The Storms of War

I crouched at the edge of the treeline, anxiously looking down across a hundred yards of field at the town of Talonskratch. This was the first time I would go into battle without Blaze, but Bubbles and Hoof crouched next to me. Next to us was the current Platoon Commanding Officer, Shimmer Shot. She looked very nervous, a recent addition to the now very under-strength platoon I found myself in. Still, Bubbles smoked away as Major Leaf talked to Colonel Forward March, occasionally pointing at the town. I sighed and sat back, feeling empty.

“Well, it don’t look so bad does it?” said Iron Hoof, clapping me on the shoulder. “Just a hunnerd yards, then we get to the fence, and other neat little bits of cover. Most of them are even big enough for me!”

I shrugged. “Maybe. But in case you didn’t notice, that town is called Talonskratch, and in that town are these things called Gryphons. And these gryphons, they got these nice little things called Tanks. And Howitzers, and rifles, and all sorts of other manner of death dealing devices. They've had about six weeks to set up, and even if they are a bit undermanned, they still got us two to one. How's that figure?”

He stared at me, and I glared right back. “Look, sorry about Blaze, but she was our friend too. At least she is gonna get back okay.”

I huffed. “Maybe. In case you didn’t know, these gryphons got a habit of shooting down planes and ships. Lucky if any of us get back.”

Sergeant Bubbles cuffed me across the back of the head, scowling. “Watch it, Corporal. We got a job to do, don’t be spewing that kinda talk around. Keep your eyes forward, and with any luck, Major Leaf will get us out of here after this trip. Nice face though. Why didn’t you take the truck back to the CP?”

I leaned back, taking a draft of water from my canteen. “I ain’t gonna get pulled off the line, not right now. I cant just leave in the middle of a battle, and that battle started last night when they got Hopper, Kick Starter, and Zig Zag in their foxhole eating food. It started when a featherhead popped down into our hole and shot Blaze.”

At that, a female voice said, calmly, “It STARTED when five thousand shock troopers decided to take a bite out of the Crystal Empire, Wing.”

I turned and nodded at Maple Leaf. She sighed and sat down next to us. “I'm probably more attached to Ninth squad than I should be, but us officers don’t make many friends. We sure as shooting are not supposed to, interferes with our judgment. Makes us make stupid calls to save a few at the cost of many. But I find that it is always rewarding to get to know the little guys. What happened to the private who pissed a twenty foot tall picture of Bristlebeak into the snow?”

We all stared at her, and a warm feeling welled up in me. I remembered that, getting up at zero two hundred with a bunch of fellow draftees, all of us sneaking out, promising whatever we had to to the gate guards to let us out into the snow, and then all of us, MOSTLY stallions, deciding to piss our names into the snow. Then we got the idea to piss Bristlebeaks face into it... A warm chuckle escaped me. “Yeah, and we got into ALOT of trouble for it. Even if you officers and drill sergeants never found out who was involved, we all still did a lot of pushups.”

Iron Hoof guffawed, a deep resonant sound as he looked at Bubbles. “You really should have been there... Us recruits, we all-” he started, before Colonel Forward March grabbed Leaf. “Major, it's time. Get them ready to go. And you are NOT going out there. Lieutenant Shimmer Shot, are you ready?”

She nodded, looking down. “Ready as we will get, Colonel. Give the word, and we're heading out.”

He nodded back, and turned around. “Alright, listen up!  Second Company will be leading the attack! Platoon leaders, get to your stations. First company, you will shore up the right flank. Third, you go down the left. Captain Winter Solitude, make SURE you take out those howitzers! If I see so much as a single shell, so help me I will string you up! Head out and give em hell! We breack through here, we win this war!”

Like everyone else, I lifted my rifle with a “HOO-YAH!” and made ready to sprint, wings folded back to provide optimal air flow. All around us, others gathered, right at the edge of the treeline. Then the order was given, and we sprinted.

Ahead of me were two other soldiers, a mare and a stallion that was not much more than a colt, both of them privates that I didn’t know. The mare, a unicorn, leaned ahead as she charged, a grease gun tucked under an elbow as we ran. Things seemed to go in slightly slow motion, and I felt like I was in the middle of a bad dream, or maybe molasses. Time stretched.

Then there was a screech, and a bullet whizzed past me. They opened fire, MG38s and MG40s mixed with a few other models spewing a deadly storm at the advancing equestrian soldiers. I felt a punch in my thigh and fell down, grabbing it, my heart stoping as I felt liquid spilling out. Looking down, I saw water flowing out of my canteen and into the white snow.

I stared at it with detachment before looking around. Shimmer Shot shouted at me on the way by, but I couldn’t make out what she said through the glass that seemed to be between us. Feeling tired, I pulled myself up to my feet, and staggered towards the battle that raged ahead. Behind a short fence and several wells and other structures, ponies took shelter. I slid in next to Shimmer Shot and a Radio Telephone Operator, shaking my head to clear the cotton out of it. I felt a bit tired, and shook my head again.

“Get on the radio! Tell Major Leaf that we are facing a HELL of a lot more machine gun fire than we were told about! We can't charge through this!” Shimmer Shot screamed at the RTO. He nodded, and began talking into the receiver, as I stood up and stared at her. “What the HELL do you think you are doing? Corporal.. CORPORAL! Get back here!” she screamed before a bullet pinged off of her helmet.

I was standing up, and I simply walked around the corner, faced the door to the little shack we were behind, and pushed the door open. Inside, my detached mind noted, were five gryphon soldiers all staring away from me, except for one young soldier who was just finishing reloading his rifle. All of them kept at what they were doing, until the one facing me with his unloaded rifle screamed. “ATCHUNG! SOLDAT!” as he lifted it. His gun clicked, and I looked down at it, before raising my colt revolver and firing at him, shooting him twice in the chest. The others turned around, all of them catching their rifles on each other and the wall as they squawked. Amusement gripped me at the comedic act, and I giggled. “Hey there!” I said, smiling, as I fired from left to right, getting two in the second to last soldier before the hammer clicked back on the final shot, signifying the six shooter was empty.

He and I both stared at each other, and with something akin to a zooming sound, my vision resumed normal functions, the world ceased to be made of cold syrup, and I realized that he had a rifle aimed square at my chest.

“Oh SHIT!” I screamed, jumping forward just as he fired, feeling one shot scrape my ribs, and tackled him to the ground, dropping my rifle.

He cursed in his own language, and we grappled on the ground. I brought my knee up hard between his legs and he groaned, headbutting me. We rolled over and over on the ground, and he pulled out a combat knife, driving it up at my throat. I grimaced, and put both hands on his, trying to turn the knife around.

He squawked again, and his rage turned to fear as I slowly turned the knife around and began to lower my weight on it, pushing it down, down, down towards his heart. The tip slowly penetrated his jacket, and he began to smash his fist against my side. “No! Stahp! Stahp! Nein! Nein! Nein!” he cried, eyes wide.

I kept pushing, before with a burst of strength he pulled up both legs and kicked hard against my chest, sending me flying backwards to hit the wall. I cursed, struggling against my pack, and jumped to my feet. He pulled himself up, and went for his Luger. With a quick jump, I closed the distance to him and we went over onto the ground again.

“Just... fucking... DIE!” I screamed, wrapping both hands around his throat, squeezing until my fingers cramped. Gurgling and writhing, he tried to bring the pistol to bear on me before I slammed his head down on the iron helmet of one of his comrades. Stunned, his hand went limp, and I leaned in close, a manic desire in my mind.

“Shhh... shush.... quiet...” I murmured, staring at him. He blinked up at me, beak opened, a pitiful peeping sound coming out, before finally it opened wide enough for me to see the back of his mouth, and he went still, the eyes no longer blinking.

I lay on top of him for a while, breathing hard, before I looked up. A single soldier sat on the ground, quivering, a single shot through his left shoulder. Standing up, I walked out the door, grabbing my rifle. I never gave him a second though as I walked out.

In all of this, only a minute or two had gone by, but the battlefield looked much the same. We all were taking cover, and I squatted next to Shimmer Shot. “Ma'am! I got a sniper rifle!” I said, my voice sounding unusually loud in my ears. “Got any prime targets?”

She nodded. “Sniper, second story of that bombed out building, under the collapsed section of the roof. Morter teams cant seem to hit it, can you give it a try?”

I nodded, before jumping and flapping to get on the roof of the shack, on the side angled away from the sniper. Setting up, I dialed in the scope to the estimated fifty five yards, looking through it. Sure enough, there was the barrel of a sniper rifle poking through the rubble. There was a flash as he fired, and I saw the glint of his scope. Chambering a bullet, I cycled the bolt and aimed, squeezing my off eye shut to focus. Taking a deep breath, I counted to three, released, took another, held it, and slowly squeezed the trigger. My rifle barked, and a moment later a gryphon fell lifeless from the building, impacting the ground headfirst.

“Got him! Ma'am, you got a clean path up past this shack!”

“Sure thing!” she shouted back. “Mind if-” she satarted, before there was a shot, and she went quiet. There was a shout, another shot, and then more quiet. I looked over the edge. “Ma'am?” I asked, looking down.

What happened next, I was not quite sure. One minute I was on the roof, the next, the structure under me stopped existing, and I found myself flying through the air, not under my own power. The ground gave me a friendly greeting, and I lay on my back, stunned, and trying to remember how to breathe.

Finally pulling my head up, I saw a gryphon, feathers dyed black, in a black uniform that stood out in stark contrast to the snow. It was clearly a she, and the Luger in one of her claws barked twice. Shaking my head, I looked over to see Bubbles fall back, face blank. Then she turned to me, eyes cold. The “Sekret Sekuridat” on her uniform marked her as a commando, and the hatred in her eyes held nothing for me but the promise of death.

For a moment, I simply stared, looking up at her as she looked down at me, then the corners of her beak turned up and her finger started to tighten.

At that moment, out of nowhere, there was a deep bellow like a minotaur, and Iron Hoof came charging, no rifle, bare handed at her. Stumbling back, she backed up, firing over and over at him. Each time, he jerked back while I sucked air, trying to scream. I couldn’t believe it... I was about to see another one of my friends die. Blood flew through the air out of his back, yet on he came, and with a yell that would curdle demon blood. Her pistol clicked empty as he grabbed her around the neck and lifted her high.... before slamming her down onto the ground, creating a sickening snap as something broke inside her. All around us lay the dead and dying, gryphons and ponies alike, with Shimmer Silk in the dirt a few yards away. I crawled over towards Iron Hoof as he lay in the dirt on his back, staring at the sky. My throat closed up as I approached him.

“Hoof! Dammit!” I said, sitting up over him. He looked up, blood in the corners of his mouth. “Hoof! MEDIC! MEDIC!” I screamed, lifting his head.

“Dammit...” he muttered. “Still... beats... being the one to watch... someone else die... hug your mom when you get back...” he slurrred out as his head drooped. A moment later, his breathing stopped. He was gone. Everyone was gone. I turned around, reaching for my rifle, a cold despair over my heart before there was two quick shots and I pitched forward into the snow, agony erupting from my back and lower abdomen as blood spattered the snow in front of me.

I slowly lifted my head to see the SS trooper look at me and collapse, breathing hard, while my vision faded. I guess it was my turn as well.

My last thought as a medic ran at me was that I really missed my mother, but that I was glad she didn’t have to see me like this. Maybe it was better this way.

The attack on Talonskratch proved to be the turning point in the land war. Although it resulted in the annihilation of Second and First company, the seizure of this vital town allowed troops to pour in across the reigh river and into the heart of Gryphany. A mere two weeks later, by popular demand, Bristlebeak was assassninated by his nephew, who then sued for peace. A disarmed and bitter gryphon army returned home, removing themselves from their holdings and going back to their families. The oldier soldiers were happy to leave, while the younger once wished for more glory. Outfighting lasted for years, with smaller clans refusing to bow.

Corporal Steel Wing survived the battle, along with Major Maple Leaf, although he and Sergeant Bubbles were the only ones to make it out amongst the ninth squad. For his actions, Steel Wing was awarded both the Celestial Unit Citation for his company, and the Medal of Honor for his courage. He was not the only one, as seven of the fifteen survivors of the Seventeenth Platoon got the same award. Major Maple Leaf was awarded the Silver Star for her command efforts and overseeing the final stage of the battle despite the Colonels protests.

All of the citations and awards in the world could not make up for what the mares and stallions of Second Company faced. Many of them retrned home physically fine. Most of them never really re-adjusted to normal life, however, and Princess Luna remained troubled by the dreams she monitered of her poor soldiers.

“We did our jobs. If you remember anything about us, remember that.”

-Sergeant Bubbles

“What was it? I don’t know. It was just a town, I guess. But for most of us, it was our recurring nightmare. I go there every night, and every night, I don’t make it out .”

-Major Maple Leaf.

“I wish I was there... I SHOULD have been there. Damnit, that was my job! They did it, and I wish I was. Still... the look on Wing's face... that is Corporal Steel Wing... how they all looked on the news. I cant believe it was that bad...”

-A recovering Corporal Orange Blaze.