I ran down the train ramp, with the rest of my squad following close behind, What lay ahead was the remains of Ponyville. Once a bustling little town, now reduced to little more than decaying ruins from several long weeks of heavy fighting. There wasn't a building untouched by the horrors, seen in the early days of the assault. Sweet Apple Acres had become barren, the trees once laden with fruit now scorched and toppled.
I continued forward into the town and signalled the squad to spread out around the street, while behind us a squad of the Lunar regulars took up position. Several other squads were to begin moving in from different positions to distract the Solar troops long enough for us to grab the target and make our extraction. At least one Element bearer was sighted a few days back and it was our hope that she was still here so that Luna could take to the battlefield without worrying about the Elements stripping her of her power.
I nodded to a Pegasus in our group and he flew to a rooftop before hunkering down with his rifle to provide overwatch as we continued into the marketplace. The stalls that once lined the street were now splattered with blood and sported many bullet holes. Rotten goods lay scattered on the ground along with corpses of those who could not be evacuated during the midst of a firefight. Taking cover behind one of the stalls, I wrinkled my nose from the stench of rotten flesh and produce. Without warning a hail of bullets began pouring down from the surrounding rooftops.
"Ambush! Get to cover!" I yelled out before ducking my head down to avoid being hit. Crawling to the side of the stall, I began firing back at a silhouette on the rooftop, smirking as he fell seconds later. I continued firing from my position for a few more seconds before leaping to my feet, breaking into a sprint to the next stall, which had been overturned sporting several scorch marks from the previous engagements.
Searching the rooftops, I couldn't pick out where the fire was coming from so made do with firing in their general direction in the hopes of keeping their heads down long enough to get into a better position.
"Anyone got eyes on this asshole?" I bellowed
.
"Two on the roof three hundred meters straight ahead."
"Covering fire!" I order, spreading my wings taking to the air before landing on the closest rooftop where I could get a visual on the two Solar soldiers but before I could line up a shot, our marksmen let off two rounds which tore through the armour of the Celestians as if it were mere paper, causing them to crumble in a pool of their own blood.
Giving the signal to advance I began cautiously moving across the rooftops, trying to avoid and structural weak spots, or flying over the buildings which had collapsed inward upon themselves.
Finally making my way to the last house on the street, I braced myself to take off again just as the roof caved in below me.
I fell on a table and rolled heavily onto the floor, pain shooting through my left wing and my rifle clattered away from me. Two Celestian soldiers spun around from their positions at the windows while a third laid lifeless under a portion of the roof which had collapsed.
Without thinking, I drew my knife and slashed the throat of the closest one before pivoting and jamming my knife into the seconds gut in one fluid motion. Both of them hit the floor, dying within seconds.
I touched my wing gently before supressing a scream of pain. The bone had been broken, rendering them useless until I could get medical treatment back at the camp. I scooped up my rifle and was about to leave when one of my squad members burst in with his rifle raised.
“Captain! Are you alright?” He asked, with a concerned look at my wing.
“I’ll live. Let’s get back outside, we have a job to do and Luna must not be disappointed.” I said walking past him down the narrow staircase.
"Yes sir!" He replied turning to follow before falling face first onto the floor. I spun around to see half of his head missing as blood spurted from his skull like a fountain as chunks of brain matter began oozing onto the floor down the stairs.
Outside the window hovered a Celestian Pegasus, with a sniper rifle in his hands and a smirk on his face. I raised my rifle and pumped round after round into him on full auto, ripping his chest to bloody shreds and causing him to fall to the ground outside.
I hurried out into the night, re-joining my squad once more. The regulars had pushed further into the town leaving me with the four remaining members of my team. I waved them forward, once more, my fury barely contained as blood began to boil at the death of a fallen comrade and I thirsted to spill more Celestian blood.
After several tense minutes we finally reached the centre of town without meeting further resistance, unfortunately the firefight there was more brutal than any we had seen since our arrival. Celestian forces had fortified a large round structure and were raining fire down on the advancing Lunar forces who were approaching on all sides.
"We don’t have time for this, fall back now. We have no choice but to take the long way around! Move out!" I shouted, waving my team back the way we came before ducking down a side street, hurrying towards Fluttershy's cottage at the far side of town.
The journey to the edge of town passed without incident, with the only signs of life being rodents feasting on the dead, until we reached the edge of town where Celestians had created a small fortification by piling up sandbags, protecting the main approach to the cottage.
“Alright, one of you come with me. The rest kill these scum!" I shouted before taking off towards the Everfree Forest while my squad kept the Celestians pinned down with heavy fire.
Inside the noise from the firefights became more faint as the trees seemed to close in around us. Thick branches with large thorns weaved through the gaps in the trees, threatening to ensnare us as we proceeded as quickly as we dared through the forest.
I took the first chance to leave the miserable place, re-joining the path just outside her small home but as we came to the bridge that led to her house, I heard a scream followed by a thud.
Spinning around I was face to face with one of the Royal Guard, his golden armour splattered with the blood of my fallen brother, who had just been beheaded. I let out a roar lost in my fury, bringing my rifle to bear but it was quickly knocked from my grasp and a jab from the end of his polearm sent me sprawling to the ground, bashing my broken wing off of a stone and causing me to scream out in pain and anger.
As he stepped forward, I drew my knife and grabbed his polearm before plunging the knife into his throat, smiling in grim satisfaction as his facial expression changed from triumphant to one of shock and the life drained from his eyes as blood poured from the wound.
I hurried up to the cottage before kicking in the door. A scream of fear greeted me as Fluttershy threw herself into the corner, hurrying to look around for a way to escape. I ran into the room and was about to grab her when a voice came from the door causing me to quickly spin around with my pistol drawn.
"I just dropped off the crusaders, let’s get out of here." Said a girl with rainbow colored hair and blue wings. I Rushed forward, delivering a brutal kick to the side of her knee before grasping one of her wings, breaking it. Then I quickly grabbed Fluttershy before running franticly into the cover of the forest.
I followed the same route back to where my squad had just finished mopping up the defenders. I quickly passed Fluttershy to one of them as my radio began buzzing loudly.
“Megaspell launched, I repeat Megaspell launch detected from Canterlot. All forces withdraw. Trains at the station will leave in five minutes."
"You heard him! Double time! Stop for nothing." I bellowed as I began running back towards the station.
We sprinted through the ruined town, passing both Celestian and Lunar corpses along the way when a burst of gunfire cut through the sound of thumping boots and I fell to the ground. Blood poured from the wounds in my back and as I felt myself slipping away, I heard Luna’s voice.
“Rest easy child, you have done well.”
Author's Note
This story came into being because of a challenge of a friend. We each gave each other ten words and then had to write a story based on them. If you've got this far then thanks for reading and fell free to tell me what you think!
