Storms of War

August of 1944 brought with it an early winter. The Imperial Gryphon Navy, stymied by the power of the Equestrian Royal Navy, was pushed back to the shores of the Old World. Despite superior machinery and a labor force of millions, they could not match the steady determination of the Seaponies allied with Celestia’s navy. On August 4th, 1944 of the Celestial Calendar, the HMS Winter Solstice, a Solstice- Class Battleship under the command of Captain Ice Breaker engaged and destroyed four Imperial Cruisers and two Imperial Submarines. She would go down with all hands before reaching shore, but her Consort, the HMS Sunny Breeze, bore witness to the heroism of the Equestrian Navy.

To the north, on the mainland, the cold soldiers of the 1st infantry were engaging in a brutal battle to free the massive city of Fancy, the second most important one in Prance. With aid from the Prench Resistance, they were able to get inside the city under the cover of night, only to run into a surprised detachment of the Imperial 43rd Razor Regiment, an armored division known for their brutality and willingness to shell their own troops to kill the enemy. With key sections of the city watched by entrenched imperial defenders, the 1st Infantry was forced to advance alley by alley, door by door, and street by street. Sniper fire made it impossible for either side to take to the rooftops, ensuring that single tanks would have to advance down the main roads with heavy infantry escorts.

Wars of the Modern Era, 1700-2000

        I ducked back behind the corner. Wonderful day so far. “Got another Razor just up the street, Sir!” I shouted to Butter Bar. A spray of bullets ripped into the street and the wall around the corner, and then the air was full of smoke and flying stone as the tank fired again. “We have an MG42 covering the entire street, and maybe ten infantry around the tank itself. They know we’re here!”

        Butter Bar nodded, finishing with the Radio before sending its operator, Radio Wave, down the line again. “Ideas, Sergeant?”

        Fire Cracker shrugged. “Go home? Call it a day?”

        We all chuckled until Thin Ice cleared her throat. “Sir! I think I saw an alley back a couple blocks. No Beaks there, figure we could send someone around to try and clear that machine gun. Someone who’s a good shot, preferably. I can take two and cover him.”

        “I’ll go, Sir!” Volunteered Blaze, clapping me on the shoulder. Butter bar nodded.

        “We clear that gun, then I want a squad to break across the street. Pop a smoke before you run. With any luck, they’ll assume we all went and pull that tank down the road. It passes the rest of us, and we slap a Sock on the treads. I want you to maintain defilade until we do, got it?”

        There was a chorus of “Sir!” Before Thin Ice, the Walker twins, Blaze, and myself slid back down the street two blocks to the alley between a bombed bakery and a tea shop. A gurgle sounded as I rounded the corner to see two small gryphons choking a larger one, both of them with handkerchiefs around their arms.

        “Hold fire! Prench Resistance!”

        Thin Ice stepped forward, quietly conversing in Prench with the two, who nodded and pointed up the street. After a moment, they nodded again and dragged the body to the side before moving to the end of the alley and firing a couple of shots. A squad of soldiers chased them as they ran off, cackling.

        “Clear! Blaze, give him a boost up to the roof! Twins, you watch either end of the alley. We should be a block and a half from that gun nest. You take out that thing, and we have this section of the city FINALLY under control.”

        I nodded. “Yes, Sergeant!” I said, before putting my left hoof in Blaze’s cupped hands and jumping up to the roof edge, grabbing on before I could fall off. Clambering up, I cradled my rifle in my elbows as I crawled over the roof until I could see the building with my target.

        Inside, there were two gryphons. One was behind the gun itself and seemed to be pointing at something in the street, while the other fed a new belt of ammunition into the side.

Windage… not important here. Distance… forty two yards. Shooting through an open window, no glass or curtains. Breathe in… breathe out. Breathe in… hold… gently squeeze…

        There was a loud CRACK, and a kick from my rifle as the one manning the gun pitched backwards, the cigarette falling from his beak. The other tried to scramble backwards… but slumped to the side as a red bloom erupted on his chest from my second shot. A moment later, there were two shots just missing me as I slid back down the other side of the roof.

        “Got ‘em! Sarge, I got ‘em!” I shouted, giving the thumbs up to Thin Ice. She nodded up at me and turned back. “Tell the El-Tee! Cleared Hot!”

        “-and he just fell back. So I said, Wrecked ‘em? Shit, I KILLED him!” I said, grinning at the rest of the squad. Night Walker rolled her eyes as she grabbed another ale while the rest laughed. As usual, Thin Ice was nowhere to be found while the Lieutenant hung out with a couple of other officers, playing cards.

        We were all inside of a pub, one of few still standing in this part of the city, and we were celebrating liberating another section. The Beaks were down two more tanks and half a platoon of infantry to go with them, while we had managed to commandeer an entire warehouse full of goods such as ale and grain. The meat was useless to us, but the Prench Resistance gryphons enjoyed the cured fish. A passing waitress winked at us as she set drinks on another table, and Fire Cracker raised his mug.

        “Say what you want… these Prench ponies and gryphons sure are lookers. Can’t understand a word they say, but once you get ‘em to bed….”

        Blaze snorted into her ale while Radio Wave whistled. “Tell me about it. Hehe… remember the general?”

        “Listen Up! Give us four da-ays and four ni-ights and you WILL be relieved” came from Iron Curtain, mimicking the general’s voice. “Remember, flies spread disease, so keep yours zipped! Feathered Rears are-”

        I had rarely laughed so hard in my life as I did with my squad… my family. We had been lucky so far, not losing a single pony. So many companies had been destroyed, reformed, and destroyed again over the last two months. Ever since the beach.

        I don't know what the rest of them were thinking… but I laughed so hard because I knew tomorrow I might not be laughing anymore. Tomorrow, Radio Wave might not get to tell any more jokes. Blaze could be on the ground, looking shocked as she died. Butter Bar might never get to inspire us again. I could die.

        But tonight, we laughed and drank and enjoyed ourselves.