I felt the wind blow across my cheek as I laid in that hide, surrounded in dirt and the spent casings my rifle spit out. The moon was high above us all, casting down a blue cloak to shadow the lands below; Luna gave us her precious blessing of night. My right wing slid up to a small lever on my scope and flipped it, turning the deep blue to a vivid green, every little shred of light being used to augment my vision in the dark. The outpost was ahead of me, a very minimum of five-hundred meters. I’ve made longer shots, but the random gusts of wind would require extra calculations.

My radio buzzed at me, then started to speak out with a staticy yet strong voice. “I’ve got two of them, southwest. Eleven o'clock of your position. They’re under the blue sign.”

I simply set my feather on the top of the small box attached to my shoulder and sent in my response. “Roger, fire in thirty.” My rifle pivoted on the bipod beneath it, turning the barrel to face my new target. Through my magnified view, I could see the two striped heads standing guard, beneath a blue sign. My wing started to shift around once more, feather turning the turrets of my scope to compensate for distance, and then finally wind. My crosshair was right on the head of the striped devil, a final glance at my watch told me it was time. My feather squeezed back on the trigger, pushing the stock of my rifle into my shoulder as it let out a whisper, a second shot heard to my seven o’clock.

The radio started buzzing at me again as both of the zebras dropped to the ground, both having a perfect hole right through their heads. “The bastards didn’t even see it coming. Vogel is on point; Candy, Jacks, and Rose are behind him. They’re breaching in ten.”

Again, I clicked down on the box and sent my dull reply to the stallion on the other side. “So what are you doing when you get home?”

“Oh you know. I’ll probably take my wife out to dinner, you know.. ‘wife’, only if it’s on behalf of the Ministry of Morale.” Our hushed chuckles filled the radio waves until our radios were silent, then a sudden sigh came from the other end.

Here was the gruff voice we both expected, but didn’t know when it would come through. “Angel, Shadow, will you shut the fuck up? You’re going to get us killed.” Jacks didn’t take kindly to small talk; he was the one we all teased for being way too serious out here.

“Yeah yeah I hear you. Movement spotted from the window labeled as W-6, be advised. Angel out.” I shut my radio down and lifted up, stretching out under the shroud the moon had given to us. My wings spread out for a moment before retracting back in, resting on the charcoal gray cloak that was over my black uniform. I checked each of the pouches on my sides, counting my ammo and apple bars before reaching down and lifting my rifle up, slinging it over my back. Many ponies would prefer a battle saddle, but Shadow and I were special cases to this. He could just use his telekinesis to operate his rifle, and my wings were flexible enough to do anything I could possibly ask for.

Down on my haunches I went, my hoof lifted up to stroke back my black mane, letting the white streaks shine through underneath. There were times those little spikes of hair would get in the way of my vision, and that just wouldn’t cut it out here. I pulled up my hood, letting it mat down my mane while I started to pack up the camouflaged netting I was provided with. Whispers filled my radio, followed by the occasional ‘thud’ of a zebra falling to the ground. Everypony just assumed it was your typical throat-slicing, done by Vogel. He was a rough griffin, but he could pour a stiff drink.

Rose was always extremely focused on making sure any little wound be treated, almost if she was obsessed with the idea of keeping every single little wound patched up. If you would trip on anything around her she felt the need to do a full-body examination just to be sure nothing was hurt.. Or maybe that was just me. Even if she was a little hoofsy at times, I still loved everything about her. I couldn’t wait for her to find the little box I stashed under her pillow back home.

Jacks came back up on the radio, sending messages out for the snipers of the team, Shadow and Myself. “Listen up, we’ve got this place secured. Blueprints are in hoof, we’re pulling back. Meet us at the rendezvous point in exactly one hour, understand?”

He got two answers, almost at the exact same time. “Copy that.” I had everything already packed up, either resting in my pack or across my back. Up came my compass, then I turned to the north and began to walk up the black hill, stepping over fallen branches and shards of steel that dug into the hillside. My smaller frame made it difficult to clear some inclines on the hillside, but going airborne would give us all away, and considering we didn’t exactly officially exist, that would lead to myself and five others finding ourselves six feet under.

I cleared the crest of the hill and started to make my way down the other side, letting my wings stretch out to carry me to the bottom, the wind from the inclined jump being sufficient to keep me from moving my wings, and being spotted. Down the hill I went, my tail and cloak flapping in the breeze before I stopped at the other side of the hill, landing and sitting. There was Shadow, the white unicorn shook his head and simply face-hoofed.

He sounded just like Jacks in his speech, lecturing me for even using my wings out here. That didn’t really intimidate any of us, his voice wasn’t deep enough to even make a filly jump.

“Angel, you know you aren’t supposed to do that.” He shot me a rather condescending gaze with his blood-red eyes.

“If we’re talking protocol, I’m pretty sure trying to hook up with squad members in the field isn’t allowed either. You know my barn door doesn’t swing that way, and I’m already pretty serious with Rose. You know we’ve been dating for a few months, right? Now shut up before the striped devils hear anything.” That shut him up pretty quickly, the damned smartass.

The team of four came down from the northeastern side of the hill, walking in a near-perfect diamond formation before sitting around at the dip in the landscape. Vogel pulled a bottle of apple whiskey from his smaller chest-sling pack and took a sip. Jacks counted the shotgun shells left in his combat shotgun battle saddle, the strange looking suppressors always reminded me of him. Bald and blunt. The griffin next to him offered a sip of the whiskey, but Jacks declined. Candy, the white mare with a rather simple brown mane started to check her pocket mirror, looking at her mane and blue eyes. Jacks, the bald and blue, shot her a disapproving gaze. Candy just blocked herself off with her wings, hiding from Jacks.

Rose came and sat next to me, gazing up at the stars while she rested her head on my shoulder. Her white coat sparkled in the dark, and her golden mane.. Unf, she was a looker. She gave me a soft gaze with her emerald eyes, then she gave a kiss to my cheek. Her soft voice started to swim in my ears, even a soft phrase from her would melt me into a puddle, I swear.

“So Angel, you didn’t take any hits did you? No wounds for me to examine? Maybe later you’ll bump your hoof against something?” Jacks didn’t like this soft, near-bedroom talk from Rose. He spat out the list of protocols we were to follow while on duty, and getting too personal with one another was the first he read on the list of many.

“Hey, fuck you too. I’m trying to spend time with my Marefriend, okay? We can’t even get into each other’s uniform without tripping the magic seal on them, you know they’d call a Broken Feather if we were compromised. I don’t think we’re really feeling like getting executed for something like that.” Jacks shut up just as quickly as Shadow did before.

Vogel’s bottle was being passed around now, his death stares getting to Jacks a bit faster than any kind of insubordination write-ups would. The griffin gave it to Candy first, and then half of the bottle was gone. Next was Rose who only took a quick sip, and then to myself. I just lifted it up and took a small sip, not even a shot’s worth before handing it to Shadow. Rose covered it up in her magical aura and pulled away from his lips each time he would go for a sip, and when he was pulling the hardest she would let him pull the bottle into his muzzle. I loved her spunk.

§§§

Our train car was adorned with fine, red woods. The table in the center was rectangular and bland, but we always had cards and bottles atop of it, so we never really noticed. The red cushions under us were okay, but somepony always brought soft blankets or even pillows to make them that much better. The three males were on one of the bench seats, us mares across from the stallions and griffin. We each had a chest for our weapon of choice, the bulky cases suspended above us, each labeled and stamped for travel. Even though we could change attire, we all sat there in our uniforms. Shadow and Myself in our dark gray fatigues with a cloak snapped on from our necks. Vogel was wearing his thick chest plate underneath the chest-sling he always wore around. Rose had her mild gray uniform with yellow and pink markings on her shoulders, a sling across her back that held a fully packed up medical kit. Candy and Jacks were in a stone green outfit, metal inserts around the sides and on the back to help ease the load of their heavy weapons.

Cards were passed around and back, glasses were filled up high from bottles, and bits were traded with every new card game. Rose never played too much, but she would sure help me make calls on what I should do. This was technically against the rules, but the relationship card was always played if anything was said. Jacks was always flank-hurt when he lost to Rose and myself, so he would blow smoke from his cigarette into my face; I would cough every single time. This was my family, the six of us would party just as hard as we would fight. We didn’t officially exist in the eyes of the Ministries or even the Royal Councils, but we certainly got benefits (within reason).

The occupants of this rowdy train car were responsible for taking down seven zebra forward headquarters, but we always just called them clusterfucks. Total body count was approximately nine-hundred and seventy-five, and the worst we suffered was a basic bullet wound or two. Up my glass went, my wings guiding it into the air while I looked around the table.

“Cheers to the meanest, toughest, sons and daughters of Luna!” Up went the glasses, and with a ‘clink!” we were all downing a shot. Jacks looked around the table and blew out a puff of his smoke, then put it out in the tray before he spoke up.

“Alright, we get exactly four days before we meet up again to get sent off. I’ll give you details when we’re in the field again. Rose, Angel, this is your stop.”

The train was coming to a halt, and up I went. Rose just used her telekinesis to lift up the weapon crates, my highly precise rifle and her cute little submachine gun, both in their ugly green cases that were hovering behind us as we stepped off the train, the smoke flaring up again as it went down the tracks once more. We stood and gazed up at the massive wooden sign above the station that read “Germaney Train Station.” We were home, and there was little doubt of what we were going to do with our four days.

We sat on our crimson sofa, laying back and relaxing with a single bowl of popcorn between us, two tall glasses of Sparkle~Cola sitting on cork coasters on our black wooden table. We let the light of the television be the primary source of light in our room, the moonlight from the skylights only doing so much through windows we desperately needed to clean. She sat in her pink, fuzzy pajamas, and I relaxed myself in the same set, but in a deep purple. Our slippers went up as we looked at each other, having a giggle as we thought of the same thing at the same time. This was perfect, sitting closely to the one you love with a bowl of popcorn and a film, this was the life.

It felt like it was 1AM before we even got out of the soft seating, our empty bottles and bowl that was nearly licked-clean just sat on our table while we got up and went to our bedroom, falling right on the bed. We looked around at the burgundy walls, then our black wood wardrobes and nightstands sat on our sides of the room. A lamp sat on each of our stands, hers made of healing potion bottles, mine made of artillery shells that were filled up with holes.

A grin was plastered on my face while I laid out, hooves under my head while my wings stretched out fully, one sliding under Rose and rolling her closely. I kept looking right up, just until her head laid on her pillow, and a pressure point made for a rather uncomfortable spot. She looked rather confused, and then she pulled her pillow up to see what was under it. A plush, velvet black box sat under her red pillow, then she lifted it up. I clicked off my lamp, her horn doing the same out of habit, then I closed the curtains that surrounded our bed. The black veil surrounded us as she opened the box, then nearly flew into the air.

The golden hind hoof band sparkled in her eyes, the shapes of vines curling over each other made for a complete circle, only being put further up in beauty by the massive diamond in the center that was shaped like a rose, each little cut in the stone glimmered in her beautiful emerald eyes. Her voice was at a shout, constantly squeeing while she bounced around the bed.

“Angel! Oh Princesses is this.. A-are you..? Is this what I think it is?!?”

All I could do was smile while my eyes closed, my wing holding her closer. “Rose, will you marry me?”

I could’ve sworn the windows behind our bed were about to shatter from her high-pitched excitement, even the deep red velvet curtains wouldn’t save us from flying shards of glass.

“Yes yes yes yes yes!” I understand excitement, but I could’ve sworn my ears started to bleed, so I hushed her with a deep kiss.

The morning sun turned our red room even more red when the light tried to push through the curtains, the dulled light piercing even through our veil. My head slowly lifted up off of the pillow, a groan coming from my muzzle as I felt just how messy my mane was. Rose had a seriously messy mane of her own, even the feathers on my wings were ruffled. She was wrapped up in my right wing, golden locks spreading out on my gray feathers. I didn’t want to wake her rudely, so I simply used my left wing to draw the curtains around our bed open, letting more of the light flood in.

Her eyes slowly opened, followed by her letting out a cute yawn and stretch. That golden band looked amazing around her left hind hoof, the diamond shimmering red from the dyed light around us. She finally rolled out of bed and hit the soft carpet below with a thud, then gave me a giggle for assurance that she was just fine. I couldn’t help but snicker as I got up on my hooves, making my way into our bathing room. In the middle was an ornate bathtub, golden claws held it up off of the tiles. I was more interested in the rich wooden vanity we had sitting near the door, a large, framed mirror held up above it.

I started to wet my hooves, then patted down my mane before grabbing my brush, holding it up with my wings to work it through my mane. The white streaks were shining through the black strips, the brush flicking around to make sure my bangs were spiked out as I liked them. I wiped my eyes off, then batted them in the mirror. The pale silver gazed right back at me, then I started to look at my gray wings. They were a serious mess, just until a floating brush started to run through them. Damn she was perfect.

We went out into the streets, she was in a loosely fitting red dress, I was pretty certain she had a thing for red now. I was in a lavender dress, mine was slightly tighter on the fit, but I think that was partly to the vigorous training I endured just to get in the squad of lovable rejects. Muscles generally aren’t accounted for in clothing size, especially for a mare of a smaller frame. We started down the stone streets, walking past several white buildings with dark wood planks across everything they could be nailed to, the same wood was used for roof shingles that were simply given a coat of waterproofing wax. Tradition was expensive sometimes, but many of these ponies had lavish interiors to their old homes.

It seemed like everypony was out today, the sun high above with minimal cloud coverage, a warm yet crisp temperature kept us all comfortable in this more mountainous area of the Germanian capital, Germaney itself. The tall, snow capped mountains surrounded us, water falling from the sides of massive rock faces fed our rivers and streams, which would then go into our sophisticated filtering systems, then into our pipes. We had no need for a water talisman, especially when you had the freshest water just a gallop away from your front door.

Large pines surrounded the entire city, if one could even call it a city. It was more like a massive, homey village that housed our vital buildings for places of business and trade, as well as our hub for the Ministry of Awesome. Many pegasi lived here, but more earth ponies filled the streets than any of us did. Few unicorns called this home, but my wife and a few others were highly valued for their abilities to assist in the fine tuning of certain things that hooves simply couldn’t.

We went to the local bakery for our breakfast, fresh rolls with apple topping were a local favorite. Our orchards always produced the richest, finest apples anypony could ask for. They were in such demand that half of the city’s population worked on the orchards or were out to deliver them to the surrounding cities and hamlets that lined our massive, green mountains. You could always see smoke floating into the sky from the locations of the many hamlets and towns that made up our productive lands. We produced many items that were highly prized in the heartland of our world, Equestria. Gold and silver was a favorite, as well as the tree bark and charcoal we capsulized and shipped out, two items that had natural healing abilities. They could stop a headache, or even speed up cell regeneration rates. No wonder it was common to see ponies in their nineties walking around like they were still middle-aged ponies.

Our trip to the bakery was then followed by a stop at the local markets, open air stalls lined our city center, a circle of stone streets and flank-high stone walls that were circling the greatest tree that anypony had ever seen. It was simply known as the Elder, for that very tree had outlived anypony our lands had seen. From the very first day Germaney was settled and it consisted of a single hoof-full of ponies, it stood there. The massive roots dug deeply into the soil, some even crawled over the stones stacked around it, and down into any place it could taste soil. A single drop of sap from this tree could heal anything, or so they say. I never bought it, considering sap was sticky. I didn’t like sticky things… No wonder I prefer mares.

The night was upon us faster than we would’ve hoped for, casting massive shadows from the mountains. Our nights weren’t too dark, as there was very little to no light that would conceal the gift of Luna herself, a sky full of stars and the beautiful, glowing moon. Galactic dust was flooding the sky tonight, showing us bright streaks of deep purples and blues contrasting off of the silver stars. This was the perfect night to sit on the roof, sip a fine hard cider, and play my stringed instrument for my beloved.

I learned how to play the guitar with my wings when I was young. My mother would help me sing and write songs when father would teach me how to use a rifle of a higher caliber. It was simply family tradition, if not Germanian tradition. All ponies were expected to learn one talent from each parent, many stuck to painting and clay working. I prefered my guitar and rifle, but nothing could make music like my stringed box. The rosewood body of my guitar held the best sounds that anypony could hear. I began to play, my soft feathers caressing the strings.

I played melody after melody my mother had taught me, then I went off to making something of my own. Rose laid on her side while she watched me treat the instrument with the most care, each sound coming out crisp and without excess. What better way to tie it all together than with soft singing.

I could tell now I had a small crowd sitting in front of our home, listening to my music that I pulled out of the strings, some of them even slowly moving to the sound of the strings and my voice. My vocals weren’t the best anypony had heard, that had to go to Sweetie Bell, but I could try.

The cheers from below startled me, I hadn’t even noticed them all sitting down below, like I was upon a magical stage. Instead of singing on or stopping, I kept pulling on the strings. Shooting stars blazed through the painted sky, and torchbugs started to light up the night. I’d never performed for these many ponies, and I wasn’t going to mess up my first actual show.

Day broke through the mystical night we were blessed with, and the sun touched my coat directly. I lifted my head up and wiped my eyes, looking at the roof that I had fallen asleep on. Rose was also up here, even some of the ponies from the night before were asleep in front of our home. I didn’t know I was actually playing that well, or that I could pull something like that off. A golden maned pony lifted up her head and looked around, simply letting out a giggle as she saw where we were. Well, I’ve gotten up in stranger places during my youth.

Before we could even realize where the time had gone, we were back on the train, trying our best to relax in the stiff seats. The stacked pillows only did so much for something that felt like a loaf of ten year old bread.

“Ooh Rose, what’s that there around your hind hoof?” Candy was already speaking up, pointing at the golden band Rose had, the length of her uniform not quite concealing it entirely.

The train car as roaring with laughter and cheers as I had told them what happened, and then how the night after went. For a group of highly trained soldiers, we knew how to have a good time. That’s all you really could do in wartime like this, if you didn’t keep yourself above the floods and fires, you’d sink and drown in the ashes.

Jacks finally spoke up, tossing out a pile of documents on the surprisingly empty table. “Alright, now that we’ve all had our fun.. We’re being sent deep in this time, we’re talking at least a week behind the zebra lines.” He started to point at places on the map, then circling key areas and drawing out paths we would take, and finally the supply drops we would receive. “So, when we get into checkpoint Alpha, we radio into base. Halfway from there and Bravo they’ll drop in our first batch of supplies. Same is true for the next three checkpoints. Finally, we reach our target, their forward weapons storage. We are to infiltrate and destroy everything they have, this will put heavy pressure on their command and they’ll have to fall back. Once they lose this position, they lose the war.”

There was a shared nod between all of us, then the rowdiness sparked up again. Many of the other passengers were just basic foot soldiers, or were massive crates of supplies that would be delivered by the Ministry Heads to increase morale and combat prowess. I don’t think I’ve watched a pony just fall over and die after seeing Fluttershy herself starting to patch up the wounded.

All of our radios started to buzz, sending through static and then, clarity. “All pony units, be advised! Our rail lines are being destroyed as we speak! All transport trains are to stop immediately, and are to be evacuated with all supplies and ponies out of there! We’re ex--” Then the signal cut out. A mutual “Oh shit!” filled the car as we all grabbed our gear, throwing it on as fast as possible. We didn’t care about the weapon’s cases, but only the weapons inside. All of us were armed, geared up, and ready to get into whatever mess was ahead of us. Just until the brakes started squealing, but with little success.

The train had started to fall off the bridge we were crossing, and car by car it fell into the valley below. There wasn’t a single doubt about what we would be coming out into, there had to have been scouts in the area, or spies up top. My thoughts quickly came to a halt as our car hit the side the valley edge, turning everything black instantly.

“Angel! Hey, get the fuck up! You’re bleeding everywhere.. Fuck, Angel is hit! I repeat, Angel is hit!” The griffin that was standing above me held an assault rifle with his talons, sending fire out into the ambush we found ourselves in. He had us behind a destroyed train car with a large crate of ammo behind us, something that we would certain need. My vision faded out again everything seeming to be so distant from reality, like I was almost dreaming out of my own body.

Rose dove from the closest car to the right of us, putting all of her attention right onto me. I heard Candy’s machine guns spitting fire down at the treeline that was in front of us, our backs right up against the rock wall that we were passing just a moment ago. Jacks had his grenade launcher thumping as soon as he could toss another shell in, and Shadow was taking single shots, each finding its mark. I could see the light traces of blood on all of them, Candy having her hind leg wrapped up with white bandage, Vogel had his wings wrapped in some areas as well.

The edges of my vision became blurry, a blue tone surrounding everything around me, the feeling of pressure was slamming down on my chest. I tried to move my hooves and wings, but Rose held me down as her horn started glowing, bandages floating up with other spells being shot out of her horn. I just gave her a weak smile, laying my head back while breathing shallowly.

“Don’t you dare lay your head down on me, Angel! Keep your head up and keep your eyes open, do you understand?” Rose was nearly screaming at me, a red substance covering her hooves while she pressed down on my shoulders to keep me still. My head lifted up slowly, but the strain on my muscles was almost too much to even do that.

“Rose..Hehe. You know you look like uh.. Like an angel..” My speech was becoming slurred, the words bleeding into one another as the sounds of gunfire and explosions were echoing off of every surface around me, making the entire environment shake with anxiety. I could hear Shadow yelling into the radio, he was clearly pissed at whoever was on the other end. My hearing started to fade as Rose was holding four things up in the air at once, almost as if she was conducting field surgery on me. Was it really that bad?

My head slowly lifted up once more, just long enough for my eyes to focus on the length of steel protruding from my chest. So that’s what was making that sensation of pressure, a massive steel spike had ran me through. I couldn’t even tell what it was after a moment, everything starting to double and even triple, bubbles polluting my vision while I could hear my guitar putting out the sweet music it was so capable of.

“Rosie.. Oh Rosie you’re so silly..” That’s when the shouting really started. It felt like all five voices of my squad members were becoming more and more frantic, even if they were holding their own. Our line and cover was strong, all the striped devils had was a treeline and a couple of rocks. They couldn’t advance a single meter against us without being shredded by the symphony of gunfire that echoed all around me, even when the sounds were becoming dull and slow.

The clouds started to roll in from above at what I could tell was almost an instant, sending down rain just as soon as I watched them come flooding in. It started with a few drops, then turned to a heavy downpour. The bandages were becoming soaked with water and blood, leaving an even bigger puddle of liquids around me. Thunder was followed by cheers, but I didn’t see any flashes of lights. All I could see were layers of colors and duplicates surrounding me in my entirely. This wasn’t thunder, it was an explosive barrage.

Vogel stood guard with Shadow, Jacks and Candy came galloping over to assist Rose in the procedure. My eyes were becoming heavier and heavier, until everything faded into nothingness. The screams in my ears were fading out and echoing, reverberating through my senses until it all stopped completely. Goodbye, world. Rose. Jacks. Shadow. Vogel. Candy. Mother and Father. I’ll see you all again soon.

The sound of silence was soon replaced with shouting once more, and the sound of metallic voices being forced through filters. My wings twitched, my hooves trying so desperately to just move a little. Then, my front hoof started to feel around me, looking for any clue of what had happened. My eyes were far too heavy for me to open up, but I could slowly move my head around. I knew I was still laying on.. Something. A warm embrace surrounded my body, something that I needed, and dearly.

A liquid forced its way through my blood vessels, feeling almost as though I was being dropped into water, but from the inside out.

“A..Angel? Angel please wake up..!” Rose’s voice was still just as sweet as I remembered, but when I opened my eyes, I wasn’t greeted by the white unicorn. Instead I saw a ghostly figure standing above me, this thing had just mimicked Rose’s voice. I felt so pissed, yet not an emotion went from thought to action. Instead, I stood on my hooves. The figure was standing right beside me, but then turned me to face downward. There I was laying on the meadow, Shadow and Vogel still firing down at the treeline, but then ceased as pegasi in black, almost insect-like armor flew above head and started to fill the forest up with a laser light show.

Candy was holding Rose, slowly stroking her back as Rose sobbed into her. Jacks stood with a radio, reporting in a casualty. In the middle of this all, my uniform, cloak, mane and coat were all stained with a shade of crimson. There I was, dead. This figure beside me had finally started to become more visible as I felt my grasp falling on reality, and life. I stopped staring at the metal chunk through my chest and looked over to the figure, now I knew who it was.

She was beautiful, more than I could’ve ever hoped for. Her coat was a beautiful midnight blue, her eyes just as stunning but in a lighter shade. Her wings were extended, and her horn was glowing like a lantern. The cosmic mane freely flowed through this empty space, almost as if it was just natural for it to keep moving. Her voice was just as appealing as her body was, filling my ears with a sweet melody of a tone.

“Hello, Angel. I’m the princess that you loved so dearly when you were young. What happened to all of that? You gave me the occasional ‘Thank you’ for the night, but you seemed so distant. Even my sister feels as though your love for us has come to a halt.”

“Princess.. Luna? Is that actually you? O-oh I’m.. I’m dead. Aren’t I? What will Rose do, how is my squad going to handle this, what about Germaney..”

“Angel. Calm yourself. I have traveled a great way and have taken much of my energy and time just to come to you. Your armored pegasi friends are fighting off the zebras that put you in this very position. Your squad, as you can tell, are trying to hold themselves together. I want to make this clear to you, Angel. I’m doing this because I know what your future holds, and how you will reach it. For now, enjoy your wife, and enjoy everything you are so blessed to have.” A sweet tone that soon turned to an echo in my ears, an echo that was replaced with radio chatter, the sound of laser weaponry being fired, and quiet humming that was to relax Rose.

My eyes slowly opened up, only making it about halfway to their full view before I couldn’t lift my lids anymore. I could hear Jacks, Shadow, and Vogel say the exact same thing at the exact same time. “Her eyes! They’re open!”

The weeping Rose focused her flooded eyes to me, her horn glowing once more as bandages floated through the air, and then so did I. Candy gave out a gasp as she watched me lift up and off of the steel with the help of Rose. By no law of any type of life should I be alive right now, the blood that had pooled and matted to my fur was far more than anypony could be without. Three of the armored pegasi came back to the pile of train cars, and all were shocked to see my eyes open, and responsive. Two had lifted me up, one lifting Rose off of the ground as we flew through the air, right to the place these pegasi had come from.

The only place that had the magic and technology to save me was in Canterlot, something that would take hours to fly to. These pegasi were flying mach five, or at least that’s what it felt like. Everything was still so dull in sensation and sound, even my sight was still floating around within my own head. Everything was dark again within an instant, all of my sensations ceasing once more.

I could see a large, white alicorn now. She was adorned with gold regalia, her soft eyes trained right on me with her mane flowing in the wind, but instead of being a cosmos, she had a mix of sky blue and pink, some even looking to be purple. Her voice was deeper than her sister’s, and it even sounded wiser in more than one way. Every word of hers echoed within my mind, now it was time for Celestia to speak to me.

“Angel. My sister was just with you, and I believe you had a conversation. You’re on the way to us right now, and you’d better be prepared to open your eyes and feel something alien within you. Our options are very limited when it comes to you, and we’re using every resource we have to ensure your survival. If you die, your entire squad effectively becomes useless. Rose would be in mourning, Jacks would be out of a sniper, Shadow wouldn’t have any pony to work with. I imagine you can see my problem.”

I simply nodded my head, looking around at the pure black that surrounded us. “Yes Princess, I see your problem. We are one of your most elite strike teams, and I don’t believe we have been outdone yet. Will.. Will Rose be okay? I know she’s probably crying out every last bit of energy she has in her body but.. Will she be okay?”

The response I got wasn’t at all what I was expecting, if anything it felt more grim that I would’ve expected. “Angel, I cannot answer that for you. Rose is one of the best combat medics we currently have, she even beats out Fluttershy in medical ability. We assigned her to your team for good reason, and once we saw your love blossom we knew that it was the right choice. Things won’t be what you want them to be forever, Angel. For now, however, you have an appointment with a very loveable pony.”

Princess Celestia and the black around her turned to white walls with blue accent painting, bright lights above me and the steady beep of a monitor. There they were, four of my friends standing around the bed I was laying in, the fifth was right next to me, her arms wrapped tightly around me. They all grinned and waved as my eyes trained to them, Rose planting a kiss on my muzzle.

“Agh.. my head hurts. So uh..how long have I been out?” My question was rather dumb, they were probably expecting something more like ‘Oh I’m alive!’ or something like ‘Well now I’m stuck here.’ They all looked to the mare sharing my small hospital bed, and she had answered my question.

“Well dear, it’s been about a week since we brought you in here. I didn’t leave your side, and the others were in here every day to see how you were doing. They all got here as fast as they could when they heard that the Princesses had come and cast some kind of spell on you after the unicorns had surrounded you in a ball of light..”

I wrapped my forehooves around Rose, my wings following just the same. The rest of the squad had waved goodbye, leaving behind things for me. Candy left a bag of mints, Vogel, a bottle of apple whiskey. Jacks leaned my rifle against the wall, and Shadow left a new marksmare’s uniform for me.

“So the Princesses and some unicorns had come in and..and they healed me? Just like that?” Rose nodded, and then cut in with a sentence.

“Well, they did.. But you needed something to replace your heart. They said it looked like a popped balloon when they got a look at it. Now you have something designed by Twilight Sparkle herself, it’s some kind of heart that recharges itself with each beat, so it basically never runs out of charge. Just don’t over do it for a while, overload the heart and the magic matrix inside will explode.”

“I’m not going to be able to go anywhere for awhile, Rose. My legs are kinda numb and I doubt I could even stand on them if I had to. But, if we’re having an extended vacation in Canterlot, I wouldn’t mind a more private room like, say, in a hotel, and a few of my things as well, but..you know.” I looked around at the typical hospital setting, then saw an amulet hanging from the left side of the bed. A circle, half the sun, the other the moon. They really did save me, and just for some tactical advantage? I guess we really were the best that never existed.

Our new extended stay room was much more comfortable, the walls were a rich blue, the chairs and sofa were a dark purple in their upholstery. The windows gazed outward from the mountain range, far out onto everything Equestria had to offer. Ranging forests and hills were as far as anypony could naturally see, making for something I’d actually love to have done up in a painting.

We spent plenty of time on the sofa, laying back in our pajamas while watching films, the popcorn and Sparkle~Colas seeming to be on a never-ending supply. Rose let her head lay on my shoulder, and I gladly wrapped a wing around her. Our favorite pastime was now what we’d be doing for the next week until they’ve examined the functions of the heart, and determine if I’m actually cleared to go home, or better, back into the battle.

“Rose, in the time that I was out, what happened? As far as the war goes anyway, I’m curious to know how things are looking out there.”

“Well. they’ve sent Big Macintosh out to fight. I don’t take that as a good sign, same with the Ministry heads. They’ve been all over the front lines.”

My heart sank as she said such things, I never thought that failing to destroy their cache would lead to such dire things so quickly. Now I was set on getting out of here and back into the fight, but doing something far more effective than just taking out a few weapons. I wanted to destroy their supply lines, just like they did with ours.

“Rose, I want to destroy the supply lines the zebras use.” She gave me a rather surprised look, then just shook her head.

“Look, Angel, I know you want to get back into everything.. But you need to think about yourself a bit here too. As much as I’d love to get right back everything with you, I want to be sure you’re in fighting shape. I’m your wife, you’re my wife, and as that I’m going to make sure I can do everything I can.

Sweet, just as always. I felt like I was home whenever she would wrap herself around me, like I could just fall asleep in her arms at any time. I did fall asleep in her arms a few times while going through the Princess’ film collections, of course some of the films we were given weren’t exactly suited for this kind of environment, and it only raised questions. Well, the Princesses have needs too!

The Canterlot Gardens were just as beautiful as Mother always told me they were, a never-ending maze of any kind of plant life you would find in all of Equestria and onward, Everything was so vibrant, lively greens with lush tones made the viewing experience so much better. This was also the best place for anypony to have a marriage, as demonstrated with Shining Armor and Cadence. I wish I could have a dress just like hers, but I doubt I could pull it off. Her coat and mane are vibrant and bright, mine are just simple and dull. I guess instead of looks, I was given a few other great things.

We went back to our room after enjoying a day of walking in the gardens. A lab coat garbed unicorn came in, his dark brown coat showing brightly from under the white lab coat. He had a black mane that fell to one side, just out of the way of his spectacles. He left behind a machine, it looked like one of those machines you’d go and mess around with at a bar. Vit-O-Matic Vigor Tester Machine. Okay, this I had to try. The unicorn simply bowed and walked out, leaving it with us. I stood up with Rose right beside me, my hoof wrapping around the middle lever of the wooden machine, lights surrounding the glass display shining to the touch.

I watched as the display started showing rollers with different markings on them, starting with Strength, then, Perception, all the way down to Luck. Seven attributes were starting to be calculated just by touch. Then, it showed me the results with rather goofy images to show off each attribute. Strength - 3, Perception - 13, - Endurance - 2, Charisma - 1, Intelligence - 6, Agility - 13, Luck - 0. The machine burst into flames once it showed the 0 reading on luck, something I don’t think it was meant to do.

Rose and I were throwing Sparkle~Colas all over the machine, causing it to spark up and finally just end with a low smoke that filled the room. We opened up the windows, then I used my wings to push the smoke out of the window. “Sweet Luna I don’t think that was supposed to happen.. Though.. Of all of the places I could’ve landed after the wreck, that’d make sense.” We had a good laugh about that one.

The unicorn came back and looked at the machine, and simply hovered a clipboard and pencil to write his findings. Oh okay, this was a study to see how the heart would affect me and if things would be normal. He traded out the ruined machine for a different type of skill calculator, but it was on a small screen with a box around it. Rose and I both looked at it, scratching our heads at first until green text flooded the screen, finally ending up with a sheet that looked like abilities.

It started to select and point out different abilities that were a perfect reflection of me, skills with rifles, sniping abilities, sneak, even my ability to seduce mares, even when my charismatic readings were a flop. Light Step, Penetrator, Miss Sandpony. I set the machine down, hoping that the readings would stop. I didn’t like the idea of somepony knowing every single thing about me, especially when we were never meant to exist.

Rose had her soft coat laid on top of mine, something that was rather common between us. She was exhausted from the previous sleepless nights, her eyes didn’t even close once when I was sleeping. She cared so much about my well being she was willing to sacrifice her own, something that so few ponies would be willing to do. There were so few ways I could actually express my love to her in the same amounts she could just easily show me with a single action. I held onto the sun and moon amulet, whispering a prayer to the Princesses.

“Celestia and Luna.. Rose shows me how much she loves me with so little effort, and.. I was wondering if you could help. I know that it was a massive ordeal for you two to save my life like you did, and you both told me to enjoy everything so.. Here it is. I want to be able to show her that I love her, and I want to be able to show it just like she does.”

Her golden mane lifted up, showing me her emerald eyes. “You’d go as far as to pray to the Princesses for me, Angel?” She wasn’t meant to hear that, but I guess I couldn’t keep it from her forever.

“Yes Rose, I did pray to them. I just.. You show me so much love every time, everywhere. I don’t know how to even begin to show my love for you, and you’re my wife. I feel ashamed almost.”

She slowly rubbed my chest with her hoof, going over the mild scar hidden under the fur. My front hooves wrapped around her back, my wings pulling up her hind hooves closer to her flank while I held her lower body with them. Her eyes shut, all of her relaxing body while I held her close to me.

“This is how you show me your love, sweet Angel. These small things are what I enjoy, and you do them all of the time, not even realizing it sometimes. We both do it and we both think the same thing, love.”

I smiled and laid my head back, closing my eyes. I didn’t think it was already so late in the day, night even, but our pure level of exhaustion was enough to prove it was. I wish we had a clock in the room. We just slept on the sofa, the television still playing through the movies that were given to us. It was just like home again.

Some of the unicorns wearing their lab coats had checked in on me during the night, not daring to disturb us as we slept soundly on the soft sofa. They jotted down notes and send them via magic straight to Splendid Valley, right to Twilight Sparkle’s primary lab. The glowing balls of light went back and forth from the magic schools of Canterlot to the primary lab out in the distance, letters sent between scientist ponies relating to my new heart. I don’t like the idea of ponies watching me while I sleep, but I had such a soft, sweet smelling mare laying on me.. I would be dreaming if my eyes opened up either way.

I’ve been here about four days now, and I’m starting to get anxious when it comes to my heart. I know that Twilight has been working on something rather important, but she could at least spare a moment to make the flight to Canterlot for a few hours. The unicorns didn’t give me anything in the answer department, either they weren’t authorized or these were the brand new students. I was hoping that I could get some information, and soon. I wanted to go back home, enjoy some time with my wife, then get back into the field.

Rose and I were both laying in the rather large bath together, the whole thing seeming as though it was meant for a rather large alicorn, or perhaps even a small swimming pool for the basic pony. Either way, we had it full of hot water and bubbles as we just floated around in the water. We would occasionally bump into each other and smile, other times we would not pay much attention and end up bumping into each other in ways that were inappropriate, especially with the occasional monitoring from some of the scientists.

As we got out of the water and started to make use of the clean towels left in the rather lavish room, we finally got word on my condition. A rather thin mare came in wearing a lab coat four sizes too big, dragging the legs around behind her as her orange coat was only visible on her hind legs and head. She seemed nervous, almost like she was put up to this by other ponies who didn’t wish to do it themselves. Oh well, at least she was adorable!

“Miss Angel and Rose, by the looks of everything here, you’re good to go back home and do whatever you wish. I do suggest avoiding sharp objects for a while though, and find a different way to get where you need to go. I can imagine wanting to never step hoof on another train again. We’ll have notes from Twilight delivered to you before you go.” Then she turned and made her way out, showing the lime green mane and tail she had to us. She reminded me of an orange tree.

True to her word, we were given a rather long list of notes and different ways to monitor how it was holding up back at home. “Thirteen pages.. I’ll read this on the train ride back.” Rose gave me an interested gaze, then shrugged it off. “If you want to take the train, then alright. I’ll have somepony here invite the rest of our unit so we can enjoy the ride!” Always thinking two steps ahead. Sometimes I wished I could just be her.

Vogel didn’t make it easy to read through everything, his constant pouring of spirits kept me right on the verge of being too buzzed to actually pay attention to something, but he gladly kept everything coming. Candy curiously watched Rose and I as we read through the sheets together, conversing among ourselves as to how we could monitor certain things or how to avoid straining it as it was still setting. Jacks was smoking as usual, clumsily trying to shuffle his way through a deck of cards, just until Shadow used his spells to start moving it, cleanly shuffling through everything. Of course, that would be one hell of a way to rig a game, so none of us bothered with cards that day.

The train went through the mountains, giving us all stunning views of the green fields and meadows down below, even some of the forest canopies if we raised high enough to see around the rocky side of the black mountains. Smoke plumed up behind us, so trying to look behind us was a waste of time. Of course, Shadow, being the curious stallion he is, tried to get a view by sticking his head out of the window. All he got as suction that pulled the black smoke right into his face.

“Wow Shadow, you’re looking nice. Though, I think you have a small spot of something.. Oh I dunno.. All over your face?” My heart was made of metals and alloys, and yet I was still making jokes. It went over rather well, except with Shadow who was the flank of the joke. Maybe next time he won’t do something so foalish, even if his training as a long-range expert trained his eyes to lock to anything unusual. It was an amazing skill to have, especially when zebras put up a minefield in front of their valuables we needed to destroy. Maybe the savages did have brains.

The ride was rather long from Canterlot, taking us nearly two full days at the highest speed this beast could go. That left me to wonder if the magic of the Princesses had helped the pegasi fly me there even faster, considering how far we actually were from the castles. None of us dared to bring it up, two full days and not a peep about how we went flying off of a bridge and into a valley where my heart got popped like a balloon. I wasn’t sure if they were afraid to say anything, or if they just didn’t know how to start a conversation about it.

The day had soon become night, the car was silent. I stayed awake for fear of nightmares, it was my turn to watch Rose as she rested to be sure I could comfort her if need be. Jacks was passed out, Candy was rolling around mints on the table while Shadow tried to catch them in his muzzle whenever they’d roll to his side of things. Vogel looked over at me, and spoke in hushed tones.

“So Angel.. What exactly did those notes say? You can still come out and party with us in the field, right?” I couldn’t help but smile, here was a griffin that knew me well and he was asking if I would be back in the field. Come on.

“Well yeah I’m going back to the field, As far as notes go, there are a few things I do need to watch for. High doses of venom, overexposure to toxic materials could put me in a state of comatose for.. Well the notes say ‘forever’ so there’s that. I guess this also has some kind of cell regeneration device in it to make sure my body accepts it. It’s just easier to put another piece of arcane technology in me than put me on medications that may or may not work, you know? Oh, and did you grab my guitar?” I knew Vogel had a memory stronger than any living thing I knew, save the Elder tree back home. Father swore that thing could read ponies and display everything it saw about them through visions in the sap. How ridiculous.

Sure enough, up in the top luggage compartments was not only my operating gear, but my stringed instrument. I had to move closer to the edge of the bench seating, not wanting to interrupt the obvious flirting going on between Candy and Shadow, even if it was just mint-rolling. My feathers started to work their magic on the strings once more, playing soft melodic chord after chord to begin, then I found myself hitting single strings at a time while playing through chords. One pony band right here.

Jacks opened his eyes and started watching as I played on, Vogel just gazed out the window to the soft rhythm. Rose awoke and gave a smile, listening closely while Candy and Shadow had given some attention to the background noise, their fun little game continuing on while we went deeper in the mountains, and farther from Canterlot. Our windows showed passing rock structures and flowing rivers, the soft music pairing itself with the serene landscape we were passing through.

I kept playing and playing, this being the next best thing to actually being in the field, sleeping up in trees of in tents that were built to be buried, but instead we were all sitting around a table, listening to soft music and the occasional hum that came from one of the members in the room. It felt like another hour before I could actually get some sleep, the moon at its highest point in the sky showing it was around one in the morning. I sat my guitar on the table and looked around at the sleeping soldiers, then dimmed the lanterns before closing my own eyes.

There we were, laying in the middle of the valley. Smoking scraps of metal that were once train cars lined the rocky walls around us. Planks and steel railing from the track was falling around on the scene. I could hear every single bullet flying and whizzing over the train car Vogel had taken to using as cover. There was Rose, running to my rescue as I lay dying, blood running from the edge of my muzzle. As she crossed the gap between cars, she had stopped. It was thought a black hole had opened near me, for everything around me was being pulled into a void, piece by piece the world fell apart into nothingness, waste and decay. The very green valley I was laying in turned brown, dead and desolate. Every single car was rusted out into nothingness, and the smell.. All of my friends were now just piles of bones where they once stood, where they once defended me as I was breathing my last breaths.

Up I shot, getting up and trying to gallop in a single, swift motion. Instead of actually escaping the nightmare, I just hit my head against the cabin door and fell over. Not only did I just see something that horrified me, but now I looked like an idiot in front of my friends. If that wasn’t enough either, my head was hurting. What a day.

“Angel? Hey hey are you okay darling?” Rose was already right next to me, helping me stand and take my seat once more. Now I was feeling the awkward stares, not a single word was given to me, so I had just figured they wanted me to explain. “Sorry guys. Nightmare.” Nods were given, and the trip went right back to how we were the day before.

Rose held me tightly in her embrace, stroking my mane while I shut my eyes, feeling comfortable enough in her grasp to get some real rest, and not have it be interrupted. Every single rattle in the cars, shot me up from my rest, only for Rose to keep me from running and hitting my head again like an idiot. Maybe I was terrified of trains, but they were the best way to get around. The military used them for mass transports, even the royal families would make use of them for morale shows. The Ministry of Morale planned those out, though I doubted that they would dare take them after the attacks on our rails.

When the train engine finally stopped, it felt like I was the first out and onto the station platform with my belongings. Rose quickly followed behind me, her golden mane flowing through the air as she rushed to me. “Angel? Angel what’s wrong?”

“It’s just.. I know we need to take the trains for transportation, but that wreck.. It rattled me a bit more than I think I realized.” Rose couldn’t help but give me a reassuring gaze, her fore hooves wrapping around me. The other four members of our team also got off of the train with their belongings.

Vogel spoke up as they lifted up their bulky weapon crates, checking each of their pouches to make sure each were secure. “Hope you don’t mind but we’re staying here with you two for a while. We all have rooms booked up in the inn here, what was it? Elder’s Root or something like that? Anyway, we’ve got word that our operation is still on, but it got pushed back a few days. Tomorrow night we get back on the train, so enjoy yourselves.”

I felt like a little filly in a chocolate factory, they were going to let me go out into the field again! As long as I didn’t expose myself to toxic materials, or get struck by lighting, or… I guess I should’ve read through those notes better. That didn’t matter though as Rose simply levitated all of the heavy gear, then lifted me up in the mix of everything. The squad was laughing as they made their way to the inn, Rose giving me a little spin in the air.

“Hope you don’t mind me floating you around, Angel.~” My face turned red while I swam through the air, quietly giggling while she displayed her powerful magic. Her voice was especially soft this time, almost a bit feisty while she guided me back home, setting me on my hooves before I walked in, and fell over on the sofa. The large weapon crates, then the pouches and packs that held her medical kits, and my recon gear sat near the front door now.

Her aura stopped cloaking the items, and onto the sofa she fell next to me. My wings wrapped her up, holding her tightly while she cast a small zap at the television, flicking it on, and then to one of the many films we owned. There wasn’t popcorn and Sparkle~Colas, not even our fuzzy sleepwear, but neither of us actually cared. We were home, I was alive, and we could go back to stopping the striped devils from slaughtering our own. That was some of the best news I had gotten for a while.

The hiking had started to become taxing on all of us, no flight was allowed to risk of being spotted, and the mountainous terrain was killing my hooves. I had gone on long hikes back home, but going for six days straight, only stopping to sleep for the night was a little ridiculous. Our camps were small, and usually always behind any pile of rocks we could find. The tents we used acted more like cocoons, but were easy to roll into a small pack and were just as easy to throw up. I thought they looked like a rather elongated string bean, but the others just called them cocoons.

Our food was simply compressed bars of whatever was left over from the larger mess halls filled with whatever vitamins that could be compressed in as powder. The flavor was hit or miss, either I would enjoy my quick, five minute walking meal or it would take every bit of reason in myself to eat it. I wish they were just unflavored and we had pouches of flavoring or something to make the grosser ones edible. Three bars a day is all we had, but I could hardly even eat through two of them. Not only were they extremely filling, but they would have far more calories my body could even hold. Small pony pride.

Water was held in small pouches, it was far easier to fit into something more compact than you could with a basic canteen. Even the smallest space you could free up would make all of the difference between an extra day of water, or a few more magazines for your weapons. I personally put a pack of smokes in there, Jacks could be a real dick when he didn’t have something to puff on.

Over the rolling hills and rocky mountains that put us closer to the valleys and ridges where most of the battles were taking place. I didn’t understand why they couldn’t have just tossed us in the actual battles and have us slip away behind their lines. I guess taking the week-long flank route was better.. Or something. We endured forests, steep inclines and declines, and then roaring rivers. Nothing slowed us down, but I could hear the groaning all around me from cramping hooves.

A week had gone by since we left the drop off point, a week of rations and water gone into our systems as we crawled through the hills. Jacks took a look at his map, then lifted a hoof. He began to throw out signals simply by moving it in the air. We knew exactly what to do. Vogel moved forward with Candy, the mare staying beside Jacks as Vogel peek his head over the soft green hill. Rose stood behind them a few meters, then it was to Shadow and I. I went upward on the side of the rocky mountain face, and he went downward to a treeline. I could see specks of white fur climbing up the tree before his cloak concealed him.

We were all in position now, our target a few hundred meters ahead of us. The hoof cramps had finally paid off. I laid in a small shrub on the side of the mountain, mounds of dirt and mud surrounding me while the shadows cast from the pines sent shadows dancing all around me. I couldn’t have asked for better concealment while I started to screw the suppressor to the end of my rifle, then lift the protective caps off of the scope lenses. There it was, a mess of tents and stripes.

The camp looked as though it was shaped in a diamond, the forward-most point filled with weaponry and zebras galloping their way up the bends and slopes, up to our trenches dug into the ridge. Shattered Hoof Ridge, one the meat grinders this war had given to us, slopes of mud and shards of steel encased the incline, making for a sick and twisted work of art. My scope was training back on the rows of tents, identifying targets.

Vogel came on over the radio, spitting out locations and landmarks at all once. I had to tell him to slow down so I could understand what the fuck he was trying to tell me, I couldn’t understand fast griffin speak. He finally slowed himself and went back to his normal pace, around us anyway. “Officer’s tent to the rear, medical just in front of it. Barracks surrounding the parameter, weapons storage and forward moving stripes. Barbed wire surrounding it, looks like they took it from us. I’m radioing in to the ponies up top, I’ll give them the coordinates.”

I went from gazing down my scope to pulling a small device from my pack, infrared binoculars that would allow me to view heat signatures and any shimmer of anything important to the intelligence. Shadow came on over the waves now, speaking in a hushed tone.

“Officer’s tent is packed. I think they’re planning something. Possibly transport of weapons. What have you got?”

“I see a full medical tent, many of the barracks are empty. They must be putting pressure on our lines up the hill. Weapons crates are near empty, except.. That looks like a sphere in that rear crate. We need to get in there.” Jacks responded to our gathered intel, and started spitting out orders.

“Shadow, Angel, I want complete coverage. You see something move when we get into position, you put it in the ground. Vogel, we need smoke coverage. Candy, keep your machine guns ready to bark. Rose, keep a little bit of distance and stay in cover. We’ll call if we get hit, if that doesn’t happen, just fire at them. You’re a decent shot with a submachine gun. Let’s roll.”

My eye focused down the scope lense once more, watching as Vogel tossed out two canisters that spit out gray smoke. I noticed a couple of stripes looking over at our location, then calling for more to come and see. Four of the demons were now watching, only to have two more canisters pop right in front of them, spitting out more of the smoke. I flicked my scope to infrared, watching the glowing masses start to run to the large tent. Perfect, now I could take a shot at their officer.

Four glowing masses were advancing on the camp, cutting through the lines of wire with anything they had, until rolling behind some of the tents that were tossed up. We were about to hit them at their weakest, and it wasn’t going to be a gentle slap. Vogel held up his shotgun before quickly peeking around a corner, and filling a head up with hot lead shot. Now they knew we were here, and things were about to get fun. The rattling of Candy’s battle saddle set the beat, constant pounding from the shotguns of Vogel and Jacks were furthering the beat. Rose began firing as well, a constant stream of gunfire was now filling the camp, flooding it with blood and brass.

Shadow and I started to take shots, filling the air with rest mist coming from stripes that were posing danger to our squad. We worked well together, taking synchronized shots and hitting vital targets before anypony else could even see them. The spraying blood covered the tents, the red-stained cloth was visible through holes in the striped demons. We were mopping the floor with them, dropping zebra after zebra with unspoken coordination.

I decided to get on my radio while my wing operated my weapon, my aim now focused on the officer’s tent, and the red masses that fell to the ground as I shot through the cloth. “Hey Rose, how’s the weather down there?”

She laughed, her gun chatter making her pause her speech. “Oh you know, it’s a little warm. We’ve got some cloud coverage and oh, there’s the rain!” We had our moments of saying that of which sounded a little insane, but we were both perfectly sane. At least when we had our sleep and weren’t left too long without being close with one another. After filling the tent with holes, I left my rifle unloaded while switching it back to standard vision. I couldn’t help but watch a certain unicorn’s rear as she unloaded magazine after magazine into the zebras. Unf.

Shadow and I met up with the rest of them in the camp, digging through the crates of weapons and supplies they had at the front of their camp. Candy stood guard for us, firing onto any zebra that tried to come back into their camp. This setup could hold what seemed to be hundreds, and we only dropped around fifty of them. We pulled carbines and rifles out of the cases, setting their weapons in a pile with their explosives underneath. Then, Jacks gave us a call.

The four of us went up to him, Candy staying there to keep any demons from slipping back in while we were extremely exposed now. He pulled open a large, black crate, pointing at the device inside.

“What the hell is that thing? It’s a..” I looked for any kind of marking, finally gazing upon a little marking inside of the box. “Can you translate these scribbles? I can’t read that shit.”

Shadow spoke up, trailing his hoof behind what he had just read. “Bale.. Balefire. Balefire, what the fuck is that?”

Jacks was on the radio in an instant, screaming at the pony on the other side. “Hey command, you know those fucking balefire bombs that are infused with dark magic, you know, the things that could destroy cities? These fucking stripes have one of them right here! I want fucking answers and now!” Whoever was on the other side was certainly terrified.

I turned my gaze back to the hill, and the pony that came running up to us started to yell. “Let’s fucking go we got stripes coming in mass!” Well now we had to get out of here. Jacks started to snap photos of the bomb before closing it back up, putting the small device back into his uniform pocket before we galloped and flew out of there, Vogel tossing a grenade into the weapon pile. Up it went, sparks of green in the fireball blew up into the air, shards of steel raining down on their camp below.

My wings started to ache, almost dropping me to the ground in sharp pain. I kept flying, but lost altitude quickly, finding myself galloping beside all but Vogel, who was flying backwards to shoot down into the groups of zebras following us. Rose gasped while she heard my grunting, then saw my wings. I felt her warming aura surrounding them, wrapping bandages around my feathers.

“Rose? What you doing we need to be getting out of here!” She just gave me a concerned stare, and I knew something was actually wrong. We didn’t stop galloping until we had made almost an entire day’s progress that we made by simple walking the day before, landing ourselves right down in the middle of meadow surrounded by pines and hills.

The panting didn’t stop for hours it seemed, water being guzzled down rapidly while we all caught our breath. Rose was carefully inspecting my wings, or at least what was left of them. “Angel.. We need to get you out of here and in a larger hospital, I can’t fix this out here.”

I didn’t dare ask what they looked like, all I knew was that I didn’t stay in the air long after feeling a burning sensation. Candy stood behind me and then spoke up, explaining what Rose wouldn’t say. “Look, more than half of the feathers on both of your wings are gone. I can see your bone through them, and it looks like a pretty bad burn wound.”

I just lowered my head, either too tired to actually comprehend the situation, or just too tired to find myself caring. Jacks was on the radio again, not reporting my death this time, but injury. “They’re going to drop us a package of healing bandages. We’ll have a healing potion and some burn cream plus basic supplies. Sorry Angel, it won’t fix your wings but it will keep them from getting infected.” I could tell Jacks cared, but that was probably because he had a smoke in his maw.

We came out of the cocoon tents, gazing up at the sun, and the black spots that flew in front of it. Down came brown packages that had parachutes, the cloth only popping open when they neared the ground. Pony after pony after griffin came out of their sleeping quarters, reaching up to grab the perfectly dropped packages.

We all had more food and water rations, plus a couple of items we would each enjoy. Candy got candy (how fitting), Jacks got his pack of smokes, Vogel had another bottle of whiskey, Shadow got a Wingboner Magazine which got him a couple of awkward stares, wondering why he would be given that of all things. Rose and I both got packs of bandages and some healing potions, one of which she almost shoved down my throat, then changed out the field dressings on my wings. The pain went away rather quickly, but she gave me a dose of Med-X in my flank to be sure I was kept happy.

We began our trip back, hooves going right back to cramping and aching the moment we started the journey back. Candy ate her sugar, Vogel poured us all drinks, Jacks blew smoke into all of our faces like the dick he was, Shadow.. He didn’t say much. Rose kept close to me, letting me lean against her while we walked across the terrain, spending days and nights just like the time spent getting there.

They were all over at our home, pouring shots and dealing cards while we let our radio play in the background. Command send in updates over time, telling us about the Balefire that we came across.

Their words were something like, “The balefire something we’ve only recently gained intelligence on, it’s apparently an explosive that’s fused with zebra magic for maximum destruction. Our spies have--” His words were cut by the sounds of screams, and then a deafening explosion that shattered windows and crumbled buildings. “It’s been an honor serving with you all.” Then, the radio cut it to static.

The table was nearly flipped as we jumped out from our seats, grabbing everything we could to board up every window in the house. Vogel made his way up to the skylights, pounding the boards into the slots that the light radiated down from. Rose and I went to our room, sealing up the windows with anything and everything. We broke down our wardrobes just for enough material to shut everything up, our lamps and lanterns turning on. We gathered around together, laying flat on the flooring.

Whistling filled the air above, the missile strikes going onward to Manehattan and other larger locations. We felt almost as though we were safe, until a single missile hit the mountain range that shielded us from the prying eyes of our neighbors in Equestria. Screams and shattering glass echoed down the streets, our lamps cutting off to leave only the soft glow of lanterns in our home. The shock wave washed over my home, shattering the windows that the boards held in place. I looked up to the skylight above me, the board that used to be our coffee table fell down, and everything went black.

Hello readers, I'm making use of this space to write out some special thanks, that's all.

Repulsive Bushman: A great friend and editor. He's been with me with every step through this, from the very infancy of the story to the very last chapter. (Still working on chapters.)

StarStrike: Creator of Star.

White Rose/Shadow Blood: Creator of White Rose, and Shadow Blood. He often switches names and characters.

Matt: You know who you are my man, many thanks to you. My first reader from the Fo:E community.

Kkat: I mean, you created Fo:E as a whole. While I may not have read it all until recently, it has certainly inspired me to write, and use my creativity. <3