3: All That We Are

        A rough hoof to the shoulder brought Pvt. Rudolph out of his slumber. He started at first, instinctively reaching for his rifle, a Gewehr 41, when realization settled in. The familiar face of Cpt. Blauesherz was inches away from his, having a look of annoyance plastered on his hard features.

        "Jetzt ist keine Zeit für Schlaf, Soldat," [Now is no time for sleep, Sergeant!] he jeered in the brown stallion's face.

        Rudolph straightened himself in his seat of the cargo truck, the other ponies around him snickering at his error. "Entschuldigung. Es wird nicht wieder passieren," [Sorry. It won't happen again.] he stuttered.

        Blauesherz wasn't done embarrassing the recruit, however, and leaned in towards his face. "Die Farbe der Haut ist genauso wertlos wie Sie sind," [The color of your coat is the equivalent of your usefullness.] he accused with a poke aimed at his brown-colored chest.

        The other soldiers around him laughed out loud, not even trying to hide their amusement. Rudolph shrank in his seat, self consciousness exploding from inside. After a quick "Halt!" from the superior pegasus, they were all silenced.

        The blue Captain shook his head as he turned, walking towards the edge of the open truck haul. A couple ponies whispered to eachother uneasily as he neared the edge, dangerously close to the rushing grass and rocks below. However, before he could fall off the two-foot drop, he turned around, facing the confused soldiers. "Heute sind wir zu einem Reitrebellen Haus geleitet. Jederëselsbrücke muss sterben." [Tonight, we are to infiltrate an Equestrian Civilian outpost, eliminating its inhabitants. Nopony can survive.]

          The soldiers all cheered at this, with the exception of the horrified, brown earth pony. "Was?!" he almost screached, drawing the attention of all the other passengers.

       Blauesherz shot an irritated glare at the stallion, his eye twitching. "Gibt es ein Aufgabe?" [Is there a problem?] All of a sudden, Rudolph realized who he was challenging. The Captain facing him was not only a lot higher in stature and power, but also higher in both strength and agility. Muscles rippled underneath his torn, callused body, which was guarded by thick navy blue fur. His wings were powerful enough to keep him in the air for days without rest, and it was evident by the muscles which coursed throughout his pegasus limbs. With handsome features and the ability to speak French, Equestrian, and Italian, it was no wonder he was considered not only a War Hero, but a Mare Killer as well in their homeland.

        With all that in mind, the smaller pony's cheeks burnt red with shame. His voice faltering, Rudolph stammered, "E.. Es ist gegen den Reiterkrieg Gesetze." [It's against the Equestrian War Laws.]

        Blauesherz smiled devilishly, then started to walk towards the Private. The other soldiers gave Rudolph uneasy looks, laced with sympathetic eyes. The brown stallion tensed up for a moment, expecting to be stricken by the blue pegasus. Instead of a violent approach, however, Blauesherz surprised Rudolph.

        "Woher kommen Sie?" [Where are you from?]

        The Captain never asked anything like that; it was almost friendly! Rudolph looked around him for any support from the neighboring ponies, but none returned his view. They were all trying their best to ignore him, in fact.

        "...Sägebocklin," [Horselin{See what I did there?}] he replied quietly, unsure of what to make of Blauesherz's new demeanor.

        "In der tat," [Indeed.] The pegasus said calmly. Rudolph didn't like this. "Sag mir, ist, dass ziel bei Equestria?" [So, tell me, is that in Equestria?]

        Rudolph, confused, replied with, "Nein." [No.]

        "Dann haben wir nicht, um die Regeln in diesem Ort folgen! Wir sind nicht von hier, also warum seine Regeln?" [Well, we don't have to obey this land's rules if we're not from it! Don't you get it? We make our own.]

        Rudolph shrank in his seat at his Captain's harsh words. Blaues nodded, as if happy with the brown earth pony's response.

        "Kapitän, sehen wir den Ort!" [Captain, we see the destination.]

        The pegasus smiled at the words from the driver's seat of the cargo truck. "Bringen Sie uns in," [Bring us in.] he replied. He then trotted to his seat, and picked up his Panzerfaust, the huge bazooka on his shoulders further pronouncing his bulging muscles.

        "Wir sind hier, um eine Nachricht zu senden," [We are here to send a message.] Herz yelled over the commotion of everypony picking up their weapons. "...die Blofigans nicht auf Regeln Unsere Feinde hören! Töte alles, was einen Impuls hat." [Blofigans do not listen to our enemys' rules! Kill everything that has a pulse, and burn it afterwards!]

        While everypony was cheering and drawing their weapons, Rudolph, in the meanwhile, was putting his hooves up to his chin. He closed his eyes, and muttered a prayer: "Gott verzeih mir"

        [God forgive me.]

-  -  -

        "Fascinating."

        That was the only word that described Deacon for Applebloom. Pure fascination, which caught her attention more than anything else. Where he came from was the biggest mystery. Another continent is unlikely, but possible. Maybe another world? That made sense; nothing about this... person matched any of the Equestrian standards.

        The yellow mare tilted her head on the table, further inspecting the snoring Greer's features. His fuzzy, chestnut hair was not like any style she had ever seen before on even the most bizarre mane styles in Equestria. He had a peach-like colored skin, a small rounded nose, and some sort of thin eyebrows. His circle jaw was accompanied with the same gruffy hair on his head, only smaller and shorter. This was especially unique; only the most masculine ponies bore beards, and they were all full and thick. Either they were there, or not. Deacon was just in between.

        "Imagine if he woke up right now," Applejack grunted as she dozed lazily on the couch, her voice muffled by her hat laying on her face.

        "He seemed pretty tired to me," Applebloom replied, her auburn eyes gliding over the human's face, centimeters away.

        Applejack sighed, removing the admired hat from her face. A lot of things have changed over time, but her sister's curiosity was one of the few artifacts which remained functioning. The orange mare glanced over at her sister, and the tall body of a lying down Deacon.

        AJ wasn't sure about how she felt about the human. Her special talent was the ability to tell the truth from lie all the time. Her skills seemed to diminish when it came to this particular individual. He was a mystery, shrouded in guilt. His back story was the main key of unlocking his chest of secrets, but she doubted she would get it out of him any time soon. Maybe later, but definitely not now.

        Her mind lifted to happier thoughts as her sister lifted a hoof to stroke Deacon's hair. She mentally chuckled as Applebloom worked her hoof in and around Greer's short, chestnut locks. If she didn't know better, Applejack would have thought her sister had developed a crush for the soldier. She hasn't been this interested in a male ever since Pipsqueak grew up.

        Three loud knocks on the door interrupted the peaceful silence.

        "Help!" came a feminine voice from the other side of the door. Applejack stood up immediately. "Please; the Blofigans.. they're trying to kill me."

        Applebloom gave her sister a weary look, mentally asking the obvious question. The latter showed no emotion as she steadily looked back, followed by her walking to the door.

        "Who are you?" Applejack asked, trying her best to make her voice sound threatening.

        There was a whimper from the other side. "My name is Sun Drop.. please let me in. I've been shot."

        The voice sounded young, insomuch Applejack's heart wrenched. She was supposed to ask a security question; something only Equestrians were bound to know, but the filly's pained voice tore a hole in her heart.

        "Please.. they killed my family."

        Both Applejack and Applebloom gasped, shocked at the traumatic news. The older pony's hoof immediately shifted towards the door knob, turned it, then swung the door open.

        What was waiting on the other side of the door was not a filly, however. It was a much taller, broader, and evil looking mare. She had on a black and grey outfit, with a white swastika imprinted on.

        A Blofigan.

        Before anyone could move, a deafening "Bang!" cracked through the air, echoing off the small house's walls. All the occupants' ears rang.

        Applejack's vision blurred as she fell on her side, blood gushing from a new wound on her shoulder. The dark red substance littered the Blofigan mare's face, who was gazing down at her with a stoic expression.

        "APPLEJACK!"

        Applebloom was at her sister's side in an instant. Applejack's eyes were wild, her breath coming out in short shouts and gasps of realization. The younger mare's eyes were wet with tears as she tried her best to put pressure on the bullet hole, maroon colored blood bubbling between her hooves.

        As the sister tried her best to keep Applejack from drifting off, ten or so Blofigans flooded into the house.

        All the soldiers formed a circle around the living room. Then, what looked like the Captain of the group entered the room, heaving a huge bazooka with him. His dark blue, handsome features were partly covered by the hat he wore, decorated with various medals and badges. Muscles bulged from underneath his uniform, placing pink blushes on the female soldiers' cheeks. His mane and tale were adventurous and wild, cyan and black making up their colors.

        He looked around the room, as if inspecting it with his stunning cyan eyes. After a brief snort, he said in his native tongue, "Suchen sie."

        The two Apples in the room watched in horror as they fanned out, lifting couches, breaking valuables, and turning the place upside down.

        The dark blue Captain, instead of joining his comrades, trotted over to the two cowering mares. They both stared up at him, mustering their best gaze of hate.

        He didn't seem wavered by this at the least, and sat down by them, his light blue eyes narrowed, but not hateful. He sighed, taking off his hat and stroking his thick mane.

        "Sorry about that," he said. Both the sisters were surprised he didn't own the Blofigan accent the race was infamous for, but instead had more of a Manehatten voice. "We had to take precautions. Nothing personal." He extended a hoof. "I'm Blauesherz. Or, Blueheart."

       When none of the mares gave him a formal shake, he shrugged, withdrawing the limb.

        Applebloom's gaze drifted from the charming, but evil, stallion in front of her to the table which Deacon was resting on. Or, used to be. The human was nowhere to be seen.

        Blauesherz followed her gaze to the empty table. "Anything I should know about?"

        A short screech came from upstairs, followed by rustling. The sound of furniture and chairs breaking reached their ears, then grunting. Blaues smiled, his gaze not leaving the troubled mares.

        Rainbow Dash was roughly handled down the stairs by two other mares, one bruised on her head. Dash wrestled and tried her best to squeeze her way out, but to no avail.

        "Is there anyone else here?" the Blofigan captain asked.

        None of the mares answered, resorting to giving Blueheart a death stare.

        The latter sighed. "If you won't cooperate, I think I'll have to get a little more personal."

        Without warning, Applebloom was struck by a wicked fast hoof from the stallion. She was catapulted from her position into the arms of a brown stallion, who looked just as shocked as she was. Before she could use his stunning as an advantage, however, he quickly regained his senses and tightened her grip around her.

        Blauesherz was leveling his hoof on her sister's bleeding shoulder when Applebloom looked back. Applejack whimpered and panted hard, trying her best to not show any sign of pain.

        "I said, is there anything I should know?!" he shouted, his demeanor quickly changing from charming to threatening.

        "No!" Applebloom shrieked, her sister's condition catching her offguard.

        "You're lying!" he yelled, stomping down with his hoof on the helpless mare's wound. She cried out in pain as his hoof withdrew, sticky with gore.

        The stallion holding onto her looked physically shaken by the turn of events. His chocolate eyes were wide with fear and sympathy, which gave Applebloom an idea.

        "You.." she said quietly to the stallion holding her. "..can you understand me?"

        After a hesitant nod, Applebloom saw her chance. "Is this what you want? Innocent ponies being tortured and killed?"

        He breathed out slowly, closing his eyes. They were brimmed with tears. "...no."

        "RUDOLPH!" Herz shouted, and the said pony flinched. "SHUT UP! Don't talk to the prisoners, Schwachkopf!"

        Rudolph looked down.

        "You're not a bad pony," Applebloom whispered. "You're a victim of the system which this war has created, just like me."

      "Answer me!" the enraged Captain screeched to the yellow mare. After no response, he stomped down on Applejack's shoulder again. This time, she screamed. Even some of the other Blofigans in the room winced at the ferocity of the attack.

        Rainbow Dash, Applebloom, and Rudolph all choked back a sob for the mare.

        Rudolph sniffed, releasing his grip on the mare. "Release all of us," he whispered. Then, he let her go.

        Applebloom charged forward, barreling into Blueheart. The living room instantly went into chaos, Rainbow Dash and Rudolph turning on the Blofigans around them. The soldiers tried their best to defend themselves, drawing their weapons and punching, but the confusion was great. They fired upon themselves.

        At first, it seemed like a hopeless, final show of rebellion before the inevitable. Until the window shattered, and a nearby Blofigan fell to the floor, lifeless.

        Blaues roughly shoved Applebloom off him. "Sniper! Heckenschütze!" he yelled to his troops, and panic spread throughout the group.

        A hundred meters away, on a secluded hill, Deacon readied himself for another shot. Once the moment presented himself, he fired again, catching another Blofigan in the head. Blood squirted in all directions as the lifeless corpse dropped to the floor, a fraction of its head gone from view. Deacon always hated that part.

        Through his scope, he had a perfect view of the scene. All chaos was loose, Rainbow Dash and the new companion proving to be excellent fighters. His gaze drifted to the window of the kitchen, when he saw Applebloom battling with a dark blue stallion, the black uniform marking him as a target.

        He waited for his moment, for an opening, but the two ponies were a blur. They kept punching, scratching, and biting eachother as they rolled around in the kitchen, plates and utensils of all sorts falling on them. He watched in horror as Applebloom's head was thrown on the corner of a desk, blood covering the sharp marble. When she tried to get up, she was roughly shoved back down.

        Bloodied and bruised, the mare looked every bit of one that's been through Hell. The stallion grabbed a frying pan from the table. Deacon growled as he took his shot. The kick of the weapon in hand made it impossible to see if he hit home or not, and he took a moment to find the window with the narrow scope again.

        Both were on the floor, Applebloom elbowing the other's neck brutally. A couple feet away layed the frying pan, horribly dented.

        Back in the cottage, Applebloom screamed as she threw all of her anger and strength into the blows, trying her best to damage his wind pipe. Blaues roured as he caught her hoof. He then punched it with all his might, almost breaking it in two. Fortunately, all the years of farming and bucking had provided her arms with strong bones.

        Blaues Herz' elbow to her face caught her offguard, and she screamed as she felt her nose break.

        A blow to the head kicked it back to the floor, her ears ringing from the cranial damage. She tried to shield her face, only to be showered by more blows from his powerful hooves. Blood splattered both his hooves and her face.

        His blows stopped as he crawled on top of her. She struggled, but to no avail. He pressed his powerful body against hers, hooves laying her suspended.

        "It could have been over so much quicker," he said as she lay defeated and broken. She could feel his body ground against hers, and instantly knew his motives. Shocked a horrified, she screamed, but it was soon muffled by a rough kiss. His tongue explored her mouth, but was soon bleeding by a bite after a few seconds. Instead of yelping or recoiling, however, the pervert smiled.

        "I'll enjoy using your dead body to my... advantage."

        She sobbed. "You're insane."

        "I've been called that. Along with 'Rapist,' 'Murderer,' and many other things. But, I'm considered a hero in my homeland. Do you know why?" He licked his lips. "Because either nobody knows of my... escapades, or I kill the witnesses." He got up, smiling devilishly down at her. "Don't worry. Your body won't go to waste, Hure" He lifted his hoof for the killing blow.

        All of a sudden, the glass behind him shattered inwards. Blood spurted from Blaues' head as he was instantly propelled forward, dead.

        Applebloom continued to stare wide eyed up at the ceiling, eyes brimmed with tears. She could hear Rudolph coming in, then rushing to her aid. His uniform and hat were both gone, revealing a brown, bloodied coat.

        "We must leave," he whispered in his fractured Equestrian as he hoisted her up.

        Applebloom nodded numbly, not focusing on anything as she weakly followed her brown friend. She never even wanted to look at Blueheart's fresh corpse.

        Rudolph pushed the kitchen door open, revealing a gruesome scene. Corpses of fallen Blofigans, both female and male, littered the floor, gore covering the wooden interior and carpet.  Rainbow Dash sat on the stairs, Applejack leaning on her shoulder. Both mares were equally bloody, although Applebloom was certain the blood on Dash wasn't her own.

        When Applejack saw her sister, she gasped and limped towards her, throwing her a big hug.

        "...what the Faust happened in there, Applebloom?" she whispered, her voice cracking.

        The yellow mare didn't say anything, she just hugged back and sobbed in her sister's shoulder.

        Rudolph, knowing his job was finished, sighed heavily and collapsed on the stairs by Rainbow Dash, who snorted.

        "Hey, Rudolph," she started with a nudge to his side. When he lifted his head, she continued while flicking the blood off her hooves. "What you did back there.. that was really cool. Sorry your Captain was such a jerk."

        Rudolph smiled a little. "Thank you," he replied in his best Equestrian. "And it is okay. We are raised and bred Takt."

        Rainbow tilted her head. "What?"

        "My apologies," he blushed at his false translation. "We are... bet."

        "Uh.. I don't know what you're saying...?"

        "He's trying to say they are beaten while young."

        Dash turned her head to look at Deacon, standing at the doorway with an M1 Garande. "He's implying their race is beaten while young to be taught discipline; he's used to it."

        Rudolph turned toward the human, eyes widening at the tall form of the sniper. "Sie sprechen Deutsch?" he asked, astonished.

        "Ja," Deacon replied. "Mein Name ist Deacon, oder Nathan. Ich bin ein Freund."

        "Wait," Rainbow Dash interrupted. "You speak Blofigan?" But the two were already in deep discussion about something in German.

        "Deacon!" Applebloom limped towards him, looking up at the American.

        The former stopped his conversation with the ex-Blofigan and knelt down to the earth pony. "Are you alri--"

        His sentence was cut off when Applebloom wrapped her arms around him, giving him a huge hug. Deacon faltered, not used to being hugged at such velocity, or hugged at all for that matter. Hands shaky and unsure, he reached up and gave her a gentle squeeze around the back.

        "You saved my life," Applebloom said, smiling brightly. All the ponies in the room's ears pricked.

        "How so?" Applejack asked, sitting on the stairs holding her bleeding shoulder.

        "That sniper," Applebloom started. "The one that was providing support? It was him."

        "Ah," her sister said, smiling through clenched teeth. "Well, that explains that.. but where'd he get the gun?"

        There was the distant sound of a Panzerfaust firing. At first, all the occupants froze, dreadfully hoping they imagined the fateful sound. It was for naught, however, as the whistling sound of a missile sped into hearing length.

"TAKE COVER!" Deacon yelled, tackling Applebloom away as the rest of the ponies dived for safety.

        In a spam of moments, the house was a mess of bright colors, fire, and shrapnel. An ear-deafening boom sounded. Deacon and Applebloom were ripped away in mid-air, propelling them into the wall. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rudolph were more fortunate, although a few pieces of shrapnel hit home, drawing blood.

        After the initial explosion, broken furniture and wood planks were everywhere. The smoke devoured any hope of sight, and the scent was rancid with ash and smoke.

        The three ponies coughed themselves out of their ear-ringing stupor, Applejack gasping at the situation.

        "Deacon!" Rudolph yelled, used to smoke and shrapnel clouding his breathing. "Antwort! Beantwortung!"

        The shifting of rubble a couple yards away was his answer. He rushed over to it while the ponies behind him adjusted to the smoky environment. He pulled, pried, and pushed all the debris off the spot which the rustling was being homed. After a couple seconds of digging, he found a bruised and bloodied yellow coat. He bent down and dragged it out with all his might, the rocks giving way to the shifting position. Within a matter of moments, Applebloom was lying beside him, dusty and broken.

        "Bitte... bitte nicht tot sein," he muttered as he lowered his ear to her chest. There was a beat. He sighed out of relief, and continued digging, coming up with Deacon's shirt collar in his teeth the second time.

        The weight of the human made his muscles strain, biting harder and harder as he dragged the bipedal from the debris. His condition was horrible; he was dusty, bloodied, and (worst of all) was unconscious.

        Applejack and Rainbow Dash came in from behind. The first thing the former did was kneel down and give her sister a huge hug, instantly snapping her out of unconsciousness. She jolted awake, alert, but mellowed when she saw her sister.

        Applejack cried lightly in her sister's shoulder. "Ah'.. thought I lost you, Sis.."

        Applebloom closed her eyes and leaned her head on her sister's shoulder aswell. "I'm here..."

        Meanwhile, Rudolph turned to Rainbow Dash. "You, Rainbow Mane. Come."

        As she trotted over, she mumbled, "You know, I get that you're foreign and can't speak Equestrian very well and all, but it doesn't make that statement sound any better."

        He shrugged off her comment, and leaned close to her. "I am a Field Medic; I can help your wounded friends, but I need their cooperation, along with yours."

        She shuffled awkwardly. "Oh... kay..."

        "Excellent," he said. He moved over to the head of the human lying down. "He is not breathing. I did not want to spread panic throughout the group, so I told you since you look most fit for this job."

        Rainbow Dash deflated instantly, not paying heed to the compliment about her fitness. "He's... dead? ...Oh man, he looked like a cool guy.."

        "No, he is not dead. Only half. I need you to put your hooves on his torso, right below the chest. Yes, that's it. Now press down firmly thirty times."

        After Rainbow Dash followed the task, Rudolph put his mouth on Deacon's cracked and bloodied lips, breathing out warm air.

        "Ew!" Rainbow Dash said, grimacing.

        "It is to immitate breathing, bringing the body back to work. Repeat."

        As they were conversing, Applebloom and Applejack were also mid-conversation.

        "AJ..." the littler one started. "...what happened..?"

        "There was an explosion," Applejacked replied, still hugging her sibling tightly. "Deacon saved you, though. But you took a lot of damage... I should have been there for you."

        The smoke around them died down from light black gas to a thin layer of gray mist. The entire room (excluding Deacon) gasped.

        The farm was demolished, beyond all hopes of repair. A huge hole was blown in the side of the house, with wood planks, family portraits, furniture, and an assortment of other things littering the floor. Small patches of fires and ashes covered the interior. The cold night air whipped in the blown hole, nothing blocking its freezing fingers.

        Applejack shivered when realization hit. "...We need to leave," she said quietly, her voice on the verge of cracking.

        "Where are we going..?" Her yellow sister asked sadly, oblivious to Applejack's true meaning. After no answer, Applebloom gaped at her sister, as if first realizing the implement. "But.. all that we've gone through in this house, all the time we spent in here.." She sniffled a sob. "We just.. can't leave! It's all that we are!" She looked around frantically from her sister to her companions, searching for an agreement. None was found.

        "We have no choice," Applejack said angrily. Her voice cracked as she held back tears, despite her best efforts of holding it back. "That explosion could be heard miles away. Blofigans will be here any second, and I will not risk losing you again. Not like Twilight."

        A jeep pulled up on the horizon, the swastika on its hood shining bright.

        Applebloom stared up at the jeep, shocked at its bad timing. "I.. We..." she sniffled, Applejack walking over to give her a sympathetic hug. The former pushed away. "We could come back when they're done investigating..! I can fix this; I'm good at workmanship!"

        "Stop it!" Applejack yelled, tears brimming her eyes. She hated when she had to show such strong emotion; it made her feel weak and vulnerable. But, if what she was about to go through was inevitable, she couldn't help it. "I'm sorry.. but it's live or die," she said sadly.

        "Okay, well, we have a plan," Rainbow Dash said mockingly. "We abandon all we know: food, water, shelter, and memories included, to go wander around in the Everfree Forest until we rot! Great!" She turned around, facing the massive hole in the wall with hatred. "I guess I can forget all that 'Elements of Harmony' stuff and our good times."

        "That's not what I said," Applejack growled at the cyan pony, aware of her sister's tearful state. "Don't make this any harder than it has to be." She looked uneasily at the car parked on the horizon, the occupants fanning out to scout the area. "Please."

        Dash grunted, a hint of sadness in her maroon eyes. "Fine." She said simply. "But there is one more problem... who's carrying Deacon?"