Let Loose the Dogs of War

A single tank rolled in from the distance. The plating was blue and covered with gems. A cannon was mounted on the top that stretched about five meters past the tank itself. Diamond Dogs were marching in front, behind, and to the sides of the tank. Braeburn counted about three Diamond Dogs on each side of the tank. The three ponies hid behind a large boulder in the middle of the desert. Trebass saw multiple smaller boulders that littered the battlefield that they could hide behind.

"So whats the plan?" Trebass asked, pulling the hammer back on his revolver.

"We take out the infantry first, then we use this on the tank." Braeburn pulled out a grenade from his vest.

"He only has three, so we can afford to lose two (2). But the third (3rd) needs to be detonated in the tank." Deviree added.

Trebass peeked from the left side of the boulder. The tank was getting closer, it was about a football field away from them.

"I'll distract them with my rifle. Meanwhile, Deviree will take out some of the infantry with her two (2) revolvers." Braeburn peeked out from the top of the boulder.

"Wait, then what do I do?" Trebass asked.

Deviree grabbed a grenade from Braeburn's vest and tossed it to Trebass.

"Of course I get the hard job." Trebass sighed.

The tank was about fifty (50) meteres away from them. If their plan was going to work, they had to execute it immediately.

Braeburn hopped out from behind boulder and began to fire bullets at the tank and infantry. Deviree grabbed Trebass and led him to one of the smaller boulders next to them. They both hid quietly, as the bullets flew between Braeburn and the tank.

Deviree began to shoot at the infantry with her revolvers. She took out the units on the right side and in front of the tank. The rest of the units hid behind the tank. The cannon turned towards Deviree, her eyes widened.

"Watch out!" Trebass tackled Deviree out of the way as a shell flew by her mane. The explosion knocked them both into the battlefield.

The infantry behind the tank began to fire at Trebass and Deviree, they had nothing to take cover behind. A large explosion sent Diamond Dogs flying from behind the tank.

"Nows your chance! Go!" Braeburn shouted, still firing bullets at the tank.

Trebass began to run towards the tank, but fell face first into the sand. He screamed in agony, as a piece of debris stuck out of his leg. He looked back at Deviree, she was unconscious on the ground. It was up to him to take down the tank. He crawled towards the tank, with the grenade in his hoof. The tank was about ten (10) meters away from him. Luckily, he was so low that the tank driver wasn't able to see him.

"Anytime now Trebass!" Braeburn loaded another magazine into his machine gun.

Trebass finally came right next to the tank. He placed the grenade in his mouth, and tried to pull himself up onto the moving tank with his hooves. The pain of the debris that stuck out of his leg was unbearable. He lifted himself up onto the side of the tank and spit out the grenade into his hoof. The tank sped up suddenly, Trebass lost his balance and fell onto the top hatch. The hatch snapped open, and out popped a burly Diamond Dog.

The Diamond Dog reached out and grabbed Trebass by the neck. Trebass quickly placed the grenade in vest pocket. The Diamond Dog shook Trebass back and forth, his paws wrapped around his neck. The white unicorn gasped for air, as he clawed at his own throat for breath.

Through the struggling and the flailing, Trebass caught a glimpse of the M.A.S.T. It read "Forty-Eight (48) Hours"

"Great... Just great." Is what Trebass would have been thinking if he wasn't being strangled at the time.

Trebass felt his life flashing before his eyes. The sound of a shell being fired at his friends crushed his eardrums. The shell exploded on the boulder that Braeburn was hiding behind. Trebass couldn't see anything past the smoke and dust that the shell had created, but he couldn't think about his friends now. The Diamond Dog's grip tightened, Trebass' gasped for air as his lungs felt like they were about to explode. Everything began to fade for Trebass. His hearing was muffled, his body began to numb, and all the figures around him began to blurr.

*BANG*

The loud gunshot whizzed past Trebass' mane. The Diamond Dog who was suffocating him fell over, with a bullet sized hole through his head. Trebass fell with him, but he grabbed the side of the tank as his enemy drifted further away from the moving vehicle.

The white unicorn's hooves were just barely dragging on the dusty dunes, as he was face to face with the tank's treads. Trebass pulled himself up onto the side of the tank. He opened the hatch that led into the interior of the tank. A brown Diamond Dog was pulling levers and pushing buttons inside. The Dog looked behind him, eyes wide open to find a pony had breached their defences.

"Just dropping a package off, no need to sign." Trebass pulled the pin and tossed it to the scrawny Diamond Dog in the tank.

Without hesitation, Trebass jumped from the tank onto the sandy desert floor. The debris was still stuck in his back leg.

"Damnit. I didn't think I would go out like this..." Trebass closed his eyes, but felt something pulling him up. He eyes shot open, and saw Braeburn below him. The earth pony was carrying Trebass on his shoulders. The two walked about four (4) steps before the grenade detonated inside the tank.

*KABOOM*

The explosion caused Braeburn to fall over on his face, and Trebass to fall on his side. Braeburn looked over to the tank, there was nothing left of it except a metal skeleton of an army vehicle.

"I can't leave you alone for five (5) minutes can I?" Braeburn said smugly, as he lifted himself off the ground.

Trebass smiled, then rested himself on a nearby boulder. He looked behind him. Deviree was still laying there, unconcious.

"We better set up camp, before it gets dark again. You grab Deviree over to that large palm tree over there. I'll go see if we can grab some supplies from the dead soldiers." Braeburn picked up his gun, and trotted off towards the metal skeleton that was originally a tank.

"What happened to don't lay a hoof on her?" Trebass asked, jokingly.

Braeburn turned his head, "Just. This. Once." He began to walk towards the tank again.

Trebass sighed, as he crawled over to Deviree. He stood up on one of his back legs. He picked her up, and began to hop towards the palm tree in the distance. He stared up at the sky, the sun was already setting. The sky looked like a giant rainbow as the colour transitioned from dark blue to yellow then to red. The red sky surounded the sun as it set behind a large dusty hill.

He finally reached the palm tree, and by the time he had placed Deviree down, she was already asleep.

"From unconcious to slumber... What a strange mare..." Trebass whispered to himself.

He took off his vest and placed it around Deviree, who was now curled up in a ball. He thought he could hear her whisper "Thank you..." But his hearing was still a bit nullified, so he wasn't too sure.

Trebass took the lighter that Braeburn had given him earlier, and broke off some branches from the nearby bushes. He started a fire some distance away from the palm tree so that it wouldn't burst up in flames. Trebass had enough of things going up in flames, including his love life.

About half an hour passed, Braeburn finally returned.

"I found some rations on the dead soldier. Enough for all of us." Braeburn noticed Deviree, with Trebass' vest on her sleeping body, the light of the fire flickering on and off her face.

"You're a kind fellow. If I were to leave her with anypony, it would be you." Braeburn smiled, and tossed a ration tin at Trebass.

He caught it, and opened it. There wasn't much in it, some baked beans and rice, but that was it. He saw Braeburn place down three flasks down next to the fire.

"What do we do now? Since the shelter is lost..." Trebass asked, he was wondering if anypony else made it out alive. He prayed that the little foal he had helped was alive. Surely the Diamond Dogs wouldn't have been so cruel as to kill a child. Would they? He thought of the mare back at the Equestrian Cloud, how he couldn't do anything to save her. All these burdens weighed heavily on him.

Braeburn interrupted Trebass train of thought, "We should find the nearest military base. It's the safest place for you and Deviree."

"What about you?" Trebass asked.

"I'll continue to fight for my princess, and for my ponies. If I fall in battle, I want you to protect Deviree. Understand?" Braeburn handed a flask to Trebass.

Trebass took the flask, "You have my word."