Chapters *CRACK!* *BOOM!* The low rumble of thunder and a crack of lightning invades your dreams and brings out out of your deep sleep. You open your eyes and peer around your dark room. A flash of white through your window lights up your room for a split second, then goes away. Just in time to ruin your night vision. With a groan, you roll around on your side and close your eyes in attempt to sleep again. You feel yourself drifting deeper into the the dark recesses of your mind. Suddenly, with a deafening crash, you are thrown from your bed, and into the opposite wall of your room. A loud ringing noise is the only thing you can hear. You open your eyes and see a large, gaping hole in the wall where your bed was.
You try to get up, but your being pinned to the floor by something. Something big. Your bed. And a large chunk of wall. The cool, fall air seeps into your room as you try to wiggle yourself out from under it. With a great shove, you drag yourself out from under the debris. You look over your body for any outstanding wounds. Thankfully, its nothing but a few bruises. With a deep breath of the fresh, cool air, you turn to examine your wall. It looks as if something big scratched it. A large gash perhaps. The edges of the hole is blackened from heat. A small flame flickers to your left on a small bit of wall. You stomp on it to put it out. Sticking your head out of the hole, you try to see what hit your house. The only evidence of this ever happening, is the hole in your house, and a large hole in the middle of the street. Whatever it was, seems to have deflected off of your house. With a ping of curiosity, you turn to leave your room and look at the impact.
While walking down the stairs to the first floor, your muscles begin to ache. Once you get to the landing, you stretch your legs and back. Feeling a bit better, you walk through your living room to get to the front door. Your house has never been anything special. Just home. Not fancy. Just the way you like it. The moon reflects off of the only picture you have. A picture of you and your roommate. (Who happens to be in Canterlot on a business trip.) You two have been the best of friends since about seven years old. You can only hope he's okay. After all, your country is at war. And trains get shot at all of the time. But all you can do is hope.
Unlocking the front door, (and tripping on the shoe rack) you stumble outside. Thunder rumbles again. Wait, there are no clouds for thunder. You don't think anything about it as you walk towards the gaping hole in the road. The hole is about five feet in diameter and three feet deep. There is smoke trickling out of the center of it. Most of it glows red with hot embers. Thunder rumbles even more. Looking up, the no clouds fact begins to seep in. This strikes you as odd. There is a flash of light. You look right, up the street. There is only street lamps. And left, your jaw falls open slightly with awe. Great flashes of reds, whites, blues, greens, and every other color lights up the sky in the distance. You see these colors streaking across the sky, and for not very far. These streaks are coming from opposite ends of an unused field. When the streak reaches the other end, it explodes in a huge flash. A realization hits you in the face like a train. It's a battle. Between the New Lunar Republic, and the Solar Empire. You have heard rumors from the townsfolk that the NLR has pushed the Empire back into the country, but you always thought that was impossible. You always hear on the radio about how your country is kicking the NLR's plot. But now you see through your country's lies. The battle has come home. Your home. Your village is the battlefield. Your home is the front lines.
You watch the battle in the distance for a few minutes. Suddenly, the battle doesn't seem so far away. You can see the soldiers. They're running. Running your direction. Towards your village. With a pang of fear, you bolt into your house. But, you want to see whats going on. You pull back the shades from a first floor window, and just in time to see a streak of green light fly across the sky. You watch it shoot up the street. But you will discover, it wasn't as high in the sky as you originally thought. Because just as it reaches the end of the street, it impacts the bell tower of city hall. With a flash of green, the entire roof of city hall, explodes into flame and rubble. After a minute or two, the entire building collapses in on itself. You hear the crash, and the crackling of burning wood. You begin to hear bloody battle cries and explosions. Eleven or twelve soldiers run up the street in retreat. All wearing the colors of the Solar Empire. Most of the uniforms are filthy and filled with holes. One of them carries a white flag with the insignia of the Empire. With a great scream, a bolt of blue light emits from his horn and shoots up the street. At the same moment, a streak of light grey hits him in the neck and he falls to the ground. Blood pools under the soldier. Dead.
Terrified, you run to the back of your house, throw open a trap door on the floor and throw yourself inside your unused basement. Maybe this place will protect you from the battle outside your home. The cries. The screams. They won't stop. They wont stop fighting.
All throughout the night, your house shakes and trembles with explosions outside. Battle cries and screams of pain persist for hours. Hours upon hours you hear good soldiers die in the name of their country and beliefs. During all of this, your sitting in your dark, musty basement. You have tried endlessly to find a light or match, but no luck. So, in the end, your sitting on the cold, hard floor. Listening to pointless death. You don't even know what all the fighting is about. Just Princesses Luna, and Celestia got into some huge fight about government. Ever since then, Equestria has split into a West and East side. The countries were at each-others throat for a long time. Then somepony said something to the other and all out war has been raging ever since.
None of it mattered to you, until your house was blown up, and you were forced into the basement. You hear banging on your front door, and snap of wood, then a volley of hoofsteps. You hear voices. Rough and battle hardened. Being careful not to make any noise on the cold concrete, you slowly walk to the basement door. The only way you could locate it was from a crack in the middle of the trapdoor. Somepony passes in front of the light and stands in front of it. You stand very still. Careful not to breathe too loud. There sounds like many ponies in there. "SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU!" Your heart skips a beat.
The voice is male. Probably a leader because he talks to the others like that. "Now," Begins the rough voice of the leader. "They've pushed us back this far, but we can get the advantage back from the rooftops. We can move around easily and snipe them. You two, find a way up to the rooftops. You, keep an eye out for those sun loving scum. If you see any, don't shoot unless necessary. But this time, try not to blow something up." "YES SIR!" Says another voice. This one sounded female. This comes as a shock because you didn't know girls were allowed in the army. You've always found this sexist, but that's what the Solar Empire always has done. They have tried to say it was for protection of the city. (They have an enrollment for females in guarding the royal palace, but they are not allowed to fight on the front lines.) But it seems the NLR allows this.
You try to think highly of them, but the empire always is drilling how ruthless and merciless the NLR is into everyponies head. But you know better. But it doesn't keep you from being afraid when they come blowing up your village. You would be out there now fighting them if you were only a year older. But most guys were not so lucky. They were drafted. Most don.t come home. Sad but true. There was even a memorial for all of those lost from our village being made in the town hall. Its probably rubble now. The ponies in your dining room (the room your basement trapdoor was placed), disperse to take out their various orders. Happily, even the one in front of the crack. Light streams back into the dark room. After waiting a minute, you hear nothing. You carefully climb the wooden stairs to your door. Gladly, they don't creak because you had them replaced that summer. Ever so lightly, you begin to lift up the hatch. The early morning light stings your eyes through the open door.
You can see your front door across the room. From the looks of the splintered latch, they kicked it in. You look right and see your living room from under the table and chairs. There are legs dressed in a dark blue uniform. This soldier is positioned in front of the window. Your hear more hoofsteps and to your left, you see another soldier coming down the stairs. Carefully, but quickly, you close the door and tip-toe down the stairs. "Sir, There is a patrol of them coming up the street." This is the female from earlier. Once again, you hear the rough voice, " Yes, I know. The other two are having trouble too. They cant get onto the roof from the back side. We are going to have to attack them when they pass by the house. I will go and get the others. Stay here and keep your head down." Yes Sir." She whispered. A minute later, you hear more hoofsteps coming down the stairs. Out of curiosity, you climb the steps and carefully open the door. Two of them are lined up by the front door, and the other two by the window. For the first time, you see their faces. The girl, has a bright red mane, and is slender. She looks very scared and is almost covering in the corner, but is still near the window. Ready to do her job. "On my signal, we ambush." The leader says.
He is crouching next to the girl. His face is crisscrossed with scars. His uniform is even worse for wear. The other three's uniforms are in decent condition, but his are practically rags. Barely hanging on to his shoulders. He puts his hoof in the air. The other three tense up. You see a white uniform through the window. Slowly, and carefully moving up the street. Time goes in slow motion as the leaders hoof reaches the ground. With a blood-curdling cry, two soldiers charge out through the door, and the leader breaks the window the shoot. You see a soldier on the street, jerk to the side, as if hit in the ribs. A moment later, a NLR soldier is thrown through the open doorway. He hits the railing with a sickening thud. His already dark uniform, is getting darker. He coughs hard, spraying blood. Then falls to the floor. Dead. What hit him, hit him in the chest. Probably a lung. The one that went out with him, falls to the ground outside. The leader is still screaming. Streaks of white are rapidly leaving his horn and suddenly, he stops everything. And he falls to the ground.
There is a Solar Empire soldier standing in the doorway. Horn pointed at him. You didn't even see that one shooting. But you read that the spell that is used for combat, isn't always visible. You also read that unicorns are mostly used for ground troops. Because of said spell. Anyways, his heavy body falls backwards onto the side of your sofa. And he tumbles to the ground. The girl is cowering in the corner. Hooves in the air and horn pointed up. "Don't you move a muscle!" The soldier bellows. as he steps closer to her. "Get the chains and the cover!" He yells out the door. Soon after, a short soldier runs in, carrying leg irons, and a cap to go over the horn. The way the cap works is that is absorbs all magical energy that is released into it. So if put over a horn, renders the horn useless. "Put them on her." The soldier commands. Just before he puts the cap on her, she lashes out. Kicks the short soldier in the head, sending him sprawling. She points her head down, horn aimed directly at the commander. For years to come, you will try with no success to forget the image of the commander's head being torn apart by the shot.
But, just as fast as she shot him, she is dispatched by another soldier looking in through the window. She falls to the ground next to her dead comrades. There is blood everywhere and on everything. But it doesn't seem to bother the empire's soldiers. They begin to drag the bodies out through the front door and place them on the sidewalk to be collected later. Blankets are thrown over them to cover their faces. You, are horrified. Your knees are weak as jelly. Your jaw agape. Closing the door, you wish you could unsee what you saw. Knees being weak, you loose your footing. You try to grasp the walls for balance, but they are as smooth as tile. With nothing to stop your fall, you go headlong into the stairs with a load bang. You limply roll down the last few steps. The world spinning, you begin to feel sleepy. Then, you feel nothing as you become unconscious.
Sorry if this gets too gruesome in any way. I am still new to writing.
Pain pulses through your temples. You feel as if you have just been hit by something along the lines of a full speed wagon. Groaning, you peek open your eyes. Only to close them again on account of a bring light. Shielding them from the light with your hoof, you try again. You are in a tent. A white tent. What your laying on is hard and uncomfortable. A standard military cot. Looking around the room, you see more. Dozens more. Hundreds maybe. All filled with bloody and battered ponies. Most are soldiers. Others are ponies you know.
The local flower vendor is in a cot directly adjacent to you. And many others around you. But, at least you were not injured in any other way then a bump on your hard and a traumatizing night. Others had it worse. Most of the ponies were wrapped in bandages. A tinge of red to all of them. You notice you have a bandage as well. On your head where you hit the stairs. "Oh god. My house..." You think to yourself. Your house is ruined. Images of gore and death begin to stream back to you. The commander. The other two. The girl. The poor girl. Only doing her duty to her country. And she was killed for that.
A tear streams down your face. There is a radio playing music near you. It's tuned to the classical station where you can hear all types instruments being played. The music is relaxing. You also know it was being played by the only girl you've even taken a fancy to. Octavia. She is a wonderful pony. Bright, happy, beautiful. You sigh as you think about her. You two were great friends in high school. Your only regret is not telling her how you felt before she took a job in Canterlot to play her music. You are shaken from your daydream as an official announcement is blared on the radio. "Attention Ladies and Gentlecolts!"
This is the voice of the announcer that tells you the lies that your country is winning the war. "I have a letter here from the princess stating that the mandatory recruiting age has been lowered by two years. Please report to your nearest recruiting agency. Thank you." The entire tent stays in silence for an eternity. Then crying breaks out somewhere and the tent resumes its usual sound of moans of pain and agony. Its probably a mother that was crying with the new information that yet another son is leaving for war. Knees weak, but no longer jelly, you rise from bed with a burst of pain all throughout your entire body. With a groan, you leave the tent.
The tent is located in front of the ruined city hall. Smoke still curls from the burned timber. The air smells of sick and blood. Only after you walk a few feet away from the tent, the smell dissipates. Just as you begin to walk up the street, you hear a voice call out to you. "Sir! Wait!" You turn to see a white clad nurse running up behind you. "Are you ok? You have been unconscious for most of the day. A soldier found you in your basement where we think you fell."
"Sure" You tell her. "Is it safe to go back to my home now?."
"Ah yes, your home, about that" She begins. She begins to look to the ground and seems nervous something. "Your house, shortly after they pulled you out, caught on fire. I'm sorry sir, there isn't much left." The breath from your lungs refuses to come out for the longest time. She begins to say something again, but you don't pay attention. You just turn from her, and begin the walk to your newly gone house. Your mind is blank. Even the images from the previous night aren't there. Your just in shock. Walking up the streets, you have to make zig-zags on the street cobblestone to avoid parts of your neighbors houses. You see a large black patch in the line of houses on the left side of the street. Your house is only burned though. Many houses and apartments have been completely blown away.
As in you can see the foundation, and the rest of the house is scattered all over the place. Finally, you come on to your house. Your heavy front door is still standing, but it is nearly the only thing. There is no second floor to speak of and your first floor has been reduced to smoldering ash. You look away, barely able to believe your eyes. You walk again. Up the street. Outside the city. Anywhere. But you don't want to see your house. You just stare at the ground and think about the previous night. The memory is so vivid that it is almost like your watching it again. In the cold, dark basement.
You don't even notice as your feet crunch on dead leaves that litter the outskirts of town. You even close your eyes for a moment. Just a moment. Still walking. And a single tear streams down your face. "OOF!" The wind is violently knocked out of you. You fell, but not to the ground. You fell a distance that was enough to steal your breath and leave you gasping for air. You cough violently, and open your eyes. Your in a hole, no, a trench. A hoof built trench about seven feet down into the ground. And your breath was taken probably because the bottom of the trench is lined with wooden planks and rocks. With a ping, you realize where you are. The last place you want to be. The trenches from the beginning of the battle.
In the abandoned field not far from the village. You pull yourself to your hooves and begin to walk up the earthen hallway. There are small rooms build right into the walls. Most containing cots or kitchens. You come by a medic room. You don't even want to look because of the repulsive smell and the large amount of flies coming and going from the small room. The buzzing sounds like static from the radio. But, you just keep walking. Not long after, you come across a section that was just a huge crater in the ground. Like a large chunk had been cut out. Climbing the side of the trench, you can see lots of these craters. Looking right, you see your village. Seems you are on the front lines of the temporary trench warfare. Getting down, you walk backwards to try to leap across the gap, only to loose your footing and fall over again. At least this time you landed on your plot. And there is something that catches your interest. Between your hind legs, is a small booklet. Twine and cardboard bound. You pick up the small book. It is very thick. Flipping through the pages, just about all of the pages are written on. You turn to the front cover and look for a name.
"Property of Pvt. Cloud Dasher. 3rd Regiment of the 56th Infantry Battalion. NLR. Please Return If Found." Intrigued, you read more. "Entry 1, 5/7/10."
I don't like this chapter. Next one will be better!
Well, here I am again. And on a bus. A bus sent to my home to take me and make me into a soldier and to teach me how to kill. By the sounds of things, because I'm a unicorn, I will do the majority of fighting. I guess you are taught a few spells, some hoof to hoof combat, and are shipped out. I asked the bus driver how long it would be until I am shipped out, and he said about a month. I am going to be honest, I'm afraid. And I can tell all of the others are too. There is even one girl in the back crying. Nopony is talking. Most just staring out of the window. But, anyways, I have been officially drafted. I have been on the bus for about two hours now and we have only been picking ponies up. Boredom has forced me to write in this.
And it was pure chance that I brought it anyways. I happened to knock it off of my bedside table as I was packing my suitcase. I got somebody to house-sit for me. And it seems we are pulling up in front of where we are suppose to be. All you can really see from my seat is a tall fence with barbed wire curling around the top. I think is the most menacing place I have ever seen. I see some recruits behind it practicing hoof to hoof combat. It looks like they are beating each-other so hard they are bleeding in various places. But, it is my turn to get off. be back soon.
Well, I'm back and I am more tired than I have ever been in my entire life. We went on the beginner obstacle course. It was a long course that included lots of climbing and a mile run. We had to climb upside down and swim against a torrent of freezing water. Also crawl under barbed wire with soldiers casting various spells above are head. But lets start when I got off of the bus. It was raining lightly and we ran inside with all of our luggage. We were told to put our luggage in a small room then come to a different building. The building looked like a large cafeteria and we all look our seats.
Shortly after, a soldier in full uniform came out of a back entrance and yelled at us for an hour about our duties to our country, how we are to live whilst we are here, and what is expected of us. He also said something about various punishments if we do not follow orders. I think he was just trying to scare us, but i wouldn't doubt he would make us do it. Then we did the whole obstacle course thing. And now here I am. Laying on my bunk in a room with at least a hundred different ponies. All of various races and they seem to not like it too well for some reason.
Somepony said something about how we should be segregated to our professions. As in, put all of the different ponies, with others that will do the same thing as them. Most think it is a good idea, but I'm staying out of it. I just think it will all blow over soon and everypony will just settle down together. It's all just confusion and whining. But anyways, I'm just going to try to get some sleep now. I hope everypony else will do that same. Especially the pegasus that keeps flying around the room and bumping the bed. But, goodnight.
-Cloud Chaser. Soldier Trainee.
My plan is working!
"Hmmmm, this could be interesting to read! But I don't know if I could return it to the owner because he is a member of the NLR...." You think to yourself. The journal has temporarily distracted you from the current matters that need to be dealt with. Like finding a place to stay, food, repairing the town. Things like that. Rising to your hooves, you begin to go back the way you came. You have decided to take the book with you to read later. Looking at the village for a distance, really shows how bad the damage really is. There are houses that are just rubble now. On the far side of the village there seems to be a fire still going. But you decide to head home and look for anything you can salvage.
On the way there you end up having to go around many large and deep holes in the ground. Much like the one in front of your house from the night before. Only deeper because these ones didn't have thick cobblestones to go through. You feel sad when you finally come to the front of your house. There isn't much to see anymore. But, you look for belongings anyways. When lifting a piece of flame blackened timber, you find the photo of you and your roommate.
The golden frame is black with soot and a corner of the photo is burned. But most of it is okay. You can still clearly see who is in the picture. You set it next to your front door so you can take it with you later. It has become to get cloudy and the temperature has dropped. You shiver as you keep going through the remains of your house. Your legs are covered to the knee with black soot. There isn't a thing in your house that hasn't been fire damaged. Besides your picture, the only things that you have found that have survived the fire are some pots and pans, and a shoulder bag. One of the two straps on the shoulder bag has been burned, but it has broken luckily. You found that in the basement where there wasn't much to burn. Probably the only reason it was burned in the first place was that part of the floor had collapsed in.
After a few more hours of searching, you had fortunately come across a small safe you had kept in a kitchen cabinet and it didn't have fire damage to it. In the safe you had always kept a few bits in case of an emergency. Spinning the lock and opening the safe, you take out a small, milky white envelope. Inside it is about thirty small silver coins. They had been given to you from the government in return for your older currency. The Solar Empire had changed their currency only once so far. Now in the front of the coin bares the seal of the Solar Empire Military. And the back, an outline of Princess Celestia.
There are four of these envelopes filled with similar amounts in the safe. Putting the envelope back and closing the safe, you begin to pack up. You place the safe, the picture, and the journal in your shoulder bag. Wrapping the bag around your shoulder and neck, you begin to head towards the nearest inn. You can't seem to remember the name of the inn, but you know where it is. It is about seven blocks away and after ten minutes of walking, you come to the door. There are boards in front of one of the two windows on either side of the door. Shards of glass cover the road in front of that window. You push the door open and walk inside.
There are a few families with luggage, and some with none, sitting in the lobby. The pony behind the desk was giving the families room keys. Free of charge. He throws one your way and it lands in the blue carpet in front of you. You look at the tag. Room 12. You pick up the key and head down the long hallway to your room. Turning the key in the lock, you head inside. The room is pitch black. You feel the wall for a light switch, and after finding it, nothing happens when you flip it. The power had gone out. Walking farther into the room slowly, you nearly slip on something round.
A flashlight. You flip the lever on the cylinder and a beam of yellow light fills the room. There is one small bed, a bathroom, and a writing desk. You set the flashlight on the desk, and your bag next to the bed. You bend the metal shades in front of your window and peer out. It has gotten dark quickly. And after all of that searching, you feel exhausted. After washing your hooves in the shower, you lay down to go to sleep. After you toss and turn for a while, you decide your thinking too much to be able to rest. An idea hits you. You move the flashlight onto the top of your bed and take take out the small journal you found that afternoon. "Entry 3, 5/23/10...."
Over a week has passed and there are rumors that we may be shipped out soon. Yesterday, I learned a basic spell with enough force behind it to blow an entire wall apart! And another for close quarter combat. We have only used that one on training dummies. They are dressed in Solar Empire uniforms and many have been torn limb from limb. I really hope those aren't conventional spells. Because I never want to see that actually being used on a living thing. Ever. There are many ponies here that cant wait to get into the fighting and combat. Most of the hate and lust for violence are from the NLR propaganda films they have us watch every Tuesday and Thursday.
The films are just of the wrongdoings of the Solar Empire and the greatness of the NLR. Most of this stuff sounds like it just came out of an old book written about the last war. And the other ponies, terrified. A few of them even refuse to use the spells! Those ponies often are put to work in something non-violent. Like hauling crates or cleaning toilets. Personally, I am in between. I am a passive-aggressive sort of pony and will defend myself if I need to.
But I do not believe in violence on this scale. But If I am needed to protect my country and fellow soldiers, I will do so. No matter the consequences. But either way, I am afraid for my own life too. I don't want to seem like a soldier ready to die at any time. Because I am not. Anyways, the soldiers are working together finally. We will soon get our units and our duties. Here, the pegasi are mostly used for messages and dropping large explosives. The earth ponies are trained how to use a rifle, and we use mostly spells. Watching an earth pony use a rifle is an interesting thing. The ammunition isn't like the stuff normally used in firearms. They emit a bolt of light, much like the long range spell we were taught today. The blue shimmer of light can go about 400 yards without wind resistance. There are larger ones too. Ones that shoot beams of light grey light over 800 yards and have a large scope on them. I assume they are sniper rifles. The earth ponies are the ones the Solar Empire should really be afraid of.
One second, there is an announcement coming over the intercom.
Oh my.... We are being shipped out in three days and have to report to the cafeteria for a briefing.... I will write in here later. With any luck, it is a false alarm because most of us aren't fully trained yet. Well, hooves crossed! Bye!
This chapter is just something to take up space. There will be a bigger chapter out soon. And ideas appropriate to the story that you may like to have incorporated into the story, please PM them to me and I may add them! Thanks!
My name is Cloud Dasher. I was given this book by my mother shortly after she learned about the Equestrian War. She came to me in tears and gave me this, because after she was told of the war, she was told of the draft. My 18th birthday was about two weeks ago, and just in time for the draft to find me. I am being drafted by the newly established "New Lunar Republic". As far as I can tell, the country was split in half evenly. About 50 miles from my rural house is the border. It is constantly guarded by soldiers on both sides. Although the countries are at war, there hasn't been any fighting yet. I think the princesses are waiting for the other to make the first move.
I have heard from a good friend on the other side of the border, and he says the new "Solar Empire" is drafting males like no tomorrow, but leaving the mothers, wives, and children. He recently got his draft notice too. I'm afraid that I will have to fight him. I really hope I don't, but for some reason I know I will. And one of us will probably die. We already discussed this and we already apologized to each other and agreed to do just as we are told. But we both hope the time will never come. Anyways, I have my notice sitting in front of me.
It is grey paper with a lot of small print writing that only tells me where I need to go and what's expected of me. In the bottom right corner there is a golden seal that has the imprint of "New Lunar Republic" in fancy lettering. And at the middle bottom there is a place for my signature and under it is the signature of the drafting agent. And in even smaller writing, (had to use a magnifying glass to see this) under the place for my signature is a tiny line. "Failure to comply will result in 10 years in a federal prison." So I kill ponies, or go to jail for ten years. This is a hard choice.... But I'm going to sign it and become property of the New Lunar Republic. Hold on for a second so I can put this in the mailbox.
Okay, back. I already feel as if my time is coming to an end. There was one war that I can think of that happened before. But that was over race... Nothing like this has ever happened before and nopony knows what to expect. Have to go now. Things have to be done on the farm. I expect the army to come and get me soon after the letter is delivered. By then i should be packed. I will need somepony to house-sit for me. I think I can get my parents or a relative to do it. But, for now, goodbye.
-Cloud Chaser. New soldier in the New Lunar Republic army.
I know it's short, but it gives me a chance to write during the week.
