Band of Ponies

Starlight and Candy walked down the road, trying to be as quiet as possible. There’d definitely been fighting around the area, and there was the occasional crackle of small arms fire in the distance. The moon had been covered by clouds, so it was getting very hard to see. Just then, it began to rain.

“Fuck me…” Muttered Starlight. At least their tracks would be washed away.

Suddenly, the night lit up, and tracers zipped in from all directions. Both mares hit the ground quickly, miraculously not getting hit. The gunfire stopped, and Starlight heard the ‘clop clop’ sound of pony hooves against the road. They’d almost been killed by friendlies!

“You’ve gotta be kidding…” Muttered Candy. “Airborne! Airborne! You fucking idiots!” She called out to their attackers.

“Fuck!” came a whisper from the hedgerows.

“We almost fucking lit you up!” Came another voice. “We’re on the other side of the hedgerow…” It added.

“You fucking foals!” Said Starlight, walking over to the hedgerow.  Cautiously, she slipped through a small opening, not wanting to be shot by her own side! Once on the other side, she found herself standing on a road, much like the other one. On the other side of this road was another hedgerow, and then what Starlight assumed was a field.To her right were three ponies. They all wore the same khaki fatigues, OD vest, and saddlebags, except Starlight had NEVER seen any of them before. “Are you guys 3rd airborne?”

“Baker company.” replied a dark grey Stallion with a black mane.

“Fuck.” Starlight swore to herself. “Charlie company.” She said. Baker company was supposed to be five miles East of here!

I guess we’re not the only ones who missed our drop zone…” Said Candy, looking around. “You seen any Gryphons yet?”

“Yup.” Said a pale green Unicorn mare. “We got ambushed by a few of them. Lost two of ours.” She looked down. “We killed all those fuckers though.” She smiled a bit.

“Y’all are the first friendlies we’ve seen.” Said the third soldier, a brown earth pony stallion.

“Listen, we should probably get going. We’re bound to get ambushed if we stay much longer…” Said the grey stallion, starting to trot off down the road. The other two follow. “You should probably stick with us ‘till you find somepony from your unit…” He calls back to the two mares.

“He’s right, we should stick with them. five is better than two.” Says Starlight, hurrying to catch up.

“Only if the other three out of five don’t try to shoot you.” Said Candy, galloping after her.

The small group walked for around three hours without encountering any Gryphons, or ponies. Starlight kept checking the map to make sure they were on the right track.

“Oh fuck…” Said the Stallion at the front of the group.

“What, what is it?” Asked Starlight, walking over, and turning the corner carefully. Around the bend in the road, there was a large building, with a bell tower, similar to a schoolhouse. There was a camouflage parachute caught on the bell tower, and hanging from the parachute was a mare. She was shot up really bad, as if whoever had found her had used her as target practice. Blood splattered the wall behind her, and dripped off her hooves as they hung limply.

“Oh fuck me…” Said Candy, coming around the corner, and seeing for herself.

“Not much we can do right now.” Said the grey stallion, moving towards the school.

Starlight stared just a bit more before following him. They made sure the building was clear, using flashlights to look around in the midnight gloom. They found some empty shell casings next to a broken window, but nothing else. They agreed it was clear, and got ready to move out.

Starlight walked out into the cool night air, and was startled as a drop of cool blood dripped onto her muzzle. “Oh Celestia!” she exclaimed, hurrying the rest of the way out, so no more blood would drip onto her from the corpse above the doorway. It saved her life. the forest was lit up by gunfire, and tracers. The brown stallion was shot through the neck, and shoulder, going down instantly. Starlight panicked. She darted back into the school house as quickly as she could, a bullet zipping through her tail as she leaped over the dead stallion’s body.

“Fuck, there’s gotta be 20 of them!” called Candy over the din of small arms fire. She stood, and let off a few rounds into the trees before getting back in cover quickly.

“Stay down, Candy!” Yelled Starlight, getting up and emptying a full magazine into the forest. a cry of pain could be heard above the gunfire, and Starlight smiled, knowing she’d just killed an enemy.

The green mare stood up to get a few shots off, when a bullet punched right through her forehead, and out the back of her skull, splattering blood and brains all over Starlight.

“OH FUCK!” Cried Starlight, eyes wide, blood dripping off her face. before she had time to think, she saw a Gryphon entering through the door. Without reloading her primary, she grabbed her revolver out of its holster. Holding it in her mouth, she fired. The large caliber bullet punched a hole right in the Gryphons chest, and he fell, a pool of blood spreading out around him. Keeping the pistol in  her mouth, Starlight levitated a fresh magazine out of her pouch, and reloaded her rifle. She rose up to take aim at her enemies. Naturally, the Gryphons began firing at her. She aimed at one of the muzzle flashes through her scope, and fired several rounds. No more shooting from that area.

The grey Stallion got up as well, and fired at the muzzle flashes, not bothering to aim much.

Candy did the same. They exchanged fire for almost ten minutes, what seemed like hours. The Gryphons began to gain the upper hand, and Starlight was getting worried. They’d have to run, and in the opposite direction of their objectives!

“You first, Stallion!” Called Starlight. She didn’t know his name. “We’ll cover, you run like hay!”

The Stallion nodded, and got ready to run. As Starlight gave the signal, he took off, running out the door towards the road.

“You next, Candy!” Yelled Starlight.

“What about you?!” replied Candy, worried.

“I’ll be right behind you, GO!” She ordered. As Starlight gave cover, Candy ran as fast as she could. The Gryphons were starting to get closer, and Starlight couldn’t hold them off for much longer. “Oh, FUCK this!” She ran. Bullets zipped by her, one even clipping her left hind leg, causing pain, but not slowing her down.

The three galloped for what seemed like hours. In reality, it was only one hour, but by the end, everypony was worn out, and tired.

Starlight looked around to see where they’d ended up. It was a small clearing in the woods. All around them were trees. Now, not only was it dark, but a fog had settled in, obscuring their view after about 30 feet. Starlight slipped off her saddlebags, panting, and sweaty. “Everypony check your ammo…” She said, opening her packs. She’d used up all the magazines in her vest, six altogether. Meaning she had three left, plus ten rounds remaining in her weapon.

Candy opened her packs, and re-filled her vest pouches with fresh magazines. She’d only used four, and had six full magazines left. “What do we do now?” She wondered aloud.

Starlight wondered the same thing. She pulled out a map, and figured out roughly where they were. She knew that if they walked East for a while, they’d end up at a road. If they followed the road, they’d eventually arrive at Foxtrot company’s rally point. At this point, Starlight didn’t care who they ended up with, as long as they were friendly. She told the others the plan, and they agreed.

       **********

It was a shorter walk to the road than she’d thought. When they arrived, it looked very similar to the other road they’d been on. They couldn’t hear anything, so they began to follow the road North. They hadn’t gone far when they heard an engine down the road behind them. They all dashed off the road, and hud in the ditch. As the unknown vehicle approached, they prepared to defend themselves if spotted.

“Wait a minute…” Starlight raised her head a bit to get a better look at the vehicle. She was overjoyed when she saw the silhouette of a pony driving! She ran up onto the road, and flagged the driver down. He was surprised to see somepony from Charlie Company all the way over here!

*********

Fox company’s rally point was a small town. They hadn’t been dropped so far off course, and so most of them were there. There were even some ponies from other companies. Among them, two stallions from Charlie company. It had been a long night, and everypony needed the rest.

Starlight and Candy took shelter in one of the small houses of the town, and went to sleep.They deserved the rest, even if it was only for a few hours. Starlight, pressed up against Candy, soon fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.