A House Divided

by Weponizedtism

Chapter 5: The Trench

Sargent Ginger Gold clutched her rifle against her chest as a cold wind blew along her trench and dark heavy clouds rolled across the sky. Her blonde mane was messy under her royal army helmet, her yellow apple cutie mark covered by the royal seals in the flanks of her dark blue uniform. The fact that summer was fading into autumn seemed more evident by the day, even here in the south the weather had become considerably cooler, especially in the chilly southern nights. However, it was the anxious waiting marked by the constant week-long artillery bombardment and its incessant shaking of the earth, that concerned the earth pony mare. From her trench she could hear the batteries firing from behind their lines, outgoing shells and the distant explosions against the rebel positions. Daily, formations of bombers flew overhead and pounded the rebel lines, though many times not all the planes came back. Two days ago a flaming bomber had crash landed behind her trench, they did their best to rescue the crew but only the tail gunner was able to crawl out before the metal wreck was fully engulfed in flames. The silhouettes of the trapped pilots in the cockpit and the blood curdling screams being drowned by the roar of the flames still haunted her sleep.

Additionally, more and more units seemed to arrive each day, just yesterday a fresh company arrived at her section of the trenchline, alongside a squadron of brand new heavy tanks. She had understood very well what this meant, so when the order to prepare to go over the top arrived she wasn't surprised. Nevertheless, she tried to be confident and reassure her unit. She was being led by the element of honesty herself, and she knew cousin Applejack was both a hero of Equestria as well as an experienced commander, they had nothing to fear.

“Units to your positions!” She heard the order as captain White Shield trotted down the trench line “ten minutes to advance, synchronize your watches! Wait for my command!” Ginger Gold pulled out her small golden pocket watch, an old apple family heirloom her mother had given her when she signed up.

“Sergeant Gold, tell your ponies to fix bayonets. Good luck!” the unicorn captain said as he passed besides the earth pony and her unit.

“You heard the Captain, fix bayonets!” Ginger Gold cried out to her squadron.

“S-sargeant, a-are we going to attack now?” Amber Hoof, the youngest member of her squad asked, fear clearly showing in the young mare’s eyes.

“Yes, but don't worry. You heard our bombardment, I’d be surprised if there was anything left at this point. We are practically gonna stroll into Appaloosa, you’ll see.” She answered reassuringly with a smile, “Stay with me and you’ll be safe.”

Three minutes, she noted as she looked back at her watch. Her heart pounded against her chest. “Everypony to the ladders, on my command we advance! Remember, don’t huddle up and keep low.” She called out to her squad as the artillery seemed to suddenly die out and an eerie silence washed over the line, only the rustle of the cold winds and the far away humming of the tank engines could be heard .

“One minute! One minute!” The cry broke the silence as it was repeated down the line.

“One minute!” Ginger Gold shouted to her soldiers as she took her position on the ladder, taking out her whistle.

FWEEEEEEEEET, the sharp sounds of whistles rang across the line. “Forward!” the earth pony sergeant shouted as she climbed over the trench. The view of the field ahead seemed almost tranquil save for a few impact craters from sparse rebel counter battery fire. An arid open plain with a few rock formations seemed to be all that laid between them and the bombarded enemy trenchline and desert mesas turned redoubts. The equestrian forces advanced confidently in formation, no sniper fire, no incoming mortar rounds, not a single sign of life from the rebel line.

“You were right, sarge. I don’t think there are any rebs left on those lines” a confident voice called from behind as Ginger Gold’s unit marched forward, reaching one of the larger rock formations in the midpoint of the opposing lines. Impact craters became more and more common as they approached the confederate line.

Before she could turn to respond, the sight of hundreds of thin white streaks rising from behind the enemy line caught her eye. She watched the rising thin lines, until with horror she realized what they were. But before she could scream the command to take cover, the ground seemed to violently explode around her. Tartarus itself broke loose upon the advancing soldiers as the rebel line lit up with the flashes of rifle, machine gun and cannon fire; the incoming rockets soon falling on the advancing royalists. The confederates had been ready for them.

Comments

[Bronycommander]

Just like the blooddy stalemate of ww1