> Saving Private Bloom
>  by Tiedye3000
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Saving Private Bloom: The Finding of Private Bloom
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Saving Private Bloom
By: Tiedye3000


Journal Entry: Private, First Class, Apple Bloom
June 13th, 1944


It had been weeks since my platoon and I were deployed to Ramelle, but I’m not one to complain about where we’re sent to too protect our country. We were stationed at a city in ruin to watch out for the Germane Pozi troops, a strong force of which were led by a terrifying leader named Adhoof Haytler, who was trying his best to take over all of the planet’s countries, including Equestria. Ramelle was directly between the Equestrian forces and the Germane army in a country called Durhoof, so it was vital we held the position to keep a watch for the Germanes.
Today, however, had to be the worst possible day to ever happen within those weeks. My squad and I were patrolling outside the Ramelle boundaries in a grassy plane, when we heard a rumbling sound. We hit the deck as quickly as we could, and didn’t move a muscle. The rumbling grew louder, and the ground started to tremble. Our leader, a Corporal, pointed her hoof forward, and we saw a Germane tank, heavily armored and painted camo to match the grass, complete with a turret gunner. The Corporal put her hoof up, telling us to freeze in place. We did, and waited for her to put her hoof down. Instead, she pointed at the tank, and pumped her hoof down. We took that as a signal to fire. Our squad’s demolition took out her bazooka, aimed at the tank, and took a shot. It hit the tank, causing it to catch fire. She reloaded her weapon, aimed, and took another shot. Direct hit, the tank was gone. It was engulfed in flames, and Germane ponies who survived the explosion were getting out through the top hatch. We aimed our weapons, but didn’t need to shoot, for we heard bullets being shot, and the Germanes fell dead off the tank’s roof.
Others jumped out of the back; some went right, some left. We heard more gunshots, and could only assume that the ones that went right were dead. The Corporal put her hoof back in the air, and we held our fire. The Germanes on the left had taken cover behind the truck. We then heard an order being shouted by a pony. “Take their left flank! Take their left flank!”  She was yelling. Slowly, very slowly, a purple pony turned around the front of the tank, peered over, and moved forward, crouching and pointing her gun forward. We were sure she’d be dead. She was near the back of the tank, when the Germanes came around and began to shoot. She had taken out all three of them, however, without being hit by a single bullet. She then turned around and searched the rest of the area.
The Corporal then whispered to us that she was a friendly, and called “101st! We’re coming out!” We got off the ground. The purple pony turned around, waved her hoof in the air, and reloaded her weapon. Another squad of ponies came out the grass, and headed towards us.
“	That was a recon element, 2nd SS,” The Corporal told her, “We were expecting a problem, and that must’ve been it.”
“Capt. Sparkle, “She said to us, “Charlie Horse Company, 2nd Wranglers.”
“Corporal Bon-Bon, Easy Company 501st.”
“Bloom, First Class, 506th,” I said when she turned and faced me.
“Bell, Private, 506th,” Said my friend next to me.
“Apple Bloom?” Capt. Sparkle asked me suddenly.
“Yes, ma’am, “I replied, surprised, “How’d you guess that?”
Capt. Sparkle turned and looked at her squad, all of whom were staring at me. Among them, I saw my big sister, Apple Jack. I was so happy to see her; I could’ve shoved the Captain to the floor to try to get to her. The only reason I didn’t was because her lips were trembling, but I didn’t know why. Not yet, anyway.

“Looks like you girls were hit pretty hard,” Sparkle said, later at Ramelle.
“Yes, ma’am,” I replied, looking at the destroyed city, “It’s why I wanted more action. They came in and beat the hay out of us with Haytie 8’s.” There was a short pause. “Tell you what, ma’am,” I said, “If you could relieve me, I’ll file a complaint.”
“I wouldn’t blame you…” Sparkle said as she gazed some more at the surroundings, “Who’s your C.O.?”
“It would’ve been Capt. Jenny, ma’am,” I said, “But I’m afraid the mess we’re in right now is horrible. So, what are you girls doing here, anyhow?”
“We’re here for you, Bloom,” Sparkle said.
“Me, ma’am?” I said, startled by her words again.
“Yes, you, “She said, “Apple Bloom of Sweet Apple Acres?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I replied, starting to feel a bit self-explanatory, “But, ma’am, what is this about?”
Sparkle sighed and looked at me. In her eyes, I could see pity and sorrow. She then said the most horrible thing to me: “Your brother’s been killed in combat.”
I gasped, putting my right hoof to my mouth, my eyes tearing up. I beat back the temptation to cry. It couldn’t have happened, not to Macintosh…
“I know how it feels to lose someone in the war,” said Sparkle, “So if you want some private time, somewhere to go alone, you’re welcome too.”
That’s when I broke. The tears that leaked out of my eyes then could’ve flooded the Merderet River, flowing between Ramelle and Nueville. Big Macintosh, the eldest, the smartest, the toughest brother I ever had and will have, dead. Gone. It was just me and Apple Jack left.  I sank onto the crate behind me and wept. Sniffling, tears still streaming down my cheeks, I looked up at Sparkle, who had risked her life just to tell me this.
“Thank you,” I told her, my voice cracking, “Thank you for coming all the way here just to tell me that.”
She sat down next to me and patted me on the shoulder. My head fell into my hoofs on my knees. I was still crying.
“Well, there’s something else,” Sparkle said in my ear softly, “You’re going home.”
I raised my head to look at her, my vision blurred from the tears. “Our orders are to bring you back,” She said.
“Bring me back?” I said in almost a whisper. She got up, and went to the Corporal. “I’m sorry to have to take one more person off your hoofs, Corporal, “She said to her, “But orders are orders. Is there any communication station here to call for reinforcements?”
“I have my orders, too, ma’am” I said before Bon-Bon could answer,” And I’m pretty sure there was nothing about abandoning my post and leaving my team to die!”
“I understand that,” Sparkle said, turning to face me, “But this changes things.”
“I don’t see that it does, ma’am,” I said back to her.
Sparkle stared at me, bewildered. “The chief of staff of the Equestrian Army says it does.”
“Our orders are to hold the bridge at all costs,” Bon-Bon said, pointing to the bridge that crossed over from Ramelle to Nueville, “The Pegasi in the 82nd have taken out all the bridges crossing Merderet with the exception of two, one of the lone and that one over there. The Germanes took the other one, so it’s all down to this one.
“Private,” said Sparkle, turning to me, “If your Granny wants you to stay, you can stay. But she doesn’t, you see. She’s worried about you and Apple Jack here. We wanted to get you both together before we shipped you back to your families.”
“Ma’am, can’t I at least wait for reinforcements to arrive-?” I began, but Sparkle cut me off.
“You have three minutes to gather your gear.”
“Ma’am, please! What about them?” I pointed to the rest of my platoon, “There’s barely anyone else here-”
“Hey, mule!” called a baby dragon from Sparkle’s squad, “Two of our guys have already died trying to find you, all right?”
There was a pause, in which I stared at the baby dragon. Then my curiosity broke the silence.
“What were their names?” I asked.
“Scootaloo and Rarity,” Apple Jack said, bowing her head. Rarity had been a close friend of hers, and she knew I was close friends with Scootaloo.
I was filled with even more sorrow. Scoot had been one of my best friends. I was able to hold back my tears this time, but regretfully; my head then hurt with all the loses.
“It doesn’t make any sense…” I said under my breath. Then, loudly this time, I turned to Sparkle, “It doesn’t make any sense, ma’am! Why me? Why do I get to go? Why not any of these guys? They all fought just as hard as me! Maybe even harder!”
“Is that what they’re supposed to tell your Granny?” Sparkle asked, “When they send home another folded Equestrian flag?”
That got a bit of a boil started in my gut. Why was she being so difficult? Didn’t she understand?
“When they find my body,” I said right in her face, “tell her I died right here, with the only siblings I have left, and there was no way I was going to desert them. I think she’ll understand that.”
Apple Jack smiled at me, droplets falling from her cheeks.
“There’s no way I’m leaving this bridge,” I said, and walked past Sparkle and headed to the rest of my platoon.
> Saving Private Bloom: The Battle Preparations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later, I found that Sparkle and her squad were still there, and gathering up all our equipment. I rushed over to the squad’s sniper, Rainbow Dash, to see what was going on.
“We’re staying, and helping you guys hold your spot, of course!” said the Pegasus, and I lighted up like a light bulb. If they were going to stay, that meant that we had a stronger resistance! I followed Rainbow to where the rest of her squad was. They were on the ground level of one of the buildings, and in the middle of the room was all our weapons and ammo.
“Is that all of it, Dash?” Sparkle asked as we entered.
“Yup!” Rainbow replied, “All the weapons I could find!”
“Hey, Bloom,” said Sparkle, seeing me come in behind Rainbow, “Sorry about all this, we’re just getting ready for the defense!”
“This is fantastic!” I said excitedly, “Now we might be able to hold off the Germanes!”
“Exactly!” said Sparkle, “Now we just need to be filled in on what the weapons are. Spike, wanna fill us in?”
“Naw, not me,” said the baby dragon, “I don’t even know what weapon I use! Ask Rainbow, she’s the one who got it all together.”
“OK! Good thing I’m awesome with weapons!” said Rainbow, and she looked at all the weapons in the pile. “Looks like we’ve got Tooth-Hurty caliber machine gun, seventeen grenades, eleven Hawkens mines, and two bazookas! Only eight rounds left, though… Oh! And assorted small arms!”
“Might as well be spit-wads if they bring any tanks,” said Spike.
“Which they’d surely do,” said Sparkle. She had a thinking look on her face.
“Whatcha thinking, ma’am?” I asked.
“Well,” she said,” I’m thinking about how we’re gonna take their flanks, unless we can draw them up the main road in between these buildings where all the rubble makes a bit of a bottle-neck.”
“Disable ‘em?” I asked.
“Yea, if we can. Make that tank a sixty ton road block? Sure, we can do that if we had a fighting chance at their flanks.”
“Yes, ma’am, that’ll split them up,” said a yellow Pegasus. She blushed and turned away when everyone looked at her.
“Exactly, Fluttershy! We hit them as hard as we can!” Sparkle said, “One on one and then fall back to the bridge. Dash, if we can, we’ll get you up into that bell tower.”
“What do you mean ‘if we can’?” asked Rainbow, and she fluttered her wings. Sparkle looked at her sternly. “I mean, yes, ma’am!” And Dash grabbed her sniper rifle and flew up to the bell tower.
“Well this will be a piece of cake!” said Spike sarcastically, “All we have to do is get the huge tank over to the main road, and blow it up! But how, ma’am? How the hay do you intend to get the tank over there? And blow it up?”
“We get a rabbit to chase it!” said Sparkle, “And then we stop it in its tracks,”
“Yea, but with what?” I asked.
“Well, we could try a sticky bomb…” Sparkle suggested.
“A sticky bomb, ma’am? Are you making that up?”
“No, it’s in the field manual. Check it out if you want too!”
“Well, we seem to be out of field manuals, ma’am,” Spike said.
“Ok, ok, I’ll tell you how to make them. You take some TNT, stick it in a sock, rig up a simple fuse, cover the whole thing in Axel grease, and when you throw, it should stick onto anything you throw it at!”
“Um, well,” Fluttershy stammered, “I don’t mean to be rude, Twilight, but, um, we don’t really wear socks…”
“Lucky for us, I’ve always wanted to make a sticky bomb! So I asked Rarity, before she died, to make some socks in case I ever got the chance! And one more thing. One of the Germanes is extremely dangerous. Look out for a pink pony bouncing around the battlefield, and though she may look harmless, she’ll kill you in the blink of an eye! We should’ve killed her when she was our hostage… Well, enough chit-chat! Let’s get to it!”
Some of the ponies went to the bridge to rig it with TNT. Others took the socks that Sparkle brought and made the sticky bombs as best they could. Some ponies were placing self-detonating mines where the tank should appear. Rainbow Dash and a pony named Berry Punch were already in the bell tower, checking the surrounding boundaries for the Germanes with binoculars. Apple Jack and a pony, Carrot Top, went into a small house that was facing the street. They were hidden behind a window so they could shoot any Germans that got past the boundaries. Crossing the bridge, Sparkle and I were making our way to the Nueville side of the battlefield. With us was a pony named Whooves, a sergeant in Sparkle's platoon.
“That building there,” said Sparkle, pointing to the building near the edge of the river,” We’ll call that the Alamo. And if they push us back too far, the last pony alive will blow the bridge.”
“And there’s a thirty second delay on that explosion from the charges, so tell everyone that the last man alive better hurry up or he or she won’t be alive long.” Whooves told her.
“Captain,” I asked suddenly aware of something, “where am I during all this?”
“No more than two hoofs away from me,” she replied, “Let’s not negotiate.”
I remember Apple Jack walking around the place, seeing how everything was going and looking for Fluttershy, when she spotted her helping Dash getting extra explosives into the tower. “Hey there, Fluttershy!” She called.
Fluttershy nearly dropped the explosives out of surprise. “Oh, hi Apple Jack,” she said, still a bit shaken.
“Listen, I need to tell you something,” Apple Jack said, “You listening? Good. I need you to be the Ammo Supplier this time, ok? You run around the battle field, finding your friends and seeing if they need ammo. Don’t worry about Dash, she brought up extra rounds into the tower. So be on the lookout for anyone who needs ammo, ‘cause if we’ve got no ammo, we’re dead. Understand?”
“Oh, I don’t know, Apple Jack, seems a bit sca-“
“Excellent!” said Apple Jack, slinging an ammo belt over Fluttershy’s neck, “I knew I could count on you!” Fluttershy let out a little whimper and checked if Spike had enough ammo.

When all the preparations were set, Fluttershy, Apple Jack, Spike and I were on the doorstep of one of the ruined houses, listening to a French pony singing on a record.
“Mon petit poney! Mon petit poney!”
“Say, Fluttershy, don’t you speak a little French?” Spike asked.
“Oh, yes, but I don’t want to sing it out loud, Spike,” Fluttershy said softly.
“Well, I wish we could listen to something that we can actually understand!” I cried.
“Now, listen here, little sis,” Apple Jack said, “The singer doesn’t have to sing in English for the magic of her voice to fill our mind!”
This was true enough. The song was very calming, even though we were on the brink of a big battle.
"So, you gonna tell us about this Big Mac, or are we gonna be left too guess?" said Spike to me.
"Well," I was trying hard to remember the last time I saw Big Macintosh, and I rememebred a night back in '42 that made me crack up at just the thought of it, "One night, a long time ago, I was sleepin' in my bedroom, when Apple Jack here shook me awake and told me there was something hilarious I needed to see. So she took me outside the barn. The front door was open, so we could hear eveything that was going on in there. Big Mac had brought a girl over, named Derpy, I think, she wasn't the best lookin' gal, looked like she fell from the top of the Ugly Tree and hit every branch coming down! And she was darin' him to swear at the top of his lungs for some reason I can't recollect, but just as he was about to do it, Apple Jack shouted, 'Big Maccy, you're a young colt! Don't do it!' which cracked me up, freaked out Macintosh, and startled Derpy so much she was flyin' in all directions. At one point she hit her head on a ledge and knocked herself out.
"Now, Big Macintosh was angry at Apple Jack for doin' that, so he grabbed a shovel and rushed at Apple Jack and chased her all over the barn, but at the same time tryin' to get Derpy too come to, so he was draggin' her by her back hoofs while chasin' Apple Jack, and Apple Jack was screaming, 'What are you goin' for me for? I just did you a favor!' Now, this made Macintosh madder, and he was swingin' that shovel like a mad horse, and at one point it flew at out his hoof and hit a lantern, which ignited into flames! The whole barn almost went up because of this!"
Everyone was laughing, but Apple Jack was just killing herself, her being in the story. And then the laughter died down.
"That was the last I ever saw of him," I continued, "That was the last time the three of us were together, he was shipped off to Boot Camp the next day. That was nearly two years ago."
"I have a word to discribe that," Spike said, "FUBAR."

Sparkle was getting coffee in one of the tents pitched around the city. She was desperately trying to get the last bits out of the machine and not tip it over, because every time she shifted position, it would shake uncontrollably.  When she finally got the last bits out, she made sure that the machine was carefully placed so it wouldn’t fall off the table. She then began to walk out of the tent, when a crash behind her made her whip around, startled. The coffee machine had still fallen over. Sparkle stood stone still. She was trembling not out of fear, but because the ground underneath her was! She lopped out of the tent and found me under the bell tower. I, too, had felt the tremor.
Looking to the top of the bell tower, we saw Rainbow Dash waving frantically at us. She was doing hoof signals as well. Sparkle translated them: (Dash tilted her rifle forward, then to her right) “Coming from the east,” (she pointed to her eyes, hit the air twice, and made a T with her hoofs) “Two Tiger tanks,” (she did the same thing, but made a P this time) “Two Panther tanks,” (she pointed down, hit her hoof on air five times, and made a circle) “Infantry 50.”
We all gathered ‘round, waiting for Sparkle to give the order, and then, after a few seconds of thinking, she said “Disperse, you know what to do! Private, get on the rabbit,” she added to one of the ponies.
“Yes, ma’am!” Said the pony, and dashed off to the east to try and get the tank into the bottle-neck.
“Lock and load, Bon-Bon!” called Sparkle, “Everypony check your ammo!”
Carrot Top and Apple Jack went into the house and planted the Tooth-Hurty caliber so that it pointed through the window. Rainbow and Berry were loading their rifles and checking the charges. Fluttershy was running around frantically, both checking if anyone had all their ammo and if she could find a place to hide. Sparkle, Whooves and I were hiding behind a fox-hole, our guns pointed towards the main road.
> Saving Private Bloom: The Battle
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A pony cantered into a house with the detonator for the main road in his mouth. Right then the Private came galloping back as quickly as he could. He leaped over the fox-hole and took cover with us.
"I'm positive they followed me, ma'am, but I'm not sure they took the bait!" He reported.
"Then all we have to do is wait," said Sparkle.
We waited for about five minutes without dropping our gaze until the first Germane ponies appeared, along with a Panther tank. We held our breaths, but they didn't come around the corner.
"Shoot!" Sparkle exclaimed, whispering, "The Panther didn't take the bait!" She looked up to Rainbow, who pointed with her rifle first east, then on us.
"Someone's coming towards us!" Sparkle looked back down her gun's sights. This time we really did hold our breath. The Germanes came around the corner, coming straight at us. My hoof was itching to pull the trigger.
"Not yet," Sparkle said, "wait for the detonation…"
Ponies were hidden on top of one of the buildings. I knew that they were dropping Molotovs onto the Germanes when the next tank came. The Pozis came right into the bottle-neck, and the mines detonated. Germane ponies who were near the mines were turned into red mist, and the tank had caught on fire.
"Open fire!" Sparkle yelled, and everypony nearby who heard the order fired their weapons. The Germanes were taken completely by surprise and didn't know where to shoot. Then the pony who detonated the mines ran out with a sticky bomb lit. He ran up to the Tiger tank, and slapped the mine onto it. He turned to get cover, but was held back by his hoof that had stuck onto the mine. He pulled furiously at his arm, trying to get free, but he was too late. The bomb exploded, took the tank out, and blew his arm clean off and caught fire, his face covered in his own blood. He died almost instantly.
"Dear Celestia!" I screamed when I saw his body, burning and motion-less on the ground.
"That's why you don't add too much pressure when arming the bomb, and also why you normally throw it!" cried Sparkle, who was shooting at the Pozis, who had finally discovered where the firing was coming from and started returning fire. Apple Jack was firing round after round with the Tooth-Hurty. Dozens of Germanes were already dead, flooding the place with blood, but that didn't stop more Germanes from flooding in. Rainbow and Berry were taking Pozis out one by one with their rifles.
Another tank showed up, this one a Panther. It aimed its gun to some ponies who were lying on the ground, shooting. One of them saw this, and told her friend. They got up as fast as they could, but the Panther fired its gun, not killing the ponies, but sending them soaring through the air. They landed on the ground with a thud. One of them was screaming in pain; the tank had shot both her back hoofs off. She was bleeding a pool of blood, and her friend, who was just shaken by the explosion, carried her behind the fox-holes, leaving a trail blood as she went.
The Panther then aimed its gun to where I was at. Sparkle let out a scream, and Whooves grabbed my front hoofs and dragged me to the building next to us, with Sparkle galloping behind us. The tank shot right where I had been not two seconds ago, taking out a building that sent a cloud of debris towards Fluttershy, who was hiding behind the building next to it. The shot also took out the two ponies who had been injured by it a minute sooner.
I could only guess that Fluttershy wouldn't be able to breath in that cloud, but moments later, she came gallopping across to the other side of the street. She was shot at by Pozis as she went, but she didn't take a hit. The ponies on the roof remained hidden until the Panther tank was just beneath them. Then they dropped these bottles filed with a strange liquid onto the tank. The bottle had a cloth coming out of the neck, which was on fire. One of the turret gunners on the tank saw this coming, and tried to jump off, but they didn't see the Molotovs in time. The Molotovs hit the tank, cracked open, and spread fire all across the tank. The two Pozi gunners were now on fire, being cooked alive as they jumped off the tank and dropped to the ground, rolling around and screaming in pain.
When the fire went out on the tank, Sparkle called some ponies to get on top of it and throw a grenade into the hatch. About five ponies answered to her order, and they climbed onto the top of the tank, grenades ready. A Pozi opened the hatch and threw her arms in the air, sending drops of blood flying from her cut hoofs. We didn't have time for prisoners, though, so one of the ponies just shot the Pozi in the head, spraying the hatch with blood and small chunks of flesh. Three ponies took out a grenade and tossed them into the tank.
Right them, however, the Pozis rolled in a twenty-millimeter machine gun and aimed it at the ponies on the tank. Three of the ponies were shot by this heavy weapon, and one of them died when it shot their head clean off, which soared through the air and crashed through a window, spraying blood through the open arteries as it flew. Sparkle yelled to take the machine gun out, but Rainbow had already snipped the three operators. A shot was then fired at Rainbow, who ducked and missed the bullet by half a nose. She went to the other side of the bell tower and scoped out another Panther tank, which she signaled to Sparkle.
"We got another Panther tank coming from the northeast!" Sparkle yelled over the sound of gunfire. Two operators had been replaced at the twenty-millimeter, so we had to constantly be on the move. We galloped by Fluttershy, who was going the other way, straight into the gunfire. I grabbed her right when she was about to turn the corner, and she followed us for a while. Those injured on the field were being slaughtered as we retreated. It was probably their screams of pain that gave away their position, or the trail of blood they made crawling to cover. We were being out matched, and I started losing hope.
Rainbow and Berry were still in the tower, doing the best they could at snipping the Germanes around the Panther tank. Rainbow knew she'd be dead soon, though, but that didn't stop her from defending her friends. Shot after shot, each one taking out a Germane. The tank saw the angle of where the shots were coming from and started turning around. Rainbow didn't notice this, though, she was scoped in and taking out the last Germanes. When she took out the last one near the tank, she took a quick glance at it. It rose its barrel toward the tower. Rainbow stopped and looked at the tank without the scope. The tank fired, and Rainbow was heard shouting, "Berry, get do-!" but she was cut off by the tank's round blasting into the structure, sending a huge ball of fire into the air.
That's when the battle seemed to be over, lost. Sparkle was in such shock she actually forgot where she was for a second. I, too, was frozen in place, rooted on the spot, staring at the bell tower as it collapsed to the ground. A small shower of blood followed its place, falling onto some of the Germane Pozi's helmets. A blue feather, falling and landing among the rubble, confirmed what happened. This had been Rainbow's last battle.
But this was a battle field. We didn't have any time for sorrow. Sparkle was furious at the Germanes, and swore she would die here with her friends if that's what it took to get revenge. She shot down the Germanes following us without any help from me, Whooves, or Fluttershy, who had ran over to where Apple Jack and Carrot Top were at. Spike came around the corner and was almost shot by Sparkle. She yelled at him to try and flank the enemies. He ran through the puddle of blood, over the Germane bodies, past us and turned the other corner, disappearing from view. Not a minute later we saw him running in front of us, firing his weapon at the Pozis at his left flank. He took cover behind a building.
But at that moment, we saw the other Panther tank climbing over the debris from behind Spike. He saw this, and dashed inside the building, hiding from all view. The tank didn't fire any rounds, though, it couldn't see us in our cover. I had no idea where Fluttershy was, I hadn't seen her for a while. She wasn't at the house Apple Jack and Carrot Top were, because I noticed that their Tooth-Hurty was firing bullets less frequently. I could only guess that they were running out of ammo. I also saw a Germane toss a grenade into the window. I gasped, hoping it wouldn't kill Apple Jack, but two seconds later I saw the grenade being thrown back out, right before it exploded, blowing up the Pozi who threw it and reducing him to a small blood pool.
"Fluttershy!" I heard my sis yelled, "Fluttershy! Ammo! Fluttershy, ammo, Dag nab it!"
My worst fears confirmed, I turned to canter to the house, but Sparkle held me back, shouting, "I'm sorry, Bloom, but I can't let you get killed!"
And then, out of nowhere, I saw Fluttershy run down the street toward the house. My breath returned to normal speed. If Fluttershy made it in time, they might make it through the rest of the battle. But then something happened to make my fears grow and my breathing to speed up again: The other Tiger tank had appeared, climbing over debris close to the house. Fluttershy hid behind the house, making sure her tail wasn't showing around the corner. The Germane troops accompanying it ran to help the others in shooting at Spike, who was still in the building, firing back. Only one Germane Pozi didn't go with the troops. She was a pink pony that bounced toward the house my sis was at as if she were enjoying the death and suffering.
That's when I noticed the Tooth-Hurty had stopped firing. That meant they were out of ammo! If they couldn't defend themselves, they were surly gonna be killed! Again, I tried to get to the house, but Sparkle, who had been shooting at the Pozis, held me back again.
"I'm not gonna let you die!" she shouted.
"But you'll let my sister die!?" I shouted back at her.
"She has her own protection!"
When she went back to shooting, I made sure she couldn't hear me before I took off toward the house from behind. I was galloping as fast as my hoofs could carry me. When I got to the back of the house, I saw that Fluttershy was no longer there. She had gone inside, and was climbing up the steps very slowly. As I peeked through a hole in the wall, I saw that Carrot Top had been shot in the throat and was choking on both the bullet and her own blood, which was leaking out of the bullet hole. Apple Jack was fist-fighting the pink Pozi while Carrot Top was gagging and hacking. While they were fighting, Apple Jack slipped on some of the blood that had oozed out of Carrot Top's mouth. She fell and landed right on Carrot Top, who let out one last croak, and was still.
> Saving Private Bloom: The Farewell
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The pink Pozi leaped at Apple Jack, who was able to roll off Carrot Top’s corpse just in time as the Pozi landed on the body, emitting a disgusting crunching sound on impact. Apple Jack, with tremendous speed, pinned down the Pozi, flipped her over, and began kicking and beating her. Apple Jack then took out her knife, and attempted a stab at the Pozi, who grabbed Apple Jack’s hoofs at the last moment. They wrestled with the knife until the Pozi was able flip Apple Jack over, who was still trying to stab the Pozi. The Pozi was able to grab the knife from Apple Jack and attempted to stab her, but Apple Jack was able to stop her just in time.
It was like a mirror of what had happened before, only this time, the Pozi seemed to be winning. The Pozi’s knife hand was inching closer and closer to Apple Jack’s heart. Apple Jack had true terror in her face now, and tried to plead with the Pozi. Apple Jack’s pleas, however, were cut off by the knife reaching her chest and piercing the skin. Apple Jack’s eyes widened, and the knife that was inserted into her chest was sinking deeper into her body. Her breathing was strangled, and was slowing down as the pink Pozi shushed her to sleep.
Then someone grabbed me from behind and galloped with me away from that awful scene. I was the only one left now. Macintosh and Apple Jack were both gone. Only me. Just me. Why? Why me? And where was Fluttershy? Why didn’t she help her?
While we were running toward the bridge, we saw Whooves shooting at the Germanes. He was headed in the same direction as us. But right then, a shot came from one of the Germanes and hit his back hoof. I heard him yell something that sounded like “Son of a Mare!” and cringe, but he kept going, a little slower this time.
He gallopped inside a building, but came out almost as quickly as he entered, this time with Fluttershy, who was crying. Just then, from behind Sparkle and I, a Panther came crashing down on us and nearly flattened us. How it happened, I still don’t know, and I can’t even guess, but it was still moving. We had to run between buildings to get to the bridge in one piece. Only some of the resistance had survived, maybe ten ponies, plus us, had made it to the bridge. Spike was shooting rockets at the Germanes when we got the bridge, which had walls of sandbags for cover. Whooves had been separated from Fluttershy by a grenade explosion, and we couldn’t find Fluttershy anywhere. That Pegasus really knows how to lose herself, I thought as Sparkle and I crossed the bridge to the Alamo. There, Sparkle fused the bombs together, but got shot in the hoof in the process. Blood was now trickling out of her bullet wound as we called the remaining soldiers over to the Alamo. Spike ran with Whooves, who now had two bullet wounds, one in a back hoof, and one in his shoulder. As they were crossing, he took one more straight through his other back hoof. He stumbled, but was saved by Spike, who carried him fireman-style to us.
“Whooves, you ok?” Sparkle yelled over the gun fire.
“I’m fine, just got the wind knocked out of me.” Whooves said slowly, bleeding from three places now.
“Well get out of here! The bridge is gonna blow!”
I helped Whooves up and ran into the Alamo building, which was far enough not to take damage from the explosion. As we entered, I saw Sparkle activate the charges. Everypony now had thirty seconds to get away from the bridge. But we still didn’t know where Fluttershy was! She’d be trapped on other side of the bridge!
Then, to make matters worse, a Tiger tank shot a shell directly at Sparkle. She saw this coming, leaped out the way, but was still blasted about ten feet into the air. She landed in front of a car, dazed, but not dead. She leaned her back against the car and looked at her surroundings; Spike was still shooting his weapon while getting across the bridge; a pony was on the bridge being chased by Pozis, who shot at him, but missed. He shot back, taking three out, and ran out of ammo. He took his helmet off and threw it at them and took off galloping, but was struck in the back of the head by a gun handle. A Pozi had just struck him. He fell over, and the Pozi beat him to death with the gun.
How this was all happening in less than thirty seconds, I couldn’t tell. I just knew this had to be the worst thing ever to happen to me. I turned to Whooves to ask for his weapon, but he was lying down on the ground, pale as snow, staring into nothingness. He lost too much blood. I took his gun and aimed it out the window and shot as many Pozis as I could get in range with. I checked my watch to see how much time had passed, and to my surprise and dismay, two minutes had gone by since Sparkle activated the charges! That meant they weren’t wired correctly.
I would’ve killed myself right then if Sparkle wasn’t still alive. The Germane tanks were crossing the bridge now. Spike was running to cover, leaving Sparkle completely vulnerable. She took out a pistol and slowly fired one shot. Two shots. Three shots hit the tank in front and did nothing. A bullet hit her below the shoulder, but she gave no reaction. Four shots. Still nothing. On her fifth shot, however, I saw the tank blow up in a cloud of smoke and fire.
I was completely taken aback by this. Surely the tiny pistol couldn’t have taken out the tank? But to explain my confusion, an airplane flew over the bridge, killing all the Pozis on it and taking the second tank. Reinforcements had arrived!
The planes didn’t get the Pozis on the other side, though. When I looked across the bridge to the other side, I saw that Fluttershy had plucked up some courage and rounded up the last Pozis! Such an unexpected turn made me smile, and thankful Fluttershy had survived. She was aiming a shotgun at a group of five Pozis, the last ones after the airplane came. The pink one that killed my sister said something to Fluttershy with a look of amused amazement on her face, which was soon wiped off when Fluttershy shot her in the gut, causing her internal organs to spill in front of her. The pink pony fell to the ground, landing on her own insides. Fluttershy yelled something at the other Pozis, and they took off galloping in all directions, except across the bridge. Apple Jack had been avenged.
I rushed out of the Alamo building and cantered to where Sparkle was lying. Spike was cleaning her wounds with a wet piece of tissue paper, but it didn’t look like she was going to make it.
“Medic!” Spike was shouting, “Medic! We need a medic over here!”
Sparkle was staring at the planes circling overhead. She then turned her head to my flank, and mumbled something to me.
“What, ma’am?” I said, leaning closer to her. She was still bleeding.
“You… earned it…” she said.
I stared at her, wondering what she meant. But then I realized what, and turned my head to my flanks. On them was what I had been trying to get my whole life: my cutie mark. It was a war helmet in between two rifles that were intersecting. But I didn’t want to earn my cutie mark this way. Not through death, loss, doubt, blood, and pain. I didn’t want to earn my cutie mark from killing people.
Tears were forming in my eyes as I looked back at Sparkle. That’s when I realized she was no longer looking at me, or the planes, or the troops. She wasn’t looking at anything. Her eyes were off focus and she didn’t blink. Spike hurried over too her and checked her pulse, and his eyes, too, started swimming in tears as he lowered his head.
I was sent home two hours later, after I had said a few words to all who had died in this battle: Rainbow Dash, Apple Jack, Carrot Top, Berry Punch, Whooves, and Sparkle. I said Goodbye to the ones who were still alive, and to the ones who were dead, and climbed into the helicopter too fly me out of there. That all leads to me being here, recording my past experiences in this journal while on an Evac chopper taking me home. Here I come, Apple Acres.
> Saving Private Bloom: The Epilouge
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Apple Bloom closed the journal reflecting on her past experiences thirty years ago when she served in the Equestrian Army. She’d forgotten how horrible it was too lose someone you cared about. On that day, though, she had lost many. She was glad she decided to read her old journal. It brought back memories, though they may not be the best ones. What she knew was that all those people had died fighting and protecting their country. They had to be the most patriotic, brave, and inspirational people she knew. She looked at her cutie mark and smiled.
Apple Bloom got up from the desk she was sitting at and walked to the kitchen to make some breakfast, when she realized that she had ten minutes to get to school! She lopped to the door, thrust it open, and galloped as fast as she could to get to her school.
She made it on campus in five minutes, where she took her time to catch her breath and walk to the classroom. Her students were lined up by the door, waiting for her to unlock it.
“Good morning, class!” she said to them.
“Good morning, Ms. Bloom!” they called back in unison.
“We should get inside, shouldn’t we?” Apple Bloom said, and unlocked the door to let everypony in.
Two little rascals were playing hoof-gun on their way to their seats. One was a Pegasus, while the other was just a normal filly.
“Now, come on, Streak and Curly!” Apple Bloom called, “No playing guns!”
“Aw, but Ms. Bloom,” whined Curly, “We just want to go into the Equestrian Army, like you!”
“I know, I know, but you’re too young for that.”
“But you were our age when you joined!” complained Streak.
“Yes, but I went in reluctantly. They pulled me in.”
“Will they pull us in, too?”
“Yeah! Will they?”
“No, I don’t think they’d do it just yet.”
“At least tell us what it was like!”
“Yeah! Come on, Ms. Bloom tell us! Please? Pleeeeease?”
“Well, I guess you could say it was pretty overwhelming.”
The clock struck eight AM, and the school church bell rang.
“All right, class, please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance!”
The students stood up, put their hoof to their hearts, and faced the Equestrian flag. Apple Bloom mimicked them, and faced the Equesrtian flag herself.
Then they recited:
I pledge allegiance
To the Princess
And the United cities of Equestria
And to the Royal Guards
For which they stand
One nation, under the Mare, indivisible
With cutie marks and friendship for all