//------------------------------// // Chapter 16 - Fillydelphia // Story: BLITZ // by The Commandant //------------------------------// A few hours ago, Somewhere in the middle of Fillydelphia, Equestria War... Even the slightest, audible mention of it, it sends chills down my back when I hear that word... because this word alone has destroyed my life in more ways than I can count... and not only mine, but my friends' and allies' as well. Damn, I hate this war... and to think that this war would be over a lot sooner, and in our favor, if the Princesses would just use their magic to stop the humans, and send them back to wherever they came from. It would win the war for us, and nopony else would have to die! However, they haven't done anything like that... and probably won't... It's as if they want us to lose... Why would they want us to lose? Why would they let the ponies they rule over suffer? Why won't they give up? Surely there's a reason for this, right? There's always a reason... "I hate this war..." I said to myself as I looked towards the gravel below. "You ain't alone." I looked up from the road and saw Babs Seed trotting next to me, looking the same as ever. "I can't stand this war, either." Babs said in her Manehatten accent. "I mean, I've lost so much from it... Applebloom... Most of my country..." I said in a somber tone, returning my gaze towards the road beneath my hooves. "I just want things to be normal... I want to be back in Ponyville..." "Yeah... I know the feelin'..." Babs said, maintaining the same pace I was going. "I think all of us do." "Too true." Ivory said, following behind the rest of the squad. "I'd rather do the same job I did back in Hoofington... the stallions there treated me better than the ERA does." "Hoofington?" Yellow Rock said, perking up at the mention of the name. "I heard that was where the humans on the Eastern front are going to attack." "Really? Where'd you hear that?" Ivory asked in a concerned tone. "I heard some officer mention it when I was going to get lunch the other day." Yellow replied, walking next to Ivory. "I hope it isn't true... My mom still lives there..." Ivory sighed. "I'm already starting to understand what you're going through, Onyx." Onyx sighed. "Yeah... It isn't easy seeing your hometown just... burnt to the ground..." "I heard this from somepony earlier as well; The war is gonna end soon, but before it does, a lot more ponies are going to die." Astral Strikes said. "I... thought it had some relevance." "Uh... did Astral just talk?" Ivory asked. "I... Wow. I have never heard your voice before, like, ever!" "Uh... really?" Astral asked, becoming uneasy by all the attention that had been directed towards him. "I thought I... I thought I've spoken before..." "Uh, you doing okay there, Astral?" Ivory asked. "You're getting a little... fidgety." "I... I'm fine..." Astral said, becoming extremely uncomfortable. "Well... whatever." Ivory said, quickly losing interest in him, and continuing to do whatever she was doing before. "Hey Scootaloo, you see the refugee camp?" Babs asked. I took a good look around the surrounding area, but I only saw a bunch of Mk 1s and Mk 2s sitting around, waiting for an attack at any moment. We were in a platoon sized patrol trying to see if we could find any human activity in the given areas we were assigned to. I continued to look around until my gaze fell onto several groups of tents, which had possibly thousands of ponies sitting around and waiting to be taken care of. The fillies and colts ran around the tents in a vein attempt to keep themselves entertained while they waited for whatever happened next. "Whoa, are those all of the civilians that escaped?" I asked Babs, quizzically eyeing the refugees. "I think they are, but I really dunno." Babs replied, about as curious as me. "Huh." I said. "Hey Scootaloo," Emerald Dream said, turning to look at me, "you doing alrigh-" BOOM! Suddenly, the road in front of me exploded into a ball of fire and dirt, throwing my body a few feet into the air like a sack of potatoes, and back onto the hard gravel road. I felt like all the air in my lungs had just been squeezed out when I hit the ground, which caused a kind of natural reflex to kick in, making me unnecessarily choke for air. My hoofs went for my throat as I desperately tried to get air back into my system. The adrenaline surge that came with all of this helped me get back onto a steady breathing pattern, which helped me calm down a lot. Though, there was the highly irritating ringing noise in my ears, and I couldn't stop blinking because of some of the dirt that got into my eyes from the explosion. I lay on the ground for a bit, trying to process what just happened. Only a moment later did I decide to get up off my side and try to investigate the scene in front of me. I uneasily got onto my hooves, and started to rub my eyes with my right fore hoof. Eventually I was able to see much more clearly, but what I saw in front of me sent the nastiest chill down my entire back, which made me wish I hadn't rubbed my eyes at all. The ponies that were in front of me had been utterly mauled by the explosion, and there was an excessive amount of gore lying around, but that wasn't the only reason it was horrifying. Emerald Dream... was one of the ponies in front of me, and the explosion had... torn her into two bloody and mangled pieces. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it, and I didn't want to. My gut felt like it weighed three tons, which made me feel like I was gonna throw up the hay rations I had for diner. Then, as if the scene wasn't terrible enough, she began to shift around, and managed to turn her head towards me. She stared directly at me with the look of utter shock in her eyes, making my entire body feel like it was being shocked and frozen by the most evil being you could think of. The feelings of shock, surprise, and utter horror, lasted for what felt like forever; and all I could really do was stay silent and let my emotions do their thing. Suddenly, it was as if the life had been torn straight out of her, and left only a broken corpse. She lay motionless as blood continued to drain out of her abdomen, and I was unable to look away, too enthralled in the thrilling sights. I started to take rapid and heavy breaths as I tried to find some kind of way to comprehend everything unfolding before me. I slowly began to curl into a fetal position on the ground, and tried to let my tears take my emotions away, filled with hate, sadness, grief, shock, horror, and shame. I could hear somepony calling out my name, but I couldn't care about them right now. "SCOOTALOO! GET MOVING!" Onyx yelled in my face, shaking my entire body in an effort to knock me out of my stupor. I was scared to death as I began to frantically look around for no particular reason, other than just trying to find out where I was. I realized sooner or later that the adrenaline was causing me to shake like an earthquake. "Come on, Scootaloo! Get moving, now!" "But... what about Emerald...?" I asked wearily. "She's dead! We can't do anything for her!" Onyx replied, grabbing my right fore leg and dragging me away from the display of gore. "N-no! Don't leave her!" I asked in a desperate tone, my eyes beginning to burn as tears formed in them. "She... She can't be dead!" "Scootaloo... I'm sorry... there's nothin' we can do..." Babs said, trying to comfort me while Onyx continued to drag me. Then all of the sudden, I lost almost all feeling in all of my legs, with the pins and needles feeling that followed shortly after. I had fallen onto the ground like a lifeless puppet, and I was terrified. Onyx immediately noticed the added weight, and turned around to check if I had been killed. Though, when Onyx saw me in pristine condition, his face told me he wasn't happy at all. "Corporal... help her up... I can't constantly take care of her... not now." He said to Babs, who only nodded in response. "Scootaloo, come on! Don't give up just yet! We need you here!" Babs pleaded, trying to get me to stand up. "Please!" "I can't stand up... my legs... What's happening?!" I asked, scared out of my wits. "W-what?!" Babs asked, becoming extremely concerned. "Are you sayin' your legs ain't workin'?!" "Please help me! I'm scared!" I cried. "I... I don't know what to do..." Babs said, starting to panic. "I... Uh..." I tried to focus on something else while I waited for her to figure something out, so I looked towards the motor pool that was on the side of the road we were on, but I saw that almost all of the tanks had already gone out to fight. Then I turned my attention towards the refugee camp... which sent another chill through my body, making me I wish I hadn't seen it. Some of the human artillery had hit the camp, and all I saw was dust and debris floating aimlessly in the air. "Oh... Sweet Celestia..." I stammered, unable to comprehend the sight before me. "Babs... the refugees... oh, Celestia have mercy..." "Scootaloo... Scootaloo, listen to me!" Babs said. "I need you to climb onto my back... Wait, no..." "W...What? Climb onto your..." "Okay, when I put you on my back, just try to hold on for dear life!" Babs interrupted, pulling me onto her back. I tried to get myself into a much more comfortable position, but the strange and terrifying inability for me to use my legs prevented me from doing so. "You good, Scoots?" She asked, but only revived a small whimper from me. "Uh... we need to catch up with the rest of the platoon! Hang on!" As soon as she said that, she ran as fast as she could to get us both back to the squad. I tried to hold on with every fiber of my body, even using my wings to grip around Babs's torso. I looked above us, and saw that the evening sky had been filled with human aircraft, which had even blocked out the sun at one point. Then, several planes began racing towards Fillydelphia, bombs and rockets strapped to the wings. "Corporal! Hurry it up! We can't wait on you two any longer!" Onyx yelled to us once we got close enough. When Babs got us close to the rest of the squad, she set me down near a pile of rubble, and trotted over to talk with the rest of the squad. Onyx had finished talking to the other Squad leaders, and walked over to the rest of the squad. "Okay, everypony on me!" Onyx yelled, gesturing everypony but me over. "Okay, uh... listen, I know we just lost Corporal Emerald Dream... she was a great pony and a great friend... but we have little time to mourn for her. We have to focus on the now, otherwise we are all going to die like Emerald. I'm trying everything that I can possibly do, but I can't do it all by myself, alright?" At that moment, I noticed Ivory was crying hysterically, with Babs trying to comfort her. I felt ashamed of myself for being upset. I knew I should have been stronger than this, but I wasn't, and now everypony hated me for it. I know they hate me for it. "Another thing, those refugees back at the camp absolutely need all the help they can get, and while it may not be our current mission, I feel like it's the right thing to do. You ponies understand?" Onyx asked, receiving several nods. "Scootaloo... if you can walk, please get up and help us. That's all I'm asking of you." "I'll... I'll try..." I replied, trying with all of my strength to get up on at least one hoof. "C'mon!" It was in vein, however, as none of my legs would respond, which angered me greatly. "Fine... we'll be over there." Onyx sighed, walking towards the refugees. "Come on, we gotta hurry!" "No... please, I can walk!" I pleaded, starting to sob. "Please don't leave me!" I lay there helpless on the ground for what felt like days, feeling guilty and ashamed of myself for not being able to do anything right. I wasn't able to walk, I wasn't there for everypony, and I wasn't able to save Apple Bloom or Emerald Dream. "Scootaloo? Hey, you okay?" I looked up and saw the one pony I would have never guessed to come check on me; Swift Hoof. "Wha... what?" I stammered, failing to hold back tears of shame. "Uh, Onyx sent me to keep an eye on you, but I don't know why he sent me instead of somepony else." Swift said, probably scanning me for injuries. "You think you could tell me why your legs "don't work"?" "I don't... they just stopped..." I said in a unconfident tone, shivering at the slightest thought of my paralysis. "Like... they just gave up? That doesn't make any sense." Swift said. "You aren't even injured from what I can see... er, terribly injured, I should say." "What do you mean?" I asked, getting even more scared. "You have shrapnel all along your front side. You're lucky a small piece didn't penetrate your jugular arteries." Swift said, trying to reassure me. "Can you feel any of it, because it hurts to just look at it all." "Nothing really hurts... it's just... I don't know..." I said, beginning to cry over my uncertain fate. Swift was silent for a few moments before he spoke up. "Emerald?" Swift said, as if something inside of him clicked. "It's all about her, isn't it?" "Huh?" I said in a severely confused tone. "I'm just guessing here... but I think you just need to understand one thing..." Swift said, taking in a good-sized breath. "Ponies are going to die, whether you like it or not. I know it's really tough to lose somepony you care for, but if you can't keep it together afterwards, you are going to end up like the same pony you care for... which is Emerald in this case." "You think I don't know that...?" I asked, getting emotionally hurt by his words. "I... I can't forget their faces... they always... look at me before they die... as if my stare alone triggers their death..." "Hey, don't say that. They didn't die because of you, it was either their own mistake, or something they couldn't control." Swift said somberly, putting his hoof on my shoulder. "Me? It can be my fault, because I have to save lives. If I screw up during a procedure, then the pony I'm attempting to heal could die in a few quick seconds... I still think about the ponies I couldn't save..." I realized that Swift has never been this nice and open to me ever, and it caused something... something I can't really describe... "Scootaloo... You are a good pony, and a great, caring friend. The fact that you worry about everypony in our squad, and mourn for them if they get hurt shows me that you have empathy like I've never really seen before..." Swift said, looking me directly in the eyes. "I'm glad to have somepony like you in our squad, even if you don't think so." I suddenly forgot about the war happening around us, and I felt... different. I had no real way of describing what had happened, other than just saying I changed, or I felt like I did. "So... are you my counselor, now?" I asked, chuckling a bit. "Eh... You could say I learned a thing or two from Emerald," Swift replied, giving me a slight smile "You know, being a counselor herself and whatnot." I noticed several flashes in my peripheral vision, and turned to see the massive battle raging on outside of Fillydelphia. Several of our newest Mk 2 tanks were engaging the human "T-4a1" medium tanks, and were destroying the human vehicles easily. Many human tanks rushed in and attempted to kill the Mk 2 tanks, but to no avail. For the briefest moment... I respected my enemy's bravery... Then I lost it after I remembered what they had done to my friends, and my comrades in arms. There's no way I will feel that kind of respect for them ever again, even if my life depended on it. "They just keeping coming..." Swift stated, having already noticed what I was staring at. "It's like nothing I've ever seen before... wait, what is that... tank?" I tried to find what he was looking at, but I failed to notice any awkward tanks that were coming right at us... until I saw the rear of the current wave. "What... are those tanks?" I asked, not really expecting an answer. "I... I don't even know..." Swift stammered, unsure if he should be afraid or not. "We gotta warn Onyx... they're probably in the middle of the refugee camp..." "I still can't move... Why won't my legs work?!" I asked rhetorically. "Please Swift... don't leave me here..." "I never leave a pony behind." Swift said as he grabbed my uniform with his mouth and dragged me towards the others. I looked back at the battle, and managed to look up I time to see one of those new tanks get hit by a Mk 2 beam... but I was utterly shocked to see the human vehicle still charging the Mk 2 like an angry bull, except for the fact that said bull was invincible. The tank fired one shot at the Mk 2, which seemed to have phased through the shield, and penetrated the light armor of the magic tank. "Oh shit... did... did you see that?!" I yelled in astonishment. "Those tanks... they just wiped out a Mk 2 with one shot! And..." "What?! You'r shihhin me! Dat's impohible!" Swift exclaimed while dragging me with his mouth. "It can't be true..." I said. "They can't be beating us at everything... can they?" Swift set me down before responding with "...I'm afraid the war is already lost... I think we're just fighting in the hopes that we can pull through in this conflict..." "No... not this soon..." I cried, trying to maintain a decent composure while my eyes began burning again. Swift picked me up and continued to drag me towards the refugee camp, which in no way was comfortable. When we arrived, I saw the Mk 2s already pulling back into the city with only a few tanks left. Several ponies that were on the defensive line ran past us in the hopes of defending the middle of the city, but I knew it was all a vein attempt to prevent the inevitable. BOOM! "Ah, shit! I don't know where they are!" Swift yelled, having let go of me before speaking. "Scootaloo, tell me if you see them!" "I'll try!" I yelled back, looking through the crowds of retreating ponies. Then, bullets began ripping through the ERA infantry all around me, as the human tanks began firing at them with their machine guns. Ponies limbs were being torn off as the large caliber round tore right through them, while others were decapitated from the neck up. The sight made me want to look away, but I couldn't stop watching the massacre happening all around me, as I just couldn't do anything else. "Scootaloo! Stay with me!" Swift yelled over the ensuing carnage, noticing that I was spacing out again. "I need you here!" I looked at him for a brief moment before turning around to see a human tank rolling right at me me once again. "Shit! Shit! Shiiiit!!" I exclaimed, getting up and unintentionally leaving Swift behind. I ran for the refugee camp and hid in one of the tents and waited until the adrenaline surge ended, but Swift found me before that happened. "Scootaloo... how... how did you...? I thought your... Uhhh..." Swift said, nearly out of breath. "I thought your legs... weren't... uhhhh... working..." When he said this, a sudden chill of excitement ran down my spine, as I looked to my legs and began to move them around with great success. I stopped shaking and began to suddenly laugh, and I didn't really know why. "You doing okay there Scootaloo?" Swift asked, having caught his breath. "Don't go nuts on me, will ya?" "Heh... Don't worry, I'm fine. I guess I'm just... grateful to walk again... even if it took a tank to fix it." I said, trying to hold my composure for the time being. "Well... come on then. I still can't find-" "Swift! Scootaloo! There you are!" I looked at the pony who was standing in the doorway of the tent, and I recognized her as Babs. "Y'all need to come quick!" Babs said before stopping halfway through. "I almost forgot about you, Scootaloo. I can carry her if you need me to, Swift." "No, she's fine now." Swift said. "Though, it took a tank to do it." "Well I- wait, what?!" Babs exclaimed in a confused voice. "You mean she's fine?!" "Yeah, she's fine. Let's go, come on!" Swift said, running out of the tent, with me in tow. We didn't run very far until we stopped at a house, which had been remarkably unscathed by the attack. All three of us walked in through the door and waited until Onyx met us in the living room. "Oh, thank Celestia we found you, Swift. Listen, Ivory's been hit bad by shrapnel, and we've only been able to slow the bleeding for now, and the rag is starting to lose its effectiveness." Onyx said hurriedly. "My guess is that she's only got a few minutes left. Come on, she's just upstairs!" A knife went through my heart and gut when I heard Ivory's name, and all I could do was hope for the best. Onyx and Swift headed for the stair case in the corner of the living room without saying another word, while I followed closely behind them so I could see where Ivory was... and help out with anything if they needed me too. When I followed the two stallions upstairs, they went in through a door and into another room, which I assumed was Ivory's room. "Oh, Ivory..." Swift said somberly after seeing a bloodied Ivory laying down on a crimson-stained bed. "This isn't one of your usual injuries, is it...?" Ivory, however, could barely speak "N-no... it's not..." She smiled, trying to enjoy Swift's humor for the time being. "Hey... if... if I die..." "Don't say that, Ivory... You're gonna be fine as long as I'm here, alright?" Swift said in a reassuring tone. "You're gonna be just fine..." "I hope... you're right..." Ivory choked, reaching out a single hoof towards Swift. "Just... don't make it hurt too much... Okay?" "I promise it'll be quick and relatively painless..." Swift said, holding Ivory's hoof in an attempt to make her comfortable. "You just gotta promise not to fall asleep, okay?" "Okay..." Ivory said, starting to cry. Swift went to work immediately, not stopping for a break, nor did he ever get distracted, even as the battle closed in on us. Swift did a lot of procedures that I could never dream of one day practicing myself. He pulled bits of rock and shrapnel out of her chest and patched it in an attempt to prevent intense bleeding from her chest cavity. "AAAHHHHH!! STOP! STOP!!" Ivory screeched when Swift messed up on something. "Please... you said it would be nearly painless..." "I... I'm sorry. I'll try to be more careful, it's... it's just scary..." Swift said before continuing. He worked for a few more minutes before he drooped his head low, then got up and trotted slowly towards me. "Hey, Scootaloo, come over here..." Oh no... "...yes?" I asked, terrified of what was next. "I'm sorry I'm gonna put you through this... we... damn, we just didn't get here in time..." Swift whispered, having walked over to me. "I'm sorry... Ivory is going to die... there's just nothing I can do..." Another cold chill ran down my spine, as I just couldn't believe the words coming out of Swift's mouth. "Uhh..." I muttered, unable to form words. "I'm sorry you have to do this..." Swift said, his eyes getting a little watery. "But it's the only way... You... you were her closest friend..." I was? Why... why hasn't she ever told me that? I hesitated severely, but my legs appeared to have a mind of their own, and I began to walk over to Ivory to deliver the tragic news. "Sc... Scootaloo? Is tha... that you?" Ivory asked in a weary and scratchy voice. "I'm... I'm sorry about everything..." "Don't be sorry... it wasn't your fault..." I responded, trying to hold back the burning tears. "I'm... I'm sorry to say this... but we didn't make it in time..." "Huh... what... what are you saying...?" Ivory asked, looking me in the eyes. "It's not bad... is it...?" "You're about to die..." I said with regret. "There's nothing Swift can do... it's just... we're too late..." I slowly sat down by the bed and embraced Ivory, who wasn't expecting me to do that. I didn't mind that I was getting her blood all over me, I just wanted to hold her. "I'm so... so... sorry..." I said, letting all of my emotions spill onto Ivory. "Ivory... you're one of my best friends... I will never forget you... ever..." "Scootaloo... Oh... Damn... I'm gonna... miss all of you..." Ivory said while holding me in her embrace and crying on my shoulder. "No... I... don't want to die... please... just one more minute... I'd do anything..." I held her tighter while I sobbed on her shoulder, never wanting to let go... ever... "Mom... where's my mom...? I want her... I want my mom... please... somepony..." Ivory pleaded, having a coughing fit afterwards. "I don't wanna die... please... Celestia... I... don't... want... this..." Ivory held me as tight as she could, then... with one last breath, she let go of me and looked skyward... I couldn't let her go... "No... please, Celestia no..." I sobbed, holding onto Ivory's body tightly while crying hysterically on the bloodied unicorn. "Not like this... please... not now... not her..." "Scootaloo... I'm sorry..." Swift said. "She's gone..." I wanted to find whoever was responsible for Ivory's death, and I wanted to make them suffer endless agony in the pits of Tartarus. "Everypony... We have a problem." Onyx said, rushing into the room. "I want... oh no..." Onyx was silent, having probably seen me holding Ivory's corpse in my embrace. I didn't move for the longest time, I was just sitting there, holding Ivory's dead body while I looked at the wall to my right. I just... could not comprehend it at all. "I'm sorry..." Onyx said, just standing there in the doorway. "I truly am." "Are you?" Swift asked in an uneasy tone. "I mean, you were the one who pretty much killed her, if you think about it." "What?" Onyx said, having never seen Swift act like this. "Swift, this isn't the best time..." "You didn't have somepony else keep an eye on Scootaloo! I could've been there to save Ivory, but I couldn't! It's your fault!" Swift yelled, getting visibly angry. "How was I supposed to know that Scootaloo was alright? She couldn't walk, so I had you, the medic, check up on her! I can't see the bucking future!" Onyx yelled, trying to hold his ground. "And besides, if Scootaloo hadn't had a mental break down, we wouldn't be here in this damn mess!" I stood up from where I was and faced Onyx, giving him the best "you son of a bitch" face I could think of. I couldn't believe that Onyx was that insensitive. "I... I didn't mean it like that, Scootaloo..." Onyx said, trying to repair the damage he had unwillingly dealt. "I-" "Get the Buck down!" Yellow Rock yelled, standing by the window. "There are humans everywhe-" ZIP! Yellow's head jerked violently to the side as his body slammed into the floor, forming a pool of blood underneath his head. I stood there utterly shocked at what just happened, then I heard several more cracks coming from all around us. I dove for cover, as several bullets ripped through the flimsy wall that protected us from the outside world, with only one bullet hitting Swift in the leg. "Agh! Shit, I'm hit!" Swift yelped, curling into a ball on the floor and started rocking back and forth. "Urgh... Buck! It hurts!" I went for my rifle, which I was surprised and relived to find it was still slung on my back, and I tried to get to the nearest window to shoot from. I got up to the window and saw countless human soldiers standing outside of the house we were in. "BABS! WHERE ARE YOU?!" I yelled, trying to get everpony I know accounted for. "I'm right here!" Babs replied from behind me. "I'm with you!" "Okay... uh, Astral?! Onyx?!" I yelled, trying to figure out who else was left. "Where are you?!" "I'm right here, Scootaloo! Swift's behind me! He's been hit!" Onyx yelled back. "I'm gonna check on Astral! He's downstairs!" "Okay!" I responded, turning to look out the window again, but what I saw froze me dead in my tracks, as the feeling of utter horror loomed over my body. "BABS! THERE'S A HUMAN TANK AIMED RIGHT AT US!!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. Babs looked over at one of the windows and saw the human tank I was looking at. I saw Swift perk up from his fetal position and look at my window as well. "What?! Did you say a tank-" BOOOM! The window to the very right of me blew up in a spectacular explosion of bright light, causing my vision to go completely white. Then... everything went black... and I couldn't feel anything. To be continued...