The Valley of Death. [EaW]
It was quiet, the autumn wind was blowing across the mountains surrounding Canterlot and spreading snow across the ground everywhere the mare stepped. Snowy Breeze had grown up in mountains just like these, but this time was different, she didn't have a sister to play tag with or a mother to sit under a tree beside. Her father wasn't here to show her cool rocks and plants he found either. She was surrounded by strangers, ponies of all shapes and kinds stood on each side of the poor mare as they dug trenches and got ready for what they were all silently terrified of.
She hated it. Yes, she was an Earth Pony, made to dig all day, but she hated using her special gift to dig a hole hoping it would be deep enough to keep herself alive.
The war had gone on for far too long, she couldn't remember when it started anymore, had it been 2 years or 3? Who knows. All she knew was that those insects had pushed the Royal Army to its limits, to the point simple ponies like her were stolen away from home to be soldiers in a last ditch effort by the Equestrian War Department. So now here she was, in the middle of the night, digging a hole.
Her shift ended after what felt like ages, and before she knew it the blessed sun was rising again over the freshly dug trench she was sleeping in. It was surprising she had even managed to get any sleep, her uniform was too small, and the helmet she was given was made for a unicorn and kept falling off while she dug.
It was another quiet morning, she passed around coffee and rations with the other ponies in her detachment, the "38th Royal Milita." The quiet was nice, she liked having that time to sit and bask in the sunlight while it was still daytime.
Then she had to crawl back into her trench, and it was impossible for anyone to miss the sound that came next.
Roaring thunder and the sound of rocks being crushed to dust beneath metal, it was death on wheels coming for its next batch of prey....
The Valley of Death. [EaW]
Before anypony could speak up, they were all corralled into their trenches like livestock and told by a stallion dressed in a dirty officer's uniform to get down. Snowy was more than happy to oblige, covering her head with her hooves as she dived into the trench like it was a pool, she didn't even hear the sound of her helmet hitting the ground over the incoming roar rolling ever closer to her.
Snowy, along with a few other soldiers she trained alongside, peeked up over the trench they had dug the night before. It was quiet again, nopony wanted to do as much as breathe to loudly and give themselves away.
Then a loud crack rang out, and the stallion to her left fell to the ground. Snowy instinctively looked down to ask if he was okay, but when she did what she saw made her sick. One of his eyes was entirely gone, popped like a water balloon from where a bullet had gone in one end of his face and out the other. She wanted to cry, to beg for someone to hold her and tell her she would be okay, anything to get her through this nightmare.
But before she could finish screaming, the roaring started all over again. She looked up, and in the distance saw the last thing any pony wanted to, a black box of death-on-treads moving faster than anypony could gallop towards the trenchline. Behind it multiple groups of changelings were climbing out of trucks and running behind trees. Only Celestia knew how many there were. The only good news was that they looked worse for wear themselves, and seemingly only had one tank to hide behind.
Unfortunately, that tank knew where Snowy and her division were, and it didn't look friendly.
Not a full minute passed before an order spread like wildfire through the trench, "Hold this line at all costs!" was the only thing Snowy heard before the cacophony of artillery begin raining on them.
It was loud, too loud. She couldn't see anything either, smoke and debris scattered everywhere and by the time the barrage ended the officer she had put her faith in was left as a red smear in the trench, along with countless other ponies.
So she did the one thing she knew to do, she raised her rifle, and shot at the first bit of movement she saw.
That was the last thing she heard for a while. Machine guns began blaring all across the trench, she watched helplessly as advancing soldiers were torn to shreds by the raining fire from above, and before long she raised her bolt action rifle and fired another round. Then another, then another. By the end of the first hour she wasn't able to think, just do what she knew she had to.
Every few minutes a pony beside her would fall over. Some were lucky and went out right away, but she wouldn't ever forget the sight of stallions and mares twice or thrice her age holding their chests and curling up I'm the dirt crying for their family. It was too much to bear, she caught sight of a colt that couldn't be older than 16, who had presumably lied about his age to be a hero, ans tried to comfort him as he panicked and cried alone. Before he could even finish crying, he stood up, and she was forced to watch as his chest burst three times in the span of a second from a short burst of enemy fire.
She wanted to cry, to scream, beg for mercy, and more, yet she could barely even bring herself to look at him as he bled out in her arms.
It wasn't long before the brutal combat got worse, changelings dropping into the trench, or hiding among nearby trees and tossing grenades left and right. One insect fell into the trench and charged Snowy with a bayonet. She acted on instinct, pushing him over and standing over him, using a rock to cave the defenseless bug's skull in as hard as she could. She was angry, scared, confused, she didn't know what to feel.
Once she had dropped the rock from her magic grasp, she immediately collapsed on top of the black and green corpse and began to sib between whispers.
"Why? Why do we have to fight? In another life we could have been friends probably, but I just killed you without even knowing your name..."
Then, she got up, shrugged off her sorrow, and shouldered her rifle.
She was doing what she knew to do, shutting off her emotions and letting her muscle memory take over.
Then, It came.
The rolling thunder shook her to her very core, and before she could steady herself a Panzer III stood far too close for comfort to her trench.
Then, everything went quiet. A bright flash went out, and a deafening boom left Snowy floored in the trench again. When she got back up and looked, nearly half the trench had been reduced to rubble by a singe HE round. The only pony carrying explosives strong enough to get rid of the vehicle was reduced to a torso.
All she couldn't find her rifle anywhere. She tried moving to look for it and immediately collapsed, when she looked back at her hind legs, she could only see one.
Bleeding fast and full of adrenaline, Snowy did the only thing she could. She crawled towards the remains of her comrades, grabbed the slightly bent anti-tank rifle, and forced herself up on the trench.
Her magic was faltering, or was it her head trembling? Either way, she didn't have long before the blood loss knocked her out. In a final breath, she leaned forwards and shot at the tank.
Another boom, this time from the base of the hill.
The Panzer III was annihilated, and the crew was desperately climbing out the top as they burned to death inside the charred black metal coffin.
With a faint smile, Snowy Breeze collapsed, the last thing she heard was scared changelings yelling and a barrage of machine gun fire, accompanied by the sound of hooves trotting up from the distance.
The Valley of Death. [EaW]
It was almost silent, nopony was around to disturb the dull air that filled the room. It was far too white for her taste, but Snowy Breeze was in no position to talk, and not just because she couldn't make any movements without being in incredible pain.
She had always hated hospitals, from the first time she was there for her sister's birthday, through countless accidents and "accidental" squabbles from said sister, all the way up to being in the room today.
Snowy would have fought to stay home to recover, but she had no memory of being walked to the hospital, she just woke up. According to the nurses, she'd been out for a while and was presumed dead. Apparently it was a miracle she even woke up at all after losing so much blood in a corpse-filled trench.
Unfortunately, she would never get that leg back properly, a prosthetic would have to suffice. If it meant not having to gun down anymore changelings, Snowy would gladly go along with whatever the doctors said.
For now, that meant laying in bed unable to move, or even sit up. She couldn't tell exactly, but one of the doctors mentioned a broken spine, and she thinks she heard them say her ears were irreparably damaged too.
Well, at least now she can say she's had a worse wound than her sister, if that's worth bragging about any...
And as if right on cue, before even finishing that thought, Snowy heard the familiar uneven clattering of Glacier Breeze hobbling into her room, still learning to walk on her broken hind legs herself. Instead of the usual confident and proud face she wore, the younger sibling looked worried but relived at the same time. Normally this would be a cause for concern, but considering the condition of both siblings, it was beyond fair to look that way this time.
The two looked at each other quietly for a moment, before Glacier hobbled over to Snowy's bedside and leaned against it, bringing the two the closest they've been since she had left to join the army.
Nopony knew what to say. What could they? There was so much to be said yet at the sake time they could read each other's eyes so well it was pointless to say anything. Finally, Glacier spoke up.
"Your eyes look darker, they've lost their shine, haven't they?"
After a moment of careful consideration, Snowy spoke up.
"I saw things, even in my short time out there, that I don't think I can ever unsee..."
"We both have, S. But it's over, you slept right through the declaration of victory, just like you sleep through everything else!" Glacier was trying her best to cheer her up by acting like nothing had happened, like the two mares were still in perfect health.
"Heh, guess you'll need to wake me up early next time we win a war."
"Damn right I will!... Sorry about your leg, it kinda makes me feel like I got off easy compared to you." Glacier couldn't keep the insincere act up, and her tone got serious faster than it ever had around her family.
"O-Oh, it's fine... I mean, you weren't the one that did it, and you got hurt too.... lets just call ourselves even." Snowy managed to stutter out a reply, but the sudden sincerity caught her off guard enough to distract her from the numbing pain in her leg.
"Yeah, I don't think I can beat you in this competition any more!"
There it was, Glacier never failed to end a sad topic on a happy note.
The two sat for hours, talking about what they saw and how much they missed one another. They both made a promise not to do anything stupid like this again, and not just because the hospital beds were uncomfortable.
Before long, Glacier was leaving the room and Snowy was left alone with her thoughts again. The only difference was that this time, she smiled as she fell asleep, full of warm thoughts for once.
