Mike quietly adjusted his bomber jacket as he looked out over the wing of the B-17, the former ‘Colorado Kid’ had always had a fascination with World War Two aircraft and now he was taking part in the first bombing raid of a new war. He didn’t know much about the Equestrians, only that they had launched an attack on two American airships that had ended in miserable failure. Mike wasn’t one to treat things like that lightly, as were many of his fellow airmen and women. As a waist gunner on right side of the B-17 he was ready for any sort of action that could arise, they had been flying for nearly four hours and there hadn’t been a single spot of flak or enemy interceptors.

The droning engines were calming to his nerves as he looked around, the other members of the crew were all on the same readiness level. The tail gunner was a griffon, the other waist gunner as well as the ball turret gunners were thestrals, the navigator was a changeling, and the pilots and bombardier were human. There were plenty of crews made up of similar strange compositions, and all of them seemed to work well together in training. However, this was their first mission over an actual target, and no one knew what it would be truly like until they were in the thick of it.

The terrain beneath the plane had gone from the usual desert to brown and reds of fall, fields and forests were adorned with the signs that it was getting closer to winter. In the distance he could see a collection of clouds and rainbows that seemed to be constantly in flux. Seeing that odd sight made him flip the safety on his weapon, the hair on the back of his neck stood up. The other planes in the formation were flying along on course, he could see a couple other waist gunners were readying themselves as well while the ball turret on the bottoms and tops of the aircraft swiveled in search of enemy combatants.

”We should be coming up over the targets in about ten minutes.” The pilot, a woman by the name of Athena, announced over the headsets that all the crewmembers wore. The biting cold of fifteen thousand feet made every bit of exposed skin tingle in pain, thankfully Mike and the others had such warm clothes and oxygen masks on. Mike and the other gunners completed their readiness by racking a round into their weapons. The man tapped his foot quietly and nervously as he scanned the sky further.

His eyes widened as a streak of purple energy shot up from the ground, narrowly missing the wing. It wasn’t alone, soon there were bolts of magic flying up through the clouds, off all varying colors and sizes. If he hadn’t been so scared he would’ve thought they were beautiful. One of the bolts slammed into the wing of the B-17 next to his, it punched clean through the outboard engine and ripped the wing off the side of the aircraft. The plane began spiralling out of control in a ball of flames.

“Come on… Come on… Just one chute!” He said to himself, but he didn’t see any parachutes open before it slammed into the farmland below. The bolts kept coming, some of them striking wings or engines or occasionally striking the cockpit itself. Of the two hundred plane flight, they had lost twenty aircraft by the time the fire lightened up. Only ten parachutes had been spotted during the entire ordeal, after five minutes the fire stopped, that put Mike even more on edge. “Why’d they stop shooting?!”

”Bandits! Bandits! Twelve o’clock low! Sweet jesus hundreds of ‘em!” One of the escort fighters declared, Mike watched the P-47s zoom ahead to engage the pegasi that were undoubtedly coming to wreak havoc on flight of bombers. He bit his lip as the seconds ticked by, then he caught a glimpse of gold armor, it seemed a small amount of pegasi had slipped past the escort planes.

”Open bomb bay doors!” Athena called out over the radio, Mike heard the doors open and watched other aircraft carry out the order at around the same time. The man spotted a pegasus zooming towards his plane with a spear at the ready, he didn’t waste any time and brought the fifty cal to bear. The trigger was depressed and a steam of lead flew out towards the pegasus, all that he saw afterwards was a puff of red mist and twisted golden armor falling from the sky. ”Sixty seconds to target! Keep ‘em off of us a bit longer!”

The pegasi were coming in greater number, Mike began firing as accurately as he could, but still they were getting closer with each attempt. Two more planes fell as pegasi jammed spears into their engines or control surfaces, there was one case where the pegasi had attempt to hijack the aircraft. The guns popped and banged as shell casings clattered to the floor, Mike was losing his cool as they got closer and closer to his aircraft. Unlike fighter planes the bombers couldn’t change course if they wanted to complete their mission, making them easier targets for the Equestrian’s spearing attacks.

”Almost there…! Ten seconds!” Athena announced once again, Mike tightened his grip on his weapon and began yelling as he kept firing at the enemy. One of them got close enough to chuck their spear into the propeller of the outboard engine, the weapon was chopped to pieces by the speed of the engine but the aircraft began to wobble due to damage to the blade. Blasts of magic began to fly up from the ground again, the Equestrians seemed to be getting desperate. Several bolts struck the wing, Mike could see glowing metal rings left where they had punched through as the aircraft shuddered once again. ”Bombs away!”

Mike grinned behind his oxygen mask as he heard the squeal of bombs falling, he could see the explosive packages falling from the underbellies of the remaining B-17s and began chuckling loudly as he continued firing at the Equestrians. The mission was accomplished in his mind, now he could relax a bit and actually take the time to enjoy being back in the firing line.

“Get some! Come on and get some you queasy bastards!” Mike screamed as he unloaded on a pegasus trying to get closer to the aircraft. Meanwhile the whistle of bombs became apparent to ponies on the ground in Canterlot, many of them hadn’t known where to go to shelter or in some cases hadn’t heeded the air raid sirens. Several bombs fell on numerous arms manufacturing factories and warehouses, blasting holes in the roofs and reducing a good portion of them to rubble. Ponies scrambled around in panic as several bombs exploded in city streets or punched through the roofs of stores next to the actual targets. What was more horrifying were the corpses of royal guards that had started raining down from the sky and splattering across the sidewalks and streets.

Celestia watched the scene unfolding from her office, she was in shock at first, but it quickly was pushed aside for stoic resolve. She had made her bed and now she had to lie in it. That being said, she wasn’t about to sit back and let her ponies suffer on their own. With a glow of her horn she had teleported out the window and opened her wings, she began flapping and flying towards the aerial battle as fast as she could. She couldn’t see much through cloud cover that had obscured her view, but she was sure she could handle whatever was up there.

Mike gritted his teeth as he reloaded the his machine gun, rapidly getting back into the habit of targeting and eliminating pegasi. His instinct drew him towards a flash of gold passing through a cloud, prompting him to open fire. The bullets streaked towards the target but missed, Mike spotted the target quickly and blinked in shock.

“Alicorn! Two o’clock!” He called out as he began firing at the alicorn hatefully, it was Princess Celestia by the looks of her. She was flying erratically, her horn glowing as she began shooting bolts of magic back at his aircraft. “Brace! Brace!” The spells punched through the fuselage, tearing a large hole in the side as Mike dove for cover. He felt cold wind on his back as he turned over and looked around, the upper fuselage above him was gone. His gun had melted, and he couldn’t see any sign of the other waist gunner.

Mike grabbed his sidearm from his holster as he shakily stood up against the bitter wind, blood streaking down from a gash on the side of his head as the aircraft groaned and shook. The man leveled his handgun at the alicorn and started firing until the magazine was empty, his headset had been blown off in the impact and he doubted anyone else could hear him over the wind. The ball turret gunner on the top of the aircraft turned and began firing at Celestia, bullets streaked past her and Mike could see the mare flinch as several shots struck her. She dove down through the sky as the bombers began to turn around to head back to base, Mike wiped his eye and staggered towards the tail of the plane.

The griffon on the tail gun, a male by the name of Dimitri, was slumped to the side with blood splattered around the glass that hadn’t been shattered by enemy spears. Mike wandered towards him and put a hand on his neck to check for a pulse, there wasn’t one. He grabbed the griffon’s headseat and pulled it on over his aviator’s cap.

“Captain! You hear me?!” He called as he began limping towards the front of the aircraft, passing by the machine gun that had been melted and cooled into a pile of slag. There was no response over the headset, as he walked he noticed a spear jutting up out of the hatch to the ball turret, dripping with blood. “Captain!” The man carefully crossed over a catwalk in the bomb bay that shuddered under his weight, he could see straight down to the ground below as the bomb bay doors had sheared off. After his harrowing catwalk crossing he found himself in the radio and navigation room.

Insecta, the changeling navigator, was tending to the top turret gunner’s eye. The thestral gunner, a mare by the name of Dusky, was also clutching her side where she appeared to have suffered some sort of blunt force trauma. Both of them looked at Mike for a second or so before going back to what they were doing, Mike wiped the blood from his eye again as he continued up into the cockpit. He winced as he saw shattered glass in the nose of the plane, as well as a limp hand laying on the floor. The rest of his view was obscured by a small staircase that lead up to the two pilots.

“Captain!” Mike called out as he approached the pilot’s seats, he paused as he saw more broken glass and blood dripping from the co-pilot’s chair. Once again Mike could see the end of a spear jutting out through the back of the chair, Mike carefully approached the woman pilot who was clutching the control stick with all her might. “Cap! You alright?!” He shouted over the wind, the woman looked at him and gestured with her head to the co-pilot’s headset. Jenkins, a young blonde guy that had wanted to be a painter. Mike carefully removed the headset from Jenkin’s corpse and discarded the one he’d taken from Dimitri, he pulled it on and looked at the captain again. “Cap! Dimitri, Argon, and Night Eye are gone! Celestia blew a hole in us the size of a volkswagen! She fucking melted the waist guns!”

”Did you or Dusk get a piece of her!?” Athena replied with a grunt as she fought the controls of the aircraft, Mike nodded in response to her question as he looked around the cockpit at all the damaged instruments. ”Jenkin’s foot is stuck on the rudder! You gotta get him out of that seat! I can’t keep fighting it!” Mike nodded quietly and turned to his dead comrade, he gritted his teeth and grabbed the spear. Rather than pull, he pushed it all the way through with his his eyes clenched shut. The spear clattered to the floor behind the co-pilot’s seat and Mike pulled Jenkins out of the seat with a grunt, he set the body on the floor as gently as he could and looked back at Athena.

”They knocked out one of our engines, I can get us home on three… Hopefully.” Athena said as she relaxed her grip somewhat, the aircraft groaned under the stress of flying. Mike looked out the cockpit window and spotted a P-47 fly past them, the rest of the formation was already out in front of them and getting further away. ”How about Insecta and Dusky? They okay?”

“Dusky caught some shrapnel to her eye, Insecta looked okay…” Mike replied as he took a deep breath. “My O2 is fucked… Try and keep me awake!” The man wiped his eye again, thankfully it seemed the blood had coagulated on its own and stopped bleeding beyond that.

”I’m dropping us down to eight thousand. My O2 is fucked too.” Athena replied as the aircraft began to descend at a moderate pace, Mike pulled off his mask and tossed it aside out of annoyance. ”Hop on Dusky’s turret, you and me are the only able bodies left!” Mike nodded and walked out of the cockpit to the turret between the flight deck and the navigation room. He stepped up into the turret and took hold of the machine guns. The cold air blew against his exposed skin as he pulled on a spare set of goggles he kept in his jacket. Off in the distance he spotted three thunder clouds that seemed to be streaking towards the aircraft.

They maintained a far distance as the aircraft continued flying along, for ten minutes Mike watched them with his finger hovering over the trigger.

“Cap! Eyes on three thunder trails! Seven o’clock!” Mike said loudly, the trails began to start moving closer. Mike didn’t hesitate to depress the trigger, the weapon fired two rounds before it stopped. It was out of ammunition, and the thunder trails were getting closer. With nothing else he could do, Mike pulled his handgun from its holster and loaded a fresh magazine. Fighting the cold wind from the large gash in the aircraft, he made his way out into the open tear with the handgun at the ready.

The trails split up, two taking the right side of the aircraft while one took the left side. As they got closer Mike could see the uniforms of the Wonderbolts, supposedly the heavy hitters of the Equestrian Air Force. The three of them formed up on the aircraft’s wings tips, as if sizing up the plane. Mike leveled his handgun at the one on the right and began firing, but with how much the aircraft was moving the bullets missed. The pegasus didn’t seem to flinch, staying right where they had been until Mike was out of ammunition once again. Out of both bullets and patience, Mike resorted to chucking his side arm at the pegasus. Predictably it was blasted away by the wind before it got too far away, Mike and the pegasus stared at one another.

It was a mare from the look of it, with a light orange coat and a fiery orange mane. The numerous briefings he had been given told him that she was likely Spitfire, the captain of the Wonderbolts and supposedly one of the most aggressive commanders out there. The two of them continued to stare at eachother for a couple minutes before the pegasus shook her head, the pegasus flew up closer to the aircraft and landed on the wing just outside of what remained of the waist gunner position. Mike looked around for a second, trying to find some sort of weapon to fend off what he assumed would be an attempted hijacking.

To his surprise the mare just stared at him, her eyes obscured by her flight goggles, the man pointed away from the wing and tried to shoo her off. After a couple seconds he saw a faint smile cross the mare’s lips before she opened her wings and leapt back into the air. She and her cohorts flew forward, trailing thunder clouds as they did so. Mike rushed through the aircraft back to the cockpit and watched the pegasus mare pull up to see into the cockpit. She must’ve seen the body in the nose of the plane, because she winced.

“What the hell?” Athena asked in surprise as she looked at the pegasi, the mare began pointing down at the ground, as if telling them to land.

“Turret’s out of ammo, Cap!” Mike replied as he watched the pegasus continue making the gestures, Athena quietly shook her head and started pushing the throttle forward to try and outrun the pegasi, but with only three engines the lead didn’t last long. The mare shook her head again, then surprised the two airmen by tipping her wings and breaking off. The other pegasi followed suit, leaving the B-17 alone in the air once again. “I’m gonna go see if I can scavenge any ammo from the rear gun! I doubt they’re the only ones we’re going to be seeing!” Athena nodded as she continued holding the controls, the aircraft continued to shudder and shake as the metal groaned under the strain.

Mike passed by Insecta in the navigation room, the changeling had balled up on her chair and was staring quietly at the limp form of Dusky on the floor. The mare’s flight suit had been pulled open, revealing a large bruise along her side, most likely the result of internal bleeding. Mike shook his head quietly and continued through the windy fuselage, his steps uncertain against the metal floor. He collected the ammunition, but it wasn’t much more than a belt and a half. The man loaded the turret guns and waited in anticipation, watching the skies above for enemies while the plane trundled along through the sky.

Hours passed, Mike’s legs began to grow weary from the strain of constantly standing and watching the sky. The odd configuration of the turret controls had been configured for a pony to use, and so whenever he wasn’t preoccupied, he would spend time adjusting it until he could properly pull himself up onto the turret foot rests and get a better look. The ground was starting to go from lush with plant life to more arid and desert covered, still the skies remained clear. Mike dropped out of the turret and walked to the bomb bay, feeling rather nervous that there could be something flying up under them. He peeked down through the hole and blinked, there was a swarm of thestrals under the aircraft. They were shaking off shrubbery and dust and dirt, as if they had been hiding under the foliage on the ground.

“C-Captain!” He called out nervously, this was nothing like he had faced during his time in Colorado. “W-We’ve got a lot of thestrals flying up beneath us!” The man looked towards the gash in the fuselage when he heard the sound of hooves on metal, taking a step back as he spotted a thestral had landed inside the aircraft. “Captain! There’s one on board!” The man looked around, noting a metal tool used to manually lower the landing gear, he grabbed it and held it tightly in case the thestral attacked. The thestral advanced, appearing rather calm and non-threatening. The stallion opened his mouth and said something, but Mike couldn’t hear him over the sound of the rushing wind. Against his better judgement he leaned down closer to the thestral and put his hand up against his ear.

“We wish to defect!” The stallion yelled, Mike barely heard him. He stepped back and rubbed his neck in confusion, then hesitantly signaled Insecta over. The changeling moved over, horn glowing and ready. Mike just pointed at the thestral and then pointed at the floor, Insecta understood what he meant and kept an eye on the thestral. Mike meanwhile began making his way back to the cockpit, it was going to be an interesting flight home.

[♠]

Maria and Melissa quietly crawled along the sand dunes, their faces covered by their headscarves while they carried their weapons on their backs. The Equestrian base wasn’t too far away, and they had been tasked with reconnoitering the area before tanks and other ground forces moved in to take it out. Both of them had been rather quiet since the news had spread, the world was officially at war, and they would be part of the counter attack. It was a lot of pressure, but Maria had been under far worse pressure with far less support, still she felt an odd hollowness forming in her chest.

The pair crested the final dune that separated them from the target, the largest Equestrian fort on the border. Immediately they noticed something wrong, there was a massive army staging on the outside of the fort and it looked like it was just about ready to march. There were pegasi in the sky, watching the immediate area, there was no way the two women could get closer. Maria silently signalled Melissa to set up the spotter binoculars while she carefully unslung her Tac-50 from her back and set up the bipod in the sand. She adjusted the scope and looked down range at the large group, searching for the officers that were in charge of the numerous battle formations.

“Target… Fifteen hundred yards. Bearing three-five-zero.” Melissa said quietly as she looked through the binoculars at the battle formation, she watched an Equestrian battle banner flutter in the breeze ten feet in front of the target. However, one of the fabric strips Maria had tied earlier was blowing in the opposite direction. “Slight crosswind from the west closest to us, wind is to the east near the target.” Maria nodded quietly and adjusted her scope before she quietly looked over at Melissa.

“Call in what we’ve got here, see what they want us to do.” She asked, looking back through her scope at a unicorn officer with a large plume atop his helmet. Melissa nodded and quietly whispered her message into her radio, the wind was starting to blow sand on top of them, naturally concealing them somewhat from the air. Maria began taking deep breaths and slowing her heartbeat, lining up her point of aim as best she could with the knowledge she had. The Equestrians were so closely packed together, she knew that even if she missed her target she’d hit one of the soldiers behind him.

“Armor is on its way, they’re also sending aircraft, ETA is ten minutes.” Melissa replied after getting a faint transmission over her earpiece. “They said prosecute targets as we see fit.” Maria nodded quietly as she kept her eye looking down range, the sun was starting to dip further into afternoon. Maria slowed her breathing, her finger quietly resting itself on the trigger of the Tac-50, her eye focussed on her target. “Send it.” Maria squeezed the trigger, the weapon barked as it kicked back into her shoulder. Melissa watched the vapor trail for the brief second it was visible before she spotted a spray of red burst from the target’s neck. “Target down.”

Immediately the guards started looking around frantically, unsure of where the shot had come from, the howling wind had hidden the distant gunshot. Maria wasted no time in racking another round, knowing she had about three seconds to capitalize on their surprise. Without waiting for Melissa’s advice she adjusted her aim to another officer that was starting to pull his sword, the weapon bucked against her shoulder as another round flew down range. Melissa flinched as she watched the stallion fall to the ground, clutching at a gushing wound in his chest.

In less than three seconds Maria had become the most lethal female sniper in human history, racking up her three hundred and ninth and three hundred and tenth kills. She wasn’t about to stop though, she was going to run up the score. Maria racked another round as the Equestrians scrambled to form some sort of defense, but they had no idea where the shots were coming from. Melissa set the binoculars aside and pulled her sniper rifle off of her back, it wouldn’t be as accurate at such a distance, but it would increase the fear factor.

“I’m going left.” Melissa said as she rolled down the sand dune and moved in a crouched run to the left. Maria focussed her scope on the officers scrambling around the field army, the large group of soldiers had no idea how to run from a sniper and so they were trying to put their shields up in a futile attempt to stop the fifty caliber rifle shots. Maria focussed on yet another officer, her pupils shrinking as adrenaline hit her bloodstream. She squeezed the trigger once again, the rifle kicked against her shoulder, the officer and the two ponies behind him fell to the ground.

Maria heard a bang from her left, as one of the regulars took a round to the head. The woman continued firing until her five round magazine was empty, the woman reached to her belt and grabbed three fresh ones. She set the two magazines out in the sun before she slammed the third into the gun and readied a fresh round. By now the pegasi were starting to fly through the air in search of the snipers, Maria could also hear the rumble of tanks off in the distance behind her. The woman lined up a shot on one of the officers that had a very large plume on his helmet, an olive drab earth pony. He looked unique, she discerned that made him important. He was pointing towards the sand dunes, as if trying to order his army to charge.

Maria exhaled slowly as her finger closed around the trigger, but before she could pull the trigger her sight was obscured by white fur. Without waiting she pulled the trigger, the weapon kicked like a mule as it blew a hole in the chest of a pegasus guard that had landed in front of her sniper nest. She left the rifle on the ground and pushed herself onto her feet, grabbing her side arm as three more pegasi landed around her. A shot to the left rang out, felling one of the pegasi before he could make a move.

Maria raised the Colt 1911 into a firing position and fired two rounds at the nearest guard, he fell to the ground with a groan while the remaining guard rushed at her with a sword clasped in his wing. Maria jumped to the left and fired two more rounds at the guard’s neck. One hit home while the other kicked up sand and dust, Maria wiped her nose quickly as she looked around for any other incoming hostiles. The tank engines were far closer now, but so were three more pegasus guards. Maria fired at one of them while he was still in the air, striking the target in the eye and sending him to the ground with a thud. The other two landed and bum rushed her, as they hadn’t had time to draw their swords. Maria grunted as she fired the remaining rounds at them, striking one in the hoof and missing the other completely.

She dropped the weapon as the unwounded guard was about to barrel into her, widening her stance and opening her arms as if she were about to push a car. She and the guard collided violently, rolling in the sand for several seconds before the guard ended up coming out on top. The stallion started to squeeze her neck, but faltered, Maria could see he didn’t have the mettle in his eye. It was too bad for him that she did. She grunted and shoved him to the side, reaching to her belt and pulling out her combat knife.

As the guard started to push himself up Maria pounced, embedding the knife deep into the stallion’s neck and unintentionally growling like a predator. The engines were almost on top of her by this point, as she stood up over the dead guard’s body the American armor crested the dune behind her. The machine gunners standing in the T-34 turrets recognized her almost instantly as the ‘Queen of Death’, cheering loudly at her as she wiped her nose again. Maria quickly rushed to her equipment and gathered it up, slinging her rifle over her shoulder as the tanks went rolling down the dune towards the Equestrian army. One of the tanks came to a stop next to her, decorated with a familiar picture on the front.

Dominic pushed the hatch open and signalled for Maria to quickly climb up onto the tank, he wore a kevlar helmet and vest over his usual uniform and appeared to be running on a mix of adrenaline and coffee. The tanks that had started rolling down the hill had started firing on the Equestrian Solar Elites,meanwhile Dominic was giving Maria a quick look over.

“You alright? You’re not hurt, are you?” He said in a protective tone, Maria shook her head quickly. “Alright, start heading back through the armor. There’s a humvee waiting to take you and Melissa back to Doolittle!”

“Roger that!” Maria replied as she hopped off the tank to go search for her sniper partner, Dominic watched her go for several seconds before he pointed towards the battle unfolding ahead. The disorganized formations were being laid into by the machine gunners, as well as the main guns of the tanks.

“Alright, Gear! Let’s give ‘em hell!” Dominic shouted into his radio, the tank lurched forwards and began rolling down the hill as the Equestrians formed up their lines as best as they could. The Pegasi were starting to dart towards the tanks, but the turret gunners had been instructed to take them out over anything else. As a result many wounded and dead Equestrians fell in front of the tanks as they charged forwards, those that weren’t shot down were very ineffective against the armor. Their headbutting attacks would’ve worked on a Changeling brute, but against cold hard American steel they only served to knock the survivors unconscious.

Overhead the pegasi turned their attention to the sound of aircraft that had started to swarm the Equestrian fort, the enemy number advantage of nearly ten thousand soldiers was being diminished rapidly. Dominic gritted his teeth as the tanks rolled forwards, the Equestrian unicorns began firing spells at the tanks. Some of them struck, but didn’t penetrate, others were deflected by the sloped angle of the T-34’s armor. Dominic was almost sickened by how easy it was to mow down the Equestrian army, he watched as numerous untested Equestrians began to run from the ranks for the hills or the safety of the fort’s walls.

General Powder Keg watched in shock as his army began to devolve into chaos, the American military had acted just as he had predicted, only his soldiers hadn’t been ready to stand against them. The stallion waved his flag several times before calling loudly.

“Fall back! Fall back to the fortress!” He ordered, seconds later an American shell exploded ten feet away from him. It decimated one of the few formations that was still intact and sprayed him with red mist that fell from the sky like rain. The soldiers began rushing back to the gates of the fort in droves, by the hundreds they began pushing their way through, some of them discarding their armor for a chance to survive.

The pegasi guards landed on the ramparts and began firing crossbows at the advancing tanks to try and and buy their comrades time. Once Powder Keg had passed the gate the guards began pushing it shut, locking many guards outside in the interest of keeping the fort secure. The wall of the fort became an anvil, the American tanks became a hammer. The tanks stopped a hundred yards from the wall, having crushed numerous bodies in their advance they were covered in blood and gore.

The three hundred guards left standing outside the wall stared down the barrels of machine guns and cannons, some of them started to try and climb the wall, others gritted their teeth, and some decided to pick up their spears and charge at the tanks with loud battlecries. The tanks opened fire, unleashing a hail of machinegun and cannon fire. Explosions rocked the concrete walls of the fort as the three hundred were torn to shreds by withering fire, the pegasi on the walls had stopped firing as they had realized it was futile.

Overhead the sound of engines tore through the once peaceful skies as three American P-47s began to dive on the fort, their guns clattered away as swaths of lead tore through the guards that had just narrowly made it into the fort. As they began to pull away they each released two five hundred pound bombs, the royal guards and solar elites didn’t have anywhere to hide as they exploded throughout the fort. One of them blaster the top portion of the wall facing the American’s down, crushing guards under the rubble and rocks as it fell.

The guards managed to organize themselves, moving to their defensive positions as shell and shot continued to pepper their position. Powder Keg knew that there had to be a way to beat the enemy back, the stallion pulled off his helmet and ran up onto one of the ramparts, signalling for any unicorn he could get.

“Come on! I need fire power up on the wall! Move it!” He ordered as he gritted his teeth, the stallion grabbed a pair of binoculars from a supply crate on the rampart. The general peeked over the wall and looked out towards the enemy tanks, there were dozens more vehicles arriving. They lacked turrets other than machine guns and looked like large blocks on tank tracks, overhead there were more engines buzzing furiously. As the tanks concentrated their fire on the already damaged portions of the wall, Powder Keg managed to gather four unicorns. “All of you focus your fire on a single target!” Powder Keg pointed towards one of the tanks that was blasting away at the wall.

The guards nodded and charged their horns with their strongest spell, almost simultaneously they fired a beam of multicolored energy at the tank. Powder Keg let out a cheer as he watched the armored vehicle glow red for a couple seconds before the turret exploded off the top and flew several feet to the left. It landed in the sand as the guards on the wall started cheering, to Powder Keg’s surprise the tanks began backing up towards the more blocky looking vehicles. They stopped firing as well, Powder Keg felt the hair on his neck stand up as the aircraft started darting away from the fort.

Then, in the distance, he heard what sounded like thunder, the other guards looked around with uncertainty as the rumble lasted several seconds before coming to a stop. Powder Keg looked up as he heard a strange whistling noise overhead, as if the very air was being ripped to pieces and it was getting closer. Seconds later explosions began to ring out over the large fort. Rock and concrete were tossed through the air like toys, shockwaves sent several stallions to the ground in heaps. The concussion of the large blasts had turned their insides to gelatin, Powder Keg hunkered on the wall as he watched his soldiers rushing for cover.

The unicorns he had gathered fell for cover as well, Powder Keg could see on of them curled up and screaming. The stallion couldn’t believe their foe had such long reaching artillery pieces, and what was more, he couldn’t believe the damage that they were inflicting. Powder Keg jumped away from the wall as part of the bricks were knocked away, he looked at the damage and spotted a smoking artillery shell had failed to detonate inches away from him. What caught him off guard was that there was writing on the side of the shell. ‘To: Celestabitch From: Eighth Arty’. The stallion turned to the unicorns and screamed for them to run, but they couldn’t hear him over the shelling. With a grunt the stallion grabbed two of them in headlocks and jumped to the ground, he groaned as he hit the ground after the ten foot fall.

The stallion rolled onto his back to signal the others to get away from the unexploded shell, as he knew that it could go at any time, but the shell exploded before they could move. Brick and concrete rained down on Powder Keg and the two unicorns he had grabbed off the wall. The general struggled to move after the fall, he had at least broken two of his legs, but he had managed to live to fight. Several minutes passed before Powder Keg felt someone hefting the rocks off of him, he couldn’t tell who it was because he was currently face down on the ground. The shells were still falling with their same intensity, Powder Keg was helpless to lead his army.

Dominic quietly watched the shells exploding in the fort, his expression was a stoic scowl. The corpses that littered the ground ahead of them were mangled by all the fire they had endured, the strongest army in the world was being reduced to hamburger. Brilliant gold armor, stained with blood and gore, as shattered spears and swords were littered along the ground. The APCs parked alongside the tanks were loaded with troops ready to storm the fort, once the wall or gate was destroyed they’d be able to roll in and mop up any resistance that remained. Dominic took a bite of an apple that he had packed before leaving New Liberty as he watched the shells continue to decimate the enemy, the man looked at it for a moment in thought.

The tension had all started due to apple tries, Dominic couldn’t help but grimly chuckle at the prospect. His army was destroying the largest army in the world over apples. Dominic took another bite as he watched the walls of the fort continue to crumble under the intense artillery barrage, it hadn’t even been a day and the United States was close to defeating the enemy’s strongest fort. Dominic didn’t want to get cocky, but he had faith that War Plan Pink was working well. The strike had been timed to simultaneously start when units from other bases began attacking the Equestrian’s seven other forts, at least four enemy bases were under American control, two were being hit by airstrikes, and the one in front of him was about to fall to its knees.

From there, the NUS Army would begin Operation Fast Lance, a four pronged drive for the heart of Equestria. The Changelings would aid the NUS Army in advancing on Las Pegasus and Applewood, they would also raid Equestrian and Zebrican shipping in the South Luna Sea to cut off the Equestrian’s source of foreign food and medical aid. Dominic finished off the apple and tossed it into the sand next to the tank as he watched a large portion of the wall crumble in on itself. The man narrowed his eyes, as much as he hated war, Celestia had brought it upon herself and he couldn’t afford to let his personal feelings interfere. With the wall sufficiently crumbled, Dominic activated his radio microphone.

“Cease fire on the artillery.” He ordered, the shells began to taper off, until finally the last explosion echoed over the field. “Alright, fan out and roll over the rubble. Ninth infantry, move up behind us, we’ll set up a ring for you to disembark.” Dominic drew his sword from his belt and pointed it towards the fort, it had become a bit of a tradition for the leader of an attack to do so, and he was glad to take part in it. The tanks rolled forward towards the large Equestrian fort, the sand caked onto their blood tracks and under bellies as they steamrolled dead bodies.

The tanks trundled up the brick rubble, Dominic sheathed his blade and took hold of the fifty cal machine gun mounted to the turret. He could hear the ponies rushing around and giving orders, he had to admire their tenacity. The tanks crested the rubble and passed through a thick cloud of dust and smoke that lingered over the fort in the wake of the artillery barrage. Dominic readied his finger over the trigger, Avos readied the main gun, Gear Grinder watched sternly through the driver’s periscope. The secondary machine gunner’s position hadn’t been filled yet, meaning the tank was done one defensive countermeasure. However, there was a new member of the crew that had taken up the position of loader.

Her name was Fire Breeze, a unicorn mare with a blood orange fur and a yellow mane, her cutie mark was a ball of fire. The crew hadn’t really gotten to know her all that well, but she seemed to be handling her duties alright considering they were at war with her country of birth. Her horn glowed softly, enveloping a fresh shell with her magic in preparation. The tanks fanned out as they passed over the rubble, Dominic’s tank was more to the right of the formation as the APCs followed them over the fallen wall and into fort.

Standing out in front of the tanks were one thousand Equestrians, beleaguered and battered, somehow they had gotten into formation. Their banners waved proudly over head as they lowered their pole arms at the tanks. Dominic felt a deep stirring in his soul, Luna would’ve been proud to see such devoted soldiers in the service of her sister. The commander would give them a true warrior’s death.

“Make ready to fire!” He ordered loudly, the tank turrets rotated towards the Equestrians as the turret gunners readied their weapons. The Equestrians began charging towards the tanks, their swords and spears lowered despite the futility of it all. The APCs were unloading the troops, the soldiers were quickly moving up beside the tanks and taking aim at the advancing enemy. Dominic raised his hand in the air, signalling his forces to be ready to fire as the enemy got closer and closer. The Equestrians were yelling loudly, rushing head on, undaunted by the prospect of certain death. “Fire!”

The cannons and machine guns roared to life, shells exploding near the Equestrians and blasting numerous bodies into the sky. Despite the losses and withering fire, the soldiers continued charging forwards. The American soldiers next to the tank began firing with their rifles, adding to the hail of lead that continued to mow down the dwindling wave of Equestrian soldiers. Dominic held his fire, even as Avos laid on the shells, he remained calm and serene. The Equestrians stumbled over one another, one with two broken legs continued trying to crawl onwards but was quickly cut down.

The last Equestrian fell twenty yards in front of the line of tanks and soldiers, he had been a unicorn that was carrying an Equestrian battle banner. A banner now covered in blood. The tanks rolled forwards with soldiers to start securing the fort, Dominic quietly climbed out of the turret and walked towards the last soldier to fall. A peaceful silence had fallen over the battlefield, despite the noise of engines and barking orders, there was something tranquil. The man looked down at the dead unicorn, sighing quietly at the waste of life, but at the same time he was glad to see that his enemy had some semblance of honor, even if their ruler didn’t.

One of the tanks, outfitted with loudspeakers, began to blast music loudly to celebrate the victory. For many of the Thestrals, German immigrants, and even some American nationals in the NUS Army, it was a familiar tune. Dominic turned away from the dead body and walked back to his tank, he climbed back up into the turret.

“Where to now, sir?” Gear Grinder asked as the man took a seat in the turret and pulled the hatch closed, Dominic thoughtfully rubbed his chin in thought, then smiled faintly as he continued listening to the martial music that was playing outside.

“Unser nächstes ziel ist Canterlot, meine landsmänner.” Dominic said quietly, Gear Grinder grinned a bit wider as he heard that in his own tongue whilst Avos and Fire Breeze looked at him with raised eyebrows. “Canterlot. Our next, and only, goal ist Canterlot.” The man removed his helmet and ran a hand over his shaved head. In a way he was relieved that the war had broken out, it meant he could stop worrying about how to prevent it, perhaps his hair would start to grow in its much more handsome black instead of the sorrowful grey he had come to be accustomed to. “But first, a stop in Appleloosa! Schnell!”

“Ja, herr kommandant!” Gear Grinder said enthusiastically as he put the tank into drive.

Author's Notes:

And yet another chapter! Hooray for backlogs!

And hooray for another clip of the day! Incidentally, one of 'Dominic's' favorite cartoons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLKSVRWklj0