“Sergeant!”
Kris had enjoyed a full nights rest, the same went for Dusty. Both men hadn’t slept in a real bed in a really long time. Celestia offered them two beds together in one of the castle suites, since all the sleeping tents were filled. Both declined, not wanting to make anyone jealous, or that both men rank much lower than any officer. But when she insisted, they decided to take her up on her offer.
Both men were pretty glad when they got to sleep in a real bed, and to them, it was softer than anything they’d ever felt. When they fell on the beds, both were out like light bulbs in less than 30 seconds. But their slumber was interrupted when Rainbow Dash came bursting through the door… but that failed to wake them two slumbering men.
Dash gave Kris a hard shake as she screamed into his face, “SERGEANT!”
His eyes shot open as he grabbed Dash by the throat. Once he realized that the person holding him was Dash and not a Nazi soldier he let her go. “Sorry about that lieutenant.”
She rubbed her neck before she spoke, “It’s alright sergeant I would have done the same thing.”
Kris sat up, “So what is it?” he asked.
“We have a situation!” said a panicking Dash.
“What kind of situation?” replied the sergeant.
“I’ll explain on the way,” said a frantic Dash as she ran for the door.
Kris threw his helmet on and grabbed his Thompson. He ran up to a still sleeping Dusty. “Dusty… Private wake up!” The sleeping man didn’t respond. Kris looked around to find something to throw at him, his eyes finally rested on Dusty’s helmet.
The sergeant picked up the olive drab helmet and threw it at the sleeping man. The heavy piece of metal hit him right in the stomach. Dusty’s whole body jerked up as he let out a loud oof. He looked at his squad leader, “What the hell was that for!?”
“Grab your weapon, we have a situation!” ordered the sergeant.
Immediately Dusty threw off the sheets and placed his helmet on his head. He ran over and grabbed his M1. Dash, Kris and Dusty left the bedroom and ran as fast as they could through the halls of the castle.
“Lieutenant what’s going on?” asked Kris in utter confusion.
“Our troops in the west noticed a train headed straight for Canterlot,” explained Dash.
“So!?” replied Dusty.
“We weren’t expecting any troop transports or supply drops from Cloudsdale today, we suspect that it’s a civilian transport making an escape from Vanhoover,” said Dash.
“That’s a bold move for a bunch of civilians,” said Kris.
“Well, we don’t want to take any chances,” said Dash as the three began to descend a set of stairs.
Once they hit the bottom, the three troops ran in a dead sprint down the hall, when they reached the front doors of the castle. Dash forced them open as they exited the building. Kris and Dusty headed straight for the jeep. All the troops outside were running around
frantically, they piled into carriages or began to run to the train station.
Kris jumped in the driver’s seat while Dusty manned the .50. Dash stopped and noticed the men get in. Immediately she turned around and jumped in the passenger seat. Kris started the jeep and threw it in gear, he pressed on the gas as hard as he could. He jerked the wheel and began to drive down the stone street.
“Alright lieutenant where are we headed?” asked Kris.
“Just follow the carriages in front of you!” she said.
Kris pulled up behind a convoy of carriages, but since the jeep was significantly faster than the bull powered carriages he decided to pass them. He raced pass the lead carriage and pulled far ahead of the convoy. “Lieutenant I need a navigator!” ordered Kris.
“Two blocks up a head take the next left,” said Dash.
Kris slowed the jeep just a little as he took the turn. Once he made the turn, Kris raced down the street as he waited for another order.
“Take the next right,” said Dash.
Kris did as he was instructed and took the right hand turn. “Just keep going straight,” said Dash as she pointed her finger forward. The three troops raced down the street, the train station began to get bigger.
The station consisted of nothing but an open awning. It was modified early on in the war to allow mass troop transports and supply trains to load and unload with ease of access. Kris came to a screeching halt before the raised floor of the station. He killed the engine of the jeep and bailed out. “Dusty stay on the .50!” he ordered.
“Yes sir!” replied the private.
Dash and Kris ran up to the raised floor and straight to the tracks. The sound of hooves and metal began to fill the air as Dash’s forces began to approach. Both Dash and Kris looked down the tracks, in the distance a small dot with thick black smoke began to approach. Dash looked to her troops as they began to stop their carriages. She ran up to the wooded vehicles and began barking orders, “I WANT ALL TROOPS ON POINT!”
Her troops began to jump out of the vehicles and prepared themselves for a fight. Kris ran up next to her, “I WANT ALL TROOPS TO HOLD UP ON THE END OF THE STATION!”
“I DON’T TAKE ORDERS FROM YOU!” barked an angry soldier.
“DO AS HE SAYS!” screamed an angry Dash, “WE DON’T HAVE TIME TO ARGUE, THAT TRAIN ‘LL BE HERE IN LESS THEN FIVE MINUTES!”
Her troops began to take their places on the outside of the train station. They took their defensive stances as they hid behind their shields, spears at the ready. Once they were in place, they waited for the train to arrive. A sense of uneasiness filled the air, something didn’t feel right and Kris knew it.
The train grew larger in size as it approached the station. Dash’s troops shuffled in their spots while Kris took up a defensive position behind the front of the jeep, Thompson at the ready. Dash stood behind him and watched the train approach. The brakes on the massive vehicle began to screech loudly as it approached the station. The speeding train came to a crawl as it pulled into the station, once the engine came to the end of the bay it stopped. The door to the first train car opened but nothing came out. Everyone looked at the door and waited for something to step out.
“I don’t like this,” whispered Kris to Dash.
She looked at him then back to the door. After a couple of seconds a shadow filled the open door. A small woman appeared, she wore a tattered black dress. She was grey in color with the same colored hair and tail. She was visibly frightened and was hesitant to go any farther.
She looked Dash right in the eyes, “Please help?”
BOOM!
A large explosion went off behind the girl; she was immediately engulfed in a mushroom of orange flames and black smoke. The five remaining cars and one engine began to explode in rapid succession; a large black mushroom cloud filled the air as the explosions began to die down. The massive blast immediately knocked everyone off their feet, Dusty fell off the jeep and hit the ground, knocking the wind out of him. Kris fell back and landed onto of Dash as she hit the ground. Kris immediately stood up, Dusty followed close behind. They looked at the carnage in front of them. The train was completely destroyed as a massive fire began to break out. Dash was speechless, but Kris began barking orders.
“SOMEONE GET THIS FIRE UNDER CONTROL! ALL OTHER TROOPS STAY BACK UNTIL THE FIRES OUT!”
All pegasi began to take off and grab nearby clouds, they returned and began jumping up and down on the clouds causing them to rain. All other ground troops stayed back until they were given further orders. The water began to fall in buckets as the fire began to become smothered by the water.
Dash began to walk forward, she was expressionless, she felt nothing but fear, terror, and disbelief. Complete and utter horror filled her mind. Her jaw began to quiver as she fell to her knees; she took a heavy breath before releasing a blood curdling scream. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
Kris noticed the blood curdling scream she let out. He ran up to her, while Dusty stood there and watched the two. Kris kneeled in front of her as he placed his gun on the ground.
He looked her right in the eyes… all he saw was fear and horror.
“Lieutenant!” he screamed.
She continued to look at the ground with terror filled eyes.
“Lieutenant!” he grabbed her by the shoulders,” LIEUTENANT!” He began to shake her as he screamed at her some more. “LIEUTENANT! LIETENANT!”
She looked up at him slowly, she blinked few times, but said nothing. “Lieutenant, orders?” barked Kris.
She continued to look at him, "Their dead,” she mumbled under her breath.
Kris furrowed his brow. “What?”
“They’re all… dead,” she mumbled.
Kris took a heavy breath as he looked away from her, “This is war lieutenant! And there are casualties in war!”
She didn’t move or react, she stayed motionless. Kris grabbed his gun and stood up. He looked at Dusty. “Private get her out of here, I’m taking charge!”
“Yes sir,” replied the young man.
Dusty ran over to Dash and helped her up, “Come on lieutenant,” he said in a calm tone.
He placed his arms around her and began to walk her back to the jeep. He slowly helped her in the passenger seat, once she was seated Dusty got in the driver’s seat and started the jeep, he pulled away and headed for the castle, leaving his friend behind.
“GET THIS FUCKING FIRE UNDER CONTROL!” barked Kris.
A trooper ran up to Kris and looked him in the eye, “WHY SHOULD I TAKE ORDERS FROM YOU!?!”
“DO YOU HAVE ANY BETTER IDEAS!?!” screamed Kris in retaliation, he paused for a second. “Get this fire out or I'll shoot you for being so IGNORANT ,” said the sergeant as he prodded the soldier’s chest with his finger.
The soldier looked at Kris with anger but ran off after a few seconds. Kris went back to giving orders while everyone did their best to contain the fire.
Moral… was at an all-time low.
***
Celestia, Dash and Dusty sat in silence. Once Dusty got Dash to the castle he immediately ran into Celestia. He explained what happened at the station, Celestia was furious but her attention immediately went to Dash. She took her in a warm embrace, taking Dash and Dusty to her private study. They all sat in silence, while Kris and Celestia’s troops did their best to control the fire at the northern train station.
After a couple hours of silence, the door to Celestia's study opened. Everyone looked at the door to see Shining standing there, but he was looking away. “Here you are sergeant.”
“Thank you, captain,” replied Kris as he walked in the room.
He grabbed a nearby chair and pulled it over to the three others in the room. He removed his helmet and let it drop to the floor, the heavy piece of metal landed with a good thud. He let out a heavy sigh as he ran his hands through his hair. “Fucking hell,” he mumbled. Kris held his head as he stared at the floor. No one said a word for a few minutes.
He looked up from the floor and let his eyes fall on Dash, “How you holding up lieutenant?”
She slowly moved her eyes to him, “I… I’m good,” she said disheartened.
He shook his head lightly. “Alright.”
Silence filled the room yet again.
“Sergeant… how did everything go?” asked Celestia in a hushed tone.
Kris began to rub his face, “We got the fire under control… but there were… no survivors.”
“How bad was it sir?” asked Dusty.
“There were…” Kris paused, “there were at least 200 civilians on that train… and those were the intact bodies we found… who knows how many others there were.”
“Jesus,” replied a shocked Dusty.
Dash began to cry, ever since this war broke out Dash had only cried twice. The first… was shortly after her first battle when she learned she lost her wing and probably wouldn’t ever fly again, the second… was this.
“All those innocent ponies,” she mumbled.
Kris took a heavy breath, “This is war lieutenant… it was never meant to be pretty.”
“Why would Sombra do something like this!?” screamed Dash as tears began to stain her blue fur.
“Because all’s fair in love and war,” said Dusty.
“Everyone’s a victim in war,” replied Kris.
The room fell silent yet again.
“What are we going to do now sir?” asked Dusty as he looked to his leader for guidance.
Kris looked from Dusty to Celestia, “Your majesty?” he asked.
She looked at Kris, then Dusty, and Dash, then finally back to Kris. “I’ll make plans for a counter assault, we’ll show Sombra that we have no intentions of backing down,” she paused, “We’ll make him pay for what he has done!”
Dusty looked away from Celestia and to Kris. He let out light shoulder shrug. “I’m in.”
“You’re majesty… were willing to help you anyway we can,” said Kris.
“Alright,” replied Celestia, she looked at Dash who had calmed down, “I want you and the Pie’s to meet me in the war room in an hour.”
“Yes your majesty,” replied Dash.
Celestia looked back at Kris, “Sergeant, since you and your men are so eager to help, I’ll have you join me and Lieutenant Dash tomorrow morning.”
“Yes your majesty,” Kris looked at Dusty, “you got that private?”
“Yes sir,” replied Dusty.
“Sergeant, you’re dismissed,” order Celestia.
Kris grabbed his helmet and rose from his seat, “With all due respect your majesty, my men take orders from me and I take orders from my superiors in the U.S. Army, but with you… I’m willing to make an exception.” He turned and began to leave.
Celestia said nothing.
Dusty grabbed his rifle and followed close behind his leader. The men left the room and walked down the large marble halls in silence. A few minutes passed until a familiar face rounded the corner.
“Steven… is that you?” asked Dusty.
“Guys!” replied and over elated Steven.
Both men ran to their now healed friend.
“Damn corporal you look good for a guy that took a windshield to the face,” complimented Kris with a smile.
Steven laughed at the remark, “Well, I’ve been through worse,” he said sarcastically.
“So what did the doctors do?” asked Kris.
“They removed that metal and glass in my face, then they did this thing and boom! Here I am good as new!” Steven said happily.
“I know full well that no one, even you,” Kris pointed his finger, “could have walked away without it causing something,” said Kris.
“Well…” said Steven hesitantly.
Kris went from happy to serious, “Well what?”
Steven clenched his teeth and scrunched his face.
“Corporal what did the doctors say?” asked Kris.
Steven avoided eye contact with his leader, “They said…” he took a deep breath, “I’m completely blind in my left eye… and partly in my right.”
Kris shook his head at the response, now he was down a man and had no way of sending him home.
“Alright corporal, you’re out,” said Kris with a hollow tone.
“But sir! I belong with you and Dusty!” barked Steven.
“NOT WHEN YOU CAN’T SEE!” retaliated Kris, “a sniper is no good when he can’t see his target!”
A moment of silence passed.
“I’m going to talk to Celestia and have you put up somewhere until we either find a way to get you home, or until we win this war, you’re done and that’s final!” said Kris.
“But sir!” retaliated Steven.
“That’s an order corporal! I’ll have your ass court marshaled for not following a direct order! You got that!?” ordered Kris forcefully.
“Yes sir,” replied a depressed and defeated Steven.
“Go and get yourself a hot meal or something, you might as well make the best of a bad situation,” said Kris.
Steven just stood there and avoided eye contact with his former leader.
“Okay,” Kris looked over his shoulder at Dusty, “private you’ve got the night off go enjoy the town or something I really don’t care, just don’t get yourself arrested.”
“Yes sir, thank you sir,” replied Dusty.
Kris looked at his former squad mate, and then walked past him, Dusty followed close behind, while Steven stood there in utter silence. Kris didn’t know exactly when Dusty left, he just found himself in a library somewhere in the castle. Kris wasn’t much of a reader but he was stuck in an unknown land, and he was just sucked into a war that was nothing like European theatre.
He just grabbed a book and sat down, something about magic; he didn’t read the title, he read the first chapter which explained a lot about how this world worked. He read about how that pegasi, or people with wings could fly and interact with the weather, earth ponies, or people without wings or a horn, have immense strength, and finally unicorns or people with horns can use magic. The last part about basic magic spells explained how Celestia was able to take his Thompson so easily. But after he got into the equations and riddles that were used to recreate spells he put the book away and grabbed another one.
“The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide,” he said, he shrugged and took it with him.
He sat back down in a chair and opened the book. He began to read the story which to him became pretty dark pretty quick. He looked at the words in a loss. “Celestia had a sister?” he said under his breath. The further he read the more he learned about the battle that happened between Celestia and her sister, how she used the Elements of Harmony to defeat her, and how they were lost to time.
“And harmony has been maintained in Equestria ever since,” he said aloud. He began to chuckle at the last sentence, “yeah that’s going well,” he said sarcastically.
He looked up from the book and took a deep breath, as he looked out the window he noticed how dark it was. He didn’t think he had spent the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening reading, but time flies when you aren’t living in the moment. These last two days had been the quietest… sort of… he’s had.
He closed the book and placed it back from where he took it and left the library. He eventually made it outside, after asking multiple questions to posted guards on, ‘where is the front door?’ He walked down the street, what he was really looking for was a drink.
He grabbed the attention of a passing female soldier, “Hey where’s the best place to get a drink around here?”
“Yeah, just head down the street about two blocks and it’s on your left, the name called the Pony Palace,” she said.
“Thanks.”
He left the soldier behind and headed for what he hoped was a bar. He walked the two blocks and stopped in front of a small white building with a wooden sign just above the door. He placed his hand on the door and opened it, stepping inside. The bar was dimly lit and wreaked of booze and cigarette smoke. The place was filled with a majority of Celestia’s troops, many were hammered beyond recognition. Some played poker, others were telling jokes and reminiscing about past battles. Kris spotted an open seat at the bar and went up to it, taking a seat. The bartender walked up to him and placed his hands on the table.
“Never seen a pony like you before,” said the bartender.
“Well I’m not exactly from here,” replied Kris.
“Clearly,” said the bartender, “So what’ll it be son?”
Before he said anything he realized that he didn’t have any money, let alone anything that this place would take.
“You know? I just realized that I don’t have a dime to pay with,” replied Kris with a hint of embarrassment.
“Well that’s not a big deal,” said the bartender with a shrug, “I’ll give you one on the house.”
“Thanks,” replied Kris.
He watched as the bartender grabbed a large wood stein and filled it with a light amber beer. He placed it on the table, “Her yah go son.”
“Thanks,” replied Kris once again.
The bartender walked away as Kris took his drink and sipped away at it. He just sat a people watched as he sipped away at his, somewhat weak drink. He watched four soldiers play poker, it appeared that the light pink, female pegasus was winning. Because every time a bet was placed she went way high, and most of the time… she was bluffing.
As he watched the game he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Never thought I’d see you here,” said a familiar female voice.
He turned and looked at the owner of the hand.
“Hey Lieutenant, what are you doing here?” asked Kris.
“Just thought I’d grab a drink before we move out tomorrow,” said Dash as she took a seat on the stool next to Kris. “Celestia wanted me to find you; we’re headed for Smoky Mountain tomorrow.”
“I'm glad you're fellin' better... so what’s the plan?” asked Kris as he took a sip of his drink.
“Celestia wants to take back Vanhoover from Sombra,” replied Dash.
“That’s a bold move,” replied Kris.
“We can’t afford to give Sombra any ground. If he gets any closer to Clouds Dale or if he gets Las Pegasus, that leaves Canterlot open to attack, or will cut off out supplies that come from those areas,” explained Dash.
“Well, Dusty and I will be joining you,” said Kris.
“What about your third man?” asked Dash.
“A snipers not very good when he can’t see,” replied Kris.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Dash. “Where’s the bartender?” she asked while she began to look around.
Kris let out a huff, “Beats me,” he began to take a drink.
The bartender walked around the bar and up to Dash. “Sorry about that, there was something that needed my attention.” he shot a look past Dash.
Neither Dash no Kris looked.
“I’ll take a hard cider,” requested Dash.
“Yes ma’am,” replied the bartender.
He grabbed a wooden mug and filled it before placing it in front of Dash, who took a rather large gulp of the amber liquid.
Kris watched her practically down the mug in one gulp, “If you go at that any faster you’re gonna drown,” said Kris sarcastically.
She placed the mug down on the table and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. “This stuffs the best,” replied Dash.
Kris grabbed his mug and let out a chuckle before he took a sip, “I’ve had better.”
“Bullshit,” replied a questionable Dash.
“I’ll take an American beer over this any day,” replied Kris.
“I bet I could find a filly that could hold her liquor better than you ever will!” screamed Dash; her frustration began to show. That caught the attention of everyone in the bar.
“That sounds like a challenge me,” replied Kris with a smile.
Dash never took her glare off of him, “Bartender, give us your hardest cider.”
Kris gave her a smug grin, “And a lot of shot glasses.”
Both soldiers started at each other until someone spoke up.
“I got 100 bits on the hairless guy!” screamed a female voice.
Both Kris and Dash looked at the crowd as they began to surround the two soldiers. Dash and Kris looked back at each other with grins as big as their faces. They heard a glass bottle and a stack of shot glasses hit the table. They looked to see the bartender standing there, with a mischievous grin.
“Good luck,” he said as he leaned back against the counter behind him.
Kris removed his helmet and gun and placed it on the table. He grabbed the bottle and removed the cork. Dash grabbed two shot glasses and placed them upright on the table, one in front of her, the other in front of Kris. He filled the two glasses with the amber liquid before placing the bottle on the bar.
“One,” he started.
“Two,” replied Dash.
“Three,” the said in unison before taking a drink.
The crowd began to cheer more and more as the two made it further into their ‘game’.
***
Twelve shots in and Dash began to become more wobbly in her seat. The alcohol was becoming more and more prevalent in her system. Kris just sat there and watched her.
“I bet *hic* that you can't make it a baker’s dozen?” said a drunk Dash.
Kris began to chuckle, he took the small glass and filled it with another shot. He brought the glass to his lips and tilted his head back so he could swallow the liquid. Once he was finished he placed the glass on the table upside down.
“You’re up,” he said with a smug grin.
Dash’s eyes narrowed, she poured herself her thirteenth shot and took a drink. As she leaned back the stool sat on two legs, causing it to slip out from under her. The crowd began to laugh at the site as she fell on the wood floor. She landed with a good thud but recovered quickly. She placed a hand on the bar and began to pull herself up.
“Ahhhh *hic* shut up!” she said in a drunken daze.
She tried to place the glass upside down on the table but began to struggle. Every time she tried to place it right the glass would slip to the side, after the third try, she stopped and did it slowly as she bit her tongue while trying to concentrate. She got it on the fourth try.
“Ha! Beat that!” she said while trying to get back on her stool.
Kris poured another drink before downing it without trying. Dash poured yet another shot and downed it, but before she could place the glass she gaged and grabbed her mouth. It was clear to Kris that she was trying not to vomit.
“You know what lieutenant?” asked Kris as he grabbed the bottle.
She looked at him.
“This stuff couldn’t knock out an elephant,” he placed the bottle to his lips and took two large swings of the liquid, before placing it back on the bar.
Dash’s eyes went wide, she was wasted beyond recognition and yet here sat Kris who didn’t seem fazed.
“Fourteen shots and you’re wasted,” Kris pointed his finger, “and this wasn’t even enough to get me buzzed,” he said with a chuckle.
Dash lowered her hands and looked at him, “Okay I don’t *hic* do this often but *hic* I’ll let you win this one. But *hic* I’ll get you next time,” she said.
Kris laughed at the site, “Good luck,” he paused, “Well let’s get you back to the castle,” he said as he rose from his seat and placed his helmet on his head and shouldered his weapon.
He grabbed her arm and placed it over his shoulder; before they walked away Dash placed some bits on the bar. Once the bill was paid the two headed for door. Kris opened it as he and Dash stepped out into the cool night air. He oriented Dash the right way as the two war heroes headed straight for the castle.