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Preparation for Battle2,002 words
60 to One, Facing the Gun2,000 words
Into the Fire2,004 words
Play the Pipes and Cry Out Loud!2,030 words
Show them no Mercy2,000 words
You're in the Sniper's Sights1,507 words
Through the Fire and Flames1,508 words
Our Final Stand1,003 words

Show them no Mercy

The attack had come so suddenly that Meadowbrook hadn't had time to react.

Whilst she had been positioned well behind the front lines of the offensive, the full expectation was that she would do her bit in aiding the war effort. She was not a warrior in any sense of the word- her attire was not at all suitable for that sort of thing- but her battlefield was the medical field, keeping soldiers in fighting condition and readying them to return to the front lines. She and a group of medical orderlies had been keeping work in the many buildings that made up Pike Road, keeping people in good shape. Whilst most of her potions were effective in treating battlefield injuries, they seemed to be slower working on humans (probably as humans were much bigger than ponies). As a result, they needed for time in the medical building before they could be returned to frontline combat. To facilitate this, the Hayseed Swamp Native Guard had formed a defensive perimeter around Pike Road, to assist in holding off the enemy.

Which made what had happened next even more shocking. Meadowbrook had been administering medical supplies when the sound of gunfire sound from the edge of the compound.

"FIRST RANK, FIRE!"

A volley of brutal bullets ripped forth from muskets as something charged their lines.

"SECOND RANK, FIRE! FIRST RANK, RELOAD!"

The repeated orders to fire indicated something wrong. Meadowbrook indicated to an orderly to continue her work, and she stepped outside, looking over to the scene of the commotion. "What the blazes is goin' on here?" she asked.

"The enemy is attacking!" shouted a doctor. "They must have circumvented the lines!"

Meadowbrook was concerned at how the enemy had somehow managed to get round their position, given they weren't even supposed to be there, but her immediate concern was the safety of her patients. "Any patient who can walk and carry a weapon, get inta position and defend the buildin's!" she shouted, grabbing her own musket in the process. She kept this weapon as a backup, and wanted to ensure she could protect herself.

Those who could walk and carry a weapon got into position, a force of bandaged and partially wounded men ready for battle. As they looked into the distance, the infantry were beginning to break.

"RETREAT TO THE SECOND LINE!"

Infantry began to fall back, moving to a secondary line of sandbags, their weapons being reloaded as they ran.

"NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER!"

Another wave of shots rang home as troops of Order 722, assisted by a horde of dragons, swept over the battlements and began to set buildings alight.

"Retreat!" one Guardpony shouted.

Their commander, however, had other ideas. "YOU WILL STAND AND FIGHT, OR YOU WILL DIE BY MY PISTOL!" he bellowed. "NOT ONE STEP BACK!"

The other soldiers took note of this, and took position.

"Rather Communist, eh?" said one soldier.

"Truly it takes more courage ta retreat than ta advance," Meadowbrook said, and lined up her shot. She was, by no means, a soldier, but she had to do her part in holding the line. She braced the weapon against her shoulder, moved her hoof, and gently squeezed the trigger.

The shot flew from her weapon and took the head of a dragon clean off.

"Nice shot!" a soldier shouted. Those who could wield a weapon opened fire, as the bullets began to ring through the sky and hit the targets in the air.

"FOR THE RODINA!" shouted one soldier.

"Wrong war!" said another.

"In which case, for our homeland!"

Critically, the defenders were buying time. The ambulances had arrived whilst the men were fighting off the attackers, and they were slowly evacuating those who could not walk to the ambulances. The ambulances then drove off to established hospitals behind the line, which they hoped would be enough to protect them.

Alas, the enemy soon realised that this was the case, and their forces began to fall back. "We have won!" a soldier cheered, as he saw the area clear.

Meadowbrook, however, knew better. As she heard a series of explosions behind her, denoting that the battleships were once again providing support, she grimaced. "The enemy ain't retreatin'," she said. "They're regroupin'. We need ta be ready fer a second wave."

The guardsponies had all taken up defensive positions in the neighbouring buildings surrounding the camp, in the hope of better protection from enemy fire. But it would prove to be of little use, as these buildings were not meant for use as fortresses, and the enemy had no sense of honour.

The next wave soon deployed, consisting mostly of bombers. Each aircraft flew overhead, dropping a multitude of bombs, specifically targeting the buildings yet to be evacuated. The bombs were not only high explosive, however. They were also incendiary ordnance, and these set buildings on fire as they exploded. Men ran out of the buildings, screaming, running from the flames that consumed the structures, only to be gunned down by helicopters that flew in, firing rockets at the survivors. The Native Guard did their best to hold the enemy back, but it proved to be too much.

Meadowbrook looked up, and saw the building she was in was about to collapse. She tried to shout a warning, but it was too late as the flaming structure collapsed on top of them.

Rockhoof and his followers, soon reached the remains of Pike Road. Ponies were horrifically injured, and soldiers with varying levels of wounds were on alert, trying to fight despite their injuries. Rockhoof helped to search through the wreckage, and when he pulled one beam back, his eyes widened in horror.

Lying beneath the beam, with broken limbs and several severe cuts, was his beloved Meadowbrook. He pulled her out, trying his hardest to not make her injuries worse. "MEDIC! Meadowbrook, what happened here?"

Meadowbrook was barely able to speak from her injuries, but gasped one word. "Drag- on." Then her eyes closed and she went limp.

Rockhoof looked in horror. Meadowbrook, his constant companion and fellow in this struggle, the one with whom he wanted to settle down, was dead. He howled in anguish as Lord Torch suddenly touched down, roaring triumphantly.

"Time to finish what I started," he said.

Rockhoof grabbed his shovel, and stepped forward. "You took Meadowbrook from me," he said. "Now I shall take your life from you."

Torch laughed, his voice piercing the heavens and shaking the ground to its very foundations. "You are more than welcome to try, my little pony," he said. "Although you are perhaps a little larger than last time when I fought you, that is hardly a concern to me, as I am immortal! I could eat you easily and digest you in seconds, without any indigestion to show for it."

However, whilst Torch was boasting, he hadn't noticed that Rockhoof had been working. He knew his strength would be of no use in a frontal attack, as Stygian's notes had revealed that simply attacking head on would be unproductive and lead to massive loss of life. Trying to engage Torch directly was like trying to fight a mountain. It simply could not be done.

Which was why he had to be smart and undermine his foe from beneath. Those words rang truer now than they ever had before. He grabbed his shovel and began to speed round and round Torch's corpulent bulk, digging up the ground as quickly as he could. He sped round as fast as he could, his shovel glowing white hot as it shifted the dirt below him. He was almost round to the back when he saw Torch suddenly move, and spot him.

"Trying to sneak behind me back, eh?" Torch bellowed, before letting loose a jet of flame that set the forest ablaze. "You'll have to do a bit better than that to trick me!"

In the midst of the rubble, Meadowbrook stirred, her eyes sliding open as she surveyed the destruction before her. Torch had flattened virtually everything within sight, and the few surviving soldiers had already fled for the safety of allied lines. This sector seemed to be almost completely lost.

But the actions of a single pony can be enough to turn the tide of an entire battle. This was a fact Meadowbrook knew from history, and learning of the many great victories of the ponies of Hayseed Swamp. Now it was her turn to do her part. Sitting atop the body of a dead soldier was a bundle of C4 and a detonator. She knew how powerful this stuff was, and that it could buy Rockhoof time.

"Sorry, sir, but Ah'll need that stuff more than you," she said, and slowly dragged the bundle towards her, the detonator included. She quickly primed the explosives, and took it in her hoof.

"Hey!" she shouted at Lord Torch.

Torch was momentarily distracted away from what Rockhoof was doing, and turned to face Meadowbrook. "I thought I killed you already! The Flamecano Goodbye should have done as much!"

Meadowbrook grinned, coolly, and even feeling a little cocky. "'Flamecano Goodbye', huh? Well, how about Louisiana Hello? Here's one from N'awlins!"

She threw the bundle, and then it was mere inches from Torch's face, she hit the clacker. Several hundred pounds of high explosives detonated in Torch's face, leaving him with severe burns. One of his horns fell off as he bellowed in agony, flames beginning to lick his face.

"ARRRRGH! You bitch! I'll kill you for that!"

But the attack had bought Rockhoof critical time. He had finished digging the trench, and as he did so he demolished the supports holding it up. The trenches collapsed, producing a massive sinkhole that sucked Torch into it. The chamber wasn't deep enough to suck him in and totally bury him, but it immobilised him in place, and that was all that mattered. The dragon roared as he tried to get free, but it proved to be no use.

Rockhoof sprinted for an operational radio platform and switched it on. "Bomber Command, this is Pillar Actual, do you read, over?"

"Pillar Actual, this is Bomber Command. We read you, over. Please relay message."

"Priority bombing mission to follow. Coordinates to follow; 32.2751° N, 86.1455° W. Repeat coordinates; 32.2751° N, 86.1455° W, over."

"Understood, coordinates received. Strike package on the mo- you will be within the blast radius."

"Bomber Command, drop the biggest bombs you can. We have to kill this target."

"Squadron ordered to use maximum payload. Get clear, and good luck. Out."

Rockhoof dragged Meadowbrook out of the rubble, and ran for cover as Torch continued to bellow. "YOU MAGGOT! PATHETIC WORM! YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO WITHSTAND MY WRATH! YOU WILL BURN AS THIS PLANET BURNS!"

Rockhood paid him no heed, as he saw a formation of B-52 and B-2 strike bombers fly overhead. Their bomb bay doors opened, and hundreds of bombs fell from the open payloads. They flew towards the ground with no particular care or accuracy, and exploded upon impact, the area being shaken by thousands of explosions and licked by massive walls of flames. Torch bellowed as he began to burn, but this would not be enough to kill him, as dragons were capable of supernatural regeneration.

The last two bombs, heavy duty weapons designed to crack hangers and rip open dams, struck home. Both exploded with so much force that the ground itself was torn open, and the shockwaves spread across the ground. Bits of dragon flew everywhere as Torch was ripped apart in a series of devastating explosions.

Rockhoof looked back at the devastation, and Meadowbrook shakily got to her hooves. "I now know what Mistmane was talking about when she said war was a terrible thing," Rockhoof said.

"Hopefully a better world will come out of this," Meadowbrook said quietly. "Let's go. We still have ta reach the centre of this city, and face down the Pony of Shadows."

Author's Note:

Last stands have always appealed to me as a storytelling device, and this is no different. On the positive side, one of the enemies is down for the count.

Next time; Back to the skies!

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