Equus: World at War

The retreating zone, a 200m diameter section of the trenches covered by corrugated steel roofing with a multicoloured, shimmering barrier of magic several meters above its surface, had taken a beating since the REAF soldiers were forced into its depths. For a few days it had been a near constant fire fight with raiding parties attempting to break in and storm it's tunnels while short-ranged cannons and mortars attempted to exhaust the magical reserves of the barrier and break through, at which point it would have been a matter of hours at most for the artillery to obliterate the soldiers within. It would destroy a large portion of the Van Hoover trench line and weaken them to further assaults, but it would be worth the price, killing the Royal soldiers, if it came down to that. The city, however, would rather capture the weapons held by the soldiers within and redistribute them to their own forces and potentially repurpose the fortified area for their own gain, however with the losses incurred by the raiding parties attempts, that seemed much less likely.

The tanks, built into the fortified system, were all but useless and destroyed so they had no idea what was occurring above them and the magical barrier protecting them from near instant death wavered and waned as its magical reserves were reaching their limit, despite the bombardment having stopped on the third day. Magical lanterns had been removed and their power given to the shield generator to maintain it, leaving the halls to go dark. Unicorns had been called to provide what magic they could to fuel the device, though the soldiers knew that it would not be much, unicorns allowed into the armed forces not allowed to have any significant magic. Despite this however the shield continued to hold. To maintain their strength to produce magic and to help guide groups through the dark passages, unicorns were provided a slightly larger portion of food to maintain their strength, not helping the underlying racial tensions that some ponies and other creatures may have had.

By the seventh day, the REAF soldiers were running low on ammunition, food and medicine, with the stress of battle and the tight confines of the corrugate sheet covered trenches causing tensions to rise as the wounded numbered in the hundreds, their calls for help sounding through the reinforced earthen passages. Though the retreat zone had been built over a canteen bunker and had contained some food, it was nowhere near enough to sustain the hundreds of mouths over the many days they were there. Eventually, the arguments were beginning to lead to in fighting, disputes over rationing of food which were never intended to be spread so thinly. Brawling occurring in the larger passages which only amounted to producing more wounded. No serious injuries except bruises and the odd broken bone, but it was still a strain on the medics. Some were surprised by how quick a soldier could become paranoid and desperate to do anything to escape, even if it meant facing the enemy and almost certain death with a few going into shock and regressing into themselves. Such had been seen before thought the war, but it was noticeably more apparent in the cramped, gruelling conditions of the covered tunnels.

The ninth day was a beacon of light that few believed would come. Tunnels, long and burrowing deep beneath the battlefield and through the rock, had been constructed by the sappers. The REAF soldiers having the chance they needed to escape as many were considering surrender, a better chance at life than starving in the darkness. Within less than an hour, the officers had devised a plan to evacuate through the small, cramped tunnels, ensuring that the wounded would be removed first and then the more able bodied. Bombs would be planted after they left and a final demolition crew would activate them, ruining the fortifications and ensuring the enemy could not claim them once they had left.

Sitting with his face in his hands, half-finished cigarette still smoking and held between two fingers, Star sat by himself at the end of a tunnel, sitting on his backpack. He'd found the dead end some time ago, having used it, along with a few others, to get a few minutes away for the screams of pain and the shouting. They had barely seen outside this practically underground tunnel network in the time they been trapped there, bar from the odd hole left by enemy's firing their muskets through the roof in a hope of killing some creature.

The stallion’s ear flicked at the sudden noise coming up the trench, sniffing the air and sitting up straight, taking another drag of his cigarette, “Star you up here?" the unicorn would here, seeing a figure stop sharply at the turning just ahead, looking around the corner.

The stallion would just make out they were Habben, a shark he'd come to know more and more recently, "Yeah it's me," the unicorn called down to them, motioning for them to come up, relaxing back against the wall as he did.

The shark waved as he walked over, leaning against a wall beside the stallion with his arms crossed over his chest. He was quiet for a few moments before finally pulling out a pack of cigarettes, bringing his lighter to bare. After several failed attempts to produce a flame, he'd sigh, glancing over to the unicorn, "can you give us a light again?" he'd ask

The stallion brought his own cigarette to his mouth, nodding. His horn lit up, smoke soon trailing from the end of the aquatic creature’s cigarette, "Thanks... again" they'd say clearing their throat.

"... you know, you don't have to do the lighter not working thing to get around to asking me for a light, just ask me outright," the stallion would comment, giving Habben a knowing look.

The shark paused for a moment before grinning, showing his rows of sharp teeth briefly, "Sorry. Just kind of feels rude asking a wizard to use their abilities on... lighting a smoke."

Star turned to them, "Wizard? I'm just a normal Unicorn, no magical education for me," he'd breath in deeply, watching the lit end of his cigarette draw closer and closer till it nearly reached the filter, burned paper and tobacco falling away as ash. The pony tossed it aside soon enough, breathing out a grey cloud.

"You've got no training... but you can do all that stuff I heard about," the shark moved his arms and shoulders as if shaking off a chill, glancing down the tunnel quickly, soon shifting closer, "stop bullets and send gryphons flying?"

Star nodded, "Just strong with magic I guess. My mom is okay with magic and got a little magic schooling but dropped out before she learned any real spells... and I know I shouldn't be here because of it but please just don't tell..."

"No hey," the shark would quickly interrupt, "I won't say a damn thing. I won’t get you in trouble for some stupid war protocols against magic. I get you should be doing the whole power company thing, but I think it's just stupid not using magic more on the frontlines," the shark clarified, "you're using it to get those fuckers. I ain't got a problem with that."

The unicorn looked up to him for a moment before nodding, leaning forwards once more, running a thumb over various cuts and blisters on his palms, "Well at least someone won't."

There was a brief silence between them, Star feeling like the shark had more to say but was pensive regarding whatever it was. It got to the point that Star was about to ask what it was, before the Habben finally spoke up, " Orange has let some other guys know what you did... well not what you did, what 'happened'. And they want to... sort you out," the shark scratched his forehead, closing his eyes tightly, unsure if he should be getting involved.

"Well, if they want to 'sort me out' they can do their best, I'm not going to be pushed around for... doing the right thing" the stallion's jaw working as he stood up at the thought of it, breathing in deeply.

The shark put a hand on the stallion’s shoulder, the pony looking like he was about to run head long into something he would regret, "Hey you… try and think of them as baiting you," the shark began.

"What do you mean so I end up throwing the first punch and they can have a right to fight back… in self defence or something?” Star suggested at first.

"No, they... look just sit down for a sec," Habben motioned him over to the backpack the pony had been sitting on, Star eventually complying. The shark knelt in front of him, talking quietly, "Look I'm not saying it is this exactly... but what if the main goal is to goad you to use magic and get you in real deep shit. That's what they want, take a beating sure but you would come off worse for it."

The stallion would stiffen, "They wouldn’t actually do that would they. That’s just a, just a threat... something like that is like… actual prison time," he'd look down and growled in anger, rubbin the side of his head.

"A unicorn lying about what he can do, then beating up several fellow soldiers with magic. At least that's what I reckon they'll do to you because it seems the smartest way for them to tear you down as much as they can. When I say he sounded pissed I mean he was ‘pissed off’. Orange was best friends with that Willow," the shark flicked his near finished cigarette to the side.

"I know, I used to always see them together. But it was the griffins that got him killed. I mean fuck we ‘all’ got hurt out there and Jinx is still recovering from his shoulder… What do I do then? Just never turn my back on them for who knows how long I'll be with them," Star looked up, "... they could get me when I sleep or... get Jacob and Jinx, I should just confront them now and try to sort this out and get them to calm down maybe."

"My advice. Take the fall. You let yourself get beat up, you get 'them' in the shit and don't use your magic. A unicorn under attack and not using his magic to fight back supports you and gets them in trouble," the shark stood up, "I think it's the only way, despite the risk," the shark looked back at the tunnel "... but that's just my suggestion... I should get going," Habben would eventually say, "just think on it before going in all guns blazing. I know he has been trying to get a few of the nasty sort on his side thought," he'd say, finally walking off and feeling at least like he'd done the right thing.

For several minute the stallion would sit at the dead end, thinking. Tapping the side of his head before swearing, glaring as he'd soon trudge his way back to the others to tell them.

********

"....that's the plan at least. Get my face kicked in and get the officers to sort them out," Star would finish.

"That's a fucking stupid plan!" Jinx would growl immediately

Jacob soon following up with, "Actually I can see that working maybe," glancing up to Jinx as he already knew what was coming.

"What are you on about, you want him to get fucking 'killed', possibly, just to get these guys off us and disprove the magic claim. And that's what they will probably do, kill you. I mean... fuck... can we even trust Habben, what if he's in on this and doing some double phsycology tricking thing, 'Dont defend yourself, be an easy target so they can kill you'. You know. Think about it, what if he is playing you," Jinx retorted.

"Look I think.... we're giving a bit too much credit to Orange if that's the case. Tricking me to use my magic is a stretch for them to come up with but still plausible. But sending someone to say they are going to trick me, to not use my magic, then banking on me not using my magic so they can 'maybe' have a chance to kill me, which I doubt he would do right he wouldn’t go that far. That seems way to complex," Star explained.

"Convoluted and having to many factors to rely on for it all to work," Jacob agreed with a small nod as he huddled closer. The pained calls and groans no longer permeating the tunnels as loudly now that most of the wounded had been safely evacuated.

"Oh, okay so you're literally going to offer yourself up to them on a silver platter so they can just fuck you up?" the larger unicorn would go on "just open arms 'come beat me I won't do nothing because I listened to a fish I sometimes smoke with."

"Fuck no, and don’t be like that on Habben! I'm just not going to use magic. I'll fucking fight back... as best I can. But the point is they start the fight, they do their thing, we get them moved to another line and now we don't have to deal with them," Star huffed, putting a hand in his cousins arm "and if they are going to go too far and kill me then I 'will' use my magic."

The other unicorn scoffed "Huh yeah and what if you don't get the chance, they just shank you at the end of that tunnel you keep having your smoke breaks in."

"Well, we are going to be there to back him up aren't we Jinx. Just to help him out. Though that somewhat invalidates the plan to a degree, as they could concoct some story of us trapping them and then... word it so we started the fight," Jacob sighed.

"By the bloody Night Mother, this is getting way too complex for us now!" Star would say, "look we are thinking too much into this. We don't know if they will try anything even, but just so we are clear, plan is if they start the fight, I'm not using magic, end off. Then we get rid of them the proper way," the unicorn finished heatedly, looking between them before finally sitting back, brow furrowed. Talking about this plan had been almost as much stress as knowing there was someone out to beat him up with a group of who knew how many.

The concern emanating off him was palpable and after a moment his two friends sighed almost simultaneously, resting back on their backpacks. Eventually Jinx spoke up, "So I got this cool thing I found the other day right. Look at this" he forced a small grin as he tried to diffuse the air, before pulling out a gold coin, dirt marring the crevices of what was imprinted in its surface. Using the edge of his long coat to clean it, the stallion displayed the coin in his hand.

Jacob lent forwards, raising a brow, Star squinting to see. Though tarnished and old the coin displayed Queen Nightmare Moon's side profile. It did appear scratched out slightly, almost like the cuts in the face were done purposefully.

"What's so special about that?" Star would ask, looking up to his cousin, Jacob equally confused.

"Yeah... well look at this," he'd turn it over to show the side profile of a crowned alicorn, though they didn't appear in the shape of the Queen they were so used to, "Yep. Its 'her'. Can you imagine that. Some bastard at the printing press not stamping the coin right and probably used like, an old coin die or something."

Star nodded soon enough, eyes wide, "Yeah actually... fuck, that's her..." the stallion would not say 'her' name, it was taboo to mention the deposed princess almost entirely.

Jacob looked up to the opening off their dugout quickly, "You know it's interesting and all, but you should get rid of it. If someone finds you with it, they'll think it's actually yours!"

"It's fine, I'm throwing it away... You know, it's weird seeing the other one," he'd say before tossing the coin to the side, crushing it into the ground with his hoof and buried it in the soil. He'd soon brush over the ground, evening it out, "I found that on the ground beneath the duckboards, just kind of sitting there. Caught my eye when I was walking is all... mmm," the stallion eventually went quiet, along with the others as several soldiers walked past.

The silence persisted till Jacob finally spoke up, "We'll be heading to the reserve trenches soon guys. Have a well-earned break and... we definitely earned it and...yeah," the human trailed off after a moment, not knowing fully what to say to lighten the mood.

Rather than let the atmosphere sink once more however, Star would give his best attempt to pull them all out of it, "Right come on guys, let's get up and take a walk around. We've got an hour to kill till we get back so let's at least look like we are doing something," the unicorn held a hand out to Jinx, helping him up off his bag before doing the same for Jacob, doing a brief double take as he looked over the human, "Where's your knife," the stallion’s hand moved up and down over his own belt, mirroring where the weapon would be on the human.

"I lost the long knife. Well not dropped it, I mean it snapped when I was using it yesterday. " the man sucked his lips in and shrugged, "Whatever I guess."

"Cheap Van Hoover crap," Jinx would soon say, "We can find you another one if you want, maybe Aspy can hook you up with something"

The human shook his head at the suggestion, "It's all good. With all the griffins that have been taken out, I'm sure there's a surplus of their things going around, I'll just jump in that que," Jacob would say, following behind Star as the unicorn lead the way out of their hole.

********

Within less than two hours they would find themselves crawling through a tunnel on their hands and knees, along with hundreds of other soldiers, beneath the battlefield and back to their trench line. It was claustrophobic and though they had been assured by the sappers that it would not collapse, they still felt like the passage was unstable and would lead to them being buried alive, feeling the rumble of shells landing far above them, tunnel shaking as if hit by an earthquake. The vibrations knocking loose dirt in the tunnel, making all silently pray that they would survive. Many would feel their bodies ache from crawling for so long, unable to follow a straight path back and having to instead crawl downwards, then along through winding passages to avoid dense stone, before finally being forced to crawl upwards at a sharp angle.

Many had discarded their armour before entering the tunnels, so they could crawl more easily and not have to carry the extra weight. The steel plating had served its purpose and had saved multiple lives. It could not exactly be deemed bullet proof as many direct shots had punctured the material, but for diverting the odd shots and greatly reducing the energy behind bullets and lead balls, it had done well. Eventually, after almost 20 minutes of crawling in the darkness, bumping into one another constantly, they would find the warm, welcoming light of a lantern, making them crawl faster, surging towards it and out into their own trenches. Given little time to catch their breath or appreciate being out of the cramped tunnels and into safety, they'd already be directed and pushed towards the backlines.

It was almost disorientating, going from the enclosed trenches to a dark tunnel and now the open air. Soldiers felt almost uneasy with the wide, open space and the evident threat of being killed by rifles or artillery once more, not that the corrugated steel did much to stop even lead shots of muskets, but it had provided some semblance of safety and protection from the outside world. As many soldiers as there had been going ‘strange’ in the steel covered trench tunnels before, there were now just as many who clung to the walls, looking up at the open sky above and feeling like the world was now too big for them, like the passages had entailed safe restrictiveness of threats only being able to attack from in front and behind, now they could be attacked from all around. Such individuals would soon enough be escorted from the battlefield if an officer’s commands would not get through to them and taken from psychological evaluation.

In little time at all, they would be filed into the more protected bunkers behind the rear lines which had been built within the hills outside of the reach of the Van Hoover artillery, concrete and steel structures, buried partially beneath the earth. Passing the first few shelters they would already see the wounded being treated, hundreds of soldiers receiving medical attention with many being treated for the more serious injuries they had sustained which had not been treated for over a week nearly.

It wasn't obviously apparent at first, but soon they would notice how much quieter it was, this far back from the frontlines. There were the echoes of artillery fire but compared to what they had grown accustomed to, it was so significantly less, especially once they had moved into the safety of the bunkers, providing many soldiers the comfort they had taken for granted at their homes in the form of cots, good lighting, warmth and food. Food which was not stale and was in plentiful supply.

Star found himself falling into the bottom cot of a bunk bed, pack and rifle still on his back, letting out a pained groan at the chance to finally relax. His joints ached and already the warmth was beginning to make him feel tired as he could feel his stomach yearning for food but felt almost too tired to get out of the cot now. He eventually looked up as the bunk above him creaked, Jacob pulling himself into it, testing his new bedding.

"Oh wow, this is actually really nice," the man would say, dropping back down to unburden himself of his equipment, sliding it alongside the bunk bed before pulling himself up once more and lay down, looking up to the metal roof some metres above him.

They could already hear the excitement of many other soldiers as they rushed into the adjacent bunker room, following the scent emanating from the food being prepared in the kitchens for all of them.

"Can you guys smell that!" Jinx looked to them both, "That's actual food! What do you think it is..." The unicorn went quiet, straining his ears to hear the conversation from soldiers already in the kitchen, "Oohoo sounds like rice, pork and beans. Damn that smells good... they're spoiling us now aren't they!" he looked back to his friends, excitement evident in his tone as he was almost bouncing at the thought of real food.

Jacob grinned, "We've earned it after a month and a bit of fighting and starving almost I’d say. I mean compared to many we’ve done way more than our allotted time on the front lines."

"But did we do anything," Star would eventually say, wiping his nose as he shifted over to look at his cousin and friend, "We've literally spent a month fighting and... dying for... for what? We didn't accomplish anything," the stallion sighed, a look of frustration crossing his face.

Detecting the sombre air about him, Jacob spoke up quickly, "Hey mate," he reached a hand down to skim Star's shoulder, "It's not a waste or anything. We got beat back sure and it's been hell for all of us,"

"A fuckin' shit show" Jinx added quickly, chewing his lip.

Jacob nodded his acknowledgement to the larger unicorn, "But we've pushed them back massively. I heard that we beat them back so fast it scared them. That has to count for something. At the very least we’ve damaged their numbers and their moral with what we did and that’s not forgetting the testing of equipment, I’m sure before long technicians will be down here and asking us for feed back."

Despite his words the stallion still lay on his side, brow furrowed as they continued rubbing their cheek absent mindedly, "We should still be out their fighting. They need us. Instead of running we should have evacuated the wounded then reinforced the position to hold it."

"Star we've done a world of good this last week already. We've earned this break and... look think about the people passing out from exhaustion the last few days. If we don't stop then we would fail anyway. Maybe they could have reinforced the position but that shield generator was the only thing making that place viable and it was already failing." he patted the stallion’s arm, glancing to the side as he'd see the Jinx's dark blue tipped tail flicking back and forth as they ran to the kitchen.

Star eventually turned look at the human, "But what was the point of it all then. Why bother sending us on that push and reinforcing that entire area if we are completely wasting it. Its kind of an insult to the people who lost their lives, allowing it to be in vain."

"Star," Jacob hopped down from his bed and sat in the edge of the stallion’s own, "I know what you're thinking because I've been thinking the same since we got back, but you just can't keep thinking about it. Push it out of your head, enjoy the next week and calm yourself. I'm telling you, when we go back out it'll be fine. You'll see. What we did wasn't a waste."

The stallion was quiet briefly, "And for the next week I'll be watching my back for Orange and whoever he's got. And you guys. What if he's after both of you too. It’s my fault they're after us."

Jacob gave a bounce of his brows, nodding in agreement, "Yeah them. Look we'll be watching each other’s backs for ages now anyway. And if they do try anything, then we will deal with them appropriately. Like you said, stick as a team we'll accomplish anything."

Taking a breath, Star would eventually close his mouth, giving Jacob a nod. Sitting up, the stallion nudged his thanks to the human "... you're right," the unicorn forced a smile, which turned genuine as his cousin came over with three bowls brimming with steaming food.

"I tell you, good thing I went when I did because that line is fucking 'huge' right now. I bet they won't have enough to feed us all hehe, we’re so hungry we will each eat for three," Jinx knelt down in front of them, passing the bowls out, "Come on, if we finish this, we'll be the first to get their fancy deserts going about." the unicorn laughed, "They really do spoil soldiers in the reserve line don't they. Hey, you know I heard some guys are planning on getting us all to have a drinks night in a couple of days. They're hoping to ask the officers if we can have a 'proper' break after what we just did, you know what I mean," the stallion grinned widely and nudged the pair with his elbows before sitting back on the floor.

For a moment, Star would forget that in a week they would be back on the frontlines once more. But he took Jacob's advice. There was no point in continuing to worry about it. What would happen would happen... like his mum would say, not stressing about a situation twice and causing needless worry. He would only then realise how much he was really missing his mum and younger brother, as well as his home. Though the conversation between Jinx and Jacob regarding some film they had watched a year back helped to take his mind of it, the stallion turning towards them fully as he began eating.