The Chronicles of Swarm: The Equestrian Front

by kildeez

Chapter LIII: Victory?

“FORWARD!” Vance cried, using the distraction at the middle of the field to rush over the ridge. In a heartbeat, hundreds of Marines and SEALs charged along with him, rushing into the unsuspecting enemy horde. From a distance, the enemy had the advantage: their rifles were still functioning after all, but like this, all up close and personal…

…we might have a chance! Vance thought as his blade plunged into the throat of the nearest Nazi Regular. The man fell and Vance scooped up his rifle, blasting away with it. Next to him, Ramirez and Uris held the enemy at bay, Uris swinging the butt of his rifle around wildly while Ramirez slashed away at anybody stupid enough to come within stabbing distance. Unfortunately, the Americans could all only hit the front of the horde with their simple melee weapons, leaving the rear flanks of the horde perfectly free to crouch and get into firing position.

Uris looked up just as an entire line of riflemen levelled their weapons on them and opened fire, the SS insignia clear as day on their helmets. Next to him, a handful of Marines went down, their hands still clutching knives and rocks. “Man, we’re boned,” he mumbled as he desperately swung away at the nearest Nazi fuck, waiting for that inevitable moment when a rifleman would take notice and put a few rounds in his chest. It never came, as a few beams of white-hot searing light flashed into the men’s eyes, sending them falling back, clenching at their faces and howling in pain. A split second later, the Princesses of Day and Night swooped overhead, magic blasting wildly.

“Hello ladies, gladja could make it!” Vance yelled, a massive grin on his face as the battle raged on around them.

“FOR EQUESTRIA!” The Alicorns screamed in response, running near-constant strafing runs against the enemy lines, forcing them back step-by-step.

“Okay, this is it,” Vance said. Ramirez and Uris reached his side, weapons ready. “All the cards’re on the table now, gentlemen. Any regrets?”

“None whatsoever, pop!” Uris said.

“FOR EQUESTRIAAA!” All three screamed, charging forward just in time to see a few hundred Nazi backs retreating into the distance, running as fast as they could into the Everfree, some ditching their weapons just to have less weight slowing them down. The trio watched, along with the rest of the Americans, as the enemy just gave up. The Princesses landed at their side a few minutes later, staring with their eyebrows raised.

Uris started to give chase, but a hoof stopped him. “What’re you doing!?” He gasped. “We hafta stop them before they get away and wreck some other village!”

“Oh, don’t worry too much about that, my little pilot,” Celestia said with a smile. “I saw something while I was flying about up there.”

A few minutes later, a cluster of gray Nazi uniforms appeared along the forest’s edge. The Americans raised their weapons, but Celestia spread her hooves out, blocking the view. “Look,” she said, the smile still on her face.

Uris sighed, but obeyed, squinting. “Holy shit,” he gasped. “They’re not attacking! They’re surrendering!”

All along the tree line, Nazi stormtroopers suddenly appeared, their hands behind their heads in the universal sign of surrender. A grin spread across each man’s face, except for Vance’s. “Why would they…” he started.

His question was answered before he could even finish asking it. Shortly after the Nazis appeared, a group of paratroopers materialized behind them, holding them at rifle point. The grins spread even wider. “WE WON!” Somebody shouted, and a cheer lit up from the crowd.

“Don’t tell me that’s who I think it is!” Vance said, smiling.

“Well, so long as you weren’t expectin’ Daffy Duck.” The trio all turned just as a certain paratrooper appeared behind them, his massive grin contrasting with the camo paint on his already-dark skin.

“Webb, you magnificent bastard!” Vance screamed, grabbing the man in a hug. “You might’ve just saved the day!”

“Somebody had to pull your pale, white asses outta the fire,” the paratrooper replied, hooking a thumb at Ramirez. “Personally, I was hopin’ it’d be this guy, but I guess he just wasn’t dark enough.”

“Man, I’m so happy you’re here I’m not even pissed at that comment,” Ramirez said, shaking his head. “I really should be, though.”

Luna looked to her sister, an eyebrow raised. “Why are they talking to each other concerning the color of their coats?” She whispered.

“It’s skin for them, sister, and it’s a big, terrible, dark, human thing. I’ll tell you later,” Celestia sighed.

“Yeah, s’not all good news though,” Webb sighed, the smile leaving his face and heading south for warmer weather. The mood in the group immediately dropped like a rock. “Bannon, and a whole buncha other guys, they uh…they didn’t make it.”

“Bannon?” Uris’s eyes widened, his jaw dropping open and closing again, as if he were trying to say something that wasn’t quite coming to him. The rest of the group looked on as he sank to the ground. “But…I owed him a steak dinner.”

“Aw son,” Vance sighed, leaning down and putting his arm around his boy’s shoulders as the tears started to flow again.

“I owed him…I owed him….” He mumbled, the stress and loss of the day crashing down on him as the adrenaline wore off.

“That’s not all,” Ramirez added, his face holding at neutral. “We lost Parker, and Miller took a ‘nade to the face. Medics say he’ll probably survive, but his face’ll have a whole lot more character when s’all said and done.”

“Parker…Miller…” the paratrooper removed his helmet and ran a hand through his short-cropped hair. “Shit, it wasn’t supposed to be this bad.”

“…I owed him!” Uris shouted irreconcilably. “I owed him!”

The others in the group could only watch helplessly, either too stunned by the news to do anything or too numb from the past day’s events to move. Then, a daisy yellow hoof rested on the pilot’s shoulder. He turned at the touch, and Fluttershy smiled back at him. “Do you need my help?” She asked in that angelically sweet voice.

Tears still streaming down his face, the pilot smiled as she pulled him in for a hug, the rest of the Elements alighting on the ground behind her. Oddly enough, they looked more shocked than their introverted friend.

“Princess,” Twilight said, rushing to hug her mentor.

“My most faithful student,” Celestia said, tears running down her face. “Words cannot describe how proud I am of you.”

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Twilight said, a hitch in her voice. “So glad…”

“Sister,” Luna said. “We are sorry, but there are still things to attend to on the field.”

“Of course,” Celestia said, giving her most faithful student one last squeeze before turning away. The little unicorn immediately latched on to her nearest friend, who just happened to be Rainbow Dash. The pegasus returned the hug and helped her over to Fluttershy and Uris, where the rest of her friends waited in one another’s embrace. The sight of so many tears nearly broke Celestia’s heart, but she kept her demeanor calm and collected. Just one of the benefits of a couple dozen centuries’ worth of politics. “Captain, if you care to join me? There’s still the cleanup and the prisoners to attend to.”

“Of course, Princess,” Vance said, walking after the Alicorns.

“Sir?” Twilight’s voice squeaked as he passed by.

“Yes, Miss Spakles?” Vance asked, pausing.

“Tell me,” she said, not bothering to correct his pronunciation as she pointed at the ridge, and the field beyond. “Do human victories usually look like that?”

Vance didn’t need to see to know what would be up there: the ecstasy of victory would have worn off by now, leaving only a humongous group of men tasked with collecting their dead and wounded. He saw the massive piles spread out all along the field from the previous enemy attacks. He knew how long and arduous a task it was going to be. He knew even the enemy prisoners would join in this, if only to find a friend’s dog tags to carry to the UN-sanctioned POW camps waiting for them. Even if it meant sifting through mounds of limbs torn to pieces by mortar fire, or piles of flesh seared together by white phosphorus, or…

The Captain kept walking. Twilight opened her mouth to repeat her question, but realized he’d just given her his answer. Tears threatening in her eyes again, she hugged her friends even closer. Soon after, Ramirez joined the group hug. No one minded.

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Cadence wished she could cry. She wished she could feel something, anything! But at that moment, there was just a low, gray, emptiness inside her. She almost had to laugh at that: the Alicorn of Love, emotionally drained! Who knew it was possible? But it was the only explanation for the total numbness that washed over her every time she looked down at her husband’s cot. Shining Armor writhed and turned at her hooves, his skin still pulsating disgustingly. Still, she kept a hoof on his, silently praying for a miracle.

“You…uh…you okay?” The Alicorn darted up, ears perking. Her tired eyes fell on a human nurse with a clipboard, looking up from the IV bag she was changing.

Cadence forced a smile onto her lips. “Yeah, just tired, is all. It’s been a long night.”

“Yeah, no shit,” the nurse laughed, but it was hollow, and drowned out by the cries of the injured around her. Cadence had to smile though: at least she was trying.

The nurse turned her attention to the unicorn on the cot, checking vitals. “So, who is he?”

“He’s my husband.”

“Ah, how long?”

“This…this was supposed to be our honeymoon.” Cadence sniffled, tears threatening to well up all over again. She wasn’t as numb as she thought, it seemed.

The nurse took pause at that. “I’m sorry, um…” falling back on experience in dealing with family, she tried to keep the Alicorn focused on the positive. “So, how’d you two meet?”

“I used to foalsit his little sister,” Cadence sniffled, wiping at her nose while the nurse continued her work. “He was this big, doofy unicorn with dreams of joining the royal guard and…and he was always so sweet and so wonderful, and then we went on a few dates and next thing you know…”

“Wedding bells,” the nurse smiled.

“Yeah, and even then we had the changeling invasion, but we dealt with that,” she smiled, the memory of their love and magic combining to form a spell powerful enough to send the entire changeling race flying reminding her of the power they held together. “Things were supposed to be calm after that: we just wanted to go someplace quiet to get away from it all. And then…” the tears threatened to break out all over again as she remembered the initial attack on Coltton: Shining being dragged away by strange creatures in strange clothes, shouting in a strange language and running around with terrifying weapons.

“And then…” Shining shielding her and that human from the grenade, his body wracked with dozens of wounds.

“And then…” her relief when that man, that wonderful creature, had saved her Shining, healing his wounds with that weird gray goo.

“And then…” her heart sinking into her stomach when Shining collapsed again, writhing just as he was now. “This day was supposed to be perfect…” she said quietly before openly sobbing. The nurse immediately dropped her clipboard and embraced the Princess, wrapping her in a hug.

“Save him,” Cadence mumbled. “Please, for the love of all that is good, save him.”

“We will,” the nurse picked up her clipboard again and turned back to Shining’s side. She prodded him, and the skin of his neck rippled away from her finger, like a stone being dropped into a pond. Her hand darted back as if she’d been shocked. “What in the…”

Suddenly, the unicorn coughed, his feverish eyes darting wide open. “Shining!” Cadence gasped as the gray goop oozed from his mouth. Panting heavily, he vomited more of the goo onto his pillow, his body heaving.

“Oh my God…Doctor!” The nurse screamed, running to leave the Princess with her husband.

“Shining…” she whimpered as the skin of his neck rippled even more, seemingly melting away from his throat. Coughing and hacking spasmodically, the unicorn shivered while the skin oozed away into yet another puddle of gray goo, revealing a few burn marks where it retreated. “His injuries…” she gasped. Just then, a pair of doctors arrived and grabbed the cot, rushing away with it to another tent.

“Wait, wait!” She galloped after them.

“No!” The nurse grabbed the Princess and held her back. “They’re gonna do their best, don’t worry.”

“Shining,” Cadence whimpered, collapsing to the MASH unit’s dirt floor as the love of her life was hauled out of the tent, still shivering. “Shining, please, please, please don’t die. Please.”

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[vullture]

FK I forgot that if Michael is gone then... FK