So... first day out of the academy, and wouldn't you know, we're being sent off to battle. Sugar Rush got her nice cushy position in the radio room, while I... well, I get stuck with helping the old geezer Captain Fringe. Spotter, ammunition carrier, field medic, you name it, he'll have me do it. That's me, 'Leftenant' Flash-Bang - serving the Grand Pegasus Enclave proudly since five hours ago, here to 'rid the wasteland below of dissidents and undesirable creatures'. What a load of manure.
We'd taken up a position on a ridge overlooking a town below called 'Pripytrot' - pre-war, home to one of those old missile silos. Miracle it wasn't hit by the bombs, honestly. Captain Fringe insisted on us both wearing this ridiculous white camouflage suit-thing over our armor, said that it was for the better. Psh, maybe if we both were trying to pass as snowballs, yeah... The low but unmistakible rumble of Mossy's Raptor overhead could just be heard over an ungodly wail that came from the city down below. Probably are the old bomb whistles from before the war - shit, they knew we were coming? No turning back now... Fringe adjusted himself, his large bullet-rifle held gently in his hooves. Binoculars, don't fail me. Guh, Did he have to smoke those damn cigars while he was on the job?
"Targets, Leftenant Flash-Bang?" I never understood where he got that accent from. The whistles wound down, and then wound up again, entering the second cycle. Mossy's Raptor let loose the first barrage of missiles and cannons - ho, damn, that'll leave a mark. Some pony and hellhound-shaped shadows were seen against the first blast, thrown and flopping against the falling buildings. Screams could just barely be heard, the shuffle of the frayed fabric beside me almost bringing me back from the sight of all those beautiful explosions. "Find targets, Leftenant. We're here to do a job, not watch fireworks."
"Uh... right... some stragglers coming out of the east gate, earth ponies and unicorns. Group of six." The HUD in my helmet focused in on the six, red arrows popping up above their heads. Fringe's visor beeped once, the long barrel of his rifle moving slightly as he adjusted. Goddesses, these things almost made it too easy - ballistics calculations, target mark, you hardly had to do anything when this was hooked up to the standard infantry weapons but aim and will it to fire. Hell, even the mag-rifles worked with them, and those were practically light-em-up and gun-em-down systems. Why Fringe liked using that damn manual .50 AT, I'll never know.
A thick cloud of smoke escaped his lips as the rifle sounded off with a bang, my view zooming in on the first target he went for - old earth pony, damn, they should be thanking us. Geezer looks like he's slowing them all down. Wait for it, wait for it... Ooh, that looked like it went right through his eye. Splat! Fringe cycled the bolt on his rifle, chuffing out another cloud of smoke - guh, damnit, that stuff smelled. The next target lit up as the spent casing sizzled in the snow, a unicorn mare with a dinky hunting rifle. Ooh, she even still has some brain from that geezer left on her face. This'll be fun...
The rifle sounded with another crack, the round flying down the range at her head and- BAM! Ooh, two for one, I'll confirm that. "Make that a group of three, on the run." A smirk came across my muzzle as my view followed the trio, seeing the digitally-calculated line from the barrel of Fringe's rifle tracking in the square in front of them, lining up on the shot. Seven rounds in that big ol' clip, right? Huh, we'll have some shells to spare - hooray, efficiency! Fringe let off a breath, the percussive explosion of powder propelling the half-inch round down a mile straight along the bluish arc. "Aaaand, that's two." Hot-damn, Capt. Fringe was one hell of a beast with that thing. The radio in my helmet crackled, Sugar Rush's lovely voice cutting through the static.
"Captain Fringe and Leiutenant Flash-Bang, be advised we have a possible aerial threat approaching your vicinity. Sensors picked up an unidentified pegasus flying with a pre-war skycarriage, take 'em down if you can." The old pegasus grumbled beside me, turning his view upwards at the sky and scanning around. I did much the same, sitting myself up before an armor-covered wing moved to smack the back of my helmet. Ow, so that's what the inside of a bell sounds like... Dropping back down, Fringe turned towards me, a scowl on his muzzle behind that ridiculous mustache.
"Stay down, Leftenant. If they have eyes in the air, the last thing we need is us advertising ourselves." Well... okay, he had a point. Don't argue with superiors. Fringe scanned teh skies above us both for a few more moments before turning back to the city, the two targets left still well within sights. I gave a passing glance towards them, the two faint arrows above them remaining in the corner of my view as I turned attention back to the sky above the city, and the second barrage of fireworks. Sweet Celestia, what a wonderful war...
"Ah, nevermind on that aerial threat. Advance wing Delta said that last barrage wiped 'em clean out. Popped like zits, heh..." You could practically hear the smirk in her voice. Ah, Sugar Rush, what a mare. Fringe took another shot, one of the two arrows winking out in the corner of my vision as I turned back to look at the group, a grin across my face. Five confirmed kills, four bullets, one target left. Capt. Fringe grunted, shuffling and tugging at the rifle's bolt, hitting the mechanism with a hoof.
"Damn thing, last round jammed. I told you to make sure the casing wasn't dented when you were loading the clip!" He snapped me a firm glare, myself blinking and reeling in surprise. I -SO- was paying attention when I was loading that stupid thing!... okay, so I was paying attention to Sugar Rush's cute flanks, but it was still technically paying attention! He smacked the breech again, the casing pinging out into the snow and the next round falling in, grunts escaping his mouth around his cigar. "Celestia help you if that happens again, Leftenant."
"W-won't, Captain... Captain Fringe?" The long digitally-projected arc from the barrel of Fringe's rifle stalled, landing between the eyes of the last target - pegasus mare, surface-born... guts spilled out on the ground... yeesh, c'mon Fringe, give her a mercy kill already. It'd be the least you could do, even if these savages don't really deserve mercy. The stallion beside me still hesitated, another explosion from some heavy ordinance landing in the city sending up a plume of smoke and debris. He layed there for a moment more, his mouth falling open and cigar landing in the snow with a sizzle of steam from the tip. Okay, somepony's having a bit of a moment...
He hadn't moved his rifle, the beam still lined up on the disemboweled pegasus mare, a large streak of red forming in the snow as she tried to drag herself along, intestines... check please. Okay, there's heads exploding, that I can handle. Even a little removal of limbs here and there, and of course vaporizing coronas of energy. But... sweet Celestia above, she's still -alive-. And -moving-! I didn't even know there could be that much intestine in the pony body. Okay, I understand why he stalled for a moment, but, goddesses, take the shot man! Fringe still hadn't moved.
"Flash-Bang... do you trust your superiors?" Fringe lifted the barrel of his rifle upwards, the artificial ballistics sight powering down. W-what kind of question was that to ask at a time like this!? What was he thinking? Training? Testing? Just plainly lost it? The long-barreled rifle swung onto his back, resting there as he stood himself up and removed the ridiculous suit - and his helmet - turning to face myself with that stern glare. Really freaking me out here, Captain Fringe... "Ditch your helmet and ghillie suit, Leftenant. This isn't a battle - it's a massacre."
"Cap-... Captain? What's..."
"Ditch them NOW, Flash-Bang. That's an order." With a moment's hesitation, I shuffled myself out of the heavy suit and metal helmet, dropping them aside. Captain Fringe glared at the standard armor I was issued, trotting up to myself and seemingly performing a uniform check, of all things. The battle raged below, a tingling sensation running over my body before the pegasus stallion before me nodded, turning to face away from the besieged city. For a moment, I felt stuck - had he disabled my armor? What the- oh, no, wait, there it is, moving again... what'd he- "You'll need that for a while, till you find some different clothes. You're a free mare, now."
"I... uh... but..." Okay, somepony stop the planet, I need time to think. So... gone dashite on orders of a superior officer... what a great run in military life for me. Oh, my dad's going to be -so- proud of me, 'Hey, North wind, my daughter's a home-deserting surface-dwelling traitor!' Great. A crackling of static and smell of ozone filled the air beside us both, a familiar teal-maned unicorn mare appearing beside us both, rubbing her eyes behind her glasses and wiping a stream of blood that fell down her muzzle. Thanks, fate, why not just lump every damn thing on me all at once! Fringe opened his eyes in surprise, quickly moving to disable Sugar Rush's own transponder, tossing it into the snow and looking between us.
"Mossy's gone nuts, she wants to use KS-1 in the batt-... uh... what?" Sugar Rush shared a look of confusion, looking between us nervously, then letting off a sigh. Well, she teleported herself here in the first place... "So, guess we're all Dashites now then, huh?"
"I'd call it a new lease on life. Mossy and Titchbreeze are doing this for sport - if you both have any sense, you'll disappear. There's a town to the north of here, Turnpike, go find some jobs and lay low. When Mossy and Titchbreeze leave... come back and see what's left. You'll understand then." Fringe spread his dark-green wings wide, taking off from the hill and gliding low along the ground, disappearing into the wasteland. Sugar Rush stepped up alongside myself, resting a hoof upon my shoulder softly, her sigh condensing in the air.
"A new adventure, I guess. Least we have each other, right?" She forced a weak smile, looking over at myself. I returned a faint chuckle, looking out at the faint splotch that glided along the snowy wasteland below. Did I trust my superiors? A massacre... what did he know? What had that old geezer seen? What had he done? And... why didn't he kill that mare that was left? A brilliant explosion went up above the war zone below, sending a massive heat pulse and throwing us both down the side of the hill, rolling in the snow. Last thing I remember seeing was Sugar Rush's face staring back at mine in shock - dumb rocks.
