Broken Wings

by Lt_Voss

Death Toll

My mother was alive.

And my mother's name was Luna.

And Luna was one of the two rulers of Equestria.

And Celestia, the other ruler, is Luna's sister.

I had family. I wasn't alone.

I had lived a full eight years of my life believing I'd killed my own parents. And now to learn that I not only had a mother, a real mother, but also an aunt? And possibly a father somewhere out there? I was both ecstatic and relieved. To know I was still a good person, that I still had a clean moral slate... my whole body was shaking. And it wasn't that cold to me, even if it was night out in winter.

Will! Look out! Drop! I did so instinctively. I just saw the contrail of a "Hurricane" anti-air missile streak by, close enough to feel the heat from the exhaust. I got on my radio immediately, checking that I was on command's frequency, I spoke. "Woah, woah! Red rover, red rover, let angels fly over!"

I heard a response almost right after I cut off. "Woah, Angel, is that you? Hold on, ceasing AA defences." I heard the same voice shout, "Get SAM sites to stop firing! That's Angel!" Speaking to me again, he said, "Sorry about that. We've had a few airborne attacks come in while you were gone."

"Understandable." I replied, the base coming into view. "Switching to radio tower."

"Roger, Angel."

I switched frequencies to that of the Flight Control Tower, which was, for mobility purposes, a collapsible wooden structure. I called the Tower using my callsign I'd use in my F-121 "Raven." "Flight Control, this is Echo Three One Actual."

"Roger, Echo Three One Actual, this is Flight Control."

"Flight Control, Echo Three One Actual requesting permission to land."

"Roger, Echo Three One Actual. You are cleared for landing pad G4. Come in slow and steady. Watch for personnel."

"Solid copy, Flight Control." I heard him, and I understood him clearly, but I wasn't going to come in "slow and steady." That was for Ravens. I was it. I rose into the air and flew over to hover above landing pad G4. I folded my wings to dive. I was at a safe height; I would be able to slow and stop before I hit the ground. About fifty feet above the ground, I opened my wings. I managed to land lightly on my toes, which I honestly didn't expect. I was really expecting to have to bend my knees to soften the landing. Lucky me.

The first man I saw was my infantry officer, Lieutenant Masterson. "Welcome back, Angel."

"Thanks, sir, but... I've been thinking..."

"This conversation will end badly." Masterson joked. That's why I liked the guy. He wasn't all work and no play.

"Very funny, sir. But seriously. I've been thinking about a real name for me."

"Well, if you want to put it that way, Sergeant, you do. Just don't remember."

"That's true, sir, but I've been thinking of one I know and can remember. Easy for everyone else too." I paused.

"Well?" Masterson asked after a moment. Pausing obviously wasn't the best thing I could have done at the time.

"I've been thinking about 'Will.' I completed the mission successfully, sir, all under the name Will."

"Huh. Oh well. Sure, no one's stopping you, Sergeant. Your team name's still Angel, whether you want it or not." He grinned at me.

"I expect nothing less, sir." I returned it.

Just then, 2 F-121 Raven aircraft did a flyby, followed shortly after by a C-13 VTOL "Stork" transport aircraft. The design of it was roughly based off of the old "Osprey" design Old Earth drew up in the 1990s, with today's tech put into it. Instead of props, It used slightly smaller versions of the pulse thrusters you'd find on a surface-to-orbit shuttle. The Stork had two, one mounted on each wing. Each wing could, in turn, rotate so that the thrusters went from facing down to facing behind the craft.

The Space Army had much improved on the old Osprey design. I mean, the Ospreys are still being used, but they're primarily found on worlds or regions that can't afford the latest and greatest. But, the Space Army had fixed most, if not all, the problems that made people doubt the design of the Osprey. For the ground troops, the biggest problem had been that the only exit from the troop hold was the rear ramp. That ramp also held the only gun on the craft, a huge problem, as it required the ramp to be lowered to fire.

Before I explain more, let me note that the Stork is about two times the size of the Osprey. The Space Army had managed to make it as big as practicality would allow. Now, the rear ramp could fit a T-86 Panther tank. That's what it was for. For the infantry, large, door-less hatches were situated at the front of the compartment. These, which were essentially just big holes, but hatch sounded cooler, could fit three men in full combat gear side by side. It didn't happen that way. There were two large caliber pulse cannons, one on either side, that blocked most of the space. Therefore, only one person could get through at a time. Which, of course, wasn't a problem for me. I didn't need a jump chute, courtesy of my wings, and all I did when dropping was jump out, with full combat gear.

All my gear was specially made to fit me and me alone. My pack was put on by loosening the straps as large as they would go, so I could slip it on fairly quickly. I set one wing in first, along with the arm of the same side, then kind of did this whole invertebrate thing where I twisted around to slip my other wing in. Uniforms and shirts were another matter, with me usually slipping it on over my head. Uncomfortable, to be sure, but I couldn't dilly dally over little things.

Though, with the news my mother... I can see you won't get tired of that. 'What?' Saying "mother." 'That's because I can finally say I have one. One I'm proud to have.' I didn't say there was anything wrong with that. I'm as happy as you are. Anyway, with what my mother, Luna, told me, I'd have to get a custom made helmet later on if I planned on staying in the Space Army past thirty. I might, after all, because I didn't have anywhere else to go.

You have Fluttershy. You have your family. 'True, but I can't let out my relationship to Luna and Celestia. That is a strict hush hush business. I might be able to get by with admitting my feelings for Fluttershy. Either way, it's a court martial offense for abandoning your unit to be with another without formally retiring.' I think we can make them understand. That thought chilled me, as I knew Bill was referring to my "Will Power," as he dubbed me. 'I don't want it to come to that. Why don't we see about that when we get to that bridge?' Whatever.

In any case, the Stork made for landing, rotating its thrusters downward. The landing pad, D3, was immediately cleared of all personnel, then the Stork almost unceremoniously dropped from the sky to land with a loud "clunk." The rear ramp fell down. An M-12 armored car rolled out, followed by personnel. There was only one thing that made me... feel... sad, for lack of a better descriptive word.

The men running out of the ramp weren't running alone. All the ones running were wearing the red and white armor of medics. And they were pulling along so many gurneys and stretchers. There were a few walking wounded, but most had to be helped along by medical staff. Those that didn't have a helper simply lurched heavily. I saw one or two fall over. That made me a bit sad. But what had a worse effect was what I saw next. In response to the men who fell, some of the other walking wounded, who I might add weren't far from toppling themselves, began to turn back and stoop to help.

That right there made my eyes water. Whatever these men had been through, I hoped I never encountered it. On the flip side, I'm sure they wouldn't trust me to be with them either. Combat did crazy things to your brain. This was one of them.

These men, later, would probably come to only trust each other and no one else. The reason for that was fairly simple. They came back from something that had really did a number on them. They fought and bled together. Now that it was over, they would all have memories of the horrors. But alongside that, they'd also have memories of the men beside them now, walking or no, who fought to protect them. The ultimate respect. It's why I liked my old handler, Paris Lundein. The guy was a psychologist, and a civilian, no less. But he'd picked up a rifle and started fighting alongside us. He had the respect of all who survived.

Within maybe three seconds of the Stork landing, medical personnel from the camp rushed out to help, and soon all wounded were inside. I did see a few lightly injured people, but they were maybe one in every seven people. Not a good ratio. I rushed over to help as well, but was waved off. "We've got this, Angel. I'm sure Captain Henderson needs to see you, anyways."

"Fine." I was a bit peeved at not being able to help, though I accepted that my mission at hand had priority. I wasn't a medic or corpsman, at least, not in prevalence, so infantry objectives took precedence. I turned and ran back to headquarters, which was the largest tent. I saw two soldiers standing outside that didn't fit in with the command element, and it took me a few seconds to realize that they were in my squad. One was a Corporal Davis, one of my gunners. The other was my senior, Staff Sergeant Mason.

He and I were pretty great friends. We'd both seen each other under combat, and in fact, he was one of the men to get out of the whole fiasco at Sangre del Toro with me alive. He could keep a cool head. And Davis... he got into a knife fight with three spearmen. And won. Unscathed. Add to that the fact that he's great at gunnery directing, and you've got a good soldier right there. "Hey, Davis! Hey, Mason! Good to see you guys again!"

They turned to me from their conversation. "Oh, hell, it's Angel!" Mason exclaimed. "Welcome back! Had enough of Recon's job?" He grinned.

I chuckled. "Not a chance, it gives me time to get away from you!"

Mason laughed at that. Davis spoke up. "Hey, Angel. How've you been holding up lately?"

I put my hand on his shoulder. "I've had three square meals everyday I was out. I slept in a warm bed, had room service, and even got to have fun with the locals!"

"Damn! Stop rubbing it in, you jerk!" Davis playfully yelled.

Mason spoke. "I hope you mean playing games with them, Sergeant."

I turned to him, a stupid grin still on my face. "Staff Sergeant, I'm not into zoophilia."

All three of us laughed. These threatening tones, serious attitudes... they were false. It was just how we greeted each other. It lifted the spirits. "Well, guys, I've got a date with the Captain, I'll leave you two out here."

"Wow, Angel, I didn't know you swung that way!" Mason said jokingly.

"And proud of it!" I shouted stupidly. I chuckled. "I'll be back. With weapons."

"If you didn't carry your piece with you at all times I'd have to chew your ass."

"You'd have to catch me first, Staff Sergeant!" I shrugged my wings.

"Just go report in."

"Yes, Staff Sergeant." I went inside. It wasn't hard to find Captain Henderson. He was at the rear of the tent, sitting behind a desk. I walked up to it, then cleared my throat to get his attention. "Had enough of the paperwork, sir?"

"Welcome back, Sergeant. And yes. I have. Gods, we have so much of the stuff. If it were up to me, we'd just bury the enemies in paper. Save ammunition and money."

"Sir, that'd be too simple. You know everything has to be complex. Which is why I had to eat frog's legs and puke up gold bars to land, and just to get inside this tent I had to put my foot in my mouth and have it come out of someone's ear."

"You better believe it. I won't have anybody who can't do that in my tent. Now, your report?"

"Alright. Made contact first day, two pegasi. Rescued them from a manticore, about two miles north."

"Hmm. That's closer than they should be. Go on."

"We all flew north to the local apple farm. Met the stallion of the house, but..."

"But?"

"He died of tetanus, sir. Cut himself on the plow."

"I'm sorry, Angel."

"I slept at the hospital in the nearby village, Ponyville, for about forty five minutes. The citizens and I held a funeral at a local monastery out of town for a good half of the day." I winced. "Sorry for delaying my primary mission so long, sir. But I didn't want to offend the locals, lose their support."

"It's fine, Sergeant."

"I tried to take a nap soon after, but was visited by one of the pegasi I'd rescued. She offered a place to stay, and after initially declining the offer, the devious mare tricked me into doing so... sir, may I ask a question?"

"Go ahead, Sergeant."

"May I... skip over... that night? I'd... rather not talk about it..."

"I want to hear the whole thing, Sergeant."

"But-"

"I said, the whole thing, Angel."

"Yes sir... Sir, I arrived with the pegasus at her house at night, about nine or ten. We exchanged a few words, but I said something harmful... Sir, I ask permission to skip over this... please..."

"Keep going, Angel. All of it, spit it out."

"Very well, sir... I hurt her feelings, and she asked me to feed her animals outside. After finishing, her rabbit, Angel, sought me out urgently... sir-"

"Out with it!"

"He ushered me upstairs, and I found a horrible sight. She'd cut her hoof, severed both arteries... there was so much blood..." I felt tears come to my eyes. "I froze and panicked..." Henderson's eyes flashed to my right hand, which was unconsciously brushing against my sidearm's holster. "I applied a tourniquet... had her rushed to the hospital..." I was silent for several moments.

"And? What happened next?"

"At first, the doctors said that there was nothing they could do... I was terrified... she was so sweet and kind..." An unintentional sob escaped my mouth, but I continued. "Then a Nurse Redheart came along... she said Fluttershy was her sister, and that she would do everything she could to save her..." I gave a sad huff. "I almost got drawn into a date with that one, sir."

"Keep going, Angel. I need to know everything that happened. Full report, those were your orders."

"I slept the night in the hospital room. I had fitful dreams, but after waking up once with Fluttershy at around two in the morning and having a few words of comfort, I slept soundly... happily..." I smiled. "You'll be glad to know, sir, that that morning, I went and established contact with the mayor. She has the radio, with HQ's frequency and mine."

"Good. Anything else?"

"I enlisted the help of one of the locals to heal Fluttershy, sir. After that... we hung around for a bit. I took Fluttershy out to a treat-" I clapped my hand over my mouth. I'd said too much.

"Angel," Henderson began calmly. "What is your relationship with the pegasus Fluttershy?"

"Must I answer, sir?"

"Yes."

"Sir... I... I... love her..." I croaked out.

"You realize you are in violation of several regulations?"

"Yes, sir..."

"And that it is a court martial offense to fraternize with locals while on duty, and to a lesser extent, off?"

"Yes." My voice came out as barely a whisper.

"Angel-"

"Will, sir."

"What?"

"Will. My name. I've picked Will."

"Will. I have no choice. I must detain you. Know that I'm not doing this personally. It's the law, and the law must be upheld. I'm sorry, Will."

"Sir. Am I allowed visitors?"

"Yes. You aren't being held for a 'serious' crime, so to speak. You haven't bombed children's schools."

"Thank you sir."

"MP!" Henderson called out for the Military Police. One came to him very quickly. "Corporal, this man is under arrest, for fraternization while on duty. Take him to holding. He is allowed visitors."

"Yes, sir." The MP turned to me. "Sergeant, if you'll come with me."

"Right behind you, Corporal." I fell into step in front of him, regardless of what I'd said.

"Oh, and Corporal?" Henderson called out as an afterthought.

"Yes, sir?"

"Confiscate his weapons. Leave other items with him."

"Sir." The Corporal saluted, then we both continued off to holding. "This ain't personal, Sergeant."

I sighed. "I know it isn't Corporal. I should have known better. I just... couldn't help it."

"If you don't mind me asking, Sergeant, 'fraternizing' is a very vague term. Would you care to elaborate?"

"I'll tell you once I'm behind bars, Corporal. Not when there's so many people around."

"Alright." The walk to the hold was uneventful. I didn't see any of my men out, I thanked my lucky stars... then I realized how ironic that thought was. Lucky stars. And both Luna and Celestia are family. 'That's double the luck for half the price!' I joked. I was shown into the first empty cell, which, to my dismay, was the very first one. The Corporal asked, "Okay. Wanna talk?"

I sighed again. "Sure. But don't judge me. Not that I really care what anyone thinks, anymore..."

"I won't. I'm an open-minded person, Angel."

"First order of business, Corporal..."

"Dickens."

"Dickens, my name is Will. I picked it a few days ago. I like it."

"Alright, An-... Will," he corrected.

"There's a pegasus out there, named Fluttershy. I saved her life."

"And is she the one you 'fraternized' with?"

"You could say that. I fell in love with her at first sight." I sighed. "Then I hurt her. She cut herself, Dickens. Severed both of her arteries in her hoof. There was a lot of blood and I..." I choked up again. "I was scared. She was the first someone in my life that meant something to me... someone I truly loved..."

"I'm sorry, Will."

"Oh, she's okay now. I had her rushed to the hospital, and after the initial 'we can't do anything' take, I had a unicorn, a friend of hers, fix her up."

"I can understand that."

"The day she was fixed up... happiest of my life. We had fun in the square, bouncing and dancing around. Then I took her to the local sweet shop for a treat. I'd promised her that much."

"Alright. So far, Will, I'm not seeing anything problematic."

"Well, there was an altercation in the sweet shop. Fluttershy and I had been leaning on each other. I also had draped a wing over her. She was cold. An arsehole from some big company got on my case about it and I laid him down."

"You didn't-"

"No, no. I didn't kill him." I hastily said. "I just toppled him. Flat on his face."

"Oh. So... I know this is a personal question, but have you..."

"No, Fluttershy and I haven't done anything yet. We haven't even kissed. We've hugged, but that's it."

"Hmm." He said, thoughtfully. "Well, Will. I'm a little confused about the whole 'human in love with a pegasus' thing, but I'm not going to hold you against it. If you love her and she loves you, then all's well." He stood to leave. "Need anything?"

"No... wait, yes." I corrected myself. "Could you... go tell the Flight Control Tower to allow a pegasus to land? The Skipper said I could have visitors, and he didn't say anything against them..."

"Sure thing. It's been nice meeting you, Will."

"Could you... come back and tell me how it goes? With Flight Control, I mean? Yes or no?"

"Absolutely, Will. Thanks for your time."

"That would sound much less insulting if I weren't being held behind bars at the moment." But I still laughed. After a while, he did too. He left. I sat twiddling my thumbs for about ten minutes before Dickens came back.

"Will, your pegasus is cleared."

"Dickens... if I weren't behind bars I'd hug you."

"Sorry, Will. I don't swing like that." And he flashed me a grin. I returned it. "Anyway," he continued. "Nice talking to you, but I've gotta scram. Too much time down here and they'll wonder if I'm conspiring with you or something."

I laughed. "Maybe we'd get to share cells! Hooray, slumber party!"

"Heh, heh. Good one. Well, see you later, Will. Maybe I'll get to meet your special one!" He said with a wink, then he was gone.

I quickly went to work. I activated the transmitter still in my ear. "Fluttershy? Fluttershy, can you hear me?" I was grateful to no end when I got a response.

"Will? Is that you?" I heard her say in her distinctive whisper. It was adorable.

"Yes, love, it's me, Will. Listen, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, go ahead. Anything for you, Will."

"Thank you, love, I knew I could count on you. Are you free today?"

"Yes, why?"

"I'd like you to come here, to camp, with me. Please? I'm in a bit of a bind and I kind of need you to help me."

"Where is your camp?" I heard her ask immediately. She really cared for me. I loved that.

"About three to five miles, south of AJ's farm. Think you're up to it? I don't want you to hurt yourself."

"Oh, Will, that's not that bad. It's easy!" She replied, reassuringly.

"If you're sure..."

"I am sure, Will. I can do it, it's not that far."

"Okay then... see you soon. I love you."

"I love you too, Will."

I cut off the transmitter. Knowing how fast Fluttershy normally flew gave me a decent estimate of about the maximum wait time. She didn't fly very fast, and she should be here in around twenty minutes maximum. It was a boring ten minute wait.

An MP, a different one, came in to tell me. "Sergeant, a pegasus is here to see you."

"Could you let her in, please? Thanks." I said.

He turned away from me, facing outside. "Right this way, miss." He stepped aside to let her in.

Fluttershy... shyly walked into the building and came to stand in front of my cell. The MP remained standing by the door, well within earshot.

"Hey, there, love." I said to her from behind the bars.

"Will? Why are you..."

"Locked up?"

She hesitated. "Yes..."

"Well, apparently by being with you these past few days was against the rules of the Space Army."

"What?! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get you in trouble!" Fluttershy immediately apologized, which I had expected. I sighed.

"It wasn't your fault, love. If it was anyone's, it was mine. I caused all this to happen... Big Mac, your hoof, my life... all my fault..."

"Will." Fluttershy said firmly. I looked up to meet her eyes. "Stop that. That's what I said before I hurt myself. You're going to as well if you don't stop. So please stop saying things like that."

I chuckled. "Yes, Fluttershy." I grinned at her. She returned it, which made me happy, very happy.

"Ahem." I heard a new voice come in. I leaned past the bars to see who it was, and low and behold, it was Captain Henderson. "Will. I see you couldn't refrain from committing the same action that got you into this mess."

I shrugged my shoulders. "What can I say, sir? Love is inseparable."

Henderson turned to Fluttershy. "And you, miss? What is your name?"

"Uhm... my name is... Fluttershy..." She whispered.

Henderson looked at her confusedly. "I'm sorry, I didn't-"

I knew what he was going to say, so I cut him off. "Her name is Fluttershy, sir." The mare in question flashed me a thankful smile. "She's real nervous around strangers. On top of that, her normal voice is barely above a whisper," I turned to her, "No offense, love."

She shook her head. "I didn't mind, Will."

I brought my focus back to the Skipper. "This is the mare I've been with for the past few days, sir. This here mare," I said, pulling her closer and "hugging" her through the steel bars, "Is my love. And I am hers, in return. Say what you will, sir. I care not. I have Fluttershy to help me through my troubles, better than my own teammates."

"I see," he said, though I doubted it. "And why do you love somebody in a different species?"

"We love each other because we are so alike, sir. Neither of us are comfortable around crowds, we aren't very social, we love flying. And," I added, leaning my head against Fluttershy's. "She's the most beautiful pony in the whole universe, and I wouldn't have anyone else."

The Captain asked Fluttershy, "Do you understand that right now, his duty is to the Space Army, and to us alone?"

"Oh, yes, sir, I don't want him to get into any more trouble. I want him to stay safe and out of trouble, so if that means I have to be away for a while, I'll take it."

Henderson sighed. "You two aren't making it easy for me. I-" He was cut off then, for a scout entered to whisper something in his ear and give him a piece of paper. "Hmm. Will, it seems that there's a large force to the northeast. Here's a deal for you. I let you out of holding. You go and take care of this threat. When you get back, you won't be held any longer. Sound like a plan?" He handed me the paper the scout had given him.

I nodded, thankfulness clear in my posture. "Thank you sir. I won't let you down, sir!"

"I know you won't." He turned and left, nodding to the MP before leaving the building. The MP came and unlocked the cell, and the first thing I did as a once-again free man was run over and hug Fluttershy.

"I'm so sorry, Fluttershy. I didn't mean to get in trouble, but he asked me to tell him everything, and I couldn't lie... I'm sorry for making you come out here, taking time away from everything! I'm sorry..."

She rubbed my back in return. "It's okay, Will. Now," she said, holding me at arm's length. "You go do your job, and come back to me, okay? I'll be northwest, searching for some herbs I need to stock up for winter." She let go of me and flew out. Then I was reminded of something. I checked my log for the date. Christmas day. That blows on so many levels.

Regardless, I had a job to do. And I figured the best present I could give Fluttershy was being with her. So, I headed out and went straight to the barracks. "Rise and shine, Echo! We're heading out!" Echo squad assembled in front of me. The orders on the paper were to send a squad sized force, and since I was leader of Echo, and I was told to go out...

"Captain wants us to head northeast to intercept a force of monsters. Let's do this by the numbers, I'm sure we all have things we'd like to get back to as soon as possible." Mason stepped up to me.

"I'm coming with you, Angel."

"I can't ask you to do that, you know that. Orders were for me to go, and to send a squad sized force. I'm leader of Echo squad. I'm taking them out."

"What's one more man but one extra gun?"

Mason had made it tough for me to say no. So I didn't. "Fine, Mason."

He nodded. "Alright, Echo squad! I'm coming with you ladies! Let's get to the armored transport, we'll be dropping off about a mile from target location of interception." Everyone voiced an agreement; they were ready to go. We filed out of the barracks and loaded up onto one of the M12. As a testament to its speed, we arrived where we needed to go in roughly thirteen minutes. "Alright, Echo!" Mason said. "Fall out!"

We all exited the rear of the car. We took up defensive positions; there was no telling where and how many monsters there were out here in the woods. "Okay," Mason began. "We are zero point six three miles from intercept location. We'll head out now to establish field camp. Let's move." We all began the trek. I had Davis watch the rear. Mason and I led the squad from up front.

After about thirty minutes, as the forest was pretty dense, we reached a spot in the woods. It had plenty of cover, as it was a ditch surrounded by dead tree stumps, and it had a good view of the surrounding area. "This looks like a good spot," I told Mason. He nodded.

"Let's set up here, boys. No telling when we get to meet our friends." Field camp was set and ready within another thirty minutes, and the monsters still hadn't shown up. "Well," Mason said to me. "It'd suck if we set up in the wrong-"

"MONSTERS!" I heard Davis shout. Immediately afterwards, I heard firing begin. I didn't turn to help. They'd call for help if they needed it. Right now, I focused on finding monsters in my view. I did, however, turn when I heard two screams. I heard a thud land next to my head, to my right. I turned to see what it was and found a large rock. The monsters were using rock throwers.

"ROCK THROWERS!" I shouted. "GET DOWN!" Twelve of the thirteen remaining soldiers got down in time. The thirteenth didn't duck fast enough and his head exploded into a mist of red. I gagged. Suppressing the urge to puke, I crawled over to Davis and Mason. "How bad is it?" I asked.

"Horrible, Sergeant." Davis said. "There're so many of them! We barely got ten dead before they fired back! And it was as if they had a good leader!" That last bit surprised me. Most monsters wouldn't do well with leaderships. So to have a sentient being commanding this force... it would make things incredibly harder. So I did something stupid and popped my head to take a peek.

I saw ten hellhounds, and behind them were seven diamond dogs. They each held a rock thrower, and they looked practised with them. I gulped and ducked back down before I got my head taken off. I was almost too late, too. I heard a few rocks sail over my head as I sunk back down into the ditch. "VOLLEY FIRE, BLIND!" I shouted. Volley fire would mean we'd all fire at the same time, and blind meant that we would just stick our guns above the lip of ditch instead of actually aiming.

Twelve voices confirmed the order. I saw twelve guns raise to the top of the ditch. I did so with my own. "NOW!" I shouted. Twelve shots rang out, and I heard several yelps and cries. I chanced a look to see what kind of damage we caused. At first I thought we did pretty good, because most of the ten hellhounds and seven diamond dogs were down. But upon further viewing I began to despair. More were running around in the trees. "FIRE AT WILL, THEY'RE BRINGING IN REINFORCEMENTS!"

Twelve guns shifted from the blind fire position to the prone position. I waited a second. "GO!" We all raised our guns to bear with the enemy. Good thing we did so then; they were almost on our position. They had moved while we were checking wounds. They were under a strong leader. I got off four more shots before I saw that trying to keep them out of our ditch was hopeless. "FIX BAYONETS!" I shouted, giving fear to my squad mates and the enemies, those who could understand English/Equestrian, alike. I stabbed two hellhounds right off the bat.

And then my transmitter beeped. "Will! It's Fluttershy! Help me! There are monsters! Please, Will!" I heard her gasp. "WILL!"

My face went deathly pale. My duty forgotten, one thought remained in my head: Fluttershy was in bad trouble, and needed my help. "Mason! Take over!"

"What?!"

"Just do it!" I dropped my rifle on the ground, and with that, I took off. I tried talking to Fluttershy again. "Where?!"

I heard her voice, which made me glad to no end; she was still alive... I had time. "Three miles northwest!"

"I'm on my way!" Three miles northwest, whereas I'd gone three miles north east. I had a little over four miles to go, which I could cover in about a minute. I beat my wings as hard as I could, trying to go faster so as to reach Fluttershy in less than a minute. She maybe didn't even have a minute. I quickly threw that thought away, I didn't want to think of worst case scenarios at the moment. I got to the area in about thirty seven seconds.

I quickly scanned the forest for any sign of Fluttershy. When I didn't immediately see anything, I began to panic. I feared the worst, but a brief glimpse of yellow and pink quelled that fear. I zoomed down into the trees, weaving in and out to avoid branches and trunks. Ahead of me, there were several diamond dogs in chase of a yellow pegasus with a pink mane. I didn't bother with them now; I needed to get Fluttershy to safety first.

I sped past them, scooping up Fluttershy into my arms. "Hi there, love. Happy to see me again?"

"Will!" Fluttershy hugged me and snuggled into me. "You came! I was so scared, but I knew you'd save me!"

"Anything for you, love!" Then I rose above the treeline. That was a mistake. Several rocks flew up into the sky after me. All but one missed, but the hitter was a horrid wound. The rock tore a whole about three centimeters in diameter through my right wing. I couldn't fly.

I began losing altitude. As I got faster and faster due to gravity, the more the wind ripped into my open wound. The more the wind tore around in there mangled the innards of my wing even worse. I began spiraling. I tried furiously to right myself, but it just wasn't to be. After I'd accepted that I wouldn't get out of it this time, I closed my eyes, and just concentrated on landing on my back, keeping Fluttershy safe. That plan actually fell through.

Quite literally, it fell through on my right wing. Hard. And the ground just HAD to be rocky and bumpy. I was sliding along the ground, every pebble and root digging into my wing, widening it, enlarging it. I was probably going to bleed out soon enough unless I got a bandage on. But I had no time for that now; I had to get Fluttershy to safety... somehow.

But, unfortunately, I wasn't able to plan for very long. Through the trees behind me, several hellhounds and diamond dogs came crashing. "Run, Fluttershy!" I yelled. Not waiting to see if she did what I said, I turned to face this new threat. "Go find help!" With that, I drew my sidearm.

It wasn't standard issue. Standard issue was an energy pistol, firing twenty bolts of special shockers. These shockers were "maximum power," as these actually were meant to kill, unlike the shock bolts I had loaded into my M10 during the recon mission.

My sidearm, however, was an ancient design, modified a bit. Back in the ancient times of Earth, around 1955, a revolver was created. They named this revolver the "Colt Python." The original weapon chambered six .357 caliber rounds. I changed that. Going to a gunsmith who specialized in making and restoring antique firearms, I had him build a special variant of the Python. My gun came with a seven inch barrel. It now chambered .44 caliber rounds. But, instead of six rounds, my gun had a special number. It fit eight. What set if off from another revolver, again of Colt's make, the "Anaconda," was that the frame was indeed the Python's. I didn't like the way the Anaconda looked.

I carefully sighted the diamond dogs, which, with their rock throwers, I concluded were the present threat. I fired two rounds, killing two of them. I dropped a third before I had to switch to a hellhound that had gotten too courageous. With four rounds left, and no way to reload quickly, as I'd left my speed loader at the base, I carefully proceeded. I killed off two more hellhounds, and then with my last two bullets, I dropped two diamond dogs that were raising their rock throwers.

Now out of ammunition, I holstered my sidearm. I threw down my pack, then withdrew my courtsword. Seeing me put away my ranged weapon, the remaining two diamond dogs began chucking rocks and stones at me. Expertly avoiding them, I hopped, skipped, and jumped over and around hellhounds to take them out. I reached them quickly, with the only injuries I'd sustained was a hellhound nipping my foot. He took a stab to the face for that.

With two slashes, I slit the throats of the last two diamond dogs. I turned my attention to the hellhounds, and found that I could still see Fluttershy, albeit in the air. I gored one hellhound that had jumped up to bite at my face, and cut open the belly of another that had decided to do the same. There were still five hellhounds left.

I jumped over them all to get to the center of the meadow, where I had room to maneuver, as a swordsman should. The five hounds circled me, snarling. They all tried to bite at my ankles, and most were diversions so another could make a move. After killing two in this fashion, they ceased their efforts and just settled for making me uncomfortable by circling. "Fluttershy," I spoke. "Get help, now! Don't just sit there! You don't want to see this!" Circling with the hellhounds, I saw that she had done what I'd told her. I mentally sighed with relief.

Many people would wonder I haven't asked Bill for anything yet, but the reason was simple. He was in control of my danger awareness. I didn't want to distract him, as I could very well die if I did so. On the flip side, he didn't speak to me, as that would break my concentration, which could also get me killed.

Which probably wouldn't matter anyways, considering that the ground was shaking under the weight of something big. And it was coming right for me. The hellhounds around, all three of them, turned around and fled, tails between their legs. Will, careful! This thing is huge! I didn't respond to Bill's obvious comment. He was only doing his job. After about thirty seconds of agonizingly waiting around, the.. thing crashed through the trees and into the clearing.

It... was a big one. It looked like the minotaur of the ancient Greek mythology. It was about eight feet tall. It had the legs and head of a bull, but its body was that of a man. It carried a giant sword in its hand, making me instantly regret leaving my battle sword at camp. It was probably the only blade I had that could parry this monstrosity without breaking... yet even that was stretching it.

It took one look at me: a bloodied human with even bloodier wings. Then it roared, and charged. Instant plan of action: parrying was a death sentence. So I quickly made sure I would duck, roll, jump, bend, and twist to avoid this monster's blade while trying to get a few hits of my own in. I ducked under a swing of the humongous sword, which, if I hadn't, would probably have taken my head clean off. I was inside the minotaur's swing now, and I made two quick jabs at its torso. Thankfully for me, it wasn't armoured, and my sword bit deep into its flesh.

I did a combat dive and rolled to the right, as I saw it prepare to kick me. When I looked back at it, it was bleeding profusely from its abdomen, which made me believe I'd nicked it somewhere important. But I couldn't wait for it to bleed out; I didn't know how much blood these things had. I settled on it having "a lot." It made another swing, much lower this time, to prevent me from ducking under it. But that allowed me to jump over it, and again I got some hits in. This time, I slashed its arm and stabbed its leg. For all its sheer size, it wasn't very agile. That was the last time I'd get a hit in.

Roaring, it swung and thrust madly, putting me on a very desperate defensive. I did in fact, duck, roll, jump, etcetera to avoid the monster-sized sword. I made to jab at its leg, but it brought it back, as if to kick, and my thrust missed. I made to slash at its arm again, maybe hoping to disarm the beast. But it was not to be.

It swung its sword in response. I didn't have time to avoid it. The monster's sword hit mine, and the elegant blade shattered. I recoiled in shock, and because the blow had sent shockwaves lance up my arm. And thus, my luck ran out. Seeing me defenceless, the minotaur made a thrust toward my belly. I jumped back to avoid it, but I couldn't get out of reach in time. The wide blade bit into my stomach, penetrating about two and a half inches. I grunted in pain, and felt my eyes widen. Breathing became very hard. I could only manage short gasps. I heard Fluttershy's voice over the transmitter, but she sounded distant, as if she were yelling from afar. "Will! Luna's on the way! She's coming to help!"

The minotaur snorted in my face. I dropped my useless sword hilt, unable to hold onto it any longer. I felt the sword slide out of me, and the minotaur roared in triumph. It raised the bloodied sword high above its head, preparing to bring it down and cleave me in two. But, it seems, my luck returned.

From my position, I couldn't see what had done it. But the minotaur suddenly roared in pain, and it dropped the sword. I did see somethings come out of its chest, maybe two or three. It fell over sideways, eventually falling face down due to gravity. I saw several holes which had the distinctive pattern of flechettes.

Flechettes were special rounds, meant for taking down large biological targets. The head of the round looked like the tail fins of missiles, for cutting multiple sheaves in the flesh. These fins ran along the entire length of the round, growing in size as it went farther back. It was a horrible weapon, used only in dire circumstances.

When the minotaur had toppled, I saw what had killed it. Mason was standing, his M10 rifle still braced against his shoulder. Seeing me still standing, which was a surprise even to me, he lowered his rifle and ran towards me. He didn't get to greet me face to face, though. Before he reached me, I fell over backwards, landing on my back. My sight got dark red around the edges. "Angel!" I heard him shout, but it sounded... dim. "Angel! Stay alive, man!"

I blinked ever so slowly, and when I could see again, I saw that the red rimming was replaced with black. "Angel! Don't you die on me, man!" But a new voice caused me to attempt painfully to look, and Mason did as well. "My god..."

"Will!" I heard a very familiar female voice shout. It also sounded distant, but there was no mistaking it. My mother had arrived. When she entered my vision, for I had given up on trying to turn my head and settled for staring at the sky, my thoughts were confirmed. "Will, look at me!" My eyes rested on her face, which was filled with worry, sadness, and fear. "Will, stay alive!"

I had no intention of disobeying her, but I felt my eyes close for about three seconds before they slowly reopened. Most of my sight was filled with black now. "Will!" I felt Luna wrap her arms around me, and felt my head come to rest in the crook or her arm. My entire sight was filled with her now. "Will, please! Momma's here, Will! Momma's got you!" I felt tears fall onto my face, but I couldn't see anymore. My vision was all black. "Will! WILL!" Then I heard a cry, a cry I never wished to hear again. It was in my mother's voice. She had cried out a ten second long anguished shout. "Will! Will! Please, wake up, Will!" Her voice was riddled with cries and sobs.

"We have to get him to a hospital! We need to bring him back to camp!" I heard Mason yell.

"The healers in Ponyville would be better!" I heard my mother snap back.

"Ponyville's too far away! It's six miles! Our camp is but three! We need to get him there!" There was a pause. "Grab the M12! We have a severe casualty!"

"No!" I heard Luna shout. "I'll carry him!"

"Ma'am, if you carry him, you might jostle him! It might make it worse!"

"I don't care! I'll bring him back!" Luna said in a finality tone, her royalty showing. Then, I felt one of her arms slip my left arm around her, and the other continued to hold me under my head. When she was sure my left arm wouldn't slip off, she put hers underneath my knees. I felt us fly off the ground. I heard Luna beat her wings hard, trying to get me to safety as quickly as possible. I felt my consciousness slipping. Will! Stay alive! WILL! I heard Bill shout.

The last thing I remember was Luna saying, "Will!" My left arm slipped off of her, and I couldn't feel anything.

Comments

[Lt_Voss]

I've edited the content rating of this story to Teen. In my opinion, what goes on in this chapter isn't recommended for all audiences. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong in my judgement, though.

And woah. This chapter. A completely different reason this one is a doozy. I hope you guys are ready.

48305 I realize that my previous comment was harsh and uncalled for. I hope you can forgive me. I guess I flew off the handle. I'm not deleting it, though, because my point, however horribly I conveyed it, still stands. I'm sorry.

[PPFW Combo Breaker]

Will Will die or will Will live? Whatever will Will has will surely come into play. I will definitely continuing reading about WIll and will track this story. Does Will get Bill to pay the bills? Done now.

[Lt_Voss]

49809 I get the feeling you intentionally used the word "will" as many times as you could while still making sense.

And you'll have to wait, like everyone else.

Now where have I heard the Sangre del Toro before? I swear I've played some video game that mentions that. Maybe BFBC2? I don't know, keep up the good writing!

this is the best story ever more

[lilinuyasha]

Well, Voss, seems like your fic is doing pretty well!

[Lt_Voss]

49828 It did pop up into my head because of that, but I looked it up to see if it was a real place and (because it wasn't) put it in. To be honest, it wasn't an intentional "hey I like how this sounds" thing, it was an unconscious influence.

50232 Heh, thanks for taking the time to read it! Looking forward to seeing your next work!

[lilinuyasha]

50462 Oh, yeah. Don't worry, I have something big planned right now.

[Captain Grim]

Wow! I gotta say. It,s kinnda awesome that you came up with this fan fic story from a song! AWESOME! Keep up the good work man and never stop

[Lt_Voss]

50687 That's what listening to the same eight minute song over and over can do to you

[greyyy]

makes me wanna think of infinity blade...