Luna picked up a musket and looked at it closely. She wanted to improve it. How? Well, reloading was long and cumbersome. Maybe she could improve that. Hickory stood next to Luna. If she needed anything, he would go and get it. "Moon rocks!" Luna requested. "Pebbles." Hickory got the pebbles.
Luna had made a little container. A magazine. And before you ask, No, not the ones you read. The ones you put bullets into. Luna popped eight little pebbles into the mag, loaded the gun and aimed at the ground. She made other moderation to multiple guns. This was just a prototype. She fired six shots into the ground. It worked.
A semi-automatic gun was good. But she wanted more. They weren't perfect yet. She wanted full-auto. She grabbed another musket and made more moderations to it. She finished, loaded the weapon and aimed back at the ground. She paused for a moment. She wasn't quite sure why.
She pulled the trigger and fired. Ten bullets blasted out rapidly. She liked it. She truly did. But she felt she could do more. But what? Luna put a hoof to her chin and thought hard. A smile slowly stretched across her face. She went to work.
When she finished, she had about 50 pounds of rapid firing, brute force sitting in front of her. Now it was perfect. This were about to get much more fun. Luna nudged Hickory who was sitting at the table doing what looked like nothing and got his attention. Luna tossed him one of the machine guns she had made. With the overwhelming force of 50 pounds pushing him backwards and his not bracing himself for such force instantly brought him t the ground.
This new weapon Luna had presented to him was he'd ever seen in his day. But if it was going to work, that was all that mattered. Hickory was planning of asking Luna of what reason she shoved this dangerous contraption that weighed about as much as he. But she was already out the door. Hickory tried to pull the gun outdoors. But at least he tried. He was dragging the weapon out but it was making a large trench in the middle of the floor. He got Luna to take care of things.
Hickory came out to a very intense sight. Well over a million stallions stood in front of him. All inanimate. And there stood Luna, the largest grin on her face. It looked out of place with the scene behind her. Hickory turned his head to see a lot of inanimate dogs for some reason. They looked like a breed of dog one would be used to seeing. German Shepherds. Hickory raised an eye brow at Luna and pointed at the millions of dog statues. She just shrugged.
The Shepherds dug themselves in large trenches. And for those who didn't, were manned at the machine guns Luna had made. Hickory gave her a very dissatisfied look. Luna had, in fact, every right to make those guns. She had some for them as well. Just not as much. "But hay," Luna said.
Hickory awaited an answer.
"..."
Luna had no idea how to back herself up on that. But that didn't matter. A dog popped up in front of them both. Luna whipped out her gun and shot him directly in the face. Dust flew out in all directions. She ducked back down behind her cover. Hickory just rolled his eyes and moved out.
The German Shepherds were very successful thanks to the 50 pound machine guns that Luna had given to them. Sometimes she just wondered if charity could be a bad thing. A dog ran up and tried to attack her, but Luna shot him in mid air. He exploded and that was that.
After the first day, they had only made it about half a mile. They are supposed to go at least 40 miles to defeat the dogs. Luna went out to find Hickory. For some odd reason, she couldn't find him. But this was no bother. She was sure that he was around. Doing things. Just things.
Weeks passed, no sign of Hickory still. Luna was becoming worried. But Hickory was strong. Right? Yeah! Like that time he led his outnumbered army against the space lobsters. They crushed them within minuets. Why did she have to worry. She didn't know. And she was.
Hickory put the books back on the shelf. He was almost done. Celestia would be so pound of him. She might even build that memorial she promised. He put the last page into the notebook. He had been here for nearly a thousand years. Luna's evacuation from the moon was around the corner. And by around the corner, it means about a hundred years. More or less. He had lost count somewhere around seven hundred years. But now was just time for him to finally join the afterlife with his comrades. How he had longed for that. Not long now, though.
Months had gone by and still no sign of Hickory. According to Luna at least. She had given up asking others. They would just shrug and return to the fight. As for the battle. It was moving slowly, but they were moving forward. Mortars came down and crashed into the ground. The good thing was they fell slowly so they could move away quickly.
A dog came up to Luna and she, no doubt, shot him. Luna just didn't feel up for this anymore. But she might as well finish what she started. She picked up her shotgun and blew away another one. Very anti-climactically. She just wanted to drop the gun and run out to find Hickory. She had a bad feeling he was gone though. Dead.
All of the sudden, Luna was brought to the ground with quite a lot of force. A dog had jumped her from behind. Luna pulled out her shotgun but he grabbed it and tossed it out of sight. He aimed at Luna with a smug look on his face. He pulled the trigger. The gun was jammed. He smacked his gun to try to fix it. Luna tried to slip out but the dog slapped her and shoved her back to the ground. That was- that was hostile. Luna was actually starting to become afraid. Afraid of her own creation.
A stallion quickly came out of the mix up. "Hickory?" Luna asked herself.
Indeed it was. The dog smacked his gun again. A smile slowly spread. Hickory pulled out his gun and cocked it. He aimed at the dog. He fired. The dog jumped out of they way of the bullet. He pulled his own trigger. The little specks of iron and whatever else moon rocks are made of penetrated Hickory. Dust would erupt from his chest after every hit. And finally, the last bullet tore a hole trough his head. Old Hickory's cadaver floated away slowly.
All Luna could do was sit there and watch. She didn't have any weapons to fight back. Rage overcame her. The eyes of Hickory became empty and blank. The dog was in the middle of reloading his gun. Luna shot up and rushed in front of that stupid dust mutt. Before the dog could react, Luna ripped the gun out of his paws. She started to vigorously beat him. She couldn't stop. Tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
When the dog was nothing but a pile of dust again, she ran to Hickory. Everything seemed to slow down. Pain welled up in her heart. So unbearable. She just wanted to rip her own heart out just to make it stop. How could she be so stupid!? Just sit there as your only friend sacrificed himself for you!? She kept beside Hickory and picked up his body covered in holes.
"Hickory?" she asked, weakly.
He was motionless. Eyes looking out into oblivion and limbs hanging over the side. A crack formed on him. And he just crumbled. Just into a pile of dust. Her only friend. The only pony who ever cared for her on this damned moon. She just let him die!? She screamed in pain. But you know what they say. Nopony can hear you scream in space.
She punched the ground and pulled her hair. She kicked the dust up and fell back down. Her only friend. And she let him die? What kind of pony was she? She lit her horn and ended the battle. There was no point in pressing on. The only thing that lay in front of her was the remains of a friend she betrayed.
She sat there for hours. She tried to remake Hickory but he just wasn't the same when she would. She kept doing it until she just couldn't anymore. She tried on last time. But it wouldn't work. And all that sat there was a pile of dust. She picked up whatever dignity she could muster and shambled home. Alone again. Just what she deserved.