//------------------------------//
// Final Entry 
// Story: Final Entry 
// by Hundashter 
//------------------------------//



August 13, 2077. Final Entry

Fire. It's very good at burning things. Grass, trees, buildings, tanks, ponies. I can still see outside a little, and the forest is ablaze. It's been burning most of the day, 7 hours at least. The Everfree isn't giving up without a fight however, and it doesn't seem to have spread much, but it doesn't really matter when pretty much the whole Celestia damned thing's burning.

I never even wanted to be here in the first place! Stupid draft calling all able bodied ponies to the Equestrian Defense corp got me and my wife about 2 months back. I was deemed suitable for military command and given a squad, where as my wife was thought of as 'too soft', and got assigned to the wartime radio dispatchers branch in Canterlot. Bastards hit There first. Or tried to anyway, but the princesses managed to bring up a shield over most of the city before the Balefire bombs hit. Fat lot of good it did, only the things inside the shield survived impact, and just barely at that. 

See, the princesses hadn't ever SEEN a balefire bomb explosion before, let alone a barrag. They'd only gotten reports from the front, so they didn't make their shield strong enough to keep the concussive force from breaking through, only the physical bombs. And the one's that hit outside the shield sent shock waves through the ground that did a pretty good job of bucking things up as well, so what was left standing inside their so called, "protective " force field, wasn't much more than a few buildings near the center of the dome, and the ones around the castle itself. 

This happened about two weeks back. I didn't hear about it 'till 5 days ago. Radio communications was outside the shield. They said that there was nothing but a crater left. I cried all that day and night, i didn't care if my troops saw me or not. I cried myself to sleep.

When I finally woke up the next day, which was three days ago, there was a pony there to see me from high command. He informed me of the orders that this base was to be the new Radio Communications center until a more permanent solution could be found. I wanted to smash in his head with a rock. I returned to my troops with our new orders and we started getting things ready for the equipment to be set up when it came.

It was supposed to be here the next day, ( what with it being made out of spare parts, outdated models, and scrap from other machines, I was surprised it would be here so soon ), but it didn't come until yesterday. Along with a truckload of enemy combatants. The damn Elk commandos made short work of Berry Punch, ( I never was sure how she got assigned here ), and Sky Dancer. We were a small 15 pony outpost base on the edge of the Everfree tasked with reporting any potential advancements through the forest. Which was why we were supposed to get the new radio equipment, since we already had a small setup on the roof for broadcasting, but it was one way to the Canterlot Branch. Regardless, two elk still in the truck came out toting a heavy rocket launcher and blew it to pieces.

I was able to get inside and alert the rest of the team, grab a weapon and take cover before another rocket destroyed the front of the building. Star Streak was crushed by debris, everypony else opened fire on the invaders. I only saw five through the dust and smoke, but I knew there were more out there. I fired upon the one closest to me, and heard a satisfying scream as the bastard fell. The other four were down as well, only Moon Gazer got nicked in the shoulder, nothing serious. I guess basic training was useful after all.

I guessed a truck the size of the one carrying the troops could hold about sixteen soldiers in back, and two in the cab. So them plus the two I saw diving the flatbed with the new comm's equipment, and we had twenty elk to kill. with the five we just got, that left fifteen. We were down three and had one wounded. Not such good odds when all you've got are a bunch of greenhorns with next to no combat experience, and a Sargent with only a marginally better career record, versus fifteen Elite Elk Commandos. Those first five got too confident, and probably would regret it greatly if they weren't dead.

I gave the order to fall back into the building and set up defenses while Pumpkin Pie, Spicy Meatball and I kept watch on the big bucking hole in the wall. It was an order I would soon regret.

The smoke cleared enough for us to see out, which meant they could see in. I heard the shot and saw the troop at the same time. He was holding an anti-materiel rifle and hiding behind the corner of the truck. I didn't hesitate to open fire on him, tearing through the material covering the back of the truck and his left foreleg, then stitching my way up to his head. He didn't get another shot off.

I scanned left and saw another one drop on the flatbed, and two more down at a stack of barrels. Four down, eleven to go. I shouted for a sit rep, keeping an eye on the grounds, just in case. What I heard wasn't encouraging. What I turned around and saw was worse.

The anti-material rifle had taken off Spicy's ear on the left side but that wasn't the worst of it. Of the ten ponies retreating back into the base, three were lying on the floor, hit by the bullet from that Luna condemned rifle. It went through all three of them like paper. Moon Gazer was down, hit in the leg by assault rifle fire, but otherwise ok. I knew that the elk must be moving around to the back to try and flank, so I called to Spicy and Pumpkin to move back with me and help the wounded.

I picked up Moon Gazer and started to move him towards the mess hall. It took the combined efforts of Spicy and Pumpkin to get Daffodil to move away from the body of her sister, Dandelion. I told them to mourn for them all later, it wouldn't do them or    us any good to die now.

We all got into the mess hall without any more incidents. I told them to bar the doors with the tables. Then I heard a clink. I had forgotten about the comm's array on the roof having been directly above the mess hall. They hadn't gone around back, they had gone up to the roof. 

The grenade exploded, sending Midnight Shimmer into the tables, and shredding Cloud Casters left wing.  Before I could bring my rifle to bear on the hole in the ceiling, I heard the staccato of machine gun fire coming from the roof. Three dead elk fell from  the roof to the floor in front of me, as Rainbow Dash and two other Thunderbolts I hadn't seen before floated down into the room.

I asked what was going on, she said everything was basically going to Discordia on a soap road, and that the elk had invaded Ponyvill. She and her elite had been dispatched to check on the farthest outposts to discern their status. I was silent for a moment, and looked about the room before answering. Our status?, were bucked, I said. She sighed.

she then asked if any of us could repair or install the comm's gear on the flatbed out front. I had already moved over to Cloud Caster to see if I could stop the bleeding. Midnight Shimmer was being helped to his hooves by Emerald Twister and Red Dawn. I laughed at her question, saying something along the lines of, yes, go check the hallway.

It's getting harder to remember things now. The pain killers are wearing off.

She looked at me quizzically, then trotted out into the hallway. Her companions moved to help Moon Gazer. She came back in the room with this look on her face. I tried really hard not to laugh at her. Don't know why I found it funny. She Looked at her companions and nodded her head at the door, saying it was time to leave. I followed her out, after getting Red Dawn And Spicy to look after Cloud Caster.

We got to the front of the building, the sun was setting. She looked back at me and started to float up into the air. She said something about feeling sorry for me. She heard about my wife, said it must be tough or something. I don't remember now. I said to get moving, didn't want any more pony's to die because somepony didn't show up to save them. She laughed.

That's when it hit. The megaspell.

You can see Canterlot from pretty much anywhere, at least anywhere that i've been. So we could see it from the edge of the forest no problem. Rainbow had just turned back towards the palace and had started flying when we saw a bright light coming from the castle. At first we couldn't tell what it was,then we saw the blast wave rushing away from the city. I think I shouted run, can't remember. Regardless, I did run. I ran back into the mess hall as fast as i could.

I got the doorway when the wave hit. That's probably what saved my life. I wish it hadn't.

I remember being knocked into the door frame and seeing the the mess hall ceiling collapse, then nothing. I woke up in the middle of the night, felt a sharp pain in my side, throbbing in my head, could hardly breath. I realized that last bit was caused from the smoke I was breathing. I crawled into the mess hall, calling out as I went. I heard a noise to my right, so I crawled that direction. I found Red Dawn. I'm not going to describe what I saw. I kept going, I called out again, heard the noise to my left,. I must have gotten turned around in the smoke. Or maybe i was disoriented from my probable concussion, I don't know.

I crawled over to the source of the noise to find Spicy Meatball. He'd had better days. A chunk of concrete with rebar had fallen on him, trapping him. He was a big guy, strong too, but when your back legs are literally crushed flat by a huge concrete chunk, nothing can really help you out of that situation. Some of the metal rods had bent down and one impaled him through the left shoulder, another straight through his neck. I wasn't sure how he was still alive.

I didn't know what to do. He looked at me and chuckled, which sounded allot  like a wet gurgling sound. He said I looked like Shit. I said he never looked better. He called me a liar. He beckoned me closer and said in a much softer voice, that he was glad to have served under such a great leader. And that he was proud to call me a friend. Then he asked for an extended leave of absence. I couldn't help but laugh, which sounded allot like a wheezing cough. I told him, leave granted. He said, thanks Hands. They all called me that, Hands. Stupid nickname, but it stuck.

I closed his eyes and staggered out of the room, I didn't need to see if anypony else was alive, I already knew they weren't.

I didn't care about my injuries. Still Don't. I wanted to just go to sleep and never wake up. I'm so tired. But then I remembered something my wife had given me on our wedding day. Our wedding day, it seems so long ago now, but it was only about a month before this mother-bucking war started. She gave it to me and told me to write things down that I wanted her to read about when we were apart. that way I would remember them better. I never used it.

I crawled into the barracks and opened my foot locker, got out this book, then crawled into the supply closest and started jabbing pain killers into myself to deaden the hurt so I could write my first journal entry.

my final journal entry.

I don't know what happened to Dash. Maybe she got away, maybe she didn't. I don't really care at the moment. All I know is that everypony i ever cared about Is either dead, probably dead, or in the process of dying. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

It's still burning outside. The forest. I wonder what will kill me first? Blood loss, smoke inhalation, the remainder of the building collapsing on me? Or the fire?

I just realized that I never saw the balefire bombs get dropped on the forest. I wonder how long I was unconscious?

heh, doesn't matter now. guess i'll see you soon Bon Bon

I'm so tired, I think i'll take a nap



Sargent Lyra (Hands) Heartsrings, 32nd infantry, Equestrian Defense Corp, ShadowFox squad