Jen and Zecora sat atop the hills overlooking Ponyville, staring down at the town quietly. Zecora hadn’t told Jen the purpose of what they were doing and that was starting to annoy her, she adjusted her freshly cleaned camouflage jacket and gripped her hunting rifle tightly. She had to admit, there had certainly been some interesting sights from Canterlot. There had been searchlights and more than once Jen and Zecora had had to hide from the ever increasing amounts of aerial patrols. In the hours since that had happened though, the patrols had been gradually coming further and further apart, as if they were flying out further and further each time.

The smell of the grass was an intense reminder for Jen, more than once she’d looked over her shoulder, checking for any infected that could be sneaking up behind her. Of course there were none but that didn’t eliminate the subconscious need to check. Zecora would always look at her with the same neutral expression as she did that, but she’d ignore it. If she wanted to know she could ask, Jen wasn’t about to open up on her own. Jen’s eyes focussed on the roads going into and out of the the town, tired as they were, she could make out the forms of night guards roaming the streets, again she turned her head over her shoulder, then back to the town.

“Is there a reason or rhyme to you looking over your shoulder all the time?” She asked in a quiet tone, Jen nodded silently as she continued watching the town. The sound of crickets and chirping birds around her and Zecora indicated that it was nearing morning. “I know it is a task, but you know what I must ask.”

“I picked it up in my world… It pays to be vigilant. Never know when the mulchers are coming up behind you…” Jen adjusted her hunting rifle and looked through the scope towards the town, from what she could see there was even more activity now that the morning was starting to come. “Hold that thought. Eyes on… Holy shit…” Jen’s voice trailed off as she rubbed her eyes. “It… It looks like an entire battalion is rolling down the mountain, and…” There was a distant loud whistle, undoubtedly from a train that was trundling down the tracks. “Looks like there’s a load of equipment with them on the train.”

“Perhaps there response, though it is a lot, is to whatever happened in Canterlot?” Zecora offered, Jen just hummed as she watched the train begin to slow down, it was nearing a station in the town. “The guards draw near, it is time for us to move, I fear…”

“Negative.” Jen said quietly. “The birds have settled in the trees, any sudden moves or loud noises will spook them… We’ll move when they blow the whistle again.” Zecora hadn’t taken into account the birds around them, she hadn’t even noticed them, perhaps Jen’s hearing was tuned to listen for things in the background more than in the foreground. The woman panned over the town as she spotted a group of local guards was marching around with spears, prodding at bushes and carts filled with produce. “Looks like they’re searching for something- Holy shit.”

“What?” Zecora asked, barely keeping herself from moving over to look through the scope. What Jen saw through the scope was chilling her to the bone. From the first car of the train emerged two alicorns, one white and one blue. They were followed by a lavender alicorn and five other ponies. Jen reached up and adjusted the scope on her rifle, zooming in to get a look at the ponies closer. The crosshair gradually found itself lined up on Celestia’s head.

“Princesses… I’ve got a line on Celestia.” Jen whispered, already beginning to slow her breathing. Before the infection a shot at that range would be made by a crack team of snipers, but since the end of conventional warfare, the American Army had focussed on making each shot count from a distance. Jen was no White Death, but she could certainly make a shot at this distance, even with the rifle she held.

“Put those thoughts to bed, your anger is clouding your head.” Zecora said in an even tone, Jen took a few deep breaths and nodded, keeping the sights square on Celestia’s crown. The woman paused as she noticed more movement in the scope, there appeared to be a donkey trotting into town with a cart of weeds behind him. Her aim shifted towards him as the guards approached him with the spears, pointing at his cart. The donkey seemed to shrug before the nodding, Jen watched silently as the guards approached the cart and prepared to prod the contents with the spears.

Hundreds of yards down range, far from the hill that Jen and Zecora occupied, as the sun began to shine, a guard was preparing to jab into a cart of weeds. His name wasn’t truly important, neither was his rank, he’d only enlisted in the guard to pay for college. As he drove the spear towards the weeds he didn’t notice anything, but after it had disappeared into the green, it seemed to be stuck. The guard looked over to one of his comrades and pointed to the cart.

“Uh, Sarge? It seems to be stuck.” He said, his voice cracking a bit.

“Well pull it out, ya dirtbag!” His sergeant shouted back, the guard gave another yank and again the spear refused to budge. “Idiot. Here, let me show you how it’s done.” The aging tan stallion began trotting over to the cart, seeing this the guard let go of the spear. As soon as he did the spear vanished into the cart, the guard took several steps back and pointed at the cart nervously.

“S-Sarge!” Several seconds later a green monster began clawing its way out of the cart with a spear in hand, a towering biped in tattered rags. Upon closer inspection it was clear it was actually a human, a wounded human, that had been stained green from hiding under the weeds for hours on end. He wasted no time in thrusting the spear at the guard closest to him, there was the clash of metal as it impacted the antiquated gold plating that had yet to be replaced. Still, the guard was quick on his feet and backed away.

Johnny hadn’t expected a battalion to be waiting for him when he made his emergence, but they were.

“OPEN FIRE, YA DIRTBAGS!” The sergeant bellowed, moments later every spellbow in the vicinity was leveled at the man. Johnny wasn’t about to go down without a fight though, as the guards began opening fire he jabbed at the first guard again, catching him in the shin with the spear and drawing blood. The guard, surprised and scared, scurried back. Johnny was struck by the first of the magical bolts, wincing in pain as the impacts shook his body. “KEEP FIRING!” Despite the pain, which felt more like being shot with airsoft pellets or paintballs, Johnny turned with the spear and began running straight for the sergeant. He let out a beastial, primal yell, one that harkened back to the stone age. His eyes were wide and wild, his heart pounding, ever muscle was firing as hard as it could. Through the pain in his body he had one thing running through his mind.

Fight.

The sergeant spotted Johnny coming relatively quickly and drew his sabre from its sheath, he brought back the blade to make a slash at Johnny’s legs, and he would have connected, if his right forehoof didn’t explode into a mist of bone, blood, and pulp. This was preceded by a slight whistling noise that had barely even registered in any of the ponies ears. A bang echoed in the distance as the sergeant began screaming and staring at his stump of an arm, the birds scattered for miles around.

Johnny saw the sergeant wouldn’t be a threat now that he’d been disarmed, instead adjusting his charge and preparing to slam into a guard standing next to the sergeant that was staring dumbfounded at his commanding officer.

A flash of light appeared in front of him as Luna appeared, without pausing she thrust her horn towards the spear, parrying it before using her magic to pick up the sergeants dropped sabre. There was another whistle in the air before the guard Luna had appeared in front of was on the ground with a hole in his cutiemark.

“COVER! GET TO COVER!” Shouted one of the guards, the soldiers scattered for cover, leaving Luna and Johnny circling around each other. The two wounded ponies were dragged off and Celestia had cast a shield spell over her sister and Johnny. She doubted it would do much to stop the bullets, but it was all she could do.

“John, put the spear down. Now!” Luna demanded angrily, Johnny shook his head and thrust his spear forwards, it was easily parried by Luna. She didn’t intend to harm him, even after all he’d done. Doing that would make getting his friend to stop shooting even more difficult, and she didn’t want to harm one of the three humans she’d met. Every time she looked at the man she saw glimpses of who he had been and how he’d changed into something completely twisted.

“You’re only make it harder for you and Jen! Do you honestly think this is helping your opportunities here?” Luna said, her tone shifting as the two combatants circled around each other. “You’re only hurting her by doing this.”

“No! You’re… You’re trying to manipulate me! It may have worked on that other idiot, but it won’t work on me!” There was another thrust and a jab at Luna’s chest, again she deflected it easily with her sabre. Honestly she was less concerned with the man with the spear right in front of her as she was about the woman with the gun far away. She’d had centuries to perfect her swordsmareship, but no time to perfect dodging hot lead.

“Perhaps I am, but that doesn’t change the truth! You have a chance to live a relatively normal life here, each moment you spend fighting us is making it that much harder to have!” Luna continued circling around the bubble shield. “You’re right… I manipulated Dominic, but I promised him I’d help him… I’ve done that as best I can.” There was another whistle and a bang, the shield shattered around them. “I always keep my promises… I promise, I won’t hurt you, or your friend.” Luna’s magic vanished from the hilt of the sabre, sending it clattering to the ground.

Johnny stared for a moment, maintaining a tight grip on the spear and looking around him. From cover the guards had all taken aim again, their spellbows all primed and ready to begin the onslaught. Tired and aching from the night before, and now covered from head to toe in painful impact marks, he knew there was little chance that he would win the fight. He silently looked down at his spear.

Back on the hill, Jen was grunting loudly as she pinned Zecora to the ground, blood dripping from her nose onto the zebra’s fur. Not long after the shooting had started Zecora had tried to take the rifle from her, every shot she’d made had gone wide because of it, she’d only be able to pause and take a passable shot before being forced to combat Zecora again. As it stood, she was using the rifle as a bar to keep the zebra pinned.

“I won’t let them kill him!” She kept repeating over and over again through clenched teeth, Zecora staring and gasping as the gun was pressed against her windpipe. “I won’t lose another!” The zebra used all of her remaining might to push the human off of her, no easy feat considering she was at a severe height and weight disadvantage.

“You must stop inflicting such pain! I cannot stand idly by, that would be insane!” Zecora said between gasps as she prepared to fight the human once more. “You must stop your fighting, don’t you understand? It will only bring death to the land!” Jen had had enough, her rifle rising to a firing stance that faced the zebra. She drew back the bolt, ejecting a spent shell, before chambering the next round.

“I don’t want to kill you!” Jen said loudly, the zebra stared down the barrel of the weapon and closed her eyes.

“Do what you must, if I should die, it is because my cause is just…” Zecora replied in a calm tone, Jen’s finger trembled as she tried to move it towards the trigger.

”What’s the most important rule?” Johnny’s voice echoed through her head. ”Never, EVER aim at something you don’t intend to destroy.” The word ‘Destroy’ began repeating over and over in her head, her eyes began to tear up and her vision became blurry. She turned back towards the town and looked through the scope at where Johnny and Luna had been fighting. Both of them were looking towards her on the hill now, the morning sunlight reflecting off the scope of her rifle. She saw Johnny say something to Luna, there was a nod, and then…

“Are they… Are they letting him go?” Jen’s voice caught in her throat, her arms going slack as she let the rifle point towards the ground. Zecora by this point had stood up and trotted to the ridge, looking at Jen with extreme uncertainty. She kept a good distance, looking between the raven haired woman and the man walking across the fields towards them. The silence that settled racked Zecora’s nerves, she could see a lot of activity from the guards in the town, but surprisingly, none of it was directed at the humans.

Jen slowly began walking towards Johnny, her steps were shaky from stress and the uneven ground. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, with the morning light shining brightly upon them, Jen and Johnny were standing no less than five feet from each other. Wordlessly Johnny stepped forwards and put his hands on Jen’s shoulders, she could tell he was shaking. His clothes were worse for wear and he was covered in green, there was dried blood all down his face and he seemed to have a limp.

“Hey there…” Johnny said in a quiet voice, smirking a familiar smirk. Jen’s voice caught in her throat.

“H-Hey? That’s all you have to say?” She replied, feigning annoyance before she put her arms around Johnny and pulled him close. The rifle hung loose on its strap as the two shared an embrace that both had missed for some time. When the embrace was over, Johnny was about to speak, but he saw Jen’s eyes go wide. He looked over his shoulder as she started grabbing for her rifle, Princess Luna was approaching, completely alone. Johnny looked at Jen and put his hand on her rifle. “Wh-What? She’s going to-”

“Calm down…” Johnny continued holding the rifle in his hand. “I know you think she’s coming to hurt us, but she isn’t. She’s promised to help us, and I believe her.” Jen looked between Johnny and the Princess, her eyes still wide with concern. “She brought up a good point… We can’t keep running anymore.”

“What if she’s lying? What if she sends us to some government facility where they’ll do experiments on us?” Jen asked, again trying to raise her rifle, and again Johnny kept his grip firmly on the barrel.

“She won’t…” Johnny gestured to his face. “All this was my fault, not hers. Even after I fucked up her castle she still wants to help… I believe it’s genuine… Even if I don’t trust her completely.” Jen continued looking between Johnny and the princess. “If she’s lying, you know we could beat the crap out of their guards and escape again. If she’s telling the truth… We can settle down, put away the rifles… We can be normal people again.” Jen’s eyes continued watering as she took more glances between Johnny and Luna, she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder, and when she felt a soft squeeze from it, she closed her eyes.

Jen relinquished her grip on the rifle, letting Johnny take it and sling it over his shoulder. The man gave her another hug, using that moment to take the revolver off her as well. Jen looked at Luna quietly, trying to think of anything to say. Years ago she’d have squealed in excitement to meet her, but now Jen was too tired and too paranoid to even consider a mild cheer.

“Hello.” Luna said, looking Jen up and down quietly. She’d never seen a human female before, and there certainly were a few differences that she hadn’t expected. What was more, she could tell from looking at Jen that she was suffering from some of the same problems that Dominic had. “I… I realize you’re probably very afraid of me, but, I wanted to come and see that you were okay…”

Overhead some guards flew towards the top of the hill, landing to check on Zecora, who had taken to laying on the ground and recuperating after the ordeal. Luna and Jen ignored them, just staring at each other, sizing the other one up.

“I… I… I don’t know what to say…” Jen said quietly, looking at Johnny again. The man walked over and put his arm around her.

“You don’t have to say anything, let’s just get someplace warm and dry?” Johnny replied, looking at Luna who nodded silently. Johnny and Jen began walking back towards the town with Luna behind them, it was a quiet walk, there wasn’t a word uttered, as if all those involved were still coming to terms with what was happening. Luna worried about how all of this would affect how Equestria saw humans, and to a lesser extent, how Dominic perceived her way of dealing with humans. That was a bridge she’d have to cross later, in the present, she had two very dirty, jumpy, dangerous survivors to take care of. She didn’t trust Celestia to do it, not yet anyway.

The group continued walking as the sun continued to rise, closing another bloody chapter for the beleaguered human race.

[♦]

As the morning sun rose over New Liberty a hush had fallen across the town. Numerous changelings had been defecting from the POWs and it seemed soon the war with their hive would come to an end. That was what most of them thought anyway. The morning hush was quickly broken however, as a panicked Queen Chrysalis bolted out of her bunk house and ran towards the gate of the POW camp.

The surprised guards turned and looked at her, weapons at the ready. Her mane was matted and bedraggled as if she’d just woken up from a nightmare, the nervousness in her eyes made the Americans stand on edge as she spluttered and tried to speak. In her panic however, she’d forgotten that ponies generally couldn’t speak Changlinese. The guards only grew more suspicious of her as more and more of the changelings emerged from their bunk houses. Finally, Chrysalis calmed herself down enough to speak Equish.

“I must see the president! It’s an emergency!” The soldiers looked between each other, one of them nodded and readied his rifle, keeping it trained on Chrysalis as the other unlocked the gate. Sure, it was possible the Queen was trying to escape, but if she really wanted to, she could have easily flown out of the camp ages ago. It was a risk the guards were willing to take, and it paid off. The Queen rushed out of the camp and the second guard closed the gate behind her, then the first began escorting her towards the capitol building.

Chrysalis pushed her way into the building, moving with lightning speed up the steps as the building’s guards started to go after her as well. The panic on her face made them refrain from outright opening fire, they’d learned to read facial cues pretty well over the course of dealing with changelings.

Chrysalis didn’t really care that she had at least five heavily armed thestrals following her, she had to warn the President of what she’d sensed. Her normal sleep had been interrupted by the hivemind, a distant buzzing that she’d not felt in a long time. The being she’d sensed on the other end was none other than her former head of the military Commander Gigant, knowing that somehow he was still alive was enough to put her into a frenzy, but knowing that he was close by put her into an outright terror.

Chrysalis burst into the President’s office, startling him from his sleep in his chair. He blinked a few times but quickly realised there was someone in his office. When he saw it was Chrysalis his hand began reaching for his holster.

“Stay your hand, I have sensed a great danger!” She cried out, Dominic’s hand nonetheless came to rest on the revolver. Chrysalis supposed that as long as it wasn’t pointed at her she was okay.

“What danger would that be?” Dominic asked in a groggy tone, standing up with revolver in hand and wiping his eyes. Chrysalis noticed that there was a decent amount of papers on the floor as well as a half empty bottle on his desk. “Come on, I’ve got a bitch of a hangover, I can handle a little more bad news…”

“I have sensed a changeling in the hivemind, someone that I fear will bring great harm to your citizens.” Chrysalis said, ignoring the fact that now the guards that had followed her were watching her through the doorway. Dominic blinked a couple times, then waved a hand at the guards, dismissing them. He stretched, his back popping loudly as he did so.

“Go on, don’t mind me.” He said as he continued adjusting himself.

“Commander Gigant, my former head of the military.” Chrysalis began, Dominic paused and rubbed his chin, then shrugged and mumbled to himself.

“Gigant… Gigant… Sounds like a ruskie.” Chrysalis ignored the comment, chocking it up to Dominic being too tired to care about censoring himself. “Alright, what’s so bad about Gigant, did he sell nuclear secrets on the black market? Swat a fly in your presence?”

“No, he was the one that recommended the attack on Canterlot, filled my head with delusions of glory…” Chrysalis explained, ignoring Dominic’s crude manner of speaking once again. “He’s a Changeling supremacist who would see anyone not a changeling subjugated by our race.” This got Dominic’s attention, he set his revolver on his desk and walked over to look the Queen in the eyes. “He is also my child, as all Changelings are… He did not seem to think that mattered, and attempted to… what’s the word? Woo me? Needless to say, something like that would be highly taboo.”

“So you guys have Oedipal complexes too…” Dominic muttered to himself, he shook his head and rubbed his eyes again. “Well, what’s the big worry? If you just sensed him he should be easy to find, especially if he’s alone.”

“Gigant has a legion of followers in the hive, they’ve been growing in numbers since we lost in Canterlot, and now that I’ve been captured, I’m certain he has used it as a rally call to defend the hive, and eventually, invade Equestria.” Chrysalis’ look of worry finally set Dominic’s mind into full on red alert, the look on his face became hard as stone. “I fear he has come here with an army in an attempt to free me.”

“So why not order him to stand down? You’re still his boss, aren’t you?” Dominic asked, already reaching for his jacket and helmet.

“I said he was the former head of the army for a reason.” Chrysalis said. “I fired him after he made rather forceful advances on me.” Dominic sighed quietly and looked around his office, he turned around and took his shotgun off the wall, then set it on the desk.

“How much shit would you say we’re in?” Dominic asked as he pulled a threadbare backpack from beneath his desk and unzipped it.

“Gigant is likely preparing to attack as we speak… His tactic will undoubtedly be to engulf you on all sides and basically devour his way in.” Chrysalis explained, Dominic began slipping shotgun shells into his weapon, then pulled two bandoliers from within the bag. He hadn’t worn them in months, but he had a feeling he’d need them soon. “It is very likely that even with your defenses he will win the battle.”

“I always knew this day would come, I prayed it wouldn’t but I knew it would.” Dominic said quietly, looking at Chrysalis with a somber expression. “There is a reason my race was so advanced, conflict breeds innovation… I had hoped I would never have to employ our ways of warfare here…” The man buttoned his jacket and sat his helmet atop his head, then slung shotgun over his shoulder and slipped his revolver into his holster. “I’m sorry, but a lot more of your children are going to die…”

“I… I…” Chrysalis was at a loss for words.

“I have to look out for my people, don’t you understand?” Dominic’s voice was welling with emotion, as he himself was uncertain that what he was planning to do was the right thing. “I will dispatch a pair of soldiers to accompany you, you can try and talk Gigant out of what he is planning… Other than that, there’s nothing I can do…”

“I… I understand…” Chrysalis said in a hoarse whisper, meanwhile Dominic walked out of the room.

“Sonar! Get me all the grease, oil, booze, ammonia and bleach you can find! Put us on red alert, I want fighter cover twenty four seven, and find a way to identify the changeling defectors so we know they’re ours!” He ordered, Chrysalis couldn’t bring herself to move, she shakily sat down on the floor in the office and began to feel an overwhelming numbness through her body. Part of her hated herself for what she’d just done, undoubtedly she was condemning any of her children that fought for Gigant to death. The other part of her knew that peace between her people and America would never exist if America was destroyed, and if she couldn’t have peace with them, there was no chance that she would ever have peace with Equestria or any other nation for that matter.

There was a quiet cough from behind her, prompting her to turn and spot two thestrals wearing desert fatigues and holding spellbows. The older one wore something she believed was called a boonie cap while the other wore an olive drab knit cap. She found that odd, considering there was a desert surrounding them, but didn’t comment.

“Queen Chrysalis. I’m Rolling Thunder, this is Chipped Blade, we’ve been told to escort you.” The older stallion said in an obviously bitter tone, the second stallion just seemed to be glaring daggers at her. She could sense a strong hatred emanating off of him, it seemed that Dominic had picked the two guards that hated her the most to accompany her. The queen quietly stood and bowed to the two soldiers, they appeared surprised, but their emotions remained the same.

“Please, follow swiftly, we haven’t any time to lose.” The Queen quickly trotted out of the room with the two soldiers following close behind her. The capitol building was abuzz with activity as ponies ran around shouting and demanding things. Already two carts had been dispatched to gather up as many bottles of bleach and ammonia as possible, as the president had explained what could happen if the two mixed. It wasn’t long before Chrysalis and the two soldiers had emerged onto the street.

“Let’s move.” Rolling said sternly, earning another nod from Chipped Blade. Chrysalis closed her eyes and took a breath before opening her wings and taking to the air, she flew at a decent clip, but not too fast that her escort would think she was trying to escape. The Queen was following her senses, she turned as she felt the hivemind calling from the hills. Rolling Thunder and Chipped Blade kept very close eyes on her, ever since Errant’s death they’d harbored a grudge towards the Queen, they supposed that was what made them so well suited for the job of keeping her on a very short leash.

For half an hour the group flew in silence over the desert, mile after mile passed beneath them until finally they had flown nearly ten miles. Chipped looked over at Rolling and shook his head silently, the older stallion shook his head back, the cut off was twenty miles. Chrysalis sensed that her companions were growing antsy, she could understand why, but she knew that Gigant was close.

“I can sense him… And his army… They’re very close.” Chrysalis said over her shoulder, the two soldiers nodded. With a nervous shudder Chrysalis angled herself towards the ground, reducing her speed and gliding down to the sand. She came touched down and trotted to a stop, Chipped Blade and Rolling stopped just behind her. A hawk circled overhead, cawing loudly. The desert brush swayed in a slow blowing breeze.

“Alright… Where is what we’re looking for again?” Rolling asked, Chrysalis held up a hoof and closed her eyes. The silence settled and she could hear the hivemind calling to her from over a ridge, her hoof drifted in that direction and she opened her eyes. She began walking towards the ridge with her escorts trudging along behind her, after ten minutes of more silent movement they had reached the summit. Chrysalis gasped as she looked over the other side, and when they reached the top, Rolling and Chipped immediately dropped to their stomachs with their spellbows at the ready.

“Mother of Luna…” Chipped said quietly as the wind picked up, sending sand and dust flying across the ground. Chrysalis was surprised to have heard him talk, he’d been silent the entire time. The three of them were looking down upon a large encampment of changelings. The camp was made up of mud huts covered in sand to help hide them aerially, there were changelings moving large crates and sharpening weapons or preparing armor. It seemed they hadn’t noticed that they were being watched yet. Rolling and Chipped wasted no time scanning the area for targets.

“Call the building on the edge of the encampment…. two-hundred and fifty yards.” Rolling whispered, Chipped nodded once again. Chrysalis looked at the two of them, each had attached a long range scope to their weapons. “I’ve got a lot of activity… Shit… I think they made us.”

Indeed, the changelings in the encampment had made a note of their Queen on the ridge, but not the two snipers on either side of her.

“I doubt they have seen you, I can sense confusion, but not fear or anger… Wait here… I will try to talk to Gigant.” Both soldiers turned and looked at her with upset expressions. “The longer I stand here the more they get suspicious and the more likely they are to see you. I give you my word, I will return…”

“Go.” Chipped said quietly once more, Chrysalis nodded and began walking down the hill. Rolling looked over at Chipped with a raised eyebrow. “That rat bastard is probably on his way outside now, the two of them will talk in the open… We’ll know who the target is.”

“Just hope it doesn’t backfire.” Rolling replied. “The big man doesn’t want us to take the shot if the Queen’s still here, remember that…”

“Copy…”

Chrysalis wasn’t able to hear the details of what the two snipers were discussing as she walked down the hill, but she sensed that very soon something would happen. It upset her to think she was probably being used as bait, and that in a few moments she would probably be covered in the remains of Gigant’s head, but she kept telling herself that the death of one of her children, the black sheep, would somehow be for the greater good.

Her hoofs left their marks in the sand as dozens of changelings poured out of their huts to get a look at the Queen. She flashed a bit of magic, straightening her hair out and allowing the wind to catch it. The mare came to a halt just in front of the first hut and a crowd began to form around her, the changelings began mumbling amongst each other as the Queen silently looked them over. They were thin, thinner than any changeling should be, as if they had been denied the very taste of food, emotional or otherwise.

Eventually the crowd began to part in the back, Chrysalis adjusted her stance as she watched the part grow closer and closer, until finally it parted all the way to reveal a changeling that Chrysalis was all too familiar with. Commander Gigant, in his full battle armor that still bore the sigil of the Hive Legion, armor that Chrysalis had taken from him when she’d dismissed him.

“Your highness!” The changeling said with a cheery smile. “I can sense it truly is you! I am so glad that you’ve escaped!” Chrysalis’ expression remained as stoic as ever, her eyes never once breaking contact with the armor. She had stored it in her bedroom in the hive for safe keeping, meaning that Gigant had had to go into her bedroom to get it. “Our counter attack will be even more meaningful now that you are here.”

“Gigant…” Chrysalis’ tone was laced with venom, venom she’d thought she’d left behind, but seeing one of her sons blatantly advertising that he had entered her chamber was bringing back old feelings of disdain. “What are you doing?”

“I’m greeting you-”

“In that armor.” Chrysalis’ tone was ice cold as she cut him off. “The armor I stripped you of when I stripped you of rank.” Gigant froze, it was the first time that she’d ever seen him visibly gulp. Murmurs ran through the crowd that had formed. “If there was to be a counter attack, you are the last of my warrior sons I would pick to lead it.”

“M-Mother, surely you don’t mean that.” Gigant stammered, Chrysalis remained impassive. Still, seeing the look on his face, one of emotional destruction, was something it took a lot of strength to overcome. She hated seeing her children suffer, especially when it was by her own hoof, but seeing how all the other changelings had been treated made it easier on her. “They must have done unspeakable things to you that would make you say that!”

“Children, heed my words.” Chrysalis said in an authoritative voice, the crowd of changelings looked at her with wide eyes. “This boy you see before you is no real commander, following him is foolish. Only death and misery await you if you with him, death and misery I will be unable to prevent.” Gigant went from shocked and upset to outraged with the speed of a whip, pointing an accusing hoof at the Queen.

“You are weak! You are so weak you cannot see what true strength is!” He turned to the crowd and pointed at himself. “Brothers and Sisters, you know what I can do, what I can promise! Disregard her lies!” Chrysalis looked over the faces of the crowd once more, there was a lot of confusion and murmuring.

“Those of you that follow me shall be safe from harm, that is my vow. Those that refuse… I cannot promise the same.” Chrysalis began to turn around, trotting back up the ridgeline towards the two snipers. Behind her she heard hoofsteps.

“What are you doing!? Are you weak minded!?” Gigant yelled loudly, Chrysalis continued walking as did her followers, until Gigant’s yells were far in the background. The Queen stopped at the top of the ridge and looked around in surprise, as her two sniper escorts were no longer there. She looked around for a moment before she spotted a very thready cloud high in the sky, she could faintly make out two outlines. The Queen nodded quietly and began walking back in the direction of New Liberty.

In the end, it appeared that at least half of Gigant’s forces had decided to follow her, perhaps even more, leaving Gigant with an even smaller force than before. In the air above, Rolling and Chipped watched in awe as the exodus unfell before their eyes. The cloud they’d hidden behind was barely strong enough to support them touching it, they had quickly flown up there earlier to get a better look of the encampment, and to not be there when they saw Chrysalis leaving with the other changelings.

“Rolling… You handle the escort from here. I’ll wait until they’re further away and complete the mission.” Chipped said in a hushed voice, Rolling looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “I’ll be okay…”

“You sure?” Rolling asked, his own tone serious, Chipped nodded silently once more. “You come back in one piece, you hear me?” Another nod. Rolling let go of the cloud and silently began falling back towards the ground, after a few seconds his wings snapped open and he began gliding towards the evacuating changelings. Chipped sighed quietly and adjusted the knit cap he wore, peering down on the changeling camp through his scope once more.

This was something he rather enjoyed, being alone with his weapon and a target in mind. The gentle wind pushed against the thin excuse for a cloud, but not too hard, just enough to waft through Chipped Blade’s short mane. Through his scope he could see that Gigant, their target, was doing damage control with his remaining forces.

“Arrogant son of a bitch, aren’t ya…?” Chipped mumbled to himself as he rested the crosshairs on the changeling’s chest plate. Occasionally he’d take his eye off the scope and check around him, in the distance now he could see the changelings that had left the camp. He could easily turn and drop their bitch of Queen if he wanted, but that wouldn’t be right. Errant had taught him that the mission always came first, even in the end. It took him a moment to realize that he was shaking with anger before he turned back to his scope.

It felt like hours passed, the cloud continued to drift lazily above the encampment. Just Chipped, his weapon, and his target below. Occasionally he could hear Errant’s voice run through his head, the mare that had basically taken care of him since basic training, really the only mother figure he’d ever had. Perhaps that was what allowed him to tolerate Chrysalis’ continuing existence, she was a mother figure to more than just one person, and he didn’t want to hurt anyone the way he had been hurt.

Chipped took a moment to exhale as the desert wind continued to blow, Gigant’s speech had ended with him and his forces continuing their preparations. Chipped kept his vision on the commander, watching him strut around the encampment like a rooster. Chipped was sure to mentally count the enemies that he saw, as well as their equipment, figuring that it would be good intelligence for the coming battle. As time went on and the wind began to pick up Chipped realized he had to make his move soon. He’d do his best to eliminate as many enemy soldiers he could before he bugged out.

Gigant was focussed on looking over his plans for the coming battle, at least, that’s what it looked like through the scope of the spellbow. Chipped could see him conversing with other changelings, judging by the marks on their armor he figured they were officers. He quietly adjusted the knob on his scope, zooming in on Gigant’s head. Normally he’d go for a center mass shot, but he wanted to be sure there was no armor in the way.

Chipped had the crosshairs right on Gigant’s face, he relaxed his grip on the rifle and began taking deep slow breaths. The commander turned his head towards the weapon, Chipped saw his eyes squinting. As Chipped saw his mouth begin to open and his hoof begin to rise the sniper squeezed the trigger. A second later Gigant’s face was blasted apart by a bolt of red energy and the officers were staring at his corpse in shock. Chipped wasted no time in readying the next crystal round, shifting his aim to one of the officers. This time he went for the leg, squeezing the trigger once more and downing the officer. A wounding shot that would make it difficult for him to move. His reload was just as quick as the first.

Chipped shifted his aim to an officer that was beginning to help his wounded comrade, he squeezed the trigger again and killed him with a shot to the back of the neck. His wounded target pushed his dead friend off of him and began crawling away, now it appeared that a regular changeling wanted to play hero. Chipped Blade coldly shifted his aim to that hero and squeezed the trigger once more, downing yet another enemy.

On the ground it was absolute chaos, the remaining forces that had been loyal to Gigant were being decimated by some unseen foe. Buzzle was one such changeling, a changeling that had grown disenfranchised with the Queen and wanted a change in leadership. Now he was watching as a good portion of their army’s commanding officers were being killed off. He frantically looked for the source of the red blasts of energy, thinking there was a unicorn on the ground somewhere. He was currently hiding behind a large boulder, but occasionally risked a peek over the edge at his running comrades.

After a few moments he deemed it safe to run to aid one of his other fallen comrades, there were at least three now that couldn’t move on their own. Buzzle took a breath and ran out into the open, running in a serpentine pattern towards his downed Commanding Officer. Then a bolt of energy whizzed past his head, forcing him to stop in place and turn around, the bolt halted him in that direction. Every way he turned he was cut off, as if he was being toyed with, with a yell he started screaming at the sky.

Chipped took another shot, killing the screaming changeling that he’d missed the last couple times. With ten confirmed kills, not including the target, he decided it was time to get going. Three more shots put his wounded victims out of their misery, Chipped hopped off his disappearing cloud and began flying back towards New Liberty. He’d have to share the little trick he’d come up with with the President, shooting to wound seemed to be a much more efficient way of killing the enemy.

Those thoughts were cut short as a bolt of green energy flew past his head, it appeared that some of the changelings had spotted him flying away. Chipped slung his rifle over his back and tilted his wings, slicing through the air like a knife as he dropped to the deck, he could feel the heat of the hot sand against his belly as he flew close to the ground. The changelings were still in hot pursuit, but descending had given Chipped a rather speedy advantage.

He weaved through the hills and dunes, occasionally looking over his shoulder at his pursuers. Chipped counted at least three, maybe four, they appeared to be unarmored and unarmed, aside from their horns. They also appeared to be struggling to keep up. Chipped began to climb, losing airspeed, but considering it a necessary loss. He turned towards the sun, pulling his knit cap down over his eyes to better shield them.

The Changelings looked around for the thestral, but they’d lost him in the sun, they still kept flying onwards. Despite the pain in their stomachs and the drain in their horns, they knew that they had to catch the enemy before he escaped. In the sky above them Chipped was looking down at them, drawing his combat knife from its’ sheath before he dropped into a dive and aimed at the trailing member of the changeling flight.

Chipped Blade grit his teeth as the wind whipped past his face, his wings against his body to increase his airspeed to near lethal levels. He’d heard Dominic speak of a bird on his world that used a similar tactic, and figured he’d need all the help he could get in a four to one fight. The Changeling was getting even closer now, Chipped readied his knife for the kill. He opened his wings at the last second, giving him time to plant his hooves on the changelings back and jam the knife into it’s head.

He pushed off it’s falling corpse and took back to the sky before the changeling’s comrades had any idea what had happened. When they spotted their dead companion falling to the ground they scrambled and spread out, frantically searching for the source of the gruesomely efficient kill. They were flying slower than they normally would, but with the rationing of food, they had no choice if they wanted to keep flying.

Above them Chipped was looking down as he continued his flight towards New Liberty, he could see it in the distance now, he doubted the changelings could tell how close they were considering how low they were flying. Chipped decided that rather than risk another attack as he had before, he’d lead the changelings into the teeth of the American defenses. He dropped down to the changeling’s altitude behind them, then poured on an extra burst of speed. He flew just over them, undoubtedly getting their attention. A couple bolts of energy flew past him, one managing to singe the hair on his left leg.

They were chasing him now, forming up on his tail as he crested the final hill overlooking New Liberty. As he checked over his shoulder he saw the changeling’s eyes go wide and their speed decrease significantly. Pointed in their direction were numerous ballistas, unicorns, spell bows, and even changelings with green strips of cloth around their forearms. Chipped dropped low to the ground, as to give the defenders a better shot. His pursuers began to turn around, but it was too late.

“ENEMY FIGHTERS ON THE HORIZON! OPEN FIRE!” Chipped heard a voice yell in the distance, moments later the defensive line became ablaze with bolts of energy ranging from green red and blue. The bolts flew over Chipped Blade’s head in beautiful streaks that would’ve been even better to see at night. The changeling pursuers were caught running, the withering fire tearing into them as if they were wet tissue paper. Only after their bodies had hit the sand did the fire come to an end.

Chipped Blade continued flying and landed just short of the trench, numerous spell bows were pointed towards him.

“Star!” A soldier shouted from the group.

“Night!” Chipped shouted back, the weapons lowered and the soldiers allowed Chipped to pass through the line. As he reached the main street of New Liberty he was greeted by the sight of his bipedal Commander in Chief, the sniper saluted.

“At ease.” Dominic said in a neutral tone, Chipped nodded and relaxed his stance. “Report on Operation Badger.”

“Target eliminated, sir. Also reporting thirteen EKIAs at their encampment and one on the way here, plus those three back there…” Chipped pointed over his shoulder at the corpses in the desert. Dominic looked out at the dead bodies, then back at Chipped Blade.

“Your mission was to eliminate Gigant, and only Gigant… How did you manage to kill thirteen other enemy soldiers?” Dominic asked, his tone was still neutral. Chipped could see that the Queen of the Changelings was standing a few feet off in the distance, watching the two of them with what looked like concern.

“I wounded one, sir. When one would come to his aid I would take them out…” Chipped replied, the stallion didn’t notice a change in the President’s expression, but he definitely saw his fist clench and unclench.

“Understood, very good Chipped… Dismissed.” Dominic’s tone was lower than before as he turned back towards Chrysalis and began walking away. Chipped nodded, feeling slightly odd about the reaction he’d gotten. He trotted off towards the town cemetery, hoping a little time sitting by Errant would help him clear up the thoughts in his head.

Dominic sighed quietly, looking over his shoulder at Chipped before shaking his head. He walked up to Chrysalis with a solemn expression, he didn’t even need to open his mouth, he could see she had tears starting to form in her eyes. Dominic frowned and began walking towards the capitol building, he passed by numerous thestrals without a word until finally he found himself in his office. He’d forgotten he had his shotgun slung over his shoulder, but by the time he’d reached his office he was ready to lean it against the wall.

The man walked to his desk and sat down, then rested his head on the desk. He closed his eyes and laid there for a few minutes, thinking about all that had happened. In some ways he wished he was back in Evergreen, back where the only thing to worry about was finding food and killing infected. He loathed himself even more for thinking that, he knew there were more survivors out there, survivors that deserved the chance he’d had more than he did. He’d squandered his chance at a semi-normal life and dragged god only knew how many ponies down with him.

The faint knock on his door went unanswered for a few moments before finally whoever was knocking pushed the door open and came in on their own.

“Mister President?” Sonar’s voice called.

“Dominic… Call me Dominic…” Dominic responded in a tired voice, he lifted his head off the desk and looked at the mare. “What’s wrong, Sonar?”

“Message from Equestria, sir. They’ve detained the other humans…” Sonar trailed off, causing Dominic to gesture for her to continue. She’d never trailed off like that before. “They’re concerned about the changeling threat to their border, so… They’re sending a battalion down here.”

“They’re what!?” Dominic boomed, standing up straight and pounding his desk. Sonar flinched for a moment, seeing his face twisted into one of genuine rage. “Sonar. Take a message.” The mare nodded nervously and pulled a pad and pen from her business like attire. “Equestrian Armed Forces. Stop. Do not require your assistance. Stop. Remain at your border. Stop. This is not a suggestion. Stop.”

“...not a suggeeeestion…” Sonar mumbled before nodding, Dominic turned and she assumed that was her cue to leave to send the flash magic message. The president turned to the window and glared towards the north, in the distance he could see thunder clouds and the sky was beginning to darken. Dominic stood for a few moments, watching his soldiers prepare the battlements for the coming fight.

There was a yell from downstairs and he could hear the alarm going up outside, Dominic’s eyes narrowed as he walked to the wall where he’d leaned his shotgun and picked it up. As he reached for the door handle he stopped, then looked around quietly. The black fabric of an old curtain caught his eye and he was quick to snatch it up, then tear a moderately sized square. He folded it in half diagonally, making a triangle. Slowly Dominic brought the fabric up to his face and tied the crude bandanna. In that moment he felt himself flashing back to Evergreen, back to the blood and violence. Dominic, having spent so much time lamenting the lives he’d taken in Equestria, could never go into battle as himself. He would never be able to live with himself. So he would hide himself from the world. He would become the efficient killer of Evergreen once more.

Dominic turned back to the door and opened it, then slowly stepped down the stairs, checking that his weapon was ready for battle. He began sprinting towards the battlements to the south as that was where most of the soldiers were flocking.

“General Quarters! General Quarters!” Shouted a quartermaster to the side as thestrals emerged from their tunnels. “Man your stations! Go! Go! Go!” Dominic’s boots thundered against the ground, his breathing heavy and his heart pounding. After what felt like a minute or so he was there, the soldiers were getting into the trenches, until eventually he was the only one standing above ground.

The wind was picking up, whipping Dominic’s coat behind him. The clouds were taking their places. On the hills in the distance were the banners of the enemy, there were more than he’d expected. Perhaps there had been more hiding than just one encampment, but from the looks of it, it was at least a fair fight. The changelings that had defected had joined the fight, Chrysalis had made it clear that they would need to if they wanted peace with America.

The Queen, for her part, had taken up her battle armor. She was commanding the changelings, it was only fitting. Dominic had been skeptical of it at first, but he knew just how ineffective that armor was against his weapons. She too was in the trench, near the left flank, watching the President that was staring off at the hills.

The ballistas were rotated and set, their operators preparing to launch bundles of bottles. Some filled with alcohol and grease, others filled with chemicals. The civilians were taking to cover underground in a sealed tunnel, Sonar was among them. Dominic readied his shotgun, holding it tightly as the silence was broken by yells on the other side of the field. It was a war chant, no doubt about that. The changelings would shout something loudly in their native tongue, then stomp their hooves.

Not to be outdone, Dominic heard someone off in the distance respond with a loud yell of their own. It wasn’t disciplined or measured like the enemy’s but it eventually spread throughout the ranks. Dominic stood up straight and narrowed his eyes as he spotted the enemy’s formation shifting, large brutish creatures moved into the forefront. They were covered from head to hoof in armor, they were easily the size of a car.

Thunder crashed in the distance, silencing both armies’ yells. A bolt of lightning shot down between the two forces, a deafening boom of thunder echoed for miles around. The changelings took this as their cue to attack, the brutish creatures surged forwards in a wave of destruction. Dominic counted at least five of them. Behind them came the infantry, a new thunder entered the air. The thunder of hooves.

“Artillery! Open fire! Put it in front of them!” Dominic yelled, he was hoping that it would create some sort of shield between the enemy’s brutes and his defensive line. Granted, there was a trench and the creatures would most likely hurtle over it, but they could still do a lot of damage if left unchecked. The Ballistas responded by raining down bottles of flaming liquid in front of the charging brutes, the flames produced thick black smoke as they spread out over the sand.

“We must fight, children! For the good of the hive!” Dominic heard Chrysalis yell, her wings buzzing as she rose into the sky. The changelings that had chosen to fight with her rose out of the trenches as well, filling the air with a fearsome buzzing.

“FOR THE HIVE!” Shouted her loyal children, readying the weapons that they’d been given. They wore the armor that had been confiscated from them when they had first attacked New Liberty, decorated with a stripe of green painted on their gauntlets and chest plates. They surged forwards towards the charging brutes, swords drawn and horns aglow.

“Open fire!” Dominic heard an officer order, moments later the American soldiers had let fly with shots from their spell bows. Dominic readied his shotgun as the enemy infantry got closer and closer, he could see their eyes now. After a few moments their faces melted away, replaced by distorted visions of the infected. The horde came closer and closer, the ground rumbling and shaking beneath his boots. The oddest thing happened in that split second. Dominic could hear music in his head. Not violent or angry, infact quite the opposite.

The shotgun barked loudly, sending a flurry of buckshot out towards the enemy. The boom seemed to catch the infantry by surprise, even as one body toppled to the ground dead and another wounded. Dominic bellowed loudly like a man possessed, in a way he was… Driven back to a state where he had needed to fight and slaughter for every day of survival, it was quite possible he’d finally snapped.

The man ran forwards, screaming and yelling, firing wildly into the changeling infantry. Like the Red Sea the enemy parted, corpses littering the ground as the President cut a swath of death through their charge. When the shot gun clicked empty Dominic slipped it over his back and drew his revolver from its holster. By now the shock had worn off and the changelings were attempting to surround him, meanwhile the American defenders were hammering away at the enemy’s forces.

A changeling charged forwards with its horn lowered to impale, another shot rang out and the foe slid into the dirt. Dominic heard a crunch of dirt from behind and whirled around, discharging two more rounds into a pair of changelings that had intended to double team him with swords. Green blood was oozing on the ground now and the surrounding changelings were beginning to back away. The man heard the music growing slower and twisted, two more shots rang out and two bodies fell dead. The final shot ended up placed between the eyes of a fearful changeling that had the misfortune of being in Dominic’s direct line of sight.

With his revolver and shotgun empty, Dominic was left unarmed. This was quickly remedied as he picked up a discarded sword and looked it over, twirling it a couple times and creating a whooshing noise. A changeling rushed forwards with its own sword raised and poised for a swing, Dominic adjusted his stance to dodge the assault. He felt the breeze on the blade as it whizzed past his arm, Dominic thrust his blade forwards at the attacker and catching a bit of the changeling’s shoulder.

Green blood oozed from the freshly cut wound and the infantry changeling let out a pained grunt, in an angry frenzy he swung swiftly at Dominic’s shoulder. Sparks flew as steel met steel, Dominic barring his teeth as he caught his foe’s blade. The man growled and gave a shove, quickly overpowering the magic and bringing the blade down on the changeling’s helmet. A large dent formed and the changeling staggered backwards.

Meanwhile the battle raged on around the two combatants, Chrysalis and her forces were busy eliminating the armored brutes. It was not an easy task as the armor had covered many of the weaknesses she knew of, held together by cruel straps of rope and leather. The ballistas were raining down a hail of fire and chemicals on the remaining changeling formations and thick black smoke began rising higher and higher into the darkening sky.

Dominic yelled in rage as he kicked the changeling in the gut and sent him to the ground in a heap, he raised the sword and began swinging it fast at the changeling’s throat. He could see the changelings eyes now, the vision of an infected zombie fading in milliseconds. The fear, the resignation in those eyes, proved to be too much. The changeling clenched its eyes in preparation for the end, but the end never came.

It opened its eyes and stared up at Dominic, the man was staring down with wide eyes, the changeling could see the sword trembling inches from his neck. A yell from behind drew the human’s attention away as another Changeling charged forwards with a sword lowered, flicks of red flew through the air as the blade made contact with Dominic’s left shoulder. Blood pulsed through the shredded leather of his jacket as pain erupted up his side, in a few seconds the changeling that had attacked him found himself impaled.

The changeling that had been spared watched as the human withdrew the blade from his comrade’s chest, green and red blood mixing on the ground. The human turned and looked down at him, then pointed a trembling bloody finger at him. The changeling gulped until he saw the man pointed off in a random direction.

“Go…” The human said, obviously speaking through great pain. With that the human turned and began making his way back behind the lines.

The sound of a bowstrings joined the fray as the Changeling sent forwards their next wave of attack. Arrows impaling themselves in American soldiers and Changeling Defectors alike. One such arrow flew towards the human, it connected with his right leg and sent him toppling to the ground.

“Medic!” An american shouted, the thestral crawled out of the trench and bit down on the man’s jacket collar, then dragged him back to cover. The changeling that had been spared blinked several times before discarding his damaged helmet. Wincing in pain he began limping towards the American lines, specifically towards another helmet. The human’s helmet, that had fallen as he’d been struck by the arrow. He picked it up in his teeth and chucked it towards the american lines, even as the battle continued to rage.

Dominic hissed in pain as he was propped up against the wall of a trench with a Medical thestral tending to his wounds. The mare had a needle and thread at the ready, preparing to sew up the flesh wound Dominic had sustained on his shoulder. She was fumbling about trying to determine how much pain killer to the man considering his body weight.

“Screw the pain killer, Doc… I can handle it.” Dominic said as he clenched his teeth and leaned his head back. “I deserve it… That was a fucking stupid idea…” The thestral nodded and tied off a knot in the thread, Dominic reached into his breast pocket and withdrew a nine millimeter round before he bit down on it. The thestral began sewing up the wound and the man bit down even harder, clenching his eyes shut and growling but remaining as still as possible. After a gruelling ten minutes, during which it seemed more and more soldiers were calling for a medic, Dominic’s wound was sewn shut and bandaged up. As for the arrow in his leg.

He snapped the shaft off, leaving six inches or so exposed. It had pierced his calf muscle through his pants.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” He growled again as he let the bullet fall from his teeth, the thestral was staring at him with wide eyes. “Push it through!” The medic hesitated and opened her mouth to speak. “PUSH! IT! THROUGH!” It was clear Dominic was in a lot of pain and his toughness was starting to wear thin, the medic wasted no time applying great force to the arrow. Dominic yelled and screamed as the barbed weapon of war pushed through his leg and emerged on the other side through his jeans. He gripped it and pulled it through, hissing in pain and staring at the arrow head. “Fuck!”

The medic gawked for a moment and quickly went to work on repairing his leg as best she could. Not having any real information on human biology she was flying by the seat of her pants, especially since using magical remedies wouldn’t be effective. She knew enough to know that magic only seemed to affect humans when applied by direct contact of the horn to their bodies. The man meanwhile was busy reloading his revolver as the battle drew closer and closer, the dark clouds still looming overhead.

“Shit! Shit! Shit!” The thestral medic mumbled as she continued working, Dominic looked at her and did his best to subdue the pain in his leg.

“Hey… HEY! Calm down!” He said as he readied his weapon, he could hear the fighting was even closer to the trench now. Then he saw several enemy changelings drop down into the defensive line behind the thestral. “Down!” The medic dropped to the dirt, Dominic leveled his revolver and fired three shots at the enemy. When they were dead he patted the medic on the shoulder. “You okay?”

“Yeah!” The medic wiped her forehead of sweat and finished off her work on the leg. “Don’t move on it too much, it may not have screwed with a bone but I don’t like the way the muscle looked.” Dominic grunted and hobbled onto his feet. “Get to the back of the lines, I’ve got other patients waiting!”

“You got it!” Dominic replied as he weakly climbed out of the trench and began crawling across the dirt towards the ballistas. After what felt like an eternity he reached the sandbags and crawled behind them, the ballista crew closest to him paused their firing momentarily and started moving towards him. “Get back on your weapon!”

“The enemy is pulling back! It looks like they’re retreating!” Shouted an officer off in the distance, Dominic caught sight of one in particular and waved him over. He was a thestral, as were most of the soldiers in the American army. With a flat top and bulging muscles it was easy to recognize him as one of the artillery officers. Dominic had met him once before, his name was Bulwark if he remembered correctly. “Sir, you’ve been wounded!”

“I’m aware.” Dominic replied flatly. “You say the enemy is retreating, correct?” The stallion nodded, Dominic looked around at the soldiers around him. “How are we holding up?”

“We’re doing better than expected, sir, but we’re still getting hurt.” Bulwark said in a somber tone as the ballista crews continued raining down fire on the enemy that was clearly retreating.

“This is top priority… The enemy must not escape!” Dominic said, it was getting difficult to ignore the growing pain in his leg. “Kill or capture them, I don’t care which… But we cannot let them escape.”

“Yes, sir!” Bulwark said with a salute, Dominic leaned his head back against the sandbag and stared up at the sky. Gradually the roar of battle began to fade out, he could hear his heart beating in his chest and his breath began to grow short. He could hear muffled shouting and a few moments later he felt his shoulders being shaken. His eyelids grew heavy and he felt himself leaning over to one side, then there was nothing but an inky blackness.

Author's Notes:

Here's another one, just in time for christmas... I'm so tired...
Insert funny quip here.

You know the drill.