Equestrian Wars

by Saacsa

Friends Through Bloodshed

I saw a large tent with a red cross on it in the distance, away from everypony else. The word 'Hospital' crossed my mind. It wasn't as massive as Headquarters, but it was still pretty huge. I walked over to it and entered through the front flap. Empty white beds occupied the space near the walls and were lined up neatly all the way to the far end. Yep. Hospital. Or as close as you can get to one in the midst of a battle. I shuddered at the invading image of what this place would look like after said battle, regardless if we win or not. I quickly buried it along with as many disturbing or unsettling thoughts as possible.

"You're very curious about something so serious." A foreign voice rhymed from behind me. I spun around and saw a zebra that was, at most, a few inches taller than the other ponies. She wore golden rings all down her neck and front left hoof. She also had two large ones for ear rings and her mane was styled to that of a mo-hawk. She had a very mystical look about her, to say the least. There was something else about her that was different. Something that was... Missing.

"You're not wearing a battle suit?" I asked, furrowing my brow as I came to the conclusion.

"I will not be on the front line. I shall be helping wounded soldiers to once more shine. So that if we fail today, we can jump right back into the fray." She explained.

"Ah. My name is Jack." I said, extending my hand in greeting.

"Yes, I know your name. But mine is Zecora. Nice to meet you, if its all the same." She rhymed again.

"Why do you rhyme?" I asked.

"Is it a crime?" She answered with a sly smile, rhyming my words. It made me chuckle lightly.

"I have to admit, I walked right into that one." I said. "Anyways, nice to meet you. I'm glad that somepony treats me as their equal instead of their authority." I said with a smile.

"Any day. Now, you should be on your way. I must prepare for the battle's aftermath and you must show the Changelings your wrath." She said and continued into the tent to put some finishing tucks into the bed sheets. I nodded and exited the tent. I looked around to find anything interesting to explore, but it was to no avail.

"Look out!" I heard a dopey voice call down to me. I looked up just in time to see a blonde maned Pegasus, in full freaking armor, with greyish blue wings falling out of control at me. This is going to hurt. My eyes widened in shock; I didn't have time to move out of the way. She crashed into me with a thud and I was thrown off of my feet.

"Oof!" I grunted as the wind was knocked out of me on impact.

"Oh my!" The voice said worriedly, "I'm so sor-... What the hay are you?" She asked with confusion. I rolled my dazed head over and blinked several times in an attempt to focus my blurred vision. It worked. The greyish blue Pegasus, who had removed her helmet, was staring at me with one eye. I furrowed my brow in puzzlement as I tried to focus on her other eye, which was wandering everywhere. I don't know what made me think this, but I thought that if I could catch the pupil with mine, it would focus in. I guess it was the random knock to the skull. Oh well, it didn't work.

"I thought all of you ponies knew who, and what, I am." I said back, still a little bit dazed.

"I don't." She said. Then her eyes widened as she realized who and what I was. "Oh gosh! I really am sorry! You must be Jack! The human that everypony has been talking about." She apologized as I got up and brushed myself off while shaking my head to clear it. "My name's Ditzy! Ditzy Doo!" She greeted with a bright smile and a hoof extended. I shook it and then she added, "But most ponies call me..." She paused and frowned a little bit. "Derpy." A slight disdain crept into her voice. I frowned slightly.

"That doesn't seem very nice." I said, then smiled again. "I think I'll call you by your real name." Ditzy lifted her head and smiled lightly.

"Hey Derpy! How's the eye?" A taunting and obnoxious laugh came from the side. Whoever it was, they couldn't see me because of the open tent flap. So, naturally, I got an idea.

"Ditzy, act like you're talking to yourself!" I urgently whispered with a devious grin and slipped under the tent before she could protest.

"Yeah, uh, um..." A stupider voice stuttered, trying to find the right insult. "Stupid eye!" He found it. I was disappointed to say the least.

"Come on guys..." Ditzy said in a hopeless tone. "We're about to have a battle." She tried to make up a logical excuse to get out of the bullying. It sounded like she had been in this place before, no doubt she had.

"Yeah, guys. We're about to have a battle." A third, smoother voice mocked. I snuck around and crept out from under the other side of the tent behind them and saw three larger, male Pegasi closing in on Ditzy. The middle one had a dark blue coat and green mane while the right one had a yellow mane and a red coat. Lastly, the one on the left had a black coat and a blue mane.

"We can't go into battle like this." He said. The the bottom of his armor slid open and something dropped out. I knew exactly what it was and what they planned to do with said... Organ... But my mind wasn't wanting to accept it. The other two followed the leader. I stood in a shocked silence as the closed in on her. This was escalating just a little to quickly for me.

"Nooo..." Ditzy tried to protest, but it was a helpless sounding one. Like she had been through this many times already. In my book, one time was to many. I came up behind them with my most serious face on and cracked my knuckles loudly. Their armor instantly shot up around their members and clicked shut. Ditzy's eyes widened in happiness and hope sparkled in them.

"What do we have here?" I said.

"Nothing but us friendly Pegasi, sharing a conversation." The leader said nonchalantly while still facing away from me. I scoffed disapprovingly at the lie. He whipped around, expecting to see another male pony, but their eyes widened and even their leader momentarily lost his cool as their eyes trailed up to my face.

"Is there a problem?" He asked with his cool returning.

"There are three things I hate most in life. The third being fake stupidity while the second is real stupidity. And your friend over there looks chock-ful of both." I said, then looked down menacingly after glancing at the red and yellow Pegasus, "The first and foremost, is rape." I said with venom. A spark of true anger flared within me. They all put a hoof forward to intimidate me. I laughed and stepped forward twice, towering over the three. This made them retract.

"Don't be hasty..." The leader said with a frightened chuckle.

"How often?" I asked without backing down.

"Three times a week." The red and yellow one blurted out in fear. The leader hit him in the head with a hoof. It seems that I was right in pointing him out as the stupid one. "Ow! Sorry, I blurt the truth when scared..." He embarrassingly admitted. I was shocked by the frequency of said... actions... But did not let it show on my face. It was way to often.

"For how long?" I asked in a deep growl.

"Th-The past y-year!" The stupid one blurted again, this time earning an even harder hit to the head.

"Hey, pal. I don't think your buddy can loose anymore brain cells before he goes into a coma." I said, not being able to pass up the chance to insult him.

"Yeah!" The stupid one said, then realized what I had said. "Hey!" He shouted in offense.

"And he proves my point to boot! This is priceless." I said with a cruel chuckle. Maybe I took it a little to far, but these guys were about to rape a defenseless mare. They deserved every bit of my verbal insults. And maybe more.

"Anyway, you've been doing this to much for to long. If you ever lay a hoof on her again, I'll have your heads on my wall." I threatened very seriously. Their pupils shrank to the size of pea's on a dinner plate as they turned and flew away as fast as they could.

"Thank you... I won't forget this." Ditzy said with a very happy smile.

"Don't mention it. It was definitely a pleasure." I said, "Why didn't you tell any of the other ponies?" I asked.

"They... They threatened my filly... I couldn't let them hurt my daughter like that." She said. Anger flared in me again as I balled my hands into fists.

"Cowards." I said. Her eyes widened as she realized something.

"Dinky!" She shouted in worried fright and shot off in the direction that the three Pegasi went. My helmet suddenly clicked up over my head.

"What's going on? Is this thing malfunctioning?" I asked the air. I didn't expect a response, but I got one.

"One of my machines, malfunctioning?! Of course not, darling! I can remotely control the suit from here." Rarity explained.

"That's unsettling." I muttered.

"I just heard everything and I believe that it would be a splendid time to tell you about another feature of your armor." She said, ignoring my comment. "A very nifty and useful one at that. One the opposite side of the blue button for raising and lowering your helmet, there is a red button. Press it." She instructed through the speaker. I searched for the small button and found it quickly. I pressed it and felt two large objects click out of the back of my suit, then droop down.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Wings. Now, this is going to sting a bit..." She warned in a manner that told me this was going to hurt. A lot. Before I had time to react, two white-hot needles pierced my back and began to send shots of fire through the nerves and bone in my shoulder blades. I cried out in tortured agony, but then the pain disappeared. It was like popping you arm back into it's socket after having it dislocated. Except you had to multiply the initial pain by ten. But I gained a new feeling. New appendages. I flapped the wings a few times, gaining some air. I began to steer through the wind in the direction that Ditzy had hurried to.

"Thanks, Rarity. Even if it was utter hell for a few seconds." I said.

"Anytime, darling." She replied. I soon came upon a smaller tent with an image of bubbles tattooed onto it. There was a movement from inside and then I heard Ditzy let out a muffled scream, followed by a fearful feminine voice saying "Help, mommy!" Anger flooded and overwhelmed me. I gripped my hands into fists and shot down in front of the tent. I heard familiar voices inside.

''Not so tough when your big oaf isn't here to protect you, huh?" The smoother male seethed. "And now, to attend to sweet little Dinky..." He said malevolently.

"No! Take me instead! Just don't hurt her!" Ditzy cried. I burst through the flap of the tent to see two of the three male Pegasi from earlier crowding an almost eighteen year-old mare who looked terrified while the stupid one pinned Ditzy and was about to rape her. But they all froze when they saw me. A moment of tense silence settled.

"Ditzy," I spoke, my voice rattling with bottled anger, "That was unbelievably reckless." I said. My eyes shot over to the three Pegasi, who were backing away in fear. "As for you three... I wasn't joking back there." I said and felt the anger finally explode like a supernova in the sky. I dashed forward and grabbed the leader by the throat, only to be bucked in the side and out of the tent. For a second, my world was a haze. It was like I had downed a rather large bottle of champagne.

''You're not taking us down so easily." The black and blue one said.

I rolled my head over to see the stupider sounding one kick Ditzy one more time before the tent flap fell again. Big mistake. Rage once more overwhelming me and I threw my body off of the ground. I punched the Pegasus that knocked me out of the tent dead in the muzzle before he could react. He cried out in pain and flew to the ground, holding his bleeding muzzle while looking at me through fear-filled tears. I walked over to him and drew my handgun. His eyes begged for mercy, but today was not a day for such things to a monster like him. I pointed the barrel at his head.

"I stay true to my word. You are no different from those Changelings. Cum stain." I spat coldly. His pupil dilated in horror before I put his brain into the ground with a laser blast.

"Cobalt!" The leader shouted what I guessed was the name of the black, blue, and now red Pegasus in saddened fury.

He shot forward and hit me in the chest with his hoof, sending me flying again to the ground. Luckily, I had secured my handgun. He jumped on top of me and started to punch my helmet in rapid and blind rage. As his hooves flew at me, tears formed in his angered eyes. I felt something pop and blood spewed on the inside of my helmet, then a rush of more painful agony ran across my face as error messages and caution lights popped up on my Heads Up Display. I flung my fist into his ribs and threw him off of me.

I clicked my helmet off and a miniature pool of blood splattered onto the dirt. I reached up and took a deep breath. I snapped my nose back into place and a fresh wave of pain rushed through my face. Then relief. I wiped the blood from my nose and walked over to the crumpled heap of the leaders body. I probably cracked a rib or two with that punch. Oh well, it wouldn't matter in a few seconds anyway. I grabbed my handgun once more and pointed it at his head.

"No!" The stupid sounding one yelled. My head had a split second to turn before I was bucked in the side again, this time with significantly more force. I hit the ground pretty hard with an enormous amount of pain erupting from my side. I tried to cry out in pain, but couldn't find the air. My dazed head rolled over to see the crippled leader flying away in the sun. I raised my hand that was still holding the Grave Digger to fire at the fleeing Pegasus, but it was kicked away and my hand crushed under a hoof. This time, however, I did find the air to cry out in agony. I even coughed a few times, tasting copper. No, tasting blood. He smiled in triumph, but it was momentary. He looked up and his victory was quickly changed into a nightmarish defeat.

"For thy's crime's against pony-kind, I sentence thee to death." A cold, yet majestic voice that I knew well (and was really glad to hear) said.

"No!" The terrified pony cried out and tried to fly away, but was shot in the back of the head with a midnight blue bolt. He hit the ground with a thud and stayed there, painfully still.

"Jack!" Twilight's voice rang out and I felt her slid next to my body. "Fluttershy! Get over here quickly!" She shouted.

"No." I croaked out. "I-I'll be fine. Take care of Ditzy and her daughter." I coughed some more blood onto my battered armor. I tried to get up, but only made it halfway before horrid pain forced me back to the ground.

"No way! You're our last hope!" She said.

"Then I can't be bed ridden. Use magic or something on me! Just help Ditzy and Dinky first." I said with urgent seriousness. Twilight momentarily paused, searching her mind for something to use against my logic. She found nothing and looked back in the direction that she came from. She nodded at who I guessed was Fluttershy. I was proven correct when she flew over me and into the tent.

"Twilight Sparkle. Stand back, I shall heal Jack." Luna's voice floated to my ears.

"But Princess, what about-?"

"I have the Ambroci." Luna interrupted the lavender mare. I was suddenly surrounded in a teal aura that lifted me off of the ground and turned me in the direction of Luna, who's horn was glowing the same color. "Focus on your injuries. We will need the fullest amount of concentration we can get to heal your bones and organs." She said. I closed my eyes and focused on the pain in my body. I heard a loud crack followed by many snaps and cracks. I screamed in tortured agony as pain pierced my senses so badly that black spots materialized in my vision. Twilight caught me on her back when the blue aura vanished.

The pain was brief, like the wings, but so much more intense. I almost passed out. Honestly, I would rather die than go through that shit again. My eyes fluttered open as Twilight laid me on the soft grass. A good, but tingling, sensation lingered on the area's of my injuries, but the pain had been obliterated, quite brutally at that.

"Can't stay out of trouble, can you?" Twilight joked as I got up from the ground and brushed the dust off of my freshly repaired suit.

"I could, but what fun would that be?" I said with a smirk. It earned a laugh. Then I decided to focus on more important things. I turned to the Princess of the Night. "Luna, one of them got away. The leader. He was dark blue in the coat and had a light green mane. He was also a Pegasus." I reported. "We have to find him, and until we do." I paused and looked back at Ditzy's tent. "I recommend we take her and her daughter into special protection."

"We'll send search parties out. Of course, we will get Ditzy and Dinky both back to the medical tent. After all, Zecora is a better healer with more equipment than Fluttershy." Luna said and put on a gentle smile. "It's good to see that you have made a friend. Even under the horrid circumstance, I am proud to call you my friend." I let a smile flicker across my face for a moment.

"I need to go and check on her. After that, we'll win ourselves a war." I said confidently as I turned around and walked to the entrance of Ditzy's tent. I lifted up the flap and ducked under the top of it. Fluttershy was wrapping a few places in bandages and had Ditzy wearing a gauze pad over her left eye. She smiled when her good eye locked onto me and Fluttershy looked up, doing the same.

"Thank you, Jack. You are the best friend a mare could have. And I have only known you for a few minutes!" She said with a laugh in her slightly hoarse voice. Then a light lavender colored Unicorn with a blond mane strode out from the shadows with a suave look.

"And you must be Dinky." I said.

"I am." She replied, then gave me a gentle smile. "Thank you. I'll see you on the front lines, Jack." She said. I have no clue why, but my heart leapt into my throat as I looked into her deep, yellowish auburn eyes.

"Th-They are going to put you in protective care with your mother until that mad-pony is caught." I said, fighting an embarrassed blush from my mishap with words. Why did this matter to me? Why did I care what she thought of me? She laughed whole-heartedly.

"Well, they're going to be dragging me then." She said and trotted out of the tent, slightly amused, but still cool and collected. The polar opposite of her mother.

"I'm glad to have such a cool daughter." Ditzy spoke nicely. "She may seem calm and cool on the outside, but you saw her when you came for the rescue." Ditzy shuddered as the memory crossed her mind. "Protect her if she is in trouble."

"Of course. I didn't come all the way out here to save her just to let her die on the battlefield." I chucked and Ditzy let out a light laugh with me.

"Why don't they just use magic to heal you and the rest of the ponies like they did me?" I asked as the thought came to mind.

"Because," Twilight's voice came from behind me as she entered the tent. "Magical healing isn't permanent. Not to mention, it has dangerous consequences to the pony that attempts it." She said, then saw the look of uncertainty in my eyes. Partially from the amount of time I had until those mortal wounds came back and how Luna was holding up. "But don't fret, you have three hours. Luna gave almost all of her power to heal your injuries. Luckily, she had a vial of that Ambroci stuff. She has one vial left. For Celestia after the spell." Relief crossed back onto my face.

"Well... What are we still doing here? We have three hours to storm the castle, kill Chrysalias, and get Celestia back to her body. And so we go!" I said and walked out of the tent with a small smile, accompanied by Twilight, Ditzy, and Fluttershy.

Author's Note:

Like always, tell me if I made an error and i shall fix it as quickly as possible! Stay Brony, my friends.