Duskfall

by Celestial Swordsman

Blood for Time

Chapter 37

Major Applejack and Private Pie barreled down the slope as moonlight receded from the landscape. The jumbled noises of weapons fire rose out of the distance ahead. By the time they reached the city, the darkness was thick and oppressive. Applejack was forced to slow down to retrace their route. Though they stumbled on debris a few times, they made good headway towards the front. The pace of gunfire and explosions slowed as they travelled, but each sound was louder as they neared the danger.

The first movement of the battle was already finished when they arrived. From their concealed positions at the edge of the city, the Lunar army caught the enemy infantry crossing open ground. The Solars took considerable casualties before abandoning their initial advance. Once the defenders had made themselves known, the heavy industrial firepower of the Empire honed in on them. The rumble Applejack and Pinkie Pie had heard from the other side of the mountain was the barrage of the Solar armada against the steps of the ancient metropolis. Facing naval artillery and tanks, the Lunars retreated further into the city, where they would be more difficult to detect.

The bombardment ceased. Four Lunar warships had regrouped from elsewhere in Equestria; three destroyers and one cruiser could not hold off the large Imperial fleet, but they could slow them down. The outnumbered vessels sheltered behind the triple peaks while the first destroyer charged out boldly. Its guns were silent so that it would be harder to detect in the darkness. Instead it launched a volley of torpedoes in a wide spread. Once the Imperial captains realized there were warheads in the air, they were forced to hold back and concentrate on evasive maneuvers.

Applejack asked the first ponies she encountered, “Where are the Rough Riders?”

“Down the line that way, only you better hurry before it gets hot again,” a soldier answered. Now the numerically superior enemy infantry would fight them in an even environment.

“Sure would help if we could see where we were going,” the major grumbled half to herself.

“And they call us nightsiders,” he quipped. “Take this.” He hoofed her a flashlight.

She illuminated herself to tip her hat and was off again, travelling much quicker. “Manehattanites,” she chuckled under her breath, this time gratefully. They could hear the fighting intensify elsewhere as they arrived to their own unit. Big Macintosh motioned her behind a jagged, partially collapsed wall that stretched across a significant part of their line, and gave her his pistol.

Suddenly, hooves beat the earth. A crowd of ponies rounded a corner and rushed down the street toward them. The Rough Riders fired into the dark mass, but they could not see the effect of their action. The enemy was upon them in a moment, but a second volley of shots blunted the charge. Most of the Solars turned back to find cover opposite of the Lunar line, but one fanatic pressed forward into the midst of his foes. As he sank to the ground from a mortal wound, the grenade he was holding exploded, and the Rough Riders lost three of their number.

Big Mac took advantage of the brief opportunity to step forward and claim a submachine gun from the kill zone. He returned and gave his rifle to his sister. The Solars waited to see if they would be assisted by their heavy units again. Somewhere beyond their sight, the Lunar troops could hear the growl of a tank’s engine. With a clunk and a change in tone, it shifted gears; again, and it reversed. The thing continued back and forth, trying to find a way through to the fight. The fleet had outdone itself, and the massive stone buildings they had toppled made the area practically impassible to vehicles. The Solar troops realized they would have to push through the opposition themselves, and a street-to-street shootout began.

Pinkie Pie hid in a corner and cowered with her hooves on her head. She was supposed to be a soldier, but her senses were overwhelmed. She whined and quivered with fear. Her fear was crushing, like she was about to die. She could feel death happening. She regained herself as the sensation waned, but it came back suddenly, and she collapsed shivering again.

The ground also shivered under the pounding of war, dislodging loose stones from the skeleton of the structure they were sheltered in. She quickly pushed herself backwards by a few hoof-breadths; one of the rocks fell right in front of her. She stared at it where it bounced.

Her eyes widened. She had felt the rock falling, just like she had felt death—it wasn’t her death. A moment of thought later, she lifted her head curiously and examined her surroundings. She glanced about, ears alert. Then she ran and pounced on a nearby Rough Rider, knocking him prone. Bullets impacted just beyond them. “What the hell, Pinkie?” he protested.

Nose to nose, she informed in monotone, “You just died.” She rolled off of him. He cocked his head at her at first, but then tipped his hat. Then he was back in position, and aiming to shoot his killer.

Pinkie Pie gasped and cracked a slight smile. She tensed, waited, and then scrambled over the debris to fling herself on another comrade who was next to Applejack. Ricocheting fragments from that death-bullet stung her side, but with the rush she was getting, she barely felt it. The major saw her friend’s exploits and demanded, “What’s going on?”

“Oh, these two fellas just not-died,” Pinkie quipped with a grin.

Without a second thought to the weirdness, Applejack took it in and exclaimed, “Shit, why are we not-dying so fast!?”

Pinkie Pie wasn’t there to answer her question. The pink mare hopped and bounced back the other way. She laughed and piped, “This is fun!” as she caught another soldier in a flying tackle.

“You just died!” she proudly announced. “You should be more careful,” she teased playfully—but froze. Her mane popped and fell gutted around her. The soldier did not move or protest, and Pinkie’s hooves and chest were wet with blood. She had met him a couple times, and coaxed a smile from him, but here he was: just another soldier shape lying across the brutal landscape. No tears came to her eyes as she stared blankly at him in disbelief.

“Look up!” the riflecolt next to Applejack hollered. “They’re above us.”

The major followed his gesture to the top level of a ruined edifice that she had thought to be inaccessible. Solar troops were firing down at them through several windows; the vantage point rendered the desperate Lunars dangerously exposed. The colt hunkered lower and shot back at their attackers, but the enemy could not have been better protected by castle battlements.

Big Mac sprinted to cover next to his sister and verbosely declared, “We can’t stay here like this.”

Applejack, tense and dripping with sweat, pointed out, “No, but we can’t run right now either. They’re massed up behind that wall, and the second we split they’ll be on our heels. If we survive they’ll chase us straight to Luna.” Dark winged shapes dropped into the spot she referenced, and waited like vultures. “A grenade up there would shut ‘em up though.”

“No one could throw one that far,” the Lunar next to her stated.

“I didn’t say throw it,” she dismissed, and insisted to her brother, “It’s just like kicking apples. I can do it.”

He acknowledged and left. They endured a painful wait, pinned down and forced to listen to the screams of an injured comrade. He returned with grenades, and swapped them for her flashlight. “Ha, I’ll only need one,” Applejack touted, building her courage. The peril of her unit was motivation enough. Big Mac shined the flashlight into the air in front of them and Applejack stepped quickly into the open.

“Oof!” Something slammed her face into the bricks that littered the ground. She squirmed and rolled to see what was on top of her.

Pinkie Pie had knocked her back into cover. She clutched her friend tightly and dripped tears on her. “You not-died, AJ!” she sobbed.

“Just like that, huh?” Applejack marveled, trying not to panic. She couldn’t break now; giving up would be no better than dying. “You have to let me go.”

Pinkie Pie still would not let go. “You not-died. Promise me you won’t die,” she begged.

Applejack shook her head and replied simply, “I have to do this.”

Pinkie Pie released her grip, and Big Mac pulled her aside. He gave her the light and instructed firmly, “JUST THE GRENADE.” Applejack signaled that she was ready to give it another try. He raised the submachine gun he had captured and charged out ahead of her, spraying bullets toward the enemy. He could not really aim at a gallop, but he could leave a trail of muzzle flashes leading away from his sister.

Applejack jumped back into the open facing away from her target. In a flash she executed an unlikely series of movements. She pulled the pin with her teeth and tossed the bomb over herself. She put her weight onto her front hooves, lifted her plot to the enemy, and watched for the grenade to come down. It lit up as it crossed Pinkie’s beam behind her, and just when it was between her and the target she nailed it with a powerful kick. It left their sight into the darkness.

Shrapnel and smoke burst from the windows of the occupied level of the building, and the guns above were silenced. The determined country warriors were now free to take steady aim and show their superiority to the hastily-trained enemy masses. The Solars were forced to back down from their renewed assault and take their turn keeping low and staying alive.

The Rough Riders could hold off the Imperial army for now. But Applejack worried how the rest of the battle was going—and even more, would it all matter?

The first Lunar vessel, exhausted of its torpedoes, retreated back to the mountain as a second ship moved to take its place. The front line of the fighting below was confused by uneven resistance in the dark, crooked streets. Commanders struggled to keep apprised of their units.

A lone pegasus flew through hostile skies, praying that he would not be discovered by the enemies below. Something screamed down at him, and he barely dodged a huge shape with tearing claws. “Damn eagle eyes!” he cursed. The griffin pursued closely behind him, and began to overtake its prey. The Lunar pegasus rolled in the air and flew zigzags, but continued forward. Unable to slow down, he careened into a painful landing in the midst of a crumbled structure. He tried to run from the deadly Imperial that landed behind him, but the thing had caught his tail. He cried out to surprised shapes that moved about them as the griffin pulled him backwards and reached for his neck to silence him.

A big stallion stepped in to buck it away from its victim. The eagle-beast was thrown to the wall behind it. It bounced back in a rage and slashed its talons at Big Mac, dealing him a deep gash across the shoulder. Muzzle flashes lit the old masonry and the Solar sky-hunter fell dead. The pegasus messenger requested, “Where’s Major Applejack? Who’s in charge here?”

“That’s me,” said the cowgirl.

“You’re being cut off,” the messenger warned.

“Damn.” Applejack nodded, and ordered, “Alright everypony, fall back. Quiet now, don’t let them know we’ve left.” The unit slipped out of their positions and headed out from behind enemy lines. They were gone before their opponents realized they were no longer pinned down.

Comments

[Kolwynia]

Nice! Rarity gets her moment to shine, Dusk may not be as changed as she hoped, and Equestria is still in danger. I really liked the scene where all the ponies were discussing the necessary sacrifice. I like how characters' loyalties, fears, guilt, and selfish hopes all got the chance to show themselves. And the scene with Pinkie and Rarity after it all made me smile.

[Dawn Darkling]

3322795
Maybe she needs to learn how to sacrifice herself?