The Day The Sky Turned Red

Urgh...

Can't move...

I feel so weak...

...

"Hey, wake up!"

Huh?

"Are you still alive?"

I opened my eyes slowly to reveal a dense forest together with a purple-furred individual bandaging my neck. She placed a carbine at my bloodstained hooves.

"You're still alive and well." She checked the surroundings. "Hurry, we don't want those rebels to catch us again."

I stood up dazed and dizzy. Probably because of the gunshot wound on my neck, which had blood oozing out of it. Taking my KT75, I followed my partner.

We reached a pretty large clearing. The atmosphere was very eerie.

She inspected the area with her rifle. "No enemies around here."

An infrared sensor suddenly activated. However, she must have not noticed it. Before I could warn her, the cracking of twigs and the sound of something moving was heard.

As my partner screamed "Oh shit!", she got decapitated by a wrecking ball of spikes. Those were her last words. Blood covered the entire clearing. The poor unicorn's lifeless head rolled around for a few seconds before stopping in front of me. The wrecking ball paused.

Soon, the forest returned back to its calm, serene, quiet condition.

And I was alone.

While scavenging through her bag for useful items, I was greeted by a flurry of rustling leaves. Rebels were approaching the location of the scream.

You can do this, Rose! You're the best of your group, girl!

I hid beside two giant sequoia trees, reloaded my gun, and lied down on my stomach, pointing my weapon toward the clearing.

A rebel poked his head out of the cluster of trees surrounding the clearing. He investigated the dead body, then the booby trap, then proceeded to loot her.

I aimed at his head, and fired three shots. He fell over her.

No more sounds were heard for three minutes.

Thinking the scene is clear, I slowly crept out of my hiding spot and went over to the downed rebel. He was still breathing.

Since it was the general's command to always give mercy shots to critically wounded enemies unless useful, I took out my revolver and aimed at his chest.

"W-wait!"

The rebel opened his eyes, hyperventilating, blood being spurted out of the wound.

"D-don't kill me! Please!"

I put down my revolver. "But you're dying! There were three bullets that penetrated your brain! You have no chance to live! I'm doing this for your own good!"

"J-just don't!" he stuttered. "I prefer to die slowly!"

I thought over his desires for a moment, and then said okay.

"Oh, by the way..." His face slowly formed a smile.

"Bye bye."

He pushed a button hidden in his vest and exploded right in front of my face. Bits of flesh, clothing, and metal shrapnel attacked my body. The blast also burned it. The grenades in my partner's bag exploded as well. In a matter of milliseconds, hundreds of sharp grenade fragments pierced my body. I fell down on the ground, unable to move, but still alive. My entire body felt like it was on a bed of nails, slowly penetrating my skin until I would succumb to the excruciating pain.

But it never happened. The sun had set and the moons have risen, and I was still alive. All I could practically do was breathe. It's so sad how the wound on my neck had clotted, and the other hundred shrapnel wounds hardly made blood flow. The agonizing pain of the metal in my body and the pain from my broken bones would pulsate every now and then.

To hell with those suicide bombers! They always play dirty!

Around midnight, my ears picked up a sound coming from the east. It was the sound of trotting. Thinking it might be rebels, I pretended to be dead, opening my mouth and breathing only every now and then.

I was right. Armed rebels entered the site, and took a good look at the three bodies on the ground, after one accidentally tripped on me. Thankfully, I was able to endure the pain that gave me. I counted fifteen figures when I decided it was safe to open my eyes.

As they were exiting the clearing, they were greeted by a wave of bullets. They struggled to find the enemy in the dark, and the gunshots continued. Five of the fifteen died on the spot.

The remaining ten just started strafing in every direction. Since the night was so dark, they couldn't even see each other. Some accidentally shot their allies.

Suddenly, one soldier in black swooped down from above and backstabbed the entire remaining rebels with a knife. I recognize her. She's part of my team. Sergeant Major PULVERIZER. Also known as Colgate. However, we're called by code to keep our identities confidential. My code name is "THORN", 'cause roses are thorny. Ha ha...

When the group of rebels were confirmed to be dead, a group, which I recognized as my own team, emerged from the trees and checked me.

"She's still alive!"

"Bring her back to base, then!"

Two of them hoisted me up and my partner onto a makeshift stretcher, and placed the latter's head in a bag. The platoon then began the long journey home.

. . .

"Hey," one of the members asked me. "What happened to Lieutenant NINI?"

Twilight Sparkle.

I tilted my head sideways, since I could barely talk with the amount of blood in my throat.

"She got... decapitated. By one of the booby traps."

"Oh." The expression on her face mimicked one of guilt. "I'm so sorry THORN, I shouldn't have sent only you and her to that zone..."

"It's okay..." was all I had to say. I was too much distracted by all the bad feelings in my body.

A few silent minutes passed. We had exited the forest.

"There's a seemingly friendly Chinook!" one of us yelled. "Get on, now!"

As we were nearing the helicopter, from out of nowhere a rocket flew straight into it, causing it to explode in mid-air. The rotors flew off into the forest, and the fuselage crashed with a mighty ball of flames.

Three unidentifiable individuals surrounded our position. They were all donning a yellow and violet gloss suit. Our leader aimed his pistol at the one in the middle. "Who in the flying fuck are you?!"

"W-wait, I can explain!" She held up her hooves to show that she meant no harm. "We're not the bad guys!"

"Okay then, care to explain why you blew up our means of escape?"

She approached him. "Y-you see, without you knowing, the rebels had planted a time bomb on the Chinook you guys were about to board, and we didn't want to lose all of you, since you look like allies..."

"Wait, where did you get intel that a bomb was on the aircraft?"

"You see, we were ordered to board the copter as well, but luckily I scanned the aircraft with my magic before that, and found that there was a hidden bomb attached to the rear belly of the copter! So, I conjured a rocket and sent it flying towards the aircraft. Also, don't worry about losses, there were only two pilots on that plane."

After a moment of thinking, he put his pistol down. "Well... done. Looks like you saved us all, then. But, about the pilots, those are still casualties!"

She went back to her companions, the two individuals, and said "These are your two pilots, sir."

His eyes widened. "W-wow..."

"And don't worry about trying to get back home, you are already in the vicinity of our base!" She turned right and ran. Sure enough, a control tower and several buildings could be seen in the direction she was running.

Our leader's jaw dropped. "L-looks like we'll stay here for the n-night..." He then followed her, shaking his head every now and then. The members of the team followed.