In the colonel’s mind, he was back in Atlantis, with Nautinia at his back. His cocky Pegasus sister Crystal Shard stood next to him, her azure eyes staring into his hazel ones. This was probably the last time the siblings would be able to talk normally.
Dark clouds covered the sky above their opponent. A mile away, protected by magical barriers the Atlantean Unicorns were ready to try to break, lay the Domination Army. Thousands of tents and siege equipment were sprawled across the landscape, which was itself no longer anything more than cratered hills and littered with the bodies of the dead, both Atlantean and Dominion. Four long months of artillery and trench warfare quickly created a no-mare’s-land between the city and its attackers.
But today was no ordinary part of the siege, holding back enemy forces. No, this time would be different. Today, as the Domination Army approached the trenches, Atlantis would hit it with everything they had. If they lost, so be it. Crimson and the rest of the 16th Aerostrike Regiment would rather go down with a fight.
Crystal Shard was getting restless. The 1st and 7th Aerostrike Regiments had already gone into action, taking out key ponies leading the Dominion operation. They were up next, ordered to assist the 3rd Division, comprised of five regiments: 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th. Though the 13th was the unluckiest group of bastards anypony could see, having lost all but literally seventeen ponies, they fought like hell. And the 16th Aerostrike was to keep 13 alive in five minutes.
Crimson found himself pacing the runway with his wingman, Midget Shortwit. He would have preferred to have his sister with him to keep an eye on her, the generals thought it best if the two siblings stayed separate. That way, it wasn’t as likely for both to be killed in the same battle. Midget was a great wingman, though, having willingly taken bullets and crossbow bolts for Crimson to keep the Major from dying. And Crimson returned the favor on more than one occasion as well, diving to catch Midget as the lead balls hit him instead of Crimson.
“Time’s up! Major Dawn, cover the 3rd Division!” called out the Russian-accented voice. It was Brigadier General Blue Angel, in command of Aerostrike Regiments 11-20. He was an honorable Unicorn, with his brown stub of a beard and a Stalin-like moustache, which he was extremely proud of. The Unicorn loved his soldiers very much, and would go out into battle alongside them if rank and a lack of wings didn’t stop him.
Crimson and Midget went to full gallop in the direction of the 3rd Division, carrying a crossbow, a short sword in its sheath, and a quiver of bolts. Once at the end of the runway, they spread their wings and took flight, the other two hundred pairs behind them. The weight of their weapons required the running start, but they had saved Crimson on multiple occasions. He trusted his tools and comrades with his life.
An artillery shell streaked overhead from a Dominion battery. It screamed its flight and slammed into the camp behind Crimson. Soon after, the other units in the battery began firing anti-air shells, exploding halfway to their targets and shredding Pegasi. The regiment weaved left and right to avoid a bloody death.
The Major looked below to check on 3rd Division. The Atlantean ground forces were getting wrecked as the Domination Army creeped closer to the trenches. Repeaters and crossbows were becoming useless, the ammunition rapidly depleting. Meanwhile, the Dominion had employed a Minotaur, ten feet tall and all muscle. That guy was taking a beating, with thirty bolts in his chest, six bullet holes, and still wielding that enormous battleaxe. The Minotaur waved the twelve-foot blade of death in the air at a pair of Pegasi, missing by a hair's width.
As a second pair swooped in to dive-bomb the Minotaur, he swung up and embedded the bloodstained blade into the body of the lead Pegasus. The scream of a thousand tears pierced the air, and the crystalline mare fell to the surface. It took a second for Crimson’s mind to register the voice: it was Crystal Shard.
Immediately after, Midget cried out as a Dominion anti-air fragment tore through his body and he fell to earth, dead before he hit the ground. The wingman had taken the shot instead of Crimson, who had lapsed in the heat of battle for that split second.
Crimson rolled as another fragment flew by, turning in the direction of the Minotaur and cannonballing to increase speed. He uncoiled just before hitting the ground, pulling out his crossbow with his wing and shooting the Minotaur. The muscled half-bull turned to face its newest challenger, pissed off by the sudden attack. It was standing over Crystal Shard, about to deliver the final blow when Crimson shot it.
The crystalline Pegasus was breathing heavily, warm blood oozing out the deep wound and her mouth as she coughed weakly. Her pupils were slowly dilating, the life leaving her and soaking into the soil. Her short sword lay just beside her, having fallen off as she hit the ground.
The Minotaur closed the distance between it and Crimson in less than a second, swinging its battleaxe in a warrior’s charge. The Major dodged the attack swiftly, dropping his crossbow and kicking off a Dominion pony to rebound towards his sister. His quiver spilled bolts all over the earth where he had flown over, covering the ground in sharp iron points. He pulled out his repeater and emptied its magazine on the Minotaur, enraging it even more and opening wounds in its bare, muscular chest. Red blood came from the holes, but Crimson knew it wouldn’t be enough.
Seeing their commander deadlocked against the Minotaur, other Pegasi swooped in to pelt the monster with bolts and bullets. The assault only pissed it off more, and it swung its battleaxe, taking out three more Pegasi before Crimson yelled for them to protect the trenches. They flew back worriedly.
One landed in the 15th Regiment, the one dead center and closest to the duel. He called out over the noise, “Major Dawn’s still out there! We gotta go help him! Relay the message to everypony in the line!”
Upon hearing the legendary Pegasus’s peril, the Earth ponies and Unicorns in the trenches roared. Crimson had fought at Aquarius River, nearly four years ago, and was one of the reasons this war hadn’t been lost yet. They readied their spears, swords, crossbows, and guns for one last charge - the Final Stand. Once a volley from the Domination Army whizzed overhead, they rose from the trenches and climbed over the earthenworks.
“CHARGE!!!” called a Colonel, leading the 15th Reg. into battle.
The other ponies saw their comrades charge and followed suit. Soon, the entire front line was barreling towards the enemy, firing their weapons at inconsistent intervals. Behind them, the reserves filled the trenches, ready to defend if the assault failed.
If repeaters had existed, heavy multi-barrel guns were coming and single-barreled ones were likely to be around as well. But no such luck was to be had for the Domination Army, as the nearest machine gun was on the other side of the field, being big and heavy and expensive. They counterattacked, busting heads with the Atlanteans in melee. Blood soaked into the ground as both sides took heavy losses from combat.
Crimson quickly glanced behind him to see his friends charging the enemy. But he whipped his head around and sidestepped to the right, almost too late. He felt the grazing blade cut into his flank, and something magical was torn from him. Crimson looked to his left and saw the bloody fur and skin - and almost fainted. His left cutie mark had been severed from him.
Fury sizzled within him. First his sister, now his identity. This Minotaur had to die. He unsheathed his short sword and closed in on his opponent. The duel had gotten that much more dangerous. He stabbed and sidestepped, dodged and flew, ducked and stuck his blade into the Minotaur’s nether. The thing howled in pain as Crimson cut and sank his blade farther. Then the Pegasus let go of the sword and jumped back, picking up his sister’s equipment. He took flight and landed on top of the Minotaur and pushed the sword down as it stooped to remove the other sword from its groin.
The Minotaur screeched with intense pain and Crimson pushed harder. The screech turned into a howl and yanked its arm up to bat Crimson off. But the damage was done. It staggered and dropped its battleaxe, swinging its arms above its head in a futile attempt to grab hold of the sword. Crimson dove to the side as it faceplanted the ground, dying slowly but surely. Its arms went limp, its body stopped twitching, and the enemy was finally no more.