War Pony

by CreeperZone

Hushed Whistle

“Wake up.” The gentle voice of a mare spoke to Hopeful, nudging his shoulder as he slept on the sun-dried dirt underneath a blazing sun. “Hopeful, wake up. We need to talk.”

Hopeful flickered his eyes. They opened wide as he jumped up to hug Wicker. Tears poured, rolling down his face.

He was surprised when Wicker slowly shoved him away from her. He fell down onto his back and looked around at the train crash. There were no corpses. The fire had been extinguished from the engine and snow had grown to nearly a meter in height. The sky was a gloomy gray, savory light snuck through small separations in the clouds.

Wicker stared into Hopeful, her eyes bloodshot and frosty. She dropped her head down. “You made a mistake...”

“What? Wicker, whats going on? I thought you were dead!” Hopeful scrambled up out of the snow and to Wicker.

A tear dropped down from Wickers face, fell until it hit the snow and made an indent. She eased her head to her side, showing a jagged scar that ran down her neck.

“No, n-no no no. Th-theres no, this can't, y-you can't... but, you're breathing! You're talking!” Hopeful struggled to comprehend what was happening. He panicked, looking over his shoulder as he saw shadows fly by.

“Why did you do it, Hopeful? Why?” Wicker moved over to him and placed a hoof on his cheek to comfort him. “You knew it was going to hurt...” Hopeful felt a sharp sting as Wicker softly stroked her hoof down a scar on his shoulder.

“Wicker, what are you talking about? Why are you acting like this?!?” Hopeful wrapped his hoof around the one she put on his shoulder and held onto her.

More tears began to swell up in Wickers eyes. She stuttered and sniffled while she spoke. “You... you jus-just had t-t-to... let-t me fall in love, di-did-didn't you?” She looked into his eyes, staring at his soul with crossed eyebrows. Her voice became more sinister as she continued, “And, you... you just had to love me back...”

Hopeful felt his heart sink when Wicker pulled away her hoof, her voice became softer, a subtle amount of anger showed in her tone. “Love is to fragile of a thing Hopeful. Too fragile for such a harsh time...”

Hopeful felt his own tears form as Wicker turned around and started walking away from him. She stopped to look out into the distance before turning her head to Hopeful. “You should have learned that after what happened to Joyful...”

A hushed whistle enveloped the atmosphere. Hopeful, in a panic, stumbled, trying to run to Wicker, landing his face in the snow. He rolled onto his back, trying to search the sky for a Screecher Pegasus, but was bewildered when he found the clouds had gone once more. He made it up to on his hooves, jolting his head around in terror as he found himself on his farm, the wind gently flowing through the wheat field, creating the soft whistle.

Wicker glanced around, unnerved by their surroundings. She spun around to Hopeful and shouted, “Why are we here, Hopeful? WHY ARE WE HERE, AGAIN!?” She stomped down to him. He, stunned, fell backward, slamming his shoulders into the ground in excruciating pain.

Wicker stared him down, all kindness was gone from her expression, only leaving behind disappointment. “I said her name, Hopeful. Then you brought us here.” She moved her face closer to his. “I thought you were over her, Hopeful. Weren't you? TELL ME, HOPEFUL, WHY CAN'T YOU JUST GET OVER HER?” Wicker ground her teeth, frustrated and in tears.

Hopeful's jaw dropped when he caught a glimpse of what was behind Wicker. He turned his head to see Joyful and his daughter, Sugar Coat, being harassed by a Pegasus soldier. Hopeful tried to pull himself up and run to them, but was pinned down by Wicker, who pushed down on both his shoulders. He screamed out in agony.

Wicker whispered to him, “Last night, Hopeful. When we were together, you didn't dream about her, I thought you were finally over her...” Wickers tears fell onto Hopeful and she began whimpering as her composure broke down. “You should... you should have just listened to that Pegasus, Hopeful. She told you, and you should have listened. She told you it wasn't personal...”

Hopeful tried to push Wicker off of him. She slammed him back down, bashing his head into the earth, dazing him. He shook his head and stared up at the golden-maned, yellow Pegasus holding him down. The Pegasus pleaded with him in Wicker’s voice “IT WASN'T THEIR FAULT HOPEFUL! YOUR WIFE STRUGGLED! SHE TRIED TO FIGHT BACK, HOPEFUL! THE SOLDIER WAS JUST DEFENDING HIMSELF! YOU SAW IT! STOP LYING TO YOURSELF! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO MAKE IT PERSONAL!?”

He pulled in his hind legs and then launched them up, kicking the Pegasus in the stomach. She was thrown off and Hopeful ran to Joyful.

As he galloped to Joyful, she jumped up at the Pegasus, trying to grab his pistol with her mouth. They were caught wrestling until the Pegasus bit down on her mane and shoved her down to the ground.

Frightened and flustered, he pulled out his pistol with his left wing and covered his eyes with his right as he went to shoot. Hopeful’s daughter sprinted to her mother, putting herself in front of the gun in an attempt to save her. Hopeful screamed, “NOOOO!” He collapsed as two gunshots echoed through his head, causing his ears to feel like they were bleeding with a horrible migraine. He skidded across the ground with his hoof reaching out to his family.

Hopeful sobbed, lying on the dirt as the soil grew soggy with his tears.

He flickered an eye open to see Wicker sitting by his side, looking out into the deep, black fog that surrounded them.

Hopeful tried to pull himself together. “S-she... She was too young...”

“I know, Hopeful, I know...” Wicker patted him on his back trying to comfort him.

“F-fff-first Joyful, an-and Sugar-r... and, and now you?” He gazed up at Wicker, her kind, soft eyes ruined with blood, her pupils gray and cold. Her scar was fresh, exposed and bleeding.

“Hopeful?” she spoke gently.

“Y-yes?”

“Stay with me.” She dropped her head down.

“H-h-how?” He propped himself up on his uninjured leg.

She faced him and smiled. “Don't die.” She leaned toward him with closed eyes, going in for a kiss.

Hopeful shut his damp, weeping eyes, leaned in compassionately and felt the tender touch of Wicker’s lips. When they kissed, he was filled with a breath of new life.

He felt a weight on his eyelids. It became unbearably difficult to lift them back up. He felt hazy and noticed a pressure against his shredded shoulder. Wicker drew back her muzzle. He felt two thrusting hooves press down on his chest several times.

The slimy earth rustled against Hopefuls clothes. He heard Spring’s voice come from above him. “DON'T DIE ON ME, HOPEFUL!”

Spring leaned back down to Hopeful's mouth and breathed into his lungs, trying to keep him alive.

“COME ON HOPEFUL, STAY WITH ME!” He kept pushing onto Hopeful's chest, keeping his heart pumping, forcing the blood to circulate through Hopeful’s veins.

Hopeful powered through, peeling open one eye. He watched as Spring frantically tried to save his life.

Spring had a huge, open mouthed smile when he saw Hopeful blink at him. He chuckled in delight. “Well, shit, YOU'RE ALIVE!”

Hopeful, on the other hoof, felt horrendous. His wound had been stitched and bandaged very rapidly, a jagged, pointy slag of metal drenched in blood had been tossed to his side after it was pulled out of him. The shape of Wicker was indented in the snow was near Hopeful, with a long, bloody trail where they had dragged her body to the flank of the train.

Hopeful coughed, spitting blood out onto the ground. “Spring... I, I admire your persistence... but you should have left me...”

Spring wrapped a hoof around Hopeful and pulled him up. “Come on. That's the blood loss talking...” As Spring tried to hoist him up and around his shoulder, he noticed Hopeful staring at where Wicker was.

He tried to carry Hopeful away from the scene. Realizing he was too heavy for him, Spring set him down. “Hopeful, look at me.”

Hopeful, with a distant and dazed stare tried to focus on Spring but kept leaning his head to where Wicker died.

“I swear to the heavens, Hopeful, I know that this is devastating, but you can't just think about yourself now! I didn't spend the last half an hour trying to stop you from bleeding out and perform CPR to walk over there just to tell everypony that you don't have the will to go on!” He took a lengthy sigh. “They need you, Hopeful... I need you.”

Hopeful shook his head in pain as two of his soldiers walked up, Fury and Quick.

Quick turned to the rest of them and shouted, “HE'S ALIVE! HE MADE IT!”

Fury went to his side, looked up at Spring “Can he move?”

“Not on his own, no.”

“Well then, let's get him out of here.” Fury picked Hopeful up and carried him with ease. “Spring, make sure none of the others need any more medical attention. Quick, get the headcount of who's left. We need to get moving as fast as we can to Glascow.”

Hopeful, weak and helpless, was carried by Fury away from the incident. The winds were calm and the sun shining enough for some heat to get past the clouds and onto them. Hopeful was brought to a small hillside where he was laid down in front of his soldiers.

Some of them were scanning the skies with their rifles ready, watching for pegasi attacks. The others were mourning the dead, saying their last goodbyes to fallen soldiers that faced death too early.

When Hopeful was brought, most of them gathered around him. Looking around, he could see most of them bruised and scratched. Only a few with debilitating injuries covered in bandages.

After a headcount, it was clear from the twenty soldiers he originally had, only fourteen survived.

Once Spring completed his check-ups on everypony with the more brutal injuries, Fury rallied them up around him.

Fury spoke out gallantly and firmly. “Everypony, listen up! After fixing the radio connection, we have gotten word that the Pegasi retreated from Maneich. This was very unexpected, as the Pegasi are notoriously bad at knowing when to surrender. So, as far as we know, the Unicorns managed to actually scare them off, somehow. When the Pegasi retreated, they apparently kept going west and bombed everything they could on the way, which is why we got hit. We don't know how Trottingham and Coltchester are doing, but we can safely assume they're as fucked as us. Right now, our objective is to get to Glascow before night sets in and temperatures drop. We begin moving immediately. ARE WE CLEAR?”

The soldiers peered at each other, uneasy in their stomachs, but a “SIR, YES SIR!” was eventually professed.

“Excellent.” Fury stared down at Hopeful, who seemed somewhat lost in his own thoughts. “Hopeful will be carried by me and Quick. The rest of you get everything in order quickly before we move out.”

Fury crouched down at Hopeful's side and inspected his condition to move.

Hopeful smirked. “You know, Fire Halo was wrong. You really should have been captain...”

Fury replied in an almost ominous tone “You don't think I knew that, Sir?”

Quick brought a makeshift stretcher that looked more like a hammock from the supplies and Fury helped hoist Hopeful onto it. Fury and Quick picked up each end and lifted it onto their backs.

The troops gathered around Fury and he commanded the beginning of their march.

Hopeful eased in and out of consciousness very irregularly as they went on, ponies forcing themselves to travel through tall, thick snow, fresh from the morning snowfall, wind blowing lightly.

Not a single Pegasi was spotted as they walked.

---

Glascow was a town built on as a trading post between the rock farms of the Northern Stone Plains, its masonry constructed homes were a pleasant sight for merchant caravans bringing jewels of many kinds to barter with. The town was renowned for Unicorn visits. Royal Unicorn workers came regularly to satisfy their unquenchable need for shiny, colourful rocks.

Now though, Glascow had been starved. Its only provision of income had been harshly ripped away from the village, causing starvation and deterioration of the stone buildings with lack of maintenance. Once the war begun, the town had to be supplied food by the government to stay afloat. However, bombing of railroads and the ever-advancing threat of the Pegasi and Unicorn armies had impeded supply runs, leaving the town on its last legs.

The soldiers, hobbling to the town after an exuberantly exhausting half-a-day march, felt the joy of an old merchant caravan seeing the stone peaks of the houses.

Fury quit his marching to observe the crippled town. Hopeful’s soldiers swiftly jogged up to his side to stand with him. They stared out in glee and turned to Fury, waiting for their orders.

He spoke out, “Quick, Glisten, stay with me. The rest of you go scout out the town and report back after 0100 hours in the center. Find places to set up mortars and machine nests. UNDERSTOOD?”

“SIR, YES SIR!” The more exhilarated ponies blitzed off into the town, smiles visible on their faces. While the rest like Sharp, relieved, tiredly walked into the town, eventually stepping hoof on the snow and ice covered cobblestone pathways, mazing around in between the small rock homes. Ponies from the town, one by one, exited their homes at the soldiers arrival, joyful to see their own forces back to defend them. The civilians quietly cheered for them, making the soldiers feel confident and at home.

Fury watched them, almost cracking a smile of his own. Glisten approached him. “Fury, what did you want me for?”

“I need you and Quick to find a place for Hopeful to stay until he gets back on his hooves.” Fury crouched down and shifted the two handlebars, lifting Hopeful’s stretcher off of his back. Glisten walked over and Fury lowered the bars onto her back.

Glisten looked worrisome when she glanced at Hopeful. “Are you sure he’s gonna make it Fury? He doesn't look his finest.”

Fury scoffed. “I'm not a doctor, but I don't see a negative side. If he lives, woopty fucking do, good for him. If he dies, then I become captain officially and can actually lead what's left of this troop.”

Glisten and Quick were taken back, Glisten was especially appalled with Fury, “He is right here Fury, at least have the decency not to speak like that to his face.”

“He can't hear shit. He’s out cold.” Fury turned his back to them. “If you don't mind, I'm gonna go check up on my soldiers’ progress.” He trotted off.

Hopeful flickered an eye open, rolled onto his other side and saw the town. With a low defeated tone he asked, “Is this it?”

Quick replied. “Yes, Hopeful, we're here. You still with us, buddy?”

Hopeful rolled back to the other side and tried to curl up to sleep. “Sadly, yes.”

Glisten nodded to Quick and they began walking, she kept checking on Hopeful as they went along, highly concerned about him. “Hopeful, we're gonna find a place for you to rest. Don't worry.”

Hopeful barely responded, “Uh huh...”

They traveled through the town, looking for a hospital or an inn. They stopped at the center of the town, a forum with a stone, frozen fountain. They spotted a building larger than the rest, looking like a town hall and trotted up to it. They walked inside through the huge, oak double doors, peeking around in an empty, echoing reception hall. The walls were built with huge, stone chunks and lined with oak support beams, a patch of fresh wood cut into the wall and filled in a hole that was probably created from a small explosion. There were basic wooden chairs and tables at the sides, with straw pillows on the seats. A burning fireplace on the left side of the building gave a warm, cosy feeling.

Quick shouted out, “Anypony here?”

Shuffling of hooves could be heard from the room behind the main desk. An elderly mare opened the door and strolled over and around the desk to greet them. “Why, hello, there! You don't know how glad I am to see reinforcements arrive. Especially after those Pegasi bombed us last night.”

She reached out her wobbling hoof to Quick to shake. He did and quickly moved on to their agenda “Ma’am, do you have any spare rooms? Our captain he was injured in a train crash.” He gestured toward Hopeful, lying between him and Glisten.

The old mare fixed her spectacles and inspected Hopeful. After seeing his bandaged shoulder, she nodded. “Why, we do have guest rooms in the back. I'll go get the keys.” She slowly shambled around the desk and searched under it. She eventually brought her head up, holding a key in her mouth, and walked to the right side of the building to a short hallway.

Glisten and Quick followed her down the hallway, having to walk sideways because Hopeful made them too wide to fit. They were brought to a room at the very end and the mare opened the dusty, creaking oak door. “Here she is. You can lay him down over there.” She pointed at a bed frame stuffed with dry hay for a mattress. The old mare walked out of the room and let them pass. “If you need anything, just call.”

They walked in sideways and went to the bed. They slowly tilted up and Hopeful slid down onto the hay.

This woke him startled, “WICKER, WAIT NO, WICKER!” He sat up, breathing heavily and beginning to sweat.

Glisten quickly took off the stretcher and turned to Hopeful “Hopeful, stay calm, everything is ok!” She placed a hoof on his shoulder.

Hopeful slowed down his breathing and fell back down onto the bed.

Glisten turned to Quick. “I'll go get Spring for a check up. Stay here and make sure he is ok.”

Quick nodded a yes and Glisten galloped out. He then walked to Hopefuls bedside. “Hopeful, you're gonna get through this.”

Hopeful looked up at the ceiling. His eyes watered up and tears blurred his vision as they poured down the sides of his face. “It doesn't feel that way...”

“Captain, I know how you're feeling, sir. I lost my younger brother to a Pegasus attack. That's why I joined the army. I'm here to kill as many of those winged, murdering bastards as I can to make sure they never hurt anypony else.”

Hopeful leaned his head to stare at him “Your point?”

“My point is that we need you to fight. Fury thinks he's a great leader, but as somepony who spent the last two weeks with him, I can tell he will not do half as well as you. He keeps talking behind your back and saying you're weak, but I believe in you, and so do most of the others. Think about it, Hopeful, the Pegasi killed Wicker and all you can do now is avenge her. It's what she would have wanted.”

Hopeful crossed his eyebrows. “You know, you're fucking right.” He strained himself as he sat up and spun his legs out to hop off the bed. He pushed himself off, stumbled forward, and fell onto the floor when he put pressure on his bad leg.

Quick reached down and lifted him up, wrapping Hopeful’s injured leg around him, and walked with a proud smile. Walking with him to the door, it opened with Spring Step running in. “Hopeful! you're... you're walking? You should be resting! Quick, go put him down.”

Hopeful pulled his hoof off of Quick and stepped on it, he nearly collapsed on his shaking hooves. “Spring, as you can see, I'm perfectly fine.” Hopeful coughed vigorously several times, “And if you don't mind, I have a regiment to command.” Wobbling, he fell as he tried to walk. He reached for Quick, who put Hopeful’s hoof around himself again, and they both walked out together.

---

On the outer ring of homes in the town, a vacant building stood on the very outskirts of the village, empty due to a very unlucky bombing, leaving it irreparable with a collapsed ceiling and half-standing walls. Standing around it were several soldiers, including Fury, who was talking with them. “This will do just fine. If we can clear some of the rubble and lay some camouflage over it, this will do nicely as a machine gun nest.”

The soldiers nodded in approval but became unsettled when he shouted at them again. “WELL, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?”

They unerringly moved to begin work. Fury, pleased with himself, turned to look back at the town, and after a few minutes of gazing, he looked to see a huge surprise.

He took a step back. “What in the world?”

A limping Hopeful, being carried by Quick with Spring and Glisten at his side, shouted out, “THAT'S ‘WHAT THE WORLD, SIR’ TO YOU!”

He slowly made his way to Fury, and said, directly into his face, “And if you don't mind, I'll be taking command. You're dismissed, Private.”

Fury growled at him, Hopeful growled back and grinned. Fury shook his head and stomped away, going back into town.

Basalt and Sharp stopped working and ran over to Hopeful. “Hopeful, Sir, you're walking!” Basalt said joyfully.

“Yeah, yes I am. Now, Sharp, how are the mortars coming along?”

“We have two set up here, Sir. There are two at the other nest and one near the center of town.”

“Good work! Now, is this where we're gonna burrow the guns into?”

“Yes, Sir!” Basalt replied saluting.

“Good, good. After you are done I need to round everypony up and give out scouting and gunning shifts.” Hopeful looked out past the building and onto the landscape.

“Sir, Fury told everypony to meet in the town center in about thirty minutes.” Glisten walked up and told him.

“At least he was useful for something.” He stared at all of the soldiers, his friends, that surrounded him.

“All of you, get to work. We're not letting another pegasus fly above our heads without leaving a bullet in theirs.”

“Sir! Yes, Sir!” They all went to help build in the rubble of the house. Hopeful looked at Quick Draw. “You can set me down, Quick. Go help 'em; they need you.”

“Yes, Sir.” Quick gently set down Hopeful beside the wall of the building on some tarp before jumping into the rubble.

Hopeful gazed up into the clouds. He felt tears forming and anger rising as he watched the winds blow the chunks of black, frozen puffs of storming water across the sky. He clenched his hooves and furrowed his eyebrows.

He silently whispered to himself, “Don't you worry, Wicker. I won't stop until I've killed every single one of them... For what they did to you.”

He looked down into the dirt, feeling his heart being crushed and pounded once more with the agonizing memory resurfacing. Tears flowed ever so slightly quicker and bountifully. He rested his head onto his hooves and closed his eyes. Trying to keep his mind away from it, he began humming a lullaby that he used to sing to his daughter when she was scared and alone.

The humming helped, but it wasn't as distracting as he wished. So instead of humming, he tried to go another step up.

In a hushed tone he began to whistle to himself.