Dear Diary
I have been called up by the Equestrian Reserves. No idea why, but judging by the huge magical shield around Canterlot and the rumours, I’m guessing it’s not for the usual fun and picnics. Chill Wind was extra cute when I told him and Cold Front that I will be deployed for I don’t know how long. When I read a book to Chill Wind that night he asked if he could read a book about me when I got back. So, I bought this diary so I could tell him my story.
Day One – To damn early
The Princess hasn’t even raised the sun yet! I got my full kit and some sort of fancy scope. They told me it had a special enchantment and was worth more than my years pay in the weather unit. Whatever. They assigned me to another pegasus to be her spotter in the field. I have shivers thinking about her and our first meeting together.
I decided to introduce myself, “Hi, I’m…”
“You’re Flight Cadet Three Five Nine, and that is all I need to know,” said the very scary pegasus. “You may call me by my code name, On Time.”
“I have a real name, ya know,” I retorted.
“I know,” she said, “as do I. If we live through this, I might tell you. For now you have one job. Spotting targets for me.”
“That’s pretty cold,” I said. “What do you do?”
“I kill things,” was all she said before she walked away.
What a bitch! And I’m stuck with her.
Day Two – 7am
Well it isn’t all bad. I met up with Rainbow Gem today, along with some of the other weather team that has been called up. Gem is the only one other than me to get spotter duty. My life sucks, but I still have friends.
Day Two – 5 pm
I had to spend the day with that bitch, On Time. What a task master. Had me spotting stuff for her to shoot. I bet she makes love to that gun at night. Only good thing is by the end of the day, I don’t jump every time she pulls the trigger. Maybe I should call her out and see if she shoots herself. Okay, back, but that was a good laugh.
Day Three – 7am
No training today. We’ve been deployed. Bitch told me I was to spot from south to south-southwest and nothing else. All I can spot is a little village in the distance by a big forest. Dullest day of my life!
That’s it. I’m changing the name of this diary!
FC 359’s diary. Even Gem called me that today, and insisted I call her Flight Cadet Seven Two Two. She is with some asshole stallion code name True Flight. Does owning a gun turn someone into a prick? I was reprimanded for using her name, and I think she is just trying to cover for me.
Day Three – 9am
Okay, I don’t think this is just some training exercise anymore. General Downdraft sent word that we should prepare for an attack. Didn’t tell us by what though. I hope it isn’t griffons or dragons. Those bastards eat ponies. I’ve now been transferred to the Civilian Air Force from the reserves. Nice pay bump, but I hope I can live to spend it. The Bitch is even sourer than usual.
Day Three – 11am
Things just got real. The Wonderbolts showed up wearing wing blades. I think I’d slit my own throat trying to wear those. At mail call there was no letter from Cold Front. I got one yesterday, and he said he’d write every day telling me how Chill Wind is. Yesterday he told me he said "Momma" and "Fireflight" for the first time. Dragon mail has just been and I have nothing! Gem has her letter, though she's not showing off about it to spare my feelings. As if I could be upset about her and Prism getting married.
This whole thing is really starting to suck. I haven’t had a chance to see Chill Wind since I was deployed. We’re in Canterlot, you’d think they would give us a couple of hours R&R.
Day Three – 1pm
They just called high alert. What did they think I was doing? Sleeping? The Bitch is all over me if I blink too long. Scout Clear Sky just came by and said the shield was starting to crack. Rumour has it that Guard Captain Shining Armour is getting weaker. I got a note from Gem… Fine, FC 722, and she is starting to panic. I guess the Bitch I’m with is an angel compared to the stallion she is stuck with. I’m sending her a note that we’ll be fine once this blows over. Also sent a letter to Chill Wind and Cold Front. At least the mail pony is still on time. Back, but I was laughing again, and the Bitch yelled at me to pay attention. Maybe On Time is really just a mail pony.
When they picked up the mail, they gave us all headsets. Think they would have done that day one. At least now I don’t have to shout out the targets. Us spotters have our own frequency so we can communicate to each other. It’s a party line, but I can talk to Gem. Don’t know any of the rest. There is only eight of us, and my sector is now south to southwest. I have hooked up my scope to the headset so the Bitch can see what I’m spotting when I call it out to her. FC 722 is as far from me as she can be. She has the north to northeast sector.
Day Three – 4pm
The shield fell. Sweet Celestia, it has fallen and there is fighting everywhere. The Sky Trenches were overrun in minutes! Dear Luna, there's so many of them! Every time I look north where it’s the worse the Bitch yells at me. I’m doing my Tartarus damn job spotting for her. It’s bugs and there are a million of them.
I have bug goo on me. A changeling almost got me and On Time made its head explode. She tells me there’s a bullet for me if I can’t do my job. I see them on the ground. Without the enchanted scope they would just look like ponies, but I can see they are bugs. I call out to On Time and she methodically kill every one of them like she’s reading the Sunday paper.
Between spots I switch to the spotter channel but it’s silent. Too busy. I do hear an all channel broadcast. They are moving our forces north where the fighting is heaviest. I’m glad I have the south side, but I wish I knew how Gem was doing. I glance over at the area where I live. It seems to be calm there.
Day Three – 10 pm
We are relieved as another pair take our place. I still have no news from Gem. The spotter channel has been disabled. I can only talk with the Bitch and hear general broadcasts. I want to go home, but they have us bunking in a guard post near the rail tunnel. A tunnel our forces sealed up.
Day Four – 7am
We relieve the night shift. Now that I see them, they are both thestrals. Makes sense. They said the attacks were non-stop all night, and I spot two on the ground as we are briefed. Each shooter fired one shot, and both dropped. I think the Bitch has telepathy.
Day Four – 12 noon
Fighting to the north is getting worse. Rumour is the castle could fall at any moment. I spot two bugs dragging some ponies into a warehouse. I call out and On Time blasts one, but the second gets under cover. The pony that the first had is just lying in the open. On Time calls it in, and when the bug tries to get the one outside it dies.
“What is going with that?” I ask.
“Don’t worry about it, just do your job,” she replies.
“They were dragging ponies into that warehouse!” I yell.
“Ground team will take care of it, now do your job!” bitch yelled back.
I’ve lost count of how may bugs I’ve spotted, and she’s killed. I don’t think this will ever end. I spare a glance back home. At least the fighting hasn’t reached there.
Day Four – 10pm
I’m so tired, I fell into the bunk and for the first time in my life I barely even had a thought for Chill Wind and Cold Front. I hope my love and my baby are okay. I hate war, maybe even more than I hate the Bitch.
Day Five – 9am
General Downdraft ordered On Time and me to move to the west sector. Fighting has been continuous and I know we’re losing. Even if they don’t bother to tell me. The area we are going to was overrun back on day two. Ground forces have managed to regain most of the territory, but there are some hotspots and that’s why we are going there. Killer needs to put some more notches in her saddle bag belt. Bitch.
“FC 359, I have overwatch. Put on your goggles and toss in the flashbang. Check for any bug activity.”
The Bitch is always telling me what to do like I don’t know the job by now. So many deaths. Still, I make sure my goggles are on tight before I toss the grenade. Won’t kill but it lights up a room like the sun appeared inside. The first two warehouses were empty. The third was not.
“Buck!” There were two stunned bugs in the room. I empty my pistol into them.
“FC 359 report!”
“It’s a bucking nest! They…” I tossed whatever it was they gave us for breakfast.
“I’m in route. Report!”
The bugs were gathering, whatever they call the hatchlings. “There are four dead and ten alive. Oh fuck, it’s Gem!”
Trapped inside a changeling cocoon, Gem looks at me with pleading eyes, “Kill me.”
“What, are you crazy? I’m here to save you!”
The Bitch’s sniper rifle going off inside the warehouse is so incredibly loud. I look at her and then where the rifle was pointing and I see six more dead bugs. “We’ve got to save them!” I yell at her.
“Negative. Orders are to burn a nest.”
She said that so calmly, like she was talking about the weather. “They’re alive, you idiot!”
“Fireflight, please kill me.”
I look at Rainbow Gem, “How can you say that?”
“Because she is already dead. Reload your pistol and do as she asks.”
“I’m not going to kill my best friend in the world, you bucking Bitch!” I was beyond angry now, “I’ll kill you first!”
The Bitch looked at my friend, “Rainbow Gem,” she asked, and my friend nodded. Then, in an instant, the Bitch pulled a pistol and shot her in the head.
I launched myself at her. She was going to die like one of those bugs. When I opened my eyes, I was up against the wall. It was a pistol shot that brought me around. On Time was at the ninth of the ten living. Or was living. Each of the other eight were dead now. I couldn’t hear what she was saying to the pony, a zebra this time, but I did see her put that pistol to his head and pull the trigger. “Why?” I shouted out.
She asked the last pony his name and when she answered, she shot that one dead as well. “I’m never going to forget this! I’ll report you!”
“Do you see those four?” She pointed to the ones whose guts were ripped out. She then took her knife and gutted the pony she had just killed. Hatchlings fell out and she stomped them with her hoof. “The cocoon keeps the food alive until those things hatch. All these ponies were dead, and now what was inside of them is dead also. I will never forget this, too.”
I threw up again, but there was nothing left. Only dry heaves. My eyes went wide as I looked at the door. On Time’s reaction was instant as she pulls up that big gun of hers and kills just the bugs, but not the ponies they were dragging into the warehouse. She was already on the radio calling in a ground team.
“Aren’t you going to kill them too?” I ask, but I no longer muster the drive to care.
“They haven’t been implanted yet. Once that happens it is too late. Their guts turn to liquid, only the heart and lungs are spared to keep the food alive.”
I don’t want to live anymore. How can any pony be so cold and clinical when you’re talking about lives?
“Back to work, the ground team will clean this up.”
“What about my friend?” My friend you killed.
“Once they destroy what was inside of her, they will take the remains to the morgue. The other option is to raze the building with fire. If they do that, they will try to identify the remains first. Now move it FC 359, so we can prevent this from happening again.”
The Bitch walked out of the building. I looked at Gem, dead in the cocoon. I want to cry, but there are no tears left. I walk out of the building, and vow I’ll kill that Bitch if it is the last thing I ever do.
Day Five – 10pm
We found three more nests that day. It seems most of the victims were from day two when the sky trenches were overran. Twenty-three more ponies. Only two had to be killed by the Bitch, as the rest were dead, and the hatchlings had been recovered from two of the warehouses. No bugs were found. I was coherent enough in the last warehouse to kill three bugs. On Time killed eleven of them, along with the two ponies. She shot one as the hatchlings were clawing their way out. She gutted both to kill all the hatchlings. I sat in a corner dry heaving. I still want to kill her, but I’m too tired to do so.
Day Six – 7am
I’m dead inside. No word from Cold Front, no mail, no reason to continue. I can only think about Gem, or at least until the Bitch yells at me to do my job. We are in the south sector over the Residential District. I can see my home, but I don’t see anypony inside when I use the scope to look at a window. All the curtains are drawn. Word is we are winning, but the bugs are getting more desperate. General Downdraft said they are turning to a scorched earth policy. I asked the Bitch what that meant. She told me it meant if they can’t have it, we can’t have it either. I just want to go home and snuggle with my baby.
Day Six – 10am
All Tartarus has broken loose! They are attacking the Residential District! They are attacking everywhere! I call out a target and the target dies.
Day Six – 11am
My house is on fire! I stood up on my cloud and spread my wings. Over the headset I hear the Bitch. “If you leave your post I’ll shoot you and you’ll never know if they made it out alive.”
“If my family is dead, what do I care if I die too?” I shout back.
Over the radio her voice is a deadly calm as ever. “If they live, they will mourn your death. If they’re dead, who will remember them, Fireflight?
That was the first time the Bitch ever used my name. I remember she asked the name of each of the ones she killed. I look back at my house and see Hot Spot and Heatwave leading the ponies working the fires. I see bugs and call them out. I know they are not in my sector, but I don’t care. Nopony else is shooting them. For once the Bitch didn’t tell me to focus on my area. She just kills bugs.
Day Six – 4 pm
We have been moved to Heartbreak Ridge. Our mission is to support the ground forces doing clean up. My house is a gutted ruin and I don’t know if Cold Front or Chill Wind are alive. The Bitch has referred to me as FC 359 once I decided to stay and spot for her. I hate her with every fibre of my being, but I hate the bugs even more.
I see a group of bugs pulling ponies into a warehouse and call them out. Bitch kills them all. She calls out the location on the radio. A group of medics from the Ridge start to move when a swarm of bugs pour onto it. “To many, pull back,” I hear the Bitch over the radio.
I saw red. There has been enough death. I dragged my cloud over the bugs and I squeezed it. “Die!” I yelled out as I unleashed the lighting. When that cloud was drained, I grabbed another and squeezed it too. The Bitch said nothing to me but she kept shooting at the bugs on the ground. When I grabbed my third cloud, I felt an incredible pain from my right hind leg. The bug with its claws in me explodes. I have no time to waste on pain and blast more of the bugs on the ground. I’m on my fifth cloud, blasting lightning when the last wave of bugs lay dead.
“Report,” is all I hear on the radio.
“Looking, but I don’t see any more.” I tell the Bitch.
“Check in with the medical and see to that leg.”
I almost think she cares. Not. I dive down to the medic’s tents and I’m met by a Captain. He introduced himself as Captain Starbright, and then he asked my name. “Silverbolt. My name is Silverbolt, Captain.” I don’t know why I did that, but as he talked, I thought about the last few days. Fireflight was dead to me. Cold Front and Chill Wind were gone and Fireflight had nothing to live for. Maybe Silverbolt will find a reason to live.
“Silverbolt?”
The Captain woke me out of my daze, “Yes sir?”
“Thank you for the lightning bolts. Heartbreak Ridge was a massacre and I’m sure we would have been overrun by those damn bugs, but I don’t need you bleeding in my office. Fine Hoof!” An earth pony entered the office. “This is the one that cast down the lightning bolts. Get her patched up right.”
“Yes sir! This way ma’am.”
I followed the earth pony out of the office. I’d forgotten all about my leg, but now I could feel the pain. It seems I’ll live after all. Then a wave of warmth and love washed over me. I watched those around me stagger as I did, but when it past I felt refreshed. Right up till I stepped off on my bad leg. Fine Hoof led me to a cot and went to work on my wound. He said it should heal well and clean. Some pony burst into the tent and declared the war was over.
Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Guard Captain Shining Armour had cast the invaders from the city. All I could do was cry, for it was too late for the ones I loved.
Day Seven – 7am
I was released from the medical tent. Informed I had a formation tomorrow at 7am at the Canterlot Royal Gardens. For now, I was on leave. I don’t think I could have flown any faster to my home. It was a shell of a building. I didn’t know who to turn to, so I went to the fire station. Hot Spot was there and hugged me tight when I asked about Cold front and Chill Wind.
I found out Cold Front was at the Canterlot Hospital working as an orderly. That Chill Wind’s remains were found in the house and are at the local morgue. When I got to the hospital to find Cold Front, he broke down crying. On day five he was conscripted to help make bandages. He left Chill Wind at home and made sure he was okay that night. The next morning, he went to work again, and there was no home to return too. I wanted to know why he left my baby home alone.
He gestured around and said this place was covered in blood. He was fine after the first day and he thought he’d be fine after the second. I asked why he didn’t write., and his response was mail was censored after day three. I wanted to hate him, but he is my husband. I hugged him and told him my name was Silverbolt. Fireflight died with her foal. He hugged me back and said we could start a new life with Silverbolt.
Day Eight – 7am
I’m in the Canterlot Royal Gardens. I see Cold Front in the stands. I don’t see the Bitch. Maybe she’s dead. That saddened me in that I wouldn’t be able to kill her myself. Horns sound and Princess Celestia shows up. She is passing out medals. “Thank you for your service, Silverbolt. Many lives were saved by your efforts.” She pins a medal on my uniform. Does she have any idea how many lives were lost? They call me the Hero of Heartbreak Ridge. I hate the medal. I hate that title. I hate it as much as I hate that Bitch.
Day Eight – 4pm
I’ve been mustered out of the Civilian Air Force, but I’m still a member of the reserves since I’m part of the weather team. The city rebuilds itself. Soon there will be no sign that the war ever happened. I’m at the cemetery and my tears fall on a new grave.
Chill Wind.
This will be the last entry in this diary. I’ve read it to you like I promised. In a way, I’m glad you couldn’t know the horror I went through. Fireflight will always be with you, Chill Wind. Silverbolt will try to live in a world without you. I added to the cover below Journal, Property of Fireflight the following FC 359, 2001.
She is dead the same as you, Chill Wind. When I close this journal, I will never open it again. I’m going to get rid of it as soon as possible. I gave that damn medal to Cold Front and told him I never want to see it again.
I love you Chill Wind.
Please don’t forget me.