Raising the rifle at a stationary target, he slowly squeezed his finger back. The amalgamation of wood and steel screamed to life as it fired off its rounds. Blood burst out forth from a soldier as the projectiles ripped through his right shoulder, then his lower thigh. With the sudden attack, many fell over one another as they ducked for cover. One Russian grabbed his wounded comrade and pulled him along the ground, a blood trail leaving in his wake. Yelling rang out from the town as the forces slowly scraped themselves together for defensive positions. Rigdon quickly bent back and hid behind some cover.

Twilight’s horn lit up slightly as she channeled some energy. A couple of sparks flew off as she concentrated the spell. When she finally finished, a beam of magic flew overhead, before landing a good ten feet away from the enemy positions. The beam exploded, kicking up dirt as it did. Twilight wasn’t really trying to hurt anyone though. This was her attempt at trying to disorient the opposing side. Rigdon lifted up a bit, setting the gun against the cover. Some poor unfortunate soul was so traumatized by the artillery, he began to run around aimlessly. His comrades called out to him, telling him to get back before he got shot. Of course, Rigdon beat him to the punch. The man fell to the ground, clutching his hip and crying in agony as the bullet tore through his side. The voice of the male continued to mask the sounds of bullets as they whistled by.

Unlike their earlier friend, everyone was too terrified to go out to get him. He continued to call for help, his eyes fixated on his comrade. Rigdon took aim, the sights of his gun pointing in the general area of his heart. He then fired off two shots, the man falling silent as his life was snuffed out. Yet another tick was added to Rigdon’s list. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Pinkie leading a group of ponies away. That’s good—the plan was working. He quickly yanked his figure back down, the cracking sound continuing to call out as a flurry of bullets slammed into the brick wall and passed overhead,

Rigdon quickly peeked his body up over the wall, his hands bringing the gun to aim. But, this time around, they were ready for him. A soldier that had realized the pattern, had decided to stay locked onto the area of cover. Rigdon’s eyes widened as he watched the gun train on him. “Shield!” He would yelp out. He could feel everything slow down as the bullet exploded out from the muzzle brake. The projectile spun through the air, slicing the wind as it began to travel his way. A light purple shield appeared in front of him, the bullet banging against it as it was stopped. A small indent was left against the shield where it had smacked up against. More shots rang out before they found themselves with Twilight’s shield. Small cracks began to form where the bullets were impacting.

Twilight let out a small grunt as she did her best to not let her shield shatter into a million pieces. Rigdon quickly ducked down, his heart slowly beating faster. He looked over to her and gave a thumbs up. Twilight let her magic dissipate, the shield disappearing a second later. She fell to the ground, soft wheezing escaping from her lips as she did her best to recover. Rigdon raised his gun over the wall, squeezing the trigger and taking a bunch of blind pop shots. Soon, a small click was heard.

“I-I don’t know if I can take that much again…” Twilight cooed softly, sweat slowly trickling down her face.

He brought his gun down, his thumb pressing the mag release. The casing fell to the ground with a small clank. He reached into his pocket, pulling out another magazine and attaching it onto the gun. He then racked the bolt back, a bullet loading into the chamber. He looked over to Twilight, a worried expression on his face. He looked down, his thoughts running rampant. “Twilight, we need to leave. That tree behind us leads to Pinkie’s tunnels. When I say go, we run to it, alright? I’m going to be right behind you,” He would give her the game plan. She gave a compliant nod. “Three… two… one… Go!” He called out! Twilight stood up and galloped over to the tree, quickly jumping into the hole.

But Rigdon stayed behind. He wasn’t going… He had only said those things in order to make sure that she went. He was going to bide everyone’s time. It was the least he could do for them. A small smile grew on his face before he turned towards the forces in front of him. Flipping the fire select to fully automatic, he looked over the cover and held the trigger down.

Twilight galloped down the steps, her breath hot and heavy. She could feel the adrenaline slowly leave her body as she made it down. Waiting for her at the bottom was Applejack and Pinkie. Twilight eased up on her running, her speed now reaching a slow trot. Applejack walked up to her, her head quickly whipping around her figure, making sure that there were no injuries.

“Glad you made it in one piece… Ah’ thought you were going to come back with a couple holes in you,“ She called out with a smile. Pinkie looked around, a worried expression slowly creeping onto her face. Twilight’s eyes were slowly drawn over to her. To see Pinkie this sad looking only meant that bad things were going to happen.

“What’s wrong, Pinkie?” Twilight questioned, a hint of concern now plaguing her voice, too. Pinkie looked back to Twilight, two words slowly leaving her mouth—Words that Twilight would never want to hear.

“Where’s Rigdon?...”

Twilight’s eyes slowly widened, her pupils turning to pin-pricks. She whipped her head back around, only to find the empty staircase behind her. She could feel her heart sink into her stomach as she realized what he had done. “N-No…” She whispered out slowly, her voice slowly growing louder with each passing moment. “N-No! He said that we were leaving! No! He can’t do this! I can’t lose a close friend!” She yelped out in distress. She quickly galloped forward, but her movement was quickly stopped.

She panned her head back, finding Applejack holding her back by her tail. “Let me go! I have to help him!” Twilight yelled out. Applejack didn’t budge from her words. Instead, she sought to try and console her friend.

“It’s going to be fine, Twilight! Trust me, he’s going to be alright. He’s a tough cookie, ah’ll give him that. We just need to go and give him his time to come to us.” She called out. The tears began to flow down Twilight’s cheeks, a blush now growing as the tears continued to stream down her face.

“And what if he doesn’t? What if he doesn’t come back? Then what?!” She yelled back in anger. Applejack let go of her tail and took a deep breath, continuing her efforts to console her. She walked forward before lifting her hoof and resting it on Twilight.

“Rigdon did this for a reason, Twilight. He wanted to make sure that you’re safe. Ah’ can tell he cares about you greatly, and you him. You just need to trust that he’s going to come back. He’s a stubborn fella, and I doubt he’s going to let himself get killed, because he knows how much it would destroy you. You’re lucky to have a friend like him who’s willing to put his life at risk for your safety. Hell, Ah’ll even go so far as to say that he rivals Rainbow in loyalty,” She would say to Twilight.

“You just need to trust him, because I know that he’ll be running down these tunnels soon enough. We just need to follow his wishes and get back to the others.” She finished her little speech. Twilight looked down, her tears raining onto the floor. She lifted her hoof up, her fur on her hoof becoming slightly matted as she wiped her tears away. She gave a small nod, her figure slowly moving forward.

Pinkie, for once in her life, didn’t know what to do about cheering Twilight up. Either way, she’s proud of how AJ was able to console her friend. Pinkie quickly followed after Twilight. Applejack stopped dead in her tracks and looked back towards the staircase. “You better get outta there alive, Sugarcube… I’d hate to see Twilight upset again.” She whispered under her breath. He hoof reached up, straightening her hat before she broke out into a small trot, catching up with her friends.

The gun recoiled back into his shoulder in repeated succession. He continued to fire off bullet after bullet towards the Russian defenses. The gun began to click, signaling to him that he was out of ammo. That was his last mag. He threw the gun down, huffing softly. He quickly bent down behind cover, hearing their wall of bullets blast into the wall. The brick wall was now starting to fold under the pressure. It was time to go. He quickly stood up, turning heel and began to run. As he took a couple of steps, he fell to the ground with a yelp. He looked down, his hands shooting down to hold his leg. He slowly removed his hand, now finding that the inner part of his calf had a glancing blow with a bullet.

He slowly fumbled to his feet, attempting to escape to the tunnel, but it was no use. He could hear a voice yell out to him. A lone soldier, presumably the one that had shot him, had now had him at gunpoint. Rigdon lifted his arms to the sky as the Russian said a couple of choice words, his voice touched with anger. The soldier lifted his finger and placed it onto the trigger Rigdon’s hands gripped the ground, his feet kicking him backwards a little bit, before he felt his back up against the tree.

What happened next was absolute chaos. A golden beam shot through the man’s side. He stood there for a couple of moments, before a bunch of blood spurted out. Everything from the top half of his torso fell off, exposing his innards for all the world to see. Rigdon’s eyes widened to saucers at the sight. A white blur soon landed in front of him. He covered his eyes, letting the dirt settle before he looked back. What stood before him was a familiar princess. Celestia stood at the brick wall, objectively with an expression that could burn anyone to a crisp. A couple of pegasi landed next to her, all in full gear.

A pegasus landed next to him. She had a blue mane. A bag was at her side while a bandana was wrapped around her neck, which of course sported a familiar red cross. “You hurt?” She questioned as she looked all around him. Rigdon slowly moved his left leg outwards, exposing the grazing shot to her.

“Yeah… Though, I don’t think it’s really that bad… Just need a bandage or something,” He spoke up. The medic nodded, her wing opening her bag and pulling out a small bottle of alcohol, and a roll of bandages. Rigdon reached out, gripping the supplies tightly. He opened the cap to the alcohol, taking a deep breath through his teeth as he poured the liquid onto it. He put the cap on and handed it back. He quickly wrapped the wound in a bandage before handing it back to her.

With the job done, she stuffed the things back into her bag. “Hope you get better.” She then galloped over to the front lines. Rigdon continued to sit there in silence, giving his wound some time to stop bleeding. The standoff was broken by the voice of Celestia yelling out.

“You all have committed crimes against my little ponies! Surrender now, and I may still propose mercy for all of you,” She called out to the enemies. A couple of soldiers quickly stood up, hands shot up in the air. They quickly ran over, of which they were promptly subdued and tied up. The silence cut the air once more. The commander of the soldiers yelled out some words, causing everyone that had stayed behind to fight fire upon Celestia. A bright golden shield appeared, shielding Celestia and her guards against the flurry of bullets. Unlike Twilight’s shield, Celestia’s didn’t waver under the pressure.

Her horn became brighter as the shield fell. A beam shot forth, landing against the defenses of the Russians. A loud explosion rang out, a cloud of smoke rising up from the target that was hit. Celestia put her hoof forward and raised her voice once more, now saying only one word. “ATTACK!”

The guards ran forth, yelling as they assaulted the positions. Some fell to the ground as they were ripped apart by the bullets of the soldiers who survived the blast. Grenades were thrown everywhere, causing explosions to happen suddenly and randomly. Celestia spread her wings and threw herself into the air, her rhythmic flapping keeping her suspended. Her horn brightened once more as she shot quick beams at those unfortunate enough to be caught within her sights.

Screams of pain were heard from both sides as Ponyville erupted into a door to door conflict. Blood ran through the streets from both ponies, and humans. With everything coming to a head, more soldiers surrendered in order to escape with their lives. They too were subdued and tied up. Rigdon slowly stood onto his feet, watching Celestia lead her guard further into the town. He forced himself to turn around and stand up. There, he slowly got into the entrance of one of Pinkie’s tunnels. He forced himself to run down the stairs, his arms pumping from side to side. He eventually found himself back at the forest, now with the refugees, and the group of mares he calls friends. Twilight was the first to notice him—though she hadn’t really taken her eyes off the exit since she got back.

“Rigdon!” She blurted out as she galloped forward. She stood up, quickly wrapping her front legs around him. The tears began to flow from her once more. Rigdon gave an enthusiastic smile as he comforted her. “I-I… I thought you weren’t going to come back.” She murmured out softly. She then stood back, her hoof reaching up and slapping his leg. He let out another yelp as he hopped around.

“Hey! The hell was that for?” He looked down at Twilight. He found her staring daggers back at him. The glare that she gave could possibly even rival Fluttershy’s stare!

“That’s for lying to me,” She pouted. She reached up, wiping her tears away once more. Twilight walked back to the others, of which Applejack had a relieved look and smile on her face. Rainbow was the first to speak up. She flew over to Rigdon, soon landing back on the ground.

“I heard what you did, dude… I respect that you would do that to keep her safe. You’re pretty cool. Not as cool as me, though! You got guts, Rigdon.” She smiled as she lifted her hoof up to him. Rigdon made a fist and reached out, giving a quick bump to Rainbow Dash.

“So… what’s happening over there? We don’t think that you could’ve caused all that destruction,” Applejack quickly spoke up. Rigdon gave a firm shake of his head. He looked back, watching the smoke continue to fly up.

“That’s Celestia… She came with a good amount of guards. Honestly, I owe her my life. I would’ve been deader than a dodo if she didn’t show up.” Rigdon looked back to the group. “But, I think you’re going to be able to go back to Ponyville real soon.”

Pinkie quickly chimed in, her voice as cheery as always. “Ooh, ooh! This calls for a celebration! We can have a party for Rigdon returning safely, and for Celestia saving Ponyville!” She squealed out as she grabbed a canon. She fired it off, confetti going everywhere. Rigdon thought for a moment, before shrugging. Honestly, at this point, a party seemed actually necessary.

“Alright, count me in, Pinkie.” Rigdon called out with a big smile.

Author's Note

Well everyone, it seems as if the Russians have been quelled for now! Now will be an interlude period of prosperity and reconstruction. Harmony has been restored!

. . . For now.