Buck had been in this nightmare many times before. It was a recurring nightmare that had plagued him since the attack, and no matter how many times a day he prayed to Princess Luna, the horrible dream would not go away. Defeated, Buck resigned himself to live through this dream again, as Buck could do nothing to escape it. He sat down on a small bench a little ways away from the crowd around the royal palace. Buck sighed as he observed the serenity before it was broken. He smelled the wedding flowers emanating from the royal palace, saw all the happy colts and fillies running around, and heard.

*boom*

Buck sat up a little. He never noticed the sound before in any of his previous recollections but quickly swatted it away as it being a foal playing with a firecracker he had never noticed before. As Buck focused back on the scene, he heard a low buzz in the background and braced himself for the coming chaos as the crowd began to swell during the climax of the royal wedding when all hell broke loose. Chrysalis had launched an attack on Canterlot, and Buck had been in the center of all of it.

When the attack happened, Buck was 12 years old and still just a foal. He was part of the crowd and was visiting Canterlot with his mom and dad for the royal wedding between Princess Cadence and Shining Armor. Buck was caught in the middle of it all when the changelings attacked, and the screams of joy and laughter turned into ones of fear and panic. Separated from his parents and at risk of being trampled by the crowd, Buck was forced to try and find his way out. During all of the chaos and panic, Buck saw other Ponies, Unicorns, and Pegasi getting picked off by the changeling and being drained of love, leaving frail husks of the victims. All Buck could do was pray that the next changeling grabbed somepony else, not him. When Buck finally freed himself from the crowd, he hid in an alleyway and observed the Elements of Harmony fighting back against the changeling incursion. When the elements of Harmony finally repealed the attack, Buck went out searching for his parents. He called out their names for hours and wandered the torn-up streets until he saw them.

*BOOM*

All he could remember at this point was his mom's body and his father's laid over the top of hers. Buck's mother was a weaker mare already struggling with her own body, and Buck did not doubt that when a changeling went for her love and struck down his father protecting her, she joined him soon after. Filled with overwhelming rage and sadness, Buck swore revenge against the changelings for what they had done to him and Equestria.

Buck had curled up into a ball, trying to ignore the scene playing again for him. He tried to ignore the tears running down his muzzle and the growing sounds of screams and explosions. Buck's heart was beating so loud and fast in his head that it created a deafening, repetitive thump, and Buck felt that at any moment it was about to burst and explode when

*BOOM*

Buck shot up with sweat covering his body. He was still adjusting from coming back from that nightmare and trying to get his bearings again. He slowly exited his bunk, grabbed his canteen, and threw water on his face. His name is Buck McFlourish, he is a soldier in the Equestrian military and he is in some trenchwork on the Ancornage line. After Buck had realigned himself, he started to take in his surroundings. The sad, earthen barrack he had been living in for the past two months was weirdly devoid of other soldiers. Buck knew he slept like a rock but figured that at least somepony would wake him up if there was an emergency. While thinking this, Buck noticed an increased commotion in the trench line as he heard dozens of ponies shouting over each other to get orders across to high command. Concerned about the commotion, Buck walked towards the dressing room and started to change.

As Buck put on his shirt, a plain gray button-down with pockets for storage, he noticed they were short around his front legs again. The Equestrian military could never size him correctly as Buck wasn't built like the standard earth pony. He was taller than your average pony with a dull yellow coat most akin to dry hay. Moving up to his face, he had dazzling crystal blue eyes that were contrasted by deep eyebags from his many restless nights and sat on top of it all was a scruffy brown mane that clearly hadn't been tended to in weeks. He was also skinny and gangly, with his ribs carving a clear outline against his barrel. Primarily due to the Equestrian military being undersupplied and overstretched. He sighed as he made a mental note to talk with his logistics officer after discovering the commotion. Finally, after finishing dressing, Buck grabs his Limestone SMG and runs out into the trench line to find the worst possible sight imaginable.

Buck was immediately hit with the overwhelming smell of gunpowder mixed in with the cool early spring air. The next thing he noticed was the absolute chaos of his trench line, with shell-shocked and wounded soldiers lying everywhere. Confused and deeply worried, Buck makes his way to the nearest command dugout to try to find an explanation for this madness. While making his way there and being careful not to step on fellow soldiers or accidentally bump into a runner, Buck noticed the state of the ground everywhere around the trench. Massive gashes and craters could be seen everywhere, some deep enough that if you were to fall in, you wouldn't be able to get out without help.

Trying to take in all of this destruction, Buck barely noticed that he had arrived at the command dugout, which was filled with frantic officers trying to relay orders across the line and with high command. Buck looked around and saw a Mare scribbling something in her notepad on the far left side of the room. She figured that she could give Buck a brief explanation. As Buck approached her, she shot daggers at him with her bloodshot eyes.

¨What do you want?¨ The officer asked coldly ¨can you see that we are trying to relay orders so that our front doesn't collapse immediately?!¨

¨I can clearly see that,¨ Buck replied with slight annoyance, ¨but what in Celestia is going on? I have just woken up, and I come out to a brutalized trench!¨

The officer paused, writing for a second and with confusion across her face ¨did you really sleep through the opening barrage of artillery fire? Then, before Buck could reply, the mare shook her head ¨matters not, all you need to know is that Equestria and the Changeling lands are now at war,¨

Buck stood there for a second, shocked. He didn't want to believe it, but he knew deep down that this was the case before he even came to the officer. Buck was about to turn around and head back to his barracks to prepare himself. Just before he could do that, the mare called out to him.

¨soldier,¨ the mare commanded while ripping out the front page of her notebook ¨I need you to run this to the northern section of our line and tell them to prepare themselves. I doubt Trimmel would leave us alone after the massive artillery barrage we just endured ¨

Buck gently grabs the piece of paper before saluting the officer. ¨yes ma'am ¨\

The officer salutes back and softens her harsh stare for a split second ¨good luck out there, soldier. May Celestia be on your side,¨

With his orders received, Buck turns around and re-enters the line. He hardens his face and heads up the trench, knowing what he must do.

Author's Note

hello to whoever reads this. first off thank you so much for choosing to read my attempt at fan fiction. this is my first try at writing fan fiction and I'll be honest, I'm not that great of a writer. any feed back and constructive criticism is welcome. one final note is that chapters will be slow to roll out and my guess will be around 1-2 weeks per chapter. so i hope you're in it for the long haul. that is all that i have to say and thank you again so much for reading this. i will be happy to answer any questions in the comments!