Eight Years Later
***
Samantha stormed into the barracks and right up to her squad. She stomped up to them and threw her helmet on the floor, hollering, "We're done for!"
The others looked at her. "What's wrong Major?" Keeting asked.
"Canterlot has fallen! The EFD's Main Command is decimated!" She angrily ripped off her armor plates. Her squad looked at each other worriedly.
"If Canterlot has fallen, that means we're all that's left." Grid noted. The Dragon Wars had done its job. It had finally almost made the Pony Race extinct. Ponyville Base was the most secure, well defended base around, but it could not be expected to last forever. Their ammo and rations would eventually run out, and they would be forced to surrender.
No pony wanted to surrender. They all knew the dragons would kill whoever still lived at the end of it. Keeting sat next to Samantha. "What are we gonna do Major?"
She sighed. "Command has enacted Operation Celestia. We're going in, full force, to take back Canterlot. They expect high casualties." Keeting draped an arm around her shoulder. The two of them had developed quite the friendship. Unknown to anyone else, they even had a secret relationship.
The two of them met often in a storage room. They sat and talked, sometimes kissed, and even pleased one another. One day after a 'session', Keeting said, "Heh... Told ya' I'd work you around."
"Shut it..." Said Samantha as she lay winded. The two had many such 'sessions', but they never took it up a notch to sex. They were both afraid of the consequences it may bring. So they decided to remain fresh, and stick to hoof work.
"Get some rest. We bounce at Eleven Hundred." Samantha sighed. She lay back in her bed, as the others nodded.
"Yes ma'am." They said, returning to their bunks. Soon the lights were out, and Samantha heard the familiar noise. Keeting slipped into bed with her.
"Hey there." She smiled as she kissed him.
"Hey." He whispered.
"Keeting?" She poked him.
"Yeah?"
"Should we take the next step?"
"Here?" His face grew worried that she had lost it.
"No. In our spot. I figured we could try since we're both probably gonna die tomorrow." She blushed in the darkness.
"You have a point. Alright. Let's go." He kissed her once more. She slipped out, and led the way to their storage room. Once inside, they moved the crate in front of the door, and lit the lamp. "Well... How should we begin?"
Samantha blushed. "We should first warm up..." She ran her hoof from his face, down his chest, and past his stomach.
"Oh boy..."
*****
"MAJOR! WAKE UP!" Kard shook Samantha. She snapped awake, becoming aware of the blaring alarms.
"What's going on?" She asked, leaping out of bed. She was sore, but ready for anything.
"The DRA launched an attack! We need you Major!" Kard explained, running to the door, looking out it with his SMG. He was surprised to see Samantha run past him, nude. "Major! Your armor!"
"Fuck it! No time for that!" She yelled as she entered the armory, draping two large machine gun belts over her. She then picked up the Browning Heavy Machine Gun. She proceeded to follow Kard to the courtyard, where the .25mm Rapid fire guns were blazing, the .40mm Anti Air cannons were thundering, and the large .75 Flak cannons were booming. Even the Homing Missile launchers were doing their part.
Dragons swooped everywhere, crushing, burning, and smashing what they could. Many went down quick due to the cannons. Samantha followed Kard to her squad. "Major! Good to see you in one piece!" Keeting greeted her.
"Likewise! How we doing?" She asked as she cut loose on a dragon, killing him.
"Fuckers caught us of guard! Lucky us the cannon's are tearing them apart!" Keeting explained.
"Good. Let's finish this fight!" She yelled as she opened up on another dragon. She suddenly felt squeezed, as she was lifted violently into the air.
"MAJOR!" Her squad yelled, unable to shoot her captor. Samantha looked up at the large dragon that now held her.
"LET GO OF ME YOU BASTARD!" She yelled, yanking free a bullet from her belt, jamming it in the dragon's eye. He yelled out in agonizing pain, dropping her. She then realized how high up she was. She began plummeting to the ground. She suddenly landed on the back of a dragon, narrowly missing his spines.
The dragon growled and turned his head to face her, just as a flak round collided with his stomach. He grunted, not dying, but weakening, and descending quite a bit. She rode him down to a level, and spotted her opportunity. She leapt from his back, right as he lashed at her, catching her across the back, and as a homing missile hit him in the back. The flames singed Samantha's back as well.
She fell twenty feet before sliding down the sloped wall of a building that had collapsed. She hit the ground hard, hearing a loud snap. She grunted with pain, ignoring it and running back to her squad. Keeting had picked up the Browning, and was firing away. He saw her coming back. "Major! You're alive!"
He handed back the Browning to her. "It takes more than a few dragons to kill me." She stated. They engaged in heavy fighting for another half hour until the dragons retreated. The ponies cheered at their victory.
"Major, you're hurt!" Keeting noticed. Samantha looked at herself, and collapsed. Her ankles were broken good, and she was sitting in a small pool of her own blood. The dragon had given her a good gash across her back.
"Ah fuck!" She yelled. The pain finally setting in.
"Come on, help me get her to med bay!" Keeting shouted to the others. Two grabbed her up, while one made a path, and one brought up the rear.
"Out of the way! We got a bad wounded!" Jenson shouted, trying to get scrambled soldiers and civilians out of their way. Samantha began blacking out. She fought it, and was rewarded. She saw her mother pass, and take point with Jenson. The two made a quick clear path. She coughed painfully, her back hurting beyond belief.
"Put me down!" She ordered, "Before my innards spill out of my back!" She was set down, feeling some of the pressure release.
"Get a stretcher!" Ordered Lydia. One was brought, and Samantha was set on it. They moved faster, and with less stress. Once in the med bay, they left Samantha, and Lydia herded the others out into the hall. "Someone explain why my daughter is naked, and about ready to fall apart!"
Kard spoke up, "I woke her, and she refused to armor up. She ran out like that, and was carried off by a dragon. We didn't see what happened after that, but she returned to us like that."
Lydia sighed. "She stubborn... Just like her father. Right. Go, rest. I'll keep you informed on her condition."
"Ma'am? What about Operation Celestia?" Keeting asked.
"Canceled. We'll try again some other time." She sighed. "Now go." The others left. Lydia walked back into the med bay, finding Samantha on her stomach while doctors worked to stitch her up. Lydia noticed how the gash crossed from her left ribs, all the way up to her right shoulder.
Lydia sighed again. Her daughter looked like hell, and it saddened her deeply. She sat down next to the bed, allowing the doctors to finish their work. After a few more minutes, they were done. Lydia stood next to the bed, while Samantha lay on her stomach, keeping pressure off her back.
"I'm sorry mother. I got careless." She sighed.
"It's ok sweetheart. You only had the welfare of your squad in mind. Though, you need to keep in mind your own safety. I do not want to lose you too Samantha." She sighed. "Now rest. Do not worry about anything for now." Lydia stood and left. About a week later and Samantha was released to her squad.
She walked in the barracks, her squad playing a game of cards once more. They noticed her as she approached. "Major. Good to see your boots on the ground once more" Kard greeted her.
Samantha smiled. "I don't die so easily. Could just be a talent."
The others chuckled. "That what your Cutie Mark is? A shield or something? Proving you don't die?" Samantha lost her smile.
"No. As a matter of fact, I never got my Cutie Mark. I could never find my talent or purpose." She sighed, sitting in the bed. "Go on. Make fun of me. Just like every other filly and colt in my childhood."
The others stood from their game and sat with her. "Come on now major. Why would we make fun of you? We're a family, believe it or not. And families don't do that."
"Yeah." Kard began, "If a family ain't strong and united, then they fall apart the second they step together into hell."
The group sat together, a smile on their face. They were in fact a family. They had forged it out of years of hatred for a common enemy, out of years of living together, sleeping together, and working together. They were one of the strongest families there could be.
But that family would face another hardship, for Operation Celestia had been rescheduled. And it was soon. Far sooner than they would have preferred. But as one strong family, they would step together into the flames of hell, and they would hold together all the way through.
The squad gathered at their VTOL as Kard began his prayer for them he uttered before every mission. "Lord, we ask for you to watch over us today, and help us fly high and mighty like you, raining down upon those who seek to destroy our kin. May you help us to perform above and beyond the rest, and put our adversaries on the rocks!"
"Amen!" The others ended. They began getting set in the VTOL. Samantha took her seat in the cockpit, powering up the rotors. Grid got in the navigators seat directly above and behind her. Keeting and Kard got on their separate Heavy Machine Guns on either side of the VTOL. Jenson got in his seat, readying his sniper.
They lift off the pad and joined the massive formation of the EDF's air force en route to Canterlot. Operation Celestia was under way. "Check your weapons! Make sure there's a round in the chamber! Make sure you're strapped in! We're probably gonna be doing a lot of maneuvering, and I'd like to not lose any of you!" She reminded her crew. A few clicks later, the 'Ready' signal was passed up.
Canterlot soon came into view, its massive ancient castle looming in the distance. The sheer number of dragons flying around was ungodly. Then again, so was their own numbers. Their simple objective was to fight and kill most of the dragons, clearing way for the tanks waiting outside the city walls. The operation was expected to be easy, except for one small detail.
"Oh shit!" Samantha yelled, narrowly dodging a homing missile. "They hacked our defenses!" She yelled in the radio. They began circling the castle, dodging their own projectiles, and fighting the dragons. They found themselves three pursuers. "Kill those assholes!" Samantha yelled, dodging a burst of flak.
"Trying!" Came Keeting's response. Both heavy guns were blazing. Suddenly, a burst of flak scored a direct hit on the VTOL's left engine. They fell into a spin. Samantha saw the castle growing close.
"BRACE YOURSELVES!" She yelled as they smashed through one of the ancient stained glass windows, hitting the floor hard and skidding into one of the stone walls. Samantha was dazed, and she blinked a few times. "Are you all ok back there?" She called.
Her crew stumbled out, a few scratches and bruises apparent. “We’re good.” Jenson told her. Samantha tried getting up, but found herself unable. “Come on Major. They’ll be looking for us.” He urged her.
She continued to struggle, getting nowhere. It was then she noticed the rotor blade that had come off, and impaled itself through the cockpit, and held Samantha in her seat by passing through her leg. “Major. We need to go, now!” Keeting hurried her.
She lay her head back and blinked. She looked back down at the blade and touched it. It was very real. She lay her head back again and almost screamed out, “FUCK!” Her squad ran to the broken cockpit to assist her. They were not ready for what they saw. “Go on without me.” She coughed. “I’ll hold them off.”
“We can’t leave you Major!” Protested Keeting.
“Go…” She said flatly, wiping some blood from her mouth.
“But-“ He was cut off.
“GO! Now! Carry on without me!” Samantha yelled. Tears moistened her eyes. “That’s an order! All of you get the hell out of here!” Her squad reluctantly turned and left her. All but Keeting.
“I will be back for you. Don’t worry.” He leaned in and kissed her.
She smiled as some more blood dripped off her lip. “I know. Now save yourself.” A loud roar near the window signaled the time to leave. Keeting ran off, joining the squad. Samantha gripped the blade and yanked at it, then forced on it, but it was wedged tightly by the wall.
“It went down in here!” A thunderous voice yelled. The dragons had arrived. “There it is.”
“But where are the bodies?” A second voice added.
“They obviously survived! Search it!” Growled a third, more authoritive voice. Samantha yanked more at the blade. A large red dragon turned the corner to the cockpit and looked in at Samantha as she coughed her breathing heavy from pain.
“There is still one here!” He yelled, motioning to the others. A green dragon and a purple dragon came over to the other side of the cockpit. Samantha gave them a bloody smile and said, “Morning boys. Wonderful weather we’re having, eh?” She coughed, a bit of blood in it.
“Don’t move pony! Or we will kill you!” Growled the purple one, obviously the leader of the squad. Samantha chuckled and pat the blade.
“Trust me, I ain’t going anywhere anytime soon.” She pushed on the blade again.
“What should we do with her?” Asked the green dragon.
“We take her. She is a pilot, and they could maybe trade something good for her.” Smiled the leader. “Come here pony!” He yelled at Samantha.
She laughed at him. “You think I’m moving?” She smacked the blade. “Why not help a girl out first?” The three dragons moved the VTOL as if it was a wad of paper. Samantha shoved the blade from her leg, causing some heavy bleeding to begin. She rolled out of the broken cockpit, and yelped as she fell on her back, her stitching not fully healed yet.
The red dragon picked her up. “You’re coming with us.” Chuckled the squad leader.
“Likely story. Just kill me already!” She yelled at him, her pain peaking out and blood dripping out of her leg.
“Oh no, we can’t do that. We could get some use out of you.” Smiled the squad leader, gently petting her mane with a claw.
“I will fucking kill you in your sleep…” Growled Samantha.
“Ooh, the little pony is getting feisty. Would you rather go back to your machine?” Countered the squad leader. Samantha sighed and quiet down. “That’s what I thought. Let’s go.” He motioned to the others. The three took flight, leaving Samantha’s squad standing in shock in the doorway. They ran to the VTOL.
“Check the radio!” Ordered Keeting. He was in fact second in command for the squad, should Samantha be unfit to perform her duties. His orders were followed, and to his surprise, the radio worked. He picked it up, speaking into it, “This is HAS 22! Mayday! Mayday! We are downed and need assistance!”
“HAS 22. This is Ponyville Control. Where is your commanding office-“ The officer was cut off.
Lydia came back to them on the radio. “Keeting? Is that you? Where is Samantha?”
Keeting sighed. “She’s gone General. The dragons took her. We did all we could Ma’am, but she was pinned by our VTOL. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s ok Keeting. She’s tough. She’ll pull through. I am inbound, hold out for ten minutes! We will get her back.” Lydia cut out. Keeting set down the radio.
“Let’s go. General’s coming.” He motioned for the others to follow him through the castle, and out the main doors to the gardens. A pleasant surprise was waiting for them. Four manual Anti Dragon Cannons. “Let’s give our boys in the sky some support.” The squad slipped in the four cannons. They opened fire on the dragons, and a multitude of chatter came over the radio.
“What the hell? Are those cannons helping?”
“Yeah! Are they defective?”
"Who cares? They ain’t shooting at me anymore!”
“Let’s tear these fuckers up now!”
The battle raged on for a while, until General Frost came up in a truck with a dormant VTOL on the back of it. She shut it off and hopped out with her two body guards. They waited while Keeting and the squad came out of the turrets and to her. “This is General Frost. All units fall back to base. Repeat. All units fall back to base. Operation Celestia is a failure.”
They all looked up to see the air units spin around and head back at full speed. They soon were surrounded by at least fifty dragons.
The dragon field commander landed. He smiled at Lydia as she gave a brief smile back. They seemed as if they knew each other. “General Frost. How may I help you on this fine day?”
“You have one of my officers Commander. And I want her back.” Lydia simply stated.
“Oh? And what will you trade for this officer?” He smiled.
“What do you want?” She asked.
“Oh, nothing to important. Just the destruction of your race.” He chuckled.
Lydia stomped hard in frustration and anger” GOD DAMNIT LANSLEY! Your dragons took my daughter! How would you like it if I took yours?”
The commander identified as Lansley sighed and gently put a claw on her shoulder. “I am sorry Lydia. I didn’t know. What can I do to help?”
“Take me and my troops here right now to the cave. I’ll escort her home myself.” Lydia told him. He sighed and thought for a moment.
“Ok. Follow close behind us, and make no hostile moves.” He nodded. Lydia signaled for her troops to board the VTOL. They soon were en route to the dragon’s nest. After another short flight, they were landing next to the mouth of a massive cave. Lydia stepped out and walked to Lansley.
“Feel’s all too strange being back.” She admitted.
“Yes. It’s been to long old friend.” He smiled. “This way.” He began leading them.