Warning: The following Fanfic contains blood, violence, and themes that might be disturbing to some viewers. Read at your own discretion.

**********

It was the slow pull of reality, the willingness to live, that snapped me out of it. My eyes opened and around me the world was painfully bright. Everything was bleached, diluted, and as blank as a flank that didn't have its cutie mark. I shook my head once; I could feel something in my mind&... something burrowing... "NO!" I shouted, and gradually the sensation passed. In the corner of my eye I saw a retreating image. 'Good'. Feeling weak I pulled myself up to all fours and looked around. I was in the ruins of some old skyscraper. A battle was blazing around me. Ponies against ponies, friends against friends... fighting. An Earth Pony with two smoking guns mounted on her shoulders to my left, a pegasi in the distance, frantically dodging in and out of projectiles, a unicorn... blasting her own kind with beams and spells. The battle was franticlly pitched and chaotic; I had to get back in it. I'd already been down for too long. Slowly, like the drawing of the rising tide, the ambiance of the battle echoed and then clarified to a shrill roar.  

"Chord!" the voice came to me like a distant premonition. I didn't turn, the world was still too bright; maybe it was best for me to just rest a little more... "Chord!" this time, the voice was louder. I felt a hoof on my shoulder and I spun around.

"Flintlock?" My voice was slurred. "What happened to me?" the pegasi in front of me was hovering a bit above the ground and completely armored up. Her powerful wings were re-infused with a metal compound for extra protection and her laced hooves were lined with blades meant to be used in the same way a falcon used his claws to kill it's pray (thus the reason why she couldn't land).

"A Wraith, Chord, it was trying to get to you." She stopped. "Let me look into your eyes..."

"Do we really have time for...?"

"Chord."

"Alright, here. Just get it over with." I stood stalk still.

"Thank you, I'd rather be safe than sorry..." Flintlocks voice drawled off as she gazed into the depths of my eyes, analyzing them, trying to spot any signs of disease. After a minute she sighed in relief. "Thank Celestia, you're... DUCK!" Without a second guess I complied, and just in time at that. Another pegasi, possessed by a Wraith, zoomed right past my head. The displacement of air in his wake emphasized how close he had gotten to ending me. In ten seconds flat, Flintlock became engaged with her enemy.

A flurry of metal, a cascade of sparks, and then a final blow put Flintlocks assailant out of commission and withering on the ground. She came back down to earth. The fresh blood of her enemy, black from the poison, was splattered in a firework across her heaving side. "We have to start retreating Chord, it's getting too hot. Do you need a med-vac or are you still able to fight?" I looked myself up and down and took note of the deep jagged scar I'd gotten sometime in the last hour of fighting. Then I stretched my wings to make sure they were still functional as their wintips, lined with jagged edges, were my only weapon. My saddlebag was still there too. "I can call somepony in to..."

"It's fine." I cracked my back. Flintlock was still not convinced.

"I don't know Chord..." I felt a flash of anger surge through me.

"I said I'm fine! Now you'd best start retreating, or do you plan on talking a bit
longer?" I could tell Flintlock wanted to retort, but instead, she bit her tongue and nodded. Now was not the time.

"Sure, sure. The northern pass has been opened temporarily, but we won't be able to hold it off for much longer... you need to get there. Where's your squad?" Bitterly, I shook my head. My gray face flushed in self failure.

"Gone. I lost three to possession... two I had to kill myself but the last one took his own life before The Wraith fully controlled him." Flintlock only nodded, betraying little emotion. That almost scared me as much as anything else. Had this all become such a common thing that it was no longer considered as a tragedy but simply a statistic? I think so; I see it in myself even.  

"The others perished in the fighting." I motioned to my neck where a silver chain, interlocking and simple, hung. "I have their dog tags here to bring back to their families. Mine as well." Around us the battle was becoming more and more futile. Every second my chances of escaping shrunk. I nodded to myself in conclusion. In a swift motion I shrugged off the necklace and threw it up to Flintlock, who caught it in her jaws.

"Why give this to me? You aren't giving up... right?" there was critical look in her eyes. I smiled wickedly.

"Hell no, but you can make it out of here faster than I can, it's safer for you as well... I have a final mission to do." I patted the Saddlepack draped over my shoulder. "In case I don't make it back." Aside from the din of the battle, there was a deadly calm between the two of us. Again, hesitantly this time, Flintlock nodded.

"But you will Chord, I know you, you're strong. You've gotten out of binds a lot worse then this!" She lifted off into the air and looked back at me over spread wings. " I'll see you back at base." Aside from the slow fear that was setting in, I couldn't help but smile. As the pegasi zoomed off into the distance, I found my sight drop from the heavens and fall onto the torn battlefield that lay in front of me, just passed the ruined wall of the building. The Allies were retreating. The amounts of Turned were getting too much for them to manage.

I took a deep breath and tapped the Saddlepack against my back. Though my squad was gone, their legacy, their goal, would live on... and I was to carry it out. With my teeth I brought the bag down to the floor by my hooves and pulled out the bomb. Normally, I'd arm it only once I was in the tower, but I didn't have time now. If I wanted to still escape, I'd have to do it all in clockwork. Momentarily, my attention was drawn to the buttons that were placed on the bomb. I set the timer to 15 minutes and armed the explosive. With that done, I re-mounted the saddlebag and placed the bomb in its bloody folds. It was now or never.

Trotting and then taking off I launched myself into the smoggy air. Adjusting my wings I spiraled in a circle to get them back to full performance. With that done I took off. To my left, a possessed pegasi dove towards me. She was cut and bruised, but driven mad and clearly desperate. Her wings, which were tipped like mine, were what I needed to watch out for. With a flick I dodged her initial advance and reestablished myself on the wind current. She came in again and this time, I caught the Mare mid air and fell into a dive. On the fall I slit her throat and then, with the task done, launched myself back up to the proper altitude. As I rose higher, my assailant fell to earth, striking the ground after a second of freefall.

Looming on the horizon now was the tower I needed to get too. It was a large structure, once a radio broadcast center. Surrounding the base of the structure like ants, Ponies and The Turned battled on. I looked down and saluted the soldiers fighting on the ground. They were part of a battalion entitled Last Light. In a nutshell, the group was composed of the ones who had lost everything. They had approached the General in command and requested to give up their lives to insure the success of key missions.

Last Light was working with my own squad this time. We were to plant a bomb in the tower and leave. They were to hold the enemy off till it detonated. Considering my squad had already been wiped out, the mission had moved entirely to rest on my own wings. And I was late. The consequences of this were very clear as I flew over the desolation. The desolation I took part in causing. More than half of the Last Light Battalion had perished, and the few remaining were battling on in fleeting desperation. For every slice and bruise that was dealt on them, they became weaker and weaker. From up here I could even see some ponies collapsing in exhaustion and being swarmed by the Turned. I looked away. The deaths of those brave souls down there needed to be put into the back of my mind. If I did not succeed in my mission here, they would have all died in vain. There was only one thing to do now.

*Beep* the bomb reminded me that I had five minutes left before it went off...

Closing my eyes I went into a nosedive. On a normal day the feeling of falling through the sky warmed my very soul, but not now, my mind was too crowded with anxieties. With a swoop I landed in front of the tower. Immediately on my arrival, four Last Light soldiers came to my side. A few others began to make their way towards me, but were cut down as they changed their focus away from the battle. Again, I found myself mortified, horrified, yet darkly amazed at their unflinching devotion.

"You four, come with me." I nodded in their general direction and they fell into a box formation around me.

*Beep* Three minutes. Time was running out...

We took off at a gallop, very literally hurling anything that got in our way to the side. I quickly glance behind me to see the sprawled Turned being finished off with a flash of a blade or a lethal metal hoof. A soldier that was escorting me was picked off, and our box was breached. Frantically I flared my wing at the rushing Turned Earth Pony, and she fell bleeding behind me.

*Beep* Two minutes. We were almost there...

The blood was shooting through my veins and an adrenaline rush like no other seized hold of me. Gritting my teeth till my jaw hurt, I sped ahead, hardly computing the fact that I was leaving my escort behind... they were just moving too slowly.
I only stopped once I confronted a roadblock. Two Turned Earth Ponies stood barring the way. Behind them was the console I had to attach the bomb too. With a screech I hurled myself into the first one, knocking the wind out of him, and then, as he was recovering, I faced the other, a female with metal hooves. She bucked and I almost dodged. Her left hoof came into contact with my shoulder and I heard a sickening crack as the bone at the base of my wing shattered. With a whinny of pain I propelled myself forwards and slid under her, spreading my one good wing up and piercing her chest as I went. Gasping like a fish out of water she collapsed in a heap. The faint shadow that rose from her body hissed ominously and rushed at me. Again I felt the cold grasp of a Wraith, who was trying to burrow its way into me and take me for its own. Bearing down I used my pent up emotions to send a surge of defiant mental energy through my body to repel the dark presence out of me. The feeling passed and the Wraith disappeared somewhere behind me. My concentration returned to the remaining Turned Earth Pony. The one I had knocked the wind out of.

*Beep* One minute. I might be too late. Hopefully, the explosion will topple the tower...

I knew how urgently I had to end this. My own life was not what drove me, the notion of escaping was already out the window and lost to the wind. No, It was my drive to complete my mission; to go out with a bang, quite literally. To sacrifice my life to avenge those who lost their own this day, my squad members, the Last Light Battalion... everypony who had died for the cause. I would go down fighting like the Colt I had been trained to be. I'd go down defiant.
I closed my eyes and then opened them. The world seemed to be so clear. Taking a deep breath in then exhaling I propelled myself at my opponent. He blocked my attack with a metal shoulder pad then followed through with a swipe from his ankle blade. I dodged then rolled over his back cutting it along the side. I had just missed his vital organs. 'Damn'. I moved in to the attack again, and was again blocked. After narrowly missing his second swipe, I backed up a few paces.

*Beep* Fifty seconds.

Clearly, my tactics were not working. Cringing, I brought my jaw back and ripped out a feather from my broken wing. The pain that would have been elicited was overpowered by the current pain I was in. Just as I expected. On the makeshift blade in my mouth I could taste the metallic tinge of blood and the drier, grittier bits of sand and dust. Cracking my neck I snapped into motion

*Beep* Forty seconds...

I faked a slice with the razor in my mouth, and my opponent fell for it. He moved to block me and I got around his heavy pads, lodging the foot long 'dagger' into his side.

*Beep* Thirty Seconds...

He only flinched, but that was all I needed. As he moved his head to pull the blade from his side, I brought my Saddle pack around and smashed his jaw with the metal latch that held the bag together. There was a sharp click at the colts jaw and a few teeth of his dislodged.

*Beep* Twenty...

I then moved to the top of him and smashed his head down into the cement of the ground, cracking his skull. With a grunt I kicked open the metal casing surrounding the control panel.

*Beep* Ten...

I pried the control panel open with my dagger and opened up my saddle pack. Aside from the hopeless scenario I was in, I felt a wave of relief wash over my body. I had done it. I took the bomb out and placed it in its designated area.

*Beep*

With a sigh I turned tail and collapsed onto the floor. Even if my wing hadn't been broken, I would have run out of time. I smiled half-heartedly. By now, Flintlock must have made it back to camp. She was safe, and that was all that mattered... I sort of liked her you know, guess I'll never get the chance to tell her that. My family back at the camp will mourn indefinably, but I think they would know that I died to help the rebellion... they'd be proud. Sad, but proud.

*Beep*

I wonder now how much longer the rebellion will go on for. How much more can we take really? The Wraiths' influence has grown and grown...the whole world must be consumed by now.

*Beep*

I should make my final prayers.'Celestia, the sun. Luna, the moon. And I of the simple earth. Open your divine doors and allow my place in the Beyond. Kingdom of peaceful Light, I beg you to unlock the door. Kingdom of serene darkness, I beg you to open the unlocked doors. The world has made me weary, tired, my passing on shall be mourned.'

*Beep*

I really don't want to die! My family needed me, my friends needed me, and the rebellion needed me! I... I...

*Beep Beep Beep*

Then the explosion went off...

******************************************************************************************

Special thanks to my more then awesome editor AwSweetHolyHell (on DA)