We rode along on our horses, Bear was keeping pace with us. We were part of a large military convoy, probably +100 zebras and the gryphons from the saloon.

Something felt off about this. Why only now was El Presidente issuing a large assault on this old military fort? I quickly shrugged off the thought and looked around to the zebra soldiers. Most of them had bolt action rifles or lever action guns.

The general leading the brigade told us that 2/3 of the force would attack the main gate while the remaining troops would attack from the side entrance. Apparently the backside of the fort was facing a cliff so Black Mane had nowhere to run except those two exits.

Red stayed close to me. “Don’t worry sugar tits… I’ll protect yah.” Red chuckled. I scoffed and trotted my horse away from him. I heard the racking of both Elijah’s machineguns as he loaded the first round into each gun.

As we ascended to the top of a hill, there was a loud gunshot going off in the distance followed by a whistling sound. Suddenly one of the zebra military carriages was struck by a cannon ball, which exploded upon impact with the hard soil.

Bloody zebras were tossed into the air and the majority of others let out war cries as they rushed towards the large military fort. Lead rounds began whizzing through the air all around us. We let the others all take the brunt of the attack as they charged.

Our small group dismounted our horses. “Show time, eh sugar tits?” Red asked. I groaned as I realized he had taken it upon himself to follow us around during this battle.

Third person:

A force close to 50 strong assaulted the main gates. Several buffalo fired shots from the wall top which was a long walkway. Most of the zebras kept charging but some stopped and began taking pot shots on the buffalo.

Around the side of the building, only a force of 20 charged the back gate. A group of buffalo were waiting and fired an old styled cannon which obliterated nearly the entire group, only leaving a hoof full of able bodied soldiers left.

The cannon group went to reload when the buffalo loading the cannon was suddenly sliced in half. The others all gasped but in a single flash of motion they too were all but cut to pieces. A female gryphon perched on the top of the cannon barrel.

“Come on you slugs! Hurry up and get to the gate!” The female gryphon screamed. The remaining zebras did as their saviour ordered. Another gryphon landed beside her and the duo both sheathed their long blades then pulled out lever actioned rifles.

At the front gates, the buffalo held their ground for the most part. Several gryphons landed and sliced away at the wall top buffalo but were soon shot down by buffalo inside the fort.

“I’ll be around, don’t fret.” Red told Daring’s group, then took to the air. He gave his left limb a little jolt of motion, extending his long bowie knife blade.

He landed blissfully on the rooftop and the buffalos all turned to face him. Red held his Mondragon rifle grip with his right talon, resting the fore grip on his stump, and began to fire it in full automatic. The buffalos atop the wall were mercilessly cut down as Red hosed them with 7mm rounds.

Some zebras charged up while Red held off the buffalos atop the wall. The zebra soldiers set up some dynamite then quickly retreated and hit the plunger. The large wooden doors were quickly blown to splinters and the zebra forces charged in, guns blazing.

Buffalo who had the fate of being caught in the blast were the lucky ones. The rest suffered the fate of trying to hold off the zebras, who now swarmed them like locust.

The female gryphon mercenary burst into a room and blasted away several buffalo bandits with an M1903 FN pistol. .32 caliber rounds ate through the buffalo and quickly ended their lives. The slide on the pistol locked back and the gryphon ejected the magazine before almost instantly slamming a fresh one into the feed port.

She released the slide just as a figure burst into the room. She swung the pistol towards the figure just as the figure swung his own pistol towards her. She quickly recognized the unforgettable gryphon.

“Goddess dammit Red!” She swore and he simply chuckled.

“Losing your edge?” He teased before firing a round at her. She flinched but didn’t feel anything. She stayed in a moment of shock before realizing that he hadn’t shot at her directly.

She turned her head to see a buffalo behind her with a machete. He soon collapsed to the ground as blood poured out of his chest. She turned back to thank Red but he was already gone.

As she kicked down another door she was greeted by several pony stallions. She swung up her pistol and fired a couple of shots. One shot struck a pony’s head and killed him instantly. Another group of shots knocked a stallion back, the rounds fatally injuring him.

The stallions all began to fire back and she took cover behind the wall. She was in the process of reloading her pistol just as a .38 Model 10, floated over in a magical aura. “Well hello there. So sorry to have to do this.” Said an eccentric voice. That voice was the last thing the female gryphon ever heard.

Red charged along the ground, mercilessly shooting any buffalo that got in his way. He went along with his Mondragon but just as he passed a pile of crates, a buffalo jumped out then kicked his rifle out of his grip.

The buffalo went to stab Red with a knife he held in his left hoof but Red caught it in his right talon then thrashed his own knife hand into the buffalo’s gut. The buffalo gasped as the blade penetrated him and blood quickly escaped his mouth. Red twisted the blade then pulled it out of the buffalo’s gut.

The rebel stood there for a moment before collapsing to the ground, blood seeping out of his gut and staining the ground. Red picked up his rifle then continued his assault.

Daring led her group around the back way. They had all agreed that this wasn’t their fight and that they only needed to find Black Mane. They all entered the back gate which was pretty much cleared of buffalo. The main fighting was going on inside the inner yard where zebras fired at buffalos that were dug in.

Daring motioned for them to go up some stairs. But just as they went to ascend the stairs, a half dozen buffalo all rushed down. There was a loud chattering and they were all cut down. Daring looked over to Elijah who nodded, his guns still smoking at his sides.

The group proceeded up the stairs. As they reached the top, a buffalo looked over to them. “Hurry, help us… wait a minute!” The buffalo gasped, obviously thinking that Daring was part of Black Mane’s group.

Suddenly Red flew overhead and chopped down the group of buffalo with a steady burst from his automatic rifle. He landed shortly after, a few yards away from Daring, and chuckled. “Well hot damn…” He muttered as he reloaded his rifle.

The group began to fight their way through minor resistance. Red laughed his way through the whole ordeal like it was a fun game. Suddenly his rifle locked open. Just as he went to reload it, a buffalo rushed him with a machete.

He went to defend himself but he was too late. A gunshot went off and Red looked in shock as he saw Billy standing with his still smoking Lee Enfield rifle. “Thanks.” Red thanked Billy briefly before turning and continuing to wreak havoc on the remaining buffalo.

Down below, the zebras were getting ready to mop up whatever resistance was left. Suddenly a shot went off and a zebra was kicked off his hooves. A golden furred pony trotted out casually with twin Schofield revolvers. The zebras in the yard were a little confused at first but for most of them, that would be their last emotion.

Charlie lifted both revolvers up and began to rapidly fire them off. Zebras began scrambling for their rifles or for cover. In less than a few moments, more pony stallions trotted out then slowly made their way out of the base using the back gate to escape.

Daring looked to Billy, “Shoot him.” She ordered and Billy lined up a shot but just as he was ready to fire, a pony stallion crashed through a nearby door and tackled him to the ground.

The duo began fighting for dominance over the rifle. Billy cocked his hindlegs up between them then kicked the other stallion off his body. Billy grabbed for his rifle but a pistol shot rang out and made him freeze. He looked up to see the stallion whom he had been fighting with, looming over him with an old Volcanic lever action pistol.

Billy began to pat himself down in search of wounds but could find none. Suddenly the stallion tipped forwards and collapsed on Billy’s body. He soon felt the warmth of blood begin to soak into his own fur as the other stallion bled out on him.

Behind where the stallion used to stand, stood Red, with a smoking C96 pistol. “Guess that makes us even, huh?” He commented with a chuckle. Billy pushed the corpse off his body then looked to Red.

“Thanks… never really thought you’d save my life.” Billy thanked the gryphon who simply laughed heartily.

“Yeah, well I owed yah one… and besides, friends look out for one another.” He stated. Billy was about to ask ‘We’re friends?’ but figured best to keep it to himself. There were several cheers echoing from the fort as the zebras finally took out the last of the resistance pockets.

Daring’s perspective:

“Dammit!” I scowled to myself as I looked out to the setting sun. We had been so close, yet so far. At least El Presidente had kept true to his word. Red flopped his arms on the railing of the wall top and sighed.

“Well… good job sugar tits. We took the base. Sorry bout Black Mane, don’t worry though. We’ll get em next time.” He tried to assure me. Well jeeze, this was a change of tone.

“Yeah but… what the buck…” I trailed off as I looked to the horizon. “Hey Red? Use your scope and look out to those dots on the horizon.” I told Red who quickly did as I asked.

“Oh shit… it’s the retaliation.” He swore. I groaned. This couldn’t be good.

Author's Notes:

I have a big surprise, wanna know how I know. Because I'm already in the process of writing it. So I guess my prediction was wrong. El Presidente didn't set them up. Oh well, this was cool to