Battle Scars

The rain began to pour even harder, turning from a drizzle to a down pour. Fluttershy shivered with coldness as the water seeped through her uniform and into her coat. The cold drops of rain felt like ice cubes being rubbed against her coat as she continued to trot on.

"Shy, take this." said Rainbow Dash, giving her a cigarette, these ones had Princess Luna's face on it, with a devilish grin across her face. Fluttershy lit the cigarette, and the warm smoke crawled down her lungs, once again, warming her body from the cold rain. She took a deep breathe as she trotted through the forest. Wet leaves covered the thick mud below, as several ponies boots seeped down into the wet earth and found a way into their boots.

"Buck!" said Applejack, as she was the latest victim to have her boots ruined by the mud.

"This rain isn't nothing compared to the canal." said Cheerilee.

"Oh here we go. The sarge's memories of guadalcanal." said Rainbow Dash sarcastically.

"Oh you got anything that's worse than the canal private. I'm all ears."

"Gloucester, 1943, Sarge."

"You weren't even in Cape Gloucester darling!" said Rarity.

"Yeah, well, I know a pony who was in Gloucester."

"Oooooo, tell us what is was like for her Dashie." said Pinkie.

"Okay, well, my best mare was a machine gunner with the Marines, and she..."

"Shhh.... we're here." said Twilight.

The rain drops pattered down harder as some thunder rolled in, cutting off the sound of the ponies breathing in the forest. The village's opening was pretty war torn, with demolished buildings and rubble all around the town.

"Flash?" shouted Cheerilee. For a moment, it was silent. Cheerilee aimed her M1 Garand towards the village. Then came a voice.

"Thunder." said a voice. Cheerilee motioned for the team to move up as they trotted slowly into the town. They climbed over the gigantic hole in the wall and towards a half standing building.

"You guys Rangers?" said a pony.

"That depends, y'all 101st?" said AJ. Twilight gave a glaring look at the orange pony, who just gave a jokingly smile back. Twilight looked back at the drenched pony.

"Yes, we are Rangers, who's your CO private?" asked Twilight.

"Sergeant Major Trixie." said the pony.

"No Lieutenants?" asked Cheerilee.

"Well, it would have been 1st Lt. Daisy, but she's KIA." said the pony. Twilight pondered the thought of no actual CO for this airborne unit.

"Alright, take me to your CO." she said.

"Yes, captain." The pony ran off towards the inner part of town and the rest of the group followed. Fluttershy looked around in the town. Marquis was a once peaceful town. It reminded her a lot of Ponyville. The tall buildings, the church, town center, even some of the stores reminded her. It gave her a somewhat calming feeling being in this town. But, she had to remember, she's in a war.

"Sgt. Mjr. Trixie?" said Twilight trotting towards the group of airborne troops. Just then, a bright blue pony trotted from the crowd and found herself in front of the captain.

"Trixie here sir." she said in a bold brash attitude.

"Another idiot..." whispered Rainbow Dash to Pinkie. Pinkie Pie giggled at Dash's joke.

"I'll be commanding your unit until your reinforced, understand?" said Twilight.

"Yes sir."

"Alright, what's the situation?"

"Changeling's have been hitting us hard across the middle, only because this is the only way they can get armor into the town. The left and right flank have taken hits, but not as severe.  We've taken several casualties from sniper fire as well along the grain silo to the west and the church tower north east. We've had bazookas and rifle grenades on those positions, so we shouldn't worry about them. We have one working 30 in the middle, the other one has a busted barrel."

"Rarity, AJ to the middle," said Twilight, "continue."

"The right flank has met up with parachute units, but did easy work of them. Same thing with the left."

"Alright, whadda you got for arms?"

"One working 30, 2 bazookas, and some rifle grenades, anti armor."

"Okay, move some of your men to the right flank, I want some grenadiers to move to the left, one in the center. Move a squad or two to the right to enforce those ponies."

"Yes sir."

"Let's get going then." Twilight ended there as Trixie trotted off and began shouting orders. Fluttershy remained next to the Captain as they prepared for a fight.

"Shy, I want you to do your best against this changeling force. They want this town as much as us, so stay on your hooves." said Twilight.

"Umm...yes sir." she said softly. Twilight gave her a slight smirk across the face and patted her back. Fluttershy's emotions were getting to her. She felt as she's been rewarded for a job well done. She smiled back and ran to the front line with AJ and Rarity. She jumped down into the trench hole in the ground, in the foxhole with AJ and Rarity.

"You look eager for battle, Shy." said AJ, loading up the 30 cal.

"I feel like I am." she said confidently.

"Well, that's great to hear darling, but, just remember to keep your head dow..." said Rarity, but she was cut off.

"MORTARS!!!!!" shouted a pony, as explosions were heard along the front lines of the town. Dirt shot up in the air and landed on top of Fluttershy, AJ and Rarity.

"Chanegling's coming up the middle, open fire!" said Trixie and started to fire on the group. AJ and Rarity got up into position after the small barrage of mortar fire.

"Rarity at your twelve." said AJ as she held the belt of ammunition as Rarity got behind the gun. She fired off a burst hitting her targets. The roar of the 30 cal filled along the middle, as the changeling's came running in. Fluttershy aimed her Springfield down the battlefield, but her targets were being gunned down by Rarity, with her precise accurate fire.

She fired off a round, it missed the intended target. Fluttershy tried to pull the trigger again, nothing happened. Fluttershy began to panic, as she thought her gun was jammed. She smacked her rifle on the side and tried to get the rifle to work. She then saw a hoof next to her, it was Captain Sparkle. The lavender pony looked down at the struggling yellow pony, and picked up her rifle. Twilight pulled the bolt back to eject the spent shell and loaded in the next one by pushing the bolt forward. Fluttershy felt humiliated, how could she forget the gun was bolt action? She just looked up at the captain's emotionless look as she ran off once more. Fluttershy was still dazed at what happened, until she heard a familiar voice.

"Shy, we can use a hoof here!" shouted Applejack, looking down at her. Fluttershy turned around and resumed to acquire targets. She fired once more, this one hit a changeling in the gut. He fell down from the impact of the strong rifle bullet. Fluttershy, remembering it was a bolt action, quickly rechambered a new round. She fired again, another hit. She rechambered once more. Again and again and again. Fluttershy repeated the process of firing and rechambering the gun.

"Reload." she said as she loaded in her rounds. She threw away the stripper clip and fired once more. Another hit and another rechamber.

"Tank!" shouted a pony as a small vehicle came rolling towards the front line. The vehicle wasn't well guarded, but had a massive gun in the front.

"Buck! 37mm take cover!" shouted a pony. The gun fired off and whizzed across, over Fluttershy's head and into the building behind her. The explosive force was massive as she felt a small jerk forward.

"Shy, get a rifle grenade on that SOB!" shouted Cheerilee, firing her M1 Garand. Fluttershy loaded in a blank round and picked up a fragmentation round. The 22 mm explosive was planted in front of the springfield rifle. She pulled the pin and aimed the rifle upwards. She didn't bother to do any type of elevation equation, but instead, just fired blindly. The rifle grenade shot upwards and towards the vehicle. Within seconds, the round exploded right on top of it, changelings falling off the vehicle from the explosive force of the propelled explosive. The massive vehicle fell silent as more machine gun fire rained down the roadway. Fluttershy loaded in a real round and fired again, another hit. As she was reloading, a mare crashed into her from the right side.

"Where's the captain? They broke through!" she shouted.

"What?" said Rarity, still firing the machine gun.

"The changeling's broke through!" shouted the mare again.

"How'd that happen?" asked Rarity.

"We're spread pretty buckin'..." began the mare, until a round penetrated her helmet and into her head. The blood spattered out all over Fluttershy's face as she closed her eyes. She felt the wet blood all over her face and she looked down to find the dead mare, who was alive seconds ago. Fluttershy sat there shocked as she witnessed a death of her comrade who was that close.

"Fluttershy! Get the captain! They need help on the right side!" said Applejack, now firing the dead mares M1A1 Carbine. Fluttershy ran out of the ditch and towards the captain's foxhole. She watched as Twilight was reloading her submachine gun.

"Sir, they need help on the right side! The mare said they broke through." she shouted to the captain.

"Buck, alright, Shy, Cheerilee, and you five," began Twilight, pointing to five airborne troops, "on me. We're gonna go help 'em out on the right side. Applejack, Rarity suppressive fire. Trixie shift your fire to twelve o clock, lets go!" Fluttershy ran down to the right, passing Rarity and AJ firing away the Browning machine gun, as she ran towards the right. The rubble from the houses provided some cover for them, but not enough.

When the makeshift squad made it to the right, they only saw a hoof full of mares guarding it with their lives.

"You two, man the 30, Shy get some rifle grenades down range, the rest of you on me. Go!" shouted Twilight as she sprinted towards the front lines. Fluttershy hanged back to prep her springfield once more. She loaded in the blank round and fired once more, the explosive shot up in the air and landed on the ground, exploding and killing several changeling's running through. Then she heard it. That terrifying sound she heard back at the house.

"MG42 on the right!" shouted a mare. Fluttershy knew that sound, that awful sound. It was like cloth being ripped thread by thread. It was loud, and was just a buzz of sound, no individual shots. Fluttershy fired another rifle grenade once more as she tried to hit the MG42, it missed and instead hit the machine gun crew to the right.

"Fluttershy! Take out that MG42!" shouted Twilight as she fired once more. Fluttershy's nerves began to rise, she began to pant heavy as she ran towards the inside of some old diner for cover. She loaded in one more blank, and one last rifle grenade. She pulled the pin on it and slowly counted.

"One one thousand...two one thousand...three one thousand..." she said slowly and she popped up. Everything then turned into slow motion as she felt time was on her side. She could hear the individual shots of the MG42, and she slowly aimed in. She fired the round and the springfield spat out the explosive. The old world war one rifle, would now beat the modern day terror known only as: "Chrysalis' Buzzsaw." The explosive frag round impacted with tremendous force, actually destroying the gun. The barrel shattered as hot chunks of metal shot back into the changeling's face as they slowly died from shrapnel wounds to their face. And if that didn't kill them, the explosion from the ammunition on them did. It was an entire belt of ammo, highly explosive. She ducked back down and rechambered another round. Time began to catch up again as Fluttershy looked at the events of what happened. She conquered it. She conquered the horrific MG42, Fluttershy felt an achieved sensation fill her body as she slowly smiled at herself. She took a deep breathe as she looked down once more at the wrecked machine gun.

"They're pulling back!" shouted Twilight, "give 'em hell!" Fluttershy felt invincible as she fired her Springfield down at the range. She felt like a machine, fire, rechamber, and fire. It worked like clock work, and the targets fell down better than her old carbine. As she kept firing, she saw more changeling's flee back into the forest.

"Cease fire! Cease fire!" shouted the ponies as they held the town once more. Fluttershy slowly calmed down as she put down her rifle. The springfield's barrel was smoking hot from so much fire power Fluttershy put down range. She slowly panted with exhaustion as the adrenaline slowly went away. She breathed heavily as she just looked inside the old diner. Fluttershy got up slowly and trotted out of the house. She saw other ponies with a relieved reaction, some patting each other on the back and some began lighting cigarettes.

"Nice job out there Shy," said Cheerilee, "you did good."

"Umm...thank you sarge." she said breathing.

"You should really stop saying um all the time private."

"What do you mean Cheerilee?"

"I mean come on. We're all friends here, don't seem so unsure with everything." Fluttershy remained silent as she took in the information.

"Look, it's important that you always preform your actions, especially out here, no hesitation, no remorse. That's what I learned on Guadalcanal, and that's what you learned here today."

"I did?"

"Yeah, I saw you take down the MG42, that takes some real guts, Fluttershy. Now, if you can just apply that to your conversations, you'll be a successful mare, not only in the army, but in life. Do you see where I'm getting at?"

"Yeah...yeah I do. Thanks Cheerilee."

"No problem." and Cheerilee got up and trotted down the dirt road. Fluttershy smiled slightly and began to close her eyes. She noticed the rain had stopped and it was now just a cloudy day in Marquis. As she leaned her head back, she heard a shot ring out over the entire town. Fluttershy opened her eyes as she slowly turned her head and heard one fatal word: sniper.