That Others May Live

0630 hours, Changeling Hives Outskirts

Staff Sergeant Silvers sipped from his coffee as he scanned the the wasteland in front of him with calculating eyes. Their shining blue pierced through the darkness, allowing him to see anything, find anything...and all he saw was a whole lot of nothing.

He sighed. Damn bird brains. If it weren’t for them, he wouldn’t have to be here. He wouldn’t have to kill, he wouldn’t have to be stuck on fucking border patrol. This sucked. And if most changelings thought the day shift sucked, they should try the night shift. Night watch sucked, period. It was even worse for him as senior enlisted man on duty; he had to stay up pretty much all night while sentries reported to him in increments of fifteen minutes.

In short, he was dead tired and bored out of his mind all because his kind was sure that the griffons would attack at any minute. Sure, they were gathering troops. Sure, they were moving a little close to the border. The Griffon Kingdom had already released their official statement: they were having some wild animal troubles, and so they had to gather some troops to eradicate the pests.

While he was content with that answer, Silvers couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy. He had received the report himself, and the griffon envoy said “pests” with an intense venom. Just what was he talking about? The wild animals...or Silvers himself?

“Staff Sergeant Silvers.”

Silvers snapped out of his thought to see PFC Brightly standing at attention in front of him. The senior changeling stood up, and Brightly saluted him. Silvers saluted back, then dropped his salute and said, “Report.”

Brightly dropped his salute. “PFC Brightly reports FOB Spear Horn all clear, Staff Sergeant.”

The staff sergeant wrote a note on his log, then went back to attention. “At ease.”

“Oh thank the Maker.” The private said, grumbling. “I was sure my legs were going to snap off.”

Silvers smirked. “Getting tired, huh, Brightly?”

“That ain’t the half of it, Staff Sergeant.” Brightly said, sighing as he stretched his legs. “My eyelids feel like they’re going to fall off.”

He smiled at him. “Welcome to the Corps, private. We hope you enjoy your stay. Anyways, nothing to report?”

“Yes, Staff Sergeant.” Brightly yawned. “Other than more dust flying in the wind, there’s nothing to report.”

Silvers smiled. “Good. I guess that means it’ll be another quiet night, huh?”

“You bet Sta--”

A sudden noise caught Silvers’ attention. He cocked his ear, hearing a slight whistling noise. Suddenly, there was a thundering boom, a sickening crack and splatter, spraying Silvers’ face with a thick liquid, forcing him to close his eyes. When he opened them he couldn’t see Brightly in front of him. All he could see was a sickening blue liquid everywhere...blood. Silvers brought a hoof up to his face and wiped a bit off his face to see even more of it on his hoof. Looking down, he had found where Brightly had gone. His body was laying on the floor twitching...and without a head. Another whistle brought Silvers to his senses, causing him to duck to the floor as a high caliber bullet flew just over his head.

“SNIPER!” Silvers yelled to all the other watch towers.

Coughing as he crawled along, Silvers pulled himself through the pool of neon blue blood and over to the alarm switch. As he hoisted himself up to sound the alarm, he looked out into the distance and saw a sight that chilled him to the bone.

The wasteland was no longer full of nothingness. In its place was a swarm, a huge mass of feathers, beaks and rifles. It was a griffon strike force, hundreds if not thousands of them. Some flew in the air, firing at their guards stationed at the border wall. Others were on the ground, setting up mortar teams to bombard the base. Silvers lunged and pulled the alarm to sound off to every changeling that their were enemies at the gate.

Just as the bells started ringing, a black mass came to stand over the prone changeling. Silvers looked up to see a smirking griffon, pointing a rifle right at his head. Silvers stared right back at him, cold and unnerved.

Silvers snarled. “You fools. You attacked a military installment. Now, all of the lands will know you are here.”

The griffon laughed, then put the end of his gun next the changeling’s head. “Good.”

BANG!

Blue blood spurted everywhere as Staff Sergeant Silvers slipped to the floor, joining PFC Brightly as the first casualties of what was to be a blood filled war.

You see, after the first attack on the Changeling’s outpost, word reached Equestria quickly. The Princesses knew that the griffons would soon attack Equestria’s borders soon, and they were quick to mobilize what military forces they had. A third was sent to Equestria’s northern front, where the Griffon Kingdom bordered our empire. Others were sent to the East to aide the changelings. The last were went south to ensure the safety of the citizens living near Zebraca.

However, they knew that that wasn’t enough. A total of fifty thousand troops split into three would not win a war. That was when the royal decree was sent out: any stallion between the ages of eighteen to thirty-five was required to joined the Equestrian armed forces.

I was asleep when the royal couriers came into town. They woke everypony up from their beds, and saying that it was of the utmost importance that all of the citizens gather in the town square.

I groaned as the our dorm door was pounded on by some ungodly pony at an ungodly hour. “Sweet Celestia man, isn’t it a little late to be getting high on something?!”

“This is a Royal Courier of the Canterlot Court!” A voice barked through the door. “All citizens are to report to the town square immediately to hear a royal decree from the Elements Council and the Princesses!”

“Yeah?!” Pipsqueak shouted back, rubbing his eyes. “And what if we don’t want to go?!”

The voice paused. Then, it coughed and spoke again. “Then we will have to break open the door and drag you there. Believe me, it is better you come willingly.” He then moved on to the next door and began pounding and hollering away.

Pipsqueak and I gawked at each other, not sure if the pony outside was joking. Deciding not to call his bluff, we scrambled out of bed, quickly washed our faces and dashed out the door. Once we were outside, we could see everypony else also getting up, rubbing the sleepiness out of their eyes. I looked over to our next door neighbor, questioningly. She just gave me this look that said, “The hay if I know, man.”, and started walking towards the exit.

I looked back at Pipsqueak, who shrugged. I guess we didn’t have a choice. We followed everypony else to the the town square, where a sizable crowd had already gathered. At the center on a makeshift podium stood the courier from earlier, now flanked by two Royal Guard ponies in camo drab. Both were armed with standard issue hoof blades on their forhooves. I took one look at their stony faces and knew that the news was going to be bad.

The courier cleared his throat and pulled out a letter with the royal seal. “I am Olive Branch, and I am here to read you grave news from the princesses and the Elements Council.” He then held out the letter.

“‘Dear citizens of the Equestrian Empire, the past twenty years have been peaceful for our great nation and her allies. Unfortunately, that has come to an end. The Griffon Kingdom has attacked the Changeling Hives, and Queen Chrysalis has already begun mobilizing forces to defend her country. This does not bode will for us, dear Equestrians, for further down south, the Zebras have threatened our borders in support of the Griffon Kingdom’s war. Thus I now call you to do your patriotic duty and rise to defend this nation from any and all attackers.

"We, the Elements Council and Princesses Celestia and Luna, hereby declare war on the Griffon Kingdom and the Zebra Nation for breaking the armistice of 2072. We thus call upon any male colt from the ages of eighteen to thirty-five to draft into the armed services of the Equestrian Empire, and any female from the ages of eighteen to thirty to do the same. Take pride in yourselves as Equestrians, dear subjects, and do your sworn duty to your country. Semper Coniunctus!’”

The courier put the letter down, and was met by utter silence. Then--

“They can’t do this to us!”

“I don’t want to go to war! I have a family!”

“We have enough soldiers to fight already! Why do we have to go?!”

I simply stood there, shell shocked. I would be going to war. I would have to have a battle saddle strapped to me with rifles on either side, a helmet to protect by skull from enemy attacks. I’d have the same HUD as my characters from Colt of Duty, and I’d have to fight the same enemies. This time though, the enemies were real. I’d have to kill. They’d have to kill. Everypony around me would have to--

BANG!

Silence fell as the gunshot rang through the night. The guardspony who had fired it held a pistol pointed skyward in his left hoof, his face still as blank as before. As the silence continued, he returned the gun to its holster and nodded at Olive Branch to continue.

Olive nodded shakily and and continued. “W-well as I was saying...the Princesses call you now to do your duty to the Crown and the Council. Our current military strength is not enough to fight another World War, and you are needed to win this war. The branch of service you will be in will be decided for you, as will your job.

“Return to your homes tonights and say goodbye to any loved ones. Tomorrow, you will head to your regional recruiting station for a physical to determine if you are fit for the service. You will have three days to report in. Any later, and you will be persecuted as a deserter.” The courier finished, and stepped off the podium, and the two guards followed him to a chariot.

The townsponies watched the trio as the got in and rode off. Nopony could speak. Nopony could.

Slowly, the townsponies turned their heads back around and trotted slowly to their homes.

I stood there, unsure of what to do. I looked around, and noticed that several others still stood still. They were my friends, Cobalt, Pip, Inkwell, and Starshine. We all looked at each other, and we all seemed to reach an unspoken agreement: none of us would go through this alone. We were in this together, until the end.

Until the end...but to what end?

The next day came like a big storm: quick, dark, and horrifying.

My friends and I walked into the recruiting station in the afternoon and came to a halt where the recruiters had set up shop. Already a large amount of ponies were there. I recognized a few. Off to left was Rumble getting in line at the Army booth. To my right was Twist signing up with the Navy.

Cobalt cleared his throat, jarring me from my inspection. “Hey, so where are we going? The Army?”

“Sweet Celestia, no!” Starshine cried out. “The Army doesn’t ever treat their guys right. I say we go Navy.”

“And get stuck on a boat for the rest of my life?” Inkwell muttered, already looking green. “I’m feeling seasick already.”

I snapped. “Would you all shut up? It’s not like we get a choice.” They however didn’t seem to hear me.

Pipsqueak just stood there quietly next to me while the three argued. After a while, he noticed me shaking and spoke up softly. “Hey, Button?”

“Y-yeah?” I said, unable to control my body.

He put a hoof on my shoulder. “Everything will be okay, man. Don’t worry.”

“I sure as hell hope so…” I muttered. I looked back at my arguing friends. It just doesn’t seem like we’ll be getting anywhere at this rate…

Suddenly, the fluorescent light was blocked from my vision. I looked up to see a camo-clad individual, helmet on his head and battle sattle locked and loaded. My eyes widened and my pupils shrunk. He looked down at me, his face stony and expressionless. The pegasus stallion cleared his throat, obviously trying to get my bickering friends’ attention.

“Ahem.”

“No way! Army food tastes like crap!”

“Ahem.”

“What, and Navy food’s any better?”

“AHEM!”

All of them stopped at once and turned towards the soldier. He glared at them, and spoke in a surprisingly soft voice.

“Recruits, get out of the way; you are blocking the path.” He looked at each of us in turn, giving us a hard look. Each of us in turn shivered a little as his cold grey eyes passed over us. “Be sure not to do this again, lest I make sure you get the most miserable job in the service. Understood?”

We all snapped up. “Y-yes sir!”

The soldier nodded grimly, told us to move along to the recruiters’ tables, and walked away.

“Shit…” Pip cursed as we followed him. “Not even to basic yet and here we are about to get our arses reamed.”

I said nothing. I couldn’t say anything.

We walked further into the office quietly, eyes always shifting left and right for ponies we recognized. The air was thick with the sound of cries and acts of mock bravado. There were plenty of colts bragging about how they were going to “ice so many bird brains” and teach them a lesson.

Behind me, Inkwell snorted. “They can’t honestly want to go to war?”

“Ink, nopony does.” Starshine said, the same exasperation in her voice. “They’re just afraid.”

“They don’t sound afraid.” Cobalt muttered.

Pip sighed. “Look guys, you do realize that’s their way of dealing with fear? Face it with some stupid brave face. Let’s just ignore it and move on.”

The rest of the walk was silent.

Soon, we came upon the examination rooms. Standing guard were two Army nurses, one stallion one mare.

The mare spoke up. “Colts to the left, mares to the right. You will allow yourselves to be examined thoroughly. No harm will come to you.” Seeing our worried faces, she gave us a small smile. “No worries. Upon completion of your physical, you may wait for your companions outside the rooms.” She pointed to a small area with chairs set up.

We simply nodded and went in.

I go in first, and for the first time since this morning, I was alone in a foreign area. The doctor in front of me asks me to do several exercises. He pokes and prods at me, treating me more like a test subject than an actual pony. He scribbles notes on a clipboard every few seconds, making me nervous.

Will I make it? Will they deny me? Part of me wishes for first while the other wants the second. I make it, and I’ll have to fight, I’ll have to kill. I don’t make it, I might lose some friends who will. Either way, I might lose friends. That terrifies me. I don’t want anypony I care about to die. I don’t want anypony to die.

Why was this happening?

“Hello? You with me?”

I jumped and turn towards the doctor. “Uh, sir?”

He sighed. “I said you’re cleared for service. Head to the waiting room.”

I almost feel relieved to walk out of there. As I walk out, I see that Starshine is already waiting there for me.

I sit down next to her, and immediately sink into the chair. I groan, and reposition myself. “You know, for all of its funding, you’d think the military would be able to afford better chairs.”

Starshine stayed quiet.

Immediately, I turn to look at her in the face. “Hey, Star. What’s up?”

She shivers. “I...I’m scared Button.”

“They clear you, too?”

Star nodded. I looked down at the floor, unsure of what to say. I mean, i couldn’t exactly tell her I was afraid either. So, I put a hoof on her shoulder. “Hey look, I got cleared too. At least we’ll be in this together, right?”

Star sniffles. “I just don’t want to die, Button. I want to live, go on dates, get married, have foals...not fight in some stupid war.”

A voice to our left spoke up. “Hey mate, it ain’t all sunshine and daisies, but like Button said, we’re in in this together, aren’t we?”

Star and I looked over to see Pip smiling goofily at us. I grinned at him, thankful for his ever-cheerful presence. Immediately, Star seemed to grin a bit.

“Y-yeah.” She sniffled, wiping away her tears. “Where are the other two?”

“We’re right here, Starshine.” Cobalt said, smiling at her. Inkwell looked as sick as Star, but Cobalt put on a brave face. “And like our resident video game nerd said: we’re in this together.”

For a bit, everything seemed normal. We were just a group of friends, together and smiling. Then, the Army nurse walks over to us.

“Alright, you’ve all been cleared for duty.” She took a look at her clipboard, and smiled at us. “Looks like you five are lucky; you’re all headed for the same branch.”

“Which one?” I asked, holding my breath.

She levitated a set of five envelopes. “You’re being drafted into the Equestrian Air Force. Inside these envelopes is the information you’ll need to know when and where to report in.” The nurse smiled at us once more and then dismissed us.

For a moment, we were all shocked, then we each started to chuckle. Soon, our chuckles turned into complete laughter.

For us, it didn’t matter anymore that we were going to war. For the moment, and it seemed that for the future, we were together.

And Celestia knew that we needed to be.