Metaphorical Future

The snow was falling heavily but it proved no obstacle to the unicorn as he lay silently in the small dug out trench he had made. The still glint of shining metal extended from the hole, the rifles barrel carefully aimed. The unicorn lay still, his right eye glued to the scope mounted atop the rifles barrel. It wouldn’t be long now.

Why was he here? What was the reason for this conflict? He didn’t even remember any more. Glory? Land? Profit? Because they could? Did it really matter any more? Probably not...

He continued to lay still, the wind starting to pick up as it continued to snow. Behind him a number of red coloured streams of fabric began to flick in the wind, the tight knots around his head and tail keeping them from blowing away into the gather dusk. He sighed slowly to himself, he knew this was his forte but...why? What would one more death accomplish? He was already disillusioned but what else could he do? It was kill or be killed. The enemy would not listen, refusing to even answer the most basic of negotiations. Were they really just going to fight until only one side remained? Did it really matter anymore? Probably not...

Just then a spec appeared in his vision. A glint of metal in the sky above. They were flying higher than anticipated! A quick shift of his position aimed the rifle muzzle further up and the unicorn took a deep breath. His earlier thoughts had already been forgotten as an uninterested look fell across his face, this wasn’t the first and probably wouldn’t be the last.

His horn gave a small glow and a magical aura surrounded the tip of the barrel. Waiting but a moment he allowed his target to enter his sights before another magical glow caused the trigger to depress. The shot rung out, heavily muffled by the magical glow surrounding the end of the rifle. It wasn’t a perfect shot...but then again it didn’t need to be.

A scream rung out in the gathering storm as the bullet hit, tearing into the left side from the receiving Pegasus pony and separating his left wing from the rest of him. The unicorn smiled as he watched the Pegasus plummet from the sky accompanied by the sky wagon he was pulling behind him. Phase one complete.

He moved quickly, the blue coloured unicorn darting from his cover and galloping towards where the Pegasus and wagon had crashed. Behind him the rifle he had used, encased in his magic’s glow, slid itself back into a holster on his back and two small sidearms took its place, one hovering on either side of his head. It didn’t take long to reach the crash site, a little more than it took for the Pegasus to reach it in fact.

As he approached he slowed, edging carefully over the last snowy hill. It was a mess. The wagon lay smashed a little way off, pieces of its frame scattered around the crash site. The Pegasus himself lay at the end of a long channel that had been carved out of the snow as he had landed. The white ground was stained red from the point of impact to where he lay. Even without getting close it was clear to see that two of his legs were broken and the gaping wound in his left side was slowly oozing more blood into the pool that already surrounded him.

There was nopony else there, not a sight or sound. Carefully the unicorn moved forwards, his eyes flicking one way and then the other as he approached the injured Pegasus. He seemed to notice as the unicorn approached, giving a small cough which brought fresh blood to his lips.

“Damn you Lunarians...” he spat as forcefully as he could given his condition.

The unicorn didn’t even seem to acknowledge his words and kept moving forwards, heading in the direction of the cart.

“What? Too chicken to face me?” continued the Pegasus.

The unicorn stopped and looked back in an uninterested fashion, “Face you? I don’t need to; you’ll be dead before anyone finds you.”

The Pegasus’ face twisted in rage causing a fresh bloody cough to erupt from his mouth, “You think you’ll get away with this?”

“Why not?” replied the unicorn as he turned back towards the wagon.

“Don’t go near that wagon!”

The unicorn stopped again, looking back with an expression of twisted annoyance, “I was going to let you live...you know somepony may have found you...but now...”

One of the sidearms following the unicorn broke off and sailed over to where the Pegasus was lying. It hovered in front of his face for a moment before the muzzle pressed itself firmly against the pegasus’ forehead.

“Say goodnight...” finished the unicorn.

“My life for Celes...”

The gunshot rung out around the snowy hills. As the sidearm floated back towards the unicorn the pegasus’ body finally slumped to the ground, lifeless at last. Now there was only one thing left to do. The unicorn slowly approached the crashed wagon, carefully avoiding the broken fragments that stuck up from the ground. Everything was silent as he opened the side door, both his guns levelled at the opening in case anything was inside. There was nothing, nothing at all.

He paused slightly, this wasn’t right. Had this wagon been a decoy? No, he couldn’t have made that mistake...something else was going on. He swung his head back outside, carefully moving round the back of the wagon looking for clues. He found them rather quickly, hoofprints in the snow leading away from the crash site.

The unicorn’s face twisted with anger, how could he had missed this? Was that what the Pegasus had been trying to do? Distract him long enough to allow his companion to escape? Still, if there were hoofprints it obviously wasn’t a Pegasus he was dealing with...or at least they had the common sense not to try and outfly a sharp shooter.

He set off after the hoofprints, edging further into the blizzard around him. Whoever this pony was they were clearly injured, specs of fresh blood evident on the snowy ground. Just then he stopped dead and lowered himself to the ground. There they were.

A short way off, struggling against the oncoming snow, was a small pegasus filly. She seemed quite young, not a foal by any means but certainly younger than he was. Her coat was a light pink colour that complemented her mixed purple and white mane and tail. In her mouth was a large gold plated chest encrusted in different coloured gems. It seemed heavy, the filly’s head low as she almost dragged it through the snow. The unicorn smiled to himself, this was going to be easy.

“Stop right there!” he spoke clearly as he stood up, making sure both his sidearms were hovering beside him.

The filly froze, looking back with panic stricken purple eyes. Her jaw started to quiver as she tried to work out what to do. A wound could clearly be seen on her neck, the red line of blood matting her coat. In a flash of panic she bolted, trying her best to push the snow aside. The unicorn grinned, the game was afoot.

Without a second thought he fired, the round striking the ground just ahead of the panicked filly. She stopped dead for a moment before changing direction. Another round hit the snowy ground in front of her and again she stopped dead. Looking back she watched as the unicorn crept closer.

“Don’t be an idiot like your friend and you might just walk out of this alive,” he said bluntly as he approached.

The filly whimpered, slowly edging backwards as the unicorn approached.

“I was told this was a special convoy,” he continued, “completely off the grid, nopony was to know about it. Pity you Celestans can’t keep your secrets secret isn’t it.”

The filly didn’t reply for a moment, her eyes locked on the approaching unicorn, “P-please don’t hurt me...”

“Huh! I’ll decide that depending on how you act...now put the case down and back off.”

The filly nervously lowered the chest to the ground and edged back slightly, casting nervous glances at the sidearm that was following her movement. The unicorn stepped forwards, flicking his front hoof at the chest causing it to spring open. Inside was a single object; a round circular stone with a small raised diamond pattern in the centre.

The unicorn looked up at the filly with a curious look, “What is this?”

“It’s...it’s...an Element of Harmony.”

“Element of Harmony?”

The unicorn frowned slightly. They were just a myth, a story that mothers told their foals to inspire hope and courage for the future. Stories of good versus evil and the value of true friendship. Huh! Good versus evil...what a joke. There was no good or evil in this world, just endless suffering and death. The unicorn shut the case and quickly levitated it onto his back next to his rifle.

“Alright move,” he said bluntly, motioning with his sidearm as he did.

“But...but you said you’d let me go...”

“I said I might let you live, didn’t say anything about letting you go. Now move, my superiors will want a little talk with you.”