Fallout Equestria: Blood and Steel

Chapters

Chapter 1: Let Them Eat Cake
Chapter 2: Counting Stars
Chapter 3: The Trenches pt. 1
Chapter 4: The Trenches pt. 2
Chapter 5: Seize the Siege
Chapter 6: Old Friends and New Orders
Chapter 7: Calm Before the Storm (Defense of Van Hoover)
Chapter 8: Midnight Squall (Defense of Van Hoover)
Chapter 9: Among the Dead
Intro

Chapter 1: Let Them Eat Cake

Might I trouble you for another slice of cake?

I remember a day when this city was a thriving metropolis. In fact I was born and raised here, the streets I once grew up on laid tattered in debris and rubble. I had originally left for Canterlot with an invitation to Celestia's school for gifted unicorns upon completing my schooling in the art of magical baking Equestria went to war against the zebras in the south. I had originally bought land and planned to setup a shop in Canterlot's shopping district but three days before my store was to open I received a draft notice. I had spent five years prior working to save up for a shop of my very own. I remember the draft letter fondly, it had a picture of Spitfire with the words: 'Equestria needs you'. I remember the frustration and confusion on my face. I remember thinking that I am going to die before the war is over. I remember walking out of my shop for the last time, its doors never to open, full of the hopes and dreams I once had. Upon reaching basic training I was handed an officers slot and was separated from the rest of the new arrivals. I then began my training to lead ponies into battle. I never thought that just because I graduated from Celestia's school would had given me an officers role. Upon graduation of basic training and my officers training I was sent to Shattered Hoof to reinforce the ponies fighting on the ground. The trenches reeked of blood, filth, disease and death. Day and night constant shelling and gun fire went off without a moments break. Until the fighting stopped I remember sitting down in the trench looking at my bullet riddled body, I started to cough up blood. My eyes began to close...

Then all of sudden a sound as if glass was shattered pierced the blood stained battlefield. My eyes open sharply, I remember being completely healed and I stood up and heard a deafening silence. I saw two of the ministry mares Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash was leading us during the fight, then a bullet whizzed passed my head and Rainbow Dash grabbed Fluttershy and dove down into the trenches. The battle began again, for another three days. During the battle I was separated from Big Mac and his Marauders. I was detached to Macintosh's Marauders to get my first taste of combat. He was my first sergeant although, he really was the one in charge. Apparently they were called back to camp, I was abandoned... left for dead as they pulled out. By the time I made it back to camp Big Mac was dead. Killed by the zebra assassin meant for Princess Celestia. After his body was taken to Canterlot for a state funeral I was reassigned. I was pulled off the team and demoted for negligence. I was back at 1st Lieutenant rank. It was my fault, I wasn't there. I was then put in charge of the 52nd Offensive Battalion. In the first year trying to push into the city only to be stopped by zebra snipers and ambushes. Then I was called to Canterlot again.

“Ponies of the Ministry o’ Technology, Ah give t’ y’all the Steel Ranger!" the orange mare on the stage took a side step. A pony dressed in full metal plating completely covered in armor. I was enamored at what I saw. My EFS or my Eyes-Forward-Sparkle identified him as 'Steel Hooves'.

The next day I volunteered to join the Steel Rangers. I was picked, trained and given a set of armor. Then I was given another assignment. The 332nd Expeditionary Battalion, 3rd Company commander. I was being sent off to Stalliongrad again. They were rambunctious bunch. During my time there and they were the only battalion to contain zebras... and the most casualties.

*********************************************

I put my journal down as the train pulled into the station. Even in the suit the sounds of gunfire could be heard clear as day. Tracer rounds could piercing the the skyline of the city. I pity any Pegasus pony who had to fly through that much flak. I stepped off the train and walked to the gates. Ever since the battle began, a massive fence was constructed to keep regular ponies out of the combat zone. Didn't stop them though, most ponies went around it anyways. I then spoke to the two ponies guarding a gate labeled A2. Both ponies were wearing the Equestria military police uniform. The letters MP were faded barely visible. I continued and headed straight to the base commander's tent. Upon entry I was shocked to see who it was. a light blue mare with a rainbow mane, she was wearing a black and purple jump suit that covered all but her wings and face. This was none other then the head of the Ministry of Awesome herself, Rainbow Dash.

"Ma'am, 1st Lt. Napoleon Cake reporting for duty!" I shouted nervously. She looked over at me. She strapped on her battlesaddle and walked over to me.

"Welcome back to Stalliongrad soldier. I thought you would had chickened out after what happened at Shattered Hoof," she smiled at me trying to lighten the mood. "Anyways the situation has changed since your departure. Dragons have been spotted flying around the city. The Shadowbolts have been doing their best to take them down but progress on the ground is slow and our losses are high. Despite these this we need to make some progress. Your orders are to capture city hall, it is the base of operation zebra command in the city," She gestured me over to a map. "Your company will have two other steel rangers attached with the rest comprised of zebra's. Capture city hall and kill or capture their commanders by any means necessary. If you suspect that any of your soldiers are zebra spies, execute them on the spot. Report to the armory to received your equipment, your company is in tent 5. Dismissed."

I walked out of the tent. I looked towards the city, I could hear the sounds of artillery shells firing from both sides. Day and night the artillery ponies just never sleep. I looked up to the two massive sky scrappers that pierced the city. They were the Friendship Towers. The now badly damaged sky scrappers had seen better days, a few times artillery shells would hit them now and again but that was rare.

I proceeded to the armory. I arrived to a concrete bunker with the word 'armory' painted on the door in white paint,
"Napoleon Cake, you will receive an anti-machine rifle and a gatling cannon. You should be able to take out any armored tank or dragon," The Quartermaster got up and began to attach the weapons to my battlesaddle. After a few minutes of power tool sounds the Quartermaster finished up. "Good luck."

I walked out of the armory. My heart finally caught up to me. I was back in hell. I took a deep breath. It was cool and refreshing, technically it was because of my air talisman. I found my way to tent 5 and entered.

"Company! Attention!" one of the steel rangers called out. I walked up to the pony at the front. She saluted me. "Sir, we are awaiting your orders."

I replied "At ease. Now then lets start with your names."

"Mah name's 1st Sgt Apple Fritter," she said in a very western accent, she removed her helmet to reveal a beautiful young earth pony with a light yellow coat and green mane. "It's a pleasure to meet ya sir, I'm the squads heavy gunner."

"Wait are you by chance related to Applejack? The head of the MWT?" I asked.

"Sure as sugar, Applejack's mah cousin, I haven't seen her since Big Mackie died. He's the whole reason ah left to join y'all. To be honest when I spent a few years with them on the farm and I really looked up to him, he did his job, neva complained or nothin'. And when Equestria went to war, he was one of the first who left to join. Fearless in life as he now is in death, bless your soul Big Mac," tears began to breakout across the her face,

The mare in the Steel Ranger armor behind Apple Fritter turned to face us, she was a Unicorn as her helmet had armor for her horn protruding out of the top. A soft pink glow of magic gripped the helmet removing it to reveal a hot pink Unicorn mare with a half blue and half light blue mane. She had a purple eyes and a purple bow in her mane.

"My name is SPC Royal Ribbons, but everyone calls me Rori for short, I am the squads suppressor. I am from Canterlot's noble families and was drafted into this war against my will. I really just want this to be over so I can go home," Rori said with a sweet but sophisticated tone. "And behind me are the four remaining zebra's in our company."

I looked behind them to see the four zebras, they worn dark green uniforms and had their weapons slung over their backs. They completely lacked white stripes in away. "Where is their stripes?"

One of the zebra's stood up, "They mad us bleach our coats to show our loyalty to the princesses, my name is Milk Tart. Ironic now since she was completely white now. I was born and raised in Filydelphia, Equestria is my home not Zebrika.

"My name is Star Charm, I was born in Van Hoover and moved to Appleoosa and this is my brother Star Chaser," Star Charm gestures to her brother who's head is laying down, he waves his hoof and returns to sleep. "Sorry, it's been a long day," Star Charm chuckled nervously.

"My name is Silent Night, I'm a sharpshooter. I was born in Zebrika and moved to Equestria when I was a young filly. I grew up in the Smokey Mountains."

"Well good to know everypony, I have our first assignment. This comes straight from the Rainbow Dash, head of the Ministry of Awesome. We have three days to make it to city hall and capture or kill their command structure. Our company will be the only one assaulting this point as the rest of the battalion will be flanking around to draw them away. I'm not going to lie to you, this one will be tough but I believe we can do it, rely on each other. Dismissed." Everypony got up, and proceeded to leave, "Oh wait, I forgot. These zebra's think they can beat Equestria, well let them eat cake!" I yelled pridefully. The ponies and zebras laughed hard as they walked out. Well shit that didn't work. That's ok Napoleon you're ahead of your time.

I walked to the companies barracks on the stallion side, I noticed that there were three other empty beds with footlockers. I walked up to one of the footlockers and opened it. Inside was a few pictures and a hooffull of letters. These are the belonged of a dead pony, or in this case dead zebra. I went over to an empty bed and climbed out of my power armor. I put in my ear bloom and turned it to the Wartime Radio Station

"This is DJ Pon-3, coming at you live from Manehatten. To all you soldier ponies out there, thank you for keeping us safe another day. We will never forget your sacrifice. In other news Zebra sympathizers have been rooted out of Fillydelphia's factory district by the Ministry of Morale, hehehe, remember ponies, Pinkie Pie is always watching you. Other reports say that the siege in Stalliongrad has come to a halt. This next song goes out to the ponies holding the line in Stalliongrad, here is Sweetie Belle singing: The Sun Never Sets."

I closed my eyes as music began to play, tomorrow, I get to really live out the horrors of war, once again I'm heading into the depths of hell. Stalliongrad, was Tartarus in Equestria. Wait a second Tartarus is already in Equestria. "Celestia Fuck me!" I yelled. I didn't seem to wake up Star Chaser. I turned in my bed, the sounds of Sweetie Belle's voice echoed as it all began to fade.

Napoleon Cake's SPECIAL

Strength: 4
Perception: 3
Endurance: 5
Charisma: 2
Intelligence: 5
Agility: 3
Luck: 6

Chapter 2: Counting Stars

What are you waiting for? An invitation?

I was awoken to a loud explosion. My eyes shot open.

"Are we under att..." I was flung out of my bed and sent flying across the barracks. "Celestia Fuck me!" I screamed as I was tossed against the wall. My vision was shaky and my ears rang from the shell shock. Another shell sent small wooden fragments into my left hind leg. I pulled out as many as I could. I looked around, my armor, "Where is my armor!" I saw it knocked over laying in the opposite corner of the room. It was covered by bits of the wall and helmet was missing. I scrambled to my hooves and dove towards it. I heard the whistle of another in bound shell, I threw my hooves on top of my head. Thankfully it didn't hit my barrack. I proceeded to put on the armor as fat as I could. I couldn't find my helmet, without it I was practically blind. I could shoot with out it and couldn't see what direction the enemy was. I began to dig through the rubble. After a few minute of searching I finally found it. I put it on in a hurry.

As I my suit began to power it up, I noticed that the left eye was cracked. I could hardly see out of it. It was like a fucking kaleidoscope in my left eye. I ran out of the building to see zebras fighting ponies in hoof to hoof combat. I saw zebra stab a pony right in the neck. I shot him with the anti-machine rifle, his body tore apart as the bullet hit him. I winced at the sight of this. I felt a bullet strike me in the side. It didn't punch through my armor but I'm sure it will leave a bruise. I turned to face my attacker. It was a earth pony who shot me.

"Why did you shoot me?" I yelled at her.

"I just want this all to end," she unloaded her pistol at me. She fell back on her haunches crying. "Please don't kill me, I have a family!" She cried.

"Why would you betray pony kind, those zebras are your enemy, not me!" I exclaimed.

"I-I thought I would be safe if I helped the zebras. They paid me 20,000 bits, I need it so my family could-" her voice was cut off as her head exploded.

"Rot in Tartarus ya' zebra lovin' flea!" Apple Fritter yelled. Behind her stood Royal Ribbon, Star Charm and Silent Night.

"Where is Milk Tart?" I asked, I feel like I already knew the answer.

"She was blown to bits when the shelling started," Star Charm replied tears in her eyes. "We lost another one..." She muttered. I paid it no mind for now, we had a battle going in our camp.

"We need to retreat now! To the train station!" I yelled turning to run.

We began to run towards the train station, ponies were lined up trying to board the train, already looking over crowded the train was dumping supplies and munitions in order to fit as many ponies on board. As we got closer the sharp whistle of a shell pierced the short silence.

"Incoming!" I yelled, all of us dove in different directions. A massive explosion erupted at the train station. I could feel the heat from the explosion. That shell hit the train. Ash and soot began to rain down on us. I stood back up, the light had turned dark as smoke billowed into the sky covering the city in a think blanket of smoke. I took a look around. I saw my squad mates recovering and getting up.

"Those damn zebra's. That was dirty..." Rori looked solemn.

"Are y'all ok?" Apple Fritter asked. My armor stated that nothing was wrong with me. I could feel a few bruises but that's only minor. I looked over at Silent Night. Her bleach white coat now turned to a dirty ashy grey.

"Turn on your head lamps, we will need it," I said flipping mine on. Rori and Fritter did the same. Star Charm sat down her eyes watering.

"My brother, I fear he is dead," she began to sob. Tears streamed down her ash covered face. Rori hugged her and tried to console her. I looked over at the city, fires began to break out across the city as more towers of smoke began to rise into the skyline.

Suddenly a group of zebras ambushed us from behind.

"Surrender pony scum, for the stars can not save you now," a zebra stallion chuckled. "We will make your deaths as painless as possible."

"Rot in hell!" Fritter yelled, her battlesaddle's minigun began to spin up tearing apart the zebra commander. The rest of them scattered, diving for cover.

"This is bad," I fired my anti-machine rifle, my hooves slid against the mud. The recoil was so much heavier than earlier. "I began to back up. Then flames shot past me dousing one of the zebras in red hot flames. I stared in horror. The zebra's face began to burn and melt as if it was an ice cube. I felt like I wanted to vomit. I couldn't watch this anymore, I raised my up my anti-machine rifle, it was overkill but at least they would be spared the horrible agony of burning alive. I reloaded my anti-machine rifle and zeroed in on the burning zebra. Star Charm stood in front of me.

"Let... Them... Burn!" she said. Much to my dismay. The zebra, after burning for what felt like hours finally collapsed. I couldn't stand the sight of it. I really felt like I was going to vomit. The zebra's skin was charred black as the night sky. Her coat was completely burned off and bits of bone could be seen on her face and hooves. Oh Celestia this was horrifying. Then the sounds of artillery fire continued.

"We need to find cover fast!" I yelled, artillery shells struck the ground behind us. I looked behind me, green fire erupted from the crater. "They switched shell types don't touch the flames!" We ran towards the station, bits and pieces of ponies and zebras alike laid strewed about. All of a sudden several shells hit the train station erupting into a bright green flame. We were trapped.

"Sir! I know where there are some houses a short run from the base, we should take cover there until the shelling stops!" Apple Fritter yelled.

"Lead the way!" I replied. We took off at a sprint, shells rain down around, a mixture of fragmentation and those green fire shells suppressed the area. We ran down the main road, the road was littered with abandoned wagons from the evacuation. For a brief moment, the shelling stopped. Now was our chance. We ran as fast as we could into the suburbs. The houses were damaged from the shelling but some of them were still livable. Apple Fritter turned to one of the bigger houses and rammed the door down. We followed inside to find the place ransacked, the furniture was torn up and ripped, the walls were covered in anti-war graffiti. A big ripped painting of... wait, this was Sugar Belle. I stared blankly at the painting.

I haven't seen Sugar Belle since school, I remember she always wanted to go to the Crystal Empire to be a famous baker. I wonder why she had a house in Stalliongrad. I remember as a colt I used to have a huge crush on her. But that was a different time, before the war. She graduated before me and I never saw her again. I walked up and touched the painting.

"Sir, are you ok?" Rori asked. She looked up at the painting. "Did you know her?"

"Yes, she is an old classmate of mine. We went to school back in Canterlot."

"I see, I'm sorry, I hope she is safe," Rori looked at me. I couldn't tell what kind of face she was making through her helmet.

"Me too I replied," My EFS updated marking this place as Sugar Belle's mansion.

"Sir, come outside you're going to want to see this," Star Charm said.

I walked outside to find the whole squad out there. "Holy Celestia!" I yelled, looking up at the sky, I saw a giant pink shield began to cover the city. We were trapped... I got a notification on my EFS, it was from the Ministry of Arcane Sciences.

"Hello, this is Twilight Sparkle, head Ministry Mare of the MAS, to those fighting in Chicoltgo, Horseolulu and Stalliongrad you may have noticed a giant barrier erected over the city, do not worry these shields will only be activated to prevent further destruction outside the city. For any soldier trapped within the barrier..." She paused for a minute. She sighed, "I am sorry. Personally, we though we could evacuate as many as possible but the shield will not go down until the zebras surrender. Until they surrender or die of starvation this shield will remain up. Good luck my little ponies... and I'm sorry," her final words echoed in my mind. I sat down. I felt like I couldn't breathe. I got up and walked back inside. I proceeded to walk up the stairs as if I knew the place. I walked into a large bedroom, it was pink and was decorated with candy themed furniture. I would have looked nice before the siege. I sat down looking at a giant wall mirror.

"What in Equestria is happening?" I asked myself. I removed my helmet. Looking at my face in the mirror, I felt fear wash over me. I was going to die here, no one was going to survive. I put my helmet in my saddle bag and walked out of the room and back to my squad downstairs. I saw them talking to each other, Apple Fritter and Rori both had their helmets off.

"Where did ya go?" Apple Fritter asked.

"It's hopeless, we are going to die here," I said solemnly. I was then smacked across the face by Rori.

"Pull yourself together!" She yelled her face bright red with anger. "You think we are going to sit here and let them win? No, we are going to survive. I did not live my life and get to where I am before the war to die here!" she screamed at me. My zebra companions stayed silent.

"Now don't y'all worry now, I know how to survive 3 weeks on 3 days of rations so this should be easy," Apple Fritter chimed in.

"Yes, me and Star Charm know how to purify water and collect herbs. We can survive this easy," Silent Night added.

"No..." My sadness turned to anger. "We were given a mission, we are going to follow it, we are going to survive. If we take out the zebra command we should be able to get them to lower the shield. The quicker we get there the better. And besides I doubt we are the only ponies to be trapped in here. Lets rest for now, we will sleep in shifts. I'll take first watch," the rest of the nodded, I walked upstairs, we still had a few hours till sunset so I decided to look around the house. I walked upstairs back into Sugar Belle's room. I walked up to the dresser and opened it. Luckily no pony was in here and found an array of lewd and provocative clothing in her dresser. I quickly closed the drawer.

"No amount of therapy will fix this..." I continued to look elsewhere for something useful, I checked her nightstand. I found an array of unsavory items for a lady of grace such as Sugar Belle but everypony has their demons I guess. I walked into the bathroom attached to her room. I paused for a moment and walked out. I'm not going to look to see whats in there. I stood next to Sugar Belle's bed. I took off my armor and after a series of clinks and clangs the armor opened up and stepped out. I sat down on Sugar Belle's bed. I looked up at the ceiling and the words 'Send Celestia to the Sun!' was written in black paint. "How could ponies not trust our rulers, our protectors and the ponies who give up their lives to keep them safe," I muttered to myself. I laid down and fell asleep.

Footnote: Level Up!
Perk added: Shell Shocked- While in your Steel Ranger armor, Big Guns do 15% less damage to you.

Chapter 3: The Trenches pt. 1

I lost what I defined myself to be.

I woke up to the sound of gunfire, it was close. I jumped out of bed and looked around. The room hadn't been touched since I went to sleep. I approached my armor. It was muddy, covered with grim and riddled with dents and scrapes. I opened the rear panel and ran a diagnostic. My magical battery was at 91.4%, I had 3 healing potions left and about 5 mags of ammunition for my anti-material rifle and 2500 rounds for the gatling cannon. I closed the panel and entered the suit. The gun shots sounded like they were getting closer. I put my helmet on and went downstairs. Star Charm and Rori were peeking out the window.

"What's going on?" I asked. I proceeded to walk down, I heard faint yelling.

"Open ta door!" I looked out the window and saw Apple Fritter, covered in mud and blood with a bunch of saddle bags slung over her back. Star charmed hastily opened the door and Rori spit out a barrage of gunfire from her battle saddle. As Apple Fritter slid underneath Rori to dodge the gunfire.

"Sweet Celestia! That's a lot of zebra's!" Rori yelled pulling away from the door. Star Charm kicked the door close and began to fire out the windows at our attackers.

"Yeehaaw!" Apple Fritter yelled in delight, dropping 9 pairs of saddle bags on the ground.

"I know I should ask how you were able to carry that many saddle bags but just-" a door came flying straight into me knocking me off my hooves. Sending me tumbling down the remaining stairs. "Son of a whore! I never get to finish my damn sentence."

"Ah guess their mad ah stole their food and ammo," Apple Fritter then took off into the other room. Presumably to retrieve her power armor.

"I'm heading to the roof to get a better vantage point, can you hold them off?" I asked as I recovered from my fall.

"We'll be fine! Now head up the stairs and leave us behind!" Star Charm replied.

Did she rhyme? No time to think about that. I ran upstairs, to the second floor kicking open a door to the balcony in the master bedroom. I saw about 10 zebra's scattered about the front of the house. I locked onto my target zooming in on them for a clean shot. I noticed that a few of the zebras had masks on. They were made of wood and were painted in strange colors and each mask varied in shape, design and size. I exhaled aiming right for the head. I pulled the trigger. My anti-machine rifle let out of thunderous roar, the recoil sent me sliding back a few inches. The bullet tore through the air until it bounced off the mask landing a few feet away from the zebra.

"What the fuck?" I fired another round at the zebra, then another, and then another. He seemed virtually unfazed and unaware that a bullet had even hit him. I turn on my ear-bloom. "Apple Fritter, who are these zebra's? I keep shooting at the ones with masks on but they don't even flinch when I hit them. Over?"

"Ah reckin' it's some new fangled magical shield. If Ah knew they were this strong I would had stolen some. Try using the gatling cannon. Ah doubt it could take more than few bullets from it. Over," Apple Fritter replied. I took another long look at the zebra's mask. It seems the third bullet put a small dent in the mask. I began the warming up the gatling cannon and opened fire at the wave of zebra's below. I could see the tracers occasionally bounce off the masked zebras.

"For Celestia's sake why won't you just die!" I yelled continuing to saturate the zebras in a bullet storm. Then the whistle of multiple grenades whooshed past me as Apple Fritter walked up next to me, grenade machine gun attached to her battle saddle roaring as it continued to spew out magical apples at a rapid rate.

"If this don't stop em', nothin' will," the whistle coming from each grenade as it flew threw the air was a sharp ring almost akin to an artillery shell. A sound of a whistle pierce the air blowing multiple times. The zebra's began to retreat, Apple Fritter began opening fire with her gatling gun trying to gun down the routing zebras.

"Cease fire!" I yelled, "Everypony regroup at the front door," I sighed in relief. I walk back inside Sugar Belle's Mansion to find the place full of bullet holes. The once big picture of Sugar Belle that hung above the stairs was shredded like Swiss cheese. I walked down the stairs to meet up with the rest of my team.

"Well, that was ah mighty fine mess," Apple Fritter chuckles. I laugh with her.

"I think we are all just lucky to be alive," Rori chimed in. I look over to Star Charm who had a rather stern look on her face.

"Now is not the time to be messing around, the masked will soon be inbound," Star Charm's voice cut like an ax and ended our laughter. Did she just rhymed again? "My grandmother once told me the story of when the first Caesar united the zebra lands. He had by his side an army of masked guards who fought fiercely and were unmatched on any battlefield. They fought the most in the war and suffered no casualties."

"So what your saying is that story is more than just a tall tale," I asked. Star Charm nodded and walked outside straight to one of the dead masked zebras. We followed closely and noticed the mask was completely shattered.

"I assume the Caesar uses the masked guard as his personal bodyguards but with the war turning south he must not have much of a choice in deploying them," Rori stated.

"Yes, but there is more to the legend, the mask is past down from generation to generation and can not be received until the current owner passes. Once the owner passes the mask seals a piece of the of the former wielders soul. The more its passed down, the stronger it becomes. However should the owner die with no foal to receive it, the mask becomes a curse. It's immense power comes at a price. If the mask is destroyed, the entire family is claimed by the mask and ceases to be and turn to dusk," I took a step back after hearing that. "That is why I believe it was an old foals tale.."

I took a closer look at the body and grabbed his hoof. It broke off with an audible snap; the hoof began to crumble into dust and was blown away by the wind. The body began to turn an ashy grey loosing any semblance of color a zebra might have had.

"It reminds me of the ponies in Ponipeii. The ponies were buried in ash and all that was left was the shell of the ponies who once lived there," Rori stated over the coms. I heard Star Charm whispering a prayer over the dead zebras. Apple Fritter stomped the head of the dead zebra. The rest of its body turned to a pile of ash.

"Let's go. We got ta keep moving," Apple Fritter's accent made her sound like even more of a battlefield veteran than she actually was.

"Right..." I sighed. "Check you maps, we are meeting at Stalliongrad City Mall. If you are separated we will wait there for approximately two hours. If you aren't there we will presume you were killed and move on with the mission," I commanded. I was nervous. We were on the outskirts of town and the mall was 3 hours trot with out fighting. I saw Star Charm pull out of map and start plotting points. I walked up to her and lowered her map. "Here take this, it will make interfacing with the nav points easier," I levitated out a Pip-Buck 2000. Standard issue for officers but since my power armor, I haven't much use for it.

"Are you sure you wish to give this to me? Most ponies don't trust the zebra folk even after we bleach our coats," Star Cham was shocked at the gift.

"You'll need it. We are all stuck in here. You had a chance to kill us and return with the zebras and instead you helped drive them off. Just because you have stripes doesn't make you any less of a pony," I used my magic to clip it to her fore-hoof. "There that map will be connected to the teams navigation. You'll also have use of the EFS and SATs."

"What is an EFS and what is SATs," she questioned.

"Well an EFS is a magical spell matrix that helps you detect hostile forces in front of you even if you cant see them and SATs...," Rori was interrupted by Apple Fritter.

"And SATs was developed by mah younger cousin Apple Bloom and her friends, it will help you shoot at multiple targets more accurately," Apple Fritter Interjected.

"By Celestia you ponies are so complex, is it that hard to aim your gun at your target?" Star Charm looked down at the Pip-Buck. She sighed and said "Thank you. This will be of great aid," Star Charm smiled at me.

"Oh I almost forgot. I levitated a small earpiece out of my bag and put it in Star Charms ear. This is the earbloom. You'll be able to hear us on the coms but you won't be able to talk to us. You can also listen to the radio on it if you like. It's what I used it for mainly," I turned around and looked off into the distance. Only 9:00am and it feels like we've been up for days. "All ponies, wedge formation, forward march!" I yelled. We began our walk towards the city.

*******************************************************

As we marched closer to the city the sounds of gunfire seemed ever closer yet ever so distant. We walked through miles of cratered and trenched earth. Combat grew scarce since this morning. Few stragglers here and there but nothing major. We entered a large trench network. This was the quickest way to get into the city. Before the shield we were stuck in a stalemate near the mall. If we are lucky we take the trenches all the way there.

"Fire team file. I'll take point, Rori take the rear," I said. We all moved into position and began to slowly walk through the trenches. Bodies of ponies and zebras were strewn randomly about the trenches. They were all in several states of decomposition. They have been dead long before shield. Have the zebras pushed us this far back...

"Sir, the Pip-Buck picked up a distress beacon. Frequency 184," Star Charm looked around. I tuned my radio and honed in on the distress beacon. A slow beep played over the air.

"Let's go find the beacon, they could be in trouble," I said. We began to walk a bit faster. A roll of haze began to cloud the trenches making our EFS our only source of guidance. The beep began to pick up the pace as we inched along and we arrived at a square junction. One path lead south east while the other led west. "Which way should we go?" I muttered aloud. After juggling my options I decided on West.

The radio began to beep faster. The corpses disappeared... I was feeling worried at the signs of the abandoned trench. We entered a small junction with, it was a command post, the stairs were still intact and the lights were still on inside the command room.

"Set up a perimeter. Silent Night, take up a sniper position and keep your ear bloom in, I don't want any surprises," She nodded and ran off down one of the trenches. "Make sure no one comes in or out, I walked down the stairs and what I saw made me throw up in my mouth. I swallowed the disgusting vomit back down and began to cough. I ran back up the stairs throwing my helmet off with my hooves and began to violently throw up.

"Sir, are you ok!?" Rori walked over to me. "What happened you were barely down there two minutes."

"Let me take a gander," Apple Fritter began to walk down the stairs. "Sweet Celestia!" she screamed. I levitated my helmet back on and wiped away the mud on the lenses. Rori, Star Charm and I descended the stairs into the command room. The room was covered in blood. Several Steel Rangers... or what's left of them littered the floor. Guts and body parts littered the floor. I began to examine their armor. It looks like something was bursting out from the inside. I walked farther into the command post down a narrow hallway. It was an officers quarter and it was full of maps and papers. There was a bed in the corner next to a locker.

"It doesn't look like Zebra's did this," I approached the locker and I punched the lock, bending door. I pulled the door off with my magic. Inside was a number of assorted items. There was a laser pistol on the top shelf. I levitated a small picture of a gray mare with a silver mane standing next to a taller, pink unicorn with a two tone mane. All of a sudden I heard a whimper from the corner of the room. I jumped back. My heart was racing, I looked around the room scanning my EFS, I noticed a small blip over the bed, I had originally ignored it because I thought it must had been one of my squad mates in the other room. "Show yourself!" I yelled, I walked towards the bed. "Don't make me shoot you!" I screamed. My heart was racing, its beat was that of a machine gun firing.

"Wait! Please don't shoot," a soft voice yelled from under the bed. A gray earth pony mare with big blue glasses and a silver mane. She was wearing a black skin tight stealth suit with a subdued gold bar on the sleeve.

I removed my helmet. I took a better look at her and that suit fits her curves nicely. I quickly shook my head and returned to reality "What happened here?" tears began to well up in her eyes.

"They killed everypony, without warning," she sat down as tears rolled down her cheek. "One of my school mates was in my platoon, I watched as they cut his head clean off his armor."

"Who?"

"The Griffons. The Griffon Mercenaries that were hired betrayed us as soon as the shield went up... they killed everypony, they sabotaged all the power armor with explosives and... and... I ran away! I was so scared," she was crying hysterically. I climbed out of my armor and wrapped my hooves around her.

"Don't worry you're safe now. My name is 1st Lt Napoleon Cake, I'm with the 332nd Expeditionary Battalion, 3rd Company. As soon as the shield went up half of my company was blown up and now there are only four of us including me," I consoled her. I tried to sooth the pains of war.

"My name is Silver Spoon, I'm a 2nd Lt. I was in charge of the 9th Recon company with a detachment of griffons but they are all dead and the Griffons are gone."

"Well Silver Spoon, we plan on heading to the center of the city to force the zebra commanders to surrender so we can lower the shield. Do you know where the other ponies who were occupying the trenches before the shield?" I asked. "I noticed a lack of pony bodies in some places and more zebras in others."

"Well once the shield went up, the zebra's launched a massive assault to try to take our trenches. After a day of fighting they retreated. Then the griffons attacked my team. I've been hiding in the bunker for who knows how long. I've been to scared to leave the room."

"Silver Spoon, I suggest you come with us, it's probably safer in numbers than alone in the trenches," I said looking at her.

"No, I need to find a way to escape, I'm going to die here if I don't do anything.

"Silver Spoon, there is no way out. The base is destroyed, this trench system was one of the last battalions spared from the destruction and now they are all missing. Plus I'm pretty sure General Rainbow Dash escaped before the shield went up so there is no reason for it to be opened. We have to destroy the zebra's. It's the only way to survive."

"But... I don't want to die," tears began to well up in her eyes.

"Silver Spoon, look at me. I'm going to make sure you survive this. I'll protect you, I'll never let any thing harm you," I tried to look as heroic as possible. She wrapped her hooves around my neck crying.

"Thank you..." she whispered into my ear. She wiped the tears from her eyes and took deep breathe. "Thank you, let me gather my things, I'll meet you outside when I'm ready. I nodded and made my way back outside.

"Give me a sit rep," I said over the coms as I walked up the stairs.

"Well, we found some scrap metal, healing bandages and three healing potions, over," Apple Fritter said over the coms.

"I've got some ammunition for energy weapons, over," Rori said.

"Nothing on my end, its quiet from my position, just smoke and gunfire in the far trenches," Silent Night reported.

"I haven't found any survivors, I am heading back to the junction,” Star Charm replied.

“Roger that, I’m waiting at the junction. Silent Night head back to the junction we are moving out,” I walked over to the side of the trench and peaked over. Fire and smoke was were bellowing into the sky. Craters were scattered throughout the field. Body parts and war machines were strewn in bits and pieces. I turned my head back to the trenches to see my squad.

“Y’all ready time move?” Apple Fritter sounded worried.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

“No, but y’all might want to prepare yourself for what comes next.”

“Alright, I’m ready,” Silver Spoon exited the bunker, she now had saddle bags on and several pouches lined with magazines with a laser pistol in her holster and a PipBuck on her left hoof. She had taken off her glasses. I was able to see her eyes much more clearly. A beautiful deep purple and her silver mane was tied back into a pony tail. I couldn’t help but admire her. Then I felt a sharp punch to the head.

“Son of a bitch,” I felt my head ring like a bell. I look up and saw Silver Spoon look at me puzzled.

“Alright lover-boy, you can ogle her later, “ Apple Fritter scoffed.

“R-right, team this is 2nd Lt Silver Spoon, she was with the 9th Recon Company, she is the only survivor. Treat her kindly and please show her the proper respect,” I said stoically trying to sound cool. I sound like such a loser. My team started exchanging greeting and I started heading towards the trench that leads into the city.

“So what’s the game plan?” Silver Spoon asked.

“We are heading to the Stalliongrad City Mall to retake the forward outpost. Let’s go. I’ll take point,” I began to march down the narrow trench. Body parts, blood, shell casings and boxes were scattered all throughout the walls and floor. I continued and entered another junction full of artillery shells. We continued moving.

******************************************************************************************

It was quiet, the gunfire halted and the fires continued to burn. That was a bad sign. We made it to the end of the Equestrian trenches. I stuck my head over looking into no pony’s land. Craters, mud and the remains of ponies and zebras. littered the ground. We had to clear 100 yards of open field to make it to enemy trenches. We all looked over the trench wall, it was extremely muddy and a low fog rolled in.

"Silent Night, can you check the enemy trenches for activity," I tried to look as close as I could, but the fog was obscuring my view.

"I can't see any movement, wait a minute..." she turned a bit to the left, I lifted my head a bit higher. I felt a bullet hit me right in the left ear and a second on hit me in the chest piercing my armor, knocking me down to the muddy trench below. My EFS showed my head and body was crippled and that I was losing blood. A healing potion was then administered to me through my power armor. I opened my eyes to see my squad returning fire while Silver Spoon had her PipBuck plugged into me. I saw her lips move but I couldn't hear. My ears were ringing. I tried to stand up, my hooves felt heavy. Silver Spoon helped me up. I still couldn't hear her. I climbed out of the trench, my power armor was still repairing the damaged armor and my ear hadn't fully healed back yet. I saw a zebra fall out of a tree, probably the one who shot me. Bullets from the enemy machine gun began to hit me, bouncing off and leaving dents in my armor. They hurt, but I can take it. I spun up my gattling cannon and opened fire at the enemy trench.

"You dumb motherfuckers!" I yelled. I still couldn't hear, but I assumed it came out something like that. I watched my cannon tear through their trench. My squad stopped firing at them and began to slowly turn left and right to keep them down. Suddenly a massive fireball erupted in the zebra trench. I stopped shooting to see zebras scrambling throughout the trench. Most of them seemed to be on fire. I chuckled and the fell over. I felt my armor slightly sink into the mud. I exhaled and blacked out.

Footnote: Level Up!
Perk added: Concentrated Fire: When firing big guns, you no longer suffer from a accuracy reduction while firing for an extended period of time.

Chapter 4: The Trenches pt. 2

"Where one is weak, another is strong, and thus unified, they are a formidable force!"

I felt as if I was hit by a delivery wagon. My head pulsed and ached. I felt pressure building at the back of my skull as if it was like two minutiae ponies were trying to break free. I opened up one of my eyes to find a blur of colors. I couldn’t really hear. Everything looked and sounded so blurry. Am I dying? I pondered this question many times in my lucid state. I began to close my eye again until the sudden rush of realization hit me like a tidal wave as a bucket of water was dumped on me. I began to cough as the sounds and sights began to clear up. Once again my eyes were fixed on Silver Spoon looking over me. I could here the
gunfire if Apple Fritters battle saddle nearby.

“Oh thank Celestia you’re alive,” Silver Spoon gasped. I looked around to find myself in a muddy, charred up ditch. This was no ordinary ditch, this was the one I set ablaze.

“What happened? I rubbed my head trying to alleviate the pain.

“Here take this,” Silver Spoon shoved a pill down my throat.

“What was-,” Silver Spoon her hoof over my mouth.

“Shhh, just trust me, it will make everything better,” I began to feel a bit dizzy. Did she just drug me? “Don’t fight it let it work it’s course.”

What did you-,” my ability to think was crippled by an overwhelming sense of nausea. I began to vomit violently coughing up strange colored liquids what I could only imagine as healing potions mixed with blood. After what felt like a eon of gut wrenching pain, my headache and my other internal wounds felt like distant memories. I sprang up, only to duck back down to avoid incoming fire.

“There do you feel better,” Silver Spoon smiler. How she could smile so innocently while bullies whirled past our heads was beyond me.

“Groggy and sore but still in on piece. Where is my armor,” I noticed I was only wearing the interface jumpsuit that we wear under the armor.

“Well to put it simply, it’s FUBAR,” she replied.

“FUBAR?” I asked.

“Fucked Up Beyond All Repair. By the time we got to you, the armor was half sunk into the mud. Apple Fritter and Rori tried their best to dislodge it but stuck to the earth like concrete. We had to scuttle your armor and weapons.”

“Great, now my odds of survival are even less likely,” I said. I saw Silent Night and Star Charm jump over the trench walk and spring forward. I peeked my head over a bit to find them hiding behind some rocks, shooting back at the enemy. I felt a bullet whiz past my ear. I shuttered and turned around. I ran over to a box breaking it open and pulled out a strange looking rifle. It's base was a nice polished wood with a scope on top. I gripped it with my magic pulling the charging handle back. Inside the box was a belt with 3 magazines and a utility belt to hold the mags. I quickly put them on and put a magazine in the gun and releasing the bolt. I crawled up on the trench wall using the scope to look around. I spotted a young zebra manning a machine gun firing sporadically in all directions. I pulled the trigger of the mysterious rifle. It fired three shots. I missed... The young zebra ducked down as my shots where high striking the ground behind him. I could have sworn I saw a spark from one of the impacts. I steadied myself as much as I could. I took a deep breath and shot. One round plowed into his machine gun and the other two hit him in the chest. Like the fires of a Pheonix, the zebra burned bright red. Within minutes, his screams died and his body was no longer visible. Never in my entire career have I seen such a devastating and cruel weapon. I heard the sound the a whistle blowing and a battalion of zebra's came charging towards our trench.

"Here they come!" Apple Fritter began to fire her grenade machine gun. "Yeehaw! Come get some motherbuckers!"

"Rori, mow them down!" I yelled.

"With pleasure," she spun up her minigun and began to spray a hail of bullets into swarm of zebras. I continued to shoot at the charging force, I took another shot. I hit the zebra in the head and he collapsed into a burn corpse. After about 10 minutes if fighting I heard two whistles blow. The zebras started retreating. I continued to fire as they fled hitting one in the hoof igniting his whole coat in flames. He collapsed into a trench.

“Looks like the zebras are loosing their touch,” Rori said, she reloaded her ammo in her minigun, the loud clang echoed in the empty wasteland.

“Sound off!” I yelled.

“One!” Apple Fritter yelled.

“Two!” Rori yelled.

“Three!” Silent night yelled.

“Four!” Star Charm yelled.

“Five!” Silver Spoon sounded off in a loud but firm voice. She hasn’t been to the front much. This is probably her first real action in the war.

“Apple Fritter take point, we are moving to the enemy trenches, we are about 6 miles out from skyscraper row. Celestia is only giving us a few more hours of daylight to get out of here. Let’s move out,” I commanded, well all formed up in a wedge with Apple Fritter leading the pack. We slowly moved through the wasteland and jumped down into the opposite trench and began to move throughout it. It was abandoned. No pony has set hoof in these trenches is many moons.

“Die star spawn!” A zebra charged and knocked Apple Fritter down, a loud crack came from the zebra and his left front hoof hung limp. He for sure broke his shoulder. I saw Silver Spoon run and tackle him. He quickly bucked her off and tried to escape. Star Charm than ran up the side of the wall getting around us jumping onto the back and taking him to the ground.

“You are a traitor to our kind, how dare you be a slave to a pony tyrant.”

“The only slave I see is you, you serve a Caesar who fights purely for the color of gems on his crown,” Stark Charm shoved his face into the dirt.

"I am no slave, Caesar will free these lands!” He yelled.

“Yet you serve him like the common dog,” Star Charm replies, before he could respond Star Charm snapped his neck. "Be free my brother," she got up off the fallen zebra. "Is Apple Fritter all right?" she asked walking past me to Apple Fritter.

"I'm all right. Little bugger just knocked me over," Apple Fritter replied.

"Ok ,lets keep moving, we only got about an hour till the sunsets," Once Princess Luna took over the throne she instituted marshal law and had the sunset changed from 1900 to 1700 hours. Keeps the ponies safe at night but turns the battlefield into a nighttime massacre. The bat ponies usually come out during the nights and abduct zebras from their trenches. At least the rumor goes. I don't see to many of them, I've only ever seen one and she was standing next to Princess Luna.

"Apple Fritter, let me take point this time," Rori walked squeezed past Apple Fritter. We began to walk forward. The trenches were filled with dead zebras and ponies alike. There was very little decay on their bodies. They must be the remains of the lost pony battalion. The sun started to set. There was no way we were going to make it out. I prayed to Celestia that there were no bat ponies under the shield.

"Napoleon Cake? The sun is starting to set, what should we do?" Silver Spoon asked. We can't make camp, we are in the zebra controlled trenches, they are probably going to use the night to repopulate the trenches.

"We are going to have to keep moving. Lets pick up the pace," we changed speeds from a walk to a trot. The I could tell the mud from the power armor is getting stuck in the servos of Apple Fritter's and Rori's armor. We eventually made our way to an outpost. "Search the area. You got 5 minutes to find what we can and we got to move. I walked over to a locker and opened it. It contained ammunition for a weapon I didn't have. I broke the box open next to it, I found enough bullets to refill one mag of my Zebra Rifle. I only had one spare and half of the mag that was loaded into the gun.

"Sir! You need to come see this!" Silent Night yelled from the other room. I walked towards Silent Night with Silver Spoon and Apple Fritter following close behind.

"Oh mah Celestia..." Apple Fritter whispered solemnly. Silver Spoon screamed in terror. It was a torture room. There were multiple ponies in several stages of decay. The scent of death emanated from every corner of the room. Silver Spoon ran out.

"Check the bodies and retrieve dog tags... If there are any," I took every ounce of strength not to throw up. I walked up to a pony hanging on the wall. Her body was still warm. Her coat and mane were filthy, I couldn't really see the color through the mud caked on her body. I poked her a few times and her eyes shot open screaming.

"You can't kill me you zebra motherfuckers! If I ever get out of here I'm going to rip your head off and shove my hoof down your throat."

"Woah, woah, woah. I'm not a zebra, I'm a pony!" I replied, she continued to struggle and pull against the chains.

"Easy now, we are Steel Rangers," Apple Fritter took off her helmet and visually gagged on the smell of the room. She gave me her pistol. "Please sir, get 'er down I'll be right back," Apple Fritter left the room, presumable to throw up. I shot the chains restricting her hooves. She fell to into the piss soaked mud. She then charged me knocking me on my back and began to strangle me.

"I'm not stupid, I'll never fall for such a stupid ruse. I'll kill you! I'll Kill you!" she screamed. Silent Night knocked her off me and pinned her to the ground.

"You need to calm down before, I have to put you down," Silent Night held her down and she continued to struggle. I began to cough and rub my neck. Apple Fritter punched her in the face.

"Snap out of it!" she yelled. Apple Fritter hit her too hard and knocked her unconscious. "Oops, mah bad."

"Apple Fritter," I coughed. "You knocked her out, she is now your responsibility," she snickered and picked up the mysterious mare and put her over her back. We walked back outside towards open air. I took a deep breath, the air was stale and filled with gunpowder and mud but it beat being in there. "Lets keep moving."

The sun was hanging low in the sky, the trenches from here were empty. The screams of ponies and zebra always seemed nearby but could never be found. Nothing could put my mind at ease, constantly did the screams put me on edge. Night began to set in. Once the sun was fully down, spotlights rained down on the trenches. Watch towers from the edge of the trenches were in constant search of anything moving. Occasionally a zebra would get jumpy and begin to rapidly spray targets. The screaming began louder. Luna's special forces were among us. I could see the slight glint of the black armor her elite troops wore. Then I saw them dive down dropping small bombs onto their targets. Their kind slept during the day but at night, they ruled the skies dominate zebra's, griffons and dragons alike. I heard the whistle of a bomb falling.

"Get down!" I fell to the ground, a bomb hit the outside of the trench. "Run!" We began to sprint down the narrow trench, bombs continued to rain down on us showering in mud. We then made it to another outpost. I could see the edge of the zebra trenches about 600 yards away guarded by fence. Bombs continually hit the outpost striking the doors and roof above. After what felt like an eternity, the bombs stopped. Then a group of bat ponies kicked in the door. We pointed our guns at them and theirs to us.

"Drop your weapons!" one of the masked bat ponies yelled. One of them tackled me to the ground.

"Hold you fire!" I yelled. I looked at the mask more closely, it was a blue visor that covered their eyes, but I could see a hint of the yellow eyes beneath.

"Night Guards, stand down. They are ponies. Whats your name, rank, service number and affiliation," the bat pony helped me up.

"My name is Napoleon Cake, 1st Lieutenant, service number: U4759SR, 332nd Expeditionary Battalion 3rd Company."

"My apologies sir," she saluted. "I am 1st Sargent Midnight Shine. If I may ask sir, where is your power armor?"

"It's been destroyed, it sunk in the mud once the servos blew out upon taking high caliber machine gun fire," I sighed, I sat down on the wood floor. I shuttered a bit expecting mud but i hit a solid wood floor. "Be at ease. We are moving towards the zebra command center. We've recovered one survivor no signs of pony life besides her."

"That's unfortunate, we've been hearing screams of ponies but as soon as we find the source of the screaming its already to late."

"According to 2nd Lt. Silver Spoon, an entire battalion was on a death charge as soon as the shield went up but they haven't been seen since, is there anypony else with you," I asked, I was puzzled because if the bat ponies survived I'm sure there are others.

"We have on 2 flights of Shadowbolts led by General Rainbow Dash," Midnight took off her visor, her bright yellow eyes felt like they could see through to my soul. Her bat like ears had tufted fur and she wore a sweet smile on her face.

"Wait, General Rainbow Dash is inside the dome?" I stood up.

"Yes she flew back in at the last minute, she said she couldn't leave anypony behind, but that's the Element of Loyalty for you. She said we are going to establish a forward base to attack the town center where the zebra's have fortified as their command post."

"So their's hope after all," Rori chimed in.

"Yeehaw!" Apple Fritter roared. "Whatcha waitin' for, lets go find er and take down those mother fuckers."

"Well, currently we are located here," she marked the Ministry of Awesome hub on my map. It was on the other side of the square. "As you are aware, you are here," she marked our location as the safe house. Unless you want to make a 3 day detour to try to go around this mess, I suggest we organize an pincer attack."

"I agree, its pointless to walk all the way around, more chance to get spotted and killed. We are currently heading to Stalliongrad City Mall and enter through the south," I look down at my map, we'd have a straight shot at the compound from there.

"That actually works out for us, the spotlights in the sky are on top of the mall, our flight time is restricted to the night leaving the Wonderbolts almost blind and us in short numbers. We've been picking off stragglers coming back in and stealing weapons and ammo."

"Midnight, we need to get going," one of the bat ponies said pointing at her watch.

"Alright... Here take this communicator," she gave me an earbloom. "That way we can stay in contact and monitor your position, we'll let the general know we still got ponies on the ground."

"Do you think you can take the pony we recovered? She is in no fighting shape, we found her in a torture chamber," I asked levitating the mare over to me.

"Black Wings, whats our time window?" she asked.

"We got about four hours."

"I don't see why not, we'll take her back to the MAW building. Black Wings, take the injured and let them know we are on our way back," I levitated the pony onto Black Wings, he opened the back door. Midnight put her visor back on. "I'll keep in touch, I sleep during the day so you'll only be able to talk to me at night but I'll give it to a Wonderbolt during the day if you need it."

"Thanks, I appreciate it. Good luck," I saluted.

"Thank you, I'll let you know when we make it back to the base. Night Guards! RTB!" the Night Guards ran out the door and took off into the night sky. I shut the door, we had about four hours till the sun came up so we might as well rest here.

"Alright everyone we are camping out here. We will sleep in 3 hour shifts. I want two ponies up at all time. Strength in numbers. Silver Spoon and I will take the first shift. I reached into my saddle bags and pulled out a magic heat lamp. I place a spark battery inside and watched as the device began to glow a soft orange. I placed it in the middle of the room and felt the subtle wave of heat. Everyone else was either asleep or getting ready to sleep. Apple Fritter remained in her armor. I couldn't tell if she was sleeping or not. Rori however got out of her armor and slept on the ground. Our zebra companions slept next to each other laying their heads on the stock of Silent Night's sniper. I chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Silver Spoon inched a bit closer to me.

"Oh nothing... Well it's just if I didn't know any better it's like we were all camping," I replied.

"Camping? With all our weapons and equipment?" she giggled at me. The sound of artillery fire shook the bunker we were in. The whistle was hardly audible. They were shelling close by but not enough to be worried about.

"You know sometimes I stay up at night thinking of when the war is going to end. When I get to go back home and sleep without the fear of an artillery strike or ambush," I paused for a moment. "Say Silver, where are you from?"

"I'm from a small community called Ponyville. My parents were never around and I was raised by the head maid, life wasn't the easiest but I always had my friends to count on. My best friend is stationed at Shattered Hoof Prison," I shuddered and clenched my eyes shut. I can feel the pain in my stomach as the memories of being left for dead and the continuation of the battle. I like out a quiet whimper. "Are you okay, Napoleon?"

"I'm fine... Bad memories is all."

"Have you been to Shattered Hoof?" I didn't respond. Silver Spoon wrapped her hooves around me. "My mother when she was around always said a hug makes the darkest days brights," I smiled at her.

"Silver... I was left for dead at Shattered Hoof. We'd been fighting for 3 days straight. By the end of it I was bleeding out and left for dead. I was part of Big Macintosh's squad. All of a sudden I saw a yellow Pegasus fly over and moments later, I was healed. I was able to walk again, my wounds were gone. By the time I got my bearings the battle had reset. Whatever spell healed me healed the enemy. When I got back to camp, Big Mac was shot and as the commanding officer of the squad. I was held responsible for the assassination attempt on Princess Celestia. I was demoted back to a 1st Lieutenant and then I volunteered for the Steel Ranger Program and now I'm here."

"Wow, I'm sorry... I didn't know. I know this probably doesn't make you feel better but, right before I went to Stalliongrad, I had a big fight with my best friend. The one at Shattered Hoof. The last thing she said to me was that she hope's I get my head blown off because the world is better without me..." Tears began to well up in her eyes. "But I don't blame her, she has a temper and..." I wrapped my hooves around her.

"You know, my mother told me its okay to let your guard down every once in a while and cry. Even the strongest pony cries," Silver Spoon hugged me tight and began to quietly sob. I rubbed her back. "If I can be honest, if I told that to my best friend before he left for a dangerous mission. It tear me up inside."

"Can I be honest about something?" Silver Spoon was blushing softly.

"Uh.... Sure, go ahead."

"Just in case I die, there is something I want to do first... Close you eyes if you please," I closed my eyes, I then felt the velvety soft lips of Silver Spoon. My heart felt like it stopped. Silver Spoon pulled away and I opened my eyes to a beet red Silver Spoon. "I'm sorry, please don't be mad. It was my first kiss and..."

"Shh..." I sighed. I pulled her close to me. "Let's just enjoy the moment while we have it," then I heard a snicker from the statue-like Apple Fritter. Her snicker broke into a full laugh.

"Mah Celestia, Napoleon. Did a war really need to break out in order for you to get laid," Apple Fritter chuckled.

"Wow Apple Fritter thanks for being such a team player and volunteering for the next shift. Please wake up Star Charm and stand guard," I rolled my eyes. I looked over at Silver Spoon, her face was as red as a chili. I laid my saddlebags down and offered them to Silver Spoon, she quietly accepted my gift and rested her head on them. I then scowled at Apple Fritter who just waved at me in return. I rolled my eyes again and laid down close to Silver Spoon.

"I'm so embarrassed," Silver Spoon was covering her face with her hooves.

"If it makes you feel better, you were my first kiss too..." I then turned to face the other direction. I began to drift off to sleep. Oh Celestia what have I done...

Footnote: Character Perk Added!
Perk added: Battlefield Recon: Congrats! You've reached max affinity with Silver Spoon! While traveling with her you gain a plus 2 to perception and spotted enemies will remain lit on your EFS even when out of sight.

Chapter 5: Seize the Siege