John’s perspective:

We all stood around the gravesite of Bear. Brixie had managed to carve a beautiful gravestone. ‘Beloved family and friend, 1908-1912’ was carved into the gravestone. Most would think it to be a gravestone perhaps for an infant, but then again, most wouldn’t even see it. This place was barren and miles away from any type of civilization.

“You know… I didn’t just ‘Desert’ out of the military.” Elijah muttered to us as we stood around him. He kissed the palm of his hoof then placed it on the gravestone. “Goodbye… my friend.” He whispered.

It was relatively early in the morning but we weren’t in a huge rush like yesterday. We figured, without Black Mane with us, the gang would see us as just another traveling group, considering we don’t have their boss with us.

“I was shot… not in the civil war, in the Philippines. My squad left me for dead and I… I crawled to a village. I stayed there for… a long time, until I got better. There was a dog there… she had puppies later on. One I named Bear because he was bigger than the others… when I went to go back to the military… Bear wouldn’t let me go without him… I decided not to go back and moved back to Equestria.” Elijah stated. I placed a sympathetic hoof on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry.” I told him. He placed his own hoof atop of mine.

“Thank you… I’m happy to have friends like you.” He replied. He looked up to us then around to the scenery. “If we’re… where I think we are… there’s an abandoned town not too far… they might have gone there to regroup.” He informed us. I nodded and we all mounted up.

Third person, ghost town:

Red paced along casually, with a sway in his walk. He let the Mondragon rifle dangle in his grip as he walked through the dusty floor of one of the tattered buildings. “How are they gonna know we’re here?” He asked Mane.

“Actually it’s just one. Milo, he’s a sniper, like you.” Mane replied and Red just chuckled.

“I ain’t no sniper.” He replied back and Mane raised an eyebrow.

“No? Then why have a scope on your rifle?” He asked curiously. Red shrugged.

“This gun can be anything from a simple infantry rifle, to a sniper rifle and all the way up to a full out machinegun… and anything in between.” Red replied, finishing the conversation.

Suddenly a zebra lept out from behind a wall with his rifle drawn. Red swung his barrel over the barrel of Milo’s rifle in a large arc, pulling Milo’s aim to the floor, before clacking the zebra marksman in the head with the stock of his own rifle.

Milo fell to the floor and Red was right on top of him with his knife hand to the zebra’s throat. “Uhm, Red… that’s Milo. He’s with us… he’s the one we’re looking for.” Mane informed the aggressive gryphon.

Red stepped off Milo who quickly stood to his hooves then brushed himself off. “Careful freak… if it weren’t for Mane, I would’ve put you down.” Milo hissed. Red simply laughed insultingly.

“Yeah, well Stripes, if it weren’t for Mane… I would’ve slit your throat open and let you gurgle painfully while you bled out.” Red hissed. Milo grimaced angrily as he turned around.

“Quickly… this way. We have company.” He stated and Red raised an eyebrow. Milo turned back, almost as if reading Red’s mind. “Your friends… it appears you were followed… amateur.” He spat insultingly.

John’s perspective:

We trotted into the ghost town. It had probably been a bustling little town before… whatever happened to make it die out. By the looks of it, there were several houses, a saloon and even a town hall. Some of the houses had explosive damage, by the looks of them.

“What… happened?” I asked and Elijah sighed.

“The Marexican-Equestrian war… was hit hard and the residents decided not to rebuild it.” Elijah replied. Suddenly a shot echoed through the deathly quiet town and Elijah’s horse neighed before it collapsed.

We all disembarked our horses and rushed towards cover, taking the horses with us. I tied Marry to an old hitching post while Daring did the same with Nostalgic. Elijah, Brixie and Billy had taken cover on the other side of the street while Daring and I were stuck on this side.

I leaned my head around the corner to get a glance down the street, but no sooner had I looked, then a bullet chipped at the wood wall of the building I hid behind.

I ducked back behind the wall. “Billy… I don’t know where he is.” I called out to my friend. For all I knew, he might not even be in the town.

Third person:

Milo loaded a fresh round then closed the breaching hammer on his rifle. “They’re on the other side of town.” He told the other two, who nodded. Red dialed in the scope on his rifle before racking back the bolt, loading a fresh round into the chamber.

The trio hid in an old building that was already half destroyed by explosives. They hid in a section that was collapsed, offering them a little more cover. The shadows concealed their bodies and made it hard for anypony to see them.

Red placed the fore grip of his rifle on a busted windowsill, letting his barrel protrude out the window. As he took aim, a .303 round pinged off his knife hand brace, ricocheting off into the distance and causing a large spark.

Milo grabbed him furiously and pulled him back into the dark shadows. “Fool! Never foolishly reveal your location when in a sniper duel… hurry, this way.” The zebra marksman ordered. Mane and Red followed, but the latter was already scornful of the zebra.

Across town, Billy racked the bolt on his rifle then called over to John. “They’re in the house on the other side of town, the one that’s partly destroyed.” He called over to his friend before tossing him a pair of binoculars.

John cautiously leaned off the wall and took a glance. “Do you know where they are now?” He asked but Billy simply shook his head. John muttered a curse then tossed the binoculars back to his friend.