." Cheerilee began to get up from her seat with Fluttershy, she noticed the captain staring at her to come over here.

"Welp, I gotta go 'shy. Keep your head down."

"Yes sergeant." Fluttershy replied.

"Oh, yeah. Forgot to tell you, we're moving out in 15, we're going to the main part of the town. Captain's rallying a squad together, and your in it."

"Yes sir." Fluttershy's feelings didn't get the best of her this time. She felt nothing of it, instead, she resumed to look at the flowers once more. She was confused this time. The flowers seemed to have turned dark, like something was coming. As Fluttershy looked up in the sky, the once cloudless sky was now covered in dark, thick storm clouds. A small piece of water fell down from the sky, hitting her on the snout. She brought her head down slowly and wiped it off. Another speck of water fell down on her hoof. She looked down on her uniform, small droplets were falling down on her. She looked up and the droplets came falling down, faster and faster. Fluttershy finally got up and went inside.

"Fluttershy, get inside for debriefing." said a voice. Fluttershy couldn't determine who it was coming from, but, she got up and trotted inside. Around the living room of the house, Fluttershy took a knee next to Applejack and Rarity.

"Listen up. We're going into this small town called 'Marquis,'" began the Captain, "At 1100, members of the 101st Airborne landed here and met up with heavy resistance. They suffered heavy casualties, with many wounded and KIA. They need an extra 30, some rifle grenades, and another bazooka team. That's where we come in. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, I want you two as the bazooka team. Rarity and AJ, I want you guys will man the 30, Fluttershy, you'll be our grenadier. Rarity and AJ, you two will meet up with the 101st and place the 30 wherever they want it. The rest of you will be with us. We're helping cover the right side where they were hit the hardest. Remember, we're only there help resupply them. The back up will be the 2nd armor division, along with Diamond company of the 82nd. We're going in first to help prep them for the fight. 2nd armor, along with the 82nd should be there once they're fully resupplied and ready to fight. They are about 7 klicks north of us, so it may take awhile for them to get there. Once they get there, the rest of the regiment is gonna link up with us with the resupply. Any questions?"

The room was silent as the seven ponies going on this mission just took in what they're job was.

"Alright, lets get loaded up and moving. We're leaving in 10 minutes. Dismissed." she ended. The seven ponies got up and went to the supply dropped area. Fluttershy trotted along with them.

"Private Fluttershy, I need to see you." said the captain. Fluttershy turned around trotted next to the lavender pony.

"You're gonna need a weapon that can fire those rifle grenades. Drop your Carbine and grab Lyra's old '03A3. It's all we have." she said.

"What happened to Lyra?" asked Fluttershy.

"Wounded, she's off to Canterlot to get better once more. She's not gonna need that springfield for a while. So, you're gonna take it."

"Yes sir, but..."

"But what private?"

"Well...umm.......I...it's...just...that...um...well...I've uhh...never...fired....a.....spring....um...field....uh a springfield ....um..be..before sir."

"That all private? It's jus' an old bolt action rifle. You can handle it." Twilight trotted off to meet up with a pony with Lyra's old springfield. The M1903A3 Springfield, a .30-06 bolt action rifle, although never manufactured by the Springfield Armory, but by Rock Island arms near Appaloosa. It's considered obsolete when compared to the M1 Garand, but, it can still get the job done. Some say it's more accurate than the Garand, but it goes down to personal preference. A modified version of the older World War I Springfield, with simpler sights, better wood grooves, and cleaned up look, the M1903A3 is a definite improvement over the older Springfields. Twilight passed the rifle to Fluttershy. She grabbed and felt the wooden groves against her hooves. Attached to it was a M1 Rifle Grenade launcher, a rare sight on the battle field when compared to the M7. Capable of firing these explosives up to 350 yards, the M1 Rifle Grenades can hit hard when regular frags weren't good enough.

"Grab some frag and anti armor rounds, we might run into some light armored vehicles." shouted Twilight. Fluttershy nodded and looked back down at her new rifle. She trotted over to the supply crate and grabbed some fragmentation and anti armor grenade rounds from the crate.

"Make sure y'all grab sum' blanks shy. Rifle 'll blow up in your face in yah don't." said Applejack, grabbing ammunition for the machine gun. Fluttershy nodded and grabbed several dummy rounds of .30-06 bullets and dropped them in her pocket. She looked around for the actual ammo and grabbed some stripper clips.

"Alright everypony, we're moving out! Gather your weapons and ammo and lets go!" shouted Twilight, waving for the squad of seven to move along. Fluttershy heard the cry to battle and ran off with her equipment. The springfield was heavier then her old M1 carbine, and she already missed it. The weapon looked up at her with a sign of reassurance that she will be fine. She smiled back down at the rifle as she trotted down into the forest with the rest of the squad.