//------------------------------// // First Arrival // Story: Warfare is Magic // by AnondulusianBrony //------------------------------// On the outskirts of Ponyville, Trixie is running with all her might, desperate and afraid. She runs across a war torn field full of abandoned bunkers and mortar holes, a small blight of brilliant azure against a bleak environment of grey smoke. Large numbers of unknown enemies follow behind, their marching sounding across the ground, making the ground tremble. She soon runs out of breath and takes a pause to try to catch her breath. She eyes a small hole in the ground under a small rising of dirt. “Trixie should be able to hide there, before they find me…” Scurrying into the bunker, she finds that it rather small, with no means of defending. This place was a deathtrap, and the only way out was going to soon be surrounded by a large number of infantry. “Oh no! Trixie cannot stay, or they’ll find her!” Her mind raced, thinking of ways she could escape. Fighting wasn’t an option; she’d be overwhelmed in seconds. She could try projecting a shield, but her magic wouldn't be strong enough to fend off all their attacks until she got to a safe place; Ponyville was still a long ways off. Hiding would be the same as suicide…They’d find her sooner or later. Trixie began crying, her feeling helpless and facing death frightening her. “Trixie doesn’t want to die…I don’t want to die…somepony please help Trixie…please help me…” Trixie cried in the far end of the bunker, huddled in a ball, as mortar fire rained over head, rocking the bunker, causing earth and dust to fall. Trixie’s horn began to glow a light blue, and Trixie raised her head, her face beaming. “Of course! If the Great and Powerful Trixie needs some pony to rescue her from this peril, then the Great and Powerful Trixie will MAKE somepony come and rescue her!” She focused all her might in her magic, her horn glowing brightly with some sparks shooting off. The magic aura began to increase at a steady rate, and a light blue light began to bathe the bunker. “Almost got it…just a little more…” Just as the spell reached its peak, an explosion overhead rocked the bunker, causing debris to fall on Trixie, completely covering her and knocking her out cold… ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- An explosion nearby shook me awake; I became focused, alert. I glanced around the small dirt bunker and saw the rubble in front of me. I saw what appeared to be small patches of light blue under a mound of rubble. He looked at it, puzzled by this sight. “A light blue uniform….don’t know which army that belongs to. Maybe the UN?” Another explosion took my attention away from the battered figure. “That mortar was close by…Damn, I don’t see any defenses or weapons here, and my only squad mate is down…” I took a closer look at my “squad mate”. “Wait a minute…that isn’t a uniform.” As I reached to remove some debris, I realized how quiet it’d been, how the mortars had stopped falling, and there were no signs of further explosions. I decided to use this momentary cease fire to investigate my surroundings outside of this small dirt enclosure. I slowly peeked my head out of the bunker. All around me, I could see an empty, barren wasteland. It was filled with smoking craters and blackened dirt. I recognized these images too well: This was a warzone. I walked awkwardly out of the bunker to get a better view of where I was. “There doesn’t seem to be anyone nearby… no sign of dead soldiers either. Maybe this was a preliminary defense that got abandoned, yet I don’t see any enemies occupying the region…” Being lost in thought distracted me from someone who approached me from behind. No, wait there were two behind me. I heard the loading of an assault rifle and shotgun and a raspy voice commanding me to turn around with my hands in the air. I turned around, and I was able to get a better look at my attackers. They had black bodies, with holes in the arms and legs. They had blue eyes and wings, the wings reminding me of that of an insect. The horns on their heads were twisted and gnarled. They looked like dark twisted versions of horses. But not just any horses… “They remind me of those ponies from My little pony! Wait, of everything why did that come to mind?” One of them had a shotgun, and the other had an assault rifle, with a holstered sidearm. One of them said, in that strange distorted voice. “Stand down! Hooves in the air, where I can see them!” I knew how to handle myself in this kind of situation, having been trained in hand-to hand combat, although I wouldn’t call it that here. Wait, did it just say “Hooves in the air?” It spoke again, “Are you armed?” I replied with nothing but a gaze. This seemed to infuriate it. He took a step forward and began to say something else, but I took this opportunity to strike. I grabbed the assault rifle out of his hooves-like hands and used it to disrupt a shot from the other’s shotgun. Him having missed, I jabbed the soldier I just disarmed and, using the same momentum, roundhouse kicked the other with the shotgun, effectively taking him out. The other remaining soldier tried to bring out their sidearm, but I punched them in the throat and while he was keeling back from the blow, I took his sidearm and pistol-whipped it on the back of the head, rendering him unconscious and out cold. As I took his gun belt and placed it on me, while keeping an eye out for additional enemies, I tried to piece together what was going on, who they were, and what I was doing there. I came to a single conclusion. “This has to be some kind of lucid, vivid dream. It’s the only logical explanation as to how I’m fighting disturbing creatures armed with assault weapons.” It was a shaky conclusion; everything felt so real, just like how I had trained back at boot camp. But what else could there be to explain this? I just didn't know at the moment… I didn't have much time to think about it, before I felt the earth began to rumble again and mortars began to shell the area around me, causing explosions and detonations to occur all around me. I flinched and quickly hid behind a mound in the ground. Out across the barren view, I could see a large, dense formation seem to march to my current location. “Uh oh…I doubt they’re here to make peace with me.” I was going to hightail it in the other direction, but then I remembered that there was someone under a mound of rubble in the bunker I got out of. I was heading back into the bunker when an mortar landed a few feet away, on top of the mound. Inside the very dirt was shaken, and fell from the ceiling, reducing my visibility. I wish I could've helped whoever it was down there, but I had to abandon this area or risk getting both me and this other person killed. It seemed like I had no choice, and I began to run in the opposite direction of the army which was approaching fast. Through the smoke, I thought I could make out the visage of a small town. “Don’t have many options, so why not?”I said to myself as I sprinted towards it, which could possibly serve as a safe haven for me if I got there in time. “I’ll be back for you as soon as I can…I promise.” It was the best I could do for the moment…and it burned me with anger inside.