Torn Apart

Upon reaching the site of our wounded, Fluttershy stopped in her tracks. “Oh, oh my!” she said as she put her hoof up to her mouth. After the shock of it all left her, she started tending to our wounded. When our men were under her care, a smile came over their faces. They knew they were in good hands. She seemed to have a mother’s touch; it’s something I’ve never seen before. She patched up the lightly wounded and put the heavily injured ones under for their operations. Some of the citizens of the town acted as temporary stretcher bearers.

After our wounded were addressed with, Fluttershy still wasn’t done. She asked our colonel and Cpt. Dash if she could help the rebel wounded. Dash spoke out “Why in Celestia would you wanna do that Fluttershy?! In case you haven’t noticed, they’re the ENEMY!” Toothpick was also unsure. “But we’re all equestrians” she said. After some convincing, Dash reluctantly agreed. He and Toothpick ordered 5 guys from my regiment, me included, and the Pegasi Dragoons to fill canteens and address the Lunar wounded. We climbed over the wall with a white flag, in case any enemy pickets were to discover us. We started our task. We poked each body. If it was alive, we tended to it, if it was dead, we moved on to the next.

Fluttershy said a few kind and soft words to each stallion as she passed by. She was the pony embodiment of an angel. As I turned over one of the bodies to check if it was alive, what I saw startled me and interested me. The lad I turned over was one of the boys I went to school with back in the day. Shot through the jugular. Heck of a way to go I thought.

Some interesting also happened later that night. As I was about to retire, something in the sky caught my eye. At first I thought it was some sort of bird, but as it got closer, I realized it was actually a Pegasus. It was spiraling out of control towards the ground. It crashed landed somewhere in the town. A few minutes later, I saw the same one being carried onto a table. Upon reaching the crowd that was rapidy growing, I saw it was the same crossed-eye Pegasus I saw at Whitetail Woods. She had been shot through the wing. In her pouch, we found a letter from HQ it read as follows.

"Colonel Toothpick,

I regret to inform you that the town of Ponyville has been besieged by the enemy. The regiment that I sent to attempt to break it has failed. I am unable to assist you, other than send regiments in to slowly liberate you from your attackers. I hope this courier finds you without incident.

-General McClopping, Commanding General"

We sent her off to the local hospital. The wing would have to come off, but she’d live. We were dismissed and Tattoo was sounded. In my tent, I thought of the situation I was in. The enemy now intended to starve us out. I hardly got any sleep that night.

Things continued at the norm for a little while. The rebels would only send skirmishers to harass us once or twice a day. That was the least of our concerns. Slowly but surely, the life was sucked out of Ponyville. Resources ran out quickly. Seeing ponies as a literal skeleton of their former self was not an uncommon sight now. It was here I went my longest without a meal, 5 days. The civilians were hit the hardest. 85% of food was taken for the army. I began to see dead civilians lying on the streets. But everypony was too weak to bury them. Eventually, we started sending parties into the Everfree Forest to hunt. Most of them never came back.

As winter set in, things went from bad to worse. More and more ponies were dying from starvation. Food became even more scarce then it was before. Eventually, Colonel Toothpick ordered us to find any edible items in Ponyville and bring them here for the lads. We took some of Fluttershy’s animals and ate them. As much as I regret it, and believe me, I do an awful lot, it was the only thing we could do to survive. But probably the worst thing I’ve seen starvation do is to a pony who worked at Sugarcube Corner. Sugarcube Corner was a candy shop we used to go to for treats while we were off duty. When food became more scarce, instead of baking cakes, they started simply baking bread. One of the ponies who worked there was always energetic, happy, and at most times, downright crazy. She was pink with big poufy hair. But now, she’s a shell of what she used be. She shows no emotion except grief and sadness, her hair long and straight. It was as if she had the life sucked out of her.

The siege lasted for 5 months, from the beginning of fall to the end of winter. In early march, I had never felt so happy in my entire life. In the afternoon, a regiment of French Zouaves marched into town. We couldn’t believe our eyes. After enduring hell for 6 long months, we were finally liberated. I had been severely crippled by the malnutrition. A lot of the citizens were hospitalized. Due to my condition, I was taken to a hospital in Canterlot. My regiment, after recovering moved out into the Everfree Forest.