//------------------------------//
// New places, new people 
// Story: Living on the line 
// by Frost338 
//------------------------------//

       Frost's POV

   Two new divisions arrived today. Princess Celestia told us that my division was being moved to a new defensive line outside Appleoosa to defend that region from the zebras, who allied with the griffons. We moved out at about eight this morning to the Ponyville train depot to load up and head out. There were already replacement troops in Appleoosa, so there was at least some security while we were on our way. After I read some intel on the zebras, I concluded these guys were more of a Vietcong guerilla army fighting with support of the griffons. This was fine by me, since we were still on the defensive, so we can use our terrain to our advantage instead of the other way around. We arrived in the city thirty one hours sharer departure and immediately went to the defensive line. It was a system of trenches placed on a hill overlooking the desert border of Equestria and the zebra nation. A good strategic high point overlooking a flat killing field. Although significantly less trained than the griffons, the zebras had a ten to one manpower advantage over them and a twenty five to one against us. This worried me a little but I did not fear the zebras...

      Jaze's POV

     I am looking around the new desert arsenal, and might I say it is pretty impressive. We had the standard M2s, we had M249s instead of M60s, and we had M16s instead of M4s. We were all given new desert fatigues, vests and helmets to match the environment. The trenches were very nice. Everything was underground except the entrances, which were sealed shut 24/7. Firing positions were smal slits in the hill and artillery bunkers had sliding camouflaged blast doors. We had in excess of ten thousand rounds of ammo per pony at the moment, but we would need more after one or two battles. On good days we could see about three miles, but in dust storms it is impossible to see outside and the facility is locked down as to not fill with sand. We have motion sensors outside to tell us if they made a move through the storm, so there are no worries about a surprise attack.

      It has been a week since we moved here. We haven't seen any action yet, but we don't let our guard down. We keep seeing scouts walking around the field, so we know they are here. I'm sending out three pegasi to scout and preform a strafe run over an area believed to hold an enemy camp.

    About an hour later the lieutenant of the squad radioed back to the fort that they had found the enemy base, but we're taking heavy fire. We told them to get back to the fort, and we would cover their retreat with artillery. Then the lieutenant's squad flew out of the danger zone as the distinct thump of our artillery echoed through the entire fort. We saw the flashes of light from the explosions in the moonlight. The artillery ceased firing and the lieutenant told us the artillery did more damage than he ever could. We expected an immediate assault as we had now given away our position, but the battlefield was quiet. I was still crying myself to sleep every night. I really missed Razor. I delivers his letter to his wife, and she broke down to tears as soon as I told her about his death. She calmed down and read the letter aloud.

My dear wife and beloved daughter,
My best friend Jaze should be giving this to you, and if he is, I am dead. I want to let you know I hope you move on and find somepony else to love. I will always love you both.
Your father and husband,
Razor Edge