Chapters The town was empty. mostly anyways. Starlight was sure it had once had a name, but the sign had long since been destroyed. Equestrian artillery and air strikes had all but leveled the town, turning it into a ruin. The place apparently had been completely taken over by the Gryphons, who would use it as a staging area for launching a major offensive.
As far as Starlight could tell, this ‘intelligence’ wasn’t very accurate. So far, they hadn’t found ANY bodies, save for a few dead animals. They hadn’t found so much as a talon, or a feather since they began searching. The infantry was accompanied by an Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV), and a couple Armored Personel Carriers (APCs) with .50s mounted on them. Starlight thought this was a bit overkill, and strange, considering the 3rd ERA airborne didn’t normally operate with the armored cav.
She was glad she’d only brought her weapon, and canteen. She probably wouldn’t even need the former, but obviously she brought it anyway. A few newer ponies in the company had brought everything they THOUGHT they would need, including their ponchos, extra water, blanket, rations, etc. Starlight always packed light. It was the airborne, they were supposed to pack light!
Glancing to her right, she saw the platoon’s LMG gunner, a turquoise colored mare named MorningDew. Dew had a short, light brown mane and tail, with eyes the same color. MorningDew was one of the last original members of the platoon, as most of them had gone home after their tours were up. Starlight, Dew, and three other ponies had stayed. Now the platoon was mostly new recruits, and incredibly understrength.
As they were walking through the war torn ruin of the town square, Starlight caught something in the corner of her eye. Suddenly, There was a burst of automatic fire, and she looked just in time to see the bullets tear into the Stallion to her left.
“Sniper!” She yelled, dashing for what had once been a low brick wall surrounding the square. Dew landed roughly on top of Starlight as she took cover, barely missing the bullets that had been meant for her. The IFV began pounding nearby buildings with its 40mm cannon, unleashing devastation, each impact shaking the ground. Another burst, and a mare cried out as three bullets hit her right in the chest.
“Fuck, that’s two!” Starlight called out, making herself as small as possible. As soon as the words left her mouth, chaos erupted in the street. It was an ambush. The Gryphons were now unleashing hell onto the unprepared Equestrian soldiers. There was a scream from somewhere behind Starlight, and bullets pinged off the armored vehicles.
Suddenly, Starlight felt a hot flash of pain as a bullet grazed her flank, slicing open her khaki fatigues, and the flesh beneath. She got up, and continued to fire her weapon alongside MorningDew. Dew’s LMG was deafening, and before long, their ears were ringing from the nonstop noise, and their vision was clouded with gunsmoke, and dust. The air was thick with the smell of burned gunpowder, sweat, and Starlight realized, blood. One of the APCs was hit n the side by a rocket, and bursts into flame. The screams of the ponies burning to death inside added to the cacophony of the battle.
Already, somepony had called in danger close artillery strikes. The ground shook with every concussion as the 105’ rounds landed close enough to knock Starlight back on her flanks as the suffocating heat washed over her. She looked over to her right, and saw MorningDew laying motionless in a pool of blood. She looked back towards the vehicles, and saw somepony yelling at her, and beckoning her over. As if in slow motion, she stood up. Taking the handle of Dew’s saddle in her mouth, she began dragging the injured (or dead, she wasn’t sure) mare back to safety. Two other soldiers ran up, and assisted her, taking over. Starlight looked down at Dew, and realized she had left a long trail of blood as Starlight had dragged her.
“Oh fuck me!” she cried. The last thing she remembered was a deafening explosion, and searing pain across her entire left side.
Starlight awoke in a cold sweat. The room had a sterile smell to it, and was a bit chilly. She opened her eyes, and saw the white ceiling above her. She tried to get up, but cried out in pain. She realized her left side was very painful, and sore. She couldn't hear out of her left ear either.
A pretty unicorn mare walked into the room, and looked over the clipboard at the foot of Starlight’s bed briefly.
“What happened to me?” slurred Starlight, realizing she must be really doped up on painkillers. The nurse blinked at her.
“You’re up already?” She replied.
“What happened to me?” Repeated Starlight, louder this time.
“Apparently you survived a grenade blast right next to you.” Said the nurse, looking over the clipboard. “Four broken ribs, and multiple shrapnel wounds.” She looked over to Starlight. “We mostly took care of the flesh wounds, but you’ll be in here a few weeks while your ribs are healing.”
Starlight laid back against her pillow. Truth be told, she was glad she’d be in the rear for a few weeks. She couldn’t complain about that.
She learned that MorningDew had survived, barely. They almost didn’t get her back fast enough. She’d lost so much blood. She was headed home as soon as she was recovered. Four other ponies had been shot, two fatally, and five more were killed in the APC when it got hit. They’d been the unlucky ones, dying in a blazing inferno.
Starlight shared a room with another mare named CottonCandy. A name she hated, and insisted Starlight just call her Candy. Candy was from Starlight’s company, and had been shot in the flank, punching a hole right in the center of her cotton candy cutie mark. The scar, fortunately, had been repaired by magic. Starlight quickly grew fond of her roommate, and even had a slight crush (It was hard not to. Candy was incredibly cute!), but wasn't sure if she felt the same way.
Her conversations with Candy did help to pass the time, but she was starting to get anxious. She WANTED to go back to the front. It had been too long away from combat. She hated it, but at the same time, she’d never been good at anything else. Her cutie mark (Two crossed bullets) was proof of that fact. It didn’t help at all when Candy was sent back out. Now she not only had nopony to talk to, but she was worried about her friend. She tried not to think about what the Gryphons would do to Candy if they captured her.
After what seemed like months, Starlight was released from the hospital. Her ribs had completely healed, helped by the magic of the doctors. Starlight was immediately sent back out, to an air force base outside Fillydelphia. Being airborne, she was put back with the same unit she’d been with before. She was delighted to discover that Candy had been reassigned to HER platoon, which was being reinforced by soldiers from other platoons in the company. They’d at least be a bit less understrength.
In addition to this, they’d all been issued new uniforms, and equipment, The Earth ponies and Unicorns were issued new parachutes as well, these made out of camouflaged silk rather than white. This meant they were going to be jumping into combat soon. As predicted, preparations began for a major offensive. Troopers were given maps, and studied sand tables and photos of the area. Starlight learned the area so well she could draw a map from memory.
This would be a massive push to force the Gryphons out of Equestria. If it failed, it would cost the lives of hundreds of soldiers.
“Do I really need all this shit?” Starlight wondered aloud, taking in the massive amount of equipment she was about to carry into combat. It was the day of the invasion. Tonight, the brave ponies of the 3rd airborne, who’d been preparing for many weeks, would fall from the sky into enemy territory. And in Starlight’s opinion, they were packing WAY too much gear.
She, like everypony else, had laid all her gear on her chute, making sure everything was perfect. Weapon, canteens, rations, ammo, knife, bayonet, sidearm, grenades, rope, aid kit, gas mask, goggles, vest, fatigues, parachute, reserve chute, harness, and a whole lot of smaller items not even worth mentioning. Honestly, she could barely move with all that shit on her. Luckily, falling didn’t take that much effort.
Then, the task of packing everything back up. She repacked the chute very carefully. If it failed her… She thought of the song ‘Blood Upon The Risers.’ A song about a trooper whose chute didn’t open. Starlight did NOT want to end up like her.
She stripped her weapon for the thousandth time, making sure there was no dirt, and everything was oiled, and free of rust. For a while, her rifle had been her only friend, and when she treated it well, it didn’t fail her. The rifle was an Apple Firearms M-13 Assault Rifle. It was reliable, user-friendly, and had good stopping power. On Starlight’s was mounted a 3.5x55mm illuminated scope. It was great for medium range, but it sometimes got in the way. She carried ten of the transparent 30 round magazines, so 300 rounds total. In addition to her rifle, she carried a six shot .357 cal revolver she’d bought herself. It certainly packed a punch, and was very accurate and reliable.
She looked over to her right to see how Candy was fairing. She too was stripping her weapon. From the looks of it, she’d gotten everything else packed. Candy looked over at Starlight, and smiled. Starlight smiled back, and blushed, her ears going back a bit.
She began packing up her saddle bags, stuffing important things into her vest pockets not taken up by ammunition. She packed up in the normal way. First, her saddle, which was essential for her to fire her weapon (well, if she wasn’t a Unicorn), then her saddlebags, then her chute harness, which she’d need to get off quickly once she was on the ground.
Now that everypony was packed up, there was nothing to do but wait for the order to board the planes. Starlight trotted over to Candy (as quick as she could with her equipment), and stood next to her, maybe a bit too close.
“Do you need any help, Candy?” She asked, looking down at her gear.
“No thanks, Starlight, I’m almost finished.” She replied, smiling at her. Starlight still wasn’t sure if she felt the same love for her as she felt for Candy. She looked at Candy’s mane, which was pink, like cotton candy. Her coat was teal, as were the streaks in her tail, which was the same pink as her mane. Her cutie mark was (obviously) cotton candy, but her flank was covered by her khaki airborne fatigues. The military uniform looked odd on her. The ugly khaki, OD, and brown material contrasted with her candy colored coat.
Candy finished, reassembling her weapon. She put on her saddle bags, with difficulty, and started to put on the harness over it.
“Oh, here. let me help you with that…” Said Starlight, smiling. She set about strappng the harness to the grateful mare, blushing just a bit as close as she was to Candy. Once she was finished clipping the harness on, she backed off just a little. Candy groaned a bit at the weight as she tried to take a step.
“They really expect us to fight in all this?” Candy says, wincing.
“As savage as those Gryphons are, we’ll probably use up most of our ammo and grenades on the first night…” Said Starlight, then realizing she was incredibly nervous. “At least… If we… if I ever…” She stops, shaking her head. “Never mind. Everything’s gonna be fine. we’ll be fine…” She says, smiling a bit. It was starting to get dark, and everypony had started boarding the planes already. “Alright… Let’s go…” Says Starlight, trotting off to where the planes sat on the runway, their props starting to turn.
“Here we go.” Said Candy, taking a deep breath, and climbing up into the plane.
Candy and Starlight were right next to each other, in the middle of the stick. If the plane was hit, they had a reasonable chance of making it out alive. On Starlight’s right was a Pegasus mare named StarDancer. She was about Starlight’s age, and a bit larger. She had a grey coat, with a light blue mane and tail. She’d been with the company as long as Starlight, if not longer. To StarDancer’s right was a yellow Earth pony mare, with a brown mane. She was newer, and everypony simply called her ‘Cupcake.’ She absolutely despised the name, but considering nopony actually bothered to remember her real name…
The plane started to taxi over to the runway, where many more planes had already taken to the air. Starlight looked out the window, and was amazed at just how many there were. There must’ve been hundreds. Looking to her right, she saw Candy praying. Starlight had never really been into that, but now she felt as if they needed all the help hey could get. She said a quick prayer to Celestia, and prayed to Luna, just in case she didn’t make it.
Before long, they were airborne. The darkening countryside rushed by in the open door, and the windows. There wouldn’t be much cloud cover tonight, so the Gryphons would be able to see them, and hear them without much effort. The flight over was uneventful. Starlight even got a bit of sleep, waking up to find herself leaning against Candy, who was also asleep. She nuzzled Candy, careful not to wake her up. StarDancer tapped Starlight’s shoulder, and pointed to the red light next to the door. Starlight groaned, and got up, gently waking candy, hating herself for having to disturb her sleep.
From there, training took over. Everypony hooked their static chord up to the overhead line. The static line would open their chute once they were out the door. Next, everypony had to check the pony in front of them, making sure their gear was secure, and they were ready t make the jump.
Suddenly, the night sky exploded into a nightmare filled with tracers, searchlights, and flak. An explosion went off right next to the plane, shaking it violently. Bullets ripped through the metal skin of the aircraft, and there was a cry of pain from somepony in the back. At this point, Starlight just wanted to get the fuck out of this deathtrap! One plane next to them suddenly erupted in flames, and went belly up, going down quickly. doubtful that anypony escaped THAT…
The light went green, and everypony quickly exited the aircraft. Starlight gasped as the chute opened, the sudden shock hurting her back as her full combat load was increased tenfold. She was so shocked that she didn’t even realize she was coming up on the ground. suddenly, she stopped dead, still hanging from her harness. Looking up, she saw, to her dismay, that her chute had become caught up in a tree! to make matters worse, she could see figures moving towards her. they obviously weren't ponies by their shape. Suddenly, a light shined on her, blinding her for a moment.
“There’s one! light that bitch up!” Called a voice from one figure.
“Fuck me, I’m going to DIE!” Thought Starlight, tears welling in her eyes as she realized it. Suddenly, there was a loud burst of gunfire, and the light fell to the ground. One of the figures was still moving, and groaning in pain. Another burst fixed that problem. The figure of a pony galloped over to the base of the tree, and looked up at it.
“Who is it?” Demanded Candy’s voice.
“C-Candy?” Starlight replied. “Is that you?”
“Starlight! Are you hurt? Can you cut yourself down?” Asked Candy.
“I-I think so. Watch out down there.” Starlight said, using her magic to unsheathe her knife, beginning to cut through the strong chord. Before long, she fell to earth. it wasn’t a very bad fall, only about six feet.
“Are you okay, Starlight?” Asked Candy, audibly concerned. Before she could say anything else, Starlight hugged her tightly.
“Thank you so much, you saved my life!” She said, hugging tightly. the hug was made awkward, even uncomfortable by all the gear both ponies were wearing, but it was the first time Starlight had hugged her.
“What was I gonna do, let them kill you?” Candy smiled back. “My very special somepony?...”
Starlight’s heart skipped a beat. She found herself blushing deeply, but forced herself to pull away from the embrace. There’d be time for everything later, once they weren’t surrounded by Gryphons looking to kill them! She slipped out of the parachute harness, and readied her weapon, making sure the illuminated scope reticle was flipped on. Starlight looked around, then pulled out her map, looking at it under the Gryphon flashlight.
They were on a farm, Sarlight guessed, from the barn on the other side of the clearing from the tree she’d been stuck in. The Gryphons had come from a road not far from the clearing, to the right of Starlight when she was in the tree facing the barn. The opposite side of the road from the forest was obscured by a hedgerow about six feet tall.
Starlight had studied aerial photographs, and marked all buildings on the map that weren’t already there, so she’d managed to roughly pinpoint their location. She was, however, dismayed to find that their rally point where they’d meet up with the rest of the company, was almost eight miles away. “Buck!”
“We’d better get moving, Candy.” Said Starlight, putting away her map, and trotting over to the other mare. “We’ll have to hurry if we wanna get there on time.” She nuzzled Candy’s pink mane once more.
“Then we should get rid of some of this useless junk.” replied Candy, removing her saddlebags, and tossing whatever she didn’t think she’d need. Starlight did the same, and soon they were both only slightly weighed down.
Gunfire could be heard off down the road, right in the direction they wanted to go. “Well…” Said Starlight, turning to Candy. “Shall we?...”
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.