Prologue Part 2: Battle for Petaria
April 26th, 10th year of the Age of the Princesses
Sergeant First Class Smartmouth
20th Equestrian Royal Armored Division, C Battalion, Heavy Armor Platoon D
“Target! Twelve-o’clock! Come on Crossfire! They’re going to shred our right flank!”
“Hang on... hang on...”
Crossfire pulled the trigger, sending a single ninety millimeter round forward. That single round from Smartmouth’s M5-90 sent a Troll dumpster out of control and it slammed into another dumpster.
“You know me commander, when have I ever let you down?”
Crossfire was right. Never once has she missed a target, even with her “condition”. When she was first recruited, everypony, even Smartmouth herself had doubts that a wall-eyed unicorn could hit the broadside of a barn in a town made of broadsided barns.
“GUN ONE RELOADED!” Shouted Grumpy, a rather imposing griffon who used every appendage he had to throw shells into the M5-90’s guns.
“Tracking that garbage can...” Crossfire let out her breath slowly as she turned the turret, leading a Troll garbage can with the skill and precision of a sniper. “I have you now...”
Before Crossfire could pull the trigger on gun two, the Troll garbage can exploded. It rained tiny, twisted metal shards and Troll bits, but the blast site was still obscured by smoke and dust. When the wind blew the smoke away, Crossfire could see the lower portion of the chassis was rolling forward.
Tanky’s voice traveled through the intercom “Oh sorry! Did we steal your kill?” The full force of Tanky’s two hundred and twenty five millimeter howitzer went into that Troll garbage can and the trolls around the tank. “Well don’t worry, you got another thirty seconds to catch up!”
“More like thirty seconds to pull ahead even more! Come on Crossfire, dumpster! Nine-o’clock!”
Crossfire twisted a joystick to her left. The M5-90’s turret began to traverse. The groaning of the electric motors gave way to movement. The turret turned, the twin guns lined up to their target and Crossfire let out a sigh. Her pulse slowed, the hairs on her neck stood up. Crossfire saw the troll dumpster in her sights. She pulled the trigger, one of the ninety millimeters let loose a terrifying roar. A direct hit, the hatches blew open with jets of flame and smoke.
“Garbage can! Ten-o'clock right!”
Crossfire was already on the target Smartmouth called out. She saw the garbage can, it was just beginning to crest the hill to the north. The thundering bursts of the Equestrian guns were occasionally joined by the sporadic pops of the Petter’s thirty five millimeter “cannons”. Crossfire saw one of those thirty five millimeter rounds bounce off of the garbage can’s turret.
Well at least those tractors are trying... She thought to herself.
Smartmouth watched as the tiny Petter tanks sent round after round down range to no avail. Every forty millimeter shell simply bounced off of even the most thinly armored Troll tank. She watched the garbage can crest over the hill only to be smited by her tank. Smartmouth looked around and saw that more and more Troll tanks were starting to crest the hills. The sight of the tanks brought a smile to her face. She remembered that just one day ago, Captain Fanny was stunned at how Equestria’s tanks were so powerful in comparison to Petaria’s.
Smartmouth remembered hearing Captain Fanny ask Lieutenant Applejack, “What other reinforcements will Equestria be sending?” to which Applejack replied “Don’t ya worry yer pretty little head sugar cube. Ya’ll can expect the Equestrian Third Armored Division and the Second Equestrian Fighter Squadron.”
It was already high noon and there was still no sign of either the Third Armored or the Second Fighter Squadron. The Trolls were throwing a substantial amount of their forces into Petaria and for good reason. Petaria shares a border with Equestria, a lightly defended border. Smartmouth knew that no matter what happens, the Trolls must be stopped here. For her friends, for her family and for all of Equestria.
“Dumpster! Two-o’clock!” Smartmouth saw one Troll tank after another crest the hill. There was just no end to them. Every tank Smartmouth’s crew killed, three more would take its place. Smartmouth felt her tank shake with the roar of one of her guns. She saw the flash of a solid ammo rack detonation.
“GUN TWO LOADED!”
The ground shook as shells struck the earth ramparts protecting the M5-90. The trolls had crested the northern hill and were closing in to their optimal firing range. Of course optimal firing range meant little to Trolls, they shot at absurd ranges anyway, hoping to get lucky.
The unmistakable thunder of the two-twenty five was followed by the proper creation of a crater where three Troll garbage cans once stood.
“And that’s three for me!”
“Lucky shot Tanky!”
Smartmouth observed the rest of the tanks in C Company knockout tank after tank. The Trolls at the distances they were firing at, were horribly inaccurate. Even if a Troll dumpster were to hit any of C Company’s tanks, the Troll shells would have lost so much velocity that they would bounce off of a Neighjing Consortium armored car. The entire company must have fired over a thousand rounds by now, the hillside was peppered with craters.
“Three-o’clo-”
Smartmouth tried to call out another target for Crossfire but a massive one hundred millimeter shell ricocheted off of the M5-90’s turret.
“What the hell hit us!?!” Cried Grumpy
“Dumpster! Three-o’clock! Knock him out before it reloads!” The dumpster’s gun was smoking and clearly it was going to try again.
“The fools are scratching my paint!” Pushover, Smartmouth’s driver, labored for about five hours painted and repainting the M5-90 the day before so Smartmouth knew why he’d be upset.
Crossfire’s shot was dead on. The dumpster exploded, sending ribbons of metal into a garbage can next to it, shredding the unlucky vehicle.
Smartmouth’s tank shook again, another bounce. She could see the Troll tanks starting to get too close for comfort.
“Damn it! twelve-o’clock!” Just as Smartmouth shouted her order, her tank took another hit, another bounce.
Smartmouth couldn’t complain about receiving a few hits though, one of her platoon mates, Sergeant Chalkboard of Heavy Armor Platoon C has under a hail of Troll shells. Her Fjord HT-6 barely budged under the Troll’s relentless assault. Smartmouth watched as shell after shell bounced off of Chalkboards tank and rolled into neat little piles around the tank. The HT-6’s autoloader was tearing the Troll tanks apart. By this point Chalkboard had twenty nine confirmed kills and about thirty four assists. Smartmouth counted eleven confirmed kills for her tank and ten for Tanky’s.
“Zay are five ‘undered meters und closing mine Kommandant!”
“Crossfire! Open up!”
“Yes Ma’am!”
Crossfire stopped engaging in her normal aiming habits and simply “eye balled” her targets. Smartmouth’s tank was firing twice as fast now much to the dismay of grumpy who had to rapidly reload two guns which only stopped firing during turret rotations. Even with his paws, his wings and his tail, Grumpy could barely keep pace with Crossfire’s ammunition expenditure.
The closer the Trolls got, the more effective the Petter’s tanks became. The Petarians understood that the Equestrian tanks could destroy the heavily armored “dumpster” tanks while their forty millimeter cannons could barely scratch the Troll’s trash cans at rage. But the trash cans weren’t at safe ranges anymore. The Petarian tanks could now help their Equestrian comrades. The Petter’s have divided their tanks so that each Equestrian tank was accompanied by two PPM-1s. Although horribly inferior to the Equestrian and Troll tanks, the Petters showed outstanding bravery in the face of overwhelming odds. Bravery, or it was the fact that the Trolls completely ignored the tiny Petarian tanks and expended their ammo on the large Equestrian ones. The closer the Trolls got, the more tanks the Trolls lost until they could take no more and started to back off.
“Are they retreating!?!” Shouted Smartmouth with utter surprise.
“No..” Applejack’s voice was full of worry and everypony could hear it. “Them Trolls are regrouping ya hear! Keep yer eyes peeled folks!”
The Equestrian tanks kept firing until the last Troll tank was either destroyed or clamored back over the hill. The Equestrian and Petter radio channel began to fill with chatter concerning the situation.
“Why would they just give up like that?”
“What more do the Trolls have to throw at us?”
“Where are their tanks?”
*Fu*
“Repeat, that message wasn’t clear Total.”
“Who said that?”
“I didn’t say anything Corporal.”
*FU*
“What was that?”
“Cannon fire?”
“No, no it’s something else Clover.”
*FUUUUUUUUUUUUUU*
“Are their tanks going to attack?”
“What the hell? Is that... chanting?” Chalkboard started digging through her log book for an answer to what the strange chanting was for.
At that moment, the veterans of C Company knew instantly what that strange noise was. Smartmouth remembered what happened at the battle of Flankirk. She threw the commander’s hatch open and prepped her Heckler and Poch MG-36 mounted to the M5-90 . She loaded 7.75mm hollow point rounds. The belt of bullets was heavy. She slid the slide back and let out a sigh to steady her aim.
“Mother of Luna... Noobians!” Cried Applejack. “Get yer coaxials ‘n machine guns ready! Load them HE and canister shells! We got Noobians ready ta charge! If there’s any time for ya Petter’s ta show yer worth, now’s tha time ya hear!?!”
The Petarian infantry, after fending of tanks with grenades, felt confident that infantry would be a far easier fight. They were right in a sense, enemy infantry would be blown to shreds first by the Equestrian tanks, then the PPM-1’s forty millimeter cannons, and finally the lead spewing guns that promised to shreds any infantry that got close. The Petarians dusted off their sights, snipers hiding in the tall buildings of Downtown City took aim and then, the sign that the Noobians were coming.
*FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU*
As their war cry echoed throughout the battlefield, Smartmouth could make out the thin gangly forms and the chalk white faces of the Noobians.
Captain Fanny stood looking in shock at the tsunami that threatened to swallow her city whole. “Open up! Lay it on them! Lay it on them!”
On Captain Fanny’s orders, the Noobians faced a torrent of of lead. It didn’t matter though, bullets and shells were simply not enough to stop the torrent of noobs. Even though they fell by the hundreds, the hill itself was trampled by the moving of thousands of thin, dark, sickly legs. The hill looked as if it were blanketed with snow.
“They’re everywhere!” Cried Private Bagel
Tanky at this point was unloading her submachine gun into the advancing horde. “Then shoot everywhere!” She shouted. The smg’s barrel was glowing red at this point, but all Tanky could think about was how the VKV HT-8 was not armed with a machine gun for the commander. Her stream of bullets was only interrupted when her tank unleashed its terrifying howitzer.
The howitzer’s massive shell tore a decent hole in the carpet of Noobians. It was in vain though, even with the full might of C Company and the Fifth Petarian Army concentrating fire on the avalanche of Noobains, they were still gaining ground. The Noobians were closing fast, their casualties were staggering but they just kept coming. Five hundred, two and a half, one hundred meters, no matter how many died, they just charged at the Equestrian and Petarian lines.
Smartmouth kept firing until it the machine gun resonated with the loud *CLICK*. Out, she was out of ammo. She reached for another box of ammunition, watching was the Noobians started to swarm the forward tanks.
“Batten down yer hatches! Forward tanks batten down yer hatches!” Applejack could only watch as the Noobians started to climb onto her company’s tanks and try to pry open the hatches.
“This is Sergeant Chalkboard! They’re all over us! The Noobians wrecked my sights! We’re blind here!”
“I got your back Chalky!” Smartmouth threw the belt into the machine gun, cocked the bolt back and let loose a storm of bullets on Chalkboard’s tank. The bounced off the HT-6 harmlessly, but tore through the Noobians trying to force their way in. The buzzing sound of of the MG-36 was music to Smartmouth’s ears. Like blades of grass, the Noobians fell off Chalkboard’s tank. More would try to climb, and would get cut down by the MG-36.
Smartmouth held the trigger down for the whole time until a loud *CLUNK* stopped the hail of lead. “No no no! Not now! Not now!” Smartmouth desperately flicked the cocking handle back and forward. A bullet casing, bent and dented only by micrometers during manufacturing, lodged itself between the breech and the receiver. Smartmouth started hitting her gun, nothing happened. Noobians were able to climb back onto Chalkboard’s HT-6 and attempt once again to pry open the hatches. “No no no no no!”
“Come on! Come on! Not now!” Her hooves struck the gun repeatedly. It was on her fourth downward stroke that she realized that the Noobians started to climb on her tank. On her fourth downward strike, she was staring eye to eye with a angry Noobian. Smartmouth froze in panic for just a second, a second that allowed the Noobian to swing a club at her. She dove back into her tank just as the noobain swung its club at her. The club struck the jammed MG-36 and dislodged the stuck 7.75 cartridge which bounced off of Smartmouth’s cap. She saw the glimmering brass case fall to into her lap. She pulled out her sidearm, a 7.75 Lugger, aimed it up towards the Noobian trying to climb into the tank and pulled the trigger.
Crossfire let out a sharp yelp as the Noobian corpse fell on top of her and rolled off, falling to the turret floor. She had been so concentrated with the main and coaxial guns that she did not realise that the Noobians were starting to climb onto her tank. Grumpy poked at the corpse a few times to make sure it was dead.
“We’re okay Crossfire , keep up the good work.”
Crossfire gave her commander a quick nod and planted her face into the binocular sight’s padding. Smartmouth climbed back out of the cupola, mounted the MG-36 and raked the Noobians off her tank. She then turned her attention to Chalkboard’s HT-6 again. Smartmouth opened fire, cleaning the noobs off of the mighty tank. She looked around to try and get a feeling of what was going on. She saw the Petters fighting for their lives, the combat being reduced to a melee slug fest. She slid the MG-36 to fire at a dense pocket of Noobians to her right, the weapon gliding along the cupola’s rails.
While Smartmouth was traversing her machine gun, she saw the glint of metal on the hill. She reached for her binoculars and looked at the crest of the hill. The Trolls had regrouped, lined up their tanks and looked like they were ready to fire. There was something else that caught Smartmouth’s eye. It was huge, she didn’t recognize it at that distance.
“Commander! The Trolls are back at our twelve! They’re going to fire!”
Applejack quickly grabbed her binoculars and looked north. Not only were the garbage cans and dumpsters back, but the Trolls brought out one of their most feared tanks ever made.
“Aw hayseeds! They got a Gary Stu(G)!!! Everypony! Fall back! Fall back to defensive position-”
Before Applejack could finish her orders, Clover’s tank erupted with a horrible thud, even the armor of the HT-6 could not stand up against the awesome firepower of a Gary Stu(G).
Corporal Platelet began to lose his nerve, then again what sane pony didn’t. “We’re doomed! Get us the hay out of here Heavyweight!” The terror in his voice killed whatever morale was left among C Company’s tankers.
Platelet had his Porshoe M2-75 turn around, exposing the tank’s rear armor. It was the last mistake he made before he and his crew were engulfed in an unforgiving fire. Their screams of agony killed whatever morale there was in C Company. Applejack risked losing control of the situation, she risked losing the battle but worst of all she risked losing the lives of her tankers.
“Get a hold of yerselves! We are Equestria’s finest gosh darn it! We ain’t gonna run! Now ya’ll gonna head ta defensive position Fuji! Is that understood!?!”
The radio’s were silent, unlike the battle raging around them, the death screams of hundreds of Noobians hit by their supposed allies filled the air with a heaviness. Finally, Tanky broke the silence.
“AYE COMMANDER!”
She was followed by Smartmouth and her crew. “Yes Ma’am!” they all cheered.
Soon the radios were filled of the voices of tankers who’ve regained some mettle. Moral that they desperately needed at this hour.
It wasn’t long before the Gary Stu(G) sent shards Private Zip’s Type S1E1 tank destroyer all over the area. Private Zip was a new recruit looking forward to his first battle as Smartmouth remembered.
“Pushover! Back us up! Tanky! Give Chalkboard and her platoon covering fire!”
“Gotcha! Aim for that cluster there! FIRE!”
One shot from the two-twenty five sent three Troll tanks to the scrap yard. The Commander of the Gary Stu(G) took notice of that. “Hehehe... Teh stupid pony’s really think they can win this... Gunner! Take care of teh problem!” The Troll Commander of the Gary Stu(G) was the definition of badassery. He was perfect in almost every way, he had to be in order to command a tank like the Gary Stu(G). He knew five and a half forms of martial arts, he was muscle bound and he attracted all the female Trolls and he commanded the Gary Stu(G).
The Gary Stu(G), as Equestrians have dubbed it, was a perfect tank in every aspect, except for the fact that it was really an assault gun by conventional standards. It was perfect to terrifyingly annoying standards. The Gary Stu(G) had impenetrable armor, a gun that can and was going to tear all of Equestria’s tanks to shreds. The Gary Stu(G) could move as fast as a medium tank and its treats were capable of withstanding numerous hits. Fortunately for C Company, the gunner was still new, even if the main gun was deadly accurate.
“HAH! Their going to all dye now!” gloated the gunner as he sent a shell down range.
The massive one hundred and thirty three millimeter shell slammed into the front armor of Corporal Candie’s M5-90, leaving only the rear end of the tank standing and everypony inside it dead. C Company was now down four tanks out of its original twelve with all hooves lost for each one. Numerous other tanks were damaged or put out of action. The Petarian had it worse, although they fended off the Noobian charge, they lost a staggering forty six percent of their infantry and thirty two percent of their tanks.
Tank’s VKV fired a shot at the Gary Stu(G), while the blast decimated a garbage can next to it, the two-twenty five didn’t even leave a scorch mark on the Gary Stu(G).
“SERIOUSLY!?! I NEED A BIGGER GUN! Crunch! Back us up behind the building!”
The Troll Commander in the Gary Stu(G) chuckled a little as Tanky’s VKV tried to retreat behind a restaurant. “Time to return teh favor. Gunner! That tank they’re. Kill it”
“Bahahaha! There going too dye nao!”
The Gary Stu(G)’s shell flew straight and true. Lucky for Tanky, the gunner aimed a tad too low and the shell landed under her VKV. Unfortunately, the shell was high explosive and landed under her VKV. The untamed explosion rocked Tanky’s VKV violently.
“AHG!”
“Tanky! Tanky are you alright!?! Tanky do you read!?!” shouted Smartmouth in anguish.
“Ung.... it feels like chalupa night all over again Smartmouth... But we’re all fine, thanks for asking...”
Indeed Tanky was lucky that the worst injuries among her crew were a few bruises. The shell landed under the VKV’s lower glacis plate.
“Uh... Crunch? Get us moving please, before we actually die...”
“I’m trying! But she’s not responding!”
“Smartmouth! Can you see what’s wrong from out there?”
Smartmouth looked a little to her left at Tanky’s VKV. “Uh tanky... you realize that your tank’s chassis is on the ground right?” She could not comprehend how one HE shell could remove all the road wheels from BOTH sides of Tanky’s VKV which brought a whole new definition to the meaning of “immobilized”.
“WHAT!?! What do you mean I’m on the ground?”
“I mean you don’t have ANY wheels left!”
“Well this is just GREAT!”
“Hang on Tanky! I’ll have my tank push yours back!”
Smartmouth’s M5-90 backed up into Tanky’s VKV, slowly but surely, the M5-90 attempted to push the VKV to safety but the weight of the vehicle was too great for the M5-90 to push. The VKV was moving, but at speeds which made a snail look like a race car.
“Oh come on!” Shouted Smartmouth. “This is Sergeant Smartmouth! I have a platoon mate who’s tank is disabled! Requesting towing assistance!”
“This is Chief Warrant Officer Steel Lance! How can I be of assistance?”
“Lance? Good to hear that you’re still breathing! I need one of your tanks to tow my VKV, its lost all its road wheels!”
“Right, Don’t worry Smartmouth, I’ll be there.”
“What about your platoon Lance?”
“The lads pulled back to point C and are dug in tight with Destroyer Platoon R, they can handle themselves.”
Smartmouth breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you Lance.”
“Hey just remember you owe me a favor again lass.”
In a matter of seconds, Smartmouth saw Steel Lance’s Type S3E10 roll up to Tanky’s VKV. She returned to manning her machine gun but the last thing she saw Steel Lance and his crew jumping out of their medium tank and securing tow lines to the VKV’s rear.
The VKV was out of view from the Gary Stu(G). With the Type S3E10 pulling and the M5-90 pushing, the VKV was sliding along the ground. It wasn’t moving fast, but it was moving.
“No! There getting away! Come on! Shoot them!” The Troll commander was starting to lose his patience. These beaten Equestrians are moving into the city where the Gary Stu(G) cannot see them at this range. “Loader! Hurry up with that shell!”
“Im loading as fast as i can! All right! Shot loaded!”
“Gunner! Kill that tank make sure there all dead!”
The Gary Stu(G)’s gun pivoted and was staring right at Smartmouth’s tank. Smartmouth ducked down into her tank and closed the hatch.
“Everypony brace for impact!”
Crossfire did not hear the order due to her intense concentration. She sent a round straight at the Gary Stu(G). The ninety millimeter struck the gun mantlet and bounced off but it threw the Gary Stu(G)’s gun upward by only a few millimeters. Little did Crossfire know that those few millimeters were what saved her tank from utter destruction.
The Gunner pulled the trigger just as Crossfire’s shot ricocheted off of the Gary Stu(G)’s mantlet. The high explosive round sailed into the restaurant and exploded on the concrete walls. The explosion sent a storm of concrete chunks and metal into Smartmouth’s M5-90. The tank shook violently from the blast, worse than anything felt before. Even getting struck by Tanky’s two hundred and twenty five millimeter howitzer wasn’t this bad.
“Is... is everypony alright?” asked Smartmouth weakly the blast having made her a little dizzy.
Crossfire was the first to respond. “I’m okay!” Followed by Grumpy and Pushover. Spehlczech was the last to respond. “I’ve been better, but I’ve alzo been vorse.”
“Good... keep to your stations... Crossfire, see if you can’t send one... one more round at them.”
Crossfire did just that, her round flew right into the right track of the Gary Stu(G). It didn’t do much but lodge itself between the drive wheel and the hull, but who’s to say that it won’t be a nuisance later.
The tank jolted with the shot. It was then Crossfire felt something wet on her neck. It ran down like a bead of sweat, only she knew she wasn’t sweating. She wiped the liquid on her hoof, and looked at it. Blood. Crossfire’s eyes widened at the sight. She quickly turned her head to see a piece of steel rebar jutting out of Smartmouth’s waist. Grumpy had already stolen the words out of Crossfire’s mouth when she realized that Smartmouth was gravely injured.
“THE COMMANDER IS HIT!!!”
“I’m... I’m fine.. keep... just keep backing up...”
Smartmouth was nowhere near “fine”. The HE round that struck the restaurant still had enough force to breach the M5-90’s side turret armor and spray Smartmouth with debris. The left side of Smartmouth’s waist was shredded and had a steel rebar protruding from it. She was holding her waist tight, but blood was still trickling off of her seat and onto Crossfire’s area.
Crossfire could see the hole that the HE round tore open in the turret, it seemed impossible that a round that landed behind a wall could still tear open the turret. Albeit it was a fairly small tear.
Spehlczech cried over the radio. “Our Kommandant iz injured! She needs ze medical attention und fast!”
Steel Lance was the first to climb onto Smartmouth’s tank. “Open the hatch!”
Crossfire, careful not to bump into her Commander, opened the hatch for Steel Lance.
“Help me lift her up and out lass!” Steel Lance’s face was full of worry, he had never seen Smartmouth is such a horrid condition before.
Crossfire and Grumpy helped push Smartmouth out of the tank. Smartmouth’s wails of pain were like piercing daggers to Lance’s heart. “MEDIC! WE NEED A BLOODY MEDIC OVER HERE NOW!” He tried to comfort Smartmouth who was shaking violently. “It’s going to be okay lass, you’re going to be okay.” He tried to dress Smartmouth’s wound with his overcoat. “Does anypony have first aid we can give to her!?!”
Crossfire opened the gunner’s hatch. “I know we do but I can’t find it! I tried but it must be somewhere mixed in with the shells!” The massive jolt given off by the Gary Stu(G)’s HE round knocked many of the M5-90’s shells off of their rack and now the first aid kit, was mixed in with the lot.
“Find it with all your haste lass! Smartmouth doesn’t have that much time!”
Tanky joined Steel Lance shortly after he claimed on top of the M5-90’s turret. The sight of Smartmouth’s bloodied body was a shock to her too. “Oh Celestia...” She turned to her crew who were starting to climb out of their tank to see why they have stopped. “HEY! Stop being useless and give us some cover! Pull out your damn pistols, pick up a gun! ANYTHING!”
The crew members of all three tanks clambered out except for Crossfire, who as digging around for the first aid kit. They picked up Noobian and Petarian guns and took cover with the Petarian Infantry who were holding their lines.
A medic from the Petarian 2nd Rifle Battalion clamored up to inspect Smartmouth’s condition. “We’re going to have to remove the rebar... Ma’am, I’m sorry but I’m out of pain killers.”
Smartmouth gave a small nod. She knew she’d die if they didn’t remove the rebar.
The panda medic gave Smartmouth a leather strap to bite on. “Are you ready?”
Smartmouth bit the strap and gave a small nod as Steel Lance removed his overcoat from the wound.
The medic gave started counting down. “One... two... three!” On three the medic swiftly pulled out the rebar. Smartmouth’s muffled screams were followed by a torrent of blood coming out of the wound. The medic quickly cut most of Smartmouth’s uniform off and bandaged the wound.
“I FOUND IT!!!” shouted Crossfire from inside the tank. She quickly hooved a healing potion over to Steel Lance and some extra medical gauze.
Steel Lance fed Smartmouth the whole potion. “You’re going to be okay lass! Come on now lassie! Stay with me!”
Smartmouth no longer felt the pain. Steel Lance’s hooves felt cold. The rays of the sun felt cold. The breeze felt cold. Everything felt cold. Her eyelids felt heavy. It took every ounce of strength she had to stay awake but she had no more energy left. The world was becoming blurry, her eyes started to close, the cries and pleas of her comrades became part of the blur. Smouthmouth thought about what it was like to die. They always said there would be a light, but there wasn’t anything. She thought about how if she was going to die, this was the best way to do so, in Steel Lance’s hooves. She closed her eyes...
...and slipped into the darkness.
_ _ _