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The Chronicles of Swarm: The Equestrian Front

by kildeez

Chapter 51: Chapter LI: The Power of Hope

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Vance inhaled, exhaled, his eyes never leaving the tree line. This would be it. For better or for worse, the Battle for Equestria was going to be decided within the hour. He looked over the men with him, and the six ponies resting at his side. He couldn’t ask for a better force to win this day. Still, a few extra battalions of Army Rangers wouldn’t have hurt either. And some air support. Oh hell, at this point he'd settle for a few drunk Russkies in a jeep, long as they were willing to fight!

The cyan pegasus next to him flexed the muscles in her wings, the mud smeared under her eyes shimmering in the pre-dawn light. “You look ready,” the human remarked.

“To defend my friends? I was born ready.” She replied with a smart little smile.

“Lord almighty, if I could meet a woman like you back home, I could live the rest of my life with her.” Ramirez said with a smile, still peeking out at the Everfree through his binoculars. “Y’know: however long that might be.”

“Dinner and a movie first, bud. Dinner and a movie first.”

“But what’s with that symbol?” Twilight asked suddenly, a hoof pointing to one of the flags drenched in the mud, clenched by the charred remnants of some conscript’s hand. A blood red, crimson banner Uris recognized from one too many History Channel specials. “Those guys seem awfully devoted to it.”

“It’s a symbol of a bygone era of warfare and horror, and that’s all you need to know about it,” Vance replied coldly, his tone making it clear that this was all she was going to learn from him. Startled, Twilight’s hoof dropped. She sighed and stared dejectedly at the ground.

Eventually, Uris rolled his eyes. “Humanity wasn’t always the way it was,” he sighed. “There’s been a lot of times when we could’ve gone wrong, and our world, for all its flaws, is one of the planets that turned out alright.”

“Ah,” Twilight said, eyeing the enemy lines. “So, these humans are from a planet that went wrong somehow?”

Very wrong,” Vance interrupted, glaring at his son. “About as wrong as we could’ve gone, probably. We don’t need to go into details here though, right?”

Uris sighed again. “Right, sir,” he mumbled, glaring back, but otherwise remaining silent. God above, why did his dad have to do that? Shut him down like this; make him feel like a little kid being sent to bed with a spanking in place of dinner again?

A silence that somehow managed to be both awkward and tense settled in on the group. “Ugh, when will they just attack already?” Rarity said, mercifully breaking the silence while fanning herself with a large, frilly fan as she reclined on a sofa a bit further on down the slope. Where and how she’d gotten a sofa was a mystery to even her friends.

“Ah gotta say, Ah wasn’t expectin’ you t’be the one itchin’ for a fight, Rares,” AJ said, an eyebrow arched at her friend.

“I’m not, dahling, I just want this all to be over. Heaven knows this heat can’t be any good for my mane.” She quickly ran her hooves through her hair, uncovering a few tiny split ends. “There, see!? Do you see this!? Do you see what this is!?”

“Yeah, it IS hot…” Uris remarked, ignoring the fashionista and wiping a bit of sweat from his brow. “Hey everybody, when did that happen?”

“Holy shit, that’s right,” Miller sat up from where he’d been playing cat’s cradle with Pinkie Pie, his fingers still entangled in a mess of string. “Wasn’t it just kinda cool earlier? I mean, not too hot, not too cold, but just right?”

“You can thank the Princess for that,” Twilight said matter-of-factly. “She always ensures the temperature is just right for anypony.”

“So what happened? Did she get tired?”

“Well, no, hold on…” Twilight’s brows furrowed together as she lit her horn off, a wave of magic engulfing the field. The others waited as she completed her spell. “Hmm, that is VERY odd…”

“What is it?” The others all asked together.

“It seems as though the temperature in the trench is spiking, but otherwise the rest of the town appears to be normal.” She frowned. “That’s strange. Heat rises: if anything, this trench should be cooler than everything else.”

Vance and Miller’s eyes widened. “Twilight, I need you to cast that spell again, but focus it on the Everfree.” Vance said urgently, dread misting in his eyes.

“Um…okay…” she replied, not questioning the fear rising in the soldiers. After a few moments of concentration, her horn glowed and flared, then subsided. She came out of the spell with her eyebrows hunched in confusion. “Now, that’s also odd: I’m sensing a ton of heat signatures in the forest, but there are a few little pinpricks just within the tree line, and there seems to be…like…a line of heat from those pinpricks to here.”

“Is that why we’re so hot right now?” Uris asked.

“Possibly, but why would they want…”

Vance interrupted her by standing up and hurriedly ditching his grenades, throwing them as far as he could. “HEAT RAY! HEAT RAY! EVERYONE DITCH YOUR ‘NADES AND AMMO!”

Miller was right behind him, running up and down the line, screaming: “DITCH YOUR GRENADES! NOW! YOUR AMMO!”

“What’s going on!?” Fluttershy gasped in a panic.

“Fuck,” Ramirez replied, reaching down to unclip his ammo belt and pitch it as far into the field as he could. “Fuck shit, this is bad.”

“I thought that heat ray shit was just rumors!” Uris screamed, immediately whipping out his pistol, emptying the chamber and chucking the magazine as far as he could. “They actually built one!?”

“Didn’t just build one: used it in Hong Kong! Fucked ‘em up real bad!”

“Will somepony…or, some human…explain to me what in the hay is goin’ on!?” AJ shrieked over the growing din of panicked, terrified men, shouting at each other, unbuckling ammo and grenade belts and chucking them as far as possible.

“HEAT RAY! Experimental Nazi technology!” Miller screamed, ditching a few more grenades. “Excites metal alloy particles or some shit, makes them really hot!”

“Metal particles like in all our weapons. Sonofabitch, they’re gonna turn our own hardware into bombs!” Uris gasped, clenching at the few grenades on his belt. Already, he could feel the heat beginning to build on their surface, the weapons buzzing with energy. His palms grew sweaty, and not just from the heat, as he threw the little explosives away. All along the line, every man was forced to ditch the very weapons they depended on, chucking ammo, grenades, and any weapon with a hint of metal to it, as far as they could. Vance himself tried to hold onto his knife, but as its surface grew red-hot he realized even that would have to go. It took a few minutes, but Miller returned and saluted. As he did, the entire group’s eyes grew wide. “All’s good along the line, sir! We’ve got…what’s with that look?”

“Lieutenant…” Vance replied, hands shaking.

“Whazzat?”

“You missed one.”

Miller’s stomach dropped into his boots as he fumbled along his belt. He felt it. One little M67 fragmentation grenade, still clipped firmly to his body, now almost searing to the touch. He was SUCH an idiot! No time to ditch it: it’d probably blow the moment he tried to unhook it anyway. Only a few seconds to make a decision. So, he did.

Turning, the SEAL crouched and curled his body around the explosive, turning himself into a shield. A gasp of horror rang out behind him. He heard Uris hobbling back, ushering the ponies further away. He heard boots in mud: Ramirez diving forward, trying to grab the explosive. Too late. All far too late.

The explosion knocked Ramirez right back, his ears ringing, but his senses still intact, now probably growing used to getting blown up. He looked up in a daze as his fellow SEAL dropped, body curled up, uniform blackened with smoke. A split second later, Fluttershy and Vance were at the fallen man’s side. “WE NEED A FUCKING MEDIC HERE!” The Marine screamed as the little pegasus gripped the SEAL’s hand tight, tears welling in her eyes. For his part, Miller was still alive, albeit just barely. He looked down at the large, bloody stump where his arm used to be, glancing at his wounds with his one intact eye, set in a face blackened and raw on one side.

“MILLER!” Ramirez screamed, rolling over and crawling to the man on all fours. Just in the field next to him, a cacophony of explosions and pops kicked up dirt as each of the grenades and ammo mags detonated. It sounded like the battle they had just fought minutes before, only now there was nobody fighting. Just the last hopes every man in the trench had of living through the night, self-destructing in the most spectacular way possible. The group gathered around the SEAL was too concerned to notice or stand in awe of the sight, only able to watch and try to comfort the man as he gasped and choked, blood stemming from the massive burn and shrapnel injuries running down the entire side of his body.

“Aw God, oh my God,” Uris gasped, dropping to his knees with Rarity clenching to his pants leg out of surprise. “There’s so much blood…oh my God…”

Vance thrust his hands over the worst of the bleeding, staining his uniform. Miller gasped and choked, his one good eye staring blankly upwards while what was left of his jaw clicked about. “It’s okay, you’re okay, gonna be okay,” the Marine whispered, blood seeping up the sleeve of his uniform while he looked around wildly. “WHERE’S THAT GODDAMN MEDIC!?”

“He don’t have time for one,” Applejack said suddenly. As if her words had broken a spell, the other ponies all rushed forward and set to work: Twilight and Rarity’s magic forming a block over Miller’s body to stop the bleeding as Applejack and Fluttershy set to work creating makeshift bandages, using Rainbow’s feathers and some bits from Pinkie’s extra-fluffy mane and tail in hopes of sopping up some of the blood. Vance fell back on his haunches, watching the ponies work as they stopped most of the bleeding just in time for a pair of men with a stretcher to show up and check the SEAL over.

“Okay, lost a lotta blood, probably gonna have some scarring, but he might be okay if we work fast,” one of the medics mumbled, eyeing the strange bandages and turning to the ponies. “Good work. He’d be dead withoutcha.”

The ponies nodded in stunned silence as the man was carted down the hill, still incoherent. The group sat there until a dawning realization came over them. “We’ve got nothing,” Ramirez said. “No ‘nades, no ammo, nothing. They took away everything we got.”

Another battlecry rang up from the forest. The shock on Vance’s face gave way to grim determination. “No,” he said, picking up his knife from wear he dropped it, now cool in the mud. “Not everything.”

“It’ll be suicide,” Uris said matter-of-factly, trying to keep his voice from cracking. “Like when those conscripts charged us, except we’re the conscripts now.”

“Still, there are worse ways to go,” Vance replied. “Those bastards are probably cookin’ up a few for us right now. No Geneva Convention where they come from, remember.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Ramirez shrugged as he unsheathed his own knife and tested it against his thumb. It drew blood. Good enough.

Still holding that stunned look on his face, Uris looked around and eventually scooped up a rifle without its mag, holding it by the barrel like a club and smacking it against the mud. It gave a good, deep thud. “Might be able to crack open a few skulls with this.”

“Y-you’re not serious?” Twilight said, looking over each of the men. “After everything they’ve done, you’re still gonna fight them? Even now!?”

Uris bit his tongue, thinking long and hard about something inspirational to say in reply. “Yeah,” he said eventually.

“Like father, like son,” Vance mumbled, grinning and shaking his head.

Her eyes still wide, Twilight looked up and down the line. Each man was gathering what they could: sticks, rocks, knives, one even detached a tripod from a heavy machine gun and held it in his hands by a couple legs, swinging it like a brick. “Why?” She asked, still stunned.

“Because you’re worth it,” Ramirez replied. “Because your Princess asked us to defend her citizens with everything we had, and we’re gonna hold to that. And because it’s better to die standing for what you believe in than to live on your knees.”

Tears gathered in each pony’s eyes. Fluttershy dashed forward and wrapped Ramirez in a hug, almost surprising him enough to lose his grip on the knife. The other ponies followed suit, each grabbing a human and holding him close, tears drifting down the sides of their cheeks. “Hey now, none a’ that,” Ramirez said with a smile. “We knew what we signed up for when we joined up.”

“Says you,” Uris replied jokingly, stroking both Rarity’s and Applejack’s manes at the same time.

“We know,” Rarity said, smiling through her tears as she snuggled up close to the pilot. She wiped at her eyes and coughed. “But at least it’s not all bad.”

“Oh, how’s that?”

“At least we get to die with the ponies…and people…we care about.” Twilight replied, hugging Vance close.

Instantly, every man’s eyes widened. “WHAT!? YOU?” Vance screamed as another battle cry rose from the forest.

Twilight nodded sullenly. “Rarity and I exhausted what little magic the Elements hadn’t sucked up deflecting those hits earlier. We can’t teleport away.”

“And Celestia knows we ain’t gonna run fast enough,” Applejack shrugged. “And with Flutters’ anxiety keepin’ her wings down, only one of us that could possibly have a chance at gettin’ away is…”

“Nope,” Rainbow Dash said simply, hugging Ramirez closer.

“Now, Miss Dash,” Uris started, only to be interrupted by the darkest glare he’d ever seen from the cyan pegasus. She held the glare on him for a few minutes before turning to nuzzle into Vance’s chest.

“Don’t bother,” Ramirez said, shaking his head sadly as he stroked the ponies in his grip. “Element of Loyalty. You could talk ‘til doomsday and she’d never leave.”

“Dang right,” she said quietly, not moving to disguise the tears cascading down her cheeks.

“So, none of you can…” Uris started. The ponies replied by shaking their heads. “Not even…” he pointed to Rainbow. She shook her head harder.

“But…but c’mon!” Uris gasped. Rainbow closed her eyes, bit her lip, and shook harder. The pilot leaned back in the mud, rifle falling at his side, ponies still clinging to him. “Then it’s over. We’ve failed.”

“Now son, we gave it a good fight,” Vance said comfortingly.

“And who knows how many of those bastards we’re gonna wind up takin’ with us?” Ramirez winked. “I’m lookin’ forward to it!”

“Yeah, but we still failed!” The pilot shouted. “Equestria is screwed! Those bastards are gonna tear over that hill and rip apart the Elements of Harmony AND the Princesses of Day and Night! Don’t you get it!? We’re all that’s left! We’re it! Who’s gonna stop them after us, huh!? A buncha ponies with spears and swords aren’t gonna do shit against them! Without us…” he hugged the ponies in his grip closer. “Without us…”

“We gave it our best shot,” Vance spoke as another war-cry rang out over the field, the sounds of boots on foliage drawing closer.

“I know, I know, I just…” Uris was sobbing now, making no attempt to hide it. Despite his best efforts, visions of what was to come flashed by his eyes: the Princesses and the Elements lying together in a bloody pile. The MASH unit just a few miles away being ransacked, both pony and human bayonetted in their cots. Canterlot in flames. Though he’d never seen it, he could still picture the magnificent city, its spires reduced to rubble, the populace either being led off at gunpoint or heaped up in piles for burning, the ancient libraries and artworks ransacked and either burnt or carried off.

“I wish there was something I could do,” he whispered, choking between sobs, his grip tightening on the ponies. “I wish harder than anything that there was something I could do.”

There was a strange, tinkling sound, like wind chimes. Suddenly, Applejack perked up. Rarity looked at her. “You felt that too?” She asked.

“Yeah,” AJ looked down at her throat. “My Element…”

“What about it?” Uris asked dryly, looking at the jewel. What did it matter anymore? It obviously couldn’t help them, not since it was…

He blinked, rubbed at his eyes, and took another look to make sure his senses weren’t fooling him. “Twilight, couldja come over here?” He asked.

“Hmm?” The lavender unicorn perked up and trotted over to him. “What’s up?”

“Look,” he picked her up and placed her right next to Applejack, his eyes darting between the tiara in Twilight’s mane and the necklace around AJ’s neck. “Just look!”

“Twi…” Applejack said, pointing from her Element to Twilight’s and back again. “Mine’s goin’ faster!”

“What?” She picked the tiara out of her mane while placing a hoof on Applejack’s Element. “It…it is! It’s pulsating faster and…”

She closed her eyes, breathing in time with the energy pulses from her Element. “It’s stronger! It’s definitely stronger!” She gasped, eyes darting open. “It feels like Applejack’s Element received a huge boost of energy from somewhere! When did this happen!?”

“I…I…” Uris started, his cheeks turning red. “…I…made a wish.”

“What did you wish for? Hurry!” She barked like a drill instructor, eliciting a near-instantaneous response from the pilot.

“I…I wished I could do something. Y’know, for you all.”

“Of course,” Twilight said, eyes widening with realization. She face-hoofed herself: how could she have been so blind!? The answer to all their problems was right in front of her! “Of course!”

“Care to illuminate the rest of us, Ms. Sparkles?” Vance asked.

“It’s you guys!” She gasped, turning to each of the humans in turn. “The Elements were never charging: they were just waiting for a final piece! The last little bit they needed for enough power to overcome Mars!”

“Oh my God,” Ramirez sighed, realizing what she was getting at. He face palmed and grumbled to himself. “It’s almost too cliché.”

“What? What is?” Uris asked. “Seriously, I don’t get it.”

“Don’t say it Twi, he’ll just make fun of you,” Ramirez sighed.

Unfortunately, the unicorn was unable to contain herself, hopping up and down like a filly being told it was going to the Canterlot Hearthswarming Eve celebrations. “It’s you guys! Your hopes, your dreams, your wish to help others!” She took Uris’s hand, smiling up into his eyes. “Human compassion is the last Element of Harmony!”

Silence fell over the group. “Wow,” Ramirez gasped.

“GAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!” Uris shouted.

“Uris! SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

“So, all you girls need is human compassion t’get this battle won, eh?” Vance asked. The ponies all nodded. “Well hell, that’s easy enough.”

Vance stood and cupped his hands over his mouth. “I NEED EVERY MAN FRONT AND CENTER, NOW!” A few seconds passed until every Marine and SEAL that was able gathered before the Captain, still allowing him the higher ground as he raised his hands for quiet; the ponies, Ramirez, and Uris at his side. “Now, I need each and every one of you to think about why you joined up.”

The crowd replied with a few moments of stunned silence, interrupted by another battle cry from the forest. “NOW, GODDAMMIT!” Vance screamed.

“Well, I joined to help the folks out, y’know? One less mouth to feed.” One Marine said.

“I joined to make the ol’ man proud.” Another added.

“I joined to do everything I could to make my country safe,” a SEAL said.

“You guys are SO corny!” Another Marine added before taking a light jab to the shoulder.

Soon, every man was speaking up, hundreds of stories and hundreds of hopes and hundreds of dreams all joining together, coalescing in a huge, babbling crowd, hardly taking notice at the six little ponies at their leaders’ sides, even as they started to glow and hover in the air. “It’s workiiinnnggg…” Twilight said, her voice building in anticipation as the power flowed through her body. Each Element in turn: Honesty, Kindness, Generosity, Loyalty, Laughter and Magic, all slowly glowed with power, more than they’d ever felt before, more than when they’d cleansed Nightmare Moon or froze Discord, each slowly lifting up as their eyes glowed with pure magic. The crowd looked on, stunned.

“What the hell is that?” A SEAL whispered to Ramirez.

“Hope,” he replied, grinning as he pulled on a pair of tinted ballistic goggles and watched the Elements turn towards the rushing blurs in the middle of the field. A light breeze whistled through the air, magic whipping all around the group. And whipping. And whipping. After a while, he peeked worriedly over the top of his rims. “Um, ain’t somethin’ supposed to happen?”

“I guess the Elements hafta figure out how they’re gonna channel all this energy,” Uris shrugged sheepishly.

“So we wait. Again.” Vance grumbled. “Great, that’s just excellent.”

One, final cry interrupted them, all eyes along the ridge turning to the field just as a mob burst through the tree line, heavily armed men in trench coats and jackets bearing the SS lightning bolts charged the line, all led by a single man with a humongous, blood-red swastika flag in his hand, billowing in the wind. A few shots cracked out, aimed at the Elements, only for the bullets to bounce right off the sheer power channeling through the ponies’ bodies. With the ponies remaining invulnerable, the Nazi forces all turned their attentions to the Americans still on the ground.

“Animated shows and their elaborate power-up sequences,” Uris mumbled, scooping up his rifle again.

“I blame the Japs,” Vance grumbled. The other men looked at him, eyebrows cocked. “What!? Those li’l bastards and their pokey-mans fucked up cartoons forever, and we all damn well know it!”

“Dad,” Uris sighed, shaking his head. “Not cool.”

Next Chapter: Chapter LII: One Threat Down, Another Rises Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 41 Minutes
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