Blood. Lots of blood. It ran down the walls, pooling on the floor. A body lay nearby. The rank smell of death and decay lay heavy on the air.

Crying. Lots of crying. A lone mare sat in a corner of the abandoned shed, holding close to her heart a corpse. The corpse was of a handsome stallion, riddled with bullets holes and smeared with blood and gore.

Explosions. Lots of explosions. The sound and vibrations of them shook the shed and rattled what was left of the windows. One happened close by, and the pure shock of it disintegrated the remaining bits of the windows and ripped a few tiles off the roof.

How did all this happen? One must return to the beginning of the end, when the world was only starting to taste death.

Rising tensions with foreign countries, lies and deceit in the government, and disregard for the common people knew their lines. A revolution, a dictatorship, and a mass execution all played their roles expertly. But the real show stopper was the decision. The decision was to use nuclear bombs and warheads to push agendas and finish off well planned power grabs. A flip of a switch, and it all blew up, literally. Families, homes, communities, and cities all obliterated in a split second. The end was close now. So very close.

But two ponies knew how to stop it all. They were sworn to secrecy, never to tell anyone they met how they could end it all. They went on a mission... a mission of peace through violence. They knew their trade, and were prepared for any encounter with the enemy. However, they were on unfamiliar ground and in enemy territory. They had the disadvantage, but they persevered. They persevered even though they knew they would probably die if they finished their task. They persevered through decaying cornfields, empty towns, snipers, bullets, grenades. They were ready to give their lives for the sake of others. And that was how they persevered, with the thought of the countless lives they were saving on this suicidal mission... but it was still a mission of self-sacrifice.

Soon they reached their target. A top secret missile base, hidden in the mountains far north of Equestria. The enemy had control of this area for the longest period in the war, and it was also their strongest area. The two ponies decided to split and go in different directions. The mare would infiltrate the security systems by hacking them from an outside terminal. The stallion would climb through air vents and sewage lines to get inside the base.

A quick pause and recap... these two ponies were old lovers. They used to have picnics, go to fairs and carnivals, and they liked to think they had their whole lives planned out. They would buy a farmhouse and live in the country. They would have chickens and a few goats. They were so close to achieving this goal… the stallion had almost enough money to put their beautiful plan into action. They were so excited, so ready for life, so in love. Then the nuclear bomb fell on their hometown as they were on a small vacation, visiting friends and family. When they first heard the news, they were filled with righteous anger. The stallion wanted to enlist in the army. The mare wanted to enlist in the tech department. But they didn't want to be in separate divisions, so they compromised. They joined the covert operations team. Their skills were both in demand there.

And now we resume... the stallion and mare had split to carry out their tasks. The mare hacked and turned off security cameras and traps, and opened doors for the stallion as he made his way through the windy air vents and disgusting sewers. He slipped and fell once, and was covered head to toe in filth. But he picked himself up, wiped the grime off of him, and carried on. He reached the hatch he was looking for, and soon enough was in the hallways of the base. However, the mare could not disable living, flesh and blood guards. One of them saw the stallion, and he pulled out his gun. The stallion was quicker, and shot the guard in the chest. Red blood sprayed on the walls and floor. Fortunately for the stallion, he had pulled out his gun with the silencer... otherwise the whole base would know of his presence.

He walked down the silent halls, nerves on edge. Now all he had to do was find the room with the correct terminal and control panel. Another guard, this one facing away from the stallion. A shot to the head, and the way was clear. The stallion kept moving. A small voice chirped in his ear... the mare had seen more guards coming towards the stallion. He dived behind some crates, and soon the guards passed by. The voice chirped in his ear again. He was close. The voice told him to take a right turn. Then a left. Then another left. That was where the room was. The stallion followed the directions given to him by his lover, and he soon found the room.

The door was open, courtesy of the mare. The door was open, inviting him in, inviting him to finish his mission, inviting him to kill himself but save others. He walked slowly in. The room was dark, lit only by the glowing lights of computers and screens. Wires ran across the floor, snaked up the walls, and dangled from the ceiling. The room was filled with the soft hum of running terminals, and there was no other noise. The stallion walked down the center of the room, his head swaying from side to side as he looked for the correct terminal.

At long last he found it. He trotted over to it, and pulled something out of his saddlebags. It was a USB flash drive. He looked at it, determination and fear written over his face. He took a deep breath. The voice in his ear said something, and he nodded, a single tear running down his face. He said something back, and the voice began to cry. The stallion made a soothing noise, and took another deep breath, noting it may as well be his last. The small voice in his ear told him to do it, to end the pain, to finish the war. The stallion said something, and before his resolve ran out, he stabbed the USB flash drive into the terminal's matching port.

The USB flash drive contained a virus. A virus that would spread across all of the enemy's computer and server systems, locking them and encrypting every single file. But the virus did more than that. It also took control of the missile program. It was designed to detonate the missiles before they even launched, destroying the bases they were located at. And this particular base had several bombs inside it. It was only a matter of time before the base was incinerated and wiped off the face of Equus.

The stallion ran out of the room and down the halls. The guards had all deserted their posts as the news of the virus was communicated over their headsets. The stallion kept running. He didn't have time to go back through the sewers and air shafts. He ran right out the front door of the base. He looked around for a speeder, and found one. He galloped over to it, and a dark object launched itself at him from behind. A shot over the shoulder, and the shadow was down. It fell silently, and hit the ground with an ominous thud.

Soon the stallion was on the speeder, flying down a road towards the mare. She was standing in the middle of the road, waving her hooves to attract the stallion's attention. He stopped the speeder to let her climb on, and then he kicked it back into gear and started down the road again. They made it a safe distance before the first blast happened. The base went up in a fiery mushroom cloud, and they could feel the heat even though they were several miles away. The mare wrapped her hooves around the stallion as he pushed the speeder to its limits.

Suddenly a single gunshot rang out. It hit the stallion in the leg, and he fell off the speeder. The mare jumped off after him, and the speeder, having no driver, crashed into the ground with a metallic screech. Another shot split through the air, aimed at the mare. It missed. She ran up to the stallion, and dragged him off the road and into the long grass that bordered it. She revived him with ease, since in her past life she was a nurse. Soon they were crawling through the grass.

The mare poked her head up though the grass, looking for shelter. It was a mistake. Another shot, and this one almost found its mark. It grazed the side of the mare's head, and she ducked back down again, blood streaming down her face. However, she did find something. A small shed was up on a hill to their left, and they began crawling towards it.

They soon reached it, and they wriggled in through a small crack in the wall. There they lay, panting, holding each other close, their blood mixing together. A noise outside. The grass began to rustle, and they looked at each other fearfully. The stallion put a hoof up to his lips, and grabbed his gun. He slowly walked to the door. Suddenly the sniper who was shooting on them appeared in the doorway, and he shot the stallion down. His blood splattered on the walls and drenched the sniper.

The sniper prepared for a second shot, this one a gift of death to the mare. But she whipped out her pistol and poured lead into the sniper who killed her lover. The sniper fell, his rifle going off as it hit the ground. The bullet struck the mare in the leg, and she cried out in pain. But despite the pain, she limped over to the stallion. She dragged him over to a corner of the shed, and she held him, her tears falling on his face, washing away the blood that covered it. Her heart-wrenching sobs filled the air. Explosions could be heard outside, coming ever nearer.

Suddenly, one happened right underneath the shed, and the two who gave everything were consumed in the fire meant for others.

Author's Note

Heyo! This one was a blast (pardon the pun) to write! Also I know the cover art doesn't quite match the story, but I couldn't find anything better... plus I really like that picture