Chapters Prologue: The Blood starts to flow
The Equestrian Civil War
Prologue
Equestria was in a blitz of technology. Cars, gunpowder and armoured war machines were created in a mere decade, already Equestria had near perfected Tanks, Machine Guns, and armoured warfare. It's chief industrial center Stalliongrad, was having political problems during this time, such as citizens rioting due to water and food rationing during the winter months being too strict and rising hostility towards Royal Guards that were stationed there. The councillors of Stalliongrad and Trottingham were demanding that the royal guard companies up north be recalled. However Celestia quickly denied that demand, saying that the Guard was there to keep the peace and the problems had been escalating ever since. She had even received a letter threatening for Stalliongrad to split off from Equestria and form it's own City-State. These were troubling times for Celestia. But her problems were just beginning.
It was a bright and sunny day in Canterlot as Princess Celestia, sat in her throne room going over the day's schedule. She was finishing up the last of her royal duties when Shining Armour burst in and yelled “Princess Celestia! We’ve lost contact with Lieutenant Steel Spear and the rest of his company up north in Stalliongrad!”
“Have you tried contacting his squads in Trottingham and Trotronto? “ Celestia asked. “ Yes your highness, but they won’t respond either! Shall I gather a company of Guards to make sure the cities are OK?” Shining asked. “That will not be ness-” Celestia was saying as another guard bust into the throne room.
“Your majesty. Forgive my intrusion, but there is something that requires your immediate attention.”
“Very well, Shining come with us.” Celestia said.
“Yes your majesty.”
Walking through Canterlot in the midst of the day, with only a single guard and the guard Captain, the citizens of Canterlot murmured to each other over what could cause the Princess to walk down Mane street in broad daylight? She made plenty of public appearances so whatever was going on must be extremely serious. Celestia walked onto the battlements in front of the main gate to find a pair of Guards pointing their MP44s at a truck with a handful of raggedy looking stallions with rifles in hand and just as raggedy looking uniforms, unlike the cleaner and more sharp looking Royal Guard uniforms, sitting in the back and standing around. Celestia counted about five of these strange ‘soldiers’. She pointed her head over the wall and said “Who are you, that seek entrance into Canterlot armed like that?”
As she said this a Stallion stepped out of the truck’s cabin, wearing a dark tan uniform befitting of an officer of sorts. He wore a cap on his head brandishing a bright red star. “We are from the Equestrian Communist Military, and I come bearing a message!” the stallion said as he pulled a bag from his truck “Here!” he laughed as he threw it up to Celestia, “This is all the message you need!”
Celestia caught the bag with her magic, a soft glow emanating from her horn. She grabbed the bag and opened it up immediately gagging from the smell and sight. The stallion sneered “I’m sorry about your Lieutenant's, early retirement!” The stallion and his comrades laughing as the Princess emanated pure fury and hatred.
“Kill the guards, keep their officer alive.” The guards nodded, firing bursts from their MP44s. The soldiers were immediately cut down by the rapid fire. Before the Communist Officer could escape however, Shining Armour put a bullet into his leg, courtesy of his Luger pistol.
“Drag that bastard in, interrogate him for everything he knows and bring him back to Stalliongrad, bearing this message. I will not stand by as some batch of rebels slaughter my subjects, prepare for war.” Celestia told Shining. “Yes Ma’am” he responded barking out her orders to the guards.
Celestia walked back to her bedchambers and simply started crying, how could anypony be so cruel? Now she would have to inform the families of over 100 guards about their Fathers/ Sons/ Brothers/ Husbands murder by a band of rebels looking for a change in regime. Celestia let out a sigh as she got up from her seat and thought to herself ‘Better start planning, hope I’m not too rusty when it comes to waging war...’
Shining Armour sat in a Royal Army SdKfz 251 as it sped across Equestria. About 4 Guards sat with their Captain and the unconscious Communist officer. One guard lent forward toward Shining and asked "Who the hell are these guys Captian? They just showed up with the head of Lieutenant Steel Spear. Who do they think they are?" Shining shook his head and replied "I don't know Private, but these guys are damn serious."
The SdKfz pulled to a stop, the driver turning around and saying "We're here, be careful these guys sure as hell don't look friendly.."
Shining Armour walked out with his squad behind him, "Remember, we're just here to deliver the HVT, if they start shooting we pull back to the half-track and get the hell out of here." A round of 'Yes sir's' went through the squad as they got closer to the outskirts of Trottingham. Shining looked up and saw the familiar glint of a sniper scope in a 4-story building, and he saw a machine gun aiming in their general direction. The squad was getting nervous but they showed none of their fear as they approached the enemy frontline. A squad of Rebels walked up, carrying long stick like guns, with a flat drum on top, Shining figured it was an LMG of some kind. The lead soldier held up his hand and Shining's squad stopped. The soldier asked in his thick accent "What do you want, royal pigs, walking calmly up to our front takes one hell of a pair." Shining simply said "We're here to deliver this officer-" who was kicked towards the rebels, the officer quickly scrambled behind the soldiers, "-and a formal declaration of war from the Princess, we will now take our leave, good day gentlecolts."
Shining and his squad took 10 steps back and the rebel MG opened fire. "MOVE DAMMIT MOVE!!" Shining yelled as his squad ran back down the road toward their half-track. Shining heard a yelp behind him as he saw the Private from earlier fall to the ground, a bullet through his leg. He looked up at his Captain and yelled "GO, I'LL HOLD THEM OFF!" He turned and opened fire on the rebels, some of the rebel fire relented, but the MG kept firing. Shining ordered the half-track to cover the private as they picked him up, but when he turned to look, the young stallion was already dead, blood and shell casings all around his body. As the SdKfz left to head back to Canterlot, Shining solemnly thought, 'How many more young Stallions and Mares are going to die before this war ends?' He barely knew the half of what was to come...
Author's Note
Hey, this is CanadianPony and this is the prologue of my first every story! Now if you liked it I would like to draw your attention to the list below
The more motivated I am, the more I will update this story. I have the whole thing planned up already but I need to actually write the chapters. So if you liked it, leave a comment saying that you did, or didn't like it, give some constructive criticism. No being an ass please. Or just simply like the story, 'tis all I'm asking
if you so wish, you may send me OCs. RULES: No alicorns, god-like beings, characters with crazy powers or relatives of the Mane 6, or other major characters. Your OC has to be someone from any of the other cities and towns and you need to say which faction they are apart of, the Communist Rebels or the Royal Army. Also, your OC may be killed, so heads-up!
If you want, I will put links on my account for what the Royal army and Communist rebels use throughout the story. All weapons and vehicles are from WW2. Don't hate me...
Well that's all I wanted to say, hope you all have lot's of fun reading this as I have setting it up! CanadianPony OUT!
Twilight sat in a train car climbing it's way up to Canterlot. She had received letters from her brother about a 'Situation' up North, as well as multiple reports of Anti-Celestia protests, riots and other nasty things. Whispers of war were spreading like wildfire and Twilight wanted to ask Celestia herself just what was going on.
As the train got closer to Canterlot Twilight started to finally take notice of her surroundings. There were very few others in the car and the only one that stood out was a familiar dark Pegasus with Amber eyes. As she walked closer she noticed he was wearing a grey uniform and holding something in front of himself and trying to keep it unnoticed. "Hi Thunderlane!'" Twilight said "What are you doing here?"
Hearing Twilight's voice caused Thunderlane to jump and say "Twilight! Didn't expect to see you here! So what's up?"
"Nothing much, just trying to get some answers about all these 'war' rumors, and..." She trailed off as she looked at Thunderlane's uniform closer, taking note of patches on his sleeve that she remembered her brother showing her years ago. Private rank... 4th Rifle Division, Charlie company..."Wait... you're a Soldier now?"
Thunderlane chuckled "Yep, just got out of Boot Camp a couple of weeks ago and now we're transporting a new batch of recruits up here to Canterlot.." He stopped for a second, realizing his mistake "Oh shit, Shouldn't have told you that.."
Twilight was a little nervous about hearing the whole 'New recruits' and 'shouldn't have said that' things from Thunderlane. "So the rumors are true? We're at war?"
Thunderlane rubbed the back of his neck as he replied, "Yes actually, after a diplomatic mission up north to Stalliongrad left a royal guard dead and the murder of the northern contingents of guards, Celestia officially declared civil war on the newly formed Equestrian Communist Rebellion about... Four months ago."
Twilight could barely believe what she was hearing, happy Equestria, which had seen peace for over 1000 years, was having a war, a civil war no less. Twilight was outraged at the audacity of this Communist Rebellion! How dare they murder innocents to only gain independence which Celestia would have allowed without a fuss! The Crystal Empire was a grand example as they had gained independence 1500 years beforehand! Twilight looked down at Thunderlane and said, with as much anger she could muster, "Where do I sign up?"
Twilight stepped off the train with Thunderlane where a very unhappy looking officer was standing "PRIVATE THUNDERLANE!" He bellowed "WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE GODDESS WERE YOU DOING BLABBING OFF COUNTRY SECRETS TO CIVILIANS?!" Thunderlane shrank in his uniform and held his rifle (Which Twilight finally took note of being a recently added weapon to the royal army, a Gweher 43 rifle she assumed) in a alerted position, pointed downwards as he meekly said "Sorry Lieutenant, She's an old friend from Ponyville and I didn't catch myself until it was too late."
The Lieutenant slumped a little as he looked at Thunderlane and, speaking lower, said "What am I going to do private? I just can't keep forcing you to take up bathroom and mess duty all day or make you run laps... Just get out of here."
"Yes Sir!" Thunderlane said before he walked over to the rest of what Twilight assumed to be his squad before the Lieutenant looked over to her. "Now, young lady, what did he say to you?" Twilight looked at him and simply said "we're at war and I'm going to join up to help as much as I can!" The Lieutenant wore a big smile at this and gave a loud, quick laugh exclaiming "That's what I like to hear! Now get in line with the rest of the recruits and prepare to move out!"
As Twilight ran into the mass of recruits she noticed a familiar head of Rainbow hair and found Rainbow Dash standing in the mass tapping her foot. Twilight smiled and said "Hey Dash! joining up as well?" Dash smiled back and replied "Yep! Gotta show my Loyalty somehow and figured this was the best way, also why are you here?"
"I heard that Equestria was at war, and I decided that every body would be needed, so why not?" Dash just laughed and said "Well, no matter what, we are going to leave this together." she said as she held up her right arm. "Together." Twilight said gripping Dash's arm with her own as the mass of recruits was told to move out.
Author's Note
So Chapter 1! Where Twilight and Rainbow head out to begin their journey in this crazy war!
So, as normal, Any and all comments are welcome, questions too and thanks to everyone who is reading this,. Honestly it means a lot that even one person takes the time out of their life to read what I write!
CanadianPony, OUT!
Twilight aimed through her G43's rifle sights, aiming clear for her target's head she slowly inhaled, exhaled, pulled the trigger... and missed. Twilight swore as she stood up, her rifle instructor shrugging behind her. "Sorry Twilight, but I can't get you into the Royal Guard divisions if you can't hit that target." He gestured to the target Twilight missed, that was about 100 meters away, he turned back. "If you can't hit that the Royal Guard doesn't want you."
Twilight nodded and handed the rifle to her instructor. "Thank you sir, I understand, gotta head off now, don't want to miss roll call and my posting." Her instructor patted her on the back, smiling. "Don't you worry Twilight. I've put in a good word for you so you can get into the more decorated divisions, maybe you'll be shipped right up to the front."
Twilight thanked her instructor again and headed off to the mess hall. Five weeks have passed since she and Rainbow Dash joined up, already Twilight was feeling more fit and strong, remembering her first few days being hell and quickly adapting to her situation, helped put everything in perspective. She'll be sent to the front tomorrow to help fight this rebellion, and she couldn't be more nervous and excited.
As Twilight entered the mess hall, she spotted Rainbow Dash talking with two new soldiers sat at their usual spot. They always meet in the same spot at around the same time to discuss whatever was relevant, like recent news from the front, back home, or other squad-members that do particularly stupid things in front of superiors. Twi and Dash were in different courses, Twilight being in the infantry while Dash became a tank crew member. She passed her command courses and showed to be quite an effective tank commander in practice battles. So Rainbow would be given her own tank and crew ot join one of the Armoured Divisions. Twilight walked up and asked. "Hey Dash, who are these two?"
Dash looked up and smiled at Twilight. "Hey Twilight, these two are members of my tank crew Gearshift, my driver." She motioned to the gray Pegasus mare with brown hair and blue eyes to her left. "And this is Gunpowder, my loader, but we just call him Twitchy due to him having a nervous tick." She gestured to the black stallion with gray hair and brown eyes sitting in front of her, He quickly gave Rainbow a glare as Gearshift just laughed, "I told you to not blab about that to every one we meet! I mean having it is bad enough but the nickname? That's just mean."
Gearshift kept laughing as Dash replied with. "It's all in good humor Gunpowder, it's just Twitchy will be easier to say in combat." Gunpowder still looked angry about that but dropped the point. Dash turned back towards Twilight. "So, introductions out of the way, Twi take a seat, have you heard from Ponyville recently?"
"The usual. Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy miss us greatly and Applejack still isn't back from visiting Family up to Stalliongrad." Twi replied
"You think something happened to her?" Dash asked. "No idea." Replied Twilight. "But she's probably just stuck in the city as the rebels won't let anyone in or out."
"Yeah, seems like that would be the case." Dash looked up at the clock and a wave of shock passed over her face and turned back. "We gotta go, we're being shipped out in 3 hours!" Twilight, Gearshift and Gunpowder all got the message and rushed back to their bunks to pack up their stuff before they were called for roll call and sent to the front or other postings.
As Twilight joined up with her squad of recruits she focused intently on her Drill Sergeant as he called out names and units. "Privates Sunshine, Twilight, and Wafer, you'll be in 7th Rifles division. Report to Commander Blueblood on the double!" As Twilight moved along with twenty other recruits into a train car headed for the forward base of 5th, 6th and 7th Divisions, one thought entered her mind, Isn't Blueblood that pompous ass Rarity met 2 years ago. Well shit...
Author's Note
And that's chapter two. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. CanadianPony, OUT!
Twilight crossed the parade grounds where the rest of her platoon was still standing and awaiting deployment. As she got closer to the train she noticed a few officers directing recruits to other sections of the train. She walked up to a brown earth pony wearing the standard issue gray uniform of the Royal Army. He had a brown mane sticking out of his cap and kind blue eyes. He had the silver bars of a 2nd lieutenant on his lapel. He smiled at them and spoke in a slight Trottingham accent "Good morning you three! Which division are you heading to?"
"We are heading to 7th division sir!" Twilight saluted as did Wafer and Sunshine behind her.
"Great!" He smiled. "Always looking to meet the new blood before their shipped off!" He pointed to a train car not far from where they were standing. "Might be a room for you three in there, long as you don't mind an unknown roommate, either way, welcome to the 7th Royal Rifles! I'm Lieutenant Turner by the way! I'll be your commanding officer till we get to the front!" He returned the salute and dismissed them.
The three started walking toward their car when Wafer, a brown earth pony buck with brown eyes and a white mane, piped up, "Hey which company do you think we'll be shipped off too? Delta? Those guys are always doing something interesting from what I hear."
Sunshine, a yellow unicorn mare with amber eyes and an orange mane, rolled her eyes and replied. "Yeah but their stuck doing all the heavy lifting and the Rebels are hell bent on taking every position we fortify if half of the stories we hear are true. I'd rather be in Fox company. Those guys are sent in to take care of everything, from towns and cities to ridges and farmland. That's where we'll see some real action!"
"What about you Twilight? Which company do you think we'll be stuck in?" Twilight thought for a second before she replied with "Echo."
Immediately both her companions mouths dropped. "Echo? The Panzer grenadiers? THE STROMTROOPERS? You're crazy!" Wafer managed to get out. "Yeah!" Sunshine replied with. "Those guys are the best of the best!" No way In hell we are being placed in there!"
Twilight shrugged and climbed into the car and found the nearly empty room leaving her companions behind. It was a decently small room with four bunks and a trunk below to store their duffel bags and Stahlhelm helmets. Twilight started to put her stuff in a trunk when a sudden movement behind her caused her to whip her head around to see who was inside the room.
It was a unicorn stallion with a sandy coat, tan mane and green eyes, wearing the grey uniform of the Army and with a pair of goggles sitting on the rim of his Stahlhelm. He smiled meekly before he said "Hi, I'm Wiretap, member of the 7th Rifles Delta company Pioneers. It's a pleasure Miss?" He held out his hand for a handshake.
Twilight quickly regained her composure and took his hand replying "Twilight Sparkle, 7th Division, who the hell knows." Wiretap looked at her strangely and said "If your in this car your in Delta company, surely Lieutenant Turner sent you here?"
Twilight though about it and the asked "Brown mane and coat, Blue eyes?" Wiretap nodded and Twilight groaned "Great, I'm stuck in Delta when I wanted to be in at least Fox." She finished placing her stuff in the trunk and climbed up on the upper bunk, opposite of Wiretap. At that point an excited Wafer and an annoyed Sunshine walked in "Hey Twilight we're in-" "Delta, I know Wafer, throw your shit in a trunk and take a bunk, it's gonna be a long ride to the front." With a groan of 'Spoil-sport' from Wafer he and Sunshine put their duffels in their own trunks and took their bunks. Wafer got the one over Wiretap and Sunshine took the one beneath Twilight. As the others started to talk amongst each other, Twilight closed her eyes and tried to go off to sleep. Hope I get to see some action soon was the last thought in twilight's mind before she drifted off to sleep.
Author's Note
Chapter 3! I hoped everyone liked it! as always leave a like or comment on what you liked/ didn't like! Just don't be an ass please! Also sorry for the wait, just never got around to writing this one...
CanadianPony, out!
Chapter 4: Welcome to the front
Twilight awoke with a start after the train had stopped and someone knocked on the door and announced. "Everyone gather your gear and meet Lieutenant Turner outside for transport to the front." Twilight climbed down from her bunk, nearly knocking over Sunshine in the process.
"Hey! Watch it!" Sunshine exclaimed, after Twilight nearly hit her in the side of the head with her boots. "Sorry.." Twilight apologized before grabbing her duffel and marching out of her room, followed by Wafer, Wiretap, and Sunshine. As Twilight left the train, she looked around and started looking at the buildings around her. To say they were damaged was an understatement. Nearly every building she saw was damaged in some way, some only had bullet holes in the wall, all the way to being utterly demolished and filling the nearby streets with rubble. As Twilight kept looking around she finally noticed Turner, standing next to a trio of SdKfz's. Another Trooper stepped in front of Twilight and her companions. He was a Black Stallion with a bright orange mane and orange eyes. He looked them over before asking, "You three for Delta company?" Twilight noticed the Corporal chevrons on his arm, and she nodded "Yes sir. We were told to report to Lieutenant Turner for deployment."
The Corporal smiled, "Well, let's get a move on then! Name's Burner. Welcome to Haliflanks!" Twilight, Wafer, Wiretap, and Sunshine followed Burner to the lead SdKfz and climbed in. Twilight looked back as more recruits climbed into the other two halftracks. Turner jumped in and called to the drivers "Let's get a move on gents, we got a war to fight!" The halftracks started moving through the city streets, passing barricades, and other units setting up defensive emplacements or moving supplies to where they were needed. As they passed through Turner started to brief them, "Alright, here's the situation, Delta is holding one of the many main routes deeper into the city. We have been able to push the Rebels all the way to the edge of town, but they are damn persistent. We are currently holding position in a square, keeping the Rebels out of the central sections of the city and the rest of the division. Once we get the order from command, we'll launch a counter attack and kick the Rebels out of Haliflanks once and for all. Now, questions?" Wafer raised his hand. "Yes Private?"
Wafer gulped before asking "Am I the only one who hears a whistling noise?" Turner's and Burner's eyes opened in shock "KATYUSHAS! GET US MOVING FASTER N-" Turners words were drowned out by multiple explosions around the little convoy. Everyone ducked their heads down as debris started flying over the halftrack and bouncing off it's armor. Twilight looked back just In time to see the halftrack directly behind them explode in a massive fireball. The rear halftrack pushed through the wreckage of it's fallen brother as the rocket strike died down. Everyone was breathing heavily before Turner called out, "Roll call! Who'd we lose?"
The driver looked back and replied "We lost Sergeant Hard Tack's truck and Corporal Dusty is reporting two casualties, wounded only, no deaths." "Fuck, we needed all the soldiers we need, Tack was a good trooper. Burner you'll take over Tack's squad... Burner?" Twilight looked up at Burner and noticed a piece of wood piercing his right eye, his body slumped over. Wafer lost his lunch over the side of the halftrack as the others looked in shock. One minute he was welcoming them to his company and helping Turner with his briefing, now he had a piece of wood jutting out of his eye, blood and pus seeping out of the wound. Twilight barely knew him. What did he like and dislike? Did he have a family? What did he do before the war broke out? Twilight would never know as the stallion with all the answers was dead in front of her.
Turner sighed as he closed Burner's remaining eye and took off his dog tags, quietly whispering "It never gets easier.." He looked back over the four new recruits in his care. "Alright, Twilight and Wafer, you respond to Sergeant Brass Badge of my platoon, Wiretap you report directly to Captain Blueblood for assignment. Sunshine, you'll report to Lance Corporal Blazer in 3rd platoon."
The driver looked back. "Lieutenant Turner, we made it to Harbor square. Time to leave, we need this thing empty so we can evacuate the wounded." As everyone jumped out of the halftrack Twilight noticed a very familiar buck. His white coat shone beneath his uniform and his golden mane was hidden under his cap with a very shiny looking Captains badge. Perfect target for a sniper Twilight though as she noticed the badge glint in the sunlight. "Lieutenant Turner, care to explain why I let you take three halftracks to pick up reinforcements and you only return with two?" Turner looked down as Blueblood chewed him out. "Need I remind you that this army doesn't have the time or resources to replace so much at once. You better have a good damn reason to have lost that halftrack and all the reinforcements inside." Turner looked Blueblood right in his eyes and responded. "Sir, on the way, as I was briefing our new troopers we were hit by a sudden Katyusha strike, Sergeant Hard Tack's halftrack went down after a direct strike and Corporal Dusty reports two wounded, we also lost Corporal Burner." Blueblood was fuming. "HOW DARE YOU LET THE REBELS KILL SOME OF MY BEST MEN AND DAMAGE ROYAL ARMY EQUIPMENT!' He visibly calmed down after his rant. "You're lucky that you're a decent enough officer or I'll have you sent to an Osstrupen battalion." With that, he turned around and marched towards a tent in the centre of the square.
Turner sighed heavily before turning around to regard to Twilight and the other recruits. "You'll learn to hate that guy, he's a shit tactician and the only reason he has those captain bars is that he has friends in the higher ups. He literally bought his position at the head of this company and everyone has been paying for it in blood." He looked back up and motioned over to a large building near a side road. "3rd Platoon is holed up there, holding our left flank." Sunshine and couple others broke off and started marching towards the building he pointed to. He pointed to the tent that Blueblood entered. "If your looking for 1st or 4th platoon, there somewhere near the command tent, 4th just look for the mortars." Wiretap and a small amount of the recruits left for the command tent. Twilight, Wafer and three more troopers looked back over to Turner. "Rest of you follow me, we are right on the front so you'll probably see some action today." Twilight and Wafer exchanged a look, they both nodded. They wanted revenge for all the soldiers on that halftrack and for Burner. They followed Turner to the main road, it was filled with debris and sandbags to form a defensive line facing what Twilight assumed was the Rebel line.
Turner pointed out different squad positions for the others as Twilight and Wafer waited for Turner to point out their squad. He looked at the two and gestured them to follow him. They walked towards a group of soldiers next to an MG42 perched on a raised portion of debris acting as a stand. Immediately all the soldiers looked up and one mare with Sergeant chevrons on her arm called out to the rest "Lieutenant's back, attention!" All the soldiers stood at attention but kept smiles on their face at the sight of their commanding officer. Turner saluted back and gestured to the gathering of soldiers in front of them. "This is your new squad! Say hello to Sergeant Brass Badge," He gestured to the Sergeant who was an earth pony with a copper coat and shiny orange mane with orange eyes. "Lance Corporal Hardhat" A yellow earth pony buck with a brown mane and green eyes. "Private Windstorm" A blue Pegasus buck with a white mane and bright blue eyes. "and your HMG crew Corporal Belt Feed and Privates Cane and Brick" Belt Feed was a gray Unicorn mare with a dirty yellow mane and brown eyes, Cane was a white earth pony with a green and white striped mane and green eyes and Brick was a HUGE earth pony stallion with a red coat, red mane, and weirdly enough, mauve eyes like Rainbow Dash.
Looking over the gathering of soldiers in front of her, Twilight stepped forward and introduced herself. "My name is Private Twilight Sparkle and this is-" "I'm Private Chocolate Wafer! Ready to serve!" Twilight kept her smile on even if she was slightly ticked about being interrupted. "Where do we put our stuff?" Wafer asked. Hardhat gave a laugh and pointed towards some holes in the ground that Twilight assumed were craters. "Throw your stuff in a foxhole and get a tarp ready if it rains. When your done, come sit with us by the barricade, in case the Rebels show up." As Twilight and Wafer walked towards the collection of foxholes before Brass Badge piped up. "Oh yeah! Welcome to the Eastern Front!"
Author's Note
Chapter 4! Finally some interesting stuff happened and this chapter is the longest one yet! AND YOU ONLY HAD TO WAIT 4(ish) DAYS FOR ME TO FINISH IT! Aren't I kind? Anyways expect all future chapters to be about this long and as I said in the prologue, if you guys want your OC or have any character ideas to go in this, PM me and I'll happily accept all (*cough* no alicorns *cough*) OCs and put them in somewhere. WARNING: They'll likely bite the dust so if your ok with that send em in!
Thanks for reading! CanadianPony OUT!
Chapter 5: First taste of Combat
Twilight and Wafer started walking through the foxholes behind the barricade, occasionally apologizing to other soldiers whom they almost dropped their equipment on, thinking the foxhole was empty. Finally they found an empty one and settled in. It was far from comfortable, but stray bullets wouldn't strike them and snipers couldn't hit them when they were sleeping. As soon as Twilight was comfortable, she heard someone yelling quiet loudly. She peeked out of her foxhole and determined it was coming from farther down the street. A soldier in the closest foxhole let out a curse and quickly ran over to the wall. Twilight finally figured it out. The Rebels were likely making another push soon. She turned and looked at Wafer. "Come on, I think the Rebels will make another push soon. Grab your stuff and let's get to the others." Wafer nodded and grabbed his standard issue Gewehr 43 and jumped out of the foxhole. Twilight quickly followed and they ran to the rest of their squad.
Twilight crouched down next to Brass Badge "Sarge, what's going on?" Brass looked back and replied. "Rebels are pushing again. Rookie, you are not going to believe how crazy these bastards are. Reports and letters do little to prepare you for the actual thing." Twilight was confused. "What do you mean?" "Listen carefully and keep your rifle downrange, shoot at anything carrying a rifle that is not wearing a Royal army uniform and pray they don't breakthrough."
Twilight was just about to ask what she meant when she finally heard a slight change in the background yelling. "For the Rodina! For true Equestria! URA!" That was followed by a ground shaking reply of "URA!" and with that Twilight saw a wave of bodies charging down the street from a rough barricade, similar to what she was behind but not as well maintained, as machine gun and rifle fire started flying towards her line. She heard Turner yelling to the rest of the platoon behind her. "Don't let those bastards break through! The rest of the Division is counting on us! The Princesses are counting on us to hold them here!" Gunfire started to fly from Twilights side and Twilight started firing as well. When her rifle clicked empty, she loaded another mag and kept firing. She heard the yells of dying soldiers all around her. Some dropped with nary a sound, while others fell screaming in agony as bullets impacted shoulders, legs and guts, their hosts bleeding out as medics attempted to keep them calm so they could patch up the poor soldiers. When Twilight looked out towards no man's land she was shocked with what she saw. being in the middle of a routine she didn't quite notice just how brutal the assault was on the Rebels. Bodies lay strewn in the street. But still the Rebels kept fighting. Suddenly there was a deep rumbling as a tank busted through the rubble of a nearby house. During Twilight's time on the base and from Rainbow Dash telling her about each tank she drove and tried out, she knew this wasn't one of theirs. She opened her mouth and yelled "T-34! Get down!" Immediately the tank's turret started moving as most of the platoon ducked down. One trooper broke off and started running towards HQ as the T-34's MG opened up on him. rounds struck the ground around him but he made it to the rear line trenches. The machine guns kept firing, pinning down the rebels. The tank rotated to the far turret position. Brass Badge ran up to Belt Feed and started yelling. "Move that goddamn HMG! I am not losing another member of this squad to stupidity!" Brick and Cane started packing up the MG42 as Brass dragged Belt Feed kicking and screaming from the gun position. There was a sudden boom that made Twilight look over to the other nest. There was nothing left but a pile of rubble and, Twilight nearly puked, an arm that was still wielding a destroyed MP40. Brass smacked Belt over the helmet and yelled. "THAT COULD HAVE BEEN YOU! SMARTEN UP" And with that she was plopped down next to Windstorm as Brass crawled over next to Twilight. "I swear, if I die before that mare, drinks are on me in Hell."
A sudden whistling overhead made twilight freeze. It sounded like the Katyusha strike from earlier that killed Burner. Twilight hugged herself close as she imagined the rockets tearing her and her platoon to shreds, the eventual letter sent home to her parents and her BBBFF Shining. She realised her mistake of joining the army. But the rockets didn't hit her position, she heard the explosions behind her. She poked her head over the wall and saw the dust being thrown up by mortar fire striking the tank and Rebel infantry. Quite suddenly a mortar round struck the top of the T-34 and it exploded, sending metal shrapnel flying over the street and wounding a few Rebels. After the tank went up in flames the Rebels started turning tail and retreating. The whole day was filled with shocking and disturbing sights, but none would haunt Twilight more then the Rebel machine gun teams firing upon the retreating soldiers. Twilight just stood there stunned as the Rebels were torn apart by their own guns. "Disturbing isn't it?" Twilight whipped her head around and looked eye-to-eye with Windstorm. "The one thing that brings this whole war into question. Why even fight these Rebels if they're just gonna gun down their own men?" He patted Twilight on the back. "Now to begin the worst part of each battle. Gathering up the dead and dying to tally who've we lost and have the Cap write out letters to the families who they left behind."
Twilight sat on a crate of ammo as she ate from a bowl of soup that the company mess gave out. Wafer was sitting next to her as they ate. Wiretap approached them with a smile. "Hey! Glad you made it through your baptism by fire. Apparently not many recruits do." Twilight looked up at Wiretap and frowned. "How can you smile? We just killed people and watched others get killed all around us! I watched a T-34 destroy one of our gun emplacements with a single shot!" Wiretap looked down sadly, but looked back up. "Twilight, don't dwell on who didn't make it. Be happy that you made it, and others you know made it." Hardhat walked up to the three. "He's right, when we lost Low Caliber to a rebel attack a week ago, the rest of the platoon was celebrating that we were finally stopping the Rebel advance but Belt just didn't talk to anyone. Later she announced that she was going to march straight to Stalliongrad to decapitate whoever started this war because she lost her brother." He made eye contact with Twilight. "Never stray down that path. Belt's ferocity is helpful at times, but earlier you saw how that nearly got her killed. I won't be able to live with myself if I see another become as sick with the world as she is." Hardhat walked of, checking on some of the wounded as he went. Twilight just stared down into her bowl of soup before turning to Wafer and Wiretap. "Did either of you see Sunshine? I wanted to ask her if her platoon got hit." Wiretap shuffled on his hooves and Twilight looked over. "What is it Wiretap? Why are you nervous? What happened?" Each question came out more forceful and harsh then the last. Wiretap just pointed towards the wounded and dead. Twilight looked over and gasped. Sunshine was lying down on a tarp as a medic attempted to work on something in her chest. Sunshine had a look of pain etched on her face, her breathing was shallow and ragged. Twilight ran over and crouched on the opposite side of the medic, looking over she asked. "How can I help sir?" The medic looked up at Twilight before gesturing to Sunshine. "Keep her awake and comfort her, I'm not a hundred percent sure I can save her." This was followed by mutters of 'Live damnit, Live!'. Twilight looked over at Sunshine's face. Sunshine looked up and shakily asked. "How.. bad.. is it?" Twilight chuckled lightly. "Your not going to win any beauty pageants anytime soon." Sunshine had a ghost of a smile before looking at Twilight seriously. "Twilight, I don't think I'm going to make it. Everything feels cold... I don't want to die.. I don't..." Sunshine's head just fell to the ground, her eyes unfocused and unseeing. The medic sighed before lifting a bloody hand over and gently closing Sunshine's eyes and ripping the dog tags around her neck. Twilight felt herself crying at the passing of one of her recent friends before the medic got her attention. "Look, I know it's not easy losing someone you know. But you gotta remember to move on, would the dead want you to mope around after they're gone? No. They want you to keep living." The medic patted Twilight on the back. "I'm not saying to forget them, I'm saying keep living for their sake." The medic left to work on others who were groaning due to one kind of wound or another as Twilight just stared at the body of the mare she knew from Basic and who would never make it home after this awful war. The words of Hardhat and the medic crossed her mind and she silently nodded to herself. People she knew and would meet in this war would die, she would try to prevent as many deaths as she could and would survive this war. For Sunshine and Burner, and for every other dead soldier. She would fight and win this war for any and all who would never see the light of the sun again as the passed on. Twilight was torn out of her thought's as Wafer shook her lightly. "Captain wants us, we're gonna be briefed on the plan for the counter-attack."
Author's Note
Chapter 4 is done and over with! as usual I would love to hear what you all think, nice or not as nice, it's good to know people are reading this and enjoying this. Till next time!
CanadianPony, Out!
Twilight followed Wafer towards the command tent, as they entered Twilight saw Wiretap fiddling with a damaged mortar, dropping duds into the mortar to see if they launch at a target set farther down their lines. Wiretap looked up and gave a friendly wave to Twilight that she returned. Twilight and Wafer entered the tent and Twilight immediately noticed that the tent was nearly packed with soldiers, she noticed Blueblood in the back with his shinier-than-the-sun badge and a fairly small and lanky lieutenant standing next to him. Twilight and wafer walked over to Brass Badge and Hardhat. Twi turned to Wafer and asked "What's with all the other squads in here?" Brass turned towards her. "All the Platoon commanders and their squads are here to be told the counter attack plan. The squads come along and hear the plan so that if the commander is killed or wounded their squad can pull off the mission."
Blueblood cleared his throat to gather the attention of the gathered squads. "Attention Delta! High Command has delivered me the orders to push this Rebel Division right out of Haliflanks! First Alpha Company of the 8th Armored are going to launch a blitz attack on the rear guard of the Rebels, taking out their Katyusha support and cutting of their retreat. They'll launch a flare to signal their success. Then all of 7th Division will launch a grand counter attack and crush what's left of the Rebels. Delta's duty is to capture the northern section of the city. We will encounter heavy resistance but it is our duty to the princesses to push these Rebels all the way back to Stalliongrad. 2nd and 3rd platoon will be the main spearhead while 1st and 4th platoons will provide support as necessary. Any questions?" The Lieutenant from 3rd platoon, a dark blue mare with blue and white streaks in her mane and blue eyes, raised her hand. "Do we get any Armor support? Those Machine guns will rip us to shreds regardless of Alpha's success in knocking out their Artillery support." Blueblood smiled at this. "Good news then! Panzer IV's from Alpha Company of the 8th will be attached to each company as shock and awe units. it's your job to make sure to clear any and all anti-tank and mortar positions to ensure their safe return. Any more questions?" No hands went up. "Good, now gather up your platoons and be ready for the signal.
As the soldiers started to leave the tent to go to their various positions, Twilight thought about Rainbow Dash. Had she seen combat yet? Was she okay? and where was she even posted too? Wafer patted Twilight on the back. "Hey Twilight, you looked spaced out for a second there, what's wrong?" "I was just thinking about a good friend of mine, before I shipped she told me that she was joining a tank division and I'm wondering if she's ok or not." Wafer gave Twilight a smile. "Don't worry I'm sure she's fine, besides what are the chances that she was deployed out here to Haliflanks anyway?"
"Hey Dash, wake up! Major's got new orders for us!" Dash slowly opened her eyes to look at the Gray mare in front of her. "Damnit, Gearshift, I told you to not wake me up when I'm napping." Dash started to get of the bunk she was napping on, stretching and smoothing out her uniform. "What did he want?" Gearshift sighed and started to explain. "Major wants our unit to flank a Rebel position to aid in a counter attack. Intel says that there is no armor in the vicinity besides a group of T-70s spotted heading into the city." Dash gave one last stretch before finally responding. "Alright, gather up Gunpowder, Two-Way and Thick, tell them to meet over be the rust bucket." Gearshift gave a mock salute before leaving to gather up her crewmates.
Dash searched around her little cabin for the last bit of her uniform, a soft light gray cap. She didn't have the more nicer looking Service caps seeing as she was just a junior officer and didn't have much experience. Plus the Field caps were a lot more comfortable. As she stepped out of the cabin, she looked around for her tank in the base she was posted in. Haliflanks had an old citadel looking over the harbor, now it was the center of the Royal army in Haliflanks. As Dash crossed the parade grounds she spotted her crew sitting on, and around their tank. Gearshift was sitting on the back, dangling her legs of the back, while Gunpowder was leaning against the side. Among them were Two-Way, the Radio operator and bow gunner, a tan unicorn mare with light brown hair and blue eyes, and Thick, the tank's gunner, a black stallion with a black mane and green eyes, he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed but he was a damn good shot. Gunpowder looked over a snapped a salute, meanwhile the others started looking around. As Dash got closer she heard Gearshift murmur to Two-Way "I don't see an officer anywhere, I only see RD..." Dash looked over to Gunpowder before returning the salute, albeit half-assed, before laughing at Gunpowder. "You don't need to salute me Twitch, we're all friends here." Gunpowder smiled sheepishly and blushed. "Well, you ARE the tank commander, just showing respect is all." Rainbow smiled at this. "Gunpowder, I know I have your respect, no need to show it. On the field we're all equal."
Another Panzer IV rolled by, the commander poking his head out of the top of the tank. "Dash! Get your tank and crew in gear we are heading out!" Rainbow turned back to her crew. "You heard the stallion! Mount up!" Dash let the rest of her crew climb in before climbing into her commander position in the top of the turret. "Alright Gear, get behind Silver Bar's tank and let's get into the fight!" Dash's tank started with a jolt as it joined the line of Panzer IV's heading out of the citadel. Rainbow's radio crackled to life and she placed a pair of headphones to listen into the broadcast. "Alright 1st Battalion listen up. You all heard that the whole company is being sent out to flank the rebel position, however 3rd battalion is being divvied up to the rifle grunts to support their assault. 2nd Battalion is going to push closer to the city and cut off any retreating Rebels from the city itself. Our job is to hit the Katyusha group that's been hammering the grunts. Alright Fillies and Gentlecolts, let's push these bastards back!" After the commander cut the broadcast Dash's tank crossed past the threshold of the city limits, the tanks started to spread out, in a vaguely 'V' shaped formation. "Ok everypony, keep your eyes out, were getting closer to the Rebel side of the city, there might not be any tank sightings, but those damn Rebels have stolen some of our equipment in the past. Watch for Pak 40s and infantry with Panzerschrecks, I want us to come home in one piece."
The tank battalion got closer to their objective, but there was no action. They encountered no resistance the whole ride. Dash looked around at the nearby terrain, looking for any threat. "Alright Battalion, we're nearing our objective. The Katyushas should be in range now." Dash's tank turned past a small group of tress and spotted the rocket trucks... "Commander, our Intel was WAY off." Dash said into the radio while overlooking the trucks. "What do you mean by that?" "Well, there's about six T-34s guarding our objective and I don't like the odds with our nine Panzers that all of us are making it back." Dash heard a scoff over the radio. "These Rebels can't beat our superior armor and training! Come on we can take them!" There was a small chorus of cheering over the radio as about five tanks broke of the main force and started barreling towards the Rebel tanks.
"Damnit get back here! Dash take Fritter and Rubber and flank the enemy! Tread them if you can't hit their engine. I'm going in to reel in the survivors!" With that the commander broke off and charged towards the Rebels. Dash could hear the guns from both sides letting loose shells. "Fritter, Rubber we're going to set up along the other side of the clearing to flank them. Follow me!" Two 'Yes ma'am's' broke out, one mare with a slightly familiar country twang, the other a stallion's voice. The three tanks rolled along the edge of the clearing, Dash looked towards the center and saw how the battle was going. Two T-34s were burning and a single burning Panzer IV in the middle. Rainbow looked on as the Rebels tanks backed away from the Panzers who kept pushing towards a T-34. Dash looked behind the T-34s noticing the Katyushas retreating behind the cover of the tanks. "Commander, I got eyes on the Katyushas, they are retreating behind the T-34s. Permission to intercept?" "Permission granted Dash. Go get em!" Dash looked down to Gearshift. "Follow those trucks! Make sure they don't get away. Thick, try to hit the cabins of the trucks, Twitch load HE shells!" A chorus of 'Yes Ma'am's' rang through the tank as Dash relayed her orders to the tanks behind her. The three tanks quickly darted towards the trucks and caught up quickly.
"Thick, FIRE AT WILL!" A boom echoed through the tank as a shell whistled towards the lead truck and struck, causing a might explosion which caused the other two trucks to veer off the road. One got stuck In a ditch and was strafed by machine gun fire from Fritter's tank, killing the two troopers inside the cabin, while Rubber's main gun struck the last truck. "Commander, we have successfully destroyed all three trucks. Orders?" Nothing but static answered her. "Commander Hard Track?" Silence. "Silver Bar? Algae? Rotor? Anypony?" Silence. "I don't like this, we lost contact with everypony else... Two-Way, call command and see if they can get the rest of the Battalion on the horn." Two-Way fiddled with the radio set next to her station. "Command can't get them either, Major wants us to go and check up on their last location." Dash rubbed her face and let out a fairly loud sigh. "Fritter, Rubber, we lost contact with Hard Tack, we're heading back to the clearing to see if we can get a visual on the rest of the Battalion." The three tanks started rolling down the main road again, towards the clearing where they left their battalion to fight the Rebel T-34s.
"Ah don't get it..." Dash heard Fritters voice say over the radio. "How did five Panzer IVs get defeated by four T-34s? Last we saw them they were damaged and retreating while our boys sent em packing." "I don't like it either." Rubber responded. "Even if they were on the edge of defeat SOMEPONY would warn us and tell us to retreat." Dash grabbed her headset again, taking control of the situation. "Cut the chatter you two, we are almost into the clearing again. We will find out what happened to... Oh my Celestia..."
The clearing held nothing but bad omens for the three tank crews. All six Panzer IVs lay burning or smoking in the clearing. Here and there were the bodies of crew members who jumped out of their tanks only to die from being engulfed in flames or gunned down by machine guns. As a small consolation, all six T-34s lay burning as well as one tank that Rainbow didn't notice when she first saw the armored group. "That's a KV-1... There was no way they would've survived this fight, even with our help!" Rubber scoffed. "It's one tank, let's assume we lost two more panzers to the T-34s, three would be more than enough to take out a KV." Dash popped open the hatch on her tank and pulled out a pair of binoculars, looking at the edge of the field that the KV-1 was facing away from. "Sure they could fight a single KV.. But they couldn't survive three at once..."
Three lines of tread marks were gouged Into the dirt and mud across the wrecked heavy tank. Two turning away into the forest... "Oh no...." Dash quickly closed the hatch to her tank and grabbed the radio, yelling into it. "EVERYPONY, TURN YOUR TANKS AROUND THEY'RE BEHIND US!" A pair of shells whistled by the trio of tanks as the other commanders started to panic. "Oh mah goddess, where are they?" "THERE! In the trees!" Dash looked down at her radio operator and driver. "Gearshift get us out of here! Two-Way, call command and inform 2nd battalion that there are fucking KV-1s out here!" She turned back to her radio as the tank jerked backwards and started heading towards the far side of the clearing. "Fritter, Rubber, we are getting the hell out of here!" "Roger that ma'am!" "Alright we're mov-" Rubber was cut off as his tank erupted suddenly into a rain of shrapnel and fire. The remains of his tank falling around his former squadmates. "THEYGOT RUBBER! MOVE DAMNIT MOVE!" The last two tanks started heading full speed to the relative safety of the far edge. The KV-1s started to follow the two frightened commanders, occasionally firing a shot off trying to score a hit.
"Twitch, load HE. Thick, aim for the treads. Make sure those bastards can't follow us!" Dash turned the turret around, directing her gunner towards the enemy tanks. "Fire in the hole!" A round flew out the tanks barrel and struck one KV right in the left tread. The tank stopped abruptly and rainbow noticed a few of the crew climbing out to repair the damage. "Oh no you don't.." Dash thumbed the trigger on the coaxial machine gun. The MG42 quickly making the enemy tankers duck down as Dash got a lucky shot right in the chest of one of them.
Finally Gearshift got them out of range of the two KVs. Dash let out a long sigh of relief as Two-Way chimed up. "Dash, Major says to haul ass back to base and to make sure to not engage any enemy forces. He wants us back alive." Dash nodded and relayed the orders to Fritter. "Got it ma'am... I just can't believe everypony is gone... If it wasn't for Rotor charging off like that, we could have taken them by surprise! Not even lose a single tank to them. Knock em all out in one fell swoop... Now... We're all that's left..." Dash hung her head sadly at this. She didn't know her Battalion long. Which made it sting even more. "When we get back, drinks are on me..." Dash said sullenly as the two tanks started to enter the city limits and headed back to the citadel.
Twilight sat huddled behind the barrier between Royal army and rebel lines. Turner and Wafer were next to her, with Brass and Hardhat on one side and Windstorm on the other. The Panzer IV that was lent to them hummed idly behind the line, it's commander waiting for the signal to cover the advancing infantry to overwhelm the enemy line. Twilight saw a small red light flying of into the horizon as Turner turned to regard his platoon. "ALRIGHT EVERYPONY THIS IS IT!" He yelled to prep his troopers for battle "TODAY WE PUSH THOSE DAMN REBELS STRAIGHT OUT OF HALIFLANKS! FORWARD FOR EQUESTRIA AND THE PRINCESSES!" This was followed by a rousing cry of 'FOR EQUESTRIA' (that Twilight admitted to proudly join) and the Panzer chugging forward, spewing MG death towards the rebels as Belt Feed's MG42 added to the volume of lead being sent their way. Turner leapt over the barrier and ran for the closest piece of cover, the destroyed T-34 from earlier, and the rest of the platoon followed. The bass booms of the G34s mixed with the higher pitched rat-a-tat-tats of the MG42s caused Rebel soldiers to duck down behind cover or risk getting hit by the mass of firepower. A couple resounding cracks came from the Rebels, occasionally hitting a Royal army soldier but the overall morale of the attack was high.
The firefight lead to a tipping point as the Panzer IV burst through the barrier and strafed the soldiers behind cover, causing screams of pain and agony to whomever didn't get killed immediately by the tank's MG. Twilight ran up to the rubble wall and started firing her rifle at any Rebel soldier she saw, some shots connected while others just tore chips in the road or surrounding walls. Windstorm ran up to Twilight and pulled her behind the wall as a few rounds struck the place where she was standing. "Now, everypony loves a hero, but being a hero gets you killed out here." Windstorm gave her a smile. "World doesn't need dead heroes. It needs live soldiers to fight! Now let's keep pushing them back!" He popped up and fired a couple shots at a nearby building. "Couple of em are hiding in the third floor and I think they have SMGs. Come on let's flank the bastards!" Before Twilight could respond, Windstorm jumped over the wall and ran over to two other troopers, probably getting them to join him. He turned around and gestured for Twilight to come over.
Twilight ran towards Windstorm as bullets struck the road around her and slide into cover behind a destroyed truck. "Ok here's the plan.." Windstorm started. "Orange here will provide cover while Twilight, Anchor and I will clear the rebels in that building. Then we'll use the height advantage to suppress anypony that's still fighting. Questions?" The orange buck and dark gray mare shook their heads 'no'. "Good let's move!" Windstorm, Anchor and Twilight ran toward the Rebel held building as Orange held back and fired his rifle into the upper floors.
Twilight pushed herself close to the wall on one side of the door and Anchor took the other as Windstorm rushed up and charged into the door-shoulder first. Twilight and Anchor entered the building and pointed their rifles into side rooms, making sure they weren't walking into an ambush. "Clear." "Clear." Both said quietly to make sure the Rebels didn't hear them. Wind started to walk up a set of stairs checking that nopony was going to gun them down with a PPSh. The trio made their way towards the third floor, the second floor eerily clear of enemies. Wind grabbed a grenade from his belt. Priming it, he chucked into the third floor yelling "GRENADE!" Anchor and Twilight ducked down as they heard a muffled scream and a similarly muffle thump . Windstorm was the first one in and Anchor quickly followed. Twilight looked back at the stairs and noticed the upper floors had collapsed into the staircase to cut off access.
Explains why they only took the third floor.. Twilight raised her rifle and moved into the room, seeing Windstorm aiming out the window and firing ever so often as Anchor poked the bodies of Rebels, confirming their deaths. Twilight walked up to a window and looked toward Orange. He was slumped over behind the truck, his rifle laying next to his body as blood pooled around his corpse. Twilight turned back to Anchor seeing one body shifted. Twilight tapped Anchor's shoulder and gestured towards the body on the floor. Anchor nodded and moved towards the body as Twilight aimed at in case he was holding a SMG or pistol.
As Anchor flipped the body over she revealed a young looking buck with a light yellow coat, and green eyes frozen in fear. He held his hands up in the universal sign of surrender. His green army coat was ripped and torn opened by shrapnel from the grenade. Twilight kept her G43 trained on him as Anchor motioned for him to get up. As the buck stood up Anchor slung her G43 on her back to check if the buck had any guns or grenades on him. Twilight saw his face curl in a smile as he dropped his hands revealing a sharp looking combat knife. He gripped the handle of the knife and plunged it into Anchor's shoulder. Anchor yelled out in pain as Twilight shot the buck in the chest.
The buck fell over, Twilight shooting him twice more before Wind ran towards Anchor, still holding the knife in her shoulder. "Shit! Twilight, stay with Anchor and make sure she doesn't move that knife out of her shoulder, we don't have the expertise or the supplies to remove that thing without making things worse, unless you trained as a medic." Wind looked toward Twi and she shook her head 'no'. "Damn. Well stay here and make sure she stays awake. I'll be right back." Wind rushed out the door as Twilight knelt next to Anchor.
Anchor looked up at her. "I heard what he said, so the best way to keep me up is to talk about home. So ask any question you want." Twilight paused for a second to think. "Where are you from?" Anchor rested her head on the ground and replied. "I'm from a fairly large island off the northern coast of Equestria, a colony actually. Neighfoundland, ever heard of it?" Twilight pondered a moment. "Yeah, it's known as a fishing colony and probably the worst weather in all of Equestria, even with the pegasi." Anchor smiled. "Yeah it ain't pretty but it's home. Joined the navy when I was old enough and got folded into the marine corps. Served along the coast there, doing raids on pirate strongholds and such, then this civil war broke out and I got drafted into the infantry due to my marine training."
Twilight was going to ask more questions when Windstorm returned with a medic. Twilight recognised him as the same one who treated Sunshine. "Good job getting me Private," He knelt next to Anchor and started gathering his supplies. "I'll get that knife out and you'll go home with a purple heart, you lucky bastard." Anchor chuckled "Lucky? Me? I got a fucking knife poking out of my shoulder." Windstorm tapped Twilight on the shoulder directing her outside the building. "Turner wants us to rendezvous down by the panzer, come on, Anchor will be fine."
Windstorm and Twilight left the building, Twilight averting her eyes from the two troopers carrying Orange's body away. They walked across the street to see Turner and the rest of their squad standing around a small soldier with a large radio on their back. Twilight could hear Turner arguing angrily with someone on the other side of the line. "Sir, my platoon has taken quite a few casualties and 3rd platoon is already taken their objective. There is no need for our platoon to attack a enemy convoy no matter how easy it seems. Yes, I know that sir, you told me that multiple times." He sighed. "Yes sir, we're on our way." He turned to his squad. "Captain is telling us to intercept an enemy convoy that is attempt to leave the city." Wafer raised his hand. "Yes Wafer, I am fully aware that a tank battalion is supposed to do that job anyway. Captain wants us to take it on anyways." He looked over to Hardhat. "Gather up all able troopers, if they are even slightly wounded, they stay behind as a 'rear guard'. Everypony else is going to join in the attack." Turner looked over to Twilight. "Ready for your third battle Twilight?" Twilight though back to Orange and Anchor. "Yes Sir!" The rest of the platoon gathered around. "Alright Platoon! Let's move OUT!"
Author's Note
Sorry about the wait for this one. I have no excuse. Also introduction of RDs tank crew! Huzzah! please leave a comment below and, as much as I love seeing you comment, someone other than Comet comment, even if you don't like it, just say what you didn't like. Thank you and Good day!
Twilight walked down the ruined streets of Haliflanks with around fifteen members of her platoon including her squad. She relayed the orders they were given earlier. They were supposed to cut off a small rebel convoy that was going to attempt to leave the city, Blueblood said that army intelligence told him that there was an officer trying to leave with extremely valuable intel on where the Rebels got so many tanks, weapons, uniforms and other equipment. Twilight looked over to Turner. "Sir, do we know what is guarding the enemy convoy?" Turner paused for a second then looked back to Twilight. "Honestly Private, I have no idea. Though we should be prepared. Fuse! Over here!" A Buck with a Panzerschreck slung on his back and a large pouch filled with explosives hanging off his side. "Sir! What do you need?" Turner looked at the bazooka slung over his shoulder. "How many rockets and anti-tank grenades do you have?" Fuse opened his pack and rifled through it. "i got about five rockets and three grenades, also got a few mines too." Turner shook his head. "Give the grenades to a couple others in the platoon and leave the mines. we probably don't have enough time to set them."
Fuse walked through the platoon, giving the grenades to a couple other members of the platoon. Fuse walked up to Twilight holding one of the grenades to her. Twilight quickly placed the explosive into her satchel, noting she was running low on G43 clips. The platoon kept marching through the destroyed streets. One soldier stopped near a corner, holding up his fist to tell everypony else to stop. He peeked over the corner before shipping his head back behind the corner. "Their around the corner, get down and get ready to ambush them." Twilight, Turner and Wafer all jumped into a crater as the rest of the platoon ducked into doorways, destroyed buildings and behind piles of rubble. Twilight could hear the whirring of tanks and the rumble of trucks, she clutched her rifle and aimed towards the corner.
Her breath hitched in her throat as the first tank turned the corner. It was a smaller tank, a T-70, they couldn't stand a fight versus a Panzer IV as it's cannon and armor were too weak, but they preformed admirably against infantry and in urban areas where bigger tanks can't maneuver as well. The T-70 turned down the road Twilight was in and started scanning the rubble. Twilight was still as it's 45mm gun moved over her position... and kept moving. The tank clearly didn't notice the soldiers surrounding it. The T-70 maneuvered around the crater Twilight was in and moved another meter or two when there was a loud yell.
"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" A 88mm rocket from Fuse's Panzerschreck screamed over Twilight's head and struck the back of the lead T-70. It exploded and caused Twilight, Turner and Wafer to duck down in the crater. Gunfire exploded in the street as the Royal army troopers let loose on the Rebels caught in the crossfire. Twilight saw one of the other recruits that was handed a grenade run out a throw it at the last T-70. The MG on the tank let loose a hail of bullets that struck the young soldier in the chest. he fell over on the pavement as rounds struck his body till the AT greande he threw detonated on top of the tank, silencing the gun altogether.
A truck in the middle of the convoy tried to ram past the first T-70 but Wafer and Turner shot out the tires causing the truck to skid into a building. The driver fell out, holding his hand to his head and stumbling around. Wafer ran up and started yelling to put his hands on his head. Turner and Twilight ran up to the back of the truck as the platoon mopped up the last of the Rebel resistance. They opened up the back of the truck and a buck wearing a similar uniform to Blueblood's jumped out the back. Twilight snapped her rifle up and shot the buck in the ass, ccausing him to drop to the road yelling in pain. Turner looked over at her. "Good shooting! Now, check what's in the back of the truck that's so damn important and i'll take care of our friend over here." He gestured to the buck writhing in pain.
Twilight hopped into the back of the truck and took a detailed look. Crates stacked high with the Zebra Republic stamped on the side filled the trucks. Twilight opened one and peered inside. Her eyes widened as around 100 PPSH SMGs stared back at her. She opened another box that contained belts of Maxim ammo and drums of PPSH ammo. She found a slip of paper shoved in one corner of the box. "Manehattan Harbour Zebra Freighter Shifting Sands, shipping manifest?" She read closely seeing lists of boxes of normal Zebra goods that would come to Equestria and three boxes of 'Tractor Parts' and boxes of 'Canned Goods' caught her eye. She never heard of Zebras shipping these kinds of items before, and why would they suddenly appear now?
Twilight stepped out of the truck and found Turner rounding up prisoners and casualties. Twilight felt saddened when she noticed three impromptu stretchers that were laid out, covers protecting the bodies of those lost in the short firefight. She walked up to Turner. "Sir, I searched and found crates of Rebel ammo and weapons, also this strange shipping manifest from a Zebra freighter." She handed the slip of paper over to Turner who studied it himself, pulling out a pen from his pocket and marking the strange items on the list. "Command is going to love this! This finally explains where the Rebels got this equipment in such a short time. They were probably planning this for months or years before war broke out!." He looked back to his platoon that surrounded him, waiting for there orders. "Alright Fillies and Gentlecolts! Back to base!
War Room
Celestia stood, with Luna at her side, as three generals looked over a map of Equestria, occasionally moving red and blue blocks indicating positions of divisions and companies. The city of Haliflanks stood on one flank, where three blue division blocks stood on the outskirts and no red blocks were in sight. In the center, Two blue divisions stood off against three red division blocks outside of the city of Fillydelphia. And lastly the city of Vanhoover was filled with red and blue company blocks with a question mark pinned right in the center of the city.
Celestia looked to the three generals. "Alright, what's the current situation." General Golden Star of Third Army started. "Your Highness, I am pleased to inform you that Halifalnks is secure! Our counter attack in the city itself drove the rebels to the outskirts and out mechanized division tore any who attempted to escape to pieces. Casualty rates are 20% for Royal army, and 75% for the Rebels." Celestia had a small grin on her face. Her little ponies took back their city with a fairly low cost of life, though she felt saddened at the losses of the rebels. She hated the whole of this war in the first place.
"Good job Golden Star, let them know I'm proud of them for beating the Rebels from our territory and with as few deaths as possible." Golden looked down for a minute. "Something else General?" He looked up at Celestia again. "Yes, Your Highness. You see, I ordered Alpha Company of the 8th armored to cut off the rebel retreat. 1st Battalion of that same company encountered heavy resistance when completing their objective and was nearly wiped out." Celestia paled. When an armor company was nearly wiped out something BAD had happened. "What happened?" Golden pointed at a small area on the northern end of the city. "A team of Katyushas were shelling the city, so I ordered Alpha to take them out. Unfortunately a group of Rebel T-34s were defending the trucks and poor tactical choices of some members caused them to lose the element of surprise. We only lost a tank or two when the report gets iffy, as the crew commander who gave it was ordered to chase down the trucks with two others before they escaped. A trio of KV-1s ambushed the main force and knocked out one of the three that were sent out." Celestia sighed sadly at that news. A whole battalion, nearly wiped out due to shoddy intel. It was heart-breaking for the kind hearted ruler.
"General Iron Ore, how's Fillydelphia holding up?" General Iron Ore straightened up at the sound of his name. "Your Highness, Second Army is holding position outside the city and we are pushing the Rebels back with each attempted attack. From what i hear from my officers, Fox company of 4th Division should be awarded medals for valiantly holding Hill 102 when cut off from reinforcements and supplies for two days. They suffered moderate casualties but the company commander is damn proud of what his soldiers have done." Celestia smiled. Equestria needed Heroes. "Give the entire company Defender Of Equestria medals, especially post humorously, they deserve them more than anypony." The General saluted. "Yes Your Highness!"
"General Shining Armor, how goes Vanhoover?" Shining rubbed his temples as he gestured to the map. "Quite frankly, Your Highness, I don't have a damn idea. One minute i'm hearing we took central square, the next it's lost. Since the battle for the city started, First Army has a casualty rate of around 85%." Celestia was horrified. The city was a deathtrap. "How much of the city do we control?" Shining sighed again. "Your Highness, anywhere from 30 to 60%. Each city block is a deathtrap. There is no grand movement of companies and divisions, it's platoon to platoon, squad to squad, pony to pony combat even! One day we lost contact with a whole company, just to find scattered remains of each platoon in two areas separated by five blocks! Honestly, we should abandon the city. It's to costly to try to fight for and it's in utter ruin due to all the artillery and fighting." This got an immediate reaction from Luna. "I did not return as co-ruler of Equestria to watch it be lost to a bunch of disgruntled locals armed with two-bit hunting weapons."
Celestia turned to look at her sister. "Luna, these Rebels launched a preemptive strike with thousands of soldiers and dozens of tanks. We have no idea how they were able to gather so many supplies and soldiers in such a short time!" At that moment a messenger entered the small room. "Your Highness, sorry for the intrusion but Captain Blueblood has sent some very intriguing intelligence." Shining waved over the soldier and took an envelope he held, and dismissed him. He opened the envelope and read it's contents, his eyes widening as he read the bottom of the page. "That explains everything!" He yelled. "Your Highness, the Rebels have been smuggling in weapons and tank parts the whole time! It's why they are pushing so hard to take Haliflanks and Vanhoover! They have some of our largest ports, and you will not believe this, the Zebras are the ones smuggling in the equipment!"
Celestia looked back to the map, thinking about her next course of action. "What is the status of the Royal Navy?" Golden Star cleared his throat. "The RES Detrot, Celestia, Manehatten, and Luna are all in port and rearing to go. We have still yet to locate the RES Trottingham and Cadence, your Highness." Celestia frowned but looked back at the map. "Order 7th division to hold the main road leading out of Vanhoover, when they are in position I want all of 1st Army to complete abandon the city and for the Navy to shell and destroy the docks in Vanhoover and all ships docking within." A chorus of "Yes, your Highness" rang out as the generals broke away from the table and began planning their respective parts of the plan.
Luna looked to her sister. "This war is taking a toll on you dear Sister. I'll speak to the Zebra ambassador and bring this arm smuggling to the prime minister of the Zebra Republic. They will answer for this." Celestia shook her head. "Bring it up, but don't go pointing fingers. We have no idea where those weapons are coming from. All we know is that they used a Zebra ship to get them into Equestria." Celestia looked down at the map. "I just hope Twilight is as far away from this war as possible."
"So, Twilight where are you from anyway?" Twilight looked up from filling up her empty G43 magazines. Wafer was standing in front of her, Windstorm next to him, cleaning out his rifle. Twilight looked back to the bullets in her magazine as she answered. "I'm from Canterlot originally, though I moved to Ponyville a couple of years ago." Wafer's eyebrow raised at this. "Really? Your not as snobbish as most Canterlot types I've met. I'm from Detrot, not the greatest city in Equestria but it's home to my family and that's good in my books." Windstorm laughed. "You're from Detrot! I can't believe it! You are WAY too nice to be from Detrot!" Wafer gave a small grin. "Yeah i guess, Ma always told me to be a nice buck to everyone i meet that gave me niceness as well. Met plenty of assholes in Detrot, not nearly as many assholes in the army." Windstorm chuckled. "Hear you there. Since we're spouting off where we're from, I'll just say it, I'm from Clodsdayle." Wafer's eyebrow raised again. "No kidding?"
Time Turner walked up to the trio. "Alright Gentlecolts, and Lady." He tipped his hat too Twilight. "We've been ordered by General Golden Star himself to pick up and haul ass to Vanhoover. We're to hold the outskirts so that 1st Army can pull out. Prepare to move out and to hold a patch of dirt from Rebel soldiers for a day or two." Windstorm groaned as Turner left. "What's the problem?" Twilight asked. "Defense mission, we are FUCKED!" "How so?" asked Wafer. "Delta is ALWAYS the first line of defense, seeing as we are the engineer company, the need the Pioneers to keep all the defenses up and running so nothing breaks during the middle of an attack." Twilight and Wafer both shared a look. "Oh shit...." They both said.
Author's Note
Chapter Seven is done with! Now we know the extent of the Rebel front and where the battles are being fought. Next Chapter, Delta Company will hold their ground outside Vanhoover to let First Army out.
-CanadianPony OUT!
I feel terrible for saying this but......
This story will be canceled, and i am truly sorry for anyone who enjoyed the story up to this point and was looking forward to the next chapter, but this story has done a complete left turn from where i wanted it to go and i wrote myself into a rut, unhappy with where i got this whole thing stuck into. I believe that i lost the story's plot somewhere on the way of writing it, and now i'm unhappy with what i'm producing.
However, one day i will return to this, and i'll modify all my plans and background to fit the story better. But, semi unfortunately, another idea has come to me, and i'll work on that, refine my skill, and return to this story and give it a complete overhaul. Anyway, keep an eye out on future updates, maybe i'll start posting blog updates or something. Either way, i will post my next idea up in a minimum of 3 weeks, i'll try to get it out as soon as possible, but i'm going to redo what i did with this story to a hopefully better outcome. See you all next time! And, once again, apologies if you were a fan of this, but you know how it goes. Also this has nothing to do with the like/dislike ratio, i don't care as long as one person said they like it, it's worth it to me!
Lastly, nearly forgot, thanks to Iron Comet and Mewaponny for your kind words and criticism, i hope you'll be there for my next attempt at a good story!
-CanadianPony OUT!