A loud blaring noise ends your blissful sleep and you instantly snap out of bed. You were trained for this moment. That noise was an alarm and your base was under attack. You look out the window to see the sun hasn't yet risen. The full moon was providing a good deal of light though, enough to allow you to see vague outlines in the room.
People were running throughout the barrack, trying to arm themselves as quickly as possible. Several men were distributing weapons from the armory and you jogged over to get a rifle. The M4 Carbine you had received was cold, smooth, and looked well used in the silver moonlight. Within minutes, the alarm died, and a voice announced over the speaker system, “Drill complete. Time to respond: two minutes, eighteen seconds. With a time like that, we'd all be dead. Hurry it up next time unless you all want to die.”
Groans of unhappiness flooded the building, as everyone finally realized what that meant. At least twice a week now, you'd all be woken up at some time between 11pm and 4am to run that drill over and over. No one was looking forward to it.
After you returned the rifle to the armory, you went back to sleep. Not more than two hours later, though, you were woken up.
Another blaring noise, this one significantly louder than the first time, wakes you from your slumber. A collective groan leaves every man’s mouth as they all ask themselves the same question: “Two drills in the same night?” A loud explosion outside tells everyone it isn't a drill.
The men at the armory are dispatching rifles as quickly as they can, and you receive your M4 Carbine yet again. This exact rifle had saved your life a few times before, and your squad-mates' countless more. You join up with the main force, and all of you rush into the courtyard. Men were in sniper's nests, behind Humvees, loading into tanks, doing anything and everything to deter this threat.
Another explosion, accompanied by a blinding light, destroys the reinforced gate at the edge of the compound. Pieces of metal fly from the destroyed gate, showering the base in metal and glass from windows shattered by the debris. A barrage of bullets flies out of the gaping hole where the gate used to be, and the headlights of several extremist vehicles bounce up the road. The entire base goes from pitch-black to blindingly-bright as someone flips on the spotlights and focuses them down the road.
The tanks pull out of the middle of the courtyard and start heading to meet the enemy. Two of the armored vehicles don't get farther than twenty feet before being disabled by enemy fire. You can tell this battle isn't going to go well for you.
You turn on your radio, only to hear static. “Base, this is Sandman 1-3. Our Operations Center is under direct attack from extremists. Requesting evac, over.”
Without waiting for them to respond, you run over to a Humvee and use it as cover. The extremists have pushed up to the gate, with a few having tried to run through it. They were quickly eliminated.
You click the button to turn the safety off and look over the Humvee. Aiming down the sights, you line up the pin at the end with an enemy soldier's body, and pull the trigger for a second at a time, three bursts total. His body drops with a thud.
You repeat the process, eliminating any stragglers that manage to run into the compound. Over the sound of gunfire and war, helicopter rotors can be heard. You switch the radio channel over to base-wide, and tell half of them to defend while the other half loads the wounded into the med-evac helicopter. As you grab a bleeding soldier and sling him over your soldier into fireman's carry. A sharp, burning pain burrows into your shoulder, causing you to drop to your knees and cough, painfully.
Pain starts radiating from the wound, flowing into other limbs as if it had been injected into your bloodstream. A warm substance flows from the source of the pain, and soon has seeped through your shirt. A hand grabs your arm, and another one grabs your legs. The two pairs of limbs work together to elevate your body off the ground.
“What do his tags say?” a voice asks from behind you.
Someone grabs at something on your chest, and says your name.
“Hang on, we're gonna get you help, okay? Just stay with us. C'mon, don't leave us. You're gonna be just fine. We're gonna get you to a doctor, he's gonna patch you right up. Don't you die on us!” The first voice cycles between those statements as the two men load you onto the helicopter.
The whirring of the blades overpowers the sound of gunshots, and soon you feel elevated. Risking seeing your blood, you open your eyes. The helicopter is a good several hundred feet off the ground, and you're moving fast away from the battle. A high-pitched beeping noise makes your blood run cold.
“What the fuck are they doing?! This is a medical vehicle! They can't shoot at us!” an obviously frustrated pilot screams.
“That's the difference between us and them. We follow the rules. They don't.” answers his co-pilot.
“Shit, do we have anything to defend ourselves with?”
“No. We wouldn't be classified as a medical vehicle if we had any sort of weapons.”
“Hang on tight then, we're going low.” With that, the helicopter drops, and you feel your stomach in your throat. A loud bang, accompanied by the helicopter shaking violently, forces you to open your eyes and look around. Smoke is pouring off the top of the bird, and the pilots look truly scared.
“C'mon, don't do this to me girl! This'll be your last mission, I promise! Get us out of here safely, and I swear we'll just do park rides or something. Just get us home!” the pilot says to the helicopter.
As if the helicopter understood him, the beeping ceased, the rotors spun with less resistance, and the helicopter balanced out. “Whoo, yeah! I knew you had it in you, girl!”
The pilot's cheering is cut short by another explosion, this time on the tail of the helicopter. The aerospace vehicle spins wildly out of control, and the last thing you see before you hit the ground is the pilots trying to brace the wounded for the impact.
______________________________________________________________
“Oooooooooooooowwwwwww...” a groan of pain leaves your dry throat, scratching it on the way out.
“Oh my, he's awake! Angel, go and get me a cold compress and a glass of water. Um, excuse me sir, but what happened? How did you get into the field outside my house?” a feminine voice asks.
“Ungh... What? Where am I?” you ask the voice that questioned you.
“Oh, um, you're in my cottage.”
“Which is where?”
“Right outside Ponyville.”
“Where?”
“Um, Ponyville.”
“I- what?”
“Ponyville, sir. It's a lovely town, with lots of lovely ponies in it. Celestia comes to visit every once in a while. And Luna, too, although she mainly visits on Nightmare Night.”
“So, wait, what's your name?”
“Oh, um, my name is Fluttershy. I take care of all the animals that live here. They like it, and so do I.” She chuckles slightly. “It makes me happy to help others.”
“I think I need to wake up.” So, with the intent of waking up in mind, you fall back asleep.
You awaken to the sound of birds tweeting, and you feel a slight weight pressing down on your chest. It takes a moment for you to conjure the willpower to open your eyes, and as soon as you do, your mind blanks out. Something wasn't right, and you knew it. There was a small white rabbit sitting on your chest, bandages covering your left arm and upper torso, and the scent of fresh coffee filling the air. Why was everything so peaceful if you had just fallen out of a helicopter?
Were you...dead? Is this what death feels like? Is your brain trying to cope with the fact that you had died, so you subconsciously created this alternate reality to try to help yourself deal with the fact that you had died?
“Oh good, you're awake,” says the feminine voice from yesterday. What was her name? You figured it would be rude to ask her what i was, especially after everything she had done for you.
“Huh? Yeah, I'm sore as hell though...” you reply. In all honesty, your pain level wasn't too high, but it was still sore and hurt like hell when you bent at certain angles.
“Let me get you a muscle relaxer and a pain reliever; I'll be right back,” she says, and walks off into another part of the cottage. The rabbit got off your chest and followed her to wherever she went. With her not in the room, you take the chance to look around and explore. It didn't look familiar, not that you expected it to. The walls were a mahogany brown, and there was a staircase to the second floor right next to the couch you were sleeping on. A fireplace provided heat for the entire cottage on the wall next to the main door. A few windows let in the sun's light, and at night (you assume) she would light the candles sitting on the window sills.
“Where did you go? Um, if it's okay for me to ask,” the pink-haired woman (whose name you still don't remember) asks.
“I'm out here; I needed to sit down for a minute and the fireplace looked warm,” you respond. The pink-haired woman sits down on the couch next to you, and neither of you say anything. The crackle of the fireplace draws the attention of both of you, and it keeps it for almost an hour.
A series of rapid thumps on the door draws your attention and hers. Before either of you can even stand up, the door flies open, revealing a purple haired (slightly attractive) woman, with a thin layer of snow covering her jacket.
“It's snowing outside?” you ask.
“Yes, but that doesn't matter,” she says to you. She turns her attention to the pink-haired girl and says, “Fluttershy (That's what her name was!), I got a letter from the princess. She wants you, me, and the rest of the girls in Canterlot. She said she has a speech tomorrow, and she fears there may be an attempt on her life. I told her she was being crazy, but she insisted that there was a group out there that was fed up with her ruling the counrty. I was sent six train tickets and told to pack an overnight bag. I suggest you do the same.”
“Umm... Who?” you ask.
“Princess Celestia, the ruler of Equestria.” the purple-haired one says.
“Oh, Twilight, I think he has amnesia or something. He couldn't remember anything about how he got outside my house, or even Ponyville for that matter!” Fluttershy said.
“Well that's strange. He looks like he hurt himself somehow. Hey, mister, remember anything about what caused your injuries?”
“I have a name you know...”
“I'm sorry. What's your name?” Twilight asks.
You tell her your name, and then say, “I don't remember exactly how I got hurt. I was in a helicopter, and it got shot down, and then... nothing.”
“A helicopter?” Twilight asks.
“It's a giant metal machine that flies and people steer it. They're used a lot in the military.” you respond.
“The military?” she asks.
“The armed forces? National Guard?” you state questioningly.
“Oh, like the Solar Guard.”
“Sure,” you respond, eager to get off the topic.
“Great. Now, Fluttershy, let's go!”
“Oh, but we can't leave him here, and you said there was only six tickets. What are we going to do?” Fluttershy asks.
“I'll pay for his ticket. Just hurry up and pack, Fluttershy! The train leaves in less than two hours!”
Seeing as you had no belongings here with you, you settled for watching the fire some more. Another set of banging on the door draws your attention away, and Twilight opens the door. Standing outside are four more girls, all in their late twenty's it looks.
There's another pink-haired girl, although her hair is a brighter pink, one that almost looks like cotton candy. Another one of the girls has a deep blue, almost purple head of hair. The girl to her left has a blonde, almost orange hair color. The last head of hair to catch your eye is by far the most interesting; she has seven different colors. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and indigo, and violet.
“Oh, who is this?” the one with the deep blue hair asks.
Twilight relays your name to them, and their names to you. The deep blue-haired one was Rarity, a fashion designer. The pink-haired one was Pinkie Pie; she worked over at Sugarcube Corner. The blonde haired one was Applejack; she worked at Sweet Apple Acres, her family farm. The girl with the multicolored hair was Rainbow Dash; she was on Ponyville's own weather team.
The seven of you depart from Fluttershy's cottage, and Twilight makes sure to get an extra ticket at the train station. A few minutes later, the train arrives, and the seven of you embark. The noise of the train cars running along the tracks fills the air for almost an hour, before Twilight asks you everything you could remember. You told her the entire story, excluding the attack on the base. Everyone seemed rather disgusted by the concept of war, and intentionally hurting another person because they disagreed with you.
“The people in Equestria are really friendly; I'm sure Celestia is over-reacting. No one would even think to attack her,” Twilight says.
“I agree completely darling; she knows how to defend herself rather well for one with such dignity.” Rarity adds.
“Not to mention the Solar Guard'd kick the tar outta anyone who tried to hurt 'er.” Applejack says.
Several hours pass, all spent answering all the questions the six people you were with could ask. Soon, everyone else was asleep. You use this time to reflect on what had happened. It was something you had picked up on in the military. Before you can go over too much in your head, your eyes droop shut and you fall asleep.
The sound of a whistle pierces through the fog of your dream, waking you up instantly. Within ten minutes of the whistle going off, you found yourself off the train and walking towards a castle. Twilight said something to one of the two guards by the main gate, and he opens it.
Twenty minutes later, everyone is unpacked and asleep in their own bed, except for you. You were lying back-to-back with the rainbow headed girl. Since there was only six beds, someone had to share with you. When no one volunteered, she said she would deal with you. You were having trouble sleeping, anxious to finally meet the ruler of such a perfect-seeming world. Maybe it really was your subconscious trying to cope with death. If it was, you were perfectly fine with it. A slight shuffling noise causes you to open your eyes and look around the room. Without proper lighting, you couldn't see much. Everyone appeared to be sound asleep, so you chalked the noise up to your imagination. Content with your answer, you close your eyes again, and let sleep overtake you.
You're woken by a high-pitched scream.
