Kindness and war

Fluttershy had seen her fair share of violence in the months since the war had started, but nothing like this. The ground shook beneath her hooves as the Cyberboar drones advanced, their heavy metal footsteps sending a shiver through the air. Explosions rocked the earth, the sound of gunfire mingling with the wailing of the injured.

She was perched atop a crumbling building, her sniper rifle trained on the horizon, every fiber of her being focused on the target. Before she had been told countless times to stay out of the fight below. "You’re just a kid," they would say. "You’re not a soldier."

But here, she wasn’t just a kid. She was a weapon.

A Cyberboar drone fell with a deafening crash, its head exploding into a shower of sparks. Fluttershy’s hoof tightened around the trigger. Another one down. Her heart raced, not from fear, but from the cold, calculated purpose that had taken root in her chest.

Below, the soldiers were struggling. They had built their defenses with what little they had—scrap metal, old ammunition crates, whatever they could find—but it wasn’t enough. The Cyberboars just kept coming, their massive forms lumbering forward, absorbing the fire without flinching. The resistance fighters, the men and women who had once been civilians like her, were now soldiers, but they were overwhelmed.

Sergeant Banks, his face twisted with grit and determination, led the charge, barking orders as they tried to hold their ground. His rifle fired off round after round, but it was clear they were losing.

"Fluttershy, we need cover!" he shouted through the comms, his voice strained. "We can’t keep up with this. If you’ve got more targets, now’s the time!"

Without hesitation, Fluttershy shifted her weight and aimed. The first Cyberboar that crossed her line of sight went down with a loud, echoing crash. She moved quickly, her hooves steady despite the noise around her. A second Cyberboar fell, its legs buckling beneath it as she fired another perfect shot. But there were too many of them. More were coming.

"Take out their support units!" Banks commanded. "Their drones—they’re too much for us!"

Fluttershy nodded, even though she knew Banks couldn’t see her. She’d learned quickly that it wasn’t just about being a good shot. It was about surviving—and that meant thinking fast.

She swung around, her rifle finding its mark, and took down the drone that was leading a group of Cyberboars forward. Sparks flew, and the drone fell, the Cyberboars momentarily disoriented as their support system collapsed. But that moment was fleeting.

The Cyberboars retaliated, their weapons firing with brutal precision. The air was thick with the sound of ricochet and the screams of soldiers who hadn’t seen their end coming.

Fluttershy’s mind was numb. The sounds of battle had become a dull roar, and the sharp stabs of gunfire and explosions seemed distant now. She moved like an instinct, firing, reloading, moving again, but her mind kept drifting. She could see them—her comrades, those fighting beside her. She could see the resistance fighters fall. She could see the look in their eyes when they realized they weren’t going to make it out of this one.

The fear was gone. She was too far gone now. She wasn’t the same Fluttershy that had arrived here. This war, this fight, had taken that part of her away. She wasn’t sure who she was anymore.

Then, amidst the haze of battle, a shrill scream pierced the air. A child’s scream.

Fluttershy froze.

"Did you hear that?" one of the soldiers shouted over the comms. "Someone’s down!"

Without thinking, Fluttershy dropped her rifle and bolted, her wings beating furiously as she flew toward the sound of the cry.

It was a little girl, no older than six, standing at the edge of the battlefield. Her wide, terrified eyes were locked on the advancing Cyberboars—the death machines closing in on her. Fluttershy’s heart caught in her throat. She was too young to be here, too innocent. She shouldn’t be anywhere near this hellscape.

But the child wasn’t running. She was frozen, too terrified to move.

"Get back!" Fluttershy shouted as she dove toward her, her wings slicing through the air. The Cyberboars were too far, too slow to stop her.

Just as she reached the girl, one of the Cyberboars spotted her. Its turret whirred to life, its cannon charging with lethal energy. Fluttershy was barely able to grab the girl in time, pulling her into her hooves as the blast ripped through the air.

The force sent them both crashing to the ground, but Fluttershy shielded the girl with her body, her own armor absorbing most of the blast’s impact. The child’s terrified scream still echoed in Fluttershy’s ears as she scrambled to her hooves, looking down at the little one, hoping that she was okay.

But when she looked down, the girl wasn’t moving.

Her body was limp in Fluttershy’s hooves. There was no blood, no signs of a mortal wound. But Fluttershy’s heart stopped in that moment. The girl had simply… given up. Her tiny form, broken and battered by the blast, lay still, her eyes staring blankly at the sky.

"Hey... hey, you’re okay, right?" Fluttershy whispered, her voice shaking. "Please, don’t do this… Please stay with me..."

The words caught in her throat as she shook the girl, but nothing happened. The girl’s small chest didn’t rise and fall. There was no more movement. The world around Fluttershy felt suddenly still.

A sob escaped from her lips before she could stop it, and in that moment, the tears came. She held the girl tight against her chest, her body trembling with grief.

"I’m sorry... I’m so sorry..." she whispered, the words barely audible, like a prayer. "I’ll make them pay for this. I swear to you... I’ll make them all pay."

The battle continued around her, but for Fluttershy, time had stopped. The world was a blur, a haze of smoke and fire, but the only thing that mattered now was the child in her hooves. The world had taken her innocence, had stolen everything good from this place, and the one person she had tried to save—she had failed.

Her grip tightened on the child’s lifeless body, a silent vow forming in her heart. No matter what it took, no matter the cost, she would bring this fight to the Cyberboars. They would know what it felt like to lose everything.

Fluttershy wiped the tears from her face, her resolve hardening. There was no going back now.