No mare left behind

by Aqua_Breeze

Road to hell part 2

"That's a neat trick," Nick said.

Twilight had just finished resizing the German Uniform to fit her body. As she explained to Nick how she pulled it off, she also went about placing spare MP40 magazines wherever she could fit them. She didn't bother with a sidearm, didn't think she'd need one, despite Nick telling her otherwise. After Twilight had all the magazines she could carry, she did one last check to make sure her MP40 was properly loaded before rejoining the platoon.

"You ready, private?" Dreadson asked as Twilight approached.

"Yes, though I still don't like taking all this stuff," Twilight said.

"You don't have to like it, just don't let your morals hold you back right now," Dreadson said, "If you do, people will die".

The fate of countless lives resting on her actions wasn't new to Twilight. The moral conflicts she was having now, however, were something she's never had to face before, and it was hard on her. She kept pushing her morals back into the deep recesses of her mind, but it did little to help. How long would it be before it became too much? Twilight dared not give it any thought. She just kept her mind as focused as possible on the mission and her goal of eventually returning home.

Home... such a peaceful, comforting place. Her friends will eventually start to worry about where she is, and she had no way of telling them she's ok. It also didn't help that she's an Equestrian princess, so panic was bound to set in with the general populace when she couldn't be found. She had to get home as soon as she could to prevent as much of that as possible, but she not even the slightest idea of how to do so. Until she had enough time to think about it properly, she was stuck here.

Her thoughts popped back to her new friends, her brothers in arms. They were nothing like her friends in Equestria, but they were friends nonetheless... even if they didn't show it yet. She would need their help to stay safe and get home, but she would also have to repay that very favor by keeping them alive.

"Earth to Twilight, you there?" Asked a voice, shaking Twilight from her thoughts.

"Huh?" Twilight blabbered, coming back to reality, "Oh, yea, I'm fine".

"Then let's get going, the others aren't going to wait forever," The voice said.

"Right, sorry," Twilight said as she grabbed her new gun.

The platoon trudged through enemy territory, intent on securing the objective. Twilight was about to get a serious crash course in real war time survival and combat. A very audible bang rang through the night air as the assault on the second enemy emplacement was starting. Twilight was ready, already aiming down the sights on her gun like she was taught during the small counter attack back at the camp the day previous. As soon as she saw a German, she pulled the trigger. As she did, multiple rounds were fired. Twilight knew only about the semi automatic fire of the 1911, so she was unprepared for one trigger pull firing off multiple rounds. Thinking she had done something wrong, she dropped her gun. As it hit the ground, Twilight couldn't help but notice it wasn't firing anymore. Telling herself it was out of ammo, she picked it back up and pulled the magazine out. Upon seeing rounds still in the magazine, Twilight became even more confused.

This confusion distracted Twilight long enough for a German to sneak up behind her. All the German knew as that the alicorn was once shooting a gun in the direction of him and his comrades. He didn't know anything about it, but he didn't care either. He grabbed Twilight's mane and proceeded to pull out his knife so as to end the alicorns life right then and there. Perhaps he would be remembered as a hero for killing this seemingly dangerous creature. He didn't even think about Twilight's reaction timing. As her mane was harshly pulled on, she came back to reality once more. The sudden pain running along the back of her head and neck caused her to rear up and throw her hind legs out, catching the German off guard, and forcing him to let go. Twilight then spun around to face her attacker, who was now kneeling on the ground in pain. Not wanting to take any chances, Twilight pulled her MP40 off the ground and put the magazine back in with enough speed to make Rainbow Dash jealous. Not even bothering to aim at such close range, Twilight just pulled the trigger.

As the ring of rounds firing range through the air, Twilight let go again, feeling it the only way to stop what she thought was a malfunction. No sooner had the gun been released than the rounds had indeed stopped firing. Twilight had little time to think about it further before something wet splashed onto her face. She lifted her right hoof to her face and then lit up her horn to see what the wet substance was. Upon seeing it's red tint, Twilight knew she had just had face covered in blood. Having never had this happen before, Twilight's reaction caused her to simply vomit. She had seen blood before, but never in this manner.

---

"What a dreadful experience that must have been," Rarity said.

"It wasn't pleasant, that's for sure," Twilight said, "But it wasn't the last time I got covered in the blood of my enemies".

"Um, Twilight?" Fluttershy said, obviously confused.

"What is it?" Twilight asked.

"I was just wondering why you didn't, um, ask him to leave you alone," Fluttershy said.

"That's not how it works, I'm afraid," Twilight said, "See, in war, it's you against them. Either you take their life, or they take yours. There are no peaceful negotiations on the battlefield".

"But, you didn't even try," Fluttershy said.

"He was going to kill me if I didn't kill him first," Twilight explained, "And he wouldn't have given it a second thought, either".

"But, how do you know that for sure?" Fluttershy asked, "He could have just been scared".

"We were on different teams, Fluttershy," Twilight explained, "He had a job to kill for his country, and that meant he'd have to kill me".

"I... I guess that makes sense," Fluttershy said.

"Trust me, I'd have avoided all the killing if I could," Twilight said.

"I just have to ask, what's it like coming so close to being killed like that?" Twilights dad asked.

"Terrifying," Twilight said, "The thought of losing hold on everything you know, leaving behind everybody you care about... it's the absolute worst feeling in any world".

"But you still kept going?" Twilights dad asked.

"I had to get home somehow, and my best bet was to stay with my brothers in that world. Plus, if it wasn't me coming close to death like that, it'd either be one of them, or an innocent who did nothing to deserve it," Twilight explained, "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I just stopped right then and there".

"Would you have pushed on if you knew for certain you would never come home?" Twilights dad asked.

"Yes, I would have. There were innocents that needed protecting, and my brothers in arms would need my help to protect those very innocents," Twilight said.

"That's good to know," Twilights dad said.

"Now, on with my story," Twilight said.

"Before ya do, Twi, might ah ask something?" Applejack asked.

"I don't see why not," Twilight said.

"Ya said ya took one of their uniforms, right?" Applejack asked.

Twilight just nodded.

"So, then why would that guy attack ya? Did he not notice the uniform or something?" Applejack asked.

"Well, I was shooting in his direction beforehoof, and I DID shoot one of his friends," Twilight explained, "So even if he did take notice of my uniform, which he probably did when he grabbed my mane, he would have known I'm not on his side".

"Ah guess that would make sense," Applejack said.

"Any more questions? Or do you want me to go on?" Twilight asked.

"Tell us more already!" Rainbow Dash called out.

---

"Hey, you ok?" Nick asked.

"I'm, uh... I'm fine, yes," Twilight said, "Got anything to clean this blood off me?".

"It looks good on you," Nick said jokingly.

"Oh haha," Twilight said, a little irritated at the jest.

"Alright, here," Nick said as he started to unscrew the cap on his canteen.

"That's cold!" Twilight yelled as the water from the canteen washed over her face.

"Well, I normally drink this water," Nick said as he recapped the canteen, "Would you prefer me drink warm water?".

"Well... I guess not, no," Twilight said.

"There, no more blood," Nick said, "Happy now, princess?".

"Yes, thanks," Twilight said.

"Let's get going, then," Nick said while standing up.

"Can you check my gun first?" Twilight asked.

"What's wrong with it?" Nick asked.

"It keep firing bullets after I press the trigger, and doesn't stop until I let it go," Twilight said.

"That's because it's an automatic weapon like my Thompson," Nick said.

"So, then that's supposed to happen?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, that's how it's supposed to work," Nick said.

With that, Twilight and Nick went to catch up with the rest of the platoon.

"Something getting to you, private?" Dreadson asked as Twilight and Nick approached.

"No, everything's fine," Twilight said, "Um... sir".

"Then can we keep moving without pause from now on?" Dreadson asked.

"Yes... sir," Twilight said nervously.

What that, the platoon started moving forward again. Twilight could feel the air of displeasure around her, and it made her feel like she was letting her new friends down. She hated letting others down, so she didn't like being where she was at the moment.

The rest of the assignment went fairly smoothly up until the end. Twilight managed to keep herself together through the other skirmishes, though it was not easy to do. When the platoon finally got sight of the final enemy emplacement along the road, they were caught off guard by a sudden mortar shell impacting the ground near them. Those close to the explosion got minor burns and a light shrapnel shower, but none took life threatening wounds and all were still willing to fight. The blast also caused the rest of the platoon to split into two groups. The two groups then moved around the enemy flanks as best as they could in a pincer maneuver. The left group got close enough to open fire into the emplacement, while the right group took the brunt of the enemy defensive fire.

Twilight was with the left group, so she was on the side of lady luck. As her group opened fire on the enemy, Twilight lit up her horn and attempted to cast an invisibility spell on herself. After a few short seconds, the spell finished, and Twilight was nowhere to be seen. If her cloak could hold, she'd be able to put a great plan into action perfectly. She moved forward into the enemy emplacement, making sure not to bump into anything. It only took a few seconds for her to reach her goal: the ammo crates. Twilight was aware of how ammo worked by this point, so she lit up her horn again, risking her position as the light could be seen by anyone looking in her direction. After about half a minute of focus, a small ember flew from Twilights horn and hit one of the boxes. Wanting to watch her plan go to work, Twilight decided to take to the air. Concentrating on leaving the ground, combined with being slightly drained by her previous two spells, forced her to drop her cloak, but she didn't seem bothered.

"You guys may want to get down!" Twilight yelled out as she flew over her group.

As Twilight continued to rise up in the air, bullets whizzed around her. She eventually got to a good enough distance and turned around just in time to watch the ammo crates start spewing bullets in every direction possible. Her gambit had paid off as the Germans were now being attacked by their own supply stash. The display took a couple of minutes to finish, but it left Twilight with a sense of pride. She had just taken out an entire emplacement without firing a single shot, and she got a nice mini fireworks show as well.

After the show was over, and she was satisfied that all the ammo was now gone, Twilight descended and called out to let her platoon know it was safe.

"So, anybody want to tell me what the fuck just happened?" Dreadson asked as he approached.

"Thinks to my magic, the Germans just got attacked by their own ammo, sir," Twilight said.

"And how exactly did you manage that?" Dreadson asked.

"I cast a cloak on myself to get in without being seen. I then sent a small ember to the bottom left box and caught it on fire," Twilight explained.

"Impressive," Dreadson said with a hint of praise in his voice, "Though, how did you get out in time?".

"I flew out," Twilight said, "It was an impressive improvised firework show from my point of view".

"You... flew?" Dreadson asked.

"With these," Twilight said as she spread her wings, "Did you not see them before?".

"No, I did not," Dreadson said, "Though they make you even more useful".

"How so?" Twilight asked.

"Most of these Germans won't ever expect one of us to suddenly fly and attack from above without a plane," Dreadson said.

"Plus, think of all the scouting you do without having an engine bringing attention to you," One of the other Marines pointed out.

"Right, and that's just a couple of things you can do now, corporal" Dreadson said.

"Corporal?" Twilight asked, obviously confused.

"Due to your jump in usefulness, and your way of thinking, I think you've just earned yourself a promotion to lance corporal," Dreadson said.

"I... I don't know how to respond to that," Twilight said.

"No need for a thanks or anything," Dreadson said, kneeling down and placing a hand on Twilight's left shoulder, "You did earn it, after all".

"I do believe congratulations are in order," Nick said, "Not even private for a full twenty four hours before being promoted, that's just impressive".

"Well... thanks," Twilight said.

"And it just so happens that I have a couple of old lance corporal ranks here," Dreadson said, holding out a couple of obviously worn lance corporal chevrons, "They might look out of date, but wear them with pride cause you earned them".

"Yes, sir," Twilight said, saluting the captain.

"Ok, I'm not even going to ask how that's even possible," Dreadson said.

Author's Note:

And before anybody says anything, I am aware of the PFC rank Twilight skipped over, but this won't be the first time she skips ranks, so... yea, deal with it :p

Comments

[SPudRum]

This remind me of Road Runner 'See The Zone'
Aerial assault