World War Pony

August 5th, 1943

Troina, Italy

Pvt. Applejack

It seemed like a normal day in the hills of Troina. The sun shown brightly as the summer air seemed perfect. The tall hillsides loomed high and above, it was a great scenery. But, for the 26th Infantry, it was a bloody ground of bullets and burnt souls. For three days, they've held the position from constant German artillery, food was low, and casualties were rising. Applejack had been around the area for a while, but, she still has yet to fire her weapon. Applejack had a toughen exterior, but never had the thought of killing another living thing. She just sat in her foxhole, jotting down her experiences and the general gist of what was happening. In her journal was a picture of her and her two siblings, Applebloom and Big Mac. She felt her emotions run through her heart as the recent memories of the times they had flood her body. She closed her eyes, hoping to get them out of her head, but she couldn't. Applebloom's sweet yellow face kept a crystal clear image in her head, her smile, her looks, Applejack missed her little sister a lot. She opened her eyes once more and took a deep breathe. She looked around the hills and around her squad mares. She put the journal away and pulled out a cigarette, Equestrian Redwoods. She pulled out her lighter and inhaled the stick of nicotine. As she exhaled with a deep breathe of satisfaction, she heard the sound of hoofsteps behind her.

"How you holding up AJ?" asked the pony. Applejack looked up, it was Sergeant Colgate of her platoon.

"I'm fahne Sarge, you?" said Applejack.

"Doin' good. We're pretty spread thin though, changelings cut off our supply route. We have told hold this position for as long as possible."

"Gotcha Sarge."

"Okay AJ. Keep your head down." Colgate ran off to another foxhole. Applejack then looked back by the hills, as she watched the slight wind blow her mane back. She took out her journal once more and grabbed her pencil. She thought hard about what she would write, but as she just thought of what to write, she heard a whirring sound from the air. It was soft at first, but grew louder as it approached. Applejack turned around and heard a pony shout: "Mortars!" Applejack dove down in her fox hole and grabbed her rifle, an M1 Garand. The ground shot up and shook with every mortar impact that shot up. The dirt kicked up and fell down to the ground seconds later. It felt like an eternity of explosions. it was like the end of the world for Applejack. She crouched down in her fox hole deeper, as she heard the constant sounds of her comrades shouting.

"Changeling's in the open. Take 'em out!" shouted a pony, and a volley of gun fire shot in the air. Applejack remained ducked down in her foxhole, the gun fire frightened her dearly. She began to hyperventilate as she closed her eyes tighter and tighter.

"No!" she shouted repeatedly, wanting out of the place. She tried to dig herself deeper down into her foxhole, dodging the bullet fire even farther. Finally, she felt a hoof try to pull her up, it was Colgate, standing up tall with her rifle.

"C'mon private! Get up, show 'em that you've got some guts!" shouted Colgate. Applejack grabbed her rifle and held it in her hooves.

"That's it Applejack! You can do it! Raise your weapon AJ! Look 'em down the sights and fire, you can do it AJ! C'mon!" Applejack looked down the sight of her rifle as her hooves shook with nerves. Finally, she fired off a round. The gun spat out a round with a distinctive crack. She pulled the trigger once more, another round fired off. She kept pulling the trigger with each shot, the recoil jolting her forward a bit, but she remained stable for the most part. As she pulled the trigger, the gun didn't respond. As if it was instinct, she pulled the bolt back of her rifle to clear the jam. Then, she fired off the round. The gun ended it's magazine with a distinctive ping noise, and the clip ejected out of the gun. The ping was that metallic noise that sounded completely out of place in a war zone, much like bell in a silent town. Applejack felt a hoof on her shoulder, once more, it was Colgate.

"That's how you do it AJ! Keep up the fire! Lay it on 'em AJ!" she shouted. Applejack watched Colgate fire off her rifle. That same one as hers. She grabbed an ammo clip and loaded it into her rifle, she smacked the bolt forward as she raised the rifle again. Once again, she fired off more rounds. One after another, Applejack felt the power course through her body as she kept on firing. Applejack was like a machine, spitting out one round after another and when she wasn't firing, she was reloading her rifle. Before she knew it, Applejack felt something knock her down. She collapsed on the ground and pushed the thing off of her. She looked down at what landed on her. Her emotions began to course through her body once more. She from feeling power to feeling anger. She looked down at Colgate's bloody body. Applejack began to feel the anger course through her body. She loaded her rifle once more and ran out of her foxhole. She ran down the hill, the whistle of bullets passing her head surrounded her as every changeling was aiming at this orange pony. Applejack didn't think anything of it as she fired off another round of her rifle. With every shot, the Garand spat out one round after another. Applejack could feel the rush of adrenaline pulse through her body as she charged towards the nearest group of changelings. She gave off an evil, crazed smile as she drew closer and closer to the wall of changelings.

"Go, get out of there!" they shouted as Applejack smacked one across the face with the butt of her rifle. The changelings fired off random shots hoping to hit the crazed mare, but she didn't flinch one bit. They ran down the line and back up into the hills as they tried to fend for themselves. Applejack raised her rifle, and one by one, a changeling would fall to the ground. The sweat ran down her face the longer she ran. She breathed heavier and heavier the closer she came to the next changeling, and exerting all of her anger on each one she caught. She reloaded one more time to find she was out of ammo from her Garand. One by one, she fired off round after round, until the eighth round where the gun spat out the metallic clip.

"Y'all bettah run yah pussies!" she shouted as the changelings escaped into the woods. Applejack began to feel herself calm down, the rush was over. She dropped her rifle and looked behind her. In her path laid a pile of dead changeling bodies. Her emotions began to get the better of her once more, as she began to feel the pain of her kills enter her body. She fell on the ground as she tried to get the thoughts out of her head. She screamed once more and everything went blurry. Applejack rocked back and forth, trying to get her sight picture back, but she couldn't. She saw the familiar green uniforms trot up near her, as she tried to trot back to them. The last thing Applejack would see was the ground closing in on her as she fell down. Her world then turned pitch black, she felt nothing anymore. No pain, no headache, no agony. Nothing.