To The last Breath

The Soldier.
They stood side by side as the rain came. It started as a drizzle but soon was falling at a steady pace. They looked down over the battlefield that was before them. Countless dead were littered across the fields and the flames of the enemy tanks were still blazing from the previous day’s battle.
It was the fourth fight in the battle for Canterlot and they still managed to hold back the enemy. But their numbers were getting smaller and smaller every encounter. As for the humans, after every battle they seemed to get more reinforcements through that portal, and it appeared as though it would never end.
Sam looked over at him and spoke softly.
" You ready? You look nervous."
"Ya ... I’m fine." He looked back at her. Her Magenta eyes made him smile a bit. As he looked back he thought of everything before this war. His family; his daughter and his wife who were killed during the first invasion of Canterlot when they attacked the city by surprise. He remembered fighting back and pushing the attackers back to the far outskirts of Canterlot. He looked down and kept thinking.
Now the only thing he could do is fight for one thing and one thing only. He did it for the only thing he had left. The girl standing to his right. He swore to himself that he wouldn’t let her die. Not her. She was the only thing left that kept him going. He wasn’t going to lose her.
His eyes shifted to the bracelet that adorned her hoof. It was dirty and tattered but you could still make out the vivid colors. The blue, the green, the yellow, the purple, the red, the orange, and the pink. It was every color in the rainbow. Her friend back home had made it for her. It surprised him how the colors hadn’t faded after all they had been though recently.
A soldier came up and told them to get ready, they departed on their mission in 30 minutes. They gave each other a reassuring nod and went to the ammo depot. As they walked not a word was said. Only thoughts of what they had to do went through their minds.
Their job was to take out a power station that helped the portal stay open. If it went down the humans would not be able to get machines through, only men, and it would take them months to fix. It would turn the war and put them back in full control of the area.

~~~
Twenty minutes later their squad met near their transport, an armored truck. Most of the vehicles were reverse manufactured from the human’s vehicles that had been captured. Their truck was dented on its side from an explosive round but it still worked, and it was the only one available, so they piled in with their gear and got ready.
Sam sat across from him and looked at the floor as the truck started to move. It was a bumpy ride and they had to drive for at least one hour before the drop-off point about 10 clicks(kilometers) away from the power-station. It would be dark when they got there. All they could do was wait.
He had his friend Jake to his right. He was a small fellow but he was fast on his feet and was their best marksman. He held the sniper rifle. His job was to provide reconnaissance from the hill overlooking the plant and tell them what was going on. Next to him was Stevie; well that what they called him, but his real name was Steven. He was their support gunner. He held a shotgun for close quarters and a light machine gun. To the left of Sam was Jackie. He was one of the assault specialists. He held an assault rifle and a rocket. To his left was the last member, Sev. His real name was John but he was the best at math and Sev was short so it stuck. He was the second assault specialist, donning an assault rifle and a sub machine gun picked up from the battlefield. Sam was their medic. She only carried two pistols. She needed to be fast and not be weighed down by a rifle.
As Squad Leader, it was his job to get everyone back, and he had a good reputation of doing that. His squad called him Dan. It’s what he wanted to be called by his squad and others. It was the name everyone called him.
They sat in the truck and prepared for the enemy at the power plant. He thought about Sam; about her before this war. It changed her. She has seen things no one should have to see and every once in a while he would catch her staring into space, her eyes dulled and out of focus. It scared him when she got that look. He cared for her and he didn’t want her to change. Unfortunately, the war made it too late for that.
His mind wondered.
In his thoughts he was sitting next to Sam, who was crying. He had an arm around her and was comforting her.
"It wasn’t your fault Sam"
" I was supposed to watch him. He would still be here if I had been with him."
"No Sam, you wouldn’t. You would have died with him. But I promise you that won’t happen to you. You won’t end up like him, I swear it. ... "
"okay.... Dannie"
"yea"
He heard an explosion, and the truck flipped. There was a pain in the side of his head and then everything went black.

~~~
When he woke he heard gunshots and heard yelling. He opened his eyes and they met Sam’s. She was leaning over him patching a wound he had taken.
"W-What happened?" He tried to move but winced at the pain.
"The truck was hit by a rocket and you took a bit of shrapnel from the blow. They are currently falling back and regrouping. We are about 14 clicks away from our target zone, but we need to get you out of here."
He stopped her from finishing wrapping up his wound, rolled over, and pushed himself up, ignoring the pain. He looked at her and smiled a little.
"I will be fine for now, I promise” He looked around and saw Sev on the ground. He was bleeding from his forehead but you could see his chest slowly rising and falling back down.
"Go help Sev, I’ll help the others”.
She nodded at the command and went over to him and took out some bandages.
He turned and picked up his rifle and slung his sniper over his shoulder. He immediately started returning fire. At the first sight of movement he fired and his target dropped.
After about ten minutes they enemy finally retreated. He went over to Sev and kneeled next to him. Sam still wrapping his head with bandages. His eyes were open and he was looking around. "H-hey guys, how ya doing."
"Fine, thank you, but I see you’re not doing so swell. We’re gonna get you home buddie."
He nodded and looked around at his squad members.
Their plan had gone horribly wrong before it had even started, so now all they could do was take the long walk home.
ome.