“The only winners in a war fought with nuclear weapons, are the dead.” - Unknown
The loud, sharp crack of thunder echoed across the hilly landscape. I sighed deeply and continued on towards my destination. My destination being a Zebra encampment near our borders. They arrived only about an hour after our scouts caught them sneaking in and sent me to take care of it. I used my magic to adjust the sniper rifle in my battle saddle. My radio crackled to life and a tired, male voice whispered into my headset.
“This is Recon Base. Recon Bravo do you read me?” I pressed a button on the side of my helmet.
“This is Recon Bravo, I read you, Base.”
“Is the target in sight yet?”
“Negative, I’m still half a click away.” I let out a sigh through my gas mask.
“Roger, keep us posted. Recon Base, out.” My radio clicked off and I continued inching forward. I hit a button on the side of my helmet, activating my low-light vision. The dark landscape was suddenly covered in a red film. I continued towards the camp slowly, through the muddy terrain. The hill in front of me stood forebodingly. I crept up to the crest. Sure enough, on the other side of the hill, sat a small Zebra camp. What was odd though, was that they were setting up some kind of large machine. It almost looked like an excavator. I pressed the radio button once more.
“Recon Base, this is Recon Bravo.” I whispered, not taking my eyes off of the camp.
“Go for Base, Bravo.”
“I have the Zebra camp in my sights. They appear to be setting up some kind of digging machine.”
“Roger that, we see your helmet feed now. Keep an eye on it and radio in if anything changes, over.”
“Roger, Base. Recon Bravo, out.” I killed my mic and activated the zoom function on my visor. Two zebras had finished setting up their digging machine. One was setting up tents and the other was trying to start a campfire. Only two? Weren't there three there earlier? My question was answered as something slammed into the back of my head, knocking me out cold.
“Wake up, pony.” A feminine voice whispered sweetly into my ear. I hoped to convince them that I was still unconscious, however, those hopes were quickly dashed as a hoof connected with my stomach. “I said wake up!” The unknown mare yelled. I clutched my midsection and flailed my rear hooves, hoping to hit something. To my dismay, I discovered that not only had I been stripped of my armor and weapons, but my front and read hooves were bound. I tried to cast a stun spell, only to have my horn fizzle out. The Zebras had put a magic dampener on my horn. Reluctantly, I opened my eyes and found myself face to face with a very angry Zebra mare. She grabbed me and leaned me against a wall of the tent.
“Alright, you striped bastards got me. You gonna go ahead and finish me off?” I said with as much venom as I could muster.
“Oh ho ho, little pony. We’re not going to kill you. We’re going to make you watch.” The mare spat back at me.
“Watch? Watch what -- a puppet show?” I asked sarcastically. With lightning speed, she hit me in the face. Hard. I went sprawling out of the side of the tent through a newly formed hole. I groaned and brought my bound forehooves up to my face. Celestia’s sun was much higher than it was when I got knocked out. A reflection to my left drew my attention. I painfully turned my head towards the shiny object. It was a large metal pillar, in precisely the same location as I saw the zebra’s setting up their digging machine. What chilled me to the core, however, was the biohazard symbol on the side of the pillar. It was a balefire bomb.
“No no no no no no no no!” I shouted. “What inTartarus is wrong with you Zebras!?” My reaction elicited a chuckle from the trio.
“You are the Venator Mortifera, are you not?” The lead mare asked me.
“Oh, so you’ve heard of me?” I asked with a chuckle. Being one of the most active snipers in the Equestrian army has its benefits. After nearly 250 confirmed kills and fifteen assassinations, I had quite the reputation with the Caesar. He dubbed me one of the top ten most wanted Equestrian Soldiers. Venator Mortifera, he called me. It’s Zebra for ‘deadly hunter’. The zebra mare frowned; then she spat in my face.
“Just as we were helpless to stop you whilst you wantonly slaughtered out kind, so shall you be whilst we slaughter yours.” The zebra mare said darkly. She trotted up to the bomb and pressed a button on the terminal next to it. I felt the earth start vibrating and the missile activated its thrusters. I instinctively shut my eyes and went into the ‘duck and cover’ position. The missile let out a great ‘fwoosh’ and the earth stopped shaking, causing my heart to drop.
“Atora! Shiwai! Make him watch!” The lead mare commanded. In seconds, I felt two pairs of hooves grabbing me and trying to get me to open my eyes. I lashed out with my hooves and felt an immense satisfaction as my rear hoof connected with something. There was a loud, wet, crunch and one of the mares cried out in pain. “ENOUGH OF THIS!” The lead mare bellowed. I felt a sharp pain in my flank, followed by my entire legs going stiff.
“What… did… you… do?” I barely managed to grunt out, the paralysis taking over my entire body.
“Funny thing about Stalker venom; while it may be lethal, if you have just the right amount of it, it can cause full body paralysis.” The lead mare whispered into my ear. I looked up and saw the missile making a beeline for Cloudsdale. I tried with all my might to shut my eyes, but all I succeeded in doing was blinking. One brief moment later, the warhead found its mark and exploded into a green and golden sun. The cloud city didn’t stand a chance as it evaporated in seconds, leaving only the slowly forming green mushroom cloud in its wake. The shockwave from the bomb washed over the camp. Like the cowards they are, the zebras fled. The tents were torn from their supports. The heat from the bomb burned my eyes. I tried with all my might to force the magic dampener on my horn to overload. My horn sparked twice, then fizzled out again.
“Come on! I can‘t… let them win…” I poured more magic into the dampener. My head felt like it was on fire. My horn felt like it was going to explode. I heard a loud crack, either my horn or the dampener. I prayed to the Creator that it as the latter. All around me, the world seemed like it was on fire. The heat from the bomb began to reach unbearable levels. I felt the dampener crack and fall away. “Yes!” I cheered. The first thing I cast was a purge spell, removing the toxin from my body. Feeling slowly returned to my body. The second thing I did, was grab my sniper rifle and sprinted… well, walked fast… towards the retreating zebras. I caught sight of one just about to crest a hill. I shouldered my rifle and put one round into her skull. Dead. My body had almost fully recovered from the poison and I took off at a mild gallop for the last two. The sky was starting to get cloudy, probably from the bomb going off. I heard another dull boom and turned to see that Fillydelphia had been hit as well. I sighed with disdain. No time to grieve now, I had zebras to kill.
“You won’t get away!” I yelled to the fleeing stripes. Scaling the hill, I brought my scope up and sighted the zebras. One was dragging the wounded mare up the next hill. Placing the crosshairs over the head of the wounded mare, I pulled the trigger. My rifle roared and almost simultaneously, the wounded zebra’s head exploded into bits of bone, brain, and gore. Her companion, turned and stared in horror of what had become of her friend. I sighted the last zebra’s head, paused, then decided I’d kill her personally. I put one round through each of her hind legs and sprinted over to her. The zebra screamed in pain and clutched her leg. She was trying to crawl away while letting out small, pathetic whimpers. “Any last words, stripe?” I practically seethed rage at this point.
“Just one… DIE!” The mare cried and tossed a small bottle at my feet. The bottle shattered and a huge torrent Pink Cloud erupted, quickly consuming the area. My hide started melting as I frantically tried to flee. I fell forward onto the ground, coughing, my skin blistering from the necromantic magic. I attempted to crawl out of the cloud, but one of my hind hooves melted to the ground.
“No… can’t… end…. like this…” I rasped. Painfully, I tore my hoof free of the rocky ground and managed to get out of the toxic cloud. I looked over at Canterlot just in time to see the pink bubble surrounding it collapse. The same Pink Cloud that was killing me, had consumed Canterlot in its entirety. “Sorry… I tried…” I collapsed, letting death’s embrace take hold.
Status: ????
Author's Note
I stayed up until three last night writing this. Hope everyone likes it! :3
