“Damn, Hawk, I never thought of you as a savior.” The pony before Magnum snickered, wrapping up the leg of the unconscious soldier. “That should be all good. Tell me again why you didn’t just put a bullet through his skull?”
Magnum shot the stallion a look that could have turned a cockatrice to stone. “Don’t ask questions, Stitch. Just patch him up and get the hell outta here.”
“Alright, alright. He’ll be back up in a few hours or so.” The amused medic turned around to leave, a large red cross etched across his flank. “I think you’re going soft on me, though, Hawk. What happened to the stone cold killer?”
“Buck off, Stitch. Get out of my sight.” Magnum growled, turning away. The medic pony sneered as he packed up his tools and left Magnum alone with the unconscious soldier.
Magnum sighed, turning to a broken mirror hanging on one of the walls. Through the shattered glass, a silver pony stared back at him from all directions. His figure was slender, an unkempt obsidian mane cascading down a lean neck, shrouding his face in its opacity. Strands of the ebony mane parted with a swipe of his hoof, revealing a pair of familiar crimson irises which had not lost their vibrance, even in this war-torn land. He turned slightly, catching the reflection of his cutie mark. He glared at the reflected symbol permanently etched onto his flank, the indication of what he was meant to do. He thought back to the moment he received his calling; the happiest moment of his life...
“That was just luck!” His friend shouted, the smallest hint of awe in the colt's denial. The others sat on their haunches, dumbfounded. “There’s no way you could do it again!” Magnum grinned, revelling in the chance to disprove his neighsayer. He took aim at the designated target, factoring in wind and trajectory with a keen intuition that no amount of practice could ever provide. He held his breath and fired. The rock propelled out of the slingshot upon release, cutting an invisible swath through the crisp Autumn air. A distant glass bottle shattered as the projectile hit it dead-center, bouncing harmlessly off a tree some meters further. His friends cheered this time, causing a sly grin to slide onto Magnum’s face.
“Magnum, look!” One of his friends shouted, causing the elated colt to turn around. He noticed his friend was pointing directly at his flank. Looking down, to his surprise, the blank silvery flank he had expected to see was replaced by crosshairs. He had gotten his cutie mark. He knew his special talent.
He knew, deep down, that he wasn’t meant to be a killer. It just made life a little easier telling himself that this was his calling. He didn’t hate killing, not by a long shot. He enjoyed what he did. He was an elite assassin at the top of his game.
Magnum turned, eyeing the unconscious soldier sprawled out on the nearby bed. So why is he still alive? his ever persistent internal monologue questioned, causing him to second-guess his decision. What am I going to do when he wakes up?
Text's eyes fluttered open carefully; the haze of his unconscious state clearing away as he registered his surroundings. Shapes began to form into discernible objects; textures rapidly came into focus with startling clarity. What little areas of his aching body that still bore feeling notified his aware mind that he was laying on a soft bed. A quick glance to his right-hind leg told him that somepony had bandaged it efficiently. His mind reeled as he recalled his last memory of what had transpired with frustrating futility. An impenetrable fog of temporary amnesia blanketed his pulsating brain; his only success was increasing the rhythmatic throb of his aching head.
Text’s eyes shifted around the room, looking for signs of life. Across the room, he spotted a stallion, facing the opposite way, staring idly out of the window. His breath shallowed as he noticed the pony was wearing a thin, black and blue jacket, representing the New Lunar Republic. Text stiffly turned his head to the right, spotting his rifle resting on a nearby table. He bit down on the inside of his cheek to keep quiet as he reached for the weapon, careful to keep his wounded leg in place so as to not flare the dull throb into a burning agony. Unfortunately, he had misjudged the gap between bed and table. With an instinctive shift, his right leg was suddenly filled with molten lead, causing him to be thrown off balance and onto the floor with a loud crash. The agonized soldier looked up from the ground to see, much to his surprise, that the pony hadn't even moved. Text grabbed his rifle and stood onto his hind legs, stumbling slightly from his wounded leg. He limped forward toward the mystery pony as quietly as he could, slowly raising his weapon. He stopped directly behind the unmoving pony, aiming the rifle.
“If you ever want to see the light of day again, I highly suggest you tell me who the hell you are and where I am.” Text whispered in the most menacing tone he could muster. The pony before him casually turned his head to the side before a swift motion caused Text to fall to the floor, knocking the rifle out of his hooves. He reached for the weapon as fast as he could, pointing it straight up to where his attacker was, only to see a sidearm pointed directly at him yet again.
“First off, put down the gun. You’re not impressing anyone.” The mysterious stallion before him commented. A wave of the sniper’s firearm commanded Text to lower his weapon. The disadvantaged soldier obliged. “Secondly, my name’s Magnum. Now stand up, you look pathetic.”
Text slowly rose, never breaking eye contact with Magnum. The pistol followed its target as the woozy soldier stood eye level with the wielder. Text opened his mouth to ask more questions, only to be stopped by the sight of something moving out the window. He peered behind Magnum, catching sight of a fellow soldier, whom he recognized as an Echo squad member.
“Elicolt!” The stallion called out, noticing his officer in the window. He began to run headlong towards the building, rifle strung across his back. Text turned his head back to Magnum, whose expression immediately changed from a sly grin to one of seriousness.
“Listen to me. Everything you know as a soldier is a lie.” Magnum said frantically. “I promise you I can explain everything. Give me time, that’s all I ask.”
Text could hear the door cascade open downstairs; a pony started to barrel up the stairs, yelling his name. Text stood silent, never breaking eye contact with Magnum.
“Sergeant Eli- Hey!” The soldier yelled, noticing the Rebel soldier pointing a weapon at his squad leader. “You!” He amplified his authoritative voice. “Lower your weapon! Now!” He reared onto his hind legs, grabbing the weapon off his back.
Magnum slowly lowered his gun, never breaking eye contact with Text. “I trust you to make the right choice, soldier. I spared your life. You have the chance to spare mine. I can enlighten you; I can show you the truth that you’ve been hidden from, or else you can continue living your meaningless life as a soldier and let my death ride on your conscious. Your choice.” he nearly whispered, staying as calm as possible.
“On the ground! Now!” The soldier shouted, aiming his rifle at Magnum. Seconds stretched into a crawling infinity; neither Text nor Magnum ever broke their locked stare.
“Get on the ground or I’ll shoot!” The soldier repeated, a faint click was heard as he turned off the rifle’s safety mechanism.
Text took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. He raised his rifle and pulled the trigger. The soldier on the stairs collapsed to the ground in recoil, falling down the flight of stairs. The air grew silent as the stallion hit the ground floor, dead.
Text lowered his head in shame, still second guessing his choice. His whole body began to grow numb as shame and empathy overwhelmed him, a single tear welling in his eye. He slowly raised his head, noticing the pony in front of him, smiling. He was smiling. Text’s guilt slowly turned into a burning hatred, every fiber of his being building a grudge towards the single pony in front of him. He finally snapped, diving head-first into Magnum. Magnum tried to retaliate, but Text’s sheer force and adrenaline forced him to the ground. Text slammed the barrel of his rifle into Magnum’s forehead, causing a single strand of blood to appear and roll down the side of his head.
“You have ten seconds to tell me why I shouldn’t blow your bucking head off right now.” Text snarled, driving the barrel even harder into Magnum’s head. To Text’s surprise, Magnum simply chuckled, casually reaching into his jacket. Moments later he pulled out something familiar to Text, waving it front of him.
“An REA pin? What did you do, take it off some soldier’s body?” he snarled again, trying to keep his curiosity at bay to his anger.
Magnum smirked, slowly shaking his head. “Corporal Magnum Hawkeye, 43rd Recon Division.” he cooed, as if recalling a vivid memory. Text just stood in disbelief. “I believe I owe you an explanation, then. Now, if you’d be so kind as to get off of me...”
The helicopter carrying Magnum was relatively quiet; only the constant, low thup thup thup of the rotor blades gave any indication that the mechanical beast was still alive. Seated across from the introverted sniper was a rather bulky, muscular stallion; clearly a veteran of war. He was dressed in the usual REA colors; only with a thinner, less padded suit. Magnum couldn’t help but smirk as his counterpart fumbled with a communication earpiece.
"Stupid piece of shit!" the stallion remarked, finally fitting the device in its proper place in his ear canal. "By Celestia, I'll never get used to this." His right eye twitched slightly at the foreign object, already wanting to rip it out and scratch the irritation away.
Magnum broke out a small chuckle. "What's the matter? Won't it fit?" He teased his superior, trying to get a rise out of the older soldier. "Maybe you should clean your ears out more."
"And maybe you should shut the hell up," the other retorted, his tone a mixture of amusement and frustration.
"So, tell me..." The older pony gazed over at Magnum, who cocked an eyebrow in interest to the imminent question. "Is it true you're some sort of prodigy with that rifle of yours?"
"I suppose you could say that." Silence hung in the air between the two soldiers; Magnum broke it with his own curiosity.
"Now you tell me. All about yourself, that is... Sir," he quickly added. Too many times had he forgotten that was he addressing a superior officer and not just a friend.
"Heh," the stallion snorted, recollecting the memories from the chasms of his mind. "About me, eh? Alright, I'll humor you. If only to pass the time until we reach the drop-point."
"I began my military career as Private Third Class 'Gilded Armour' in the Canterlot Guard, though my friends all called me ‘Gil’. Back then, a civil war like this was the farthest thing from anypony's mind, due to the Griffon tribes banding under one Warlord and setting their sights on Equestria. For ten years I was sent all over the place, working my way up through the ranks."
Magnum sat, listening intently. He motioned for the story-teller to continue the tale.
"Well, it was during a routine visit to Canterlot for a resupply and debrief that the Griffons decided raiding small, defenseless villages wasn't enough. It seemed like they sent their entire species to invade Canterlot, there were so many. They outnumbered our Pegasus Air Force three-to-one. Our only advantage was their bulk; Pegasi can out-fly a cumbersome Griffon any day." Armour took a quick breath, letting the memories flood back.
"Unfortunately, it meant shit-all. They still backed us up into the Castle proper. Of course, we hardly had this technology at all; it was all spears and other melee weaponry. We were pushed back into the Royal Throne Room; hell I'm pretty sure my flank touched Celestia, praise her name. The only saving grace that day was when the Princesses decided to join the fight... Princess Luna herself was particularly nasty."
"Eventually they had been routed after sustaining a heavy loss... but I celebrated too early. One last of those bird-lion mutts flew at Celestia herself in a blind fury. She stood frozen, in shock at the audacity that creature had, until I booted her out of the way and took the attack for her full-on. Afterward, she named me one of her own, personal Royal Guard." Armour smirked, putting emphasis on his last three words with obvious pride.
"Spent my time from then on as her personal bodyguard. That is, until the war started. You know how that went; Celestia wanted to make peace with the Griffons, Luna wanted to teach them a lesson."
Magnum nodded. Of course he knew; the royal dispute is what began the civil war.
"Well, enough about me. How about you? How'd you make it to the top?"
Magnum thought a moment. "Well, I joined the cause like any good stallion should about three weeks ago-"
"Woah, hang on a sec," Armour cut Magnum off. "Three weeks!? You managed to make your way onto the Special Forces in only three weeks?" Armour stared, dumbfounded.
"Yeah, I guess so. The pony at basic training said I was a natural; invited some higher ranks to watch me shoot, even. They sent me straight to Special Forces training. Three weeks later, here I am."
"Damn, son," Armour laughed, "that's the craziest thing I've ever heard. You must be one sick bastard with that sniper of yours." Armour motioned to the weapon across Magnum's lap.
Magnum took a look at his weapon as well; it was the same one he had been given at Special Forces training. It was a simple bolt action tricked out with a thermal scope with an adjustable zoom, and a silencer screwed onto the end of the barrel; all specially designed for their mission.
The pegasus piloting the helicopter turned around, getting the two soldiers' attention. "Two minutes 'til deployment. Ready up you two." He called over the whir of the chopper, returning to his controls.
"Alright rookie, you know the drill." Armour nodded at the pegasus, turning back to Magnum."The safehouse is about one klick north of the dropzone. We get in, get our target, and get out. No noise, no fuss. Quick and clean. Remember who we're dealing with here; this is the leader of the New Lunar Republic. There will be resistance."
"30 seconds!" The Pegasus called out from the cockpit.
"Alright rookie, get all your gear ready." Armour instructed as he slid the door open and set a thick, braided rope to the immediate outside of the helicopter. Magnum gripped the rope with his hooves, thankful for the boots that would keep his feet from rubbing raw on the descent. Taking a deep breath, he jumped, riding the line down to the ground.
The landing jarred the sniper's teeth as Armour quickly followed him down the line, landing gracelessly with a grunt.
"Damn ground is harder than I remember."
"What's wrong, old timer?" Magnum smirked, enjoying the teasing. "Can't keep up with us colts anymore?"
Magnum's laughing was cut short, however, as Armour's outstretched hoof told him to quiet down. Suddenly, the sniper noticed what his officer was referring to - a stallion, dressed in the black and purple NLR suit, was patrolling through the woods. The only thing protecting the two soldiers from being spotted was the opacity of a moonless night, to which the REA comrades gave an ironic thanks to Luna.
The stallion in front of them stood onto his hind legs after looking down a bit, procuring a few things from his pocket. Armour motioned for Magnum to stand still as he quietly snuck up behind the unaware NLR pony. Magnum noticed what the stallion was holding as a spark lit up the darkness. The stallion took a deep breath from the cigarette, then slowly exhaled a puff of smoke.
Suddenly, Armour reared onto his hind legs, abandoning all stealth and continuing to approach the unknowing pony. The NLR soldier quickly took notice, swinging around in shock. "Hey! You're not supposed to be here!" he called, dropping his cigarette and reaching for the rifle slung across his back.
Armour stayed calm, still slowly approaching the stallion.
"Hey now," he said, slowly raising his hooves to the air. "We don't want any trouble."
Magnum began to panic, unsure of his superior's methods. He decided to stand still and let the older pony do his work for now.
"Hey! Step back! I'm warning you!" The stallion called out. Armour continued to move closer, a devilish grin on his face. Within a fraction of a second, the aged pony lunged for the NLR soldier, who retaliated with a gunshot. Armour was quick, however, brushing the rifle off his left hoof and causing the bullet to stray. The REA soldier raised his right hoof to the air, and with a loud ‘shhng’, a blade shot out from the tip of his boot. Armour drove his hoof down into the stallion's chest in a rapid, fluid motion, causing the victim to gasp for breath.
"Shhhh..." Armour hushed the suffering pony, pulling the blade from his target's chest. The stallion dropped his weapon and collapsed to the ground, still gasping for his last moments of life. Armour turned back to Magnum, a large smile spread across his face. He raised the blood covered blade to the air, showing his fellow soldier.
"Pretty cool, eh? I made it myself." He boasted, wiping the blood off onto his jacket. With a flick of his hoof, the blade retracted back into his boot, as though it was never there in the first place.
"You couldn't have just slit his throat or something?" Magnum questioned his superior's methods.
"Well what fun is that?" Armour smirked, flipping his night vision goggles over his eyes and turning them on. "Alright, down to business. There should be a ridge overlooking the safehouse about half a klick to the Northeast. If you can give me a good lookout, I can probably sneak in. Tell me when you get eyes-on, then I'll work my magic. Alright, move out." Armour nodded to the sniper, and jogged off to the North.
“Whatever you say, boss.” Magnum let the words hang in the air a trite longer. With the rifle slung across his back, the sniper began making his way on all four hooves to his designated spot, but not before snuffing out the still-lit cigarette.
“Can’t have any wildfires, now, can we?” A mad yet amused chuckle escaped as he silently galloped to his position.
The half-kilometer seemed like a stroll through the park as the silent sniper finally came upon the base of the ridge. Magnum peered up - it was much steeper than he anticipated. No matter. Professional eyes scanned the jutting landscape, searching for the safest way up the sharp hill. To the untrained eye, all looked the same. To Magnum, however, paths looked weak. One slip of the hoof could send him sprawling back down... with significantly more pain.
Finally he spotted the correct path that which would carry him upward and not toss him violently down. Swiftly he crawled up, small bits of rock being jarred loose from the steps of his hooves. Making his way to the face of the cliff, Magnum hoisted himself up and scanned the horizon with trained, professional eyes. Immediately spotting the top of the safehouse along the treeline, the stealthy sniper began to maneuver his way across the cliff. Reaching the edge, he grabbed the rifle slung across his back and began to set up by unfolding the weapon’s bi-pod stand and removing the scope’s lens cap. He lay down onto his stomach, resting his beloved weapon on the very edge of the cliff, allowing him the optimal line of sight onto his target.
“Alright, sir, I have eyes-on,” Magnum confirmed to his officer.
“Good." Armour whispered in to his headset, clearly trying to stay as stealthy as possible. "Now, can you see me? Western tree line.”
Magnum looked down his scope, the world around him changing to a steel grey as his thermal scope illuminated his surroundings. Adjusting himself, he moved the sights over to the tree line, searching for the soldier. Suddenly, a bright white figure appeared in his scope that resembled the shape of a pony.
“Yep, I gotcha. So what’s the plan?” Magnum asked, using the opportunity to adjust his scope for distance and clarification.
“I’m going to work my way in from the West side of the house... I need you to be my eyes here. Anything so much as moves, you let me know.”
Magnum quietly acknowledged his officer, scanning the western face of the mansion. To his surprise, nothing came up in the scope. Shifting his weight, he adjusted the sniper to get a better look at the entire house. The outside was almost entirely unprotected save for two small, glowing figures patrolling across the front lawn, heading west.
“Two heading your way, sir. Be careful.”
“Only two?” A hint of disappointment.
“Yessir.”
Armour’s hiding spot was broken as he crept across the tree line, making his way to the side of the house. Rearing up, the soldier leaned his back up against the corner of the house, awaiting the approaching patrol.
Magnum took aim at the first pony, flicking off his rifle’s safety mechanism. Everything from here was second nature to Magnum - the shallowing of his breath, the pinpoint accuracy with his scope, and the anxious twitch of the trigger, awaiting the faithful moment.
“Ready when you are, sir.” The sniper breathed, never leaving his attention from the point of the pony’s head. As they neared closer to his comrade, Magnum began to make out their conversation through his headset.
“Swift still isn’t responding. You sure he’s okay?” one of them asked, a hint of concern in his voice.
“He’s fine, stop worrying. He just took a step out to have a smoke.” The other assured the first.
“Now,” Magnum’s officer whispered. The two approaching soldier's were mere feet from noticing him.
That was all Magnum needed to hear. His fore-hoof twitched, immediately followed by a muffled thwick from the silencer on the tip of his weapon. His target fell immediately, causing the other pony to rear up in shock and confusion. The soldier reached for his weapon, looking every direction in search of the hidden assassin. Feeding off of the distraction, Armour lunged at the confused pony, jumping onto his back. The NLR grunt flailed around wildly in a panic, but it was no use - Armour wrapped his fore-hooves around the pony’s jaw and yanked with a sharp, twisting force. A loud crack came from the stallion before he collapsed to the ground alongside his friend.
“Good shot, son. Are you sure I’m all clear?”
Magnum scanned the outside of the massive house with caution, wary of any possible glow of white. Nothing came up.
“Yessir. Outside is all clear. You’re on your own once you get inside, though.”
“That’s fine. Thanks for the help, Hawkeye.” The commanding officer said before disappearing into the building and out of Magnum’s scope.
After only a few seconds, Armour spoke up, weariness laced in his voice. “Something’s not right here. If their leader really is here, shouldn’t they have it guarded up the flank?”
Magnum scanned the entire building and its surroundings, looking for any signs of life. Something suddenly didn’t feel right. If their intel was correct, then the leader of the NLR should be here, along with at least two platoons of guards.
“West corridor clear. Still no more signs of life. Keep an eye out for patrols.” His officer huffed through the headset adorning the sniper. Magnum could hear the hushed clopping of each hoofstep Armour took through the deafening silence. “Heading to the main lobby. Hold tight.”
Magnum heard every small detail through the other stallion’s microphone - the slow, calm breathing, the sound of the officer leaning against each wall to retain his stealth; even the quiet clopping of each hoof hitting the ground.
“Main lobby clear... Wait, hang on, there’s something here...” His officer stated, a brief silence filling the air. “Dear Celestia...this...this can’t be...” He mumbled with obvious disbelief. Magnum could hear the slight ruffling of paper.
“Sir? What is it?” Magnum asked, concerned for the other pony.
“Magnum, you need to come see this. Now.” Armour’s tone changed from shock to extreme urgency. Magnum didn’t hesitate, grabbing his rifle off of the edge and folding it. Throwing the weapon across his back, he began the slippery descent down the side of the cliff, in more of a rush than when he first climbed it. Fearing his fellow soldier was in danger, he hit the ground into a full run, dodging tree after tree as it flew past him. His keen, professional eyes wandered slightly in search for any signs of any missed patrols.
Arriving at a clearing leading up to the house, Magnum took a sharp left to enter the western entrance to retrace his officer’s hoofsteps. Rushing through the opened doors, he galloped straight down the narrow corridor and burst into the main lobby.
“Sir, what is it?” Magnum asked breathlessly, looking over to the stallion who was standing over a desk, shuffling through papers.
“I... I don’t believe it... Hawkeye, you need to look at this.” His voice was small, barely audible as he grabbed a few of the papers off the desk and turned to Magnum.
Reaching for one of the papers hastily, Magnum began to scan what was written on it, his jaw slowly dropping in his own disbelief.
“Yeah, I didn’t believe it at first either, but look at all of these.” The commander gestured the piles of paperwork. “It’s all official. Celestia and Luna compromised, and ordered a cease-fire. This should have ended the war, but look at the date.”
Magnum looked at the top of the paper, eyeing the day it was written. His jaw threatened to fall to the floor, the hinge making a pop.
“That was three weeks ago. If this is real, then why the hell are we still in a war? Something isn’t right here.” Armour said, still paging through all of the paperwork. “We need to show this to the Captain.” The officer fiddled with his headset for a moment before calling into it with renewed vigour. “Captain Blaze, this is Lieutenant Armour. We need immediate extraction. Precious cargo, I repeat, precious cargo.”
“Great work, Lieutenant.” Magnum heard the Captain through his headset. “I’ll come personally to pick you up. Extraction will be half a klick east of your position. Over and out.”
“Alright, we need to go. Grab the d-” Armour was cut off by a loud screeching from throughout the house. It took only moments for Magnum to realize an alarm had been set off.
“Come on, keep up!” Armour yelled out his order, making a break for the tree-line. “Everypony in the surrounding mile of this place is going to come after us!”
Almost like clockwork, Magnum heard shouting behind him, followed by gunshots. Bullets whizzed pass the galloping soldier, making contact with trees mere feet from him.
“Shit! Go! Go!” Armour called out, picking up speed and weaving through each passing tree. Magnum followed him hoof-for-hoof, copying his exact serpentine. The yelling from behind them grew louder and closer as more wandering patrols caught on. More and more bullets whizzed around both ponies, hitting every piece of terrain in sight.
“Keep going! We’re almost there!” Armour called out, an opening in the mass of trees appearing over the horizon.
“Gahh!” Magnum inhaled as a sharp, explosive pain ripped through his left leg. The burning was too immense; it threw Magnum forward, his face driving into the dirt below him.
“Magnum!” Armour yelled, stopping and turning around to pick up the other soldier.
“No! You go! The intel is too important!” The wounded, panicking soldier retorted, pulling away from his officer’s grasp. After a few moments of thinking, Armour nodded.
“I’ll come back for you, I promise!” he called out, galloping off towards the opening.
Not wanting to go out without a fight, Magnum pulled out the sidearm resting on his side and flipped around, meeting a soldier off-guard. Magnum shot immediately, clothes-lining the unsuspecting patrolman. The sniper watched as more enemy soldiers moved around him, firing at every movement he saw through the trees. Another soldier approached, completely oblivious to the pony on the ground mere feet in from him while shooting his gun off into the distance. Magnum took aim at the stallion, pulling the trigger.
Click.
Magnum's clip was empty, and the subtle noise caused the startled NLR soldier to take notice of the pony just below him.
This is it, Magnum thought. Time seemed to almost pause as his mind reeled, his life mere seconds from coming to a wicked end. Maybe he'd be a hero; sacrificing himself to help end the war. The pony above Magnum took aim, a hoof movement away from ending the sniper.
A loud whirring noise from above caused both ponies to look up. A cloud of helicopters appeared above, the noise alone could knock a pony off its feet. Suddenly, a few of the mechanical beasts unleashed their raw fury, the minigun ripping the trees to shreds below them. The stallion in front of Magnum winced from the incoming barrage, a mass of wooden splinters flying about. This gave Magnum a mere second to react, but that's all he needed. Pulling the sniper that was slung across his back, he quickly hip-fired the weapon, hitting the shocked stallion in the shoulder. The sheer impact was louder than the shot itself, due to the silencer and the point-blank distance. The NLR soldier spun around a few times in recoil from the force of hit before collapsing to the ground.
Magnum ducked to the ground as bullets rained down, ponies and trees being ripped to shreds around him. One of the trees near him, taking too much damage, collapsed to the ground only a few feet from Magnum.
The aerial onslaught ended as quickly as it began, the helicopters landing in the clearing in the distance. Magnum tried to stand by propping himself up using the fallen tree, but it was no use. The flaring heat in his leg was too immense. All he could do was watch as a single pony exited one of the helicopters, quickly approached by Lieutenant Armour.
"Do you have the cargo?" Magnum heard the stallion he recognized as Captain Blaze through Armour's headset.
"I have it right here, sir." The lieutenant boasted. Even from the distance Magnum could see his lieutenant reach into his satchel and hand the Captain the intel.
Blaze turned around, scanning each piece of paper before flipping onto the next. "Good work, soldier." He muttered. Using his other hoof, he pulled out a custom-built chrome revolver, eyeing the piece.
"Sir, I don't think you realize what this means. We could end the war with this!" Armour practically shouted, unsatisfied with his superior officer's response.
Blaze merely flipped open the cylinder on his revolver, spinning it once to check for ammunition. A sinister smile crept onto his face.
"Exactly."
Without even turning around to confront Armour, Blaze aimed his gun point-blank at him and fired, causing the lieutenant to collapse to the ground immediately. Magnum had to use a hoof to cover his mouth from crying out.
Blaze turned around with a look of disgust, throwing the Intel onto the body, causing papers to fly in every direction. Blaze turned to one of his grunts approaching him. "Burn it. All of it. I don't want there to be anything left when you're done with it, understand?"
The pony before Captain Blaze nodded, grabbing a readied can of gasoline and dousing the Intel and carcass alike. The helicopters began to whir back to life, ready to leave. The grunt, satisfied with his proper dousing, lit a match and tossed it into the pile, causing it all to burst into flames.
Blaze stopped in his tracks before entering the helicopter, suspiciously turning around and scanning the tree-line. Magnum's froze, keeping perfectly still as to not be seen.
"Alright everypony, let's get out of here." Blaze nodded, finally entering his helicopter. Slowly, each one flew off, one at a time.
Magnum sighed in relief, but soon noticed his eyesight began to blur and his senses were sulking due to the bloodloss in his leg. He tried to stand one last time, but his attempt was futile as he collapsed to the ground. The last thing Magnum saw before blacking out was a boot lying across from him, one that must have fallen off of Armour during the chase...
Magnum’s mind reeled back to reality, finished reliving the memory for the pony in front of him. Text just stared in awe, completely taken aback by the other stallion’s story. By this time they had both made their way over to a nearby table, where Text sat across from Hawkeye, listening intently.
“That rat bastard is your army General now. It’s all lies and bullshit!” Magnum yelled out, slamming a hoof onto the table in front of him.
It was true - Text had known Glory Blaze was their General for years now, and he’d even met him personally when he signed up for a second term.
“Stitch, a local medic for the NLR, found me took me in shortly after I blacked out. I’m lucky he didn’t just kill me...”
“Wait a second, how do I know you didn’t just make this all up?” Text asked, shaking his awe and replacing it with skepticism.
“Heh, I had a feeling you’d ask that.” Magnum smirked, raising his right hoof to eye level between them. Text didn’t notice until now that Magnum was only wearing the single boot.
Shhng.