Chapter one: Escape the burning city.
Chapter One: Escape the burning city.
“Mommy! Hurry and get out, mommy!”
This is how it all started. Standing beside my sister, Cherry Blossom as we watched as our home turned to cinders, with our mother still inside. She was dead even before they came, the Zebra’s and their bombs of fire. It was not the typical blue-shadow dancer experienced earlier in the war, it was flames of a different kind which glowed in a luminescent green.
“Mommy!!” my sister cried once again, coughing dreadfully as the smoke blew our way.
I looked to her with tears in my eyes, my horn glowed and so did she; I levitated her over to me, and set her down gently. She looked up to me, her tears streaking down her face like waterfalls.
I hurt as much as she did, our home was burning, and our mother was dead. I got down to her level and nuzzled her gently to comfort her. But even that was not enough.
“Come on, Cherry Blossom. We have to go…”I told her.
She simply looked down to her hooves and gave a slight, hesitant nod. Once again the glow of my horn surrounded her, and I lifted her onto my back where she curled up and lay still.
I glanced around the street (fire’s started by Zebra spell-fire burning homes and families). Smoke above us, and ponies running out of their homes, burning as helpless as they would be even if I could save them.
I swallowed my pity and started to gallop away from this place, leaving our home, our neighbors, and our dead behind. My first thought was to get my sister and I out of Poninawa.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
I galloped through the burning city as the fire’s raged. I heard shots ring out in the air, somepony was shooting.
“Keep your head down, Cherry Blossom!” I instructed loudly, my voice as loud and demanding as the princess’s.
Cherry Blossom did as she was told, pressing down on her ears with her fore hooves while I ran as fast as I could. I came close to the town square, there didn’t seem to be any fire here and I knew there was a fountain. We could douse ourselves in the water (it would have made the heat at least bearable).
However, what I had thought was safety, was nothing more then a shroud to hide the violence unfolding there. Anarchy, brutality and murder. All of it was taking place here. I could hear Cherry Blossom whimper with fear as mares and fillies were raped and tortured, colts were neutered and beaten, and stallions who were trying to save their families were being shot in cold blood.
“W-What the hell is-?” I suddenly noticed a colt running toward Cherry and I.
Blood dripped from his mouth and fear filled his eyes, as did the tears of loss. Then with a sudden splatter of blood’ a hole between his eyes, the colt fell dead at my hooves. I was shocked, shaking with fear, fear for my own life and my sisters.
I looked up to the end of the street, over to the shooter, stripes; black stripes over a white coat. It was a Zebra, armed with a Zebra battle saddle, a pair of Zebra 55.7MM Rifles strapped to its sides. I took a few steps back.
“Cherry Blossom, please, whatever you do, don’t open your eyes, don’t look up and don’t let go…” I told her as carefully as my voice would allow.
“w-Why? Atlas, what’s wrong...?”
“Trust me, it’s better if you don’t know.” I continued to back up until I had a clear direction, right.
The Zebra reloaded his contraption and spied me, his eyes seemed to look me all over, as if trying to decide if I was worth wasting the ammo on. I was skinny, food as scarce down this far south. I was sure the striped equine would pass me off had he not spied my sister.
I could see a sick look in his eyes, a disgusting smile on his face. The way he looked at my little sister, curled on my back, afraid and innocent made me sick to my stomach, I felt afraid for her, and as I heard the click of his gun, I bolted for the street, the long street that was my only escape.
Gunshot’s rang out, a bullet grazed my back left leg as I was moving. I grunted and cried out as it cut past, blood ran down my leg but none of that mattered to me.
Cherry Blossom curled up even tighter, I could feel her tears in my caramel coloured coat, wet and cold, her whimpering was loud and only furthered my determination to save her.
The crackle of fire and the splintering of wood alerted me to the threat above. Burning signs and some debris had fallen, and I was right beneath it. I shut my eyes and with a grunt and the grinding of my teeth, my horn glowed a brilliant lime green, the falling signs, lights and debris glowing the same in turn.
The burning refuge stopped in mid-air, allowing me to run beneath it safely. Once I was away I let it drop to the ground to burn.
“We’re almost out Cherry Blossom, hang on!”
I should have been more careful, in my haste I failed to realize I had run into the heart of the city, where the violence and death was at its worse. I froze in place and looked around at burnt bodies, dying ponies and their children, a house nearby had collapsed, and not too far behind I could hear the wails of Zebras.
“They’re searching for survivors… damn it!!”
I stamped my front left hoof on the hard concrete (I didn’t care if it hurt), blood continued to ooze from the wound in my leg. I grit my teeth and moved deeper into the city, searching fruitlessly for a way out.
Everywhere I turned; there was either rubble, the remains of a building, or a wall of fire. Panic filled my very being (my heart wrenched at the thought of failing Cherry Blossom). I turned to look back where I came from further down the road. I could just make out the silhouettes of battle saddle’s and Zebra manes. I cursed my damned luck, I cursed to Celestia, to Luna, to the whole world for damning me to this fate.
Was this to be my end? Dying in a burning city while a contingent of Zebra force me to watch my sister being raped and tortured again and again without end, only to have my eyes and hers sliced out and left to die once they were finished.
I would not have it, not in a thousand years!
I looked to my right, a house untouched by the spell-fire stood tall, its window’s had been shot out and the door in splinters.
I took Cherry Blossom inside and looked around for a place to hide her, I glanced toward the living room, blood caked the wall and the remains of what I thought were a stallion laid nearby. I approached the couch and levitated a fallen pillow up from the ground, laying it gently in the corner of the brown coloured family chair.
Gingerly I lifted my sister off of my back with my magic, laying her gently on the pillow and covering her with a blue and green blanket.
“Stay right here, I’ll be right back.” I turned toward the door and grit my teeth, a glare of anger aimed toward our pursuers.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
I could see the Zebras combing the streets from my hiding place behind a bench chair. I had a baseball bat close by, in case they happened across me. I could see their rifles which seemed to shine in the light of the burning buildings.
I could hear ponies crying and screaming, calling out for their children, wives and husbands, gunshots would sound followed by a roar of screams. I was shaking, I wanted to leave more then ever, but not while these bastards were here, if I tried to run I would surely be shot dead, but if I escaped I would be hunted like an animal. I was surprised by myself for sneaking this far toward them without being spotted.
I could hear the breath of one of those fuckers, he had gotten close enough for me to smash his head to bits.
Luck would be on my side once more, a building came crashing down by the only exit into this street. With a gasp of surprise the Zebra turned and hurried over to the ruins.
“What happened, Kreik?” the one that had gotten too close for comfort asked one of the three other Zebra.
“The building came down, whose bright idea was it to set the city ablaze before invading it?!” Spoke the middle Zebra, Kreik.
Kreik was terrifying to look at. The right side of his face had a massive scar near his mouth that kept the right side open, I could see his teeth, my heart thumped loudly in my chest, his weapons shocked me more so then the scar. Rocket Launchers; at least I was certain they were.
“We better clear this mess then. Arm the grenade’s, boys.” Spoke the leftmost Zebra.
Suddenly they reached back into their battle packs which sat just above the Battle Saddle and pulled out a grenade which had a blue glow radiating out of a glass case.
“ An Ice spell grenade?” I whispered in surprise.
The Zebra held them in their hooves, they pulled the pins with their teeth and threw them at the burning debris, stepping back as the rubble and fire was encased in brittle ice. Once the deed was done, the Zebra started shooting their way through the ice until an exit had been made.
“Let’s move on, the mules aren’t going to kill themselves!” a female Zebra called out with a mocking chuckle in her voice.
I watched as she moved ahead of them, passing Kriek who seemed to watch after her.
“What about the colt; and that little shit crying on his back?” inquired the rifle wielding Zebra.
“What about them?” asked the female. “They’ll choke on the smoke, if the collapsing buildings don’t kill them first. Move out Zebras!!!”
And just like that, they walked off. Sweat broke out on my forehead. I let out a sigh of relief and clutched my chest, willing my heart to calm.
I was better off hiding, what was I thinking sneaking out here with the bleakest hope of killing one of them?
Cherry Blossom... I quickly stood and ran back to the house I had left her in, however, my back left leg had started to show its damage, when suddenly I could hardly move it. It stung like a million wasps, it burned so much that mid-run, I fell and hit my chin on the gravel. I panted and sweated from the pain.
Looking toward the house I found my strength and got back up, beginning my quick limp back to the building I thought was safe.
“Atlas?! Atlas where are you?!” I heard her cry in her voice which squeaked as her voice got louder.
I stumbled in through the door, sweat pouring from my mane and to the floor below. My leg shivered with blood, red and drying.
“We’ll rest for a moment, not too long; I don’t want to wait around for another Zebra search party to find us.”
I let out a deep sigh and limped my way over to the couch Cherry was laying a few minutes ago.
I looked at Cherry; her face was riddled with sadness and confusion.
“Why couldn’t we help mommy? Why are bad things happening, Atlas?” she begged to know, she wanted to know.
I didn’t want to tell her, she was brought up believing the world was a nice and happy place… That wasn't wrong, but the war has turned it into such a mess I doubt the war will ever end.
But my heart was wracked with grief and loss. I looked at Cherry Blossom as I was wrapping a bandage around my leg, and took a deep breath.
“I… I couldn’t save mom… Cherry Blossom… You didn’t know, but, mom died earlier today… before the attack,” I spoke in a depressed tone of voice.
Cherry Blossom’s pupils shrank; her expression of distraught would stay with me for as long as I live. She came over to me, and hugged me close and tight. And I returned her hug in a heartbeat.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
After an hours rest, I looked through the cupboards of the kitchen.
Dried Daffodil Crackers, some chocolate bars and water; pure water, enough to last a few days. I levitated as much of the stuff as I could into the living room, placing them down on the table while my sister (whose mane was white as snow styled in the shape of a flower and her coat pink, a cutie mark depicting a Sakura tree over a pond) watched.
I re-entered the room and sighed. “Okay, now we need some saddlebags, we can carry this stuff easily and it will help us get clear out of here. We could make it to Ponyville, alert the military or something…”
I looked at Cherry Blossom (she usually knew what to say), and waited for her to put in a useful suggestion like she always did.
She looked at the food but stayed silent; the sound of a roof collapsing startled her. She jumped and hid behind the couch.
I looked around the room from where I was for a moment. I turned to the stairs and walked around to the bottom step, touching each platform with caution out of fear it would break.
“Stay here, Cherry,” I told her. Then carefully I started to ascend the steps and enter through the door to the second floor.
I was quiet, I heard the sounds of Cockroaches frightened of the smoke and fire scurry about all over each other, the rats were no different. I checked each room; bodies of a mare and filly were in the first two rooms.
In the last room, I had found the saddle bags I had been looking for, but in the bed, sleeping like dragon who had stuffed his belly, was a Zebra.
I grit my teeth, I looked around for something to use as a weapon, and I did: his own rifle.
I had no idea there was a Zebra sleeping above our head, I had put Cherry Blossom in danger, unacceptable!
My horn glowed brightly and I lifted up the enemies’ gun. I did not turn it so the barrel pointed at his head, I wouldn’t give away our hiding place just to kill one of the striped assholes.
As the Zebra was waking up, I introduced the butt of his gun to his skull, again, and again until the sheet’s, wall, gun and pillow ran red with his blood, even then I made extra sure he was unrecognizable in case his buddies showed up. I continued to beat his head in to pieces with the butt of the gun, his blood going everywhere, even on my own face.
Once I had finished, I dropped the weapon and took a few deep breaths, gagging when I saw my handiwork. I had never killed before; the Zebra’s never attacked before now. My stomach churned but I couldn’t be weak, not while my sister was counting on me.
“That’s one way to kill a Zebra…” I muttered to myself.
I shook my head and turned to the saddlebags. I levitated them up off the floor and onto my back. It was empty, and empty made it light. I nodded with a bright smile and stepped toward the door to leave, but I stopped and glanced back at the gun, bloodied and lying on the floor.
I thought about leaving it for a moment, but then I thought about how they were slaughtering everypony, gun or not.
Screw it, gimmie the gun!
I reluctantly levitated it off the ground, taking a nice long look at it before wiping the blood and brains on the Zebra’s body, holstering it at my side. Remembering that I had almost as much blood on my face from the beating, I levitated a nearby cloth over to me, and wiped the red plasma off. I took a long look at the now bloodied cloth before throwing it away.
“Cherry Blossom, I’m coming down, I’ve got the bags,” I informed her before making my way down.
“O-Okay!” she yelled in reply, hesitantly.
I cringed in panic at the possibility of those Zebra from before hearing her and returning to scope us out. I hurried my way down the steps, opening the bags and levitating the items into them, I wanted to get out of there as fast as I could.
Cherry Blossom noticed the gun I had, and cowered at the sight of it. She whimpered lightly which caught my attention.
I frowned and got down to her height, tenderness and care in my eyes. “What’s the matter Cherry Blossom, you can tell me.”
Cherry Blossom glanced up to the gun, then to me. “You have a…a…a gun…” she stuttered in her voice.
I glanced to the rifle holstered to my flank and nodded. “I do, it’s to protect us, Cherry. I can’t defend you with a baseball bat, I can’t keep running either. Once we’re clear of the city, and the Zebras, I’ll get rid of it, deal?”
Cherry Blossom was hesitant but quietly nodded with her eyes to the ground. “D-Deal…” she said quietly.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
The city was almost quiet, the screams of ponies still echoed from other parts of what was once our home, but not nearly as much as before. By now the Zebras were content with razing the city to the ground. Burning the skyscrapers to ash and destroying the unused port when their mission had been complete.
Cherry Blossom walked tiredly beside me all the way until she could walk no more, it fell on me to carry her to the safety of the outskirts. As we neared the exit, there was a canon shot, a bright light flew from the harbor and struck an office tower far away from us.
I glanced back at Cherry Blossom who slept soundly and let out a smile, happy and warm. Then things started to get quiet, too quiet.
I paused and glanced around the narrow street I was on, I could feel sets of eyes fixed on me. My horn glowed magically and I unholstered my newly acquired Zebra 55.7MM Rifle.
At the time I was unaware it had six shots left, I didn’t have time to check either.
Suddenly, with a bang and a whoosh, I was shot, the bullet pierced my shoulder but came out the other side; the pain was maddening. I stumbled back, I would have almost dropped my rifle had I not been focused.
“Tss... Damn it…” I hissed and turned my gaze in the direction of the shooter.
“You must be so stupid to think you were going to leave alive!” The female zebra from earlier suddenly appeared over a mountain of rubble which still glowed hot from a fire.
Her small group of Zebra soldiers suddenly arrived, their own rifles aimed in my direction. Unwilling to put Cherry Blossom in danger, I carefully lowered her to the ground behind a pile of rubble. I then glanced up at the rifle and closed my eyes, hoping I had ammo enough.
“You ponies have no idea just how out of line you are. I see that the rifle you’re levitating is one of ours.” The female Zebra was snide and witty, she wore a large toothy grin which showed off her sharpened teeth. (I could only assume she had them sharpened for the war itself).
“So what if I do?” I replied to her.
““So what” indeed,” she mocked. “Now see here, unicorn. We went looking for our friend, Blitzen, who had decided to take a nap in a certain house in the middle of a “graveyard” when we happened to find his face smashed into little gory chunks and a rifle missing from his battle saddle!”
She giggled and sounded as if it were an amusing joke, I suppose it was. I’m a poor, weak unicorn, barely killer material, and just two hours ago, I had murdered a Zebra as he slept and took his gun.
“Now I don’t know about you, but I find that fucking hilarious! Not in the haha way mind you, but in the “How the fuck did this happen?“kind of way, haha”
Clearly she was crazy, I felt uncomfortable, I didn’t want to listen to her anymore, but I couldn't bring myself to aim the gun. My eyes slowly moved to the right and fixed on Kriek; his “smile” which was toothy and awful sent shivers up and down my spine. But how were they here, ahead of me? They couldn't possibly have known where I was going, unless they had been following Cherry and I; eventually getting ahead and lying in wait.
“Oi, Lilac, think the boys and I could go a couple of rounds with the little shit he was walking with before?” Asked another Zebra on my left in a gruff voice.
Lilac chuckled to herself. "Why not? You boys deserve it after all your hard work!"
I instantly recalled the rape of all those fillies and mares in the market early this night, and suddenly I had no qualms with aiming the gun and shooting off the bastards lower jaw for even suggesting it.
Lilac and the remainder of her Zebra platoon watched in shock as their comrade went down, choking on his blood and dying like a damned dog. The Zebras turned to me and aimed their weapons, opening fire upon me as I moved for cover.
“Wooow you must be the biggest dick headed pony in Equestria!!! Now, we’re gonna kill ya!!”
“Are you sure? Looks more like you’re tonguing the trigger!” I shouted at her as loud as I could over the noise of their guns.
I levitated the rifle up and shot blindly toward them. Lilac dodged and hid behind her little rubble pile, while the last three were wounded and one killed, shot through the eye, with the bullet nesting happily within the confines of his brain.
I looked over to see that I had killed another but the other two were reloading. Taking this opportunity to strike, I darted from my hiding place to get even closer. This time I ducked behind a brick wall just as they had started firing again. More pints of lead, once a few months ago I couldn’t imagine how the Steel Rangers felt on the front lines, now I did. I waited until the Zebras had ceased fire to come out and fire the last two shots. The bullets hit their mark; it was almost like I had a natural talent at using firearms, for a map reader. One of my bullet's shot clean through Kriek's jugular and windpipe, bringing his end in the most horrible way, while the other bullet flew into the mouth of the second Zebra, shattering his teeth and emerging from the other side of his head.
“I dare you to try and take my sister now you fuck ups!” I shouted at the top of my lungs, and sighed.
(Great, now every invading Zebra is going to hear that and come looking for me). I checked the bullets left in the rifle and found that it was empty. I sighed and threw it away with the assumption I had killed all of the Zebras.
I turned around to see Cherry Blossom had woken up, she was looking at me as if I had committed murder. I tilted my head with a puzzled look, a frown forming on my face.
“Cherry Blossom?” I spoke her name with worry.
A loud ear splitting bang echoed around us, and a bullet wizzed past over the top of my head, grazing and cracking my horn.
With a grunt and a thud, I fell to the ground and groaned, my horn bleeding just slightly. I pressed right hoof to the graze and looked at it. I was certain now that my horn was more likely to shatter soon.
Cherry Blossom screamed and ran to my side. “Atlas!” she cried. “Get up, please! She’s coming for us…”
She turned her head in the direction of the Zebra, Lilac. The stripped menace had her hooves on a Zebra Rifle, but for some odd reason the bullet did not set me on fire.
“Damn! I must’ve grabbed the wrong ammo. No matter, these’ll hurt just fine!” Lilac grinned and was about to discharge her second shot.
Quickly I jumped to my three good hooves and turned around, my horn glowed (much to my agony) and with all my strength I managed to rip a large wooden beam which belonged to the roof of a building above us out of place, allowing it to lean toward the edge. As it came down, Lilac fired the second shot, not directly at me, not at Cherry Blossom, but at my horn, and this shot destroyed it.
I recoiled back with agonizing pain shooting through my skull. Cherry Blossom screamed and hid behind my leg. The wooden beam fell to the hooves of Lilac; she paused and looked upward at the burnt rooftop which quickly collapsed and fell to ground, crushing the Zebra beneath it.
Blood trickled down my face. I sat down and for a moment and wished the pain to go away. Cherry Blossom whimpered and nuzzled my side gingerly, her eye closed, I returned her affection, mindful of the blood that trickled from my horn. I looked as pale as a ghost from the ordeal, shaken by how I easily put aside my respect for life to allow a quick moment to kill a group of Zebra. The odds could not have been in my favour. I had never used a gun before and never shall I again.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
I stood on a ridge outside the city, the smoke rose so high it blot out the sky. My sister rested (whimpering and sobbing) on my back.
I heard the screaming, the cries of the many as they burned to cinders in the former city we called home. I shut my eyes and turned away, tears running down my dirt covered cheeks and turning grey as they neared the end to drip from my face.
I moved on, making the long exodus to wherever the road led me. Right now my younger sister was all I cared about.
I walked for what I thought were hours, by then I could see the sun to the east, but the smoke of our former home blocked out the most of it.
I looked back between my shoulders at Cherry Blossom who yawned (right in my ear too) and blinked sleepily.
“Atlas?” she said with a shaken voice.
“I’m here Cherry Blossom, don’t worry,” I assured her.
The little filly hopped off my back and hugged me, and I returned her affection in kind.
“It’s all over now… we have to get to Ponyville, warn the Ministry’s that Zebra have destroyed Poninawa…”
Cherry Blossom sniffled. “But Mommy…”
I could only hug her again as she started to sob once more. Just overhead, a platoon of Wonderbolts flew high above us toward our ruined city, carrying small metal canisters to be used in what I knew meant the end of Poninawa, and the Zebra invasion. There would be no evidence left behind.
“C’mon, Cherry Blossom… let’s go…”
I started on the road to Baltimare, Cherry Blossom walked close beside me, never leaving me for a moment. From Baltimare we would walk to Ponyville, in the hopes we could be helped.
If only life was fair.
Footnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Brotherly Love -- Does +80% more melee damage to enemies when child followers are hurt and unique dialogue and interactions with child followers.
