My Section spent the last week after the battle of Woodside performing numerous reconnaissance patrols around various villages and roads leading towards the river Guto and the town of Wingston. The Royalist forces have been successful at pushing the Militarists back into the town however a few small pockets of resistance remain outside the town, we had a close call with one which resulted in Blitz being injured however he is now back in fighting form thanks to Firefly's magic.

We have provided regular updates to command headquarters we set up in Woodside following our liberation of the village. Our updates primarily consisted of patrol patterns of Militarist forces on the outskirts of Wingston and major movement within the town, the intelligence we provided was vital to the rest of the Company to effectively plan the assault we would soon be launching on Wingston.

Through a few POW's we had been able to capture we learnt that the commanding officer of the occupation force is a Lieutenant Colonel Gisela, she has a reputation for being ruthless and endangering the lives of civilians. As a result of this information and the numbers of casualties that have been reported within the town I have been ordered by the Brigadier in command of the Equestrian forces to capture, or to eliminate Gisela. I will attempt to capture her if I am able, however my priority is to prevent her from escaping and if that means killing her then I will have no hesitation pulling the trigger.

I still have concerns for Sunny, she froze up when we were engaged on our reccy, I had to physically drag her to cover when we initially came under artillery fire. Every night apart from one she has spent with me, I would always have to comfort her in order to keep her calm and allow her to fall asleep, it won't be long before the others begin to talk. I've also heard of other soldiers who have been effected by the conflict, with centuries of peace it's no surprise that they are unprepared for the horrors of war. It may be best to discharge Sunny and get her sent home, although I'd like to keep her with me I don't think she can take much more out here.

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Myself and numerous other officers and NCO's (Non Commissioned Officers) are all in attendance of the briefing for tomorrows assault on Wingston, Night Chaser is in attendance with me as my second in command. We have gone over the majority of the plan, and by 'we' I mean Shining Armor. He is positioned in front of numerous boards containing photographs of defence lines and various entrances to Wingston.

Turning back from the board he continues to address us, "The attack will begin tomorrow at 06:00 hours, Royalist forces will move in on the east and west sides of Northern Wingston before pushing on to Gutocross bridge which separates Northern and Southern Wingston. Our Company will attack and push through the centre of town towards the bridge, from there we will take control of the bridge to allow our ground forces to move onto Southern Wingston. We will all hold the bridge until the Royalist forces rendezvous with us to assist until Bravo Company arrives to continue the assault into Southern Wingston."

I lean back in my chair, "What resistance is to be expected on the bridge?"

Shining Armor glares at me before answering, "They have constructed two bunkers on the south side of the bridge, both bunkers are constructed out of concrete and steel and are fitted with heavy artillery which are capable of eliminating any air threats. Numerous firing lines are set up along the south bank to fire onto the bridge and on anypony who approaches-"

I cut him off mid-sentence, "So you are expecting us to charge a heavily fortified enemy in a narrow bottleneck, just to get shot down like dogs? You're going to get everyone killed!"

Everyone else stares at me in disbelief, almost as if I had just insulted royalty.Chaser just face hoofs as Shining Armor steps to me and looks at me in irritation, "I take it you have a better idea, Lieutenant?"

Standing up I close the gap between us as I give him the evils. I begin to move from him toward the board as I address everyone, "As long as those bunkers are operational you will lose a large majority of your men before they even get to the halfway point on that bridge. I suggest that my Section moves to infiltrate the town under the darkness of night and find a suitable location to cross the river using the Pegasi and Griffin in my unit. We advance toward the bunkers and find a way to sabotage or eliminate the weapons within, if we are unable to do so then we will obtain a vantage point to engage the firing lines from their flank to give you some breathing room."

Everyone's eyes simultaneously shift from me to Shining Armor, "How do you propose sabotaging the field guns?"

I just smirk as I exaggerate tapping my finger against my regimental badge, "I defused bombs and maintained weapon systems for a living. Disarming a field gun will be a piece of piss."

Shining looks to his subordinates trying to gauge their opinions, "Okay, do it."

I start to move for the exit, "I'll begin preparations and move out at midnight," I signal to Chaser to follow me. Once we've left the briefing we move to a stone wall looking over our first battlefield, leaning forward I let out a sigh as I watch numerous troops moving throughout the camp, "Reckon we can do it?"

Chaser rears up to join me as I lean against the wall, "I've never done anything along the lines of infiltration."

"Well neither have I. I've only ever done it in training," Chaser looks to me with wariness, "We will need a way to get a Human and Ponies into a Griffin town without being seen. Have you got any ideas?"

Chaser closes his eyes as he thinks, "How about a wagon? We convince a number of the Royalists to pose as refugees fleeing the Royalist forces in favour of the Militarists, they tow a wagon into a lightly guarded entrance of Wingston whilst we hide in the back under covers."

I click before pointing to him, "That could work, though refugees would more then likely be questioned and searched. What about Militarists? We got any salvaged Militarist armour and uniforms?"

Chaser grins as he points towards a selection of tents, "Armour and weapons we have plenty of, we will just have to clean some uniforms."

"Great. We will get everything sorted, I will speak to the Griffin Major whilst you get the kit gathered," I begin to walk off towards the Griffin camp further back.

"John, one last thing," I halt and turn on the spot to face Chaser, "Just out of curiosity, what is going on with Sunny? She's spending a lot more time with you at night and seems to be off. Is there something going on between you two?"

I sigh as look to him, "No, nothing is happening between us. Though she has tried once in the past-"

"She what!" Chaser practically yells it in my face as he flies straight toward me, "She's offered you it and you turned her down?"

Wait that's what has him irritated? "Umm... Yes?"

He just shakes his head, "You may aswell be gay if you're turning her down,"

I just chuckle as I resume my journey to the Griffin camp. I call back to Chaser as I walk, "How do you know I'm not lying?" Before he is able to even reply I'm already out of ear shot. She's having issues fighting here and they think that's the reason she's off?

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I was successful at persuading the Major to provide me with a squad of five to join our infiltration, Chaser was also able to appropriate some equipment from the stores which we had salvaged from fallen opposition. We would store the Griffins regular equipment in the wagon with us whilst they transported us into the town. We had set off at midnight and flew high above the clouds to avoid being seen by any Militarists who would catch on to our ruse, a few detours had to be taken instead of a direct approach to avoid drawing attention to us.

We reached the Militarist defence line by 02:50, we landed as soon as it came into view and moved around the roads leading into Wingston to find the one with the smallest amount of units. Slowly moving up the road we attempt to pose as a medical wagon, Georg is sat in the back wrapped in bandages covered in dried blood over his Militarist uniform. Myself and the Ponies are all hidden underneath various sheets and training dummies posing as dead bodies. We easily pass the trench line without too many glances, the main issue is the side road into the town which has a checkpoint.

"HALT!" One of the checkpoint guards call out to us. Those towing the wagon follow the command and bring it to a halt.

Georg leans closer to our covers and whispers, "Eight guards coming close. Shall we take them?"

I grasp my sword and hold it close to my chest, "Wait till they're all near the wagon, kick me once they're here and we'll take them. Be as quiet as possible."

The next few minutes is one of the most nerve racking experiences of my life, my heart beats a thousand times a minute as I wait for them to see through the ruse and kill us on the spot. All I can hear is talking between the two groups as our drivers are interrogated. I hear the steps approaching the side of the wagon next to where I'm positioned. I feel Georg tap me twice signalling the attack, throwing the covers off me and the Section we all lunge for the closest target. I take hold of an officer, pulling him closer I plunge the sword into the bottom of his throat and rapidly slash to the side. The Griffin starts to choke on his own blood as he slumps to the side, everyone else was successful in eliminating the guards positioned near them.

I look to the Unicorns, "Levitate the bodies out view and clean off the wagon, we need to move fast," Soon all the bodies are moved into a ditch as we wipe the blood which found its way onto the wagon, in the darkness the bodies are perfectly hidden. We start to move off further down the road with the cover positioned over us once again, having entered the town we feel slightly more at ease. Georg had taken the rank slide off the officers corpse and attacked it to his uniform, hopefully with him posing as a Captain we will come across fewer patrols which will confront us.

Georg leans down towards me, "John we won't be able to get much further, the inner town has strict security checks."

I lift the cover from my head and look down the road. A few hundred meters is a larger checkpoint, a field gun is set up alongside a full Platoon, "Have we got any alternatives?"

Onc of the drivers steps closer to us, "How about the sewer? There will only be very small patrols down there, maybe even none at all."

"Have you found a sewer grate?" I peek over the edge towards the road.

"There should be one around the next corner," -He gestures around the left corner- "But we will have to move quickly."

I nod to him, "Let's go," I wrap the cover back over myself and lay back. The wagon once again begins to move down the cobbled street, I can feel the suspension on the wagon shift as we make the corner. After a brief pause I hear metal scraping against the road before a knock hits the side of the wagon. We all climb out one by one and make our way down the sewer, I'm the first to enter with a crossbow we recovered from the first checkpoint.

The horrific stench immediately hits my nostrils causing me to gag into my hand, regaining my composure I scan the tunnel for any hostile forces but thankfully don't find any. Slowly but surely everyone else joins me down the sewer, the last Griffin passes down the bags with all our equipment. Closing the grate we start to make our way down the tunnel leading towards the river, I take the lead along with Chaser acting as my spotter.

The journey takes us roughly half an hour to find the exit into the river, we didn't run across a single enemy but we still had to move slowly just as a precaution. The exit leads us directly under the north side of the bridge, stretching out fifty meters the stone bridge provides ample cover for us to pass over the river undetected from spotters positioned above.

Chaser whispers into my ear, "There's three Griffins positioned at the exit of the south sewer," Lifting my rifle I aim down the scope to the other side, sure enough there are three guards idly chatting in the sewer exit, "We will have to eliminate them before we can cross. Are we in range?"

I lower my rifle, "With this? Yeah, but it will instantly alert everyone. The crossbows may have range but I don't know their range so I don't want to risk it," I remove my sling from around my body and lean the rifle against the wall, "I need two volunteers who are strong swimmers," -I start to unbuckle my utility belt and remove my armour as I look to everyone- "We need to swim over and take them out quietly."

Blaze and Colbalt both step forward and begin to remove their armour. Soon we are all out of our armour, to avoid getting all my clothing wet I've been forced to strip down to my boxers. I remove the bayonet from my vest and keep it in my hand as I sit against the exit, my legs hang in the water testing the current and temperature. The current thankfully is slow which should allow us to swim across with relative ease, without waiting I lower myself fully into the river.

Keeping my head as low as I can I slowly swim towards the other end of the river, the other two swim adjacent to me as we approach the other end. Getting as close as we can without being seen I use my hand to signal for the others to stop. I lean close to Colbalt and whisper in his ear, "Levitate a stone or something down the sewer behind them to distract them, once they're occupied we will take them out."

Colbalt dips his head under the water for a few seconds before resurfacing, a rock levitates out of the river wrapped in his magical aura. Throwing the rock over the Griffins heads we move closer as it clatters down the tunnel, taking the bait they all turn away from us and aim their crossbows deeper in the tunnel. Blaze and Colbalt both jump out of the water and attack their targets, I take a hold of the middle one and pull him back into the water with me. As we are both submerged my hand covers over his mouth to prevent him from calling for help, I repeatedly plunge my knife into his back weakening his attempts to fight me off. In a matter of seconds he ceases to move, the weight of his armour acts as an anchor sending him straight to the bottom of the river.

I'm helped out of the water and stand at the entrance, looking back to the rest I wave them over. Sunny is the first to be carried over by Chaser as she levitates my equipment alongside her, Firefly is also carried being carried across by Blitz. Dropping Sunny off she brings me all of my clothing first, I swear I catch her eyes focusing on my chest and soaked pants a few times as she hands me my clothing. Chaser just walks past as he watches her reaction, he glances up to me and just wiggles his eyebrow as he pulls a sly grin. Once Sunny moves past I turn to Chaser and flip him off earning a small snicker from him.

Firefly steps up to me, "You do realise that the water you were just in was likely filled with contaminants, right?"

"Yeah, I do. Though it's better if I went in without my clothes, I don't exactly want to spend the next few hours soaked through."

Firefly's horn glows as myself, Blaze and Colbalt are all painted in her magics glow. As everyone else is brought over I find myself and the other two to be dried off, "There, that should have cleaned all the dirty water off you all."

I nod to her as I dress back into my full clothing and armour, my pants may be a bit damp after the spell but I'm sure I will live. Once everyone is ready I again took point as we proceed down the sewer, as we are already underneath the bridge and fortifications we need to find a safe location to reach the surface without being detected. We try a few grates using Colbalt to use his magic to detect anyone of the other side, unfortunately it seems the grates large enough for us to exit through are all near various soldiers.

Colbalt points towards a rusted ladder leading to a series of grates, climbing to the top I lift the cover and survey the surrounding area. The grate leads onto the floor of what appears to be a church, the doors have all been barred from the inside indicating that either military personnel or civilians are inside. Exiting the sewer into the main hall I hold my ground until everyone else is out of the sewer. I turn to address everyone, "There may be military or civilians in here, this location will be a good place to hold ground so we will either have to eliminate them or if they're civilians we will have to convince them to not alert the Militarists to our location. I will move to the top of the tower with Chaser and perform a reccy of the enemy forces near the bridge, the rest of you secure the building and take up guard posts."

We easily find the spiralling staircase which leads to what I suspect to be the bell tower of steeple of the church, with a crossbow at the ready I slowly advance with Chaser sticking close behind. Reaching the top we find it to be completely void of life, various equipment is stored in a large crate including sandbags, binoculars, a telescope and a modified crossbow fitted with a scope of sorts. I sit back against one of the supports and take hold of the binoculars, I start to scan the enemy positions to plan our next action.

True to Shining Armor's word there are two heavy fortifications at the entrance of the bridge, a cannon fitted on the roof which appears to have been adapted to fire towards the air, anti-air cannon? If that wasn't bad enough inside the bunkers is a large artillery gun which is aiming toward the north side of the bridge, these cannons are much larger in size to any of the others I have encountered so far, if I had to guess I would have to say they're equivalent to a 200mm artillery gun back home. Various units are camped out along the river with various piece of cover being set up to protect them from the other side of the river, however from my vantage point any cover they have established is entirely useless.

Chaser taps my foot as I continue scanning, "I take it you noticed Sunny checking you out?"

I lower my binoculars and swivel my head to examine the ceiling, "I wouldn't say she was checking me out," The structures still intact, if I can block the other sides of the steeple then I should be safe from aerial attacks.

"She definitely was, you're just too blind to realise," Lowering my gaze I glance to him as he sits on the stairs.

"I kinda have more pressing concerns then getting laid at the moment. I'm still not entirely sure how I feel on the matter in all honesty," I grab my rifle and aim down my sight to try and estimate the distance. 200 meters, I won't have to adjust my aim too much from this angle.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well she's still a Pony and I'm a Human. Back home Humans are the only intelligent species, so they're also the only ones we can legally have sex with."

Chaser chuckles, "That ain't an issue here, you clearly are sentient so it's fair game here."

Resting my rifle on my lap I pat him on the head, "You're not going to let this issue go, are you?"

He swats my hand away, "Nope. Not until you grow a pair," He gets up and starts heading back down the staircase.

Placing the binoculars around my neck I follow behind him, "Yeah, the one species who actively engages in war doesn't have a pair. I find that unlikely."

"Then why haven't you gone for any mares?"

I sigh, "I still like woman from back home, Ponies lack the features I'm used to back home."

Chaser looks over his shoulder, "Have they got a vagina?"

"No shit, Sherlock," He just stares at me in confusion as he fails to get the expression, "Of course they do."

"Then I don't see a problem," We continue our descent in silence and find everyone on the main floor, it seems that the Griffins multiplied as we find another twelve Royalist solider's waiting for us.

Out of the group a female steps up to me, a Staff Sergeant or whatever this worlds equivalent to that rank is, "Master Sergeant Kai, Sir."

I look over her and extend my hand to her, she quickly take hold and shakes my hand, "Lieutenant Davies. What exactly are you all doing in here? I take it that the reconnaissance equipment upstairs is yours?"

Kai shakes her head, "Yes it is, Sir. We were here when the Militarists attacked the town three weeks ago, we were a part of the defence force but got cut off when the rest of our Company retreated. We have been using captured Militarist uniforms to conduct hit and run strike against them at night."

I glance to the others as I think. Considering my options I look back to Kai, "There is an assault planned for the morning on the town. We will need your help to eliminate the threat of the field guns protecting the bridge."

Everyone gathers closer around me, "What do you propose, Sir?"

I take a seat on a nearby pew and remove my helmet, "If your troops are up for it I propose that you move on the closest bunker posing as the relief, you're uniform and numbers along with Georg posing as an officer should allow you to get close with relative ease. Once you're inside quietly eliminate the garrisoning crew and remain at the post until the attack commences, don't worry about those on the field gun on the roof for the time being. Once Equestrian or Royalist forces start to assault the bridge I will eliminate the crew of the field gun and engage the firing lines from the vantage point here, you will turn the heavy gun on the other bunker and engage it. Hold the bunker until our relief arrive then do as you see fit."

They all look to each other as they consider the plan. Kai turns to her men and nods, they accept her decision and go to retrieve their captured Militarist uniforms and equipment. She steps up to me, "This plan doesn't give us much cover once we reveal which side we're on. How will you engage that many of them from here?"

I raise my rifle and run a hand along it, "That won't be a problem, move out as soon as it's possible and I will watch your progress from above," I begin to make my way to the steeple stairs, "Chaser I want you to arrange guard duty for our Section, two will need to stay awake while the others sleep. I will remain up top and fortify my position to allow me to engage the enemy in the morning. Once the attack starts one of you join me up top while the rest of you stay on alert here to attack any hostiles who come through that door."

I rapidly move to the top of the tower and rummage through the crate, selecting the sandbags I place them at the main opening facing the river in a position to allow me to remain prone and effectively engage the enemy. I was able to find some plywood to block up the other openings, they won't stop bolts from penetrating but they will at least keep me out of view from other angles. As I finish off I can see our soldiers advancing on the bridge in full uniform, they are marching to try and give off the impression of being a new unit.

Georg knocks on the door and begins to converse with someone in the bunker, the tension of the moment has me on edge as I aim my rifle toward the shadowy figure in the doorway. After a few minutes the group all enter the bunker and begin to shut the door behind them, just before the door locks another figure leaves the bunker and halts in the shadows. It steps closer and halts under a street lamp... Williams. He looks directly at me and just grins as her points towards the bunker, "You really expect this plan to work?" His voice echos through my head as his lips remain sealed, "How many more will die following your orders?" He throws his hands behind his back and pivots towards the bridge, I just stare in bewilderment as I watch him casually stroll over the bridge and out of view on the other side. I'm losing it! What the fuck is going on!?

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I remained on post through the whole night until the sun came up, thankfully Blitz brought me a couple of Coffees whilst he was on guard downstairs. Bang on cue I hear artillery fire off in the distance towards the north, various units began to rapidly mobilise around the bridge and their makeshift cover points.

Hearing hoof steps on the stairs I turn to the side to see Sunny as she lays on the top of the steps along side me, "Chaser sent me up," -Of course he fucking did, Tosser- "I can provide a shield around the opening of your cover to give you extra position."

"Okay, just wait until I start firing before you set it up," I place all my magazines down alongside me and retract the cocking handle on my rifle. Grabbing the modified crossbow I hold it to her, she takes it in her magic and hangs it over her armour.

A number of ammo boxes land behind my magazines, "Figured you could also use a loader."

I look to her and smile, "That would be a great help. Don't exactly want to load individual bullets into Valkyrie, the poor girl gets hungry."

Sunny just shakes her head, "You're an idiot at times."

I just grin, "A love-able idiot. You would be bored without me and you know it."

Sunny looks to the side, "Things have certainly been more... Interesting with you around."

I'm about to retort when a carriage races by alongside the church towards the bridge. Aiming through my scope I can see a female Griffin in an officers uniform, the thing that concerns me more than anything is the weapons she and her guards are armed with. She has a pistol! Sure it looks like an old flintlock but its still a pistol, her guards all have rifles attached to their backs on a sling. Her wagon halts and she soon jumps off, turning her head to look down towards the bridge I'm able to identify her. Scar across the right eye along with dark grey feathers all over her body and a golden gauntlet with razor sharp blades, Lieutenant Colonel Gisela.

Sunny pokes her head over the cover, "That's the Militarist officer in command. We have to do something."

I keep my sights on her, "Do what? If I shoot our plan will be thrown to the wind and we will likely die before reinforcements arrive."

Sunny moves back to her position, "We can't allow her to escape, she has caused too much suffering."

I rest my hand on her shoulder, "We will get our opportunity again. If we leave now then many of our soldiers will die when they assault this bridge."

Sunny just slumps back in her position as I continue to observe the bridge. Over the next hour we see forces come and go across the bridge, Gisela had moved back out of view to an unknown location, we would have to go on a manhunt once the bridge is secured in order to find her. We wait patiently until the Equestrian forces arrive, as soon as they are seen at the other end of the bridge the enemy bunker immediately opens fire. I line up my sight to the five man crew on the field gun on top of the bunker our forces occupy.

PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT

The bullets rip through their armour and flesh as they begin to fire on the Equestrians, their lifeless bodies all slump over the weapon as the rest of the firing line scan the area or begin to fire across the bridge. Sunny uses her magic to generate a shield around my small firing hole to provide me with additional protection in case they locate me and attempt to return fire. The artillery gun in our bunker slowly begins to rotate from the bridge bringing itself around to aim at the enemies artillery, as soon as the gun sight are lined up it fires off its round.

BANG

The bunker immediately erupts in a ball of fire as the direct shot causes all the ammunition within to ignite, the explosion causes a large number of the neighbouring firing line to be thrown from their position. Before the rest can react I aim at the line next to the only remaining bunker and pull the trigger.

PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT *CLICK

I empty the remainder of the magazine into the firing line immediately killing or incapacitating a large number of the units. I eject the magazine and pass it to Sunny as I replace it with a new one, Sunny immediately begins to use her magic to insert fresh cartridges into the empty magazine.

PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT

I fire off at another pair as they attempt to fly from their position to relocate. I scan the bridge to see the Equestrian forces have now been reinforced by Royalist's who are able to fly over their heads thanks to the anti-air being eliminated. A number of Pegasi also take to the air to assist though they seem to be wearing different uniforms from the rest, their uniform is primarily a blue jumpsuit with a yellow underbelly, the only part of their body which is exposed is their muzzles along with the mane and tail. They swiftly glide across the bridge and strike fast at the flank of the enemies. I notice a Griffin raising his crossbow to aim towards one of the flyers.

PHAT PHAT

The rounds impact directly with his neck immediately dropping him, following the close call I decide to provide over watch for the flight unit.

PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT

I hit another Griffin who tried to take to the air, the only shot which connected ripped a hole clean through the flesh of his wing causing him to collide into the river below. The door to the bunker opens up to reveal the Royalists back in their own uniforms as they engage the enemy in close quarters combat. Watching as Kia leaves the fortification I clock a hostile aiming directly for her, lining up my shot I fire off as rapidly as I can.

PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT

The Griffin drops clutching the side of his chest as blood pools on the floor below him and dyes his uniform the Royalist colour. Looking back to Kia I see that I was too late, the bolt had been able to fire off and had impaled her neck leaving her slumped back against the concrete doorway as blood trickles through her feathers.

The Equestrians make a last push to take the bridge by engaging in close quarters, the close proximity causes the Griffins to leave their crossbows in favour of their own swords. I fire the odd shot off into the melee to assist those fighting on the ground, having a high vantage point without being engaged myself allows me to be patient with my shots in order to prevent myself from missing.

I scan the field as I load a fresh magazine into my rifle, we seem to be rapidly pushing back the Militarist forces. My attention gets drawn when I witness one of the Equestrian aerial unit get knocked to the floor with the Griffin looming over her. Lining up my shot I fire off at the stationary target as he prepares to deliver the killing blow.

PHAT

The bullet penetrates through the skull forcing his brain matter over the cobble street road. Shakily the Pegasus rises from the ground as she scans the area, her eyes lock on me as she see's me rise from my prone position. I give her a quick nod before she takes to the air, her flame-coloured mane flowing freely behind her.

The Equestrians have made it over the bridge and are now engaging in melee combat out of view. Collecting all my magazines in my armour I begin to move to the top of the stairs of the tower. Out of the corner of my eye I catch Shining Armor as he moves across the bridge under escort, he looks around and sees me standing in the tower. I raise my rifle and rest it against my shoulder before making my way down the stairs with Sunny following behind me.

Approaching the bottom of the stairs I am met by the sound of complete silence, the lack of any sort of noise just sits wrong with me. I glance to Sunny who seems to be fairly more relaxed compared to previous days, I round the last corner to join the others on the main floor...

PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT

A barrage of bullets are immediately fired off directly towards me, two rounds impact against the Kevlar plate of my armour sending me falling against the stairs. Fucking hell that kills! I rapidly push on my elbows as I shuffle up the stairs, my chest stings on the two points where the bullets collided with my vest. Thank fuck for modern body armour. Feeling under my vest with my hand I check to see if the rounds penetrated, thankfully when I examine my hands there is no blood evident on them.

A strong female voice shouts out to me, "Human! You have ten seconds to come out here with your weapon above your head! Any sudden moves and I execute you and all the Ponies you call soldiers!"

I spare a quick look to Sunny who looks as though she's ready to piss herself. She leans closer to me and whispers, "We have to do something."

I run my hand down my leg and find the pistol in the holster, removing it I hold it out to Sunny, "Take it," Reluctantly she takes the pistol in her magic, "Anything goes wrong you need to get out of here."

PHAT

A round fires off on the main floor as I hear a pained scream echo through the hall, "NOW HUMAN!" I draw my sword as I hold it and my rifle above my head, slowly I walk onto the main floor as I look for my squad. Firefly is whimpering on the the floor with a wound alongside her cutie mark, everyone else is standing on their positions with a rifle aimed at them by a Militarist soldier. I halt across the hall from the officer, looking over her I identify her distinctive scar and gauntlet, "You've really made a mess of things for us. Who the heck do you think you are?"

I just glare at her as I lay my rifle and sword on the floor, "You know exactly who I am," She immediately reaches for her holster and draws a pistol before aiming it at me.

PHAT

The round impacts with the armour covering over my stomach causing me to keel over forward as I groan in pain. As I curl on the floor Gisela steps closer to me and brings her pistol across my face, "Don't get smart with me!"

I roll onto my back and look up to her, I run my sleeve across my lips cleaning the fresh blood, "Fuck you!"

She places her pistol back into the holster before she give me a satanic grin, "I love it when they fight back," Curling up her talons into a fist she brings it against my nose, I immediately hear a sharp crack as blood starts to flow from my nostrils. I bring my hands over my face and try to stem the flow of blood.

"You fucking bitch!" I shout to her through my hands. She just laughs as she rapidly throws her gauntlet covered talons to the side causing the blades to surface.

She calls out to those behind her, "Captain!" I look behind her as one of the soldiers adjusts his aim to Firefly on the floor.

PHAT

The round lodges itself into her skull ceasing her movement, snapping my eyes back to Gisela she just keeps staring at me with that demonic grin. Another one dead, John. You can't stop fucking up? Can you? I just lose my rag and lash out, I swing my fist colliding with the bottom of her beak knocking her off balance. I dart up from my position and throw another punch impacting the side of her head, a swift kick strikes against her breastplate having little effect against her.

I'm stopped in my tracks with one swift swing, the gauntlet comes down on top of my shoulder and clamps into the flesh. The strike causes me to fall on my back with her ontop of me, slowly she twists the gauntlet causing me to release screams of agony as the blades tear the muscle, "Come on human, you can take more than th-"

PHAT PHAT PHAT

Gisela is thrown off of me as two rounds impact her head, the gauntlet tears from my flesh producing further anguish. I tilt my head to see Sunny levitating the pistol in my direction, her horns glow seems to double in size as a shield is thrown over her. The room if filled with the sound of gunfire as the Militarist forces fire at Sunny, the shield intercepts a volley of bullets aimed directly at her causing her face to strain as she maintains the shield from the blunt force trauma. Dropping her shield the pistol turns towards the line of enemies who are now occupied with attempting to reload their weapons.

PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT *CLICK

The slide locks to the rear as the casings and Griffins all drop to the floor, Sunny's eyes keep locked towards the lifeless bodies as she fails to continue firing off the pistol. I rest my head back as Chaser runs to me, looking over me he pushes his hoof on my shoulder in an attempt to slow the flow of blood.

He looks to me with concern, "John. Are you okay?"

I shake my head, "No... my shoulder bloody kills," I try to keep focused on everyone but I start to feel my stomach lurch as my vision begins to blur.

"Sunny!" Chaser shouts towards her waking her from her trance. Sunny's magic immediately implodes dropping my pistol to the floor, turning to look towards Chaser she notices me on the floor and rapidly darts towards me.

Pushing her hoof down on my chest her eyes begin to tear up, "John!"

Gradually I lift my hand and bring it to rest against the side of her neck, "I'm... okay."

Her eyes widen when she spots Firelfly's body slumped over the floor, I try to keep focus as my vision continues to deteriorate. I find myself unable to keep control of my body as my head falls to the floor, my chest begins to feel as though it is being set ablaze from inside. As soon as I hear the doors get thrown open my vision completely blacks out, my breathing becomes shallow as I feel as though I'm falling into a fevered sleep.

What the fuck did that bitch do to me?