Chapters It's cold this morning.... it's cold every morning, but you're always able to sleep through the freezing bitterness. Due to the extreme poverty your close friend Fluttershy lives and shares a bed with you. It's really more of massive burlap sack stuffed with sheep coats, but it serves it's purpose. She has always been a great friend and she's always been there to take care of you. From when you took a job in the factory, about 3 years ago, to right now while she's keeping you warm before your 4 A.M. shift. No one... nopony seemed to care about the fact that Fluttershy was friends with a human, namely you.
You remember your first injury you got on the job and how serious it was. One of the cauldrons had broken it's hook, fell 30 ft. and exploded on the factory floor. A railroad spike sized piece of shrapnel was lucky enough to tear a massive gash up your forearm, but the the fact that it was glowing a darker orange from the heat caused it to cauterize immediately. Even though the wound healed itself you couldn't work for almost a month. And now you have a thick scar that runs up the length of your right forearm and it's about as wide as your pinkie finger.
Just as you were about to get up for the daily grind the distant sound of a door being kicked in startles you. The sound is shortly followed by screaming and rapid gunfire."That's the second one this week." you think to yourself as you listen to two sets of footsteps make their way down the hall and down the stairs. Now sitting up, you look over your shoulder to see your friend shaking like a leaf with fear in her watering eyes.
"It's ok Shy." you say quietly. "I have to leave for work now." you say while tucking the covers around her.
"Thanks." you hear in a sad whisper.
"I'll be back with dinner around 9-ish. Get some rest." you try to comfort her.
Walking out the door you check the bread box and see some of last night's dinner, mutton and some stale bread, and decide to leave it for her. She hasn't had a breakfast in a couple days, neither have you but you rarely eat anything, and it's taking it's toll on her. Hopefully you can bring home a real dinner like some sturgeon or sauerkraut soup, but you have to take what you can get. You swear you could hear a faint whimper as you closed to the door and thought about stopping to ask, but if you were late on your shift you wouldn't be payed as much and that meant less food to survive the night. While you're at work she finds whatever work she can on local farms whether it be tilling the soil or tending the livestock and she knows she's knows she's helping you a great deal when she brings home an extra blanket made from the furs that weren't sold.
Walking down the street in the early morning darkness, you enjoy the smells you're so familiar to. The smell of fermenting mash by the distillery, rotting flesh where they make leather boots and gloves, the pile of ashen bodies outside the hospital, the textile factory that makes the dense coats of wool you're wearing, and the smell of molten metal being cooled right outside your mill.
You walk through the double doors and on to the factory floor to begin your next miserable 18 hours. As you toil away, prodding and poking at the cooling steel in the cauldrons, you can't help letting your mind drift back to that cute little pony sleeping in your bed. You work your constant grind, brainlessly going about your shift, while your mind drifts off to happier places that you wished existed. They all partially exist, after all Fluttershy's in all of them. Hopefully things won't always be this way, but your hope is a dwindling ideal. As soon as that thought leaves your mind you're brought back to the real world by the sound of violent sizzling and the blood curdling screams of an injured child.
Immediately leaving your post, you quickly spot the kid lying next to a puddle of molten steel that had a darkend spot beacause his arm, now seared completely off, was simmering in the slag. As he lie there screaming you hear the angry shouts of the owner to remove the hold up and it was quickly responded to with two ponies dragging him by his feet off the factory floor and into the street. Nobody bothered to shovel the slag off to the side as they all went back to work. He'll be replaced with some new kid, just trying to support his family, within the hour and it all just keep moving like clockwork.
Every day for the past 3 years it's always the same thing. Work as hard as you possibly can, but everybody gets paid essentially the same. If you hold up production or become injured you're quickly killed or replaced, but in the case of the child it's both. He'll probably die out there in the cold and not a single person or pony will care. You might not care, but it still makes you sick. You wish you could help him, but what is most important right now is staying fed.
As the day drags on you can feel your stomach growling at you and causing a dull ache from the emptiness. You almost don't even hear the steam whistle that signaled the end of the day's work over the excessively loud clatter of metal on metal scraping. After you stand in line, for about 20 mintues, to collect your pay you realize that you almost never see the sun, pitty.And now it's time to get dinner. In the darkness, while you jog to the nearest grocery, you hear a glass bottle shattering. You quickly look over to the side of the street and see an officer brutally beating a drunkard with his knuckle duster and it was easy to see the blood spraying out of his face while the drunk was being held off the ground by his shirt collar.
Upon seeing this something inside of you breaks. You pick up the nearest brick and begin running towards the officer. Right before you collide with him you swing with all of your strength and plant the brick into his head. It cracks his skull with the sound of a pumpkin being dropped on the asphault. Just as he lands on his back from the blow, you are sitting on top of him bashing his face in with the hard, red, clay. *Krack!..krack!..krack!..* Is the sound of you beating his head back and forth while a pool of blood, teeth, and face meat begins to collect around you. The drunkard, seeing this as his opprotunity, takes off running into the alley.
After a good 5 minutes of devolving into the animal you've held back all these years you sit back on your knees and try to catch your breath. You pull the knuckle duster from his cold, dead, hands and discover that he has a whole pound of fish in his jacket. Without wiping the blood off you grab the fishwrap and sprint down the street to bring home a full sized dinner to your pony. You're coming up to your building and you're almost out of breath when you reach the freely swinging door, you charge through it with your shoulder and rush up the stairs. When you come to your floor you see a stray beam of light coming from an opening in your doorway.
Fitting on the knuckle duster you took you creep up to the opening and peek inside. On the wall to the right of you there is a pony in police uniform, holding Fluttershy up against it by her forehooves. His chuckling shows he's drunk and he's going in to force a kiss on the quivering pony. Thoughts race through your head and the sound of your heart begins pounding in your head. You can't watch it anymore because the sheer anger is making you sick.
In that instant you kick the door open, toss your fish, and dash towards him while grabbing by the throat with your left hand and slamming him into the wall. You had wound up your right hand in that rush and now you're planting it into his jaw over and over again. Before you do enough damage to draw blood, you start choking him with both hands. Digging your fingers into his neck, you fight him up and down the wall then watch his eyes turn bloodshot and a shade of purple wash over his cheeks while he chokes and makes a sickening "gk..gaack.." sound. His hooves, that were desperately fighting at your wrists, now hang low at his sides and the shifting of his eyes is slowing.
You slide down the wall towards the window, which was just a square hole in the wall with a small curtain, and shove him through it. His body quickly falls the 60 ft. to the ground and he lands with a hollow 'PFFT...' Now, completely exhausted, you put your back to the wall and slide down to sit and catch your breath. You notice Fluttershy hiding behind the corner-wall that led into the kitchen with fear in her eyes because of the horror she had just witnessed.
"Shy?" you say while panting. "Are... are you okay?"
Dinner and repercussions...
She isn't crying, but she's on the virge and her lip is quivering. She slowly nods in response and walks over to you. You take off your knuckle duster and put it in your pocket before she gets to you and open your arms to hold her. She wraps her forelegs around your neck and rests her head on your shoulder while you hold her around the waist as she sits in your lap.
"I'm sorry you had to see that Shy, but I'm just glad I got here in time."
"I was so scared." she wimpers.
"He didn't do anything to you, did he?"
"He... he just kicked open the door and... came after me.."
She buries her face into the side of your neck and lets it all out. The tears begin to soak the collar on your jacket, but you don't mind because you always want to be there for her and today you feel as though you've completely let her down. If only you had ignored the drunk being beaten. If only you had shown some initiative and ran faster. All of these thoughts that stew in your head leave a sour taste in your mouth like molding bread.
The rhythm in her sob begins to slow as the tears stop coming to the surface and it's clear that she's almost all cried out. A real meal, that will actually fill her stomach, would probably ease the pain of the day she's been through.
"Hey." you whisper in her ear. "I have a surprise for you."
"You do?" she whispers while looking at you with teary eyes.
"Yea, I brought it home and I'll cook it for dinner."
"What is it?"
"I don't know, I haven't opened it." you say looking at the square, white paper, package you threw.
"How about you lie down for a little bit while I get dinner ready." you say while cradling her and carrying her to the bed.
She giggles as you lay her down and pull the covers up to her. After she looks comfy you walk over to the fish, pick it up, and begin rifling through the cupboard to add what little you have for flavor; Sunflower oil, salt, half an old onion, vodka.....Guess it'll probably work. "Now, where are the pan and matches?" you think to yourself while amidst your rumaging.
After locating everything and laying it all out on the counter, you turn the burner on the stove on and begin humming Varshavianka in an attempt to lighten the mood. You add everything you found into the pan, slice the sturgeon into two strips and add it to the random mix of flavors on the stove.
"I love it when you sing." you hear faintly from the other room.
"Heh, I'm just humming Shy."
"I know, but... it's just nice to hear your voice when you aren't worried about me or wondering if we'll eat or not." she says calmly and sitting right next to you.
You turn and see her looking up at you with a light hearted smile.
"I didn't even hear you walk in here. Must be getting awful light without regular dinners." you say jokingly.
You two continue your small talk until dinner is ready. You turn the burner off, grab the two plates you normally use, and walk into the main room to serve her dinner in bed (which was normal because you burnt the table and chairs to keep warm). You don't have any untensils so you just use some spare slaughter knives from one of the farms she works on. All in all, it's a nice way to end everything that had happend today.
She finishes her dinner just a little before you do and pulls the blankets up to settle in for the night, but just before you lie down to sleep she wraps her forelegs around you, squeezes you tight, and kisses you on the cheek. As you lay down she curls up next to you and holds you like a teddy bear she'd had as a child. You end up cuddling the whole night and it was the most peaceful sleep you could've ever dreamed of.
It's 3:30 when you wake the only thought in your head is work. You slowly get up, trying not to disturb your cuddler, and make your way to the stairs at the end of the hall. As you walk you feel the metal rustling around in your pocket and it's welcome knowing that you have a little power now. You're almost to the stairs when you hear two sets of footsteps coming up it's light metal frame. You stop and wait to find out that the steps were coming from two police officers, both armed with a PPSh 41, and they walked past you and towards your room. They slowed once they got to your room they leaned up against the wall with their weapons pointed to the ground and prepared charge the room.
"No." you say to yourself as your pulse begins to race.
You sprint towards them and tackle the one closest to you causing him to drop his weapon. Before the other officer could react you were already sitting back on the ground with the weapon pointed up at his chest. Just as he attempts to draw his weapon, you squeeze the trigger and let loose a hail of lead that rips through his whole body.
The extreme rate of fire on the submachine was much more than you had expected, but you still managed not to miss your target. You stand up, look down at the man you tackled, and put the barrel on the back of his head, and fire off one round. The end of the barrel has blood on it now.
"Shy, are you there?" you call out while opening the door.
You find her, still safe, in bed. She's shaking in fear while she looks up at you and also sees the men dead in the hall.
"Did... did you?..." she nervously asks.
"Yea.... they stopped at the door. I had to."
You reach down to pick up the other gun and walk over to Shy and lay it down right next to her.
"Shy, we can't keep doing this. We can't keep living in fear and they can't have all of the power."
"What are... going to do?" you hear in a faint whisper.
"I am going to work. Shoot anyone you don't know and please... stay here." you say just concerned for her.
And with that you walk out, pilfer an extra magazine off the dead bodies, and take your usual route to the mill.
As you walk to work, submachine in hand, you judge the weight of the magazine and figure it's a little more than half full.
"The workers should be just as sick of this as I am." you begin to talk to yourself quietly.
"Ok; first I'm going to shoot the guards, then I need to go after the boss, and organize everyone else. Will anyone help me to begin with? Am I going to have to 'Rally the troops' as it were? So much is unaccounted for and there is no room for a mishap on my part."
It's 4:05 when you arrive at the mill. The workers have already started there shifts and it is completely dead outside. You jog around to the back stairs, that the guards use, and walk up to the door. You take a deep breath and mentally ready yourself. You've got a round in the chamber and the extra mag in your jacket... only one thing left.
You kick the door open, so quickly it slams against the railing before you get your foot down, and raise your weapon to take aim at the three men who had always kept watch. The guards don't have any time to react before you begin sending rounds towards them and almost empty your drum. The rapid, sharp, snaps of your bullets are enough to distract everybody on the floor to look at the spectacle thats going on. *PTATATATATATATA* Can be heard all throughout the factory over the usual scraping sounds of metal on metal.
The guards fall dead, each with multiple bullet wounds to the chest and face, and begin dripping blood through the metal cat walk. Before making your way to owners office, you grab up another PPSh and reload your other one with ammo from the guards.
Now walking to the owners door with a submachine in each hand the thought of his final words pops into your head. He'll probably beg and blame it on someone, what a coward, but you won't even let him get a word out. You can see his shadow through the glass pane in the door.
You kick in his door with guns drawn and see him calmy sitting at his desk with a smirk. There is an awkward silence where you 2 just stare at one another for a couple seconds.
"So... What do plan to accomplish?" he says like he's already won. "Nothing will change. If I die you will be shot, I will be replaced, and your yellow friend..." he is cut off by the barrel on your PPSh being forced in his mouth.
When you jammed it down his yammering maw, you busted out some of his front teeth and he began to gag.
"What was that?"
He continues gagging and spits up a little blood.
"You were going on about 'not accomplishing anything.' Oh! You were finished? Well, allow me to retort." you say with a cocky squeak in your voice.
"I am physically sick of being your working drone. Now what we have here is a shift in power. The balance on the scales of society have just been tipped and you , my friend, are the fulcrum."
You pull the trigger and let loose a short burst into his mouth and out the back of his head, spraying the wall behind him with his blood and skull fragments.
You walk out to a dead quiet factory and a crowd of onlookers staring up at you with blank expressions.
"This uh....day..." you try to start your speech.
"This day marks our rise from peasantry. For too long have we been held down, cheated, and murdered by those who make false promises to protect and serve." This catches their attention and you feel the need to speak up.
"On this day we take back what is ours! The balance of power has shifted and we, and we alone, have control over our lives! We shall rule ourselves and take the power that we were never given! This is our world now and there is no room left in it for those monstrosities who constantly attempt to control us! They shall know the fear they have induced on us all these years and they will cower before our might!"
By this time the entire crowd had transformed into a roaring mob, waving metal rods and sledgehammers in the air. You hop over the railing and land at the head of the mob.
"Thank you for opening my eyes comrade. Now, who shall feel our wrath on this monumentous morning?" says a stalky worker who is also missing one eye.
"The police. We need flammable liquids, glass bottles, rags, and fire." you practically yell at him over the ranting mob.
After he got what you were saying he took off with a group of men to find the materials.
"So, my friend, why are we going after the police?" askes another.
"Because they are the soldiers that do the rich man's bidding. Because they are the only military strength of this town. And because they would be the only ones to try and prevent us from reaching our goal." you say still shouting.
"Good! I see you have thought this through then?"
"Yes! This day has been held off for far to long. We will rise comrade."
After you finish talking with him more men and ponies in the factory walk up pretty much ask the same thing as him. The worker who took off 20 minutes ago came running back in the door with your fire bombs. Each man was holding a crate of nine and there were ten men that walked in.
"We have 90 bombs to destroy our enemies with!" you shout to the crowd. "Go! And show them what we are capable of!"
The mob of revolutionists goes stampeding out the double doors, roaring and willing to destroy anything that stood in their way.
You and your riot run through the city streets, roaring and destroying everything in your path. Your stampede stirs the feral dogs that fend for themselves in the early morning before the filth is dumped in the streets. The numerous hounds run and roar into the night along side you while your mob thunders into the town square. Everyone who sees the 3 story building, that is the armory that houses the police, fall still and silent.
The men who held the bomb crates begin distributing them amongst the mob while another man hands out lighters. Everyone who has a molotov move to the front of the mob and light the rags that hang from the bottles. A man hands you a bottle and a lighter, then motions with an open hand towards the double doors to the armory.
"On this morn we will erase the very memory of those who sought to oppress us." you say to the line of fire wielding men on the front.
Lighter in hand, you set alfame the rag that will stoke the fires of revolution. You walk up to the entrance and stand there in silence. The mob behind you sits in suspense as they wait for your next move.
You sigh and draw in a deep breath as your heart begins to race. You kick in the door and expose a group of police eating breakfast. They all stare at you in silence while you hold that flaming bottle in you hand. You launch the bottle towards the table where they're sitting and it explodes on the tabletop, covering them in liquid fire. They scream and squeal like the rats they are as they blindly run back an forth around the room.
You shout at the mob to burn it down as you run back to regroup. The sky quickly fills with tailing flames that fly towards the armory. Bottles fly through windows and shatter on the outer wall while they bathe the building in fire. Flames explode out of windows along with men throwing themselves out and into the air. Their flaming corpses hit the ground and sound off with *thuds* and *splats*, then lie there and burn.
As you and your mob stand there, in the street, watching this beautiful sight you look off to the right and at the very end of the street you can see a small brick structure that is your building. Behind the front wall, amongst the other rooms, is your room. Maybe Shy can see this from the window... I hope she's still ok up there. You feel the grip of a hand on your shoulder and you turn to meet that man who gathered the bottles with his group. You notice his missing left eye and the hole in his head just presented itself, like an obvious cave in a hillside.
"This is a beautiful sight my friend." he says like he's been waiting for this his whole life.
"It is. This wouldn't have been possible without you and the rest of the workers though." you reassure him.
"Yes, but we are not stopping here are we?"
"Not even close comrade. I need to go home and check on something though. You should all go and gather supplies, weapons, whatever might be necessary to fuel our cause."
"Ok, but do not forget these." he says while handing you the guns you had left on the ground when you started the burning of the armory.
You only take one.
"I only need one, you could better use one than I could use two."
And with that he thanks you and turns to the men and gives directions to smaller armories, that only hold weaponry, and factories that need "Liberating."
You are running home when the group disperses and you keep thinking to yourself. "I hope she's ok. I hope she's ok."
You charge through the swinging door, run up the stairs, and come to your hallway. Your heart sinks when you see your door wide open. Just as you begin to walk towards the door you hear rapid gunfire snaps and see an officer fall out of the doorway and onto the concrete floor.
"Helllp mmme...." he rasps his voice while reaching out to you.
You step over his body and walk inside to find Fluttershy holding the gun you left her. Smoke is coming out of the barrel and the look on her face puts a little fear into you because you've never seen her angry before.
"Shy? What happend?" you say cautiously.
"Look around." she says with grit in her voice as she points to the ground with her hoof.
You completely missed all of the dead bodies scattered around the floor.
"I've got plenty of ammo now, thanks to these idiots." she is really pissed right now.
"Well I just burned down the armory, but it appears that you had a much more intersting morning."
"You did?!!?" she gasps.
"Yes, and right now my mob is gathering supplies and people to fight the police. Would you care to join me?" you jokingly ask with a suave voice.
"Oh monsieur." she giggles, putting her hoof in your hand. "I'd love to."
Before you both head out you search the bodies for anything useful and find; 2 knuckle dusters, a trench knife, 3 makarov pistols, and 4 grenades.
"Limonkas." you chuckle to yourself as you put one in each pocket and hand the other 2 to Fluttershy.
"What do these do?" she asks innocently.
"Well, when you pull the pin and throw them, they explode. But they will go off if you just hold onto it."
You hand her a pistol and grab a messenger bag from one of the corpses on the floor for the rest of the gear. After packing the gear you look around the floor at the police and find that their over coats look better than what you've got on. There is a guard with only bullet holes in his face, so you decide to take his coat and swap it with yours. The comfy, wool, trench coat that reaches down to your ankles makes you look a bit more formidable than usual.
"You remind me of a Shock troop, from when the war was brought here." Fluttershy says like all you're missing is the German accent. "All you need now, is one of their black helmets."
"Heh, ya think?" you chuckle while slinging on the messenger bag.
"Mhm." you hear her voice become soft again.
For some reason you feel the need to wrap your arms around her and you quickly act upon this urge.
"I missed you while I was out there and I couldn't stop thinking about you." you whisper in her ear.
You loosen your hug to come face to face and lose yourself in her bright eyes that remind you of an early morning summer sky. A cute smile appears on her for a moment before she slowly moves closer to you. Her lips touch with yours in an embrace that makes your heart trip over itself and you feel as if you are flying with her. That brief kiss is your most cherished memory now that she is resting her head on your shoulder.
"I love you." she says in her most innocent voice while you try to make every moment of this last.
"And I love you." you try to keep your voice soft, but it's kind of difficult when your heart just physically lost it's rhythm.
"Come on." she speaks up. "Let's go stir things up in town." she finishes with her deviantly innocent smile.
As you two head out and into the street you are greeted by your original mob, now with new members and almost doubled in size, and they all have weapons. Not all of them you recognize as Russian.
"Comrade!" your one eyed friend calls out while running up to you. "When we raided the armories some of them had German weapons that were kept as war prizes! We were able to arm every man that stands with us and we still have more steel to spread."
"That is very fortunate friend. I am glad that we have the ability, and enthusiasts, to fight back and reclaim what is rightfully ours."
"Yes! We do!" he laughs maniacally while dropping a massive duffel bag on the ground.
"Take what you need!" he says while laughing and pointing at the assortment of weaponry.
You reach in and pick out a belt-fed MG42, then put on the shoulder strap.
"And what about your friend here?"
"Oh!" she squeaks a little surprised. "This one looks really nice." she says, picking up a bolt-action 98k.
He hands you both as much ammo as you could each carry and then explains how some guards had radioed out for help. There would soon be reinforcements from the military and the possibility of tanks showing up, along with riot police that will be arriving any time. The riot police are basically military in body armor that will hold up in a fire fight, but will eventually break if you shoot it enough.
You both go over plans of attack, but you yourself are leaning towards an ambush tactic with everyone hiding in buildings while, safe from fire, picking off anyone who attempts to keep you from your goal of freedom.
"Ok, I see your point." he submits.
"Before we go to war today, I must know the name my comrade who would willingly fight beside me."
"It is Aleksi, comrade. The time for action is upon us. Take your positions everyone!"
While everyone empties out of the street and into the surrounding buildings you and Fluttershy head back to your room and use the windows as a 'bird's nest'.
You look over, at the most beautiful mare you've seen in your life, and see she is going to use the rifle. You feed a new belt into your machine and charge the handle. You wait for only a few short minutes before you hear the low rumble of an organized legion marching off in the distance.
Your grip on the gun tightens as your heart races. The legion's roar of the march is growing louder, closer, and faster. You begin to see the head of the battalion and their pace is a steady jog towards the center of the street. Their sounds begins to drown out as all you can hear now is your pulse, constantly beating and pounding inside your skull. Your eyes widen in rage that you just can't bottle anymore. Right as they hit the center of your ambush sight, you unleash your fury of hellfire and bullets into the mob. This signals everyone who was hiding to do the same. The entire street is now lit up with gun fire and thrown grenades.
Your MG42 is a buzzsaw, tearing and wrending flesh from bone, to the defenseless legion below. What once was a massive block of soldiers, is now dwindling under the relentless barrage of lead coming from all sides.
Fluttershy, on the other hand, is enjoying herself. Picking off soldiers who think they're hiding, one by one, is making her giggle. Her weapon is sounding off with a ryhthmic *POW..klick-klak..POW..klick-klak * and it is music that blends well with the sound of ripping canvas coming from your machine gun.
You mow down the clusters of soldiers who aren't quick enough to get away and she takes throat-shots of those who peek around corners of alleys.
This slaughter lasts for only 20 minutes before all 900 of them were either dead or writhing in the street. You sit back on your knees and calm down from all the excitment. You lean back on the wall, with your gun in your lap, and try to settle your eratic breathing. Fluttershy comes away from the window because she sees you this way.
"Hey, are you feeling ok?" she asks in her sweet tone while cuddling up to you.
"Yeah..." you sigh while resting your head on her shoulder. "I just had to let loose."
She nuzzles your cheek and some how you know she understands. Your heart almost returns to a calm beat when you hear heavy boots coming down the hall. Without even thinking you reach into your messenger bag and pull out the Makarov. Just as an armored soldier kicks open the door you have the pistol aimed up at his head. Before he is able to get his leg back down, you fire off round after round into his face and throat. *Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! * is the sound of your pistol cracking off rounds that tear out his throat and punch out holes in the back of his helmet.
His body falls heavy on the floor from all the armor and the SKS he was carrying bounces out of his hand and arcoss the floor towards the kitchen. Fluttershy puts her hoof on her chest and exhales to settle the adrenaline rush. You put the pistol back in the bag and walk over to the corpse to take his helmet. When you inspect it you see 2 bullet holes, one dead center in the back and another an inch to the bottom left. It is a very comfortable helmet and the leather fitting inside wraps around your head, forming a perfectly snug fit.
"So Shy, am I the shock troop of your dreams now?" you say with a chuckle.
"Hehe, you were always the man of my dreams." she blushes.
All you you can do is crack a smile and open the door for her while she trots out into the hallway. As you both make your way back out into the street, you notice that Aleksi is holding a man (with very nice clothing) in handcuffs.
"Who is this?" you ask while members of the mob move an anvil in front of Aleksi.
"He is the commanding officer who led the attempted attack on us. We found him in a nearby store watching in cowardice while the slaughter ensued."
"And what do you plan to do with him?" you ask curiously.
"This anvil is the Working Man's executioner's block and you, my friend, will be the hooded man of today!" he shouts to the crowd behind him while someone hands you a sledgehammer.
You unstrap your MG and set it on the ground while you get a quick feel for your "axe" of the morning. "Hey... It's morning!" you think to yourself as the sun begins to rise over the buildings that line the street.
"Fluttershy." you quietly say to her. "Look, it's the sun." you cheerfully whisper as you begin to feel it's warmth. "This will be a glorious morning."
You throw your arms behind you to stretch out, so as not to pull a muscle, just as the officer begins to squirm.
"Wait, sir. If I were to offer you some sort of... Ack!" he is cut off by Aleksi forcing his head down onto the cold steel block.
You raise the hammer high, with one hand below the head and the other at the base of the stick, and ready to destroy one small piece of the group that has sought to oppress you. Aleksi holds him by his jacket collar, lying it wait for you to pass your harsh judgement on this sorry excuse for a man. With all of your strength, you bring this heavy, steel, hammer down into the right side of officer's skull and crush it into the anvil. His head deforms from the blow and becomes a mashed piece of flesh and bone on that steel block. Blood sprays everywhere when you feel your sledgehammer touch the anvil through his head and come to an abrupt stop that sends a jolt of pain up your arm and into your shoulder.
"Victory!!" you shout while raising your sledgehammer into the air with one arm.
Your shout is met with the roar of the crowd and guns waved in the air. In your eyes the city had been taken, but in reality the military wasn't going to let you go so easily.
This is where we fight...
That day you and the mob set up blockades and strongholds throughout the city. Street entrances were lined with makeshift tank stoppers that were made in the foundries. Every block in your small city had a 5 man patrol at all times. You needed to lock everything down because you know the army will want to retake the city.
It's been 3 days since you smashed that officer's skull in the street and already things are picking up. People are competing for wages and making more money, the fear of not having enough food for the night is non-existant, and everyone runs all aspects of life by themselves. We run the foundries, we sell food with fair prices, and our hospital actually heals patients now. All that is left is to survive the coming army and, hopefully, we can prosper without oppression.
"What are you thinking about?" you hear in a soft tone as you come back from your deep thought.
"Oh, nothing." you say, a little relieved it was Shy, while gazing at the moon. "What's on your mind?"
"I was wondering if you would want to go to dinner with me." she says a little hesitantly.
"Go to dinner with you?"
"Well, the grocer down the street put tables and chairs in the front of his store and he serves people food."
"That sounds interesting. Let's try it." you say a little cheerfully knowing that this is probably a luxury that, previously, only the rich had.
She giggles in response and walks out the door. You can't help but stare at the cute way she moves her rump while she walks, but you snap out of it and put a loaded Makarov in your pocket then head out with her. You both just chat about how things are improving while you walk to the grocer's. When you get there he greets you with a bottle of some sort of liqueur and a small table for two by the window. He lays out a white table cloth and sets a candle down in the window sill (which was a little higher than the edge of the table) and leaves to go get some pre-dinner bread.
"It's really nice in here." Shy says quietly, not to disturb the couples at other tables.
"It's perfect because you're here with me." you say with a small smile. This makes her blush.
You put your open hands on the table and lose yourself in her beautiful blue eyes. She puts her hooves in your hands and you both lean in for a romantic moment. The slow kiss is enhanced by dim, candle lit setting and her warm breath coming from her snout. You both sit back in your chair and take in the night when the window you are sitting by shatters. A grenade, that shattered the window, rolls across the floor and immediately you turn the table on it's side to use it as a shield while you crouch behind it and hold Fluttershy to protect her from the grenade.
As it explodes people scream and pain shoots up your back. Shrapnel broke through the table and into your skin. You pull out the Makarov and stand up to face the attacker who just ruined your night. You find yourself aiming your pistol at a small pony standing on his hind legs and holding a pistol at his side. You heart climbs into your throat when he lifts his gun to aim at you and you fire a round into his chest. You don't know how old he is, but when he fell to the ground and began screaming you can only guess he is no older than 6 or 7.
"Shy we need to leave, now!"
"Ok, but... you're bleeding!" she squeaks while her eyes water.
"I'm fine, we need to leave!" you shout as you grab her hoof and run out the door.
You haul back to your building and as you do you see fire fights breaking out in the streets between your rag tag mulisha and the Soviet army. You constantly have to duck for cover and inside shot up buildings or run the risk of being killed. By the time you get back to your room to grab whatever gear you might need, you've got five small red circles with drip trails on your back and the pain is getting more intense.
You gear up your MG42 with a 250 round belt, in a metal box you made that mounts on the side of the gun, and put a grenade belt on. Shy takes the SKS the guard left behind and decides to use this room as a birds nest to watch over the whole street. Just as you are about to head out and join the fight Shy throws herself into your arms and gives you one last kiss.
"Don't go." you hear her murmur with the gunfire of the street in the background.
"I don't want to leave you, but I want to have you to come back to. If that's going to happen I need to make all of them go away."
"Ok, but you have to come back to me. Promise me." she says while hypnotizing you with her sweetest and saddest voice.
"I promise Shy. I love you."
"I love you too."
One final kiss before you go to war.
You run down the stairs and find Aleksi waiting for you with a small group of armed men, plus a pony with an RPG-2. "Let's go." is all you have to say before the whole group follows you and begins wiping the street of all opposers. Left and right, military are getting mowed down by hails of bullets from your machine. Blood begins to coat the street and paint nearby buildings. The sound of gunfire and explosions fills the air and so does the smell of burning powder on this violent night. The rumble of a massive engine catches your attention as a tank rolls up to the end of the street and stops in front of the metal blockades you set up. You notice that this tank's barrel has a small plume of fire pouring out of it.
The turret on top rotated to aim down the center of the street. A torrent of flaming napalm from the barrel flooded the street with the smell of brimstone and gasoline. Those who weren't caught in the blaze and burnt alive had to fall back into nearby alleys and so did you. Just as you turn to run you are thrown to the ground by an armored soldier that came with the invading hoard. Before you can draw your pistol he stomps your face and everything fades away.
When you awaken your vision is cloudy and you can't move your arms or legs. There are 2 murky figures in front of you and one of them is chuckling to himself as you slowly come out of your daze.
"So, he has awakened." you hear someone sneering.
All you can do is groan and try to move your body out of the chair you are sitting in.
"Oh-ho!" the other one laughs. "He's still got some fight left in him."
"Yes, and we know just how to fix that." the first one is clearly enjoying this.
"Fuck....y..you...." you manage to get 2 words out.
Your vision is clear enough right now and the first voice you heard belongs to another general and the deep laugh came from the guard who stomped you.
"Well you're a nasty little one, aren't you?" the general chirps.
"Yea, he'll see what we do with the nasties." the amored one sounds his Tweedle Dum voice.
"Go on, cut him loose. Be careful, he is the leader and he is very resourceful."
The armored man cuts your legs free, but leaves your hands bound. You just stand up and your arms slide off the back of the chair. He, still having one hand to carry his shotgun, grabs your arm from behind you and pushes to lead you through a doorway that places all 3 of you onto the roof top of the building. The guard motions for you to stand by the ledge, so you do. Gunfire is still raging throughout the city and as you look over you can see several destroyed tanks and massive amounts of bodies lining the streets. Most of them have nice uniforms, we must be winning.
"Without you to lead this.... little rebellion of yours, there will be no one to blame for it's failure."
"I hate to shatter your ego, but I was never a leader. I made suggestions and they were taken. Everyone worked together just fine without me, so if you're going to shoot, fine waist your ammo." you maintain calmness.
This angers him and the guard raises his shotgun to you.
"Really now? We will see. When all that you love is taken from you, even after death, you will scream for mercy."
"Oh yes. You will see, and I think you see right now that you won't take this from us. All of your attempts end in failure, but you'll get used to not measuring up."
"Shoot him!" the general barks as he turns his back on you.
"Wait! General, you forgot one thing."
"And that might be?"
You spit blood in his face and chuckle. Just as the general wipes his face the guards gun goes off into your stomach and your body goes completely numb as you fall back and over the ledge. Your fall takes only a few split seconds before you land flat on the concrete. Your final thought was the promise you had just broken and the final kiss you and Fluttershy shared. You can't feel anything as you slip off to sleep while you watch the snow fall from the sky.
The city was never taken and the Soviet army was forced to retreat. The small society you helped form was never bothered by an outside force again, but was instead left alone to prosper in peace. Your body was found about 20 minutes after the Soviets had completely left and Fluttershy was the one who found it. She silently cried as she carried your body to Aleksi. She attended your funeral, which was held on the farm she grew up on before she began livng with you and didn't say a word until she was alone with you.
"I forgive you for not coming home, but I still wanted one last kiss. I guess I'll just have to wait until I see you again. Goodbye... I.. I love you."
She kisses the lid on the granite coffin just as it begins to snow and she walks home to the apartment you two had shared all those years. Things changed just like you said they would, but you're all alone now on that farm. No one, but you and the occasional crow that roosts on your lid.
