The Raiders and The Princess

by FIRE FLASH 3

Chapter IX: Journée de merde, Nuit de fou!

Chapter IX

Pourquoi ces genres de choses arrivent-ils qu'à moi? I thought to myself. After last nights shelling and me and Twilight's little chat, I had been abruptly pulled away from my cleaning up duties by Colonel Sanders himself. He told me about a small relaxing job to do that consisted in me becoming a runner and running munitions and orders to areas where the phone lines were cut by the shelling or 'other reasons'. Of course I declined saying that I had to stay here and make sure that the entire camp got back to working order.

By this time, Twilight had come and joined me since she was helping me clear some fallen debris. Sometimes using her magic to move stuff out of the way. I had given her a scolding but I immediately stopped when she used her powers to repair the roof of one of our neighbouring shelters. Luckily, no one was around since this area.

The colonel said hello to Twilight when she showed up by my side, he soon became confused as to why she was wearing a raincoat outside, since it wasn't raining. But he didn't pursue the matter any further as he explained to me the importance of what he was asking me to do.

Again, I declined saying that I couldn't leave Twilight here all by herself, too which he simply shrugged: “Then take her with you”.

So here we were, driving along in a captured Japanese jeep, carrying a load of munitions and messages that I had to carry back and forth. By lunch time, we decided to take a break and eat something. It was also the moment that I had the chance to take care of personal needs because of a slightly embarassing incident that envolved me stopping the car and running for my life to get to the forest. Needless to say that I really needed that toilet break.

Though I had to apologise to Twilight when I came back. The young woman had thought that we were under attack and decided to duck behind the back seats. Five hundred apologies later, Twilight soon found the heart to forgive me.

In between each message that we had to pass back and forth, I had begun to ask Twilight a bit more about the thing she was talking about yesterday. She told me as much as she could, she tried to explain the torment that she endured every time she closed her eyes. I had given some thought about these nightmares that she has had. I don't know weather this so called 'Shadow' is realy there in her mind or just a figment of her imagination.

But she told me that this thing always spoke of events as if they were unravelling themselves. As if... time was moving forward in between her sleep. I tried my best to reassure her that she wasn't going crazy and that she was right to tell me about these things. To calm her down, I discovered that she was rather intellectual and that she was rather interested by the workings of a car.

She was rather sad when I told her that I didn't have the time to teach her how to drive. This was neither the time nor the place. Though sadned, Twilight understood and decided to change the subject to my past life. What my family was like, my my home was like, and all that.

Strangely enough, I couldn't seem to explain to her what life was like back then... Back when I was Human.

As the afternoon began to end, Me and Twilight were just finishing our mail runs. We were heading in the direction of the beach and the area that our platoon cleared a few days ago. We reached the forward positions and I gave the necessary information to the forward commander. I saluted, left the bunker and made my way back to the Jeep.

Twilight was still sat in the passengers seat. She was smiling happily with her head back, looking up at the rosy pink sky. I jumped in and started up the Jeep before making our way back towards camp. Twilight continued to look up at the sky. She sighed happily before she turned her gaze towards me. I looked at her for a brief second before turning my attention back to the road.

“What?” I asked, causing Twilight to sigh happily.

“Nothing, it's just that... I never realised how lucky I was that I met you.” She replied, still keeping her gaze on me. “I mean... you and your friends. I've come to appreciate the love and friendship that you guys have given me...” She trailed off. I laughed before I turned my attention back to her.

“No need to thank us Twilight. If anything, we should thank you for the strangeness that you've brought with you.” Twilight didn't reply, she just kept looking at me with a content sigh escaping her lips. I was about to say something else... when... suddenly.

I brought the car to a stop as I watched the edges of the jungle. Twilight stared at me, confused.

“Why have you stopp----” I cut her off by putting a finger to my lips. Slowly but carefully, I got out of the vehicle. Twilight watched me intently as I descended out of the car and out into the road. I walked to about 5 meters from the car. I then came to a complete halt, starring at the overly familiar object lying on the road. I stand there for a minute, staring down at the object, before turning my attention back to Twilight who was looking at me, slightly worried.

“Twilight...”

“Yes?” She asked, a hint of fear in her voice. I gave a small non reassuring smile.

“When I say 'Now', I want you to duck, all right?” I asked, getting a small 'yes' as the only reply. Turning back around, I took one last look at the wire that ran the entire width of the road. This is what people call the beginning of road-side bombing.

Grabbing my combat knife, I contemplated what I was about to do. Either way, we were had. I had no choice, taking one last glance at Twilight who looked ready to take cover. Taking a few deep breaths, I counted down to three.

...One

...Two

...Three

“NOW!!” I yelled as I dived down, grabbing the wire in my left hand while using my right hand to cut the blasted thing. It took only one pull.

The wire cut and I got back up. As I had expected, the second I got up, a loud 'Schlac' came from behind me as a bullet slammed into a tree on the other side of the road. I scrambled on my feet, stumbling a few times. Bullets crashed out into the chassis of the car. I jumped back in with Twilight lying under the seats.

I ducked behind the small door, I managed to get a glimpse of a few Japanese soldiers firing at the car from the left side. I immediately got the car started, getting Twilight to hold the wheel while I used the pedals. I upholstered my 45 and fired a few shots, causing the enemy to throw themselves to the ground to avoid the chaotic trajectory of my salvo.

The enemy gave chase to us on foot. But after a minute or two, Me and Twilight sat back up on the seats. She was sweating but smiling happily... for some reason.

I gave her a confused look, before keeping my attention back onto the road as it began to sway from left to right.

“What?” I asked, looking at her from the corner of my eye.

“Nothing... that was just...well...” She then sighed heavily. I continued to keep my attention on the road ahead of us. “That was rather exciting” She finally admitted. 'Fun? She thought that exciting?

“E-Exciting?” I asked, slightly confused. I mean, we could have died back there, not to mention captured.

“I understand why Rainbow likes that sort of thing so much now.” She said to herself absentmindedly, staring off into the distance.

“You do realise that we could have died, right?” I ask, getting a happy nod from Twilight. “Then how comes--”

“--How comes I'm not shaking with fear?” She suggested, getting a nod as my reply. “You must understand Lou, me and my friends have been through some situations where we've had to cut our escape as close as we did just there... Though I pray to Celestia that we wont have to do anything like that ever again.” She chuckled as she looked at me happily.

Well... as long that she's okay. It must be the adrenalin that's making her so joyful even after the events from a few moments earlier.

It was 18h30 by time we got back. By the time I stopped the vehicle in the motor-pool, Me and Twilight were exhausted. We both stumbled through the lanes as I guided her towards Divisional Headquarters. I told Twilight to wait outside while I gave a report to the colonel.

But this time when I entered the tent, my eyes went wide as my eyes landed on the officers that occupied the room. There was Colonel Sanders, Lieutenant Stone and... Lieutenant-Colonel Evan.F Carlson. They all stood there looking at me. I immediately saluted my commanding officer as he walked over to me.

“Ah Sargent... Colonel Sanders told me that he had sent you out on runner duty.” He said, a small frown on his face as his eyes landed on dirtied and dust covered face. “Damn son, what have you been through?” He asked, raising his eyebrow.

“Ambushed, sir. On the road to eastern positions. I think the forward positions are gonna need cleaning out again.” I reported “Other than that, I am pleased to report that every message has been forwarded to the forward positions, sir.” I said, Sanders nodded before waving me off.

I saluted them, before turning away and heading for the door. Heading for safety.

“One second Sargent”

Oh damn... I silently cursed. Turning back around, I stared at Carlson who was looking at me in an odd way.

“Yes, sir?”

“Uhm... You wouldn't be that French kid from that International squad, would you?” He asked, I gave him a questioning look as he continued to stare at me. Trying to decipher my inner being.

“Yes sir, Lou Albert Conlin.” I replied to his question.

“Oh yes, I remember now... LXAS is your code name...” He paused for a moment before continuing “Where were you from again?”

“Newark, sir. New York.” I said, putting some confusion into my voice.

“No, no, no I mean when you lived in France” He corrected.

“La Réole, in the Sud-Ouest Gironde.” I replied, he didn't say anything, he just stood there, before he finally let me go.

I walked away from the CP with Twilight in tow. She walked along side me as we walked through the half deserted camp. We made a quick stop in my tent. Well... I had to let Twilight go in there to change her clothing. The sun was going down in the distance, behind the trees. As darkness began to engulf the world, I sat down as I waited for Twilight to come back out.

I thought back on the small but somewhat strange conversation that I had with Lieutenant Carlson. I'm pretty sure that it was nothing, but I still found it rather strange.

My train of thought was cut off by the tent flaps opening and a grand majestic figure appearing in front of me. There in front of me, was Twilight, wearing the same khaki clothing, but it seemed to fit her a lot better than before. The trousers that she was wearing were also a lot slimmer and hugged her body nicely, bringig her curves into play. I was dumbfounded by the sight before my eyes. And to top it all off, she was standing with her wings out in the open, while holding the raincoat in her arms.

My mouth was hanging open as a rather large blush appeared on my face. I could feel my cheeks burning. She stood there for a moment before she gave me a worried look.

“A-Are you alright?” She asked, innocently.

“Errr... yeah, sorry its just that... you look really good.” I believe this caused her to blush too. “Sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out like that. Anyway, we should get going, we don't want to get blasted out in the open.” I said getting up, suddenly finding the evening sky rather interesting.

“Sure but ummm... do you think you could show me to the little fillies room?” She asked in a squeak.

XXXXXXXXX

I can't honestly say that the latrine is the nicest place to go. Especially during the night. It was now 22h26 and I was waiting outside the latrine since Twilight had to take care of her... needs. I'm going to tell you guy's that going to the latrine during the night... isn't a very good idea.

I know from past experience.

It must have been during my first week on the island when the Japanese surrounded us. I was here to get some much needed relief when, suddenly, shells began falling amongst us. This was before the screechers began to appear amongst us. I was close to the latrine so I jumped in. Lets just say that jumping into someone else's excrements might keep you alive, but you won't come out clean.

Twilight exited after a few minutes and we made a mad dash for safety. I had to yell the password a few times so that we didn't come under fire from our own fire pockets.

We reached our home and we both jumped in, causing the others to grab their rifles and point them at us. It was only by me giving the password that we avoided a rather dangerous incident. It was pitch black and any and all light was prohibited.

After a few minutes of telling the guys what happened during our day: The ambush, the Colonel, the letters,...

“You want to know something?” Mark whispered, while Jack got into his corner and closed his eyes while Tomy went to the left entrance and took up position.

“What?” I whispered back.

“There was a tree that had collapsed during the bombardment and it had fallen across the road behind us.” He said.

“What's so weird about that?” I asked.

“Well... when I came back after having checked on Jamie's bunker, I noticed that the tree was lying to the side and I hadn't even been gone a minute.” At that moment, I gulped loudly, remembering what had happened this morning. “What happened?”

“It was Twilight.” I sighed, I could tell even in the dark that he was giving me a raised eyebrow. “She was using her magic.” I replied to his unasked question.

“Well... I don't suppose I could take her with me next time so that she can help move all debris?” He asked.

“Of cours--” Twilight began to reply.

“Of course not! What do you think is going on here?! She's an alien princess that we are suppose to keep a secret, remember?” I asked only getting a nod of the head as he remembered the vow that we all made when we first discovered her with her wings and her magic.

“Protect at all costs” we all said at the same time, getting a multitude of 'shhhuutt's from around us. We decide to not talk after that. Instead, Mark, Jack and Twilight all decided to get some rest while I took the right end of the shelter. I slowly set my Johnson on the renewed sandbags.

And we just sat there, waiting.

By midnight, the Jap navy still hadn't shelled us. But in the distance, we could hear something. We were all looking to the East as we could see flashes of light that illuminated the sky like fireworks. Just by looking, we could tell that something unimaginable had begun along the front line. Both sides were firing intensely.

While my attention strayed off into the distance, Mark slowly and quietly slid up beside me. Though he didn't surprise me since I felt him pushing his way beside me, he still made me curious as to why he was here.

“Lovely night, huh?” He asked, looking at the same direction as I was. “Sounds like the 1st division is getting a beating.” He said. I didn't reply, I only grunted or nodded my head in response. “What do you think of Twilight?” He asked as we both looked back at her while she slept.

“What do you mean?”

“Well you know... what do you think of her?”

“I think she's rather...”

“cute?” He asked, I scoffed.

“N-No, I think she's a rather intelligent girl.”

“Oh? Because I think that you don't think that in the slightest.” He smirked.

“Then tell me what you think.”

“I think that you find her really sexy and cute. You've also been spending a lot of time around her even though you are clearly trying to avoid her, so that makes me believe that you like her and that your sexual phobia is getting in the way of what you should be taking care of.” He stated, I could only fiddle with the sight on my LMG. 'Pourquoi a t-il toujours raison?'

“I-I like her, you're right about that. She's cute and adorable, she also has very good looks. I know that I'm probably falling in love with her, but...” I sighed looking back off towards the distance.

“Maybe all you need is some time alone?” He said, trying to get my attention. “Look Lou, we've been friends for a long time and even you know how many girlfriends I've had.”

“Five?”

“Exactly, I'm not the love expert that I claim to be but I am a guy who knows how some feelings come to play.” He then sighed. “What I'm trying to say is that you've got to start thinking about getting past your phobia and then you can start to appreciate the world.” I sighed, knowing that Mark was always right about everything and denying it would be pathetic and useless.

“I know that I'm probably falling for her, but it would be pathetic if I did.” I said taking another glance at Twilight's sleeping form.

“Why?” Mark asked innocently.

“You know why.” I replied. “You and me both know that if I fall in love at a time like this, I may lose my efficiency. If that happens, I could be putting you're lives at risk.” I sighed once more “Anyway, she's going home soon.”

“Are you sure it isn't because she's a pony?”

“Yes and no. Don't get me wrong, she's really beautiful, but I'm a man whose gonna lose too much if I start opening relations with her. All I need to do is get her home and then all these stupid feelings will go away.”

“If you say so, but I think you're missing a good chance here.” Mark said before he looked back in the direction of the gunfire and the flashes.

We continued to stare out into the distance for quite some time. It must have been 0100hrs, and the 'poping' sounds from the distance didn't stop for quite some time. After about three hours since it started an eerie silence descended upon the Island. There were no sounds; no birds, no wind, no gun fire... Me and Mark continued to lay there, looking out to the jungle. This silence wasn't natural, it seemed... off.

A few more minutes passed and me and Mark began to feel increasingly nervous. We continued to lay there for a minute or more before I made my move.

“Mark?”

“Hmm?” he mumbled. I was slowly starting to get up and Mark followed suite.

“I think... we should go back inside.” I said, back stepping back into the shelter. I slowly brought my LMG to the forward vision slit that covered the jungle. I nudged Jack with my foot and he immidiately got. I held finger to my lips, giving him hand signals before he took up a position beside me while Mark spoke to Tomy who was still guarding the opposite entrance. I slowly nudged Twilight awake, causing her to moan and ask what was happening in a low whisper.

I didn't answer. Instead, I slowly made my way over to where I had placed my Machine Gun. Twilight followed me a bit before I told her to place herself on the far side of the shelter where she had more protection.

I slowly stood up and peered through the slit. The jungle seemed to shine in a pale white light, coming from the moonlight. Mark and Jack looked at the jungle as well. We were all looking for signs of movement. For about... half an hour, nothing happened. But the silence still hadn't left, it lingered over the area for way too long. But in half an hour, the others had begun to lose interest.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by a faint 'clack clang clink clac' sound. We usualy refered to this sound as 'the cans'. The cans were a technique that we used like the enemy. It consisted in hanging some old used food cans and placing something that would rattle. We then placed the cans on the barbed wire. The cans would rattle if someone or something tried to cut or get over the wire.

It wasn't often that we heared the cans unless there was a strong wind, or...

… the enemy.

The rattling got louder to the point that Twilight began to ask what it was. The rattling had got the attention of the neighboring bunkers. After a few minutes the sound died. We all started to think to ourselves that it might have just been the wind. You never know in these sort of situations.

After another hour of waiting, without another sound. We all began to start relaxing. False alarm... as usual.

“JAPS!! JAPS!!!!” Came a yell from the right flank. We all got up as another yell echoed through out the jungle. It was the screams from a language that we knew nothing about.

“長い間、エンパワーラーに生きる” Came a yell that we had heard hundreds of times in the past. 'Long live the emperor!'

“JAPS IN THE BUSH, RIGHT FLANK! RIGHT FLANK!!!” came another yell under the yelling of the Japanese soldiers.

My eyes scanned the horizon while all this was happening. But I found myself blinded by a light that illuminated the world around us. It took me a second for my eyes to adjust to the light. To the contrary of what I was expecting, it wasn't a flare, but muzzle flashes!

I watched in awe as tracers flew in every direction. I hadn't even noticed the rifle fire but after a moment my ears reacted to the sound. It was deafening. I suddenly took a look to my left and my right to see that my squad had already taken the decision to return fire. Not waiting for any other motives, I began top lay down suppressive fire over the jungle and where I could see muzzle flashes. Red tracers flew from the Japanese side while we were firing a rainbow of tracers. They were not tracers as to say, but they glowed orange or red when we fired at night.

The Japanese didn't attack. They didn't charge at us either. Instead, they followed a tactict that I've seen only once or twice. They were concentrating their fire on us. Whenever we opened up we immediately came under fire from the left and right. Tomy's position was relatively strong since he didn't have his left flank exposed. I fired roughly... ten to twelve rounds before we all ducked for cover as we say that there was a machine gun that was strafing the entire line. I could see it spewing out red cylinders of light over to the right. The cylinders, seemed to come closer to the left. When it reached us, wood chips started falling all over the place.

Twilight was lying down and she was covering her ears with her hands. When she saw me lying in front of her, she reached her right hand out and I grasped in my left hand.

“Just stay down” I said to her. She nodded in understatement, I gave her one last smile before I spun around and made my way back. I watched as Mark and Jack picked out muzzle flashes and returned fire.

I did the same thing for a while, I gave off short burst of orange flashes consisting two to four rounds each. The bantering of gunfire continued for a long while. 'Pourquoi on a prit cette position!' I thought to myself.

But we were in a dire situation. We couldn't see the Japanese, and we were also running low on ammunition. As if things weren't bad enough, the night sky was illuminated by a dazzling light. We started to think that it was the Japanese who had sent up a flare. Instead, I later found out that it was some rookie lieutenant from Dog company that sent up a flare. My guess was that he was trying to expose the Japanese postions.

Well... it may not have shown us the enemy positions. But in certainly showed the enemy where we were.

We were showered by the enemy who never let up. We couldn't even stand up to return fire. Only Tomy was able to do that. As we got pumled, Tomy poked his head around the corner.

“Their coming across!” He yelled, I peered over the slit and saw a terrifying sight. I watched as wave upon wave of Japs ran across the field. Without thinking, I began to fire at the advancing japs. I mowed at least ten of them down on the first burst before I heard clicks coming from my gun, letting me know that I had to change magazine. As I reloaded, one of the Japs that I had shot, got up and started running towards us. Mark put three holes through him that glowed an orangy-red before he collapsed to the ground.

We watched as wave upon wave appeared from the jungle. I had already used up five mags, I was now down to three. As wood chippings fell from the ceiling I began 'malgrès moi' to start firing again. And it was a mistake that I would come to regret. Once I began to fire... I fired three rounds.

And then it happened.

A red cylinder of light screamed towards me and I saw it coming. It came slowly towards me, but I couldn't move. I could only watch. I wanted to close my eyes but I was frozen in fear. 'This is it' was all I could think. The red tracer slammed loudly into my position. I was completely surprised since it didn't hit me, instead, it slammed straight into the loader compartment of my Johnson. Only split second after that I had assumed that everything was alright, but as my finger kept holding the trigger, another round loaded itself into the gun.

What I wasn't aware of was that the stray Japanese bullet with my name on it had lodged itself in the ejector. So when my gun loaded another round, the spent cartridge didn't eject. It took less than a second...

All I remember doing was screaming in pain. When the round fired, the ejector ejected itself through the bottom of the rifle and wedged itself into the ground, but not before going through my right thigh first. I collapsed to the ground while clenching my teeth. The dim white light emanating from the flare outside gave Jack a little light for him to see what had happened.

Twilight ran to my side while Mark wasted no time in grabbing my gun and tried to fire at the aggressors. In vain. The ejector was gone, and without it, the Johnson was unable to load in another round and eject the old one. He dropped it and continued to lay down some fire to keep the Japs off.

“It's all right.” I reassured Jack who verified the conclusion that I had come too. He got off me and went back to his firing position. I sat up, with Twilight's help, against the far side of the shelter. I motioned for my gun which Twilight encased in her magic and passed it over to me. I gave her a thankful smile while I looked the thing over. Even with this amount of luminosity, I could tell that the ejector had ripped through the gun belt. Though the gun belt wasn't necessary, I would still need a new ejector.

Then an idea came to mind.

There was another shelter roughly twenty meters behind us. In that shelter, was a guy named Robert. He was the supply Sargent for the Division. I knew that he must have had at least one ejector to spare. While Twilight kept holding my leg to apply pressure, I slowly slid up the wall. The flare had since died down, but I had an idea of where Robert's shelter was. I just hopped that I could get out, or that he could get out to give it to me. I stood up entirely without pressing myself against the wall for balance. Once I up, I shouted through the slit.

“Robert! Robert I need a--”

I didn't get the chance to finish my sentence as a bullet went right through my right shoulder and out the other side. I didn't even get the chance to scream as my body went limp. Unable to stand I collapsed backwards. Twilight rushed to my side and began ripping my shirt open. Even in the dark, she could feel the cold liquid feeling of blood.

“Jack!” She hollowed, Jack rushed over and tried to find the wound.

“Damn it...” He paused, I could feel his hand slide across my torso as he tried franticly to find the wound. “I can't find the wound.” Just as he said that, a faint purple light appeared above me. We both looked to see Twilight still kneeling over me with a faint violet aura sparkling around her hand. With light show happening outside, We couldn't care less if she was causing some light.

With the help of Twilight's light, Jack finally found the wound. The only thing I could do was look up at him with a smile.

“Ooooh... I don't think I should have done that.” I said aloud. Causing Jack to laugh.

“You should never do anything that you do.” He said, applying some powder to the hole in my shoulder. I couldn't feel myself that much. As if I was loosing my sense of touch.

“I feel really sleepy.” I said to them, getting the attention of Mark and Tomy. They all held looks of sheer worry on their faces. Jack looked at Twilight, who looked at him, before they returned their attention back to me. Suddenly and without warning, Jack slammed his fist down on my leg, where the ejector had spliced through it. I was pretty sure that my scream could be heard, even with the blazing gun fire from outside.

“What the hell was that for!” I screamed at him.

“Just making sure that you're not going to give out on us.” He shrugged. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. There was no denying it, I was scared.

Jack continued to try and stop the bleeding, and in my point of view, he thought that he had succeeded. But I could feel my body going limp, though I dare not say anything. No, I dare not say anything. Jack stood up again and turned his attention to Twilight. “You keep your eyes on him, and if he starts to close his eyes, I want you to hit him as hard as you can.” Twilight nodded in understanding, while Jack grabbed his Carbine and returned back to covering the front.

I just layed there, feeling way too weak to even move. So I laid there for god knows how long. The only thing I could do was listen. But, in the end, I could feel myself loosing the endless fight for life. I gave one last look at Twilight. Our gazes met for the briefest of moments, and then everything went dark.

…... And it was in those moments...

That I took command...

XXXXXXXXX

I remember hearing Twilight call for Jack's help. When I turned my head to see what was going on, all I saw was Twilight cradling Lou on her lap. Jack was about to see what was wrong but our attention was diverted as another wave of attackers charged towards us.

Jack was forced to stay here with us, I could only pray that nothing was wrong. All I could here was Twilight calling Lou's name, each call getting higher and higher in pitch. When I turned my attention to them, I saw that Lou was leaking blood all over the place. I pointed it out to Jack who tried to get to them but the Japs were giving us the best they had.

A grenade exploded a few feet away from me, sending me backwards next to Lou and Twilight. I rubbed my face clean of dirt and grit, taking the moment into opportunity, I put my index and middle finger to get a pulse.

Though very faint, I could still feel one. Twilight looked at me with a worried look.

“There's a pulse, but if we don't do something soon, we're gonna loose him!” I yelled over the racket outside. She looked down at him, a look that I had seen many times before when I was with my girlfriends. She then looked up at me with a determined look on her face.

“I have to use my magic.” She said, causing me to give her a strange look.

“But we don't know what it'll do to him. I don't want you turning him into a Pumpkin.” I said to her, causing her to raise an eyebrow in annoyance.

“Look Mark, I'm the only one who can help your friend and mine. If turning him into a pumpkin is the risk, then it's a risk we must take.” She said, bringing her hand over the wound and making the violet aura glow brighter than before. I grabbed her hand and looked deep into her eyes. She raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to do something. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

Opening them slowly, I looked at her again. “We'll cover you.” Once I said that, a smile came across her face. Lou may have been my superior, but as of now, I was in charge. 'I'm sorry Lou'

I went back to covering the left flank where me and Lou were sat just before this night went down hill. While we fired, Twilight continued to do her stuff. But suddenly we heard gurggling noises coming from them. We all turned to see Lou coughing up blood. Twilight held a scared look on her face as Lou continued to caugh up his own blood.

We were about to help them but we stopped when Twilight yelled and threw her glowing hand up in the air and shoved it inside the wound. The index and middle finger, at least. Lou's body shuddered and glowed purple. Twilight had her eyes clenched shut for the first few moments, but suddenly, her eyes shot open.

And... they were white... Like white. Pure white. We all fell back I shock as a wave of energy burst out from the two people sat in the centre of the shelter.

We were all lost in confusion and fear. We suddenly heard a yell coming from the right entrance. A jap showed up in the entrance and fired a round into the shelter. And in all my life, I'd yet to have seen something as bizarre as what happened next. The bullet crashed somewhere in the shelter, but Twilight snarled and turned her attention to him. Her eyes glowed white and caused the man to scramble in fear. She then raised her free left hand up at him. A large burst of energy consumed the man, sending him flying backwards out of sight. We all stared at Twilight in sheer shock.

The whole event lasted less than a minute. Lou's body fell limp by Twilight's knees as she pulled her hand from the wound. Jack rushed over while Twilight collapsed backwards, panting heavily. Me and Tomy started firing at the Japs that were still coming at us in overwhelming numbers. As I reloaded my Johnson, I caught Jack trying to turn Lou over. He noticed my confusion and answered my unasked question.

“He's in a bad way, Mark” He began, as he dragged Lou over to a more suitable position. “I need to get him to the MASH” He yelled as wood chips fell from the roof and onto the floor. I took a tentative look out onto the field. The amount of dead Japs was amazing, and yet they were still coming. I took another look at Jack who was trying to lift Lou up.

Action was needed, and I was the only one who could make it work.

I scrambled over to the right entrance and looked out to our neighbouring shelter. One of the guys was called Bill McEnroe. He was in third squad of our platoon, and if anyone could give us some cover, it was them. As tracers flew pass me, I yelled out into the darkness.

“Bill! BILL!!”

“What!” Came a reply a few seconds after.

“Lou's been hit, he's in a bad way.” I called out again

“What the hell am I supposed to do about it?!”

“We need cover fire! We can't hold this position any longer!!” I shouted back. It took a few moments for a reply.

“All right, we'll cover you!” He shouted back. I turned my attention back to the others, only turning my torso to tell them what we were going to do. But there was a sudden a muffled explosion that came from behind me, followed by screams and cries for help. I turned my head and saw smoke rising from Bill's shelter. All I could do was sit there, we had lost our cover. But more than that, I had lost a good friend.

Bill was a friend from my home town. We used to go to school together. 'Oh god' was the only thought that ran through my head. With out even thinking, I shot up and crossed the darkness with out even listening to my friends. I jumped into Bill's shelter. And witnessed the horror of the fury of Mankind.

In front of me, were three men. One had his head blown off and the remains were splayed across the wall. Another man was alive but he was missing his left leg and his left cheek. The third man was hunched over and when I pulled him up, his his chest cavity opened and his lungs and liver as well as his stomach slid out of his body.

I vomited all over the place, I let my own stomach spew all over the place as the atrocity was too much for me. The last man was Bill. He was alive but both his legs were gone, I darted forward as I tried to help him. Though my vomit was still tribbling from my mouth, causing a nasty mix of blood and puke.

“Don't worry Bill, we'll get you out of here.” I said, trying to reassure him. He only smiled in return and continued to hold his leg. I brought him into my embrace and we sat there. In the cold, vomit smelling shelter that had now become a slaughter house.

XXXXXXXXX

After Mark ran off, I was left alone with the others. Tomy was still wondering what was going on and Twilight was still trying her best to care for Lou. I needed to get Lou to the field Hospital. But now that we had lost our cover and Mark had gone into the fire. I was left here with out anyother option than to stay here.

All we could do now was stay here and wait until the battle was over. But it seemed to be an eternaty that the Japs were attacking us. So all I could do was leave Lou and continue protecting us as best I can.

Another wave came at us again. After having fired my rifle so long, I no longer had any self control. As the Japs continued to yell and charge at us, I lost my nerve. I screamed by the top of my lungs as I emptied the magazine of all its ammo. I continued to yell, caught so far into my rage that I had failed to notice the 'click' -ing sound made by the gun as there were no rounds left. I continued pulling the trigger and kept on yelling until I finally realized that everything had gone quiet. The shooting, the exploding, the screaming... all had faded into the quiet of the night. The 'ssshhhhh' sound of another flare being launched lit up the entire night sky. I looked out on what had happened.

But I couldn't see a thing.

To get a view of what was happening, I exited the bunker. And it was in the dim light that I went to see... I went to see the destruction that I had caused. And as the flare began to die down, all I could see, were piles of corpses. They were so close to the shelter that I understood the reason as of why I couldn't see what was happening when I was standing at the vision slit. But now...

I rushed over into Bill's shelter after having heard calls for help. Inside, I found Mark surrounded by four other men. Immediately called Tomy over to help. I rushed back to our own shelter and found Twilight standing up with Lou slumped over her shoulder. I immediately rushed to help her. The possibility that the Japanese were still there stayed in my mind, but my friends needed help. And there was nothing that was going to stop me.

As me and Twilight crossed the camp, we saw more Marines doing the same thing. I watched, as my eyes landed on some screechers, lying lifeless on the ground in the middle of the compound. When we entered the MASH, the place was busy with doctors running from room to room. A medic examined Lou under the light and I was shocked when I saw the wound had almost completely healed. There was still a small hole but it wasn't going right through.

Twilight stayed next to him. She was wearing her raincoat like she was told to.

“I'm sorry Twilight, but I've got to go and check on Mark and the others. Do you mind staying here while I do that?” I asked her, getting a small, absent minded nod from her. Taking one last look at Lou on the stretcher, I made my way back out into the darkness.

XXXXXXXXX

I have no idea how long I was sat there for. Humans in white lab coats and masks, ran back and forth throughout the entire time I was there. I saw more Humans being brought in with missing legs or for legs 'arms' Lou said.

Either way, my friend was lying on a bed in a room filled with people like him. They were all injured and in all my years as bearer of the Element of Magic, I've never seen so much despair. Some of these people were calling for their mothers, others were begging for water. After what seemed like an eternity, Lou began to shift.

He was still out cold, but according to the doctor, he was going to be fine. I hadn't got a wink of sleep, and truthfully... I didn't want too. I had seen my fair share of nightmares today, I didn't need to see what horrors the shadow has been preparing for me.

It still amazes me how long I've been here for! It seems like only yesterday that Lou and his friends found me out in the jungle. Except, that was seven days ago!

Now that I thought about it in more detail, I had been lucky to have been found by them. Not to mention brought back by them! They could have left me in that cave, thinking that I was crazy! But they didn't, they brought me with them without even knowing if I was who I said I was. But at least I've got that cleared up.

They're so kind! If I were to right a friendship report, I would definitely mention their characterisation and their kindness. In a way, I think I've grown rather attached to them in more ways than one. And maybe one than all of them.

Lou.

Lou's the kindest Human I've ever met. He sure out looks Flash in a few aspects. And he's been with me throughout this whole ordeal without even questioning my identity. But he has proven to me his loyalty. He's like Rainbow Dash in some ways. He puts his friends first. Just like this morning, he got out of that rather uncomfortable vehicle and proceeded to put my life first by making sure that he got wounded by that um... 'bul it?' instead of me!

Today sure has been a rough day. The roughest I've had since I got here. And from the looks of it, it wasn't gonna get better. The attack ended around three ô clock in the morning, but only a few minutes after Jack left me here with Lou. Massive explosions of assorted magic erupted throughout the camp. I was thrown to the ground by the first explosion, and I was expecting everyone to scatter and evacuate the Hospital or the MASH as Lou and his friends called it. But there was no screaming to take cover. No order of evacuation, just a few doctors running past and taking care of their patients.

One Human fell to the floor with a rather loud scream. Immediately, three doctors came running out, covered in blood and brought the man back onto the bed. I could only watch, dumbfound at the sight of this.

They were all acting so calm! None of the doctors that were operating in the other room were running away from the chaos. Instead, they greeted the chaos like an acquaintance. They dealt with the flows of injured Humans as they came.

I doubt that any Equestrian doctor would stay with his patient during such a furious bombardment. And this is what surprises me so much: 'How come a species so kind and caring towards one and another, would try and blast the each other into Tartarus?!' Lou had explained to me a few of the details about 'Mankind' that I should be aware of.

Even being a parallel Universe, this place isn't all that different from Human-Estria. And yet... they are so different. Not that these Humans are mostly the same colour, but they all share certain personalities. I would never had believed that something like this could ever happen to such a species.

And what I witnessed tonight... all those pour people lying out dead in the space between our house and the edge of the jungle.

There was so much blood... How?

And I made the situation worst by not only using my magic on one of my new friends but also by hurting another Human who was trying to kill us. Does that make my case a case of self defence, or did I really harm that pour Human out of hatred. Had I become one of them?

Either way, if I hadn't done anything, we would most certainly be dead. Their was no way of telling you the way my heart feels right now. I had just broken every law and dynasty that I'm suppose to represent.

And as the explosions continued to sound outside and the screams of people continued to fill the air inside and out, I laid my head down onto Lou's chest. The unfamiliar heart beat bringing hope to my ears, and with its rhythm, I drifted off to sleep.

“Hello... Princess!” Came the indescribable dark voice. And the only thing I could do, was close my eyes and await my punishment.

Comments

[p61blkwidow]

man what an intense chapter! my heart was pounding while i read it!well done once again to you on this fine story!thank you for a great read!

[FIRE FLASH 3]

8189560 You are most welcome. Thank you so much.