I Came From The Desert

by StreakTheFox

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Human, Gore, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Other, Sex
Length: 15559

A US soldier in Afghanistan finds himself taken from the middle of an ambush and thrown into an unknown desert, with no knowledge of where he is or how to get back home. (Self-insert story)

A US Soldier in Afghanistan gets sent on the biggest adventure of his life after a brutal ambush.
Lost, alone, and stuck in the middle of a desert that wasn't the one he started out in, SPC Cosby must find his way back to the safety of his country's soldiers and their allies. But unknown to him, he's a longer ways from home than he would have ever imagined.

-A shamelss self-insert, partly based on real events.

Published 2014-07-21 19:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2014-07-21 19:00:01 UTC

-Prologue-

I Came From the Desert

-Prologue-

FOB Tiger, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. It was mid morning, and the sun was just starting to make the place a living hell. Thank god it was dry heat, though... I wouldn't have been able to stand it there if there was any humidity in the air. But even still, any sweat we secreted evaporated within moments, forcing our bodies to keep making more, thus dehydrating us rapidly. Because of this, we had to pack a lot of water, which was making my rucksack very heavy.

As I packed away my second canteen of recently filled water, I looked over my gear, making sure that everything I needed was there. I had my duffel bag, rucksack, and assault pack filled with things like extra clothing, bedding, water, and other living supplies to last me a few days. Though I only had two MRE's on me, which was mainly just a precaution, as food would have been provided to me and my buddies where we were going. But still, it all just added together to make more weight, especially since I packed my laptop packed into my duffel.

As I flung all my gear onto my back and walked out of my tent, I thought about the mission I was about to go on. My entire platoon got tasked to head on over to some COP somewhere – I forgot the name, really – and help tear it down over the course of the next few weeks. That was all we were doing lately, either providing security to places that were packing up and moving out, or doing it ourselves.

It seemed like almost all US forces in Afghanistan were preparing their posts for either a complete tear-down, or making way for the Afghan Army that would be replacing them. Most of the shooting and raiding and overall field of war stuff was gone, replaced by the whole “tear-down and move out” plan brought forth by the government. Can't say I could complain though, it was about time we pulled the hell out of Afghanistan and all that, but it really started getting boring just sitting around and doing... essentially nothing all day every day. Our FOB hadn't even been attacked, nor seen any nearby IED's in the five months we'd been out there, making everyone complacent. I was right alongside them though; I really got bored of everything by the second month.

“Hey, Cosby,” I heard, snapping me out of my thoughts as I pondered over how much I didn't want to go tear down yet another installation. I looked to my right, seeing my good friend Duffy approach me with all of his gear on his back. “You all ready for this shit?”

“As I'll ever be,” I replied, shaking my head with my usual smile. I was all about that for some reason, and I really didn't know why. Every day I would be walking around, just smiling without even knowing I'm smiling, and being an all around up-beat character. I was a goofball for sure, messing up occasionally and often times forgetting something I either needed to do or to report to someone, but they never blamed me... most of the time. I got told to do something, replied appropriately with either a “yes sir” or “yes sergeant,” and proceeded to accomplish the task. Really, it made things a lot less of a hassle if you didn't complain to the person telling you to do something... but I sure as hell complained to everyone else.

“Man why the fuck do they got us goin' to another fuckin' COP? I thought we tore'em all down already.”

“Well think of it this way, Duffy,” I chuckled and jabbed him with my elbow as we both walked. “Eventually there'll be no more places to tear down!”

“Yeah, and they'll make it so that all the work's spread out through the entire deployment, so we leave the very next day or somethin'.”

“Yup, probably,” I sighed, my shoulders sagging. “Bastards...” This earned a chuckle from Duffy, who began to smile as well for a few moments. Just then we turned around another tent, our Stryker we were going to be riding in coming into view, and both our smiles vanished.

We both walked slower than normal over to the back hatch of the vehicle, which was already lined up with the rest of the convoy and ready to move out. Ours was either the 4th or 5th in line, I really didn't care to check which, but I hated how I had to be stuck in the back of a freaking Stryker. At least with a Humvee you could open the window or something, but the back of a Stryker was a near literal oven. Hot as hell back there and no reprieve until we could get out, which sucked considering we were going to be stuck in there for the several hours we knew it would take to get to whatever COP we were going to.

Slowly and begrudgingly we loaded our gear into the back, then herded ourselves inside and took our seats. Someone else was already in there, some specialist I didn’t know, who was sitting at the far right corner just looking bored as he sweat his balls off. Both Duffie and I were quick to join him, and it wasn’t long before the vehicle’s Driver and passenger showed up. They came to the back to make sure we were there, then got in and started up the vehicle, making our foundation vibrate subtly.

“Once more into the oven, eh Duffy?” I said, looking to see him sitting across to from me against the back hatch.

“Shit man, I can’t wait to get outta this fuckin desert,” he said, pulling out his phone with his headphones already attached.

“I hear ya brotha-man,” I replied, my own phone coming out with its own headphones. I popped the buds into my ears and began to listen to some music as we felt the truck lurch into motion, and soon enough, we were on our way.

I looked to my watch, seeing that half an hour had passed since we left the FOB. We were exactly where I expected us to be at that time as well, in bumfuck nowhere Afghanistan still driving along some dirt path that someone made a couple million years ago. I turned off my music and put my phone away, deciding to save a bit of battery and just try to get some shut-eye instead. I looked over to duffy, seeing him already dozing off in the corner, his head eyes constantly fluttering from closed to half-closed, and then back again like he was possessed.

The other guy was reading from a paperback book he was holding in his hands, and the driver and passenger were holding some sort of conversation as they both shared a bag of Tostitos or something. I really couldn’t care less, I just wanted to get where we needed to get to already and get on with my life.

It was then that I heard the radio in the front of the vehicle crackle to life, and though I couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, the two up front seemed to take enough interest in it that they stopped grabbing from their back of chips. They then started to look around some, and I heard the passenger say: “This is HHB zero niner, that’s a negative, I don’t see anything on our end, over.”

This got me to sit up, and even the other guy was starting to take interest. I scooted a bit closer, and could hear a bit more of the chatter coming over the radio.

“Roger, I just-” static “-nearby rocks, I couldn’t see any-“ static “-contacts, we’re looking over it right now but-“

Just then a loud boom echoed around us, and a bright flash came from the driver’s view. The three of us in back immediately jumped to full awareness, and the two up front were ducking their heads.

“Shit, IED!” the driver yelled out, and I could feel the vehicle swerving around something, and almost immediately after I heard another smaller explosion, followed by multiple popping sounds from all over.

“Contact, contact, they’ve blocked the road ahead!” I heard someone scream through the radio, as everything around us turned loud with the sound of gunshots.

“Oh shit!” I exclaimed, pulling my weapon close to me and hugging it against my chest, preparing myself mentally for an actual engagement.

“Fuckin shit’s lighting up out there man, we need’a get out!” Duffie yelled over the roar of the battle outside, accompanied by the sound of bullets hitting the outside of the vehicle.

“Driver, we gotta get outta here!” I yelled up to the front, but they didn’t seem to be paying attention as they were focusing with something up front.

All three radios around the vehicle blew up with repots of contact and personnel getting hit, and I could tell we were in the middle of a bad ambush. “Holy shit this is going on the news,” I said aloud.

“Man I don’t wanna be part of the fuckin’ list of dead people, we gotta get out of here and shoot back! Shit, driver let us out!”

We looked over to see the glass of the windshield shatter, and both the guys up front shake violently as blood began to splatter onto the stuff around them.

“SHIT! Duffy, the emergency hatch, where is it!?” I screamed, my body shaking horribly from my fight or flight responses just begging for a release.

“I DON’T FUCKING KNOW, MAN!” he screamed back, looking around everywhere for it.

Time seemed to slow down as I heard a high pitched whine grow louder, and for a brief moment I stood perfectly still as I recognized the sound.

“RPG!” I screamed, before everything went red, orange, and yellow… and then black.

Part 1

I Came From the Desert

-Part 1-

I didn’t know how much time I spent being unconscious, but all I could tell was that I was in a world of hurt. Consciousness returned to me slowly, drawing in the aches and pains of my body in a gradual process. I didn’t want to even open my eyes as I feel every twitch of my muscles send some sort of jolt of pain up my body. I could feel my skin and clothes drenched in sweat as I felt like I was stuck in the middle of an oven. I groaned a little, and felt that my throat and mouth had already gone dry as well.

My joints were stiff, and my back and neck were aching something awful, which was probably due to the weird position I found myself in. I was sprawled out haphazardly on my back; my head crammed against a corner of what I assumed was the inside of the Stryker. My arms and legs were draped over some mesh of hard and soft, most likely a rucksack, an assault pack, some debris, or a combination of it all. I wanted to move just then, but some weight was holding my right arm down, and I couldn’t summon the strength at the time to move it. At that point, I decided to simply let my body calm itself down and to come down from whatever shock it had gone through before I tried any drastic moves. In the meantime, my thoughts drifted to my situation, and my other senses started taking in more information.

The first thing I realized was the noise, or lack thereof coming from my surroundings. Other than my breathing and grunting, I couldn’t hear anything or anyone else around me. There was just the faintest sound of wind coming from some indistinct location, but other than that it was dead silent.

Dead silence… I thought to myself, thinking about the people who were in the Stryker with me at the time. My comrades, my buddies… Duffie! I had to know if he was alright at least, I needed to make sure most of all that my best friend was still with me. It may have seemed selfish from another standpoint, but deep down I knew he was the one I cared for the most who was in this Stryker with me. The other guy in the back with us, I couldn’t even recall his face at the time. The driver and passenger, though I had somewhat been acquainted with them, I still couldn’t place names. It was all about my best friend at that moment, and to make sure he was alright.

Though my body ached in protest, I slowly leaned myself upright, my eyes cracking open to take in the scene before me. I felt my breath leave my lungs as I stared ahead, a small whimper escaping my lips.

The Stryker was a mangled mess of metal, gear, tools, and bodies. The driver and passenger in the front were hunched over, blood splattered all over the front windshields which sported cracks and holes scattered around them. There was a messy hole in the front right side of the Stryker, right next to where the other specialist I didn’t know was sitting with metal serrated and bent inwards from an explosion. The body of that same specialist was splayed across the front, his body a mangled mess of blood, flesh, gear, and uniform.

I wanted to yell out and curse, to get myself out of this metallic box of death I had found myself in. But as I tried to spring to my feet or my knees, the weight on my arm tugged me back down, and the resulting pause allowed me to reprocess my thoughts. I steadied by breath and closed my eyes, remembering my training when in stressful situations. First, I had to identify the problem. The problem was that I was stuck in a ruined Stryker with dead bodies all around me… and that I still didn’t know where Duffie was. Next, I had to gather information, and that meant take a full survey of my surroundings.

More calmly this time, I raised myself upward, this time the weight on my arm not surprising me. Nothing was on fire or smoking, meaning whatever fire left over from the explosion had long since extinguished. Furthermore, looking over my shoulder to the right, the back hatch still seemed to be intact, meaning that if I could find the handle, I could open it and get the hell out of there. Deciding that escaping the wreckage would be the best first step, I sought to remove what was pinning down my right arm. As I grabbed onto a piece of fabric and got a firm grip, I looked over to see what needed to be removed-

…And stared into the stilled face of my best friend.

Duffie’s dead, I thought to myself as a thousand other thoughts raced through my mind. As if a million different voices were speaking out simultaneously, the only one I could hear clearly was the one repeating “Duffie’s dead, Duffies’s dead” over and over. I could see the blood trailing down the side of his head with a piece of shrapnel protruding just beside his temple. My hand went to his cheek just then, his skin cold to the touch. I didn’t even bother with a pulse at that point as I had already deduced the fate of my closest pal.

I still need to get out, I told myself, my thoughts overriding my building emotions just then. I need to get moving, to get out here and get help! My training and survival instincts were beginning to kick in, allowing me to push my emotions aside, along with Duffie’s body, and freeing my right arm.

I got up into a regular sitting position, looking around quickly to once more take in my surroundings. Though my mind was buzzing with a cacophony of thoughts and feelings, the overdrive this was sending my mind into allowed me to begin analyzing my surrounds much more quickly and thoroughly than before. My body was still fully intact, albeit a little sore, and my rucksack was below me, seemingly undamaged. My Assault pack was at my side, also seeming undamaged, though my duffle bag about a foot away looked scorched and littered with puncture holes.

My companions’ gear wasn’t in much better shape than my duffle, their stuff all torn up and charred, making me feel more amazed than anything that I too wasn’t turned into swiss cheese. Looking around more, my eyes locked onto the emergency lever beside the back hatch meant to release the door. Quickly I turned the handle, heard an unseen mechanism lurch into motion for a short moment, and then the back hatch drop outward and slam into the ground. Immediately I scrambled out of the Stryker, using the open space to better clear my head and think of my next plan of action.

Stumbling outside, I slowly righted myself as I took in my surroundings. I knew the deserts of Afghanistan, and I knew what the highways and villages of it looked like.

Nothing around me resembled any of that.

It was a desert alright, with a hot sun overhead and not a cloud in the sky, but it was a lot the Sahara than anything else. There was sand in every direction, curving up in low gentle mounds that stretched hundreds of yards each. The only notable sort of landmark was what seemed to be the start of a mountain range in the distance, though that seemed to be at least 30 miles from where I was. There were no roads, no plants, just bare sand and hot, dry air.

The Stryker was in bad shape looking from the inside, and it seemed only worse from the outside. Most of the armor was charred and warped, while the big hole I saw from the inside looked even bigger from the outside. I circled the vehicle slowly, noticing how the ground below it wasn’t disturbed by any sort of explosion, or any signs that the vehicle had moved itself to that location. None of the ground around me was disturbed except for what was directly beneath the vehicle, making it seem as if something had gently set the wreckage, all intact, onto where it was.

I mumbled some expletives to myself as I mulled it all over in my head. I remembered partially seeing the driver area getting shot up for a few moments, and I even remembered hearing the rocket or whatever hit us that made that hole. But there was nothing else here for me to use, no tracks, no signs, just… barren wasteland. I was all alone, and anyone who could help me was gone.

I needed a plan, and in order to make that, I needed to keep a straight mind and take inventory of what was salvageable. And in order to do that, I couldn’t let myself succumb to my emotions, not yet at least.

I returned to the open back hatch of the Stryker, grabbing my rucksack and my assault pack, setting them a couple feet from the wreckage. I quickly began looking through them, making special note not to look back inside the open door in an effort to keep my head in line and reduce the risk of an emotional breakdown. Sifting through my gear, I ensured that it was all intact and began running through a mental checklist of what I had.

In my rucksack I had: one canteen filled with water, one sleeping mat, a wet weather jacket and trousers, a bath towel, a laundry bag filled with – 4 sets of socks, underwear, undershirts, and 2 extra uniforms – my complete sleeping system with my 3 different types of sleeping bags, an extra pair of rifleman’s gloves, leather working gloves, a poncho, a poncho liner, a gator neck, a balaclava, goggles, a set of cold weather silk tops and bottoms, and an MRE.

In my assault pack I had: two extra magazines filled with 30 rounds for my M4, one full change of clothes including uniform, my hygiene kit, another bath towel, and another MRE.

On my person I had: my full uniform and a set of clothes, my assault vest with plates, my rifleman’s vest over that with all my ammo pouches holding 7 magazines – all filled with 30 rounds, elbow pads and knee pads, one full camelback, one M67 grenade, another filled canteen, my wallet with my ID, my phone, my Kevlar helmet, my weapon with a red dot sight and rail system, my personal medical bag, my Gerber, my knife, and my flashlight.

I looked around outside once more, figuring my best destination to be towards the mountains. There was literally nothing else in any direction, and I would need a lot more water than I had on me in order to reach the mountains. And after that… well, I hoped I would find civilization somewhere along the way. In truth I was very much in the dark, and most certainly in the middle of nowhere, so I was simply making educated guesses at that point.

With a sigh I moved back into the Stryker, and actually paused as I looked over my fallen comrades again. Never leave a fallen comrade… I thought to myself as I looked over the bodies. It was part of the soldier’s creed, one of the basic rules by which we live by, yet… there was no way I would be able to recover their bodies all on my own. I would need help to get them back to the states, and standing around in the middle of nowhere wouldn’t get that to happen.

I could feel my chest tightening as I tugged their bags and began to rummage through them for more water and anything else I could carry. It felt wrong that I had to go through their stuff like I was, but I knew it was necessary in order to get me out of there.

I just couldn’t get over the fact that there wasn’t more to do though, and I stopped mid-search to look over the bodies once more, tears building under my eyes.

I blinked the tears away and wiped my eyes with my sleeves, trying to get myself moving again. A nagging thought hit my mind, one that gave me an idea to honor my comrades before I could help them. I remembered seeing it on a war movie, and so I slid my hand down the top of Duffie’s shirt and fished out his dog tags. With a firm tug the chain snapped, and I stared at the tags in my palms for a few seconds before sliding them into my left chest pocket. I never used my chest pockets for anything other than important personal items, so it only felt right to store them there. I moved to each soldier; even those in the front of the ruined Stryker with the blood splattered everywhere, and collected their dog tags in the same fashion.

I then returned to the back of the Stryker and continued rummaging through the damaged bags. My efforts were rewarded with two filled canteens and a nearly full camelback, along with an extra M67 grenade that the passenger had, two MRE’s, and even an unopened bottle of Gatorade. I packed it all away in my rucksack – except for the grenade, which went in an alternate pouch on my vest – and went back in, this time trying to see if there was anything left in my duffle bag that I could use.

My heart skipped a beat as I pulled out my laptop. I cherished this device, not as much as the lives of my friends, but it had a lot of my life’s memories in it. I slowly inspected it, and even pressed the power button to see if it still worked, and by some force of the divines it still did. I so desperately wanted to stuff it in my rucksack and take it with me, but in reality, I couldn’t.

The laptop would have been too much extra weight – especially with the added cords and mouse – and who knows if I would ever find the right civilization anytime soon to use it. Also, when (not if, I liked to think that I would get out of it alive) I was found, I didn’t want them to see that I chose my laptop over other more important survival items. Begrudgingly, I set my laptop back into the bag and set it all back in the remains of the Stryker, confident I would see it again someday.

As I looked over my newly modified rucksack and reassessed the path I planned to take, a thought occurred to me. I knew I had a lot of ground to cover, and with the heat of the desert making it so I would need a lot of water, time was of the essence. I took off my vest with the bulletproof plates, removed my rifleman’s kit from the vest, and equipped just the kit instead. That way I could drop the weight from the plates and the vest, while still keeping the tactical aspects of it with my magazine pouches and other pockets already equipped on the kit. If I had the vest, it would only serve to slow me down more, and I didn’t expect to see any insurgents this far out in the middle of nowhere.

Well, I hoped I wouldn’t, at least.

Finally, I donned my rucksack with my assault pack clipped on top of it, checked my gear one more time, took my M4 in my hands, and set off towards the mountains. I ended up looking back over my shoulder a lot, feeling resentment at leaving the remains of other soldiers behind… but it had to be done. I popped the drinking tube of my camelback into my mouth and began to drink away as I walked, thinking about what had happened and what the future holds for me.

As I walked, another thought popped into my mind. I reached into my right chest pocket and pulled out my phone, the headphones still wrapped around it. I allowed myself a smirk despite myself, and plugged the buds into my ears as I searched through my playlist.

Thank god the battery was still almost full.

“Well thump, icky thunk, oop bap-bap trunk in the radio, dan’an, un~.” I sang to myself as I mindlessly trudged through the desert.

I didn’t really know all the rabble they sang in that song, so I substituted my own noises and sounds to keep with the rhythm of the song. It really didn’t matter to me though, it all kept my mind occupied as I continue to put one step in front of the other, moving towards the mountains at a steady pace.

A buzz from my pocket jolted me back into awareness, and upon pulling out my phone I noticed the warning telling me that my battery was at 50%. I sighed and looked up, noticing the sun to be about halfway between noon and sunset. I figured that by the time I got to the mountains, my battery would be about dead, and I wanted to save it for sometime later – most likely when I’m hiking through the uneven terrain.

I turned my phone off and rolled my headphones up around it, placing it in my right chest pocket before focusing once more on the long walk ahead.

“God damnet,” I swore tiredly, reaching for my camelback’s sipping hose. “I hate deserts.”

By the time I reached the mountains the sun was already beginning to fall into the horizon, and I was feeling like I was about to fall into the ground. My legs hurt and my body was slouched over, my clothes long since drenched over multiple times from sweat. I had already drunk my camelback out three times, each time refilling it with the canteens stored in my rucksack. I was nearing emptying it out a fourth time when I started rounding the first peak, and was surprised to feel the air begin to cool more than usual.

I knew the day was ending, and that the night would bring much cooler air, but what I didn’t expect was such a drastic temperature change. Normally in Afghanistan when night came, the temperature didn’t drop all that much. Yeah it got a lot cooler and felt nicer, it never dropped down to the point where I started to shiver. Although that could have been just my sweat cooling, I still felt put off about the drastic change.

That aside, however, I realized that I was in unfamiliar territory and about to lose my traveling light. Though I still didn’t expect much wildlife since there wasn’t hardly any foliage that I could see around these mountains, the ground w as still very rocky and uneven.

But as I thought about it, I realized something peculiar. I’d been around mountains before, and while from a distance they looked like them, it only seemed like it would take about half an hour to walk around just one, making them seem like abnormally tall and slightly pointy hills. They couldn’t have been more than a thousand feet tall, which I wouldn’t have even considered a mountain at the time.

Working my way up another hillside, I began to shiver more as the temperature dropped even further. My chest and head were still warm from my sustained exercise, but my limbs were beginning to cool off considerably. At that point I realized I would need to find shelter, lest I run the risk of becoming a victim of this barren landscape.

With the light fading, I turned my head left and right in a scanning motion, searching for some sort of deep crevice, large rock formation, or even a cave I might be able to hold up in. To my luck, a large, flat boulder was jutting out the hillside at an angle, promising at least some protection from the elements.

With increased haste I made my way under the rock, dropping my gear on the ground and finally relaxing after several hours of rucking across a desert and a couple hills. I opened and ate the contents of one of my MRE’s, making sure not to waste a single food item while downing another half a canteen. I thought about making a fire, but I quickly banished the thought as I didn’t have any wood or something to even start the fire.

After filling my stomach and looking over my supplies once more, I began to prepare to rest for the night. By that time the sun had already set, and I was working by flashlight to get my makeshift shelter ready. All I did was drape my poncho and poncho liner overhead of the boulder and hold it down with some heavy rocks, allowing the area inside cover from both vision and any wind. Inside I had my mat set down with my summer sleeping bag set up inside of my wet weather shell, in case of rain or morning dew.

As I was undressed down to my boots, pants, and t-shirt, I stepped out of my shelter to have a look around. Normally I would be all about bunking down and getting some shut-eye, but the unfamiliar environment drove me to take another look around since my scrambling to get a shelter put up was over. Crossing my arms from the cold air, I scanned the landscape with a neutral expression, the light of the moon illuminating the ground just enough for me to see. But as I gazed up at the mountain tops, my eyes widened with surprise.

“Holy shit,” I half-gasped, looking past the peaks and focusing on the abnormally bright lights which allowed the area to be so illuminated.

It was beautiful, far more so than I had ever seen it before, bringing a smile across my face. I had always loved the night, and star gazing was one of my favorite things to do when the sky was clear, as it always brought me unparalleled amounts of peace and serenity.

“By the powers…” I whispered to myself, “You really have outdone yourself tonight, Luna.”

It wasn’t uncommon I would find myself talking to the Royal Sisters – mainly Princess Luna – as a sort of inside joke to myself. I loved the show, and even though I knew it was all fictional, I liked to sometimes pretend that they existed, and they could hear my words when I spoke out to the night. I never spoke out in the day, however… I liked the night time a lot more.

After a long sigh, I closed my eyes and gently whispered into the night “Goodnight Princess Luna… and so long, Duffie. May the stars guide you, my friend.”

With tears threatening to stain my cheeks once more, I slowly made my way into my shelter, my mind and body getting its first chance to rest.

I woke up sometime with an odd sense of paranoia. I was almost instantly wide awake, looking around defensively as if I was being watched. It left me feeling uncomfortable, and I was quick to tug my M4 from beside my sleeping bag to my chest. It may have been just the feeling of being alone and in an unknown place, but I didn’t really know.

The sun was up already, and it looked like it had only recently risen over the horizon. It was also warm out, yet not the same scorching heat that the desert I recently trudged through had. Slowly, and careful to keep an eye on my surroundings, I began to tear down my little camp and pack everything up. I stopped for a while once I was ready to go, and opted to have another MRE for breakfast. With only two more remaining, I would either need to ration what I had left, or find another source of food.

Once that was finished, I hefted my stuff onto my back, and drove on with M4 in hand, this time with a magazine loaded into the magazine well. I didn’t have a round loaded into the chamber, but I figured it better to be prepared than not if trouble arose, and considering my surroundings, I had no idea when or if that the time for that would come.

I looked at my watch several hours later, seeing the time 12:13 displayed on the screen. I looked up, seeing the sun in the middle of the sky just as it should be. I was thankful that it wasn’t nearly as hot as it was yesterday, yet there were more pressing matters to be concerned about. I was hungry again, and really wishing I could eat another MRE, but I knew I had to conserve that. I was also down to my last filled canteen; with my camelback I was using already half empty from the last canteen fill-up.

It was around that time that my luck started to turn up, and as I crested another slope I saw a creek flowing between two of the mountains. I chuckled to myself, smiling dumbly as I quickly jogged my way down to it. I decided to rest there for a while as well, my legs feeling immediately relieved once I removed my packs and sat down beside the water.

I didn’t have any purification tablets, or any way to boil it to remove bacteria, but it was definitely better than nothing. Besides, I thought I remembered from somewhere that mountain stream water was supposed to be pretty safe to drink anyway, so I used that as an excuse to not worry about it as I took a long drink and filled up all of my canteens and my other camelback.

Feeling calm and relaxed, I opted for a bit of a nap, knowing that my legs desperately needed a reprieve. Though there still wasn’t anything moving from where I could see, I felt confident that I was still alone. I pushed my earlier paranoia aside and laid back against my ruck, slowly shutting my eyes as I hugged my M4 close to my chest.

I was roused from my sleep as a peculiar noise reached my ears, nagging at my brain until I eventually realized that it wasn’t coming from a dream. It was like a high pitched squeak from up above, and I quickly opened my eyes and turned my head to search for the source of the noise.

It didn’t take me long to discover a small brown bird fluttering around overhead, chirping away as it circled the area. I stared at it as it eventually turned and flew over a nearby hill and out of sight, leaving me once more in silence.

My first thought was how nice it was to see a bird again, which calmed me slightly, but within moments I was on my feet and staring at where I saw it fly off. Wait, a bird wouldn’t be around a barren mountain range unless… maybe there’s something over that hill, like a forest, or habitable land! Driven by my excitement, I quickly donned my gear once more and raced up the hill, ignoring the pain in my legs as they were so abruptly forced back into action.

My breathing was heavily labored by the time I reached the top, but my efforts were rewarded as I gazed upon the scene before me.

There was a light forest just ahead, gradually building up as it wound around the rocky hills and stretched to the horizon. Looking further out I could see what looked to be small buildings, as if a village lay either within or at the other edge of the forest, a clear sign of civilization.

I looked to my watch for a brief moment, seeing the time as 15:07. It would be a stretch, but I figured I would be able to make it there before sundown if I moved quickly enough. I was still hungry, and my legs were also pretty sore even after my nap, but the prospect of getting to the next step back to safety was enticing.

I had to be cautious though, as I didn’t really know much afghan, and there may be insurgents within the village. Perhaps the cover of night would be better after all, I thought to myself, contemplating my options. Eventually I figured I would play things out on the fly, figuring I would be able to work things out in the midst of things.

Certainly one of my most notable factors was my tendency to “Leeroy” myself into things, often jumping into the fray or waltzing into somewhere when more thought or planning would be suggested. It’s gotten me in trouble a few times, but never to a significant amount.

As I started down the hill and towards the edge of the forest, I hoped that my good luck wouldn’t run out just yet.

The sun was setting by the time I started hearing noises up ahead. The forest had gotten considerably thicker, but I didn’t mind. It felt great to transition from a sand-covered wasteland to a cool, comforting forest, but I couldn’t help but think at times that it was happening too quickly. It was true that I had recently passed a rather drastic terrain feature, but I still expected more distance between such radically different climates.

Nevertheless, I slowed my approach as I came upon an exceptionally thick layer of shrubbery, sneaking around on my side while trying to peer through the leaves. I didn’t want to randomly walk into a random town in a foreign country and get myself in a heap of trouble I couldn’t get out of, I needed to collect information first. But as I skirted around more, I began thinking critically over the events that had transpired since I woke up.

Why had the Stryker I was in and the bodies of my friends get deposited in the middle of some unknown desert? How come the mountains were not as large as they normally were around Afghanistan, and textured so differently? How was it that I could cross an entire range within a day, and come out into a forest? And why was it that Afghan locals were speaking perfect English?

…

Wait a second…!

I immediately poked my head through a bush, and came face to face with a colorful pony.

Silence took over us as we stared at each other. My brain worked in overdrive to process w hat was in front of me, while simultaneously gawking incredulously at the fact that there was a pony with the exact same features one would expect from my favorite show right in front of me. Its coat was a light brown and accented with a maroon colored mane and small pointed beard, though without any horn or wings. By the look of his snout, I deduced his gender to be male, and as I continued to stare dumbly at him, I could see him hooves start to slowly backpedal.

It doesn’t take long for me to come up with something to say. I drew upon my powers Leeroy and spoke to him in as much of a friendly, yet mature voice as possible.

“Well hello there!” I said, ripping the exact tone and facial features from Obi Wan Kenobi when he jumped down in front of General Grievous in Episode III.

Judging by how he continued to backpedal, I may not have approached the situation in the best way.

Part 2

I Came From the Desert

-Part 2-

As he continued to backpedal, I took more notice of our surroundings. Directly behind him was a house, and judging by the way he was backing up, it looked like he’d bump right into it within a few seconds. To my left was more forest, and to my right was a more open area where I could see the edges of more homes. It looked like I arrived at the edge of the village or something, and this guy just happened to be here when I popped my fat head out.

I figured that if I tried to reason to him not to scream and get all frantic, he would just get even more nervous and do just that. I also thought that just sitting around would make the guy eventually freak out and run off screaming anyways. I also figured at that moment that I had to be in some sort of dream, and that I simply hadn’t waken up from whenever I previously passed out.

However, content with continuing along with this exceptionally weird chain of events while still thinking up an alternate way to make him not run off screaming, I made my move.

Putting on my most depressed face I could, I slowly turned my head towards the ground and said, “Oh, you’re just gonna think I’m a monster and run away screaming like everyo-er, everypony else… I see.”

I closed my eyes and even sniffled once to emphasize this, trying to look as hurt as possible. My plan seemed to have worked, at least to a degree, as the stallion didn’t bolt off screaming like a schoolgirl. He paused for a moment, looked to his sides, and then spoke to me.

“I-I uh, I… I’m sorry?” he said more of in a question than as a real apology.

“No, I’m sorry,” I replied, opening my eyes and lifting my head up slightly to look at him. “I came here unannounced, and I probably scared the bajeebers out of ya, so please, if it’s ok with you, may I more properly introduce myself?”

My kindness and appearance of sincerity seemed to have had an effect on him, and he visibly relaxed a bit as he took in my words. Yeah, even though I was still a head poking through a bush and that position was getting pretty uncomfortable at that point, I was crouched down at the time so our heads were level, so he probably didn’t see me as imposing as I would have been had I just waltzed out of the woodwork in full stride. He seemed unsure still, like he was cursing himself for not doing something one way or another at that point, but he seemed resolute on at least hearing me out.

“A-alright, sure, I mean… you’re not really a monster or anything, are you?” He said, a bit of accent in his voice. I couldn’t really place it at the time, probably because of how much he was stuttering and how his voice was shaky, but it almost sounded Russian.

I smiled a bit and shifted my body, keeping as calm of a face as I could manage, despite my excitement. “Worry not my friend; I am a very peaceful being. Just don’t be too intimidated by my appearance, okay?” He nodded in response, and after a long breath I slowly walked out of the bushes at my full height.

I figured he would still be intimidated regardless of my prior warning, and I was right, as his head only came up to my stomach. He looked like he was about to run off screaming again before I promptly took a knee and looked at him with the same smile. After a few moments I held out my hand – slowly, so as not to scare him – and gave him a proper greeting.

“Hello sir, I’m a human, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

He looked at my extended hand, and while I was pretty sure he realized it was a greeting, he was still pretty hesitant. However, my patience and kind gestures paid off, and he eventually raised his hoof and placed it in the palm of my hand.

I can’t describe how I felt at that moment. Even if it was just a dream, I had never had one so vivid before, or in a scenario that actually seemed believable. I was so happy, and I had to really contain myself from jumping around in excitement at the fact that I had probably just made headway in making a real pony friend! Like, from the MLP universe and everything! Holy crap! I thought to myself, fighting to keep myself still. This is happening man, this dream is really happening! God I hope this is one of those recurring dreams that continues the next time I go to sleep!

I slowly wrapped my fingers around his hoof and gave it a few shakes, careful not to startle him in the process. He eyed me warily, as would be expected, but soon enough relaxed once I let go and returned my arm to myself. I gave him another not, and he returned with a somewhat shaky smile, but despite himself I thought he did pretty well for his situation. I certainly was grateful that he didn’t have the same mindset as somepony like the flower girls in Ponyville, or else the entire town would be in an uproar by that time.

Gently I let go of his hoof, lowering my arm back down to my side as he did the same. We stood there for a few moments, feeling the awkward silence take hold. I was about to say something again when he beat me to the draw.

“I uh,” he began, clearing his throat. “I don’t suppose you have a name, dah?” I raised an eyebrow at that; somewhat surprised that he had actually gotten past his fear that much to ask for my name. “My name is Jury Rig, uh, what brings you to this village, eh?”

Yup, definitely Russian, I thought to myself as I recognized his accent. I didn’t remember anywhere in the show, or any character for that matter, that used a Russian accent, so I was sort in an unknown zone of where I might be in relation to everywhere else. Regardless, this was just the first step, in what seemed like a great dream journey, so I wanted to play through as best as I could and not try to warp reality or anything.

I was going to respond with my name, maybe even my rank and where I came from at the time, but I stopped myself as I gave it some more thought. My real name was so different than what anypony probably anywhere would ever use, so I figured I should use something different, yet something I would easily remember and accept being recognized by.

And at that moment, I thought about my online username, and it all became clear.

“My name,” I paused for just a moment, adding the slightest bit of dramatics into it, “is Streak.”

I was resolute with my new name, knowing that I would stick with it for the remainder of my adventure. Wherever I went, whatever I would face, I would be known as Streak.

“Ah, well,” he said, a nervous smile appearing on his face. “It’s, uh, good to meet you. I uh, I’ve never met a… hoomin, before?”

“I wouldn’t imagine you, or anypony else would have, really,” I smiled down at him, holding my hands together. “Humans are, well…” I paused, thinking how I would best explain my race.

It seems they really don’t know about humans, I thought to myself, thinking how best to describe my people. I doubt I would get far explaining any of our wars or conflicts we’ve had, and my attempts to explain technology would also probably end up in failure one way or another. But he had no idea of any of that, or of what I was here for. In fact, I was free to make up just about anything, and he would probably believe it.

Every brony out there has had a way they would explain humans if they somehow found themselves in Equestria. They also would have a simple goal, and a commonly agreed upon entry point being either in the middle of the Everfree Forest, or on the edge of suspiciously close to Fluttershy’s house. But as for me, I didn’t really know where I was, or if this was even Equestria at all!

As a story writer, I had already thought up multiple ideas for explaining myself to their race if given the chance, and given the condition which I seemed to enter this world, it didn’t take me long to pick it out.

I sighed deeply, putting on a solemn face as I stared into his eyes intensely before I began. “The Human Race is all but extinct now, and I am the last living human in existence.”

Today was quite the day for surprises for this pony – and for me as well – but I believed that telling him that was just about the icing on the cake. I could see his mouth working to say something, but no words come out while his ears and tail flicked to and fro nervously. I felt bad for the poor guy, he was probably just expecting another normal day, and then I came along and just threw a metaphorical wrench into his everything ever.

“…Why?” he asked incredulously.

“Why, eh?” I shifted a bit, looking to the ground as I thought about it a bit more. “Well, it’s a bit of a long story, and I wouldn’t want to keep you from doing… you know, your normal daily routine, and stuff.” I gestured towards the building behind him and around the general area. His ears perked up at this and he gave me another small smile.

“Dah, is not problem, today is Sunday and I have no work to do. I was just checking around forest edge for my daughter’s doll she said s he lost.” He chuckled a bit and scratched the back of his head, and I could feel the awkward pause begin to settle on us again.

“Well, perhaps you can help me then,” I began. “I’m currently on a mission to Canterlot, and I need help with supplies and directions. Do you know where I could find somewhere to get food or find out how to get there?”

“Canterlot?” he replied. “Oh no, that is a long ways from here, and no train either.”

Damnet, I thought, my legs still aching from all the walking I had done.

“And getting there, it is almost impossible with lot of money. No one town has anything like that, you need to go to city and convince somepony of great power to get you transport.”

“Well, cripes then…” I crossed my arms, thinking to myself. Apparently it wasn’t going to be as easy as I had hoped… Props to you dream for making this hard on me.

“What do you need in Canterlot, if you don’t mind me asking?” I was a bit surprised that he had already seemed to be getting over the fact that I was a strange, unknown creature, but it seemed my civility and not-trying-to-eat-him aspect seemed to be paying off for me.

“Well,” I started, slowly sitting down before him with my legs crossed, “As the last of my kind, it has become my duty to travel to Canterlot and get their scholars to record as much of the history of the human race as I can remember. That way, when I do die, we won’t be forgotten forever.”

“Mmmmm,” he closed his eyes for a few moments, seeming deep in thought.

I was hoping my quest seemed noble and all that to him, and that he would be willing to help. Maybe I can even get him to be a member of my party and call him rocky or something! I thought to myself, chuckling internally.

“Wait,” he said suddenly, his eyes opening and then narrowing at me with obvious suspicion. “Why would ponies not know of humans? Were you hiding from us, and if yes, then why?”

“It’s… complicated,” I sighed, rocking a little as I tried to think up a way to work out the details. “You see, I came from the desert, as all humans did. That was where we lived, because there… well, there wasn’t as much ambient magic in the air as there was everywhere else.”

“Humans don’t like magic?”

“I wished we could, honestly, heh,” I bit my lip a little, hoping my lie would work. “But ya see, humans are a very ancient race. We’ve lived before magic was even a real force on the planet. And when magic finally was introduced and shaped the world to how it is today… we started dying from it.”

“Dying!? Did, did you use the magic in wrong way or something?”

“No, no, nothing like that,” I dismissed, waving my hand. “Magic to humans is like poison. It’s a slow process, but the longer a human is exposed to magic, the shorter his life becomes.” Jury Rig seemed taken aback at this, as if such a prospect was even more outlandish than something like me literally walking out of the woodworks like I did.

“I never thought of such a thing as being possible,” he whispered just loud enough for me to hear. “But, if you say that magic is poison to you, then does that mean that…”

“Yes,” I finished solemnly. “As we speak the magic around us is affecting my body. I probably only have a few months now before…” I knew just leaving it at that would be enough, but I wanted to make it hit him a bit harder than it already would. “…I would just go to sleep one day and, ya know, not wake up.”

Judging by the whole village setting, he was probably a simple stallion with a simple life, and most likely knew what it was like to have some elder die of old age in their sleep. I used that to help make it all impact him more, as something dying prematurely in a way meant for those of old age would probably horrify him. It seemed like I was right as well, if the appalled expression he was giving me was any indication. He was probably contemplating the thought that the very existence of one of the most common things in nature was deadly simply by existing.

After a small while though he shook his head and stared at me with a very serious expression.

“I might not be able to do much, but I will do my best to help you.”

“R-really?” I asked, genuinely surprised that this guy would actually be determined to help another creature in such a situation. I honestly expected him to just apologize and I would go along my way or something, but this guy seemed like he was nobler than that. I liked him already.

“Da. Is very big deal for you, and for your whole race even, so it would be wrong for me to help a pony in such need, or, uh… human, in this case.”

“Well! I uh, I’m very humbled, sir, that you would agree to help me.” I started to stand up, by my legs gave out a bit and forced me onto my knee, making me gasp out a little. “Ah man…”

“Are you hurt?” he asked, suddenly concerned for me as he was by my side in a moment.

“No, no,” I waved my hand in dismissal. “Just a little sore… I’ve had a long journey so far. I had to trudge through a desert and that entire mountain range with all this stuff on my back, ya know.” I pointed to the large pack on my back, which he looked over briefly.

“Those are human saddlebags?”

“Well, we don’t call them saddlebags, we call them rucksacks,” I shrugged and finished getting to my feet. “But the concept is the same, essentially.”

“I see…” He watched me for a few moments as I shook out my legs a bit, wincing from the feeling of my aching muscles being worked out.

“So,” I began again, smiling at him once more, “where do we start?”

“We start with rest,” he said, turning away and starting to walk off. “Come, you need rest before going off on long trip again. I will take you to my home.”

“Really? I mean… you don’t mind me resting at your place for a while?”

“Dah, Is the least I can do,” he smiled back towards me, and I began following him out from behind the house.

“Thank you then, sir, I am very grateful.” He nodded in reply as we started walked down a simple cobblestone street. As I began to follow him I took note of his cutie mark, a wrench and screwdriver crossing together on his flank.

The town we were in certainly was small. From what I could see, it was just a clearing in the forest with a collection of houses, and its borders didn’t stretch further than few hundred meters. And though I couldn’t count exactly how many houses there were, it seemed to be under or around only 20. There were also a few ponies milling about, some mares, some stallions, and several even pulling carts of some sort of farming equipment. It all seemed like a very humble lifestyle, even simpler than Ponyville.

It didn’t take long though for them to start taking notice of the tall, oddly colored thing following Jury Rig around, and with a town this small they all most likely knew each other. No doubt I would probably have to explain myself to the whole town at some point, but maybe my story would spread by simple word of mouth, so it was up at the air at that point. Either way, they all looked at us with mixtures of emotions ranging from surprise and fear, to curiosity and intrigue.

I still thought I would have caused an uproar had I run into anypony else. It seemed like I just happened to stumbled upon one of the few reasonable ponies that wouldn’t go bat-shit insane just from seeing me. Well, he almost did, anyways…

Either way, I tried my best to seem friendly to them as we passed. I was waving and smiling at those who I caught staring, but that only seemed to confuse them more. I should have figured this, but I couldn’t help but smile at everything around me. It was all so wonderful! I was in a town full of colorful ponies, it was a brony’s dream! The only way it would be better was if I was in ponyville instead, but that was certainly on my to-do list.

As we rounded a corner there was one mare heading directly towards us, and upon seeing me she stopped and gawked at the sight, even backpedaling some as she did. Her coat was a dark yellow and her tail and mane was a mix of gray, white, and red stripes.

“Chyort, what the hay!?” she cried out, looking between me and Jury Rig. “Rig, what is this thing followin ya?”

“Do not get scared from him, Pepper,” he said with a small smile, waving a hoof at her as we passed by. “He is with me, and is friend. I will talk more later, but first I must get him to home.”

She seemed like she was about to say more, but as I walked by I waved and smiled at her just like I did the others, and she just stared dumbfounded as we passed by. No doubt I would probably see her again, but I pushed that thought aside and focused on Jury as he approached the door to a particular home. It was square like most, but had a sort of attachment on the side as if someone had built an addition as sort of a home project, most likely to add more room.

It seemed like it needed it too, since the cabin was already exceptionally small. It looked a little rundown as well, despite the homey feel from all the little trinkets and additions hanging around the front door and single window to the door’s left. It was quaint and simple, yet I couldn’t help but get a poverty vibe from it.

He opened the door and led me inside, though I had to duck my whole body to get through the door, and even keep my head ducked down in order to not hit my head on the ceiling. Immediately before me was what seemed to be a mix of a living room, dining room, and kitchen altogether. There was a couch on the near left corner and a couple of chairs on the right side, followed by a square table in the center with some plates set out. On the far end were a sink, an oven/stove combination, and a small set of cabinets with a worn marble counter.

There was a pony at the stove, a pegasus mare with a bright red coat and green who was currently stirring something in a pot while humming a tune to herself. Her mane was double braided and split down the center, one braid going down either side of her head, and for a cutie mark she had a collection of small white sparkling gems. Her ears were perked up, most likely from the sound of the door entering, and spoke to us right after it closed.

“Back already, darling?” she asked without turning around, her voice light and sweet. “You found Plum’s toy that fast?”

“Nyet my darling, something much more important has come to us.”

At this the wife paused and turned around, and that’s when she caught sight of me. It was a good thing she wasn’t holding the stirring spoon in her mouth just then, or else she would have dropped it on the floor when her mouth flung open and she almost knocked the pot over when she bumped her flank into it from the surprise of seeing me.

“W-what is that!?” she nearly screamed, her eyes darting wildly between me and what I was pretty sure was her husband.

“Don’t worry my jewel, he is kind, and our newest guest,” Jury assured, quickly coming up to her and taking her in his forearms.

“But, b-b-but what, where did…?”

“Allow me to introduce myself, madam,” I said as gently and politely as I could, making my way down to a knee to not seem as imposing. “My name is Streak, and I am a human.”

“A… a human?” she looked back at her husband, who was smiling at her lovingly and caressing her mane.

“Yes my jewel, he is the last of his kind, currently on a journey to Canterlot.” His wife seemed to try to speak up at this, but he cut her off. “I simply offered him a place to stay for a while so he can recover from his long journey through the desert and mountains.”

“A long journey to… wait, you traveled through that desert!?” She asked, suddenly more surprised that anything has even gone there and come back at all.

“Aye,” I replied, adding a bit of a Scottish accent on a whim with a small yet confident smirk on my face. “I came from the desert, my people actually lived there until they eventually died off, leaving me the only one to make the journey to Canterlot.”

“But, but I do not understand,” she started again, “Why did…”

“Darling, let us discuss over dinner,” Jury said, pulling her into an embrace. “I am sure our new friend has much to tell us, but he is tired after such a long trip.”

I sat there and watched as the two made their decision, and then Jury led me to a door on the right side of the square room. Upon entering, I found that that it was a bedroom with a small bed with a simple white sheet and a pillow up against the far left corner, a small desk with a small lantern and a chair, and a simple rug covering a part of the wooden floor. I could tell by looking around that it was the added-on room I noticed from outside and the one window above the bed confirmed it for me as I could see the next house over from it.

“Dinner is coming shortly,” he said, walking into the room and turning around to watch me as I entered. “I uh, know the bed may be a bit small for you, but it is all we have for now.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve made due with less, and I’m still very grateful, Mr. Rig.”

He smiled at me,” Please, just Jury, I am not good with formalities.”

I smiled back at him and hefted my ruck off of my back, setting it next to the bed with a loud thunk. I pulled off my vest as well, though kept my M4 in my arms as I sat on the bed and laid back against the wall, letting out a long, tired sigh.

“Thank you again, Jury,” I said, turning my head to look at him as I allowed my very sore muscles a chance to relax.

“Is not problem, is least I could do to help.” After that he turned around, saying “I will come get you when dinner is ready,” and closed the door as he left the room.

Left to my thoughts once more, with time to rest to boot, I got as comfortable as I could on the undersized bed and thought about my predicament.

…I don’t know if this is even a dream anymore I thought to myself as I stared up at the ceiling, laying on my back with my legs hanging over the bottom of the bed. I mean… how could it not be? I’m in the freakin MLP universe, like, what the fuck…

I closed my eyes and imagined myself waking up, then opened my eyes, expecting to find myself in my bed back on the FOB, sitting down in the back of the Stryker, or at least still taking a nap in the mountains or something. But after trying it several times, nothing changed.

I leaned my head up and stared at my weapon, thinking about how dying in a dream would immediately wake someone up. The thought to shoot myself didn’t last long, but it was still another subject to ponder as I tried desperately to figure out what was going on. All I could remember was that I was in the back of a Stryker with Duffy going to do some detail when we got attacked. Things got hectic, the driver seat area got shot up, and then I think I heard an RPG or something before everything cuts off. The next thing I know I’m waking up in the back of the Stryker, everything’s ruined, everyone’s dead, and I’m stuck in the middle of an unknown desert with the only thing left to do is walking.

“I’m in some sort of weird shit,” I groaned to myself as I rubbed my face with my hands. “I dunno if anything’s even real anymore man… seriously. I need some chocolate milk or something.”

I didn’t know how long I had lain there, but after a while there were some noises coming through the wall leading to the main room. It sounded like little kids and the wife talking or something, and I figured that Jury Rig’s family had come back from wherever they were. Not long after that there was a knock at the door, stirring me from my thoughts. I looked over to the window, noticing the sky to be changing hues, signaling sunset to be nearing. I sat up straight with a grunt and scratched the back of my head.

“Yes?” I called out, looking at the door as it slowly opened and Jury poked his head in.

“Dinner is ready,” Jury said, “and my family is ready to meet you.”

“Alright, thank, I’ll be out in a sec,” I replied, and he smiled and closed the door, leaving me alone again.

Not wanting to keep them waiting too long, I took another swig from my camelback still stuck to the back of my vest and got out of bed. Though I didn’t really feel I needed to, I kept my M4 in my hands, not wanting to leave the weapon in the bedroom without me there with it. I was always trained to keep it at least arm’s length or less away from my body, and it would really irk me if I went against that after living by that rule for so long.

I kept my weapon low against my legs, holding the handle with one hand so as not to draw too much attention to it, and I slowly opened up the door to the main room. The dining table I saw before had become populated by four ponies, two being Jury and his wife while the other two were a pair of fillies, both staring up at me with wide, curious eyes. There was an open seat in the side closest to me, with the smaller of the two fillies sitting next to it in her own chair which was scooted over to the side to allow me room.

Slowly I shut the door behind me and moved to the chair, pulling it out and taking a seat, even though my legs wouldn’t fit under the table from it being too small. I set my M4 butt stock down up against my chair, and I looked to each member of the family before I gave them a nervous smile.

“Hi there,” I said, even waving little.

There was a brief pause before the bigger of the two fillies spoke up to me, her voice a little scratchy yet still squeaky from her young age.

“Are you an alien?” she asked in wonder.

“Uh, heh, I…”

“Now girls,” Jury spoke up, “I told you already that he is not from outer space.”

“Do you eat ponies?” the smaller filly asked, her voice even squeakier.

“Ruby!” the mother chastised, looking horrified at the question.

“Nah, it’s alright,” I said with a chuckle. “I don’t blame you all for thinking such things, as I do look like a very… different sort of creature, eh?”

“Entire village is talking like mad about you,” the wife said, “So many rumors so fast, is like nothing I’ve ever seen before!”

“Heh, I don’t doubt it…”

“Diamond,” Jury said, looking to his wife, “perhaps we should serve dinner first and let him explain while we eat?”

“Oh! Uh, yes…” She looked around the table, as if just noticing the pot of food she had prepared in the middle of the table.

She opened the top of the pot, revealing it to be some sort of mushy stew, and then began to scoop some onto each of our plates. It looked sort of like a potato casserole or mixed with rice and some vegetables, and though it wasn’t exactly the most appetizing smell, I know I had eaten food in the past that smelled worse.

“Thank you for dinner, mama!” the two fillies said in unison.

“You’re very welcome darlings,” she replied with a smile, and then looked back to me. “So please, Mr. Streak, tell us more about where you come from.”

I scooped up some of the mesh into my mouth and chewed slowly, discovering that it actually tasted pretty good. I swalled it and sat back in the chair a little, collecting my thoughts before I began.

“Well, as your husband may have already told you, I came from the desert.”

“You mean the one past those mountains?” the older filly said.

“Mhm, the very same, miss…”

“Oh!” Jury perked up, and then chuckled a bit as he shook his head. “How rude of me, I did not introduce you to my daughters.” He pointed to the bigger one first, “this is Emerald Sheen,” he shifted his hoof to the smaller one next to me, “and this is Ruby Crest.”

I looked to each, seeing how their colors matched their names. Emerald sheen had a vibrant green coat and a silvery tail and a mane that laid flat down her head and neck, looking almost like polished stainless steel. Ruby Crest had a red coat with pink and purple stripes in her mane and tail, while her hair was curly and only reached halfway down her neck. Neither of them had cutie marks either from what I could tell, so I assumed they weren’t any older than the CMC.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I replied to them both with another genuine smile.

“Nice to meet you too!” they both replied, again in unison.

“And this is loving wife, Diamond Dazzle,” Jury said, leaning over and nuzzling against her affectionately.

“Oh honey, please!” Diamond cooed with a blush, before playfully nudging him away. “We have a guest~!” Her blush was apparent even through her red coat.

“A Please,” I nodded to her, and she nodded back. “So, I know you’re all interested in my backstory, and while I don’t mind sharing at all, I just gotta give you guys a heads up…” I leaned in over the table, eyeing each of them as if this was some sort of top secret information. “It’s… a rather outlandish tale, and there’s going to be a lot of information to take in all at once. But that being said, I’ll try to explain it all as best as I can.”

“This is not problem, we will give you full attention,” Jury reassured before taking a bite of his food.

“Alright… well, I’ll start where I’m from directly, which is the desert. More specifically, we lived underneath the sand in large caverns we dug out ourselves.”

“Why did you have to move underground?” Ruby asked.

“Because there’s almost no magic down there, and it made it easier for us to survive,” I replied, and picked up again before they could as more. “Humans have suffered a terrible fate, one I’m sure none of you could even begin to imagine as ever being possible. But… magic to a human is poisonous.” They all gave me a look of surprise, as Jury simply nodded his head.

“Magic? Poisonous!?” Diamond asked, completely astounded at the possibility of such a concept even existing.

“Woah…!” the two fillies awed in unison.

“Unfortunately… many of us simply aren’t sure what brought about magic on this world. We had our theories, our ideas, but no one had known for sure. And soon enough we were able to discover that magic was slowly killing us, thus bringing us to near extinction in only a couple hundred years.”

“So, you went under the desert to stay away from magic?” Diamond asked, putting the pieces together.

“Yes. There were other bands of humans scattered around the planet, other groups of survivors in low-magic areas, but the group I’m from is the last to exist.” I stopped and took another couple bites of my food, letting them all think about what I just gave them.

“But why are you all gone now?” Jury asked. “You say you are last one left, but you say you could survive under desert. Did you run out of supplies?”

“No, no we were entirely self-sufficient – we grew and ate our own food, and we got water from underground and other sources. I was part of a group of almost ten thousand humans when I was born. But… our numbers weren’t dwindling just because of the magic… we had counteracted our losses with our gains. For every person that died, one was born, and we were even beginning to beat back the decline until…”

I paused for a few moments, trying to build up tension. I felt a little bad just then as I contemplated having to lie to them, but making my story sound more dramatic would help me in getting the assistance I needed.

“…I’m not the last one because of magic killing us off,” I began again, putting on a mask of determination. “I’m the last one because the remaining humans were hunted down and murdered.”

They all gasped simultaneously, even the fillies whom I thought probably wouldn’t know what murder was.

“But, who or what would want to do that?” Jury asked, visibly upset.

“A very large, very special scorpion,” I said, opening up my right chest pocket in my ACU jacket. I pulled out my phone, a Samsung Stratosphere with a couple cracks across the screen, and set it on the table face up, and they all leaned in to look at it. “This is a piece of human technology, a device that allows us to store anything from books, music, pictures, and even memories and revisit them later.”

I demonstrated this by pressing the button on the side and moving my finger over the display to unlock it. The all watched, transfixed as I opened up my files folder and went to my pictures gallery. I didn’t sit on anything for more than a moment, since I already knew what I was searching for.

I came upon the picture I was looking for and enlarged it to full screen for them all to see. “His name is Cryxalis… but he claims himself to be the lord of the desert, The Sand King.”

My phone displayed a picture of the Dota 2 hero Sand King, his claw extended towards the screen as if in mid-strike as his mouth was open in a battle cry. I kept the picture in my phone to occasionally show to my army buddies when I tried to explain the game I liked to play a lot. Sand King was my second favorite hero in the Dota 2 video game, and being a fan of crossover fics, I liked to think what would happen if he came into the pony universe. Although I knew the Sand King didn’t exist in their world, they didn’t know that, and his ferocious looking picture would only serve to support my story.

“Woah…” Emerald looked like she wanted to touch the picture, but was afraid that it would actually leap out to get her. “This is a picture of it?”

“Yes it is,” I replied.

“How big is it?” Ruby asked.

“It’s a bit bigger than this house, actually,” I told them, and they seemed more horrified by the prospect of the Sand King being of that size.

“But why would it want to do such horrible things?” Diamond asked, still staring at the picture.

“It found humans as an abomination to nature. It saw how magic was poisonous to us, and it was itself born out of the magic that flowed through the desert. Because he thought that magic was completely natural, and such a natural force was harmful to us, he saw us as unnatural and completely undesirable, a weed on this planet that needed to wither and die.”

“So he decided to go and commit genocide…” Jury crossed his fore hooves, his voice low and grave. “I can’t believe a creature of any type would even do this.”

“Yes… and it took him a while, a little over a hundred years since he first showed up, but he’s finally succeeded.” I sighed at that, leaning back in my chair. “The Sand King’s won, I’m all that’s left…”

“He hasn’t won yet,” I lifted my head up to look at Jury, and he was smirking at me with confidence. “You’re still left, and you’ve got a story to share with the world. You got a story to tell in Canterlot, and we’re going to do whatever we can to help.”

“That’s right,” Diamond joined, leaning towards me. “Whatever you need, we’ll be right here for you. We may not have known you for very long, but a friend in need is a friend indeed.”

“How did you get away?” I heard one of the fillies asked, and I looked over to see Ruby staring up at me. “I mean, why did you make it, but nopony else?”

“I… I’m really not sure, in all honesty,” I told her, then looked back towards the rest of the table. “When we were down to our last hundred or so guys, we knew we had to make our existence known to the world. We set out on a mission to travel through Equestria and get to Canterlot so that we could tell the history of the Human Race. We all mobilized to get this done, even though the journey into this land would kill us… but he attacked us before we even got to the surface.”

I took the time to drink a bit of water from the glass next to my plate, ridding the dryness that had been building in throat. As I did this I notice the family exchange glances, and even Diamond and Jury whisper something between each other. After I finished drinking I resumed my story, and their attention was instantly back on me.

“We thought that if we got out of the desert fast enough, we would be able to escape him. Some of us got out of the tunnels using our machines, these big armored boxes of metal that moved on wheels, and went as fast as we could to get out. But true to his word, Cryxalis really is lord of the sand, and he was much faster than us, especially on the desert surface. He chased all of our armored machines down one by one, cracked them open, and killed us without mercy. I was in the last vehicle left, and when he got to us, we did all we could to defeat him so we could get out, but…”

“How would you defeat such a horrible monster?” Jury asked, staring back at the picture on my phone. “It seems very… well armored.”

“Heh, well, ya see we human’s may not have magic, but what we do have is technology, and that device is a testament to that,” I told them, before I reached down and put a hand on my M4. “And what I have here is a piece of our own technology that we used to fight back,” and with that I hefted my rifle up and onto my lap, turning it for them all to see.

They all turned their heads and leaned their bodies side to side, taking in as much of the strange device in my hands as they could. It must have all looked so complex to them, and I could hear the fillies going “ooh” and “aah” at it. They had no idea how it worked though, and the next thing I heard confirmed that.

“What is it, and what’s it do?” Ruby asked, reaching up to poke it with her hoof due to her proximity.

“This,” I patted my rifle as I shifted my voice to a more Texan accent, “is a gun. Now, I ain’t gonna sugar coat this at all, this is a very dangerous tool, and no one should ever touch it unless they know exactly what they’re doing.”

I saw Ruby’s hoof immediately retract at this, and the others in her family gave her a brief worried look before I continued.

“This is a Bushmaster M4A2 tactical assault Carbine; it fires 5.56mm NATO rounds from a magazine typically holding a maximum of 30 rounds. It is a selective fire, gas powered firearm that is the standard issue for all US military personnel.”

Aaaand they’re lost, I smirked internally, looking at them all as they tried to wrap their minds around what I just said. I said it all with speed and a little bit of slur, so I knew I would need to condense it all into what I just said.

“Lemme put that all in simpler terms,” I chuckled a little as I stood up, holding my weapon out in front of me. “This is a personal defense weapon… it’s a weapon, a device created to cause harm to another. It is very dangerous, and it is designed to injure and-or kill a target. You MUST show great respect when handling this device, as improper use could lead to injury or death to you or those around you. It is a machine, it is cold, hardened steel, and it does not care about your or your loved ones. It will do whatever it is made to do, and that’s it.”

Everything I just said was complete fact, and didn’t need to be meshed with false tales or twisted words. The rifle in my possession was a killing machine, and they needed to know it. God forbid one of the fillies just messed with it out of curiosity, and then the unthinkable happened all because I hadn’t informed them of the dangers.

“But…” I saw Jury’s mouth work as he tried to find a way to say what he wanted, and he eventually found it. “But I see neither blade nor bludgeon, unless that fat part on the side is-“

“It’s not your traditional weapon,” I interrupted him. “Well, it’s traditional for humans, but certainly not ponies. And that’s the backside you’re referring to, the relatively safer side of the weapon,” He seemed taken aback at that. “This device is not meant to physically come in contact with the target, it fires a projectile to do that job instead.”

I unloaded the magazine and turned it over in my hand, letting them all see the individual bullets inside. “These are called bullets, the gun’s ammunition.” I pulled out a round and set the magazine down, showing off the singular round before them. “This little bullet has 3 parts, the primer, the shell, and the slug,” I pointed to each as I listed them off. “The weapon works when I pull the trigger, which makes a little pin inside strikes the primer, which ignites blast powder inside the shell. This explosive force separates the slug from the casing, and propels it down the barrel of the weapon and out towards whatever the gun is pointing at.”

I place the round back into the magazine, and then the magazine into the weapon, making sure not to charge a round into the chamber. I then turned towards Jury, noticing him taking a sort of critical look at my rifle, like seeing it in a new sort of light. This was fully justified, as the thing the creature he never heard of before just waltzed in with a machine meant to end lives.

“Jury Rig, how familiar are you with kinetic energy and speed-to-mass formulas?”

“Huh? Oh, well uh, I used to work engineering, so I know a lot about the force of moving object, but…”

“Imagine this then, a small, dense metal object like the lead slug of a bullet, moving in a straight line at speeds faster than the speed of sound.”

Whether he was able to wrap his head around it or not, he didn’t show it. He just stared at my weapon with unerring focus, and I assumed he was deciding if he wanted me to do anything special with it or not, like get rid of it or something. I could tell I had long since lost the fillies a while ago in my explanation, but the wife seemed to catch the gist of it. She looked like she was suddenly starting to regret allowing me in here, if I was reading her right. She definitely seemed conflicted about her thoughts.

“So, uh, you used that weapon to… try to stop that Sand King only, right?” She asked unsteadily.

I looked at her right in the eyes and put on the most serious face I could muster, which considering my playful history, was difficult to do. “Diamond, you have my word as another living being, and a swear on the memory of my entire race, that I would never use this weapon against another innocent.” I leaned back a bit, my features relaxing before I continued. “And yes, we used this and weapons like this against Cryxalis. They were the only things that could pierce his tough exoskeleton.”

“But why do you still carry it around then?” She asked. “Why not just get rid of it?”

“Well, two reasons… one, I don’t know if I may ever come against the Sand King ever again, and just in case I do, I want to be prepared. Second, this technology is far too dangerous for ponies, or any race to wield right now… I would rather I keep hold of it, and not let it fall into the wrong hands, or uh, hooves in this case.”

“But you’re no long in the desert, Streak,” Jury reasoned, “You can get rid of it now that you’ve escaped the Sand King!”

“I wish you were right, Jury, I really do, but I have reason to believe that the Sand King is able to travel beyond the desert.” They all looked shocked at this, and I continued before another interruption. “I also need to find out how to destroy him, lest he turn his sights on eradicating another race for whatever reason he may come up with. But that is for after I get to Canterlot… which is currently my top priority.”

I let them digest my words for a bit as I turned back to the food on my plate, deciding to take a few more bites. The two kids had already continued eating, and the parents were both exchanging glances and whispering to each other.

It was after a while that Jury spoke up again, “Wait, you said that you lived under desert to escape magic, but… you are here now, and there is magic all over, ambient magic. Does that mean that you are…?”

I sighed and lowered my head, nodding solemnly. “Yes, as soon as I entered this village, my life had shortened considerably. And at this rate, I fear I may only have a few months to live.”

That got them all to pause again. They looked at me like I was going to drop dead right then and there, though I knew that I hopefully wouldn’t die until I reached a very old age. In reality, for all I really knew I could actually be really dying as I was talking about it, and I didn’t know, simply because humans really haven’t ever dealt with magic. I had thought about that notion for just a moment, but dismissed it on the premise of “this is the world of a kid’s show, nothing bad is going to happen.”

Nothing bad could ever happen to me, I was perfectly fine in the world of Equestria. I would always be ok.