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                       A Heroes Jump                       
                    -by The Dark Soul-                     
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              Part 1: Hooves First Into Hell               
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Part 1: Hooves First Into Hell
Hooves First Into Hell  
Written by: The Dark Soul  
Edited by: Thunder-Bolt  
Proof Read by: Dragon101k_pl
Story created in collaboration with: Thunder-Bolt and Dragon101k_pl  
Created by: The Dark Soul
The room was filled with mares and stallions. All chatting, but the conversations were all unintelligible in my ears. I wasn't paying attention at all to what the others were saying as I cared more for what the platoon commander had to say. But she would be here in a minute... So here I sat on a bench, bored and flipping through my field manual. Acting as if I was doing something.
My name is Summer Measure, a mare in service to the Royal Equestrian Military. Rank: Technician Fifth Grade, otherwise abbreviated to T/5. It was a rank equivalent to Corporal, but my rank meant that I was qualified to repair vehicles and operate a mortar should the need arise. My service number is 11354902. I'm an Airborne Pony. If you don't know what that is, then let me explain: The Airborne Ponies are a non-Pegasus division for the Royal Equestrian Army. We were shock troopers, essentially. Special Forces. Anti-Terrorism. Death from above. We were the best the regular army had to offer. Hell, they called us in on invasion day. I was one of the first ponies to defend against the invasion. But, unfortunately, we failed and the striped dicks established a foothold in Equestria. It didn't take them long at all to surge into the mainland and overtake the south. The tent flap lifted to reveal the Colonel in charge of whatever operation we were about to undertake.
About time.
She cleared her throat and the room immediately went silent as she walked up to her podium, ready to address the Airborne. Without taking my eyes off of her, I carelessly tossed the manual to the side. Ill grab it on my way out.
"Alright, lads. I know you’re all tired. I know you’re all pissed, too. A lot of good ponies died at New Oatleans, many of them yours. But, we have a chance to get payback. Now listen up." She started. Most of the Airborne were listening attentively, more so than before at the prospect of vengeance for our fallen brothers and sisters. A picture of Ponyville flicked on from the projector. The picture was on the back of the tent, where we were all facing. "Now, you all probably know that Ponyville was taken by Zebra Forces three days ago. Everypony who was willing to leave was evacuated. But, as with every town, there are a few stubborn ones who wish to remain." She said. The slideshow flickered to a burning town with ponies in shackles dogged by Zebrican infantry.
"As our scouts have reported, the town is under martial law. With ponies being shackled up and led away to their doom. Amongst them are civilians and soldiers who remained behind. Why did they remain behind?" The slideshow flickered to a picture of Princess Twilight. "Her. She was one of the stubborn ones. She remained as her friends and some of her subjects evacuated. Her reasoning was, and I quote: "As long as the town has one Equestrian citizen inside, I will not give quarter." She said, reading from a sheet of paper. From my position, I could not see what it was, but I could tell it had a royal stamp.
Damn, I knew the town was in a bad way. But, I had no idea the princess remained. "A Pegasus scout reported that her highness and a section of guards have barricaded themselves inside the castle and it’s currently under siege. Zebras all over the exterior, some trying to find a way in." The slideshow flickered to a picture of the town from aerial view. "Now, as you all may realize. The loss of a princess is unacceptable. Morale amongst the troops will plummet if she is captured. And if she is killed, well... the appetite for war will no longer exist. That's where we come in. The Princess of the Sun and Commander of Armed Forces, Princess Celestia, has ordered that we go in under cover of the night and rescue her. The main objective is here." She said, tapping the castle with a swagger stick. "As I have said previously, she is barricaded inside with a large amount of guards and a small amount of civilians. While it is unknown the number of civvies she has inside, we do know that many civilians that remained in the town are in hiding. And as much as I would hate to say it..."
Oh no.
"...they are not our objective." She stated, causing murmurs in the crowd of soldiers. "I had discussed this with the board and we all came to the conclusion that they would be dead weight. I'm sorry."
"But, as far as i'm concerned. They had their chance. They sullied it. Buuuuut, i'm not saying that you shouldn't help them should you come across them, however. Now, getting back to the main objective, the Princess is to be extracted alive at all costs. Her life is your top priority. Which means you are expected to take a bullet for her. Her loss of life is the loss of whoever was with her at the time she dies. And that loss is permanent incarceration."
Yikes.
Ok, consider that bullet already taken.
"Once you retrieve the Princess, you are to flee through the town towards the train station and steal the train sitting dormant there. The Zebras will give chase but the train will take you directly towards Canterlot. You should be safe once you reach Camp Midway." She said.
Camp Midway was the front lines. The barrier between Canterlot and Ponyville. Seems like our train will smash through a Zebra Encampment then. Alright, cool. The slideshow flickered and a picture of a mare came on.
"Your secondary objective is her. The mayor. She has information vital towards national security and if she is captured... Well, there is a great chance she may talk. You are to extract her as well. If you are unable to, then... well.." She said, looking away and sighing.
"Silence her."
Oh shit. Did not expect that. My mouth hung open in shock but I quickly shut it before she noticed.
"I know how you all are feeling about that. But know if you don't do what you gotta do, we might lose this war. Now, the tertiary objective is Kommadant Xhenko. He is the commander of the Zebra forces occupying Ponyville. Conveniently, he is also the one who commanded the invasion force that eliminated a good portion of First Responding Airborne troops. Eliminate him by any means necessary, even if you have to get your hooves dirty. Any questions?" She asked. Nopony raised their hooves.
Good, I thought. That meant everypony understood. Less questions to ask means more mission time, even if its just a few seconds. Hell, every second in a mission is important.
"Good. Now. You will be inserted here. In the Everfree Outskirts." She said, tapping circle the exterior of the Everfree Forest. I felt uneasy about that. I had heard strange and terrible things about the forest but I had never seen it for myself. I never wanted too, either. "The Underground Scouts marked areas with large gold Xs. These areas are declared safe and clear of enemy forces. When you jump, steer for these areas. Your Captain will remind you of this before you jump. Now, as for enemy knowledge of this operation, we will have to fly low to stay under radar... Unfortunately, this also means we will be fully visible from the ground. To compensate for this and remain covert, the Underground Scouts will launch a diversionary attack on the now Zebra-Occupied Castle of The Two Sisters. They will cease their attack and retreat through the tunnels they found once you guys are on the ground. As I have said before, this mission is to remain covert. Avoid patrols, and only engage if you have to. If your captured, make every attempt to escape and give no information." She said. The slideshow flickered off and she stepped away from the podium.
"We leave in an hour. Get your gear ready and report to the hangars. Dismissed."
Ponies started getting up from their seats and went for the exit. I followed, but not before grabbing my manual off the ground.
<><><>
I lace my left forelegs boot, making sure that it was tight enough to not fall off. Some ponies had problems with that during training because they didn't make the knots tight enough. I remember being hit in the head by an airborne boot once. Hah! After the boot was done I turned to my bunk-mate and asked her how I looked.
"Uhh.. Nothing wrong, as far I can tell." She said before turning back to her cleaning kit and her garand. Ha, I knew that! I just wanted her to look at me. I sat down on my bunk, satisfied with my answer, and peeked a glance over to my bunk-mate. She was busy tuning her sights and didn't notice me staring. Around me, other ponies were gathering their gear. Some were idly chatting, some were already leaving, some were just relaxing like I was. Which was a smart thing, all things considered. We were about to go behind enemy lines for goddess knows how long. Some relaxing would be good beforehand. My bunk-mate, Quick Gale, a pretty little light blue thing, was humming away as she tuned her sights. Her voice was gorgeous. Of course, I tried not to let her know I was listening. Instead, I acted as if I was doing something productive, like taking my helmet off and inspecting it for scratches.
Goddess dammit! I am so bad at this.
I sighed before continuing my fake search and looked at my friend. I have had a crush on her since Airborne training, but I never had the nerve to say anything. Not that I ever will say anything. In our line of work, relationships wouldn't last too long. Friendships wouldn't last long either, but Friendships were encouraged. Relationships were not. I listened intently as she hummed.. While I did not know the tune, I enjoyed it nonetheless. Her voice was beautiful. I continued to "inspect" my helmet and tuned everyone else out, as I all wanted to hear was her. But, that day dream ended as she abruptly stopped and chuckled. I resisted the urge to look at her, but I could feel the confusion was visible.
"I see your enjoying the music, eh?" She asked. My heart stopped. I felt as though I was going to die, but mentally noted that my heart continued its beat.
"What?" I asked, trying my best not to stutter. She noticed and chuckled once more.
"Oh, nothing." She said, rolling her eyes and giving me her best "I know something you don't know" voice. She didn't know I had a crush on her, did she? I'm lucky I wasn't like this in combat. I couldn't tell you how many times I could've died if I was. I sighed and strapped my helmet on. I could feel the metal pushing my blue mane down against my skull. I looked over to see my friend sling her rifle over her shoulder before turning and starting for the exit.
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
"You think we'll find anyone down there? Ponies, I mean." I asked. I was scared, to be honest. Not of the Zebras, but of what we would find. Gale frowned.
"Of course. You don't think any of the Friendship Vanguards survived?" She asked. Oh goddess... Those mares...
"Not them. Those mares are all fanatics. Zealots. I'm sure one of them is alive. I'm talking about about the civvies." I said, laying back and putting my hooves behind my head as if I was relaxed. I was not. "Those Zebras can’t tell the difference between a combatant and a non-combatant and I'm hoping, when we get down there, that I don't see a massacred schoolhouse or-or a mass grave or something." I said, frowning. I felt the comfort in Gale’s words before they were even uttered.
"Trust me when I say this. There are a few survivors-" She started before I interrupted her. Damn it! Why did I do that?
"Yeah. Survivors we are not to evac." I said with spite while rising out of my bunk.
"You heard the commander. They are not the objective.... But, she also said that we should help them should we come across them." Gale said.
"Yeah. Help. Help as in: telling them to hide. Not as in: evac." I snorted, getting up and trotting over to my Thompson, which was secured on the rack opposite my bunk. I just noticed there were only a few ponies in the barracks than before. Everyone else had left.
"Yeah, well. Orders are orders, I suppose." She said, trying to give me her best hopeful smile. She was really cute when she did that. I looked back down at my Thompson and checked the drum magazine before clipping it back into place.
"Orders. Are. Orders." I echoed slowly and carelessly. Gale knew where I stood when it came to leaving ponies behind, as on Invasion Day, we had to leave a dying captain behind to save our own asses (get this! It was the captain who ordered us to leave himself to certain doom. Still don't feel right about it.) "Come on, Gale. Let’s get to the C-47 and let us hope we both survive this, eh?" I said as I slung my Thompson over my shoulder. I started for the door, but stopped myself as I felt a tight grip around my hocks. I realized the sleeves of my uniform were too tight and sat back down on my bunk and loosened them slightly. Once confirming that they were loose enough to not be out of regulation, I sat back up and went to the door.
"Yeah, let’s go." She said when I got up.
We opened the door so the cold mountain air and night sky could greet us. Outside the barracks, ponies with different uniforms ranging from Airborne to pilot, and officer to ground crew, scampered around. Bunkers lay in the mountains surrounding the airbase, occupied by mortar teams and machine gun crews. Tents surround the barracks, but there wasn't much in the way of traffic between the tents. Most ponies capable of combat (excluding the Airborne and Pegasus pilots) or had medical expertise were either sent to the frontlines at Camp Midway, or sent to the refugee camp at the Crystal Empire, whom were locking down their borders soon. A medic strolled by, going into the tent next to us. He didn't pass us a glance.
Welcome to Mt. Stormm Airbase. The first, and only, airbase in Equestria.
"Also, what makes you say that?" She asked as we started walking towards the hangars.
"Remember Invasion day? You weren't with me at the time, but I almost lost my life to a Zebra who ambushed me. If it wasn't for Private Checkmate i'd be a goner." I admitted. Yes, I’ll admit it. I almost had my throat slit by a Zebra, and a Private had to save me.
"Damn, why didn’t you tell me?" She asked with concern. We were really good friends, of course, one had feelings that the other didn't know (I had feelings for her, I’ll remind you), and we both generally took concern if the other almost got wounded or killed. Or has been wounded.
"Because, I wouldn't want to trouble a lady such as yourself and keep you worrying about my safety." I said, laughing afterwards. Gale replied with some of her wit as well.
"Hehehe. I'm far from being a lady." She said, sharing the laugh.
"You could've fooled me, what with that soft voice of yours." I flirted, right before mentally smacking (and mentally shooting) myself. Oh Celestia did I really just say that? I turned to look at her.
"What?" She said, stopping and giving me a wry look. My face immediately went hot with embarrassment and slight fear. I turned and looked at her, her face still a face of confusion. What was I to say?
"What? N-n-Nothing, nothing. Did-did I say that out loud?" I asked, stuttering all the while. Fucking hell, I am so fucking stupid! I felt like I was burning alive, I even thought my vision was fading for a minute before I realize I was just mentally panicking. Gale just looked at me, an eyebrow raised.
I have known her since Basic. We both did our first jump together, I was her spotter for a short time as she is our designated marksmare. We usually always fought the enemy together. We worked well together, so, eventually, a crush worked its way into how I felt towards her. My best friend. Occasionally, I did something stupid, like attempt to flirt, sometimes she would take it as a joke and joke back. Partially hurting me, but I would get over it. Other times she would act confused. Like just now, my flirting this go around had no reasoning, she couldn’t perceive it as a joke. My mind was racing with something to say. Something to distract her from my fucking stupidity…. She liked racing.
"Hey, uhh, race you to the hangars!" I yelled before galloping as fast as I could to the hangars, hoping that she would forget what I had said. She did as she laughed.
"Ha! You’re on!"
<><><>
I won. We raced to the hangars and made it before anyone got in the plane. Gale almost beat me, but I got ahead when we zipped past an officer and she ran into him. We didn't stop to say sorry or anything because, with luck, he wouldn't know who ran into him. As we ran away, I heard him yell "Hey! Damn Airborne ruffians!"... He wasn't far off with that statement. We arrived, barely breaking a sweat and in a slight pant, to find that most of the Airborne have gathered in the hangars. We joined the crowd of soldiers and chatted a little. A little bit about Invasion Day. Movies we have seen lately, gossip, and recent training duels won. We were a violent regiment, but we were an effective one. Soon, every Airborne paratrooper had arrived, as did the platoon commander. The pilots for each C-47 Skytrain had arrived and were waiting idly by, talking and ignoring the dirty earth-born crowd.
Pilots of the C-47 were exclusively Pegasi. The reason for this was that the Skytrains were enchanted so that only Pegasi could fly them. This helped keep the Zebras from stealing and using our technology. Unfortunately, it also made sure that if the pilot or pilots were knocked unconscious or killed, any earth-born pony on board was doomed unless they had a parachute.
The platoon commander briefed us one final time and reminded us of our objectives, and assigned us to one of the three Skytrains that would drop us in. She told us of how proud she was of us and told us to all come home safe. Yep, all of us will make it. Not one of us will die, or at the very least, be wounded. Asking an Airborne pony to be stealthy was like asking an Underground Scout to cut the batponies, but we were loyal and we would follow our orders quick and to the letter. Hmph. Gale looked to me before going to her Skytrain.
"Hey, this time, don't make a bet with Azure Star to see who could kill more. We don't need to make this sadistic." She said, laughing.
"Bah, you’re no fun. But fine."
She turned and trotted away and my eyes...drifted.. downwards. Uncontrollably, of course. But I soon caught myself and turned to enter my assigned Skytrain. When I was finally able to get in, there was ponies (mostly stallions) inside. Maybe one other mare, damn did I feel fish out of water. The stallions ignored me, which was good. If you ever watched any of those war movies, stallions are always hitting on the mares and shit. I'm glad that wasn't the case. Or, at least with the Airborne. I can't tell you how many times a Royal Army or Underground Scout tried flirting with me. It usually pisses me off, but I keep it hidden and tell them "Yeah, that would be nice if I wasn't into the mares.". That usually shuts them up real quickly. The speed was laughable and amazing.
I grabbed one of the parachute packs laying next to the cockpit before finding my seat. It was right next to two burly looking stallions, one called Checkmate. A black coated stallion with a brown cropped mane, and the other, Trail Breeze. A white coated stallion with a mane of red with white streaks. Coincidentally, he was also a Chief Officer of the Royal Guard of Canterlot. But, in the Airborne, he was PFC.
The latter turned to me and spoke in that preppy accent of his.
"No Gale today?" He asked. I laughed.
"She got assigned to Taxi Two." I said. Taxi was the name of the three Skytrains. Would've been better just to call them Skytrains but nope.
"Hah. We'll i'm sure you see her on the ground." He said, his calm upper class English accent ruining his burly appearance. But, I don't respect him any less. While me and him were not exactly best friends, we were close enough. He was the only other pony, besides me, who knew about my crush. He leaned in. "Just don't stare at her flanks when your under fire." He whispered.
"You forget, Trail, i'm not that stupid. Ahahaha." I laughed, punching him in the side.
"Ha! We shall see, little girl." He jabbed. he was referring to my height, not my age. While I was 20 years old, I was also shorter than him, about an inch or two. I don't know, I didn't have a ruler. I mean, Gale was an inch taller than me.
"Not so little, whoremonger!" I jabbed right back. His response was a chuckle.
"I don't fuck whores." Trail said. A few others joined in on the laughter. Thank Celestia the jump sergeant wasn't on yet.
"Yes you have." Checkmate said, smirking. I looked at him with a big grin, trying to hold back the rest of my laughter. A small sound of what sounds like someone coughing something up would make slipped out.
"Oh yeah? Who?" Trail replied, causing me to snicker. I already knew the answer. He had a fillyfriend, a batpony in fact. It was an odd relationship.
"I don't need to answer. You have a picture of her sticking out of your right foreleg boot." Checkmate retorted, a smug smirk decorating his face. I looked at his boot and, lo-and-behold, there was indeed a picture of a batmare sticking out of it. I could contain my laughter no longer and let it out, holding my sides and gasping for air halfway through. My fellow Airborne did the same.
"Shes not a whore."
"Haha! You don't know that! She is probably fucking somepony right now and you don't even know!" I said, bursting even further into my fit of laughter. It was so contagious that the other Airborne ponies that weren't laughing joined in.
"You call my fillyfriend a whore? You forget, little crumpet, about your origins. Whoredaughter." He said, smirking and looking me in the eye. I closed my mouth and looked at him.
"What are you on about, tea-drinker?" I said. The Airborne on board quieted up and payed attention.
"You told me, long ago, how you don't know your father and how your mother fucks anyone who pays her. Ahaha! You make fun of my fillyfriend, but you fail to acknowledge the facts. Your mother is a true whore." He said, leaning down to where we are at eye level and giving me an evil grin and squint. I returned his glare, but with a frown and angry eyes. I stared at him a for a few seconds, readying the strength in my hooves to knock him silly, but, instead, I my frown turned into a smirk. And the smirk into a big smile. I nickered.
"OK, ill give you that one. You win." I said. Giving him a soft jab in the stomach. A bunch of Airborne Ponies laughed before hushing up.
Being an Airborne Pony is a like being apart of a brotherhood (or a sisterhood). Once your in, your in for good. For life. Even if you retire your still considered an Airborne, as we take care of our own. Everyone in the Airborne knew each other, everyone was friends. Our brother/sisterhood was the kind where one Airborne could throw the best insult he or she could think of at another, and laugh about it, and the one who was insulted would still laugh and jab an insult back. We could literally insult each others mothers sisters, sexuality, or anything that wouldn't play well in society and still go out for drinks and pool the same night. Nothing could break the friendship between the ponies in the Airborne.
You would think the Princess of Friendship would have direct authority over the Airborne because of this, but nope. That's not the case.
I looked over when I heard hooves clang on the metal. Was there a late recru- Oh shit.
It was the jump sergeant, Staff Sergeant Strongback. While me and him had nothing against each other, friendship came second to him and with good reason. An officer should never be friendly on the job. Anyways, it was his expression that had me worried. It was a mix of anger and authority. Whenever he had that face on, someone was gonna get chewed out.
"Sorry I am late. I had to apologize to a Major for the actions of Technician Fifth Grade Summer Measure and Corporal Quick Gale." He said, glaring at me. A few other Airborne looked at me as I shrank down slightly. Fucking fuck.
"Summer! Your after-action report will suffer, and I will want to talk to you after the mission is over." He said before strapping on his parachute. He knocked on the door of the cockpit and, not long after, a loud noise signalling the start of the Skytrain.
"I don't what you guys were talking about before I got on, but stop fucking around. The mission starts now, get serious. Fucking around WILL get you killed." He said before looking out the door. I looked out the window to see the the ground slowly moving by. The Skytrain had not started up fully and it would take a few good moments before we in the air. A few of the Airborne were speaking in low voices. I saw Taxi Two take the lead, right behind Taxi One. Taxi Three slowly crawled down the runway to get behind Two. Once in the air, the aircraft was going to enter a formation called "Delta", a formation commonly used by the aviators of the Equestria, such as the Wonderbolts or...some...other...pegasus unit. The Pegasi didn't have a need for aircraft, unlike the Airborne, seeing as how the ponies already had their wings. Hence the only airbase in Equestria.
"Ten seconds until we are in the air. Sergeant, remind your ponies of the proper jumping procedures and whatever it is you ponies do." A voice said over the intercom. It must've been the pilot. The Jump Sergeant turned and took out his static line. We took that as a cue to do the same.
"Alright ponies, we went over this during training, and we went over this on Invasion Day. Looks like you'll have to sit through this again." He said. "Jumping out of an airplane is one of the safest things a pony can do, provided he follow proper procedure!"
Safe. When was jumping out of airplane safe? When was being in one safe? Ha! Danger! Awesome.
"When you see the red light, you stand up and hook up. Check each others gear. The static line will deploy your parachute automatically. There is a chance it will break, so have your backup ready! When the red light goes green, you jump! You don't stop! You don't think! You jump! If you don't, I get the pleasure of pushing you!" He started yelling, trying to make himself heard over the noise that the plane produced.
"And we are off. We are entering Canterlot airspace in thirty seconds." The pilot said. We weren't that far from Canterlot. Mt. Stormm was directly below the mountain range of Canterlot, actually. I looked back out the window to see we were indeed off the ground. And that Taxi Two was parallel to us. We were in a Delta.
"Roger that! Listen up, Airborne, for continued instructions! When you jump, do not panic. Do not flail. Do. Not. Do. Stunts. Any of that will kill you." No shit. "When you jump, look for large gold Xs and steer for them! Those areas, as you might already know, have been declared safe! When you get closed to the ground, attempt to flare your landing! You know why we flare out landings?!" He yelled, the noise from the rotors of the plane getting steadily louder. We all knew the answer, but none of us cared to to say it.
"Because its proper procedure!" He said. "If we are hit by anti-air and you are wounded by shrapnel, stay seated! You will be transported to safety where you will receive medical attention! If you jump, and you break one of your legs upon contact with the ground, stay put, and fire three successive shots into the sky. This will alert your comrades to your situation! If you jump, and your 'chute is caught on a tree, or a pole, or anything that will keep you from the ground, take out your combat knife, and cut the straps! If it is a large fall should you cut the straps, then attempt to find something to climb down with or an entryway into a building should you be caught on one. Such as a window sill. But, of course, you shouldn't try to get yourself caught."
And that was the end of instruction. He stated that before turning to look out the door. Sadly, his job required him to stand near the door at all times, to prevent things like desertion. But it also made his job very dangerous, as he could go falling out of that door at any given time. My eyes scanned the interior of the flying tin can, Airborne ponies, mostly stallion, looked a bit nervous. I didn't blame them either. We had a very important mission today. The life of a Princess, a ruler of our nation, was in our hooves. Some ponies looked confident, some...well... I couldn't read their expressions. One thing you learn when you join the Airborne is to hide your feelings, or else... Someponies were not capable of that and that was fine, but I wasn't one of them.
"Summer, you nervous?" Trail asked, looking at me. I chuckled.
"Kinda, buts its normal, I believe. We are going into battle, so, yeah." I said.
"The CO stated that this was to be a covert op."
"Please.. I doubt, once we starting extracting the Princess, that it will go unnoticed. We will have to fight before the night is out, my friend." I said. He started smirking and looked back at pony next to him. The conversation didn't interest me as it was none of my business.
Inside the tin can, ponies were sat down, awaiting a jump that could cost them their lives. Every time they jump, they risk death. From a parachute malfunction to getting filled with holes mid-flight. Its what we lived for, however. We craved the danger that our unit had to go through. We craved the fighting. We craved the recoil of our rifles and pistols. We were combat ponies. But, that never mean't we weren't nervous. Whenever you go into battle, there is always a chance you will never come back. Whether you die from an explosion or you take a knife in the gullet, there is always a chance you will perish.
"We are in Canterlot airspace. Fiifteen seconds before we enter Ponyville airspace. Standby."
I shuffled a little in my seat. I wasn't at all preparing myself mentally for the shit I was going to see on the ground. I had heard of how the Zebras treated the ponies of the towns they conquered... but to see it for myself... No. I didn't want to see that. Too bad I had to stomach it. Some other ponies looked the same, ready for combat but not at all preparing themselves for the war crimes they were about to witness. As if the Zebras cared for a pony's life.
I looked back out the window to see the city grow distant as we depart from its airspace (we were still over the city, but we were almost past it). The beautiful mountainside city of blue-bloods and intellectuals. The city where a mare could be quiet happy once they find a certain somepony... But, in my case, that hoity-toity life wasn't for me. The lights in the city had gone out, one by one, until it was as if a blackout had occurred. The townsponies must've thought it was Zebra Zeppelins passing over. Smart. Looks like the drills for the town payed off, but it seemed they were too slow this time. Luckily, we were not striped, otherwise the city would've fallen prey to a bombing run. I turned my head and closed my eyes, disallowing anyone to look at my orange iris. I ran a booted hoof over my white coated forehead and wiped the sweat that was building up off. They had no fucking air conditioning in this thing. I sighed as a response to the increasing heat.
*BAM BAM BAM*
My eyes shot open as the Skytrain rocked in response to something that hit us hard. I felt the vibrations as the aircraft held its own against the burst..
"What the fuck was that?' Someone yelled.
"Brace yourself, we're being hit by anti-air!" The pilot yelled. Ponies on the the plane began voicing their disbelief and worry. I myself couldn't believe it, not until we were hit again.
*BAM BAM BAM*
"What the hell is this?" Someone else yelled.
"Anti-air? But, we are over Canterlot, right?" I asked as I struggled to stay seated (the plane rocking and vibrating violently in response to anti-air didn't help any) and leaning outwards a little to look at the Sergeant. He looked out the door, his uniform rustling as the wind ran by him. He had already hooked himself up just in case he fell.
"Yeah! We are over Canterlot still, just barely anyways!" He yelled back.
"How can that be?!"
*BAM BAM BAM*
The resulting force that spread throughout the aircraft caused a few ponies to rock back and forth against their will as they struggled to stay planted in their seats. I failed in that regard and actually fell to floor. We were hit again by the ack-ack, the vibration and the force caused my prone form to tumble down to the back of the transport before I could get up. I hit the tail end of the transport area with a loud metal thud, causing pain to swarm through my body.
"THEN WHO'S SHOOTING AT US?" I yelled in between groans of pain. I opened an eye to see the Sergeant looking out the door, confusion on his face. It soon turned to anger.
"Its not the enemy, its our own goddessdamn ground forces at Camp Midway!" He yelled.
"Those bastards! Don't they see the difference between Zebra Zeppelins and Pony Skytrains?" Somepony yelled. Many ponies were holding on to their seats for dear life as the anti-air rocked the plane again. When the burst was over, Trail quickly got up and ran to my aid. He stood me up and led me back to my seat, I threw his hoof off of me before I reached it and sat down when I did.
"I'm fine, asshole! I haven't gone lame!" I yelled at him, adjusting my helmet so I my vision wouldn't be obscured.
"Why the hell are our guys shooting at us?" Somepony yelled.
"Come on! Do you really expect a fucking answer?!" I fired back, holding my left foreleg and trying to ease some of the pain in it. It was working. "Sarge, get those dumb fucking ground pounders on the line and tell them to suck a dick!" I yelled. He turned and went to the cockpit, muttering something to them that I couldn't hear over the loud rotors and-
*BAM BAM BAM*
"Are we the only ones getting shot at?!" I yelled, trying my best not to fall again. A quick look out the window showed I was wrong. Tax Two was taking fire. One of their wings was ablaze.
Holy shit.
"Those dumbasses on the ground are under attack, it turns out that the Zebras are firing on us! The soldiers promised they will take back the AA Emplacements in time. But for now, we have to try and not get blown out of the sky." The sergeant said as he turned away from the cockpit.
"Did they just tell us to go fuck ourselves?" Trail asked.
"Sounds like it." Checkmate said.
*BAM BAM BAM*
The plane shook once more. I felt sick, as did many of the ponies.
"Celestia's fucking horn, how durable is this damn thing?!" I yelled.
"Uhhhh... W-were tilting... Are we supposed to be tilting?" The only other mare asked. It did indeed feel odd in the aircraft... I looked over to see she was right. We were tilting. Someponys started murmuring their nervousness and I did the same, but not with my voice, rather, my breathing. The pain from slamming into metal was gone, but, now, the fear for Gales safety and my own was overtaking my mind.
"Mayday, mayday! Our tailwing has caught fire. All Airborne on board is at risk and is hereby ordered to abandon aircraft. We are taking this thing home" The pilot said over the radio. Oh, great. So now we are abandoning the aircraft before we even reach our destination.
"Are we even over the drop zone?!" Someone yelled.
The red light came on.
"Red light!" Trail yelled.
"Stand up!" The sergeant ordered, and we complied. The ponies in the aircraft got out of their seats and gave each other space. We soon were all standing single file.
"Check equipment!"
I checked Checkmates pack (no pun intended), checking it for his ammo, his canteen, and his other miscellaneous vital supplies. It only took me a staunch minute, but I soon moved on to his parachute. It seemed like he had it just by looking. We sounded off.
"One is good!"
"Two is good!"
"Three is good!"
It sorta just went on like that for a for seconds until it got to number fifteen. Whom was reported to be good on supplies.
"Hook up!"
We hooked up our static lines on the rail. What this did was that when we jumped and a got a sufficient distance down, the static line would snap and pull the cord on our 'chutes. There was always a chance the line could snap prematurely, and not pulled the cord with it. If that happened, then you would have one chance to save yourself, the backup 'chute. If that failed... well.... you would hit the ground first. Someponies began to get antsy, the metal on the plane appeared very damaged and smoke was beginning to fill the... oh shit.
"Fuck! caah caaah cahh! Is... is that smoke?!" Someone yelled.
"Give us the green light!" I yelled at the pilot, covering my mouth right after as to avoid inhaling the smoke... The red light remained, and the coughing from the ponies began to get more violent. The pilots had their cockpit locked so we couldn't barge in and demand to jump, and the pony in the way back had complained about feeling the heat that the fire on the tail was racked with. The smoke was overtaking the transport. I started to panic and looked at the sergeant, who was glaring back at me. He knew what I had to say and those eyes told me to "shut the fuck up" before I even uttered anything. Seconds passed as the red light remained. I started coughing, myself. I couldn't hold my breath anymore. It was getting worse. Occasionally, we suffered a few shots from the commandeered anti-air, but the shots were getting fewer and wider apart, meaning the ground forces battle the Zebra attack at Camp Midway was pushing them back.
Green light.
"Finally! cah cah cah!!" I yelled before being thrown into a coughing fit.
"Go go go!" The sergeant yelled. The first pony, a private, jumped out of the planet, yelling "Geronimo!". The the next, and the next, and the next. Soon, it was my turn to jump, I walked to the door and looked out, the far away ground greeted me and went by fast. As if it was a counter-clockwise slideshow. I felt a little comfort.
"If you don't jump then I'm pushing you!" The sergeant warned.
"Bloody jump!" Trail yelled.
"See you on the ground!" I yelled before leaping. Soon, I was just feeling the air rush by my face, but now? I felt it. I felt it fully. I felt it make way as I fell down to the earth like a meteorite. I was travelling like a bullet. The air stung slightly, like a dagger, but I learned to love the feeling. Almost with..sadistic? That the right word? Whatever, i'm using it. Sadistic glee. Soon, the feeling of the air making way was ended as I felt force. The kind of force that would signal that you were hit with a rock, but instead of hurting you, it was knocking you backwards... My parachute was deployed. I sighed in glee as it deployed, pulling me higher in the sky as it struggled to form in the wind. Soon, however, it took its dome shape. I lifted my forearms into the steering lines so I could control the lifesaver.
I had the best job. Not many earth-cursed ponies could experience how a Pegasus felt. But, I guess not many would want to.
I looked up to see that the other Skytrains were dropping their Airborne too. As pony after pony descended from Tax Two and One. All in a neat, single-file line. But that might change soon enough. I looked down and smiled, the ground was far off but approaching at a steady rate. Soon, I would hit it. And luck alone would determine if I would break my legs, or die... or live.
I usually live through this, but during training, a Pony actually died BEFORE contact with the ground. When medics arrived it was determined that he had a heart attack mid flight and had died in the air. His age was only 18, too. That's the fucked up thing.
I looked over to see one of my comrades steering towards the ground, anxious to begin the mission. I don't understand why, though. Who would not wanna enjoy this while they could. I took my eyes off of him before he disappeared into the darkness and looked around. It was night, the only thing illuminated was the Skytrains and their burning sections, the town of Ponyville... and the odd forest nearby. As if it had its own lanterns everywhere. There was trees and open fields everywhere on the ground, there were houses on the outskirts and, well, a schoolhouse.
Goddess help me, if I find one dead foal inside I am going to kill every last Zebra I see.
I continued scanning the area as I enjoyed the ride. I saw vivid craters, marking explosions. I saw the Castle of Friendship.. What a sight that was! Like, wow! Though, it looked like it had seen better days, judging from the large chunk of castle missing from the top of it.
Time had passed as I gently (somewhat gently, anyways) floated downwards. I occasionally steered to keep myself my hitting trees or getting too close to the town. As the ground got closer, the jump sergeant (not ours, surprisingly. it was a mare. I guess she was from Taxi One.) chirped on the radio.
"Maintain radio silence, ponies. If you have to communicate, do it with gestures or find another way." She said.
I looked around and saw I was alone in the air. I could see a parachute descending off in the distance, but I couldn't steer towards them or I risked botching my landing. I looked down and saw my time as a Pegasus had ended. Back to being earth-cursed. I lifted my hind legs slightly so I could flare my landing, if I was lucky, I could grease it, but that was a hard thing to do. Could also result in me breaking my hind legs... Not fun.
I landed with a hard thud. My hooves hit the ground, and I felt some force ripple through my body as I struggled to get my bearings. It always hurt, the first landing in basic... But you soon associate the pain with joy.
I grabbed my combat knife with my teeth and got back to all fours before slicing off the straps binding me to the parachute. With a quick chop and slice, I was able to break through straps. Chop. Slice. Chop. Slice. Chop. Slice. Soon, the parachute was nothing more than liter on the ground. I sat down real quick so I could unholster my Thompson, it didn't take me long, I knew where I put it. When I got it unstrapped from my pack I held it to my side and looked around. All I saw was pitch, and the town, and the forest. That was it. The ponies I jumped with? Engulfed in darkness. I was alone.
Of course, that wouldn't stop anyone from looking for another now would it?
I looked around one more time to confirm that (I'm an idiot. I already knew I was alone). It was pitch dark. Grassy... Trees everywhere.
What I could see, since I wasn't in the air anymore, was lights and fires emanating from occupied Ponyville (which was to my left), treelines behind me and in front of me, and the spooky forest with mysterious lighting (On a side note: I could hear gunfire coming from the forest. The Zebras, from what I read, do not fear the creatures that roam that place. So, my guess is, that the diversionary attack is still in full swing) to my right. I took a few steps forward, looking over at Ponyville. The Castle of Friendship dominated the view, and possibly won the "Tallest Building in Ponyville" contest. I took another cautious step forward, trying not to make any noise. I wanted to use my flashlight but...covert...
Damn it all! Why couldn't bat ponies be sent to do this shit? The Underground Scouts is, like, seventy percent thestral!
I scanned my area once more, as I moved forward slowly. I had to get out of the open before I was spotted. I hadn't noticed before (probably because I wasn't paying attention) but this is not a designated landing zone. I was too close to the town. All I saw was the treelines, and the rocks in the clearing I was in. It didn't seem like there was a sentry patrolling the outside of the town... I heard a loud roaring noise and looked up to see the Skytrains, two of them on fire, fleeing towards Canterlot. We are alone now.
As I attempted to get my bearings, I heard some voices... Voices?!
"Come on! The garrison requested reinforcements!" A voice had said. An accent dominating his words..
"Lets go!"
The accent was familiar. It took me a moment more than I would like to admit, but I soon realized what it belonged too... It belonged to a Zebra! I heard hooves running in my direction. A lot more than what I had hoped for. I turned in the direction of the voices and saw lights. Flashlights. I counted quickly and there was a number of three flashlights. But, it sounded as if there were more than three. They were a distance aways, so they hadn't spotted me yet. That would soon change if I didn't fucking move! I looked around frantically for somewhere to hide. A stump. A rock. A tree.. Something! But it was just a clearing and a trail leading through it... There were rocks, but... if I ran for them then the movement I would produce would be spottable, especially with their lights shining in my direction.
I was like a hare in the headlights. Frozen and scared... The lights were blinding, but I still wasn't getting shot at... Miracle.
"Hurry up! They just radioed in! The enemy is retreating! We need to hurry!" The accented commanding voice had yelled. Good.
Knowing I could not take them on, and I could not flee without being spotted, I decided to faceplant into the ground. I dove to the ground and got the taste of dirt and grass for my troubles. I felt some pain in response to my head hitting hard, but not enough to warrant attention to it. I felt around for my Thompson, which I dropped in my panic to hide. I couldn't find it, fuck.
I lifted my face from the ground, my chin was barely touching the dirt and my muzzle had some grime on it. The Zebras, with their flashlights and rifles, began passing me. I wasn't too far from the trail, but far enough to wear the wouldn't see me just be looking down or trampling over me. They were moving with a purpose, all right. They weren't galloping, but they weren't walking either. A light gallop, as it was. My eyes scanned the passing crowd (too much for me to count, I just needed to see if the Kommandant was there. Unlikely, but, he was an objective if I remember correctly. Unfortunately, he wasn't moving with the crowd.
Stupid Measure. Why would he?
The crow of Zebras, ranging from soldiers in standard grey and black Zebra Infantry uniforms to NCO brown uniforms. Of course, I counted only one NCO. They were carrying an assortment of weapons. Kar-98s to MP-40s. And each one looked ready for battle. I could feel some of the dust being kicked up by the passing platoon, but I refused to cough as a response. I held it in as best I could until the need faded. I slowly reached up and wiped the dust from my face, and when it was done, I opened my eyes once again to see a lone Zebra stopped in his tracks and...oh Celestia.
He was looking in my direction.
I felt frozen in place. He was looking in my direction, squinting. I silently cursed my luck and kept my eyes on him. Glaring. He didn't have a flashlight, much to my fortune, but he seemed to know something was there. My Colt M19 lay in a holster on my left flank.... If I could just get to it, the problem would be over...
No wait... That would alert the enemy group nearby...
I guess I had no choice. It’s either get captured or killed. None of which seemed interesting enough to try out. I dragged my hoof slowly across on the ground towards me holster, keeping my eyes on the Zebra the whole time. He seemed to know something was there, and kept squinting in my direction. I felt the grip of my Colt in my hoofs grasp.
All I needed was one second and the Zebra would be no more.
Something stopped me, however, from drawing on him. Not my conscious or my morals, mind you... But something physical. Something was brushing up against my legs. I froze and ignored the urge to look. If he hadn't spotted me before, he would if I moved now.
Oof!
Whatever was brushing up against my leg was now on my back. It had hopped on it and was moving towards my head... What the hell was this thing? What the hell? The Zebra was still standing there, squinting at me. And-
What the hell?! Whatever was on my back had moved its way onto my head! Whatever it was had jumped on my head, causing my face to plant into the ground again. I felt pain in my muzzle as my hoof slid away from my sidearms grip. I tasted dirt once again.
"Trakon, what are you doing? What are you looking at?" A voice asked. How the hell was I supposed to know which Zebra talking? All I saw was dirt. I heard a much closer Zebra chuckle.
"Nothing, Feldwebel Marx. Thought I saw something, but it was just a rabbit."
...
Seriously?! That’s what was on my head? A fucking rabbit?!
"Lets go, Soldat. We are not waiting for you to take pictures and see the sights."
"Of course, mein Feldwebel." The Zebra whom I thought had spotted me had said. I dared not move my head for fear of him realizing his mistake. I heard armored hooves clinking away on the dirt path until, soon, I heard nothing at all. I raised my head slightly to get my eyes out of the dirt and saw nothing, nothing but darkness and stars. I then violently smacked whatever was on my head onto the ground.
I looked at what had almost got me killed, it was indeed a rabbit. White as snow, it was. I glared at it before reaching for my Colt, but immediately let it go once again at a second thought.
"Asshole." I said to it. It just looked at me with its stupid rabbit face.
"Go. Go. Get the fuck out of here." I whispered, jabbing my hoof at it. It just looked at me. The thing was pissing me off.
I got up and wiped the dirt off of my muzzle (once again) and straightened my helmet (the rabbit sent it askew) and scanned the ground for my Thompson... Despite how dark it was, I could see a few feet in front of me. So, it didn't take me long to find my submachine gun. I picked it up and held it close and looked back at the rabbit with a glare. I opened my mouth to say something, but a thought occurred and I just shook my head before turning towards the trail.
It really wasn't a good idea to go into the town alone, but, radio silence and scattered Airborne ponies means the likelihood of finding an ally in this area is very slim. It was in my best interests to proceed on my own and avoid all enemy contact...
That is unless that fucking rabbit has it in for me.
I stepped on the trail and hooked my Thompson on my rifle sling (which is a like a medical sling which you would use for injured legs, but these were made for military ponies that were incapable of magic so they could move freely while being able to get access to their two-hoofed weaponry fast. It would be strapped to our packs and would be on our right-hoofed side.) and advanced towards the town. I kept my eyes open and my weapon close as I approached the town. Under cover of darkness, and not wearing winter or bright orange camouflage, a sniper or an overwatch should have difficulty spotting me, even on the main road. Should one have his eyes on me, he might mistake me as a lone Zebra patrol.
As I entered the town limits (marked by a vandalized sign that said "Welcome to Ponyville"), I saw the damage the town had suffered with more clarity. There were overturned carriages and sky chariots fallen and in disrepair in the streets. Seems the Friendship Vanguard's air unit attempted to fight by sky. There were holes in the buildings, blood on the streets. Damage and fire.
This town had seen better days.
I approached the first building in the town, giving a quick glance the way I came to see if those Zebras... or that fucking rabbit, is tailing me. Nothing. Nothing but darkness. I unslung my submachine gun and trotted as quickly as I could to the building, taking cover behind the wall and holding the gun by its midsection in my left hoof. I inched my way to the corner of the building and took a deep breath before peeking around it. The street was empty and devoid of life. I can't really tell if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I turned the corner and kept low, walking on the side walk and staying in a combat crouch stance. It was important, in situations like this, to keep quiet and be ready. You never know when you who you could walk into.
And you'll never know if you will walk away alive.
I continued along the sidewalk, keeping my eyes open. It wasn't as dark in the town, unlike the outside. There was fire burning midly on some things, such as crates or carts or even the rare building. And it kept darkness at bay. There were also the occasional working street lamp. But, the light was more or less produced by the moonlight. It shone perfectly on the town, it even allowed me to seen more than ten feet in front of me. I suspected that Princess Luna had something to do with this. But why she allows better moonlight in the town and not outside where we were landing is beyond me.
The only concern I had with the visibility was the fact it worked both ways. If I could see better, then so could the enemy. I doubt being easily visible was something that would help me out, or any of us, for that matter. But, I guess better visibility does help us in the end. I crept along the sidewalk, making sure each step I take was a silent one. My submachine gun was ready, all I had to do was take a stance to where I could pull the trigger. I looked up into the sky, hoping an Airborne would drop in front of me. But, sadly, my wish would not be granted.
Around me, destroyed or damaged buildings. Trash. There was the occasional fire, or a gunshot in the town. But, considering they were not in a quick succession or in a panic, it seems the Zebras were just having fun... or executing civilians. Both? Poor souls. Minutes passed as I skulked through the streets. Rounding corners and generally not knowing exactly where I was going. I mean, my destination was the Castle, either being backed by other Airborne or being alone. I'm sure some are already there now, or some are going for the other objectives, but all I had to go on was to look up and see the Castle and determine which street would take me there. It was really quiet. Nervousness dominated my mind. Silence dominated the sound barrier, but was occasionally broken by sounds far off. However, I stopped in my tracks when I heard something much closer. A noise, a loud one. I looked up, and immediately tensed up. A light was sliding across the ground. Followed by another, and another. And soon, the origin of the noise presented itself.
A fucking half-track guarded by two Zebras with flashlights with a bunch of Zebra passengers.
I panicked. Like last time, I was about to confront a group where I had no chance of winning. They were turning onto the street I was on. Where they were going? No idea. Maybe the occupied Castle in the Everfree, maybe they went to cover for the section that went there, maybe they are on the lookout for Vanguards and civilians, or, if Celestia truly fucking hates me, they are looking for Airborne. Either way, I felt like I was gonna pass out. I have to find somewhere to hide, now!
My eyes scanned around, unlike the clearing before, I was in a street with houses surrounding me. Occasional abandoned vehicles, too. But they were less significant. I looked around, hoping for an alleyway to disappear into, or a dumpster to jump into.
Hey, can't be picky when you might die.
My eyes spotted an open door to an abandoned house. I thanked my luck and ran for it, galloping through the doorway and diving into the first room in the building. I narrowly missed being caught in the headlights.
"Did any of you see that?" I heard.
"No. Keep driving, Feldwebel Marx's stallions need us." Someone else said.
I kept low and crept to the window, passing a table and a couch, and watched the section of infantry pass by. The half-track was marked with the standard Zebran Iron Cross, and had about eight Zebras sitting inside of it, excluding the driver and front seat passenger. One of the two Zebras walking alongside the half-track stopped and looked in my direction. I froze and stared wide-eyed at him before ducking down out of sight right before he shone his flashlight in the window.
"Soldat!"
"My apologies, sir!"
I peeked out from the window to see the Zebra soldier trotting to catch up with the half-track. It continued to roll down the decayed and ruined street. I sighed a breath of relief and turned to look at the room I was in, for I was curious of my surroundings. It was a living room, an odd one to say the least. There was a line split between the two halves of it. One half was traditional. A wooden table, a destroyed radio, a destroyed TV, a torn up couch, and a stand what looks like it would've been used for a large instrument. Its seems that this half was used for relaxing and such. The other side of the living room was more modern. Bright colors, a kitchen with a more advanced looking...everything. And... by Celestia, is that a DJ table, or whatever the hell they are called? It seems this half was used for cooking and...DJing.... I looked back at the door, where the dividing line ended. It seems, seeing as how the door is lying broken on the floorboards, that it was kicked in, possible by a Zebra? Or a Friendship Vanguard in an evacuation? Or, maybe even a distraught loved one looking for his or her family? Again, no answers.
I at least hope that whoever had lived here had made it to safety.
I looked around, there were some tables over turned as if someone was searching for something, there was broken glass on the ground, smashed photo frames. I looked over to the fridge and walked over to one of the tables with a smashed framed picture on it. I kept my eyes on the refrigerator as I moved, specifically, on a piece of paper pinned to it. When I got to the frame, I hooked my Thompson onto my sling and picked up the picture with my free hoof. What was on the picture made me think of Gale.
On the picture were two mares at the beach. One was a light grey coated earth pony with a dark grey mane and light purple eyes. She was beautiful. Very beautiful really. The other was a unicorn with a very pale yellow coat (i'm not even joking! This unicorns coat almost looked white, but it has that yellow tint in it that shows its not white) sporting some stylish purple shades. She had a mane of blue with cyan (or light blue?) streaks. Damn... I'm attracted to both of them now.
The sunglasses mare had her left hoof draped over the grey mares neck and they were in a loving embrace. Both smiling. Happy. I took a look around the room and wondered, just what this place looked like before war and destruction before looking back at the picture. The grey mare was wet, as if she had just got done taking a dip in the water and hadn't had time to dry off. Fuck. Sunglasses there was a lucky bitch. But I got Gale, so hopefully, in the future, I can know the love these two mares shared. My thoughts went to worry for these mares before I dropped the photo in despair. What if they hadn't evacuated? What did those striped fuckers do to them? I grabbed my Thompson before looking back at the fridge. There was a pinned note there and, in my fear for these ponies, I trotted over to read it.
Vinyl,
An evacuation is proceeding in the town, with the Vanguards abandoning the town in favor of the castle. I have no idea why they are abandoning us, but at least the Solar Guard is helping us. Dear goddesses, the ponies are in a panic. The soldiers shot a stallion not too long ago as he was looting Quills and Sofas, and there are those who are remaining in the town, despite the Iron Cross advance. Listen, I'm not staying. I don't want you to stay either. I'm heading towards the sky chariots and I will wait. But the sky chariots will leave when the clock strikes three. Please be there.
My love, don't stay. I've heard the terrible things that Zebras do to ponies. Terrible and awful things. We could leave. Make a new go at life in Canterlot, or the Crystal Empire. I've heard they are accepting refugees and you always wanted to take a trip there. But, please love. Don't stay. Think of yourself. Think of me.
Your love,
Octavia
Sadness was all I felt. Two mares possibly separated by war. I have felt fear before. I have felt sadness in the field. Its a normal thing when your pinned or your comrade is bleeding out. Or when you see civilians gunned down in a crossfire, or a foal cowering behind you as you and a few soldiers are holding a line in the sand. It set my mind at easy partially to know that at least one of them made it out alive. This...Octavia... but possibly not her Vinyl. A family torn apart is not something new at the moment, but...
No.. Don't think about this. Focus on the mission at hoof.
"Poor girls..." I muttered before sighing silently. There was a burst of gunfire far off. Followed by a few more bursts. It did not take my mind off of the current situation, however.
I turned back and gave the room another once over. Nothing had changed from the first time. Overturned tables. Broken windows and glass on the floor. Torn up sofas and couches, destroyed appliances and a knocked over bookshelf. My eyes soon landed on some stairs. Leading up to the second floor of the house. I wonder if the upstairs retained the same look as the living room/kitchen, where there was a dividing line where half was modern and half was traditional. I started towards the stairs, my Thompson at my side (If your wondering how i'm holding it, our weapons trigger guards are the size of our hoofs, unlike Gryphic PPSHs and whatever else they used. There were precautions so we didn't set off the gun just by holding it, as our triggers required a certain amount of force to be pulled. Holding it wont trigger it.) and slowly walked up it. There were fallen picture frames on some of the stairs, indicating that there were once pictures of happy moments on the walls.
Soon, I arrived at the top of the stairs. To my surprise, the second floor was traditional style, much like the downstairs half. Wood, fancy-like furniture. Guessing whoever liked this style won a bet. There were broken tables alongside the walls, with broken ceramics littering the areas around them. There were pictures still on the walls, some tilted, some smashed. Some were on the ground, but I didn't feel like looking at possible dead mare, no, I felt more like killing a Zebra. There were a few doors. Two on the right and one on the left. I advanced slowly, unslinging my weapon and keeping it steady and easy to reach so I could enter my combat stance. I turned to the first door and moved my hoof to the doorknob. I kept my gun steady and slowly turned the knob. I threw the door open, careful not to let it bang on the wall and got in my combat stance (Ours rifle combat stance was where we stood on our hind legs and aimed and fired with our forehooves.) I aimed the rifle around, clearing the room.
It was just a bathroom.
I returned my left foreleg to the ground and turned to walk out. My eyes landed on the second door, which was to the left. I advanced slowly towards it, submachine gun at the ready and stopped at the door. I reached for the knob but stopped myself when I heard a noise inside. A loud wood-falling-on-wood sound, as if something was knocked over in a hurry. I pulled my hoof back and planted it on the ground, readying myself for my combat stance. Somepony was in there, and I doubt they are friendly. Despite everything, I doubt anypony would be hiding in this house. Its been occupied for awhile now, anypony hiding in here would've been found. So, instead of opening the door. I went into my combat stance and aimed my rifle, readying my strength in the left hind leg for a kick and, after a quick huff, I threw a kick at the door with all my strength and it flung open from the force. I aimed my gun through the doorway. Nothing, but I did see a table turned on its side. And a queen sized bed. From what little I saw in the room, it seemed to be a master bedroom. I returned my hoof to the ground and I slowly advanced into the room.
I stopped in the doorway and was able to take a better look around. It was indeed a bedroom. Dressers, nightstands, fallen pictures and even a portrait. A broken window that looks like it was shot out, and torn up bed sheets lying on the floor (for some reason, the pillows were still on it), and a rug, black with dust and any torn beyond repair. My eyes scanned the room for the intruder, but I saw nothing that could've knocked over a table. When I was satisfied that there was nothing in the field of vision, I almost took a step forward. But I stopped myself. I had heard a noise in here. A table doesn't just fall over unless some force was applied. There is someone in here. I know there is someone in here. I took a step back and looked through the crack between the door and the wall. What I saw didn't surprise me, but it did put me on the offensive.
What I saw was a dark cloaked figure. It was hiding behind the door. Seeing how this town has been occupied for a while now and this house damaged severely, I know this is no civilian. No, this figure is a Zebra looting the place, no doubts. Possible an officer, judging by the attire. Normally, I would fire through the crack and put the target down before it even knew I knew that it was there, but that would cause all sorts of noise and draw so much attention. Attention I didn't want. So, instead, I hooked my gun up and drew my knife. A shiny little bayonet. And slowly moved, one hoof after the other, into the room. Keeping my eyes on the door, and readying for a melee, I stopped at the edge of the door, pretending I was oblivious to the Zebras presence. I put my hoof on the handle, as if I was going to close the door and move on, but stopped myself and rounded the corner of the door quickly and lunged at the enemy. Giving a growl and aiming for the neck. This figure blocked my attack however by grabbing my cannon (which is another word for "shin") and--
Oof!
I hit the wall hard, with the dust that accumulated over the week flying in response to the heavy contact. That bastard threw me against the wall! I felt disoriented but recovered quickly enough to fall to my side and roll over to avoid getting my bayonet stuck in my stomach. I turned and gave kick to my assailant, sending him reeling back as I stood up. I charged him when I regained my footing, giving a snarl. But my charge failed as pushed me back, slashing at me with the bayonet after his shove. I backpedaled as far as I could to avoid the tip of the blade, eventually, I felt the bed behind me and realized I had nowhere to go and ducked to avoid another slash and charged him headfirst. Knocking him down and knocking the bayonet out of his hoof. I got on top of him and threw a punch at him that solicited a muffled groan of pain, then another one. I spat and growled once again.
The Zebra pinned underneath me squirmed for minute as I began to beat him senseless, recoiling slightly each time my hoof connected with him. Another, and another, and another. Very soon this Zebra learned my goal was to beat him to death and he didn't seem to like my idea very as he blocked my next blow with his left foreleg before jabbing me hard in the stomach. The jab was very hard and I felt nauseated, but that didn't stop me as I threw another blow. Which was promptly blocked again and the counter-attack was aimed at my stomach, but this time, it was much harder. I felt the need to hurl, baaadly. As I held my stomach in pain as it grumbled and churned, the Zebra shoved me hard to knock me off. I fell backwards and watched as my assailant did a reverse somersault. Who the fuck was this pony? A Death Korps agent?! I never have seen a Zebra withstand a beating like that! No soldier could, not without losing a few teeth at least!
Oh no... Oh fuck...
What I had for dinner had rushed up from my stomach in a violent and burning sensation. I hurled, with the contents of my stomach becoming a small puddle on the floor. I wiped my mouth when it was all over and looked over to my assailant, who was staring at me. I couldn't seen his eyes, as they were concealed under a mask. It was a dark mask. One that you would where if you were an outlaw. Despite the fact his eyes were hidden, I knew he was glaring at me. A death glare. I stood myself up, balancing myself on the nightstand on the right hoof side of the bed. I still felt nauseated but combat ready. I turned to where my bayonet had fallen and glanced back at the Zebra before rushing for it. But I felt a hard force against my pony that signaled I was too slow. He charged me and knocked me on my ass once again, but this time, he had the upper-hoof. I tried to stand back up but he pinned me, jabbing me in the face to sit me back down. He had the bayonet to my neck, all I could feel now was my own heart beat. Sweat cascaded down my bruised face. I heard a muffled chuckle.
"I want to look you in the eyes as you die, heathen." I heard this... Zebra...utter. No. No, that's not right... No accent. Very much Equestrian. And feminine too.
My assailant took out (what I assume to be) a flashlight. My assumption was proven correct as a bright light shone and my eyes squinted in response to the sudden bright flash.
"The hell?!" My attacker said in a hushed voice. "What is a soldier doing here?" She said (I assume it be a mare judging by the voice). She then turned and looked at the door. I felt the blade at my neck recede, my attacker getting off of me. I rose to my hooves slowly after giving a confused glance at him (her?) and adjusted my helmet before looking around for my gun, which was knocked from my sling during the melee. My eyes soon settled on the cloaked figure, whom was closing the door after looking in the hallway. Checking for any curious Zebras, I assume. "Answer my question. Of everyone I expected to walk in through that door, I did not expect an Equestrian soldier." She said, shining the flashlight at me, the light soon shone onto my Wings patch and ranks. "Much less an Airborne... Answer my question, jumper." She said, turning to me and clicking the flashlight off.
I groaned as I tried to stay on my hooves. I had such a headache, and nausea was still prevalent.
"As Captain, I order you, Fifth grade, to tell me who you are." Captain?
"I should ask the same of you. What do you mean "Captain"? Who are you?" I asked, trying to hide the fact I feel as sick as a dog. She huffed and stood idle for minute before, apparently, deciding to reveal herself first (Yeah, the voice confirms it). She moves her hood back, revealing an apricot mane, very bedraggled and short, at least short enough to fit in the hood. Looked recently cut. She then moved her full facewrap down to her neck, revealing a coat of byzantine. Her eyes, which were fully revealed to be a grassy green, were glaring in my direction.
"I am Captain Blushing Aegis of the Friendship Vanguard." It took all my willpower not to giggle at her name. "Captain of the Friendship Vanguard, to be exact. Now you. Who are you, jumper?" She said.
"Summer Measure, Technician 5th Grade, service number 11354-"
"Easy there. Your no P.O.W., but I know your name now. Now another question, what are you doing here in the town? If you haven't noticed, this town is occupied by the Iron Cross and ponies are not welcome. Or do you have a death wish, jumper?"
"You didn't hear the Skytrains passing overhead?"
"I couldn't hear anything over the gunfight that was ensuing at the Castle. You are trying my patience, answer my question or I will-"
"Will what, zealot? You gonna kill an ally?" I said. "If you wish to resume a fight, you'll find me more....unbreakable...than before." I said, trying to hide my internal pain. She sighed.
"No... Speaking of which, you alright? I gave you a few good ones." She said, looking at me with an indignant eyes. I smirked not at the false worry her voice presented, but the false anger her eyes showed.
"Yeah. I should ask the same of you, but I was the one with the bayonet to my neck."
"Why didn't you announce yourself? I could've killed you!" She said, raising her voice but quickly hushing herself. I glanced around, looking for my gun.
"Yeah, that's a good idea. Announce myself to a potential hostile. Why don't I invite him back home for coffee and donuts while i'm at it? Show him where Celestia sleeps."
"Oh, for fucks sake. Ok, calm down. Its good to know your alright, jumper." She said, scoffing and starting towards the window next to the bed. I myself continue to scrounge around for my gun. Where on Equus could it be? My search eventually found its way under the bed. I heard the Vanguard giggling as I searched under it. The pain I felt hindered my work.
"I doubt you'll find your weapon there. Anyways, its good to see a friendly face right now. I've been skulking in the shadows for a good bit now. Its mentally challenging." She said, sitting atop the bed. I grunted as some dust fell on me. "So, jumper, where is the rest of ya? Or did you come alone?" She asked. I pulled myself out from under the bed.
"Our Skytrains took some fire and we had to abandon the aircraft. We were all separated in the dark." I said, continuing to look around. She chuckled and I looked at her in a fit. She was motioning towards the closed door, where a Thompson laid.
"Damn. Hope you all made it out." She said, I gave an affirmative huff as a response as I started for my Thompson. "So, i'm guessing you Airborne aren't here for a social visit? Whats going on? The brass couldn't find somewhere useful to send you?"
I strapped my Thompson to my sling before looking back at the cloaked pony. A supposed Vanguard, but I believed she was, even if I didn't see her uniform. My reasoning for believing her was, of course, her melee skills. I don't think any civilians knew how to fight like she did. I still felt pain.
"We have been sent on a mission of utmost importance, zealot." I said. Zealots was the nickname for the Vanguards due to their extreme...religious views. Or, at least, that's what the Airborne called them.
"And? What is this mission, fifth grade?"
"To rescue a princess." I said as earnestly as possible. She started laughing once more, causing me to give her a look of annoyance. Did she not believe me? Or was she just being a bitch?
"Ha! Good luck with that, jumper. Castle is under siege right now. Been so for days. Can't even stick our heads out the door without them taking a shot at us."
"Then how did you get out?" I asked, looking at her with an arched eyebrow. She paused. Seemingly contemplating what she was going to say next.
"Well..."
<><><>
I was sitting down on the torn and dusty couch, my helmet laying next to me, my gun propped up next me. In my hooves was a photo of the mares who once called this place home. It was the same one from earlier. The beach. The love that was obvious between the mares. I sighed and continued to examine it. The captain was still upstairs, looking for something. This something was not something she wanted to let me in on, however. All she said was that she was looking out for a friend. I heard a something scraping across the wood upstairs.
Apparently, there was a secret passageway into the castle from this bakery called "Sugarcube Corner". When I asked what exactly it was, all she said was that they made great crumbcakes. I don't understand why this Vanguard is being so friendly. Maybe its because she realized she was very close to killing me. Or maybe its because we are on the same side. Either way, its confusing. Normally, Vanguards and Airborne Ponies have bad blood due to a fight between off-duty Airborne and On-duty Vanguards. What happened was a couple of low-ranking Airborne Ponies that were on liberty in Ponyville (shortly before the war) were being harassed by a high-ranking Vanguard and her underlings. The end result was a dead Vanguard lieutenant, two dead Vanguard corporals, and an injured Vanguard private. The event had generated so much controversy that the Princess of the Sun launched an investigation into the matter and the Airborne had most of its funding revoked temporarily, and its leader under an audit. Although it was eventually proven that the Vanguards were in the wrong, the Airborne and those zealots had a hostile relationship with each other ever since. So, yeah, its odd the captain of the Vanguards is treating me with respect.
Or maybe, as they say, unite or die.
I heard hoofsteps coming down the stairs. But the noise did not thrust my interest away from the photo. I felt eyes land on me, but it did not bother me. I was just too absorbed into the picture.
"You knew them?" She asked.
"No. No I did not. Saw one at a dance club once, but that was sometime ago." I said, keeping my eyes on the photo. I tried to hide my emotions, but it was hard when I looked at this photo. I look at it, and I think of Gale. I'm hoping she is alright. "Seemed like a happy couple." I said with a frown.
"They were."
"You knew 'em?"
"I was friends with Vinyl." She said, peeking over at the photo I was holding in my hooves. "The one with the purple shades." She added. I hummed solemnly as I turned my head towards her.
"You ready to head out?" She asked. We had already discussed how we were going to proceed. What route to take, what to do if we encountered and/or engaged hostiles, and what to do if we encountered friendlies. I gave a nod and strapped my helmet on. I could feel the metal on my mane. I looked back at the photo before looking back at the Vanguard, I it into a pocket on my left foreleg sleeve and picked up my gun. I started towards the captain, but stopped and looking back upstairs.
"What were you doing up there?" I asked.
"Uhh... J-None of your business..." She said, glaring at me. That glare soon turned to a sad look. "Just...looking out for a friend is all." She said. I smiled and kept my mouth shut. She obviously didn't want to talk about whatever it was she was doing, so I would pry later. Right now, however, we lollygagged around enough. Time to focus on the mission.
"Yeah, i'm ready. Lets go."
She took a cautious peek outside the door and soon looked back at him, giving me a non-verbal "Let's go!" gesture. I kept my gun in hoof instead of slinging it and followed. We exited the style-divided house and arrived on the deserted streets of Ponyville. The half-track from earlier left its mark on the ground, where I stood. Around me, the buildings were still in their states of decay, showing the resistance that the Vanguards and maybe even a militia offered to the Iron Cross Zebras as they attacked the town. I heard gunshots off in the distance, meaning more civies were executed, or Airborne and Zebras encountered each other.
"Lets go." She said, trotting forward. I followed. It was a mostly quiet trot. She had her hood covering her head once again, and her full face wrap concealing her facial features. Her cloak fluttered slightly in the wind, and she moved with almost near silence. Had I not seen her ranks (I did ask for them at some point), I would've mistaken her for a master thief looting the place instead.
We kept on moving until we eventually turned onto an alleyway. She gestured for me to take point, which I did so begrudgingly. It really made no sense to me.
I mean, her title is Vanguard.
<><><>
"- and these rats have been scouring the homes for ponies that were left behind. Occasionally, they brought out ponies and demanded we give ourselves up." She said, keeping low and peeking over our choice of cover (bullet torn sandbags), remaining vigilant for hostiles. Around us, signs of combat and a destroyed clothing boutique. We had stuck to the alleyways and had, for the most part, avoided enemy patrols. Aegis said we were almost to the bakery.
"What did you guys do then?" I asked.
"We remained defiant. Our snipers took positions in the upper levels of the castle and fired upon the hostage takers, but to no avail. The ponies still lost their lives... Eventually, they got tired of the potshots and attacked the upper levels themselves."
"How?"
"Ill show you when we get there. Come on, its clear."
I vaulted over the sandbags while my compatriot darted out from behind. We kept a steady pass as we trotted, her cloak swaying in the air as she moved. As for me, I had bulk, but I made an effort to be noiseless, and I prevailed on that front. She dashed ahead of me, stopping at a corner of one of the many disregarded buildings in the town and peeking around it. I could see the castle from where I was standing. I got up behind her and had my gun at the ready.
"Hold up." She whispered, yanking her head back.
"What?"
"Zebra patrol. Five. They are remaining stationary but don't seem to have noticed us yet.... We can take them." She said. I looked at her questionably.
"Listen, I already had three close calls today. One with a patrol, one with a half-track, and one with you. I don't feel like going for four." I said as honestly as I could. I don't mind a good fight, but I like to have a chance at winning. Two against five? And any unseen enemies? Nope, don't like those odds.
"Wow, and here I thought the Airborne was afraid of nothing. Hmph, guess your reputation was exaggerated." She said, giving me an evil smile. Ahhh, there it was. I had wondered when she would insult both me and the Airborne. Damn rivalry. I gave her a glare. But her smile told me that she was just joking, so I calmed down but continued with the glare. "Listen, they are in our way and there is no shortcut. Either we fight, or we go find a longer route and potentially fight bigger groups. You do know that there a tanks patrolling the town? But, whatever, your choice, jumper." She said, causing me to sigh.
"Mmm, you sure there is no other way around?"
"Who knows the town? You or me?"....... Well, you got me there.
"Fine... How do you wanna do this?"
"Follow my lead."
She gestured for me to hold my position and peeked around the corner again before dashing for a nearby overturned cart. She lifted her cloak and pulled out a pistol, one of Zebrican design. I gave a funny look before quickly coming to the conclusion that she had scavenged it. Not that it was much of a bad thing. Zebra weapons had more of a punch then Equestrian weapons. She motioned for me to advance on her position, and so I did. Keeping low and careful not to make a noise. I also kept my eyes on the Zebras, who seemed to be gathered around something. Laughing, having a good time. One was drinking something out of a can. When I got to my compatriot, I unslung my gun and took a firing position by keeping myself low and peeking over the cart, leveling my gun to be at eye level, or at least with the sights. I trained them on the one who was drinking.
"What are they doing? Doesn't really look like they are taking a break." I said. I kept my sights trained on the drunkard, who was muttering something incomprehensible to the ground. He must've been either talking to his unseen buddy, or a rock.
"I don't know, but I don't care. Get your aim on par and pick your targets. They will react fast so I got your back when they retaliate, just don't flee on me." She said, looking around the cart and watching the Zebras, I noticed one of them reaching for his weapon, an angry look plastered on his face.
I steadied my breathing and tried to keep my heart rate at a normal level. It was a hard thing to do, especially because this could backfire real easily and quickly. I closed my eyes and slowly pulled the trigg-
*DING*
I fell over, a painful, loud, and disorienting ringing dominating the sound barrier. I could no longer feel the metal protecting my head, which mean't my helmet was no longer strapped to my skull. I could only see the dark sky, and I could feel myself groaning, in pain. I raised a hoof into my line of sight and looked at it to see if I was indeed alive. What the fuck. What happened? What... what?
I saw the Vanguard appear in my field of vision, firing in the opposite direction. She looked at me and grabbed me, dragging me back to the cart. I looked up at her, my hearing still obstructed by the ringing, she was firing at the unseen enemy before ducking down to avoid a barrage of steel. She looked back at me, and made a face. One that looked angry. She hoofed me in the shoulder before returning fire. I looked around, only to find my helmet, and my gun. My helmet had a nice dent in it, marking where something hard and metal had impacted, and my rifle was unchanged in texture. Undamaged. I reached for it, right before I was yanked, coming face to face with the Vanguard... My hearing was slightly mended. I could still hear intense ringing, but I could also hear a voice.
"-mn it, can you fucking hear me?!" She said, pausing to return a shot, only to look back at me. "Can you hear me?!" She yelled, making herself heard over the loud noises that dominated my hearing. I shook my head in affirmation. She nickered. My hearing was slowly returning, so I could hear her raised voice more clearly.
"Your one lucking bitch! That helmet saved your life!" She said, releasing me. More bullets whizzed over us.
"Wha... what happened?" I asked calmly, not too sure of what was currently taking place.
"It seems that there is a sniper. And said sniper got you good, but your helmet stopped the bullet dead in its tracks, ehah! When I saw you fall I was sure you bit the dust!" She said, reloading. I looked around, my dazed state confusing me... I felt veeeerrrrry confused.
"I was hit? Am.. am I bleeding?" I asked, rubbing my head as a failed attempt to end this painful headache.
"Nah, luckily your skull didn't get ventilated. Hey, you know what would be nice? If you picked up some slack and helped me return fire!" She yelled, peeking around the cart and firing off a few shots, reloading his pistol upon retracting into cover. I still heard ringing, but at this point, the ringing was less significant to the noise caused by the gunfire around me... Who were we fighting again? Doesn't matter, dying sounds like a really bad idea. I looked towards my gun and reached for it. Gripping the hard wooden stock, and the cold metal that was the barrel. I slipped my hoof into the trigger hole before peeking over. I felt a dazed look pasted on my face. I ducked as I saw one of my enemies take aim at me, and that enemy looked very much like a Zebra.
"Are we fighting Zebras?" I asked.
"Fucking.... Yeah!"
Zebras... right... Our sworn enemies, hah. How could I forget? Ehahahah...ha.
I rose again and took aim at our foes, one of them was peeking out over his choice of cover (a stone fencing belonging to a building with a flower sign) and was taking his aim, setting his sights on me. I exhaled slowly and pulled the trigger before releasing. A burst of 45. APC rounds impacting his skull. He fell over dead, I readied myself to take down another Zebra, but a loud panging noise stopped me and I instinctively ducked to avoid death. I looked over to Aegis to ask her what the hell that was.
"That sniper is still active! We need to be careful! I don't think you'll get lucky a second time, and I don't think I have any luck." She yelled, rising to end a Zebras life. I looked over to see her target fall from her shot, but quickly ducked back down like a prairie dog. The sniper forced us both back down. "Damn! We need to pinpoint that bastard before he ends us!" She said, looking over. She seemed to be looking for something. I peeked over to see the Zebras switching their choices of cover. One taunted us as he ran.
"Come out to play, Ponies!" He said, his accent annoying the fuck out of me. I rose with my weapon and fired at him, but all shots weren't true and missed. He dove to the ground, none-the-less, to make himself a smaller target. Choosing to remain and attempt to suppress me. He was too slow in drawing his weapon, however, and a quick burst encouraged him to roll behind his choice of cover (which was one of the many sandbags that probably littered the town). A shot from that damnable sniper forced me back into my cover.
"Three down, three to go." I muttered. Bullets whizzed above me, and, soon, as I was sitting there waiting for my chance to return fire, a bullet pierced through the wooden cart and whizzed by me. I jumped back at the surprise.
"Airborne! Cover me, i'm moving to a new position!" She ordered, and I complied.
"Suppressing fire!"
I rose from my cover, my Thompson in hoof, and began firing concentrated bursts at the enemy. I wasn't hoping to hit anything, mind you. Just enough to suppress a couple of them. I looked over to see my compatriot gaining ground on the enemy but stopping short to pick up a Zebra kar98. She went into a prone position, just in time to dodge a bullet that was sent by that bastard sniper. It seems that the sniper couldn't quite hit her due to her new location, which was good. Outta sight, outta danger, I guess. I watched from under the cart a zebra make a run for her with a shovel in his mouth. She ended him before he even got close. She encouraged the others to keep their heads down by by firing a couple rounds in their direction.
A thought occurred to me in this moment. Grenades. I was equipped with two. And a grenade seems certainly useful right now. I drew one of my MkIIs, pulled the pin with my teeth and pulled the lever and then chucked it over to the Zebras, yelling "Fire in the hole!" in the process. My comrade ducked her head.
"Holy shit! Grenade! Move!" I heard a Zebra yell in panic. But none of them were fast enough to escape the grenades death sentence. It exploded, killing all in its radius.
After a few seconds, I peeked out to see if it was over and was greeted with the sight of blood and bodies. One were torn, signalling he was closer to the grenade than other. The other was missing his right foreleg and had gashes and marks on him. I wanted to move up but the wood splintering before my eyes sent me back. I almost forgot about the damned sniper. Cursing, I looked back to see if I could pinpoint him. No. I could not. He sent me back behind cover with another bullet.
"Airborne! I can't see him well from here, but I got an idea! Draw his fire and pick up my security! I'm moving up, maybe I can spot this bastard for you, here you'll need this!" She yelled, sliding the zebran weapon towards me. I sat my Thompson aside scurried to grab it before the sniper got his crosshairs on me again. Although, i'm starting to wonder if he has a hair trigger, because he fired almost as soon as I left my choice of cover. I grabbed the rifle and backpedaled as fast as I could, dodging another bullet in the process.
"How much ammo does this fuck have?!" I thought out loud.
"Hey! I saw the muzzle flash on that one!" She said. "He is on top of Sofas and Quills, ya see it?" She hollered back at me. I peeked over, and scanned for the sign for a minute. I did indeed spot him after a few seconds, because a muzzle flash shown. But this time, the bullet wasn't for me. But instead, Aegis. Luckily, the bullet had missed her.
I then stood out of cover and I took my aim and steadied myself, adjusting my aim and taking deep breaths. This was not scoped, so I had to be sure that I stood a chance of hitting him before I fired. I knew the risk in doing this was great, but we had no time. No doubt the enemy patrols heard this and a Panzer tank is on the prowl towards this location. We had to hurry this up. I exhaled and pulled the trigger, slowly.
*BAM*
I lowered the rifle, and looked towards my target. He was still moving, but seemed to be holding his face. As if I had hit him, but the shot wasn't fatal.
"It looks like you just grazed him!" She yelled. Fuck. She was right. I took aim once more, but ducked back behind cover to escape a bullet flying for me. I heard three successive shots and stood back out to see Aegis drawing his fire with her pistol. I kept my sights on him, and readied to fire once more, and exhaled.
*CACK*
He fell. But... not by me. I lowered my rifle and watched in bewilderment as the zebra crumpled to the roof, his life fleeting. Aegis looked at me, knowing I did not fire that shot. No, no the shot sounded far off. My breathing, I now realized, was heavy. As if I was outta breath. I looked over at Aegis and met her stare.
"One of yours?" She asked.
"Quiet possibly." I said, chuckled as I dropped the weapon I was holding. I got back on all fours and retrieved my thompson.
"Come on, we can't linger. No doubt a Zebra Patrol is on the way to investigate. They will know something is up when they find the bodies." She said. I turned and looked at my helmet, thinking about bringing it with me. But I decided against it. The heavy dent would disallow me to wear it. So, I decided to leave it.
They probably already know we are here anyways.
"I'm coming."
<><><>
"The hatch leading to the castle is in here." She said.
We had arrived at the bakery, avoiding multiple patrols and actually watched a Panzer tank roll on towards the Castle. Either they are getting ready for a rush, or they just want more muscle. If I had to guess, it would be the latter. Whats a better prize than by taking a leader of an enemy nation prisoner? Anyways, we opened the door to the bakery, and we were met with darkness. She gestured for me to enter first, and I did.
It was dark inside. Overturned tables and stools. Some were destroyed. There was a counter, long abandoned and neglected. Grime had accumulated heavily on it. The were stairs that led to the second floor, but they had already collapsed. Possibly due to the battle that occurred here, between Iron Cross forces, the Friendship Vanguard and The Ponyville Militia. Grenade, possibly. Or a Zeppelin bombing run. Either way, going upstairs was no possibly unless you had flight capabilities.
Aegis had shut the door behind us and began moving towards a fallen table surround by crates and stools. But I paid it no mind. I continued to scan the building. Thinking of what this place was like before... everything. I imagined a mare behind the counter, working the register and serving drinks and soft serves and such. I imagined another mare taking orders from the various patrons. I imagined a much cleaner building than what this place was now. Loud scraping noises had broken my imagining and I looked to the source. It was Aegis, and she moving one of the crates. I smirked at what the crate was hiding.
"Smart. Blocking the view of the hatch and making the whole formation seem inconspicuous." I had said. "Seriously."
"Eh, it was Princess Twilights idea." She had replied, opening the hatch and magically lighting a lantern below. "Lets go. You first."
"Why?"
"I have magic, and somepony needs to to cover the hatch." She said, and that was a good point. So, I trotted towards the ladder and climbed down. Once I reached the bottom, I instinctively drew my pistol and scanned the tunnel. Clear.
The hatch above me slammed shut, but Aegis remained up on the ladder for a minute before descending, but she didn't climb down. No, instead she dropped. It wasn't a long fall, mind you. As that ladder had only about six steps. Regardless, however, she landed with a thump. Dirt kicked up with her landing.
"Ill lead, keep up and keep quiet. We aren't that far from the surface and they will be able to hear us should we make too much noise." She said. Her magic flared, and lanterns on small support beams lit up, leading the way to the castle. She advanced through tunnel and I followed. Minutes passed as we turned a few corners and silently trotted through the tunnel. Eventually we reached a dead end, and a ladder that led up to a hatch with the engraving of the Princess of Friendships heraldry on it.
"When did you guys build this tunnel?" I asked.
"We never did. It showed up with the castle. We never questioned it, but we barely made use of it either." She answered. "Come on, i'm sure some of your own is up there." She said.
Aegis proceeded to climb up the ladder and knocked on the hatch. Not long after her knock, the hatch opened, with the muzzle of a rifle being pushed against Aegis's skull, but it was quickly retracted when she flipped her hood back and removed her facewrap.
"Oh, captain! Your back. Come on up, her Majesty needs to talk to you." A mare's voice sounded.
Author's Note
This story has been in production since Early September. Hope you enjoyed it.  
This was originally going to be a one-shot, but due to time constraints and shit, I decided (with help from my proof reader) to make it into separate parts, instead of just one chapter.
Inspired by Medal of Honor: Airborne.
If you have read any of my past stories then you'll know i'm into GryphicxEquestrian warfare. Buuut... this time I decided to mix it up a bit....
I think I've read too much Fo:E.... wait....what am I saying? You can never read enough.:scootangel: https://static.fimfiction.net/images/emoticons/scootangel.png