Equus: World at War

Day turned to night, the moon forced ever higher into the sky, struggling to rise for a moment, till it came to its highest point, only half of its face showing, doing its best to illuminate the warzone around Van Hoover. It was colder tonight than before, the wind channelled through the many trenches in front of the city. The soldiers would begin to shiver as the temperature dropped low, forcing them to pull their thick woollen clothing tighter around them. Extremities grew numb as the night pressed on, many having to spend time to take breaks and warm themselves, alternating guard shifts, to ensure they could at least fight if the time were to arise.

The Diamond Dog sappers had performed their duties diligently and had used the earth and what clay they had found deeper in the ground to form their barrier, cordoning off a large area of the enemies’ trenches in a two hundred metre circle around their original entry point. The Van Hoover trenches looked hastily built, their bunkers constructed with wooden supports and bays were far straighter and wider than what had been constructed in the New Equestrian trenches. Even the ground was bereft of boards, forcing soldiers to trudge through the muddy troughs of the ditches. They had received word that yet more REAF soldiers would be deployed, due to the success off the 95th regiments attack on the Van Hoover line, with the potential of large gun emplacements as well to further fortify the area. But for now, it was just the few tanks they had and the four hundred or so other soldiers. It was still too few.

Star sat, back against Jacob as they tried to keep warm and share some level of body heat between each other, eating their rations, which were something akin to dried bread with an assortment of vegetables and beef baked inside. A sachet of mustard and pepper powder went with the bread to give some level of flavour to the otherwise bland food. He would feel sorry for Jacob, his bread seeming to be lacking meat, instead having been replaced with bitter tasting mushrooms. The human making a face as he ate, though he would finish it... there being little else to eat besides the hard tack-like biscuits in their packs.

They could see Jinx at his post, breathing on his hands to warm them up, rubbing them together every so often as he tried to ward off the chill settling into his fingers. It was still so deathly quiet in their area; no gunfire having sounded since the barricades were erected by the sappers and to some it almost felt as if there might not be any war being waged. It would have, at least, if the sounds of cannon firing off in the distance could not be heard on occasion. Restless spirits amongst the soldiers wanted to push on and take advantage of the enemy’s retreat, claim more of their territory or perhaps even punch through to the city though they were silenced soon enough. They had been ordered to guard the position for a reason... and what would a few hundred men do anyway, take on the who knew how many thousands that were behind its walls, just storm up to its gates and knock them down. Despite the unease it was safest for them to stay where they were.

Hours seemed to pass as such, the soldiers swapping positions with each other, taking over shifts. Besides the small talk, to pass the time, nothing happened but the whistling wind and the constant desire for the morning to come.

An almost imperceptible noise was caught on the wind, just barely heard by several soldiers within the trench. Jacob would only notice when he glanced up, seeing the ears of several stallions on end, turning left and right, "What's going on?" the man would whisper, eyes flickering between them as the group strained their hearing, one turning sharply at a sound they heard, motioning with his hand in the general direction of the noise.

There was yet more silence, leaving them all unnerved as finally one of the stallions waved his arm to get their attention, signalling for them to watch him as he moved down to the junction, rifle raised. Every step he took sounded loud on the wooden planks of the duck boards as they waited with bated breath.

The stallion stopped, aiming his weapon down each of the turnings before looking back to the others. Just as he was about to return, he did a double take down one of the turnings, soon enough rushing back to the others as quietly and quickly as he could manage, hooves clopping as he moved.

"What is it!? Fuck Willow, what did you see?" Jinx shook the other stallion’s arm.

"There was kind... three of them... or four… stabbing someone and covering their mouth. I... I don't think they saw me," he'd say as he gulped, "What are we going to do?"

“You sure that’s what happened, like, are you positive?” Jinx would quickly ask.

“I know what I saw Jinx, they were stabbing his neck and pulling him into one of the dugouts!” Willow whispered back harshly, pulling their rifle up to their shoulder.

A load bang to their side sounded, the group turning to see Star had fired into the air, unicorn reloading immediately before firing again, "ATTACKERS IN THE TRENCHES!! THEY'RE IN THE TRENCHES!" the unicorn called out loudly as he loaded another round.

Orange grabbing Star’s weapon sharply and pulled it to the side, shot firing into the earthen wall, making them all jump once more in shock, "You fucking idiot, now they'll come for us! We could have snuck away!", the stallion grabbed Star by his collar and shoved him to the ground.

Star wrenched his rifle free and pulled himself up quickly, "And you want to let everyone die without knowing... We would be sitting here waiting whilst who knew how many could get killed! Now get yourself ready!" he loaded another round, firing into the air once more.

The other soldier pulled away, angered and ready to fight the stallion on the decision before Jinx stood in the way, merely saying, “Don’t,” which was warning enough.

"Get your bayonets on," Jacob called to them quickly, already pulling the short dagger from his side, affixing it to the end of his own weapon.

Already the sounds of gunfire could be heard within the other trenches, lights flickering here and there and similar warnings of raiders were shouted out, some cut off before they had finished. It was more than the one group of raiders then. Occasionally they heard sharp cries like those of birds, sounding out over the gunfire, screeching and filled with the rage of war.

They'd hear a scuffing noise to their right, looking up to see large feather wings blocking the moon out briefly, opened wide, as a griffin descended upon them from the edge of the trench, plunging their spear down and into Jinx's shoulder, landing atop them and pinned them to the ground.

"JINX!" Star called out, turning immediately to the side as he finished loading, firing at the attacker. There was a brief spark as bullet tore open the griffin’s steel breastplate, sending the creature back a step. They would squawk loudly in pain, ripping their spear out of the large unicorn beneath them before rushing at Star, pushing past the pain as blood poured from their chest. Orange Jam suddenly tackled them from their, taking down the attacker as they reared their weapon back to thrust at the unicorn. The young stallion struggled on the griffin, stabbing with their knife, blade skidding off the attackers armour several times before finally plunging in their neck.

Already another pair of griffins jumped down into the trench, Jinx rolling to the side as another aimed for him, spear piercing the bloody floorboards where he'd lay only moments before. The other landed atop willow, slamming the stallion’s head back against one of the wooden columns supporting the trench wall. Pulling back, the griffin slashed at the stallion’s face with their arming sword, the pony only just raising his arm in time to protect himself, though the blade cut almost cleanly through his wrist and through the bone.

The attacker suddenly arched their back as a stout blade was buried into their side, underneath rim of his breastplate. Looking back the griffin saw a human had stabbed him, the man immediately pulling the blade partially out, angling it upwards then thrust it in once more, blood spilling from their side. Jacob gritted his teeth and pulled away, watching as the griffin fell atop Willow, stallion doing his best to stab the dying creature on him as he bled out himself from his near severed hand, fighting through the pain.

The remaining griffin did their best to retrieve spear from the wooden floor, eventually giving up as he heard a call from his side, turning to see a large unicorn rushing towards him with a club, the weapon cracking them across the end of his back, sending him to the ground where he was further battered by the stallion. All he could do was curl up to protect himself and struggle to reach for his dagger as the onslaught continued from the unicorn.

Star, would soon rush over to his cousin, gently pushing him to the side as he pressed the end of his rifle to the griffin’s head and fired, killing them quickly. Already more were coming to attack them, similarly, using spears as they charged at them from the end of the trench, rather than leaping over the parapets.

"Get up!" Star called to the others of his group as his horn lit up brightly, soon sending a wave of force down the line, throwing the attackers back several metres to land atop each other, buying the group time to ready themselves for the charging griffins.

Jacob grasped for his rifle on the ground before rushing to Willow who limply lay back against the wall, dead griffin lying atop him, "Shit he's dead guys!" he called back, raising his rifle and firing at the griffins trying to stand.

Jinx still held his bleeding shoulder, but despite the pain, helped Orange up, soon handing the stallion their rifle, "I'll batter them if they get close guys so… you know," the muscular unicorn would say as he retrieved his club, panting somewhat as he tried to ignore the lancing pain as blood poured out of the deep stab wound.

The griffins would move into what cover they could find as Star, Jacob and Orange fired down the trench bays at them, bullets punching through the earthen walls but not seeming to hit their marks. On occasion, two of the griffins would take the chance to fire back, their crossbows letting out hard snaps as they were fired, bolts embedding close to the REAF soldiers but likewise, not hitting their target. They hoped to hold out till reinforcements arrived, but after minutes it was apparent none was coming.

Finally, one griffin flew several metres up into the air before sharply diving towards them, hurling their spear which missed Jacob by inches as the man fell backwards, weapon burying into the wooden duckboards. In an instant, the griffin was felled by two shots hat took them out of the air, sending him crashing into the edge of the trench before landing on the ground. It was however the distraction they needed and soon the rest of the raiding party stormed towards them, some flying up, others rushing headlong down the trench with swords and bucklers in hand.

As several more spears were thrown, Star quickly used his magic to send out another wave of force, blasting the weapons backwards through the air. He took in a deep breath as the griffins were soon upon them, unable to muster another wave of magic in time. Star would save his round for the moment, instead thrusting at one’s neck, rifle being knocked aside immediately in a skilled parry as he'd soon see the griffin bringing down his sword to cut at the stallion’s arm. The unicorn instinctively raised his weapon to block, arming sword cutting into the wooden stock momentarily before a bullet to the chest sent them back.

Orange, having aimed across at the attacker on Star, quickly turned to a griffin rushing at him him. The griffin went for high attack, feinting as they'd instead thrust towards the pony’s leg, blade cutting through the side of the stallion’s thigh, dropping him to the ground. Just before he'd received the sharp tip of the sword to his throat, finishing him there, Jinx brought his club down on the griffin’s hand, breaking several fingers and forcing them to drop their arming sword. The griffin looked to the side in pain and shock at the sudden strike from the side, finding the club being brought up quickly to crack across the underside of their jaw, sending them backwards onto the ground, knocked out cold. The Jinx pulled Orange up to his hooves immediately, calling out to him over the fighting, "Keep shooting, I've got you!"

Star could see they were outnumbered by the attackers who were evidently much more skilled in close combat compared to them. In an effort to save Jacob, Star would suddenly find himself shoved backwards by his throat and onto the ground, a griffin leaping atop him instantly, talons closing around the unicorn’s throat tightly, slamming his head against the ground.

Star tried to pry the hands off his throat, though they'd only grow tighter, his legs kicking out to the side as the griffin adjusted themselves atop him, pinning his legs before he could use them to break free. Already Star would begin to see white and black dots flickering at the edge of his vision as his fingers slipped into the knuckle duster like handle of his dagger, pulling it out and punched it across the raiders face. Before they could pull away, Star grabbed hold of their collar and pulled them into a second punch, cracking the side of their beak from the force of the blow. He'd drive the blade into their neck repeatedly as the griffin feebly attempted to break free of the pony’s grasp, blood spurting from the open wound and over the stallion’s hand and face, but eventually they would fall to the side, hands desperately trying to cover the wound, red rivulets seeping between his fingers.

Gasping, Star crawled away, hands running across the floor to find his firearm, instead coming up some creature’s leg. Looking up he’d see himself at the side of one of the attackers who struggled with Jacob, trying to stab the human with a long dagger. Within a split-second Star realized and buried his own blade into the back of their thigh, twisting the weapon in before hanging on the attackers arm as best he could to stop his friend being stabbed, head dazed and body feeling heavy as he struggled to help. The human would eventually wrestle himself free with the unicorn’s help and shove the griffin back, using his short sword to hack at their weapon arm and finally across their face.

They would eventually fall to the ground, dead from the numerous deep gashes across their face, Jacob looking up with a mix of confusion and wild anger as Star grabbed his arm. The human was about to attack him too in his almost feral like state, before looking up as Jinx cracked his club over the head of the last griffin, watching as the weapon slipped from the other unicorn’s hand and skittering across the ground. Jinx eventually resorted to his hooves, stamping on the fallen griffin’s hands as they tried to reach for their sword. In a last effort, Orange pulled himself over and stabbed the end of his bayonet into the griffin, pinning them down momentarily as they thrashed before finally going still.

The earth pony almost fell atop the corpse in exhaustion as Jinx moved back against the wall. He gasped loudly for breath, holding onto the support beam at his side as he looked over to Jacob in a similar state of adrenalin filled ferality. The four of them would stay in the trench, trying to gather themselves after the manic battle they'd just had, Star looking about as he rubbed his bruised throat, eventually catching sight of willow and crawled to them, prying the body off them, "Willow!? Willow wake up mate... you got to wake up... you hear me... come on!" the unicorn's voice came out forced and strained as he shook the other stallion, holding onto their face as he put his fingers to their neck, searching but not able to find a pulse.

"Shit I can't feel his heart guys what... what are you supposed to do, its chest compressions right you..." Star coughed as he tried to talk, looking up to Jacob who, having calmed down enough to think rationally once more, pulled Star back.

"I... he's dead he's... look at him!" the man said for better lack of words, Star turning back to see the sheer quantity of blood that had leaked from the wound on their throat, face already appearing pale from the lack of blood.

Despite the obvious signs, the stallion still tried to wake them up for a few moments more before finally conceding, the others letting him do his best and not stopping him. When he finally turned back, he'd watch as Orange bandaged up his thigh, Jacob having retrieved his rifle, keeping guard, whilst his cousin pressed a bandage roll into his shoulder. "You...", Star gulped, pushing himself to talk louder, "We need to find...others. Let’s leave this and…" he eventually managed.

Jinx nodded "Fuck holding this position now is pointless, we’ve got to group together so we don't lose everyone..." without another word, the unicorn took the lead, picking his rifle up, holding it against his chest as he used his coat to wipe off the blood on his club's handle. The four of them moved as a tight group, constantly looking up at the distant sounds of gunshots that could be heard further on. Who knew how many griffins had been sent to clear them from the trenches, there could practically be hundreds maybe even a thousand or more. They would have made sure to send a sufficient force to push them out as quickly as possible. The group stopped at the sudden cries of pain at a junction ahead, going low.

"Shit... I... help... help... some… I..." the voice called, coughing wetly as movement could be heard for a few seconds before it went completely quiet. Orange would be first to move around the corner, aiming their rifle at roughly chest height before snapping it down to the pony huddled on the ground. It took them a second to recognise the uniform as one of their own regiment.

As he reached down to the soldier's arm, he'd hear a quiet noise, like rope creaking off to the side. Immediately he pulled back as a flurry of crossbow bolts were released down the length of the trench, one grazing his upper arm, cutting through his jacket and flesh. The Earth pony fell backwards, clutching his arm as it bled, "To the right, to the right!" he called to the others, Jacob taking action and moved to the corner, firing down at the griffins who had laid in ambush, hearing one cry out in pain as he moved back into cover.

"There's four or five" Jacob called back, to the others as he could already hear them moving up, blindly firing around the corner in an effort to delay them. Pulling Orange back into safety, Star would move up, taking a breath before creating a blue shield of force, a crossbow bolt aimed at the stallion stopping upon impacting the light. With some effort he'd both maintain his magical protection and grab one of the griffins in his aura, slamming them left and right into the other attackers, throwing them back against another about to fire their crossbow, knocking their bolt off course. The unicorn breathed out heavily at the exertion, aiming his rifle and firing at one beginning to rise, Jacob moving out to do the same. Already the last few griffins began pulling themselves up before being slammed down onto the ground hard, pinned with blue, magical energy that encompassed them. Together the unicorn and human finished them off, firing at the remaining four griffins that struggled hard to break free, each eventually going still. The exertion was enough to dizzy the stallion however and as the last was killed, he would finally support himself against a wall.

"Star you've got to ease up on the magic or we'll have to be carrying you out of here and none of us can manage that," Jacob would whisper to the unicorn quickly, taking the stallion’s arm.

Star pushed them away quickly and forced himself to stand up as if to prove his point, "Leave me I'm still going," he would say somewhat angrily as he felt a migraine already beginning to form around the base of his horn.

He'd look back to see Orange glaring at him somewhat before looking down, earth pony shaking his head, "Give me a hand Jinx," they'd say, the big stallion helping Orange up soon enough.

Star huffed but would say nothing at the glare he’d received, leading the way as best he could through the winding passages till they stopped immediately in a bay, a voice shouting out to them.

"Stop there!" a voice commanded from behind a barricade, the inner ring of fortifications, which marked the assigned fall-back point, "Stay back and identify yourselves!"

"We're with the Queens' army, 95th regiment s..." Jacob managed before being interrupted by whoever was hidden behind the wall, "Jinx is that you back there?"

Jinx looked up with surprise, quickly raising his hand up, "It's me, let us in before we get killed out here!" the unicorn called to the guards hidden behind the barricade, adjusting his arm around Orange as the earth pony's head nodded forwards briefly, legs giving out beneath them. They were too weak to go on much longer.

Within seconds part of the wooden blockade would be pulled open, giving enough room for them to squeeze inside, "Come on quickly before more of those bastards arrive!" one of the guards would say, gently pushing them into the safety of their retreat zone.

Inside, the four soldier would soon find themselves in the shelter of the fall-back point, which had received extensive work to cover the trenches in thick corrugated steel sheeting, forming a roof of sorts, over a large portion of the trenches. The magical field of energy protected them from artillery, but it was the steel sheeting that would protect them from attacks by the raiders. Gas lanterns had been hung from the walls to provide light in the darkened tunnels they now moved through. Wounded soldiers were already inside and the four of them were pushed in deeper, as yet more arrived through the same door as they had. They eventually took shelter in an expanded dugout, a wider area having been cleared for all of them to huddle together, allowing the main walkways to be clear and not be blocked by soldiers sitting in the way of the passages.

********

"You killed him?" Orange eventually spoke up, looking somewhat delirious but holding a glare towards Star as he spoke.

"What? What are you talking about?" the unicorn asked, shaking his head with bewilderment at the sudden statement from the Earth pony.

"I said," Orange raised his voice, "You killed him! It’s your fault Willow is dead now because you had to make shout and shoot and scream you head off to let all of them know!" he pointed his shaky hand at Star as he gritted his teeth, squinting and trying to stay awake.

Jinx looked between them both before moving in front of Orange partially, "Woah hey let’s just calm down there a second, we were going to di-"

Star looked at him incredulous, leaning forwards, "Wait 'I' killed him!? Me... What are you even on about? If this is about me alerting everyone we were being attacked then look, I'm sorry... I'm sorry they got to him but there would probably be a whole lot more of us dead right now and chances are we could all be dead as well."

"Yeah but you just went ahead and didn't even confirm it with any of us, just decided to start firing off in the air like a fucking bastard!... You could have saved him but you didn't did you. Able to do all that fancy crap with your magic. You lied to get here! Why didn't you use it to save him! You betray all of us and you betray New Equestria by being here with your magic!" Orange retorted venomously.

"Look it happened in an instant right, I didn't have time to react and I couldn't do much of anything when I was being strangled! And are you shitting me, I was the one who kept trying to save him at the end there while you sat back and sorted yourself out..." Star snapped back at them, leaning in closer
.
Jacob shoved both of them back quickly, "Shut up both of you, we are starting to get looked at," he'd whisper harshly, "I think Star did the right thing back there, because right now all of us would probably dead, but instead we are alive. You get that Orange. So just leave it. Willow is dead and... tomorrow we will try and bury him if we can but there's nothing more to say about it... this is what we signed up for and what’s happened, happened."

Orange shook his head, "Doesn't explain why he didn't try to-to heal him with his magic or why the 'fuck' he's even allowed in the army in the first place! He probably hated Willow because of what he said about unicorns and ‘wanted him to get killed… oh yeah I see it now! You went and let him get killed didn’t you. Why would you guys even be with this fucking cunt, what fucks wrong with you two!" he directed at Jacob and Jinx finally, "What the hell!?"

Jinx finally spoke up "Look... it is what is so leave it at that alright Orange you don't have to cause... "

"Problems, you know what I'll cause fucking problems, I'm going to tell the officers right now you've been hiding his magic all this time. It'll serve you all right for getting Willow killed! All of you arrested and fucked over, maybe they’ll toss you out of this place so the griffin’s can have you," the Earth pony pushed himself up into a standing position, shoving Star by his head as he moved past, though the unicorn did nothing in retaliation, only staring at the ground.

Jacob spoke up finally, before the stallion could leave, "You say anything and... we'll all testify that you knew too then."

"You what? What did you just fucking say?" Orange leaned towards the human, towering over them as he clenched his fists. Despite how weak he was, he was still strong enough to give a fight, or worse, might try to use his weapons even.

"You tell on Star and we'll bring you down with us," Jinx stood up, at near equal height to the other stallion, "So just keep your mouth shut or you'll be going to prison as well, hell we'll spin it that you knew it first and have known for the last year or something. Now go on, stay quiet about it, or your life is going to be real fucking shit! You don't get your family pay if you go to prison. Right Jacob?" the human nodded after a moment, "Then-then you better think... about how your dad's going to survive without it" Jinx finished off his threat, breathing in before nodding finally.

Looking absolutely shocked the stallion would even bring his family into the matter, Orange grabbed hold of Jinx's collar, eyes blazing in anger, "Don't..." his eye twitched as his face scrunched up, trying to hold back his rage, finally shoving the unicorn against the wall, knocking loose earth onto the ground. He lifted his arm up, knuckles white they were clenched so tightly before punching the metal roof above his head, leaving a dent in the steel and popping the metal panel loose from its connection on the trench parapets. Without another word Orange stormed off, seething.

Star looked up as his cousin let out the breath he'd been holding back, seeming to deflate almost, "Thanks... guys... but if he ‘does’ go there and say something then don't get yourself into trouble for me, just deny knowing it alright. And he’s right, it is my fault that Willow is dead I know that."

"Fuck no, we'll go with you if they take you out of here Star," the grey unicorn would say, putting a hand on his cousin’s shoulder, "Your family, I'm not letting him break us up."

Jacob shifted in closer, "And I'm your friend, Orange has always been a bastard. We are in a war, people die every day... if you hadn't taken action there could be who knows how many less of us in here... this bunker might be completely empty even."

"... yeah I guess... thanks guys, but still... you guys shouldn't get screwed over for me lying. Please... just deny knowing. Jinx you need to get your pay for our family so... it affects us as much as it affects him," the unicorn motioned his head in the direction the Earth pony had gone. They remained in their hole for hours, the battle outside waging on till morning. They could only sit and wonder, would the enemy bomb them first, or would they manage to get their reinforcements in time and escape. Did their lines even know that they were trapped in a metal covered hole, would they even risk more soldiers in an attempt to rescue them.