Third person:

Eighth and ninth platoon staged a final stand against the seemingly infinite swarm of zebras that now swarmed from the Everfree. “Hold this position. They’re not getting through us until they kill every last one of us and step over our dead corpses” yelled the lieutenant commanding the two platoons.

Automatic gunfire filled the air and several ponies were shot as the zebras continued forwards. Suddenly several F-18s flew by a subsonic speeds. They dropped napalm capsules that erupted and a blast of fiery napalm engulfed the zebras by the treelines. The ponies of eighth and ninth platoon looked up and watched the napalm bearers drop their payload on the zebras.

The zebras caught in the burning hot fires of the napalm screeched in agonizing pain as their bodies were charred black from the intense heat. The zebras who were caught in the inner blast that fried to a crisp instantly were the lucky ones, they died nearly instantly.

Others that were caught outside the inner blast burned slowly, their skin peeled, revealing fresh flesh that also burned. It was a hideous sight to watch and several newer ponies who were inexperienced to the horrors of war puked.

Clare grabbed Shining Armor and shook him violently. “CAPTAIN!” Clare yelled and finally he came to. “Sergeant Major… I… I don’t know what” Shining began but Clare cut him off. “Don’t worry about it, just don’t let it happen again” Clare told him then looked to Harry, the radio operator.

“Harry, you keep those flyboys coming and don’t let up” he told him then rushed over to where the wounded had been kept. So far there hadn’t been any conflicts by the wounded group and it had been silent for the most part.

Clare rushed up beside Moon Crater and Derpy, who at the moment where the only two active soldiers. “Everything okay?” he asked and Moon Crater nodded. “Well, if you don’t consider the fact that we’re heavily outnumbered and in bad shape” he joked. Clare gave him a pat on the back. “I like your sense of humor. You remind me of me when I was younger” Clare told the young stallion then got up to leave.

“Hey where are you going?” Derpy asked curiously. Clare turned to her and a sly smile tugged at the edge of his lips. “I’ll be back” he quoted then dashed off back to Shining Armor. Derpy looked over to Moon Crater who simply shrugged.

Evac Hueys were entering the area and Harry continued to call in napalm strikes. “Victor Romeo niner-two-six” Harry yelled and the jets dropped the napalm capsules dangerously close to platoons eight and nine.

“Shining, we gotta get the wounded ready for those evac choppers” Clare called out and Shining nodded as he and several others followed.

SGM. Clare, First platoon:

We grabbed several of the most seriously wounded ponies and walked them back out to the LZ. “Adjust elevation to Victor Romeo niner-two-five” Harry yelled and one of the jets bombarded the zebras near platoons eight and nine, another jet plane entered the valley. “They’re right on top of us, elevation Victor Romeo niner-two-four”.

The bombers bombarded the area and the napalm brutally burned even more zebras. The Hueys landed and we rushed the wounded out to the choppers and unloaded the supply crates. “Alright, were going to make one more run after this, so get all the wounded ready” the lead helicopter pilot called out and I nodded as we made our way back to cover.

“Victor Romeo niner-two-three” Harry called out and I watched in horror as a plane flew way to close for comfort. “HARRY, CALL THAT SON OF A BITCH OFF!” I yelled, “Abort, abort” Harry yelled into the radio but it was too late.

I watched in absolute horror as a large canister bomb of napalm slammed into the ground just in front of platoons eight and nine. The napalm erupted violently and time seemed to slow down. I could tell Harry was fear stricken because his face went pale as we watched both zebras and ponies become engulfed in the fiery inferno of napalm.

Several ponies further back in the trenches were sparred but the majority of ninth and eighth platoon were being burned alive. The incredible force of the napalm knocked a helicopter back and it spun out of control and crash landed, several ponies were flung out of the open doors of the helicopter as it crashed.

The fuselage was punctured from the crash and the helicopter exploded in a horrifying eruption killing everyone aboard. I rushed up to eighth and ninth platoon. Several of the ponies tried to rescue their burning friends but I couldn’t bring myself to tell them it was no use.

“Get these stallions and mares to the wounded group. The rest of you sit tight” I ordered then picked up two severely burned ponies who both groaned horrifyingly in pain. It made me sick to the stomach as my nostrils were filled with the gut wrenching smell of burning flesh.

As we rushed the burned bodies past Harry he began to break down. “Harry, now you listen to me, you’re keeping us alive. Now you forget about that one and you keep on the fire” Shining told the terrified young stallion.
I rushed the bodies to the wounded site and set down the two burnt bodies I was carrying. When Derpy and Moon Crater saw the bodies both their jaws dropped in shock. Derpy screamed from the horrid sight and Moon Crater puked from the gut wrenching stench of burnt flesh.

The other members of eighth and ninth platoon rushed back towards the frontlines to assist their friends once again but I stayed back and sat beside Derpy as she wept. Moon Crater crawled along the ground gagging, trying to hold back his nausea but failed to.

I held Derpy close to my chest so she couldn’t see the horrors of war. No-pony… no one should have to see this, maybe I deserved to. Maybe I deserved to have to see these sights for my sins I have committed, but regardless no one should have to go through this.

“Shh… I’m sorry kid… sorry you have to see this. I promise as soon as I can, I’ll get you two replacements so you don’t have to see this” I whispered to her and looked over to Moon Crater who was finally controlling his nausea. “Hey kid, can you still shoot a gun?” I asked and he nodded. “Okay, well for the moment I’m gonna have to leave you two here for just a while longer” I apologized then released Derpy and stood up.

“Just… try not to think about it, I know it’s hard but just try. And I promise I’ll get you two replacements soon” I promised then quickly raced off back to the captain.

“Alright. Now that we got them off our back, we gotta secure our lines for further assaults” Shining ordered.

“Sir, tenth platoon is experiencing sniper fire. They’re having heavy casualties” Harry reported. I was already up and gone before Shining could look to me. I slung my Thompson across my back and unslung my Model 70 .300 Winchester Magnum.

I quickly lept behind a fallen tree by tenth platoon. The heavy sound of automatic fire drowned out any chance I had of distinguishing where the sniper fire was coming from.

I lept over the log and raced up to where the platoon had taken cover. “Where’s your lieutenant?” I asked and a corporal looked to me fearfully. “He’s dead sir” he replied. I cursed to myself. “Who’s in charge here?” I asked and the corporal raised his hoof. “Alright listen keep your heads down” I ordered then shuffled down the log. “Where the hell are you going?” he asked and I looked back to him and brandished my Model 70. “Best way to kill a sniper is with another sniper” I said. “Yeah but that goes both ways” he replied and I sighed. “Then let’s hope that my training was better” I said as I lept to my feet and raced into the heavy jungle brush.

It was incredible, just a few feet behind me was an open field that was filled with death and destruction yet I was inside a seemingly peaceful jungle environment. As I continued deeper into the jungle the sounds of the fighting seemed to dissipate. I was breathing heavily. This wasn’t really my preference of fighting but I was still experienced at it.

I wondered if The Apache was watching me at this very moment, then I wondered if she was even here at all. For all I knew she could be on the other side of the battlefield. The only thing I knew for sure was that she was here. She wouldn’t give up her chance to kill some ponies. I knew that’s what I’d be like if I was here. That and the fact that I’d want another shot at killing me, the soldier who had a half million dollar bounty on his head.

I continued to walk through the forest then stopped as I heard something. I stopped and listened, the gunshots seemed distant now and I could barely hear it. The sound that had caught my attention turned out to be just a random bird. I fucking hate birds now.

I sighed deeply to myself as I continued on. I felt the hairs on my neck prickle up and my senses flared. I quickly hid behind a tree and slid down to the ground then peeked out the side of the tree.

The jungle was thick and only now was I realizing how blisteringly hot it was. I wiped some sweat from my head and ducked back behind the tree. My senses were getting to me and my imagination was running wild.

KA-BANG

The bullet chipped away at the tree’s side and blew a fine chunk of wood of the side. ‘Guess not’ I thought as I quickly lay in the deep grass and very slowly crawled through the grass. It was easily waist height so the moving grass would only reveal my general location.

I crawled further away from where the rifle shot had come from. After a half an hour of crawling I figured I was safe enough and pressed my body up against another tree. I peeked out the side of the tree and looked for a sort of tell-tale of The Apache but could find none.

I sighed as I turned back and hid behind the tree but let out a sudden gasp as I was greeted by the sight of a white skull.

Author's Notes:

When I read this I was like (Gasp) "A white skull, oh my god how terrifying" then I thought about it and was like. Oh yeah, That's The Apache's lucky charm... I gotta pay more attention to my own story