BLITZ

by The Commandant

Chapter 6 - Loss

Somewhere in the middle of Palomino, Equestria

San Fransiscolt.

When I hear that name, I recognize it as the first battle we've won against the humans, but lost in the end. Countless ponies were killed in the battle, and even more were killed when the bombings occurred.

And what happened to Applejack...

Oh sweet Celestia, I can't imagine what Applebloom has been going through.

Losing an older sister you've known and spent your whole life with... Its just...

"Scootaloo! Come over here!" Onyx Justice, my squad leader, said to me.

Onyx is a very stern, but friendly stallion with a dark grey coat and yellow mane. He's a good leader for the most part.

"Uh... Yeah, sure. I'll be there." I replied, still deep in thought. "Whatcha need, sergeant?"

"I was just told earlier that the company is moving out again, the humans seem to be preparing for an assault on Palomino. I'm going to need your help to move some equipment." He replied.

"Alright, sergeant." I responded.

Onyx nodded and trotted out of the room I was in, leaving me alone to my thoughts. I eventually left the room and found myself In a narrow hallway, which lead to the exit. I trotted down the hall and went out the door to my left, seeing all seven of the familiar faces of my squad mates, especially Applebloom.

"Hey, Scootaloo! You feeling alright?" Emerald Dream, one of my squad mates, asked me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What about you?" I asked.

"Same as ever." She replied.

Emerald was a unicorn with a light green coat and sky blue mane. She always reminded me of Lyra Heartstrings, an old childhood friend who was also a unicorn.

I saw Applebloom sitting on a park bench, which was right next to our autochariot. I went over and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Applebloom?" I said.

She didn't seem to register I was even there, which worried me.

"Applebloom, come on, it's me, Scootaloo." I said.

"Why... Why her?" She asked.

"I... don't know, Applebloom. I don't know..." I replied.

I decided it would be best to leave Applebloom alone, even though it hurt me to leave her like this. I trotted over to Onyx, who was loading some boxes onto our Autochariot.

"Just in time." Onyx said. "I'm halfway through the load, with your help this will get done a lot faster."

"Why me? I mean, there are other ponies who could help you. Why not Astral? He's a pegasus too-"

"I chose you because everypony else is busy doing things, and you were the only pony not doing anything." Onyx interrupted. "Now, if you don't mind, I could use your help lifting these boxes onto the Autochariot."

"Yes, sergeant." I sighed.

I flew over to one of the boxes Onyx was trying to lift and gripped the sides of it with my hoofs. The box began to lift off the ground and we were able to load it onto the bed of the Autochariot.

After a short time, we managed to get all the boxes aboard the chariot.

"Thanks Scootaloo, I'm glad to have you on my squad." Onyx said.

"No problem, sergeant." I replied.

"Now, let's round up everypony and get them ready to leave for the front." Onyx said.

"Yes, sergeant." I said, before leaving to get the others.

I trotted over to Applebloom, who was still sitting on the bench.

"Hey Applebloom, it's time to go." I said to her.

"Uh... Alright." She replied hesitantly before getting up.

I turned around and saw that everypony was here, except Applebloom and me. I trotted over to the group to get ready to leave.

"Hey sergeant, I thought we were staying here." Swift Hoof, our squad's medic, asked.

"Our company is being called over to the front lines." Onyx replied.

"So the humans are advancing?" Yellow Rock asked, who was the squad's newest member.

Swift Hoof is just a regular earth pony with a white coat and grey mane with a red streak running through it. He's also very impatient. Yellow Rock is another earth pony with a yellow coat and orange mane, and always seems to be nervous about something.

"Not yet, they appear to be preparing for an assault on Palomino, but it could be massive troop replacement." Onyx replied.

"So, how strong is their for-"

"Staff sergeant! We have a situation!" A soldier said, running towards us.

"What is it, lance-corporal?" Onyx asked.

"The humans are advancing! They've caught our defenses by surprise!" The soldier replied.

"What? How far out are they?" Onyx asked.

"Only about half a mile! I gotta go warn the other squads!" The soldier said, running off.

"Wait! Don't go just-" Onyx said before a loud crack was heard, and the soldier fell over.

The pony began to scream in agony.

"Shit! I got you!" Swift Hoof said before running to the wounded pony.

Swift Hoof reached the pony and began to drag him from out of the open, and set him down near the Autochariot.

"AAAHHH!" The soldier continued screaming.

"Please try to stop screaming, or we're all dead!" Swift said.

"It hurts so much!" The soldier yelled.

"Don't make me shut you up..." Swift said coldly.

That seemed to quiet the pony down somewhat. I went over to Swift Hoof to see if he needed any help. When I saw the pony, I could see the extent of his wounds; his leg artery seemed to be severed, and he was bleeding to death.

"You need any help, Swift?" I asked.

"Yeah, can you calm him down?" He asked, before getting closer to me. "He isn't going to make it."

"Alright... I'll see if I make his last moments... easier." I replied.

I got closer to the pony, and could see he had tears streaming down from his eyes. He looked at me, which gave me the chills.

"What's... What's your name?" I asked softly.

"Golden Eye... Golden Eye..." He replied weakly.

"Golden, you're... going to be okay, alright?" I said, putting my hoof on his shoulder.

"I... I am?" He asked.

"Yes, you are. Swift here will make sure of that." I replied.

"I... I... I always wondered... what it... would... be..." He said weakly before he began screaming at the top of his lungs... and then died.

I bowed my head, and turned away from the fallen pony, who couldn't have been any older than me.

"I'm sorry you couldn't-" I said before loud cracks began coming out from every direction.

"We have to get to a better position before this one is over run!" Onyx said.

"What about the equipment?" Yellow Rock asked.

"Forget the equipment! We have bigger priorities now!" Ivory Charm, another one of my squad mates, replied.

"Let's go!" Onyx said, running past the autochariot.

We all followed him and soon enough found ourselves hiding behind various pieces of cover in a street. Applebloom and I were hiding behind a pile of brick and wood, while everypony else was hiding elsewhere. I quickly popped my head out from cover, and saw some ponies further away from us. One of them saw me and began to wave her hoof at me before a loud noise came from out of nowhere. It was followed by an explosion that seemed to come from out of nowhere and incinerated all of them.

I instinctively ducked my head and then looked over the rubble to see only a single piece of armor. I looked beyond that and saw a human with a long smoking tube on his shoulder running for cover. I ducked back behind cover and looked to my left to check on Applebloom, and was surprised to see that she wasn't there. I looked to my right and was horrified to see Applebloom standing in the middle of the road with a blank expression on her face.

"APPLEBLOOM!" I yelled to her.

She continued to look forwards and seemed to not give any mind as to what was happening around her. It was such a sight that I couldn't really process it, other than just watch in complete horror.

Then... she seemed to have lost it. She just... snapped. She pulled out a pistol and began to open fire on the humans.

"YA'LL TOOK MY SIS!" She began to yell, continuing to fire the pistol until it ran out of ammo.

"YA'LL TAKEN EVERYTHING! EVERYTHING!" She yelled.

I realized way too late that she had been traumatized to the point of insanity. I also knew... that... that...

"YA'LL WANT ME?! BUCKING TAKE ME!" She yelled as loud as she could "TAKE MEEEE-"

Oh... sweet Celestia have mercy... please...

A fountain of crimson fluid erupted from the back of her neck, as her entire body was thrusted backwards. She was still alive when her entire body landed on the ground, but was bleeding to death, a pool of blood surrounding her upper body.

She... she looked towards me, tears filling in her eyes with a look of helplessness, and tried to reach for me.

"Sco... Scootaloo! SCOOTALOO!" She cried. "HELP! HELP ME!"

Time seemed to stop when I weakly attempted to stretch my hoof back towards her.

"SIS! HELP ME!" She cried again, this time towards the heavens. "AH'M... Ah'm not... ah'm not ready!"

"Apple... APPLEBLOOM! NOO!" I yelled, tears flowing out of my eyes.

She turned towards me and just looked at me with mixed emotions of fear, confusion, pain, anger, and loneliness. It was... it was too much for me.

My friend... my only true friend out here... was going to leave me to die.

Alone.

...

You... you sick bastard...

How could you?!

How could you leave me like this?!

You can't leave me like this!

I trusted you with everything!

Doesn't that mean anything to you?!

How could you just lay there and...

And...

"Scoot- Scootaloo?"

I looked up at Applebloom, who was looking at me.

"Tell... tell them... ah found my sis..." She said.

I wanted to say something, but I couldn't think of what to say, because my friend... my lifelong friend... was no longer with me...

No...

"SCOOTALOO!"

That's when I came back to my senses, and realized that I was very close to dying myself, which is a situation I have to get out of.

"SCOOTALOO, GET OUT OF THERE!" Onyx yelled to me.

"I'm... I'm trying!" I yelled back.

I wasn't thinking, so I sprinted towards Onyx and the others, ignoring the bullets flying over me. A sharp pain pierced my left hind leg, causing me to trip and fall over.

I soon found myself on the ground in immense pain, being dragged to cover by my squad. It hurt so much that I was crying and almost started to scream before Swift managed to shut me up.

"It's okay, Scootaloo. You're going to be fine." Swift told me. "It's just a bullet."

"Just a bullet?!" I yelled. "You mean I got shot?!"

"If a bullet happens to be lodged in a hole anywhere in your body, generally it means you were shot." Swift replied.

"Why does it have to hurt so much?!" I rhetorically asked.

"Because it's a bucking bullet wound!" Swift yelled. "Why can't you just... Ugh!"

"Swift, just get this over with, we can't stay here." Onyx said.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm trying." Swift replied.

After a minute or two, Swift got me patched up and on my hoofs again.

"There you go, Scoots, somewhat good as new." Swift said.

"Can you keep up with us?" Onyx asked me.

"Yeah, I think so." I replied.

"Alright, everypony! We're pulling out!" Onyx said. "Just follow me!"

We began to move away from the humans when I looked back at...

"Sergeant, what about Applebloom?" I asked.

"I'm sorry Scootaloo, but we can't go back. I know how much it hurts you, but I can't lose more ponies trying to retrieve something that's already lost." Onyx said.

"Wh... What?" I said. "Bu-"

"No, Scootaloo. We can't." He said. "Come on, let's go before they can reach us!"

I was about to say something, but I knew it would be pointless. I just galloped away with my squad mates, leaving a pony I knew best.

Leaving behind a promise I gave to her.

It killed me to do so.

---

"Come on, everypony! Hurry! The humans are getting closer by the second!" An Lt1C called out from atop a Mk 1.

"Lieutenant! Where's C company?" Onyx asked.

"They're just over there, sergeant." The Lt1C replied.

"Thanks, Lieutenant." Onyx said.

We went over to where our company had set up and found our platoon.

"Staff Sergeant Onyx! Front and center!" Steel Sprit, our platoon sergeant, said.

"Staff Sergeant Onyx Justice reporting as ordered, Sergeant!" Onyx said, giving a salute.

"At ease. Walk with me." Steel said.

Onyx and Steel walked off, leaving the rest of the squad alone.

"Hey, Scootaloo? I'm really, really, sorry about Applebloom." Emerald said. "I know you two were close friends, so if there's anything I can do to help, please tell me."

"Alright... Thanks, Emerald." I said, trying desperately not to think about it. The last thing I needed was to make a scene.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about Applebloom, too. I mean, I didn't know her very well, but... sorry." Yellow Rock said to me.

"It's okay, I think." I replied. "I just... I don't want to talk about it, okay?"

"Oh, okay. Sorry." Yellow replied. "I'll just-"

"EVERYPONY! GET IN POSITION!" An officer yelled. "THEY ARE COMING!"

Everypony around us began to panic and scramble to the makeshift trenches we dug ourselves, getting ready for the human onslaught. Our tanks moved into position in front of the trenches, attempting to protect as much infantry as possible, while air support would help lower our casualties.

Theoretically.

"This is it! The moment every single one of us has trained for! No backing out!" Another one of the officers yelled.

I could see them, just over the... horizon.

Oh... shit, that's a lot of armor. And aircraft.

"RIFLES, AT THE READY!" An officer called.

I pulled my rifle out and ran towards the closest trench, trying to find an open spot to dig in. It's wasn't a minute after I found myself in a trench that bullets began to fly over our heads, striking one of the officers.

"For Equestria!" One of the tankers called out before all the Mk 1s began to move towards our foe.

Pegasi were flying in the skies above us, preparing to engage enemy air targets. I'd rather be up there than down here, personally.

I could now see the human tanks approaching us clear as day, with their infantry taking cover behind them. I found myself a human to fire at and put him in my irons.

This is for Applebloom.

Author's Note:

Yes, I know this is the pony side of the war, and yes, i know i said that this story was going to be focused on the human side of it. BUT... I wanted to do this because I figured it would get quite boring with just humans talking.

And yes, I did kill Applebloom. Sorry.

Anyway, I hope you liked it! Tell me what you thought!

Thanks!

Comments

[ConfettiColored]

Ponies dying? Just another day in my life... Heh...

[Atlas55]

Is there any backstory to this story? Like how Humanity ended up in the land of talking ponies and what the DAF stands for?

[The Commandant]

6700508 Yes, yes there is.

[The Informant]

Actually, on the contrary, the conversations are quite interesting. The pony's side of the story is a welcome perspective, but I hope you don't think we find the human's side of the story, when it comes to conversations at least, as boring in the long term. I actually find it rather interesting.

Loving the story so far by the way, hope to see more soon.

[The Commandant]

6727338 thanks!

[Fading Soul]

"YA'LL WANT ME?! TAKE ME!" She yelled as loud as she could "TAKE MEEEE-"

Is that a reference to Brothers In Arms: Road to Hill 30 ? I believe that was in the intro scene.

[ThatOneRussianDictator]

Damnit applebloom... Well I never liked the crusaders anyway. All we need now it for scoots to get picked out of the sky! Cant wait...