In a Battlefield far away from the town of Ponyville Solar templars fought and died on multiple theaters of war and this one was no different.

“FORWARD POINT! IF I SEE ONE PONY COWER THEN THEY SHALL BE THE FIRST TO DIEEEEE!” The Commissar Sloughed shouted, half of his muzzle having been burned and charred from their eternal enemies.

Tarbuck ripped open a small packet that contained a purple jelly chew downing it as quickly as possible to get past the awful consistency pass, His magic reserves kicked back up to below half. He grimaced and glanced out to the hell gate.

In a Trench that was a mere one hundred meters (300 Ft) away the Demonic wound that birthed new madness for the realm to endure, a glow containing the shining Shuffling faces of the dead and the living. Tarbuck looked over it and almost froze, the faces were melding.

“BREACH!!” he yelled into his troop bugle, and his hooves began trembling with magic might. The rest of his platoon snapped into similar stances, a rainbow of colors lining the magic firing line.

“IT SEEMS THE HELL FOALS HAVE FOUND THEIR STONES AGAIN, SEND THEM HOME BACK TA THEIR MAMMAS” Commander Red Rock Bellowed from his command post.

It was only 20 seconds after they formed up that the gates of hell opened. Sixty Heliborne stamped onto the battlefield, the gate was at the bottom of a valley and should have hindered the blazing beings, yet they sped up to the encampment and would have been on them in seconds.

Yet Red Rock Proved his namesake, a red ethereal boulder the size of apartment building hurtled down at the incoming group the Boulder just hanging over the front’s heads for a moment before slamming into the head of the hell pack scattering the herd into more manageable groups. The other magic lines finally became organized and started charging their shots as well, but Tarbuck’s line was the first ready.

Commissar Sloughed of course had been timing them and as always looked displeased, yet he raised his hoof and began his count.

“STEADY”

The Line of Brave ponies lowered their heads the Charged spell Spiraling into existence above their heads.

“AIM”

Heliborne were still Madly scrambling up and were about to reach His line. They were on Average taller than a large earth pony, so they need the higher ground to turn…

“FIRE!”

The ground Red.

They were in speaking range, the sulfurous eyes burning with hatred when the rain of Sundering Charged Pierce spells started knocking them down and Tarbuck vaulted over the Line as they could not waste the magical energy on stragglers. Blue Biscuit was leading up to his right and the two of them went to the first survivor of the SCP rain.

It was a midsized Heliborne. Its Ram-like horns were cracking and leaking lava scorching the rock causing it to flow down. Half of its chest was gone and the magma core that made it live was about to crack. Tarbuck lined up and the beast tried to rip his tendons snapping its already broken limbs that could not support its hatred. He bucked and trusted Blue Biscuit to do her job.

The core was tugged out with a blue glow at just the right moment and the foe’s body burnt up into ash the lava flowing back down to the Hell Portal. His fellow troops were not idle as you were not on the front line long without some efficiency lest you lose your life. A single minute was all the time you had before the second wave came.

“RETREAT” Came the Bellowing Cry of the Commissar and the group galloped back to the lines,

That cursed portal was already winding up to vomit up more troops, the eternally burning faces laughing and screaming. Another Sixty Heliborne popped out and began the madden charge all over again.

The same dance was repeated with the only difference being that the SCP came from the next highest of the trenches. One of the many reasons the front got crappy Magic jam Rations is that they could reach the stragglers the fastest, so they did not need to have as much magical oomph, and of course the good stuff went to the vain glorious nobles first.

It was on the seventh turn when first of them started dying, it was one of the newcomers a miss Butter Damp she lingered just a second too long and the next wave was on her in a moment. Tarbuck refused to look away as the White-hot hooves seared through her and didn’t even slow them down her organs bubbling and cooking in seconds. Her tear struck purple eyes, found his grey eyes and she was gone.

Gin Tallow on the Ninth Turn Tried to stay in the line and was beheaded by the commissar. He had not seen it Tarbuck just came back, and the orange stallion was simply dead blood pumping out of him, and the White Dressed Commissar was putting away his sword. He must have called out the Retreat and killed him in the same breath.

The brown earth pony sister and brother Of Lock Log and Mud Log Died on the Eleventh Turn Lock not having half as much stamina as her brother collapsing and her brother Tried to save her. The SCP killed them both right as they were going to make it their bodies tumbling right in front of the Line.

And on the Thirteenth Turn did the burning faces separate some weeping in deep sorrow for what they did, and Victorious yells came from the happy faces sneering smiles resting on their faces as they had stolen a few more lives of the living.

The gates of hell did close, and thus the miserable part began.

“Tarbuck, Blue Biscuit!” Sloughed shouted pointing at himself and a trembling Blue Biscuit.

“Clean up this filthy traitor’s body and get your PONIES MOVING! I want this field ready for the next Breach that pollutes our Goddess’ beautiful world.” Having said this, he left for the Commanders tent to give an account of their losses, not even stopping to grieve for the dead.

“Heartless Ass” Blue muttered and tried to stop her trembling and with practiced ease it started to wane. Tarbuck did not need to wait as he Called out to his remaining ponies.

“Alright Those who do not have horns please raise your hoof so that we can organize some rain clouds to cool the lava.” He said clearly and to his well-hidden dismay it was only two. A small looking Pegasus mare named Celery Stick that was the color of Onions and a skinny green bean pole of a teen Named Grow Vile that could not be older than sixteen, the minimum enlistment age.

Still, he sent the Pegasi off to gather some clouds and turned into many grim-faced unicorns that had slumped against the dirt walls of the line. Only Blue Biscuit still stood and that was more due to her inherent arrogance than anything else.

“Alright mares and stallions we have the unfortunate job of cleaning up the mess that these nobles left behind so let's get to it” He started, and Tarbuck was interrupted by Fur Log a much furrier unicorn stallion that was the brother to those two that died in the SCP rain.

“Sir can, can I go get their bodies.” Fur Log’s Hazel eyes were filled with tears and his teeth were gritted keeping whimpers out.

Tarbuck softened his heart and said in a quiet clear tone” you have my permission.”

The stallion went away quietly bemoaning his two siblings lost lives. Having shown a moment of mercy Tarbuck hardened his heart again.

“As for the rest of us sorry sacks of shit we've got business to address” He snapped.

“Maverick Tone you and your hooligans are going to be on water producing duty.”

“Fuck ya Dastard go iss on it ya daft WANKER” He Sneered out of tired green lips and his few Hench ponies tried to laugh in agreement.

“If this is not done in time for the commissar’s return, he will spill our blood to cool off that lava, did you want to explain to him that you were too tired, or shall I have him slit your throat?” He said coldly and the returning silence showed him their answer.

“Blue Biscuit you're with me we'll be filling in the holes those demons left behind now everyone I want this done in 10 minutes!” There were muttered curses and swearing under their breath but they all one by one stumbled out of the line and went to do their duties. He would give them more like 30 minutes as the commissar is more likely to hobnob up in the commander’s post.

Tarbuck held back and counted the number of earth ponies he had left an idea niggling at the back of his head but he didn't want his troops to know and when finishes he counts only himself and those two Pegasi as the non-unicorns in the front trench, he climbed out of the line and took Blue Biscuits waiting hoof and into the lava-stricken battlefield as he had done so for the past two years.

Once life grew here but the stone had been so infused with sulfurous tainted air that nothing could grow on it now. The heat of those infernal beings showed the cracks in their patch work efforts, their hooves causing deep grooves that he had to shift back. His hooves started glowing a grey coal color and Blue Biscuit focused on gathering a much excess dirt for him to form.

He focused on his hooves and with his earth affinity he started pulling on the ground beneath making the hell pit deeper starting the smoothing process. Dirt turns into a slurry that he guides into cracking hooves holes. The two of them worked amongst the crackling popping of the lava in companionable silence when Blue Biscuits started her theory crafting again.

“Maybe you're the Raja’s illegitimate son It would explain all the Earth powers” Blue Biscuit mused.

He gave her a bemused smile.

“And why would I be in this hell pit serving the frontline for an endless war if I was some foreign Prince” he humored her his hooves still pawing at the ground as they began filling the 300-meter Dash.

“You probably went into hiding because some griffin assassins were after you or something” she pointed out triumphantly.

“I'm sure there's some lovely cavern that has a villa below the desert sands that I can go and be with all the pretty ladies I'd like” Tarbuck said.

“And the various delicacies of the desert that could delight your tongue.” She continued.

“All the water you could ever drink” he said absentmindedly noting their work progress.

25%

Far too slow.

He took a deep breath in and began to sing.

And his squad returned.

Nothing motivates these ponies like a song, Maverick Tone still looked pissed but one of his grunts a muddy white color stallion by the name Ruined Sheet started flaring his horn and more water seeped out of it, flowing into the streams of water that ran towards the fiery door steam rising and clouding view of it.

He continued feeling his own work progress speed up the holes starting to fill in a three-foot area around him.

They started producing rivers of water the lava’s sizzling all but gone, they left the water works behind and started mimicking him. The two Pegasi who just now started bringing back defunct clouds abandoned them to join the song.

He as the leader of the song would bear the weight of exhaustion, but it was a price easily paid to save even one more life. Pay it he would for each step of confidence they took a hammer blow of exhaustion slammed into his back, every filled hole a spike of nausea through his lungs.

Seventy-five percent was a much better percentage to be at, so Tarbuck started to wind them down.

He hooked andThey finished and Tarbuck held onto half of their exhaustion and sent back the rest. His ponies slumped and went about finishing the rest of the work. Blue Biscuit was giving him a smug grin that he dutifully ignored, and half limped half strode past the confident bitch to finish the work.

“Good job princey when’s your father gonna come and pick you up” she said now trailing behind him far more confidently.

He was too tired to even speak but he could feel Blue Biscuits’ yellow eyes narrow at him and without warning he tumbled to the ground. The lava hardened ground bit his chin rattling his head causing him to bleed. Tarbuck’s lips were silent as he slowly, sloppily got to his hooves Blue Biscuits letting him sit in pile of consequences he built, walking past him the glow fading from her horn.

“You need to let them bear some of the weight too else you're gonna end up dead buried under a pile of rocks like Fur log’s siblings” She nodded her head towards their new burial sites.

Poor Fur Log didn't have much to bury of his brother and sister as they were punctured through with holes some the size of grapefruit others the size of cannonballs His brother having thrown himself over his sister doing little to stop the puncturing spells. Still Fur Log dutifully gathered as much of his siblings as he could and had gotten to work taking chunks of rocks to bury them away from the 300-meter dash.

The two of them watched him walk into the artificial valley that was linked to the hell pit the Valley of Burnt Bones where multiple piles of rocks stood mourning the dead Tarbuck himself had helped bury plenty of people a mare with red fur and brown fetlocks came to mind.

“Many don't get the courtesy that those two got and I tell you this if you act so foolish and get yourself killed that way, I'm not burying you” She finished and left him there to guide the now finished ponies back to Line.

It was an old argument between the two of them ever since he first came to the pit Blue Biscuits had been in charge at the front line. He had been far more optimistic, far more willing to believe in the power of cooperation that they could overcome this. Each day since the pit had stolen a little bit more than hope and at night when the gates of hell would rest, he would stare up at the cold stars above and wonder where all the magic went.

This is what he willingly cast upon pony kind.

He wanted to bring war.

On his trembling hoofs he returned to the line Stumbling down into the trench he wobbled his away to his lookout point past Maverick and his goons even further beyond Blue Biscuits and her tutoring the newest recruits that the commissar had just brought back. Pass Commissar Sloughed and his half-burnt scowl up to the far left of the trench wall to a little nook he had carved out that let him stick his head just above the line and watch the Gate.

He looked amongst the faces of the dead that shined in the hell gates lava and even knowing what he would find he still looked. Butter Damp’s purple eyes watched him still Tarbuck reached behind him into the nook and took out a book pulling out the pen and started Writing down the new additions to the list.

Butter Damp cause of death Heliborne Stampede on turn 7 time lasted two weeks out of two years.

Gin Tallow cause of death commissar’s blade on turn 9 time lasted three months out of two years.

Lock Log cause of death SCP rain on turn 11 time lasted 1 1/2 years out of two years.

Mud Log cause of death SCP rain on turn 11 time lasted 1 1/2 years out of two years.

Author's Note

Hey, Thanks for reading Chapter one. Also sorry there was suppose to be song lyrics but I wasn't sure if they were copyrighted or not.