The Outsiders

by Caleb Roy

The Battle of Ponyville: Part III (Harmony Mall)

"Chaos was everywhere. Shadows were flying every which way before a scream would come followed by an abrupt crack. The squads I was with were firing everywhere. I don't even think they knew what they were firing at, just that they were firing. One guy stopped to reload, and from the darkness behind him, two monstrous claw-like hands came out sucking him into the unending blackness. 'Watch out!" someone yelled before I hit the ground. I lifted my head to see what happened, and saw fear itself staring into my eyes. I screamed before it grabbed me."

The mall was dark. Very dark. There were lights flickering on and off. The stores and shops were practically all wrecked. There were dead Armonians everywhere, mainly ponies though. It was sad. I began to shed tears, but I had to withold them I had to be strong. There were some dead empire soldiers, but I didn't care as much about them. They were the monsters who came to our planet. They were the monsters who came to destroy us. I hated them. I hated their guts, and everything about them. I wished that they would all be killed. That they would leave. My wish didn't come true, at least not right now, because I could still hear the booms and bangs of gunfire and cannon fire. I could still hear the innocent screams of everyone outside. I could still hear and see the dead and wounded crying for help, wishing that they were still alive, still had breath. It was not to be. Sadly, it was not to be.

The True Mafia/ Black market continued to protect me. They had encircled me so that I would be safe in case anything happened. I was glad that they wanted to protect me, but even them. I couldn't even trust them. They could easily have turned on me, just as the other empire, the Dragononians did. They could have easily turned right now and shot me. They also could have been backstabbers. for all I know, this empire could win and then turn on us. Truly, I didn't have trust for any one, and especially not these empires. In fact, right now, I only trusted me, and me alone. That was all. That was all that i cared about because if I cared for any pony else, then they might get killed and then my trust would be lost and would just turn to pain and anger. I had to only trust myself.

We continued to walk through the mall. It was creepy. There was an eerie silence except for the battle that was raging out side. As we passed my favorite store, Aeropony, I felt like I was being watched. In fact, an eerie tingle began to creep up my back. Then it began to turn into a frostbite. I had some of the worst chills in my bones that I have ever had. I don't think I was that nervous since the time I first took one of Ms. Cheerilee's tests. This one was different though. I could feel it. It was almost like a flea or something was crawling up my back, but there was nothing I could do to stop it. Nothing. I almost said something, but told myself that it was nothing, that it would be alright. I was wrong.

We passed Aeropony with no incident. In fact, nothing happened. I was right. my body was just acting up, just being frightened. I would have to stop that. From now on, I would have to shut my body off, and listen only to my thoughts. I didn't need instinct, at all. We continued to move. We moved past Scootaloo's favorite store. It was called Jet Hawk's extremes. It had all manner of extreme items that Scootaloo loved. They had scooters and skateboards and all that stuff. It was wonderful. We passed that store with no further alarm.

When we were nearing the end of the mall, we were passing a fashion store actually, I heard something move. I looked to the left where the sound came from. I peeked very hard into the darkness from where it came, but saw nothing. I didn't take much care for it. No one else heard it, so neither did I. We passed Sweetie Belle's favorite store. It was a music store. A nice one actually. I thought about how many times Sweetie Belle had to drag me and Scootaloo in there. I chuckled a little bit. I didn't mind the store. It was nice, but Scootaloo hated it. Personally, I think that Scootaloo only hated it because it was near one of Rarity's favorite fashion stores. I laughed because whenever Rarity came to the mall with us, she would always go in that store. It was always funny to see Scootaloo get so upset and not want to go. It was hilarious. Actually, I turned around to see what had become of the store. I saw it, but it wasn't what it used to be. The store was a mess now. A heap of rubble and death. It had collasped upon itself. I felt bad that Rarity would have to wait to go in there for a very long time. I knew Scootaloo would be happy. Then, I began to tear up. I remembered, or at least it finally came to me, that I didn't know where my friends were at all. They could be dead for all I knew. It made me sad. It made me cry. Well, I started to tear up. I started to lay down. I started to remember, but then, I was interrupted.

"CONTACT!!", someone yelled from around the circle. Immediately, bullets started to fly every which way. The sergeant grabbed me, and then yelled to his squad.

"Quick, let's move to that music shop! We'll take cover over there! Briggs, Leonardo you too cover us while we move! Everybody else, LET'S GO!!". As quickly as the sergeant said it, we moved. The sergeant fired about ten shots blind fire from his rifle, and then charged into the shop with his men. Briggs and Leonardo, who had huge machine-gun weapons, opened fire covering us as we moved into the shop. The sergeant, who was still holding me, skidded to a halt near some drums. He put me down and then motioned for two of his squad members to protect me at all costs. He went back out into the fray to tell Briggs and Leonardo that they should come back. Both Briggs and Leonardo began to head back, but just as Briggs was about to make it in, he was hit in the back with a stray acid bullet. He screamed in agony and pain, as two of his squadmates, one of them Leonardo, pulled him back into the shop. The fight was now a full-blown fair firefight. It was going to be a good one too.

I laid down trying to make myself into a practical ball. I was so scared. Bullets flew, whizzed, and cracked every which way. When one of the soldiers near me came down to reload, I asked them who was firing at us.

"Bloodthirsters!", he replied before jumping back up and pounding a whole wall of lead right back at these Bloodthirsters. I was extremely scared of these ones. I never wanted to get hut by their bullets. I knew that Bloddthirsters used acid bullets. It made me so scared because I had heard about acid before, and I knew that it was a substance that could melt the fur,skin, and hair right off your bones, and then could melt your bones. Bullets continued to whiz by when someone yelled...

"Briggs is dead, sir! He's dead!" I know not who yelled this. I just know that the words hit me in the heart. It was funny. I never knew this Briggs man. I didn't know what he had done with his life or what he was, but those very words that he was dead pounded my heart to the core. For some reason, even though I had seen death all around me, but for some reason those very words had made me come to the reality of death. I peeked up to see where this Briggs had died. I jumped right back down as a soldier who as near me pushed me down, and protected me from an incoming acid bullet which would have struck me square in the face. Again, Death was right around the corner.

"You have to be more careful!", he yelled to me, "You're going to get yourself killed!". He turned away from me and fired another wad of bullets in the general direction of the Bloodthirsters. They apparently had the high ground. Instead of looking up, I decided to look through a small hole in the part of the drum. I saw basically only flashes. I peeked up to the balcony where the Bloodthirsters were firing. They had one Bloodthirster who had a heavy machine-gun firing down at our position. The machine-gun was laying waste to everything it touched.

"Grenade!!", I heard someone yell. Then I was jerked away as one of the soldiers who was guarding me pulled me back, and jumped on top of me. It went dark for a second before a loud BANG!! Acid flew everywhere as the grenade exploded. The acid began melting through both flesh and material. Two men died because of the grenade explosion, one of them was the man who jumped on top of me to save me. He was hit with a sea of acid. He screamed as the liquid melted through him. He got off of me so that the acid wouldn't seep through and kill me. He died for me. This scene made me tell myself in my heart that no matter what, I was not going to give up on this empire. I, by this one act, realized that this empire truly cared, that they really wanted to help us. It brought another tear to my eye. However, the battle still raged and I was again jerked away into a place of more cover and safety.

"Stay here!", the sergeant told me, "No matter what!". He then ran away back into the fray. I peeked only partially out, and listened to the chaos and confusion of the battle.

"Keep your head down, Glacius!", someone yelled before he was hit in the throat. This man went down instantly.

"Glacius is down!", someone yelled, "He's dead!"

"Listen", began the sergeant, "We need a rocket up here! Leonardo Give me your rocket!"

"Yes sir!", said Leonardo before rushing over to where the cash register is. Then, Leonardo took off his rocket which he was carrying on his back. He gave it to the sarge who opened it, and aimed. He yelled something first.

"Clear Backblast!", the sergeant yelled. Everyone in turn then yelled, "Clear Blackblast!". Everyone then got out of the way. The sergeant asked, "Backblast clear?" to which everyone replied, "Backblast Clear!". The sergeant then aimed and fired. The rocket went out and hit the balcony with a bang. The whole balcony began to collapse, but a few Bloodthirster's tried to bail by jumping down. The True Mafia/ Black Market were ready. They opened fire slaughtering every single Bloodthirster who tried to bail. The balcony came crashing down with a thud, and broke into a heap of rubble and ash. The sergeant ordered his men to finish off any survivors, and then he came back to me.

"Alright Apple Bloom, you can come out now.", he grabbed me out, and we walked outside of the store. I saw all the men standing there. Miraculously, no one was wounded. However, they had lost five men... five good men. We had to continue on. We neared the final part to the exit of the mall. We could literally see the exit, and the rest of the battle that awaited us outside. This was going to be a bumpy ride. I began to sprint to the exit. The sergeant told me to stop. I didn't listen. I just kept running.

"Wait!", yelled the sergeant, "WAIT!!!!". I didn't listen. I just kept running. It happened.

"Leonardo! Watch out!", someone behind me yelled. I quickly glanced back and saw Leonardo. Actually, I saw what was left of Leonardo. He was torn apart. He was ripped open, actually, he was being ripped open.

Chaos was everywhere. Shadows were flying every which way before a scream would come followed by an abrupt crack. The squads I was with were firing everywhere. I don't even think they knew what they were firing at, just that they were firing. One guy stopped to reload, and from the darkness behind him, two monstrous claw-like hands came out sucking him into the unending blackness. 'Watch out!" someone yelled before I hit the ground. I lifted my head to see what happened, and saw fear itself staring into my eyes. I screamed before it grabbed me.

The big black beast was standing over me. Drool and saliva were dripping from its now bare teeth. It had two mouths both of which scared the living daylights out of me. I fainted.

When I came back too, I saw the sergeant standing over me. He was applying something to my chest. I coughed and awoke completely.

"What--What happened?", I asked.

"We were ambushed", the sergeant replied, "We were ambushed".

I looked around to see where all the men were, but, for some reason, there were only ten.

"What happened to the rest of the men?", I asked.

"They're all dead... All dead", that's all he said.

I stared up at him, at his helmet anyway. I couldn't see it, but I knew that he was crying. I knew that he was sad. That he was angry. I began to cry. I began to scream and yell for my mother, father, Big Mac, sister, anyone. He just looked at me. Finally, He said that we had to move on. He picked me up, and asked me where we had to go.

I just looked at him, crying, but finally, I pulled myself together. I told him where we had to go. "We-- We have to go through here. From there, we just keep going straight down to the quill and sofa store." I finished.

"Alright", he said, "Lets head that way". Before we went I asked him how I was saved. He told me that one of his men rushed over to the beast and pushed him off just as the Bloodthirster was about to stick its mouth into my neck. Instead, however, he bit the soldier who had pushed him off of me. The soldier withdrew his pistol and put his whole clip into the Bloodthirster. He died, however, because he bled out. I meditated over this and didn't say anything. Finally, I turned to him again and said, "I'm so sorry! I should have stopped when you told me too! I-- I just--"

"Listen", the sergeant said, "It doesn't matter now. Just take this to consideration. Listen to those who know more about war than you, and don't worry, I forgive you." The sergeant turned away and didn't speak again until we made it to the quill and sofa store. We left the mall finally. We headed straight ahead to finally rescue Big Mac and Braeburn.

Comments

[Livelyins]

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