The Equestrian Army

by DE4DLIESTP0NY

First Strike

When Nova's scouting division returned the next morning, things were almost as they all predicted. It was bad news, though nopony had anticipated the severity to be this extreme.

Soarin, one of the seven ponies in the elite reconnaissance squad known as OP 115, entered the base and appraoched Nova. She and the other two leaders of the army, Camoflash and Recon Groove were standing around a table with a map of Equestria on it, plotting strategy against hypothetical situations.

"General Sunshine?" called Soarin. Nova turned around and addressed him.

"Good to see you back Sgt. Soarin, Did your squad find anything?" Nova asked.

"Yes General Sunshine, we observed from the clouds all night. There was much activity in the ashes below. We studied their movements and behavior, It seems that the Infernites (fiery creatures) are more intelligent than we had though." He handed her some surveillance photographs."They seem to be patrolling the area, anticipating an attack." Nova listened closely to the vital information that Soarin was telling her."There seem to be different ranks among them as well. The bright red one that you described to the princess was the most common and are probably the main infantry. They patrolled in units typically consisting of 15 Infernites. 14 red Infernites followed in a circle around a single yellow Infernite. These Infernites seem to be of higher rank than the red ones. There was an even more peculiar sight earlier this morning. We saw about 50 red Infernites circling around 14 yellow Infernites. The yellow Infernites were flying around a blue Infernite. For reasons unknown, this Infernite occasionally shot a beam of energy straight up towards the sky. After this discovery we decided to return this information to you immediately."

"Thank you Soarin, your squad can rest now. The rest of the army will handle it from here," Nova acknowledged.

"Anytime General Sunshine." Soarin saluted her then retired the barracks. Nova returned her attention to the other two leaders of The Equestrian Army, who were joking around about exploding cupcake launchers.

"Just got the intel back from OP 115. It seems as though the Infernites are a lot smarter than we predicted them to be," said Nova as she slid the pictures that Soarin gave her across the table.

"How much smarter?" Asked Recon Groove

"They have an effective chain-of-command, and patrol their territory with extreme prejudice," replied Nova.

"Any other known defenses?" added Camoflash.

"No other primary defenses have been Identified, but I highly suggest you keep your eyes peeled at all times. Our primary objective is to find and destroy the enemy, but we also need to know more about them and learn their strategies to fight them better, and hopefully bring this war to a short end." replied Nova. After the briefing Recon and Camoflash spoke at the same time.

"When do we get to kill things?!?" Nova chuckled at their eager and trigger-happy personalities, then responded to their question.

"We move out at 09:00 hours, OP 115 reported strange activity about a blue Infernite, and i don't want to battle it until we know its purpose. It should be gone by then." Nova finished briefing to Camoflash and Recon Groove, who then left to address to their own special squads. The entire army was to meet just outside the walls of the city. The three generals knew that they'd need every pegasus, unicorn, mare, stallion, and (with the exception of Static in OP 115) filly they'd recruited. Before they left, Princess Celestia arrived and motivated them before charging into their first battle.

"Today is a pivotal moment in all of your lives. Three days ago, you were all just ordinary ponies. Three days ago you were peaceful, nonviolent inhabitants of Equestria. But today, you stand before me, and your generals. Today you are the most dangerous force in Equestria. And today you'll charge into battle as ponies and come back as heroes!!!"

Everypony in the army was ready to do their best on the battlefield. They were so eager to fight they were practically cheering. The three generals gave the signal to begin marching. Their destination, Gallop Town. It was a long hike but the soldiers didn't tire. They were so eager for action that none of them stopped for even a second. at 10:05 hours they were standing atop the same hill that Nova stood on just five days earlier, and everypony saw the bright red glow coming from the city. The army was halted, as the three generals took a short surveillance time so they could fully plan an effective strategy.

Camoflash's strike force were to charge into battle first, then Nova's pegasi will cover them from the skies, Infernite reinforcements are expected to arrive after about five minutes from the first strike. Recon and the rest of the army will then launch a full scale assault to intercept and destroy the rest of the Infernites' defense. It was a good plan, but it's always more difficult when you're fighting an unknown and unpredictable force.

Camoflash's Black Ops charged into the remains of the city at 10:25 hours. They hit the first wave of Infernite defense with extreme prejudice. They sprayed belt-fed machine guns and charged as deep into enemy territory as they could without ensuring their own deaths. They began to get overwhelmed, as five of Camoflash's troops fell at the shots of a yellow Infernite that had gotten behind their lines. Suspicions were confirmed that the yellow leaders, were a lot stronger than the red infantry. They were more swift and had more strength than the inferior red counterparts.

Nova's pegasi moved into position atop a thick, low flying cloud that they'd made as the strike force charged into battle. She issued a command fire on the yellow Infernite on Camoflash's flank. Every pegasi on the cloud fired simultaneously at all parts of its body. It fell dead instantly just as it was charging an attack that could've killed half of the strike force. There was a bullet for every two inches of its body. Three pegasi at the rear of the cloud moved it closer to the city ruins. The soldiers on the cloud stuck their barrels through it and maintained increased accuracy by using thermal scopes, making the dark cloud into a floating tank. This got the Infernites' attention and they responded immediately by shooting fireballs simultaneously in their own command fire. The cloud was extremely vulnerable to the Infernites' attack, even thought it was a heavy storm cloud. It was a matter of minutes until the cloud completely disintegrated along with many pegasi that were on it. The rest of the air force continued to pick off the remaining yellow Infernites. They were restricted to the ground, and had no chance to inflict further damage on the agile pegasi above.

With the combined forces of Camoflash's strike team and Nova's air force, the remaining Infernite defenders faced quick annihilation as they were flanked from all angles. But The Equestrian Army didn't declare victory yet. As planned, hundreds of Infernite reinforcements charged ferociously into battle from the south entrance of the torn city. With them came a new variant of Infernites. They were dark orange and possessed the ability to fly. This left Nova's forces unable to help Camoflash's troops on the ground, they were too busy fighting off the new threat. Camoflash's strike force became quickly overwhelmed by the massive force left on the ground. Though there were few casualties, the Equestrian Black Ops were completely pinned and couldn't break cover to return fire. They were all outnumbered three to one.

Based on their general movements it was assumed that the Infernites were getting cocky. They broke their standard formation to surround the pinned pegasi and strike force. Instead of 14 Infernites guarding their yellow superiors, there were only 4. This flaw was soon advanced on as the final part of the Equestrians' plan was put into motion. The rest of the army led by Recon Groove charged from the northern meadow and into the war-torn ashes. Many soldiers were riding in armored personnel transports and chariots with mounted Gatling guns. The assault tore through much of the opposition, giving Camoflash's forces the chance to fight back. With the threat on the ground now being suppressed, Nova and her air force bolted back up and began to reclaim the sky. The sloppy formations of the Infernites took its toll as The Equestrian Army were once more in complete control of the battle.

Hours of brutal fighting passed as the two factions fought to the last hoof. There were no prisoners and nopony went MIA. It was an all-out war with absolutely no remorse the lives on the opposite side. Few ponies lost their lives in comparison to the Infernites. The Equestrian Army always dominated at the end of each fiery wave, but the Infernites never stopped coming. They charged at the city wave after wave until it started to take its toll on the ponies, At 20:00 hours many ponies began to give up. Morale was low as most of thought that the Infernites' numbers were simply too much for them, and that they would never stop coming. Ammunition and basic supplies were running out and being replaced with the bodies of dead or wounded ponies. The stench of decay and blood filled the battlefield as the Equestrians held their ground at all costs. Though nopony ran or surrendered, they feared that the war would be lost on the very day that it started.

Nova spotted a wave of Infernites half the size of Gallop Town approaching rapidly towards the their position. She knew that this was their final stand judging by the incredible number of Infernites in it. She dashed down from her storm cloud perch that she used to pick off high value targets from a distance to alert Recon and Camoflash of the coming assault. when she reached the ground she saw the two generals amazed yet terrified of something that they were looking at. When Nova turned around she also saw it, and it filled even her hardened heart with fear.

Everypony saw the massive beam of concentrated blue fire that poured from the sky like a tornado from the underworld. The majority of troops were terrified as well, but also stood their ground an prepared for the coming fight. They all knew that at the end, one shall stand and one shall fall.

The blue flames that rained down were summoned by a dark blue Infernite that was no doubt the most powerful element on the battlefield. The flames that it cast were almost as bright as Celestia's sun. There was no time to waste. Nova commanded all of her pegasi, even OP 115, to follow her as she flew as fast as she could in a straight line towards the clouds. Recon Groove moved all of the armored vehicles towards the front of the line in a defensive position, and Camoflash's forces reinforced it with the heaviest and most powerful weapons in their arsenal. The rest of the army entrenched themselves in basements and cellars of barely standing buildings. The army was ready for the final assault and whatever the Infernites could throw at them.

Nova's air force got to their location miles above Equestria. She had commanded everypony to fly as high as they possibly could. If high enough, a bullet fired downwards from such a height would continue to increase speed even after minutes from firing. The Infernites' pillar of blue fire was a beacon that told them where the army was. They then were instructed to fire at the beacon as rapidly as their bolt-action sniper rifles would allow them. Most of the pegasi made it high enough for her plan to work. Their bullets caused individual sonic booms, and caused catastrophic damage to anything within five feet of impact. It was like watching a meteor shower for the infantry on the ground. The shells had gained so much speed that they exploded when they hit the ground. Most of the basic Infernites fell victim to this .50 caliber hailstorm, while the more intelligent and agile ones stayed out of its way.

Nova's pegasi continued to fire, but had no idea of what was going on almost two miles below. As soon as they were in range. The rest of the army began their strike. They picked off the remaining Infernites that weren't caught in the sonic explosions of the air force's meteor shower. The entire army began to fire from their fortified position at the incoming wave of Infernites. This finished any and all red Infernites that were left standing and a number of yellow and orange ones. Camoflash knew that this wasn't enough to stop the onslaught. He commanded his entire force to use nothing but explosives on the heavily resistant yellow Infernites. The orange Infernites dodged these generally slow firing rockets and simply flew out of the way. Every inch of the battlefield was covered with explosive, shattering the metal shell that they had for bodies. With exception to the nearly invincible blue Infernite, all of the Infernite ground forces were eliminated by the onslaught of missiles.

Now the only forces that the Infernites had left was a single blue leader and and its orange air force. With Nova's sharpshooting pegasi practically in space, there was no force accurate enough to hit them from a great distance. Recon Groove knew if they waited for them to get closer, the blue Infernite would unleash the fiery apocalypse contained within the spire of fire that it carried. If they could get close enough to take out the flying threat and still avoid the blue beast, it would surely surrender, and Recon Groove knew a way to accomplish this. He had every vehicle in his command charge at the incoming beats. Once in range ponies on top of them with mounted machine machine guns opened fire on the flying Infernites. Most of them were killed in a few shots, while others got their wings clipped and the blown to embers by Camoflash's rocket launchers. In minutes the Infernites were down to nothing but a single leader. Every pony watched the reaction to the lone Infernite as it was sure to surrender.

The blue Infernite kept walking slowly towards its objective. Its determination was similar to the one Nova fought a few days earlier. It never broke its line of sight with the city as it crept slowly. It didn't seem to notice or care that it was the only thing left standing on that field. Against all odds, the lone beast continued its march towards Gallop Town.Its pillar of fire that it carried left a trail of charred dust. Ideas simultaneously struck each of the three Equestrian generals. They all had found out a way to stop the blue threat dead in its tracks.

Nova's pegasi had all run out of ammunition, and ceased to continue the meteor shower. Nova looked down and saw that the pillar of fire remained, which must have meant that the blue Infernite was still alive. She put her plan into motion by soaring down back towards the ground at top speed. She kept going straight down until she caused her own sonic boom. With a mile still between her and Equestria, she fired her rifle once, still going straight down. Since the gun itself was already travelling at the speed of sound, the single bullet exited the barrel at twice the speed. Nova then pulled up slowly from her fall so she didn't break her wings and ultimately kill herself. With about a mile left for the bullet to travel, it would surely have enough impact to kill the blue creature.

Camoflash had his own way to kill the final beast. The commander of the most explosive force in Equestria had one more trick up his sleeve, one more weapon that he hadn't used yet. He had only used it once before back when The Shadow Hooves made their first appearance in Cheval City. He looked at his troops and gave a single order. He shouted dramatically towards the sky,

"BRING ME 115!!!" (Elena Seigman reference)

The basic infantry were confused as they tried to puzzle together what their general meant. 115 is the codename for an experimental W.M.D that was simply too powerful and expensive mass produce. The mercenary weapons developers gave it too him years ago. Minutes later one of his troops brought Camoflash the very weapon that he wanted. It was a saddle mounted weapon. On both sides there were two massive cannons loaded with an unstable compound known only as Element 115 (C.O.D zombies reference). The weapon had so much recoil that it could only be used when the user was already backed into a wall, other wise he would be crushed against whatever was behind him. Before he took the shot he noticed a yellow sonic boom in the sky. He only wondered what Nova was up to when he fired the unstable weapon directly at the last Infernite standing.

(Minutes before Camoflash fired "115") Recon Groove had his own idea to destroy the blue Infernite. The heavy assault vehicle that he was driving had enough power to kill the beast eventually, but time wasn't something that they had, they only had a few minutes until it unleashed that pillar of flames on the entire army, Recon wasn't going to let this happen. He plotted a risky maneuver that would surely destroy it. Though he wasn't a master at magic, he was a unicorn and he knew a single spell that would ensure its success. He started driving as fast as he could toward the lone monster. Recon didn't apply any brakes. He wanted his vehicle to collide with the creature. His assault carriage was packed with 500 tons of missiles, and the intense heat of the Blue Infernite was well beyond what was needed to detonate them. With seconds until impact Recon stood on top of his vehicle, and prepared his magic. He saw Nova's sonic boom above. He then turned around and saw a blinding flash coming from Camoflash's position.

Individually, any of the three ponies' plans would have completely obliterated the final threat, but the three didn't have time to coordinate a plan and took matters into their own hooves, The three projectiles all hit the blue Infernite at the exact same time. Recon Groove cast his spell, and folded his purple body armor into metallic wings. He glided away from the battle field riding on the shockwave from the ground-shattering explosion. He barely escaped the Equestrian M.O.A.B. but had little injury but a few burns.

Nova flew back down to the remains of Gallop Town and witnessed that the Infernite's pillar of fire had collapsed and vanished. The battle was won!!. She flew over to Camoflash and Recon Groove, who had just glided in from the battlefield. The three were all speechless but they all knew that the fight was finally over.

The three prepared their troops to go back to Cheval City when they marveled in front of a new discovery. They were standing in front of a house that was actually standing. It was almost untouched by the chaos that surrounded it. Camoflash sent five of his stealthiest Black Ops into the building to investing this strange finding. Moments later they all came back unharmed, but there were more than five ponies exiting the building. One of Camoflash's troops was holding a struggling filly. and the other four escorted a Mare and Stallion. they were ordinary ponies who were lucky to have survived the five days of terror that they faced since Gallop Town was first destroyed. The filly seemed to be deranged as her struggling was actually an attempt to fight the ponies who saved her. The young foal probably thought that she was being abducted rather than saved. The others seemed to be the filly's parents. The mare was a unicorn and the stallion was an earth pony. The parents seemed know what was going on, yet they had an aggressive look in their eyes, almost like they didn't trust us. Camoflash walked over and addressed the survivors in a kind reassuring voice.

"My name is Camoflash, and these are my friends, Nova and Recon. We were sent here by the princess to eliminate the threat that has been patrolling this city. Our forces have already cleared this area and the entire town. We'll escort you to Cheval City where it's safe." The two ponies were still unsure of whether to trust him, but Camoflash holstered his weapons and extended a hoof. The stallion shook hooves with Camoflash while his wife burst into tears. Nova comforted her as they began their return home. The three generals knew that this war was far from over.