The War That Killed us All

by ShadowBrony21

Prologue- The Charge of the 52nd Light Calvary

Rainbow Dash deeply breathed in and out. I'm not a coward, I'm not a coward, She said to herself. Corporal Rainbow Dash along with the rest of her unit were preparing to go over to take the enemies' position. The unit was that of the 52nd Light Calvary, a unit which prides itself on the ferocity of it's pegasi fighters. However, ever since to start of the great war, it was quickly figured out that with the easy-to-aim crossbow, air confrontation was useless and all flying units were to be stationed on the ground to reduce casualties.

She gripped onto her crossbow peering over her shoulder to see her section loading their weapons and gripping their spears tightly, muttering prayers to non-existent gods.

"Celestia won't save us this time,"she thought to herself.

They were crouching in a line in a small trench behind a broken concrete wall, of what was once the grand wall between Canterlot and the Everfree Forest, with a wide opening closest to Rainbow Dash. She had her orders to lead her platoon, with her section going first, and charge the fort just on the edge of the forest.

She peered around the corner, peeking at the fort that laid ahead and studied to terrain. The fort was a small and temporary military base stationed on top of a small hill at the edge of the forest, made up of a heap of tents and a thin, but tall barrier wall made of logs hammered into the ground. A large opening was present on the side facing towards them, barricaded with all sorts of junk ranging from tables, chairs and broken ladders. The distance between them was about 75 metres (82 yards) with relatively flat ground.

We should be safe if we can get to the wall quick enough before rushing the defenders, she thought. Psyching her self up, readying to lead to charge.

It was important that she made headway on the fort as an attack can be easily mounted for Canterlot from the position, and reinforcements haven't arrived at the fort yet, giving them the best opportunity to attack them when their weak.

"Corporal," a voice muttered behind her. She turned her head and saw her Lance Corporal, Thunderlane. He pointed over to the approaching Sergeant Featherwing, who was slowly making his way down to her, patting a few backs and giving some words of encouragement to a few of the soldiers.

"Corporal Dash," He spoked as he arrived at the front.

"Yes, Sergeant?" She replied.

"Change of plans: I'll be leading the charge. Lance Corporal Thunderlane, you'll stick with me as we advance."

"Sergeant," Thunderlane acknowledged whilst adjusting his leather chest plate.

"Corporal," he continued. "You'll be sticking behind us leading the your section forward, the rest of the unit will follow behind."

"Sergeant," she acknowledged.

"Good, I'll just give to briefing to the soldiers, and we'll go over." He drew his sable and took out his whistle.

"Alright ponies!" He boomed, "We'll go over very soon. But first, I'll give the mission briefing one last time." He cleared his throat, "Follow your Corporal out through the opening. Your first objective is to get behind to walls of the fort and take cover. From then on, you will charge through the opening and onto enemy fortifications. Remember to rush quickly and together as one. Do Not hesistate or the attack would be halted, giving the enemy time to reposition. News has come in that the enemy has a few hand guns in their arsenal, so don't be afraid of the gunshots ringing out." Featherwing put his whistle in his mouth, "Our job is to capture their frontal defenses so that the rest of the unit will secure to fort." He turned back and made his way to Thunderlane, who was readying is charge.

"And as always, stick to the ground! Air support will be provided by the Wonderbolt 2nd platoon. Unicornian spell casters will be provide cover and artillery!" He sealed his lips around the whistle.

"Three section! With me!" Rainbow Dash shouted, then Featherwing blew the whistle and ran forwards, followed by Thunderlane.

The defenders were caught by surprise but news spread around the fort of the incoming attack quickly. The alarm bells were blaring from the fort, soldiers patrolling the fort ran to their posts. But then, huge blasts of magic teared through the fort, ripping down the tents and disintegrating off unexpecting defenders.

The charge was under way as Rainbow led their troops forward towards the walls of the fort. The spell casters firing shots into the opening, tossing about the defenders. Unfortunately, the defence of the fort was kicking into gear; crossbow bolts, magic bolts and arrows started to rain on the attackers, causing a few casualties. However, as they came closer, the firing was getting intense as more defenders came to fight, eventually cutting down the attackers.

"Quickly! Get to the walls!," Rainbow yelled, advancing towards the fort. The casualties were mounting, the screaming became louder, and the green fields slowly became red with blood. A shot of a magic bolt blew up the ground in front of Featherwing, causing him to stumble before being caught by Thunderlane.

"Don't worry about me kid! Stick with Corporal and get to the wall!" he ordered, shoving him forwards before following him.

As Rainbow led her troops closer to the fort, magic powered turrets were loaded and opened fire on the advancing pegasi, rapidly firing wooden bolts, impaling the attackers one by one. She couldn't believed what was happening, the fort was supposedly an easy target, but as more and more defenders came to the fight, the fight was turning into a massacre. She ran forwards, three arrows hit the ground around her, one nearly getting her extended wing. She noticed that her wing was extended in shock and tried to pull it back to her side as an explosion blew up on her right, covering her with dirt and the guts of an unfortunate pony just next to her. Bolts impaled the chest and necks of the attackers and rocks were being rolled down the hill, crushing anything that came in their way. A few attackers tried to shoot their crossbows at the enemy, doing little use before being picked off.

She stumbled and fell before picking herself back up and forcing her legs to push up the hill. Rainbow was so tempted to use her wings but she would be shot instantly by the opponent.

Gunshots rang out from the fort, ripping apart bodies as they approached the wall. Finally they made it, specifically what was left of the attackers did. Screams were everything. Explosions and bloodshed litter the battlefield. They were up against the wall of the fort, only having a third of the original force left. The artillery bombarded the fort as the attackers regrouped.

"Alright you all!" Featherwing bellowed."Behind this opening is a fortified position! We are to charge in there and rush the defenders!" The attackers nodded, still shivering in fear from the horrible experience.

"Truth be told!" Fetherwing continued, as a massive blast occurred within the fort, causing some defenders to scream in pain for having their limbs ripped off. "The reason why I decided to lead the charge, is because I cannot stand you being cut down in this suicide mission without your trusty sergeant! You see, this was a suicide mission from the get-go, but we're forced to do it anyway or risk execution!" He sighed and dropped his saber. "I don't know about you, but I'll rather be blown to bits by the enemy than by our own guns." He picked up a spear off the ground. "I wish you all good luck, and to see you all in paradise. I thank you all for letting me being your sergeant." He turned to the opening and readied to charge. The artillery bombardment had stopped, and new defenders quickly replaced the casualties with freshly loaded weapons.

"Stay safe my little Featherweight." He muttered.

He blew his whistle and charged, throwing his spear at the defensive line, taking out one defender before being shot by an bolt in the neck and falling on the ground.

"Move! Move! Go! Go! Go!" Rainbow Dash screamed. The attackers were cut down as on after another fell, barely reaching the actually fortifications.

"Thunderlane! Get your butt out there!" Rainbow ordered, watching Thunderlane shivering, holding on to his spear like a colt with a blanket for comfort. He looked at Rainbow, tears in his eyes, stuck out a hoof onto her shoulder.

"It was nice serving with you Rainbow Dash."

He charged out of the cover of the wall and was instantly shot in the forehead, instantly dead with his eyes still open, staring up at the endless sky.

Rainbow was in horror, she then went to grips with herself and charged out, screaming a loud battle cry as she ran towards the fortifications. She kept running until she felt pain throughout her right body. Rainbow Dash looked over to see the injury; her wing was shot right through, the feathers had fallen off and parts of her bare muscle and bone were sticking out. She fell over, the blood lost and pain was too much to bear. She tried to get up and stay conscious as she saw her troops being shot down, only a few made it to the defenders but were quickly taken down by spears while climbing the makeshift wall. The shock of the situation hit her and then she fell unconscious.

Nopony was prepared for this war, and nothing could of prepared anyone.

Author's Note:

Yeah...
Quite Dark
Much Wow
Many Bloods
3 Many Gore 5 me

Comments

[SirEatsalot]

Great start! Keep it up!

[yeosakoi]

NEED MORE!!!!

[Maverick Cloud]

me likes!! will flash be a sniper too? maybe inspired in Craig Boone from Fallout New Vegas? just something that came out of my head, but he beeing a sniper with a semi-automatic crossbow is actualy my headcanon

[ShadowBrony21]

7507183 There will be snipers and semi-auto weapons, But that will come later.
The story is kind of a "progressing-through-history/Technology" type.

[Maverick Cloud]

7507471 okay then, i don't know if you ever played fallout but craig boone is a nice character to be inspired, just saying