The Red Sun Rises: Homefront

by The Atlantean

8. The Battle of Ponyville North

It was six in the morning. Celestia was halfway through swapping the sun and moon and the Ponyville defenses were already getting wrecked today. Cadence rushed to the command tent to see that Shining Armor was the only one in there. The other commanders, including Crimson, had gone out on the front lines. Shining caught his wife up on the morning’s events while the battle raged not two miles to the north.

Crimson lead the 2nd Pegasi Division, which was now dogfighting the Crystal Empire’s own Pegasi several hundred meters above the ground. Guns roared, crossbows twanged, and ponies on both sides fell to their death or died in the air. There was no room for mercy. As the anti-Pegasus cannons down on the Equestrian side of the trenches shredded the Crystal division, splattered blood rained down on top of their comrades charging the trenches.

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Below him, Major Dazzleflash charged his three-quarter-strength 4th Appleloosa Regiment into the frenzy that was the second line of trenches dug by the Equestrians. Two days earlier, the Crystal army had taken the outermost line by surprise and took it quickly. The Major was determined not to lose the second line.

As Dazzleflash and his group collided with the enemy, he fired his repeater dry and drew his sword, cutting his way into the trenches. Standing on two legs wasn’t a problem for him; it was holding and waving a weapon that gave him trouble. Luckily, whoever he was fighting had the same problem. Dazzleflash kicked the stallion in the gut and ran his sword through the retaliation. He pulled the sword out and went on to the next.

Many repeated assaults from the north ended in failure, and the line had held. Dazzleflash met up with Lieutenant Silver Comet to decide the next move.

“We need to punch a hole in them while they’re weak, Lieutenant.”

“Major, we can’t risk it. This whole operation is to keep them out of this line.”

“And what happens when they dig in more than they already have? We get a stalemate. If we can knock them out, I will. And need I pull rank on you?”

“No, sir. However, I strongly protest.”

“Lieutenant, I am leading my regiment in the charge. You are to hang back and hold the line in the event that I fail.”

They saluted each other and wished luck. Both were going to need it.

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On the eastern side of the battle, Captain Midnight Shadow cut down his opponents left and right. After several hours of nonstop fighting, the Crystal battalion retreated back to friendly lines and the captain’s weary regiment was given a reprieve. He sent a messenger to ask that a reserve pull up to his position. Wiping his bloodied short sword on what was left of the grass, he remembered those long hours. Even though he had been fighting for two hours, it seemed like two eternities.

The enemy was relentless, pushing as hard as possible and throwing everything they had at him. He could only hope that the other side was having more luck than him. The day had been harrowing and deadly. Midnight himself had nearly been run through on at least seventeen occasions. Seeing his second-in-command, he rushed as fast as he could. Lieutenant Solar Flare had an open wound in his gut.

“Flare! What happened?”

“Don’t worry, sir. It was an honor and-” His voice cut off as he coughed up blood. “I’ve had worse, sir.”

A field medic placed Solar Flare on a stretcher and carried him away. The bright orange Unicorn coughed more and weakly saluted his captain. If anything, the guy’s toughness was unparalleled in the entire army.

“Sir, they’re coming again!” cried a soldier propped up against the outer edge of the trench. He cocked his repeater and took aim.

Midnight did the same and watched the horde approach. If only this war was over, then he’d go home and never kill another soul as long as he lived. Hopefully it would end soon. He took aim and waited for the battle to continue.

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Dazzleflash’s bright yellow coat glimmered in the late-morning sun. He reloaded his repeater and checked the checked it for any damage. There wasn’t and he looked to his left at the dusty-ice-colored Silver Comet beside him and nodded. The lieutenant saluted and wished him luck, then ran off to ready his ponies for a spread-out defense.

“Alright boys! Two minutes!”

The ponies around him tensed. The impending assault hadn’t been sent to Crimson nor Shining Armor for approval, it was risky, and it was insane. But the hope that they would succeed kept the army going. They checked their repeaters and cleaned their swords. Every little help was better than none at all.

Time’s up. “CHAAARRRRGE!!”

The Equestrians rose from their trenches and ran at full gallop towards the enemy. The grassland blurred under the trampling of several hundred hooves and the sound was like a thundering train. As they came into range, they fired their guns in four simultaneous volleys and ran harder. They dropped the guns and drew their swords upon reaching the trenches and began slicing.

The mere surprise of the attack made for a slow Crystal response at first. Then they picked up and fought back as hard as the Equestrians. Forces poured in from the Crystal reserves and flanks as they tried to desperately hold back the advance. The smoke from the Equestrian volleys cleared, and both sides saw how intense it was getting. Only four Equestrian soldiers lie dead in the no-man’s land between the trenches, but ponies on both sides were stacking up in the Crystal-taken trenches.

Above the mess, Crimson saw the charge and swooped in to assist. Fifteen Pegasi followed him in, and they provided some air support. Soon, the 3rd Pegasi Division flew in from the reserves to take out more than could replace the Crystal line. But the colonel could see that more ground troops were needed to break the line, and flew to Silver Comet.

“Lieutenant, I need you to follow up on Dazzleflash’s charge. Without more ground forces, he either dies or retreats. Go NOW!” he yelled over the noise.

Silver Comet rushed over the earthworks with his regiment, the 5th Manehattan, and charged the Crystal lines. The hundreds of ponies yelled their battle cries and fired into the enemy with their repeaters. Dropping the guns, they drew their swords and collided with the Crystal Empire in melee combat.Soon, the two regiments were side by side, working hard to keep from being surrounded.

“Who the hell told you to come?” Dazzleflash yelled.

“The colonel did, that’s who!” came the reply. Silver Comet swung his short sword in a wide arc and lodged it in the neck of the Crystal pony right next to him. He yanked the sword free and warm, fresh blood gushed out of the dead soldier. The stallion fell and never moved again.

The charge was soon supported by a third wave, the 2nd Ponyville. This regiment of locals really wanted the Crystal Empire off their land, and would fight to the death to defend home. They slammed into the trenches with more ferocity than both commanders could have ever hoped to muster and hacked away at the defending attackers. After about five hours of intense in-trench warfare, the Equestrian army had retaken control of this section of their outermost trenches.

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Captain Midnight Shadow watched the horde of Crystal ponies running at full gallop towards him. He was staring down the sights of his repeater, propped up against the earthworks. All along the trench, everypony else did the same. “Steady…”

The Crystal army was well in range, but Midnight wanted to hit them at point blank. Their heads filled his sights. He waited one more second…

“Fire!”

Several hundred bullets flew into the enemy. Puffs of red appeared here and there and a sizable number of Crystal ponies faceplanted, pools of blood forming around them. A second volley was fired, and a third, and a fourth, all with similar results. As the Equestrians reloaded, the remainder of the Crystal charge staggered back, decimated and utterly destroyed.

Midnight took the chance to assault the enemy trenches. He sounded the charge and ran as soon as most ponies had reloaded. They chased down the Crystal army, which completely went to disarray from the unexpected pursuit. The trenches were easily taken. Now the problem was holding them.

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Princess Cadence watched the battle unfold from the hilltop where the Equestrian command tent was. Hundreds of ponies were killed and hundreds if not thousands more were injured, on both sides. The trenches held, but just barely. Pegasi swooped to the ground and dive-bombed their enemies, traded shots and kills in the sky, and flew in dizzying patterns to shake off tailing Pegasi. The steam tank platoon sat in the rear, waiting for orders to go into battle.

She jumped when a stray shot hit the ground directly between her feet. That was too close. Shining Armor heard the noise a burst out of the tent, sword drawn.

“Don’t worry, Shining. Just a stray shot.”

“That means you’re too close to the fight. You need to go into town.”

As if to prove his point, a Pegasus landed and charged Cadence. She dodged the initial attack and blasted him with a random spell in both surprise and self-defense. It happened to be a transformation spell, and the Pegasus turned into a turtle. She blinked a couple times to make sure she wasn’t just seeing things. Then the princess took flight and headed to town.

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The commander of the steam tank platoon waited for orders. And waited. And waited. It seemed like he would never get the signal to go into battle. After the entire morning having gone by, the tension was wearing down on him.

Finally the moment arrived. Colonel Dawn had sent for reinforcements. In the form of tanks. The pudgy commander eagerly stepped on the gas. If he was needed on the front lines, it must be getting bad indeed.

The other eight tanks, all new except for the ones on his immediate right and left, hurried to follow. The three wings of three tanks each formed a spaced-out wedge with the commander’s tank slightly to the right of the formation. They rumbled over the Equestrian trenches and across the countryside. Each tank crew fired a round, and the sparse trees around the Crystal army, or rather, what was left of those trees, were knocked down and bored into by the shells. The opposing army scattered in unorganized retreat.

With the entire Crystal Empire on the run, Ponyville was given reprieve. The siege had been lifted, the battle over. The cost of this victory, however, was almost more than Cadence could bear. Half the Equestrian army was in ruins, with regiments having lost their commanders and officers without a command. Out of the seventeen regiments with varying strength, only six were still ready to fight, most of them being the reserves. Six regiments were down to tenth-strength, three had been destroyed on that first day, and two were practically in the hospital.

Crimson knew the army would survive this engagement, and would push on to its dying breath if it had to. But for now, respect had to be given for those who lost their lives.

Author's Note:

If someone could tell me how well this chapter went, that would be wonderful.